Newspapers / North Carolina Wesleyan University … / Dec. 2, 2005, edition 1 / Page 2
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North Carolina Wesleyan CoUege Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804 OPINION What By Ron Rtzwater Decree EdKor-at-Large Well, there’s finally something to complain about other than war and politics, and as luck would have it, it’s something that in one way or another has been cramping my butt for years. What could it be. you ask? PETA. That’s ri^t, the only organization, which is more interested in the preserv atioo of every living species on the planet than the one that won the evolutionar\' race and holds the top spot of the food chain. (For those PCTA readers; tha wxxikl be HUMA.NS) The most recent antic of the anti-humans is an attack on the family. No, I am not making this up G don’t think I could). How are they doing this, you ask? Well, let me tell ya’. They are handing out comic books to kids. Not just any comic book, this is a ver\' special one. The title is Your Daddy Kills Animals. I’ll wait a minute and let that sink in. Your Daddy Kills Animals. The publication’s cover is adorned with a picture of a psychotic-looking middle-aged white guy in a fishing hai, sneering and drooling. The Decree since I960 '*of. by. and for the WesUyan community. ” St^ff Jessica Bowen Janay Carpenter Graig Cherry Anthony DeGregorio Matthew Esterline Anthony Hawkins-Tobias Jessica Jones Trevor Seibert Richard Smith Christine Werfelman Shannon Williams Stajf Photographer Evelyn Hunter Editor-at-Large Ron Fitzwater Advisor Dr. William Grattan 171 Braswell Phone: 985-5336 Copyright Policy The Decree holds the copyright of every article and graphic for one-time and future publication at the discretion of the editorial hoard. Submission implies agreement with this policy. Editorial Statement Commentary/opinion and letters to the editor represent the individual author’s views, and not necessarily those of North Carolina Wesleyan College, die Decree staff or the Decree advisor. Submissions To suggest an article, or submit an opinion piece or letter to the editor, send an email attachment (Microsoft Word) to WJGrattan@ncwc.edtL Note that the Decree staff checks all submissions for accuracy and edits in accordance with acceptable grammar and punctuation as well as ,\P Stvle. Corrections The Decree corrects mistakes of substance. If you would like to request a correction, send an email to WJGrattan@ncwc.edu. or call 985-5336 as he rips the guts out of a fish that is, get this, screaming. But wait, it gets better. Inside, they tell how daddies torture and kill these poor (intelligent?) creamres. which aren’t smart enough not to swallow a shiny sharpened piece of steel. Daddies do this simply to satisfy their ovra bestial lust for murder. PETA informs its target audience—chUdren—that fish are only the beginning of dadd> ’s killing spree, and that they better w atch out for their doggies and kitries because they’re next for the grill, .^gain. I w ant to stress that I am not making this up or exaggerating. This is really happening. The bot tom Une is that if you fish, you are a murderer. (Remember that it will be important later). Now, I don’t personally fish. I did when I was a kid. but honestly at this point in my life, it’s just too much trouble. So I’m glad somebodv’ else is doing it Other wise I w ouldn't get to eat them. I love me some fish sticks. To defend themselves for tiiis attack on the family, PETA is saving the intent was to get kids to eat less fish because, after scrutiny of available data, it has been proven that daily consumption of fish widi high doses of mercmy will cause neurological damage relating to cognitive thought. Okay, let me get this right Daily ingestion of small doses of mercury can give you brain damage. No Kidding? If they assume anyone thinks it’s healthy to consume mercury every day, then maybe PETA people need to put down the sahnon* and buy some Ginkgo. By the way, don’t tell the dolphins. Of course I don’t know anyone who eats fish on a daily basis, unless maybe they’re of Inuit culture. I guess PETA thinks the Inuit people are dumber than a box of hammers and need to eat some vegetables. Of course they will have to tunnel through the permafnist to plant, and the growing season is short, but, hey, do you want to raise a garden in the arctic or eat fish and be smpid. Wait? Never mind. You get the idea, unless you’re a regular fish eater. All right, let’s put the health issues on hold a minute and return to the moral issue of catching fish. PETA says if you kill fish, you’re