corning community college
THE CRIER
April 22nd “The Voice of the CCC Student Body” Spring 2005
Let us know what you think: www.cee_cee_response@yahoo.com
Gandhi to Visit Corning
By Tone
Gandhi. Few names in world history evoke such powerful images of integrity, courage, social harmony, and —perhaps most of all, hope.
Sponsored by Corning West High School SAVAD (Students Against Violence and Discrimination),
Peaceful Gatherings, and the CCC Activities Programming Committee,
Arun Gandhi will speak at Corning West High School Auditorium on April 29th, 2005 at 7:30 PM. The topic of his discussion will be “Lessons I learned from my Grandfather.”
Arun Gandhi, the grandson of the legendary Mohandas “Mahatma” K. Gandhi, carries within himself the same guiding principles as his grandfather. As a young boy in South Africa,
Arun was beaten up by black children for not being “black enough,” and beaten up by white children for not being “white enough.” Filled with rage and plotting to avenge his beatings, he subscribed to Charles Atlas body building magazines so that he would have the strength to fight back. When his parents discovered the reason for their twelve year old son’s sudden fascination with exercise, they decided that a visit to his grandfather in India was in order. What followed was an eighteen month stay with one of the world’s greatest leaders that would give him the keys to the powerful philosophy of non-violence and help shape the foundation for his life’s work. It was a dangerous and exciting time as Mahatma Gandhi was leading the people of India in their revolutionary, nonviolent struggle for independence from British rule.
In 1988, following twenty-eight years as a journalist and author during which time he and his wife Sunanda founded India’s Center for Social Change to help the lives of poor villagers, Gandhi moved to the United State to complete research for a comparative study on racism in America. In 1991, Arun and Sunanda founded the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, headquartered at Christian Brothers University in Memphis. The Institutes mission is to foster understanding of nonviolence and to put that philosophy to practical use through workshops, lectures and community outreach programs.
In his speeches and writing, Gandhi stresses the need to address passive nonviolence - anger, hatred, and prejudice - as well as the importance of personal responsibility for one’s thinking and actions. Along with poets Maya Angelou, civil rights veteran Rosa Parks, and anti-war activist David Dellinger, Gandhi has received the “Courage of Conscience Award” from the Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts. A speaker of international acclaim, Arun has spoken before hundreds of colleges and universities, corporate and civic organizations. His unique talents and cross-cultural experiences have brought him before governmental, social, and educational audiences in countries all over the world including Croatia, France, Ireland, Holland, Lithuania, and Nicaragua. Arun is a cultural treasure, offering first hand insights on one of history’s most influential leaders.
Tireless in his efforts to heal individuals and communities, Arun Gandhi is the embodiment of the phrase his grandfather coined, “We must be the change we wish to see.”
CCC students are welcome to visit with Arun Gandhi in the Corning West High School Library on Friday, April 29th -10:00 to 11:30 AM and 1:00 to 3:00 PM. Stop by the main office to obtain a visitor’s pass when you arrive at the high school.
Abort this Article
By Beth
Abortion remains a contentious issue in America, a fact cheered by columnists who make easy money pontificating about it; after all, nothing upsets people faster than the abuse of children, unless they’re making your footwear. Even so, I see little reason to fill this newspaper with yet another retread of the arguments.
At its core, the debate is jammed over two opposing ideas: for anti-abortionists, that no individual has the right to kill another to make their life easier, versus, for pro-abortionists, that no individual has the right to sustain its life by parasitically living off an unwilling victim for nine months. These summaries are, of course, highly distilled — for some people ‘easier’ consists of returning to a booze and cocaine party lifestyle, for others it means not carrying the living embodiment of the night your uncle raped you — but the central nub of not killing verses not enslaving is unsolvable: there is no right answer, no evidential, logic based solution.
The most people can do is make a decision based on their own morality, experience and reading, a decision which will often change several times through their life. Some people find thinking a little distracting and opt for an easier method, either A. ignoring the subject unless pressed, then giving whatever answer they think is socially acceptable (see also immigration and American Idol voting) or B. copying the viewpoints of sane and respected thinkers like their parents, Rush Limbaugh or Barney the Dinosaur. Consequently, there are only about a few thousand people in America actually debating abortion, with many millions just repeating what they’re told. We call this politics.
