Check your facts, Doc

As a student of biology, I feel compelled to comment on the Letter to the F.ditorpublished in last week's Loquitur (April 19, 1997) regarding the use of animals for dissection in the laboratories.

Biologists and their students are often wrongly regarded as inhuman mass mw;derers who destroy life in order to further their own personal interests in research.

This is simply a gross misconception. Biologists not only wish to promote life, but preserve it. The best way to do this is to study it. How do we get an understanding of mammalian anatomy unless it is investigated?

Any education major or profes.,.~ here at Cabrini will tell you the best way to learn how to be a good educator is to be out in the field, working one on one with students. This theory must be true because we have one of the best programs in education to be found. The same theory holds true for biology. A student needs to work with the materials of the field. This is where the animals come into focus. Their use has been a long-standing tradition in the field dating back to the Grecian Age.

Dr. Balcombe's article opposing the use of animals is filled with inaccuracy and myth. He claims that " cats [are] being drowned 10 at a time in burlap sacks or prodded roughly into crowded gas chambers, rats [are] embalmed in formaldehyde while still Jiving, and lastly that...dozens of Jive frogs are piled into sacks for days or weeks without food " These practices would never occur in a reputable research facility, or in a supplier of such animals.

Carolina Biological Supply Company is the primary supplier of preserved animal specimens for high school and higher education laboratories. The animals they send are not subjected to the aforementioned conditions.

With regard to students becoming repulsed by the dissection of animals, I pose this rebuttal: If a student in a pre-medical/medical profession cannot handle the dissection of a dead, preserved specimen, what are their chances of being able to work on live humans? It can get very messy inside a living body!

Educational quality was also considered. Balcombe feels videos or slides can provide the same information as a dissection.

This is not true. Videos do not allow the student to get up close and actually manipulate. the tissues. A student needs to see the animal and work with it.

Another point I feel necessary to mention is that few of the members of the humane society are science educators or even science professionals! I wonder how it is, then, that they know what the scope and depth of the material that should be learned.

So what are the alternatives? Human cadavers? Interesting. It is extremely hard to test vaccines on a dead body. Many of the research on animals has brought humanity cures to various parasites and infections.

No one complained when this was happening. I'm sure, if asked, any member of this humane society would want the life of a family member to be saved if they became seriously ill with cancer or other serious illnesses. Animal research has revealed cures and prevention for these illnesses and continued research offers hope for the future.

How does this apply to Cabrini? No animal is inhumanly destroyed in any biology laboratory.

We receive all specimens of tadpoles and fruit flies from Carolina Biological, which is federally investigated each year for cruelty to animals. They have never been fined for cruelty or inhuman treatment of animals.

The inhumane treatment of animals is absolutely a crime and should result in serious punishment. However, the majority of research conducted is not inhumane or cruel.

Balcombe has presented an attack on the field of Biology which is ludicrous, unfactual and certainly misleading. My advice is to ask the opposing side, namely students, professors and researchers what their view is.

Before you do, however, remember that the antibiotics you take, the heart transplant you or a family member may need or the insulin you take for diabetes all came because of humane, practical research.

I doubt that allowing humans to die because research cannot be continued is a humane alternative.

Submitted respecl:fully, Paul R. Kleschick Biology major

Remember, SGA is here for students

Two years ago, the Student Government Af.sociation was re-started by a group of students who were concerned about the fact that students on campus needed a voice to speak about their concerns and issues. This group worked long and hard to create a constitution and the framework for an Executive Board to serve as the voice of the student.

Student Government was not created to serve the needs of a person on the Executive Board. This year, I have seen more people concerned about how they clillnge or manipulate the rules to help themselves or their circle of friends. This is not the reason SGA was created, nor should it be the reason people choose to be part of the organization

Being a part of SGA means you are a student leader with important responsibilities and rights. But it does not give you the right as a leader to abuse the privileges you have been given.

Serving as a leader is an important role at Cabrini and one that should be treated with responsibility, not one that should be looked at as a way to improve your life at Cabrini.

So, before you decide to be a part of SGA, remember that you are the voice of the student body. It is a job that requires numerous hours and may force you to deal with people who have a different pointof view or force you to deal with difficult issues. Think about it.

Andrea Kelliher Senior Class Officer

0 In the April 17 issue of Loquitur, Resident Director Steve Murray's story "Death's lessons," was cut short. The last sentence should have read: Although his lessons do not comfort us in our time of despair, they do remind and motivate us to appreciate what we do have, and also help us to treasure our priceless gift, the gift of life.

0 In the same issue, in the story "Cloning issues continue to multiply," junior Dennis Finocchairo was identified as a first-year student.

0 Also in that issue, the new SGA recording secretary was reported to be Michele McDevitt when it is actually Lori Henderson.

0 Yet again, in the April 17, issue, James Kuhn's story "Despite bad rep, rap stays steady," was cut short. The last sentence should have read: Popular music comes and goes, but rap has done nothing but sell in its short 20-year history.

0 And yes, in the very same issue of Loquitur, a poem entitled, "Life," was attributed to Tara Gilpin, when in fact it was obtained from the Internet.