4A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
FRIDAY,NOV.30,2001
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HUMAN CLONING, SOON? WHAT, YOU MEAN THAT'S NOT ALREADY HAPPENING ?!
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The opinion page is soliciting projections of life at KU in 2030. Submissions should be sent to opinion@kansan.com or brought to 111 Stauffer-Flint. Call Brendan Woodbury at 864-4924 with questions.
U.S. must re-evaluate stance on sanctity of human life
It's time to examine the international community's position, backed by countless organizations such as Amnesty International, the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations, and others, on the most fundamental and contentious of human rights: the right to life.
The right to life seems unquestionable to me. It's something human beings are endowed with. It should be carefully and consciously protected.
cautiously and covertly. Thirty-eight U.S. states have the death penalty, deemed constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976. So maddening is the fact that a system that "has proven so fraught with error," as Illinois Gov. George Ryan aptly said, still presumes to have the authority to take a life.
Moreover, Ryan declared a moratorium on executions in Illinois last year, following the exoneration of a death row prisoner found to have been wrongfully convicted. This scares supporters and opposers, Democrats and Republicans — the words "irreparable mistake." It sure as heck scares me.
And mistakes are made. Since 1973, more than 90 U.S. prisoners have been released from death row after their innocence was proven.
The past decade has seen a number of watershed changes across the board and across the world toward abolishing the death penalty. Currently,109 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
On Dec. 18, 2000, Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the U.N., was presented with a petition for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty. More than 3 million people from 146 countries and representing all the world's main religions signed the petition. Said Annan, "The forfeiture of life is too absolute, too irreversible, for one human being to inflict on another."
Commentary
Ambereen
Shaffie
Guest columnist
opinionakansan.com
In criminal cases where the victim is white,the defendant is four times more likely to receive the death penalty than in cases where the victim is a minority.
The U.N. leader echoed what much of the international community has been saying for years. The United States simply hasn't caught up yet.
But we're trying, aren't we? The courts publish protocols, present reforms to committees and boards to try to fix the problems. In spite of reform, massive human rights violations occur. For example, in criminal cases where
the victim is white, the defendant is four times more likely to receive the death penalty than in cases where the victim is a minority. The enforcement of the penalty is not blind. Women, juveniles and the mentally ill have all been legally executed by the state.
The only solution, which 109 countries have agreed on unanimously, is to abolish the concept altogether and accept that there will always be a margin of human error.
Why are we superciliously eager to condemn other countries for atrocities like public execution when we support it in the United States? Why do our hearts go out to the starving, delinquent children of other countries when our system reserves the right to execute juveniles?
Our platform for human rights falls short on home soil.
In opposing the death penalty, organizations like Amnesty International don't condone the crimes or seek to lessen punishment. They see it as their job to speak up when rights, our fundamental rights, are abused.
I was not an avid opponent of the death penalty, until I researched and discovered its flaws. I am not an activist, but it's important to me to be conscientious of the problems and issues in this society. Now is a good time to get informed about the issue. No one has to be an activist. But the idea that a birthright is not being carefully guarded should be enough to provoke anyone who asserts his or her right to life.
Shaffie is a freshman from Lawrence.
PERSPECTIVE
Best response is to defend America, not change it
In the wake of the worst terrorist attacks against the United States ever, we should refrain from self-defeating sentiments and instead consider rationally why this has happened and how we should respond. We should not look to reduce the openness and freedom of our society and we should recognize that the root cause of this kind of terrorism lies in our government's activities in the world.
I went to class today and heard discouraging comments from students and friends. I heard statements such as: "Our society is too open," and "The problem is that anyone can buy anything." I also heard students calling for an increased U.S. military presence in the world. These reactions are seriously misguided and counterproductive.
Living in a free society is not without costs. One of the costs is the fact that one cannot always predict and control what others do. This can lead to a certain level of uncertainty and even a reduced level of safety. But anyone who truly values freedom gladly accepts this trade-off.
Commentary
if we react to this tragedy by moving to reduce our own freedoms — the freedom
Tucker Poling
Columnist
optionakansan.com
of movement, privacy, and the economic freedom to obtain and exchange goods — then we are further fulfilling the terrorists' objectives by victimizing ourselves. No amount of security measures can prevent such attacks. If one is willing to take his own life to destroy others, in the end, there is no stopping him or others like him from achieving terror.
