diff --git "a/duc/test.json" "b/duc/test.json"
new file mode 100644--- /dev/null
+++ "b/duc/test.json"
@@ -0,0 +1,308 @@
+{"name": "AP830325-0143", "title": "Workers Try To Unload Tanker; Environmentalists Call Spill a Disaster", "abstract": "Millions of gallons of crude oil that spilled when a tanker ran aground spread across a wildlife-rich stretch of ocean Saturday, and Alaska's chief environmental officer criticized cleanup efforts as too slow. The biggest oil spill in U.S. history created a slick about seven miles long and seven miles wide in Prince William Sound. The Coast Guard said only Reef Island and the western edge of Bligh Island had been touched by the slick. ``This situation, I think, was everyone's secret nightmare about what could happen with oil traffic in the sound,'' said Dennis Kelso, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Some 240,000 barrels _ about 10,080,000 gallons _ of crude oil from Alaska's North Slope spilled early Friday when the 987-foot tanker Exxon Valdez ran hard aground on Bligh Reef, about 25 miles outside Valdez, where it had taken on a total cargo of 1.2 million barrels. Initial reports indicated 270,000 barrels had spilled. ``What we have here is a major environmental catastrophe,'' said one oil spill expert, Richard Golob of Boston, publisher of Golob Oil Pollution Bulletin. Golob said cleanup equipment at the site was ``grossly inadequate'' but added that even under ideal circumstances cleanup efforts would not have significantly reduced the spill's impact. ``It is an enclosed body of water,'' he said. ``The only way for this oil to ecape out to the sea is by traversing the entire length of Prince William Sound with all its islands, fjords and bays and channels. ``And during that transit, undoubtedly a large stretch of shoreline will be contaminated,'' he said. Divers Saturday said they had found six to eight holes in the vessel's hull large enough to swim through, said Frank Iarossi, president of Exxon Shipping Co. About 30 feet of the vessel is resting on a shelf on the reef. Efforts to begin pumping 200,000 gallons of oil off the Exxon Valdez onto another tanker, the Exxon Baton Rouge, were halted early Saturday when authorities noticed that oil appeared to leaking as the pumping operation proceeded. Eleven of 17 tanks that lie forward of the ship's masthead were ruptured in the accident, causing concern over removal of the oil, said Coast Guard Lt. Ed Wieliczkiewicz. ``Whenever you start removing oil from a vessel this size it has to be done in a controlled manner,'' Wieliczkiewicz said. ``If it's not ... you endanger the stability of the vessel.'' Wieliczkiewicz said a boom was placed around the Exxon Valdez and the Exxon Baton Rouge to help contain oil around the vessels. He also said four members of the Coast Guard's Pacific Strike Team from San Francisco, specially trained to deal with pollution and oil spills, arrived Saturday and were helping to rig pumps and assemble equipment needed to transfer oil to the Baton Rouge. Kelso was highly critical of what he said was a slow response to the spill. ``The initial reponse was inadequate and unacceptable,'' he said before a news conference Saturday. Kelso said the efforts should have been under way in five hours, but took much longer. ``You miss the opportunity right at the beginning and you've missed our best opportunity to do something.'' Kelso said Alaska has a plan for oil spills that calls for action within five hours of a spill. It took several hours longer, he said, and only two of seven skimmers available to the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. were used at the outset. Alyeska spokesman Chuck O'Donnel said he was satisfied with his company's actions. ``I think our people did an excellent job,'' he said. The spill's effect on wildlife had not yet been assessed, but commercial fishermen who depend on the sound for a catch worth millions of dollars were outraged and said a key herring spawning area had been polluted. ``The whole food chain could be affected by the spill,'' said Alan Reichman, ocean ecology coordinator for the environmental group Greenpeace, in Seattle. ``There's a high concentration of sea otter, waterfowl, sea birds and pink salmon in that area,'' said Steve Goldstein, a spokesman for the Interior Department in Washington. ``Some birds have already died, and we are doing our best to try to save the fish by containing the oil to the area where it presently is and by trying to skim it.'' Whales, porpoises and seals are also common in Prince William Sound. ``It's kind of like sailing through a zoo,'' said Jim Lethcoe, who lives on a boat in the sound and operates a sailing business. An animal cleanup station was set up in a building at the community college in Valdez, but volunteers there said they had no animals to work on by midafternoon. The response to the spill also drew fire from the 12,000-member United Fishermen of Alaska. ``We feel that this should have been the easiest oil spill in the world to clean up,'' said Riki Ott, chairman of the organization's habitat committee. She noted that the spill had occurred in a protected area close to the Valdez marine terminal and the water was calm. Ott said the spill had polluted Prince William Sound's primary herring spawning area. Fishermen also take salmon and shellfish from the sound. Last year, they were paid about $85 million for their catches, she said. The Port of Valdez remained closed to tanker traffic. North Slope crude oil is shipped 800 miles through the trans-Alaska oil pipeline from Prudhoe Bay south to Valdez for shipment aboard tankers to refineries outside Alaska. The Coast Guard said the Exxon Valdez struck the reef when it maneuvered outside normal tanker traffic lanes to avoid icebergs. The vessel's captain, Joseph Hazelwood, has worked for Exxon for 20 years, at least 10 as a ship's master. It was unclear if a pilot was aboard the Exxon Valdez when it grounded. There was no decision Saturday on whether to use chemicals to disperse the oil, but a test of the dispersal method was being conducted Saturday afternoon, as was a test to determine whether at least some of the crude oil could be burned. Coast Guard Cmdr. Steven McCall said National Transportation Safety Board investigators are expected to arrive Sunday to take over the accident probe. He said one or more blood-alcohol tests were administered after the grounding, but he said he didn't know know how many people were tested or the results. McCall said the tests routinely are administered in marine accidents involving federal jurisdiction. The Coast Guard issued a statement late Saturday that McCall has subpoenaed the ship's master and two crew members. The subpoenas require them to make themselves available to NTSB investigators arriving Sunday. The Coast Guard said the supoenas were routine. Previously, the largest U.S. tanker spill was the Dec. 15, 1976, grounding of the Argo Merchant tanker off the Nantucket shoals off Massachusetts, in which 7.6 million gallons of oil spilled, Golob said. Up to 10.7 million gallons of oil was lost on Nov. 1, 1979, when the tanker Burmah Agate collided with another ship in Galveston Bay, Texas. However, that oil burned as well as spilled. The largest tanker spill in history resulted from the July 19, 1979, collision off Tobago of the supertankers Atlantic Empress and Aegean Captain, in which 300,000 tons _ more than 80 million gallons _ of oil was lost.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "alaska;cleanup equipment;cleanup efforts;crude oil;oil spill;987-foot tanker exxon valdez;u.s. tanker spill;major environmental catastrophe"}
+{"name": "AP880217-0175", "title": "Congressmen to Sue Census Over Count of Illegal Aliens", "abstract": "A coalition of members of Congress announced Wednesday that they plan to sue the Census Bureau in an effort to force the agency to delete illegal aliens from its count in 1990. Some 40 members of the House joined the Federation for American Immigration Reform in announcing that the suit would be filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, spokesmen said at a news conference here. The group contends that including the estimated 2 million or more illegal aliens in the national head count, which is used to distribute seats in the House of Representatives, will cause unfair shifts of seats from one state to another. Census officials say they are required to count everyone by the U.S. Constitution, which does not mention citizenship but only instructs that the House apportionment be based on the ``whole number of persons'' residing in the various states. That approach was upheld by a federal court in a similar suit, brought by the same immigration reform group, before the 1980 Census. Nonetheless, Dan Stein of the immigration reform federation contended that illegal aliens should not be allowed to be part of determining the political structure of the United States. Rep. Tom Ridge, R-Pa., said the Census Bureau should actually count everyone but that it should develop a method to determine how many people are illegally in the country, and them deduct that number from the figures used for reapportioning Congress. Rep. Jan Meyers, R-Kan., suggested including a question on the Census form asking whether respondents are U.S. citizerns.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "american immigration reform;1990 census;national head count;census bureau;house apportionment;illegal aliens"}
+{"name": "AP880318-0051", "title": "Thousands Mark Total Eclipse With Prayers, Dancing and Drum-Beating", "abstract": "Thousands of peole prayed, cheered, danced, beat drums and observed other traditions today as a total eclipse of the sun darkened a wide area of Indonesia and the southern Philippines. The sun was blacked out by the shadow of the moon for up to four minutes along a 108-mile swath that moved from the Indian Ocean across Indonesia and the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. A partial eclipse was visible across a wide area of Asia as far west as India _ including Southeast Asia, China, Japan and New Guinea as well as parts of Australia and the Pacific islands. Scientists said the eclipse would end at sunset in the Gulf of Alaska. Clouds obscured the solar spectacular in Jakarta, Indonesia, Hong Kong and in the eastern Mindanao city of Davao, where thousands of tourists and scientists had gathered to observe the eclipse. But it was visible for about 3 minutes in this city about 650 miles southeast of Manila despite early scattered clouds. President Corazon Aquino flew in to witness the event. Richard Fisher of the High Altitude Observatory in Boulder, Colo., said that despite scattered clouds, scientists were confident they had taken useful pictures of the eclipse. In Jakarta, Wilson Sinambela of the National Institute of Aeronautics said a total eclipse was observed in several parts of the country, including by about 1,000 tourists in the South Sumatra capital Palembang. He said thousands of Indonesians prayed and beat drums to herald the start of the eclipse, which began in southwestern Sumatra before heading on to the Philippines. In Kuala Lumpur, where a partial eclipse blocked out about 80 percent of the sun, some Malaysian Hindus visited temples to pray for protection against harm during the eclipse. In Kurukshetra, India, an estimated 1 million pilgrims dipped into the waters of the sacred Sannihit and Brahmsarover tanks after a public address system announced the start of the eclipse. Hymns were chanted and conch shells blown during the ceremony about 90 miles north of New Delhi. Clouds blocked the first moments of the eclipse in General Santos City. But the cloud cover broke, setting off wild cheering among the thousands who watched the phenomenon in a scorching tropical heat. Street lights switched on, and members of the Naragcas tribe, in the city for a festival, danced in the streets to the beat of drums. In Baguio City, 130 miles north of Manila, pregnant women of the local Ilocano community rinsed their hair during the eclipse with water dripped from burned rice straws in a traditional ritual. According to local superstition, babies conceived during or shortly before an eclipse will be deformed unless their mothers practice the ritual. Many other Filipinos marked the eclipse by going to church. The Philippines is Asia's only predominately Christian country. ``This phenomenon is a clear reminder from God for mankind to repent its sins,'' said Theresa Teopengco, a government employee. Officials said about 20,000 tourists and scientists from around the world had come to the southern Philippines to watch the eclipse, the last one expected here for at least 50 years. Scientists said the area afforded the best opportunity to witness and study the eclipse because skies are usually clear this time of year. But in Davao City, 60 miles to the northeast, morning clouds sent hundreds scurrying to the airport for flights to General Santos. Church bells in Davao tolled while police and civilians set off firecrackers and fired weapons in the air to mark the eclipse. In Manila, thousands turned out under clear skies to see the partial eclipse that blocked about 75 percent of the sun's surface at its height. Police said four people were injured when a passenger bus collided with a jeep during the eclipse. ``The drivers were probably looking skyward when the accident occurred,'' said policeman Ricardo Manansala. ``It's impossible to gaze at the sky and drive a vehicle at the same time.'' Solar eclipses occur when the moon positions itself between the Earth and the sun. The Chinese first recorded a total solar eclipse in 2137 B.C., regarding them as signs of a battle to death between the sun and the dragon.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "solar eclipses;sun;total eclipse;witness;partial eclipse;wide area;tourists;moon"}
+{"name": "AP880330-0119", "title": "Adjusting the Census: Little Difference", "abstract": "If the two sides trying to force changes in the 1990 census both get their way, the results would nearly balance one another, a population expert said Wednesday. The Census Bureau is under pressure to exclude illegal aliens from its national head count. Traditionally, it counts everyone living in the country. Groups which have filed suit to ignore the aliens contend large concentrations of them could result in in some states gaining seats in the House of Representatives at the expense of other states. Meanwhile, other groups want the final census totals to be increased to account for people who may be overlooked in the census _ most often blacks and Hispanics living in urban areas. At stake are the 435 seats in the House, which are distributed among the states on the basis of population. ``If both sides get their way, the only change would be a flip-flop of one seat from California to Georgia,'' said William O'Hare, director of policy studies for the independent Population Reference Bureau. O'Hare told a breakfast briefing for Northeast and Midwest members of Congress that he estimates their region will lose 14 House seats following the 1990 census. That would continue a trend evident over the last several decades, he noted. Using estimates of the number of illegal aliens and undercounted minorities, he said that deleting the one group and adding in the other would make little difference in the long run. The only change, he said, would be that California would gain five new seats instead of six, while Georgia would add two rather than just one. ``That's easy to understand, since there are so many undocumented aliens in California,'' he commented. O'Hare's study of potential changes in House seats _ based on 1990 projections with no adjustments _ calls for California to be the big gainer, adding six House seats, followed by Florida with a gain of four and Texas adding three. Expected to pick up one seat each are Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona. On the other hand New York would lose three seats. States losing two apiece would be Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. Expected to lose one house seat are Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, West Virginia and Montana.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "1990 census;national head count;census bureau;house seats;illegal aliens"}
+{"name": "AP880331-0140", "title": "It's The Time of Year For Funnels", "abstract": "Rumbling spring thunderstorms have announced the beginning of the unofficial tornado season that runs from April through June across Texas and other Tornado Alley states in the nation's heartland. From 1951 through 1986, there have been an average of 118 tornadoes in Texas per year, according to the state climatologist's office in College Station. More than 60 percent of those occur between April and June, records show. In April and June an average of 18 to 19 tornadoes occur each month, but in May, when weather conditions are the most unstable, that average increases to about 36. A few twisters were already recorded in early March in Texas but they did little or no damage. A tornado that touched down Tuesday in central Louisiana, near Bunkie, destroyed two brick homes. ``People should have plans of what they'll do in tornadoes. If they wait until it gets there, it's going to be too late,'' said Buddy McIntyre, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. Last May 22, a killer storm flattened the small West Texas town of Saragosa, killing 30 people and injuring 162. In mid-November, 11 people died in East Texas when a series of tornadoes trashed towns from Cherokee County to the Gulf Coast. ``A tornado is such a devastating kind of storm. No matter how much preparation you do there is some property damage and some loss of life. But there are some things you can do to protect yourself and property,'' said Laureen Chernow, a spokeswoman for the governor's division of emergency management. One is to know the difference between the tornado watches and tornado warnings issued by the weather service. A watch means weather conditions are suitable for development of a tornado, and people should keep a careful lookout for potential funnel clouds. A tornado warning means one has already developed and has been spotted. Take cover immediately and don't go outside, but if you are in a car or mobile home you will be safer taking cover in the nearest ditch or depression. At home, the best place to stay is a basement or underground storm shelter. If no such shelter is available, go inside a closet in the center of the house or bathroom or lie flat under a heavy table. McIntyre noted that most fatalities in a tornado are from flying debris, so ``we tell people to squat down, cover their heads and present a low profile.'' James R. McDonald, director of the Institute for Disaster Research at Texas Tech University, says many people mistakenly try to outrun tornadoes in their cars. During the 1979 Wichita Falls tornado that killed 53, McDonald said, ``people jumped in their cars and drove down Main Street at 90 mph.'' Twenty-six people died while trying to outrun the twister. Another misconception is about opening windows. It was once believed that windows needed to be open to equalize air pressure between the storm and the inside of a house to prevent the house from exploding. McIntyre said there are enough natural openings in a house to equalize air pressure, and ``if that tornado wants to open your windows, it'll do that for you.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "disaster research;tornado warning;tornadoes;texas;tornado season;spring thunderstorms;property damage;tornado watches"}
+{"name": "AP880409-0015", "title": "Increase In Atlantic Hurricanes Predicted", "abstract": "A hurricane expert predicts a turbulent summer in the Atlantic Ocean with more and fiercer storms swirling the seas, but says it's impossible to know if any of the storms will threaten populated areas. William Gray, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, said Friday he expects about six Atlantic hurricanes this year, the average for the last 40 years, but above average for the decade. The Atlantic has formed relatively few hurricanes in five of the last six hurricane seasons. Those years brought just two to five hurricanes each, except for the seven hurricanes spotted in 1985. The hurricane season officially begins June 1, and its most active period usually begins Aug. 1. Gray, who has used wind and air pressure patterns to make annual hurricane forecasts each year since 1984, will issue his first formal 1988 forecast in late May. He issued an early ``outlook'' Friday for the 10th annual National Hurricane Conference. ``It is also anticipated that the average hurricane which does form in 1988 will likely be more intense than have the average hurricanes of the last six years, except for the 1985 season,'' Gray said in a paper presented to the conference. But Gray said his models of air pressure, winds around the equator and winds for ``El Nino'' periods, when eastern Pacific waters are warmer than usual, do not allow for predictions of when or where a hurricane might form. Gray based his early outlook on the presence of light easterly winds at the equator and the approaching end of ``El Nino'' period. Gray predicted four hurricanes last season, and three actually occurred. His prediction of four in 1986 was on the money, and he originally predicted eight hurricanes before adjusting that figure to seven, the eventual correct number, in 1985. In 1984, when there were five hurricanes, Gray had predicted seven. Drought in West Africa is responsible for a drop in Atlantic hurricanes in the 1970s and 1980s, Gray said. He said the drought has robbed storm systems of moisture needed to start their escalation into hurricanes. That pattern eventually will change, he said, ``but it is impossible to say when this shift will occur.'' Forecasters and emergency management officials at the conference stressed that coastal populations have increased rapidly during the lull in hurricanes; a surge in storms, up to the levels of the 1950s and 1960s, could bring unprecedented damage, they said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "william gray;storms;atlantic hurricanes;atlantic ocean;hurricane seasons;turbulent summer;annual hurricane forecasts;hurricane expert"}
+{"name": "AP880419-0131", "title": "Four Die In North Florida Tornado", "abstract": "A tornado blasted through this North Florida town before dawn today, destroying several homes and a college library, blowing off rooftops, flipping cars and leaving four people dead and 15 injured, officials said. The tornado touched down at 4:30 a.m. just west of Madison, about 50 miles east of Tallahassee, and cut a 12-mile swath of destruction, authorities said. ``There was this huge roar and then I heard a tree crack out there and thought we were all gone,'' said Marie Prince, a Madison County sheriff's dispatcher. The tornado passed only four blocks from her office. Four people were killed north of town, said Sheriff Joe Peavy. Fifteen people were injured, but none of the injuries was critical, according to Madison County Memorial Hospital administrator Jeannie Baker. A house-to-house search found no more bodies, but a man and a baby had to be freed from separate homes where they were trapped, Peavy said. Two of the deaths occurred in mobile homes blown apart by the tornado, and four other houses were seriously damaged as well, said Madison County Civil Defense Director Bernard Wilson. ``It didn't leave any of it. Not even a dish. You'd never know there was a trailer here,'' said Dorothy Butler, sister of one of the victims. Rescue units from adjoining counties were helping out, along with state law enforcement and forestry officials. State prisoners were also on their way to help with the cleanup, Peavy said. He had no estimate of the damage. The tornado was part of a storm system that struck across the Southeast with high winds, lightning and hail. Trees, roofs and mobile homes were damaged, and at least six other injuries were reported. Madison, a town of about 3,500 people, is the county seat of Madison County, a thinly populated tobacco growing area of piney woods, rolling hills and swamps on the border with Georgia. The twister's destructive path started in front of a shopping center and then proceeded straight into North Florida Junior College, where it ``totaled the new library and took the roof off the auditorium,'' Peavy said. The twister blew away several homes, blew the roof off a nearby church, overturned cars and knocked down trees, Peavy said. As far as his office knew, all the damage was from one tornado, Peavy said. He said the tornado's sweep through town lasted under 30 minutes. Electric company workers were restoring power throughout the area. Two tornadoes struck near the towns of Malone and Bascom, about 100 miles to the west of Madison, said Jackson County emergency management director John Mader. Three homes and a trailer were destroyed and five homes seriously damaged, he said, and two people were slightly injured. Many county roads were blocked by fallen trees, he said, and officials were surveying the area by helicopter. The tornadoes were spawned by a belt of thunderstorms being pushed by a cold front. Hail the size of golf balls and damaging winds hit Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. More than one inch of rain fell in one hour this morning in Waycross, Ga., 70 miles northeast of here, and wind gusts of 40 mph were reported in Valdosta, according to the National Weather Service. Elsewhere in Georgia, trees and power lines were reported blown down, a barn was reported destroyed and a tin roof was blown off an old building. The winds destroyed up to nine mobile homes west of Bainbridge, Ga., Monday night, injuring three people, one seriously. The sheriff's office said the wind left the homes in shreds. Bainbridge is 25 miles northwest of Tallahassee. A 9-year-old girl from Cottonwood, Ala., was injured by lightning as she stood near a stove at her home Monday night. The lightning accompanied a tornado that moved through southern Houston County about 60 miles northwest of Tallahasse. In the eastern Georgia's Bulloch County, six mobile homes and one house were heavily damaged shortly after dawn today, but no injuries were reported, the weather service said. Tornado watches were still in effect across 14 southeastern Georgia and 15 northeastern Florida counties until at least five hours after the tornado hit. Madison County has been hit by seven tornadoes since 1959 with only one injury reported, according to the National Weather Service.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "madison;tornado watches;tornado;deaths;thunderstorms;destruction"}
+{"name": "AP880510-0178", "title": "Arafat Says U.S. Threatening to Kill PLO Officials", "abstract": "Yasser Arafat on Tuesday accused the United States of threatening to kill PLO officials if Palestinian guerrillas attack American targets. The United States denied the accusation. The State Department said in Washington that it had received reports the PLO might target Americans because of alleged U.S. involvement in the assassination of Khalil Wazir, the PLO's second in command. Wazir was slain April 16 during a raid on his house near Tunis, Tunisia. Israeli officials who spoke on condition they not be identified said an Israeli squad carried out the assassination. There have been accusations by the PLO that the United States knew about and approved plans for slaying Wazir. Arafat, the Palestine Liberation Organization leader, claimed the threat to kill PLO officials was made in a U.S. government document the PLO obtained from an Arab government. He refused to identify the government. In Washington, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Murphy denied Arafat's accusation that the United States threatened PLO officials. State Department spokesman Charles Redman said the United States has been in touch with a number of Middle Eastern countries about possible PLO attacks against American citizens and facilities. He added that Arafat's interpretation of those contacts was ``entirely without foundation.'' Arafat spoke at a news conference in his heavily guarded villa in Baghdad, where extra security guards have been deployed. He said security also was being augmented at PLO offices around the Arab world following the alleged threat. He produced a photocopy of the alleged document. It appeared to be part of a longer document with the word ``CONFIDENTIAL'' stamped at the bottom. The document, which was typewritten in English, referred to Wazir by his code name, Abu Jihad. It read: ``You may be aware of charges in several Middle Eastern and particulary Palestinian circles that the U.S. knew of and approved Abu Jihad's assassination. ``On April 18th (a) State Department spokesman said that the United States `condemns this act of political assassination,' `had no knowledge of' and `was not involved in any way in this assassination. ``It has come to our attention that the PLO leader Yasser Arafat may have personally approved a series of terrorist attacks against American citizens and facilities abroad, possibly in retaliation for last month's assassination of Abu Jihad. ``Any possible targeting of American personnel and facilities in retaliation for Abu Jihad's assassination would be totally reprehensible and unjustified. We would hold the PLO responsible for any such attacks.'' Arafat said the document ``reveals the U.S. administration is planning, in full cooperation with the Israelis, to conduct a crusade of terrorist attacks and then to blame the PLO for them. ``These attacks will then be used to justify the assassination of PLO leaders.'' He strongly denied that the PLO planned any such attacks.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "khalil wazir;accusations;plo officials;possible plo attacks;israeli officials;political assassination;palestinian guerrillas;american targets;israeli squad;plo leader yasser arafat;united states;terrorist attacks"}
+{"name": "AP880517-0226", "title": "Single-Engine Airplane Crashes; Five Killed", "abstract": "A single-engine airplane crashed Tuesday into a ditch beside a dirt road on the outskirts of Albuquerque, killing all five people aboard, authorities said. Four adults and one child died in the crash, which witnesses said occurred about 5 p.m., when it was raining, Albuquerque police Sgt. R.C. Porter said. The airplane was attempting to land at nearby Coronado Airport, Porter said. It aborted its first attempt and was coming in for a second try when it crashed, he said. State police said the red-and-white Cessna P210, which seats six people, was from Salt Lake City. Identities of the victims were not immediately available. The bodies were taken to the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque. Walter Ramazzini Jr., 17, of Albuquerque, said he was sitting about 100 yards from the airplane when it crashed. ``He was going east, making a left turn from the airport,'' Ramazzini said. ``A gust of wind hit him from right to left. ``He did three banks. The wind made him bank to the left 30 degrees or so. To correct for that, he banked right and he kept going and passed level flight as if to turn right,'' Ramazzini said. ``To correct again for that, he went again to the left ... and went nose-first into the ground,'' said Ramazzini, a student pilot. ``He hit the ground and cartwheeled over. ``All I saw was a puff of smoke,'' he said. The airplane ``wasn't very high _ maybe 100 feet,'' Ramazzini said. ``The weather was gusty and showery. It was sprinkling.'' He said he was among the first four people at the crash site. ``We went up there and there was nobody alive,'' Ramazzini said. ``You could smell fuel. We were looking for fire extinguishers.'' He said the witnesses thought the airplane might blow up, so they retreated. Firefighters arrived later and sprayed the crumpled airplane with water before rescue crews removed the bodies from the craft. National Transportation Safety Board investigators were en route to the crash site to conduct an investigation with the Federal Aviation Administration.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "investigation;single-engine airplane;albuquerque;crash site;crumpled airplane;witnesses;victims;rescue crews"}
+{"name": "AP880520-0264", "title": "Reports Military Considered Crackdown in Slovenia", "abstract": "An official statement issued Friday confirmed that federal military commanders met in March and considered ways to quell dissent in Slovenia. The statement by Slovenia's Information Ministry followed reports published by the Slovenian youth magazine Mladina that there had been plans for a military takeover of the republic. Slovenia is considered the most liberal of Yugoslavia's six republics and two autonomous provinces. The ministry statement said the federal military council met on March 25 and concluded that ``dissident tendencies'' in Slovenia were part of a foreign-backed conspiracy to overthrow the country's Communist government. But it said there was no discussion at the meeting ``about a plan for action against special warfare in Slovenia.'' The term special warfare refers to subversive actions. The statement did not identify the foreign elements and said Slovenia police later challenged the claim that there was such a conspiracy. It said the police disputed the military council's conclusion at a later meeting between the republic's police authorities and Ljubljana's military command. The police said ``they had no available data which would justify such evaluations,'' according to the ministry statement. It reported the police also said there were no ``subversive forces behind'' articles carried in the Slovenian news media. Slovenia's Communist Party presidium also ``expressed disagreement with part of the military council's opinions,'' said the statement. Some army commanders have been increasingly critical of Slovenia's leadership, saying it should act firmly against political dissidents. And Slovenian Communists have frequently criticized the way the federal government is dealing with the country's economic and social problems. Mladina, the official publication of the Socialist Youth organization, wrote of possible military intervention in its current issue. It published a letter to Slovenia's Communist Party leader Milan Kucan from two student unions that said military action had been planned earlier this year, including the arrests of ``nonconformist journalists, writers and officials.'' The letter said military units would be used to crush demonstrations that were expected to be called to protest the arrests. It also said the army did not notify Slovenia's civilian leadership of the planned intervention. The plan was blocked by Kucan and Stane Dolanc, Slovenia's member in Yugoslavia's collective presidency, after they were told about it by Slovenian security organizations, the letter said. Svetozar Visnjic, commander of Ljubljana's military command, dismissed the reports of planned military action as ``nonsense and a fabrication.'' He made the comment in an interview with the Belgrade Politika Ekspres newspaper.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "slovenia police;dissident tendencies;communist government;political dissidents;ministry statement;slovenian communists;yugoslavia;federal military commanders;foreign-backed conspiracy"}
+{"name": "AP880601-0040", "title": "New Study Finds More People In Hurricanes Danger Areas Than Expected", "abstract": "A study has found that the U.S. death toll from a major hurricane could be far worse than previously predicted, the head of the National Hurricane Center said Tuesday to mark the opening of the 1988 Atlantic storm season. Recently completed hurricane coastal flood models for the Atlantic and Gulf coasts show that many more people than earlier thought must be evacuated under certain conditions, said center director Bob Sheets. Forty-three million people live in about 175 coastal counties from Maine to Texas, and evacuating crowded urban areas and barrier islands is virtually impossible, Sheets said. There are not enough shelters to handle the added load and there are serious concerns how new glass-windowed high-rises would fare if lashed by hurricane-force winds during evacuations, he said. During a hurricane that struck Houston, ``glass was flying everywhere,'' said Sheets. He refused to make predictions about the 1988 hurricane season, saying no one has convinced forecasters they can reliably predict the number and severity of storms. The first tropical depression of the year has formed, and remained stationary Tuesday night just south of the western tip of Cuba, or about 200 miles southwest of Havana. The system contained winds of up to 30 mph and was not expected to strengthen. One of the two satellites used to keep track of hurricanes could fail this year, forecasters said. ``It's quite possible this year that we could lose GOES-West at anytime,'' hurricane specialist Bob Case said of the Geo-Stationary Earth-Orbiting Environmental Satellite, which records atmospheric conditions over the Pacific Ocean and part of the Western Hemisphere. If that satellite does stop working, GOES-East would have to be directed to move from its equatorial orbit over Brazil to a spot south of the Texas Gulf Coast, where it would provide a view of the Western Hemisphere with limited vision in the hurricane-spawning eastern Atlantic, he said. A previous GOES-East expired in 1984 and temporarily deprived meteorologists of Atlantic atmospheric photographs. A typical Atlantic hurricane season, from June 1 to Nov. 30, has 10 named tropical storms with rain and maximum sustained wind exceeding 39 mph, six of which become hurricanes with drenching rain and wind over 74 mph, Case said. In 1987 there were only three hurricanes and four tropical storms in the Atlantic. Hurricane Emily slammed into the Dominican Republic on Sept. 22, causing three deaths with wind gusts up to 110 mph. It recovered enough punch to belt Bermuda with 116 mph wind three days later. ``Emily was the fastest moving hurricane of any known in this century,'' Case said. Hurricane Arlene meandered through the Atlantic in mid-August with top wind of 75 mph. Hurricane Floyd hit Key West with 75 mph wind but fizzled out over the Everglades and Miami in mid-October. Here are the names to be given to Atlantic tropical storms that could grow into hurricanes this season: Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Florence, Gilbert, Helene, Isaac, Joan, Keith, Leslie, Michael, Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sandy, Tony, Valerie and William.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "atlantic storm season;hurricane-force winds;typical atlantic hurricane season;u.s. death toll;forecasters;goes-west;hurricanes;first tropical depression;hurricane coastal flood models;national hurricane center;coastal counties"}
