Christopher Reeve sues government
By Christopher Newton
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Seven scientists and actor
Christopher Reeve have filed a federal lawsuit
accusing the Bush administration of illegally
withholding funding for stem cell research.
In the suit, they say the administration is doing
“irreparable harm” by delaying the creation of
therapies they believe could save lives.
The Bush administration, which has halted all
funding and ordered a review of the issue, now has
less than 60 days to respond to the lawsuit.
“We are not suggesting that the administration
should begin funding projects immediately,”
plaintiffs’ attorney Jeffrey Martin said Tuesday.
“We just want the process to move forward quickly,
and with consideration of existing laws. We do not
want delay because of politics. ”
Reeve, who played Superman in four movies,
has been an active voice for stem cell research since
a horse-riding accident left him paralyzed.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Wash
ington, claims that Bush officials have skipped
over administrative procedures necessary to halt
research that federal statutes have made legal.
Last year, the National Institutes of Health
passed guidelines that allow federal funding of
some research involving stem cells, which many
scientists believe have the potential to help re
pair injured or deteriorating organs.
The issue of federal funding for the research is
especially sensitive because it sometimes in
volves experimentation with embryonic stem
cells.
Those cells are derived from leftover embryos
destined to be discarded after test-tube fertilization.
Some ethicists and abortion opponents say it is
wrong to use them for research, because it could
encourage the creation of embryos for science.
Stem cell experiments on animals have shown
promising results, but there is no conclusive evi
dence of the potential benefits of stem cell thera
pies on humans.
The lawsuit makes bold claims that, by delay
ing stem cell research, the Bush administration is
“preventing or delaying the advent of a cure for
paralysis, Parkinson’s Disease, diabetes and oth
er debilitating conditions.”
“There is, in essence, a moratorium that is de
laying the funding,” Martin said.
In one of his first actions as president, Bush
asked U.S. Department of Health and Human Sci
ences Secretary Tommy Thompson to review the
guidelines of funding for stem cell research. That
process includes the creation of a review board,
which, as of late last week, has never met.
The lawsuit could force health officials to ex
plain where they are in the review process.
“This is great because it will hopefully embar
rass the Bush administration into action,” said
researcher Tim Dale of the Malen Clinic in New
York. “At the very least it will make them explain
themselves.”
Among the plaintiffs are James Thompson of
the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Cen
ter, Roger Pedersen of the University of Califor
nia, John Gearhart of Johns Hopkins University,
Douglas Melton of Harvard University, Dan Kauf
man of the University of Wisconsin, and Alan
Osborne Trounson and Martin Pera, both of
Monash Medical Centre in Australia.
Survivor of fatal border crossing arrested
By Giovanna Dell'Orto
The Associated Press
PHOENIX — One of 12 sur
vivors of a border crossing that
ended in 14 deaths in the scorch
ing hot Arizona desert was charged
Monday with smuggling illegal im
migrants, a spokesman for the Im
migration and Naturalization Ser
vice said.
The charges against Jesus Lopez
Ramos, 20, of Sonoita in the Mexi
can state of Sonora are bringing in
illegal aliens, conspiracy to bring
in illegal aliens and harboring ille
gal aliens, court documents show.
If convicted, he could receive up
to life in prison or the death penal
ty, an INS news release said.
INS spokesman Ron Rogers said
Lopez-Eamos was among a group
rescued from the southern Arizona
desert east of Yuma last week.
They were the survivors from a
group of 26 that attempted to cross
70 miles of desert in temperatures
reaching 115 degrees.
Three survivors of the border
crossing were released into U.S.
Border Patrol custody Monday.
The immigrants spent five days
wandering the desert after some of
the smugglers told them they were
leaving to get water and never re
turned, officials said. Mexican au
thorities planned to return the
bodies home by Wednesday night.
Eight survivors were released
from the hospital into U.S. Border
Patrol custody on Saturday and
Sunday. The last survivor who re
mained hospitalized was in good
condition Monday.
The Border Patrol has not re
leased the names of any of the sur
vivors.
The Border Patrol was holding
the men and teen-age boys who
Admissions
continued from page 1A
Yet the Supreme Court’s move to
not review the earlier decision does
not offer a clear mandate on the is
sue of affirmative action at univer
sities and only leaves the status of
the issue unchanged for schools in
the states covered by the 9th Circuit.
“I think they just decided to punt
on this issue,” said Ken Lehrman,
director of the University’s Office of
Affirmative Action.
He said at this point the court has
decided that the use of race in ad
missions is acceptable, but he said
the ambiguous nature of the deci
sion means these policies could
change.
Because of this uncertainty,
Lehrman said the University won’t
adopt any new recruitment or ad
missions policies because the Court
has delivered no new interpretation
of the law.
“They haven’t given us any new
guidance on this one,” he said.
Associate Law Professor Garret
Epps, who specializes in constitu
tional and federal civil rights law,
said the Court’s action “doesn’t
mean anything.”
“All it means in practical terms is
no four justices wanted to tackle the
issue,” he said.
Epps explained that when there
is no clear consensus on the Court’s
bench, justices will often leave the
issue as it is until retirements
change the Court’s ideological
make-up.
He said making a decision on
such an important topic with a pos
sible 5-4 vote would leave the
Court’s opinion open to specula
tion.
“They’re just saying ‘I ain’t get
ting into it,’” he said.
Jim Buch, associate vice president
for enrollment services, said the de
cision will not change the Universi
ty’s enrollment policies at all.
“We’ll continue doing what
we’ve been doing,” he said.
Accepting students from various
economic, social, racial and geo
graphical backgrounds has always
been a key element of admissions,
Buch said, and the Court’s ruling is
an affirmation that “diversity is a le
gitimate” element of the Universi
ty’s recruitment policies.
Randy Choy, assistant director of
the Office of Multicultural Affairs,
said he viewed the Court’s decision
as a message that the University is
doing the right thing when it comes
to ensuring a diverse campus.
“This ruling is a positive message
to send to all universities,” he said.
“The University should continue to
enroll more students of color. ...
This affirms using race as a policy
of admission.”
The 1978 Supreme Court ruling
in Regents of the University of Cali
fornia v. Bakke set the standard for
universities affirmative action poli
cies, and since then the issue has
come up periodically most often in
terms of admissions. In 1997, three
University of Washington law stu
dents challenged the Bakke ruling
by arguing that the school applied
more challenging standards for ad
mission to white students than to
those of color.
The 9th Circuit ruled against the
students and upheld the school’s
policies, but a Washington law vot
ed into effect in 1998 banned affir
mative action.
The Associated Press contributed to this
article.
were released from the hospital at
the Yuma County Adult Detention
Facility. They were being held as
witnesses in the smuggling inves
tigation.
Officials said they also must
check the immigrants for any past
deportations or criminal activity be
fore they will be turned over to
Mexican authorities and sent home.
The immigrants, who were from
the Mexican states of Veracruz and
Guerrero, crossed the border into
southern Arizona in the Cabeza
Prieta National Wildlife Refuge.
Family members in the poor,
highland villages of Veracruz said
the immigrants were seeking a bet
ter life after plummeting coffee
prices left them no other choice
but to seek work in the United
States.
Since 1998, 991 people died
crossing the border, most from heat
exposure or drowning, according
to the Border Patrol. More than
5,000 others were rescued by
agents.
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