DATE: Saturday, April 19, 1997              TAG: 9704190331

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT AND ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITERS 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

PETA OFFERS SCHOOLS SCALPEL-FREE DISSECTION

Computer software that simulates animal dissection has been donated to 39 Hampton Roads high schools by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the Norfolk-based animal rights organization.

The distribution is PETA's first big local campaign since it moved here last July. Local schools said they would review the $200 program before deciding whether it would replace or augment animal dissection in biology classes.

``We felt it was real important to help students in our own back yards,'' said PETA spokesman Michael McGraw.

PETA, the world's largest animal rights organization, has been quietly active in Hampton Roads since moving to Front Street, but most of its activities have involved speaking to community organizations or asking local restaurants to add vegetarian fare.

The software, developed by ScienceWorks of Winston-Salem, N.C., is called ``Dissection Works.'' It simulates dissection on fetal pigs, perch, frogs, crawfish and earthworms.

While the distribution was generally quiet, PETA staged a demonstration at Green Run High School.

A representative dressed as a dissected frog came into the school toting a sign that said ``Cut Out Dissection.'' Two companions passed out leaflets and told students there are alternatives to dissection.

Mike Porter, an assistant principal, ordered the PETA members and a photographer and an Associated Press reporter to leave.

Green Run Principal Joseph Ford said he had been under the impression that a representative of the software company was going to donate the program.

``Everything else that happened today was a shock,'' Ford said. ``We expected none of that.''

McGraw said late Friday that PETA will send a staffer to the school on Monday to demonstrate the software without the frog or media.

Most local school systems already offer alternatives to students who object to dissecting animals. Those may include watching a video or writing reports. PETA contends that many students don't know they can ask for alternatives.

Joe Lowenthal, a spokesman for Virginia Beach public schools, said, ``We have, for a long time, been providing alternatives.

``It certainly is something that we would look at, and then it would be considered by the instructional services department.''

Lynn Cross, assistant to the Suffolk school superintendent, said the city's two high schools have received the software but aren't equipped to use it yet.

Cross said she could see a day when the school system would rely on technology instead of real animals in biology classes because the specimens are expensive and must be replaced every year.

``The idea is to teach body parts,'' she said. ``At this level, that could be accomplished through technology.''

Portsmouth would also be open to using the software, said science liaison Frank W. Heath.

He said prices for animal specimens are steep - about $1 each for frogs and more than $10 each for fetal pigs.

But, Heath said, actual dissection can't be replicated. ``It's more interesting to the kids if they can do a hands-on activity,'' he said.

Norfolk schools already use some software and will review the PETA-supplied program, a spokesman said. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: GARY C. KNAPP

Green Run High School called police to escort off the property Anne

Sullivan, left, a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

representative, and Yvonne Taylor, an intern from Scotland who is

wearing the frog suit.

MARK MITCHELL/The Virginian-Pilot

This is a view of the computer program being offered by PETA to

replace the actual dissection of frogs.

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