The Battalion
OPINION i
Thursday, February 1, 1990 Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs 845-331
Need cash, guys? Open
account at sperm bank
A friend was telling me about the
Fairfax Cryobank, the new sperm bank
in Bryan. The concept was hard for me
to conceive. “You mean I can get $40
from this bank for making a deposit?" I
asked. “Yes, and you never have to
make a withdrawal,” he said.
I decided that this bank was worth a
check so I went to Bryan to experience it
first hand. The thought of a sperm bank
is amusing to most people. I didn’t know
what to expect, either. What I found
really impressed me.
Once I located the Fairfax Cryobank,
I was given a tour of the facility by the
assistant lab director, Brent Hazelrigg.
He also answered many of my questions
about Fairfax and the entire semen
donation process.
In recent years, women’s fertility has
decreased because many of them choose
to wait until they are older to have
children. Coupled with a marginally
fertile male, these women will Find
conception quite difficult. The founders
of Fairfax Cryobank, based in Fairfax,
Virginia, noticed that America was
virtually barren in regards to sperm
banks so they started their service.
A branch of the cryobank (cryo-
meaning cold or freezing) has been
operating in Houston for a year. The
demand for semen was so high that,
during Christmas break, branches were
started in Bryan as well as in Austin.
Fairfax targets college males because
they typically fall into the donor age
range of 18 to 35rThus far, the
response has been tremendous. At $40 a
whack, many students Find that the
program Fits their lifestyles quite well.
Do not get me wrong, though. The
main thing that I noticed during my
tour was the amazingly high quality
semen the cryobank demands — so few
males pass the test. Only 48 donors were
accepted at the Houston facility in its
first year of operation. This amounts to
less than 12 percent of the prospective
donors.
My tour included a stop in the
“specimen room,,’’ a secluded spot with
specimen jars, magazines and a couch.
After collection, the semen is examined
under microscope and frozen in a vat of
liquid nitrogen. It is dehydrated with
glycerol so the sperm will survive. There
is no expiration date; the storage time is
indefinite.
The semen and the 16-page medical
and genetic information packet that
each prospective donor must complete
are distributed to gynecologists and
their patients. I was assured that the
gene pool would not be altered because
the semen is sent throughout the United
States and even to Singapore.
Matt
McBumett
Columnist
Guy Stone, the lab director, told me
that he chooses to think that many
donors become involved with the
program out of compassion and
generosity. He relayed a story to me
about a local businessman who is friends
with a barren couple. Apparently the
program hit close to home with him and
he wanted to be a donor.
At first, I thought that most
respective donors simply felt that the
40 would come in handy. After all,
every prospective donor gets paid for
filling out the information packet and
producing a sample.
My opinion changed. The
questionaire is long and the screening
process is rigorous. I do not think that
any male would go through all of it
without having some concern for
childless couples.
Many women would rather have a
child who carries her genes instead of
adopting one. The semen donation
program provides for this fruitful
outcome. Fairfax charges $115 per dose
of semen, so, in addition to being more 4
personal, the program is much less
expensive than adoption.
It also appeals to the ego. Hey, I’d
like to see more people like me running
around.
The childless patient has full access to
the medical and genetic history
questionaires of the donors with the
exception of the donors name, address
and so forth. Essentially, the woman or
couple can choose the characteristics
that they desire foT the child. If a tall,
dark, athletic blue-eyed father with
thick wavy hair and a flair for music is
desired, the option is there. Or if a
short, thin haired, electrical engineer
with an interest in journalism is wanted,
they might even find one of those.
The demand for donor semen is
certainly present. If you are a male in
the specified age group and have a
genuine desire to be helpful, give
Fairfax Cryobank a shot. If not, be
content in knowing that the program is
quite worthwhile.
Matt McBurnett is a junior electrical
engineering major.
Today’s civil rights leaders distor
facts about blacks in America
Mail Call
Hobbs’ view of BVCPS slanted
EDITOR:
Ellen Hobbs takes a rather slanted view of the local Crisis Preganancy
Service and at its director, Judie Bruegger. The BVCPS simply presents the
facts about abortion, as well as alternatives such as adoption. It is ultimately up
to the woman being counseled as to what she decides.
I would suggest that if Hobbs wants to find out where the true bias is, to
read “Grand illusions” by George Grant. This book will open her eyes to the
deception of the Planned Parenthood Organization, which takes in $17 mil
lion a year in its referrals to its own abortion mills.
