Abused for student fun

During this term, the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (NVH) has had serious talks on confidentiality with new students. The background for this is that the school has been criticized for pictures of dissected animals falling into the wrong hands on the internet.

– We are strongly against dissection pictures being put on Facebook for public amusement, even though the animals are dead and were put down in the proper way, states Rector of NVH, Lars Moe.

– If people donate their deceased dog to research, recognizing it in dissection pictures is probably not going to be much fun, Moe points out.

He has previously had to apologize to an animal welfare organization that complained about the misuse of these kinds of pictures.

Wants ban on photography

During the Veterinary Students’ Committee’s (VSU) general assembly on Monday, representatives encouraged the university college’s administration to carry on with the awareness campaigns connected to the misuse of photographs.

– Using pictures in an academic context must be OK, but if they are being used for entertainment, then this amounts to ridicule. That is not at all acceptable, says Leader of VSU Bjørn Wormstrand.

He believes that it is elementary that veterinary students should understand the concept of confidentiality. Rector Lars Moe’s opinions on photography in dissection rooms go even further.

– The message from the administration is very clear: Students should simply not be taking pictures, and certainly not pictures that fall under the category of student entertainment. This is a matter of ethics and common decency. Yet we cannot go around confiscating mobile phones that have cameras either, Moe says.

– If this continues, then the reputation of veterinarians and students is in danger. If people are to trust us enough to leave their pets in our care, this cannot happen, says Leader of VSU Bjørn Wormstrand.

Voted for new representatives

During the meeting on Monday, new student representatives were also chosen. Aina Bentsen was elected as a new member of the student committee’s board. Stine Bull Aurbakken, Solveig Mathiesen and Hanne Berg keep the same position. Toni Erkinharrju was reelected as the school’s representative in the Welfare Council. Hilde Bjøru was chosen as a new member of the Norwegian Veterinary Association.

A costly merger

The merger with Ås, along with lost study point earnings, has lead to the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science facing a financial crisis.

Next year the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (NVH) will be forced to use a huge amount of time and resources mapping out the amount of space and the equipment they will need at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Ås, according to Rector at NVH Lars Moe. While academic staff are busy doing this work, the students are the ones who will suffer.

– Veterinary education is an extensive study, and the teaching methods demand that students should have a certain amount of contact with their teachers. Therefore, this is a very negative development, states Leader of the Veterinary Students’ Committee (VSU), Bjørn Wormstrand.

– In the government’s suggested national budget, eleven million kroner was allotted to making the merging process easier. The short version is, no part of this is earmarked for us, stated Rector at NVH Lars Moe at VSU’s general assembly on Monday.

For this work, NVH will have to use in the region of six to eight million kroner, from a budget that is already strained. The school has produced fewer study points than expected, and Moe fears that the teaching that will be lost next year will lead to even fewer points being produced.

– Put simply, this is a vicious circle, says the rector, who is currently writing a letter to the Ministry of Education and Research (KD), in which he asks for extra funding.

Kyrre Lekve, political advisor at KD, was not able to comment on this case, apart from stating that any possible funds for mapping out NVH’s needs in Ås will be allotted at a later date.

Jørgen Brynhildsvoll • Translated by Anna Young