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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 10, 1990)
Editorial IACUC needs a new meetings policy This is not a t ommentarv on the use of animals in laboratory research, nor is it a discussion of the valid ity of l)i Ric hard Marine <o's proposed experiment Rather, it is a < riticisin of the wav the I 'niversily s In stitute of Animal Care and I se Commission approved Marroc co s protocol When it was formed, the lACt’C was supposed to measure the necessity for animal research projec.ts Kv ery experiment goes m front of the commission, sup posedly for .1 strong review of what will actually lake place during the course of the lab work Whatever the IAOT was supposed to be it isn't Mow i ommission members give only cursorv gl.mc.es at proposed experiments It goes without saving that animal experiments will be approved lACl’C hear ings. fur the most part, are anti c liuuu tic An example is the recent decision to let Marroc co proc eed vv ith his neurologic a I experiment The c ase re c eivi'd much notoriety, mostly because it would in volve the use ot mat acjue moukov s Not since the infa mous "Martha'' case last vear have monkeys lieen used m l Diversity experiments Students for the Klhical Treatment of Animals op poses the experiment In the various discussions sini e the protoeol was announced SI I \ has questioned the net essitv of using monkeys in the project. and raised i one erns ovei w bother Marrot t o is medically qualified to n ork w ith the animals The IACI (. held a hearing on Murror.co’s case while the ('Diversity was closed toi spring break At the meeting, the commission went into an executive session, despite protests from SK I A members who at tended the hearing in hopes of airing then concerns. SKTA t Linns tin- executive session violated Oregon I’ublit Meeting laws The I AC II (C! contends the private meeting was used to discuss information that was not for public consumption. Whatevci the reason the 1 At A (1 did not live up to its responsibilities I lie commission is obligated to hear both sides ot a controversial issue and then make <1 rational decision on whether to approve the projei I Kven if I AC! C did not break Oregon statutes, tliev were still negligent in not giving opposing viewpoints a ( bailee to speak Mairoico s case is far from over It is possible the I At l!(.'could be toned to bold anotbei pu ill it hearing on Marrorco's protocol Such a meeting would give SKTA and other animal research opponents the oppor tunity to present their oh jet lions In the future. I AC'.l (i should realize the best wav to make a dot ision is to collect the w idest range of infor mation. tmm\ msBKD tNcm-anwt UADlODWtoHNE LINE KT THE. , r 'QlUfcMfS ISL^D \ S RERUNS... f k m is OENVX’SOC'l UV?ii Hubble telescope worthy of our attention Barring a inn hank al ni vveathei delay llit' shuttle Discoverv uill have carried tin* Hubble Spat t' Ielescope min earth orbit to d<i\ where it nil! spend the next I t years uni overing some of the universe's secrets Seven years late because ot tethnii.il problems and the (ihallenger disastei. the telescope will orbit the earth for at least la years, sending hath pictures ot mysterious t elestial objei ts essential to our undei stand ing the universe Hubble's total price lag is a hettv $2 bil lion. with an added SJIKI million a year needed tor mamtenam e and operating < osts (It course, there are always people critical ot putting precious dollars into earth orbit. In addition there are those who are apathetic about space research, with its tar-out theo ries and seemingly intangible benefits Hut several fat ts about the telescope, and the spat e program itself should be considered Simply put the Hubble observatorv rep resents possibly the greatest advance in ax tronomv sim e (ialileo first started looking at the skv with Ins telesc ope in the 17th i eu turv Above the distortion of the earth's at mosphere Hubble will detect objects 51) times dimmer than those visible from the' ground I he taint light from some of these objects h.ts been traveling toward us lor bil lions of years, and the telescope will view them .is the\ are formed. In this wav . astron omers will be able to see the beginnings of the universe. Tile telesc ope will also be used to detei I planets around other stars, an essential first step il humans are to one day visit othei so lar systems. In an age of mechanized warfare and "Star Wars" missile systems. Hubble is a re freshing t hange in the wav humans use their technologic.il knowledge and in the wav they use outer space itself. Several othei projei !s are on the NASA draw ing board in i biding probes of the sun and planets Sure l\ funding