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The Observer, Volume LIV, Issue 7, 10/7/22

Page 1

Retro: Founder’s Note: Celebrating the founding of The Observer (pg. 2)

the

Observer

friday, october 7, 2022 volume LIV, issue 7 estd. 1969

Cleveland residents hold protests against the Iranian Government CWRU administration has yet to release a statement condemning the Iranian Regime’s brutality Sara Khorshidi Director of Print

On the afternoon of Saturday Oct. 1, residents of Cleveland joined those around the world protesting the Iranian Regime’s brutality towards women and their subsequent crackdown on those calling for reform. Over 200 people peacefully gathered in Public Square to show their support for the Iranian people, with many holding signs that said “Woman, Life, Freedom” and “No to Islamic Republic.” Protestors participated in shouting many anti-regime chants, and several women publicly cut their hair in demonstration of their solidarity. Several individuals affiliated with Case Western Reserve University— who wished to be referred to as Alex, Ben and Cameron—were in attendance. “The main words [being chanted] were ‘death to the dictator,’” said Alex. “We wanted to show that we are supporting the people in Iran, as opposed to what the supreme leader mentioned: that we [Iranians internationally] are betrayers to the country, and we are paid to do that,” Ben added. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, publicly addressed the protests for the first time at the beginning of the week, blaming the United States, Israel and other foreign powers for inciting the “rioting.” On Sept. 13, a 22-year-old KurdishIranian woman named Mahsa Amini was arrested and detained by Iran’s morality police for not wearing the compulsory hijab in accordance with government standards. Two hours after her arrest, her family was informed that she had suffered a heart attack and a seizure and was hospitalized in Tehran, where she later slipped into a coma. A picture of Amini in the hospital, unconscious and intubated, was posted, causing an uproar online. Amini succumbed to her injuries and died on Sept. 16. According to the government, Amini’s cause of death was due to a sudden “heart problem” caused by a history

On Oct. 1, a large crowd holding signs with anti-regime slogans gathered in Public Square to protest the violence of the Iranian government. Courtesy of News 5 Cleveland of heart disease and a previous operation on her brain. However, the Amini family states that she had no such prior health conditions. In addition, the government was caught attempting to forge documents stating that Amini had heart problems prior to her arrest. On Sept. 21, the news outlet Iran International obtained CT scans of Amini’s brain, clearly depicting that she had endured a severe skull fracture, hemorrhages and edema prior to her death. Just hours after she passed, crowds had already begun to form outside the hospital where she was held, and the slew of protests and demonstrations have only grown from there. At least 80 protests, spread throughout all 31 provinces of Iran, have erupted as a result of

Amini’s death, along with many more worldwide. Many of these protests include anti-regime chants, women publicly cutting their hair, women burning their hijabs in the street and protestors attacking symbols and structures of the state. With a vast history of violence, the Iranian police have taken to shooting automatic rifles to break up protests. At least 92 protestors have been killed since the beginning of these demonstrations. Videos have been posted across social media depicting instances of human rights violations committed by the Iranian police, with many instances of brutality documented against protestors. Violent military blowback is especially strong in the Kordestan province and the northeast of Iraq—regions

where Amini and many other Iranian Kurds originate—with reports of Iranian drones bombing these regions in the days following the start of these uprisings. Internet and telecommunications services have been severely disrupted all over the country, including a neartotal internet blackout in Kordestan, all in an effort to prevent the spread of further protests. This is far from the first large-scale protest to come out of Iran, but most of these protests do not have the universal appeal that this one does. This is a rare occasion in which the majority of Iranians are unanimous in their disdain for the regime. Continued on pg. 6

The Night Link: CWRU’s new nighttime shuttle Zachary Tressler Staff Writer When students returned to Case Western Reserve University and installed the new Spartan Ride app, many noticed the “Evening North” shuttle was no longer on the shuttle tracker. It has disappeared, along with the “Evening South,” a shuttle that ran from Fribley Commons into the Coventry and Cedar Fairmount neighborhoods. Instead, the “Night Link” route appeared. Undergraduate Student Government (USG) President Ananya Hari said that the Night Link is part of USG’s plan to “make the shuttles more reliable” with “increased allocations to transportation systems made last year.” Not a lot was known about the Night Link when it first appeared on the Spartan Ride app. The bus route follows the path of the daytime GreenLink—affec-

tionately known as the Greenie—with stops at Fribley Commons, One to One Fitness Center, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Mather House, the North Residential Village Starbucks, Clarke Tower/STJ and the Ugly Statue. These stops occur at the same tall green bus stops of the daytime GreenLink, making them easy to locate. “The plan was to have one stop in the [Case] Quad and one in the Mather Quad and all the residential stops,” Hari said. This means that the Night Link does not have as many stops in the academic areas as the normal GreenLink, though it has more stops in residential areas. The need for the Night Link came out of the unreliability of the KSL Express. “The KSL Express [is] ineffective. We wanted an effective way

to transport students at night,” Hari elaborated. The new Night Link is continuously running, rather than waiting at each stop for students to board—a problem of the KSL Express. Often, to the chagrin of students waiting at Kelvin Smith Library (KSL), the KSL Express buses will not move from Juniper or Murray Hill Road until a student boards the bus, leading to a massive wait time for students waiting at KSL or at the other end of the line. In contrast, the Night Link is meant to be a reliable alternative for students who live and work across campus. Students do not have to rely on the whims of a peer getting on a bus for their shuttle’s schedule. “This hopefully reduces the load on the Safe Rides and makes them have shorter waits,” Hari explained.

For the time being, members of the CWRU community have two choices—either the KSL Express or the Night Link—to get them to and from either end of campus. The Night Link has two buses running on it, with one loop taking between 26 to 28 minutes. The KSL Express, in comparison, is scheduled to arrive every 12 to 17 minutes. The Night Link is one in a bevy of changes made to the shuttle system at CWRU. For example, all shuttles now have QR codes which allow riders to deliver real-time feedback to SP Plus (Standard Parking), the shuttle operators on campus. In addition, the capacity of each bus is noted on the Spartan Ride app. Students can also call or text a new phone number, 216-368-6604, with their complaints about the system.


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