Posted on 08/08/2007 4:17:47 PM PDT by wagglebee
Gainesville, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Assisted suicide crusader Jack Kevorkian is headed to the University of Florida for an October 11 speaking engagement -- which will have the college pay him $50,000. But the event isn't going over well with students there, who are upset that state taxpayer dollars will be used to pay the convicted murderer.
Ashley Emans, a junior at the university, wrote more about the speaking engagement in an editorial on Town Hall.
She said that the student-run speaker's bureau called ACCENT sent Kevorkian the speaking offer shortly after his released from prison, where he served eight years of a 10-25 year prison sentence for the murder of a disabled patient.
"Kevorkian's UF stop will probably be his first paid public speaking engagement since his June 1 release from prison," Emans says and "his $50,000 honorarium is subsidized by taxpayer dollars."
The event will only occur is Kevorkian is granted special permission by his parole officer to leave the state and go to Florida.
While many pro-life students are upset by the appearance, Emans says "Kevorkian will be greeted here in Gainesville, Florida with open arms from many students and professors."
"Once again my school is making national headlines for reasons that make me cringe. It very rarely speaks for me, and I am ashamed my fellow students in the governing body want the cache of Kevorkian at the expense of respect or dignity," Emans says in the Town Hall editorial.
Emans pointed out the irony that Terri Schiavo was a victim of euthanasia in the same state and that the judge who allowed her former husband to take her life was University of Florida graduate George Greer.
"Bioethicist Bill Allen teaches here, who said in an interview that he believed Terri Schiavo was not a person," she added.
Emans concludes that the college is again going out of its way to provide its progressive and open-minded credentials, this time by embracing someone who has admittedly killed more than 130 people via assisted suicide.
"I take issue with UF falling all over itself to nab Kevorkian first," she concluded. "I fail to see what good is to come from using taxpayer dollars to preach a religion of death a significant number do not subscribe to."
i just graduated from UF in the spring - ACCENT uses the student activities fees portion of the tuition to bring speakers to UF, technically this is only the money of people that pay tuition, not really fl taxpayers money (per se)- ACCENT is actually a group on campus which many students feel is exclusive and mostly filled with greeks who tend to lean on the side of conservatism BUT they bring all sorts of speakers to the university - i believe ann coulter cost $32k last year and spike lee and elie wiesel (if i recall correctly) were also over the $30K mark, so the high fees are just the nature of bringing famous speakers to campus - $50k is more than most, but it isnt out of the ordinary - universities like UF have an obligation to bring relevant speakers to town (many townspeople come to these events, not just UF students, it is free to all) — it doesnt matter whether you agree with the speakers topic or not, the intent is to expose a huge student populace to issues and beliefs they may not be aware of or understand, knowledge benefits us all (i hope we can all agree on that)...i intend to write to machen to tell him i applaud ACCENTs choice (something the president of UF has nothing to do with) to counteract the useless petition that will be sent to him by some floridians (most of whom do not pay tuition at UF)
well your name says it all = ) — the faculty voted against the honorary degree for jeb bush and the university (through the alumni something or other) gave it to him anyway -— just political posturing - no real need to give ole jeb an honorary degree when he has not even been out of office for a year - kinda jumpin the gun there = )
First of all, welcome to FR.
I am a UF Grad, and I am appalled at this choice. Just exactly what "knowledge" would "Dr." Kervorkian bring?
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