Noteworthy News Articles on Mental Health Topics, February 20-28, 2001

Drug War Focus Shifts: More Treatment, Less Jail Time
Paul Shukovskym Seattle Post-Intelligencer- 2/20/2001

OLYMPIA -- King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng declared victory over drug-driven violence yesterday, then asked state lawmakers to reduce prison time for dope dealers and use the money saved to increase drug treatment programs tied to drug courts.  Since the passage in 1989 of a tough state law responding to drug gang wars, "we've protected neighborhoods; we held the perimeter; the crime rate has gone down," Maleng asserted in testimony before the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee.   Nevertheless, Maleng's office last year filed a record number of felony drug charges. It is that kind of statistic that has led Maleng and other tough-minded police and prosecutors around the nation to the realization that punishment alone cannot suppress illegal drug use. So Maleng, with backing from many organizations representing judges and prosecutors, is now promoting a more "balanced" approach that includes treatment.
    But local critics of America's war on drugs dismissed Maleng's proposal as flawed, saying it does not go far enough in supporting treatment as the only effective strategy to reduce the toll of addiction. Seattle attorney Dan Merkle, who was in the audience but did not testify yesterday, said the proposed legislation fails to ensure uniform access to treatment around the state, adequately fund treatment programs or stop harsh sentences for people convicted of simple possession. But he and other critics nodded in agreement when Maleng told lawmakers that "We have invested nothing in treatment, and today the system is out of balance." "Drug treatment works," Maleng told lawmakers.
    But the proposal's major premise that "the criminal justice system should use its coercive authority to force offenders into treatment" does raise subtle red flags. Merkle said he thinks social workers and counselors, rather than judges and prosecutors, should control treatment. He called Maleng's proposal an attempt by drug war veterans to stay in the driver's seat of drug control policy. The proposal "is to maintain and increase the control of law enforcement over the drug war," said Merkle, who contends that social service agencies should design, control and deliver treatment programs.
    The reform package being pushed by Maleng, SB 5419 and HB 2003, would dramatically reduce prison time for drug dealers. For example, a first conviction for selling heroin or cocaine which now brings 21 to 27 months in prison would net 15 to 20 months. The state's savings grow as prison populations fall, reaching $31.1 million in the third biennium budget after the law goes into effect. Money saved would fund treatment programs. About 22 percent of all Washington's nearly 15,000 prison inmates are serving time for drug crimes, comparable to the national average for state prisons.
    Maleng said he hopes his proposal will head off an initiative similar to the one that passed in California last fall. Beginning this summer, California offenders convicted for the first or second time for possession will be diverted to treatment instead of prison.  Maleng is likely to be disappointed, Merkle said. He and other advocates of drug law reform, including Rob Killian, the Seattle physician who organized a 1998 initiative that legalized the use of medical marijuana, are considering a ballot measure of their own.  When Killian was asked if he had lined up monetary support for the measure, he said: "There are lots of people interested in seeing an initiative like this funded." Billionaire George Soros, who also financed medical marijuana initiatives in Washington in 1997 and 1998, backed the California initiative.
    Maleng warned lawmakers that even "if this bill goes through, there could still be an initiative. We need to seize the initiative." There's every indication that Maleng has a lot of heavyweight support in doing so. Among those joining him to back the proposal at yesterday's hearing before the House Criminal Justice and Corrections Committee were state Corrections Secretary Joseph Lehman, Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge and King County Superior Court Presiding Judge Brian Gain.
    Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Lake Forest Park, is a sponsor of a similar House bill that would reduce the sentence for dealing drugs and set up a dedicated account funded with the savings to pay for treatment of non-violent drug possession offenders and for drug courts. She opened the testimony by hitting the old assumption that "punishment will deter addiction. Our past experiences show punishment doesn't cure disease." Under the current criminal justice framework, we have clogged courts and crowded prisons, she said. "We need to get smarter about how we handle drug issues. Treatment works to decrease crime." Committee member Ida Ballasiotes, R-Mercer Island, spoke as though passage of some form of legislation responsive to Maleng's proposal is inevitable. The question is whether it will go far enough to dissuade people like Merkle and Killian from bringing to Washington the reform juggernaut that 60 percent of California voters supported last fall.

What's in an Inkblot? Some Say, Not Much
Erica Goode, New York Times, 2/20/2001

Psychology has produced few more popular icons than the inkblot test. Devised 80 years ago by a young Swiss psychiatrist, the Rorschach has entered the language as a synonym for anything ambiguous enough to invite multiple interpretations. And beyond its pop culture status, it has retained a central role in personality assessment, administered several hundred thousand times a year, by conservative estimates, to both children and adults.
    In custody disputes, for example, the test is used to help determine the emotional fitness of warring parents. Judges and parole boards rely on it for insight into a prisoner's criminal tendencies or potential for violence. Clinicians use it in investigating accusations of sexual abuse, and psychotherapists, as a guide in diagnosing and treating patients. Yet almost since its creation, the inkblot test has also been controversial, with early critics calling it "cultish" and later ones deeming it "scientifically useless." And in recent years, academic psychology departments have been divided over the merits of the test, and some have stopped teaching it.
    The debate is likely to become even more heated with the publication of an article provoking discussion and anger among clinicians who routinely use the Rorschach. In the article, three psychologists conclude that the inkblot test and two others commonly used--the Thematic Apperception Test or T.A.T. and the Draw-a-Person test-- are seriously flawed and should not be used in court or the consulting room.
    "There has been a substantial gap between the clinical use of these tests and what the research suggests about their validity," said Dr. Scott O. Lilienfeld, an associate professor of psychology at Emory University and the lead author of the article. "The research continues to suggest that they are not as useful for most purposes as many clinicians believe." The review, by Dr. Lilienfeld and two colleagues, Dr. James M. Wood of the University of Texas at El Paso and Dr. Howard Garb of the University of Pittsburgh, appears in the current issue of the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a publication of the American Psychological Society.
    The three tests are known as "projective" because they present people with an ambiguous image or situation and ask them to interpret or make sense of it. The test taker's responses are assumed to reflect underlying personality traits and unconscious conflicts, motives and fantasies. In the T.A.T., test takers are shown a series of evocative pictures depicting domestic scenes and are asked to tell a story about each one. The figure-drawing test requires drawing a person on a blank sheet of paper and then drawing a second person of the opposite sex.
    While the Rorschach and the other projective techniques may be valuable in certain specific situations, the reviewers argue, the tests' ability to diagnose mental illnesses, assess personality characteristics, predict behavior or uncover sexual abuse or other trauma is very limited. The tests, which often take hours to score and interpret, add little information beyond what can be gleaned from far less time-consuming assessments, the psychologists say. They recommend that practitioners refrain from administering the tests for purposes other than research "or at least limit their interpretations to the very small number of indexes derived from these techniques that are empirically supported."
    Dr. Lilienfeld said that the review was written to raise awareness of the problems with the tests in the legal field and with "the hope that maybe we can reach a small number of open-minded people, and in particular students, who have yet to make up their minds on this issue." But he added, "I'm confident that many will take issue with out conclusions."
    One of those is Dr. Irving B. Weiner, a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at the University of South Florida and the president of the International Rorschach Society, who said the authors of the journal report took research findings out of context to bolster their case. Dr. Lilienfeld and his colleagues did not really understand how clinicians use the tests, Dr. Weiner said. They "have been used for a long time very effectively, with very good results and a great deal of scientific support," he said.
    Dr. Gregory J. Meyer, and associate professor of psychology at the University of Alaska at Anchorage, who has studied the Rorschach, said admonishing psychologists against using the tests was "not in the spirit of advancing our science." He said the journal's decision to run the psychologists' article was like asking "someone who believes in creationism to review evolutionary theory and make recommendations about it."

