4 University Daily Kansan/Tuesday, October 8, 1991 OPINION Animal research Technology making testing more humane Animal research is always controversial. But the benefits are indisputable. The effects of pharmaceutical drugs and the development of surgical techniques require testing on animal models. A specific example is genetic engineering. Compounds such as insulin can be produced by pigs to help people with diabetes. Traditionally, these animals have had to be sacrificed in order to obtain medically useful compounds. But recent scientific advances will soon make this unnecessary. Scientists now can splice human genes for specific proteins into the DNA of animals such as sheep, goats and cows. The DNA is activated during lactation, when the animal produces milk. After mating, the animal lactates and the compound can be harvested, isolated and purified. One of the problems with the traditional method is that many owners consider the animal's health as secondary because the animals are going to be killed anyway. This, unfortunately, leads to factory conditions in which animals are poorly fed and jammed into cages. One of the advantages of the new method is that the well-being of the animal is vital because a stressed animal produces less milk. This means the barnyard approach will be more profitable. Further, studies show that the animal's behavior seems to be unaffected. And this technology could effect the pricing structure of medicines, resulting in decreased cost. So this technology is more economically feasible and more humane. Although there are definite advantages to this approach, it will be a while before the public sees the benefits. The process of the human gene finding the egg'sDNA is a random process, so there are still problems with the success rate. So it will probably be another five years before the drugs are sold to the public. Ellen Kuwana for the editorial board African-American men should re-evaluate goals There is a theory that goes beyond the reality of the mere man on this campus, for there is more to bear. This theory goes beyond the changing role of the man because there are old ideas about the African-American man on campus that fester and spurt the pain of anage not long gone but long lived by many. The theory explains the future of an endangered variety of man on campus that has awareness to face, problems to solve and futures to consider. This theory does not include the African-American women because they face a different reality that I, a representative of African-American males, will never realize. We both have our own distinct futures. For the reader, confused, detached and impartial, this theory is primarily made for you. Even though words are said and written about the subject, experience seems to be the only teacher. History is as follows. Two hundred fifty years ago we were robbed of our nation, robbed of our name and subjected to ignorance and the lowest form of oppression. One hundred fifty years ago we were hunted like the lion Frank Williams Staff columnist of the great plains. Fifty years ago we were being attacked by dogs, sprayed with water hoses and subjected to the crimes of segregation at its pinnacle. Five years ago we were marching at the White House protesting the Reagan-Bush position on civil rights issues concerning us. All this information comes from what we read and what our elders tell us. What did your elders tell you, and which side of the issues did they support? Did they care at all? These are not trivial questions. If they were, we would not have to swallow the stereotypes, the stupidity and the subtle forms of this enigma called racism. At present on the Hill, the African- American man cannot get along with himself or his tendencies. First, the sense of self that is an important part of every individual is lacking knowledge. maturity and respect for others. This is the situation of the African American man. "It's not as bad as it Confused? Hypothetically, let's say we have a group — no, a team, of about 20 people at a party. This group is composed of African-American men, the talented tenth of our society. Now, let's get another group of two brothers, not biological brothers, but African-American men sharing a special kind of friendship. With a little ignorance and even less regard, a shot rings out. Not a shot from a gun, but rather the loud murmurs of Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and Martin Luther King Jr. dying meaningless deaths. The group of twenty then proceeds to be the group of two to a pulp while others shout praise and watch the demise of us all. Sound like a fairy tale? I left a part of me at that party, beaten to a pulp. Perhaps it was dissolved into the blood on the floor, or perhaps it was caught in the emotion of the celebration after the crime. Enjoy what you do, brothers, but you are all lacking and truly without a clue. What divine right bought you this freedom, this liberty to not give a damn? used to be," said the individualist. Wrong! Why is worse than ever. If not, then why is it that an African-American student in this day and age can be mentally assaulted while delivering a pizza at a fraternity house. Not true? Unheard of? Why is that? The future of those who choose not to linger within the limits of the past is literally an-up-the-Mount-Oread-battle here at KU. Not only should the African-American man be intelligent, but he should be aware of his surroundings and limitations. He is not just a role model, but he is a part of the community. This place is rich with all aspects of living. Aliving that we must acquire and take back to the neighborhood with us. Ever notice that people that live in great neighborhoods tend to return to great neighborhoods, and people from the hood want to get out of the hood because they feel that by doing so they have uplifted the race? Reclaiming our streets, the trust of our women and the pride of a nation should, therefore, be our primary concerns. Frank Williams is a Kansas City, Kan., sophomore majoring in