OC-ACLU To Become Active

To the Editors:

We are writing to inform the student body that the Oberlin College chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (OC-ACLU) will be active next semester. Typically, the ACLU has fought attempts by the government and private corporations to take away or limit individual freedoms provided for in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
As a student organization, we plan to focus initially on the repercussions of the USA PATRIOT Act, which has wide-ranging (negative) effects over Lesbian and Gay rights, student rights, privacy, cyber-liberties, drug policy, police practices, racial equality, workplace rights, free speech, among many others.
During Winter Term, we will be inviting speakers and preparing campaigns in order to further educate the community. In consultation with the local and national ACLU, we hope to not only educate, but also to monitor the activities of the College pertaining to the rights of students.

–Matthew Vella
College sophomore
–Ann Sorich
College first-year
–Forest Fisher
College junior
–Matthew Kaplan
College first-year