A History of Controversy
Projective tests are no strangers to controversy. The Rorschach, in particular, has inspired intense passion in defenders and critics over the decades, leading two scientists to observe in a 1999 paper that the test had "the dubious distinction of being, simultaneously, the most cherished and the most reviled of psychological assessment instruments." Dr. Herman Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist who worked with schizophrenic patients, is believed to have gotten the idea for the test from a popular European parlor game called Klexographie, which involves making inkblots and telling stories about hem. As a child, Dr. Rorschach was so good at the game that he earned the nickname Klecks, or Blot. He died of peritonitis a year after the test's publication in 1921. He was 37.
    The Rorschach's champions have often been almost worshipful in their belief in its ability to pare back the layers of the psyche, and the test is generally regarded as offering a richness of information about a person's psychological world that cannot be gained from interviews or from "self-report" tests like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory or M.M.P.I. The test has used the same 10 images since it was developed. Responses to the inkblots can be scored using more than 100 criteria, including how common or unusual the responses are, what areas of the blots are focused on, whether movement is seen in the images, and so on.
    In an earlier era, clinicians who demonstrated special skill in interpreting the test were dubbed Rorschach "wizards," and the technique sometimes was referred to as "an I-ray of the mind." Over the years, the test's detractors have also been zealous, making at times brutal attacks on its scientific validity, especially in the 1950's and 1960's, when practitioners varied greatly in the ways they administered and scored the tests.
    Some of the criticism abated in the mid-1970's, when Dr. John E. Exner, then a professor of psychology at Long Island University, developed systematic rules for giving and scoring the Rorschach and established norms against which the responses of test takers could be compared. Dr. Exner's "comprehensive system" is used by a majority of psychologists who administer the Rorschach. Dr. Exner says that Rorschach Workshops, a North Carolina research foundation which he directs, trains an average of 300 clinicians a year in the method in the United States and several hundred more in Europe and Japan. The foundation charges $650 for five days of intense training in the technique. With the comprehensive system, the test can yield a complex picture of people's psychological strengths and weaknesses, the Rorschach's proponents say, including their intelligence and overall mental functioning, their ability to relate appropriately to other people, their sexuality, and their fantasies, fears and preoccupations.

Below the Surface
The test is considered particularly powerful in situations in which people may not be expected to volunteer negative information about themselves. For example, Dr. Carl F. Hoppe, a clinical psychologist who does psychological evaluations for the Los Angeles Superior Court's family law division, said he administered the Rorschach about 130 times a year in "high-conflict" custody disputes. In a custody evaluation, Dr. Hoppe said, parents are often motivated to present themselves positively and to deny any sort of difficulties, and the Rorschach is a way to look beyond the way people present themselves. "We take some of the familiar away," he said," and look at patterns of perceptions in a highly statistical manner."
    But even with Dr. Exner's scoring system, the embrace of the Rorschach, and other projective tests, has been far from universal. "There is widespread criticism, there's no doubt about it," said Dr. Wayne H. Holtzman, Hogg professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, who in 1956 developed his own inkblot test to correct deficiencies he saw in the Rorschach.
    Dr. Lilienfeld and his colleagues argue, for example, that there is "virtually no evidence" that the Rorschach can accurately diagnose depression, anxiety, prost-traumatic stress disorder or some other emotional problems, calling into question the test's usefulness in custody hearings or as a diagnostic tool in psychotherapy. (The Rorschach is such a common feature of custody disputes that Fathers' Right to Custody, a nonprofit organization, includes advice on its Web site on the best ways to respond to the inkblots. Describing one Rorschach card, for example, the site counsels, "This blot is supposed to reveal how you really feel about your mother." In another case it advises, "Schizophrenics sometimes see moving people in this blot.")
    Equally scant, Dr. Lilienfield and his colleagues conclude, are the data supporting the test's use in parole and sentencing hearings to evaluate whether prisoners are prone to violence or likely to commit future crimes. Research suggesting a relationship between certain Rorschach indicators and psychopathic tendencies and violent behavior has been contradicted by later studies, the authors say. "It just doesn't work for most things that it's supposed to," Dr. Wood said.
    And the psychologists argue that even when the Rorschach appears to have greater validity--for example, in assessing intelligence, diagnosing schizophrenia and predicting a patient's success in psychotherapy--it is not clear how much additional knowledge is gained from the test. In some studies, they point out, the ability of clinicians to predict behavior or diagnose mental disorders actually went down when data from the Rorschach were added to information derived from other tests. "The critical question is what, if anything, does this measure buy you above information that could be more easily collected," Dr. Lilienfeld said.

Detecting Abnormality
Another problem with the Rorschach, the psychologists say in their review, is that the test tends to "over-pathologize," making even normal people look maladjusted. In a study, which they reviewed, of 123 subjects with no psychiatric history who were given the test, most at a California blood bank, 16 per cent scored in the abnormal range on the test's schizophrenia index--far higher than the one percent incidence of the illness in the general population indicated in other surveys. Eighteen percent showed signs of clinical depression on the test, and 29 percent had indicators of extreme narcissism.
    Empirical backing for the validity of the other two projective measures, the T.A.T. and the human figure drawing test, was sketchy at best, the review's authors found, with the drawing test "the weakest" of the three tests. Psychologists like Dr. Weiner, the author of "Principles of Rorschach Interpretation" and another book on the test, strongly disputed the conclusions drawn in the review. They said a diagnosis was never made on the basis of the test alone. "There are plenty of studies that show the Rorschach can help you identify people who have schizophrenia or whether people are depressed." Dr. Weiner, said, "but the test doesn’t make the diagnosis. No single test that a clinician uses makes the diagnosis. If you're going to use this instrument effectively, you're going to take a lot of things into consideration." He added: "Tests don't 'over-pathologize.' That's done by the person who interprets them."
    Dr. Meyer, of the University of Alaska, said that while more research needed to be done on some of the issues raised by Dr. Lilienfeld and his colleagues, their views did not fairly reflect what is known about the validity of the Rorschach and other tests. In an article to be published in the journal American Psychologist, Dr. Meyer and other researchers conclude that the validity of psychological tests, including the Rorschach and the T.A.T., is comparable to that of medical tests, like ultrasounds and M.R.I.'s. The article is based on a review of 125 meta-analyses of the validity of psychological and medical tests.
    But even Dr. Exner, the developer of the comprehensive scoring system, agreed that the test "can be abused unwittingly by the ill-trained person," and he said he was uncomfortable with the use of the test in "adversarial" settings, like custody disputes, unless the psychologist was working for the court, rather than for one parent or the other. "It takes a long time to learn the Rorschach and you've got to work at it, it's not simple," said Dr. Exner, who is also the curator of the Rorschach archives.
    The real question for clinicians in using the test, he said, is, "What do you want to know about the individual?" "If you're interested only in some diagnostic labeling," Dr. Exner said, "I don't know that the Rorschach is worth doing, not simply because of time but because you're flooded with information that you're not going to use. ON the other hand, if you're going to treat someone, I think the Rorschach is a pretty sturdy instrument. "The strength of the test," he continued, "is that it helps the really capable interpreter to develop a picture of an individual."

Samson Diagnosis: Antisocial Personality Disorder
Erica Goode, New York Times, 2/20/2001

