Voices of the Valley
Reports and opinion pieces from people who live, work, or attend school in the Lehigh Valley.
Voices of the Valley: Barnaby Ruhe: Ban Fracking Locally
From Barnaby Ruhe, 5/9/2012: only local action is going to happen, folks. and probably only mothers’ actions with pots and pans. someone has to stop the imminent destruction for the children. that it is a clear violation of fundamental rights, … more
Voices of the Valley: Jenn Bell: A Growing Community
The Lafayette College Community Garden is my favorite place to be. But what makes it so special? The essence of community: I’m not just growing food for myself, but we’re all growing food for ourselves and our loved ones, together. … more
Voices of the Valley: Peter Karch: 2-pronged approach to engaging “The Masses”
Peter Karch wrote to the Alliance for Sustainable Communities-Lehigh Valley on Apr 12, 2012: I recently had the opportunity to read your 2011 Sustainable Lehigh Valley and wanted to contribute my thoughts on the subject. Actually I’ve been sitting on … more
Eva Velez: “Pillow Pots”
We’ve all done it: lined up at checkout to realize we left our reusable shopping bags in the car/house. It’s really not that bad since I use the bags to line our bathroom trash, but I’ve done it so often … more
Ted Morgan: From Occupation to Democratization
From Occupy Wall Street to Occupy (Everywhere) Together and now to Saturday’s Global Occupation protests, the protest moment has spread like wildfire. For me, this brings to mind the way a four-student sit-in at the Woolworths’ lunch counter in Greensboro, … more
What did we learn from 9/11?
By Gary Olson In the wake of the despicable atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001, I authored an opinion piece in which I argued that painful as it was to write or read, 9/11 was “blowback” for a long trail of … more
In Over My Head
I don’t know about all of you, but I have a really hard time being compassionate with myself. Somehow that stands in the way of me putting myself full force into the work that I need to do. And I … more
3 Useful Videos and 1 Polling Question
Tom Ulrich sent this on Jul 17, 2011: Please share this information! Video: “Why We Should Tax Corporations and the Wealthy” with Professor Richard D. Wolff [6 min.] Video song “War is Not The Answer” [5 min.]) Video: “Truth About … more
The Human Element
By Margaret Allen — The human element is a phrase I’ve used in exams and term papers when describing an aspect of politics. As a political science major, the human element has held a vague meaning for me, how a … more
Killing bin Laden leads to questions…
By Gary Olson — It may be too early to draw absolute lessons from the U.S. military’s assassination of Osama bin Laden, but here are a few observations and questions. First, why have 7,000 Americans died in Iraq and Afghanistan … more