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The Red and Black • Friday, October 19, 1990 • 3
Bio-ethicist: Let patients die
By RICHARD BAMBARGER
Campus Correspondent
Sustaining incompetent pa
tients with life-support equip
ment doesn't violate tneir
constitutional rights, a national
bioethics expert said in a speech
in the John A. Sibley Lecture Se
ries, “Cruzan and the Right-to-
Die."
But the speaker, John Rob
ertson, added, "Because some
thing is constitutional doesn’t
mean it’s right."
Robertson, a University of
Texas law professor, presented
the legal perspective of the right-
to-die issue in his lecture
Wednesday, “Cruzan and the
Constitutional Status of Proxy
Decisions for Incompetent Pa
tients."
In 1990 the United States Su
preme Court, speaking for the
firBt time on the issue, ruled that
keeping Nancy Cruzan (who
hasn’t responded to any stimuli
in five years and is totally un
aware of her surroundings) alive
isn’t unconstitutional.
Critics of the decision claim
that Cruzan’s rights are being vi
olated by keeping her alive. But
the Court said keeping Cruzan
alive doesn’t violate any of her
constitutional rights because she
has none.
Justices John Stevens and Wil
liam Brennan say Cruzan is
being harmed due to her condi
tion. But Robertson said since
she feels no pain, she has no in
terests, so there are no interests
to harm.
Robertson said the Supreme
Court made the correct legal de-
cison in the Missouri case.
There are two extreme stands
on this issue, Robertson said..
According to the vitalist policy,
all human life should be pro
tected, regardless of quality.
The non vitalist policy states
that human life should be pro
tected only if it meets certain
standards of quality, Robertson
said. Another nonvitalist view is
that keeping someone alive is
taking away their dignity.
But Robertson proposed she
has no more interests, including
dignity.
“What she might feel is irrele
vant," he said.
The Court took a vitalist
stance in keeping Cruzan alive,
though Robertson said he thinks
treatment should have stopped.
An incompetent patient, un
less he made a living will, should
be treated as he is now, Rob
ertson said, adding that these pa
tients aren’t, and shouldn’t be
treated like the competent people
they once were.
Some students attending the
lecture agreed with Robertson.
Robertson said that if the Su
preme Court takes the nonvita
list stance, Medicare could
withdraw support of the in
competent patient and leave the
buraen on the family.
Chem. explosion injures five
Freshmen ready for SGA campaign
By SANDRA STEPHENS
Staff Writer
Flyers for the nine candidates campaigning for the
Student Government Association’s Oct. 24 freshman
election are on their way to campus bulletin boards.
President Pro Tern William Perry is disappointed
about having only nine candidates running for the six
available seats, but said the candidates definitely are
more energetic than some groups he has seen.
‘They’re really ready to get going on campaigning
on the issues,” he said.
No one has turned in applications to run for the six
available graduate senator seats. The graduate seats
weren’t filled during spring quarter’s election.
SGA Treasurer Richard Barid said it’s important to
build on the younger members because a lot of the
senators will be graduating soon.
“We need people who are dedicated, intelligent and
hard workers," he said. “We’ve got a good start.’’
During a meeting for candidates Wednesday, Perry
reminded candidates that that all students can vote in
the election.
The Tate Student Center plaza will be the only
polling site, and students need a fees-paid card and
picture ID to vote.
Freshman candidates are: John Akin, Kathryn
Burkholder, Ashley Disque, Amy Engleman, Melinda
Henderson, Branden Johnson, Jill Lappe, Charles
McGarvey and Ed Perry.
Student says U.S. needed in Gulf
By CHRISTY THORNE
Campus Correspondent
The Kuwaiti people are losing
hope as they watch the Iraqis de
stroy their homes — burning the
shops and raping the women, the
president of the Kuwaiti Student
Association said.
‘The Iraqi invasion is the most
miserable situation ever faced in
Kuwait,” KSA President Salem
Aflat said at a Young Democrats
meeting Wednesday night.
But the Middle East situation
would be worse without the U.S.
presence there, he said.
