rNiiuuerai
Ninet'y- nine years of edim,ralfreedom
Vol. IC, Nc.
Ann Arbor, Michigan -Wednesday, September 14, 1988
Copyright 1988. The Michigan Daily
'U' to
stu dy
alcohol,
elderly
BY LISA POLLAK
A 70-year-old woman is being
treated for an illness at University
Hospitals. But the odds are she won't
leave healthy; her doctors don't know
she's an alcoholic, and there's a good
chance they won't find out.
The physical and mental traits of
people over 60, said University psy-
chiatrist 'Thomas Beresford, make
their alcohol dependencies especially
difficult to detect, diagnose, and treat.
With the elderly population growing
three times as fast as the rest of
America, this little-researched topic
becomes more and more pressing, he
said.
Beresford and other members of
the new University of Michigan Al-
cohol Research Center - announced
at a press conference yesterday -
hope a $7.5 million grant will help
them learn the combined effects of
aging and alcoholism on the central
nervous system.
The five-year grant, which estab-
lished the center, was funded by the
National Institute of Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism as part of a congres-
sional mandate to study the disease
among older Americans.
"In society in general, no one ever
thinks of older people drinking, or
else they think it's okay for older
people to drink because they're old,"
said Dr. Frederic Blow, a University
psychiatrist and UMARC research
director.
Besides social factors, the health
problems of older people also can
complicate or disguise their alco-
holism. For example, a person's
poor memory can make it difficult to
tell the doctor how much they drink,
prompting inaccurate diagnosis. In
addition, little is known of the
unique effects of alcohol on aging
brains, muscles, and hearts, said
Beresford, the center's scientific
director.
Like the rest of the population, an
estimated 5 to 10 percent of the el-
derly are alcoholics. But a study
published last winter by Beresford
and other UMARC members found
that 25 percent of hospitalized pa-
tients over 60 were alcoholics.
"But the alcoholism isn't getting
on the charts, sometimes... for the
patient's concern over social stigma
or financial reasons," Beresford said.
U.S. Wi1
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Reagan
has authorized the release of $188 million in
U.S. dues payments to the United Nations and
has directed the State Department to work on a
plan for settling all past debts, the White House
announced yesterday.
Presidential spokesperson Marlin Fitzwater
told reporters in a late afternoon briefing that
Reagan told the State Department to work out "a
multi-year plan" for paying a grand total of $520
million in current and late U.S. dues payments to
the world organization. The U.S. also owes
$111.8 million in past due payments separately
to the U.N. peacekeeping fund.
Fitzwater said the United Nations "has
I
L pay U.N.
reformed its operations to the point" where comment u
Reagan felt he could act. Fitzwate
He said Reagan will release $44 million president to
which was withheld in fiscal year 1988, and $144 had made r
million which was withheld in fiscal year 1989. (U.N) secr
Fitzwater said Reagan will also request full employees"
funding of the United Nations' in fiscal 1990, Fitzwatei
which will amount to approximately $476 United Nati
million. reforms, a
The $44 million will be released immediately, increasing p
Fitzwater said, while the $144 million that had such hot sp
been earmarked for fiscal 1989, beginning Oct. 1, Persian Gul
will be released as funds become available. The Un
Officials in the U.N. press office said they important1
were aware of Reagan's action, but could not States in the
debt
until it is communicated officially.
r noted that Congress required the
o determine that the United Nations
reforms, "including cutbacks in the
retariat, the hiring of temporary
and improved budgeting procedures.
r said Reagan was convinced that the
ons had made progress in instituting
nd that the president noted the
eacekeeping role of the world body in
ots as Afghanistan, Nambia, and the
f.
ited Nations, he said, is "serving
long-term interests" of the United
ese troubled regions.
Reagan
...approves U. N. funding
Lack
blood
of
delays
surgeries
BY VICTORIA BAUER
University Medical Center patients
who need major surgery, such as an
organ transplant or blood transfusion,
are being delayed by a critical blood
shortage that has left 70 hospitals in
southeastern Michigan without
enough to go around.
A steep decline in local donations
during the past two weeks has forced
the University Hospitals to postpone
two major operations, said Dr.
Harold Oberman, head of the blood
bank and transfusion service for the
hospitals.
"People are just not giving blood
as they should," Oberman said.
"People should help their fellow
man, and they haven't been doing it."
American Red Cross officials say
the average 1,200 pints of blood they
receive each day has dramatically
plunged to 400 in the past two
weeks.
Although summer vacations, the
beginning of school, and fewer cor-
porate blood drives typically result in
fewer donations in late summer, this
year's slump has developed into a
crisis situation, Oberman said.
