Letter from the Editor:

Dear first time reader,
You have in front of your eyes a cheap publication, but nevertheless a publication filled with words meant to motivate, change, inspire, and yes, offend. This is Crisis, IU's only current, student run underground news publication, too shitty to print professionally and too pathetic to produce in mass quantity (but good enough for free blog space from google!) That’s Crisis . Plain and simple.

Here at Crisis we’re about opinions. We are about sharing opinions meant to challenge and question the status quo and to influence and inspire those craving a change, be it social, political, cultural, etc. We are about opinions that will remove the first amendment (freedom of speech) from the forbidden section of our psyches and put it right into play. We are about publishing criticisms that will take advantage of the relative freedom of the press in order to strive for positive change. There it is change. Change. We are not a paper to simply inform. We are here to make you make you stop and think, question, advocate , and mobilize- in short to become a more active participant in a society largely needing direction and guidance.

The fact of the matter is that at a college campus we are loaded with opinions, aspirations, dreams, and ideas. But too often we are content. Too often we are silent. Too often we are worrying about the scrupulous details of a minute task at hand instead of focusing on the larger picture; the picture of life and how our role plays into this grandiose equation of being. As college students we have the power,  the ability, and  more so the responsibility to organize, question, and dictate what WE WANT. All it takes is a little thinking outside the box to let nature take its course with the ever so revolutionary phenomenon of the ripple-effect.
Our goal here at Crisis is to develop a readership that will be more critical of the status quo, one that will develop an aptitude to question.

And if we get criticized by others, god willing, that would be fantastic and well appreciated! Do criticize, but take an intelligent approach so your peers legitimately hear you out, so others can actually understand what the hell you're saying (or attempting to say). At the very least that would encourage some students to start to think, or to make an attempt. Use your brain(s). After all, we pay enough money to get them "educated".

This paper is named Crisis in honor of Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano, a Michelangelo of the written word and an individual widely unknown in developed countries for his passionate accounts of the struggle that was and still is Latin America. As a journalist in exile in Buenos Aires more than 30 years ago, Galeano ran a magazine that criticized the status quo and which sought to influence its readership to manifest for change. That magazine was called Crisis.

Opinions, commentaries and criticisms
will be openly embraced and wholeheartedly encouraged (but please, no death threats). Thank you!

EMAIL: crisisatiub@gmail.com

Random Rant: Thoughts on Vietnam and Iraq

I saw an article about the Vietnam War Memorial now having an online website, and I started to think about that memorial and how powerfully simple it is and what it really means.

And when I think about it, I realize what it means for us now. You see, as a Memorial, it serves to never let us forget the atrocities of war. But it it s a symbol in another fashion as well; that point is that war should serve only one purpose, and that is as a response to a direct physical threat to the safety of our nation, and never as a initiated conflict.

The Vietnam War (or actually, 'Conflict' because there was no Declaration of War) was an engagement started to combat an ideology that opposed our way of life. Was it right to defend freedom? Was that even what that war was about? North Vietnam is still "communist" and we lost that war for any number of reasons. It was used to combat what we viewed as a threat.

The war (once again, actually a 'conflict' without that declaration) we are currently in is a war of economics and resources, as well as being masked as a war of security (though that is in Afghanistan or somewhere else). It was started to combat forces that threatened us economically.

The Iraqi Conflict was not an initiative of reaction, but of warmongering. It is wrong, and creating wars will always be wrong.

War should never, EVER, be considered a bargaining strategy or a foreign policy strategy. War should only be used as a defensive mechanism. That's what the Vietnam Wall teaches us. War isn't supposed to ever be romanticized, but it is.

People praise soldiers and demonize the people that oppose the war that they engage in. I am not against soldiers, and I support the men and women of the armed forces, but I don't support them as troops. I support them as human beings, and the way you do that is by avoiding war at all costs.

Am I saying that we shouldn't engage in unmanned, preemptive warfare?

No.

Am I saying that we shouldn't train for war or spend money on research and development of weaponry?

Not at all.

