The Gadfly Cafe held its second discussion of the semester in the Norman Levan Center at Bakersfield College, on Oct. 16.  

The Gadfly is an open discussion for students and faculty staff to engage and share thoughts on a variety of different subjects and issues.

Bakersfield College’s Philosophy professor and host of the Gadfly for the past three years, Reggie Williams, tries the pick topics that are relevant to the campus and the community, but also have potential connections that could inspire students.  

This semester’s Gadfly topic focused on the use of animals: food, test subjects, and pets.  

“We haven’t talked about animals in the Gadfly in a few years. It’s relevant because locally given all the dairy and so forth in the community. 100s of millions and if you include chickens, billions of animals die every year for these kinds of reasons. It’s an important issue that connects with a lot of issues,” Willams said. 

When Williams asked the audience to show of hands who believe humans are the best species, a majority raised their hands. 

BC students and staff shared opinions on the use of animals in the U.S., what made humans decide what animals are right or better to live, animals they connect with, pets, and more. 

When a student asked when it comes to ethics to end the discussion, William states, “Everything we talked about has a level brain that feels. That raises, not all but some of these issues.”   

The next and last Gadfly of the semester will be in November.