Word: social
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Kusserow's search -- one of thousands of computer matching projects conducted by the Administration -- points up the power and the perils of computer data banks. Removing the deceased from the Social Security rolls has saved taxpayers about $50 million and led to more than 500 convictions for fraud. But to ferret out the cheats, the computer had to open and examine, however briefly, the records of more than 30 million presumably innocent Americans. That, say civil libertarians on both sides of the political spectrum, is an invasion of privacy and comes perilously close to violating the Constitution, particularly the Fourth...
Another recent decision has raised questions about the social vulnerability of high-risk AIDS groups. Last year the court ruled that state sodomy laws -- which have been around since 1662 -- do not unconstitutionally invade individual privacy. Notes Attorney Gostin: "The decision left the door wide open to states which already have an irrational prejudice against gays and are hysterical about AIDS to introduce more coercive measures against homosexuals." Some observers even foresee attempts to control fertility in black and Hispanic communities where intravenous-drug abuse and AIDS are rampant. "I am certain there will be a lot of calls...
...term babies born with certain problems. Because the machines require the use of anticoagulants, they do not work for most preemies, who risk brain hemorrhages if given such drugs. But should technology leap this hurdle, it could reduce the viability standard to an absurdity. Asks David Rothman, professor of social medicine at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons: "Are we then going to say to women, 'Either you keep the fetus inside of you, or we'll take it out and keep it alive ourselves...
...going into exile in Germany in the early 1780s, the man he asked to go with him was West. The artist was painting the King's portrait at the moment a messenger arrived with the news of the Declaration of Independence. The unfolding of the Revolution caused him endless social difficulty, because the English and the American loyalist exiles in London suspected him of siding with the rebels. But still West's career was full of lessons for Americans artists coming up behind him: his desire for education, his often rather raw quoting of poses from classical statuary, his impulse...
...military crackdown, claiming that "hard-core leftists" were partly responsible for the current disorders. "It is best, if at all possible, not to use emergency measures," he said. "But I must exercise all the powers and responsibilities vested in me as President if national discipline becomes lax and social unrest is fomented...