Children are taught that Samson was a hero who fought the Philistines and fell victim to Delilah's wily charms. But writing in a psychiatric journal, four physicians offer slightly different interpretations. They argue that the son of Manoah--who lied to his parents, stole from his neighbors, brawled with regularity and killed with abandon--is a classic example of someone suffering from antisocial personality disorder.
    Dr. Eric L. Altschuler, a research fellow at the University of California at San Diego's brain and perception laboratory and the lead author of the research letter to the Archives of General Psychiatry, said that Samson met six out of seven criteria for the diagnosis of the disorder, as defined in the American Psychiatric Association's official diagnostic manual. Only three of the seven specifications are necessary for the diagnosis to be applied to modern patients. "It's pretty straightforward, pretty cut and dried," Dr. Altschuler said.
    While some may feel that , in the era of Prozac and Ritalin, psychiatric syndromes and disorders are already overused for the living. Dr. Altschuler contends that something can be learned from applying modern diagnostic criteria to historical figures. "The study of the history of a disease can provide clues to its pathogenesis," he and his colleagues argue. And though their analysis was done at least partly tongue in cheek, from a literary point of view, Dr. Altschuler said, "an appreciation that Samson had ASPD makes many pieces of the story, previously enigmatic or in need of long explanations, fall into place."
    In the psychiatric association's diagnostic manual, antisocial personality disorder is described as "a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood." The condition is often associated with criminals and con men, but can also, experts say, be found among those with cleaner rap sheets--politicians, for example.
    The letter's authors met to consider Samson's case during a brief lull in their work day. They determined that Samson's behavior, as described in Judges 13 to 16, met the diagnostic criteria for deceitfulness, a failure to conform to social norms and defiance of the law, impulsivity, irritability and aggressiveness, flagrant disregard for the safety of self and others and a lack of remorse for his actions. As evidence for their diagnosis, they point to a long series of questionable incidents, including Samson's torching of the Philistines' fields, his lies to his parents (he failed to tell them that he had killed a lion, or that the honey he offered them was taken from a lion's carcass), his "repeated involvement in physical fights" and his gloating after single-handedly killing 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.
    The fact that the biblical hero finally confided the secret of his strength--his uncut locks--to Delilah after deflecting her persistent questions with lies three times is cited by the authors as further evidence of his self-destructiveness, as is his violent death by his own hand, taking countless Philistines with him. Samson's behavior--especially his penchant for fire setting, bullying and cruelty to animals--also suggested, the authors said, that as a child he had suffered from "conduct disorder," a syndrome that begins in childhood and is considered indicative of antisocial personality disorder. But it is not known whether Samson displayed these behaviors before he was 15, as required for the conduct disorder diagnosis.
    Dr. Altschuler, who is doing research at the university on stroke rehabilitation before entering a medical residency program, noted that the author of the biblical account, most likely Ahimaaz, son of Zadok the priest, appeared to be fully aware of Samson's problem. "It appears that the writer has gone to great pains to delineate this disease, even though he didn't know what the criteria were supposed to be," Dr. Altschuler said. And he added that although some people might protest "that in those days it was a rough and tumble world and everyone did horrible things," even the Israelites seemed to have taken exception to Samson's casual brutality. "In Chapter 15, Verse 12," Dr. Altschuler pointed out, "it says that 3,000 Israelites essentially arrested Samson and handed him over to the Philistines. His own people were saying 'That's enough, cool it.'"
    Dr. Donald W. Black, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Iowa College of Medicine and an expert on antisocial personality disorder, said Dr. Altschuler and his colleagues had made "an interesting case" for their diagnosis. "I think the evidence they give is certainly suggestive," Dr. Black said. Dr. Black, the author of "Bad Boys, Bad Men: Confronting Antisocial Personality Disorder," said that in his own writing he had described Cain, slayer of able, as a candidate for the disorder. But one problem with such medical forays into ancient history, he said, "is that we have so little information about the onset and the course of the disease."

Study Could Mean Earlier Diagnosis of Dyslexia in Kids
Paul Recer, Associated Press- 2/21/2001

SAN FRANCISCO--Discovery of a deficit in key reading and visual centers of the brain could lead to early diagnosis and treatment for a disorder that affects about 15% of the population, researchers report. A study at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington suggests that people with dyslexia have a much lower level of activity in the brain's left inferior parietal, an area that is important both in reading and in processing of visual images. Dr. Guinevere Eden and Dr. Thomas Zeffiro, a husband-and-wife team and co-directors of the Center for the Study of Learning at Georgetown, also found that the right inferior parietal can be taught to compensate for the weakness in the left side of the brain through a program of intense reading training. "These study results are further evidence that dyslexia has biological roots," Eden said. She and Zeffiro discussed their study Thursday at the national meeting of the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science.
    Dyslexia is generally diagnosed in elementary school children who have great difficulty learning to read. The core of this difficulty, said Eden, is the inability to link up visual symbols with sounds, an essential process in reading. A youngster with dyslexia, for instance, could not associate the sounds in the spoken word "cat" with the letters that make up the simple word, Eden said. It is estimated that 5% to 15% of the population suffers from some degree of dyslexia, she said. Some learn to compensate and eventually become good readers, but Eden said many adults cannot read because the problem was not identified and treated during their school years.
    In their study, Eden and Zeffiro used functional magnetic resonance imaging, a technique that, in effect, takes pictures of the brain while thinking processes are underway. The test involved reading and following the direction of moving dots on a screen. In the test, they compared 20 people with dyslexia to 17 without the disorder. Among those without the disorder, the left inferior parietal region was very active. But for those with dyslexia, there was significantly less activity.
    Eden said the findings suggest it might eventually be possible to develop a test that would identify dyslexic children at a very early age. "Today we are able to diagnose dyslexia only after children have shown difficulty in learning to read, usually around the time they're in second or third grade," Zeffiro said in a statement. "If we know that the same areas of the brain used for reading are also used to perform other types of visual tasks, then we can test children before they reach reading age." Eden said it may be possible to perform such tests in children as young as 4 or 5.
    In another study, Eden said, two groups of 10 adults, all with dyslexia, received MRI brain scans to establish their individual level of brain activity during reading and visual activities. Then one group was put through an intensive, eight-week program of training in reading. The other group of 10 did not receive such training. At the end of the period, Eden said, all 20 adults were again given brain scans while performing reading and visual activities. The adults who had received the training showed increased activity in the right inferior parietal, while those without the training had no difference in the brain scan. "This shows that the brain, even in adults, is plastic, that it can be made to compensate," Eden said. She said it is a myth that the defining characteristic of dyslexics is the tendency to see letters reversed. Virtually all children have this problem to some degree, but outgrow it, she said. The reversals were long considered a primary symptom of dyslexia simply because it takes much longer for dyslexics to overcome the problem, she said.

High School Bomb Suspect Refused Psychiatric Treatment
Associated Press, 2/23/2001

ELMIRA, N.Y.--An 18-year-old arrested after entering his high school with 18 bombs and two guns had rejected a counselor's recommendation that he receive psychiatric care, according to a published report Friday. Lawrence Getman told the Elmira Star-Gazette he supported his son Jeremy's decision not to go to the doctor because they both believed the treatment could jeopardize Jeremy's career in the Navy, which was scheduled to begin in March after an early graduation from high school. Jeremy Getman had seen counselors at different periods of his life to help him deal with low self-esteem and with bullies, his father said. ''This issue had waxed and waned over the years,'' Lawrence Getman told the newspaper. ''Unfortunately lately, it seemed to be waxing. We weren't fully aware of the magnitude of it.''
    On Feb. 14, the same day that Jeremy was supposed to meet with the Navy recruiter, the senior allegedly carried a duffel bag full of explosives, a disassembled 12-gauge shotgun and a loaded .22-caliber Ruger pistol into Southside High School and passed three or four notes to classmates outlining his intentions, his father said. School resource officer Robert Hurley, found Jeremy Getman sitting across from a friend in the cafeteria and arrested him peacefully. The school was evacuated. His parents said there was nothing out of the ordinary that morning, except they didn't have to hound their son to get out of bed as they did most mornings. ''He didn't seem angry,'' Getman said. ''He didn't seem depressed. Everything seemed normal.'' His father reminded Jeremy that he'd pick him up at the house after school to take him to a meeting with his Navy recruiter and then Jeremy and his parents would go out for a Valentine's Day dinner.
    Around 8:45 a.m., Lawrence Getman said he received a phone call at work from the school's social worker, who told him that his son had written a disconcerting note and the father should come right to school. ''When I got there, there were police cars all over the place, and the only thing I could think of was that he shot himself, or jumped off a bridge, because I still had no clue what was going on until I walked in, and then they told me. ''I was just kind of in shock,'' Getman said. ''I couldn't believe it. We just didn't see it coming.'' Later, the bomb squad discovered eight more bombs inside the Getmans' house. On Jeremy's bed, his parents found a note left next to a box that had held a gun. Jeremy had stolen the weapon from a locked gun cabinet in his parents' bedroom, Getman said.  Getman's lawyer advised Lawrence Getman not to reveal what the note said.
    The elder Getman said school officials suggested in November that Jeremy get outside counseling after a nonviolent incident at school. He met with a counselor until a few weeks before the bomb scare. ''He hadn't been getting anywhere with the counselor,'' his father said. ''Or I should say, she wasn't getting anywhere with him. Every time he'd leave there, he'd seem more annoyed than when I took him.'' The counselor eventually suggested that Jeremy see a psychiatrist, who could prescribe medications. ''When she first said that, I thought, 'Well, it sounds good to me,' '' Getman said. ''Maybe it would help. Then, Jeremy spoke up and said, 'No, Dad. If I do that, the Navy won't take me.' ''
    Jeremy, a mediocre student until he discovered electronics training, looked forward to having a fresh start in a career where he might excel, his father said. His father said he believes Jeremy buckled under the pressure of constant taunting and bullying by classmates that started in elementary school for the boy his father described as small and introverted. ''You start internalizing all the comments,'' Lawrence Getman said. ''After a while, you don't have any self-respect.'' Jeremy is being held on $500,000 bail in the Chemung County jail. He is charged with 10 counts of first-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Advocates Say America's Stepfamilies Need Better Advice and Support
David Crary, Associated Press- 2/24/2001