Oddly enough, you don’t hear the terms ‘proabortionist’ or ‘anti-abortionist’ very often. Instead, the two sides in the debate have recast themselves with new names - ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice’ - subtly twisting the ground over which they are arguing. Prolife clearly has the advantage here, incorporating its basic ethos into a name that makes disagreeing rather awkward: the real opposite of pro-life is pro-death, not pro-choice. I’m pro-death, but many of my pro-choice friends take exception to my saying so: it ruins their marketing.
In contrast, pro-choice is a deeply flawed banner, suggesting choice but not telling you whose. Yes, women have a choice, but does a fetus? How many of those have you seen running around saying ‘abort me, abort me!’ (That tends to occur between the ages of 13-17, or longer for old school Goths). Pro-choice is also a much easier term to oppose. Anti-choice is all the rage these days, from top 40 radio playing solely what the big companies want to sell to presidential candidates who consistently outdo each other at being awful. This isn’t to say pro-life doesn’t have a few problems. Many prominent representatives of pro-life groups come from the Catholic Church, where pro-life is only part of an overall manifesto. While the other issues in this manifesto shouldn’t affect the validity of arguments about abortion, ultimately they do, and the banning of abortion is all too often mentioned alongside the, not at all out of date, desire to ban contraception, homosexuals and inquiries into child abuse.
It’s thus difficult to see there ever being an end to the abortion argument, short of developing a foolproof womb to (artificial?) womb transplant technique which is easy and free, in which case we’ve probably already synthesized semen and shipped the men back to Mars.
Look, Troubled Youth
By Eric Dobell
To understand a poem You have to dissect every word, word And every verb, verb, must be heard, heard With clarity, clarity An understanding simplified Until you cannot believe that once You had no idea what it meant But now every youth is a poet Like I writing this garbage at 1 in the morning What adolescent will read what I write?
When they have their own petty worries to ink And what adult will take this seriously Just another troubled youth Looking for attention Look, I’m tormented Look, I write poetry Look at me I’m different
A clone of the troubled youth
Frog in a Blender
By Ben
Putting a frog in a blender? No, I don’t want you to try it. I’m rather fond of frogs. I’m only trying to make an easy-to-understand point about a very important part of this whole creation/evolution business.
You see, some people think that life is only a matter of the raw materials — the right ingredients, so to speak. Kids in school often get the impression that life could have arisen by itself a long time ago, as long as there was the right mixture of chemicals and a bit of energy.
So let’s do a thought experiment. What if someone had put a frog in a blender? Here we would have the ideal primordial soup from which to run an origin-of-life experiment. It doesn’t contain just a few simple building blocks — it contains all sorts of complicated chemicals, like DNA, proteins, and more.
Now imagine that this ‘soup’ is zapped by any type of energy you like — shake it, heat it, pass sparks through it, put it in the sun - anything at all. Not only will it never reassemble itself into anything like the frog it once was, but you can be absolutely, totally positive that no living, reproducing organism, not even the tiniest, will ever assemble itself from these ingredients. The reason is obvious — life is more than having all the right ingredients in the ‘soup’.
The ingredients have to be assembled in the right order according to an intelligent plan. When that frog was conceived, born and grew up, its ‘ingredients’ were assembled according to the intelligent plan already programmed in its parents’ genes (DNA) — which in turn came from their parents, and so on. But that plan, that programming, is not there in the raw ingredients which make up a frog — that’s why it will not spontaneously reform after being 'blended.'
The most scientific conclusion one could come to is that the first living creatures required an outside intelligence to put them together and to write the programs to pass on to their descendants. The (hypothetical) frog in the blender shows that even given the most suitable possible raw materials, without an intelligent plan there is no hope that the machinery of life will arise. No matter how much or how long it is ‘zapped’.
For more evidence that disproves evolution (as well as any other theories of the beginning of life) and points to a Creator, visit www.answersingenesis.org.
Death: Sooner or Later
By Mark Chapman
As recent events in Florida with Terri Schiavo have pointed out, every one needs to have their affairs in order. With all the “hub-bub” over her condition and her wishes regarding her fate, should she be unable to make her own decisions it indeed drives this point establishing a living will home. Ms. Schiavo’s parents had one version of her wishes and her husband/ former husband had an opposing view. Tragically Ms. Schiavo did NOT make her final wishes clear, documented and legal!! A “Living Will or a Health Care Proxy” that is properly filed would have cleared up the matter completely and efficiendy. Any person who is of legal age can and should, fill out the proper forms to make their final wishes known. If you want what YOU want to happen, then you MUST make your wishes known and set down in writing, legally and correct. Both for medical reasons and to assure that a regular will to have your possessions distributed as you see fit!! Also having YOUR wishes set down legally, spares your family or friends from having to decide for you, and the fights which can and do result. As a matter of good common sense always check with a qualified professional in your area or State to get the paperwork right!!
