I cheered when I saw the headline, "Hopkins ends training on live animals" (May 19). The day before the article appeared in print and for at least two decades, a group of peace and justice advocates have handed out "peace diplomas" at the Johns Hopkins University's commencement.
Our peace diploma highlighted the university's military contracts, which are tax dollars wasted on weapons of war. Hundreds of millions of military research dollars would be better spent in Baltimore rebuilding our infrastructure and providing jobs for those in need. The diploma urged graduates and families to work for peace and justice and called on the university to end its addiction to military research. Also Johns Hopkins was urged to end its investments in fossil fuel companies.
Having been involved in the anti-apartheid movement, I and others urged the university to divest from companies profiting from the racist rule in South Africa. So I am aware of the difficulty in convincing the school to do the right thing, as we were unable to convince Hopkins to divest.
Many congratulations should be showered on the students and the faculty who worked so hard on the issue of using animals in medical training. It is difficult to believe this statement in the article: "While students were huge fans of the course, it felt like it wasn't absolutely necessary." I cannot comprehend how a medical student who believes in "do no harm" can torture a pig for the "betterment" of humanity. That is a classic example of speciesism.
I will continue to read The Baltimore Sun hoping to soon see that the university reads the writing on the wall and divests from fossil fuel companies. Can I dream that soon thereafter Johns Hopkins University will renounce all military contracts and instead focus on humanitarian research?
Max Obuszewski, Baltimore