+{"name": "AP880613-0161", "title": "Top Military Leader Of Shining Path Rebels Captured", "abstract": "Police captured the top military leader of the Shining Path, a Maoist rebel group whose eight-year guerrilla war has taken more than 10,000 lives in Peru, officials said Monday. Officials said the capture of Osman Morote, 43, considered the most radical leader of the movement, was the hardest blow to date for the rebels since they launched their guerrilla war in the Andean highlands in May 1980. ``Osman Morote is considered the No. 2 of the party and its military chief,'' the independent magazine Si said recently. ``For some Shining Path experts, Morote might even be, in practice, the true leader of the organization.'' Abimael Guzman, a former professor of philosophy, founded the Shining Path movement and is generally recognized as its leader. The Shining Path is seeking to overthrow Peru's elected government and install a peasant and worker state patterned after the ideas of Mao Tse-tung. Deputy Interior Minister Agustin Mantilla said Morote was arrested before dawn Sunday at a house in downtown Lima along with two women. Police sources said two other men also were arrested. Mantilla said Morote had fake identification papers but was identified by his fingerprints. Counterinsurgency sources said police raided the house after neighbors told them of suspicious behavior by the people living there. The sources said police discovered revolutionary propaganda, dynamite and a revolver. Col. Javier Palacios, a top official in the counterinsurgency police, presented Morote to the press Monday but did let him speak. Palacios said police had suspected Morote was in the house. He said Morote put up no resistance. The colonel said Morote arrived in Lima a week ago from the northern highlands to coordinate terrorists attacks in the capital. Palacios said the attacks were planned this week to mark the second anniversary of prison riots in which security forces killed more than 250 rebel inmates. There have been reports in recent months of a growing rivalry between Morote and Guzman, and Mantilla said he did not discount the possibility that Guzman betrayed Morote to get him out of the way. Morote, known within the rebel band as ``Comrade Remigio,'' is second in importance only to Guzman, who founded the Shining Path as a splinter group of the Peruvian Communist Party. The Shining Path devoted itself to 10 years of semi-clandestine political work with peasants in the impoverished Andean highlands before taking up arms. Guzman is the ideologist of the organization, but Morote is considered the military strategist of the guerrillas and the advocate of attacks against peasant communities in the highlands that have formed civil defense units on the orders of the military. Counterinsurgency sources said Morote's capture will create a power vacuum within the central committee of the Shining Path and spark tension until a replacement is found. Guzman, Morote and other Shining Path leaders went underground in the late 1970s before launching their guerrilla war, which has claimed more than 10,000 lives. Guzman has not been seen for years and rumors have circulated that he may have died. But most counterinsurgency experts believe that Guzman, described as brilliant by his former professors, is still alive. Guzman has become a mythical figure for Peruvians. Various rumors say that he is living abroad, that he moves about Peru disguised as a priest, that he works as a day laborer in Lima's crowded street markets. Since 1980, the movement has expanded from its base in the highland state of Ayacucho and now launches attacks throughout much of this impoverished nation. Damage to the economy from sabotage is estimated at $5 billion.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "maoist rebel group;shining path movement;osman morote;peru;radical leader;counterinsurgency police;eight-year guerrilla war;top military leader;morote's capture"}
+{"name": "AP880623-0135", "title": "Lawmakers Debate Counting Illegal Aliens", "abstract": "Lawmakers clashed Thursday over the question of counting illegal aliens in the 1990 Census, debating whether following the letter of the Constitution results in a system that is unfair to citizens. The forum was a Census subcommittee hearing on bills which would require the Census Bureau to figure out whether people are in the country legally and, if not, to delete them from the counts used in reapportioning seats in the House of Representatives. ``This is a fairness issue,'' said Rep. Thomas J. Ridge, R-Pa., who contended that states with large numbers of illegal aliens benefit unfairly when their large population totals give then extra seats in the House. Because there is a 435-seat limit, when one state gains a House member another must lose one. Ridge cited the 1980 census, which estimated the number of illegal aliens at 2 million. The result, he said, was that Georgia and Indiana lost House seats to New York and California. Subcommittee Chairman Mervyn M. Dymally, D-Calif., however, said he is unsure whether the bills backed by Ridge and others are constitutional. The U.S. Constitution requires the Census Bureau to cound all the ``persons'' in the country every 10 years for purposes of reapportionment. It doesn't specify citizens. ``I am disturbed by the implication that undocumented residents of the United States are not `persons,''' Dymally said. Noting that at times in the past blacks and Indians have been excluded from participation in government, he commented: ``I do not want to return to a time when some human beings are considered less than equal in the eyes of the law.'' ``Every census since the Constitution was adopted has counted all residents of the states, including both legal and illegal aliens,'' added Rep. Don Edwards, D-Calif. ``It was never the intent of the framers to include only citizens for apportionment purposes.'' And Rep. Albert G. Bustamente, D-Texas, termed the worry over counting aliens ``hysterical,'' pointing out that the movement of Americans into western and southern states has had a much larger effect on representation than the presence of aliens. The Census Bureau also opposes the bills, contending that the effort to determine who is an illegal alien could delay and complicate the count and that people would be unlikely to tell the truth anyway. But Reps. Tom Petri, R-Wis. and William F. Goodling, R-Pa., asserted that counting illegal aliens violates citizens' basic right to equal representation by giving greater voice in Congress to states where the aliens live. And Rep. Tim Valentine, D-N.C., contended that counting aliens ``in effect, is granting representation in Congress to individuals who have entered this country by breaking the laws of the United States.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "lawmakers;census bureau;representatives;u.s. constitution;house seats;illegal aliens"}
+{"name": "AP880629-0159", "title": "U.S. F-16s Crash in Mid-Air; Another F-16 Crashes in Black Forest", "abstract": "Two U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets crashed in the air today and exploded, an air force spokeswoman said. The accident occurred less than two hours after another F-16 crashed into the Black Forest. West German police said one pilot was killed in the in-flight crash. The Air Force spokeswoman, Capt. Gail Hayes, said the aircraft were on a training mission when they crashed near Bodenheim, about six miles south of Mainz. She said the aircraft, assigned to the 50th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hahn Air Base, crashed at 1:30 p.m. ``There was one person aboard each aircraft. The condition of those on board is unknown,'' Ms. Hayes told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from U.S. Air Force European headquarters at Ramstein Air Base. West German police spokesman Hugo Lenxweiler told the AP in a telephone interview that one of the pilots was killed in the accident. ``The other pilot was able to eject safely,'' Lenxweiler said. Lenxweiler said he did not know if the pilot who ejected suffered any injuries. Identities of the pilots were not immediately released. He said the planes crashed within several hundred yards of a populated area but that no one on the ground was hurt. He said preliminary information indicated that one of the F-16s rammed the other from behind. Both planes exploded on impact, he said. The other crash occurred about 90 miles away. Air Force Spokesman 1st Lt. Al Sattler said the pilot in the Black Forest crash ejected safely before the crash and was taken to Ramstein Air Base to be examined. Police in Karlsruhe said the crash occurred at noon (6 a.m. EDT) near the village of Marxzell-Burbach. Sattler said the aircraft was from the 52nd Tactical Fighter Wing, stationed at Spangdahlen Air Base. The aircraft was taking part in a NATO military tactical air exercise being conducted from the Canadian air force base in Baden-Soellingen, Sattler said. West German police and U.S. military personnel secured the area of the crashes, and teams of experts were sent to the accident sites to determine the cause of the crashes.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "training mission;aircraft;f-16 fighter jets;pilots;u.s. air force;crashes;f-16s;in-flight crash;bodenheim"}
+{"name": "AP880630-0295", "title": "When It Comes to Drought, USDA Says It's in Action", "abstract": "The Agriculture Department says it has been on top of the drought since March 1, monitoring the situation, setting up hotlines to handle worried callers and issuing enough statements to paper a thousand bird cages, easy. One of the latest informational gimmicks is a ``USDA Backgrounder'' listing the department's ``drought-related actions'' since the blotter-like furnaces began roaring across most of the nation. ``It was my idea, my memory isn't what it used to be,'' quipped Sally Michael, the department's deputy director of information. ``This helps me keep track of what we've done.'' Michael agreed during questioning by a reporter that the action list is lean on actual dollars going into the drought aid. Only two items had dollar amounts. One involved meat purchases for school cafeterias and the other a credit deal for the sale of meat to Mexico. The backgrounders will be updated every two weeks. The first lists 22 separate drought ``actions'' by USDA or its people, beginning more than four months ago. First item: ``March 1. Secretary of Agriculture Richard E. Lyng establishes USDA Drought Task Force under the chairmanship of Deputy Secretary Peter C. Myers. Members _ agency administrators and key USDA personnel _ will constantly monitor the potential drought situation.'' The blurb also gave the number of the USDA press release that formally announced the task force creation, but not its date. In reality, though the drought panel was set up by Lyng on March 1, the press release announcing the action was not issued until April 22. Department officials questioned at the time said they attached no significance to keeping the task force secret for seven weeks before announcing it. Excerpts from other USDA actions cited by the report: _May 31. Counties found to be suffering from drought will be allowed emergency haying and grazing of Acreage Conservation Reserve (ACR) and Conservation Use Acreage (CUA). At this time, haying and grazing do not apply to Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage. _June 9. Standing hay on farms held in inventory (taken over) by the Farmers Home Administration can be sold at a reasonable cost to help feed livestock in drought counties where state offices of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service have authorized release of set-aside acres for haying and grazing. _June 14. Lyng briefs Senate and House Agriculture Committees on the drought and offers to cooperate with the Congressional Relief Task Force announced by Sen. Patrich Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Kika de la Garza, D-Texas. _June 15. The White House announces a new Interagency Drought Policy Committee made up of USDA, Interior, the Office of the Vice President and several other agencies. Departments of State and Transportation, and the Council of Economic Advisers were subsequently added. _June 16. Lyng announces that farmers in designated drought counties will be authorized to harvest hay from land in the Conservation Reserve Program. Haying will be allowed for 30 days if farmers give up part of their CRP payments. Livestock grazing of CRP land was not authorized. _June 20. The Interagency Drought Policy Committee meets for the first time. _June 20. USDA begins making daily audio tapes of weather updates available to news media. _June 21. Lyng announces haying will be allowed on CRP land if a county has been approved for emergency haying and grazing of ACR and CUA land due to drought. _June 22. Lyng meets with the Congressional Drought Relief Task Force, which issues a ``statement of general agreements'' calling on the secretary to implement various forms of disaster assistance. _June 23. Lyng and other USDA officials meet in Chicago with the National Governors' Association Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. _June 23. While in Chicago, Lyng announces a toll-free hotline to answer questions about federal services available in drought areas. _June 23. Returning to Washington, Lyng briefs the president and vice president on the drought and says that there is agreement among congressmen, senators, farm groups and governors that it is too early for emergency relief measures. _June 23. After the White House meeting, the Interagency Drought Policy Committee meets for the second time at USDA. _June 24. In its first day of operation, USDA's hotline logs more than 600 calls in 10 hours. Lyng orders another eight lines installed, raising total to 18 lines. Greatest number of calls the first day are from Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota. _June 27. USDA announces that special crop surveys in several states and other steps will be taken to update the department's July 12 crop report and supply-and-demand projections for fall harvets, including corn and soybeans. _June 27. An additional $50 million has been set aside to buy bulk ground beef for donation to schools lunch and other feeding programs, to help cattle producers hurt by drought. _June 27. Lyng authorizes additional emergency provisions in drought counties, including permission for selling hay to anyone, and the harvest of ACR, CUA and CRP land as green chop for immediate feeding to livestock or silage. _June 27. Intragency Drought Policy Committee meets for the third time. _June 28. Federal and state officials set up a national hay information network, or HayNet, to assist in locating forage supplies. _June 29. Department will hold news conference July 12 following release of crop report and supply-demand projections. _June 29. Mexico can buy $40 million worth of meat under an amended credit arrangement. The purchases are intended to help bolster livestock markets depressed by drought liquidation of herds.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "drought panel;agriculture department;emergency relief measures;meat purchases;drought aid;congressional drought relief task force;conservation reserve program;action list;usda drought task force;drought-related actions"}
+{"name": "AP880705-0006", "title": "1,100-Acre Fire In Zion National Park", "abstract": "A lightning-sparked fire in Utah's Zion National Park spread out of control to 1,100 acres Tuesday, but rain helped firefighters hold the line on a 2,000-acre forest fire in Montana and two other major fires in Wyoming. Gusty winds spread a third Wyoming fire over 400 acres of the Bridger-Teton National Forest and forced the evacuation of a campground and summer cabins on Freemont Lake, a half mile from the blaze. A fire that scorched 1,130 acres in and around the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan was linked to a vehicle exhaust pipe. Hundreds of small grass and brush fires were reported over the July 4 weekend, some caused by fireworks, in various parts of the country. ``The Fourth of July holiday really contributed to the problem,'' said Capt. Ray Wood, regional ranger for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation in the Hudson Valley. ``Fireworks were touching off fires all over the place. Last night it sounded like every fire alarm in the area was going off.'' In California, a fireworks-caused blaze that swept over 2,200 acres near Yosemite National Park was declared contained at dawn Tuesday. ``We have evidence confirming that it was a bottle rocket,'' said Mary Hale, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry. By Monday, $384,000 had been spent to combat the fire, she said. Authorities will try to recover that money, said Pat Kaunert of the U.S. Forest Service. More than 670 firefighters from federal, state and local agencies cut trails in the rugged terrain by hand and used airplanes to drop fire retardant, officials said. Kentucky's Division of Forestry reported 85 fires burned 1,267 acres in the first four days of July, compared to an average of 18 fires and 165 acres for the whole month, spokesman Richard Green said. About 40 weekend timber fires were attributed to fireworks. But Dwight Barnett, a spokesman for the Tennessee Division of Forestry, said there were 26 wildland fires on the Fourth of July, which burned just 113 acres. ``We were very relieved to get through the weekend in such good shape,'' he said, citing partly the care taken by people playing with fireworks. In Utah, Chief Ranger Bob Andrew said the Zion blaze was ignited by lightning June 19. It was allowed to burn in a small area, but on Sunday wind to 60 mph spread the flames, and the fire nearly doubled in size from early Tuesday to midday. No injuries or property damage was reported. The Montana fire burned in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area in the south-central part of the state. Weekend rain helped keep it from spreading outside the wilderness boundary, said fire information Officer Jo Barnier in Billings. And a helicopter was dropping water on the fire Tuesday afternoon. The fire has been burning since at least June 19 in the Custer National Forest. Phil Jaquith, Beartooth District ranger for the forest, said Forest Service policy is to allow wilderness fires to burn unless they threaten trails or structures or are about to spread outside the wilderness boundary. A day after rain beat down the flames of a 1,650-acre fire in the Shoshone National Forest in northwest Wyoming, firefighters were able to reinforce fire lines around the blaze in the absence of strong winds. The lightning-sparked fire has been burning for almost two weeks. Rain Monday night also calmed three fires in Yellowstone National Park in the state's northwest corner. Park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt said the ``fan fire'' in the park's northwest corner had held at 1,800 acres, while two other fires in the southern section of the park continued to burn over about 90 acres. Because all three fires are in the backcountry no efforts were being made to douse the flames, she said. The evacuation in the Bridger-Teton forest was a precaution and the fire started to die down somewhat as temperatures dropped at nighttime, forest spokesman Fred Kingwill said. The blaze apparently was sparked by fireworks over the holiday weekend, Kingwill said. In Michigan, authorities concluded a hot exhaust pipe or exhaust particles triggered the Upper Peninsula fire, said Mary Mumford, spokeswoman for Hiawatha National Forest. The fire was declared under control Monday. Firefighters also battled two smaller fires that broke out on the Upper Peninsula Tuesday, burning 220 acres, Department of Natural Resources spokesman Bob Heyd said. In California, about 190 firefighters battled a wildfire that burned 350 acres of brush Tuesday across steep terrain in an area of Los Padres National Forest untouched by fire in 64 years, said Earl Clayton of the U.S. Forest Service. Rising humidity and cooler temperatures were checking the fire's spread, he said. There were no injuries in the fire, which was reported Tuesday afternoon.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "lightning-sparked fire;zion national park;utah;forest fire;brush fires;firefighters;fire lines"}
+{"name": "AP880705-0018", "title": "Some Fires in National Forests Brought Under Control", "abstract": "Three hours of steady rain Monday afternoon provided a much-needed edge for crews working to douse a blaze that seared 1,650 acres in Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, and rainfall in neighboring Yellowstone National Park calmed three smaller fires there. Meanwhile, illegal fireworks were blamed for causing a blaze that raged across 2,200 acres near Yosemite National Park in California over the weekend, and firefighters brought a four-day fire in Michigan's Hiawatha National Forest under control Monday after the blaze consumed more than 1,100 acres. About a quarter-inch of rain helped to keep the lightning-caused Shoshone fire's growth to about 200 acres overnight, said fire information officer Dave Damron. But the nearly quarter-inch of rain that fell Monday held it to 1,650 acres, he said. The rain also allowed officials to cancel a 100-man patrol planned for Monday night. ``The forecast for the next two or three days is dry, with lower humidities and conditions more favorable to burning,'' said Damron. ``But this provides a real good reprieve and a chance to reinforce the lines and complete lines that we don't have yet.'' Four 20-person firefighting crews from Colorado, Utah and South Dakota were expected to arrive at the fire by Monday night, putting the total number of firefighters at about 430. Crews were attacking the fire from both the ground and the air, Damron said, as four helicopters and three air tankers dropped chemical retardant and water on the spreading flames. On the ground firefighters were aided by six engines and four bulldozers. Meanwhile at Yellowstone, park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt said that because the three fires there all were in the backcountry, no firefighters were trying to douse the flames. Because of the fires, park officials Sunday had closed off some areas, but Vanderbilt said Monday the rain had allowed the reopening of the areas to hiking and camping. The cause of the fire near Stanislaus National Forest, near Yosemite, was a ``bottle rocket,'' said the forest's spokeswoman, Mary Hale. Firefighters, aided by lower temperatures and higher humidity, reported the smoky blaze 90 percent contained Monday afternoon and hoped to have a line surrounding the fire early Tuesday morning, Hale said. The fire was the largest so far this year in the forest, which was the scene of huge wildfires last summer. At least 60 Forest Service firefighters brought the Hiawatha forest fire under control Monday, spokesman Dale Bluedorn said from the national forest's headquarters in Escanaba, Mich. ``We're going to start releasing crews from this fire,'' Bluedorn said. ``We'll continue to patrol the area to make sure we didn't miss any hot spots.'' Bluedorn said continued hot, dry weather means it could be weeks before the fire is extinguished. ``It may not be declared out until there's a three-day rain,'' he said. The Fourth of July was no holiday for firefighters from national forests in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Idaho and other states who were shipped to Michigan's central Upper Peninsula to battle the Hiawatha blaze, Bluedorn said. Forest Service officials, meanwhile, began assessing damage to the 920 acres of national forest and 210 acres of private woodlands burned after the fire broke out Friday afternoon, Bluedorn said. Investigators have ruled out lightning as the cause.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "wildfires;steady rain;blaze;forest fire;illegal fireworks;firefighters;wyoming"}
+{"name": "AP880705-0109", "title": "Firefighters Try to Save More Than 5,000 Acres", "abstract": "Firefighters in California, Michigan, Montana, Wyoming and Utah battled holiday weekend fires which blackened more than 6,000 acres of forest and wilderness areas. Illegal fireworks were blamed for a blaze that swept over 2,200 rugged acres of Stanislaus National Forest in California, 10 miles west of Yosemite National Park. The fire, which began Saturday, was declared contained this morning, ``We have evidence confirming that it was a bottle rocket,'' said Mary Hale, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry. The fire was the largest in the forest this year. Stanislaus was the scene of huge wildfires last summer. In southern Utah's scenic Zion National Park, firefighters tried today to contain a 600-acre fire that was ignited by lightning June 19 but had been allowed to burn in a small area. However, on Sunday, winds ranging from 30 mph to 60 mph fanned the flames out of control, Chief Ranger Bob Andrew said. Firefighters, assisted by water-carrying aircraft, expected to have the blaze contained by midday. No injuries or property damage were reported. A four-day fire in 1,100 acres of Hiawatha National Park in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was also said to be under control, although continued hot dry weather could mean weeks before the fire is extinguished. ``It's been real quiet out there,'' Sgt. Terry Leisening of the Delta County Sheriff's Department said today. ``I think they've got it just about out.'' U.S. Forest Service spokesman Dale Bluedorn agreed, but said they will continue to keep patrolling. ``It may not be declared out until there's a three-day rain,'' he said Monday. A small contingent of firefighters who hiked into the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness on Monday in south-central Montana contained portions of a 2,000-acre fire that has been burning there since June 19, forest officials said. Forest Service policy allows wilderness fires to burn unless they threaten trails or structures, or threaten to burn outside the wilderness boundary. The firefighters were called in to stop the flames as they neared the Stillwater River Trail inside the wilderness area. High winds Saturday tripled the fire's size. Phil Jaquith, Beartooth District ranger for the Custer National Forest, said the bulk of the fire on the east banks of the Stillwater River was not being suppressed. Cooler temperatures and calmer wind played a role in getting the blaze contained on the west riverbank, which is about two miles from the trail, Jaquith said. Three-quarters of an inch of rain on Monday helped slow a fire on 1,650 acres in the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, and rain also damped fires in Yellowstone National Park. Fire information officer Dave Damron said water was also being pumped out of bogs in the Shoshone forest to help contain the fire. Firefighters concentrated on keeping the fire entering the Du Noir Special Management Area a few miles to the north, Damron said. Meanwhile, a fire which burned 8,700 acres in the Tonto National Forest north of Phoenix, Ariz., was reported extinguished on Monday.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "fires;wildfires;blaze;national forest;firefighters;illegal fireworks"}
+{"name": "AP880714-0142", "title": "Drought Shifts East, Little Relief in Sight", "abstract": "The focus of the drought plaguing much of the nation has shifted eastward, but little relief is in sight for most areas, the National Weather Service reported Thursday. The new short-range forecast through next Monday calls for hot, dry weather to expand eastward from the Rockies through the Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic states. Rapidly moving weather systems are expected to drag weak fronts along the U.S.-Canadian border, possibly triggering scattered showers in the extreme northern Plains and upper Mississippi Valley. The heavy rain which has hit portions of Texas is expected to diminish. Long-term drought conditions now cover a large area of the Great Lakes region and the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, the agency's Climate Analysis Center reported. In addition, drought conditions persist over large areas of the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. A 30-day weather forecast issued Wednesday held little hope for improvement. And a separate climate assessment added that many areas now experiencing extreme drought have less than a 4 percent chance of recovering from the drought within 3 months. At the beginning of July, 29 percent of the nation was undergoing severe or extreme drought, the agency said. On Tuesday, the Agriculture Department announced sharp reductions in the anticipated harvest of many crops because of the water shortage _ and those projections were based on the assumption of normal weather from here on, according to department officials. The new National Weather Service forecasts cast a dark cloud over that assumption. The drought region now extends well into West Virginia and includes nearly all of Ohio and Indiana and much of Kentucky and Tennessee, the weather service drought advisory said. On the other hand, western portions of the Mississippi Valley have received some relief due to recent rains. The drought has been accompanied by higher than normal temperatures over much of the nation, most notably over the western Great Lakes region. The national picture shows the current drought to be about equivalent to that of 1911, and still somewhat less severe than in several years in the 1930s or 1956. However, in the Midwest, the weather service reported that large areas have experienced the driest April-June period on record since 1895. Recent rains have resulted in local flooding in Texas, but nationally streamflows are below normal, and even in Texas are expected to fall back to below average levels. Flows in many major rivers remain low and continue to restrict navigation. Reservoir levels remain close to average in much of the nation, however, the weather service noted. In addition to Thursday's short-range forecast, the medium-range outlook through July 23 anticipates much of the nation will remain hotter than normal, particularly the Tennessee Valley, lower Midwest, central and northern Great Plains, northern Rockies and Great Basin. The only areas escaping heat in the forecast are the nation's northwestern and northeastern corners and the Louisiana-Texas-New Mexico area. Most of the hot area is expected to be drier than normal, although some significant rain could penetrate northwestward from Texas into New Mexico, Colorado and eastern Wyoming.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "little relief;agriculture department;dry weather;western great lakes region;short-range forecast;national weather Service;drought region;long-term drought conditions;northern great plains;water shortage;extreme drought"}
+{"name": "AP880801-0195", "title": "Setting Fires `An Ozark Tradition' for Some, Investigator Says", "abstract": "A split, charred tree stump is a clue that lightning was to blame for a forest fire. Carbon particles indicate the exhaust of a passing truck was the culprit. And there are other ways to tell a fire was accidental. ``You eliminate all those causes, you're down to arson,'' said Dale Smallwood, a criminal investigator for Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest. He comes down to arson in most of his investigations _ and he and other forest officials believe the problem is often rooted in some regional traditions that are as hard to quell as flames. A psychologist's study found economic and even aesthetic reasons why some people light woods aflame. Arsonists set 172 of the 296 Mark Twain fires that have broken out so far this year, burning more than 9,000 acres, Smallwood said. A total of 14,200 acres of the forest, which covers 1.5 million acres mostly in southern Missouri, were burned during a spring fire season made more volatile by drought. On average, Smallwood estimates, 70 percent of the forest fires each year in Missouri are deliberately set. ``It's probably 90 percent higher than the national average,'' said Ron McDonald, Mark Twain's fire control officer. He said Mark Twain consistently is among the five forest districts with the worst arson problem. ``It's just been an Ozark tradition of incendiary (deliberately set) fires,'' McDonald said. The tradition seems to stretch across the southern United States, according to Smallwood. Fires in other areas are more likely to be caused by lightning or man's carelessness. As one of the Forest Service's 125 special law enforcement agents, Smallwood has spent most of the past 16 years investigating fires in the forests he loves. ``I consider myself an Ozark hillbilly,'' he said. The Forest Service is charged with protecting wildlands, and balancing recreational needs with commercial interests in timber and mineral resources. Smallwood's job includes investigating marijuana growing in the forest, timber theft and theft of other federal property. His military-neat office at the Forest Service headquarters in Rolla is decorated with game bird feathers, a picture of Smokey Bear and a glass-doored bookcase lined with reports and text books. The Forest Service has called on psychologists, sociologists and archaeologists to determine why fires are set. ``Part of it is tradition,'' Smallwood said. ``In the springtime, people used to burn the woods to allow grass to grow.'' A policy of open grazing, with cattle free to feed on any unfenced land, was allowed in the Ozarks until the 1960s, longer than in other wooded areas, Smallwood said. Psychologist John P. Shea in the 1940s conducted one of the first Forest Service studies of arson. Subsistence farmers in the rural South who were interviewed by Shea and his researchers claimed fire helped control ticks, snakes and disease and controlled the encroachment of trees on land where they wanted to graze cattle. ``Their ways are those of frontiersmen living in an arrested frontier,'' Shea wrote. Aesthetics even played a part: Shea and other researchers found that people living in areas where arson was common enjoyed the smell of smoke in the spring air, and believed the woods looked better ``burned clean.'' The Forest Service has attempted to counter the lore that can lead to burning. Over the years, timber has been touted as a cash crop that is as worthy of protection as grassland. Smokey Bear and other programs encourage the view of the forests as a priceless national resource. But the tradition of using fire to manage the woods dies hard. ``There's no cut-and-dried way to prevent it,'' McDonald said. ``We had one case (in 1984) where two men went to Sunday school and after school they started a fire with their Sunday school literature,'' Smallwood said. ``They just happened to be driving through an area they thought needed to be burned out.'' Still, the arsonist does not always fit the profile of a simply misguided citizen. ``Part of the problem is people driving around drinking and shooting road signs,'' Smallwood said. ``When they get bored with that, they set fires. It's malicious mischief. ``Sometimes you hear that someone is angry at the Forest Service because of some administrative action _ because we closed a road or disallowed something. And they don't necessarily have to be mad at the Forest Service. They could be mad at government, period.'' Then, ``fire is used as retaliation.'' ``It's so senseless,'' he said. ``It just costs a lot of money to put these fires out and it's coming right out of our tax dollars.'' McDonald, who oversees about 125 Mark Twain employees trained as firefighters, said forest fires cost $25 to $30 an acre to suppress. In the rare case of a conviction, the arsonist is likely to be put on probation or ordered to pay the costs of fighting the fire and replacing timber that was destroyed, Smallwood said. Last year, a judge ordered two arsonists to work weekends for the Forest Service. ``An arson case in the forest is very hard to make,'' he said. ``When you go out in the middle of the forest to a blackened area to begin an investigation, it's very difficult and frustrating. No. 1, you usually don't have any witnesses.'' He noted that in some cases, people who have evidence withhold it for fear of being burned out themselves. Beyond the cost in dollars of forest fires, there's risk to those who fight them. ``We had an employee die of a heart attack fighting an arson fire,'' Smallwood said, referring to a 1976 blaze. ``We would have liked to have prosecuted someone in that case. And I would have also liked to have known if the prosecutor would have considered a manslaughter charge against the arsonist.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "criminal investigator;forest fires;missouri;arson problem;passing truck;arsonist;investigations"}