What I am saying is that what the Vietnam Wall teaches us is that war should never be the option we choose, and if it makes our oil a little more expensive by not attacking people, then I'll be ready to make that sacrifice. War is a horrible waste of the God-given gift of reasoning. War is an absence of intelligence. Anyone can shoot a gun, but it takes hard work and skill to deal with the dangerous world we live in with just your wits and your words.

But we should be held to that standard because we are not the weak of head or heart. I don't believe that we can't protect ourselves through the means of promoting positive relationships. To say otherwise is to admit to the defeat of higher reasoning, and thus humanity.

-Muddy

Action Article: IU students are without health care (and apparently their student government!)

Problem: Just a short while ago, the IDS published an article claiming that nearly 22-28 percent of students at IU did not have health insurance (The information came from IU Health Center Executive Director Hugh Jessop). This is a problem: students without health care. However, the problem underscores a deeper one that penetrates right into the heart of IUSA (our school government). Although IUSA is a notable organization, that is genuinely committed to serving its constituents, too often, its ideals of what it should be doing do not reflect what the IU community really needs. This episode with health care is no exception.

In detail: Assuming that 22-28 percent of IU students do no have health care, we are talking about nearly 8,800-11,200 students (if you approximate our student population to 40,000) without basic coverage. This indicates a serious health care crisis and substantial debt for those having to be rushed to the emergency room for a variety of crazy college injuries like getting your stomach pumped, breaking legs jumping off of frat houses, or snapping your neck jumping into an empty pool, drunk. The point is that college students are the ones who (out of all people in society) need basic health care coverage the most! If we all stayed in on Friday night to watch a PBS televised program, that’d be something else. But we don’t. We go out, get drunk (most of us, but not all) dance on top of bar tables, fall off, throw up, pass out, wake up next to that “someone” who you’d rather not talk about…..and do quite indeed get really “fucked up.” We are the most prone to serious injuries that could put us way into the RED! IUSA could be paying a bit more attention to the health care crisis in their “Health and safety initiatives” (where it is currently unmentioned). Choosing to instead spend several thousand dollars to advertise themselves on the side of a bus makes me wonder.... (please see http://www.indiana.edu/~iusa/initiative.php) .The school government should be actively seeking to get everyone on campus registered for health care, plain and simple. We argue that through this process they will kill two birds with one stone: publicity and health care. The fact that 22-28 percent of students are without coverage indicates a CRISIS (not to be confused with our paper, but synonymous nevertheless!). It indicates a governing body that needs a bit of direction and REAL feedback from students; not feedback every once in a while during elections, but all the time. Those in the school government have access to considerable funding, resources, and legitimacy. However, they are ultimately responsible to us, the students. The time has come to get IUSA to solve this health care crisis. The basic questions are: will they listen, and will we hold them accountable?

Steps for Action:

1. First of all, if you are reading this and don’t have health care, do something about it now! Get IU’s health insurance plan (although the deadline passed to receive it, call them at 812-856-4650 or email them at studenhc@indiana.edu and tell them your situation. PETITION this bureaucratic err; or get IUSA to extend the deadline, please see point 2). According to the IDS, for the 2008-2009 school year, you can get coverage for $1,564. Don’t feel like a looser. Apparently 9,000 other students are already on it. It makes sense. Not having coverage doesn’t.
Find more information here: http://www.indiana.edu/~uhrs/benefits/student_voluntary0809.html

2. In regards to IUSA, we recommend emailing them regarding your situation, respectfully asking that they consider representing the students to the IU administration to get rid of this application and deadline garbage regarding IU health insurance (recommend that they form an “emergency committee” to meet with administrators). When IU says you only can apply for their health plan on or before 31 January 2009 and it is already February/March, you are not only too late to apply, but being abused by the administration that denies you your right to be covered. That seems like bureaucratic bull shit, which we really try to avoid.

