Dear Observer Staff,

I appreciate greatly the time that your staff took to cover the events of CARE week, including the Nurture through Nature art exhibit and lecture.

However, I did want to point out an important mistake in the reporting on my lecture that week. The author of the article states, “She (McCoy) talked of recent trips to India and Nicaragua where she studied the natural environment and worked with native women to teach them how to sustain the land.”

In fact, the Intersections program to Nicaragua is primarily an experience in which BC faculty and staff go in order to learn from the people whom we meet in Nicaragua. In my own experience, the encounter with the women of FEM taught me a great deal about the empowerment of women, especially with respect to their own connections between sustainability and femininity. My lecture was intended to communicate some ideas I had learned from them, not anything I taught to them.

I point it out especially because there is still a cultural tendency of North Americans to privilege their knowledge over that of Central and South Americans. With respect to the topic of my lecture, the opposite is true: we as Northerners learned much more from them than I imagine that they learned from us. I am grateful to FEM for their hospitality and wisdom.

Warm best,
Prof Marina McCoy
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Boston College
mccoyma@bc.edu

The Observer appreciates letters to the editor.  They can be sent to bcobserver@gmail.com.

Recently, The Observer has received an onslaught of criticism from individuals who claim that by calling Father Robert Drinan, S.J. “pro-abortion” as opposed to “pro-choice” in the headline of our lead article on Tuesday, February 22, we chose sensationalism over accuracy.

This is could not be further from the truth. Indeed, Drinan is notoriously remembered for publically supporting abortion legislation not only during his tenure in Congress but also in his writings published while he taught at Georgetown University Law Center from 1981 to 2007. Drinan’s politics never failed to support the legality of abortion, and he published extensively on the subject.

In The Catholic Review, Cardinal John O’Connor wrote to Drinan, “You could have raised your voice for life; you raised it for death. Hardly the role of a lawyer. Surely not the role of a priest.”

The Observer and Catholics around the world could not agree more with this statement. As a politician and a public figure, Drinan had the opportunity to set a moral example regarding the controversy of abortion. What is the Catholic Church if not a beacon of morality? What are its clergy if not the embodiment of the values of the Church?

Therefore, I, Megan K. Rauch, editor-in-chief of The Observer at Boston College, will not apologize for or retract the headline and article calling Father Drinan out on his pro-abortion stance and specifically labeling him as such.

2010: Observer Photos

Happy New Year! 2010 was an exciting year for The Observer (CN Paper of the Year) and we’re even more excited about 2011!

Below are the dates for the six new issues we will be publishing during the Spring 2011 semester!

• January 25^th,
• February 8^th,
• February 22^nd,
• March 22^nd,
• April 5^th,
• April 20^th

The staff at The Observer would like to wish its readers a Merry Christmas! We look forward to publishing again next semester!

There is a website dedicated to baby animals. Check it out here!

The Observer is one of many clubs set up today in Boston College’s Dustbowl for Student Activities Day.  Stop by and say hi!  We’re located near McElroy and Carney!

Our first meeting will be Monday 9/13/2010 at 8:00pm in Carney (we’ll email you the details!).  If you didn’t sign up for our email  list, send us a message here: Sign Up Now!

This summer I had the opportunity to work at The National Review in New York City as the NRO Development Intern.  The internship was a great experience because it gave me the opportunity to not only improve my web development skills but also to meet and get to know the amazing writers and staff at The National Review.

The internship consisted of coding new components for the NR website with PHP, jQuery, and Ajax on a Drupal framework.  The internship challenged me to learn new web development techniques and apply them in a real-world environment.

I’ve never spent an extended period of time in NYC, so being there for the summer was exciting.  I lived near Union Square and spent most of my weekends kayaking on the rivers and harbor around Manhattan.

I am very grateful to have been able to work at NR and meet the great editors, writers, and staff of the nation’s top conservative magazine.  It is an experience that has played an important role in my college education and is one that I will never forget.

A counseling student at Augusta State University (ASU) unjustly faces expulsion for expressing her religious beliefs. According to a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), student Jennifer Keeton will face expulsion for expressing her religious beliefs regarding homosexuals and transgendered people. She will be expelled unless she completes a “remediation plan,” which would require her to expose herself to homosexual culture and write reflection papers in response.

To justify its actions, ASU cites the “American Counseling Association Code of Ethics,” which prohibits counselors from discriminating against clients based on their sexual orientation. At issue here is not the code itself, but rather that ASU is applying it in a grossly unconstitutional manner. Keeton did not discriminate against a client. All Keaton did was express her religious beliefs regarding homosexuality, an act entirely protected by the first amendment.

We applaud the ADF for taking on this case. ASU, as a government agency, cannot possibly justify using the Code of Ethics to deny someone’s right to free speech. Considering no act of discrimination has taken place, the only reason ASU punished Keaton is because she expressed beliefs that officials found politically incorrect.

If ASU challenges the ADF’s lawsuit in court, we expect them to lose handily. ASU would be well-advised to follow the University of Illinois and immediately reverse its unconstitutional punishment. Any other action or inaction is detrimental to constitutional democracy and religious liberty.

The University of Illinois has wrongly fired Dr. Kenneth Howell for sending an email to his class explaining why homosexual acts are not permitted under Catholic doctrine,  in a class about – wait for it – Catholicism! Apparently, explaining and agreeing with the Church’s position on homosexuality, “violate[s] university standards of inclusivity,” according to an associate dean at Illinois.

This case, which has been rightfully taken up by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, the Alliance Defense Fund, and others, is clear-cut. A public university cannot fire a professor for exercising his rights to academic freedom and free speech. Dr. Howell, as a professor, should be free to choose examples to explain tenets of Catholicism to his class. While Illinois could use the quality of Dr. Howell’s teaching as grounds to fire him, an adjunct professor, the school did not address this issue in his firing. Such an argument would be especially dubious because Dr. Howell has won four teaching awards during his tenure at Illinois. Illinois obviously chose to fire him for expressing politically incorrect beliefs.

Even if Dr. Howell’s email was not related to his class, Illinois still could not fire him. As a public university, Illinois is bound by the first amendment and thus cannot fire a professor for expressing his religious beliefs. The first amendment confers Dr. Howell with the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. These rights entitle Dr. Howell to email his class and express his views. Even though critics have come up with fancy “arguments” claiming that Dr. Howell’s “preaching” is not protected, even “preaching” is a legitimate exercise of one’s first amendment rights.

As if the case against Illinois could not be any worse, Dr. Howell was fired without formal accusations being brought against him nor any hearing in which he could defend himself. Such an action violates Dr. Howell’s due process rights under the fifth and fourteenth amendments.

The University of Illinois would be wise to spare itself further humiliation in the court of public opinion and the court of law. It should therefore reinstate Dr. Howell immediately with back pay, a full apology, and a stated commitment to academic freedom, the first amendment, and due process.

Elise Anderson, deputy managing editor, is currently working for the Republican National Committee as an Eisenhower Intern. By working in the communications/press office, Elise is putting her journalism and writing skills to good use this summer.

Elise adds the following comment:

“The program has been a great experience so far and every Wednesday we have a guest speaker come talk to us and answer any questions we may have; speakers have included Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona and Representative Aaron Schock of Illinois. Hearing their stories and learning from their experiences in Washington and elsewhere have been incredibly unique to the ways I have spent my past summers, so I am trying to make the most of the remaining time I have in the program. I am loving my time in DC, but I am eager to get back to Boston and start working on The Observer!”