NEW ORLEANS--Burdened with the legacy of wicked fairy-tale stepmothers and the too-cute-to-be-true Brady Bunch, America's stepfamilies are in need of wiser advice and stronger support from clergy, therapists, lawyers and financial planners. That was the core message Friday at a national conference billed as the first of its kind drawing together experts from a wide range of professions to consider the complexities of stepfamily life.
    ''Most of our laws and policies are based on first families,'' Margorie Engel, president of the Stepfamily Association of America, told the opening session. ''It creates pretty bizarre results when you apply these to all the stepfamilies around the country.'' Engel's association, chief sponsor of the two-day National Conference on Stepfamilies, estimates that half of all Americans will be involved in a stepfamily relationship of some sort. Yet three decades after no-fault divorce began softening the stigma of broken marriages, Engel said, many stepfamilies feel misunderstood and often are frustrated by the advice they get from professionals. ''A lot of these people don't have a clue how to deal with stepfamilies,'' said Engel, citing problems with therapists, lawyers and financial advisers.
    The conference was designed to promote attitudes and public policies that better reflect stepfamilies' needs. Speakers from a variety of fields suggested steps to accomplish this. The Rev. Ron Deal discussed a stepfamily ministry that he has developed at the Southwest Church of Christ in Jonesboro, Ark., and urged clergy nationwide to be more attentive to stepfamilies. ''Despite the prevalence of stepfamilies in the U.S., the church keeps acting as if the two-parent-biological home is the only thing out there,'' he told a conference workshop. ''Divorce is not the unforgivable sin. We have a message of redemption that stepfamilies need to hear.'' One common problem, Deal said, is that many stepfamilies don't want to think of themselves as different, and strive to be ''an instant biological family'' comparable to the Brady Bunch. Deal's essential message to such stepfamilies: ''Your family is different and complex not dysfunctional, not bad, not unholy.''
    Another major topic at the conference was the legal and financial problems facing stepfamilies. Speakers noted that most stepparents are in the legal sense strangers to their stepchildren, and thus need to take to extra steps to ensure that the stepchildren are included in wills or health insurance plans. Other problems cited by speakers include school counselors and military officials unfamiliar with stepfamily dynamics, therapists wedded to ''first family'' models, and doctors unsure how much authority a stepparent has to approve major medical treatment for a stepchild. ''Some really bad advice is going out,'' Engel said. ''The husband and wife are not getting the information they need.''
    Kay Pasley, a professor of family studies at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, said debate on stepfamily policy is complicated by the lack of accurate national statistics. She estimated that nearly 30 percent of America's children are in stepfamilies, but said the Census Bureau does not compile the kind of data that would nail down a figure. Another elusive statistic is the national divorce rate, which is generally estimated at between 40 percent and 50 percent. Pasley said remarriages, often because of the strains of stepfamily life, end in divorce about 60 percent of the time. James Bray, a professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, said his research suggests that stepchildren are no more prone to drinking and drug abuse than other children, but have roughly double the rate of other behavioral and learning problems.
    William Doherty, director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at the University of Minnesota, is among the growing ranks of academics who study stepfamilies and find them fascinating. ''Stepfamilies make us face the unpleasant truth that the core goals of adults and children, and of husbands and wives, often diverge,'' he wrote recently. ''When stepfamilies nevertheless succeed in creating a nurturing life together, as many ultimately do, it is a striking human achievement.''
    On the Net: Stepfamily Association of America: http://www.stepfam.org

Maryland Accord Backs Tougher Drunk-Driver Breath Test
Lori Montgomery, Washington Post- 2/24/2001

The chairmen of two key Maryland legislative committees have dropped their long-standing opposition to increased penalties for drunk drivers and yesterday announced an agreement to lower the blood-alcohol level that defines a driver as drunk. The agreement between the two influential chairmen -- Sen. Walter M. Baker, of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, and Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr., of the House Judiciary Committee -- dramatically improves the odds that the General Assembly will pass drunken-driving legislation this session.
    The scope of the change remains far from clear, however. Just hours after Baker announced that he and Vallario had reached an agreement in principle on three drunken-driving measures, Vallario's committee killed one of them: a bill to ban open containers of alcohol in the passenger compartment of moving vehicles. "I am acutely disappointed that in a year when the leadership appeared to be embracing drunk-driving legislation, that open containers has been given an unfavorable report," the measure's sponsor, Del. Carol S. Petzold (D-Montgomery), said moments after the bill fell to a narrow majority who said it was unnecessary to ban open containers in an era of designated drivers. Baker (D-Cecil) and Vallario (D-Prince George's) have long resisted efforts to make it easier to arrest and jail drunk drivers, who kill about 200 people a year on state roadways. Wendy Hamilton, national vice president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the General Assembly has not made a significant change in the state's relatively lenient drunken-driving laws in several years.
    Last fall, the federal government threatened to withhold highway money from states that fail to enact tougher laws by 2003. In January, Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) for the first time added drunken-driving reform to his list of legislative priorities. Yesterday, Baker and Vallario, too, agreed that the time has come to act. "I think we've got to do what we can to protect the federal funds. I think my committee feels that way," said Vallario, a criminal defense lawyer whose practice includes many drunken-driving cases and who had been seen as the primary obstacle to change this session. "We're not going to come out of here with nothing," Vallario said.
    In addition to the open container bill, Baker said he and Vallario had agreed to urge their respective committees to adopt measures to reduce the definition of intoxication for motorists -- from 0.10 blood-alcohol content to 0.08 -- and to toughen sanctions for repeat offenders, including a mandatory license suspension of one year for the second offense. Together, the three measures are worth $173 million in federal aid over the next six years. But most of the cash -- about $140 million -- is tied to the 0.08 bill.
    Baker said he also will seek to close a loophole in the law that allows drivers to refuse a breathalyzer test. Baker said he will counsel his committee to make refusal a crime punishable by six months in jail and a $500 fine. Under current law, drivers may refuse to take the test, knowing that prosecutors are barred from telling judges and juries about their refusal, which could be interpreted as a sign of guilt. Late yesterday, with a single no vote from Del. Lisa A. Gladden (D-Baltimore), a public defender, the Judiciary Committee approved a different measure that would allow prosecutors to tell judges and juries about a defendant's refusal. Closing the loophole would be one of the strongest changes lawmakers could make in Maryland's drunken-driving laws. Of more than 38,000 people charged with drunken driving in the state last year, nearly 9,000 refused to take the breathalyzer test, according to District Court statistics. Without an accurate blood-alcohol reading, prosecutors have a difficult time proving that a driver was drunk. Virginia law also contains the loophole, which does not exist in 44 states or the District. In Richmond, the General Assembly is on the verge of adopting reforms to allow county prosecutors to disclose a refusal. House and Senate negotiators have approved a bill in conference committee, but it has yet to win approval of the full House.
    Last fall, a Washington Post series described how inveterate drunk drivers in Maryland routinely refuse breathalyzer tests and receive relatively light sentences, even after being convicted more than 10 times. The Post series has been cited by numerous Annapolis lawmakers, along with the threat of federal sanctions, as a key motivator for changing drunken-driving laws this year.
    With disagreement between Baker and Vallario on breathalyzer reforms, passage is questionable. And while both men said they were optimistic that the 0.08 blood-alcohol limit would be adopted, Vallario was far less certain about the chances that his committee would pass the repeat-offender bill. "It's definitely in play, but it's a complex issue," Vallario said, describing the year-long license suspension for second offenders as "a problem." "That means no driving at all. That would be okay in the city," Vallario said. "But if you live in the country, you've got no other way to get around." In the Senate, Baker said he expects his committee to vote on the measures next week. Vallario declined to set a date but said the rest of the bills are "at the top of the agenda." "It would be a major deal" if the committees approve any of the bills, MADD's Hamilton said. If they can get past Baker and Vallario, she said, passage by the full House and Senate would be "a piece of cake."