a murderer. So they’re saying tiiat kilhng a fish is on par with killing a person. If you follow this logic, then Jesus Christ and most, if not all, of his disciples were murderers. Hey, I didn’t create the rule. PETA did. Send them the nasty e-mails for a change. Finally, PETA needs to remember that humans are the top of the evolutionary food chain, for now anyway. We worked very hard as a species to climb to the top, and that means that we can eat every freakin’ thing on this planet, whether it’s good for us or not Thumbs, you know? So, let’s review: 1. Daddies who fish or—and this is only a LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Decree Reader Disagrees On Cindy Sheehan I write in response to the November lOth opinion column entitied “Of Iraq and Cindy Sheehan.” We are in the midst of a divisive w ar in which attitudes are polarized and debate heated, but in this tense enviroimient it is more important than ever to keep a constitutional perspective on the proper role of a citizen in wartime. Although the actions of Cindy Sheehan make some people angry, I would respectfully suggest that she is not "pissing on her son’s memorv” because she is publicly protesting tiie war. On the contrary-, her protest embodies the prirKiples of democracy and hu man rights enshrined in the (Constitution of the United States - the document militarv’ recruits swear to defend when they join the service. Most Americans understand this. Accord ing to an Aupst 2005 AP-Ipsos poll, 90% of Americans support die right to protest the Iraq War, even while hostilities are ongoing and US soldiere are under fire. .‘Americans realize tiiat the Constitution does not limit political expression to the ballot box. and that it is not in accordance with the spirit of tiie Bill of Rights for opponents of the war to “shut up about it” To equate lawful, peaceful antiwar protest with spitting on returning Vietnam veterans, as the author of the opinion piece does, is ludicrous. But what is truly d^gerous about this worldview is that it de-legitimizes some political opinions and enshrines others as unassailable. The author of the opinion piece argues that Cmdy Sheehan’s son died because he was “standing up for people who could not stand up for themselves.” That is a political opinion, not a fact There are alternate theories about the causes and purposes of our Iraq War. But if people who voice alternatives are shouted down and branded as unpatriotic, then we are stifling dissent and mandating that only “acceptable” opinions be voiced in public. That is not the American way. Even if we disagree with Cindy Sheehan, let us not question her siiKerity or try to instruct her on the proper way to grieve her loss. Cindy Sheehan is not “inconsequential to U.S. foreign policy,” although tiie Bush administration would like to make her so. All the fanulies and loved ones of those who have lost their fives in this w ar should be of vital concern to our pohcymakers. who would ratiier hide the human costs of this war and dismiss dissenters as disloyal. As for Army Specialist Casey A. Sheehan, let us all agree that his deatii was tragic and that the democracy he died serv'ing is strong enough to endure criticism and protest. —Jonathan Sarris (Dr. Sarris teaches American history at NC Wesleyan) NCWC Cafeteria Criticized While attending NCWC, I have encoim- tered problems with the cafeteria. The issues include hours of operation, food choices, and space. The first problem is the time the cafeteria closes for dinner. Students do not have enough time to eat. The cafeteria opens at 5 p.m. and closes at 7. This is mainly a problem for athletes who practice every day. I play football here at NCWC, and our practices begin at 4 p.m. and, for most of tiie season, last untO 6:30. That gives us 30 minutes to change clothes and get to the cafeteria before 7, or we don’t eat. It takes about five to ten minutes to get to the cafeteria from the field house. If we make it, we have to rush and eat before tiiey start cleaning up. Some people eat and some people don’t get a chance. I think the cafeteria should be open for an extra hour and a half. This way, it gives tiie atiiletes tiie time to get a shower, eat, and get where we need to be. The second problem is the choice of food. When the athletes do get a chance to eat, the food selection is horrible. The only items really worth eating are a burger and fries and pizza, and you get tired of eating that every day. This results in students having to buy groceries because tiiey have notiiing to eat in tiie cafeteria. The average college smdent can’t