Page 4-Saturday, February 3, 1979-The Michigan Daily Dissecting opinions on animals in research B.B. It's only February, Mitch, but I can feel it'll be a spring for love. M.C. I'd like to agree, Blanch, but I can't be hap- py when there are injustices in the world. B.B. Oh? M.C. 'Take the animals. Creatures are tortured the world over at the hands of greedy humanity. It's research. Remember ... B.B. Yeah. Last year Ann Arbor citizens streamed about car crash tests with chimps .. M.C. Baboons. And I think it shows that people really do care about animals subjected to research. he only problem is exposing the public to the needs o'f the merciless scientists. The bloodthirsty rats! B.B. You're not being reasonable. Why are they rats? M.C. OK, I might have been a bit harsh on my wording there. Perhaps just senseless murderers would do. Eh-don't wrinkle your brows at me-I was just kidding. No, actually, what I was referring to is the misuse of animals in research today, and the principal offenders, of course, are scientists. B.B. I'm against hatred, Bursley "Swiss Steak", and animal abuse. But can we begin by agreeing that there are cases in which experimentation with animals to learn how their bodies react to controlled conditions is justified? M.C. I'd have to agree with you that there are cases. For example, if scientists gathered 10 rats with cancer and gave them varying types of treat- ment, I don't see a human injustice involved, since at worst they will die of the cancer, and at the best they, along with the community, could possibly be cured of this dreaded disease. B.B. You mean you don't think we should give rats cancer? M.C. Only if we find they've been previously ex- posed to Barry Manilow music. No, just kidding. Of course I don't think we should give rats cancer. B.B. Aren'.t a thousand rat lives worth the chance that even one life could be lengthened through the knowledge of the disease? Wait, let's ask R.J. over there. He's working on a paper here late tonight. R.J. Come on Mitch, don't give me any of that, I remember how you told, me you used to pull the wings off flies and break bunny's legs when you were five. And Blanch, I mean, if you're so in- terested in fighting cancer, why do you eat canned chili for dinner? Oh, I don't know about this stuff. I refuse to think too much about saving a few rats' necks - like Woody Allen said in Annie Hall, to me animals and nature are like dead bugs behind screen doors, and rotting wood and stuff. Why do we spend so much time talking about saving the whales, and helping those cootchy-cootchy baby seals from the big, bad hunters, et cetera? I mean, PEOPLE are DYING of cancer, and we're talking mice. Aren't there enough people problems to argue about? M.C. Well, I suppose if syou believe man should take advantage of all the intellectual advantages he has over animals, then you probably think we should wipe out all possibly dangerous aninals with one sweeping campaign so we won't have to worry about attacks, right? We should sacrifice all in the name of human beings, right? The hell with anything else which happens to share our world? The old 'looking out for number one again, eh? R.J. No Mitch, no. We can't just take anything we want in nature, but aren't we fighting the "wild kingdom" when we try to stamp out cancer? And someday, if you're dying of cancer, I bet you're going to be sorry you didn't zap our friends Pixie and Dixie when you had the chance. Now don't make a face like that, is that so cold? Don't we try to rub out bacterial diseases? B.B. Thanks for the thoughts, guys. Now, Mitch, of course, we ought to make our fellow beings' cages tidy and comfortable, and we ought to spare all life. But I go with R.J. - if chili gives me cancer, I want the assurance that no laws against pricking mice will prick me. M.C. All right, it seems as if we've reached an impasse on this point. You two think everything should be sacrificed for ourselves-as selfish as this may be-whereas I believe we should be equitable with the animals who share our planet. Of course I mean fairness to a certain degree. But how about the misuses in caring for the research animals out- side of their respective tests? Cruelty to animals is perhaps most outrageous outside of the actual tests. But we justify all this, once more in the name of science. R.J. I say fry 'em and have 'em for lunch. M.C. This is of course typical of your sacrificial attitude. I can't help but wonder if you'd feel the same way if we weren't the dominationing creatures on this planet. B.B. Okay. But, isn't human life worth the sacrifice? M.C. It would be fine if all the work done on animals in the research field actually benefited humans. But I can't see how learning why a dog chaseshis tail can possibly help humanity. Did I hear my mother calling? B.B. Your nurse, I hope. Mitch: I do respect the goals of the scientists. I can somehow grant them that discretion in the battles against disease and pain in humans. Wait. I think it was my moan. M.C. Long live naivete! Actually, I think that was the Editorial Director. Our story was due an hour ago... This conversation, between University Editor Brian Blanchard, Night Editor Mitch Cantor, and Arts Editor R. J. Smith took place late one night this week. No animals were present to tell CIiARETM, 00 Q Q0 --040 their side. 40 III 