A rebuttal to “Education is not a right,” Hunter Envoy Issue # 7 Christina Chaise Contributing Writer CUNY used to be free. Since its founding in 1847, CUNY was free during recessions, the Great Depression, and two World Wars. In 1969, Blacks and Latinos successfully occupied City College to demand access to a white-populated CUNY with a curriculum that included ethnic studies. Soon after, students of color were the predominant population. In 1975, a tuition was imposed, placing another...

Read more »

Hunter College cafeteria renovation Cynthia Perez Staff Writer The new extension to the cafeteria on third-floor bridge sits behind big glass windowpanes. It houses two flat screen televisions and it is much brighter than before. Visually, I would say it is now one of the more pretty and vibrant places to go hang out and eat at Hunter. Economically, I say we as students are at a loss and Hunter is running wild with our money. If it ain’t...

Read more »

A Sardonic and Humorous Take on the Smoking Ban  Julian Cosma Contributor “Puritanism – the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”- H.L. Mencken The history of those who know not only what is best for themselves, but what is best for you, me, your brother etc., is a story only slightly less sordid than it is boring. Now, let me say that I on occasion smoke, or perhaps it would be a bit truer to say that...

Read more »

Should the Sale of Sexual Services Be Illegal?  Salim Westvind Opinion Editor The question of whether or not the sale of sexual services is ethical is an age-old issue. Most modern societies hold that it is not and, with few exceptions, have made it illegal. The word most commonly used to describe these transactions, “prostitution,” carries further negative connotations—Merriam Webster includes “debasement,” or the “ in status, esteem, quality, character,” in the word’s definition. However, despite the status quo,...

Read more »

A plea for a shift in how we think about animals Lauren Swaddel Contributing Writer I occasionally read the Envoy because they typically have good articles about what is going on at Hunter and on the thoughts and ideas of my peers. The article on the West Hollywood fur ban from the Oct. 5th-18th issue struck me as unusual, because never have I been so provoked reading an Envoy article. I am a vegan—it was my New Year’s resolution...

Read more »

Attacks on tuition hikes are misguided SALIM WESTVIND Opinion Editor I am proud to go to Hunter College. Even though sometimes I feel like I’m one of the only students here that feels that way, I am. I’m proud to be getting what I feel is an excellent undergraduate education, equal in quality to that available at NYU—but at one-tenth of the tuition. Certainly, all that tuition money spent at NYU shows up in places like their shining all-you-can eat...

Read more »

Better adjunct rights a part of better education JENNIFER DE JESUS Staff Writer Despite incessant tuition hikes, it seems Hunter students are receiving less and less for their money: less access to computer labs, less opportunity for individualized attention from teachers, and ultimately, a lesser quality of education. Full-time professors at Hunter teach three to four classes a semester, and earn an average salary of $50,000 with benefits. Adjuncts, on the other hand, have an average salary of $24,000...

Read more »

Opportunities for change in the Occupy Movement and abroad ALEXANDRA HEIDLER Contributing Writer Our country stands heated and ready to organize. Protestors across the nation are organizing and engaging in the Occupy movement to fight what they view as unfair financial, educational, and political structures, yet many people still claim that today’s protests are ineffective and will not lead to change. But our history says otherwise. Non-violent demonstrations from our nation’s past, including the Civil Rights movement, seem to say...

Read more »

Are the Wall Street protests misguided? SEAN MESSINA Staff Writer Today, we often hear that Wall Street’s greed has caused our current crisis, that money is the root of all evil. But money is only a way of storing value. It’s used to ease and encourage material exchanges that would otherwise be difficult. A traditional barter-and-trade system would require one to carry around every possible object one’s potential trading partner might want so as to have an appropriate payment....

Read more »

A call for change in New York State Salim Westvind—Opinion Editor  In New York State, it’s a little box near the top of the Department of Motor Vehicles’ driver license application form MV-44. “Sign below,” the box reads, to “ to donate all of your organs and tissues for transplantation, research or both.” According to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) statistics, there are currently more than 70,000 active candidates waiting for organ transplants in the United States. “Active”...

Read more »

What it means (or doesn’t mean) for you Eugene Ostrovskiy—Staff Writer “Yes we can” has now become “We can’t wait.” President Obama recently bypassed Congress with an executive order intended to help college students pay off their student loans. This is in response to protests from Occupy Wall Street and from We The People, an online petition service offered by the White House, which asked the administration to forgive student loan debt. The White House response falls short of...

Read more »

A student speaks out about profiling Luthfun Nahar—Contributing Writer As reported by the Associated Press and condemned by Hunter College chapter of the Professional Staff Congress, the NYPD is performing surveillance on Muslim students. This should be an alarming call for all CUNY students and professors, Muslim or not, to speak out against racism. The New York Police Department has been infiltrating Muslim organizations and communities in the name of national security. CUNY campuses have been prime targets, and...

Read more »

Is the protest on Wall Street only a reflection of who can afford to speak out? Alexandra Heidler – Contributing Writer If the protesters at Occupy Wall Street are truly champions of the 99%, why do most of the movement’s voices and power seem to be coming from only one ethnic group? It seems that most of the people involved with the Occupy Wall Street movement are young and white. Even here, in “the world’s melting pot,” a heavy...

Read more »