The Pendulum OpiPliOnS
Tliursday, November 6, 2003 • Page 5
Solution offered
to file sharing
To the Editor,
Every time I sit down in a
computer lab on campus I see
the same thing: a small square
on the small screen telling me
that I’m going to be fined a
quarter of a million dollars (per
song) if I don’t stop sharing
music online.
Has that stopped most of my
friends from sharing music? No.
The fact is, music piracy online
is available in so many forms
and used so widely on campus
that it seems like a victimless
and untraceable crime.
Things like KaZaA Lite,
which promises anonymity, give
students the confidence to share
music fearlessly.
While I personally don’t use
KaZaA Lite, I do share music
online in a relatively safer, more
respectful manner to the artists.
Through Apple iTunes that
can be downloaded for free
online at
http://www.apple.com/itunes/do
wnload/ and allows users to
share their music with all those
on their subnet.
Basically, you can share your
music with everyone in your
residence hall and give all of
your friends access to your
library.
mailbox
I present this option to stu
dents on campus. Tell your hall
mates about it.
Sharing through iTunes is not
illegal and people are not being
sued for doing so, so share with
iTunes and rid yourself of that
tiny pang of guilt you feel every
time you see that small square in
a computer lab.
- Luke Johnson ‘07
Crosswalk still
cause for concern
To the Editor,
In the Oct. 23 edition of The
Pendulum, there were several arti
cles on the “crosswalk concerns”
of bad student driving and jay
walking around campus. I know
that a lot people, including
myself, had no idea we were jay
walking when walking over a
crosswalk without pressing the
button.
Many times when I actually
have pressed the button, drivers
have some choice words to say
about having to wait on the light.
I know this is merely a matter of
impatience and misunderstand
ing, but perhaps it would be best
to post signs that alert both stu
dents and drivers of the fact that
crossing is illegal if the button is
not pushed.
Also, I think it would be to
beneficial to students and faculty
to place a crosswalk between
Moseley Center and McMichael
parking lots.
No matter what happens, peo
ple are going to continue to jay
walk on O’Kelly Avenue, and it
just makes sense to put in a new
crosswalk to ensure the safety of
Elon students and faculty.
- Rachel Hetu ‘06
Partial-birth abortions: Pro-life v. pro-choice
A baby's rights should be protected Women should control their destiny
Leigh Wiley
Columnist
Well it’s happened. Partial-birth abor
tions are now illegal thanks to what CNN
calls an “overwhelming”
vote in Congress. But how
is the nation going to take
the first governmental call
on abortion since the 1970s?
Most people have already
chosen how they are going to
react: they are either pro
life or pro-choice. You
rarely meet anyone who is
undecided.
I have voted to go pro-life. Nobody
has the right to choosc death for another
human being. That’.s what these babies
are - human beings. Sure, they are not
fully grown, but their hearts begin to beat
after 22 days. These fetuses can feel pain
just like any other human being.
Brenda Pratt Shafer testified to the
Senate Judiciary Committee in 1995
about a partial-birth abortion she wit
nessed while acting as a nurse.
She described the birth of a baby, 26 -
and - a * half weeks old. She said the
doctor delivered everything but the head.
With the head still inside the uterus, the
body was turned around and scissors
were used to cut open the baby's neck.
Shafer said the baby physically reacted to
this by jerking, “Like a baby does when
he thinks he might fall.” The doctor then
inserted a suction lube and removed the
baby’s brain. The skull collapsed and the
now dead child slid the rest of the way
out.
A fetus that reacts like that is feeling
pain. No matter how far you distance
yourself from the fetus; it is still alive and
was just killed.
The argument that abortion is a
woman’s right is ridiculous. In no
other circumstance does someone
have the right to kill another human
because that human is an inconvience
to them.
The argument that a baby that
may be born deformed should be
aborted and saved the trouble is
also ridiculous. First of all, the baby is
alive whether it’s deformed or not.
Second of all, not all babies that are con
sidered deformed in the womb turn out to
be deformed.
I have a friend at Appalachian State
University who was suppose to have been
born retarded. The doctor urged her moth
er to have an abortion. Her mother
refused and instead gave birth to one of
the bnghtest people I know.
Yes. women have a choice. Tliey have
a choice to protect themselves. They have
a choice to abstain. They even have the
choice to have an abortion in the first tri
mester. But women who choose to carry
the baby until the last trimester should not
have the nght to discard their baby in this
fashion.
Contact Leigh Wiley at
pendulum@eIon.edu or 278-7247.
Margurette Awad
Columnist
Imagine, it s late one Saturday night
and you ve just had the time of your life at
a party, when you realize
you’re worn out and it’s time to
go home. All your girlfriends
left hours ago and you have to
walk to Danieley by yourself.
You know that walking across
the intramural fields by your
self isn’t necessarily the
smartest idea, but it seemed
like the only option.
You’re making your way
across the grass when you hear a rustle
from behind. It grows louder and faster
and you can’t help but fear the worse as
you turn and see a dark stranger nearing.
You’re scrambling, wishing someone
would save you. He shadows over you and
your tears prevent you from seeing his face
as he rips away your clothes.
Every day women face these sorts of
dilemmas but rarely are we are given the
choice to decide. We have been given the
right to make decisions that concern our
own body. Ever since Roe v. Wade in
1973, the United Slates government has
maintained that abortion is legal and that
no one shall take that right away.
However, in a recent bill passed by
Congress in October 2003, it was stated
that all partial birth abortion.s are banned.
In laymen’s terms, this means no woman
who is in her .second or third trimester can
expect to receive service in an abortion
clinic. I firmly believe in the right to
choose. What if you were placed in a sit
uation like the one just described and
became pregnant? Could you give birth to
a child that had been created on one of the
most horrific nights of your life?
And if you felt that you could bear
that child, could you rear it and
love it, knowing that your life
could have been different?
United States officials, who do
not live the life of ordinary citi
zens, should not have the pt>wer
to control our destiny. We are the
masters of our own bodies and no
one else should be allowed to
make certain decisions. Many ai^ue that
abortion should not be allowed because it
is the death of the unborn child, but what
if that child’s life affected the life of the
mother. Who is to say that the life of the
fetus is more valuable than that of the
mother? There should never be one rule
for millions of people. We are all differ
ent and should never be expected to act in
the same manner.
If you believe this is the end to issues
concerning abortion, think again. If the
government allows it, abortion will
become entirely illegal leaving American
women with absolutely no, choices. This
is just the beginning to a lengthy battle.
Ladies, stand up for yourself and don’t let
government power control you.
Contact Matgurette Awad at
pendulum%e1on.edu or 278-7247.
Leigh Wiley
Margurette
Awad