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, M1 48109 Eigh ty-Nine Years of Editorial Freedom -Health Service Handbook-Gail Ryan Students talk back to Health Service Vol. LXXXIX, No. 104 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Credit where credit '4 s due TyHE LSA Administrative Board T this week decided that students can now strike Advanced Placement from their records and avoid the in- creased costs which sometimes result from such credit. This is a welcome decision because it grants to all LSA students a privilege which was for- merly allowed only to Honors students. In 1978, almost 1200 freshmen sub- mitted Advanced Placement exam scores in the hope of obtaining academic credit and advanced stan- ding in classes. Many of those who were granted additional hours were unaware that such credit could cost them additional tuition. Because Literary College freshmen and sophomores pay lower tuition than upperclassmen, a problem has existed for those students who bring AP credit to the University but choose to stay for a full eight terms. In this case, studen- ts often graduate with more than the required 120 credits, and ultimately do not need the AP credits. Those credits, then, only boost a student's class stan- ding prematurely, and increase his tuition rates. AP credit is not useless. In fact, it has allowed many students to ac- celerate their educational programs and graduate in fewer than eight ter- ms. Such acceleration results in sub-, stantial savings of tuition, so the minor increases resulting from premature advanced class standing are entirely offset. The LSA decision now allows studen- ts greater latitude in planning their educations by allowing them to drop extra, unnecessary credits to tem- porarily postpone increased tuition rates. Even for those students who decide to eliminate the credit from their records, the Advanced Placement program provides significant benefits. Sufficient scores on the tests allow students to forego some prerequisite courses. And while students may lose credit for the AP courses, they do not lose the knowledge they have gained. This advanced preparation can allow a student to get more out of his eight terms than he would without the cour- ses, whether he gets credit or not. i QUESTION: A kid on my hall overheard me bitching about Health Service and said that in- stead of standing around com- plaining I should do something about it. He suggested that I look into the Student Health Organization. That's what I'm doing. ANSWER: It is good to hear that some students are spreading the word about the efforts of the Student Health Organization (SHO). This organization is a bona fide student organization within the Michigan Student Assembly and perceives its primary fun- ction as serving as a liaison between the Health Service and the students. I will let one of its members describe the organization to you in more detail, but first I would like to encourage you to talk to Health Service directly if you have a complaint. The Department of Patient Relations (763-4384) will be glad to discuss with you any complaints, criticisms, suggestions, and compliments you have. There are also suggestion forms located in the Main Medical Clinic at Health Service. Now, for an SHO member. "Students on this campus complain about two things -- dorm food and Health Service. We decided to get involved with Health Service. We feel that students should have more knowledge about and more op- portunity for input into the quality of health care they receive on campus. If we could harness all the energy that goes into complaining and redirect it into constructive activity, we can have much more impact on the health service we receive. The kinds of activities and projects that can be initiated are numerous. Some of the projects we have begun include an information dissemination project, by which we hope to in- form students of the kinds of services available to them at Health Service, and a Health Care Professional Directory, which will provide photographs and brief written descriptions of the health care providers at Health Service. This will hopefully assauge some of the concerns of students that Health Service is an impersonal place, and may help them in their decision in choosing a health care provider. We also plan to meet with students at other universities and colleges to see what they're doing with their health organizations, and hope to be invited on varidus Health Ser- vice committees that would benefit from student input. All of this "Good work" really helps us personally, to learn how organizations, particularly medical care ones, are struc- tured and function from day to ,day, and what the process of consumer involvement really entails. Many of us are in health-related majors, but there are many others ,from various schools and majors. Some of us are undergraduate students, and some graduates. If you are interested in joining or finding out more about the SHO, watch the Daily for an ad giving the time and place of our first meeting of the semester, or call Mary Hegen- barth at 994-3247. Editor's note: Starting this week, Health Service Han- dbook will once again be a regular feature on the Daily's editorial page, appearing every Saturday. Health related questions should be directed to: The Health Educator, U-M Health