opinion
Test tube insemination prompts questions
December 28 marked the birthday of a truly
wondrous being — America’s first test-tube baby.
All manner of media were quick to ballyhoo such a
marvelous event. Nary was heard a discouraging
word on the amazing vitro fertilization process
that was successful for Judith Carr. But if you look
at the whole picture it’s not so rosy — in fact, it’s
rather frightening.
The proud parents were quoted as saying
they had “no words to express our thanks to those
who helped make this possible." May we suggest
the Carr’s thank the legion of scientists, gene
ticists and computer programmers who had a
hand in this “miraculous" conception. And lest we
forget to thank — all the mad scientists of fictional
literature who dared to dream of creating life-in
a-bottle In the immortal words of Colin Clive — as
the monster twitched under the exploding elec
trodes in the movie Frankenstein — “Now I know
what it feels like to be God."
“We have the technology" a televsion show
used as its rationale for reconstructing a human
being from various tubes and wires and space-age
alloys. The implication was that having the
technology to reconstruct a human made its
implementation obligatory — ethical and moral
considerations be damned This pervasive atti
tude is the reason the atomic bomb was dropped
on Nagasaki The devastation of Hiroshima, it was
felt, was not enough proof to the Japanese Hav
ing the technology has been the justification for
other instances of reckless scientificism Need
less atomic tests — the abuse of Agent Orange —
the testing and leaking of biological warfare
agents, these and other abuses were all justified
under the banner of useful technology We have
the technology to kill. Now, through test-tube
insemination, we have the technology to create
life-in-a-bottle
Isn’t it rather frightening — technology that is
both life and death — being used with who knows
what results for the future? A test-tube insemin
ated human being smacks of dangerous tamper
ing It raises fundamental questions that will one
day have to be resolved What if the test-tube
inseminated being is not normal? Who orders it to
be destroyed? With the test-tube insemination can
the "parent” be a third party unrelated to the
couple? Would it then be possible to breed a race
of superhumans? If so, it will also be possible to
breed a race of slaves?
What is really appalling in this media celebri
tyhood of America's first test-tube baby is the
reaction from childless couples. There were
thousands of parentless children seeking adop
tion But now childless couples are contacting the
vitro fertilization clinics seeking test-tube in
semination rather than adopt racially-mixed, han
dicapped, or older children
It's odd that rignt-to-nre groups are not
damning such unnatural means of conception as
loudly as they damn abortion It seems strangely
incongruous for an anti-abortion group to be
declaring that ail conception is mandated from
God and should not be tampered with — and then
to be only slightly opposed to laboratory insemin
ation
There will come a time, perhaps very soon,
when technology will become all-too-pervasive
and outstrip its usefulness to humankind without
moral and ethical considerations Instead of a
partnership of science advancing society we may
see science disrupting the society and plunging
us into dark ages
%
TUAN YOU
WWlii
SOLIDARITY REAFFIRMED
Disrespected
Free, black, and 21
I have been treated very in
just, put down, disrespected
and they messed with my man
hood
Valuable things have been
stolen from me
My race of women have
turned against me Some of
them became prostitutes
Homosexuality is involved in
this type of ugliness
If someone would like to help
me with this, you can call me at
this number 344-1841
My nationality is Black and
Indian
Peace to all
Let’s love each other
Let's share with each other
Under God all people are sis
ters and brothers
The rich should share with the
poor
I will pray tor you
Stanford Brown
Lawrence St.
Porn's place
I would like to applaud the
author of "What's all this fuss
about pornography'?" (Emerald
Dec 14) Sex is the next best
thing to making love so we
should encourage porno
shoppes all across America I
used to always get terribly
alarmed and raise dispropor
tionate ruckuses when ever I
saw skin, but now I realize that
we should carry on the Botticelli
tradition and exploit skin as
much as possible Lusting after
the human body is the best way
to appreciate its beauty I used
to think my religion would con
demn this kind of enlightened
education, but hey. God isn't
against porn — He created
Adam and Eve naked, didn't He?
I really lament missing out on
the dirty grizzly-bearded
hairy-fingered old men of the
good ol days, long black coats
decked out with outrageously
priced dirty pictures (how
quaint) I'll be sure to take my
son to see some stag films'' —
that way he'll know all about it
and won't be asking me embar
rassing questions, and stag
films will sure teach him more
about being a man that any
rough and ready Western could
I don't know much about hell,
so I’ll have to take the author's
word for it that it hasn't over
flowed But since it hasn't,
mainstream (good) porno
graphy must be okay So let's all
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fight to overthrow old-fogey
parents and traditional values
and humble Springfield citizens,
and to give obscenity, porno
graphy and erotica their proper
place in American society
John J. Gibbons
GTF
Rousted
Dec 11 I crashed at the Out
door Program I had spent a
good part of the day working on
the OP's van, and that evening I
tried to get caught up on my
homework there It became late,
so I decided to sleep off the rest
of the night there In the morn
ing I planned to study some
more But at 3 a m three secur
ity officers came in and rudely
woke me They told me “Get
out, or you'll be taken to jail for
trespassing " After confirming
that I was indeed a student, they
gave back my ID By this time
there were five security officers
present (at a hefty rate per hour
that came from, of course,
University funds), to lay down a
bullshit rule on me, a mere
student I left I waited out-of
sight to see them leave, and an
hour after the whole ordeal
began they were still there I
figured I’d found their hangout
The next day the door was
locked, against policy
The Outdoor Program is a
cooperative, and the room it
occupies in the basement of the
EMU is supposed to be un
locked 24 hours a day. all year
long This is because it is in
tended to be used at any time, in
any non-destructive manner, to
serve students and the com
munity alike
So why did I get busted for
doing such a destructive
thing as sleeping there on a
chance occassion? If I were to
live there I could see the differ
ence But not for just once dur
ing Dead Week
It is ironic that I put as much
work and energy into the Out
door Program as I do and yet I
still get treated like this by Cam
pus Security Though I realize
there has been somewhat of a
problem with transients using
the OP. this still does not justify
the rude treatment I received I
am sure there is nothing in their
work contract that calls for them
to be the crude assholes they
were that Friday night
The most important aspect of
this is that I let it happen to me —
as I will never do again I'll
refuse until they tail me next
time
Our tuition goes up — we do
nothing Security plays a power
trip and we do nothing The
apathy of the '70 s is a habit to
be changed The crap is getting
too deep We need to stand up
for our rights and be proud of it
Bob Breeden
Psychology