The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 11, 1999, Page Page 6, Image 6
| Page 6'The Gamecock
Dream tri]
I had a stupid nightmare while w
staying in a packed-bunk-bed hos- w
tel room in Philadelphia that recre- "
i 1 ated a juve- "(
funny-look- ^
Guerman Abaev ?gs ?n' s * 0f
CoIumnist shocked that a<
I even woke te
up ? but just in time to catch my Grey- C
hoimd to Washington, D.C. L<
In D.C., my friend Emily, a native Li
of North Carolina and a slightly
nerdy Ph.D. poli-sci student at b(
George Washington University, hi
greeted me with a euphoric "Guess bi
what? We're going to the impeachment th
hearings at the Capitol tomorrow!" I pi
didn't know then that the next day, De- ai
cember 19,1998, would be significant e>
for the United States and the rest of si
the world. d(
The next morning, we went to the
Capitol and joined a seemingly endless in
line of other people who were desper- rc
ate to drink in the history. While we ai
Care requ
The revelations DNA provided us
with last year ? that Thomas
Jefferson fathered children with
ij S'aV8' ^
president *n
Hvv?> jh> was the ?
^mk. c In
mk source of a
dress stain p(
drawn na?j?r?tional
attenEmily
Streyer tion t0 the nc
Co'""""" potential of te
DNA tech- m
nology as applied to criminal acts as ^r
well as not-so-criminal acts.
lal
th
of
Shooting j
Dancing
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^1
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p to D.C. ri
aited for an hour and a half before we ~
ere let in, we got acquainted with a
instruction manager, Doug, from Cal- *
ornia who was there ^just for the day."
oug told us a lot about himself, in- .1
uding the fact that he had moved out
f the San Francisco area because it
as "too damn liberal." He was also carrying
a typical terrorist black leather
ag with something bulky in it.
No cameras were allowed inside, so ,
had to check my "papparazo's little ^
slper" Yashica T5, and Doug had to j
leek his funky bag. After two securi- jeav
r checks, we were let into the House .
Representative's visitors gallery. We j gaj
dually spent 15 minutes there, lis- j s^(
ining to the Chair of the Judiciary
ommittee Henry Hyde; Minority ']
sader Dick Gephardt; and Rep. Robert arou
ivingston. Hou
On the way out to the street, I lost ^he ^
)th Doug and Emily in the crowd, and g^yj(
id to retrieve my camera and Doug's som
ig too, as we had check them under ^ tv
1 T 1 * . J ^
le same numDer. i reaiizea my commions
were still inside, so I stopped vjce
id waited for them just outside the awa
fit door. In no time, two bulky and ]
illen secret service agents were un- wou
jubtedly approaching me. app(
Suddenly, I felt horrified about hold- blon
ig a complete stranger's typical ter- had
irist bag with something bulky in it whe
id having a Russian passport in my
ired with 1
The police are concerned with the Mas
iplications to criminal acts ? using fuse
NA to solve crimes more quickly loca
id certainly. The FBI has recently be- mat
m a DNA database, typing in convicts (
id crime scenes for future matches, tie d
le British, who first applied DNA tech- alog
)logy to criminal justice in 1987, catch- that
g a rapist and freeing a 17-year-old uniq
ispect, have been doing this for years, susp
ivestigators also look forward to the veal
>ssibility of drawing a physical de- a pa
ription from DNA found at the scene I
a crime. fers
Others are more concerned with the crim
>t-so-criminal acts. They fear a Gat- can 1
ca-like world where people are dis- othe
iminated against based on their genes, \
id anyone finding a skin cell can, in be d(
re minutes at his street corner DNA judic
b, gain a complete genetic reading of the 1
e cell's owner. The ACLU has all but Yorl
fered to defend any employee in a erat
?or the Stars,
y for the Drearr
ving Hope to th
I I
anization or individual w
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iearly nigl
You know there's som
x>ut picking up a Russ
ie White House these c
k pocket. "Ha, the nightmare," I and
lght to myself, and trying to remain you 1
a. A second later, a curious Secret she ?
dee agent wondered why it was that th jn
is loitering inside and not actually arres
ine the buildiner. Trviner to keeD a ?
lid happy camper's smile on my face, gQ ^
d that I was hesitant as to whether j
Duld use the bathroom before leav- c eai
but decided to leave anyway.
Later that night, Emily and I walked 1
ind the White House perimeter. The Kate
se's vote had been made public, and a ridi
place was alive with fancy, SWAT- find <
3-dressed agents. Suddenly, I saw up in
ething I couldn't believe was real: thing
pical Sports Illustrated Swimsuit She i
ion model dressed in the Secret Ser- sajd
uniform was walking just yards ny aj
y from me. of th(
If I had seen her anywhere else I ^ ^
Id have had no doubt that such an j
Baling and well-proportioned young
de couldn't be a real cop! Yes, you
to be there to believe it! That was v
;n Emily poked me really hard c^ec'
archi
)NA techn
sachusetts nursing home who re- on de
s the DNA test being requested by been
I police in the case of rape of a co- also
UOC \JCL LICllt. U.1CVA
Currently, the database poses lit- don t
anger to civil liberties of those cat- T
ued ? it contains DNA sequences felt it
; are interesting only for having than
[ue patterns useful for identifying nocei
>ects, rather than those which re- was
traits such as a propensity toward DNA
rticular disease. this (
iowever, while DNA technology of- T
much in the way of catching the fl
linals and warning them that they we pi
3e caught, it should be serving an- thanr
purpose as well. own e
Vhat advances in the field should udice
)ing is forcing us to re-examine our ods, s
dal system. In the last six years, rors,
[nnocence Project, based in New our le
:, has used DNA testing to exon- D
e 35 inmates, six of whom were tool. 1
is. K
e Kids! ^
Heroes p
adition at USC
ary 26-27, 19<
S is a 28-hour fund-raisei
t\ -1 i i rv
mcnlana. uancers rema
re there will be dancing, c
ers will not have to dance
fl
is coming
)9!
- for Children's
in on their feet
oncerts, games,
5 for 28 hours!)
ho wants to
volved by /
! ^
\ENCE> '
ice, located in the
70.
i I
NTS
ltmare m ^
Lething funny
>ian in front of
fayS.'"
ordered me to keep on going. "If Z2i Efj
think of talking to her, forget it,"
said a little heatedly. "And if you
k of hitting on her, you will get ^ d,
sted!"
Hie nightmare ? this can become ^
ueI thoueht. I manaeed to steer >
of trouble, though, but with an
ecedented exertion of willpower.
'he next morning, my classmate
, who had graciously let me take
e in her car up North, called me to
Dut where I wanted her to pick me m
D.C. Before I could think of some- /TV} ?
; else, I mentioned the White House.
ivas silent for a moment and then
"You know there's something funx)ut
picking up a Russian in front T
e White House these days." So we / .
led on a different place. / //
left DC safely without being ar- ^
id, although it was a very close
e. But 111 be coming back. Just to
t out the White House. I like the
Itecture of the building.
tology
ath row. Hundreds worldwide have ~ ~
freed by testing. DNA testing has "-HO1
revealed as innocent those who * .
before the technology could parhem.
crimp s
he creators of our judicial system ?
; better to let 10 guilty men go free
to convict a single one who is innt,
and thus the burden of proof physical cont?
placed on the prosecution. But not say what h
technology is revealing that even the technolog;
:areful system is inadequate. long will it be
he flaws of the justice system are skin cells or 1
laws of human nature ? the way scene, bankin
"ocess information and draw less- DNA evidence
partial conclusions based on our methods to avc
ixperiences and subconscious prej- did when the f
s. We need to develop more meth- was developed
uch as, perhaps, professional ju- Handicappi
to correct for the shortcomings of tice by requirin
;gal system. ods more suita
NA is not a magical prosecution is wholly unde
t places its owner at a scene or in gy offers a solu
MM
j m
i llvKQI
Jan.
( 11:00
V on Grei
(in front of tl
f&)
Questions? Call Stc
Monday, January 11, 1999
IIT WE WNT HAW A VFRY WCASF IF |
PMIT YOU POffTHAVE A V^^CLlFHT j
isiraoie. jl/in/y lecnnoio- *?? ?* ?? ?uu?wmvn w
tion, but it must be used esstreyer@mindspring.com
iljsy
20 ^
- 3:00 pm \
ene Street J
ie Russell House)
Come sign up
to be a tutor or
a lunch buddy
for children in
Columbia area
schools! Our
Jjjf schools are
counting on
vnu! Ynn ran
' make a
difference!
jphanie at 777-8402
long will it be before someone
skin cells or hair follicles at a
cene?"
ict with a victim; it does carefully. In the many cases where DNA
appened. At the moment, convicts a murderer, it spares anothy
is underused, but how er hmoce^ suspect the agony of a tribefore
someone plants ^ an(j the risk of conviction by a disTQif
tn he pc or a primp J
g on the irrefutability of trusting jury. But if the new abilities
? Criminals will find new that DNA technology brings are not
>id detection, just as they carefully managed at every step, bringingerprinting
technique jng wrongdoers to justice and exoner
. ating the innocent might become more
ing those who pursue jus- . ,,, . . ,
. j complicated than we ever imagined,
g more evidence or meth- v ?
ble to the AC LLPs liking
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