Teen Changes Her Name to Oppose School Dissection

[THUNDERDUCK]

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (AP) -- You can call her Cutout Dissection.com, or Cutout for short, but just don't call her Jennifer.

The former Jennifer Thornburg -- whose driver's license now reads Dissection.com, Cutout -- wanted to do something to protest animal dissections in schools.

The 19-year-old's new name is also the Web address for an anti-dissection page of the site for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, where she is interning.

"I normally do have to repeat my name several times when I am introducing myself to someone new," she told The Asheville Citizen-Times. "Once they find out what my name is, they want to know more about what the Web site is about."

The Asheville High School graduate, who is working in Virginia, said she began opposing dissections in middle school after a class assignment to cut up a chicken wing made her uncomfortable. She helped create a policy at her high school that allows students who object to dissections to complete an alternative assignment.

Despite her legally changing the name, she said most of her family members still call her Jennifer.

"It will take me a while," said her dad, Duane Thornburg, who lives in Daytona Beach, Florida. "She's still Jennifer to me. I understand why she's done it. Believe it or not, I totally respect it."

A CD showing the treatment of animals before they are dissected finally convinced him to support his daughter's cause, he said.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[shadowstar]

Okay, my new official name is:

ALL EXAMS, ABOLISH

[JDAckers]

Say what you want, but dissecting a heart was one of the best science lessons I had  Surely the chicken wing is just the left overs as the rest will be eaten? I bet shes a single veggie...

[JFC]

You also need to remember that a lot of the propaganda that PETA puts out is just that, propaganda. A lot of what they state is "true facts" are really taken out of context and/or exaggerated, to say the least.

For example, a few years ago a few of their members were here in Peg Sheety, campaigning at local elementary schools calling for the banning of the sale of milk at said schools. They had pamphlets and stuff with a bunch of "facts", such as this beauty:

- drinking milk WILL give you diarrhea and/or WILL cause you great intestinal pain (this being a gross exaggeration of the fact that some people, myself included, can get a bit gassy if they drink liquid milk because they become lactose-intolerant as they get older.)


Whatever samples/video/whatever PETA has that they claim as evidence, is more likely than not the except5ion to the rule. While it is indeed a shame when certain operations don't treat animals well, that does NOT meant that 100% of them are following this practice. There are many regulations laid in place to help ensure that animals are treated humanely, whatever their final fate is.  Despite what the old saying says, having a single bad apple does NOT necessarily ruin all of the rest that are in the bunch.

[Kirigirisu]

Her dedication to her cause deserves respect though at the same time I can't help but feel it's a little extreme! I don't see how this will really change anything, it may raise awareness but only as to how hardcore these kind of people can be.

[JFC]

It just occurred to me that this move would completely backfire on her if she ever gets professors that refer to their students only my their last name.

Professor: "Is Ms. Dissection.com present today?"

Girl: here. *raising hand*

[DJ Maimai]

How ridiculous.
 


I can understand the whole "animal rights" thing and I really oppose dissections as well. Heck, I was even part of my schools animal rights club last year (but that turned out to be a bunch of "MEAT IS MURDER" bull so I quit....).
She just wanted attention so she found a cause she liked and took it to the extreme.
In all honesty, people like that just piss me off.
Really, handing out fliers and being a general nice person whilst doing it will get you so much farther.
:/

Don't get me wrong, if she did it in all seriousness, more power to her. But the number of people who would do that for anything but attention is well... slim.