The fear of contracting AIDS by
donating may have swayed even more
potential donors not to give blood
this year, said Noreen Peterson,
director of the Red Cross blood drives
in southeastern Michigan. But Peter-
son said blood donors cannot contract
AIDS because the organization fol-
lows precautionary measures, such as
using sterile, disposable needles.
Neal Frye, who coordinates Red
Cross blood drives in Ann Arbor,
said student volunteers in two up-
coming drives could help alleviate
the crisis.
The term's first blood drive, pri-
marily for medical students, is e-
pected to bring about 100 pints of
blood in to the Medical Science
Buildings today.
On Nov. 7, the Red Cross hopes
to bring in 2000 more pints of blood
during the annual "Blood Battle"-
when University students compete
with Ohio State University for the
greatest amount of donations.
Anyone who is healthy, between
17 and 60 years-old, and weighs over
110 pounds can donate blood, a pro-
cess that takes about one hour,
Peterson said. But donors should
only give blood once every 56 days.
"It's something you can do lying
down, you don't have to write a
check, and what you give is so spe-
cial, so unique. It's a gift of life,"
she added.
ROBIN LOZNAK/Daily,
Reaching for a win
Wolverine volleyball player Marie Ann Davidson falls to her knees to save the ball as
Karen Marshall looks on last night at Crisler Arena. See story, page 9.
Bill proposed to protect victims
3 S. 'rican
detainees
flee to U.S.
consulate
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
(AP) - Three prominent anti-
apartheid activists, detained for more
than a year without charge, escaped
from a hospital yesterday and took
refuge at the U.S. Consulate in a
high-rise office building.
The U.S. Embassy said it had
"high regard" for the men and would
not force them to leave against their.
will.
Two of the three are senior
officials of the now-banned United
Democratic Front. They are acting
publicity secretary Murphy Morobe,
a Black, and acting general secretary
Mohammed Valli Moosa, an Indian.
The other is Vusi Khanyile, a Black
who was chair of the banned
National Education Crisis Com-
mittee.
The U.S. Embassy statement
1
1
i
1
BY LISA WINER
Rape victims have long been afraid to
prosecute for fear of being victimized on the
witness stand, legal officials say. But now, as
a growing number of women are taking their
cases to court, they are facing another legal
hurdle.
For the first time last spring, two alleged
assailants turned the tables by filing defama-
tion suits against their accusers. Then
University student Griffith Neal charged an
undergraduate woman with slander, and visit-
ing University Prof. Thomas Rosenboom did
the same.
Suddenly the victims - whose personal
history had been protected from court under
the 1975 Criminal Sexual Conduct Law -
found that intimate details of their lives could
be used in the criminal trial.
In addition, the women found themselves
saddled with civil suits.
"She's faced with a rape trial, she's scared
Legislation to delay
rape slander suits
to death, and now she has to go out, find a
lawyer, and pay him a lot of money," said
Julie Steiner, director of the University's
Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness
Center.
Steiner says both civil suits were used to
intimidate the victims.
But Neal's lawyer, Steven Boak, denied
that his civil suit was an intimidation tactic.
He said a civil suit was needed because his
client was treated unfairly by the prosecution
during the criminal trial. "Short of a trial,
Neal had no recourse," Boak said.
"The police just carte blanche take the word
of the female accuser. I appreciate the position
of the woman, but it is equally difficult for a
man who has been wrongly accused," he said.
The two Ann Arbor countersuits were the
first of their kind in the nation, but a law
proposed in Lansing would make ,them the
last in the state.
In June, Sen. William Faust (D-Westland)
and Rep. William Van Regenmorter (R-Jeni-
son) introduced legislation that would prevent
defendants accused of rape from filing civil
suits against their accusers until after their
criminal trials.
The legislators are concerned that a fear of
civil action will prompt fewer rape victims to
file suits.
"We in this country have an interest in
having rapes go to trial," said Steiner. "Only
ten percent of rapes committed go to trial be-
cause women are made to feel crucified."
Steiner said Neal and Rosenboom tried to
force their victims to drop the criminal suits.
Neal did drop his suit after he was acquitted,
which "does raise some questions," a legisla-
tor said.
Boak and Leslie Seeligson, Rosenboom's
attorney, oppose the law. Denying the defen-
dant the right to file suit is unconstitutional,
they say.
"The way the judges have construed the
existing law has provided protection," Seelig-
son said. "Rosenboom is probably the biggest
victim in that case... I'm not sureithat a
counterbalancing intimidation tactic is inap-
propriate."
The criminal suit against Rosenboom was
dropped for lack of evidence, and his counter-
suit was dismissed by Judge Edward Deake.
Deake said subjecting witnesses in criminal
sexual conduct cases to civil liability would
"cast a chilling effect on the complaint proce-
dime."
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