+{"name": "AP880811-0299", "title": "Crop Production To Be Down Sharply From 1987; Food Prices Suffer", "abstract": "An annual Agriculture Department survey confirmed Thursday that a deadening drought will curtail the fall corn harvest by a third or more, resulting in higher retail food prices for months and years to come. However, government officials said bountiful crops in recent years has built stockpiles so high the United States need not fear actual shortages on grocery shelves and can even continue exporting food. The report came hours after President Reagan signed a $3.9 billion relief bill that he acknowledged won't bring rain to crops already sweltering, but hopefully will help farmers survive to plant again next spring. The new surveys led USDA experts to predict the 1988 corn crop will total 4.48 billion bushels, down 37 percent from last year's harvest and the smallest output since 1983. Sharp reductions also were reported for soybeans, wheat and a number of other crops. Cotton, which thrived last month in the hot, humid weather, is expected to increase from last year. Overall, the department's Agricultural Statistics Board put total U.S. crop production at 88 percent of the 1977 average, a scale used to compare output from year to year. That matched the low 1983 reading, when sharp cutbacks in government acreage programs, along with drought, reduced crop production sharply. The corn crop is expected to average 78.5 bushels per harvested acre, down from 119.4 bushel per acre last year, a record year-to-year decline of 34 percent. Corn is the largest and most important crop grown by American farmers and, as a feed ingredient, is essential to the production of meat, poultry and dairy products. Assistant Secretary Ewen M. Wilson, the department's chief economist, said the drought may add 1 percent to the cost of food this year, 2 percent next year. ``Today's reports confirm that the drought has had a major impact on this year's crops,'' Wilson told reporters. ``But because of large pre-season stocks, total supplies are enough in most cases to assure and adequate food supply at home, satisfy foreign customers and meet our food-aid commitments.'' Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said in a statement, ``Today's crop report confirms our fears about the impacts of this summer's tragic drought. Fortunately, it appears we will have enough stocks to make it through this marketing year.'' The USDA's grim news came hours after President Reagan on Thursday signed a $3.9 billion disaster relief bill aimed at helping drought-stricken farmers recover. ``This bill isn't as good as rain,'' Reagan said to the nation's farmers. ``But it will tide you over until normal weather and your own skills permit you to return to your accustomed role.'' The new USDA crop estimates were based on field surveys as of Aug. 1. In May and June, before drought had made its biggest impact, USDA projected the corn harvest _ based on trends and an assumption of normal weather _ at 7.3 billion bushels. But those projections were revised downward a month ago to 5.2 billion bushels, assuming farmers got normal weather the remainder of the season. The soybean harvest was estimated at 1.47 billion bushels, down 23 percent from 1.9 billion bushels produced last year. Prospects last spring called for about 1.88 billion bushels, and the July projection was 1.65 billion bushels. Production of all wheat was indicated at 1.82 billion bushels, down 13 percent from 2.1 billion produced in 1987. In May and June, the USDA forecast this year's output would be up slightly. The July projection was 1.84 billion bushels The wheat total included winter wheat planted last fall, which barely stayed ahead of the drought. Later plantings of durum and other spring wheat varieties were brutalized by heat and dryness. Winter wheat production was estimated at 1.55 billion bushels, down 1 percent from last year. But durum and the other spring varieties, which are produced in the hard-hit northern plains, showed sharp declines. Durum was estimated at 54.6 million bushels, down 41 percent from last year's harvest, and other spring wheat was shown at 212 million bushels, down 53 percent from 1987. Cotton production was estimated at 14.9 million bales, up 1 percent from last year. The crop was projected at 13.7 billion bales in July. Department officials said U.S. grain production this year is expected to total 192 million metric tons, 31 percent smaller than the 1987 output. The total grain supply for 1988-89 _ which includes inventories on hand at the beginning of the season _ is down 24 percent from last season. In addition to the reductions in corn and soybean yields, Wilson said production of some other spring-planted crops has suffered, including: oats, 206 million bushels, down 45 percent; barley, 288 million bushels, also down 45 percent; and sorghum, 561 million bushels, down 24 percent. Wilson said USDA experts ``continue to believe that the drought will add only one percentage point'' to consumer food prices this year. The department has forecast a food price increase this year of 3 percent to 5 percent. Before the heat and dry weather, USDA had expected a 1988 food price hike of 2 percent to 4 percent. Wilson said the drought could add 2 percent to the consumer price index for food next year. ``That's on top of an additional estimated increase in food prices somewhere in the region of 4 percent,'' Wilson said. ``So this would bring it up to a total of 6 percent.'' He also said the United States is ``looking at an export situation that is not as good as it was a year ago.'' He said production abroad would have to take up the slack in world food supply caused by the drought. ``Our figures here today would indicate that food production in other countries has not been cut that much,'' he said. There remained a possibility that the United States would import some soybeans this year, Wilson said. He scoffed at any suggestion, however, that the United States may have lost its capacity to produce sizeable crop surpluses. He noted that 50 million farm acres are being kept out of production this year in addition to millions of additional acres in the long-term Conservation Reserve Program. Meanwhile, USDA weatherman Norton Strommen said rain in the midcontinent in recent days has not meant an end to the drought. ``The drought, as you can see, is still basically with us throughout the entire United States,'' Strommen said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "total U.S. crop production;sharp reductions;deadening drought;food price increase;president reagan;disaster relief bill;food production;annual agriculture department survey;fall corn harvest;higher retail food prices"}
+{"name": "AP880816-0234", "title": "Anti-Maoists Threaten Prosecutor", "abstract": "A death squad opposed to the Shining Path guerrillas has threatened to kill a district attorney if he investigates charges that soldiers massacred dozens of peasants, his office said Tuesday. Police said members of Shining Path, a Maoist group, killed two policemen and wounded three in jungle raids. The Rodrigo Franco Command, which has vowed to kill a Shining Path member or sympathizer for every person slain by guerrillas, issued the threat against District Attorney Carlos Escobar on Monday, according to his office in Andean city of Ayacucho. Escobar is investigating charges that troops rounded up dozens of peasants, accused them of being Shining Path members and killed them. The alleged massacre occurred in May near Cayara, a farming village 40 miles south of Ayacucho. Officials said the rebel raids occurred Sunday, at a police post and telephone relay station near the jungle city of Pucallpa, 325 miles northeast of Lima. Shining Path guerrillas began fighting eight years ago. The government says more than 15,000 people have been killed and puts the property damage at $10 billion. The Rodrigo Franco group is named for an official of the government party killed the Shining Path killed last year. It became known in July when it claimed responsibility for killing the lawyer for Osman Morote. He is suspected of being the Shining Path second-in-command and is in jail on terrorism charges.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "rodrigo franco command;osman morote;shining path guerrillas;police post;rebel raids;property damage;district attorney carlos escobar;death squad"}
+{"name": "AP880901-0052", "title": "Forest Fires At-A-Glance", "abstract": "Here is a brief look at forest fire developments in the Western states:", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "forest fire developments;firefighters;western states"}
+{"name": "AP880902-0062", "title": "U.S. Pilot Parachutes To Safety After Military Jet Crashes in Japan", "abstract": "A U.S. military jet crashed today in a remote, forested area in northern Japan, but the pilot bailed out safely and was taken by helicopter to an American military base, officials said. The pilot of the F-16C, Maj. Wyman E. Vanedoe, was listed in good condition soon after the crash, the U.S. Forces Japan Media Liaison Office in Tokyo said. Vanedoe's home town was not immediately available, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Isao Teranagare, spokesman of Iwate Prefecture (state) Police, said the pilot was taken by a Japanese rescue helicopter to the U.S. Air Base at Misawa in northern Japan. No one else was aboard the fighter, he said. The U.S. aircraft, belonging to the 14th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Misawa, was on a routine training flight with two other F-16s in partly cloudy skies when it crashed in a forested area in Iwate, police said. Iwate is about 290 miles north of Tokyo. The cause of the crash was under investigation. On March 22, 1987, another F-16 crashed in the Pacific Ocean off Misawa, 360 miles north of Tokyo. In that crash, the pilot also bailed out and was rescued by a helicopter. The F-16, a powerful air-to-surface fighter, has a combat range of about 575 miles, according to Jane's ``All The World's Aircraft.'' About 50 F-16s are stationed at Misawa. Misawa is located about 440 miles south of a Soviet military base near Yuzhno Sakhalinsk on the island of Sakhalin.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "misawa;crash;northern japan;u.s. aircraft;f-16c;u.s. air base;pilot;military jet"}
+{"name": "AP880903-0092", "title": "Reagan Promises to Veto Welfare Reform Without Work Requirement", "abstract": "President Reagan warned Saturday that he will veto any welfare legislation Congress sends him that does not contain a work requirement. ``The best way to learn to work is to work,'' the president said in a Labor Day weekend radio address from his vacation ranch 20 miles north of here. Rep. Thomas J. Downey, D-N.Y., in the Democrats' response, said that quiring welfare recipients work may be necessary, but he said such requirements should be controlled by state and local welfare officials, not the federal government. Reagan mingled talk of welfare reform with celebration of his administration's economic record, saying Friday's unemployment figures showed that the jobless rate ``hovered just above the lowest it's been in 14 years.'' The figures from the Labor Department showed unemployment of 5.6 percent, up from 5.4 percent in July and from the May figure of 5.3 per cent, which was a 14-year low. ``But there are still some Americans whom our expansion has passed by _ those caught in the welfare trap,'' he said. To deal with this, he said, his administration launched a program encouraging states to come up with their own plans to get people off the welfare rolls. ``Nearly half of the states have implemented or proposed widespread welfare reform plans that build upon some good old common sense _ that the best way to learn to work is to work,'' the president said. ``Now, Congress appears to be close to a decision about welfare reform and I have a message for them,'' he said. ``I will not accept any welfare reform bill unless it is geared to making people independent of welfare.'' A House-Senate conference committee currently has before it a Senate-passed bill that contains a work requirement and a House-approved measure that does not. ``Any bill not built around work is not true welfare reform,'' the president said. ``If Congress presents me with a bill that replaces work with welfare expansion and that places the dignity of self-sufficiency through work out of the reach of Americans on welfare, I will use my veto pen.'' Downey said that while more people than ever before are working, ``the fact is that the typical worker in America is no better off today than he or she was 10 years ago; in fact things have gotten worse.'' The poorest 40 percent of American families, with incomes adjusted for inflation, are worse off today than they were 10 years ago; the richest 5 percent are better off than they were a decade ago; and 32.5 million Americans remain mired in poverty, he said. The House bill, with training and education programs as well as health and child-care benefits, would make welfare parents who work better off than those who do not, said Downey, acting chairman of the Ways and Means subcommittee on public assistance and unemployment compensation. ``Yes, requiring a welfare recipient to work may be necessary, but those requirements should be controlled by state and local officials who administer our welfare programs, not federal bureaucrats,'' Downey said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "americans;work requirement;welfare reform;president reagan;welfare programs;unemployment;welfare legislation"}
+{"name": "AP880913-0129", "title": "Two F-14 Jets Crash In Separate Accidents", "abstract": "Coast Guard and Navy aircraft and vessels today searched for a crewman missing from an F-14 jet fighter that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina while practicing combat maneuvers, killing his crewmate, officials said. Six people were injured in another F-14 crash Monday after two Navy aviators bailed out of their jet over an airfield in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon, sending it smashing into a hangar. And a pilot in Utah escaped injury today in a third military training flight in two days. The crash off Hatteras, N.C., occurred Monday afternoon 22 miles east of Oregon Inlet, the Navy said. A fishing boat picked up a crewman, who was pronounced dead. The identity of the dead aviator and his missing crewmate were not released pending notification of relatives. Five people, including the two Navy fliers, remained hospitalized today following the crash Monday morning in El Cajon 15 miles east of San Diego. The $35 million jet crashed upside down into hangars at Gillespie Field and exploded. The blaze ignited by the crash destroyed a hangar and an attached extension, but spared a nearby restaurant. Authorities said the two crewman tried to guide the jet to the runway at Gillespie Field before bailing out. Capt. Gary Hughes, commanding officer of Naval Air Station Miramar, said he was grateful there weren't more injuries, ``particularly when you're this close to El Cajon. It's a very populated area.'' The jet passed within a mile of an elementary school. ``I thought they were just doing tricks. And then we saw the parachutes,'' said Washington Moscuso, a sixth-grader at Ballantyne Elementary School. In the Atlantic accident, Lt. Cmdr. Mike John, a spokesman for the Navy's Atlantic Fleet air force in Norfolk, Va., said the plane was engaged in mock dogfights with another F-14 and an A-4 jet in restricted military airspace off the North Carolina coast. ``It was flying a routine training mission,'' John said. The cause of the crash was not determined, officials said. The aircraft sank soon after impact, John said. The twin-engine supersonic fighter was attached to Fighter Squadron 143 at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va. In northern Utah today, an F-16A jet fighter crashed west of Hill Air Force Base after the pilot bailed out, a base spokeswoman said. The aircraft, assigned to Hill's 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, was on a routine training mission. Spokeswoman Silvia Le Mons-Liddle said the plane went down about 25 miles west of the base about 9:05 a.m. MDT. She said the crash site was in or near the Promontory Mountains, which are on a peninsula jutting into the Great Salt Lake, but she declined to be more specific.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "navy aviators;navy aircraft;atlantic ocean;f-14 jet fighter;f-14 crash;injuries;pilot;atlantic accident"}
+{"name": "AP880913-0204", "title": "Hurricane Center Director Smooth in Rough Waters", "abstract": "Dealing with his first major hurricane as director of the National Hurricane Center, Bob Sheets wasn't skipping a beat Tuesday as a multitude of reporters fired questions at him. Sheets, who was acting director during the 1987 Atlantic hurricane season and was named director in March, spent most of the morning on the sixth floor of hurricane headquarters beside a large monitor showing the destructive Hurricane Gilbert sprawled across much of the western Caribbean. His schedule of interviews was timed to the minute. But Sheets, rosy-cheeked and good-natured, didn't so much as flinch in his seat. After all, he noted, ``I've flown into 200 hurricanes ... I really don't think this is difficult.'' The transition from former Director Neil Frank, widely known for his distinctive style and flattop haircut, to Sheets, his dark blond hair carefully coiffed and wearing a bright pink shirt with a gray wool-blend jacket, has been a smooth one. ``He knows his job very well and he's a calm personality,'' Vivian Jorge, the center's budget analyst, said of Sheets. On days with active tropical weather, Ms. Jorge steps in to coordinate media interviews. And interest in Gilbert has been high since it started packing hurricane-force winds over the weekend and by Tuesday afternoon became a Category 5 storm with winds of 160 mph and a central pressure of 26.66 inches. A Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of strength has winds in excess of 155 mph and pressure less than 27.17 inches and has the potential for causing catastrophic damage. ``This would be considered a `Great Hurricane,' '' said Sheets. ``It's certainly in the top 10 percent as far as intensity, size and destructive potential.'' Gilbert was being compared to the hurricane of 1935, which slammed into the Florida Keys and killed 600 people, and Hurricane Camille, which devastated the Mississippi coast in 1969, killing 256. Those are the only Category 5 storms which have made landfall this century. The last major hurricane to make landfall was Elena in 1985, along the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida Panhandle. The major television networks, local stations and newspapers media were on hand to monitor the hurricane, which could reach the Gulf of Mexico by Thursday, said Sheets. From there, it's anybody's guess where it will go, he said. ``It's a brand new ball game as far as the continental United States is concerned,'' said Sheets. The center's 33-member crew, including seven hurricane forecasters and specialists, are keeping a close watch of the hurricane in a large, open room of blue monitors flickering with color and non-color graphics. And while Sheets might appear to be spend most of his day with tiny microphones snaking down his back for TV interviews and fielding questions, he also writes most of the hurricane advisories issued every three hours and makes hurricane forecasts. Dealing with a major hurricane isn't much different from dealing with smaller ones or tropical storms, Sheets said, adding that Gilbert has been particularly ``well-behaved.'' ``It does what we think it's going to do ... You feel a lot more confident about what you're doing than with weaker systems,'' he said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "bob sheets;western caribbean;destructive hurricane gilbert;national hurricane center;hurricane headquarters;atlantic hurricane season;catastrophic damage"}
+{"name": "AP880914-0027", "title": "Gilbert: Third Force 5 Hurricane This Century", "abstract": "With the winds of Hurricane Gilbert clocked at 175 miles per hour, U.S. weather officials called Gilbert the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere. Mark Zimmer, a meterologist at the National Hurricane Center, reported an Air Force reconnaissance plane measured the barometric pressure at Gilbert's center at 26.13 inches at 5:52 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. Gilbert was barreling toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. ``That's the lowest pressure ever measured in the Western Hemisphere,'' Zimmer said. The previous record low pressure of 26.35 inches was set by the 1935 Labor Day hurricane that struck the Florida Keys with winds above 150 mph, killing 408 people, he said. With tropical storm force winds extending 250 miles north and 200 miles south of the hurricane's center, Gilbert also was one of the largest. But because the circumference of a hurricane changes so often during its course, no records are kept on their overall size, said center meterologist Jesse Moore. Hurricane Debby, which barely crossed the 74 mph threshold to hurricane strength before striking Mexico last month, was probably about half that size, Moore said. Gilbert is one of only three Category 5 storms in the hemisphere since weather officials began keeping detailed records. The others were the 1935 Labor Day hurricane and Hurricane Camille, which bulldozed the Mississippi Coast with 172 mph winds and a 28-foot wave in 1969, leaving $1.4 billion in damage and 256 dead. A 1900 hurricane is responsible for the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, however. That storm hit Galveston, Texas, Sept. 8 and killed more than 6,000 people. Category 5 storms have winds greater than 155 mph, barometric pressure of less than 27.17 inches and a storm surge higher than 18 feet. The storm surge _ a great dome of water that follows the eye of the hurricane across coastlines, bulldozing everything in its path _ accounts for nine out of 10 hurricane fatalities. Camille's storm surge was 25 feet high, but the hurricane center was forecasting a surge of only 8-12 feet for Gilbert, Zimmer said. The damage from these worst-case hurricanes is catastrophic _ shrubs and trees blown down, all street signs gone, roofs and windows blown away and shattered, and mobile homes destroyed. ``Moisture and heat are what drives the hurricane,'' Zimmer said. ``The engine itself is this tall chimney of warm, moist air in the center. If the atmospheric conditions in general allow this warm chimney to build to very high levels, 10-12 miles high, then you can have a severe hurricane.'' Category 4 storms cause extreme damage with winds from 131 to 155 mph, surge of 13-18 feet and pressure of 27.17 to 27.90. The weakest hurricanes, Category 1, cause minimal damage with winds of 74 to 95 mph, 4-5 foot surge and pressure at 28.94 or more.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "hurricane gilbert;barometric pressure;western hemisphere;intense hurricane;storm surge;hurricane fatalities;tropical storm force winds;national hurricane center"}
+{"name": "AP880914-0079", "title": "Sheets Smooth in Rough Waters", "abstract": "As Hurricane Gilbert's record-breaking fury sends Caribbean islanders scrambling for cover, National Hurricane Center Director Bob Sheets remained calm at his helm. The barometric pressure at the storm's center plummeted to 26.13 inches at 5:58 p.m. EDT Tuesday night, making Gilbert the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere in terms of barometric pressure, but Sheets handled a mob of reporters with ease. ``I've flown into 200 hurricanes. ... I really don't think this is difficult,'' he said. With his schedule of interviews timed to the minute, Sheets spent most of Tuesday on the sixth floor of hurricane headquarters beside a large monitor showing the destructive Gilbert in full color sprawled across much of the western Caribbean. Rosy-cheeked and good-natured, Sheets was named acting director during the 1987 Atlantic hurricane season and became director in March. The transition from former director Neil Frank, widely known for his distinctive style and flat-top haircut, to Sheets, his dark blond hair carefully coiffed and wearing a bright pink shirt with a gray wool-blend jacket, has been smooth. ``He knows his job very well and he's a calm personality,'' Vivian Jorge, the center's budget analyst, said of Sheets. On days with especially active tropical weather, Ms. Jorge steps in to coordinate media interviews. Interest in Gilbert has been high since it started packing hurricane-force winds last weekend and by Tuesday night became a Category 5 storm with winds of 175 mph. A Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale of strength has the potential for causing catastrophic damage with winds in excess of 155 mph and pressure below 27.17 inches. Gilbert has been compared to the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, which slammed into the Florida Keys and killed 408 people, and Hurricane Camille, which devastated the Mississippi coast in 1969, killing 256 _ the only other Category 5 storms to hit land this century. The last major hurricane to make landfall was Elena in 1985, along the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida Panhandle. The major television networks, local stations and print media were on hand to monitor the hurricane. The center's 33-member crew, including seven hurricane forecasters and specialists, are keeping a close watch on the hurricane in a large, open roomful of blue monitors flickering with graphics. And while Sheets might appear to spend most of his day with tiny microphones snaking down his back and fielding media questions, he also writes most of the hurricane advisories issued every three hours and makes hurricane forecasts. Dealing with a major hurricane isn't much different from dealing with smaller ones or tropical storms, Sheets said, adding that Gilbert has been particularly ``well-behaved.'' ``It does what we think it's going to do,'' he said. ``You feel a lot more confident about what you're doing than with weaker systems.'' His previous experience with hurricanes has served him well in keeping off the pressure during these sometimes 18-hour days. ``I've done this for 25 years so at one stage you're prepared to do it or not. ... I don't feel a lot of pressure,'' said Sheets, while eating lunch. Sheets said he remains in touch with his predecessor, Frank, but didn't get any special advice from his friend on dealing with his high-visibility post at the hurricane center here. What's Frank, now a television forecaster for Texas station KHOU-TV, doing now? ``He's getting geared up in Houston,'' said Sheets with a smile.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "hurricane gilbert;barometric pressure;hurricane-force winds;western hemisphere;intense hurricane;national hurricane center;destructive gilbert;category 5 hurricane;catastrophic damage"}
+{"name": "AP880926-0203", "title": "Third World Countries Urge Debt Relief", "abstract": "Third World countries led by Brazil, the world's most indebted developing nation, blamed the industrialized nations in part Monday for perpetuating their poverty. Foreign Minister Roberto de Abreau Sodre of Brazil told the opening session of the 42nd General Assembly that the Third World economic picture was dimming ``due to the lack of progress in international economic relations.'' ``It is ... sad to note that we, American, Asian, African brothers, still suffer from the same horrors and the same desolation which so badly affected our forebears,'' he said, adding, ``hunger ... is endemically spreading throughout the continents.'' A similar theme sounded Monday in West Berlin, where finance ministers of 22 developed or developing countries demanded ``more forceful action'' to help Third World countries repay $1.2 trillion in debts. Brazil, with $121 billion in foreign loans, has been among the strongest Third World lobbyists for debt restructuring and writeoffs. It signed a comprehensive rescheduling agrement last week with its Western creditors. It is critical of the U.S. view that strong economic performance in developed countries would trickle down to help the Third World. Foreign Affairs Secretary Obed Y. Asamoah of Ghana appealed to creditors to write off some debts and reschedule others. He urged nations to work together to raise commodity prices to strengthen African economies. ``In a market place where one group of operators is continually selling its wares cheaply and buying those of others dearly, protection needs be given to the weak and vulnerable operators,'' he said. Ghana had an estimated foreign debt last year of $2.8 billion. Officials of the seven key industrialized nations in the non-communist realm _ the United States, West Germany, Japan, Canada, France, Italy and Britain _ have approved a plan to aid the world's poorest nations, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. But Latin American countries also would like more help. Argentina's deputy foreign minister, Susana Ruiz Cerutti, called for a ``new strategy of global development,'' including debt forgiveness. Argentina has a $56 billion foreign debt. Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway said her country spends about 1.1 percent of its gross national product on loans and grants to developing countries, well above the average 0.34 percent by other developed countries. She urged other industrialized nations to increase financial aid, saying development and debt are related Third World crises. ``The industrialized countries of the North must now demonstrate that they see the poverty of the Third World as their common challenge,'' she said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "industrialized nations;debt restructuring;brazil;third world countries;42nd general assembly;international economic relations;foreign loans;foreign debt"}
+{"name": "AP880927-0089", "title": "Canadian Athlete Stripped Of Olympic Gold Medal For Steroid Use", "abstract": "Canadian Ben Johnson left the Olympics today ``in a complete state of shock,'' accused of cheating with drugs in the world's fastest 100-meter dash and stripped of his gold medal. The prize went to American Carl Lewis. Many athletes accepted the accusation that Johnson used a muscle-building but dangerous and illegal anabolic steroid called stanozolol as confirmation of what they said they know has been going on in track and field. ``Everybody uses drugs,'' said sprinter Horace Dove-Edwin of Sierra Leone. ``Give me a break ... they have everything. Human blood hormone, all kinds of drugs. Steroids is nothing anymore. It is just an itty-bitty drug. You can get it anywhere.'' Red-eyed and visibly distraught, Johnson's sister, Clare Rodney in suburban Toronto, refused to believe the accusation. ``If you could cut him into a million pieces and test him over again, my brother is not on drugs,'' she said. Two tests of Johnson's urine sample proved positive and his denials of drug use were rejected today. Neither a spiked sarsparilla in his track bag, as his coach suggested, nor a switched sample at the lab could have accounted for the levels of steroids found in the tests, officials said. In a middle-of-the-night meeting with Olympic and Canadian officials, family members, coach and manager, Johnson, 26, forfeited his most prized possession, the medal he'd had in his hands for only three days. The world's fastest human also was automatically suspended from international competition for two years and banned from Canada's national team for life. ``He appeared to be in a complete state of shock and not comprehending the situation,'' said Canada's chief of mission, Carol Anne Letheren. ``Ben was not able to discuss or articulate anything at that moment ... He was just not able to speak and it was a very difficult moment for all of us.'' A few hours later, he fled to the airport and boarded a plane to New York's Kennedy International Airport. Once there, he made his way through a crush of reporters without comment as some spectators applauded. He took a limousine to LaGuardia Airport for a flight to his Toronto home. ``This is a blow for the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement,'' said International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch. In Canada, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said the scandal was a ``personal tragedy for Ben and his family. It's also a moment of great sorrow for all Canadians.'' James Worrall, a Canadian member of the IOC, said Johnson ``has been killed'' as an athlete. He said the sprinter's once-favored status as a hero to many sports fans in Canada, his native Jamaica, and around the world now will be tarnished. Johnson's name will go down in Olympic history with other athletes who lost their gold medals, such as decathlete Jim Thorpe in 1912 because he played semi-pro baseball and swimmer Rick DeMont in 1972 because he took an asthma medicine. Lewis did not gloat over his rival's fall. ``I feel sorry for Ben and for the Canadian people,'' he said today. ``Ben is a great competitor and I hope he is able to straighten out his life and return to competition.'' He said he did not want ``to fuel this controversy'' by commenting further. After Saturday's race, though, Lewis had said he couldn't understand how Johnson could run as fast as he did after looking tired in qualifying heats. Lewis has previously alleged widespread drug use in track and field. Dr. Robert Dugal, a Canadian member of the IOC medical commission, called stanozolol ``one of the most dangerous anabolic steroids. It has the effect of leading to a number of disturbances of the liver, including cancer.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "gold medal;canadian ben johnson;100-meter dash;sprinter;olympics;drug use;illegal anabolic steroid;american carl lewis"}
+{"name": "AP880927-0117", "title": "Canadians Shamed By Johnson's Loss Of Medal", "abstract": "Canadians were shamed, angry and saddened Tuesday that national hero Ben Johnson was stripped of his Olympic gold medal for using drugs to enhance his performance. ``I feel terribly sad for him,'' said Fergus Kilmartin, 36, of Coquitlam, British Colombia. ``I don't believe he did it on purpose. He hasn't got the guile to do that.'' A disappointed nation awaited the return of the sprinter after a urine sample was found to contain traces of anabolic steroids. Canada's sole gold medal went to American Carl Lewis, who finished second in the 100-meter dash. ``It puts a dent in Canada,'' said Scott Shaw, a 10th grade student in Calgary, Alberta, said Tuesday. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who had thanked the Jamaican-born runner for the ``thrill of a lifetime'' after his record-breaking 9.79-second performance Saturday, called the drug scandal ``a moment of great sorrow for all Canadians.'' Sports Minister Jean Charest, who called the incident ``a national embarrassment,'' said Johnson will be banned from Canada's national team for life. Charest said his government accepted the validity of the tests and the suspension would be effective pending an appeal from Johnson. But Johnson's family was left confused and outraged by the turn of events. ``My brother is not guilty,'' a distaught Rodney told reporters in her yard in the Toronto suburb of Rexdale. ``If you could cut him into a million pieces and test him over again _ my brother is not on drugs.'' Outside the townhouse, police were called in to control the crowd and the traffic. Throughout Monday evening, local children attempted to raise a chorus of ``Ben! Ben! Ben!'' only to give up when the crowd would not respond. ``We've just seen the destruction of a role model,'' said former downhill skier Ken Read, of Calgary, now Canada's representative on the International Olympic Committee's athletics commission. It was the second shock to national sports fans in recent months. In August, fans were outraged when hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, another national hero, was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings. Some Canadian athletes expressed sympathy for Johnson. Mike Sokowski, a teammate at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, said: ``Ben's a pretty simple guy. Ben does not do drugs. He did not knowingly do this.'' Canadian speedskater Gaetan Boucher judged the sprinter harshly, saying he has ``no respect'' for an athlete who takes drugs. Boucher won two gold medals at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Charest acknowledged that it was suggested to him several months ago that Johnson might be using steroids. ``From time to time people would come to me in a private way _ and this happened one or two times ... that maybe Ben Johnson is using steroids or other drugs,'' he said. He said the allegations came from no one officially connected with the Olympic team and that he had heard similar, unfounded allegations about other atheletes in the past. Johnson was last tested in Canada in February at a Montreal laboratory. Charest said he didn't press Johnson to have a drug test because he thought the sprinter was aware that medal winners at the Olympics would be tested for drugs immediately following competition. ``Everybody knew in advance that Mr. Johnson, if he wins a medal, was going to be tested,'' said Charest.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "olympic gold medal;disappointed nation;american carl lewis;sprinter;ben johnson;canadians;drug scandal;anabolic steroids"}
