Paleontologist for Cloning

Since you were a kid, you've been absolutely fascinated with dinosaurs. By age 5, you knew all the names of the saurischians and ornithischians and pointed out with glee every time someone mistakenly referred to Apatosaurus as Brontosaurus. Since graduating from Colgate in 2003 (you got an A+ in Geo 115), you've become an expert on the detection and extraction of dinosaur DNA based on the PhD dissertation you completed a few years ago at a prestigious university. Your research shows that there are many more sites of potential DNA fossilized in dinosaur bones and blood proteins than most scientists realize. If the time is ripe for cloning dinosaurs, now you need to imagine the educational and research possibilities! Would this be the chance to view evolution first hand and to observe many aspects of dinosaurs that scientists have debated for centuries? Could any scientific controversies be resolved by watching live dinosaurs interacting with each other in the nature parks that are under investigation by your investor colleagues? Would this be an opportunity to glimpse into the Earth's past and to undo the damage caused by the asteroid 66 million years ago? If you think about it, are we (humans) even really supposed to be here?--many scientists believe that if an asteroid hadn't wiped out the dinosaurs they'd still be the ruling forms of life in terrestrial environments. It might be worthwhile to explore for the judges the real educational benefits that could be derived from studying the cloned dinosaurs--could they show what the Earth was like long before humans left their imprint, and could a better understanding of dinosaur extinction help to prevent our own demise? I hear the other side may be arguing against cloning by citing S.J. Gould's ideas about chance as an important process in evolution, using that as a scare tactic to conjure up visions of dinosaurs evolving into bizarre, truly frightening life forms in the future. Consider exploring ideas about the dinosaur-bird link as a counter-attack and make sure your ethical experts cite all the ways that dinosaurs can benefit humankind. The best plan is for you to support dinosaur cloning and try to win a research grant to study the clones. Fame, fortune, and a pet dino might surely follow!