Guest Opinion

This year we decided to invite readers to participate in our Valentine's Day Issue by running an essay competition. Here is the question we posted: What's your Penn love story?

This is a response to both the article from Oct. 20, "Philly residents protest Penn's animal testing," and the Oct. 23 staff editorial, "Humane Science." It was disappointing to see that The Daily Pennsylvanian neglected to speak with anyone from the University of Pennsylvania's research community when printing allegations by the protest group Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) that the University is a perpetrator of animal "abuse.

It's hard for me to remember a time before this election; it seems like it's been going on forever. Everyday we are bombarded non-stop with breaking news, election updates and attack ads. Every celebrity from Chuck Norris to that kid from Superbad has implored us to vote.

For years, John McCain has proven that he is a different kind of politician - one who puts his country first, before his party, himself or any other consideration. He's not afraid to stand up for what he believes in, even if it means going against his own party or even a popular president.

Six-hundred-and-thirty days ago, Senator Barack Obama began an improbable, historic and grueling journey proving to the American people that he is fit to be our next commander in chief. Through this journey we have come to know his strengths and weaknesses, his policy stances and political philosophy, his campaign style and, above all else, how truly qualified he is to be the next leader of the United States of America.

In his Oct. 3, 2008 column, Mordechai Treiger raises a very valid question: "Why save New Orleans?" He claims that New Orleans, because of it precarious geologic location, is in danger of succumbing to the forces of nature and therefore will unavoidably be destroyed.

In 2004, the U.S. Institute of Medicine proposed that health care systems should strive for coverage that is universal, continuous, affordable, sustainable and equitable. The Obama-Biden plan for health care reform outlines practical steps toward realizing such a system.

The United States was founded on a few simple ideals, central to which was the belief in freedom. While the fear at the time was the very real threat from the British monarchy, Americans have always been very protective of their individual freedoms as well.