BEHREND BEACON
October 1, 2010
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
LAURA RUPPEL
While the People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) serves the community
promoting animal rights and
equality, there are various rea
sons as to why I would never
become a member of their or
ganization.
As they triumph with 30
years worth of success stories
and victories, I strongly dis
agree with the methods they
have relied on in order to
achieve those outcomes. I do,
in fact, use their website as a
recourse for information and
research; however, I find their
approaches and tactics have a
history of being highly aggres
sive and controversial.
One of their most infamous
procedures is protest cam
paigning. PETA claims to
"maintain a creed of nonvio
lence and does not advocate
actions in which anyone,
human or nonhuman, is in
jured;" however, on the con
trary, there have been
confirmed reports of mem
bers ruining fur coats with
ESPOND TO THIS EDITION OF THE • PINION
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Why PETA is pathetic
paint and hurling tofu pies at
animal abuse proponents. I
most definitely consider such
destructive, barbaric behavior
to be physically abusive.
PETA justifies this obnoxious
behavior by claiming they
"rely largely on 'free' advertis
ing through media coverage,"
meaning they need to pull
ridiculous and outrageous
stunts in order to get atten
tion. These dramatic pleas for
attention are absolutely pre
posterous.
To make up for the law re
stricting physical abuse, PETA
supporters resort to verbal
abuse. Located on the organi
zation's online store is a vast
array of clothing available for
purchase that are negative to
ward well-known businesses
and corporations participating
in and contribute to animal
cruelty.
The slogans boasted on t
shirts regarding companies
include: "Kentucky Fried Cru
elty," "McCruelty, I'm hatin' it"
and "Give BP the Bird."
PETA also sells t-shirts with
libelous phrases toward the
actions of everyday, average
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people, such as: "Dogfighters
are Cowardly Scum," "Screw
Dog Breeders: Adopt - Don't
Buy," "Mean People Breed
Dogs" and "Bad People Wear
Fur."
I find PETA to be hypocriti
cal in that McDonald's agreed
to comply with their requests
to enhance their treatment of
animals and yet they still sell
clothing attempting to destroy
their reputation and decrease
their business.
Also, in 2007, PETA ignited
a campaign against Mary Kate
and Ashley Olsen for wearing
fur and incorporating it into
their fashion clothing line.
This series of personal attacks
includes selling t-shirts de
picting the twins as deformed,
blood-covered monsters re
sembling zombies and dub
bing the Olsen sisters the
"Trollsen Twins."
Posters were printed that read
"Fur is Worn by Beautiful An
imals and Ugly People" and
pictured the exaggerated, un
flattering illustrations of the
girls. These posters were
placed around the Olsen girls'
homes and on their Walk of
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Fame star located in Los An
geles.
In addition, they created a
video game on their website
still played today where peo
ple can dress up "Hairy-Kate"
and "Trashley" in blood
soaked, fur articles of clothing
and accessories. People can
also watch a video entitled
"Full House of Horrors" in
which the opening credits of
an episode of "Full House" are
manipulated. To this day,
PETA continuously refers to
the girls "Hairy-Kate and
"Trashley Trollsen," encour
aging the public to do so as
well.
PETA should have tolera
tion for views and perspec
tives that differ. The
organization should make
their beliefs known while ac
cepting those of others rather
than practice extremely vi
cious behavior and use every
form of abuse known to man
to make personal attacks and
bring others down. Being so
intolerant, one could argue
that PETA does just as much
harm as they do good.
ACE.
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Athletes test positive
BRANDON BOYD
opinion editor
The Tour de France (and
sports in general) has itself in
quite a situation.
Alberto Contador, the 2010
winner, tested positive for a
banned substance. His rea
son? He ate tainted meat.
Yeah. Sure he did.
We've seen a recent history
of this: recently, Brian Cush
ing of the Houston Texans
blamed his positive test on
"Overtrained Athlete Syn
drome."
That's the medical term for
"I'm lying."
Seriously, how hard is it to
admit that you have done
something illegal?
There was likely no tainted
meat. There was likely no
overtraining. These two men
needed to confess to what
they did, rather than make up
embarrassing reasons as to
why they tested positive.
Brian Cushing is a player on
my favorite team, and I still
have respect for his game. He
also does charitable acts off
the field. However, I have to
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inion
admit that I lost a little bit of
respect for him after hearing
his story of "overtraining."
The same goes for Conta
dor. I don't watch any cycling
- if I want to watch people ride
bikes, I'll look outside.
But to hear another cyclist
test positive only to come up
with another lame excuse is
shameful.
Perhaps sports shouldn't do
drug testing. After all, igno
rance is bliss. We look up to
these guys, only to see them
stammer over their predeter
mined lines and lies for why
they tested positive for a
banned substance.
I never find myself looking
up to politicians, singers, or
other famous people -- I look
up to athletes. Maybe it's the
fact that I'm simply average at
every sport I play, especially
compared to those who are
actually good.
Let's hear some truth from
these guys. Better yet, don't
cheat.
I have to stop writing now.
Wouldn't want to risk Over
trained Writer Syndrome.