The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 5
Greek leaders set to discuss alcohol-free houses tonight
An informational program to discuss alcohol-free fraternity houses and how they would work at the University of Kansas will be held from 7 to 9 tonight in the Kansas Union Ballroom.
Four representatives from national fraternity and sorority headquarters will talk about the history, initiative at other universities and the effect of alcohol-free fraternity houses at the University.
The national headquarters' representatives are David Glassman, Sigma Nu fraternity; Bill Tallman, Delta Chi fraternity; Josh Sticka, Phi Gamma Delta fraternity; and Ginny Carroll, Alpha XI Delta sorority.
After the program, all representatives will answer questions.
"We're not trying to only get the sugar-coated polite questions," said Jennifer Kinney, assistant director of greek programs, risk management and education. "Students can also ask the difficult ones. The national officers will have the answers."
Kinney said that this was an informational program for students to find out more and get answers about their concerns.
The four speakers arrived at the University during the weekend and presented another program Saturday night to Greek Endeavor participants. Greek Endeavor is an annual event for new members interested in becoming leaders within their chapters.
The representatives also will be speaking with Greek program directors and administration during lunch today.
By Sarah Hale
E-mail list investigates animal dissection ethics
By Carolyn Mollett Kansan staff writer
Students concerned about animal dissection have a new national forum to discuss their opinions.
The Humane Society of the United States introduced an e-mail list for college students this year to share ideas about animal-rights issues.
At the University of Kansas, animal dissection has been a topic of debate since spring 1996, when Proponents of Animal Liberation began lobbying campus groups to establish a student choice policy.
The Student Senate Ethical Choice Task Force proposed the policy after hearing PAL's case for student choice in animal dissection.
Since then, the University Senate Executive Committee has ordered the Academic Procedures and Policies Committee to decide how to deal with the proposal.
But the KU Division of Biology maintains an official policy is unnecessary.
"If the class is a dissection class — if you're not doing what's required in the class — it's going to affect your grade," said Dean Stetler, director of the biology undergraduate program.
Michael Schmitt, Harrisonburg, Va., graduate student and PAL member, said the organization did not seek to ban dissection but to offer students who opposed it an alternative.
"The whole point of a student choice policy is that people have a right to make their own moral choices," he said.
Stetler pointed out that students always had a choice.
"We don't make a student do anything," he said. "In most cases, laboratory is not a requirement along with lecture."
"In our view there are two victims in dissection: the animals and the students," said Jonathan Balcombe, a Ph.D. with the Humane Society of the United States.
Balcombe said the animal supply industry could be cruel during the process of capturing the animals. That, paired with the act of killing
ALTERNATIVES
Alternatives to dissection that the Humane Society of the United States suggests are:
observation of animals
computer programs
physiological self-study
models, usually plastic
videos
books and manuals
WEB SITES
To subscribe to the Inter-Campus Animal Advocacy Network, send the message "subscribe ican" to waste@waste.ora.
Some Web sites with dissection information are:
■ www.hsus.org/dishome.html
■ peta online.org/tacts/exp/fuse03p.htm
■ www.ukars.edu/~pal/
and dissecting, makes animals victims, he said.
www.ukans.edu/~unigov/APP.html
Students are victims if they do not want to kill the animals but must to receive a grade, Balcombe said.
"As long as our society is willing to sacrifice animals to consume, to use a very, very tiny percentage of those for learning is not wrong." Stetler said.
Adam Naill, El Dorado junior, said he thought students should have a choice about dissecting. But he said students should take time to consider the necessity of dissecting for the learning experience.
"It's training the future doctors, nurses, occupational therapists and P.T.s of this country," Naili said.
PAL and the Humane Society argue that there are viable alternatives to dissection such as models and simulations.
Stetler said models alone were not appropriate for upper levels of biology.
"All of those things are exactly what the name implies: models and simulations, which means they're simplifications," Stetler said.
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