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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 1989)
i Die Battalion TATE & LOCAL 3 lursday, March 9,1989 exas legislators sign court brief ailing for reversal of abortion law t AUSTIN (AP) — The leader of e state’s largest anti-abortion oup said Wednesday that 43 xas legislators signed a brief king the U.S. Supreme Court to erturn the landmark decision le- ilizing abortions. The Roe vs. Wade decision of 73 struck down as an invasion of ivacy state laws prohibiting abor- ns. The Supreme Court is consid- ing a Missouri law that restricts rtions. U.S. Attorney General [ick Thornburgh has asked the urtto review Roe vs. Wade in con- ieringthe Missouri law. ?irtra*BiH Price, president of the line It iO,000-member Texans United for ife, said legislators who signed the reo “ iend-of-the-court brief believe the ruet ll sue of abortion should be decided s hans /state elected officials, men a o re it it's peopl in trail 'Vomes hem subcommittee: U.S. should ask Japan o share cost of building super collider l shot! It GUI . tod: as tk “They are unanimous in their be lief that this issue is one that does not belong in the courts but belongs with the elected representatives of the people,” he said. Including Texas, about 250 law makers from 13 states signed the brief, which was filed last month. Among the Texas legislators who signed the brief, 29 were Republi cans and 14 were Democrats. Lawmakers are better able to de termine appropriate abortion rules for their home states, Price said. “We could hash out our differ ences for exceptions on rape and in cest and things like this on the floor of the Legislature. That’s where it belongs and not in the hands of un elected judges,” he said. But pro-choice supporters dis agreed. Phyllis Dunham, executive direc tor of the Texas Abortion Rights Ac tion League, said state lawmakers would rather allow the courts to han dle the matter. “If we see Roe vs. Wade over turned, we are going to see 50 prob lems,” Dunham said, noting the laws may vary from state to state. “It’s a very difficult and divisive is sue within state legislatures,” she said. Two lawmakers at the anti-abor tion news conference, state Sen. John Leedom, R-Dallas, and Rep. L.B. Kubiak, D-Rockwall, said abor tions should not be allowed under any circumstances. Leedom said only God should de termine life and death. Asked how he would respond if one of his daughters were pregnant from a rape, Leedom said, “I really believe their (his daughters’) genes would have some influence on the child and if it didn’t, the environ ment afterward I’m sure would have. “I have no difficulty with my daughter having a child that was not happily arranged for,” Leedom said. “That’s an extreme view,” said Dunham. “Most people realize that while we are not pro-abortion, we are pro-choice, and abortion is a choice.” Price gave even odds the Supreme Court would overturn Roe vs. Wade, but even without a complete overrul ing, he predicted the court will chip away at the decision. Dunham agreed, saying the court plans to consider a number of abor tion cases. “Roe vs. Wade will proba bly be taken apart in piecemeal fash ion,” she said. It lies Wsedl WASHINGTON (AP) — Energy Department I egotiators should pressure the Japanese into bring the $4.6 billion cost of building the super P ursa ollideras a way for Japan to cut back on its huge - —if radeimbalance with the United States, the chair- ivedi tan of a House subcommittee considering the roject said Wednesday. “Japan is the number one (cost-sharing) sus- iect for us because of the bad balance of trade, ind (we should) approach them on that level,” r coil!; lalph Hall, a Rockwall Democrat, told depart- Kn(officials dat ing a hearing an foreign partic- ^ t0 | pation in the proposed giant atom smasher. In an interview after the hearing, Hall said the ade imbalance with Japan would be a good le- am s#er in cost-sharing negotiations between officials (both countries. “It gives us a special incentive to dealing with lapan,” Hall, the chairman of the Science, Space md Technology Committee’s subcommittee on nternational scientific cooperation said. Asked if the department should pressure Ja pan on the issue of the trade deficit. Hall said, “I sure do hope so. “They are just out-trading us. I think this will be one little-bitty part of the bundle of the entire (trade deficit-reduction) package,” Hall said. “Somebody has got to start putting this country first.” The United States ran a trade deficit with Ja pan of $55.4 billion in 1988, representing 40 per cent of the total U.S. trade deficit of $ 137 billion. James F. Decker, deputy director of the en ergy research office at the Energy Department, told Hall that U.S. officials are in Japan holding “unofficial, but very significant, discussions with Japan’s high-energy physics community on possi ble ways of collaboration.” Participating in those discussions are a team of scientists from the SSC laboratory contractor, its oversight committee, and the High Energy Phys ics Advisory Committee. Decker said it is essential to “encourage the en thusiastic support of the Japanese scientists be cause strong endorsement at this level is almost certainly a prerequisite for Japanese partici pation.” But the involvement of President Bush and Energy Secretary James D. Watkins may be ulti mately be needed to convince the Japanese to in vest in the project. Decker said, adding that he believes Japan is the “largest potential partner.” “In the end, it’s going to take a very high-level approach: