Following in the footsteps of the people in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, Syrians have taken to the streets to voice their opinions and advocate change.

Eyewitnesses say peaceful protests are being squashed by anything from live ammunition, to nail bombs, to fighter jets used by the Syrian army and the security forces. Opposition activists and organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have put the death toll anywhere from 3,000-5,000, including hundreds of women and children.

The violence has prompted many western nations including the United States and United Kingdom to call on President Assad to step down.

While the Obama administration has called on Assad to step aside, the international community is having difficulties deciding on action.

“The international community is not in consensus,” said Mona DeBaz, John Carroll professor of Middle East politics, “The U.N. is having trouble agreeing upon condemnation and sanctions against the regime, let alone significant action. With China and Russia (two of Syria’s biggest allies) having veto power, it is tough to see any serious resolution being passed that would hurt the regime. The sovereignty of the regime must be kept in mind as well.”

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian army soldiers carry the coffins of their comrades who were killed in recent violence in the country, during their funeral procession at the military hospital in Homs, Syria, on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011. A Syrian rights group says government troops have retaken most of a rebellious central town after five days of intense fighting with army defectors who sided with protesters. (AP Photo/SANA)

Despite the disagreement among the international community, the U.S and European Union have imposed sanctions on the oil sector and freezing assets of top Syrian government officials.

As the violence continues, the main question amongst the opposition has become whether or not to take up arms.

Several members of the Syrian army have already defected and started the Free Syrian Army.

Yet, despite their best efforts, the Syrian army has proved to be too strong for the defectors, according to several activists.

In spite of the ongoing violence in the country, the Syrian government has remained defiant.

“These [reports] are blatant lies. This is the problem we are facing today in Syria: a massive campaign of disinformation and lies,” said Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States.

The Assad regime has put blame on religious extremists and armed groups who seek to destabilize Syria.

Syrian troops arrested more than 3,000 people in the past week in the town of Rastan, which has seen the much of the violence of the uprising recently, The Associated Press said Monday.

Over the past week, the military fought hundreds of the Free Syrian Army who sided with anti-Assad protesters in Rastan. The fighting demonstrated the increasingly militarized nature of the uprising and heightened fears that Syria may be sliding toward civil war, according to The Associated Press.

The crackdown has continued with many deaths occurring amongst both anti-government protesters and pro-government citizens, however the question remains: What is the future of the Assad regime?

“In the beginning, they were not calling for the fall of the regime, they were asking for freedom and general reform,” DeBaz said. “They [the government] messed up. The brutality has caused Syrians to ask for the fall of the regime. Can Assad implement enough reforms to stay in power bearing in mind the violence? Only time will tell.”

Anti-Syrian government protesters shout slogans as they protest after Friday prayers in Damascus, Syria, on March 25. (AP)

The unprecedented wave of protests in Syria have violently continued and spread across the country for a second week.

Syria’s importance to the Middle East is vital. They are supporters of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, all condemned by the United States. They are still openly at war with Israel, although conflict has not been seen between the two in decades, and constantly use anti-Israeli rhetoric, which pleases the citizens of Syria.

The protests, which began March 15 as a peaceful call for reforms and the release of political prisoners in several cities, towns and villages in the Arab nation, have turned into a violent struggle between anti-government demonstrators and pro-government security forces. Government officials put the death toll in the southern city of Daraa at around 60.

However, many human rights groups have estimated a death toll of over 100 following clashes, which included tear gas, snipers shooting at protesters from rooftops and a raid of a mosque, which also served as a shelter and hospital after government personnel blocked entry to the National Hospital in Daraa.

The largest, and most violent, protests have been in Daraa and the western port city of Latakia. Residents of Daraa have vehemently protested for the release of 15 children who were arrested and tortured for spray painting an anti-government slogan on a wall.

Along with the release of political prisoners, cities across Syria have also called on President Bashar al-Assad to end Emergency Law, which has been in place since the Ba’ath Party takeover in 1963.

Emergency Law strips citizens of their constitutional rights, bans protests, and allows the people to be arrested and tortured without warrant and charged with petty crimes such as “weakening country morale.”

The government did announce on Sunday that they would be ending Emergency Law, and replacing it with an “anti-terrorism law.”

Despite this concession, no timetable was given as to when this cancellation of Emergency Law would take place. Along with the end of Emergency Law, the government has met some of the protesters’ demands and released several political prisoners. With the protests continuing, the government made another concession: the resignation of the Syrian cabinet. However, while this may seem like a major development, many pro-reformers are not impressed.

“It means nothing. They have little influence anyways. People forgot we even had a cabinet – it’s all for show,” said a Syrian expatriate living in Cleveland, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons.

With their demands not met, the protesters have kept to the streets. The western port city of Latakia held solidarity marches in support of the people in Daraa. Much like Daraa, protesters in Latakia were met with an iron fist; snipers on roofs, water canons, knives, live ammunition, tear gas, and large-scale arrests.

“We’ve gone to sleep to the sound of gunfire and sirens the past few days,” said a 20-year-old university student and Latakia resident who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

“There was a major gunfight in my neighborhood a couple days ago, and anyone who leaves the house is being shot at from roofs,” she said.

What distinguishes Latakia from many cities in Syria is the number of religious minorities in the area. There are a large number of Christians and Alawites – a sect of Shia Islam – among the Sunni majority. President Assad and many members of the army and government themselves are Alawites.

