By Jeanine Poggi
Students apprehensive about dissecting animals in their biology classes may have the choice of putting down their scalpels if a majority votes on a Student Government referendum providing alternatives.
The Student Organization for Animal Rights (SOAR) and Progressive Student Union are requesting a referendum for a choice dissection policy for those religiously or ethically against the process to appear on SGA ballots during April elections, junior Eric Dubinsky, a SOAR representative, said.
“Alternatives save money and are shown to be just as effective if not more effective than dissection,” Dubinsky said. “The policy will not eliminate academic freedom. Instructors will still have the freedom to determine which alternatives will best teach the lesson, as well as honoring the beliefs of students.”
According to SOAR, Harvard University, Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania are among the many schools that offer choice policies for dissection. They recommend the University purchase computer simulation programs or dissection kits as other options for students that feel dissection impedes on their moral or ethical beliefs.
The Biology Department has been considering these other options for many years, but has not found a suitable alternative, Julie Heath, assistant professor of biology, said.
“There are many aspects of learning in which students don’t have a choice,” she said. “If you assign students to read two books and write a paper they can’t say ‘I don’t want to read, I’ll watch a movie instead.'”
Some biology students agree there is no other reliable and credible alternative for the actual dissection process.
“The only way you can learn about a disease is to see it growing in a living host,” Tiffany Pica, a senior biology major, said.
“You learn so much more when it is right in front of you. My professor was telling my class that at the level where we are there are no substitute programs that exist to teach the same thing.”