Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Feb. 17, 1993, edition 1 / Page 2
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Campus Editorial February 17.1993 page two Letters to the Editor Imagine youTself beii^ placed in a woodea cn^ so small that you can't even lie down. You’re kept in total darkness except for a coi^ile hours a day. You never receive any solid food, only a liq- uid dieL You will never know how it feels to run through an open field or even hretuhe fresh air. How does tliis scenario sound K) you? Bait>aric? Cruel? Inhu mane? It’s hard to believe that sudi suffering takes place in America; but unfortunately, it does. Every day. this treat ment leagues hundreds of iimocent ani mals. Those ani mals are calves, talKU away from their jnothers at birth, squealing. Placed in tiny crates, the calves stand on wooden slabs fix twenty- four iKHirs a day. (If they moved around, their muscles would de- vel(^, and that would yield tough meat) Hiey can sloudi against the sides of the crates, but can never fiilly lie down. Total dark ness surrounds them, except for the hours during feeding time. (Of course, the darkness keeps them frxn beii^ re^ss, ensuring that tender meat) Their diet consists of no solid food, only a liquid filled with antibiotics. (Hiese drugs are id>solutely necessary, you see. Widxxit the medicine, the calves couldn't stay alive.) On this diet, the calves develop ane mia and have continuous diarrtiea. But soon dieir fate changes. In a few weeks, they are taou^intothe light, taken away, slaugh tered, and shipped off to grocery stores and restaurants throughout our country. No, I’m not an animal rights activi^ trying to persuade you to become a vegetarian. In fact. I’m a girl who grew up raising cattle for meat I’ve seen calves just minutes after their birth, wobbling around in search of their mother’s see EDITORIAL page seven I am writing in regard to the Point/Counterpoint in last week’s (Feb. 10) newspaper. I q^imd Jackie Webb for defend ing the homosexuals and their rights, and I greatly frown on Tina Sylvester for her prejudice and misconceptions of the ho mosexual population. 1 don’t think the Point was well sup ported atall.andforone to make judgment on such an important topic, they need to know a little more about the subject at hand and not just what their father tells them. Fust of all, the opening state ment about being stranded on a beach with three other people for seven days and having one of them be homosexual, causing the oth^ two fo act differently is far-fetched. I sincerely doubt^ would happen. If anyone was deserted on a beach with noQiing other than what you have on your back and the eompanion- ship of the other two people, 1 think the least of your worries would be whether or not the per son sitting next to you was gay. What about your survival? I would have to say that your own survival would take precedence over the other person’s sexual preference. Secondly, it shouldn’t be dif ficult to maintain high morale if the ban is lifted. If these hetero sexual soldiers were any good at being a soldier and a defender to their country, than under any circumstance they should be able to keep the morale high. If they find that it’s not possible than theyweren’ttrainedprc^rlyand maybe they are the ones that should not be in the military! As for having different housing f(^ the heterosexuals and the homo sexuals, this is also far-fetched. TTuswon’tever happen success fully because one has to con sider the many people who aren’t going to come running out of the closet and admit they are gay, and who are still going to be housed in the “straigltt” barracks. Many of the gays in the military are strongly for the lifting of the ban because they feel it ^uld be the right of the soldier to be open about their sexuality. However, many of them will still remain *‘in the closet” because they know that the life and the harsh realities of being a homosexual are hard enou^ to live with without bring ing it into the workplace for fear of ridicule and discrimin^on. These people are homosexuals, they are NOT stupid!! I would like to argue other is sues and misconceptions which were not discussed in the article. Fu-st of all, the theory that the straight soldiers would wMTy about the gay soldiers ‘liitting” on them. To clarify my point to a tee let me say this, what makes any (openly) straight person think (hat ttiey are the objects of the homosexual’s desire?Don’tflatteryourselfl!Why , would a gay man or lesbian even bother with a straight man or woman? It’s obvious this person isn’t going to get anywhere unless > the person he tt^ught was straight turned out to be a homo^xual or bisexual (would a>uld easily hap pen nowadays). I would also like to say that the homosexual commu nity has no hopes of biming the world gay, that is not their main objective by any means. To further stress the issue of the spread of AIDS throughout the military, I would like to point out that the military has mandatory blood testing which goes on about twice a year so the cases of AIDS in the military is slim to none. I’d also like to point out that homosexuals are not the only people who have or get AIDS. There are a great deal of straight men and women that have this disease and with the increase in prevention precautions, I don’t think the military has any more to worry about now than the did be fore the lifting of the ban. In closing I would like to say that Ms. Sylvester’s statement sdjout President Clinton’s military experience or lack of, has NO rel evance in this situ^on. Stick to the point at hand! Also, knowing and see LETTERS page seven Meredith Herald FIdHnrliiniKf Aaiuv Bnmii iJijrmMIjdilK' liHU;yKau>lh i kuiiiLttlon: SiikJiluileyl Newtlidilur , , likUhl uwry; f eaturu Fiiilor S^xu'i KoUi ilkJi; SpiHlJi Itiiiliir Atii> Wimi HauMmer K^ivrUI PiiUcv K«|iArters I'RtiicUahiii*. Tulir Siiitih K«tc Sirwiit, .Sjfj Mjiillsbv, ( brixiina ImkiI nti.i, Ku»b^rl> /wLfi, /j^hic W'lih (.iinlnltutint; Writers.. liccku* {^, Kfi$tinltdbiady» Loii WalSfM) T«bniC4il A(hLs«ir l.iuia lMveii|xni ^iiMdeaaicyetr. Tho tbeHgbt mt « • icArK* liH adiwi An Kristin Mundy
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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Feb. 17, 1993, edition 1
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