“People think that protests in this city are religiously oriented. It has nothing to do with that. My Alawite friends are protesting just as much as my Sunni friends. I knew an Alawite that was shot in the head by a sniper on Saturday,” said Adel, a pharmacy student at Tishreen University in Latakia, who only gave his first name, also out of safety concerns.

“Whether Alawite, Christian, or Sunni, we are all together. We are all Syrians,” he said.

With journalists not granted visas to cover the unfolding events, people outside Syria have taken to YouTube to formulate their opinion of the unfolding events. People inside Syria have formulated their opinions based on the coverage by the government-run Syrian News Agency, SANA.

“Don’t believe what the foreign news stations are saying. It’s wrong. Watch the Syrian channels, they will tell you the truth. The people causing all of this trouble are foreign terrorists. They have a plan to bring down Syria,” said Muhammad, a banker from Damascus, who also only gave his first name out of safety concerns.

These are all questions that are presented in the play “Household Tales,” a comedy written by local playwright Jonathan Wilhelm, and directed by Karen Gygli of the Tim Russert Department of Communication and Theatre Arts. The play premiered this past weekend in Kulas Auditorium

The cast of Johnathan Bolton, Brendan Hancock, Ali Karolczak, Lisa Reichert, Cara Stamp and Emma Taylor played multiple roles while achieving the humor that was intended.

In the play, four separate families are presented. Giles (Bolton) takes his fiancée Jordan (Taylor) to meet with each family. Each family is different socially and economically, and each has its own significant secrets which leave the audience wondering what is going to happen next.

This play left the audience laughing for the majority of the scenes.

Hancock plays the father in three of the families presented. The first family is a stereotypical 1950s family, and he looked the part. 

The second family is a typical “hillbilly” family, and Hancock plays a rather comical alcoholic. The disoriented state was humorous, and was done effectively both with wardrobe, (a shirt that was not tucked in and a poor effort at a tie) and his hillbilly accent.

The third family is a liberal family consisting of two college professors. Hancock, one of the professors, was able to switch from alcoholic to intellectual fairly easy. All in all, his performance was exuberant and funny. 

Hancock was able to adjust to his different roles extremely well. In one scene he is a helpful husband, in the next he is drunk and reliant on his booze, and then he adjusts to become a liberal, well-educated professor. His ability to adjust was impressive.

The set allowed for a very homey atmosphere, as the seating was limited, as all the of audience members were required to sit on stage.

The set was the same throughout, however, the parts were moved around to create different settings for each scene and family. 

The same movable parts depicted a kitchen in one scene, a living room in the second, a dining room in the third, and a sitting area in the fourth.

The biggest problem however, was that it was often difficult to hear the actors. If dialogue was taking place on the other side of the stage, it was extremely difficult to hear.

Another problem with the play was the ending. 

The final scene ended abruptly and seemed to be rather unrelated to the rest of the play. While I left the first three scenes yearning for more, I left Kulas Auditorium a bit confused.

The play’s biggest point, and the theme of “Household Tales,” was family relationships and family secrets. Every family has some deep, dark secrets and it takes some digging to find out the truth.  

It takes a lie or twisting of truths to make a story sound a lot better than it actually is, but being honest with one another is more important. In each scene of the play, once the honest truth came out, the drama peaked.

Overall, “Household Tales” was a success. It portrayed its message of the importance of family relationships fairly well. 

The acting was good, the set was simple yet effective, and most importantly, there were plenty of laughs. 

However, the sound troubles and the very questionable ending left me craving a better resolution.

Those intangibles:  heart, hustle and leadership, can be used to describe John Carroll University senior Caitlin Sureck and help to explain why the starting forward on the women’s basketball team has had such an illustrious career.

Her coach, who sees Sureck’s hard work on a daily basis, has nothing but high praise for the Walsh Jesuit graduate.

“Caitlin has a very strong presence and great heart,” said head coach Kristie Maravalli. “She has been one of the best, if not the best, team leaders that we’ve had. Caitlin does everything well and she’s been a blessing [to coach].”

On the laundry list of things that Sureck does well is playing in the low post, averaging 13.8 points, and a team-high eight rebounds per game despite drawing extra attention from the opposition’s post players.

And while those numbers are great, she really stands out in blocked shots, with her name being etched into the top spot on the all-time list in that category. That will happen when you average just a hair under 2.4 blocks per game your senior year.

“It was pretty cool,” Sureck said of the record. “In high school I never really blocked shots. I really don’t know where it came from, but it’s my biggest accomplishment here at John Carroll so far.”

Sureck said it’s her biggest accomplishment at the University, and that means something coming from a student-athlete with the resume she has.

Sureck is an exercise science/physical therapy major and on the  Dean’s List.

On top of that, she has worked at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital and is a Eucharistic minister. In the fall, she works as an athletic trainer for the football team.

Sometimes, out of necessity, Sureck serves that role in the winter, too.

“When we have a 6 a.m. practice, it’s too early for the trainers, so I tape my teammates’ ankles,” said Sureck.

To some that may sound tedious, but Sureck laughs and explains why she does it.

“We do everything together,” she said of her teammates. “They’re like my family.”

Taping ankles, while just a small gesture, is one of the “little things” Sureck does to help out her team any way that she can.

“She is always organizing team activities off the court,” coach Maravalli said of the senior forward. “Not even just this year, but for all four of her years. She’s a great teammate.”

After this season, Sureck hopes to enroll in graduate school next year to pursue a career in physical therapy.

Her team will clearly miss her. It’s tough to replace almost 14 points and eight rebounds a game.

It might be even tougher to find someone that is willing to tape those ankles, too.