Animals deserve human love, not inhuman lust
Laura Vanderkam '01 shrewdly contends in her March 8 column that Princeton professor Peter Singer is not simply moonlighting in bestiality to supplement his philosophic day job. Singer's latest affront to mainstream morality ("Heavy Petting," Nerve.com, March 2001), his seeming endorsement of bestiality, makes his previous assaults on the public mind tolerable by comparison.
But Singer's downplay of the animal's experience in a bestial situation, while emphasizing "examples" of animals' willful dalliance with humans, has upset many people. Any discussion of relations between human and nonhuman animals that does not give equal consideration to the nonhuman animal's point of view is unjust and, in part owing to Singer's philosophical insistence on equal consideration of interests, out of date.
Vanderkam concludes that conceptually attacking the taboo against bestiality could help make homosexuality, by comparison, acceptable to the average person, but she does not say that it could help people to overcome their profound prejudice and discrimination against nonhuman animals. Yet this is what animals need. The taboo that needs to be shattered is not the prohibition against bestiality, but against caring about nonhuman animals in a respectful, nonpatronizing and unapologetic way. Karen Davis, Ph.D. President, United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
Princeton fans should watch their mouths
Last year at the Penn basketball game in Philadelphia I heard throughout the game "Princeton sucks" or "F-Princeton" from the Penn students. I believed Princeton was above that, but at the most recent Penn game in Jadwin our student body was no more orginal. For more than $30,000 a year I felt Princeton students could be more creative.
In the late '50s and early '60s essentially the entire basketball team belonged to Cannon Club. As a unit we went to the games and sat behind the opposing team's bench. Though probably obnoxious at times, I hope we were a little more innovative. Vincent J. Menna, MD '61
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For the record, video cameras at CPUC meetings must not go
Alex Norbrook“The right to video record is essential as a tool of accountability. Video allows journalists, activists, and spectators to capture a moment beyond what is said — it can record how someone speaks, or how someone reacts to speech.”
“The right to video record is essential as a tool of accountability. Video allows journalists, activists, and spectators to capture a moment beyond what is said — it can record how someone speaks, or how someone reacts to speech.”
We need to keep breaking the glass ceiling of the ivory tower
Maria Luisa Vieira Parada“At Princeton, that means ensuring that there is upward career growth available for women. Women make up only 33 percent of tenured and tenure-track faculty, the people who could be potentially in line for higher administrative leadership at the University.”
“At Princeton, that means ensuring that there is upward career growth available for women. Women make up only 33 percent of tenured and tenure-track faculty, the people who could be potentially in line for higher administrative leadership at the University.”
Reactions: Guests respond to Eisgruber and Calhoun’s statements on protesting
Zeke DouglasRosenthal, Edward Yingling, and Wyatt BrowneGuests weigh in with their thoughts on free speech, institutional neutrality, and the role of the ‘Prince’ with respect to the University's statements on encampments.
Guests weigh in with their thoughts on free speech, institutional neutrality, and the role of the ‘Prince’ with respect to the University's statements on encampments.