Email them at iusa@indiana.edu


3. For those of you itching for a bit more activism, start blogging it up, organize a quick meeting with others, and form yourselves into a student group dedicated to getting IUSA and/or IU to provide health care for all students. Big process, but together the goal will be achieved. If you need help email us at crisisatiub@gmail.com

4. Lastly, if you feel IUSA should be reassign its priorities, first find out what they are currently promoting. http://www.indiana.edu/~iusa/initiative.php . Then, do the following: help us coordinate a meeting of students to demand that every “ticket” or party in the school government adopt what WE want. Thus, this would entail a massive survey and publicity, but well worth the cause. To avoid technicalities, think of it as getting massive student support behind a few ideas (i.e. like health care for all students) that all aspiring parties or “tickets” must endorse and work into their campaign initiatives (think about it: you could get a “ticket” to endorse a campaign to move to drinking age to 18….18!)  However, too many times we just don't care.  Is there going to be another opportunity to make a difference that just floats by???

Please find the IDS article cited in this piece at the following address:
Source: http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=66260&comview=1

In the Name of Crisis: Comments in Favor of the Cause

1. It's dangerous to only read the IDS on campus: - the only student produced newspaper IUB students are exposed to on campus is the IDS, the Indiana Daily Student. I don’t like that. I do like the IDS, but not the fact that they are the ONLY student publication that seeks to inform us of campus, domestic and international events. That is not healthy, not pluralistic, and very biased. I’m sorry. I just said I do like the IDS and respect it but yes, it is biased (but so are we, but together we can better serve the IUB student community).

2. Our college campus is dying for a way to coordinate the little revolutionary inside each and everyone of us with a social movement or crazy protest on campus.

3. We are 100% (or almost) green friendly!

The New Yorkie

Random Rant: The Demise of the Human Being and the Rise of the "drunk, dumb bi*&^?" Let's hope not.

I believe we, as a society of social beings, have reached a point in which we must start worrying quite seriously about our own damn good. This is a problem that is basic, pathetic, and in a sense horribly comical. It is a problem that is much more serious than global warming in the immediate sense. It is a question of human dignity and respect. You could even stretch it to encompass human rights. Oooo now, we are talking big time.

When I enter a room at a social gathering, i.e. a party at an apartment with a healthy amount of drunk girls and text messaging, I do not expect in the least sense to be treated like a king or a VIP. Nor do I expect to have intellectually stimulating conversations- the zebras and giraffes at the watering hole of beer, vodka, and rockstar usually confirm this. I generally do not anticipate more than a superficial experience where I can mingle amongst others and observe them in a state of being that is quite contradictory to their everyday behavior.  I humbly and simply expect a simple gesture, an acknowledgement of my presence; not a sweeping gesture of love, but simply a hello, how are you, if you need anything let me know. However, nothing, absolutely nothing happens.  That in my opinion is much worse than them saying "What the hell are you doing here? Get OUT!"

To act as if another individual does not exist, to not even acknowledge in the least their presence, is not only an insult, but a violation of the basic human right to exist. And it makes me wonder why, in fact, do they do this? Why, when I enter a room, do they have an inability to interact and a tendency (better described as an obsession) to text message another friend about going to a bar to get even more intoxicated, even though there's enough booze at the apartment to last  well into the next morning? 

This is a crisis that our culture needs to amend because it is a stereotype that is increasingly painting Americans as dumb and drunk, especially when they go abroad. As a result, it is developing terrible reputations about our country internationally and the university is doing a poor job (rather, not doing anything at all) in discouraging this behavior. 

Well, how do I explain this phenomenon? This phenomenon of being truly ignored? Well, it is quite possible that these girls are suffering from sever psychological problems that prevent them from socially interacting with new acquaintances, aka PEOPLE. It seems to me that cell phones and text messages are the only way to speak to them.  Imagine that; going to a bar in five years and to approach a girl, you must send a her a text message first!  These problems worry me, especially when many of these girls have quite an emotional attachment to alcohol that only reinforces the increasingly accurate stereotypes of being drunk, dumb, and bitchy.

I came into an apartment, was not greeted by anyone, was ignored, and ignored, and ignored. It was almost as if I had some terrible physical deformity (like four eyes, or six heads or nine arms) that caused these girls to not only shy away from me, but to ignore me completely, to deny me my right to exist. For when you enter a situation like that, you truly don’t exist. You are in their world, their environment, their skewed version of reality. You are denied your existence individuals who can only "speak" by text messaging; we are truly entering into the next "silent" generation. My thoughts are only confirmed when this happens not to me, but to the vast majority.

