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ANNUAL REPORT 2000

Information • Collaboration • Advocacy

Essay Contest Changes Minds of Participants
MISMR proudly celebrated the tenth anniversary of the annual essay contest this year. The contest continues to create an excellent opportunity for middle school and high school students throughout the state to think about the use of animals in biomedical research and to decide for themselves whether using animals in research is an appropriate means to an end. There were over 300 entries this year and the panel of over 40 judges were pleased to see quite a few contestants start their essays by saying "at first I was opposed to using animals in research but after learning about the subject I changed my mind." This is extremely gratifying and says that MISMR is making an impact.

For the middle school division, the winner was Brandon G. Long from Carleton Middle School for his essay Biomedical Research: Your Life Can Depend on it!. Brandon learned about the process and regulations of animal research by conducting an actual experiment with a veterinarian. The other interesting thing about this essay was that before the contest, his teacher, Ms. Margaret Smigielski, had said she was against animal research but she has since changed her mind. The message here is that we can also get through to the teachers.

For the high school division, the winner was Lisa Marie Heyboer from Grand Rapids Union High School. Her essay, Animal Research Reaps Awards, was not only well written and covered all of the important issues of animal research, including the inþuence of animal rights groups, but was particularly effective in highlighting the irony of laws and regulations that govern the use of animals in medical research. Before writing her essay Lisa was also against animal research.

All of the winning essays can be read in the booklet MISMR publishes each year. A special thanks goes to The DeRoy Testamentary Foundation for their generous grant, enabling us to continue to reach our State's young people and increase their knowledge about the contributions biomedical research makes to the quality of our lives.

Monitoring the Pulse
In the face of well funded, well organized, and increasingly destructive animal rights activism across the country, members of MISMR on October 18, 2000 met with representatives of state government to try and build an alliance around the use of animals in research. Representatives from the Governor's office and the House and Senate faced a spectrum of organizations experienced with and dependent on biomedical research: Providence Hospital, the American Cancer Society, the University of Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State Universities, Pfizer and Dow Corning, to name a few. Some of the questions that arose:

Q: What are the greatest impediments from state or national governments?
A: National legislation increases costs. It also improves conditions in animal labs.

Q: Who are the animal rights activists?
A: Schoolteachers represent the greatest number of activists. Activists everywhere want to make research too expensive to perform by forcing institutions to spend large amounts of money on security. Activists use violence, the courts (lawsuits), and legislation to further their goals.

Q: Are there sufficient penalties on the books when animal rights activities engage in destructive efforts?
A: There are federal penalties against breaking and entering, and more and more the government sees these activities as acts of terrorism. However, current laws do not have enough teeth, and rather than helping the biomedical community, legislation often tends to have a negative impact.

Enrichment Program
In 1993, MISMR was approached by a local elementary school to participate in an educational enrichment program for children. Members of ULAM (Unit for Laboratory Medicine) were contacted to participate in this project. The Humans & Animals program has since provided a wonderful opportunity to increase awareness of elementary school students about the special relationship that humans and animals share. It has also provided us with the opportunity to be proactive in presenting biomedical research and highlight the professionals who work in the field.

This year we were asked by Dickens Elementary School in Ann Arbor to participate in their six-week enrichment program. Once a week during the school lunch hour a ULAM staff member gave a presentation and talked with the students. After an initial introduction session the topics were: pets, reptiles, zoos, biomedical research, and careers with animals.

NEW Literature
BioFocus
A newsletter exploring biomedical research

• School educators edition
• Talking points for speakers edition

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