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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1977)
THE BATTALION MONDAY, MAY 30, 1977 Page 5 S novie, tased »on June J ornell scientist suggests ompromise on abortion June Ji’ise a 1 J A Sepa- United Press International /ASHINGTON — Cornell Uni- iity scientist Carl Sagan says a :er understanding of brain de- ipment in the unborn child ht offer a compromise solution (, Brian s ; he abortion controversy. ^ Guns of B . . , . , agan suggests the tune at which ty might agree that aborting a is permissible is before it ac- ;s the intelligence that makes ans unique. 1 10, The if ago; 12, 'Ian Who The Lioj le Worker; turn of the 'rence of e; 20, The the Cold fall of the On the 'it 451; 25, West; 2d, istian; l{ Chairman icked." I, Grove n; 9, The Flint; 11, >; 12, The t Straight I, Sons of ure Sim, 1 II; II, 8, To Sir Vleuhislo The fetal brain seems to reach that point of development, he said, toward the end of the first three months of pregnancy or near the beginning of the second trimester. Sagan emphasized, however, that more must be known before legal guidelines are based on such an idea. Sagan is an astronomer, director of the Laboratory of Planetary Sci ences at Cornell and a leader in the search for extraterrestrial life. He turned to life on Earth in a new book, “The Dragons of Eden,” dis cussing the evolution of human in telligence. Some of the ideas he developed in the book led to his entry into the abortion debate. Sagan said on one side of the de bate, the phrase “right to life” is de signed to inflame rather than il luminate. “We gratuitously slaughter many animals that are capable of feeling Campus Names 3, MASH; hery; 25, Bless tie 27, G« issing; 11, Don’l >ceans 1L Soup; 1, /s of ' ra! ; 7, .1 he Birds My Little Scholarship set up by Bracewell Houston Attorney Searcy Bracewell lias donated $25,000 to Texas A&M University to es tablish a President’s Endowed Scholarship. Wednesday, uni versity officials presented him with a plaque recognizing his contribution. Texas A6cM Chancellor Jack K. Williams bestowed the honor an Bracewell during a meeting of the Texas A&M Research Foun dation which Bracewell chairs. Also on hand to express ap preciation was Robert L. Walker, development director (for the university. Dr. Hall appointed to department post Dr. Charles F. Hall has been appointed head of the Veterinary Microbiology Department at Texas A&M University effective Wednesday, said Veterinary Col lege Dean George C. Shelton. Hall, 54, succeeds Dr. Leland C. Grumbles who is leaving his post of 20 years to return to full time teaching and research. Hall first joined the College of Veterinary Medecine in 1959 after teaching at Michigan State University and the University of Arkansas, Shelton said. Engineering prof gets excellence- in-teaching award Dr. Ralph J. Vernon of Texas A&M University this week re ceived the 21st Annual General Dynamics Corporation Award for excellence in teaching. Dr. Vernon is a professor of industrial engineering and former head of the Industrial Hygiene and Safety Engineering Division of the Department of Industrial Engineering. The $1,500 check which goes with the General Dynamics Award was presented by Engineering Dean Fred J. Ben son. icing, rod'I "8:45p.iii and sec*) I r ToweiJ I % Vv Discount 1/2 price students, faculty & staff for only $ 4.60 you can have The Houston Chronicle delivered to your dorm, apartment or house every day for the entire summer semester June 1 - Aug. 13 — $4.60 or June 1 - Aug. 31 — $5.70 Just call 693-2323 or 846-0763 36 Of can- cloth I >ll sole) rnum i weai | 3 bus PHOTOGRAPHERS NEEDED!!!!! The Aggieland ’78 is currently accepting portfolios and ap plications for photographers. To apply simply submit a MAXIMUM of ten (10) black and white 8x10 or 11 x14 MOUNTED photographs. All photos are to have name of photographer, address, and phone number where you can be reached during the sum mer. DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING IS MAY 30, 1977 No color transparencies, or prints PLEASE. ALL PHOTOGRAPHS WILL BE RETURNED WITHIN SIXTY DAYS AFTER THE MAY 30 DEADLINE. SEND PORTFOLIOS TO: EDITOR, THE AGGIELAND ’78 Reed McDonald Building Room 216 College Station, Texas 77840 deep emotions as far as we can tell. And no one seems tremendously concerned about that. So it can’t really be just a right to life. “Now on the other side is the idea that there are no moral or ethical consequences of abortion,” Sagan said. “That’s clearly mistaken also because a prematurely born baby, let’s say in the eighth month, is identical to a fetus in the eighth month except one’s inside and one’s outside. Why should it be permissi ble to kill one and not the other?” What is that uniquely human quality that makes murder imper missible?” He suggests it is intelligence — “something we do not share with the other animals. ” Sagan said the brain of the very young human fetus is much like that of a fish or an amphibian. The human brain seems to develop as it evolved over the ages. Sagan said it is the massive outer layer of the brain, called the neocortex, that provides “the essential human qual ity” It seems to me,” he said, “that a possible compromise would be to find out precisely when is the time when the fetus develops this uniquely human part of the brain. “At that point we might say it be comes human. And at that point our ethical considerations apply and not earlier.” Sagan also expanded the question of ethics to the great apes and dol phins and whales which research has shown “are much more intelli gent than in general we have given them credit for.” Recent experiments, for example have shown that chimpanzees and gorillas are capable of learning to communicate with humans in sign language. “They can put together hundreds of words into new sentences, new compound words, new syntaxes, all done correctly in a creative way. If that were translated to, let’s say writing, and you were in another room listening to what the chim panzee was saying, I don’t think you’d be able to tell that that was a chimpanzee and not a 4-year-old child. “Now, if that’s the case, don’t we have to reconsider our idea that it’s all right to kill chimpanzees, that it’s all right to lock them up in cages in zoos? 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University 846-4771 Summer School Students Lou has a complete supply of used books for your summer classes Lou also has a complete stock of calculator supplies — Your Complete Bookstore Loupot's Bookstore Northgate— Across from the Post Office