On most Fridays I am usually thrilled when I get the chance to sit down for a while and read our school newspaper, The Villanovan. Upon reading last week’s edition though, I was dismayed by many of the mischaracterizations that were presented as fact in the Opinion section. For example, the case of Terri Schiavo is indeed a very tragic one, and yet what is even more tragic is the fact that the Editorial staff of The Villanovan believes that Mrs. Schiavo should die. The editorial states that Terri Schiavo should be allowed to “die with dignity” by pulling the plug on her feeding tube, which would result in Terri starving to death. How dignified is it to force a woman to starve to death? Death by starvation is a gruesome way to end a life and lasts anywhere from five days to three weeks when the vital organs of the person being starved will eventually give out. The fact that our school newspaper would wish this form of death upon anyone, especially a woman who is disabled, through no fault of her own, speaks volumes about the Culture of Death which currently permeates our society, and even unfortunately here on campus at Villanova. I believe that Governor Jeb Bush definitely made the right choice in deciding to save the life of Terri Schiavo, because as Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “The care of human life and not its destruction is the first and only object of good government.”

Sincerely,Christopher ByrnesSophomore