I was excited to see the article on student animal rights activism ("Group holds meatout," March 20) in your publication. Students go to school to be informed and apply their knowledge to the real world.

Who really wants to wake up every morning knowing they are going to pay for animals to be crammed into cages, beaten and then bled to death? When young people learn more than one million animals are slaughtered for food every hour, they understandably want to avoid being part of that violence. Animals on modern factory farms are deprived of everything that is natural to them, and they are treated in ways that would warrant felony cruelty-to-animals charges if the victims were dogs or cats.

The good news is one in four college students feel vegan options are important for reasons ranging from cruelty to animals, environmental protection and better health. Colleges are rapidly increasing their vegetarian-friendly options because of student demand for healthy meals that do not contribute to animals' suffering. From faux BBQ "ribs" and soy cheese pizza, to vegan cheese cakes, vegetarians can eat all the delicious food they want without supporting practices such as confining animals in tiny cages or slaughtering them.