ARTICLE: Research Cuts Draw Opposition

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Research Cuts Draw Opposition
By JUSTIN BORON
Published , Tuesday, November 04, 2003, 06:00:01 AM EDT

At a University symposium Monday, advocates of stem-cell research said 
President Bush's decrease in medical research
funding could be disastrous to efforts to cure diseases like Parkinson's 
disease.

Morton Kondracke, a FoxNews journalist, said the funding decrease affects him 
personally because his wife has struggled
with Parkinson's disease for 13 years.

"(The decrease) is something that needs to be protested," said Kondracke, one 
of the researchers on the panel.

Kondracke, who said he's experienced in the American political scene, said the 
funds researchers need are "pocket
change in the federal system of things."

Despite its relatively cheap cost in proportion to the national budget, he said 
the cure of a disease would be
beneficial to Bush's administration.

Calling the fund decrease "politically short-sighted," Kondracke said he finds 
the cutting of the medical budget even
more confusing because it would actually be cost effective to cure the disease 
as well.

"It costs much more to treat than to cure," he said.

Kondracke also noted that medical funding cuts affect the advancement toward 
cures of diseases across the board.

The forum participants also addressed the ethical concerns that arise when 
discussing stem cell research.

Stem cells are able to develop into many different cell types in the body, such 
as a muscle cell, a red blood cell or a
brain cell.

They can divide to replenish other cells in the body while the person or animal 
is living.

Stem cells are special because when they divide, the new cells can develop into 
other cell types in the body -- such as
muscle cells, red blood cells or brain cells.

Celeste Condit, a research professor in speech communications at the 
University, attributed the national debate over
the use of embryos to a failure for society's ethics to develop along with 
scientific advancement.

She explained that this "new science" complicates the central question dividing 
"right to life" advocates and stem cell
researchers -- where does life begin?

"Life do        esnotbeginatanyplace,shesaid.

Steven Stice, director of the University Bioscience Initiative, said a possible 
solution to the ethical dilemma could
remain unreachable if medical research funding continues to decrease.

SOURCE: Red and Black


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