could be found tor these projei Is from the bloated defense budget W hen one considers that the costs in volved will bring humanity knowledge about the creation of the universe itself and that the money spent on the entire spai e program represents a miniscule fraction of the total I S budget the telescope is more than a wise investment The Hubble telescope and projects like it deserve not unlv our attention, but our support as well Letters___: —— -—-— ■ i Steelheads Sitting m .1 i ,ift“ rt'i entlv I overheard someone argue tti.il sea linns should In' slaughtered and skinned lor their hides Ills justification lor this was that these i realunts eat anil destroy steeihe,id populations and should therefore lie eliminated To you steelhead fishermen who think sea lions are the source ot your problems whs don't \ou i onsidei other tar tors, such as man made dams and pollutants It you have to blame non human creatures for your woes, you have a patheti r ally desperate argument Sea lions are not the problem, you are I very dav in the news there is more i ontrovorsv about elim inating the logging of old growth There is tremendous ((iniern that jobs will be lost it this happens lines are more important than people1 II some loggers lose their jobs so be it I lieils is a dying breed any wav. and their demise is long overdue I llis should he v iew ed as natll r.tl selections There .ire lar too many humans nil tins planet, and nnt enough old growth 1 am what most people would consider a radii al hei ause I be lieve that humans ate not the most important living < matures on tills planet I think that the lives ol sea lions, trees, spotted owls, eti are mut h more im portant and dignified than the lives ot most humans; especial ly those whose livelihoods are dependent oil the destrui tion and exploitation of other crea tures In m\ travels. I have seen many xiik, uglv. violent de strui live i real ores l-.verv one ot them was human Tim Webber TCF Extreme On April I. I had tile extreme honor ot wati long a lhigene po lice ottii er apprehend a vii ious i riminal hit yi le rider I mfortu nateh . I didn't see the reasons tor Ins apprehension, tint I did see Ills tm \< le stopped and watched in Use illation .is his hod\ was folded over the frame of Ills hike I'he hiker was wearing l.yi ra shorts and .1 I shirt the easier to see his slim frame I’he po liceman was wearing a helmet .mil mirrored sunglasses, the harder to see his face The offii er forcefully re moved the hii vi list from his means of escape (the hike) and rolled him over and tried to get him in some sort ot body lot k I could hear the rider saying. "Stop, please I wasn't doing anything Was this extremef. 1 thought so I thought there was much more force than necessary, es pet iallv following on the heels of the infamous "tear gas par ty" last weekend To see a bur ly "officer of the law" repeat edly slam a young man into the asphalt was surprising. I thought that it only happened in the movies True, it is possi ble the hiker had a weapon of some sort, but I couldn't see one 1 had thought that the police student argument would not af fei t me I new know that I was wrong. Of course, the biker ma\ have been breaking the; law but that is not what 1 am (oni t'tticd about I believe that there was too much force used in this apprehension of a dan gerous i riminal Russell Gilman Philosophy Barbaric As a former journalism ma jor. I was shocked to learn that the school of journalism was sponsoring the pro-vivisection speaker. Jon Franklin, to talk on campus April 11 In the past, I have attended many journalism lectures on the importance of careful re search in order to provide accu rate information to the public Imagine then my amazement in learning that the department fell so far from its self-pro i laimed guidelines by funding such a misinformed speaker According to Franklin, the animal rights movement wants to take us back into the dark ages by eliminating the use of animals lor rescan li An obvi ous si are tai.tic , this mistakenly projects animal rights activists as anti-research rather than anti-animal researi h lor they are very nun h in favor of all vancements but u ith altern.i live measures Computers and tissue i u! lures are now able to provide information that was previous ly unattainable through prove dures using live animals, so unless there were computers and genetic technology in the dark ages, it is clear that the an imal activists are not looking to push research back, but to en courage it as far forward from the barbaric, medieval methods as possible. Careful research by the School of lournalism would have made it clear that sponsor ing Franklin to speak on cam pus means funding propagan da. Misha Dunlap Knglish