Colorado Measure Would Delay Divorce a Year for Counseling
Steven K. Paulson, Associated Press, 2/24/2001

DENVER (AP) When Georgine left her husband of 10 years, she was 29 and bruised and battered from nine years of abuse.  Georgine, who asked that her last name not be used, is one of hundreds of domestic abuse victims alarmed by a proposed bill before the Colorado Legislature that would require them to undergo a year's worth of marriage counseling before a divorce would be granted.  Although the measure would exempt victims of physical or serious psychological abuse, that would not have applied in Georgine's case because there was no police record of abuse. She said many women share her plight because they are afraid to come forward and confront their attacker. ''Why should I have to wait a year to get a divorce? I don't want the state telling me I have to stay in a relationship another year,'' she said.
    The sponsor of the bill, state Rep. Dave Schultheis, said the mandatory counseling would help parents realize the impact of divorce on children. The bill, which is up for hearings this year before a House committee, is considered likely to pass the Republican House but to have trouble in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Several other states have divorce legislation pending, but those bills would require counseling before marriage.
    ''The problem today is that couples can get out of marriage quicker than they can get out of a Tupperware contract,'' Schultheis said. ''The government has been involved in this issue for years. The state has a compelling interest in saving marriages.'' When marriages fail and children are involved, the state ends up paying the bills for delinquency, teen pregnancy and welfare, he said. House Minority Leader Dan Grossman does not believe the state has the authority to interfere in the personal lives of people in divorce. ''I'm not convinced it's helpful for the children if they are exposed to parents who hate each other and no longer want to live together,'' Grossman added.

Los Angeles Neighbors Force Cutback at Home for Alcoholics
Bob Pool, Los Angeles Times- 2/25/2001

Actor William Shatner has purchased a $775,000 Westside house for use as a residential recovery center for alcoholic women in honor of his late wife--who drowned 18 months ago in an alcohol-related accident. But neighborhood complaints about its location in an upscale area between Cheviot Hills and Beverlywood have prompted Los Angeles officials to reduce the center's occupancy by more than half, just as its first residents begin moving in. Instead of two dozen occupants, the Nerine Shatner Friendly House will be limited to 11, according to the city Department of Building and Safety. The reduction has dismayed Shatner, star of "Star Trek" and other television series. "This is a shock. They were planning for 24 women," he said. "The main source for rehabilitation done in these homes is the connection between the people living there. It's not so much what they learn from external sources, but from themselves."
    Recovery center operators said they are continuing with long-term plans for the women's refuge on Castle Heights Avenue, despite the scale-back in size. "If we can help just one person, that gift is worthwhile," said Peggy Albrecht, executive director of the 50-year-old Friendly House, which has another location, in Koreatown, and is Los Angeles' oldest home for recovering women alcoholics.
    Nerine Shatner spent a month at Friendly House's original Normandie Avenue residential center before her death Aug. 9, 1999, while swimming at home in Studio City. Shatner discovered her lifeless body at the bottom of their backyard pool. An autopsy showed that the 40-year-old had drowned after being knocked unconscious when she dove in and struck her head on the bottom. She had a blood-alcohol level of 0.27%, which would be more than three times the legal limit for driving, according to the pathology report.
    Shatner established the Nerine Shatner Memorial Fund to benefit the nonprofit Friendly House a short time after her death. "I wanted to salvage some meaning out of all that experience. I thought the best way to do that would be in Nerine's name to help other people," he said. "The Friendly House has a success rate that is very impressive. Although my wife was not a success story coming out of it, there are many," he said. "Nerine said to me frequently that when she was able to overcome this disease to the extent she could, she wanted to help other people," he recalled. "Unfortunately, she wasn't able to gain the upper hand. But in her memory this house stands for a courageous attempt at overcoming a dreadful disease."
    Shatner said the Westside setting was chosen as an alternative to the grittiness of Friendly House's aging Normandie Avenue site.
"It's been used a lot and it's in a neighborhood that is a little intimidating. It's not a residential setting, as we know it, and the new one is. A friendly setting for the Friendly House is extremely important." Fliers left on doorsteps invited nearby homeowners to a Jan. 14 ribbon-cutting attended by Shatner. Not everyone offered a friendly welcome when the neighborhood learned of the center's pending arrival, however. Some worried about the effect of having 24 adults living in one house. They wondered about noise from the house and potential parking congestion caused by weekend visitors. They soon discovered that there is no law against the operation of a recovery home in a residential area. In fact, neither the state nor the city regulates what are called "sober living" houses. City officials suggest that as many as 3,000 such homes may exist in Los Angeles. That is a guess, they say, because such facilities do not have to register with anyone.
    The city building department became involved at the Castle Heights site when nearby residents complained to City Councilman Michael Feuer that 24 occupants would be too many. After checking the size and bedroom and exit configurations of the five-bedroom, 3,367-square-foot structure, city inspectors set the maximum occupancy at 11, said Rochelle Ventura, chief field deputy for Feuer. The general guideline is that there can be one occupant for every 300 square feet, Ventura said.
Relieved neighbors say that's a size the area can probably live with. "Some people are still angry, particularly that this sort of facility could move in without licensing," said Julia Maher, president of the Castle Heights Neighborhood Assn. "I personally think that [Friendly House] is a responsible foundation that wants to work with the neighborhood."
    Steve Siegel, who has lived for 26 years behind the house purchased by Shatner, praised the actor's intentions. "I'm not wild about it being there. But I'm 13 times more happy with 11 than with 24," he said. Shatner, 69, who remarried two weeks ago, said he hopes Los Angeles relaxes its occupancy edict after the facility proves that it is a positive addition to the community. "The people who will be coming to Friendly House are souls in deep need and their desire is to help themselves," he said. "The last thing in the world they want is trouble, noise, congestion. This is a group of people searching themselves, not the outside. "Friendly House will fit right in to the neighborhood," he said.

Quick Lessons in the Fine Old Art of Unwinding
Andrea Higbie, New York Times, 2/25/2001

