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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2002)
2002 ng )m page 3 referring on the Tour J niites Iasi tunning pert ( ,| Alps and Maced 35t|]j stage, a mod un from lies to F uy, finishing i >5 behind slaw rivacy needed n Iowa case d hopes of n Bastille Dai Mi seal i ride of France % 14. Rabobank teairj He is makiiit d it was his firai n May 31 in Storm Lake, Iowa, workers at the Harold Rowley |ecycling Center found the ody of an infant in the shredder sed to process garbage. ecause of a lack of leads in the case, county officials are [eeking to obtain confidential medical files to find the fant's mother. If they succeed in getting the records, an not verv w p trusive an d dangerous precedent would be set. The rights JENELLE WILSON if medical patients, especially those of women facing unplanned pregnancies, would be greatly compromised. According to Buena Vista County officials, the investi- :an't holdbai is win,” Kroo- moved." /en and Eni| ation into t ^ le infant' 8 death is at a standstill. No wit- t second \ with the sami crash the da; was probabl; he start today," tests found no t Freire said lie I down. ; trial takes rid to Lorient. esses have come forward and requests for tips online ave resulted in nothing. The Des Moines Register reports jhat because of the recycling process the infant’s corpse hainpion Oscr [vent through, the internal organs of the body were miss- ut of the Tout ng. Authorities cannot determine the baby's true cause of reire, who won death or even its ethnicity. Medical examiners could .only i stage, injured determine the infant was born 24 to 48 hours before it vas found. In an attempt to find the baby’s mother. District Judge Frank Nelson granted a request by Buena Vista authorities to ubpoena medical records for women in the area who were oregnant. Some medical providers, including Planned Parenthood and five local hospitals, have turned over the records. The information turned over by the hospitals was only of their live births, which are a matter of public record. The hospitals were not asked to turn over confidential medical files. The Planned Parenthood of Storm Lake, however, has refused to turn over any of the requested medical files and Buena Vista County Attorney Phil Havens is pro ceeding with contempt of court charges against Planned Parenthood, which could result in its director being fined $500 or jailed for six months. Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa has appealed the subpoena, and according to Jennifer Dalen, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Law Center, Planned Parenthood officials are trying to protect the interests of their patients. Planned Parenthood has refused to turn over the names, addresses and birth dates of women who had a positive pregnancy test between Aug. 15, 2001, and May 30, 2002, because it considers the tests to be confidential and privi- (eged. However, according to Priscilla Smith, a lawyer for m page 3 klahoma, LSI 1 :M all along" Tyler Morning ■ since I went day event, iti)' at A&M. Die respectful# F time u# they aMM r the eni." 3-inch, B- ins three otta i the Tax it 11 i I • * * V_/ W C V d ^ cl.L'Cv*! LI III l vT I lIoL^IIld Cl I Cl W L-1 I v/1 ora the tenter of Reproductive Law and Policy in New York, ocum s team: irterback Drew nsive lineman nd Klein errick Brown, ly retracted itment to the ow reportedly nth the because the Planned Parenthood pregnancy tests are administered in a medical facility on behalf of a physician, they would not be considered an exception to confidentiali ty laws. Despite this, women who receive medical care at Planned Parenthood are told their records are private and will not be divulged without the patient's written permis- ion. The Storm Lake Planned Parenthood estimates that t performed almost 1,000 pregnancy tests during the committed to line-month period, and that by turning over the records, lundreds of its patients would face unwarranted scrutiny. Havens contends that pregnancy tests are not protect- by either federal or the stringent Iowa medical privacy aws because a layperson can administer them. Buena Vista County officials have no proof the woman lineman W' who gave birth to the deceased infant was ever at , the Garland- Pl anne( j Parenthood or any other clinic. According to Smith, women who go to a physician and seek prenatal -are are the least likely to abandon an infant; therefore, v en if the pregnancy records are turned over, it is unlikely to help the investigation. County attorneys also have no proof the infant's moth er was from Storm Lake. The recycling center handles rash for the entire county. The body could have come from towns other than Storm Lake. The subpoena for the medical records is unwarranted and unfocused. Authorities have no suspects, no proof the mother ever sought medical care and no proof that the infant was even killed. Women should not be subject to this kind of scrutiny merely because they sought pro fessional and safe medical attention. The women who go to Planned Parenthood have an expectation of privacy, and forcing clinics to turn over confidential information eould result in fewer women seeking medical attention in the future. ght end Joe) tin Westlake, ick Lamai on, offensive der of Klein tiuo of defen; i Kelly efensive line m of Odessa d linebackei ,n, fullback of Humble d Jason lack ball season is 31 when tbe ; Louisiana- Fajuns is by t/vaukee AP) - Jeff ogether this I day of th e ic Open. 3-under-pn f four-stroke Herron (6 6 ) ’ (70). 