Gary Gaither
Agricultural Education Department
Don’t waste time with abortion issue
EDITOR:
This abortion issue is a waste of time. Instead of concerning ourselves
about some future event that may or may not happen to a woman, why don’t
we work to help the less fortunate children and battered women in this coun
try who need our immediate attention. The homeless, malnourished (and
probably illiterate) children today are our future tomorrow. Don’t you think it
is just as wrong to let an innocent child die because of starvation than to let
one be terminated by abortion?
Joy L. Marshall ’91
Since Martin Luther King’s birthday,
we students have been inundated with a
deluge of speakers, articles and letters
about the subject of discrimination and
minority civil rights. Unfortunately,
much of this discourse has consisted of
emotive rhetoric with little rational
thought.
The Rev. King should rightly be
admired for his accomplishments. •
Under his guidance, the civil rights
movement was able to abolish
government-imposed segregation.
However, an evaluation of the current
movement must be based on their
actions today, not on the
accomplishments of the past.
Unfortunately, such organizations as
the contemporary National Association
for the Advancement of Golored People
and the Urban League, because their
erroneous explanations of black income
differences, lack any credibility.
In truth, the actions of the NAACP
and Urban League actually are hurting
the advancement of the people they
claim to represent.
A simple examination of the major
myths propagated by the civil rights
establishment can shed some light on
the fallacies of these political interest
groups:
Myth number one: The lower
average family incomes of blacks can be
attributed to discrimination.
The civil rights ‘leaders,’ upon seeing
that the average black family earns only
60 percent of the income that average
white family earns, scream that
discrimination is the cause. The
problem with such a claim is that it
ignores all the other factors which
contribute to family income.
Many factors such as education, age,
geographical location, occupation and
number of working parents need to be
taken into account before any
approximation of the effect of
discrimination can be determined.
Obviously, a family with two 40-year-
old college-educated working parents
living in New York is going to earn
more than a 20-year-old single parent
working as a sales clerk in Houston,
regardless of race.
A look at the evidence shows that
Andrew
Matthews
Columnist
•blacks on average are younger, less
educated and more likely to live in the
lower-wage south.
Black families are also twice as likely
to have only one parent at home as
white families.
To find the extent of discrimination,
black and white families with many of
the same characteristics must be
compared.
So what happens when these factors
are held constant? Income differences
between blacks and whites disappear.
Over the last two decades, young
husband-and-wife families outside of
the South have had virtually identical
incomes as their white counterparts.
And those black families with two
college-educated working parents
actually earn more than whites of the
same description.
If discrimination is the the major
factor in statistical income differences,
how do black leaders account for the
prosperity of Jews, Chinese and
Japanese Americans?
I hope civil rights activists would not
argue that these groups have not
experienced racial discrimination.
Members of these groups would argue
differently.
Myth number two: Political power
and government policies are the key to
black advancement.
Contrary to what Jesse Jackson or the
Urban League head John Jacobs may
claim, political power will not promote
the economic advancement of blacks.
The most dramatic rises from poverty to
wealth in the United States have been by
those groups which have not used the
political route.
The Chinese, Japanese and Jewish,
the three wealthiest ethnic minorities!
all rose to the top of the economic
ladder by concentrating on running
businesses and acquiring marketable
skills, not by seeking political office.
All three of these groups have
encountered fierce racial animosityai
discriminating government policies
Yet, all three races earn, on average, l
more than whites do. J ®
Federal or state legislation will not
help the economic advancement of
blacks. Over the last two decadesmoii
than one trillion ftffl Jars of aid hasber
spent on programs which attempt to
alleviate the plight of the poor. If
throwing money at the problem has
solved it in the past, why should itwoi
in the future?
The key to prosperity lies withintlitl
hearts of men and women who striveM
improve their own lives. The success^
all the 19th century immigrant group
and today’s Vietnamese lies in their
inclination to work much harder that
the average comfortable nativecitizer
The civil rights leaders also claim
black economic improvement was
instigated by the major civil rights
legislation passed in the 1960s. Itistn*
that blackfrepresentation in profession
fields has grown since the the 1960s
However, the number of blacks in
professional fields doubled in the
decade proceeding the Civil Rights Ac
of 1964.
For decades, blacks have been
acquiring skills, becoming educatedar*
starting businesses. They had embark
on the path to wealth long beforebladt
politicians could claim all the credit.
Much of what the NAACP says
regarding the status of blacks in sociei'
goes unchallenged by the media.To
argue against the rhetoric of the black
establishment invariably brings
accusations of racism or white elitism.
This is not only unfortunate fortte
who want to engage in rational
discussion, but also diverts attention
from the true causes of black poverty !
such as inferior public education and;
broken families.
Andrew Matthews is a junior
economics major.
Adventures In Cartooning
by Don Atkinson Jr.
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