THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 1980
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leprc Ted Hayes, 25, a graduate student at the
hyperbaric lab, monitors a sheep dive testing
fetal susceptibility to the bends.
Photo by Connie Burke
esearch continues in
iving effects on fetuses
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By CONNIE BURKE
Battalion Reporter
sfResearch that a Texas A&M Uni-
ersity professor has been working
n for the last 14 years has provoked
ondemnation from a women’s activ-
:t group, comment from a public
fficial and concern from thousands
fwomen divers.
Dr W.P. Fife, a research biolog
it, has been trying to determine
rhether diving can barm the fetus of
regnant women. So far, his re-
earth has shown that diving can
arm the fetus while the mother
^hows no signs of decompression
^^ickness, referred to as “the bends.”
“Ten years ago, a student working
nth pregnant rats found the fetus
)K when the mother had a lethal
pe of the bends, ” Fife said.
^ "But during a sheep dive later eon-
^iucted, the fetus was harmed when
©thing happened to the mother,”
/id said.
syj To conduct this experiment, Fife
r one of his assistants puts a sheep in
^ compression chamber and then
unulates the air pressure within the
hamher to different depths under
/ater. This is what Fife calls a dive.
Decompression sickness, more
Ommonly known as the bends, is
aused when nitrogen and oxygen
nibbles are trapped inside the body
fter someone has been diving. If a
lerson swims to the surface of the
rater too quickly after a dive, bub-
iles can form in the tissues, muscles
nd bloodstream of the body. These
ubbles can slightly effect a person
y causing only a small amount of
•i; B' At other times, they can per-
Janently paralyze its victim or
ring death.
femed that a women may experi-
sice no side effects from diving, but
he fetus she is carrying may be
jarmed without her knowledge. So
ar, research he has conducted on
heep has confirmed his worries.
*¥? has found that diving may cause
r~
hertf»!
birth to a deformed baby.
Fife chose sheep for the experi
ment because the circulation of the
animal’s placenta is more similar to
that of humans than other animals.
Fife’s research has had its share of
attention. For example, his work was
a sore spot to some women who
advocated that Fife’s research is the
work of a male chauvinist. He said
Nikki Van Hightower, a leader of a
women’s activist group, has accused
him of conducting the research to
limit work available to women.
“At first, I found women who were
calling me ‘macho.’ But I like to see
women enjoy sports, too,” Fife said.
Fife said he gets calls from women
concerned about the effects of di
ving.
“They will say they just found out
they are pregnant and that they have
been diving. They want to know if
the baby will be deformed and if they
should have an abortion,” Fife said.
Fife said he tells them he doesn’t
know for sure whether diving causes
birth defects, but he thinks it is best
to tell them not to dive if they think
they may be pregnant.
A one-sentenced, off-hand remark
by Gov. Bill Clements caused Fife’s
research to gain more publicity. Cle
ments implied that scuba diving
could be a swift, comfortable way to
have an underwater baby abortion.
This remark was repeated in news
papers, magazines and on radio and
televison stations.
“As far as I’m concerned, it was a
harmless remark,” Fife said. He said
Clements made the comment when
he was being quickly reviewed on all
the research projects at Texas A&M
University.
Those concerned with Fife’s work
include more than public officials
and women activists. Women divers
who are employed as professional di
vers or who frequently dive as a hob
by are concerned about dangers to a
fetus when diving.
Fife said his research has not cre
ated any laws which forbid pregnant
women from diving or from con
tinuing their work. Every woman
may still decide for herself whether
or not she wants to dive while she is
pregnant, but his research may be
gin to alert employers about the pos
sible setbacks of hiring women di
vers. If a woman has pregnancy
problems resulting from diving, her
employer will have to give her time
off work and possibly give her work
man’s compensation payments. Her
employer may later decide it is more
economical to hire only male divers
rather than hiring potential compen
sation collectors.
While the Civil Rights Act of 1964
prohibits discrimination on the basis
of sex, it does not resolve questions
regarding the rights of pregnant
women.
Employers have traditionally con- ,
sidered pregnancy as a voluntary
condition that interferes with work
performance. In such cases, an em
ployer would not be obligated to pay
her during the time she misses work.
However, payment could be col
lected if there was an employment
agreement or union contract pre
viously secured.
When Congress enacted the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, the law changed
to provide women with the same
company policies relating to disabil
ity. The employer may not terminate
the woman because she has reached
a certain stage of pregnancy. In
stead, she will be permitted to re
main on the job until she is no longer
to perform the work.
If she does physical work like di
ving and her employer has a policy of
transferring the employees under
medical disability to lighter assign
ments, then she will be subject to the
same practice. Consequently, a
woman who now holds a diving job
cannot be fired because she is pre
gnant and cannot carry out her di
ving duties.
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Attention Students:
MSC Town Hall is in
the process of conducting
a random survey of 2,000
Texas A&M University students.
IMSCI
di
Kown holll
The results of the survey will be presented to the Town
Hall selection committee, which consists of three faculty
members and fifteen students, that represent a cross sec
tion of campus (twelve students are non Town Hall
members). The feedback from the survey and the selec
tion committee will help Town Hall determine student
ientertainment preferences for the 1980-81 Town
Hall season. If you receive one of these survey forms in
the mail please fill it out completely and mail it back in
promptly, so that we can begin our booking process for
next year as soon as possible. Thank you for your coop
eration.
MSC Town Hall
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