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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2005)
Today Saturday Sunday High: 61 High: 64 High: 62 Low: 49 Low: 50 Low: 46 Precip: 30% Precip: 30% Precip: 70% IN BRIEF Four insurgent attacks kill 26 in Baghdad BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqis seeking jobs with security forces were targeted again Thursday when a suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body mingled among hundreds of men and blew himself up in one of four at tacks that killed 26 people. The attacks are part of a surge of violence that has killed more than 200 since Prime Min ister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced his new government last week with seven positions still undecided. Exit polls: Blair wins historic third term LONDON — According to projec tions based on exit polls, Tony Blair won a historic third term as prime minister Thursday, but his Labour Par ty suffered a sharply reduced parlia mentary majority in apparent punish ment for going to war in Iraq. A chastened Blair said “we will have to respond to that sensibly and wisely. ” Such an outcome, if confirmed by the actual vote count, could set the stage for Blair to be replaced midterm by a party rival such as Gordon Brown. As Treasury chief, Brown was widely credited for the strong economy that appears to have clinched Labour's vic tory, outweighing the bitterness many voters said they felt over Iraq. House OKs bill to revise school speed zone law SALEM — Doing a legislative U-turn, the Oregon House voted Thurs day to revise a much-denigrated 2003 law that limits speeds to 20 mph in res idential school zones 24 hours a day. The 2003 Legislature passed the ini tial law in hopes of improving safety for children. However, the law drew widespread complaints from drivers who said there’s no good reason to im pose the lower speed limits at night when there are no children present. Lawmakers clamored to support the bill, saying they hope it’s the last time the issue will be in front of them. “We screwed up that last statute,” said Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland. “I think we’ve done good work on it, although I also thought that last time. ” The bill passed the House 58-1 and will now head to the Senate. Some lawmakers have said their constituents contacted them more about the 2003 law — which mandat ed vehicles travel 20 mph in school zones in residential areas in the middle of the night and on weekends — more than any other because they often felt it was unnecessary. The new bill would change the speed limit to 20 mph between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or when children are present. It also includes the option for cities to add yellow flashing lights, which Rep. George Gilman, R-Medford, said “trump all.” “It’s when those lights are on that you’ll be doing 20 mph,” Gilman ex plained, no matter what time of day it is. However, Gilman said installing the flashing yellow lights is optional. Gilman stressed that the bill didn’t strip safety from the current school speed zone law. — The Associated Press Gay men might be barred from donating sperm Many accuse the FDA's new rule as disaiminatcny and call for a screening process based on sexual behainor BY DAVID CRARY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — To the dismay of gay-rights activists, the Food and Drug Administration is about to im plement new rules recommending that any man who has engaged in homosexual sex in the previous five years be barred from serving as an anonymous sperm donor. The FDA has rejected calls to scrap the provision, insisting that gay men collectively pose a higher-than-aver age risk of carrying the AIDS virus. Critics accuse the FDA of stigmatiz ing all gay men rather than adopting a screening process that focuses on high-risk sexual behavior by any would-be donor, gay or straight. “Under these rules, a heterosexu al man who had unprotected sex with HIV-positive prostitutes would be OK as a donor one year later, but a gay man in a monogamous, safe-sex relationship is not OK unless he’s been celibate for five years,” said Le land TVaiman, director of a clinic in Alameda, Calif., that seeks gay sperm donors. Ttaiman said adequate safety as illegal drug user or “an individual of unknown HIV status outside of a monogamous relationship.” But an FDA spokeswoman cited FDA documents suggesting that offi cials felt the broader exclusion was prudent even if it affected gay men who practice safe sex. “The FDA is very much aware that strict exclusion policies eliminate some safe donors,” said one document. Many doctors and fertility clinics already have been rejecting gay sperm donors, citing the pending FDA rules or existing regulations of the American Society for Reproduc tive Medicine. “With an anonymous sperm donor, you can’t be too careful,” said a society spokeswoman, Eleanor Nicoll. “Our concern is for the health of the recipient, not to let more and more