51 total was ■ of Loren CMO record uman ay but fin- so took the 1998, when jMO. , (65) too e ahead ° ?g Chalmers rho finished Jenelle Wilson is a junior political science major. Opinion The Battalion Page 5 • Monday, July 15, Quitters never win All-Star Game should have ended in home run derby RICHARD BRAY I n one of the most ignominious end ings in baseball history, the 2002 All-Star Game ended in a 7-7 tie, further alienating baseball fans after Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig decided to halt the game after both teams ran out of pitchers after 1 1 innings. After the top of the 11th, Selig conferred with National League manager Bob Brenly, American League manager Joe Torre and umpire crew chief Gerry Davis for five minutes before concluding the game would be declared a tie if the score was still even at the end of the inning. However, if Selig had put more creativity into his thought process, the All-Star Game could have concluded without fans booing and throwing objects onto the field in protest. Fans already had good reason to lose faith in baseball. Most of the media attention before the All-Star Game focused on talks of an impending players’ strike before the season’s end, as well as reve lations of steroid use amongst players. The atmosphere was fur ther dampened by the recent deaths of St. Louis Cardinals’ broadcaster Jack Buck, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile and former Red Sox slugger and baseball legend Ted Williams. Faced with this atmosphere, it was Selig’s responsibility to ensure that the more than 41,000 fans in the stadium and even larger number of fans watching the game on television were left satisfied. It seems this should be self-explanatory since baseball is nothing more than an entertainment industry, and yet Selig’s decision to cancel the game in a tie ignored the wishes of the fans. Admittedly, the All-Star Game is an exhibition with no impact on the league standings, and in which any injuries can be devastating to the player’s real team. Therefore, bringing pitchers back into the game was simply too high of a risk to their health to be a feasible option. For the same reason, having position players pitch would not only be danger ous, but foolish, as the new pitchers would have been horribly over matched by the best hitters baseball has to offer. Instead, the game should have ended in a home run derby. In inter views following the game, Selig dismissed the idea as being too “gim micky.” How this would be bad, however, is unclear. After all, one of baseball’s most popular owners. Bill Veeck, the Hall of Fame owner of the Browns, Indians and White Sox, used outrageous gimmicks such as including a midget on his baseball team and using exploding score- boards, and introduced more lasting crowd-pleasers such as fire works and placing players’ names on the back of their jerseys. In the entertainment business, gimmicks are not a bad thing as long as the public is entertained. To decide the winner with a home run derby would have been far more pleasing to the crowd and easy to implement. Although a home run derby was part of the All-Star fes tivities the previous night, its use to decide the out come of the game would only have added to the excitement and the fans would not have chanted, “Let them play!” as the players walked off the field. It can be argued that the All-Star Game is nothing more than an exhibition, but if Major League Baseball is going to have the event, it should do it properly and do everything it can to avoid disappointing the fans it manages to attract. By ignoring the wish es of the fans and canceling the remain der of the game, Bud Selig and baseV ball sent a clear message to the fans: their interests are not important. With a little creative thinking, such a mes sage could have been replaced with one of dedication to the fans. Richard Bray is a senior journalism major. JEFF SMITH • THE BATTALION Church hotline faces unjust lawsuit Hotline volunteer told police about caller’s sexual abuse F or virtually every . societal ill that plagues our country, hotlines have been estab lished to support, inform and guide victims who do not know where else to turn for help. According to KCRA-TV, Dee Dee Sharp, a victim of sexual abuse, called a church crisis hotline looking for help. Instead, Sharp said she was wrongfully interrogated by an attorney and has filed a lawsuit to have the hotline closed. The church crisis hotline should not be shut down simply because of complaints from one unsatisfied caller. KCRA said Sharp was angered by the attorney’s interrogation and questioning. However, this prompted the church to establish an investigation of the clergy man Sharp identified as her abuser. Since then, one priest has been suspended in conjunction with her case. Although Sharp did not like having to tell the attorney on the other end of the phone all the details of her traumatic past, the tes timony she gave on the crisis hotline is what may save others from experiencing the same abuse. The church is continuing other investi gations, which might not have surfaced if Ms. Sharp’s counselor had not been an attorney and recog nized the need to look into this case. Every crisis hotline caller is entitled to confidentiality and privacy. However, crisis hotline workers would not put callers at risk if they did not believe it was in their best interest and, in this case, in the best interest of the church. While Sharp may feel the church should have kept her confidentiality and not contacted the police regarding her accu sations against the clergyman, the hotline volunteer did the right thing. Every crisis hotline is established with the intention of helping people. Most church hotlines rely on the generosity of people who donate time and money to selflessly care for others. Although many do not employ professional counselors, most are trained before they can advise callers. Despite a lack of credentials, most crisis lines are successful and have resources to refer callers to if they are out of their jurisdiction. Sharp, who called the hotline because she needed help dealing with sexual abuse which occurred during her childhood, is clearly trying to blame the church for what is actually her own fault. KCRA said Sharp was upset because she expected to talk to a counselor, not an attorney. The occupa tion of a crisis hotline worker should be insignificant. It is more important that they are beneficial to the caller. If Sharp was uncomfortable with the conversation she was having, she simply could have hung up the phone. Crisis hotline operators offer any help they can, but they are people — not mir acle workers. Sharp made the call, and now she is criticizing the very people who have sacrificed themselves to help strangers. One caller's dissatisfaction is a poor excuse to close down a support line that could potentially help hundreds of other victims. Sharp should realize her selfish law suit over closing down the hotline would be cheating other victims out of the help they need and deserve. Andi Baca is a senior journalism major. ANDIBACA
