Robert Nelson: Courage required in face of protests

To: University of Nebraska Regents

From: A concerned alumnus

See those protesters outside your windows today?

I have a really bad feeling that you guys actually are listening to that rabble.

And it isn’t just me who has a bad feeling. Doctors and researchers are nervous, too. They have been talking about this for months.

I wish more Nebraskans realized how nervous they should be. I wish the voices of reason would speak as loudly to you as those outside your window.

Nervous? We’re nervous that you’re going to destroy the future of research at the university to placate a handful of zealots.

Zealots who want you to make Nebraska the most difficult state in the country in which to do stem-cell research.

What they lack in open-mindedness they make up for in commitment. They will threaten your political life. They probably will call you a murderer. You’ll get all sorts of fevered calls and e-mails, some of which surely will damn you to hell if you don’t take their desired step, which will effectively stop stem-cell research at the university.

But remember: They don’t speak for all, or even most, Nebraskans. And they certainly do not have the best interests of this university or this state in mind.

That is your job. You’ve got to make it very clear that this university is open to stem-cell research under the soon-to-come federal guidelines, not closed by some more restrictive guidelines you cook up yourselves.

Just stand behind the simple facts of this issue:

This has nothing to do with killing babies.

These new lines of embryonic stem cells would come only from embryos created for in-vitro fertilization but never used.

The embryos would have been discarded if they were not used to save lives.

And, no doubt, lives will be saved. If not by Nebraska researchers, then by researchers in other U.S. states.

Which will pump potentially hundreds of millions of research dollars into those economies. Which will fill up university laboratory space and greatly raise the reputations of other universities as they bring in top researchers from around the world.

This while floors of the University of Nebraska Med Center’s new $70 million worth of research space sit empty.

This while our university becomes a laughingstock, a place top scientists will avoid, well, like the plague.

We’ll be known for our kowtowing to fanatics.

We’ll be another Kansas.

Please remember: These federal guidelines already are stringent. They were crafted out of debate between scientists and the religious right. They already show a deep respect for life, as they should.

Along with that, though, they open the door for some of the most promising medical research this world has ever known.

Please. Listen to Lawrence Goldstein when he speaks to you today.

Any policy you make limiting research beyond state and federal guidelines would be “unprecedented,” this top researcher has said.

Listen when he lists all the ways you will cripple the institution you were elected to guide for the people of this state.

That word “laughingstock” will come up often.

If you side with the fanatics, that word will be your legacy.

So please, show courage and wisdom today and in the tough days to follow.

The future of our university is depending on you.

Contact the writer:

444-1129, robert.nelson@owh.com

« Metro/Region

Share