Though terrorist actions have a profound psychological effect, they are rare. One's chances of dying in a terrorist attack are many times smaller than one's chances of dying in a car accident. Should we ban cars? Should we allow police to randomly stop motorists to search for potentially distracting items? This analogy may seem ridiculous, and it
Instead of making a knee-jerk response to terrorism, we should consider it's root causes. The root cause of the actions of terrorists such as Osama bin Laden is animosity deriving from what is perceived as American imperialism. They hate the influence of American products and ideas because they conflict with their ideal of a repressive and theocratic regime. They also are unified against our government's political and military activities in the world.
is admittedly not perfectly valid, but the point is that one should evaluate possible reactions to terrorism in rational perspective.
We should continue to increase the freedom of American countries to trade with the world. Through the free flow of American products and ideas, the regimes that support terrorists are naturally undermined by their own people. Our government's political and military actions only serve to unify support for such regimes. For too long, our government has meddled extensively in the affairs of other nations and peoples. If we choose to be the world's policeman, then
we must accept that we will receive backlash as a nation. And often, we directly create our own enemies. Osama bin Laden, for example, received CIA training.
We should reassess our government's role in the world. Instead of actively manipulating foreign conflicts to serve our purposes or attempting to artificially resolve ethnic and national conflicts, our government should act with more humility, and less strong-arming.
This does not mean that we should isolate ourselves or ignore vital national security risks. In this case we should utilize our intelligence gathering capabilities to find those responsible for this or any other terrorist attack against our nation and then swiftly destroy them. But our goal should be to interact with the world more civilly and less politically. The interdependence fostered through free trade and exchange is more stable and more peaceful than the shackles of political and military domination.
Poling is a senior in political science from Wichita.
FREE for ALL 864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Not all of them will be published. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed.
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Message to dudes: Just because you can grow facial hair doesn't mean you should.
Gosh, it's colder than Rod Stewart's heart today.
Serew U2, the Linkin Park concert was awesome.
This is "W," you're watching "W."
Put that in your smoke and pipe it.
Hello, the wind chill is 16 degrees outside, all you frat boys need to stop wearing your flip flops now!
To the girl who wants a boyfriend only on Friday; you must be the perfect girl.
l always see hot girls driving around on campus in SUVs.
To the girl who needs a date for her birthday; I'm single.
We were just wondering why employees of the University of Kansas have to pay $80 to park here.
We need to hire John Cooper of Ohio State to help our football team. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.
me a
To the boy I met wi Mal-Wal-Mart, then re-met at a Halloween party, and now see every Tuesday and Thursday on the bus: Stop being shy and call me already.
I know what I want for Christmas: A hot waitress.
Are babies born with teeth?
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John Ashcroft equals Taliban.
I started wearing this donkey suit a few weeks ago, and ever since then Animal Planet has become like porn to me. Is that wrong?
You know, mathematically speaking, two
wrong do's make a right.
fo the person whose fish was sick: I think mine is too because lck is going around.
If it's not life threatening, it's not worth fretting.
I had sex last night...with a girl!
Hey, why aren't hemorhoids called after-rohids?
I guess I didn't get the memo that is was "dress like a hooker" night at the basketball game.
Pardon me, sir, is that the cat that chewed your new shoes? Chew, chew.
Screw the GTAs, we need to pay the janitors more.
I'm bored, and I want a guy to go to the movies with.
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If it's going to be this cold outside, we should get some snow or something.
Hold me, now. Warm my face. Campus is cold.
The backstreet Boys could kick N'Sync's butt any day.
Today when I was walking around campus, I thought about wetting myself just to warm up.
I'm starting to think that maybe Osaima bin Laden isn't such a great guy.
Paul Newman is so hot. I want to have his babies.
You guys should print more things with cuss words, because it's funny when people cuss.
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The Free for All needs more sex and violence.
I'd just like to tell everyone at KU that I enjoyed my time here.
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Please turn on the damn heat in the Towels.
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I'd just like to remind everybody that Weezer is on Friday. ___
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Whoever stole my U2 shirt, please return it.
Who wants to go to New Orleans?
Am I the only one that misses Chenowith? I'm so alone.
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