I applaud the Alliance for Animals Rights and the group's victory over foie gras at Zola's.

It took a lot of courage and dedication for those students to stand for hours in the cold on a Friday night to stand up for something they believed in, while many other students could be found warming themselves in their apartments with alcoholic beverages.

I was, however, disheartened by the attitude of those who did not support the students and professed about "more important things going on." To denounce their activism with the statement, "If you protest foie gras, you should protest beef or chicken" is like saying, "if you protest child labor, you should protest child pornography."

The fact is that there is much injustice and suffering in the world, regardless of whom and what the victims are. We all must pick our battles.

If there is to be any judgment, these students should be judged on their determination and spirit, rather than on some false ranking of the importance of the issue. As Mahatma Gandhi said, "the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."