Ser- vice, Division of Office of Student Services, 207 Flet- cher Ave., Ann Arbor, 48109. MI Letters to et V,, d To the Daily: I am writing as an individual who considers Israeli evacuation of the West Bank an essential prerequisite to the development of a viable Palestinian com- munity exercising its right to self determination. Further, I feel that one of the - most basic con- ditions that must be eliminated before even this preliminary step can be taken is the inclination on the part of Americans and Israelis to perceive the oc- cupatiuon of the West Bank as "benign". Outsiders will never be in a position to pass judgement on the harshness of Israeli military rule. However, even one such as myself, whose views could in no way be attributed to a majority of Israel's supporters, am in deep disagreement witht the author of an article which ap- peared in Wednesday's (Jan. 31) Daily under the heading "What Happened and Why". The article contained such glaring factual inconsistencies, misrepresen- tations, heavy-handed use of propaganda, irrelevant nonsense and outright lies, that the author endangers the position of his/her more responsible colleagues. Under the guise of a rational explanation of events surroun- ding the speech by Israeli politician Yigal Allon, we are presented with the following allegations: that Israel, due to its ties with repressive governmen- ts, is itself among the world's leading dictatorships (a clear at- is associated with the University (implying that speakers brought through Hillel sponsorship are connected with the University, which they are not). The author also indicates that the University promotes "Zionist" views, and that the faculties of the Univer- sity exhibit in their research and teaching a marked pro-Zionist "Thrust". It is clear that s/he has had very little exposure to cour- ses taught in the Near Eastern Studies Department, or in the Center for Near Eastern and Nor- th African Studies. If it is possible to interpret the teachings of an entire University the'size of the U of M in light of any specific bias, it could by no stretch of the imagination be called "pro- Zionist". Actually, a majority of the professors here who deal professionally with the, Middle East take the Arab Nationalist point of view. As the article continues, the author attempts to further discredit his/her opponents by including numerous irrelevan- cies: the CIA, Joel Samoff,-South Africa and America's fundamen- tal role in society, and also through more blatant- factual misrepresentations. S/he alleges that the real motive behind op- position to the LSA-SG endor- sement of the anti-Allon protest was a plot to force the reversal of a "majority" LSA-SG decision. In fact, LSA-SG President Bob Stechuk has admitted that he ac- ted without a vote of any kind TheLE have misrepresented themselves to him, claiming that they only wished to march peacefully out- side the auditorium, which in retrospect was most obviously not the intended limit of their in- volvement. (Throughout. the article, the author seems unable to restrain him/herself from taking every imaginable cheap shot in the propagandist's vocabulary, even dusting off the almost requisite attempt to associate one's political opponents with Nazism). It is in the concluding paragraphs of the article that the author does his/her cause the most damage, and in fact renders questionable the entire foun- dation upon which his/her article rests. In trying to appeal to our sense of moral equality, and in attempting to stir our emotions and our intellects towards the recognition of an historical in- justice, it is sad to note that the author finds -it necessary to con- done the same tactics used by those whom s/he would condemn. S/he asks us to accept the judgements that a "small fist- fight" that violently prevented a. student from taking photographs (involving another lie, the student beaten being not Israeli, but American), and that the denial of the right of free speech to Yigal Allon, are somehow, through some twist of logic, morally alright. These are judgements that I cannot accept. The Palestinian-Israeli )aily in the West Bank is a necessary step towards the elimination of both. But the presentation of the views of the Palestinian Human Rights Committee wag quite un- fortunate. I hope future attempts to explain the valid, legitimate desires of the Palestinian Arabs to exercise control over their own destiny can be presented without feeling the need to so badly distort and twist the numerous, complicated issues involved. In the form of a postscript, I would like to add that I consider that associating my opposition to what transpired after Allon's speech with support for South Africa, the CIA and opposition to Joel Samoff, degrades those of us who see no such association and are working to resolve the issues mentioned in a way that may not be in fact disagreeable to the author. -Steve Heydemann e Rocky To the Daily: I was repulsed by Tuesday's editorial (January 31) "eulogizing" Nelson Rockefeller. Why. bother to comment on the death of a public figure if you can only fill the space with half- hearted compliments? Your editorial might as well have said, "The Daily is glad Nelson Rockefeller is dead. He was a ,Republican anyway." That's what seemed to have been writ- fti hew nth ins U~I I III UL'~..m. 'JT1f~UtM~.i~: