Tuesday, February 27, 2001
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
State/Nation
For comments, contact J. R. Mendoza at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
Drunken drivers may face harsher penalties
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Drivers who refuse to take sobriety tests could be sent to jail under a Senate bill that would also toughen the sentences for people convicted of drunken driving.
The measure is aimed in part at drivers who scoff at the current penalty for refusing to take a blood-alcohol test. a license suspension that critics say is too often ignored by motorists who keep driving anway.
Under the bill, refusing a sobriety test would be a Class B misdemeanor, giving judges the option of putting "repeat refusers" in jail for up to six months.
"This would give the judge some teeth in 'refusal' cases," said Kevin Graham, an assistant attorney general who is tracking the bill.
"When you're dealing with repeat
Without the results of a blood-alcohol test, prosecutors are forced to prove a drunken driving case based on a police officer's testimony. Observers say many of those cases go unprosecuted.
"The word on the street is that you're better off refusing the test," said Max Sutherland, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Kansas.
DUI offenders, at some point the issue becomes one of incapacitation — physically taking them off the road to protect the citizens," Graham said.
The measure would also stiffen the penalties for drunken driving convictions.
Under current Kansas law, a first conviction is punishable by 48 hours to six months in jail and a $500 fine. Senate Bill 215 would keep the jail time unchanged but increase the fine
to $1,000.
For second offenses, the minimum time a person must actually spend behind bars would double under the bill to 10 days from the current five days. Minimum jail time and fines would increase with subsequent convictions.
The bill is hardly a slam dunk.
the bill is hardy, a smart count.
Sen. Ed Pugh, R-Wamego, who chairs a subcommittee working on the bill, wants to know why county attorneys don't do more to prosecute those who refuse blood-alcohol tests.
"You can convict someone (of drunken driving) without a Breathalyzer, but for some reason it looks like they're not being prosecuted when they refuse to take the test," said Pugh, who is an attorney. "I'd like to know why that is."
He said he'd also like to know which judges are imposing minimum sentences. "The ones I'm familiar with will throw the book at you," he said.
It's unclear how many drivers would be affected by the bill.
A similar bill stalled during last year's legislative session
He's now in the Shawnee County Jail.
Convicted drunk-driver Jon Hybskmann is serving back-to-back one-year sentences for drunken driving. But he avoided jail during most of the time while his case was pending by refusing to take a blood-alcohol test after four drunken-driving arrests.
"I'm doing the maximum," he told the Laurence Journal-World by telephone. "And I have to say it is got my attention real quick. A lot of people look at jail and all they see is jail; they don't understand you lose your house, your car, your dog — everything. It makes you think."
Study links heart disease, chronic infections
The Associated Press
DALLAS — New research supports scientists' growing suspicion that a variety of common lingering infections may raise the risk of hardening of the arteries.
The study, conducted by Austrian and Italian researchers, is the latest to suggest that diseases of the heart and circulatory system are more common in people with chronic bacterial infections, such as gum disease, sinus infections, bronchitis and urinary tract infections.
The research found that such chronic infections might triple the
risk of atherosclerosis, the build-up of clogging deposits in the arteries.
One of the researchers, Dr. Stefan Kiechl of Austria's Innsbruck University Clinic, said the findings may offer clues to how to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Researchers suspect that the bodywide inflammation prompted by these infections somehow triggers the production of plaque in the arteries. However, Kleich said more studies were needed to show whether antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs could slow or stop this process.
The results could explain why some people develop cardiovascular dis
ease even though they do not have the classic risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes or lack of exercise, said Dr. Valentin Fuster of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
Fuster said the findings suggest doctors should be more aggressive about reducing the risk of chronic infection by persuading patients to quit smoking, improve dental health and eat properly.
The study was published in the latest issue of the American Heart Association's journal Circulation.
The researchers looked for changes in the carotid arteries — the main
blood vessels supplying the brain of 826 men and women. The volunteers were all white, ranged in age from 40 to 79, and one-third had chronic infections.
After five years, 41 percent of them had new build-ups in their carotid arteries. The risk of this was three times higher in those with chronic infections.
Kleichl said the tendency to develop new plaques was strongly associated with the presence of chronic bacteria-caused ailments, such as bronchitis and sinusitis, but not chronic viral diseases, such as herpes zoster or hepatitis B.
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tuesday
$5 Big Beers (keep the glass and it's a $1.50 Refill)
$5 Hurricanes
($ 3 Refills)
NO Cover!
Fourteenth Annual James E. Seaver Lecture
ON CONTINUING ISSUES IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Mariana Griswold van Rensselaer (1851-1934): Writing About Landscape Gardening In Post-Darwinian America
JUDITH MAYOR
Associate Professor School of Architecture & Urban Design The University of Kansas
February 27,2001
8:00 p.m.
Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union
Reception Following, Malott Room
Sponsored by the KU Humanities and Western Civilization Program
Come early and gaze into your future!
The University of Kansas The University Theatre presents a witty romp about love, death, and subconscious, eplastic connections between the living and the dead
7:30 p.m.
March 2, 3, 8, 9*, 10, 2001
2:30 p.m.
March 11, 2001 -Sunday
Crafton-Preyer Theatre
ted by Paul Meier
Scenic Design by Dennis Christies
Lighting Design by Avraham Mor
Costume Design by Jami Montroy
Sound Design by Emily Best
Movement Coaching by Marianne Kubik
Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward
Reserved seat tickets are on sale in the KU box offices: Murphy Hall, 788-864-3982; Lied Center, 864-84RS; SUA Office, 864-8477; public $1 & $12, all students $6, $26, senior citizens $11 & $11; order tickets on line at The University Theatre website: www.kutheatre.com; both VISA and Mastercard are accepted for phone and on-line orders. *The Friday, March 9, performance will be signed for the deaf and hard of hearing. The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee STUDENT
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