While it is known that stress can make you ill--causing heart, stomach and headache problems, along with sleeplessness, fatigue and depression--not everyone may realize the heavy toll that it also takes on the economy. Stress costs American businesses about $10,000 annually per employee, in absenteeism, lower productivity and increasing health and workers' compensation costs. That's an overall economic impact of about $300 billion, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health estimates that 40 percent of the nation's work force is affected by stress, making it the No. 1 reason for worker disability.
    In recent years, many employers have tried to roll back the tide by offering perks like stress-management classes, in-office massages, nap times during the workday and even laughter clubs. Well-meaning as they might be, not everyone can take advantage of them. (For some people, taking any time off from work or from responsibilities at home is, well, too stressful.) And not everyone is disciplined or knowledgeable enough to handle stress on his own by setting up a daily exercise regimen, learning to mediate or modifying a diet.
    Solutions to the problem, as with so many others these days, can be found on the Internet. One self-help Web site, www.stressdirections.com, was created in 1999 by Alma Dell Smith and Lyle H. Miller, clinical psychologists who run the nonprofit Biobehavioral Institute and Treatment Center in Brookline, Mass., which each week counsels 150 clients, referred through corporations and physicians. They also head Stress Directions, a six-clinician consulting company. The Web site includes a "stress navigator" that measures a person's stress and helps to treat it by advising changes in behavior.
    Dr. Smith and Dr. Miller offer an uncommon perspective on handling stress in both the workplace and at home. They have worked together over the last two decades, collaborating on the books "The Stress Solution" (Pocket Books, 1993) and "Stress and Marriage" (Pocket Books, 1996). And they have been married to each other for 16 years. They also have their own way to relieve stress. "We love to dance, especially ballroom dancing, and that's a very important to us," said Dr. Smith, 54. "Dancing is fun. It keeps me alert, on the ball and it feels good." She and Dr. Miller, 73, said they spent 12 years developing the navigator. More than 500 companies, universities and government agencies have used it.
    Dr. Smith describes stress management as a three-legged stool, with the legs representing work, family and community. If someone is stressed or burned out at work but has a solid home and community life, life goes on. If he has a good connection with his community but problems at work and home, things are getting shakier. When all three are amiss, get ready to topple. "That's a hard situation for anyone," Dr. Smith said.
    More than 25,000 people have used the stress navigator online and 500,000 have taken the test in its original, pencil-and-paper format, Dr. Smith said. The navigator identifies sources of stress, susceptibilities and symptoms. It also provides specific suggestions as well as resources like books, other Web sites and organizations to help other Web sites and organizations to help alleviate stress and treat its symptoms. "It's not like having a one-on-one talk with me," Dr. Smith said. "But it is tailored and relevant to the person taking it." Employees of participating companies can take the test at their desks. The responses and results are confidential, so employers receive only a group overview, not a specific employee's test results. "We give companies an organizational stress profile, saying 'out of your 1,000 people, X percent have this level of stress and here's why and here's what to do,'" Dr. Miller said.
    Stress is increasing overall, Dr. Miller said, with half of adults suffering negative effects and having trouble managing their stress levels. The highest stress levels are found among people who deal with the public, including police officers, teachers and social workers, and employees in financial services. The navigator stress profile is intended to help businesses find the roots of stress in the workplace and to reduce its effects on the bottom line by lowering health benefits costs and employee turnover.
    At BellSouth about five years ago, managers suspected that job-related stress was hurting productivity in certain departments. After the employees took the test, Dr. Smith and Dr. Miller pinpointed the stress as originating mostly at home instead of work. The advised BellSouth to address the problem by offering workshops on family issues. Employees could participate at no cost but on their own time, Dr. Smith said. As a result, stress levels dropped and productivity rose; health care costs and absenteeism also declined. The company said it was unable to provide specific numbers.
    I.B.M. has also found the program useful, said Jana Weatherbee, a vice president for corporate issues. "It's customized for I.B.M. and points you to resources that might help you," she said. "If you're experiencing financial stress, it might point you to the I.B.M. program that reimburses you up to $250 for financial planning assistance from Merrill Lynch or American Express. We've offered the program for about two and a half years, and the fact that it's a Web program works well because a large portion of our work force is remote or mobile."
    Anyone can take the test on the Web site at a cost of $70. The 254 questions are divided into three sections: susceptibility to stress, or how well you take care of yourself; sources of stress, including job, financial or child-care problems; and symptoms, including headaches and sleep difficulties. After completing the test, clients receive an on-screen assessment with advice. Correcting stress-related problems, however, takes time--around six weeks for acute stress to a year for chronic stress--whether through therapy, medical help, job training or the willingness of the stressed person to make changes, according to Dr. Miller. People often stay in stressful situations because the thought of changing is scarier than not changing.
    One key to relieving stress, Dr. Miller and Dr. Smith say, is to have fun. Participation in at least one enjoyable activity a week helps to cancel out some of the week's stress and to build optimism. At least twice a month, without fail, the couple who live in an 1850 Victorian town house in the South End of Boston, go ballroom dancing. "The music is beautiful," Dr. Smith said. "We laugh. We see our friends." Dr. Miller also plays basketball and follows other sports in order to relax. Dr. Smith does gardening and yoga and refuses to work more than 30 hours a week. "I go off duty," she said. Perfectionism can be a major stressor," Dr. Smith added. "Change what you can. And avoid stresses like difficult individuals, even traffic jams, if you can. Having a good sense of humor is so important. Don't take things too seriously." "I still get rattled," she said. "I just try to recover quicker."
    What advice might they have for a mother of two school-age children who works full time, has next to no time for herself, is regularly sleep-deprived and is, coincidentally, facing a deadline for this article? "Start with getting more sleep," Dr. Smith said. "Go to bed even 20 minutes earlier a night than you have been." That may be easier said than done, but Dr. Smith and Dr. Miller say the best insurance against stress may be as simple, and complicated, as love. "Giving and receiving love and affection," Dr. Miller said, "is powerful medicine for mind, body and soul.
    A test from Stress Directions, a consulting company, includes a section on stress susceptibility. Test-takers respond to these sample statements on a 1-to-5 scale, with 1 meaning almost always, and 5 meaning never. The higher the score, the higher the susceptibility.
*I eat at least one balanced, hot meal a day, and get at least seven hours of sleep a night.
*I am in good health.
*I exercise at least twice a week.
*I regularly give and receive affection.
*I have at least one relative within 50 miles on whom I can rely.
*My income meets basic expenses.
*I organize my time effectively.
*I get strength from my religious beliefs.
*I do something fun at least once a week.
*I speak openly about my feelings.
*I take quiet time for myself.
*I have an optimistic outlook on life.

By Learning How to Handle Emotion, Kids Grow up Healthier
Lori Higgins, Detroit Free Press- 2/26/2001

Abuse as a child can lead victims on one of two distinct paths: They can either overcome the abuse or become abusers. Child abuse experts say kids who have been abused have a greater chance of abusing. They are more likely to be physically aggressive with their peers and to be school bullies. And many juvenile crime offenders have been abused as children, experts say. But it doesn't have to be that way, experts say, provided these children learn to cope with the emotional difficulties that follow abuse. Programs are needed to help children who have trouble dealing with their anger constructively, said Alexander Bailey, Oak Park School District superintendent. Lessons in anger management, which go beyond the peer-mediation programs that are popular in schools, work too, as does outreach on the part of school personnel, some experts say.
    A 13-year-old Southfield boy -- an abused child -- faces a second Oakland County court hearing today on first-degree child abuse charges.  Southfield police say that on Feb. 10, the teen became frustrated when his 1-year-old cousin, whom he was baby-sitting, wouldn't stop crying.  He allegedly picked the child up out of a car seat, then threw him back down. When the crying didn't stop, he picked the baby up again, shaking him violently, police said. Not much is known about the extent of abuse the boy suffered. His family has declined comment. But in a court hearing nearly two weeks ago, Daniel Bagdade, the boy's attorney, said he'd been placed in a roaster oven as an infant and the machine was turned on, causing burns. Bagdade also said the boy was on a state registry of abused children.
    In research that compares adults who were abused as children with those who weren't, those abused had a markedly different reaction to the shrill cry of a baby, said Chandice Covington, a nurse, researcher and associate professor in the College of Nursing at Wayne State University. "Their entire orientation system on a physiological basis has been changed," because of the abuse, Covington said.   But Kathleen Coulborn Faller, a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan, said, "Most people who are abused don't become abusers." The difference is the amount of treatment the children receive and the stability of their home lives, Faller and others say.
Recent court testimony indicates the Southfield boy had far from a stable home life. His father is imprisoned, and his maternal grandmother told court officials she didn't know the whereabouts of the boy's mother. The boy was found abandoned in January, and the grandmother has since petitioned for guardianship. He had enrolled in the Oak Park School District in late January, but school officials say he hadn't yet attended classes.   Schools can play vital roles, Covington said.
    "There needs to be at every school in Michigan either access to a health clinic kind of concept or one in the building," she said. That exists at Butzel Middle School, a Detroit school for elementary and middle school students. A health clinic in the building to serve children's physical and emotional needs is staffed by a pediatric nurse practitioner, a medical assistant and a medical director. "It makes a big difference not only in access to care for children, but also in maintaining health," said Jonnie Hamilton, the pediatric nurse practitioner. Most of the children seen by the clinic staff are there with physical ailments. But sometimes it turns into something more. "They may come in with a tummy ache, but the reason they're there is because mom and dad are beating them up, or an uncle is sexually abusing them," said Covington, who works with some of the Detroit school clinics. Butzel's clinic also offers courses in anger management. While other schools may not offer actual classes, they do work with children on controlling their anger. More popular in schools today are peer mediation programs, which allow students -- with adult supervision -- to help fellow students solve disagreements.
    Linda Spears, acting associate deputy director of the Washington-based Child Welfare League of America, is unconvinced that anger management classes can solve serious problems. "Anger management classes are good strategies for kids and grown-ups with minor problems with anger. But most anger problems aren't minor," Spears said. She said children with serious emotional problems need more comprehensive treatment. She and others agree that there's only so much schools can do. "Schools can't do everything. Their primary role is to teach kids," Faller said.
    However, schools are mandated to report abuse, and they often refer children to outside agencies.  The Family Independence Agency investigates child abuse and neglect cases. They also refer children to counseling if necessary. Parents who say their children need help with emotional problems, whether caused by child abuse or something else, can get help through a wealth of resources.  But, Bailey, the Oak Park superintendent, said, "With mentoring and spending time with kids, you can actually overcome it with a lot of unconditional love and caring."

