Letters 3/28
Memorial will be held to honor life of fallen mascot
TO THE EDITOR:
Jason Ray led an amazing life, and for those of us that were influenced by his drive, energy, and love for others, his memory will always be a part of us.
As part of the process of remembering, honoring, and celebrating the life that he led, the Athletics Department, the Dean of Students, and representatives of the Senior Class and other organizations are joining together to plan a memorial and celebration of Jason Ray on campus. At this event, we, as a community, can join together to mourn this tragedy but also claim the legacy that J-Ray will have in our lives.
During this time of stress and many difficult discussions, the family will not be able to be in Chapel Hill for the service tentatively planned for Wednesday night. Therefore, we will postpone the service so that the campus can show our love for Jason and our support directly to his family.
My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone as we deal with the loss of Jason and the reality of death, but I look forward to the time where we can celebrate life and hope and peace.
James Jolley
Senior
History and Political Science
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Security contractor is not in an objective position
TO THE EDITOR:
The situation faced by the Florida professor whose prosecutors reportedly spent $80 million to bring terrorism charges against him only to have a jury reject them is no laughing matter. But I had to laugh when I read the comments of a security company president who stated, “(Al-Arian) is playing a game … As far as I’m concerned, you can put him away forever.”
Asking a “security” contractor what to think about this case is like the New Yorker cartoon we have on our refrigerator: A man is in the examining room with the doctor, a rabbit in a white coat. “Eat lots of carrots!” says the doctor. The security contractor prescribes a similar logic. “What’s good for me is good for you.” Use the iron fist.
Such cynicism is a luxury we cannot afford. Security consultants and “experts” helped Washington deceive us into a disastrous $2 trillion Iraq war.
Professor Sami Al-Arian has suffered harsh imprisonment for four years, his family has been put through hell, he has lost everything, and he finally followed his exhausted attorneys’ advice to plead guilty to something to can get this ordeal over with. He agreed to deportation even though as a Palestinian he is stateless, and still he’s sentenced to 18 more months.
Check out this radical common sense from the Veterans for Peace Web site: “The army that can defeat terrorism doesn’t wear uniforms, or drive Humvees, or call in air strikes. It doesn’t have a high command, or high security, or a high budget. (It) does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It undermines military dictatorships (read: occupations) and military lobbyists. It subverts sweatshops and special interests. Where people feel powerless, it helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful it reminds them of their responsibility.”
Jerry Markatos
Witness for Peace, SE
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University should not pay for students’ birth control
TO THE EDITOR:
Your March 27 article and opinion piece on the rising cost of birth control fail to place responsibility where it truly lies — with the students. Why should students get reduced-price birth control when other people have to pay full price or co-pays? Being a student does not entitle us to having cheaper medical care than the general public.
If students don’t want to have children, they should either refrain from having sex or pay the full price for birth control. People need to take responsibility for their own actions. The decision to have sex is not made by the government, the drug companies, or your mom and dad so why should we expect them to be the ones paying to prevent the consequences of that decision?
Katie Chalmers
Graduate Student
City and Regional Planning
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Abortion law is merely a cry for consistency in law
TO THE EDITOR:
Far from “running around Roe” and attempting to undermine federal law, the proposed South Carolina legislation requiring women to view an ultrasound of their unborn child before they abort it is simply a justified cry for consistency in our nation’s legal recognition of human life.
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 requires two distinct charges to be filed against an individual who attacks or kills a pregnant woman (United States Code Title 18, Section 1841). If a person murders a pregnant woman, he can be charged with two counts of homicide: one against the woman and one against her fetus. In other words, the law recognizes both the woman and her unborn child as living human beings with legal standing.
Why, then, does this recognition not extend to the abortion clinic? Are the legal rights of the fetus somehow voided if it is killed with the consent of its mother?
In his opposition to the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, Senator John Kerry stated that, “I have serious concerns about this legislation because the law cannot simultaneously provide that a fetus is a human being and protect the right of the mother to choose to terminate her pregnancy.” He’s absolutely right. Either a fetus is a legally-entitled human being or it’s not.
Even some of the most ardent supporters and providers of abortion recognize the former to be true. Ron Fitzsimmons, executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, admitted in a 1997 interview with the New York Times that women enter abortion clinics to kill their fetuses. “It is a form of killing. You’re ending a life.”
The proposed South Carolina legislation simply asks us to face this fact and to think long and hard about the consequences of abortion. Women, in particular, deserve to have the most accurate information possible before making such a choice. Abortion may be legal, but the decision to end a human life should never be an easy nor an ill-informed one.
Chris Thigpen
Senior
Religious Studies