Did you know...
(By Neith Little)
... that it is quite hard to write an interesting article about the CCC resume review service? Something else that I learned recently which may be news to you is that, interesting or not, this resume review offered through the Career Center is both free to CCC students and extremely useful.
I decided to have my resume reviewed in the hope that it would help me land a job for the summer, and was quite pleased with the end result. I have had only one “real” job, so if the folks at the Career Center can make my resume look professional, odds are they can help do the same for yours. The process is pretty simple. I took my resume to the Career Center desk in the back tight of the commons building, picked it up approximately 48 hours later, came back in to talk in person with the reviewer, and left an hour later with a resume that, although it still contained pretty much the same information as before, looked a lot more impressive and was also printed with really nice ink. If you’re considering having one of the Career Center reviewers have a look at your resume, it would be good to remember that some constructive criticism will be involved. There is no grade and your resume will not come back with a big red “F” on it no matter how much work it needs, but there will be comments written on it ranging from the sensible to the somewhat nitpicky. If you’re willing to listen to (or read) advice, though, it could be well worth it. Even if you’re not looking for work right now, learning how to fit more text on a page and what the accepted organization for a resume is could still come in handy’. Whether or not it makes a particularly interesting article is still up for debate.
Rave or Depraved?
(The Crier Review Region)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy By Kim Henderson
Written by Douglas Adams back in the seventies, The Hitchhiker’s Guide has again gained popularity due to the soon-to-be-released movie. But what I’m about to say about the most trendy book in the galaxy right now, might not be so popular. Frankly, I was a little disappointed after I read the ending this morning on the bus. Up until then, I had thought the Guide a fair book and I had really enjoyed some of the philosophical questions it had brought up, then poked fun at. I also liked the fact that the main point of the book seemed to be that humans tend to take ourselves far too seriously and tend to think of ourselves as the point and end-all, be-all of the universe. I also liked the way Douglas Adams discreetly poked fun at the governments of the time. But those themes where explored far too lightly in the book for my taste, especially I guess, after just finishing a Vonnegut novel, which tends to be about doom and gloom.
Douglas Adams definitely has a fighter, more relaxed way of getting his point across...which seems to be consistent with some of the other British authors I enjoy. You know something though, now that I think about it, a book about how we take ourselves far too seriously has to be written in a fight and funny tone...you wouldn’t want a serious book telling you not to take yourself so serious, now would you? And seriously, The Guide is very funny in parts. I don’t want to give it all away, but the very reason an Earthling ends up in space is that an Intergalactic highway has been scheduled to be built right through Earth...and then ten seconds after Earth is destroyed, those who did the demolishing get a radio call telling them a new form of travel has been invented and the Intergalactic highway won’t be needed after all! The book is full of similar ironies, all of which lead to the simple message, “Don’t Panic!”
So if your question still is “should I read the book before going to see the movie,” I would say, most definitely! I’m sure a lot of the philosophical nature of the book will be lost in the movie, which will most likely focus on glossy special effects and building suspense and excitement. So it should be good as well, but if you want to “entertain your brain” so to speak, pick up a copy of the book. This time, I’d be happy to lend you mine.
“11 Things I Hate About Road Construction...”
1) Lazy people telling you (who are in a hurry) to slow down.
2) Why don’t they just work on the roads I don’t need to drive on.
3) Men at work sign shows picture of man leaning on a shovel. Actual job site has actual men leaning on actual shovels.
4) Flag person(s) who think that they are Bull fighters and holler Toro! As you drive by.
5) Safety barriers actually have been known to be more hazardous than the pot holes in repair
6) How many roads do they have to have to repair the existing road?
7) Why the women on the crews have to be ugly? Why can’t they hire hot construction chicks?
8) The sign should be “Exposed Butt Crack Zone Ahead,” rather than “Construction Ahead.”
9) Can anyone work a construction zone that doesn’t drive a pick up with a gun rack?
10) The term “Get er’ dun” never applies to red neck construction workers! Goooooollleeee!
11) Question: What is yellow, has 4 doors and sleeps 6?
Answer: a DOT truck.
Next issue: “11 Things I hate about Mothers! (Happy Mother’s Day!)
Send in your pet peeves to cee cee 1esponse@yahoo.co1n!
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