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. It has to be
an issue of discrimination.”
German Auto Service
MERCEDES I BMW I VOLKSWAGEN I AUDI
“40 years of Quality Service”
342-2912 I 2025 Franklin Blvd. I Eugene, Oregon, 97402
directory of
thodox Christianity
Discover the historic church of the New Testament.
The taith of 2000 years, unaltered and
unchanged by innovations or reform.
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
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Engaging Masses
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Mexico Mission Trip
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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
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