SETA petitions for dissection option policy

Stephanie Gotter
Staff Writer
Most college students are required to take at least one science class. More often than not, it is a class with a lab, where dissection is sure to play an active role in the learning experience. For some, the dissecting lab is easy to work through, but for others, it is not easy for ethical reasons.

Jason Levy, President of Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (SETA), wants to change the classroom rules for dissection. He and others who believe dissection is cruel want to get a student policy passed that gives students the choice to opt out of dissection labs due to moral, religious or ethical reasons.

SETA has drawn up a six point policy they want ECC to follow. The policy states that students should be given alternative choices to dissection and protects the student from discrimination and penalization based on their decision to opt out of dissecting.

When asked what SETA will do if ECC rejects the policy, Levy stood firm and confident. “We are certain that in the face of wide student, faculty, and community support, ECC will enact our Student Choice Policy,” Levy said.

Levy said alternatives to dissection such as virtual dissections and computer CD-ROMs will save the school around $1,500, since virtual dissections do not need to be re-bought like the fetal pigs and dissecting tools do.

A week into circulation, the petition has many signatures, including at least a dozen faculty members of ECC, according to Levy, a vegan who has been working for the ethical treatment of animals for four years. Levy’s confidence radiates through as the conflict continues.

“We’re sure ECC will make the right decision,” Levy said.