involvement by the secretary of en ergy and possibly the president,” Decker said. Only India has committed to helping build the super collider, agreeing to put $50 million into the project, a proposed 53-mile underground tunnel south of Dallas in which beams of protons would smash into each other with 20 times the energy of today’s most powerful accelerators. Italy last year signed an agreement to explore collaboration on the project and preliminary cost-sharing discussions have been conducted with officials of Taiwan, Korea and several West ern European nations, officials said. Sexuality professor offers safe sex tips for spring break By Ashley A. Bailey STAFF WRITER Safe sex is an individual en deavor based on knowledge, per sona 1 responsibility and commu nication, Dr. Debe Shafer, a Texas A&M human sexuality professor, told McFadden Hall residents. Shafer began the “Safe Sex for Spring Break” lecture Wednesday night by giving the listeners their choice of a chocolate or butterscotch chip to eat — but they had to wait. First came an eye-opening dis cussion on the “cleanliness” of the chip of their choice. “How do you know these chips are clean?” she asked. “How do you know my hands are clean, or that I didn’t put something in the candy?” Shafer said the response — “We trust you” • — was standard for most people and in many different situations. The problem, she said, is that people don’t think about the consequences of their actions and they sometimes make inappro priate decisions. “Some people enter into sexual relationships as easily as they they eat a chocolate chip,” Shafer said. “They don’t think about any of the consequences that might come from being sexually active.” Shafer discussed some of these consequences, including curable sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, gonorrhea and geni tal warts, one of the most common and fastest-spreading STDs in Brazos County. She said more se rious consequences include un wanted pregnancy, herpes, which is incurable, and AIDS, which is incurable and fatal. The only certain prevention to those problems is abstinence, but if that is not an alternative, then safe sex is the next step, Shafer said. With safe sex come responsibili ties such as using some form of birth control, going to the doctor and knowing your partner. People should get to know their prospective sexual partners well before entering into a sexual j relationship, she said. “Really getting to know some one gives you a chance to decide if, indeed, you do want to have a sex ual relationship with that person,” she said. “And, it allows you to trust that person with some basis — knowledge and communica tion.” If involved with a partner whose sexual history is not known, it is important to ask them about it, she said. “The questions are sometimes awkward and embarrassing, but they can save your life,” she said. “If you ask questions like, ‘how many partners have you had?’ or ‘do you inject drugs?,’ the answers you get could show that the person you were considering having a sex ual relationship with is unsafe. “Sex is yours and you should use it in the way that you feel best about and can live with. What’s best for me isn’t necessarily right for anyone else, and that applies to every one.” To have sex or not is a very per sona! decision, she said. And so is contraception and attaining knowledge about perspective part- “Sex is supposed to be a gift, and it’s ultimately your decision,” Shafer said. “But you have to live with the consequences of sex — no matter what they might turn out to be.” GALVESTON ISLAND LATE NIGHT HAPPY HOUR AT EATERIES CANTINA I 9.-30-11:00 Thursday Night FREE NACHO BAR $1 Draft $1 50 Margaritas $4 95 Margarita Pitchers $1 25 Well Drinks On Harvey Road Behind Safeway Galveston Spring Break "89 March 9 • 5K Fun Run (409) 763-4607 • KRBE’s Giant Boom Box • Galveston Film Festival (409) 763-2403 March 10 • Galveston College Tennis Toumament • Galveston Film Festival March 11 • Surf Spring Break ’89 (409) 740-4422 • Mascot and Sand Sculpture Contest (409) 763- 6564 • Galveston College Tennis Toumament March 12 Live Entertainment Galveston Film Festival March 17 St. Patrick’s Day Street Party on the Strand Live Bands - Big Fun March 18 Jammin Sportswear/Coors Light Volleyball Toumament (713) 541-3323 KRBE’s Giant Boom Box on the beach Pepsi Challenge Tug-O-War on the Beach March 19 Jammin Sportswear/Coors Light Volleyball Toumament Live Bands Killer Bees Texas A&M University at Galveston presents: Surf Spring Break’89 DATE: Saturday, March 11,1989, 8 AM. SITE: 25th and Seawall Blvd., Galveston, Texas. ENTRY FEE: $10.00 before March 3rd, $15.00 after March 3rd. $5.00 to also compete in bodyboards. Entry includes custom T-shirt and other goodies. No refunds. CHECK IN: 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM Friday, March 10th at Sunrise Surfshop, 4702 Seawall Blvd., or 7:00 AM Saturday, March 11th at the site. INFORMATION: Call (409)740-4422 for more information until March 10th. March 10th, call (409)762-SURF. Galveston Spring Break ’89 is hosted by KRBE and Pepsi. MSC JORDAN INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS <7 JORDAN FELLOWS LECTURES March 9, 1989, 8:30PM, Memorial Student Center, Room 206 Christopher Boyett: People's Republic of China. Hong Kong, Republic of China William DiBrito: Portugal Kristin Johnson: Spain, Federal Republic of Germany These presentations relate recent student experiences of research and study in preparation for careers concerned with international affairs. Call battalion Classified 845-2611