+{"name": "AP880928-0054", "title": "Sprinter Returns To Canada", "abstract": "Ben Johnson spent his homecoming in seclusion, without the Olympic gold medal and the hero's welcome, as Canadians bemoaned the fate of the sprinter who failed the drug test. Returning to Canada on Tuesday, Johnson, 26, dodged reporters and the public, refusing to talk about the muscle-building and illegal steroid Stanzolol found in his system after he won the 100-meter dash as the world's fastest human. But on the flight from South Korea, he denied using the drugs even though Olympic officials said the results were indisputable. ``I got nothing to hide,'' Johnson told The Boston Globe during the flight to New York, where he then boarded another plane for Canada. ``I don't want to tell no names, but somebody's smiling today.'' ``It's not the only thing in life to win a gold medal,'' Johnson said. ``I still have my parents. My family still loves me.'' Stripped of the gold and banned for life from Canadian teams, Johnson cried in the back of a limousine that whisked him to his mother's home in suburban Toronto after the grueling trip from Seoul. ``There's no gold now, just disappointment,'' said Boyd Plaxton, 26, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, one of 200 people on hand when Johnson's plane landed. ``If he had come home with the gold in tact, there would have been a million people here,'' Plaxton said. Chaos spoiled a gilt-edged moment for a man who had run 100 meters in the fastest time ever, 9.79 seconds. Johnson, surrounded by a phalanx of security guards, ducked into a car and made a mad dash for the door when he arrived at the house. But he apparently forgot his key and had to return 20 minutes later with his shirt over his head. Johnson spent the 1 hour, 40 minute flight from New York in the plane's cockpit to avoid reporters. On the way to New York, however, he stayed in the passenger cabin, appearing calm throughout the flight, the Globe said. As passengers realized who he was, some sought autographs. A group of flight attendants swarmed around Johnson for a photo. ``First I was shocked, but after a while, I don't care,'' Johnson said when asked what he felt after he was informed he had failed the drug test. In Canada, a parade in his adopted hometown was canceled, and promoters backed out of deals or announced their ties with the sprinter would expire quietly. Sports Minister Jean Charest said Johnson had tested negative for drugs in August and had passed eight tests in two years. He called the stripping of the medal a ``national embarrassment.'' Johnson's family and close friends also denied he took steroids ``I know my son doesn't take drugs. I know he hasn't done it. I know it,'' said his father, Ben Johnson Sr., from Falmouth, Jamaica, in an interview with the Toronto Globe and Mail. ``Ben loved mom too much to discredit her in any way,'' said his sister, Claire Rodney, of suburban Toronto. Johnson had dedicated his gold to his mother, Gloria, and the Canadian people. It was surrendered to Canadian Olympic officials before the family left South Korea on Monday. ``Right now he's just relieved to be resting at home. He wants to be with people who love him now, not the hypocrites who abandoned him,'' Ms. Rodney said outside her mother's house. ``He looks great. Being at home is the best medicine for him,'' said Ms. Rodney. ``My brother is not a druggie.'' His personal physician, Dr. George Astaphan, also said no steroids were dispensed. ``I never gave him any, and he never told me he took any,'' Astaphan said in an interview in a baggage claim area. Hundreds of Canadians rallied to the sprinter's side. Police escorted a woman to the door of Johnson's mother's home so she could deliver a card with more than 1,000 signatures from Canadians ``who sympathized with your personal devastation.'' In Toronto, a group of restaurant employees chipped in about $350 to charter a plane that circled the city with a banner proclaiming: ``We believe you, Ben.'' In Montreal, Johnson's fans said they were disappointed. ``The last flicker of hope just died,'' said Danny Planetta, who was watching TV at a bar when he heard Monday night that Johnson had tested positive for steroids. ``When he won, we won and we were raving about it ... The guy was a hero and now he is just a big disappointment.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "olympic gold medal;100-meter dash;sprinter;disappointment;ben johnson;homecoming;drug test;illegal steroid stanzolol;canadians"}
+{"name": "AP880928-0146", "title": "Loss Of Johnson's Gold Wounds Canadian Pride", "abstract": "The stripping of Ben Johnson's Olympic gold medal in a drug scandal has wounded Canadian pride and shamed a nation hungry for a hero to replace hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky. ``It's like Wayne Gretzky getting run over by a car,'' said Pat Reid, the Canadian high-jump coach. The spirit of a nation raced with Johnson when he won the gold medal in the 100 meters on Saturday with a world record time of 9.79 seconds. The euphoria was dashed when Johnson tested positive for stanzolol, a muscle-building steroid outlawed by Olympic officials. He was stripped of the medal Tuesday. Dr. George Astaphan, Johnson's personal physician, and Larry Heidebrecht, Johnson's agent, insisted the sprinter had not taken stanzolol. ``The only thing we can say is that it is a tragedy, a mistake or sabotage,'' Heidebrecht said. Johnson, a 26-year-old Jamaican transplant, waved the Canadian flag in triumph and dedicated his gold to his mother and all Canadian citizens. He returned home with a jacket over his head, hurdling a hedge to duck reporters after flying home from New York in the seclusion of a jet cockpit. It was unheroic conduct for the world's fastest human, who had been awarded the Order of Canada and a medal from Queen Elizabeth at the Commonwealth Games. Johnson's disgrace was heralded in Canadian headlines such as ``Fool's Gold,'' ``Black Day For Canada,'' ``Seconds Of Glory, Years Of Shame,'' ``From Fame To Shame,'' and ``Big Ben is Now Has-Ben.'' ``We're feeling low. Some of us don't want to accept what happened,'' said John Furedy, a psychologist at the University of Toronto, in assessing the mational psyche. ``We all share some of the responsibility in the sense that we put such tremendous pressure on these people,'' Furedy said. Trent Frayne, sports columnist for the Globe and Mail of Toronto, said Johnson's victory was the biggest event in Canada since a national team beat the Soviet Union in a seven-game hockey series in 1972. The drug scandal brought the same sickening feeling to the nation as did Gretzky's trade to the Los Angeles Kings. ``There was enormous exhilaration. Then 72 hours later, there was this roller coaster ride to the bottom,'' Frayne said. ``The Ben Johnson episode is a tragedy of shocking proportions.'' ``It's as if an entire country has gone into a period of national mourning on his behalf,'' wrote columnist John Robertson of the Toronto Star. Canadian youth took the news hard. ``We look up to the guy. I guess we don't look up to him anymore,'' said Craig Brown, 13, of Toronto. ``He's letting all his fans down. He let Canada down,'' said Donny Clarke, 12. Canada has always tried to escape the influence of the United States, where its dollar is worth 80 cents. Now it has forfeited its only gold medal of the Olympics. ``He has left Canadians hanging their heads in shame,'' wrote the Corner Brook Western Star. ``He tarnished the name and reputation of Canada and let its people down,'' said the Fredickton Gleaner. But columnist Gary Lautens of the Toronto Star said the nation should not cover its head in shame. ``What Johnson did was wrong. It's cheating. It's believing the end justifies the means, it's looking for an unfair edge,'' Lautens said. ``But it is also just a foot race. It's time somebody reminded us nobody tried to peddle arms for hostages, nobody shot down a civilian airliner, nobody booby-trapped a home.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "stripping;olympic gold medal;sprinter;ben johnson;stanzolol;drug scandal;canadians"}
+{"name": "AP881009-0072", "title": "Fellow Olympian Says She And Johnson Took Steroids", "abstract": "Ben Johnson knowingly took steroids and those close close to the runner also were aware of it, fellow Canadian Olympic sprinter Angella Issajenko was quoted as saying in an interview published Sunday. Johnson _ stripped of his Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter final after he tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol _ also was taking steroids when he set a world sprint record last summer in Rome, the Toronto Star newspaper quoted Ms. Issajenko as saying. Ms. Issajenko, who also competed in the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, was quoted as saying she also took the muscle-building drug. The Olympics, which began Sept. 17, ended Oct. 2. Later, her husband Tony said Ms. Issajenko denied saying she and Johnson took steroids. The Toronto Star said Sunday that it stood by its story. Ms. Issajenko previously accused a therapist of giving her and Johnson steroids without their knowledge but later retracted the statement. Ms. Issajenko in the interview claimed Dr. George Mario (Jamie) Astaphan provided steroids and monitored the program with the knowledge of Charlie Francis, coach of the Mazda Optimist Track Club, which she and Johnson belong to. ``I just don't care any more,'' Ms. Issajenko was quoted as saying. ``I'm fed up with all the bull. ... Ben takes steroids. I take steroids. Jamie (Astaphan) gives them to us and Charlie isn't a scientist but he knows what's happening.'' Johnson, 26, says he has never knowingly taken illegal drugs while Astaphan has said he has never administered stanozolol _ the banned steroid found in the runner's urine sample after his world record 100-meter run at the Olympics. Francis, meanwhile, has said the test result ``defies all logic'' and could only be explained ``by deliberate manipulation of the testing process.'' Ms. Issajenko, 30, was quoted as saying she had first-hand knowledge Johnson received steroids from Astaphan from 1984 to 1986 but ``Ben was going on his own to Jamie after that.'' She also said Astaphan was administering steroids to Johnson when he set a 9.83-second world record in the 100-metre sprint at the world championships in Rome. Johnson's Seoul run lowered that mark to 9.79 seconds. Ms. Issajenko, the Canadian 100- and 200-metre champion, said she has been threatened since she has come forward with her accusations against the Jamaican-born Johnson. After Johnson tested positive for steroids at the Olympics, Ms. Issajenko said therapist Waldemar Matuszewski had ``tampered'' with her and Johnson. Ms. Issajenko claimed the therapist had put anabolic steroids in the rubbing compound he used to massage their muscles. The story was called ``nonsense'' by Canadian Olympic track physician Dr. Robert Luba and Issajenko later retracted her charges against Matuszewski. The federal government has appointed Ontario Associate Chief Justice Charles Dubin to head a judicial inquiry into the Ben Johnson affair. Astaphan and Francis could not be immediately reached for comment.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "angella issajenko;steroid stanozolol;olympic gold medal;100-metre sprint;ben johnson;canadian olympic sprinter;illegal drugs"}
+{"name": "AP881017-0235", "title": "Gigantic Tunnel Project Inches Toward Joining England and France", "abstract": "A colossal tunneling machine is boring beneath the English Channel from the white cliffs of Dover, pursuing a dream born in Napoleon's time that is coming true at last. Another is digging from the French coast in what the tunnel builders call the largest civil engineering project now under way in the world. The 31-mile tunnel, 24 miles of it underwater, will cut the London-Paris journey from six hours to three, as fast as a scheduled airline. It will enable freight to travel on one train instead of being shifted to trucks for a cross-channel ferry trip subject to weather and shipping strikes. Tunneling speed at the Dover end is less than 15 feet an hour and the machine boring from the geologically more complex French end moves even slower, which is why the tunnel will not open until 1993. For continental Europeans, accustomed to long-distance rail travel, the tunnel is but a small spur on a vast network stretching to Moscow and beyond. For the British, the change wrought by what many call the ``chunnel'' will be enormous. Some wonder whether Britain will be ready for it. ``People still question whether the tunnel will be complete in May 1993 and that's ridiculous,'' says Kathy Watson, co-author of a book on the project. ``They're still arguing about whether it will introduce rabies into this country, or let in terrorists.'' ``They discuss it in terms of their being an island race, with a channel that has kept out invaders,'' she said in an interview. State-owned British Rail will not commit itself to building a high-speed link from London to the tunnel in time to make the three-hour journey a reality in 1993. It intends instead to improve existing tracks. Eurotunnel, the Anglo-French consortium that will own the tunnel, is urging British Rail to speed its plans. Critics say the tangle of commuter lines in southeast England, so obsolete that trains can be delayed by a sudden fall of autumn leaves, will delay tunnel traffic. The consortium forecasts 16.5 million passengers in 1993 but the railroad says that figure will not be reached before 1998. Arriving channel trains will terminate at Waterloo station in south London, at a large customs and immigration terminal. Critics say this will waste time and Britain should follow the continental practice of handling such matters on the train during the journey. British stations, bridges and tunnels are not built for the tall loads commonly carried across the channel. That means many loads will have to be repacked or transferred to trucks unless the facilities are rebuilt. The grandiose project has been on and off the drawing boards for more than 200 years. Napoleon wanted to bore a tunnel in 1802 but Britain's generals warned him off. Digging began in 1882 but was halted by British fears of French invasion through the tunnel. Britain's entry into the European Economic Community engendered a spirit of unity and the digging began again in 1974, but two years later a new British government shelved the project. With trade barriers among the 12 EEC countries set to fall in 1992, Colin Kirkland, technical director of Eurotunnel's on the British side, says the tunnel will be completed this time. He says the entire cost of 5.2 billion pound ($8.8 billion) project is privately financed and cancellation would cost the governments ``enormous penalties'' to shareholders. Also, the governments signed a tunnel treaty in February 1986 and both would have to agree to cancellation. ``There's no way that politicians will cancel this project,'' Kirkland said in an interview. ``It's quite difficult to get one government to agree. To get two is bloody nigh impossible.'' Money's power to move the tunnel forward was demonstrated in August, when drilling fell behind schedule. Eurotunnel ordered a management shakeup and threatened Trans-Manche Link, the consortium of 10 British and French engineering companies building the tunnel, with penalties of $25 million if the diggers did not pass the three-mile mark by Nov. 1. From a a rate of 380 feet a week, the pace quickly accelerated and recently achieved a week's record of 480 feet, Kirkland said. The timetable calls for 650 feet a week and Kirkland is confident of reaching it. The tunnel, 80-130 feet below the seabed, was 2 miles into the channel from this end Oct. 9, the most recent measurement available, and the French had progressed about 1,300 feet. Digging began last December. At its peak, the project will employ about 11,000 workers and 11 tunneling machines. Construction of the two one-way train tunnels begins in December. A smaller service tunnel running between them now is being dug. Tunneling machines simultaneously dig, remove rock and put up tunnel walls. With a laser beam to keep the driver on course, the 700-foot-long behemoth creeps along, pressing curved slabs of Scottish granite and pulverized ash into the newly exposed tunnel wall. In an emergency like flooding, the cylindrical head of the machine can expand to become a cork, blocking off the water and spraying concrete into the cavity to seal the leak. Once the all-clear is given, the two-story-high rotating blade with its tungsten teeth resumes chewing ahead. Because the machines are too large to be removed, when the digging is complete they will be rolled aside and walled in. The tunnels are to be completed in 1991, then the railroad tracks will be laid. Eurotunnel will run shuttle trains once every three minutes at peak times between terminals near Folkestone and Calais, and British Rail and the Frenh state railroad will operate trains from London and Paris. Cars and trucks will drive onto the shuttle trains and be able to stay in their vehicles or stroll about during the 35-minute tunnel passage.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "french coast;freight;english channel;tunnel builders;tunnel traffic;cross-channel ferry trip;london-paris journey;31-mile tunnel;tunneling speed;channel trains;british fears"}
+{"name": "AP881018-0136", "title": "Hurricane Joan Continues Unusual Path Through Caribbean", "abstract": "Hurricane Joan's 80 mph winds churned across the open Caribbean today on an unusual southern path that has forecasters puzzling over its potential strength and possible landfall. There was a report that the storm left 50 people dead or missing in a town in Colombia the day before. ``Joan is one of a kind,'' said Jim Gross, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center. ``You just don't see many hurricanes that take this course and hug the coast.'' In Colombia, an official of the state of Bolivar in the northern part of the country said the storm triggered flooding in the town of Carmen de Bolivar, about 360 miles north of the capital of Bogota. Water roared down three gullies in the town as the storm passed Monday, Victor Leon Mendoza, a state government administrator, told the Colombian radio chain RCN. ``Preliminary reports from the mayor's office indicate that about 50 persons are dead or missing'' in the town, he said. At noon EDT today, Joan's center was near latitude 11.1 north and longitude 76.3 west, about 70 miles west of the Colombian coast and about 380 miles east of the island of San Andres off the coast of Nicaragua. The hurricane was moving west at 10 mph and was expected to continue that motion through today. Panama issued a hurricane watch for its north coast, and Colombia issued a hurricane watch for San Andres, which is part of Colombia even though it is located close to Nicaragua. Joan, the Atlantic season's fifth hurricane, is expected to bring 4 to 8 inches of rain along its path. As a tropical storm with 45 mph winds, Joan slowly built its strength as it skimmed Colombia's coast, baffling forecasters who had predicted it to weaken. It reached hurricane force Monday night and its center began to become better defined, a sign the system could intensify over open water into the western Caribbean, forecasters said. On its present path, it would be at least 48 hours before the main part of the hurricane reached Central America, Gross said late Monday. Gross said a strong high-pressure system over the northern Caribbean is keeping Joan on its course. Normally, prevailing winds and upper-level atmospheric conditions push tropical storms northward as they move from the Atlantic, said Gross. Also, he said hurricanes are often sapped of strength in the far southern Caribbean due to trade winds that push colder deep-ocean water to the surface, said Gross. Joan became the 10th named storm of the 1988 Atlantic hurricane season when top winds passed 39 mph on Oct. 11. Hurricane strength is 74 mph. Gilbert, the most devastating hurricane in recent years, left more than 300 people dead and caused billions of dollars damage as it tore through Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula last month. The six-month hurricane season ends Nov. 30.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "atlantic hurricane season;hurricane force;open caribbean;colombia;panama;tropical storms;hurricane watch;hurricane joan"}
+{"name": "AP881126-0007", "title": "Hormone Found in Diabetics May Play Role in Disease, Researcher Says", "abstract": "Further study of a newly isolated hormone found in the pancreases of diabetics may lead to new treatments for the most common form of the disease, a scientist says. ``We have a lot of evidence that this is likely to be, if not the final cause, at least a major part of the disease process,'' said New Zealand biochemist Garth Cooper. The research ``opens the door to the scientific study of the disease at a level that wasn't possible before and potentially the mechanisms that we uncover may be very wide ranging,'' he said. Cooper, who has been working with scientists at Oxford University, described the hormone research this week at the 13th International Diabetes Federation Congress in Sydney, Australia. In his presentation, Cooper said the hormone, dubbed ``amylin,'' was normally undetectable but found in high levels in the pancreases of diabetics. Amylin appears to be responsible for the obesity, reduced insulin secretion and the reduced effectiveness of insulin observed in Type II diabetes, he said. Currently, obesity is considered a major contributor to the disease rather than a result of it. Insulin normally controls the level of blood sugar. In Type II diabetes, also called non-insulin-dependent diabetes, the body's insulin is not effective and blood sugar levels rise too high. Complications can include kidney disease, blindness, and gangrene that requires amputations. Type II diabetes afflicts the majority of the nation's estimated 11 million diabetics, according to the American Diabetes Association. It often can be controlled through diet and exercise. Cooper said researchers hope to develop substances that block amylin's secretion or action, opening the possibility of treatment. He also said reseachers hope to develop a test to detect diabetes very early in its development. The new work is ``a very important finding'' if amylin truly blocks insulin and appears in abnormal amounts in diabetics, F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, an authority on Type II diabetes, said Friday. Scientists already knew of another pancreatic hormone that blocks insulin, but it is not found in abnormal levels in diabetics, said Pi-Sunyer, director of the endocrinology, diabetes and nutrition division at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "obesity;blood sugar levels;diabetics;american diabetes association;disease process;pancreatic hormone;amylin;new treatments;insulin secretion;hormone research"}
+{"name": "AP881206-0114", "title": "B-52 Bomber Crashes In Michigan; Crew Survives", "abstract": "A B-52 bomber crashed and burst into flames early today on a runway while practicing ``touch-and-go'' landings at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, officials said. All eight crew members survived. The plane, normally equipped to carry nuclear bombs, crashed about 1:15 a.m., said Lt. Naomi Siegal, a spokeswoman at the Strategic Air Command installation. No weapons were aboard, said Lt. Col. George Peck, a spokesman for SAC headquarters in Omaha, Neb. The crew was practicing landings after a seven-hour training flight when it crashed during one of its touch-and-go approaches, Peck said. During such maneuvers, landing gears touch the ground but the plane doesn't land. All three sections of the plane burned on impact, said Senior Airman Tim Sanders, a base spokesman. The crew members crawled or were helped out of the front section of the aircraft, he said. They were taken to Marquette General and base hospitals. Members of the crew suffered broken bones, but no one was burned, said Capt. Paul Bicking, another Sawyer spokesman. Senior Airman Tim Sanders, another base spokesman, said those aboard were Capt. Mark Hartney, 29, an aircraft commander from Mulberry, Fla.; 1st Lt. Michael S. Debruzzi, 26, a pilot from New Brighton, Minn.; Capt. Anthony D. Phillips, 28, a radar navigator from Folkston, Ga.; 1st Lt. James W. Herrmann, 30, a navigator from Sharpsville, Pa.; 1st Lt. Daniel McCarrick, 25, an electronic warfare officer from Succasunna, N.J.; Airman 1st Class, Joseph A. Vallie, 20, a gunner from Stephenson, Mich.; Maj. William R. Kroeger, 52, an instructor pilot from Fountain Hills, Ariz.; and 1st Lt. Gregory C. Smith, 26, an upgrade pilot from Henning, Minn. All were based at Sawyer. Ann Parent, a spokeswoman for Marquette General Hospital, said Hartney and Debruzzi were in fair condition, Phillips and Vallie were in stable condition, McCarrick was in satisfactory condition and Kroeger was in serious condition. Herrmann and Smith were listed in stable condition at the base hospital, said Technical Sgt. Anita Bailey. Hartney was the aircraft commander, but Debruzzi also was qualified to fly the plane, Bailey said. She did not know who was at the controls at the time of the crash. ``We are counting our blessings,'' Bailey said. ``You can put parts of a plane back together, but you cannot put people back together.'' The accident was classified as the most serious kind, and all aircraft exercises at Sawyer were canceled even though runways other than the one where the crash occurred remained open, Bailey said. Peck said a board of officers will investigate the accident, adding weather did not appear to be a factor in the crash. Peck said it was not unusual for B-52 training missions to be out at that hour. ``Crews have to be trained to fly at any time of the day or night in any weather,'' he said. The eight-engine B-52, which was deployed in the early 1950s, is the military's biggest bomber, with a wingspan of 185 feet and a maximum takeoff weight of 488,000 pounds. The last B-52 was commissioned in 1962. In other accidents involving B-52s, a bomber was damaged when a pilot aborted a takeoff and overshot a runway at Castle Air Force Base in central California on Feb. 11. No one was injured. A B-52 bomber with radar problems crashed in Arizona'a Monument Valley in October 1984, killing two crew members, after its wings clipped a mesa. The Air Force has had more trouble recently with the B-52's successor, the B-1B bomber. Although smaller than the B-52, the B-1B can fly at supersonic speeds and carry more bombs. Four B-1Bs have crashed in the four years the plane has been flying, including two nine days apart in November. One of the $280 million B-1Bs was destroyed after smashing onto a runway at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., during a training flight on Nov. 17. On Nov. 8, a B-1B crashed and burned in a field near Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. No one was killed in either crash and investigators have not disclosed what caused the accidents. Six crewmen died and 10 were injured Oct. 11 when an Air Force tanker en route from K.I. Sawyer crashed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base near Oscoda. The Air Force's investigation of the crash is incomplete. Wurtsmith and Sawyer are Michigan's two SAC bases.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "crash;b-52 bomber;training flight;crew members;pilot;k.i. sawyer air force base"}
+{"name": "AP881210-0115", "title": "Official: US Jet Crash Will Erode Support For Defense", "abstract": "A top West German military official said Saturday that the fiery crash of a U.S. Air Force jet that killed six people will further erode popular support for national defense programs. In the city of Remscheid, fire brigade leader Berthold Hoehler said the body of a construction worker was pulled from the rubble of a house destroyed in the accident, raisng the death toll from the accident to six. Seven people hurt in Thursday's accident remained in critical condition, he said. Later Saturday, at least 4,000 people took part in a torchlight vigil and procession in downtown Remscheid to remember the victims and to demand an end to low-level flight training missions. A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II jet tore a swath of destruction through a working-class neighborhood in the central West German city of Remscheid. Rescue workers continued to comb the debris Saturday, as work crews tore down the remains of demolished houses. In an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, the inspector general of West Germany's military said the crash was certain to have a serious impact on already sinking public support for defense issues. ``We are in a very difficult psychological situation,'' Dieter Wellershoff was quoted as saying. Wellershoff was referring to recent polls indicating dwindling public support for defense spending and increasing dissatisfaction over disruptive and often deadly military training maneuvers. ``I am alarmed that many West Germans have lost sight of the hard facts (of defense realities) in their hopes for continued peace,'' which hinge on West Germany's and NATO's security preparedness, he said. West Germany, a staunch NATO ally, borders East Germany and Czechoslovakia, thus putting it on the front lines of the East-West struggle. Wellershoff's comments were to appear in the newspaper's Sunday editions. The text of the interview was telexed in advance to other news media. West Germany's skies are crowded with hundreds of jets and helicopters each day. A series of deadly accidents has fueled growing calls for a halt to or drastic reductions in low-level training flights. Even before Thursday's fatal crash, 12 major accidents of military aircraft had killed 95 people this year alone. They included 70 people who died as a result of an air show crash at the U.S. base in Ramstein in August. Following the Remscheid crash, temporary suspensions of low-level training missions were ordered. The U.S. Air Force said in a statement Saturday that the pilot of the A-10 ``inadvertently flew into clouds'' while attempting to join in close formation with another aircraft. The Air Force statement, quoting Maj. Gen. Marcus A. Anderson, said the pilot ``then initiated a separation maneuver as is normal if two aircraft in formation lose visual contact.'' The statement said the lead aircraft climbed above the clouds, but that the second A-10 ``continued in a descent.'' ``We do not know why,'' Anderson said in the statement. West German military officials have speculated that the pilot may have become disoriented when he tried to climb out of the bad weather. Witnesses on the ground, however, have said they saw one of the jet's two engines on fire before it crashed.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "military aircraft;remscheid;u.s. air force a-10 thunderbolt;low-level training flights;pilot;fatal crash;west german;deadly accidents;fiery crash"}
+{"name": "AP881211-0027", "title": "Agriculture Committee Plans Hearings on Handling of Forest Fires", "abstract": "The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee says hearings are planned next year into how the U.S. Forest Service handled last summer's stubborn wildfires that scorched the West, including one-third of Yellowstone National Park. ``The major problem is that in speaking to people from the area, you speak to two and you get three opinions,'' says Rep. Kika de la Garza, a Texas Democrat. ``The best thing to do is to sit down and have them all put it on the record and then sift through what happened and see if anything needs to be done.'' De la Garza said the hearings would focus on forest fire practices, and ``can a catastrophe of that nature be avoided or was it a catastrophe?'' ``I was in Montana and I visited with some people and I have some concern over some of the practices of the Forest Service,'' de la Garza said in an interview last week. The hearings will focus on fire fighting policies, rehabilitation of charred areas and on scientific research being done on the summer fires, said a subcommittee staff member. De la Garza says the committee also plans dozens of hearings nationwide in preparation for the 1990 Farm Bill and will look at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's response to this year's drought-relief legislation. The committee will consider a uniform pesticide labeling law and legislation to protect ground water from agricultural pesticides and fertilizers, de la Garza said. De la Garza said he hopes the House Interior Committee, which has jurisdiction over the National Park Service, and the Agriculture subcommittee on forests, with jurisdiction over the U.S. Forest Service, will hold joint hearings on last summer's wildfires, the worst in a century. The U.S. Forest Service said 5 million acres were charred in the raging blazes, including 706,000 acres in Yellowstone. The Forest and National Park Service spent a combined $300 million fighting the summer fires, the Forest Service said. The most severe were in and around Yellowstone and Alaska, although there were fires in the South, California and the Pacific Northwest. Drought conditions, high winds and a ``tremendous build-up'' of tinder, in Yellowstone in particular, helped make the 1988 fires the worst in a hundred years, officials said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "yellowstone national park;joint hearings;stubborn wildfires;fire fighting policies;house agriculture committee;forest fire practices;summer fires;u.s. forest service"}
+{"name": "AP881216-0017", "title": "Proposed Moratorium On `Let It Burn' Policy Likely To End By May", "abstract": "A recommended halt to the government's ``let it burn'' forest fire policy probably would be over by the start of the Western fire season next spring, according to the co-chairman of a panel that suggested the moratorium. The panel, in recommendations Thursday to the secretaries of agriculture and interior, said there were environmental benefits to allowing fires in national parks and wilderness areas to burn. Experts say fire renews forests, giving new species a chance to grow, encouraging wildlife and recycling nutrients. But it also said that ``in some cases the social and economic effects'' of allowing a forest fire to burn ``may be unacceptable.'' The panel suggested a temporary halt to the ``let it burn'' policy, saying the Forest Service and the National Park Service needed more time to refine their fire management plans. ``My guess is that the moratorium would be finished by the beginning of the Western fire season, which is the middle of May,'' Charles Philpot, co-chairman of the review panel, told a news conference. The panel was assembled last September after the worst fire season ever in drought-primed Yellowstone National Park. Some 249 fires seared 706,278 acres within the park boundaries and 40 percent as much again in nearby national forests. Residents in the fire vicinity complained bitterly that the park, tourism and the very air they breathed were being ruined by the failure to control the fires. The review team was asked to look at policies throughout the national parks and wilderness areas, not just Yellowstone. However, it did not consider policies in other areas such as ordinary national forests, where the Forest Service tries to protect commercial timbering operations. The panel's report will remain open for public comment for 60 days before any recommendations are adopted. The report said no fires in national parks and wilderness areas should be allowed to burn until government fire management plans are improved and strengthened. It said actual fire management plans often have not spelled out when natural fires would be allowed to burn and when they would be put out. The agencies involved should make sure that fire management plans conform to departmental policies, that employees understand the policies, that everybody is using a common vocabulary and that agencies have agreed beforehand what to do if fires threaten to move across administrative boundaries, the report said. ``No ... natural fires are to be allowed until fire management plans meet these standards,'' the report said. Plans should consider the effects of prolonged drought, fuel moisture content and the possibility that multiple fires will tie up fire-fighting resources, the report said. Another recommendation called for the responsible agency official to ``certify in writing daily that adequate resources are available to ensure'' that every natural fire will be kept within boundaries set by government authorities.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "forest fire policy;panel;natural fires;fire management plans;national forests;recommended halt;western fire season"}
