1997_04 The Daily Collegian April 1997

              E
THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Wednesday, April 2, 1997
Opinion
Telephone: (209) 278-5732
Cloning doesn't mean
copying in sheep, {
people or Tyra Banks
By Mats HeUgren
The Daily Collegian
Scottish scientists say they have
cloned the DNA from one sheep
and completed a perfect replica.
This sounds like something from a
science-fiction novel, so people
seem to be very amazed by the find¬
ings, but what dtx.*s it really mean?
Nol much.
.Since the birth of the sheep.
moralists all over the planet have
been announcing the death of vari¬
ety if these experiments aren't
slopped immediately. They want an
international law. prohibiting the
cloning of humans..
The moralists claim that ihe
whole planet will be Hooded with
identical replicas, all looking like
Schwarzenegger.
Will this really be the result of
cloning? -
Television shows all over the
world have made computer gener¬
ated films showing how it will look
in the future where, they say. ev¬
erybody will look the same.
A commentary on the Internet
questioned these shows, asking.
"Why on Karth would all cloned
people be marching like soldiers
wearing the same clothes?
Wouldn't it be more likely that they
wore different clothes and did dif¬
ferent things like drinking beer or
talking to a girl on a couch?"
it is also funny to sec how clones
are supposed lo be some sort of
musclemen. Why wouldn't any-
bixly clone Danny DeVito or Joe
Pesci? Another thirig that no one
seems to have thought of is that
clones really won't look alike.
If they grow up in different
places and have different interests,
they'll turn out completely differ¬
ent, thus conserving ihe variety that
is the pleasure of our little planet.
This means that if we cloned
Arnold and put the clone in a
French ballet academy without ste¬
roids, he'd be more likely to come
out as a slender ballerina than a ter¬
minator. And the two would prob¬
ably have different haircuts.
Cloning Pamela Anderson
would give us another girl, but she
would not even be recognized as a
clone of Pamela without her trade¬
mark silicone fillers. In a way. plas¬
tic surgery creates more copies than
cloning would, so why should one
be legal and the other not?
What are the positives of clon¬
ing human beings? One. of course
would be to make a million clones
of Tyra Banks and make sure they
get the same upbringing, but an¬
other would be lo help couples thai
can't have a baby.
Cloning could replace surrogate
mothers, adoptions and other con¬
fusing situations involved when
people want to have a child. Clon¬
ing could give childless couples a
chance to have a biological child.
Il could also give the world a
chance to prolong the life of spe¬
cial lalents that die after a lifetime.
Imagine if we could have kept
Selena's angel-like voice by clon¬
ing her talent, or Billic Holiday's.
But as said before, cloning does
not mean copying. Everybody for¬
gets the environmental factor.
Cloning gives the cloned replica the
same talents as ihe previous, but
their life is going to make them dif¬
ferent.
Some of the Tyra Banks clones
will become skinheads, thus ruin¬
ing their beauty, others will have
drug problems or diseases that
change their ability to attract men.
Making a million clones ol Tyra
will not give us a million gorgeous
women, but a million individuals
with a lot of potential to knock men
off iheir seals.
Remember the word "individu¬
als." because that is a key wY>rd
when you talk about clones. That
is ihe key word for any species on
earth, no matter how it is conceived.
New Indian gaming policies unfair
By Tom Sepulveda
The Daily Collegian
If you are over IK and have lived
in this state very long, you've prob¬
ably played the Lottery or bought a
Scraicherat some point.
In other words, chances are
you've partaken in one of the
world's oldest forms of entertain¬
ment-gambling.
And in casinos in Nevada, on
rivers in the south and even card
tables in states where gambling
isn't legal, people have been prof¬
iting from it.
That is. until the Native Ameri¬
cans got involved. For several
years, there have been casinos on
reservations in this state, providing
a level of prosperity that many
tribes haven't seen since the days
before Columbus came.
But Pete Wilson has decided
enough is enough. On the basis that
federal law states that only those
games that are legal in a slate are
legal in a reservation casino, ihe
Stdte of California has taken the is¬
sue lo court lo have Indian gaming
put to an end.
Wilson doesn't have a great
reputation with minorities anyway.
Proposition 1X2. the slashing of
education funding, and welfare re¬
form leave many minorities throw¬
ing around accusations of racism.
This would be perceived as just
another unfriendly move against a
minority group.
■ Nol that the stale doesn't profit
from gambling anyway. The Lot¬
tery and Keno-style games have
generated a great deal of income for
the state.
While there have been some
questions about where that money
actually goes, there aren't many
arguments that it is an effective
means to raise funds for the gov¬
ernment.
Obviously, Pete Wilson doesn't
feel that Native Americans in this
state deserve the same opportunity.
Nol lhal these kinds of move¬
ments haven't happened before. In
1995. the state of New Mexico tried
to make gambling illegal, even on
reservations. But several tribes
threatened to blockade highways
and cease the maintenance of slate
roads on their land. So far. the casi¬
nos are still operating.
It's nol like a single person in .i
tribe can wake up one morning and
start a casino. The idea must pass .i
vote before it can be acted upon
And the money that is generated h>
casinos are used to maintain roads,
to fund security forces, and raise ihe
standard of living for a social group
lhal has suffered the greatest level
of poverty in the United States
And visitors that frequent the ca¬
sinos spend their money in other
places, either in gas to gel there.
food during the trip and lodging
This is money that would he
spent elsewhere if the casinos
weren't there, like gas stations in
Nevada on the way to Las Vegas.
Reno, or a myriad of other towns
that allow gambling.
Ifhas worked in the south, where
nverboat casinos operate without
impediment. If the federal com is
find Indian casinos in violation ol
the law while allowing rivcrboat
casinos to continue to operate, it
will give the perception that this
country does indeed turn a prejudi¬
cial eye to Native American activi¬
ties.
Daily Collegian
California State University, Fresno
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