LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily -Friday, October 16, 1998 - 5 Project Vote Smart releases test results Teen pregnancy rate on the decline LANSING (AP) - Project Vote Smart played 40 questions with state political candidates to test their politi- cal accountability. The results; Michigan politicians largely scored above the national average. The state's gubernatorial candi- dates - Republican Gov. John Engler and Democratic candidate Geoffrey Fieger - both responded, giving a 100-percent participation rate. The national average is 80 percent, said Richard Kimball, executive director. Project Vote Smart, a non-partisan nonprofit organization based in Corvallis, Ore., puts the responses on its Web site to help voters decide who they will support in November, Kimball said. The survey posed questions about candidates' positions on a wide range of issues such as taxes, health and campaign finance reform. Altogether, 238 state candidates answered the survey. About 57 percent of Michigan's state legislative candidates responded to the questions, more than the nation- al average of 45 percent, he said. The only candidate group that dipped below the national average were those running for the U.S. House. In Michigan, 70 percent of candidates responded, compared with 72 percent nationwide. Of Michigan's 16 incumbent U.S. representatives, four did not com- plete the survey. Veteran U.S. Reps. Dale Kildee (D-Flint), David Bonior (D-Mount Clemens) and Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak) did not respond. First-term U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick also failed to return a survey. Adelaide Elm, National Political Awareness Test Director, said each candidate received the survey by mail and fax and were sent at least two other reminders and five to six tele- phone calls urging a response. "Each individual citizen needs to decide for themselves what that means," Elm said. "It's like blowing off the person who is interviewing you for a job. I think it's arrogant." Dan Kildee, the campaign man- DETROIT (AP) - Michigan's teen birth rate fell 16 percent over five years, and the Michigan Department of Community Health is crediting a statewide campaign to persuade young- sters to abstain from sex for the drop. The birth rate for Michigan girls and women ages 15 through 19 stood at 47.5 per 1,000 in 1996, the latest year for which figures are available, the department said yesterday. That is down from 56.6 per 1,000 in 1991. Pregnancies, including those ending in abortion or miscarriage, fell 20 per- cent in the period. They went from 96.4 per 1,000 teen girls and women in 1991 to 77.2 per 1,000 in 1996, the depart- ment said. Nationwide, the teen birth rate fell 13 percent over the same period. It went from a 20-year high of 62.1 per 1,000 in 1991 to 54.4 per 1,000 in 1996, accord- ing to a report by the Alan Guttmacher Institute. The nonprofit institute researches reproductive health issues. Fewer teens are getting pregnant because fewer are having sex and more of those who do have sex use birth con- trol, the group said. "A lot of the messages that have been put out about the importance of delaying sexual activity ... seem to be having an effect," said Susan Tew, a spokesperson for the institute. The Michigan Abstinence Partnership has been a key factor in the state's decline, said Geralyn Lasher of the Department of Community Health. "It's grassroots groups, with the people in the city of Detroit or the city of Saginaw saying what will work for their kids," Lasher said. "What works in Battle Creek may not work in Traverse City, and what works in Flint may not work in Lansing." Including births, miscarriages and abortions, 101 per thousand of females nationwide between ages 15 and 19 were pregnant in 1995. The teen pregnancy rate hit a high of 117 per thousand teen-age girls in 1990. The 1995 rate is the lowest since 1975, the study said. "This clearly shows that through the mid-'90s we have a dramatic drop in the teen pregnancy rate ... and that's very important' Tew said. "But we have to put that in the context of where we were to begin with, which is that we have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates of all industrialized countries" The abortion rate fell from 42.1 per thousand teen-age girls in 1990 to 31.2 per thousand girls in 1995, the institute said. It had hovered around 44 per thou- sand during the 1980s. The report mirrors results announced in July by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. AP PHOTO Richard Kimball, executive director of Project Vote Smart, reviews data on state politicians accountability in Lansing yesterday. ager and nephew of I1-term repre- sentative Kildee, said his candidate's non-response has nothing to do with arrogance, but with time. "The number of surveys we get now has quintupled," Dan Kildee said. "There are scores of these extensive candidate surveys. We had to do a triage three weeks ago to respond to some of these." To keep up with the demand for issue statements, Dan Kildee said the campaign first responds to groups with a presenn the district, such as local newspapers and groups like the American Medical Association, whose member doctors work in the area. .Case against human rights group dropped LANSING (AP) - Michigan's attorney gener- al's office yesterday said it doesn't plan to pursue its case against a human rightsgroup that refused to provide the state with information on the alleged abuse of female prison inmates. The attorney general's office had issued a sub- poena against New York-based Human Rights Watch asking for information the group used to prepare a report alleging rampant sexual abuse at Michigan's two women's prisons. In issuing the subpoena, the attorney general's office was acting on behalf of the Michigan Department of Corrections, which was sued by a group of female inmates in 1997. The case has not yet gone to trial. Human Rights Watch refused to comply with the subpoena. Instead, the American Civil Liberties Union announced Wednesday that it would represent Human Rights Watch against the *ttorney general's office, saying the group relies on its ability to keep its sources confidential. "Human Rights Watch, like the media, issues reports to the public and is protected by the First Amendment from being forced to reveal confi- dential sources," Michigan ACLU Director Kary Moss said in a statement. Attorney general spokesperson Marion Gorton said yesterday that the state would not pursue the "In most states, the problem's acknowledged and the state makes an attempt to deal with it." H Widney Brown Human Rights Watch attorney case further. "We do not intend to become distracted from our duties in this case by protracted litigation over whether your client is required to produce the information sought by our subpoena," Assistant Attorney General Mark Matus wrote in a letter to the ACLU's attorney. "We do, however, question the accuracy of the assertion that Human Rights Watch is engaged in journalism or functioning in the role of a journal- ist." The Human Rights Watch report, released in September, details allegations of sexual abuse by guards at Michigan's two women's prisons. The report also alleges retaliation by guards who were implicated by female inmates, includ- ing verbal and sexual harassment and loss of priv- ileges and visiting rights. In one case, a female inmate told Human Rights Watch she was subjected to as many as 88 frisks a month by guards after she told officials she had been sexually assaulted by a guard. She said officers would also verbally threaten her as she was being frisked. Before she reported the alleged abuse, the inmate said she had been frisked about once a month. Human Rights Watch attorney Widney Brown said she has been surprised by Michigan's resis- tance to confront alleged abuses in its prisons. Brown said the state has denied allegations in previous Human Rights Watch reports. Most recently, Gov. John Engler refused a June meeting with a United Nations investigator who had requested a visit to Michigan's women's pris- ons. "In most states, the problem's acknowledged and the state makes an attempt to deal with it," Brown said. "Michigan keeps shocking me because they do anything but address the problem." Thank You for the Honor of Being Voted Best Shoe Store* 1200 S. University at Church St. 734-994-9401 adidas Your Authorized Original Adidas Retailer For Al/ o ur Footwear Ngirs From Fink'y Fashion to Cozi Comfort W Also C a'r) Birn1s.Dt. Do Alarten m.ans. 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