+{"name": "AP881222-0089", "title": "Summary of Crash Developments", "abstract": "Here, at a glance, are developments today involving the crash of Pan American World Airways Flight 103 Wednesday night in Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed all 259 people aboard and more than 20 people on the ground:", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "pan american world airways flight 103;crash;radical palestinian faction;terrorist threats;widespread wreckage;lockerbie;bomb threat;sabotage;terrorist bombing"}
+{"name": "AP881222-0119", "title": "Unusual Ocean Temperatures May Have Played Part in 1988 Drought", "abstract": "Some of this year's drought in the Midwest may have been caused by ocean temperature abnormalities near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, according to a new computer study reported Thursday. Such droughts could be anticipated if the temperature abnormalities turn out to be predictable, one of the authors said in the report appearing in Friday's issue of Science magazine. The authors are Kevin E. Trenberth and Grant W. Branstator of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., and Phillip A. Arkin of the Climate Analysis Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Camp Springs, Md. They noted that when asked what caused the drought that hit much of North America in 1988, meteorologists often reply ``the jet stream was displaced northward of its usual position so that storms, which tend to track along the path of the jet stream, were similarly displaced northward.'' ``Such an answer is, however, just a brief description of the weather patterns associated with the drought but does not get at the cause. A more satisfying response would address why the jet stream was displaced northward,'' the team wrote. Their proposed answer focuses on the development in April, May and June of drought in the Midwest, where several states recorded less rain than at any time since 1895. By July the weather pattern they studied was breaking up, and continuing dryness in the study area and elsewhere probably had other causes, Arkin said. But during the April-June period there were alternating high and low pressure centers across much of the northern half of the Western Hemisphere: A high-pressure center north of Hawaii, a low in the Gulf of Alaska, a high in central Canada extending down into the northern Great Plains states and a low on the East Coast. In this period, Pacific Ocean temperatures ranged up to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit below normal in a narrow band extending about 4,000 miles along the equator westward from the coast of South America, with the coolest spot midway along the band. At the same time, a bit to the north of this band, surface temperatures ranged up to 0.9 degrees above normal. When this temperature pattern was fed into the computer, the pattern of stationary alternating high and low pressure systems was reproduced. The below-normal equatorial temperature by itself did not give such a result. ``We haven't proved anything; all we've done is shown that it's a possibility,'' Arkin said. The global atmosphere is so complicated that repeated running of a more detailed computer model would be needed to show that these abnormal temperatures are likely to be associated with drought, he said. If the model holds up, the work will be the first demonstration of tropical sea surface temperatures affecting weather outside the tropics in the summer, Arkin said. The authors took note of computer models predicting increased frequency of drought with the buildup of the ``greenhouse effect'' global warming caused by accumulation of gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. ``The greenhouse effect may tilt the balance such that conditions for droughts and heat waves are more likely, but it cannot be blamed for an individual drought,'' they said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "new computer study;atmospheric research;midwest;weather patterns;temperature abnormalities;droughts;ocean temperature abnormalities;pacific ocean temperatures"}
+{"name": "AP881222-0126", "title": "U.S. A10 Attack Jet Crashes in England", "abstract": "A U.S. Air Force A-10 attack jet crashed and burned in Britain this morning while on a routine training flight. The Pentagon said the pilot might have ejected safely. It was the second crash of a Thunderbolt jet in Europe in two weeks. Another A-10 crashed Dec. 8 in Tracy, Ariz. Dan Howard, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, originally identified the plane as an A-10 aircraft from the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters, England. The Air Force later corrected that statement, saying the A-10 was assigned to the 10th Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Alconbury. Howard said the plane ``crashed at 9:53 a.m. EST about four miles south of St. Ives, or about 25 miles north of Cambridge.'' ``The pilot ejected and his chute was sighted but we don't know his status,'' Howard said. The aircraft was carrying ``dummy bombs and practice 33mm ammunition,'' the spokesman said. He said he had no information about damage on the ground. The A-10, a twin-engine jet designed to support troops by killing enemy tanks and other ground targets, is an older model plane designed to be highly maneuverable at low speeds and low altitude and to carry a lot of bombs and ammunition. The Thunderbolt II is also one of the safest planes, statistically, in the Air Force inventory. Nonetheless, today's crash comes just two weeks to the day after another A-10 slammed into the West German city of Remscheid, killing five and injuring dozens. That crash prompted the United States and its NATO allies to agree to suspend all A-10 flights over West Germany until Jan. 2. The suspension was ordered as German political parties and public interest groups increased their demands for an end to low-level flight training in Germany. On the same day as the crash in Remscheid, an A-10 crashed near the heart of the Tohono O'Odham Indian Reservation, about 80 miles west of Tuscon, but the pilot ejected safely. Howard refused today to discuss the possible cause of the crash in England, saying the Pentagon was still awaiting initial reports from the scene and confirmation that the pilot survived. The Thunderbolt first flew in 1975 and became operational with the Air Force in 1977. The plane is no longer in production, but the Air Force has more than 700 of them in its inventory. Statistically, the A-10 over time has been the safest fighter or attack plane currently in the inventory. The aircraft has chalked up a major accident rate of less than 4 Class A mishaps per 100,000 flying hours over its lifetime _ which now consists of more than 1.75 million flight hours. A Class A mishap is one in which there is either a fatality or damage exceeding $500,000 to an aircraft. The Air Force describes the A-10 as ``a simple, effective and survivable twin-engine jet aircraft that can be used against all ground targets ... The aircraft has excellent maneuverability at low air speeds and altitude and highly accurate weapons delivery.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "u.s. air force a-10 attack jet;suspension;a-10 aircraft;britain;pilot;routine training flight;second crash"}
+{"name": "AP881227-0185", "title": "Shining Path Guerrillas Becoming an Urban Force", "abstract": "Shining Path guerrillas, who started their bloody uprising in the mountains eight years ago, are moving into the shantytowns that encircle the capital like a noose. Abimael Guzman, founder of the rebel movement, has said of the slums and their people: ``The immense masses of the shantytowns are like belts of steel that lock in the enemy and hold back his reactionary forces.'' His Maoist rebels, once secretive fanatics, are becoming a political force that seeks public support in Huaycan and the other makeshift communities where two-thirds of Lima's 7 million people scrape along. About 10,000 people live in Huaycan. Their huts built of straw mats line the bone-dry slopes of the Andean foothills 15 miles east of downtown Lima. Most residents are poor migrants from the violent highlands where the rebel movement was born. They make ideal recruits for the Shining Path _ Sendero Luminoso in Spanish. Shining Path's move into a more public role, and through most of Peru from its Andean base in Ayacucho province, has coincided with economic collapse and annual inflation of nearly 2,000 percent. In the cities, the guerrillas combine conventional politics with terror. In the countryside, they make ever-bolder attacks on the military. Rebel columns strike along the spine of the Andes from the Ecuadorean frontier in the north to Bolivia in the south. The guerrillas also work with drug traffickers in Peru's eastern jungle, source of the raw material for much of the world's cocaine, and buy sophisticated weapons with the profits. More than 12,000 people have been killed in the civil war, most of them Andean peasants slain by rebels or security forces, and official figures put damage to the shattered economy at $10 billion. The guerrillas are believed to have only about 5,000 armed combatants, so they do not appear close to seizing power, but there is increasing pessimism about the prospects of controlling them. ``Most evaluations of Sendero Luminoso's eight-year expansion under the democratic system ... have become increasingly grim,'' the Andean Report, a respected economic journal, said recently. One reason the movement grows is its appeal to Peru's Indians, subjected for centuries to scorn and discrimination by the white ruling elite. ``Political violence in Peru is not the result of poverty alone but of humiliation, oppression, hate between classes, racism,'' Sen. Enrique Bernales, chairman of a committee on violence, said when it released a report in September. The most striking development of the last 18 months has been the Shining Path's move into public view in this grimy capital on South America's Pacific coast. Rebels organize support groups in the slums, infiltrate labor unions, organize marches, spread their message of revolution with the aid of a sympathetic daily newspaper and agitate among university students. Analysts and experts on counterinsurgency say Shining Path appears bent on dominating the radical left of legal politics. Officials have become alarmed by the broadening of tactics to include infiltration of legitimate organizations, including unions of government workers. They say this clouds distinctions between the legal and illegal left, making it move difficult to combat the rebel movement. ``Sendero is seeking semi-legal status as a way of winning militants and sympathizers, while at the same time generating a confusing situation in which the security forces indiscrimately repress members of the legal left along with leftist insurgents,'' a ranking police official said privately. Guzman, a Marxist philosophy professor, founded Sendero Luminoso in 1970 in Ayacucho, an Andean state capital 230 miles southeast of Lima where he had built a following at the University of Huamanga. Followers call Guzman, 54, ``the fourth sword of Marxism'' after Marx, Lenin and Mao. His movement, a splinter group of the Communist Party, gathered strength in Indian communities of the southern Andes for 10 years before launching its guerrilla war. According to counterinsurgency experts, the guerrillas switched their emphasis to the cities because migration of Indian peasants to urban centers accelerated after the highlands became a battlefield. Guzman's guerrillas have followed tens of thousands of peasants from the Andes into Lima's shantytowns and see the slums as a new stronghold. In July, the pro-Shining Path newspaper El Diario published a 48-page report on the guerrilla movement. It quoted Guzman as saying in his first interview since going underground in 1980: ``We had to follow the road from the countryside to the city. We must prepare for the insurrection that is coming, which means the taking of the cities.'' He said conditions were ripe for the next stage in the struggle for power: inciting a coup against President Alan Garcia by provoking economic chaos and increasing attacks on the army. The final stage, he said, would be a popular uprising against a repressive military regime. Shining Path has infiltrated 167 unions and neighborhood associations in the Lima slums this year, says a confidential Interior Ministry report obtained by The Associated Press. Guerrillas threaten and sometimes kill community leaders, establish ``people's schools'' and set up ``street theaters'' for propaganda, it said. Cardinal Juan Landazuri of the Roman Catholic Church said: ``Priests tell me that young people in the shantytowns are going over to Sendero. I have been in a shantytown where there is a Shining Path group, and the police are doing nothing about it.'' Huaycan is one of the slums where Shining Path works hardest because it is just off the Central Highway, a strategic route through the capital's main industrial zone to the mountains. The industrial zone contains 850 of the country's most important factories. Red-painted slogans hailing the ``People's War'' and ``President Gonzalo,'' the rebel name for Guzman, cover the concrete-block clinic, other buildings with solid walls and even large rocks. Residents were suspicious and uncommunicative when an Associated Press reporter visited, except for three 10-year-old boys at the entrance who laughed and waved red flags with the Shining Path's hammer-and-sickle emblem. The Central Highway passes through what looks like a military zone. Most factories are behind high walls topped with barbed wire and towers from which guards with automatic rifles keep watch. Guerrillas killed three plant managers in 1988 who were involved in labor disputes. Union leaders also are uneasy. ``I doubt if you'll find any union leader ... who will declare he is a Senderista, but I'll bet you'll find many who are afraid to say anything against Sendero,'' an American labor adviser said on condition of anonymity. The highway ties Lima to the agricultural lands of the central Andes and Peru's most important mines, where unions threatened by the Shining Path have conducted a strike since late October that costs millions of dollars a day in export earnings. End Adv for Sun Jan 8", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "public support;shining path guerrillas;central highway;rebel movement;shantytowns;huaycan;political violence;political force"}
+{"name": "AP890111-0217", "title": "Pilot Questioned, More Inspections For Engines", "abstract": "Authorities questioned the badly injured pilot of a crashed Boeing 737 Wednesday, but revealed no clues as to why the jet's undamaged right engine was shut down well before the crash while the other engine burned. The Civil Aviation Authority, meanwhile, ordered increased inspections on 37 airplanes with CFM56 engines, the type on the Midland Airways jet that crashed Sunday. Investigators said much more work was needed to pinpoint the cause of the crash, which killed 44 people and injured 82. The government also ordered immediate checks of engine monitoring systems on similar aircraft to verify that they correctly indicate right and left, prompting speculation that a malfunctioning alarm system could have misled the flight crew. Freddie Yetman, technical secretary of the British Airline Pilots Association, said this showed that investigators ``must have some suspicion of these circuits.'' In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections of 300 Boeing 737s for possible cross-wiring of engine warning systems. U.S. media reported that the crew of the jet shut down the wrong engine, and Britain's tabloid newspapers drew similar conclusions in banner headlines. ``Error on the Flight Deck,'' the Today newspaper said. ``Fatal Error'' said the Daily Star. ``Pilot Shut Off the Wrong Engine'' said the Sun. The Transport Department said that ``evidence obtained early in the investigation'' indicated both of the plane's engines ``might have suffered a related failure'' and that possibility was still being examined. The statement from the department's Air Accidents Investigation Branch also confirmed that the airplane's left engine caught fire and the right engine was shut down, and that pilot Kevin Hunt had told ground control the fire was in the right engine. The reasons for shutting down the engine ``are not yet clear and are still under investigation,'' it said. The jet, en route from London to Belfast with 126 people aboard, plunged into an embankment a half-mile short of the runway at East Midlands Airport in central England as it was trying to make an emergency landing Sunday night. Hunt, whose back and legs were broken in the crash, was interviewed for 45 minutes at the intensive care unit of Leicester Royal Infirmary, said the hospital's deputy general manager Carol Henshall. Mrs. Henshall said some of the ``wilder headlines'' had been kept from Hunt, but friends and colleagues had told him of the news reports. In the United States, NBC News quoted unidentified U.S. government sources as saying ``the plane's flight recorders, which monitor engine performance and the pilots' conversations, indicate the crew shut down the wrong engine. The trouble was in one _ they shut down the other.'' But the network said investigators had yet to detemine whether faulty instruments contributed to the crash. The Washington Post, quoting unidentified accident investigators, said the crew believed they were making a routine, one-engine emergency landing, and apparently thought they had solved the problem when they shut down an engine. Spokesmen for both the FAA and the National Transportation Board said they knew of no information reaching U.S. officials about the flight recorders' contents. The airplane's two ``black boxes,'' the cockpit voice recorder and digital flight data recorder, are being examined at the government's laboratory in Farnborough, outside London. According to court documents and federal officials in America, the FBI is investigating a General Electric Co. admission that test records may have been falsified at a factory which made parts for the CFM56 engine that failed here. The Seattle factory also made a check and flow valve for the F404 engine aboard the Navy's FA-18 fighter, GE spokesman Richard Kennedy said Wednesday. A letter from a GE attorney last year said test records may have been falsified for the fighter plane valves. The timer valve made by GE for the CFM56 engine could not have caused the turbine to fail even if the valve malfunctioned, Kennedy said. The plane took off at 7:52 p.m. Sunday. Government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hunt reported at 8:06 p.m. that ``I have an engine on fire.'' Then, at 8:14 p.m., the sources said he told traffic control: ``I am shutting down the starboard (right) engine.'' The plane crashed 12 minutes later at 8:26 p.m. The Civil Aviation Authority said that on the advice of investigators, it was issuing new instructions for the inspection and monitoring of Boeing 737-300, Boeing 737-400 and Airbus A320 airplanes, all of which use the CFM56 engine. The engines are made jointly by U.S.-based GE and a French company, SNECMA. Boeing Commercial Airplanes spokesman Craig Martin said in Seattle of the FAA's inspection order, ``We certainly believe it's a prudent measure to go out and check to make sure there's nothing wrong with the fleet. But certainly this precautionary measure does not imply there has been any cause identified (for the crash.)''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "injured pilot;crash;boeing 737s;left engine;wrong engine;one-engine emergency landing;engine monitoring systems;undamaged right engine"}
+{"name": "AP890111-0227", "title": "As Snow Blankets Charred Yellowstone, Residents Hope for Better '89", "abstract": "The new year ushers in a new wildfire season, an unwelcome thought to the residents of this small Montana tourist town on the northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park. For two months last summer the citizens of Cooke City and its tiny suburb, Silver Gate, were showcased on the nightly TV news and splashed across the front pages of the nation's newspapers as forest fires threatened to burn them out. Pinched between the Storm Creek and Clover-Mist blazes, an estimated 150 seasonal residents and dozens of tourists were evacuated twice while hundreds of firefighters faced down walls of flame which threatened annihilation. Eventually, millions of dollars, thousands of man hours, and an early autumn snowfall saved the towns. No structures were lost within the towns' boundaries, but seven residences and five outbuildings were destroyed in the area. One wag even changed the sign leading into town by adding a single letter, rechristening it ``Cooked City.'' Their economically critical summer tourist season a bust and the hunting season crippled, the folks of Silver Gate and Cooke City straggled home in mid-September to pick up the pieces. ``The first thing most people around here did was go on vacation,'' said Patti Smith, owner with her husband, Bob, of the Bearclaw Service and Cabins, a gas station and small motel. ``The fire really took a toll on a lot of folks. ``Business was way down this fall because we didn't have the hunters, but we got a lot of curious weekenders from Cody and Billings who wanted to see how bad it was.'' The Smiths, who own the only photocopy machine for 30 miles in every direction, found their small gas station and convenience store a mecca during the fires. The U.S. Forest Service, which coordinated some of its firefighting efforts from Cooke City, set up shop near the photocopy machine, and everybody who had information or was seeking some crammed into the Smiths' log cabin office. ``It was crazy for a while,'' said Mrs. Smith, 33. ``We got sent out twice. The first time I grabbed all the photo albums but forgot our wedding pictures. The second time the sirens went off and we had to leave, my parents had just arrived from North Platte, Neb., so we all went to Red Lodge (Mont.), got nice motel rooms, and crashed.'' Winter now cloaks Cooke City and Silver Gate, and only about 70 year-round residents remain to weather the below-zero months. The only grocery store is on its winter schedule, open just Friday through Monday, and many curio shops are shut up tight, but the Bearclaw cabins and most of the other motels are open for winter sports enthusiasts. Although postmistress Vicky Menuey keeps the office open five days a week, mail only arrives to ZIP code 59020 from the outside world on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Nearly four feet of snow has piled up against the Smiths' cabins and ``that's just the way I like it,'' exulted Mrs. Smith. ``No smoke, no flames, and plenty of tourists.'' It's snowmobiling season now, and clubs from as far away as Canada and Illinois are booked into Cooke City's motels to take advantage of the beautiful scenery and 80 miles of trails in the area. The state pays Bob Smith, 34, to groom the trails. Because of the heavy day use, Smith works mostly at night in subzero temperatures. His wife keeps track of him by walkie-talkie. Patti Smith relishes the winter months because she gets caught up on chores, chats with her neighbors and watches videos. The hottest tape in Cooke City this winter is ``Three Men and a Baby,'' for which there's a waiting list. This winter, Mrs. Smith also has a new project. ``I'm going to do my scrapbooks,'' she said, hauling out from underneath a counter a huge cardboard box overflowing with newspaper clippings and official fire bulletins, among them a firefighters' newsletter, ``The Griz Gazette,'' purporting to have spotted Elvis Presley on the fire line. ``I've got the whole story right here in this box,'' said the amateur historian. ``Of course, a lot of it is wrong.'' Like nearly everybody else in Cooke City and Silver Gate, Mrs. Smith says she never wants to go through another summer like the last one. Nationwide, it was the second worst wildfire season since the government started keeping records. Although the 5.9 million acres burned in 1988 did not match the 28 million acres destroyed in 1926, the $583.8 million spent to fight 75,000 fires set a record. Because of the unprecedented fire season which burned nearly 1.5 million acres in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, including 705,000 acres within the national park, Mrs. Smith and her friends and neighbors worry about what's happening underneath the blanket of snow this winter. ``Are there still smoldering embers out there deep in the roots of the trees?'' wondered Mrs. Smith. ``Could the fires survive the winter and pick up and come at us again?'' Park officials and fire experts have asked themselves the same questions. Rod Norum, a fire behavior analyst with the National Park Service, said he would not be surprised if pockets of fire are found in the greater Yellowstone area come spring. ``It's not the sort of thing to be concerned about, it would only be a matter of curiosity and interest because the fires are still under suppression orders and they would be mopped up and put out immediately, I'm sure,'' said Norum, who is based at the Boise Interagency Fire Center in Idaho. In his 18 years of studying wildfires, Norum has come across several incidents where wildfires buried themselves in the roots of trees and grasses and smoldered all winter only to pop up through the snow in the spring. When the snow melts in May, the Yellowstone country will provide an answer to a question troubling lots of people whose lives were changed by the wildfires of '88.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "forest fires;new wildfire season;yellowstone national park;yellowstone ecosystem;firefighting efforts;unprecedented fire season;u.s. forest service"}
+{"name": "AP890117-0132", "title": "Review Board Sought To Investigate Police In Long Beach", "abstract": "The City Council today asked county prosecutors to investigate the conduct of a white policeman who was secretly filmed while he pushed an off-duty black policeman through a plate-glass window. ``We're certainly not happy to have an incident like this occurring, but we need all the information,'' said Councilman Thomas J. Clark of the council's request for an investigation. Curt Livesay, an assisant Los Angeles County district attorney and head of the office's Special Investigations Division, will lead the probe, said district attorney spokesman Andy Reynolds. The black Hawthorne policeman, Sgt. Don Jackson, said he set up the self-styled ``sting'' in Long Beach to expose alleged police racism in the Los Angeles area. An NBC-TV news camera crew arranged to follow Jackson during the sting Saturday night. The incident was broadcast on NBC's national news Monday night. ``We've never been able to come forth before with enough evidence (of alleged police racism). Now, it is brought to your living room in living color,'' said Frank Berry, president of the Long Beach chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The police chief in Long Beach declined to comment pending an investigation. City officials promised a thorough inquiry. ``We will pursue it aggressively,'' said Long Beach City Manager James Hanklad. ``If there is evidence of brutality, we will act accordingly.'' Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell said on NBC's ``Today'' show this morning that he was disturbed by the videotape. ``I ... do not support racism or police brutality, nor do the vast majority of the citizens of Long Beach, and we're a caring, thinking community and it disturbed us very much to see the tape,'' he said. Long Beach, about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, has about 450,000 people, including a sizeable black population. Jackson and a companion were driving through a high-crime area of the city when their car was pulled over and Jackson got out. The NBC-TV videotape shows a white officer attempting to search Jackson. The officer unleashed a stream of profanity and roughed up Jackson after he demanded to know why he was being searched. The incident renewed calls for a citizen board to review the Police Department. The idea first was debated last year amid allegations of police brutality. But Jackson's boss said the black officer was looking for trouble. ``I submit that if Mr. Jackson had stayed in the vehicle, as did the driver, this incident would not have occurred,'' Hawthorne Police Chief Kenneth R. Stonebraker said at a news conference Monday. Since the incident apparently was timed by Jackson to coincide with the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the confrontation should be considered ``nothing short of timed sensationalism at the risk of serious injury to all of the parties involved,'' Stonebraker said. ``As a police chief,'' he added, ``I do not for one minute condone the unlawful use of force or police brutality.'' The 30-year-old Jackson, who has been on a stress-related disability leave from his Hawthorne job for 22 months, contends the incident is typical of a pattern of racism by white officers in the Los Angeles area. Jackson alleges racist slurs and actions forced him from the Hawthorne department. He has a disability lawsuit pending, has filed racism complaints against the department and conducted a similar personal sting operation against Los Angeles police. Jackson was riding as a passenger with Jeffrey Hill, a 30-year-old off-duty state corrections officer, when they were pulled over allegedly for straddling lanes, which they denied. Jackson got out after the car stopped and police approached. During an argument, Long Beach Officer Mark Dickey ordered Jackson to face a building and put his hands behind his head. Jackson complied, and moments later was pushed through a plate-glass store window. ``I'm all right. OK, no problem,'' said Jackson on the videotape. Police booked Jackson for investigation of interfering with police and challenging a police officer. Hill was issued a traffic citation. ``The officer simply used violence,'' Jackson said Monday. ``I already cooperated and told him he could search me,'' Jackson said. ``I had already had my hands up and was turned to the window and he slammed my face in it.'' Jackson received support at a Monday night ceremony in Los Angeles commemorating King's birthday. ``I'm deeply concerned since it strikes me as a period when police violence and excessive force is rampant,'' said Mark Ridley-Thomas, executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Los Angeles chapter. ``I'm more so offended since the Hawthorne Police Department, which has no jurisdiction, is making judgment.'' Jackson said he chose Long Beach police because of complaints to the Police Misconduct Lawyer's Referral Service of Los Angeles. David Lynn of the referral service said 50 misconduct complaints were filed with his group against the Long Beach police. Of those, 27 were filed by minorities, and 24 of those involved confrontations with white officers.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "police racism;serious injury;los angeles area;racism complaints;white policeman;black policeman;police brutality;long beach police"}
+{"name": "AP890131-0280", "title": "Office of Fair Trading To Investigate Complaint Against De Beers", "abstract": "The Office of Fair Trading said Tuesday it was investigating a complaint alleging anti-competitive practices by a London-based diamond cartel controlled by South Africa's giant De Beers diamond organization. The watchdog body said De Beers ``appeared to have'' a monopoly on diamond trading in London and it was interested in establishing whether there had been an abuse of the monopoly. Consolidated Gold Fields PLC, a British mining concern with no diamond interests, acknowledged that it filed the complaint as a defensive move against a stalled takeover bid by Luxembourg-based Minorco SA. Minorco is 60.1 percent owned by Anglo American Corp. of South Africa Ltd. and De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., the gold and diamond mining interests controlled by the Oppenheimer family of South Africa. The British government is expected to rule in the next few weeks whether to allow Minorco to proceed with its 2.9 billion-pound (about $5.1 billion) bid for Consolidated Gold following an investigation by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. A Consolidated Gold spokesman, commenting on condition he was not identified, said the company wanted to point up the ``monopolistic tendencies'' of South Africa's Anglo-American group of companies. De Beers' Central Selling Organization, which controls 80 percent of world diamond trading, has been based in London for 60 years. As well as selling the stones mined by De Beers and other South African companies, the organization trades on behalf of diamond producers including Zaire, Australia, Botswana and the Soviet Union. The Office of Fair Trading said it would first have to establish whether it had jurisdiction over the Central Selling Organization because although it is based in London, De Beers is a South African company. There is no time limit on the office's investigation. After it is completed, the Office of Fair Trading may decide to refer the complaint to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. A spokesman for the Central Selling Organization said the Office of Fair Trading notified the organization about the inquiry but hadn't yet requested any information. ``It's still early'' in the investigation, said the spokesman, commenting on condition he was not identified. De Beers's shares were unchanged Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange at $12 (U.S.).", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "de beers diamond organization;investigation;world diamond trading;defensive move;luxembourg-based minorco sa;london-based diamond cartel;fair trading;anti-competitive practices;central selling organization;south africa"}
+{"name": "AP890227-0016", "title": "Tornado Deaths Below Average in '88", "abstract": "One of nature's most vicious spectacles, the tornado, is poised to renew its annual assault on America, as changeable spring weather breeds the storms that spawn twisters. Last year was one of fewer than normal tornado deaths, but even so, more than 700 of the violent funnel clouds struck the nation. In 1988 the nation recorded 32 tornado deaths, down from the 59 killed a year earlier and well below the long-term average of 99 fatalities annually, the National Weather Service reported on Sunday. But while that's good news, it isn't an indication that the danger has lessened. ``There is no way of knowing what this tornado season will bring, but the way to survive is through preparedness,'' said Ed Ferguson, deputy director of the National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City. Meteorologists have attributed the decline in tornado deaths in recent years to increased public awareness of the storms, which are most common in May and June but can occur in any month of the year. Unusually warm and wet weather last November helped trigger a record number of tornadoes for that month, at 121 across the country. The average for November is only 23 tornadoes, and the record had been 81, set in 1973. Last year also recorded the largest tornado outbreak in 14 years. That took place on Mother's Day when 57 twisters tore through parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. That outbreak didn't cause any deaths, although 10 injuries were reported. Arkansas and Tennessee recorded the most fatalities last year with six deaths apiece, followed by Florida with five. Four people were killed in North Carolina and two each in Mississippi and Nebraska. States with a single fatality apiece were Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. The transition from winter to spring, spurring unsettled weather and frequent thunderstorms, helps create tornadoes, violently twisting winds that reach down from thunderclouds. After a low point in the winter they begin to increase sharply in March and peak in May with a national average of 166 twisters in that month, according to records kept at the National Climatic Data Center. June ranks second, averaging 150 tornadoes, followed by April with 109 in a typical year. Other months averaging more than a twister-a-day somewhere in the nation are July, 82; August, 57; March, 50 and September, 38. Hot weather stirring the air helps form thunderstorms and their tornadoes, with 60 percent of all twisters occurring between noon and sunset, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Tornadoes are least likely during the early morning just before sunrise. The typical tornado is only about 50 yards wide and travels about two miles on the ground _ 87 percent of the time heading toward the northeast, NCAR researchers report. But while an individual twister can cover only a small area, they often come in groups and in the affected area destruction can be total. The familiar funnel cloud is the most common sign of a tornado although adjacent winds can also cause severe damage. When twisters are in an area, common sense and knowing a few simple rules can save lives, the National Weather Service says. If tornadoes threaten, turn on radio or television to keep current on the danger, the agency says. The weather service even has its own radio network which can provide continual updates. If a twister is reported, safety rules include: _At home, seek shelter immediately in a basement or interior hallway. Stay away from windows and outside walls. _At school, move to hallways and lie flat on the floor with head covered. _In a mobile home or trailer, leave immediately. Head for a secure shelter or lie flat on the ground. Be wary of areas with poor drainage, however, because of the possibility of flooding from the thunderstorm. _At work or in public buildings, head for interior hallways on the lowest floor, or designated shelter areas. _In an automobile, leave immediately. Do not try to outrun a tornado.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "storms;tornado deaths;fatality;tornado outbreak;tornadoes;tornado season;public awareness"}
