Page 10--Thursday, July 26, 1979-The Michigan Daily
Test tube baby's
would like to have another baby in just
BRISTOL, England (AP) - Test tube the same way."
baby Louise Brown had her first birth- "She is everything my husband John
day yesterday and her mother joyously and I prayed for - a little miracle. For
called her "a little miracle. .. the end me, my little baby is the end of the
of the rainbow for me." rainbow."
The occasion was celebrated by the Louise, a lively, golden-haired tod-
family with a small party at their new dor,. took her first steps two months
suburban home near Bristol. ago.
LOUISE, TIlE first authenticated AMONG hER presents was one from
test-tube baby, was born July 25, 1978 at Patrick Steptoe, the consultant
London's Oldham Hospital. Two British gynecologist at Oldham General
doctors had fertilized an egg from her Hospital, who, with Dr. Robert Edwar-
mother's womb with sperm from her ds, a physiologist, carried out the
father, and reimplanted the egg into technique of fertilizing the mother's
her mother's body. egg outside the womb.
Lesley Brown, 32, could not have a Steptoe, still monitoring Louise's
baby normally because surgeons could medical progress, has told the family
not unblock the Fallopian tubes leading he is delighted with the progress she is
to her womb. making.
A month ago, the Browns moved from Ms. Brown often takes Louise shop-
their terraced house in the center of ping, and neighbor Myra Heath said:
Bristol to a house with a greener view. "We all think she is the most perfect,
It has a wading pool specially for delightful little child. You would not
Louise. know she was any different from any
"WE COULD NOT be happier other baby."
We have a beautiful new home, Louise SInce Louise was born, the births of
settled in quickly and she is having a two other test-tube babies have been
wonderful birthday," Ms. Brown told reported, one, a girl in Calcutta, India,
The Associated Press. "I am the most and the other, a boy, in Glasgow,
contented woman in the world and I Scotland.
first birthday
AR Photo
Louise Brown, the first baby conceived outside the mother's uterus,
celebrated her first birthday yesterday. This photo was taken in March,
1979.
Fewer youths in alcohol-related accidents
LANSING (UPI) - Fewer young period, state police figures show.
drivers were involved in alcohol- Troopers said 1,858 drinking drivers
related accidents in the first quarter of between the ages of 18 and 20 were in-
1979, but police yesterday said it was volved in accidents in the first three
too early to place all the credit on months of the year,. compared with
Michigan's higher drinking age. 2,464 during the same period of 1978.
Although the number of young Overall, there were 14,339 drinking
drinking drivers involved in accidents drivers involved in accidents in the first
was down about 24 per cent, the overall quarter of 1979 - an increase from
involvement of drinking drivers in ac- 13,424 in 1978.
cidents actually increased for the The proportion of 18-20 year-olds
among all drinking drivers involved in
accidents fell from 18.4 per cent in 1978
to 13 per cent in 1979, police said.
"I wouldn't get too rambunctious
about it - it's only three-month data,"
warned State Police Lt. Jack Warder.
"All I'm saying is what is it going to
show in a half year or when the whole
year of 1979 is completed," he said.
"You don't know if it will continue to
show a decrease for certain."
A voter-approved measure raising
the drinking age from 18 to 21 took ef-
fect Dec. 3. The measure was sold
largely as a means of reducing highway
accidents tied to drunk teenage drivers.
The Michigan Council on Alcohol
Problems - a prime mover behind the
amendment - conceded several fac-
tors might have affected the first quar-
ter accident statistics, including higher
beer prices and the energy crunch.
"However, when the experience of 18-
20-year-olds is compared to the rest of
the driving population ... it still shows
dramatically that the new drinking age
must have had an impact on reducing
alcohol-related accidents in the target
group," the council's weekly newsletter
said.
"At the very least, this ought to be
cause for 'guarded optimism' among
those of us who worked for raising
Michigan drinking agelo 21.
"There was no assurance that the
move would reverse the trend of in-
creased alcohol-related auto accidents
among the target group of 18-20-year-
olds, but we felt it was logical to give it
a try," it concluded.
False
alarms
-persist
mid. "If you want to pay me (for the
truck expenses), I'll gladly drop the
charges," he chuckled.
University fires pose a special
problem for Ann Arbor fire-fighters
because there are so many rooms and
laboratories and most people reporting
fires don't know the street address of
campus buildings, only its name.
"If there is a fire (reported) in the
'Schmid' room," he joked, "that
doesn't help us a bit."
He said most people are excited and
nervous when reporting a fire. And
many legitimate fire reports are though
to be pranks because of the shaky voice.
Schmid suggests when reporting a
fire, the caller be as precise as possible
about the location of it. "That's why
when you call ina fire,-they (police) ask
you a lot of questions to calm you down
and make you think," Schmid said.
GROWING OLD
WASHINGTON (AP)-In the United
States, the number of people 100 years
or older jumped 43 per cent between
1974 and 1978, according to the
American Council of Life Insurance.
The council says this makes cen-
tenarians one of the fastest-growing
segments of the population.
There were 8,317 centenarians in
1974, according to Social Security Ad-
ministration statistics, but this group
increased to 11,922 by 1978.