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4The Daily Tar HeelThursday, October 12, 1989 State and -National Highway Patrol yrge drug testing for immpairadl doiveirs By ALAN MARTIN Staff Writer The N.C. Highway Patrol is hoping to join several other state law enforce ment agencies in programs of testing obviously impaired drivers for drug use if they do not register a blood alcohol content on Breathalyzer tests. The Governor's Highway Safety Commission (GHSC) is closely moni toring pilot programs in other states which are being overseen and funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to Paul Jones at GHSC. These programs are showing some success but are moving slowly in order to establish credibility, Jones said. The aim is to develop the program and avoid having it labeled "voodoo science" as one American Civil Liberties Union official has called the program, he said. Should the program come to North Carolina, the procedure for drug testing would begin after an officer has stopped a driver for poor driving. If the driver appeares impaired but does not display signs of alcohol consumption, an offi cer from a specially trained group would be called to the scene, he said. The special officer would admini ster several field sobriety tests, note other physical conditions which could indicate drug use and look for nys tagmus, a spasm of the eye when fol lowing a slowly moving object, he said. The presence of nystagmus can indi cate the use of alcohol or drugs, both legal and illegal, he said. If all the tests indicate the subject is under the influence of drugs, he or she may be taken before a judge or magis trate where the arresting officer will make a case that probable cause exists to take a blood sample from the driver for testing. The results of this blood test could be used as physical evidence in court, he said. The nystagmus test is not a reliable measure for illicit drug use, said Susie Wong, a physician at the North Caro lina Memorial Hospital Eye Clinic. This is because many people have congeni tal nystagmus and many medications which do not otherwise impair a driver can cause this disorder, she said. This fact concerns the North Caro lina Civil Liberties Union, said Wil liam Simpson, an attorney with the NCCLU. The test is interpretive, ac cording to a release he received from the N.C. Highway Patrol. Interpretive means "art as opposed to science," he said, adding that current technology is not reliable enough to establish prob able cause. If the nystagmus test is used in con nection with other tests, such as obser vation of pupil dilation and coordina tion, it would prove much more reli able, Wong said. - There would definitely be other considerations besides the eye test, Jones said. These other considerations would be a necessity, since it would be difficult to convince a magistrate to allow a blood test without overwhelm ing evidence that drug traces would be found, Jones said. The nystagmus test alone would not convince any magis trate, he said. In most cases, a driver would not be taken before a judge or magistrate un less he or she had been driving very erratically and was obviously under the influence of drugs, Jones said. The law enforcement divisions would need to be very careful in order to avoid charg ing people whose blood tests would prove they were not under the influence of any illegal substance. This would prove very damaging to the respect and validity of the program and set bad legal precedents, Jones said. There is a great deal of excitement among N.C. law enforcement agencies about the possibility of this program coming to North Carolina, Jones said. No timetable is available for when the program will arrive here. The GHSC would like to bring it here as a pilot, program as quickly as possible, he said. Florida legislature rejects anti-abortion bills in special session By CHUCK WILLIAMS Staff Writer The issue of abortion came to the national forefront once again as Florida legislators adjourned yesterday from a special session called to address the issue. The special session was called by Republican Gov. Bob Martinez, an anti abortionist, after the U.S. Supreme The Board of Trustees and the Chancellor of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invite you and your family to University Day Featuring an address by Chancellor Paul Hardin and the presentation of Distinguished Alumnus Awards to Franklin Taylor Branch of Baltimore, Maryland Dr. Anne Coffin Hanson of New Haven, Connecticut Alexander Julian 11 of Greenwich, Connecticut Warren Winkelstein Jr. of Point Richmond, California Jonathan Yardley of Baltimore, Maryland University Day Commemorates the 196th Anniversary of the laying of the Cornerstone of Old East, October 12, 1793. Thursday, October 12, 1989 at 11:00 a.m. Memorial Hall University classes will be suspended from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Normal office activity, except for clinical services, will be suspended between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Staff are encouraged to attend. The University's Birthday Party with ice cream and cake will follow the exercises outside Memorial Hall. Court upheld a Missouri case in July which gives states more authority to govern abortions. The session did not result in the passage of any significant legislation. Bills concerning abortion were pro posed Tuesday and were immediately sent to the appropriate committees where they died. Accusations of "playing politics" have come from both parties in the state. Republicans claim Democrats are pandering to perceived voter opinions by not passing the legislation, and Democrats claim the governor proposed the special session knowing nothing could pass in the short session. "It's become a matter of politics," said a spokesman for Gov. Martinez's office. Martinez proposed several legisla tive pieces, including bills that would ban the use of public resources for abortions, expand regulations for abor tion clinics and require physicians to tell women seeking abortions about the status of the fetus. "Gov. Martinez did not ask for abo lition of abortion, but (for) items that have a 60 to 70 percent approval rating in the polls," said Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam (R-Wake), a leading anti-abortion legislator in North Carolina. N.C. politicians agree that Gov. Jim Martin will not call a special session to address the abortion issue specifically. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED. Researchers in the Department of Psychiatry at UNC-CH invite healthy, normal men (ages 18-35 ) to participate in a depression study. If you or your first degree relatives (parents, siblings) do not have a history of psychiatric illness or alcoholism, you might be eligible to participate in this research project that requires two (2) non-consecutive, overnight stays in NCMH's clinical research unit. Memory tests, blood and urine tests will be performed and possibly an oxytocin infusion. Benefits for participation include a free physical exam, ekg., lab evaluation, and $100 payment. CALL BETSY at 966-5961 for information. WOMEN'S SOCCER vs. ELON COLLEGE 4:00 PM flNLEY HELD "We don't believe the governor will call a special session," said Tim Kent, executive assistant to Speaker of the House Joe Mavretic. "The assembly will likely deal with the question of funding legality during the 1990 short session." Stam said: "The tradition in North Carolina is only to have special ses sions for emergencies. We have cases pending that will come out in 1990 that will address abortion." Although Martin does not feel abor tions should be funded by state money, he will not call a special session, said Tim Pittman, spokesman for the governor's office. "Gov. Martin will certainly not call a special session. This issue will come up in a regular session. The governor's stance is that state funds should not be used for abortions except for rape or incest which is promptly reported, or when the mother's life is threatened by the pregnancy. "Gov. Martin sees abortion as a tough, complex issue with most people in the middle rather than with extremist views either way." There are several bills pending that will address the issue in the N.C. Gen eral Assembly, Stam said. "The House has passed a parental consent bill already, which the Senate Judiciary Committee voted for eight to one. The Senate Appropriations Com mittee has the bill and hasn't reported it out yet. "Every session of each house has voted on the issue each year since about 1978. The voting will be different next year because of the displacement of key legislators in our favor." Stam said he expected some success with the legislation in the next session. "Some of it will pass, but some of it won't." Debates continue as to the necessity of calling the special Florida session. "In the past, Florida's legislature has passed more pro-life legislation then we have," Stam said. "Gov. Martinez could have thought they might have been able to do something. "Also, Claude Pepper's legislative seat was won by a pro-life activist, so he may have thought the voters were electing these people and wanted the issue to come to public light. However, short sessions don't allow you to get overwhelming majorities." Politicians are unsure of the impact the Florida session will have on state governments around the country. Most feel there will be few, if any, additional sessions called to address the issue. "There's not too many special ses sions called across the nation," Stam said. "It's really hard to get controver sial things passed in a short session." Embryo custody ruling leaves legal questions By EMILIE VAN POUCKE , Staff Writer In an unprecedented custody battle, a Tennessee woman was awarded temporary custody last month of seven frozen embryos fertilized by her ex husband. Junior Davis filed the case in an attempt to restrain his wife, Mary Sue, from implanting the embryos. "He (Mr. Davis) doesn't feel like she (Ms. Davis) should have control over that decision," said Janet Mayfield, a lawyer who will assist Mr. Davis at torney during the appeal process. "He feels he should not be forced into par enthood and the right to make choices about parenthood applies to both of them." Mr. Davis will continue to appeal until he wins the case or until it reaches the Supreme Court, Mayfield said. Judge Dale Young announced his verdict and released a 57-page opinion on Sept. 21. "I think the judge went too far in his How reivQu going to do i "I guess it's just me andyou,C6tihh Everyone elsejs at CompuFest tosee tkeIBMJRS2. "r7 a -. M I -k X.- I V. ....... I '-. . V .of -. - i.it..-:. i rfc : - lim ..a,nw" . z -- s -h""" i"'rrtiT'''lly fi&j 3t " Ii'm If yfJ ' Py .,! i i -JLL vJ u lzzzj T Ji J'i " t .T jfQ 'mimijLjr ..w.sKi)is.s...v , vwjw ft? h O Come to CompuFest and see how you can save on the IBM PS2! Meet the IBM Personal System2 looking graphics to make a good and find out how easy it is to use. report even better. And best of all, With the PS2, you can get your work you can get a PS2 at a special , done and still have time for fun. You student price that's more than fair at can organize your notes , write and the RAM Shop of UNC Student revise your papers, and create smart- Stores. IBM, Personal System2 and PS2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. IBM Corp. 1989 ruling," Ray King, a gynecologist at the : Fertility Center of Eastern Tennessee! in Maryville, said in a telephone inter-: view. "They are not human beings, they are pre-embry os. Each cell is iden tical and has not developed an iden tity." Some fertilization clinics require clients to sign consent agreements be-' fore undergoing procedures, so unex-i pected events such as divorce or a changed decision by one partner will not result in legal disputes. "I do not think they (the Davises) signed an agreement," Mayfield said. "This is why it is an issue." Although Davis vs. Davis has not set major precedents yet, it may promote wider use of consent agreements. Young encountered a few constraints when making his decision. The case did not rely upon the legality of previ ously signed documents by the liti gants. Also, precedents related to the issue did not exist and few Tennessee laws address cases of this nature. The most flexibility in the case re sulted from the Supreme Court's deci sion not to make a ruling about when life begins in their Roe vs. Wade deci sion, Mayfield said. Consequently, "human life begins at conception," Young said. "The case (Roe vs. Wade) did not turn' on when life begins," said Kay Bartlett, a professor of law at Duke University. "Judge Young did not have to make a decision of legal profundity." Young's resolution allowed him to try the case in terms of custody rights, instead of property rights. In this case, custody in favor of Ms. Davis did not give her the right to care for any child produced. Young wrote that if Ms. Davis implants a fertilized cell and it comes to term, final custody, visitation rights and child support would then be de cided. "The issue is not custody, but whether the child should be allowed to come into being when it is not in utero," Bartlett said. If the courts decide life begins at the moment of fertilization, cells produced by in vitro fertilization may be pro tected. If this occurs, mothers with frozen embryos may be forced to im plant every egg at some time. "Because the court didn't have a decision for (giving frozen embryos the chance to develop) ... this may be one indication of wrong reasoning (by the court)," Bartlett said. Cryopreservation, the cold storage process for embryos, gradually reduces the temperature of the biological tissue to about 180 degrees. The tissue is preserved so it will not be damaged and biological activity will cease. If the seven embryos are implanted consecu tively over a seven-month period, there would be a 52 percent chance for preg nancy, King said. ; Ms. Davis attorney could not be reached for comment. ! lf V
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 12, 1989, edition 1
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