+{"name": "AP890228-0019", "title": "Death Toll Triples Average in 1988 Earthquakes", "abstract": "The earthquake that killed 25,000 people in Armenia pushed last year's earthquake-related death toll worldwide to the highest level since 1976, when a Chinese earthquake killed at least 10 times as many, the U.S. Geological Survey reports. The estimated earthquake death toll in 1988 includes an additional 2,000 or more people who died in other earthquakes around the world, the Survey reported Monday. Although the annual average death toll for earthquakes is about 10,000, in 1987 only 1,100 lives were lost. In addition to the deaths, some 13,000 people were injured and more than a half-million were left homeless in the Armenian earthquake, which had a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale. The death toll of 25,000 is the most recent reported by the Soviets. The exact toll in unknown. The main shock was followed within minutes by a second, measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, which estimates the energy released by an earthquake. An earthquake of 5.0 can cause considerable damage, and the strength rises by 10 times for each whole number on the scale. Many of the deaths in Armenia were blamed on collapsing buildings, as the earthquake rattled concrete structures until they fell to the ground, according to subsequent analyses. Another recent earthquake in the Soviet Union, claiming about 1,000 lives, struck in Soviet central Asia. That one occurred in January, however, and so does not count in the 1988 toll. Last year's second most deadly earthquake occurred Aug. 20 on the Nepal-India border, killing 1,000. That earthquake, measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, destroyed thousands of homes and injured many people. On Nov. 6 an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the scale claimed 730 lives and injured about 4,000 people on the border between Burma and China, the Geological Survey reported. And on the India-Burma border three deaths were reported in an Aug. 6 earthquake that caused landslides. The Survey said it recorded 61 significant earthquakes last year, 15 fewer than the year before. An earthquake is considered significant if it has a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale. Earthquakes of lesser magnitude are included if they cause casualties or considerable damage. Three significant earthquakes were recorded in the United States last year, including the strongest shock of the year. That earthquake, measured at 7.6, occurred March 6 in the Gulf of Alaska and resulted in only minor damage. The only U.S. earthquake death last year occured when someone suffered a heart attack after an earthquake measuring 4.8 in Whittier, Calif., in February. The other significant U.S. earthquake occurred Dec. 3 in Pasadena, Calif. It was measured at 4.6 on the scale and caused some injuries and property damage. An earthquake centered in eastern Canada on Nov. 25 was felt widely across that country and in the northeastern United States as far south as Washington, the Survey reported. It had a magnitude of 5.7. Earthquakes in the eastern part of North America tend to be felt over larger areas than earthquakes of similar strength in the West. Europe recorded three earthquake deaths last year when one rated at 3.0 killed a group of miners in Czechoslovakia on Sept. 2. In addition an earthquake rated at 5.8 caused several injuries in Albania on Jan. 9. Injuries were also reported from two offshore earthquakes, one in the Ionian Sea near Greece Oct. 16 and another near the Azores Islands Nov. 21. In Africa, eight people working in a gold mine in South Africa died Jan. 5 in an earthquake rated at 5.2. And Japan, usually very seismically active, recorded only one significant earthquake last year, the Survey reported. That earthquake measured 5.4 and resulted in 10 injuries and minor damage in the Tokyo area.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "armenian earthquake;deadly earthquake;earthquake death toll;offshore earthquakes;u.s. geological survey;property damage;earthquake deaths;chinese earthquake"}
+{"name": "AP890302-0063", "title": "Study Recommends TB Treatment for AIDS-Infected Addicts", "abstract": "Drug abusers who are infected with the AIDS virus and tuberculosis bacteria should be treated with medicine to prevent full-blown TB, says a study published today. Doctors have noticed a growing prevalence of tuberculosis in recent years among people at high risk of AIDS, especially drug addicts. In the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the TB usually resulted from activation of lingering tuberculosis infections, not new exposures to the bacteria, in people who also are infected with the AIDS virus. The doctors warned that besides being at risk of getting tuberculosis themselves, AIDS-infected addicts who carry the TB bacteria also may pass the germs to people they live with, to health care workers and other people. ``The aggressive identification and treatment of HIV-infected intravenous drug users with latent tuberculous infection is therefore of both clinical and public health importance,'' wrote Dr. Peter A. Selwyn of Montefiore Medical Center in New York. People may carry either the AIDS virus or tuberculosis bacteria for many years without getting sick. While most people with the AIDS virus eventually go on to get acquired immune deficiency syndrome, people who carry the tuberculosis bacteria ordinarily have only about a 10 percent life-long risk of getting TB. HIV _ the AIDS viurus _ weakens the body's defenses against disease. The study suggests that it lowers resistance to the tuberculosis bacteria, putting people at much higher risk of TB. The study was conducted on 520 drug users who were in a methadone program. When the study began, 42 percent already were infected with HIV. Twenty-three percent of those with HIV also carried TB bacteria as did 20 percent of those who were free of the AIDS virus. During almost two years of followup, active tuberculosis developed in eight of the AIDS-infected people, but in none of those who did not have HIV. Seven of the eight TB cases occurred in people who were already infected with tuberculosis bacteria before the study began. The doctors noted that 13 people who carried HIV and TB bacteria were treated with the drug isoniazid, and none of them went on to get active tuberculosis. However, seven of 36 people with both infections who did not take the medicine got TB. The doctors said that the drug is now administered along with daily methadone doses at the clinic where the study was conducted.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "medicine;tuberculosis bacteria;tuberculosis infections;aids virus;drug abusers;drug addicts"}
+{"name": "AP890307-0150", "title": "Crowds Drawn By Wonder of Partial Solar Eclipse", "abstract": "Solar telescopes yielded views of flare-producing sunspots and silhouetted mountains on the moon Tuesday as crowds gathered to watch a partial solar eclipse visible across western North America. ``There was a childlike delight with the wonder of nature,'' said Ed Krupp, director of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, where 600 children and at least 400 other people watched the moon block out 37 percent of the sun's surface at 10:50 a.m. PST. ``It was certainly a lively crowd,'' he said. ``There was a festival atmosphere.'' ``It's kind of neat,'' said map maker Jan Mayne, who was among dozens of people watching the eclipse through two types of solar telescopes at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. As the moon passed between the Earth and sun to cause the partial eclipse, those watching through Caltech's telescopes could see mountains on the edge of the moon silhouetted against the sun. Also visible were gas jets on the sun's surface and a giant group of sunspots that on Monday produced the most intense solar flare _ a burst of heat and radiation _ since 1984. ``There was a stunning view of that large sunspot group,'' Krupp said. The eclipse was visible to at least some extent west of a diagonal line stretching roughly from Mazatlan, Mexico, northeast to Dallas and Chicago. Views were best farther west and north. But because the eclipse was partial most people didn't notice the slight dimming of sunlight. ``You can't tell the difference between a partial eclipse and a second-stage smog alert,'' joked one observer at Caltech. Several people viewed the eclipse through welder's helmets in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, where the moon obscured 80 percent of the sun at 9:13 a.m. AST. In San Francisco, the moon eclipsed 46 percent of the sun at 9:52 a.m., but the event wasn't visible because of clouds that were so thick they delayed arriving flights at the airport. A slight dimming was noticed in Seattle, where partly cloudy skies allowed a glimpse of the 56 percent eclipse at 10:10 a.m. PST. The percentage of the sun blocked out and time of maximum eclipse at other locations included 52 percent at 11:28 a.m. MST in Edmonton, Alberta; 46 percent at 11:09 a.m. MST in Boise, Idaho; 36 percent at 11:10 a.m. MST in Salt Lake City; 35 percent at 9:58 a.m. PST in Las Vegas; 25 percent at 11:17 a.m. MST in Denver; 15 percent at 12:42 p.m. CST in Minneapolis, and a measly 3 percent at 12:44 p.m. CST in Milwaukee. Fearful that people would suffer eye damage during the eclipse, scientists warned against staring at the sun directly or through inadequate filters, including smoked glass and photographic film or filters. Alan MacRobert, spokesman for Sky & Telescope magazine, said there were 245 known eye injuries in the United States after an eclipse in 1970, but warnings about the danger reduced the number to three during a 1984 partial eclipse. From any single spot on Earth, a partial eclipse occurs every several years, said Ken Libbrecht, as assistant professor of astrophysics at Caltech. Total solar eclipses are visible from any single location roughly once every four centuries, though they are visible about every two years from somewhere on Earth, he said. The next total eclipse will happen July 11, 1991, sweeping across Hawaii, the Pacific Ocean, lower Baja California in Mexico, the west coast of Central America and finally Colombia and Brazil, MacRobert said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "solar eclipses;partial solar;north america;eye damage;stunning view;eye injuries;solar telescopes"}
+{"name": "AP890313-0198", "title": "Researchers Looking At Hispanics To Find Diabetes Cause", "abstract": "Inside a small motor home, Joanne Pierluissi raised her sleeve as nurse Mary Perez inserted a needle into the vein above her forearm, drawing blood into a tube for a diabetes test. As her daughters watched, Pierluissi, 24, said it was for them, as much as for herself, that she agreed to be tested for the deadly killer of Hispanics. ``I was concerned because they said an aunt of mine had it and I just wanted to come for the checkup. All of our family is going to go through the program to make sure that if we have it that we'll do something about it.'' Twelve million Americans have some form of diabetes, but it is most prevalent among minorities, especially Native Americans, blacks and Hispanics. Hispanics are three times as likely to develop diabetes as the general population, and 40 percent of the 700,000 victims in Texas are Mexican-American. More than 150,000 Americans die from diabetes each year; another 150,000 deaths are diabetes-related, according to the American Diabetes Association. No one really knows what sparks it, but researchers believe Hispanics could hold the key. San Antonio, the nation's ninth largest city, with a population that is 50 percent Hispanic, is becoming the base for diabetes studies. Researchers take a customized mobile home to neighborhoods to randomly check Hispanics and Anglos for the disease, which deprives the body of insulin and can lead to complications affecting the heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves. San Antonio's Hispanic makeup led Dr. Ralph DeFronzo to abandon his prestigious position as a Yale University diabetes researcher and persuade his four-member team to relocate to the University of Texas Health Science Center. An epidemiologist at the center, Dr. Michael Stern, has devoted 10 years to studying Hispanic diabetes and led the grassroots study of Type II diabetes. Type II, the most common form, develops mostly in obese adults over 40 who also may have a family history of the disease. In obese diabetics, the body has too much insulin because it is burning more fats than sugars. Type I diabetes usually develops among adolescents and requires that they have daily injections of insulin. Stern said family studies of diabetic patients are brining him closer to finding the gene that triggers the disease. A genetic marker might identify people who are susceptible, which could lead to a screening test, he said. ``Then you could go out and zero in on the genetic susceptibles and you can be more intense on your recommendations to them and you could also study that group.'' Stern believes if people exercised more and ate less of the fat-saturated foods common to the diets of low-income Hispanics, fewer would get the disease. ``We use the term double jeopardy for Mexican-Americans,'' he said. ``We don't know why, when they get diabetes, they have a more severe form of the disease _ whether it's a biological difference or is it that they are not getting as good medical care. ``But the interesting thing is that upper-income Mexican-Americans do not have the same risk as low-income Mexican-Americans. It may be that the gene is there, but for some reason it may not be expressed in the upper-income Mexican-Americans. ``Also, Mexican-Americans tend to have more body fat in their upper torso and we can see that as related to diabetes.'' Between 1979 and 1988, Stern and his staff studied more than 5,000 people and found that 387 of 2,905 Hispanics had the disease, or 13.3 percent, compared to only 87 of 1,780 Anglos, or 4.8 percent. Researchers believe that poor Hispanics' diets of cheap, processed foods, lack of exercise and infrequent medical attention _ either due to poverty or a cultural bias against doctors _ increases their risk of acquiring diabetes. The study is in its follow-up stage, to see if diagnosed diabetes patients have changed their lifestyle and have sought medical care. Teresa Castro, 54, whose diabetic husband died at age 37, went through the screening eight years ago. She was told that because of her weight, 254 pounds, she had hypertension and was at risk of diabetes. Doctors put her on a strict, low-fat diet and she lost 26 pounds. ``I went to the screening because they called and said it was free. That's why I went to it, because being poor I couldn't afford to go to the doctor for this type of checkup,'' she said. ``My mother has diabetes and they tell me I might have diabetes, too, but I don't know too much about it. ``I feel OK, but they tell me that one year you can be OK and the next year, it can be totally different.'' DeFronzo, who in 1988 was chosen the top diabetes investigator by Canadian and Japanese diabetes associations, says his unit at the Health Science Center will try to use many of Stern's patients for research. That will include work for Lipha Chemicals, which makes an anti-diabetic drug called metaforim that improves the body's ability to respond to insulin. ``The problem with Type II diabetics is not that they don't make enough insulin; they don't respond to the insulin,'' DeFronzo said. ``What we'd like to do is make them more responsive and this drug will do that.'' The drug is widely used in Europe, Canada and Mexico and should be approved by the Food and Drug Administration in several years for U.S. use, he said. Educating elementary-school-age children about healthy diets would help reduce the number of diabetes cases, DeFronzo said. ``If you have a 65-year-old mother who weighs 220 pounds and you tell her to go out and jog five miles Monday, Wednesday and Friday, she is going to laugh at you. ``So you have to design an exercise program that is compatible with the patient's lifestyle and it is something they can do.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "minorities;diabetes test;obese diabetics;diabetes studies;insulin;anti-diabetic drug;hispanics;american diabetes association;diabetic patients;hispanic diabetes;type II diabetes"}
+{"name": "AP890314-0237", "title": "Researchers Looking At Hispanics To Find Diabetes Cause", "abstract": "Inside a small motor home, Joanne Pierluissi raised her sleeve as nurse Mary Perez inserted a needle into the vein above her forearm, drawing blood into a tube for a diabetes test. As her daughters watched, Pierluissi, 24, said it was for them, as much as for herself, that she agreed to be tested for the deadly killer of Hispanics. Twelve million Americans have some form of diabetes, but it most prevalent among minorities, especially Native Americans, blacks and Hispanics. Hispanics are three times as likely to develop diabetes as the general population, and 40 percent of the 700,000 victims in Texas are Mexican-American. More than 150,000 Americans die from diabetes each year; another 150,000 deaths are diabetes-related, according to the American Diabetes Association. No one really knows what sparks it, but researchers believe Hispanics could hold the key. San Antonio, the nation's ninth largest city, with a population that is 50 percent Hispanic, is becoming the base for diabetes studies. San Antonio's Hispanic makeup led Dr. Ralph DeFronzo to abandon his prestigious position as a Yale University diabetes researcher and persuade his four-member team to relocate to the University of Texas Health Science Center. Epidemiologist Dr. Michael Stern has devoted 10 years to studying Hispanic diabetes and led the grassroots study of the most common form, which develops mostly in obese adults over 40 who may have a family history of the disease. Stern said family studies of diabetic patients are brining him closer to finding the gene that triggers the disease, and to a screening test. Researchers believe that poor Hispanics' diets of cheap, processed foods, lack of exercise and infrequent medical attention _ either due to poverty or a cultural bias against doctors _ increases their risk of acquiring diabetes. Educating elementary-school-age children about healthy diets would help reduce the number of diabetes cases, DeFronzo said. ``If you have a 65-year-old mother who weighs 220 pounds and you tell her to go out and jog five miles Monday, Wednesday and Friday, she is going to laugh at you.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "minorities;diabetes test;diabetes studies;healthy diets;american diabetes association;diabetic patients;hispanic diabetes"}
+{"name": "AP890316-0018", "title": "Oldest Known Record of Total Eclipse Is Younger Than Thought, Study Says", "abstract": "Scientists missed by 150 years in dating the oldest known reliable record of a total solar eclipse, a clay tablet that also reflects fear among the ancient observers, researchers said today. Scientists had concluded about 20 years ago that the eclipse, recorded on a clay tablet found in Syria, occurred on May 3, 1375 B.C. But in today's issue of the British journal Nature, two Dutch scientists report their analysis shows the eclipse really happened about 150 years later, on March 5, 1223 B.C. The tablet was found in 1948 in the ruins of Ugarit, an ancient city near Syria's Mediterranean coast. One side appears to tell of a solar eclipse, and the reverse side reads, ``Two livers were examined: danger.'' ``Apparently the anxiety caused by the eclipse of the Sun and the sudden appearance of Mars had to be resolved by an explanation through liver divination,'' wrote the researchers from the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University. They concluded that the earlier text analysis of the tablet misidentified the time of year in which the eclipse occurred. The new study indicated the eclipse really happened in late February or early March. In addition, the text apparently indicates that Mars was visible at the time of the eclipse, the Dutch researchers said. They compared those criteria and the likely age range for the tablet to a list of possible total solar eclipses visible from Ugarit. Only the event in 1223 B.C. fills the bill, the researchers said. In an accompanying editorial, Christopher B.F. Walker of the British Museum in London cautioned that their conclusion ``can best be regarded as a plausible hypothesis.'' The translation of the tablet's text is not certain, and the study assumes that citizens of Ugarit followed an Egyptian-style calendar, for which no supporting evidence is available, he said. Even if the tablet is 150 years younger than previously believed, it would remain the oldest known reliable record of a total solar eclipse, Edwin Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview. The next-oldest record was made in China in the Eighth Century B.C., said Krupp, a researcher in ancient astronomy.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "solar eclipses;clay tablet;dutch scientists;syria;reliable record;ancient observers"}
+{"name": "AP890322-0010", "title": "City Image Tarnished By Allegations Of Police Racism", "abstract": "Allegations of police racism and brutality have shaken this city that for decades has prided itself on a progressive attitude toward civil rights and a reputation for racial harmony. The deaths of two blacks at a drug raid that went awry, followed 10 days later by a scuffle between police and blacks at a downtown hotel, touched off an outcry by minority leaders for an outside review of the department. ``It's like a watch spring. You can only wind the watch so tightly before it's going to snap. I think we're approaching that breaking point,'' said Van Hayden, 25, a student who says police beat him at the hotel. The city's police chief, John Laux, says there is no reason to assume the department would be immune to a problem that is present in all segments of society. ``The whole society to different degrees has problems of racism,'' he said. In a letter to police supervisors in mid-February, Laux said: ``Let me make one thing perfectly clear _ any act of bias will be dealt with directly and severely. There will be no tolerance for that type of inexcusable behavior.'' Since former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, then a 35-year-old mayor running for the U.S. Senate, electrified the 1948 Democratic National Convention with his historic speech in support of civil rights, Minneapolis has been viewed as a liberal, progressive city. Some, including Hayden, say that image now blocks progress. ``I think this city has to wake up. Everyone always says, `I can't believe this is happening in Minnesota, in Minneapolis, the home of progressiveness.' That is real tricky,'' Hayden said. ``If we get preoccupied with the image of the city, we're not going to be able to thoroughly address the problems we're facing.'' ``The liberal image is a false picture,'' said Chris Nisan, a University of Minnesota student who has been involved in recent protests. In a series of rallies in recent weeks, protesters demanded that officers involved in the drug raid be suspended, charges against those arrested at the hotel be dropped, and that a citizen police review board be established. City Council voted last week to study the problem. ``There are bad apples in every bunch and the Minneapolis Police Department is no exception,'' said Councilwoman Sayles Belton. ``I don't think they (the good officers) are pleased with the few that are giving them the bad rap _ the spoilers.'' Lloyd Smalley, 71, and Lillian Weiss, 65, were killed Jan. 25 in a fire that started after police hurled a stun grenade into their apartment, where others also lived, during a drug raid. No one conducting the raid knew the elderly people were living there, said Laux. A grand jury decided not to bring charges against any officers, but an FBI investigation is continuing. In the hotel scuffle, police said they responsed to a call of a loud party. Partygoers alleged that officers used the term ``nigger,'' and beat some of those arrested. Laux said his officers have denied using racial names and said protesters lied about the number of people receiving medical attention following the arrests. Gleason Glover, president of the Minneapolis Urban League, which works for interracial cooperation, said police racism has been a problem since he took over the league position 21 years ago. ``The matter of police misconduct and brutality has been going on for at least the 21 years I've been here, but I think the deaths pushed the issue beyond the point of tolerance that usually is the case in matters of police misconduct,'' Glover said. ``There is deep resentment in both the black community and among police officers with regard to how they feel they are perceived by each other ... I do not see a quick fix solution to it,'' Glover said. Allegations of police misconduct currently are reviewed by a panel appointed by the mayor. The panel can only make recommendations. Laux opposes establisment of a citizen panel to look into police actions. ``The key point is that any time the head of the police department cannot hire, fire or impose discipline, you are no longer in charge,'' he said. Laux said the 750-member department, which includes 62 minority members and 68 white women, will begin cultural awareness training for all officers, probably this fall. ``We need to get more education about ourselves and about everyone else. Our goal is to find out who can offer that to us and in what form,'' said Laux. ``But it must be thoughtful and be done by the right people.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "police racism;racial harmony;brutality;drug raid;civil rights;police misconduct"}
+{"name": "AP890325-0029", "title": "Chemicals Fail To Break Up Largest Spill In U.S. History", "abstract": "The calm waters of Prince William Sound have stymied efforts to disperse the largest oil spill in U.S. history, which spewed from a ship that ran aground trying to avoid chunks of ice, officials said. The spill of some 270,000 barrels _ or 11.3 million gallons _ occurred early Friday when the 987-foot tanker Exxon Valdez went hard aground on Bligh Reef, about 25 miles outside Valdez, the northermost ice-free port in the United States. Coast Guard spokesman Ed Wieliczkiewicz said the use of chemicals to disperse and sink the heavy North Slope crude oil failed because the agents depend in part on rough seas to break up the oil. He said Exxon officials plan to pump the oil remaining aboard the Exxon Valdez onto the Exxon Baton Rouge, another tanker. Early Friday the Exxon Valdez was losing 20,000 gallons of oil per hour, but the flow slowed to a trickle later. An oil slick snaked about five miles from the ship as wind and tide pushed the crude oil into the sound and away from shore. ``This is the largest oil spill in U.S. history and it unfortunately took place in an enclosed water body with numerous islands, channels, bays and fiords,'' said Richard Golob, publisher of the Golob Oil Pollution Bulletin. Gov. Steve Cowper said the ship was ``impaled on the reef.'' He said the vessel steered from its course to avoid chunks of ice and did not return to its normal traffic lane. Dan Lawn, an engineer for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said the captain could not steer the Exxon Valdez back on course in time to avoid a collision. Lawn likened the ship's situation to ``trying to park a Cadillac in a Volkswagen spot.'' Divers were to check the ship's hull and their findings were to be used in making plans for the removal of crude oil still aboard the vessel. ``A spill of this size in such a complex environment promises to be a cleanup nightmare,'' said Golob, a Cambridge, Mass.-based consultant whose firm has studied oil spills and environmental disasters for 15 years. In Washington, Interior Department spokesman Steve Goldstein said efforts had begun to evacuate waterfowl, sea otters and other wildlife from the danger area. The Exxon Valdez had loaded 1.2 million barrels of oil at the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. marine terminal at Valdez and was en route to Long Beach, Calif., when it crunched onto the reef. The ship marks the second aniversary of its maiden voyage today. The terminal was closed early Friday to tanker traffic as officials tried to deal with the mammoth spill. The flow in the trans-Alaska oil pipeline also was reduced to 800,000 barrels daily from 1.2 million barrels. Alyeska spokesman Tom Brennan said that, at the reduced rate, the marine terminal's capacity would allow nine days of operation before the line would have to be shut down. Valdez, a town of about 3,000 year-round residents that grows to more than 4,000 with a summer influx of fishing industry workers and travelers, is a picturesque community about 125 miles east of Anchorage. It relies on the fishing, oil and tourism industries. The sound is considered a playground for kayakers, sport fishermen and tourists. Jason Wells, executive director of the Valdez Fisheries Development Association, said he believed the oil slick would cause little damage unless wind pushes it back toward Valdez. The fishing industry is between seasons. Wells said the black cod fishery is scheduled to begin April 1, but the region's major herring fishery is not expected to get under way until mid-April. But the spill likely will draw increasing fire from environmentalists sensitive about the trans-Alaska pipeline and efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development. ``It's of concern for two reasons: one is the size of the spill and that this is such a sensitive, very productive area,'' said Lisa Speer, senior staff scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York. Valdez City Manager Doug Griffin said the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline which carries oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez and the marine terminal have an enviable environmental record. But he added: ``Living in Valdez, we've always worried that sometime something like this could happen.'' Previously, the largest U.S. tanker spill was the Dec. 15, 1976, grounding of the Argo Merchant tanker off the Nantucket shoals off Massachusetts, in which 7.6 million gallons of oil spilled, Golob said. The largest tanker spill in history was in the July 19, 1979, collision off Tobago of the supertankers Atlantic Empress and Aegean Captain, in which 300,000 tons _ more than 80 million gallons _ of oil was lost.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "bligh reef;oil slick;oil spills;crude oil;environmental disasters;environmental conservation;987-foot tanker exxon valdez;u.s. tanker spill"}
+{"name": "AP890326-0081", "title": "Captain Should Have Been Piloting Tanker, Exxon Reveals; Disaster Declared", "abstract": "The tanker that caused the nation's biggest oil spill was being illegally piloted by its third mate when the vessel ran aground on a reef, Exxon Shipping Co. said Sunday. Alaska's governor, meanwhile, declared once-pristine Prince William Sound a disaster area as the toll on the waterway's abundant wildlife began to mount. The Coast Guard said the slick and patches of oil separated from it were spread over an area of about 100 square miles. Exxon Shipping spokesman Brian Dunphy told The Associated Press that the captain of the tanker Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood, was not on the bridge at the time of the accident and that third mate Gregory Cousins was in command. ``It's Exxon's policy that in the waters that the ship was located in, the captain should have been on the bridge,'' Dunphy said. ``There's a problem there in that he was not there. It's our policy he should have been there.'' An Exxon spokeswoman, Sharon Curran-Wescott, said she believed Cousin's actions violated federal regulations. ``He didn't have a proper pilot's license for that. He wasn't authorized by the company, nor was it legal,'' she said. Dunphy said he did not know why Hazelwood was not on the bridge. ``I am unaware of any explanation he has made at this time. ... There is a full investigation that will occur on the incident,'' Dunphy said, adding that the captain is consulting with an attorney. As clean-up efforts continued Sunday, fishermen fearing lost income sought compensation Sunday. Exxon Shipping Co. held a meeting Sunday between fishermen and a company claims officer. ``We're not ready to absorb any loss,'' said Riki Ott, spokeswoman for United Fishermen of Alaska. ``We expect full compensation.'' Ten supertankers remained anchored 33 miles from Valdez, unable to move toward shore because the harbor remains closed. The Coast Guard said it ordered the closure to prevent pollution from being carried to Valdez on vessels passing through the oil. Department of Interior spokeswoman Pamela Bergmann said a wildlife specialist sailed in the sound Saturday and observed 75 ducks and two otters coated with oil. They could not be captured for cleaning, she said. Gov. Steve Cowper declared Prince William Sound a disaster area, freeing state resources for cleanup and paving the way for a federal disaster declaration. ``This oil spill may well be the greatest disaster to hit Alaska since the Good Friday earthquake 25 years ago,'' Cowper said in a news release. ``It requires the most thorough response we can muster and this disaster declaration is an important part of that response. We'll be requesting President Bush to make a similar declaration.'' The 987-foot tanker Exxon Valdez, carrying 1.2 million barrels of North Slope crude oil loaded at Valdez, ran onto a reef 25 miles from the port early Friday after swinging out of a traffic lane to avoid ice. Valdez is at the southern end of the 800-mile Alaska oil pipeline. Estimates put the spill at 240,000 barrels of oil, or about 10.1 million gallons, making it the biggest U.S. spill on record. The only larger oil-related accident in U.S. waters was the spilling and burning of up to 10.7 million gallons of oil when two ships collided in Galveston Bay in 1979. More than four miles of floating boom had been placed in an effort to contain the oil, the Coast Guard said Sunday. An additional 3,000 feet was to be deployed at Galena Bay at the request of fishermen. Skimming boats worked to remove the oil. The Coast Guard estimated the area affected by the spill at 100 square miles. However, Exxon insisted that the area was only 10 to 12 square miles, and Coast Guard officials said they were at a loss to explain the difference in estimates. The transfer of oil remaining aboard the Exxon Valdez to the Exxon Baton Rouge resumed late Saturday. The Coast Guard said about 84,000 gallons of oil an hour was being transferred; at that rate, the unloading could take seven days. By late Sunday, Exxon officials said a total of 37,500 barrels of oil had been transferred in the first two days of the operation, leaving more than 900,000 barrels on the ship. Tests were under way to determine if dispersal chemicals should be used despite the potential for environmental damage. The agents need wave action to help break up the thick crude oil. Weather had been calm since the accident, but the National Weather Service said the wind was expected to increase to 25 mph and stir up a 5- to 6-foot chop on the sound. However, the wind and waves may make it more difficult to skim oil off the water, said Coast Guard Lt. Ed Wieliczkiewicz. An experiment to assess the possibility of burning off the oil was completed early Sunday and the Coast Guard said Exxon officials were ``cautiously optimistic.'' Environmentalists, the governor and other top state officials have accused Exxon and Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. of responding too slowly to the spill. Alyeska operates the terminal at Valdez that loads tankers with North Slope crude. Both companies said they were satisfied with the handling of the problem. ``We're proceeding cautiously,'' said Exxon spokesman Tom Cirigliano. ``We want to make sure we don't make any mistakes in cleaning up the spill.'' Exxon Shipping Co. President Frank Iarossi said Exxon has reviewed information gathered by divers and determined there are five holes in the vessel's hull on the starboard side. The largest is 20-by-6 feet. All six tanks along the port side remain intact. Four are oil tanks; two are ballast tanks. Investigation of the accident was turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday. The ship's captain and two bridge crew members, including Cousins, were relieved of duty Saturday and subpoenaed by the NTSB. Iarossi said relieving the three was intended to allow them rest and was not a disciplinary measure. Hazelwood was in his cabin at the time of the accident, Iarossi said. The third member of the bridge crew was identified as helmsman Robert Kagan. The three were administered routine tests for drug and alcohol abuse, but the results were not immediately available, officials said. The spill came at a time when Prince William Sound fishermen were preparing for the herring season, which is followed by harvests of shellfish and salmon. Many are concerned they will get only minimal harvests because of the oil damage, and then will face the longer-term problem of bad publicity. ``This could ruin our reputation in Asian markets for years to come,'' said Jim Brown, a netter. The herring catch, which usually takes place in April, primarily is for the harvest of roe, a delicacy that brings up to $25 per pound in Japan. ``It's possible they could avoid the oil,'' Brown said. ``Fish are not stupid. But they can't avoid the chemicals.'' Rick Steiner of the University of Alaska Marine Advisory Program said the beaches on which the herring spawn could be polluted. Fishermen said they have had two good years back to back, and some were spurred by that success to go into debt for new equipment this year. Ott said fishing is an economic mainstay in Cordova, more so than in Valdez, which also draws tourists and has the oil terminal. ``Half of Cordova is operating on credit,'' Ott said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "federal regulations;captain;u.s. spill;environmental damage;oil spill;987-foot tanker exxon valdez;clean-up efforts;full investigation;proper pilot;joseph hazelwood"}
