1995_03 The Daily Collegian March 1995

              2—The Daily Collegian.   Thursday, March 9,1995
Editorial/Opinion
College dissection:
should you cut?
For several decades, animal dissection has been a routine part
of the biological sciences curriculum in high schools and colleges.
Many students have forced themselves to participate in direction
assignment, overriding their good instincts, because they thought
they had no choice. They do! Here is my story about confronting
the dissection status quo during the course of my studies leading to
a doctoral degree in animal behavior.
In high school biology class, I didn't look forward to the
mandatory dissection assignment I chose the fetal pig over the cat,
because it was easier for me to distance myself from an animal that
I didn't share my home with. The dissection took up several weeks
of class time, anal eventually got used to the pungent smell of
formaldehyde and the greasy feel of fleshy bits that clogged the
sink drain by the end of class. I also got over my initial reluctance to
cut into the flesh of a once-living animal. By the time I reached my
sophomore year as a college biology student, I had participated in
classroom dissections of rhesus monkeys, frogs, dogfish sharks,
pigeons, mudpuppies, crayfish and several[other mvertebrates.
But I never got over the, nagging feeling that dissection wasn't
the right thing to do. Surprisingly, it was tine "lowly" insects that
first inspired me to act on that feeling. I was among a small group
of students who, during generics labs, would secretly allow fruit
flies to rouse from their ether-induced stupor and fly away, rather
than dumping them into a dish of oil called the fly morgue.
Emboldened by my success as a subversive fly rescuer, I ap¬
proached the professor of my entomology course to express my
objection to killing adult locusts for a lab exercise by snipping off
their heads with scissors. He allowed me to knock them out with
ether first.
By tine time I was a graduate student in animal behavior, I had
become convinced that classroom dissections and vivisections did
more harm than good. As a lab instructor for an introductory
biology course, I campaigned successfully for providing students
tine option of not having to purchase and dissect a fetal pig. Nine of
the 40 students in my two lab sections chose to leom with humane
alternatives that year, arid they performed better than most of the
others on tine final lab exam. „.
Why object to dissection? First, there is the animal suffering
involved. Investigators of the dissection trade have documented
cats being drowned in burlap sacks or prodded roughly into
crowded gas chambers; rats embalmed with formaldehyde while
still living; dozens of live frogs piled into sacks for days or weeks
without food; and sickly turtles kept in filthy, overcrowded holding
,    tanks. These sorts of cruelties are commonplace and, though
inexcusable, perhaps not surprising in a business where the
"merchandise'' is going to end up dead anyway.
1 v   Then there are social concerns. A principal goal of life science
education is to teach respect from life. Dissection doesn't teach
\    respect; it undermines it by devaluing the lives of other creatures to
the level of expendable objects. Unfortunately, many bright,
compassionate students respond to this by turning away from
careers in such fields as medicine, veterinary medicine or nursing,
where such qualities are most needed. Less sensitive students may
be hardened by the exercise, the consequences of which are open to
speculation.
V There is also quality of education to be considered. Teachers
\ who continue to use live animals in dissections or other invasive
v_y classroom exercises are apparently unaware of or unmoved by the
' fact that more than a dozen studies have been published showing
that students using humane alternatives learn anatomy or physiol¬
ogy as well as or better than students who use animals. Abundant
resources are available for learning anatomy, physiology, genetics,
toxicology and other animal-related fields mat do not require
animals to suffer and/ or die. These include films, computer
simulations, models, books or a Ohp to a local veterinary clinic.
Finally, there is environmental protection. Many of the animals
harmed or killed for classroom use are caught in the wild. Popula¬
tions of frogs and sharks, for instance, have been seriously declin¬
ing in reeent years, and while the specific impact of their capture for
classroom use is not known, it is certainly not ecologically benefi¬
cial. Moreover, the world needs people who value environmental
stewardship and compassion for life. Dissection fosters neither.
So think twice about participation in classroom exercises that
are harmful to animals. If you think, as I do, that it isn't good
education, then speak up. Otherwise, ypxxx teachers will continue to
think everything is A-okay with their choice of teaching methods,
and little will change. By exercising your right to learn biology
without harming animals, you send a strong message that you care
about animals and the environment, that you care about society's
values and that you take your education seriously.
Crisis erupts in Chiapas
I got permission from my
brother at Drake University to
forward this to you.
He appended a letter
onto tine end of this for¬
warded message also.
I will also forward the
reply from Amnesty Interna¬
tional
You may see fit to use
some, all or none of this
information, but I thought it
might be interesting to you.
Bernard Rieping
As tension mounts in the
state of Chiapas, there is
growing concern for tine
safety of members of the
Catholic Church who are
reported to be facing threats
and harassment there.
On 4 February 1995, Jose
Alberto Paniagua Mijarigos, a
serninarist in the city of San
Cristobal de las Casas, was
reportedly followed by
individuals in an unmarked
car, believed to be members
of the Policia Judicial Federal,
PJF, Federal Judicial Police.
He was allegedly threat¬
ened that he would suffer
'rnisfortunes' (le sucederian
desgracias') if he continued
with his pastoral work
On 12 February, the PJF is
reported to have interrupted
mass and interrogated Father
Javier Ruiz Velazco about his
alleged link with armed
opposition groups.
On 45 February, the PJF
and members of the
Ministerio Publico, Public
Ministry, are reported to have
searched, with a warrant, the
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Church of Santo Jacinto in the
municipality of Ocosingo.
On the same day, the same
group is reported to have
raided the Convent of the
L>?minican Brothers and
Sisters, this time without a
search warrant
Members of the Centro de
Derechos Humanos Tray
Bartolome de las Casas', a
church-based human rights
organization, have reported a
heavy army presence near their
offices in San Cristobal de las
Casas.
The tension is particularly
acute around San Cristobal de
las Casas, where violence
against members of the
Catholic Bishopric mediating
in the peace negotiations
between the Zapatista National
Liberation Army YEZLN) and
the Mexican government is
reported to have increased
since 9 February when Presi¬
dent Zedillo called for-the
arrest of several EZLN leaders.
Father Samuel Ruiz,
Bishop of San Cristobal de las
Casas and a human rights
activist who has played a
fundamental role in tine peace
negotiations, has been the
focus of many of the attacks.
On 19 February, hun¬
dreds of landowners and
other non-indigenous people
demonstrated against Bishop
Ruiz, hurling abuse, making
threats and throwing stones,
chairs and eggs against the
doors of the Cathedral of San
Cristobal de las Casas.
Press reports indicate that
the police only intervened two
hours after the incidents
began.
Father Ruiz received
death threats during 1994 (UA
102/94,141vtarch 1994). 1
Members of the Catholic
Church have been active in
promoting and protecting the
rights of indigenous popula¬
tions of Chiapas for many
decades.
They have frequently
encountered opposition from
wealthy landowners and locM
authorities. .   •
Bernard J. Rieping Student
emergency call from
Dllbert® by Scott Adams
FROrA NOLO ON, THt
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J      Education with The Humane Society of the United States.
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