If you walk along the path that crosses the Arts Quad from the libraries to between Lincoln and Goldwin Smith Halls, you will notice there are six small posters attached to stakes anchored in the ground.

The posters, clearly made by a pro-life organization, contain images of zygotes and fetuses and are accompanied by text about the image. For instance, the first one walking from the libraries is a picture of a zygote with words next to it that state:

"Hi I am Elena! Watch me grow!! I might be just 30 hours old, but I already have 46 of what my doctors call chromosomes making up my special DNA! A person's a person, no matter how small."

The events surrounding the flag exhib­ition on the Arts Quad last week brings to light the ongoing debate over provocation and proportionate response. The 1,300 black flags lining the Arts Quad commemorated the Palestinians and Israelis who died in the December violence in Gaza. The administrators and student groups that sponsored the display sought to spread awareness of the humanitarian crisis and generate discussion amongst Cornell students. Though it was not meant to be an anti-Israeli protest, the vandalization that ensued questions the objective nature of the exhibition. Moreover, it was not the protest itself, but the way in which it was implemented that seems to have provoked students to resort to vandalism.