Carrot & Stick - Brief Article

Vegetarian Times, Dec, 1999

A carrot to Harvard Law School for tipping its ivy league hat to humane animal treatment. The venerable institution now offers an elective course in the fundamental legal rights of animals. The class, which debuted last fall, came about as a result of student interest. Nice to see higher minds thinking on a higher level.

A stick to Texas Tech University for its unconscionable animal experiments. With the help of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), the university barbarically chased down 25 pregnant deer with helicopters, captured them with nets, placed hoods over their heads, bound their legs and trucked them back to the university in holding pens. (Eight does died just from the stress of being captured.) Apparently the TPWD had become suddenly concerned about the effects of indigenous South American fire ants on resident deer. The concern, however, was not for the deer's quality of life but rather for what a decline in their population would do to the area's hunting industry. So the fawns of the survivors were placed in pens with mounds of South American fire ants to see if the toxic, painful stings would kill them. The research concluded that the ants were no threat to the deer. Unfortunately, the researchers were.

A carrot to James Gordon, M.D., director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C., for his efforts to bring alternative healing to war-torn Kosovo. Gordon and 10 staff members recently journeyed to Kosovo to train physicians and other local health care professionals in guided imagery, biofeedback and meditation--modalities that can help the Kosovar people recover from the immeasurable trauma and stress they have endured.