|
Ruth Benca Ruth Benca must be certifiably insane. She experimentally induces “mania” in sparrows. In a recent study she forced rats to stay awake for five days. She wounded some of them beforehand and some of them afterwards. She discovered that profound sleep deprivation does not affect wound healing in rats. (Mostaghimi L, Obermeyer WH, Ballamudi B, Martinez-Gonzalez D, Benca RM. Effects of sleep deprivation on wound healing. J Sleep Res. 2005.) Ruth Benca has forced many kinds of animals to stay awake for long periods of time. In one of her sickest moments, she strapped brain-damaged monkeys into chairs and videotaped them throughout the night as they tried to sleep. Then she killed them. She keeps this videotape locked in a safe in her office. Does she watch it when she is alone? She refuses to let the public see it. Ruth’s morbid curiosity in the effects of sleep deprivation has been promoted by the University of Wisconsin as some of the most interesting and important research on campus. The UW puts nearly half of every animal research grant dollar into its general fund. When vested interests make claims, watch out. Ruth’s inventiveness is unbounded. She raises animals in total darkness – perhaps mimicking the darkness of her own troubled soul – doesn’t let them sleep, she shocks them, injects them with amphetamine, threatens them, kills them, and calls it science. Ruth, how do you sleep at night? |
|
Madison's Hidden Monkeys is a joint project of the |
||