Thanks to AmnestyI am writing to tell the true story of the struggle for human rights that the Amnesty International UR Chapter has courageously supported. I am a Falun Gong practitioner. Falun Gong is a practice of meditation and exercises, with teachings based on the universal principle of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.” Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, and quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, now being practiced in more than 50 countries. Although initially favored by the Chinese government, as Falun Gong began to touch the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party, a fearful former President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999. Outside China, the Communists also continue to slander Falun Gong, just as that government lied about and tried to cover up SARS. My friend, Dr. Charles Li, is a U.S. citizen and lives in Menlo Park, California. He immigrated to the United States in the early 1990s and soon began exporting Chinese traditional medicine. Charles also practices Falun Gong. While visiting his parents in China, he got arrested on bogus charges and then sentenced to three years.The UR student Chapter of Amnesty International held a “Human Rights Week” from March 31, 2003 to April 5, 2003 with a series of events. They helped us organize a public seminar on the Persecution of Falun Gong in China. Throughout the week, they also helped collecting signatures on petition forms for rescuing Charles. The Chapter President, Paul Linczak, and all student members, including Nat Powell, have been truly supportive in the campaign to stop human rights violations and free Charles, and I wish to thank them publicly.-Li-Shaun huang Aassistant Professordepartment of biostatistics and computational biologyuniversity of rochester medical centerWeak cartoon cropSince this so-called “newspaper” has nothing to offer other than the occasional petty non-issue, then allow me to present another item for debate. Why are there so many un-funny comics in the Comics section of the CT? It embarrasses not only the authors, but also the Campus Times and the university as people not affiliated with UR may come across these “things” that I can no longer call comics. If it’s not funny, then why bother making them or wasting paper with them in the first place? As the author of one of the most successful CT comics – Who Cares? – and a self-proclaimed expert in the area of amateur college newspaper comics, I find this dearth of comic talent deplorable. Have the increases in SAT scores and grade-point averages come at such a high cost? Dare I say that the current lame comics are merely a symptom of a larger problem – a lame student population? I wait to be proven incorrect.-Byron Au-Young Class of ’00