people be sperm donors.” However, some sperm banks, no tably in California, have welcomed gay donors. The director of one of them, Alice Ruby of the Oakland based Sperm Bank of California, said her staff had developed procedures fnr iHonti can be provided by testing a sperm donor at the time of the ini tial dona tion, then freezing the sperm fnr 3 civ “The part I find most offensive — and a little frightening — is that it isn’t based on good science. There’s a steadily increasing trend of heterosexual transmission of HIV, and yet the FDA still has this notion that you protect people by putting gay men out of the pool. ” Kevin Cathcart | Lambda Legal executive director tying gay men with an ac ceptably low risk of HIV. Gay men are a major donor source at month quarantine and testing the donor again to be sure there is no new sign of HIV or other infec tious diseases. Although there is disagreement over whether the FDA guideline re garding gay men will have the force of law, most doctors and clinics are expected to observe it. The practical effect of the provi sion — part of a broader set of cell and tissue donation regulations that take effect May 25 — is hard to gauge. It is likely to affect some les bian couples who want a child and prefer to use a gay man’s sperm for artificial insemination. But it is the provision’s symbolic aspect that particularly troubles gay rights groups. Kevin Cathead, execu tive director of Lambda Legal, has called it “policy based on bigotry.” “The pad I find most offensive — and a little frightening — is that it is n’t based on good science,” Cathead said. “There’s a steadily increasing trend of heterosexual transmission of HIV, and yet the FDA still has this no tion that you protect people by put ting gay men out of the pool. ” In a letter to the FDA, Lambda Le gal has suggested a screening proce dure based on sexual behavior, not sexual orientation. Prospective donors, gay or straight, would be re jected if they had engaged in unpro tected sex in the previous 12 months with an HIV-positive person, an Traiman’s Rainbow Flag sperm bank, and he said that practice would continue despite the new rules. “We’re going to continue to fol low judicious, careful testing pro cedures for our clients that even experts within the FDA say is safe,” said Traiman, referring to the six-month quarantine. The FDA rules do not prohibit gay men from serving as “directed” sperm donors. If a woman wishing to become pregnant knows a gay man and asks that he provide sperm for artificial insemination, a clinic could provide that service even if the man had engaged in sex with other men within five years. However, Traiman said some les bian couples do not have a gay friend they know and trust well enough to be the biological father of their child, and would thus prefer an anonymous donor. Dr. Deborah Cohan, an obstetrics and gynecology instructor at the Uni versity of California, San Francisco, said some lesbians prefer to receive sperm from a gay donor because they feel such a man would be more receptive to the concept of a family headed by a same-sex couple. “This rule will make things legally more difficult for them,” she said. “I can’t think of a scien tifically valid reason. 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For more information contact St. George Church 683-3519 Oregon Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus life SHALOM! t ree Shabbat services and dinner Fridays at 6:00 p.m Stop by anytime. 1059 Hilyard, 343-8920 Check our website for a full listing of events: www.oregonhillel.org WW Daua’v E a i-ti ■ “So Powerful is the light of unity that > c' DAHA I FAITH it can illuminate the whole earth." _- Baha’u’llah Sunday Devotionals, 10 am • Also childrens classes and adult sessions at Baha’i Faith Center • 1458 Alder Street To learn about the Baha’i Faith and our activities in the e Eugene/Springfield area call 344-3173 or 1-800-2241NITE or visit our website at www.bahai.org. a___ Campus Ministry Grace Lutheran Church 18th & Hilyard (just west of campus) Sundays at Grace Worship services: 8:30 am & 11:00 am Thursdays Student Dinners: 6 pm Bible Study: 7 pnV Grief support group: 7 pm Contact Dave at 342-4844 or david@glchurch.org www. gl ch u rch. o rg ? ir \ W Sr Thomas Mom NEWMAN CENTER Feathers wffled? Duck into Newman. St. Thomas More Newman Center... Catholic Campus Ministry Social Connections Coffeehouses Student Dinners Sports Events Faith Community Engaging Masses Meaningful Retreats Guest Speakers Societal Commitment Mexico Mission Trip Charity Fundraisers Social Service Projects Sunday Student Mass, 7:30 pm Wednesdays, 9:00 pm Midweek Social & Student Mass Confirmation Mass May 7th, 2:00-3:30pm Reception 3:30-5pm ROA Wednesday, May 11*, 7:00 pm 1850 Emerald Street (south of Hayward Field) • 346-4468 Visit our Web site at newmanctr-uoregon.org or send us an e-mail to newman@newmanctr-uoregon.org A product of the Oregon Daily Emerald Classifieds. For more information call 541-346-4343.
