02/14/1994 03:00 PM House HES

  HCR 31 - ALCOHOL-RELATED BIRTH DEFECTS AWARENESS                             
                                                                               
  Number 028                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. IRENE NICHOLIA, Co-Sponsor of HCR 31, referred to                       
  Steven Jacquier to introduce the project and the students                    
  involved, who were also present in Juneau at the committee                   
  meeting.                                                                     
                                                                               
  Number 038                                                                   
                                                                               
  STEVEN JACQUIER, Principal, Rampart School, supervised the                   
  student project for HCR 31.  He stated that this was the                     
  third year of the project and that it was becoming more                      
  successful.  He explained, as part of the project, that                      
  students inject laboratory mice with ethanol (e.g., the                      
  alcohol found in beer, wine and hard liquor) and observe the                 
  offspring born to those mice.  As a result of the                            
  injections, the baby mice have been found to have birth                      
  defects, abnormalities, and deformities.                                     
                                                                               
  (Note:  The students involved referred to pictures and props                 
  as they explained their project.)                                            
                                                                               
  Number 074                                                                   
                                                                               
  THOMAS WIEHL, Student, Rampart School, referred to a chart                   
  and compared a normal newborn's brain with that of the brain                 
  of a newborn with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).  He noted                    
  the obvious damage to the FAS brain.  He also did the same                   
  comparison with the brains of mice.                                          
                                                                               
  Number 148                                                                   
                                                                               
  JOHN ORRISON, Student, Rampart School, displayed a poster                    
  that contained photos of himself with a mouse injected with                  
  alcohol and other students with baby mice.  He stated that                   
  the mother of a FAS baby mouse will cannibalize her                          
  offspring because it is deformed.                                            
                                                                               
  Number 192                                                                   
                                                                               
  MICHAEL WIEHL, Student, Rampart School, participated in the                  
  demonstration by explaining that another student was                         
  preparing to put flame to one ounce of alcohol, equal to                     
  that of a shot of hard liquor, or the amount contained in a                  
  can of beer or a glass of wine.  He then exhibited a poster                  
  that showed pictures of a laboratory mouse undergoing a                      
  caesarean section.                                                           
                                                                               
  Number 233                                                                   
                                                                               
  LAWRENCE DERENDOFF, student, Rampart School, put a lit match                 
  to a pan of alcohol and stated that it demonstrated the                      
  amount of energy contained in a shot of whiskey, a can of                    
  beer, or a glass of wine.  He explained that it would take                   
  three hours for an expectant mother to process the same                      
  amount of alcohol.                                                           
                                                                               
  Number 276                                                                   
                                                                               
  MR. JACQUIER said the alcohol would remain in the mother's                   
  body for several hours beyond that, and each additional beer                 
  would pass through the placenta of the fetus.                                
                                                                               
  (Note:  At that time, Lawrence Derendoff held up a rubber                    
  prop of a normal five month old fetus and indicated the                      
  umbilical cord that would be attached to the placenta.)                      
                                                                               
  Number 286                                                                   
                                                                               
  MR. JACQUIER said that the he did not bring the deformed                     
  mouse offspring with him to display to the committee.  He                    
  stated that the flame from the dish would burn for                           
  approximately two and one-half minutes.  He said these                       
  demonstrations provided hands-on experiments allowing the                    
  student and perhaps eventual parent to see the results of                    
  FAS on newborn mice and hopefully the ominous affects                        
  alcohol could have on their own children.                                    
                                                                               
  Number 339                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIR TOOHEY asked the students if they were aware of the                    
  deformity of spina bifida.  She explained to them that it                    
  was a severe spinal deformity that affects fetuses.  She                     
  stated that when there is a folic acid deficiency in the                     
  expectant mother, it results in fetal spina bifida, one of                   
  the most debilitating deformities that a child could be born                 
  with.  She stated that if every women of childbearing age                    
  would take folic acid, spina bifida would be wiped out.                      
                                                                               
  Number 369                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. BUNDE asked the students if their peers were heeding                    
  the implications and information resulting from the science                  
  experiments and not drinking while they're pregnant.                         
                                                                               
  Number 393                                                                   
                                                                               
  LAWRENCE DERENDOFF said he felt the students were responding                 
  positively to the presentation.                                              
                                                                               
  Number 398                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. BUNDE said that teens are more likely to believe their                  
  peers more so than their parents when they are told that                     
  drinking while pregnant is dangerous.  He said it was his                    
  feeling that the students were saving lives.                                 
                                                                               
  Number 419                                                                   
                                                                               
  (CHAIR TOOHEY stated for the record that Rep. Vezey, Rep.                    
  Olberg, Rep. Kott and Rep. G. Davis had arrived between 3:05                 
  p.m. and 3:08 p.m.  She passed the gavel to Rep. Bunde, who                  
  then chaired the remainder of the meeting.)                                  
                                                                               
  Number 438                                                                   
                                                                               
  REP. NICHOLIA made a motion to move HCR 31 out of committee.                 
                                                                               
  Number 449                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE, hearing no objections, stated that HCR 31 was                   
  so moved.  He thanked the presenters of the demonstration.                   
                                                                               
  Number 450                                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIR BUNDE then brought HB 361 to the table.  He stated                     
  that there were witnesses participating by teleconference.                   
  He indicated that there were two versions before the                         
  committee to be reviewed for different levels of funding.                    
  Chair Bunde took a brief at-ease at 3:14 and reconvened at                   
  3:17 p.m.  He stated that it was not his intention to move                   
  either version out of committee.  Chair Bunde indicated that                 
  version 8-LS1486/A (version A) was the original bill and the                 
  committee substitute (CS) was version 8-LS1486/K (version                    
  K).