Their case indicates, what I believe to be, a society that is not balanced emotionally, nor spiritually. It seems to me the only way these girls can express themselves is by going out (to a bar for example). It is sad that they must do so belligerently. This indicates a society that does not allow them the right to express themselves reasonably and emotionally in public, each and every day; for that reason, they desperately try to express everything held deep down inside, in one weekend, at the bar scene. I do not deny the importance of “getting crunk” every once in a while; but I reject the notion of using this as the only method of self-expression. Thus, as members of society at large, we have a responsibility to allow our friends and random acquaintances to express him or herself (reasonably) on a daily basis. This means not allowing our friends to hide their thoughts and feelings and looking like the plastic images of what television tell us to be. It means encouraging your friend to be passionate, expressive, and open to other forms of self- expression. Our society needs balance emotionally. We need your help. They (the “drunk bitches”) need your help too. Help them help themselves feel more comfortable in their own skin to express themselves reasonably in public, as opposed to belligerently (and dangerously) at the bar scene.

putyafut updeas

Action Article: A “military dictatorship” on campus? No way. Yes indeed.

Problem: Students have no say in how professors get hired and when a professor cannot teach, they often are unable to do anything. We pay far too much money for our education to let this happen.   A researcher is simply not a  "professor."  When they try to put on the facade of teaching we argue that it simply ridicules the prestige and honor behind this time honored profession. Potential for a real professor to inspire and motivate is lost- people are becoming stupider as a result.

Issue in detail: It is unfortunate that the university system in the US keeps employing people who don’t really have a desire to teach, let alone a personality. We have all experienced it. The class where the “professor” is a researcher and not a teacher. An individual who cannot articulate the material in a halfway stimulating manner. An individual who looks like he or she does not even want to be there. This raises an interesting question: Who the hell is employing our professors and staff? But more so, how? Why do we as students, have ABSOLUTELY NO SAY say in who the hell teaches us?

We complain about our classes and university (for those that doubt that we do complain, please see ratemyprofessor.com). We pay for much of the maintenance of the university and we help pay for those whom it employs (i.e. the professors). Yet we lack the inherent right to have a say in the midst of all of this mayhem.  Some professors and administrators even have the nerve to tell us that as students we are not entitled to take part in who educates us. They will claim “who the hell are you-a lousy, pot-smoking, beer drinking undergraduate sex fiend kid- to tell me what I- a big time professor with a big scary piece of paper (Ph. D)  - should do? You know nothing. I know all.  Shut up and sit down!”

The system of hiring professors at big time research universities in the US looks at the idea of a democracy (i.e. the balance of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches---roughly translated into our terms as a joint decision between the administration and students) and fucks it up the ass, arguing that the masses (the students) are not entitled to have a say because they are not responsible, not intelligent or quite simply “not enlightened.” There you have it: our system of choosing professors is analogous to the way a dictatorial, totalitarian regime makes a decision: without consulting or seeking the approval of the masses. The ultimate question is this: will this current dictatorship on campus be wiling to incorporate a bit of democracy, a bit of democracy that actually works (o hello IUSA!)?

Ideas for Action:
1. Creation of a student commission to help oust professors obviously recognized as “researchers” and not teachers. This however, must not have sole authority; it must be checked by the administration.
2. Movement to require research universities to hire not based ONLY on research, but teaching quality. This means that the idea of a student commission to evaluate a prospective professor must advocate to the university that the professor in question, can or cannot teach.
3. The recommendations we fill out at the end of the year don’t really make a big difference for us. Rarely are they read, especially when the class is over. We must enact an administrative policy that requires "professors" to hear feedback  weekly, or bi-monthly regarding the quality of teaching, informally or formally, in paper or in person. Why? So that problems can be recognized and that the professor can act to alleviate the problem while there is still hope.

Next step:
1. Coordinate via our blog the location and time of an open meeting for all students interested in putting into action these policies. Or alternatively, in offering other types of solutions. 

We bid you good night, farewell, and happy pissing off tenured professors!

Sir Appletown McDonkeye