journalism. LETTERS to the EDITOR AIDS testing will prevent dangers Thursday's editorial, "Precautions, not testing, are AIDS solution," was naive and misleading. Unfortunately, the only solution to AIDS is a cure. A cure that as of yet has not been discovered. Until then, a responsible thing that society can do is enact mandatory AIDS testing of health-care workers and patients. It is only right that individuals who are in situations where their safety is in question should be informed. To say that identifying individuals as having AIDS will result in a stigma is true. We cannot change society's perceptions and norms overnight, but to hide or conceal the truth only results in more resentment and fear. If precautions are the solution and testing is not, then I ask you whether you would have sex with someone who had AIDS and rely on a condom for protection or be involved in invasive surgical procedures and rely on rubber gloves to protect you. These types of precautions will save you 90 percent of the time. AIDS is fatal 100 percent of the time. Book drops are unrealistic hope Travis Carlisle Lawrence sophomore As a follow-up to the Sept. 24 editorial that advocated establishment of book drops at more numerous locations, I want to clarify that there is an outside book drop behind Watson Library that is available for use at all hours. Attendants at KU's information booths will permit campus access for this purpose, and five minute parking is permitted at Watson's rear-loading dock while returning materials at this location. There are also after-hours book drops located at Watson's front entrance, at the Anschutz Science Center and at the Spahr Engineering Library. Expanding the number of book drops could indeed be a convenience to borrowers, but could not be done without diverting library staff from other services. For borrowers to avoid overdue fines, items left at remote book drops need to be retrieved, sorted and forwarded promptly by library staff to various library locations. By mid-October, more than 1,000 books a day are returned to libraries, with potent incentives for remote book drops would be great at such times and would require sufficient library personnel to tend them. Diversion personnel to this activity could only be done at the expense of other essential activities such as reshelving and could not be easily accommodated in these tight budget times. Mary Hawkins Assistant dean, libraries Council addresses many foreign student concerns About 2,000 international students and scholars from nearly 100 countries constitute 7 percent of the student population at the University of Kansas. In spite of these numbers and the obvious importance of these guests to KU, the activities of the International Council have not been reported by the University Daily Kansan. We are confident that this omission is due to an involuntary error and not to a biased policy of the newspaper because the Kansan has always been a positive asset to the University community that has always covered issues that are important to the different sectors of the KU student body. The nationality composition of the International Council is quite representative of the nationalities represented on this campus. The council's secretary is Karin Barrett, from the Netherlands, and the executive cabinet is composed as follows. Marcel Brou, president of the Association of African Student Affairs, heads the Council committee for the Student Senate. Jun Bao, president of the Association of Chinese Friends and Scholars, is the head of the committee for the College de Canelo, a Council member at large from Bolivia, leads the committee for public relations. The international students are a very heterogeneous group, but the council is committed to focusing on some important common concerns such as temporary housing, the Applied English Center, programming, misperceptions on the part of the community, etc. Among the delicate areas that the council will discuss are some of the incorrect assumptions about the international students. Students from other countries are very respectful of the way U.S. citizens choose to classify themselves (by ethnicity, religion of origin, color, etc.). However, this criteria may be more important for a scale. For example, to regard a student from Japan and a student from China as "orientals" and to expect them to have similar characteristics would be a serious mistake. The same is true for all the world religions that are represented on this campus. The apparent compliance of some foreign students to these U.S. classifications is largely due to courtesy, indifference or inexperience. Fernando Aracena Guest columnist One of the objectives of the council is to coordinate efforts to inform the community about the educational, political and economic benefits of having students from other countries at KU. For example, an issue that is not known by the local community is that every year international students spend at least $21 million in the city of Lawrence. The council is very sympathetic toward the efforts made by different sectors of the University to promote more tolerance and diversity. However, those are issues that U.S. citizens have to tackle, not the guests from other countries. Nevertheless, the council will cooperate with them in the University to improve the quality of the cultural exchange that we seek in the United States. This effort will benefit U.S. and international students alike. Members of the council have taken great care to ensure the legitimacy of this umbrella organization, which will address issues that are specific to students from other countries. The council invites suggestions and comments through the office of international student services in Strong Hall. We will have a resource notebook there for people to find out about our activities and to make suggestions to the council. ■ Fernando Aracena is the secretary general of the International Council and a Bolivia senior majoring in advertising. 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