Women: Colorado Divorce Bill Scary
Trent Seibert, Denver Post- 2/27/2001

Dozens of women rallied on the Capitol steps Monday to protest a bill that would require couples with children to undergo a year of counseling before they can divorce. The bill has been the subject of nationwide debate and has caught the attention of controversial radio and television talk show counselor Dr. Laura Schlesinger, known to millions as "Dr. Laura." She may testify in favor of the bill when it is debated March 6.
    "She's a television personality," said Kathy Stevens of the Womens Rescue Agency, who dismissed Schlesinger's role. "To me, it would be a lot like going to Ben Casey if I needed a medical problem resolved." Stevens attended the noon rally to represent her Colorado Springsbased organization. At least 12 other nonprofit groups dedicated to helping women stood with her.
    The legislation, House Bill 1342, would require parents who want a divorce to seek counseling for one year, focusing on the impact of divorce on their children. After counseling, a divorce could be granted. That's a bad idea, according to Ruth Glenn, the victim of an abusive relationship. "To try to force this on someone, it may not be feasible emotionally, financially or safety-wise," Glenn said. "It's scary. In my situation, it would have made things worse." The bill would make an exemption in cases of physical or serious psychological abuse. Glenn tried to get out of her marriage in 1992. In response, her husband shot her and fled. When police caught up to him weeks later, he killed himself.
    Bill sponsor Rep. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, has defended his legislation, saying the state has a right to set rules for marriage because when marriages fail and children are involved, the state ends up paying the bills for delinquency, teen pregnancy and welfare.

Weekly Prozac Gets FDA's Green Light
Chicago Tribune- 2/28/2001

WASHINGTON -- The government Tuesday approved a once-a-week version of Prozac for long-term depression treatment, but it cautioned that it is too soon to know if weekly doses are as effective as once-a-day Prozac. Depression often requires long-term treatment. Yet, many patients quit medication as soon as they feel better, prompting a relapse. So some psychiatrists have pushed for once-a-week medication, theorizing patients would be more likely to keep taking their medicine if it didn't mean swallowing so many pills.
    The Food and Drug Administration approval makes Prozac Weekly the first once-a-week antidepressant. It is for patients whose depression has stabilized and who need maintenance therapy, not for those newly diagnosed. Eli Lilly & Co., the maker, said the prescription-only drug will be available in March.

Colorado Hearing Set on New Trial in Domestic Violence Case Against FBI Agent
George Lane, Denver Post- 2/28/2001

GEORGETOWN--FBI Agent Elaine Lipka will have one more day in court before she learns whether her conviction for domestic violence will stand and whether she must give up her gun and her career. Lipka, an agent for 10 years, was convicted in Clear Creek County Court in late 1999 of assaulting her FBI agent husband during a domestic dispute in their Idaho Springs-area home earlier that year. She was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to take domestic-violence classes. However, because federal gun-control laws prohibit a person with a domestic-violence conviction from carrying a firearm and because all FBI agents must be armed, the county court conviction was appealed to the district court.
    Defense attorney Stephen Munsinger appealed the conviction, which followed a mistrial, on a number of grounds. Clear Creek County District Judge Richard Hart, however, rejected all of the appeal issues except one and has sent the case back to County Judge Russell Granger for a determination on whether there should be a new trial. The remaining issue concerns something John Lipka, her husband, did shortly before the six-member jury began deliberations. Hart ruled that the jury may have found Elaine Lipka guilty to punish John Lipka for something jurors might have seen. "After trial, allegations were made that witness John Lipka directed a threatening stare and perhaps made a threatening statement toward witness Deputy (Beau) Campbell," the judge's ruling said. "This purportedly occurred in the presence of some of the jury while the trial court judge and the attorneys were conducting an in-camera proceeding." Hart instructed Granger to "hold a hearing before deciding whether there is a reasonable possibility that the misconduct affected the jury's verdict." Granger scheduled that hearing for April 25. John Lipka caused a mistrial in his wife's first trial when he testified improperly about polygraph tests the FBI administered to him and his wife after she was charged. Evidence about lie-detector tests is inadmissible in U.S. courts.
    Late on the night of St. Patrick's Day 1999, Campbell and an Idaho Springs police officer responded to the Lipka home after Elaine Lipka placed a 911 call and then hung up. When the officers arrived, they found John Lipka with a bloody nose and determined that she had hit him. Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger responded to the home later and decided not to file charges against anyone, even though filing them is required by Colorado law. Elaine Lipka was charged after the district attorney was alerted. After her conviction, Lipka was put on temporary FBI duties that don't require her to be armed.

Key Maryland Committee Supports Lower Blood Alcohol Limit
Daniel LeDuc, Washington Post- 2/28/2001

The Maryland House Judiciary Committee, which for years has killed legislation to lower the blood-alcohol limit for motorists, yesterday relented under federal pressure. The panel voted 16 to 5 to lower the threshold for driving while intoxicated from 0.10 to 0.08, which is a long-sought goal of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other advocates of get-tough policies on drunken driving. Passage of the legislation would enable Maryland to receive federal transportation aid that Congress has tied to states' adopting the 0.08 standard -- as Virginia already has done. The measure faces votes in the full Maryland House and Senate. "We are going to be able to save more lives, avert more injuries and protect people on the roads. That's the whole goal of this legislation," Del. Sharon Grosfeld (D-Montgomery) said of House Bill 3. "The federal government forced our hand, but it was always good legislation."
    Many committee members -- including some who voted for lowering the limit -- don't agree, and they said the change was being made so that Maryland would not lose $70 million in federal aid. They argued that Maryland's current laws were adequate. "We're doing this under duress of the federal government," said Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell (R-Calvert), who voted against the bill. "They have a gun to our head."
    MADD and other advocates hoped that this would be the year -- after five years of trying -- for the lowered blood-alcohol limit. Last summer, Congress tied the federal aid to states adopting 0.08 as the standard. The congressional action prompted Maryland General Assembly leaders to make the legislation a priority this year. Last week, Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince George's) and Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chairman Walter M. Baker (D-Cecil), who both had resisted past efforts, announced a deal to pass the proposal this session. "This would have been much more difficult to pass without the federal money," Vallario said.
    How far both committees will go on drunken driving this year remains to be seen. Vallario's committee has voted to eliminate a provision in state law that prevents judges and juries from being told if a driver refused a Breathalyzer test. The full House passed that legislation last year, but it died in the Senate. House leaders expect the legislation to pass again this year in their chamber, and Senate leaders give it hope there. But on Friday, the House committee killed a proposed ban on motorists being able to have open containers of alcohol in their cars. That move will cost the state about $52 million in federal aid over the next six years, according to figures from the office of Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D). Congress also is requiring states to pass tougher laws on repeat drunk drivers; that legislation is pending. About $50 million in federal aid over the next six years is tied to that requirement.
    Yesterday, advocates were celebrating a milestone in their efforts to lower the blood-alcohol limit. "It was very important to get it through this committee," MADD lobbyist Eric Gally said after the Judiciary Committee vote. "We're fairly comfortable with [the full House and Senate.] The concern has always been in the two committees. They have been very tough on these issues. We don't take anything for granted in these two committees."
    For at least two decades Maryland has had a two-tier system of drunken-driving laws. Drivers with a blood-alcohol level less than 0.10 and more than 0.07 could be found guilty of driving under the influence; drivers with a blood-alcohol level above 0.10 were guilty of driving while intoxicated. Judiciary Committee members had long argued that sticking with the state's system was more effective than complying with the federal mandate to make 0.08 the legal threshold for drunken driving. Not convinced that everyone at 0.08 is actually "intoxicated," they changed the wording of the legislation yesterday. Under the new legislation, a driver with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or more would be guilty of driving under the influence. The charge would carry the same penalties that driving while intoxicated now carries. At 0.07, a driver would be guilty of driving while impaired. That charge would carry the old penalties for driving under the influence.
    Some committee members said the public might be confused by the word changes and suspicious that the delegates were pulling a trick to actually make the law easier on drunk drivers than it is now. But Del. Kenneth C. Montague Jr. (D-Baltimore) said, "I think the public will understand what we're doing -- making the law tougher."

