MEN’S BASKETBALL FALLS SHORT IN UPSET BID - PAGE 24
PROBLEMS OF USING LIKEALITTLE - PAGE 7
SERVING THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS
1918-2011
FEBRUARY 23, 2011
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 5
The Vagina Monologues Encounters Resistance Women’s Empowerment Preps for its Annual Production of The Vagina Monologues; the Administration Shows Lack of Support
COURTESY OF JEREKEYS
The Vagina Monologues consists of sets of independent scenes; each scene demonstrates female empowerment and the embodiment of individuality. lates to the vagina. Although through a tremendous amount of what womanhood means both By CONNIE KIM NEWS EDITOR the overall theme of the play is of difficulty each year to perform in a mental and physical capacdemonstrative of female empowthe show on campus due to lack ity. It is not condoning any kind Many Catholic universities are erment by using the vagina as a of support in terms of funding of sexual assault or any other ill against supporting the play The tool, some of the scenes and ideas and venues. feelings towards womanhood.” Vagina Monologues, and Fordin the play generate controversy “The Vagina Monologues atThis year, Women’s Empowerham is no exception. among Catholic audiences. tempts to bring awareness to ment had the full support from The Vagina Monologues is made While Fordham is one of the and stop sexual violence against both the president and the vice up of a series of independent few colleges in the U.S. that alwomen,” Grace Waltemyer, president of United Student scenes and, as the title suggests, lows the showing of the play FCRH ’11, one of the play’s proGovernment; however, its proevery monologue somehow reon campus, the organizers go ducers, said. “It is a celebration posal for funding was rejected by
the dean of students. “For a number of years, our understanding has been that funding and sponsorship for this program is supplied by various academic departments,” Christopher Rodgers, dean of students, said. “Administrative units, such as Student Affairs, are not involved and do not provide funding. All recognized clubs, organizations and student government fall under Student Affairs.” The Women’s Studies department has supported the play since its first year on the Fordham campus. “The Office of Student Life has never supported the production of The Vagina Monologues,” Caroline Egan, FCRH ’12, said. “Women’s Empowerment members have been the ones heading the production for the past two years; we are not allowed to be the one sponsoring the event.” “We then had to run it through the Women’s Studies department once again,” Waltemyer said. “When the show is run through SEE MONOLOGUES ON PAGE 4
RFK, Jr. Calls for ‘True Free Market Capitalism’ By MICHELLE FLORCRUZ & KEVIN FITZPATRICK CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
His voice might have sounded like sandpaper on gravel, due to illness, but Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. knows how to speak. In his talk on campus, Kennedy addressed how the United States could pioneer the world’s first free-energy grid, as well as other environmental issues, on Feb. 16. Sponsored by College Democrats and the American Age Lecture Series, the event was a huge success, drawing a crowd of over 300 students and faculty members in Keating 1st floor auditorium. Kennedy, recognized as one of Time Magazine’s “Heroes of the Planet” for his success in leading the fight to protect New York City’s water supply, is an environmental lawyer whose ambitions focus on reprioritizing American values. Kennedy’s fervor about the environment extends beyond clean water and saving trees into an economic and social plan to rejuvenate American culture. “We need to make an investment in our infrastructure, and the rest of the economy will follow,” Kennedy said. Kennedy’s talk highlighted the many environmental issues that Americans face nationally, specifically coal, oil consumption and water pollution. During the talk, he directly correlated environmental effects to economic effects. Kennedy emphasized the importance of establishing American strategies instead of relying on oil from the Middle East. This requires changes from Washington lobbyists, who subsidize coal and oil incumbents.
PHOTO BY NORA MALLOZZI/THE RAM
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. addressed the importance of pioneering the free energy grid and the necessity for the true free-market capitalism at the speech. a solution to America’s environmental easy as having Internet access would the work of Dorothy Day and how it “We don’t use [wind energy] beand economic problems is to impledrastically defray costs. has inspired him to work toward betcause of the illusion that it is more ment a true free-energy marketplace, “If we do that, we’re going to watch tering the American community. He expensive than coal or oil,” Kennedy essentially turning every resident into the price of energy in this country strives to change the mindset that in explained. “That’s because of the a stakeholder in the energy business. plummet,” he said. order to be rich, there must be the huge subsidies we give to oil.” Similar to the information grid creKennedy emphasized not just poor. When addressing American deated in 1979 by the federal governthe economic implications of these “You cannot make yourself rich pendency on liquid oil, he gave credit ment, creating an energy grid where changes, but also the economic impliwithout making your neighbors to American automakers. accessibility to energy would be as cations of moral ones. He mentioned rich.” “At this year’s Detroit Auto Show, every automaker had an electric car model,” he said. He suggested that we take this further by following the Israeli government’s plans of establishing an electric car network. Kennedy said that there is somePAGE 23 PAGE 9 PAGE 17 thing to be learned from the Internet Men’s Track Ties for Best-Ever Finish Pros vs. Cons of Crosstown ROTC Living and Studying Abroad in and the well-developed telecommuat A-10 Championships. Programs. Granada. nications industry. He suggested that
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