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Tuesday, December 3,2002
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editors:
Salena De La Cruz, Pat Payne
The value of seeing double
Since Dolly, the first cloned sheep, was intro
duced to the world in 1997, massive develop
ments in cloning science have occurred. Given
the history of scientific breakthroughs through
out time, it is pragmatic to be wary and maybe
even scared of a new technology. But cloning is
definitely a positive idea that could help change
the world.
Cloning falls into the category of scientific pro
gressions that demand a sec
ond (and third, and fourth)
look. But the cloning issue is
not all or nothing, as some
would like you to believe.
The Bush administration has
looked to completely ban
cloning. While the ideology
behind a complete ban on
cloning would be under
standable, the consequences
will be felt by everyone suf
fering from multiple sclero
sis, Parkinson’s Disease,
arthritis and diabetes, not
just in the people wanting to make human copies
of an already existing being.
Last week, the press reported that Italian re
searcher Severino Antinori has successfully
cloned the world’s first human being, and the
birth will occur sometime in January. Antinori
has yet to disclose the name and location of the
parents. Panos Zavoscq, a former colleague of An
tinori, has stated that five human cloning projects
are in progress, telling a U.S. Congressional Com
mittee in May that “there is every indication that
2002 will be the year of the clones.”
Kathryn
Petersen
In other words
When scientists cloned Dolly, they didn’t
know the repercussions and thought that they
had created a healthy animal. Through the
years, they have found that Dolly suffers from
arthritis that may have a genetic basis, and it
has been found that animals reproduced by
cloning may suffer from forms of genetic dam
age that are not fully understood by the scien
tific community.
It should be of little or no surprise that much
of the American public is frightened of such de
velopments and has sought to make these prac
tices illegal. The thought of these scientific pro
gressions almost seems like a plot in a Stephen
King novel, except scarier because it’s real. But
before you get scared, look at the facts. Cloning
doesn’t just have to be about creating humans,
and it doesn’t have to be about pulling parts out
of babies. Instead, it can be about taking some
thing that’s already yours and using it to help
your body heal or function normally.
Given enough funding, cloning for therapeu
tic purposes is possible, but not quite here yet.
More research needs to be done before it can
become a reality. Just because cloning a human
being is also possible (or so says Severino An
tinori, although we have yet to see it), it does
n’t mean that we have to group the two togeth
er. Being seared of the possibility of a world full
of the same people is one thing, and cutting
part of the population off from being well
is another.
Contact the columnist at kathrynpetersen@
dailyemerald.com. Her opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
‘Peace’rally lacks peace, tolerance of all viewpoints
Guest commentary
I was one of the people standing at the
“peace rally” last week with a “Bush Ch
eney” sign. The one image that I cannot put
out of my mind regarding the “peace rally”
is how a group of otherwise intelligent peo
ple could look at you with such loathing
and contempt and not even know what
you believe.
At one point, one of the speakers turned
the crowd toward us with cries of, “If you
want war so much, go join the military.” Lit
tle did they know that about a third of our
crowd either is or was military and/or is
married to a person in the military. That
was the one comment that infuriated me
and provoked an angry response from me.
At the top of my lungs — in order to drown
out the hate cries from the peaceniks — I
shouted that my husband is in the Army and
that they can all go to hell. I got a few sur
prised looks from those close to me but the
majority did not hear or care to hear. 1 knew
going out to show our support for America
with “Bush Cheney” signs would not be met
with open arms by this crowd, but in my in
nocence, the vehemence of their hatred took
me aback.
At one point, a speaker from my parents’
generation stood up and started his speech,
sounding very methodical, and I could even
agree with his comments about the military
needing new equipment. Then, he went
from reason to hate. He called on those in
support of the rally to turn on people like us
(those of us standing in the “Bush Cheney”
crowd) and get in our faces and let us know
with forcefulness what we believe is not
right. Also, the students shouldn’t hold
peaceful rallies, but instead hold “days of
rage.” I am not sure what he meant by that,
but the crowd was right with him.