+{"name": "AP890403-0123", "title": "With BC-EXP--Tornado Season-Radar", "abstract": "Here are some tornado facts from the National Weather Service, Insurance Information Institute and news accounts: _Tornadoes can occur in any month, but are more frequent from April through June and between 3 and 6 p.m. _Most tornadoes track southwest to northeast, but their paths can spiral erratically. _The portion of a thunderstorm adjacent to large hail is where tornadoes are most likely to occur. _There were 32 tornado-related deaths reported in 1988, down from 59 in 1987 and well below the average of 99 a year. _Less than 2 percent of all tornadoes are classified as violent, with wind speeds of more than 200 mph and a path averaging 26 miles. The longest tornado on record went 219 miles across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana in March 1925. _Tornadoes travel at an average 30 mph, but can stand still or go 70 mph. _The largest single outbreak of twisters on record was in April 1974, when 148 storms killed 300 people in 13 states over two days. _When a tornado threatens, seek shelter in the basement or central parts of the house, office or school building, away from windows.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "thunderstorm;tornado facts;tornadoes;tornado-related deaths"}
+{"name": "AP890404-0260", "title": "Exxon Set To Salvage Tanker; Captain May Surrender; Cleanup Drags On", "abstract": "Exxon crews Tuesday finished pumping the remaining crude oil out of the tanker Exxon Valdez in preparation for refloating and removing the source of the nation's worst-ever oil spill. The fugitive captain of the Exxon Valdez sent signals he was ready to surrender to face criminal charges of operating the vessel while drunk. Meanwhile, Exxon said placing an oil-catching boom around the ship immediately after the grounding could have touched off a giant explosion of gases from the oil, although that was not the reason it took 11 hours to set the first containment line. ``The worst thing we could have done early on was try to boom the vessel. We would have lost the vessel,'' said Exxon Shipping Co. President Frank Iarossi. A boom wasn't placed around the vessel for 11 hours because it wasn't available in Valdez, Exxon officials have said. Iarossi also said Exxon has changed its policy because of the spill and now requires crews to be aboard ship, where drinking is prohibited, four hours before sailing. Authorities charged the captain had been drinking before the Valdez sailed. Thick oil has floated over more than 1,640 square miles and soiled 800 miles of beach. Thousands of animals are known dead, including 30 sea otters. Early Tuesday, Exxon said it had finished transferring about 42 million gallons of crude to three other ships. Another 42 million gallons of oily waste water remained aboard the Valdez, which spilled more than 10 million gallons of crude into Prince William Sound when it struck a reef March 24. The company said crews would attempt to pump air into the hold and refloat the vessel off a reef at high tide Wednesday afternoon. If freed, the still-leaking ship, which has eight holes some 20 feet long in its hull, will be towed to a remote and already fouled cove for repairs. Exxon then planned to take the ship to a port in the Far East, or to a Portland, Ore., dry dock. Port officials there said they weren't sure if they'd allow that, even though the $12 million repair bill would provide about 200 jobs. ``We're not willing to trade in the environment for jobs,'' Portland port spokesman Darrel Buttice said Monday. Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt said Tuesday there are ``a lot of questions that need to be answered'' before the Valdez is allowed in. Canadian authorities also asked Exxon for assurances there will be no damage to the British Columbia coast if the tanker is towed to Oregon, and the mayor of Valdez said the ship was not welcome back in the port where it took on the load of crude. In Washington, Environmental Protection Administrator William Reilly said the spill could put the brakes on petroleum exploration there and in other areas. ``We will take apart the environmental planning for every aspect of oil development in Alaska and in other sensitive areas where the environment potentially could be threatened,'' he told a House appropriations subcommittee. The family of the fired Exxon Valdez captain, Joseph Hazelwood, said the skipper wants to surrender but is awaiting advice from his attorney, according to Lt. Thomas Fazio, commander of the New York State Police on Long Island. But after Long Island law enforcement authorities waited a second day for Hazelwood to turn himself in, the Suffolk County district attorney's office announced there would be no surrender that day. Hazelwood, 42, is accused operating the ship while under the influence of alcohol, reckless endangerment and negligent discharge of oil. Bail was previously set in Valdez at $50,000. Of about three dozen oil-soaked otters rescued following the spill, about one-third have died, Alaska Department of Fish and Game spokesman Jon Lyman said. ``Dozens of otters are dying before rescuers can get to them,'' he said. Six otters were flown to Sea World in San Diego on Monday for rehabilitation. Fishermen counting on the sound's $12 million annual herring industry were told Monday by the state that it will not allow a season this year. Sablefish and shrimp fisheries in Prince William waters also have been closed. An effort at Sawmill Bay, 11 miles west of Valdez, to keep oil away from a hatchery where 2 million salmon are waiting to be released to the sea appeared to be failing. Tendrils of oil had floated past a boom streched across the bay, said officials. The spill has shifted public opinion in Alaska about the energy industry, which has been lobbying for new exploration. U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski, a champion of oil exploration in Alaska, asked that plans for drilling in Bristol Bay, the state's richest fishing grounds, be set aside until the industry can demonstrate that it can respond effectively to spills. ``The Exxon Valdez accident has taught us that simply having a plan is not sufficient,'' the Alaska Republican said. At the first Valdez City Council meeting since the spill, two council members and Mayor John Devens expressed concern that anger and frustration over the spill was surfacing as harrassment of pipeline company workers and their children. Meanwhile, a multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in California against Exxon Corp., charging that the spill has led to gas prices of 10 to 15 cents more a gallon for California drivers.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "tanker exxon valdez;annual herring industry;worst-ever oil spill;crude oil;criminal charges;oil-catching boom;joseph hazelwood;exxon crews"}
+{"name": "AP890501-0176", "title": "Exxon Submits Strategy on Alaska Cleanup Plan", "abstract": "Exxon officials Monday released a revised plan for cleansing 364 miles of Alaskan coastline fouled by the nation's largest oil spill, but said their proposal requires a suspension of local environmental laws. The plan makes no provisions for continuing the cleanup beyond mid-September, and notes that 191 miles of lightly oiled coastline may not be cleaned mechanically at all, but be allowed to be washed naturally by the environment. ``It is expected that this will be the case for all lightly oiled Gulf of Alaska sites,'' said the two-part, 60-page report. ``We are going to have to take a hard look at that,'' responded Bill Lamoreaux, the ranking state environmental official monitoring the cleanup. Since March 24, when an Exxon tanker struck a reef outside Valdez and poured more than 10 million gallons of North Slope crude into Prince William Sound, Exxon has financed cleanup crews fighting the spreading sludge. Signs of the spill have been sighted about 500 miles southwest of Valdez. The oil company's strategy, which was submitted to state and federal authorities only hours before a deadline expired, divides Alaska's oil-tainted shores into four categories _ from the most heavily polluted to those that are ``only lightly oiled.'' It covers polluted areas within Prince William Sound, as well as those outside the immediate spill zone, and calls for nearly 3,400 workers to participate in the cleanup. The worst areas _ three miles of sludge-covered beaches on several small islands _ would be targeted immediately, with the others scheduled for gradual cleansing through Sept. 15. Exxon's plan calls for the recovered waste to be strained for usable oil that can be refined, and said the oil-laced wastewater could be treated at the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.'s disposal plant in Valdez. The gunk and sludge that resists treatment or salvage will be burned or buried, according to the Exxon study. Both methods likely will require exemptions from local environmental laws. Coast Guard Adm. Paul A. Yost Jr., the ranking federal official tracking the cleanup, told reporters in Sacramento, Calif. that he would decide whether to approve the proposal within a week. Before the plan was released, Yost said he wanted much more detail than Exxon's original cleanup plan, which included nothing on polluted areas outside the sound. Yost is scheduled to arrive in Valdez on Tuesday to review the latest plan. Meanwhile, tar and sludge from the Valdez spill fouled the beaches of Alaska's wild Katmai National Park, drenching hundreds of sea otters and birds and threatening the huge brown bears prowling the refuge. The damage stretches along 260 miles of rocky, rugged coastline southwestward from Cape Douglas some 500 miles from Valdez, park superintendent Ray Bane said Monday. ``The oil has made landfall in large quantities in Katmai Bay and Hallo Bay. There is a heavy impact. We have seen several hundred sea otters swimming in oil. The oil has had an impact on virtually the entire coastline of the park,'' Bane said. The 4 million-acre park also is a haven for brown bears, a coastal cousin of the grizzly. ``A number of bears have been seen walking in the vicinity of the beaches. We have one verified sighting of a bear walking through the oil,'' Bane said. Bane said an aerial survey showed an amorphous oil patch 10 miles wide and more than 20 miles long in the Shelikof Strait, which is located along the migration route used by whales. Exxon is feeling the effects of the spill far beyond Alaska waters. Several groups throughout the country have called for a boycott Tuesday of Exxon products. In Anchorage, a group called the Boycott Exxon Alliance has scheduled a rally in front of Exxon's Alaska headquarters. The attorneys general of Idaho, Oregon and Washington state scheduled a news conference Tuesday to call for a federal investigation into the sharp rise in the price of gasoline since the spill. The oil industry blames the spill and crude oil prices that have risen $7 a barrel since January for higher prices at the gas pumps. Exxon also received sharp criticism from the federal government, which accused the company of ``foot-dragging'' in the construction of a second facility in Seward to aid in the cleanup of sea otters fouled by the oil. The animals depend on their thick fur for insulation against the cold water but the oil ruins the insulation effect. Exxon says the center will open Wednesday.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "crude oil prices;oil-tainted shores;polluted areas;alaskan coastline;cleanup plan;valdez spill;oil spill;exxon officials;exxon tanker;oiled coastline"}
+{"name": "AP890502-0205", "title": "Eds: INSERTS 1 graf after 5th graf, ``We are...' to UPDATE with protest in Anchorage; picks up 6th graf, `J. Edward...;' SUBS 16th graf, `Oil from...,' with 4 grafs to UPDATE with oil spreading, sightings of thousands of dead birds, eagle covered in oil; picks up 17th graf, `The tanker...'", "abstract": "Coast Guard Commandant Paul A. Yost on Tuesday attacked Exxon's plan to clean up the Alaskan oil spill. Consumers, politicians and environmentalists expressed their anger in a one-day ``Boycott Exxon'' campaign. Yost, the top federal official tracking the environmental disaster, said Exxon's plan was poorly drafted and lacking in specifics. But he stopped short of rejecting it, saying he wanted to meet with Exxon and state officials. In Washington, consumer activist Ralph Nader said Exxon ``should not be allowed to forget'' the spill and that a boycott would send the oil giant a message. He and others blasted Exxon for failing to be prepared for the spill and not rapidly responding to the accident that fouled hundreds of miles of Alaska's coast. They also questioned subsequent increases in gas prices. ``We are beginning the war of words and actions against any oil company that doesn't understand its responsibility to protect the environment,'' Massachusetts state Sen. Carol Amick told a boycott rally in Boston. In Anchorage, about 400 chanting and sign-waving protesters rallied in front of Exxon's Alaskan headquarters to urge a consumer boycott. J. Edward Surette Jr., executive director of the Bay State Gasoline Retailers Association in Billerica, Mass., said it was too early to assess the boycott's impact. Exxon spokeswoman Sarah Johnson said 10,000 credit cards out of 7 million have been cut up and returned to the company since the spill. The oil company's cleanup strategy must gain Yost's approval before being put into effect. Yost said he would make a decision on the proposal within a week. ``The plan is very thin,'' he told a news briefing. ``There's not a lot of backup or substantiation. It was quite light, very thin. There must have been a lot of figures there that I haven't seen. ``We are going to be done this summer,'' Yost said. ``Some beaches are going to be sparkling, some beaches are going to be far from sparkling.'' Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner, who is to make his second trip to Alaska on Wednesday as overall coordinator for the cleanup, said he expected the size of the operation to double or triple by the end of the month. In a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, Skinner called the spill ``the most significant environmental disaster this nation has ever faced.'' However, he said the cleanup, to be paid for by the oil industry, could add $100 million to $500 million to Alaska's economy, which he said is more than the effect of the fishing industry. Exxon released a statement that called the boycott unjust. Exxon President William D. Stevens said the company was ``turning heaven and Earth to set things right.'' Exxon's 60-page, two-part revised strategy to cleanse some 364 miles of Alaska's coastline of the oil spilled March 24 by the tanker Exxon Valdez was released Monday. The tanker struck a reef 25 miles from Valdez, spilling more than 10 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound. About 300 miles from the spill site, an observer saw thousands of dead birds in a wide tidal basin in the Hallo Bay area. ``We saw 2,000 to 3,000 dead birds. ... You can't really tell what they are. They're one big blob of oil,'' said Ray Bane, superintendent of Katmai National Park, about 275 miles southwest of Valdez. ``We found large oil debris washing and slopping up on our shores. ... It was very bad,'' Bane said. ``We saw eagles carrying oil-covered birds. We saw one eagle so coated in oil that it couldn't fly.'' State and federal officials said the focus of the cleanup is moving southwest, following the drifting oil along the Alaska Peninsula through the Shelikof Strait east of Kodiak Island. Oil has tainted the coast at least as far as Chignik, 525 miles southwest of Valdez. The tanker is undergoing preliminary repairs in the sound, and is to be moved next month to Portland, Ore., home of the only drydock on the West Coast capable of handling the 987-foot ship. In its proposal, Exxon said it wants to burn or bury the sludge recovered in the cleanup, which may require exemptions from Alaska environmental law. But Bill Lamoreaux, the ranking state environmental officer at the spill, said the laws would not be relaxed. ``The general feeling is that we would expect that they would comply with the environmental laws,'' Lamoreaux said. Exxon's plan also notes that 191 miles of coastline it describes as ``lightly oiled'' may be left untouched to be cleansed naturally by wind and water. Lamoreaux said, ``When we talk about `light oiling,' it doesn't mean it won't have a devastating effect on wildlife.'' U.S. Sens. James Exon and Bob Kerrey, both Nebraska Democrats, called on U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh to investigate potential price gouging by the oil industry. They noted that gas prices in Nebraska rose 20 percent from the first of March until mid-April. State attorneys general in Washington, Oregon and Idaho echoed the call. Since the Exxon Valdez accident, gas prices have increased an average 10 percent nationally, while the Northwest saw surges as high as 25 percent in less than a month, said Marla Rae, executive assistant to Oregon Attorney General Dave Frohnmayer. At a news conference in Houston, Exxon President Stevens said it showed ``shocking naivete'' to blame the price hikes on his company. ``As you know,'' he told reporters, ``the market for petroleum products is set by thousands of markets, thousands of independent dealers across the nation.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "exxon's plan;tanker exxon valdez;alaskan oil spill;oil industry;fishing industry;boycott exxon;significant environmental disaster;gas prices;cleanup strategy;oil company;exxon valdez accident"}
+{"name": "AP890511-0126", "title": "Feds Urge Steps to Curb Rising TB Rate Behind Bars", "abstract": "The tuberculosis rate in U.S. prisons may be more than three times higher than on the outside, federal health officials said Thursday, urging testing, isolation and other measures to curb TB behind bars. Researchers with the Centers for Disease Control cited a survey in 29 states, where prisons reported 31 tuberculosis cases per 100,000 inmates in 1984-85, compared with eight cases per 100,000 reported among non-incarcerated adults in those states during the same period. ``In some large correctional systems, the incidence of TB has increased dramatically,'' the CDC said, noting that in New York state there were 106 TB cases per 100,000 inmates in 1986 _ seven times more than the average of 15 cases reported in 1976-78. In New Jersey, inmates had a TB rate of 110 per 100,000 in 1987, 11 times higher than the general New Jersey population. In California, the rate was nearly six times higher _ 80 per 100,000. Tuberculosis, a contagious, bacterial lung disease, occurs in about 22,000 new cases each year in the United States; most can be cured with drug treatment. As many as 7 percent of Americans have latent TB infections, and about 10 percent of them will someday develop a case of tuberculosis itself. ``Persons at highest risk ... are close contacts,'' the CDC said, noting that TB can pose particular problems in prisons, where there is often overcrowding and ``where the environment is often conducive to airborne transmission of infection among inmates, staff and visitors.'' The CDC's Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Tuberculosis is recommending TB testing for most new prison inmates and staff members _ with the possible exception of inmates just transferring through for less than a week. The CDC committee also recommends new tests at least once a year, rapid chest X-rays for TB-infected people showing symptoms, and isolation _ off the prison property, if necessary _ for those with suspected or confirmed symptomatic TB cases. The spread of AIDS-virus infections may play a part in the spread of TB in prisons, the CDC said. AIDS weakens the immune system, making patients susceptible to infections other people might ward off, including tuberculosis. AIDS tests should be offered to all inmates with known TB infections, the CDC report said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "tuberculosis cases;tuberculosis rate;u.s. prisons;airborne transmission;cdc;aids-virus infections"}
+{"name": "AP890529-0030", "title": "Hurricane Forecasters Worry About Protecting Growing Coastal Populations", "abstract": "Forecasters preparing for Thursday's opening of the Atlantic hurricane season wish they could predict the arrival of new technological help they say may be crucial to ever-growing coastal populations. The Air Force has agreed to fly hurricane reconnaissance flights for two more years, but has made it clear it plans to phase out the missions. And only one satellite is available for tracking hurricanes. ``We just have nothing right now to lean on,'' says Ken McKinnon, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Tom Lewis of North Palm Beach, Fla., who has introduced a bill in Congress to keep hurricane hunters flying at least another five years. ``We've got one satellite and they're telling us it'll do the job. If it blinks, how do you track weather?'' The Air Force doesn't want to be involved. ``We have in the last few years examined our need for manned weather reconnaissance and feel there's no real compelling military reason,'' said spokesman Lt. Col. Darrell Hayes. ``We're not disputing that the hurricane center and the weather service need the data. We're just saying there may be more appropriate agencies to provide the information,'' he said, adding that the service had approached the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about taking over the flights. Besides the flights, forecasters depend on radar and satellite data. The single working weather satellite wasn't intended to be alone. A second satellite failed, and a replacement for the failed craft was blown up in a mishap on the launch pad, forcing forecasters to make do. There are new satellites on the horizon, says Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center. But they've been due for a long time and aren't expected before late 1990. ``It is a major concern for us,'' Sheets said. Forecasters also are worried about a shift in the pattern of hurricane activity in recent years. Since 1985, Sheets said, there seem to be more hurricanes and they're more likely to hit the United States. ``We may be in an upswing,'' he said, ``possibly back to the pattern of the '40s, '50s and '60s when we had a tremendous number of landfall hurricanes.'' Max Mayfield, hurricane specialist at the National Weather Service in Miami, said experts don't known enough yet about hurricanes to tell if this is just a peak in activity, or a return to the 50s and 60s. ``Now we can see past the Antilles out into the Atlantic, and over toward Hawaii on the west,'' said forecaster Hal Gerrish. ``We'd like to be able to see all the way to Africa,'' which is where Atlantic hurricanes develop, he said. The need for improved tracking systems is important because more and more people are moving to coastal locations likely to be affected by storms. ``I spoke to about 5,000 people on the west coast of Florida,'' Sheets said. ``Ninety-plus percent of them were from the Midwest or Northeast and had just come to Florida. They really have very little concept of what a hurricane is.'' During the average Atlantic hurricane season, which stretches from June through the end of November, six tropical storms will grow into hurricanes, with heavy rains and winds of 74 mph. Donna, in 1960, struck the Florida Keys at Marathon, then raked across Naples and Fort Myers before weakening inland. Last season, 505 people died in Atlantic hurricanes, including Gilbert and Joan. Gilbert killed more than 300 people and did heavy damage in Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic as it blasted across the the western Caribbean and part of the Gulf of Mexico _ including the Florida Keys, the Florida Straits and Cuba. Joan hovered off the coast of Central America for days before howling in with top winds of 135 mph. The storm caused mudslides, floods and other damage in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "forecasters;hurricane activity;hurricane reconnaissance flights;hurricane hunters;coastal populations;air force;weather satellite;atlantic hurricane season"}
+{"name": "AP890704-0043", "title": "Suspected Rebels Kill Police Chief", "abstract": "Suspected communist rebels today killed the police chief of the Philippines' major financial center in an escalation of street violence sweeping the capital area, police said. Col. Herminio Taylo, 54, police chief of Makati, had just finished jogging and was buying fruit in a public market when two assassins opened fire with .45-caliber pistols, police said. He died an hour later in a hospital. Police Sgt. Lydio Zeta quoted witnesses as saying the gunmen shouted ``We are NPAs,'' referring to the rebel New People's Army, and warned bystanders not to interfere. They fled in a commandeered passenger jeep after taking Taylo's pistol, Zeta said. Makati, a twin city of Manila with a population of about 440,000, is the country's major banking and financial center and is also the home of numerous foreign embassies. Taylo was the 10th soldier or policeman slain in the Manila area in the last two weeks. The military says communist rebels have killed up to 65 soldiers and police in the capital region since January. The New People's Army also claimed responsibility for the April 21 assassination of U.S. Army Col. James ``Nick'' Rowe, who was slain on his way to work at the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group headquarters in suburban Quezon City. Taylo was slain one day after Brig. Gen. Alexander Aguirre, Capital Region commander, announced formation of a special task force to track down rebel assassins in the capital. President Corazon Aquino deplored the latest killing but said public officials must learn to live with the threat of assassination. She said the government had provided bodyguards to Cabinet members who have requested them or who have received death threats. ``It is really very unfortunate and I do sympathize with the family of Col. Taylo,'' said Mrs. Aquino, whose husband Benigno was slain in a political assassination in 1983. ``And I hope that this, perhaps, could be a reminder to all our people in the military and police that they should take necessary precautions to ward off these assasination attempts.'' National Security Adviser Rafael Ileto said the killing of Taylo showed that every soldier and policeman was a potential target of assassination. ``This is war and somebody is bound to get hurt in the process,'' Ileto said. ``I'm sure all the major unit commanders are doing their best not only to protect their men but to counter such acts.'' Despite the escalating violence, Mrs. Aquino said she still plans to go ahead with a visit to Western Europe this month. Mrs. Aquino leaves Saturday for an official visit to West Germany. She will also visit France and Belgium before departing Brussels for home on July 15.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "col. herminio taylo;rebel assassins;gunmen;communist rebels;philippines;street violence;political assassination;police chief;rebel new people's army;assasination attempts;makati"}
+{"name": "AP890708-0135", "title": "Forests, Brush, Grass Burn In The Hot, Dry West", "abstract": "Thousands more acres of brush and timber went up in smoke Saturday in seven states in the West, threatening homes in some places, and firefighters contended with wind and high temperatures. ``As the day heats up, you'll get these reburns going out and the trees dry out and they'll torch,'' said Forest Service spokesman Ed Christian in Wyoming. ``We hope Mother Nature cooperates with us,'' said Mary Plumb of the federal Bureau of Land Management in Utah. Record highs included 97 at Cheyenne, Wyo., and 100 at Denver, while Casper, Wyo., tied its record of 100. That was Denver's fifth consecutive day at 100 degrees or higher. Fire crews were at work in Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Washington. Elsewhere, four big fires burned in interior Alaska, one having charred an estimated 24,000 acres. A fire in Georgia's Okefenoke swamp that burned 500 acres of habitat for an endangered species of woodpecker was reported contained Saturday. The Boise Interagency Fire Center in Idaho, which coordinates federal firefighting efforts, listed 7,000 to 7,500 people on the fire lines, along with 42 air tankers, 14 guide planes and 10 helicopters, spokesman Arnold Hartigan said Saturday. So far this fire season, the agency has had 31,000 fires reported, which have burned 1,117,000 acres. In the same period last year, it had 54,000 fires but 765,000 acres burned. The fact that there are more acres burned this year, but fewer fires, ``means this year's fires are in very rugged, inaccessible terrain, which makes them hard to fight,'' said Hartigan. ``Also, some of them are in areas where there have not been any fires for years, and that means there is excellent fuel available.'' The largest fire in the Lower 48 states was the week-old Diamond Peak fire in Utah, which had burned 12,200 acres of forest and brush in an area 20 miles west of the Utah-Colorado border, just north of Interstate 70. It was 80 percent contained, but after a week of temperatures around 100 degrees, the National Weather Service predicted possible dry lightning storms and gusting wind. Elsewhere in Utah, the Uinta Canyon fire had burned 3,850 acres 20 miles north of Roosevelt in the Ashley National Forest. Forest Service spokeswoman Cece Stewart said three helicopters scattered incendiary bombs made of chemically treated plastic balls on an unburned 200-acre area between fire lines and the main fire in an effort to stop the fire's advance. High wind also was expected in northern California, where a 2,500-acre fire near Janesville on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada destroyed two mobile homes. U.S. 395 between Milford and Janesville was closed. ``The wind was pretty brisk. It just blew the fire and pushed it out,'' said Forest Service spokesman Dave Reider. Relentless winds first pushed the fire north, then south, prompting Sheriff Ron Jarrel to order the evacuation of a sparsely populated area about a mile south of the fire line, Reider said. It was unknown how many people were affected. Spokesman Larry Lathrop said a helicopter battling the fire crashed Saturday about four miles southeast of Janesville. Lathrop said the pilot walked away from the crash, but the helicopter was destroyed. The chopper apparently was making a water drop when it crashed. In the Sierra foothills near Oroville, north of Sacramento, a 750-acre fire was contained Saturday after burning four homes, six outbuildings and six vehicles, and forcing about 150 residents to flee briefly Friday night, according to the California Department of Forestry. Firefighters gained the upper hand on a trio of forest fires in Colorado's drought-stricken mountains Saturday, but a new blaze of an estimated 3,000 acres in grass and timber on the eastern plains had crews scrambling to protect a subdivision in Elbert County. Residents of nine homes in the subdivision about 25 miles northeast of Kiowa were evacuated Friday night, but later were allowed to return home. In the Bridger-Teton National Forest in western Wyoming, a fire had grown to 3,420 acres, burning an additional 1,000 acres in 24 hours, according to forest officials. Forest spokesman Ed Christian said the fire was about 50 percent contained by Saturday night and that with some cooperation from the weather, crews should be able to complete their containment line by Monday. Officials in Arizona gave priority to the Marijilda fire, which had blackened 2,500 acres of forest on the north side of Mount Graham near Safford, and the Chiva fire east of Tucson, which had burned 8,300 acres in the Rincon Mountains, according to BLM spokesman Wendell Peacock. Arizona's largest fire until Saturday, in the Peloncillo Mountains south of Duncan, along the Arizona-New Mexico border, had charred 8,000 acres but was 80 percent contained. Firefighters spent an eighth day Saturday battling the lightning-caused, 8,139-acre Divide fire 50 miles northeast of Silver City in the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico, U.S. Forest Service officials said. Firefighters in north-central Washington encircled a 4,500-acre range fire early Saturday.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "forest fires;fire crews;fire season;federal firefighting efforts;firefighters;fire lines"}
