San Diego — The Navy is asking 16,000 sailors some intimate questions as part of a detailed survey of pregnancy aboard ship. Called "Navy Survey of Parenthood and Pregnancy" and drafted by the Navy Personnel Research and Development Center in San Diego, the 34-question document was sent three weeks ago to 10,000 Navy women and 6000 men. The Washington Times, which says it obtained a copy of the female version of the survey form, reports it contains questions such as "Do you or your partner usually use a form of birth control? (If you have more than one partner, answer with your usual or most recent partner in mind)" and "Two long-term methods of birth control are now available: Norplant and Depo-Provera. What is the primary reason that you do NOT use one of these methods?" True-false questions include "When a birth control method is not available, I believe you just have to take a chance and hope that a pregnancy does not result" and "I have sexual intercourse without me or my partner using birth control even though I did not want to get pregnant." The paper notes that "missing from any question is an attempt to learn attitudes toward abstinence, which military law requires aboard ship." The paper also reports that women at sea have a higher rate of unwanted pregnancies and abortions than women on shore duty.

Reverse migration

A $1600, federally funded "multicultural" field trip to Tijuana scheduled for next month by teachers from Lancaster's Linda Verde School drew a little skepticism from school board members there. While in Tijuana the teachers, reports the L.A. Daily News, will "sit in on classes and chat with teachers at a Tijuana elementary school, then view Mexican art and buy books at a museum." "Personally, I would have spent the money on reading materials and computers," said school board member Greg Tepe. But then he added, "They get a lot of students that move up here from Mexico. They will go down and talk to the educators in Mexico to find out what the education plan is like, so when they do receive these kids, they have a better idea of what students have been taught. There is some value."

Friends of Bill

The late Coronado hotel mogul Larry Lawrence and wife Shelia turned up on Bill Clinton's White House stayover list under the category "longtime friends." Lawrence, whom Clinton made ambassador to Switzerland, had given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the president's campaign fund before he died about a year ago. Unlike many other "friends and supporters" of the president, the Lawrences did not stay in the Lincoln Bedroom ... Todd Cunningham was formally indicted last week on two counts of distributing and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. If convicted on all counts, Cunningham and his alleged coconspirator Christopher Guivas face a maximum sentence of 40 years' imprisonment and fines of $4 million. Both also face minimum-mandatory terms of imprisonment of 5 years. The 27-year-old son of anti-drug Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham was busted in January after allegedly piloting a planeload of pot into an airport near Boston.

Killer poll

San Diego State's public opinion research lab was called to duty by lawyers defending John Du Pont, the chemical company heir recently convicted of killing an Olympic wrestler. Attorney Thomas Bergstrom told the Legal Intelligencer that the school conducted a survey of bias among potential jurors in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where the trial was held. "That brought a petition from the district attorney's office asking Judge Patricia Jenkins to order the defense to cease further contact with prospective jurors and to turn over identifications of those contacted," the paper reported. The judge, however, overruled prosecutors and even allowed one of those contacted in the survey to serve as a juror. Du Pont was found insane and guilty of third-degree murder ... A Virginia-based subsidiary of La Jolla's Science Applications International Corp. will share an $18.7 million contract to build a new federal computer system to track parents who have failed to make child-support payments. "This new system will allow us to track these parents much more efficiently so we can start withholding wages and so forth," says a government spokesman.