The default key alt- wto copy, and ctrl- yto insert. Is there a way to reassign this to ctrl- cfor copying and ctrl- vfor pasting?
Yes. Go to Settings → Keyboard. There you will find the Command Window keybindings and Editor / Debugger keys. Most likely, they are set to "Emacs" for you - you must change them to "Windows" in order to copy and paste using Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V, respectively.
Source: http://blogs.mathworks.com/community/2007/05/11/setting-up-keybindings-for-the-command-window-and-editor/