Activists Dress Like Animals to Make Point

Puzzled passersby were treated to the sight of three dead animals outside the Science Center yesterday as the Environmental Action Committee and Green Corps attempted to draw attention to the plight of endangered species.

As an alternative to the traditional placard-and-march Harvard protest format, the club members dressed themselves as member of endangered species and lay motionless on the sidewalk for about 20 minutes beginning at 10:50 a.m.

Flanked by a sign asking "Northern Right Whale Endangered?," former committee chair Bonnie J. Becker '95 sprawled out on the Science Center path, wearing--with appropriate underclothing--a fish head, fins and body, and a harpoon jutting from her midsection.

Two club members wore a moose head and brown cloth to represent the Columbian white-tailed deer. The two lay on the ground with their extremities stiffly extended to mimic dead deer.

Another protester wore an eagle's head, complete with bright yellow beak, to symbolize the endangered bald eagle. Committee members dressed entirely in black carried signs explaining the costumes and the intent of the protest.

The immediate purpose of the demonstration was to show support for the Studds Bill, the stronger of two endangered species bills currently being considered in Congress.

According to a committee handout, the Studds Bill would "increase funding for the protection of species." An alternative to the Studds legislation, the Tauzin Bill, would "basically gut the protection of species by making it harder to list species as endangered," the handout said.

The handout urged passersby to tell local Republican U.S. Rep. PeterTorkildsen to vote for the Studds Bill.

"I think people were pretty receptive," Beckersaid. "If we reached five people, if five peopleknow something they didn't know before, then itwas worth it."

"Hopefully," she added, "we'll get a couple ofpeople to call the representative.

"I think people were pretty receptive," Beckersaid. "If we reached five people, if five peopleknow something they didn't know before, then itwas worth it."

"Hopefully," she added, "we'll get a couple ofpeople to call the representative.