“It only took Saddam Hussein
eight hours to invade Kuwait,"
Aflat said. ‘The only thing that
stopped him from invading Saudi
Arabia was U.S. intervention.”
Hussein is afraid of the United
States but would fight to the death,
Aflat said. Hussein isn’t afraid of
what the Iraqi people think. Most
Iraais don’t support him, he said.
While they appreciate U.S. in
tervention in the crisis, Aflat said
most Arabs don’t favor a lasting
U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf
region, and they don’t believe U.S.
motives are altruistic.
The United States isn’t in the
Middle East to protect Kuwait,
Aflat said, adding that Kuwaitis
know the United States is there be
cause of the oil.
In six months moslems will be
traveling to the holy city of Mecca,
and many Arabs may be upset by
the U.S. forces there, Aflat said. He
believes the crisis will end by then.
U.S. media are negative in their
coverage of Arabs, and Israel gets
more favorable treatment, he said.
When Lebanese groups kid
napped tourists they were called
terrorists, he said. But when the
Israelis kidnapped a sheik it was
called self-defense.
There are many differences be
tween the Western and the Middle
Eastern cultures, he said. For that
reason, the Western media don’t
always portray a realistic picture
of Middle East events.
The media portray Hussein as
crazy, but he is very intelligent,
Aflat said.
Before the Kuwaiti invasion and
during the Iraq-Iran war the media
treated Hussein like a hero, he
said. Now the media have re
versed.
YD Vice President Susie Rodri
guez said Affat’s discussion was
“an informative inside view of the
Kuwaiti invasion; I liked that he
said Hussein was not crazy.”
Aflat believes Hussein would
survive if there were military ac
tion taken against Iraq, he said.
Hussein survived the war with
Iraq, which went on for years and
carried more than 500,000 casual
ties.
If there is military action, Ku
waiti students will join, Aflat said.
“We are prepared to go fight,” he
said. “We signed our names to go
anytime we are needed.”
From page 1
major who was treated for burns
and cuts, said Thursday night his
ears were still ringing from the
blast.
“I was just walking up to the
bottle. It was just sitting there and
all of a sudden it just exploded,” he
said.
Everyone in the class was
wearing safety goggles and long
pants, which are required in all
chemistry classes, Bridges said.
The explosion occurred under a
hood used to allow ventilation of
fumes. The hood limited injuries
and damage to the building,
Amster said.
Students in the class left the
building after the explosion. Be
sides those who required medical
attention, several students re
ceived minor cuts and some had to
wash off acid.
The building was evacuated for
about 30 minutes because there
was fear of another explosion.
Bridges, who helped the ir\jured
students, said, “We jumped at the
noise, but we were pretty calm
about it."
After the explosion, chemistry
students and professors said there
were many possible reasons for the
explosion — including dried res
idue in the flask, a mislabeled
bottle or a foreign substance in the
bottle or flask.
Bill McClarin, a senior chem
istry major who was in the class,
said he couldn’t figure out what
had caused the explosion.
‘There was no disregard for
safety,” he said. “It was just a freak
accident.”
After the explosion, members of
the University Environmental
Safety Services Department, the
Athens Fire Department and the
Clarke County Fire Department
neutralized the acid that splat
tered throughout the lab with
baking soda, which is sodium bi
carbonate.
The soda and neutralized acid
was removed from the lab in thick
plastic bags marked “Hazardous
Waste.”
The experiment, which was to
determine if manganese is present
in various solutions, won’t be con
ducted again until the cause of the
explosion is discovered, said Public
Information Director Tom Jackson.
Public Safety Director Asa
Boynton said further investigation
into the cause of the explosion is
required to determine if any
changes are needed in laboratory
operations and safety procedures.
Staff Writers Christopher
Grimes, Dana White and Michael
W. McLeod contributed to this
story.
Aftermath
University Radiation Safety Officer Lowell Muse (right) and Athens Fire
Marshall Frank Edwards clean up the effects of Thursday's explosion
at the chemistry building. Edwards is neutralizing sulfuric acid on ttie
floor with a solution of water, baking soda and cat litter around the
acid-covered area. Glass from the explosion was all over the room.
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