afford to buy groceries every week. I think we should have more of a selection. The cafeteria staff should find out what students like and serve better food. This transition will take a littie more money, but if students eat more in tiie cafeteria tiiis will generate more revenue. The final problem is limited space. Every day tiiere is a rush around dinner time, and it’s hard to find somewhere to sit with such a crowded space. This issue can be solved by adding on to the cafeteria. This will take more money, but it might attract more students to the school. There has got to be some money somewhere, as much as students pay to attend tius school. The cafeteria problems can be fixed. The students have to bring the issue to the school’s attention. I don’t see why money is an issue because it costs more tiian $20,000 a year to attend. Where exactiy is tiie money going? —Charles Bailey (Bailey is a freshman at NCWC) 'S guess—hunt, are murderers. 2. When tiie Daddies kill all the other animals, tiiey wUl begin to slaughter familvD. and eat tiiem. 3. Eating mercury-laden fish every day wj] make you stupid, unless you’re a dolphin 4. I’m too lazy to fish. 5. Inuit’s are dumber tiian a box of hammeji And 6. Jesus and his followers were stone kijleis And tiiat’s what’s real. ♦Sahnon was chosen arbitiarily and the use of salmon is in no way a statement either pn)(, con about sahnon in general. By all accounts tiiey are fine fish, who are friendly and excelem swimmers. Facebook.com; A New Addictive Drug I By Jessica D. Jones Decree Staff Writer You see tiiem every day walking through fc ' hallways on tiieir way to class. They gather at tiie Hartness Center, the Library, and even atfe Cafeteria. Just by looking at tiiem, you wouldn’i know that tiiey had a problem. However, I know. I know the symptoms—constant uige to check your Wesleyan e-mail account, neglect of homework, and tiie need to use someone’s computer at tiie oddest hours of tiie night The new college drug, Facebook.com, took over Wesleyan’s campus in many swift strokes of computer keys. All it takes to become an addict is your name and your Wesleyan e-mai account, and soon you’re connected to your high school and college friends, who then have you finked to their friends from high school and college. In the end you are trapped in a big web—Internet web—of friends from all ethnicities, cultures, and states. Witii Facebook, users post a personal profile, witii basic information such as marital status, your school and address, as well as tastes and interests (e.j movies and music). There is a “friend’s list” a a photograph album, and a user may advertise upcoming gatiierings under “My parties.” The Facebook “wall” allows friends—and “potential friends”—to send email messages or give the host “a poke,” a brief tnessage designed to check-in with friends or initiate new friendships, Wanting to learn more about Facebook addiction, I approached some of the junkies. Alisha Nelson, a senior from Upper Marlboro, Md., said, “It’s interesting to see how many friends you liave on your friend list. Some people just add you as tiieir friend in order to hike tiieir stats” or, in other words, to make it seem like they have a lot of friends, when actu ally tiiey add people that they don’t even talk to. These people are called Facebook Fakers. Shawn Harvey, a senior from Brooklyn, N.Y., has defeated tiie temptation frx)m the internet drug. “Facebook is like a cult,” explained Harvey. “It’s real popular and people feel like it’s what’s happening now and need to be a part of it” Harvey called Facebook.com, “tiie new Blackplanet.com,” another addictive website tiiat numerous people still fr^uent. After monitoring NC Wesleyan’s junkies, 1 couldn’t help but wonder whether they had any concerns while on Facebook. Homecoming Queen Daruelle Davenport, an active addict since early September, said, “I have been hearing that staff members are on Facebook trying to catch individuals” with incriminating evidence. Davenport shook her head, adding K tiiat is tine, tiiat is not right” Is it title? Have Wesleyan’s addicts been deceived by the presence of an imposter? Have school officials been monitoring student behavior on Facebook? Can certain pictures, statements, and friendships and associations be used as incriminating evidence for those under age drink' ers and marijuana smokers? Has privacy been taken away from the students? Stay tuned, but ui the meantime watch what you post, because you never know who is reading your wall or looking through your photo album...
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