University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, February 18, 1987
9
Surrogate mother's threat to kill Baby M is called bluff
United Press International
HACKENSACK, N.J. — A psychiatrist testifying for a surrogate mother seeking to reclaim Baby M said yesterday that the woman was only bluffing when she threatened to kill herself and the child rather than give up the infant.
Donald Klein also said he saw no basis for a diagnosis by another psychiatrist, expected to testify later in the landmark Baby M custody trial, that Mary Beth Whitehead was a victim of a mixed personality disorder.
Klein testified that Whitehead's threats to kill herself or Baby M rather than give the child to William Stern, the girl's natural father, were only a bluff calculated to stop Stern's efforts to force her to yield Baby M to him.
"Mrs. Whitehead was attempting to force Mr. Stern to do something he didn't want to do." Klein said "She was trying to make him feel guilty,
trying to make him feel ashamed."
The Baby M trial is the first in the United States in which a judge must determine custody of a child born of a surrogate motherhood agreement. Stern and his childless wife are not charged, but that the $10,000 contract, in which Witchcraft agreed to bear a child for them, is valid. The money is in escrow.
Klein, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and co-author of a manual on diagnoses, said the doctor hired by Baby M's court-appointed guardian was mistaken in his diagnosis of Whitehead.
"I saw no indication of a personality disorder," Klein said.
The guardian's psychiatrist, Marshall Schector, has submitted a report saying Whitehead suffers from a disorder that includes paranoia, impulsiveness, self-centeredness and unpredictability Klein said Schector did not study Whitehead over a long enough period of time.
"All he has is a current set of
observations which are extended in a fashion that is not warranted." Klein said. He said Whitehead's actions, including the threat against the baby's life, might be the product of stress rather than a deep-seated disorder.
Klein, called as an expert witness by Whitehead's lawyer, said tapes and transcripts of a conversation secretly recorded by Stern did not indicate that Whitehead was depressed, psychotic or without hope. Klein went back of these conditions indicated that the suicide threat was not serious.
"Mrs. Whitehead was clearly very hopeful," he said. "She felt she had an excellent chance of winning the prize." She added, "The natural mother would be affirmed."
Whitehead gave birth to Baby M in March but then decided she could not give up the child and tried to back out of her agreement.
Experts attack NASA's methods for correcting Challenger flaws
The Associated Press
SPACE CENTER, Houston — One year before shuttle flights are scheduled to resume, experts continue to question the way NASA is correcting the rocket flaw that caused the Challenger disaster.
The new booster design and its testing have come under attack from Industry experts and astronauts who believe upon the solid-fueled rocket engine.
NASA officials and engineers from Morton Thiolok Inc., manufacturer of the rocket, said that they were confident that the new design would pass critical firing tests scheduled to begin this summer.
Challenger exploded 73 seconds after its launch Jan. 28, 1986, killing its seven-member crew. The presidential commission that investigated the accident said it was caused by a solid rocket booster joint that leaked, allowing superheated flame to ignite a rocket fuel tank.
The three remaining shuttles have been grounded while engineers redesign the rocket joint and conduct tests. Flights are scheduled to resume on Feb. 18, 1988, although many observers expect that date to change.
Investigators said that they believe three factors caused the rocket joint to fail: a flawed design that allowed the joint to move slightly at ignition, compromising the seal formed by two rubberized O-rings; frigid temperatures on the morning of the launch that made the O-rings stiff; and a series of wind shears that buffeted the rising spacecraft, perhaps causing the joint to open still further.
Engineers have settled on a new design they believe will create a more positive seal for the three joints in the solid rockets. This new design includes a metal lip that will limit joint movement and adds a third Oring in each joint.
Additionally, the engineers are experimenting with the use of a
silicon material in the O-rings to give them more resilience in cold temperatures. If the material proves that heaters will be added to the joint.
The new joint also includes insulation that is interleaved in such a way that pressure from the rocket will actually tighten the seal.
Thiolol has made three firings of partial rocket engines that included two field joints, but these tests used the design that failed on Challenger. Comments were used to gather data and set the new insulation arrangement
But these elements remain largely untested.
Partial rocket tests of the new joint design will not be conducted until June. Thiolok spokesman Gil Moore said the test will follow later in the summer.
NASA and Thiokol are spending $20 million to build a new test stand at the Thiokol plant in Brigham City, Utah.
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Commission's power to restore federal death penalty debated
The U.S. Sentencing Commission, set up by Congress to establish uniform guidelines for the federal judicial system, held a special hearing on the controversial issue, prompted by the Justice Department's ruling last month that the panel had the authority to include guidelines on when capital punishment was appropriate for
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's stance that a federal commission has the authority, even "the duty," to reinstate the federal death penalty would be encoaching on a decision best left to Congress, critics said yesterday.
United Press International
certain federal crimes.
Assistant Attorney General William Weld went a step further yesterday, telling the nine-member panel that such sentencing guidelines would be desirable and implying that the commission even had the responsibility to act on the issue.
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