8/3/2019 The Advocate Milk

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OPINION

February 28, 20074

Titan EditorialProviding insight, analysis and perspective since 1960

e Assasination at Isnt

The AdvocateBY Robert MoranBY GRACE J. LEE

Daily Titan Staff Writeropinion@dailytitan.com

It was Napster that firstushered in a new era of In-ternet downloading. Napsterchanged the way people used

the internet, making it possiblefor people to download and lis-ten to their favorite songs with-out having to buy the album atthe record store.

File sharing became the ulti-mate way for people to get freemusic, especially when only a

couple songs were desired off analbum. Napster opened a gate- way to success for file sharingprograms like Limewire, Kazaaand BearShare. While file shar-ing programs provide ample In-ternet services to its consumers,many people would argue that filesharing is stealing. So, where doyou draw the line between sharingand stealing? Well lets say this:sharing benefits others and steal-ing benefits those who steal.

Websters Dictionary definespiracy as the unauthorzed use ofanothers production, invention,or conception especially in in-fringement of a copyright. Soci-ety sugarcoats the notion of pi-racy substituting the word filesharing perhaps to justify ourstealing. When people down-load free music, saving moneyfor themselves is the first thingon their minds. eyre usuallynot thinking about the millionsof dollars artists and record la-bels are losing.

While this is the politicallycorrect way to look at things,

much of the public still downloadsmusic for free being fully awarethat its wrong. But is download-ing free music online the same thingas stealing a luxury car? Id say no.No, because file sharing essentiallybenefits both the consumer and theartist. While downloading an en-

tire album off the Internet may bewrong, downloading a couple songsoff an album can benefit both theconsumer and the artist. When agood song is discovered on the ra-dio, downloading the song online isbeneficial for the artist because fromthat one song, one more person maybuy the actual album.

While mainstream artists maysuffer a little from file sharing, forsmaller bands file sharing is a goodthing. Not all bands or singers getto be on MTV overnight or moon-walk to the Grammys. Smaller bandswant to be recognized by the publicand what better way to get publicitythan online? With so much compe-tition in the music industry nowa-days, it is important for artists toutilize any available advantage.

e Internet has transformed ourworld completely, and file sharing isa yet another aspect of that transi-tion. It has allowed people to gainknowledge previously inaccessible.Who would have thought, even 10years ago, that we would have accessto an unlimited amount of informa-

tion via technology?Piracy may be a crime on paper,

but most people disregard the factfor the satisfaction of saving moneyon a couple songs. As long as ourimmediate desires are fulfilled, crimeor no crime no one seems to feelguilty about file sharing or the moreaccurate term, piracy.

Illegal File SharingNot as Bad as it Seems

e Daily Titan welcomes letters to the editor.

Any feedback, positive or negative, is encouraged, as we strive to keepan open dialogue with our readership. e Daily Titan reserves theright to edit letters for length, grammar and spelling. Direct all com-ments, questions or concerns, along with your full name and major,

to executive editor Adam Levy at alevy@dailytitan.com.

Got milk? I sure do. Lots andlots of it. I drink nearly two gal-lons every day. And research has

shown that milk can actually beone of the causes of Aspergers.Well, not just milk, but the en-zyme produced by it.

I guess I am in a precariouspredicament, but what can I do?I love milk.

What is the so-called source ofall my angst? Well, a team of re-searchers from UCLA have iden-tified 17 chro-mosomes thatare the cause ofautism. Whilethis would begood news,which it is, I dohave some reser-vations. e 17chromosomesbelong to geneband 17Q21.Scientists saythese genes deal with gluta-mates used as a neurotransmit-ter. Glutamate is the bodys most widely used neurotransmitter.Neurotransmitter just means

chemical messenger. Glutamateis found in things like grain, soy,wheat, corn, rice and milk.

And I love milk. Now I haveto deal with the fact that thedrink I love the most is aggravat-ing or accentuating my Asperg-ers. Milk may have also causedit as well.

For several years experts havebeen suggesting that autistic chil-dren be put on a glutamine freediet. e diet alteration is rec-ommended for children whose

tastes and habits have becomeingrained. Here I am, nearly30 years old. To make matters

worse, glutamates are also foundin most types of processed foodsand vaccines. So now, it seemsthe science that is meant to pro-vide sustenance and prevent dis-ease is actually the cause of anincrease in autism, which hasreached almost epidemic pro-portions.

e situation has become sobad that the LosAngeles CountyDepartment ofHealth Serviceshas declared au-tism one of thetop five healthrisk now facedby the county.

e dietmight have alsocontributed tothe national

average. According to a 2006study by the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, oneout of every 150 children in thiscountry has an autistic disorder.

Still, knowing all of this, I can-not seem to give up my milk. Itslike asking a pyromaniac to giveup his dynamite. And just likethe pyromaniac and his dyna-mite, I know that drinking milkmight be detrimental to myself,but I wont give it up.

As far as my addiction is con-cerned, I will continue to indulgein that ice-cold glass of smooth,rich whole milk until the cowscome home ... or until they pro-duce glutamate free milk.

... I love milk. NowI have to deal with thefact that the drink Ilove the most is aggra-vating or accentuatingmy Aspergers.

Milk and the Autism Gene

Robert is available to answer questions and provide information aboutstudents with disabilities. Email him at opinion@dailytitan.com

Vice President Dick Cheney was apparently the target of

an assassination attempt atleast, according to the mostreliable of sources: a Talibanspokesman.

e facts are as follows:Cheney, downed by bad weather conditions, spentan unscheduled overnight inBagram AirForce Base inBagram, Af-ghanistan.

A suicidebomber wenton to at-tack the basethe day afterCheney wasdelayed for anight.

To put itsimply: thefacts dont add up to assassina-tion, attempted or otherwise. Itseems more likely that Cheneyhappened to be in the wrongplace at the wrong time.

To hear Qari Yousef Ahmadi

say it a man who calls himselfa spokesman for the Taliban the Taliban had knowledgeof Cheneys secret visit days inadvance and was specificallytrying to target him.

Doesnt it strike anyone elseas odd that the best way to killour governments No. 2 man

is by trying to sneak a manstrapped with explosives into

U.S. a military base? A suicidebomber that, had the eventbeen so meticulously plannedout, would have had to beenthere at least 15 hours earlierto know that he or she actuallyhad a chance at our VP?

Of course, that hasntstopped newsoutlets fromex p l o i t i n gthe wholes i t u a t i o n .One askedif this was asign that theTaliban wasresurgent.

Not tomake light ofthe situation,but a resur-

gent Taliban would have beenusing snipers. Only the desper-ate would send an assassin intoa nest of armed soldiers. Onlythe hopelessly incompetentwould sent that assassin on the

wrong day.What we need to ask of ourmedia is to critically analyzewhom they listen to and whomthey give airtime to.

is kind of baseless specu-lation may titillate readers andviewers, but it doesnt informthem.

Not to make lightof the situation, buta resurgent Taliban

would have been usingsnipers.