Arrests Mount As Police Target Meth Use
John Agar, Grand Rapids Press-2/28/2001

ALLEGAN COUNTY, MI -- A Portage man had just finished grocery shopping early Tuesday when police stopped his car on M-89 in Plainwell. A tipster had called police, suspicious of the man's grocery list. In the car, police found a gallon of muriatric acid, 32 ounces of acetone, 20 boxes of 100-count wooden matches, Bic lighters, mini-turkey basters and packages of paper towels. "When they buy all this stuff together, it's all the ingredients to cook methamphetamine," Allegan County Sheriff's Lt. Rick Cain said. "They're not re-filling their spice racks."
    The 28-year-old suspect was charged with possession of methamphetamine laboratory equipment -- a 10-year felony charge that took effect Jan. 1. He was the latest arrested in a statewide fight against methamphetamine use and production. Use of the drug has increased rapidly in recent years, especially in southwest Michigan's rural communities such as Allegan County. "It's getting to be an epidemic in Allegan County," said Sheriff's Detective Craig Gardiner, who works a two-man street team with Detective Cory Hunt. "Because we're a rural county, it's easier to conceal. It just seems to be more prevalent in rural communities."
    The Sheriff's Department busted a dozen labs last year, and five this year -- not counting Tuesday's arrest. Statewide, police raided 19 labs in 1999, 40 last year and 12 so far this year, said State Police Inspector David Bush, who oversees drug teams on the west side of the state. The drug is such a concern that state police started a statewide team last year devoted to meth investigations. The volatility of the chemicals used in drug labs pose explosive dangers and cost thousands in cleanup -- an average of $4,500, but up to $100,000 -- to dispose of toxic chemicals, Bush said.
    Under the law, those convicted of producing the drug can be charged for private companies to clean up toxic materials. A pound of methamphetamine -- produced with diet drug ephedrine and cold-remedy pseudoephedrine, along with common household chemicals -- creates six pounds of toxic waste. A highly addictive stimulant, "it just grabs a hold of people. They don't want to go in for treatment, they just want the drug," Bush said. Just ask Jeff Thornton. The 33-year-old Gobles man is in the Allegan County Jail until the end of September, serving a one-year sentence for possession. "It kind of stripped me of everything I had," he said in a phone interview. "Once you do it, it's pretty much over with. It's real addicting." He said he had a college degree in electrical work and was certified as a welder and auto mechanic. He has a son and a daughter. "That's what makes it real hard," he said.
    Police said Thornton was typical of methamphetamine users. He had friends who learned how to make the drug from the Internet.  It costs about $100 a gram -- the same as cocaine -- but its effects last hours, rather than minutes. Authorities described the typical user as a white, blue-collar worker. They are paranoid, tired, hyper and thin. "It doesn't really make you feel better when you have it, but when you start doing it, you want to keep doing it," Thornton said. "The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter who you are or what you do, it grabs you." The high kept Thornton up for days, he said. Sleep-deprivation caused overwhelming paranoia and hallucinations. "You're scared of your own shadow," he said. Users have told police they saw cops hiding in trees or in the grass at night.
    "The paranoia with methamphetamine is very extreme," said Gary Knop, project manager at Project Rehab in Grand Rapids. He said his agency sees few meth users, and he disputed its use is epidemic. But he said it is dangerous, and brings lifelong neurological effects, especially in long-term users. "What methamphetamine does more than any other is it depletes and destroys dopamine reserves," he said, referring to the neurotransmitter that helps produce feelings of satisfaction and pleasure. "Even a single dose in a lifetime can cause irreversible damage. It's really horrible, neurologically," he said. He said users like Thornton have a hard time staying clean. "At first, the euphoria is incredible," Knop said. "Sex doesn't matter. Food doesn't matter. Sleep doesn't matter. Your brain never forgets how it felt that first time."
    The Allegan County Sheriff's Department has targeted the drug and its users, which probably contributed to its high number of arrests. But police say rural areas in Van Buren and Barry counties have been home to the crude labs, set up in old barns, campers and kitchens. "Even before labs started to be a problem, that's where the meth was: eastern Allegan County. I don't really know why," said Lt. Bill Olney of the Metropolitan Enforcement Team in Kent County. The labs have strong chemical, ammonia or fruit odors that can tip off neighbors. No such labs have been reported in Ottawa and Kent counties, authorities said. State Police Sgt. Dale Hinz is commander of a statewide team formed last fall to investigate and train local police about meth labs. It works closely with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Earlier this month, the team, based in Battle Creek, busted two labs in the Upper Peninsula. "It's a different animal than marijuana or cocaine in that you can produce it from common household products," he said. "What has occurred is, you teach a friend (how to make it), they teach five friends, then they teach five friends."

Advocates Say New York Does Not Do Enough for Domestic Violence Victims
Timothy Williams, Associated Press- 2/28/2001

NEW YORK (AP) A woman wearing a black hood to conceal her identity told city officials Wednesday that after escaping her abusive boyfriend she was cast adrift in a bureaucratic maze in which she and her two infants were left to sleep on plastic bags on the floor of a city homeless service office. But even as the 31-year-old woman, who identified herself only as ''Ms. A,'' was testifying at a City Council committee hearing, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was telling reporters that the city has more than enough beds for domestic violence victims and their families. ''We've increased the number of domestic violence beds from 871 in 1994 to over 1,400 presently,'' said Giuliani. ''And we have a hotline system in place that wasn't there before, so we draw out significant numbers of people who claim to be victims of domestic violence that wasn't the case before. And based on everything that we can tell, everybody that appropriately needs shelter and help is getting it.''
    But Ms. A disagreed with Giuliani, saying that city workers insisted she was not a legitimate survivor of domestic violence because she had once returned to her boyfriend after being beaten. ''What we went through was terrible,'' she said of her 4-month and 16-month old children. Indeed, Ms. A told City Council members that after reporting to police that her boyfriend had punched her in the face several times, spit on her and pushed her to the ground on Jan. 10, it was only several days ago that caseworkers finally agreed that she was in fact a victim of domestic violence. She is currently living in a hotel paid for by the Legal Aid Society.
    Advocates say that Ms. A's case is typical, and that even when women come to shelters with bruises and orders of protection, they are told they are not truly domestic violence victims. ''Rather than securing enough domestic violence space to meet the need, (the city) has begun to tell increasing numbers of survivors of domestic violence that they are not in need of domestic violence shelter, leaving them to either return to unsafe housing or seek assistance from the Department of Homeless Services,'' said Steven Banks, deputy attorney in charge of the Legal Aid Society.
    The city is under a court order to provide adequate shelter for families, and officials said Wednesday that the city provides 1,365 emergency beds for domestic violence victims and their children and plans to add about 100 more next year. But Giuliani administration officials acknowledge that more than 500 domestic violence victims and their children are left to sleep in homeless shelters each night because the city does not have enough beds in domestic violence shelters, where women receive counseling, greater security and confidentiality. Banks said the Legal Aid Society is seeking to hold the administration in contempt of court over the issue. City Council Speaker Peter Vallone said: ''This is a crisis. ... Not only does the government have a moral responsibility to address the issue of domestic violence, it is critical to the well-being of our city that we assist the victim to escape abusive homes.''