Letters to the Editor

Vegans are compassionate

To the Editor:

This letter is in response to Ms. Kramer's column ("Vegan speakers' message a sour one," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 9/29/04), which derides animal rights activist Gary Yourofsky and attacks the morality of veganism in general. I take particular issue when she remarks that "when vegans use their eating habits to declare moral victory over everyone else, I get more than a little distressed." While she may have somewhat of a salient point in regards to Yourofsky, the animal rights activist who admittedly burns down research laboratories while calling himself moral, her implication that morality is purely subjective, and that killing animals is morally on par with not killing animals, is a stance that verges on reckless.

One dangerous implication of this moral relativism is that slavery, for example, could be seen as justifiable. After all, relatively speaking, who are we to say that it is not the right thing to do, at a certain time, under the right circumstances? Few would feel comfortable saying such things, so, likewise, few should feel comfortable with the idea that there are not certain actions that are more moral than others.

In this vein, consider the clear difference between killing animals for food and not killing animals for food. On this fundamental issue of killing, it should probably also be granted that one view is more moral than the other.

So, before one gets upset with vegans for considering themselves better than one -- which I find improbable, considering the compassion and understanding most vegans display for others -- remember that you could be wrong about your current beliefs. At the very least, if you are going to hold that your murderous tendencies are on the same moral level as the average vegan's compassionate outlook on all forms of life, be able to support it with sound ethical principles.

Edward Bush Jr.

College '06

Risks of registering to vote

To the Editor:

In response to an article regarding voter registration ("Some on-street voter registration forms still unfiled," DP, 10/04/04), I was appreciative that the DP reminded me to check the status of the voter registration form I completed nearly a month ago. Fortunately, I was informed that I was in fact registered to vote in Pennsylvania. However, when one of my friends called to check his registration status, he was informed that his information never made it to the registration office. Luckily, he was able to run to the voter registration office with only minutes to spare to complete a new form.

I feel that disfranchisement will soon prove to be a severe problem on the Penn campus. My nearly disfranchised friend registered through a seemingly legitimate group on campus during orientation week. As a former voter registration volunteer myself, I understand the importance of making sure the registration forms get to the appropriate places. However, because so many groups are always trying to register voters (specifically on and around campus), I am skeptical that all of the voter registration participants have non-partisan intentions.

To whom are voter registration volunteers accountable? Nobody! This system must be changed to ensure that partisan volunteers or simply unreliable people are not responsible for enfranchising voters.

From experience, I know that the Pennsylvania voter registration forms allow the volunteers to see what party the new voter is registering with. This situation likely is the cause of certain "missing" registration forms. I think that this year's "hanging chad" fiasco will occur when voters arrive to the polls to see that they are ineligible to vote. Is America inadvertently returning to the mid-1800s and the domination of corrupt urban political machines like that of New York's Tammany Hall under Boss Tweed?

America needs to refine voter registration processes and create uniform voting procedures. Until then, there is no hope for a fair election. Since the government has failed to create such a system, perhaps America's best hope is to turn this clearly governmental process over to the private sector. Until this happens, I am nervously awaiting the utter shock that will surprise many suddenly disfranchised voters on Nov. 2.

Stephen Morse

College '07

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