It was in that moment when I looked around
and saw the American flag turned upside down
and all the Iraqi flags being waved that I realized
that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore, so to speak. I
knew intellectually that this was what I had to
expect at an event such as this, but it was then
that the emotional aspects hit me. As well as
the long-term physical ramifications of being
labeled a warmonger, regardless of my true be
liefs, I don’t like the implied threats of violence
that I heard at this “peace rally.”
In the end, however, it will not change my
stance — no one there found out what it
was, because no one wanted to listen.
Maybe my next piece will be to speak out
about what I do believe. But does anyone re
ally care, anyhow?
Gabrielle Guidero is a junior geology major.
Letters to the editor
Stuttering Foundation
offers help
We applaud Brook Reinhard’s excellent arti
cle (“Local stutterers share tough experi
ences,” ODE, Oct. 24) and the effort to shed
some light on this complex disorder affecting
more than 3 million Americans.
However, your readers should also know how
to contact an excellent nonprofit source of help
— the Stuttering Foundation of America.
We provide information on the latest re
search on stuttering, a worldwide resource
list of speech pathologists who specialize in
stuttering, and videotapes and books on stut
tering compiled by the leading authorities in
the field.
For more information, offered free of charge,
you can check out www.stutteringhelp.org, or
e-mail us at stutter@vantek.net.
Jane Fraser
president
m The Stuttering Foundation
Column was barely about art
I noted Salena De La Cruz’s column (“The
bare facts,” ODE, Nov. 20) about “nude mod
els.” Sounds like she was lured to a more seedy
side of modeling having litde to do with art.
Actually, nude modeling in a university art
department or city art league is very legiti
mate and dignified. I’ve modeled for the
Western Kentucky University Art Depart
ment for two years. While a WKU student (I
graduate next year), I have been offered to
model for the Lexington, Ky., Art League.
The students and staff have been very friend
ly and professional towards me.
Indeed, some students themselves have
become models. I happened to be a natur
ist/nudist beforehand, which helped, but
both models and students soon take the nu
dity for granted. Male and female models of
all ages and shapes/appearances are desired.
Actual pay ranges from #8 to #15 per hour.
Models are rarely photographed but instead
used for drawing, painting and sculpting
classes.
Hope you find this information — from first
hand experience — helpful.
George M. Gumbert III
Western Kentucky University
Modeling ads
deserve consideration
Thank you for doing a column on the adver
tisements that are placed in your newspaper
(“The bare facts,” ODE, Nov. 20). I was a little
surprised the first time I read the Emerald and
saw so many advertisements for nude model
ing. I just kind of laughed at the idea, but it is a
serious subject that students should consider
before jumping into things all willy nilly.
Liz Harp
student
Lane Community College
Editor’s note: The Emerald has a two-fold
policy attempting to ensure ads for modeling
are legitimate and accurately described.
Those wishing to advertise modeling oppor
tunities must offer proof of an actual busi
ness, and when we receive complaints about
a classified ad of this nature, we remove it
from the paper.
Emerald photo choices
show political bias
I have to applaud Jenny Sherman for her ar
ticle (“Adding their voices,” ODE, Nov. 21) on
the anti-war rally on campus Nov. 20.
She managed to be objective, despite what
appears obviously as bias on the part of the
Emerald’s photographers. Adam Amato,
photo editor, and Mark McCambridge, pho
tographer, managed to fundamentally mis
represent the rally, despite the fact that
their photos captured mainly trees and
blank space.
Dissenting groups (the Bush advocates, in
this case) should have been acknowledged in
this article, but only to the degree in which
they were present. McCambridge’s large front
page photo explicitly focuses on the counter
protesters, who made up only about two per
cent of the crowd of hundreds.
Even worse — Amato’s front-page photo was
taken after the three-hour rally had ended.
This not only smacks of political bias — this is
poor journalism.
Jackie Prange
junior
biology and political science
Editor’s note: The Emerald stands by its
photographers in the assertion that this
example of terrible photojournalism was not
political bias. See “An apology to the commu
nity,” ODE, Nov. 25.
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Letters to the editor and guest
are Smiled to 250words and guest
commentaries to 550 words. .Authors are
limited to one submission per calendar
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