(no subject)
Last night I spoke to the Student Senate about the Kevorkian thing. The results were overwhelmingly positive. Although it may be too late to actually stop his appearance (someone told me that the contract has already been signed), I think that our Student Government generally agreed with what I had to say and, if all goes well, they will issue a formal condemnation of the actions of ACCENT, our student-lead speakers bureau.
Anyway, here's what I had to say:
***
Good evening, Senators. My name is Mark LaBelle, and I serve as the Chair of Activism for the Pro-Life Alliance. I come to you tonight on behalf of many concerned UF students, faculty, and alumni who are shocked and ashamed that our university will host recently paroled killer Jack Kevorkian to speak on our campus for the fee of $50,000.
I don't need to make the case against Jack Kevorkian. That was done in 1999, when a jury convicted him of second-degree homicide in the death of Thomas Youk. Jack Kevorkian not only provided the lethal drugs to Youk as he had to over a hundred other people, but he himself administered the injection that killed Thomas Youk. He made a video tape of the killing and, in it, dared the authorities to stop him. Well, he was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison, but today, having served only eight years of his sentence, Kevorkian is free on parole as of June of this year. ACCENT has invited him to speak on our campus and will pay him $50,000. We want to know why.
Why are student tuition funds, alumni donations, and tax dollars going into the pockets of a convicted killer? ACCENT has said that they don't support his views or endorse his message, but the fact is that by offering him money to speak at our school, UF is giving a de facto endorsement to Jack Kevorkian and his actions. It is no secret that he has been seeking out book deals, television spots, interviews, and public appearances such as this to fund his agenda for medically-sanctioned killing and human experimentation.
This is not simply a debate about euthanasia. In his book Prescription Medicide, Kevorkian wrote that his ultimate goal is "not simply to help suffering or doomed persons to kill themselves -- that is merely... [a] distasteful professional obligation." He says, "What I find most satisfying is the prospect of making possible... invaluable experiments or other beneficial acts." While he was in court he wrote, "The voluntary self-elimination of individual and mortally diseased or crippled lives, taken collectively, can only enhance the preservation of public health and welfare." This is a profoundly inappropriate message for UF to bring to its campus, especially considering those students who are disabled or infirmed yet thrive and build their future here just like the rest of us. Surely UF would never consider their voluntary self-elimination good for the welfare of the student body.
Think about some of the past speakers ACCENT has brought to our university: Martin Luther King, III; Elie Wiesel; Former Presidents Carter, Ford, Bush, and Clinton; Christopher Reeve. It would be a scandal to the university at large to put a convicted killer's name on the list of past speakers along with such outstanding human beings as these. He is not a leader, a government official, or a motivational speaker. He isn't even a doctor--the State of Michigan revoked his medical license over 15 years ago! Jack Kevorkian is a criminal, and his only apparent value as a speaker is that he is a criminal. And unlike the message of many of ACCENT's most distinguished speakers, the message which Jack Kevorkian has to offer is that there is no hope for the weak and that they should be killed. I ask you, the Student Government, to do whatever is in your power to make sure that justice is served. Thank you.
***
And there's a brief article in the Independent Alligator about that.
Anyway, here's what I had to say:
***
Good evening, Senators. My name is Mark LaBelle, and I serve as the Chair of Activism for the Pro-Life Alliance. I come to you tonight on behalf of many concerned UF students, faculty, and alumni who are shocked and ashamed that our university will host recently paroled killer Jack Kevorkian to speak on our campus for the fee of $50,000.
I don't need to make the case against Jack Kevorkian. That was done in 1999, when a jury convicted him of second-degree homicide in the death of Thomas Youk. Jack Kevorkian not only provided the lethal drugs to Youk as he had to over a hundred other people, but he himself administered the injection that killed Thomas Youk. He made a video tape of the killing and, in it, dared the authorities to stop him. Well, he was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison, but today, having served only eight years of his sentence, Kevorkian is free on parole as of June of this year. ACCENT has invited him to speak on our campus and will pay him $50,000. We want to know why.
Why are student tuition funds, alumni donations, and tax dollars going into the pockets of a convicted killer? ACCENT has said that they don't support his views or endorse his message, but the fact is that by offering him money to speak at our school, UF is giving a de facto endorsement to Jack Kevorkian and his actions. It is no secret that he has been seeking out book deals, television spots, interviews, and public appearances such as this to fund his agenda for medically-sanctioned killing and human experimentation.
This is not simply a debate about euthanasia. In his book Prescription Medicide, Kevorkian wrote that his ultimate goal is "not simply to help suffering or doomed persons to kill themselves -- that is merely... [a] distasteful professional obligation." He says, "What I find most satisfying is the prospect of making possible... invaluable experiments or other beneficial acts." While he was in court he wrote, "The voluntary self-elimination of individual and mortally diseased or crippled lives, taken collectively, can only enhance the preservation of public health and welfare." This is a profoundly inappropriate message for UF to bring to its campus, especially considering those students who are disabled or infirmed yet thrive and build their future here just like the rest of us. Surely UF would never consider their voluntary self-elimination good for the welfare of the student body.
Think about some of the past speakers ACCENT has brought to our university: Martin Luther King, III; Elie Wiesel; Former Presidents Carter, Ford, Bush, and Clinton; Christopher Reeve. It would be a scandal to the university at large to put a convicted killer's name on the list of past speakers along with such outstanding human beings as these. He is not a leader, a government official, or a motivational speaker. He isn't even a doctor--the State of Michigan revoked his medical license over 15 years ago! Jack Kevorkian is a criminal, and his only apparent value as a speaker is that he is a criminal. And unlike the message of many of ACCENT's most distinguished speakers, the message which Jack Kevorkian has to offer is that there is no hope for the weak and that they should be killed. I ask you, the Student Government, to do whatever is in your power to make sure that justice is served. Thank you.
***
And there's a brief article in the Independent Alligator about that.