Dear Oberlin Students, Professors, Faculty and Friends:

Whether you realize it or not, we just concluded a very important month! February was Heart Disease Awareness Month. In its passing, I would like to bring to your attention some heart-related facts you may or may not be aware of. Secondly, as coordinator of The Heart Project at Oberlin, I am here to tell you all about this great student organization and am inviting you to get involved. So sit back, relax and get ready for some eye-opening, and perhaps, life changing reading!

First, some facts you should know:

•Heart Disease is the number one killer of women in the U.S., killing more women than men every year since 1984.

•Heart Disease kills more women each year than the next seven causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer.

•One in every three women dies of heart disease.  One in 30 dies of breast cancer.

•In a national survey of physician awareness conducted in late 2004, fewer than 1 in 5 physicians knew that more women than men die each year from cardiovascular disease.

The Heart Project, a new student organization at Oberlin, exists to raise awareness about heart disease, especially in women, with the goal of empowering students to lead healthier lives. The Heart Project began three years ago by Brea Carlson (’03), who started the project in memory of her mother who died of a massive heart attack at age 45. Brea’s mother had been having symptoms of a heart attack for three months prior to her death, but her doctor diagnosed her as having panic attacks; had her symptoms been caught, she might still be alive today.

Ten years after her mother’s death, Brea and her sister, Tamara, divided up their mother’s jewelry. After they took what they wanted, there was a lot of jewelry left over. With Tamara’s comment of “I feel like we should spread Mom around,” the Heart Project was born. The Heart Project takes unwanted jewelry, re-polishes, re-prices and resells it, then donates the money to the American Heart Association. This year, like the last two, we are planning another “Untax Your Heart Day,” on April 14.

So, what can I do to get involved, you ask?

•Donate your used, unwanted jewelry. There are boxes up around campus, or you can bring it to the Center For Service and Learning on the 2nd floor of the Lewis House (68 S. Professor St).

•Come to the Polishing Parties—we will be having them periodically until the end of April. Look for flyers up or e-mail Ria.Richardshon@oberlin.edu for more info.

•Keep your eyes open for flyers advertising upcoming Heart Project meetings.

•Mark your calendars: Come out and support us on April 14, 2007 in Tappan Square! There will be jewelry, music and heart-healthy fun for all who show up.

If you care about your mother, sister, aunt, girlfriend or anyone in your life that is female, please take the time to talk to her about heart disease. It is never too late to start making healthy choices and to educate yourself about what you can do for your body.

For further information, or if you have more questions, please e-mail me at mgreene@oberlin.edu.

–Monica Greene

Chair of Oberlin Heart Project 2007

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To the Editors:

In 2004, there were 511,000 households in Ohio that were classified as “food insecure,” meaning their diet was severely affected by financial limitations. 153,000 households were “food insecure with hunger” — they did not have enough money to feed the household. And families in Ohio are just a small part of the 35,128,000 people in the U.S. who are at risk of experiencing hunger each year.
 Although the 2002 Farm Bill has made some progress towards combating hunger and poverty, the above figures show that we must do more. With the 2002 Farm Bill up for reauthorization this spring, our politicians do have a chance to do more. Expansion and updating is necessary if we want to make sure our citizens can eat. The Food Stamp program, which is part of the Farm Bill, needs our full support and attention.
Since 2002, the cost of feeding a family has changed, so benefit and eligibility levels need to be updated to stop households from running out of food each month, a problem that is all too common. Also, more funding should be devoted to Food Stamp Nutrition Education and keeping families healthy.
Unfortunately, instead of increasing this funding, agricultural lobbyists are attempting to cut it further, devoting the surplus to huge agricultural corporations. That’s why it’s critical that Senator Sherrod Brown continue to stand behind the Food Stamp program and work to expand and update it in order to address the needs of the thousands of hungry families living in poverty.
Please make sure that Sherrod Brown continues to support increased funding for the Food Stamp program. 
Go to www.ohiopirgstudents.org/recentnews and click on the “Food Stamp Letter to Representative” link or stop by the OPIRG table in Wilder on Tues. March 19, from 11-2 to sign a copy.

–Alana Horowitz Friedman
College first-year

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Call for Solidarity

To the Editors:

March 19 marks the beginning of the fifth year of the war in Iraq. Youth went to the polls in November, we marched in DC on January 27 and went to the halls of Congress on January 29. On March 19, we continue organizing and mobilizing our peers to demand that our elected officials prioritize our needs over war and profit. On March 19, youth and students will be wearing our opposition to the war on our sleeves by wearing The National Youth and Student Peace Coalition’s “Books Not Bombs” button. We will also be asking every member of Congress to wear a “Books Not Bombs” button to show solidarity with youth and students.
With the costs of the war topping $500 billion dollars by the end of 2007, the Bush Administration has found the money to pay for the war by cutting funds from student financial aid, robbing our public schools of needed money, taking money away from veterans’ health benefits and gutting job training programs for youth.
“By cutting money from our public schools, job training programs and student financial aid, we are creating a poverty draft that is forcing youth and students to join the military as the only way to pay for a college education,” said Geoff Millard, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, an ally group of NYSPC. “I was one of those students. By wearing a button and getting others to show their opposition to the war, we are sending a clear message that youth and students demand ‘Books Not Bombs,’” Millard stated.
Ezra Levin, a student at Carlton College in Minnesota, said, “Congress has the power to act to end the war. They are able to cut the funding for the war and to pass legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal. We went to the polls in 2006 demanding a change in Iraq and we have to make sure our elected officials make that change.  We need to be calling, e-mailing and lobbying our elected officials to prioritize the needs of youth and students over war. We need to get them to wear the ‘Books Not Bombs’ button on March 19 and continue to pressure them to bring our troops home and fully fund our schools, financial aid, veteran’s benefits and other programs that Bush has cut.”
NYSPC is a coalition of over 20 youth and student groups from across the country. We believe that youth and students have an important role to play in taking back our democracy on our campus, out in the streets and at the ballot box. NYSPC believes that the struggle for social and economic justice is key to the struggle for peace.  We are committed to engaging and including youth of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, working class and other marginalized youth. For more information visit us at www.nyspc.org.

–Saif Rahman
–Adam Tenney
National Youth and Student Peace Coalition (NYSPC)