University officials support research
Recently, the Inhalation Research Facility of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine was vandalized by an organization that identifies itself as a radical animal rights advocacy group.
Several hundred thousand dollars of damage was done to the facility and its equipment. More importantly, significant research was interrupted which could eventually constitute a break-through on how second-hand cigarette smoke negatively affects the lives and the health of asthmatic sufferers.
LSU maintains a University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee that carefully monitors compliance with state and federal regulations concerning the use of animals in research.
All animal testing is approved by this body. Further, the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care visits LSU every three years and has found the University in full compliance with accreditation standards.
The University unequivocally supports research that must take place if it is to push the frontiers of knowledge, generate new knowledge, and ultimately make this planet a better place to inhabit.
We endorse and support the work of Professor Arthur Penn of the Inhalation Research Facility and will immediately assist in the rebuilding of the facility so that his valuable research may continue.
LSU cannot condone vandalism in any form.
Rational men and women must find other ways to settle their differences.
We stand ready to discuss any problems with any group concerning what takes place at LSU.
Mark A. Emmert, Chancellor
Risa I. Palm, Provost