Comments

1
Why does tha ALF sign have a tomahawk and a pipe wrench on it? That's just confusing iconography.

An aside to Mr. Matt Davis, The tl;dr is probably the most honest thing you've ever written. Do more of that and less pissing off wooden army soccer people.
2
He seems to have an uncanny ability to show up at the right place at precisely the wrong time.
3
Can't we just do all this testing on animal rights activists? Problem solved.
4
Regarding bottom line #1: There's no law stating publicly funded institutions have to provide bathrooms, hence when I can't go into the Portland Police Department and take a dump in one of the detective's personal yet publicly funded bathrooms. I suppose that's why Rossell uses the word "ought", as in OHSU should provide porta-potties as a courtesy to the protesters, which is laughable.

Bottom line #2: OHSU is trying to protect itself from some animal rights dude, which seems pretty understandable.
5
This is the sort of thing that should actually get published in the paper version. More of this, please.
6
Jim Newman here.

A few clarifications:

- Matt Davis, I suggest that you also post the OHSU public safety incident report we provided you as it tells more about what happened on April 22. It gives a detailed reason why Ms. Hemstreet was given an exclusion. It was not because she wanted to use the bathroom. It was because Ms. Hemstreet was disruptive in a cafeteria, an area filled with hospital patients and visitors and she would not leave when asked to.

- Rossell says that the 2007 federal court statements about the alleged use of his home to assist in an Animal Liberation Front crime are untrue. Here is what puzzles me about Rossell’s reaction: Mr. Tubbs made a plea agreement with the government meaning that much of the government’s case was likely provided by Mr Tubbs himself. Therefore it is quite possible that the statements about the alleged use of Mr. Rossell’s home to assist in an ALF crime were based on the testimony of Mr. Rossell's friend Mr. Tubbs.

- Mr. Rossell characterizes his presentations with ALF spokesmen as simply “presenting at the same conference.” This is not really true. Mr. Rossell co-presented workshops side-by-side with representatives of the ALF including Jerry Vlasak who has repeatedly condoned murdering scientists. I doubt many of us would agree to co-present with someone who has openly talked about murdering their opponents. According to these records, Mr. Rossell has.

- In regards to Rossell’s characterization of the IDA records request that took several years to work its way through the courts, Rossell fails to explain a few things. First, we are talking about 113,000 pages of records that IDA sought. The courts were involved because IDA sought the names of staff but also because there was a lengthy dispute about the costs of providing these records. Also, the case was a settlement. IDA agreed in writing to take paper records as part of that settlement and now Mr. Rossell is somehow claiming that OHSU forced him to take paper records?

- Regarding the ALF signs flown during IDA’s march to OHSU in 2007, Mr. Rossell’s comments are not accurate here. He says the ALF activists only flew their banners once the march was over when in fact photos also exist of the marchers carrying the same banners (there were 2) during the march. But again I fail to see why IDA would not tell these protesters that there message is unwelcome.

- Finally – regarding the billboard Mr. Rossell speaks of: While the billboard did not mention OHSU in the text, it did display research monkeys (presumably photos Matt took while working at OHSU). The billboard clearly referred to OHSU because we are the only primate center in the state and most Oregonians would know that. It’s disingenuous of Rossell not to admit that the billboard was directed at OHSU. This is why we shared our concerns with the billboard company.

7
Mr. Newman: Can you and Mr. Rossell get a room?
8
Mr. Newman, methinks thou dost protest too much. But I forgot, you get paid the big bucks to do so. Please grow a belief system that doesn't involve getting a big fat paycheck. Then maybe we'll take you seriously.
9
I appreciate OHSU being so transparent about their decision.
10
The real story that you did need to investigate in detail is whether animal research produces results that helps humans. There will always be concern about whether it is cruel to animals. There is no doubt that it is cruel. However, many in the scientific community are now expressing the view that animal research leads to inaccurate results, that actually ends up harming humans. Think Vioxx as an example. I would like to see a real debate between OHSU researchers, (not just OHSU's public relations department), and those scientists and researchers who have dissenting opinions. Is that something the Mercury is willing to tackle? If so, you would be serving a real community service.
11
The real story that you did need to investigate in detail is whether animal research produces results that helps humans. There will always be concern about whether it is cruel to animals. There is no doubt that it is cruel. However, many in the scientific community are now expressing the view that animal research leads to inaccurate results, that actually ends up harming humans. Think Vioxx as an example. I would like to see a real debate between OHSU researchers, (not just OHSU's public relations department), and those scientists and researchers who have dissenting opinions. Is that something the Mercury is willing to tackle? If so, you would be serving a real community service.
12
The real story that needs to be investigated is whether animal research leads to reliable results for humans. It is obvious it is cruel to animals. But what about the science? What are the examples of animal research at OHSU that have led to cures for human diseases? Many scientists and researchers now dispute the accuracy of animal research. The NIH has said it will provide alternative methods in five years. If the Mercury would tackle that story by reporting on the debate between researchers at OHSU (not the public relation's department) and those scientists who dissent, that would be a real service to the community.

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