+{"name": "AP890714-0129", "title": "Trout Rescued From Ash-Tainted Creek; Fires Fought in Six States", "abstract": "Rain and higher humidity helped firefighters whip blazes in six Western states, and a New Mexico fire that polluted a creek with ash forced biologists to rescue hundreds of endangered fish in long-handled nets. Officials said 566 Gila trout were fished out of Diamond Creek in southwestern New Mexico, put in containers on mules and horses, loaded onto trucks and brought to the Mescalero Fish Hatchery. The trout will stay there until the creek rises and becomes ash-free. ``They were in good shape,'' said Toby Martinez, a U.S. Forest Service range and wildlife staff officer for the Gila National Forest. Officials hoped at least 90 percent would survive. Much of the creek was contaminated by ash from the lightning-caused Divide fire, which started June 30 and burned about 10,000 acres 150 miles southwest of Albuquerque, said Forest Service spokeswoman Andrea Garcia. The fire was contained Monday and should be controlled within four days, Ms. Garcia said. Martinez said rescuers used electric shockers to stun the fish, then netted them. When a fish is stunned, it comes to the surface. Gila trout once were widespread throughout mountain streams in the Gila River Basin of southwestern New Mexico, but the habitat was ruined because of wood cutting, overgrazing and irrigation. The trout was placed on the federal endangered species list in 1967. Lightning sparked three small fires Thursday and today, but firefighters were extinguishing them today, said Willie Zapata, U.S. Forest Service dispatcher in Gila. In California, 1,500 firefighters aided by light wind and higher humidity Thursday had circled 70 percent of an arson fire that has charred more than 3,000 acres of scenic California coastline near Big Sur. Firefighters said they were unable to make progress overnight. They hoped to have the 6-day-old fire contained by late today, but authorities were concerned that higher temperatures could hamper their efforts. A brush fire accidentally started by Marine Corps tracer fire continued burning out of control today after charring at least 3,000 acres at Camp Pendleton, a base spokesman said. Firefighters on Thursday said they had contained the 2,000-acre Livermore Fire west of Fort Collins, Colo., in Roosevelt National Forest, the last of three major fires in Colorado to be encircled by firefighters. Seven 20-person crews fighting the fire were to be reduced to three crews, officials said. Earlier, firefighters contained the Black Tiger fire which covered 2,000 acres in Boulder Canyon and destroyed dozens of homes, and halted a 2,600-acre fire in Mesa Verde National Monument in southwestern Colorado. Arizona firefighters mopped up hot spots in several small fires, and only one blaze in the state was not fully contained. The stubborn Horton Fire, burning beneath the Mogollon Rim, had grown to 300 acres, but officials expected to have it contained by late Saturday. In northwest Nebraska, members of a volunteer fire department and a few National Guardsmen stood by the smoldering remains of a blaze that charred 48,000 acres of the Pine Ridge. The fire, which raged for four days and destroyed 14 unoccupied structures, was contained Wednesday and officials predicted it would be controlled soon. Forest officials in Nebraska shifted their attention Thursday from firefighting to seeding grass and planting trees. The blaze blackened acres of ponderosa pine trees, many of them 60 to 80 years old, said U.S. Forest Service Fire Staff Officer Jim Carson. Carson hoped for rain. ``My experience is that we'd see green grass again if we get enough moisture, say a half-inch of rain,'' he said. Rains helped firefighters in western Wyoming forests. The storms dampened a fire in Bridger-Teton National Forest that had burned nearly 3,500 acres. ``It's been real quiet,'' said Dick Heninger, a ranger in the forest's Pinedale office. ``It looks better all the time, the way these clouds are coming in.'' Heninger said four crews will probably be released from the fire today, leaving two to continue mop-up work. But one official with the Wyoming Interagency Fire Coordination Center warned the break in the fire season will probably be short-lived. ``As soon as it gets hot and dry again, we will be right back in it,'' said center spokesman Greg Warner. ``For now, anyway, we are getting some relief.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "western states;fires;fire season;new mexico fire;blazes;forest;firefighters;arson fire"}
+{"name": "AP890719-0225", "title": "Who's A Person?", "abstract": "Simply put, the question was who should be counted as a person and who, if anybody, should not. But there's nothing simple about it. The Senate voted one answer and, in effect, invited the Supreme Court to decide whether it was right or wrong. That happened because in the arithmetic of congressional reapportionment, every question becomes complex, contentious and politically charged. The point at issue in Senate debate on a new immigration bill was whether illegal aliens should be counted in the process that will reallocate House seats among states after the 1990 census. There could be enough of them to shift seats away from at least five states to Sun Belt states with large numbers of illegal residents. Nobody is certain because counting illegal aliens is a hard thing to do, given the fact that they don't want to be spotted by the government. Then again, the Census Bureau maintains that not including them, and still coming up with an accurate 1990 population count, would be even more difficult. ``A census of only legal residents cannot be done as accurately as a census of all residents,'' according to Census Bureau testimony to Congress. After the 1980 census, the government estimated that there were 2.57 million people in the United States illegally. There were other guesses, some of them far higher. The government made no attempt to count them out in the redistricting process; indeed, the two previous administrations decided that the Constitution required that the census cover illegal aliens along with citizens. There is not likely to be any change in that prior to the 1990 census next spring. The Senate has passed an immigration bill including an amendment that would cut illegal aliens from the redistricting numbers, but it is not likely to clear Congress before the next year's national head count. Sen. Richard Shelby, D-Ala., proposed, and won, the immigration bill amendment that is supposed to exclude illegal aliens from the redistricting process. It would give Secretary of Commerce Robert Mosbacher the assignment of adjusting the census figures so that illegal aliens don't count for purposes of redistributing House seats. It does not come with instructions, so the department would have to figure out how. Shelby's amendment says only that the secretary is to ``make such adjustments in total population figures as may be necessary, using such methods and procedures as the secretary determines feasible and appropriate'' to keep illegal aliens from being counted in congressional reapportionment. That task would be perilous politically, since it would involve taking House seats away from some states and giving them to others, all on the basis of estimates. With 435 seats in the House, every representative gained by a state is a representative lost by another. Opponents of the Shelby amendment, led by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said it was unconstitutional, as well as unworkable. ``The framers of the Constitution intended to count all persons,'' Kennedy said. The Constitution itself says the apportionment of the House is to be determined on the basis of ``the whole number of free persons,'' excluding Indians and counting every five slaves as three persons. That was amended after the Civil War to say that the apportionment of House seats will be based on ``the whole number of persons in each state.'' Neither the original article nor the amendment mentions citizenship in connection with apportionment, although the term ``citizens'' is used in some other provisions. Opponents of the amendment said that showed the authors of both documents wanted everybody counted for purposes of apportionment. But Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyo., said the people who wrote the documents had no concept of illegal aliens because there weren't any in their time. That came later, with immigration restrictions that began in 1875. Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, the Republican leader, said the question should be put squarely to the Supreme Court. He said it is unfair to count illegal aliens in reapportionment. ``It just does not make any sense,'' Dole said. ``It does violate the constitutional principle of one man, one vote.'' But opponents of the Shelby measure said apportionment doesn't involve who votes and who doesn't. Women couldn't vote when the Constitution and the 14th Amendment were adopted, but they always were counted. Children can't vote, but they count, too. The amendment was adopted after the Senate voted 58 to 41 against a move to reject it, and 56 to 43 against scuttling it as unconstitutional. Shelby said that is sure to put the matter into the hands of the courts for a final judgment. ``Somebody is going to challenge it ...'' he said. ``Then, for the first time, we will let the Supreme Court of the United States decide something that we need an answer to ...''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "1990 census;national head count;census bureau;illegal residents;house seats;illegal aliens;congressional reapportionment"}
+{"name": "AP890722-0081", "title": "Maine Judge Finds Felon Retains Gun Rights Under State Constitution", "abstract": "A 1987 state constitutional amendment broadening the right to bear arms means that even convicted felons may own guns, a judge ruled. Cumberland County Superior Court Justice Stephen L. Perkins on Friday dismissed a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon against Edward Brown of Cumberland. Prosecutors had argued that the amendment's backers did not intend to allow felons to own guns, but the judge said nothing in the amendment indicated such an intent. ``If Maine legislators and citizens wanted to restrict or qualify the right to keep and bear arms, they could have enacted a constitutional provision that contained the desired restrictions,'' Perkins wrote. ``Maine's right to keep and bear arms amendment is the most broad and least restrictive of any of the 43 similar state amendments,'' he wrote. Attorney General James E. Tierney said Saturday that the case would be appealed, adding, ``With all due respect to Justice Perkins, we think he is wrong.'' The Maine constitution used to guaranteed the right to keep and bear arms ``for the common defense.'' In 1986, the Maine Supreme Court upheld a gun violation by focusing on the ``common defense'' phrase. In response, the Legislature enacted a constitutional amendment deleting that language, and voters approved it in November 1987. The amendment declared, ``Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms,and this right shall never be questioned.'' Brown had been accused of criminal threatening in 1988, as well as with illegal possession of a gun. He previously had been convicted under the state's habitual offender law for operating a motor vehicle after his driver's license had been revoked. Perkins denied a motion to dismiss the criminal threatening charge, but threw out the gun possession charge, saying ``there is simply no rational connection'' between Brown's previous conviction and his ownership of a firearm.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "maine constitution;right;guns;gun possession charge;felons;restrictions;constitutional amendment;arms;firearm;criminal threatening"}
+{"name": "AP890801-0025", "title": "Western Fires No Threat _ Yet _ To Last Year's Record", "abstract": "This week's flare-up of Western wildfires can't hold a candle to the damage wrought by last year's record-breaking fire season, but officials say a dry August could change everything. Fire has charred more than 1.3 million acres of forest and range land since January in the contiguous United States, compared to 2.1 million acres by this time last year, fire officials said Monday. ``Right now, the fire season is just starting to gear up,'' said Sandi Sacher, spokeswoman at the federal government's wildfire command post in Boise, Idaho. Nearly 10,000 firefighters in five Western states are battling hundreds of blazes, most of them sparked last week by lightning. Fire is a natural part of Western forest and range land. But some years are worse than others. Last year's combination of heat and drought across a wide swath of the West produced a hellish summer of smoke and flame. One of the hardest-hit areas was Yellowstone National Park, where fire blackened about 1 million acres, nearly half the park's territory. By year's end, 6 million acres had burned in the West and Alaska, making 1988 the worst fire season in 30 years, and, in terms of firefighting resources committed, the most expensive in U.S. history, Sacher said. The widespread drought of 1988 has been replaced by spotty rain and local areas of dry weather, Sacher said. Fire danger is high this week in parts of Oregon, Nevada and Idaho, the National Weather Service said Monday. Forecasters just now are trying to get a handle on what kind of weaer August will bring, Sacher said. ``It's arly to speculate,'' she said. ``Last year therein at all. This year, it seems to be fluctuating. You'll get a dry period, then a front will come through and it will rain. ``They're keeping a very close eye on the weatt, dry weather with lightning strikes, that could be serious.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "dry weather;contiguous united states;fire danger;record-breaking fire season;blazes;western wildfires;firefighters"}
+{"name": "AP890802-0064", "title": "Military Personnel Overseas Will be Counted in 1990 Census", "abstract": "A major issue hanging over the 1990 Census is resolved with the decision to include military personnel stationed overseas, but Congress is arguing over whether to keep counting illegal aliens. The House blocked an effort Tuesday to require aliens to be excluded from the census numbers used in House reapportionment every decade. But the question still may be raised in committee and in the Senate. The national head count will be taken April 1, 1990. Census figures are used to redistribute the 435 House seats among the states every 10 years and to distribute federal aid to local governments. The reapportionment issue has riveted the attention of House members from states where slow growth threatens to result in losses of House seats. Most of these states are in the North, where growth has lagged behind that of the South and West. Undocumented aliens are largely concentrated in the South, West and industrial states like New York, and other states fear a loss of power to those areas if the aliens are counted. While aliens have been counted in the past, military personnel stationed overseas have not. The Commerce Department settled that problem by announcing it will work with the Defense Department on ways to count the 1.2 million to 1.6 million military and civilian defense workers who live overseas. The problem has been in deciding which states may count these people as residents. That has yet to be decided, but possibilities include counting the state where the person owns a home or the last state where he or she lived for at least six months. The battle over illegal aliens, meanwhile, was taken up both in committee and on the House floor. Rep. Tom Ridge, R-Pa., unsuccessfully sought to attach a ban on counting aliens to an appropriations measure providing $5.8 million to run the State, Justice and Commerce departments next year, including $800 million to take the census. The bill was approved 258-165 and sent to the Senate. Opponents noted the Constitution requires House seats to be apportioned based on all the ``persons'' residing in a state. ``Every census since the Constitution was created has counted all residents of the states, both citizens and non-citizens,'' observed Rep. Don Edwards, D-Calif. ``Congress is empowered to identify those to be counted'' in the census, responded Ridge. The Census Bureau's $4 billion budget for the census is large enough to identify and separate out the illegal aliens, he said. Rep. Mervyn Dymally, D-Calif., charged the debate is really over population shifts that will lead to more House seats for southern and western states. ``Pennsylvania, I don't care what they do, unless they go down to the Southwest and bring the people back, they're going to lose a seat,'' said Dymally. Rep. Tim Valentine, D-N.C., said, however, that counting illegal aliens ``is not fair. It may be constitutional, but it's just not right.'' Census officials generally have opposed any attempt to delete illegal aliens, contending they cannot determine who is in the country legally. Asking people about their status likely would result in people lying or refusing to participate in the count, officials say, resulting in a potential undercount of residents in many areas.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "1990 census;national head count;census numbers;house reapportionment;census bureau;house seats;illegal aliens"}
+{"name": "AP890803-0008", "title": "Hurricane Dean, With 80 mph Winds, Rumbles Through Eastern Caribbean", "abstract": "Officials warned residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and nearby islands to bolt down everything loose and stock up on food and water Wednesday as Hurricane Dean rumbled through the eastern Caribbean. Dean was upgraded from a tropical storm to the second hurricane of the Atlantic season Wednesday, and by nightfall the National Weather Center in Puerto Rico reported the hurricane's winds had strengthened to 80 mph. Hurricane warnings were posted for the Leeward Islands from Antigua to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, said forecasters at the National Hurricane Center near Miami. At midnight EDT, forecasters reported the center of the hurricane was at latitude 18.5 north and longitude 61.3 west, moving westerly at 15 mph. Its latest position was 310 miles east of Puerto Rico, 65 miles northeast of Barbuda and about 240 miles east of St. Thomas. The storm was moving over warm tropical waters at 15 mph, down slightly from the 20 mph it had sustained much of the day. But forecasters said some strengthening was possible in the next 24 hours. An advisory issued by the National Weather Service in San Juan for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico advised residents to ``secure loose objects or move them indoors,'' board or tape windows and stock up on emergency supplies such as drinking water, food that needs no refrigeration and batteries. ``This is a dangerous storm and should not be taken lightly, even though it is a minimal hurricane,'' it said. ``Don't take chances. It could lead to injuries or even death.'' In San Juan, a city of 1.1 million people, shoppers formed long lines in supermarkets, workers boarded up windows of the governor's mansion and stores in the tourist district of Old San Juan. A hurricane advisory said aircraft reports indicated Dean's center was moving westward after making a temporary jog northwest. ``This increases the threat to the northern Leeward islands,'' it said. Forecasters said the storm was expected to first hit land in Barbuda, the easternmost Leeward Island and move northwest toward the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico over the next 24 to 36 hours. Government radio in the twin island state of Antigua and Barbuda said Dean was expected to hit Barbuda on Wednesday night, and warned residents to bar windows, latch down loose objects and stock up on water. Barbuda is a flat, 62-square-mile coral island with a population of 1,200 and little industry or tourism. A hurricane warning for Guadeloupe was dropped, as was a hurricane watch for Dominica and Martinique. In Coral Gables, Fla., hurricane specialist Jim Gross called Dean a small hurricane, with hurricane-force winds confined to within 25 miles of its center. Rainfall of 4 to 8 inches and tides 2 to 4 feet above normal were said to be possible in the storm's path. Authorities broadcast similar warnings in several nearby islands. Dean grew from the fifth tropical depression of the season Monday morning into a named storm by Monday night. Three other storms have formed since the season began June 1. Tropical Storm Allison, caused widespread flooding in Texas and Louisiana in June. Barry churned up the open Atlantic last month before dissipating. Chantal became a hurricane Monday and was downgraded to a tropical depression Tuesday night after hitting land in Texas.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "u.s. virgin islands;hurricane-force winds;forecasters;second hurricane;hurricane advisory;emergency supplies;eastern caribbean;hurricane warnings;hurricane dean;hurricane watch;puerto rico;atlantic season"}
+{"name": "AP890805-0126", "title": "Fire Headquarters Runs At High Pitch During Idaho Blazes", "abstract": "Lightning has set the West ablaze this summer, and electricity is again surging through the nation's wildfire command post. ``The whole place is running at the max, full out,'' Reed Jarvis of the Boise Interagency Fire Center said last week. But this year is different because the center's strategists and quartermasters who direct the nation's wildfire battles can see some of the worst blazes from their windows. As nearly half the acreage afire burns within 150 miles, specialists in the logistics center marshal resources from around the nation. On Saturday, there were about 220,000 acres ablaze in four states, with 102,000 of them in Idaho and the rest in Oregon, California and Utah. ``Tell me when the airplane's got to leave and I'll have the team on it,'' coordinator Lynn Findley says into the phone cradled on his shoulder. He hangs up, makes another call and arranges for a procurement expert to fly from Atlanta to LaGrande, Ore. Another staff member fields a caller searching for a fire officer called ``Joe Blow.'' ``Can you believe it?'' she says over her shoulder. ``He spells his name B-L-O-U-G-H.'' Others juggle as many as three of the constantly ringing phones, scanning computer terminals for personnel, airplanes, red chemical retardant and gear. ``We drop slimy red mud on burning trees from antique airplanes,'' declares the slogan on one T-shirt. In one leg of the L-shaped logistics room, the intelligence division keeps track of fires around the country. The other finds the crews and equipment to attack the flames. A big chalkboard plots the fires as they eat up mile after mile of fuel. Magnets resembling aircraft dot a map of the country, giving the location and type of equipment available. ``Obviously, firefighting on the line is stressful,'' said Fire Center spokesman Arnold Hartigan. ``But the support people are dealing with human life facing fire, which is inherently dangerous.'' Hundreds of fires burned fitfully in the Idaho backcountry for days after the last ``lightning bust.'' One storm laid down 2,000 strikes an hour with little rain. Then winds reaching 80 mph and temperatures pushing triple digits whipped those spots into major conflagrations. Three-inch-thick burning branches blew up to two miles ahead of the main fires. Flames swept over thousands of acres in several hours' time, creating a smoky miasma around Idaho's capital city. The buzz at the wildfire nerve center intensified dramatically. ``Fortunately we don't work at this level all year,'' Hartigan said. ``It would be unbearable if we had to do this 365 days a year.'' The complex has taken on a military look. National Guard troops in camouflage fatigues march toward trucks for transportation to the fire lines. Smoke jumpers sit in the shade of a building waiting for their next leap into 100-foot-tall ponderosa pines, laden with chainsaws or water pumps. ``We are definitely an assault organization,'' Hartigan said. ``It's patterned after military operations because they work. We're the supply lines for the troops.'' In the logistics center, specialists spin Lazy Susans with pink and blue requisition forms as each plea from the fire line is answered. The requests are for airplanes, helicopters, axes and shovels, portable marine pumps, hoses, fresh fruit, disposable sleeping bags, soft drinks and, most important, manpower. World War II Navy bombers _ PB-4Y2s and Neptunes _ are lined up on the flight deck, spattered with red retardant. They fill up again and again with thousands of gallons of ``slurry,'' a fertilizer-based substance that stops fires cold. Then the craft roar aloft toward the smoky mountains to the north. After five dry summers, backcountry timber has a moisture content only slightly higher than kiln-dried lumber, and strategists have settled in for a long campaign. It will take fall rains and winter snow to douse many of the nation's fires. Until then, the lights will be on at the Fire Center, and the pace will be frenetic. ``It's like Wall Street, it's like an operating room,'' Jarvis says. ``Everybody knows it's stressful, but they're not snapping at each other. The key is cooperation.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "firefighting;wildfire battles;worst blazes;wildfire command post;boise interagency fire center;fire lines"}
+{"name": "AP890907-0221", "title": "Peruvian Rebels Bring `Revolutionary Justice' to Cocaine Jungle", "abstract": "The Maoist Shining Path guerrillas who dominate Peru's Upper Huallaga River Valley have brought their own law and order to a cocaine-corrupted, violence-ridden region. With a system they call ``revolutionary justice,'' they have banned drug abuse, prostitution, homosexuality and thievery from the villages they control. ``Two years ago you could not travel the roads without being held up, but the `companeros' put an end to that,'' said cab driver David Nicolas, referring to the guerrillas by the Spanish term for comrades. ``They killed a few bandits and the rest got the message.'' Much of the appeal of the rebels is rooted in their reputation for almost puritanical honesty. Shopkeepers say the guerrillas never fail to pay for the food and supplies they acquire in the villages. The same shopkeepers complain bitterly about the local police who take what they want without ever offering to pay. In a rare conversation with reporters, a Shining Path political officer, who spoke only on condition he not be identified, gave an example of the kind of law the guerrillas have laid down: ``Do not steal so much as a needle or thread and return what you borrow.'' In a nation where economic chaos reigns and few laws are respected, the Shining Path is setting down clear rules and making them stick. ``In a sense they enforce a hyper-Christian morality _ except they kill you if you break the rules,'' said the Rev. Paul Feeley, a Canadian Roman Catholic priest working in Aucayacu, 255 miles northeast of Lima. In late July four young homosexual men who rendezvoused at a bridge a few miles outside Tingo Maria, 35 miles south of here, were set upon and killed by the rebels. Their bodies were dumped into the river. A few months earlier the rebels executed eight youths near Tingo Maria for smoking cigarettes laced with semi-refined cocaine. ``People have had to discipline themselves,'' said Raul Aranda, an agronomist in Tingo Maria, explaining the effects of ``revolutionary justice.'' ``In rural areas a man must be faithful to his wife and is permitted to go drinking only once a week. Violators are warned only once.'' Villagers say they are told, ``The revolution has a thousand eyes and a thousand ears.'' Peru's elected officials have painted the Shining Path insurgents as lunatic killers. In the bleak Andean highlands, where the rebels launched their insurgency in May, 1980, they have slain thousands of peasants in attacks on villages they viewed as traitors to the rebel cause. But here in the jungle-cloaked Upper Huallaga Valley, the world's largest source of coca leaf, the Shining Path _ ``Sendero Luminoso'' in Spanish _ enjoys the support of tens of thousands of farmers because the rebels protect them against a U.S.-funded coca eradication program. Although they prohibit drug consumption, the guerrillas defend coca production as an important source of income for the peasants. Their only condition is that the semi-refined coca paste be sent out of Peru. The rebels charge coca farmers a ``tax'' of 10 to 15 percent on the earnings from the sale of their crops to drug traffickers, who process the leaf into paste and sell it to Colombian cocaine dealers. The Colombians arrive in small planes at dozens of clandestine airstrips throughout the 150-mile-long valley. People in the Upper Huallaga appear to accept Shining Path's social order. They say they feel protected from the violence of drug gangs, corrupt local officials and ``abusive'' police. ``Why do you think people have joined the Shining Path? For the coca and for revenge,'' said Carlos Ferrer, a taxi driver who travels the road between Tingo Maria and Aucayacu. ``When the government began trying to wipe out coca, police came and mistreated people. They robbed peasants; they raped their women.'' That view of the police as corrupt and abusive of their power is widely held in the valley. Even top government officials in Lima say there is much truth to the complaints. ``A cop in the Huallaga Valley expects to be bribed,'' said a senior Interior Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity. ``He figures it's a right coming to him. He gets off the plane from Lima with his hand out for a payoff.'' Official corruption is a problem throughout Peru, but in the Huallaga Valley it seems rampant. A half dozen peasants complained in separate interviews that to obtain a farm loan from the local Banco Agrario they have to kick back 25 percent of the loan to bank officials. ``What I've heard is that if you want to be named a teacher in the valley,'' said Feeley, ``it's three months salary as payment. And if you're a woman, also the bed.'' The Shining Path has been quick to kill local officials they deemed to be corrupt, according to residents of the valley. ``If the Shining Path has the image of an organization that's fighting corruption in a very corrupt place, that's going to win them some points,'' Feeley said. A lawyer in Tingo Maria said his caseload had dropped off dramatically because peasants no longer come into town to seek justice. ``Formal justice here is ineffective, corrupt and time consuming,'' he said. ``The Shining Path's justice is quick, free and very effective.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "peru;revolutionary justice;rebels;maoist shining path guerrillas;puritanical honesty;corrupt local officials;coca production"}
+{"name": "AP890922-0167", "title": "Forecasting Aided By Supercomputers, But Still An Uncertain Science", "abstract": "Supercomputers, satellites and the expertise of several hurricane forecasters predicted the destructive path Hurricane Hugo would follow, giving people plenty of time to flee the South Carolina coast. But hurricane tracking remains an uncertain science. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center used computer models to track Hugo's path into Charleston, S.C. ``All the world's knowledge about meteorological conditions and forecasting changes in those conditions is embodied in those models,'' said Thomas Pyke, head of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's satellite service. Pinpointing the exact point of Hugo's landfall was difficult, but forecasters said Friday that the landfall was predicted in time for evacuation. ``Overall, I think the tracking models gave us a very good idea where Hugo would be so officials in South Carolina could act in a timely manner,'' said research meteorologist Colin McAdie. The real forecasting problem with Hugo was predicting the intensity of the storm, which was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane just hours before it slammed into Charleston. ``It is very difficult to predict changes in intensity because we don't have very reliable computer models for that,'' McAdie said. ``We really need to improve on our forecasting ability of strength.'' The hurricane specialists were surprised by the last-minute increase in wind speed, which was reported to them by Air Force reconnaissance. Hurricane specialist Gil Clark, who has tracked hurricanes for 35 years, said that a couple of decades ago, the only forecasting tools were reports from aircraft or ships. ``We had no radar or satellites then, so needless to say our forecasts were less accurate,'' Clark said. In the late 1960s, the weather service began using satellites to obtain a global weather picture. Information from the satellite is used to improve the accuracy of the large-scale models that television viewers see every night. Using the information from the satellite, supercomputers at the National Meteorological Center in Suitland, Md., send information to the hurricane center where a tracking model constantly changes to account for current weather conditions and the position of the hurricane. To determine the track of the storm, the forecasters analyze supercomputer predictions, satellite data, the history of similar storms and the current path of the hurricane. Then they make an educated guess about the landfall. Meteorology professor Kerry A. Emmanuel of the Massachussetts Institute of Technology criticizes the current forecasting system. ``Congress and the American people are suffering from the collective delusion that our data problems have been solved by satellites and that just isn't true,'' Emmanuel said. Satellites can give a ``pretty picture,'' he said, but not enough information about the wind and temperatures that affect a hurricane's path. ``Most of the information actually used to predict hurricanes comes from flying airplanes into the hurricane, and they do a very good job,'' Emmanuel said. Forecasters say the accuracy of satellite pictures is improving every year so long-range forecasting should become more precise. ``We have to remember that those models used are only guidance products,'' Pyke said, ``and that it's ultimately the job of the forecaster to predict the storm's path.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "destructive path;hurricane forecasters;real forecasting problem;south carolina coast;forecasting ability;satellite pictures;supercomputer predictions;satellite data;landfall;hurricane hugo"}
+{"name": "AP890930-0100", "title": "Police Brutality, Racism Charges Hit Chicago", "abstract": "Two days of racially charged hearings on police brutality and a report detailing widespread segregation in the nation's third-largest city show the new mayor must still heal some old wounds. Richard M. Daley was elected mayor April 4 amid fears by black activists that he would bring back the machine politics of his late father, Richard J. Daley, who was mayor for more than 20 years before his death in 1976. The younger Daley emphasized empowerment of minorities in his spring campaign, and after defeating black challengers in the primary and general election, he named minorities to 11 of his 21 Cabinet positions. But now Daley finds himself on the defensive. Some black politicians say the mayor is indirectly sanctioning racism by not doing enough to stop it. The racial issue resurfaced last week in two days of special hearings called by a City Council committee to look into allegations of police brutality against blacks. ``There's been no demonstrable change on the part of white leadership in this city to end racism,'' said Bob Starks, associate professor of inner city studies at Northeastern Illinois University. ``It's the same stuff, and it's seemingly getting worse.'' But Daley maintains that what's getting worse is ``irresponsible political rhetoric'' from black politicians who are looking ahead to the 1991 mayoral election. Daley is filling the remaining two years of the term of the late Harold Washington, the city's first black mayor who was just a few months into his second term when he died in November 1987. Daley has denounced the alleged police brutality. ``I will not ever tolerate police brutality, bias or bigotry in the city of Chicago,'' Daley said. ``Everyone should join together ... to help alleviate this problem.'' Also last week, a human relations task force made up of business and civic leaders released a report saying racism in Chicago was fueled by ``a shocking lack of contact'' between the city's ethnic groups. The report, based on a 15-month investigation of the city's race relations, concluded that racial divisions ``threaten to make Chicago an increasingly unpleasant place to live and are antithetical to the city's economic growth and prosperity.'' At the City Council hearings Thursday and Friday, blacks who alleged they were the victims of police brutality accused officers _ most of them white _ of unprovoked beatings, false arrests, intimidation and insulting them with racial slurs. Among them was a 55-year-old grandmother, Callie Bryant, who testified that she and her daughter were beaten up in 1987 by seven white police officers who gave her ``the sign of the Ku Klux Klan.'' Two teen-age boys testified that in August they were picked up by white officers, roughed up, and then dropped off in a white neighborhood where they were attacked by white youths. The poice department's record was defended by Police Superintendent LeRoy Martin, a black appointee of Washington. ``I'm the head of this police department, and if this police department is bad, it's because I'm bad as superintendent,'' Martin said. ``When this police department is attacked, I must defend it. When it's wrong, I must correct it.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "blacks;chicago;police brutality;race relations;new mayor;racial issue;racism"}
+{"name": "AP891006-0029", "title": "Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis Meet Again _ At Capitol", "abstract": "Ben Johnson, the world-class sprinter knocked off track and field's pedestal after testing positive for steroids, says it's wrong for athletes to use the muscle-building substance. ``I got caught in Seoul. I lost my gold medal,'' the Canadian told reporters as legislation to classify anabolic steroids as a controlled substance was introduced Thursday. ``I'm here to tell the people of this country it's wrong to cheat, not to take it, it's bad for your health.'' Watching Johnson was his chief nemesis: Carl Lewis, the man who was awarded the Olympic gold medals Johnson lost. ``I think it's great,'' Lewis said of the legislation. ``They're making a move and it's very positive. I'm happy to see it.'' However, the flamboyant, pony-tailed Lewis told reporters: ``I don't understand why Ben Johnson's here.'' Lewis said he attended the news conference because he was working on his autobiography and one of the chapters deals with steroids. He said he didn't intend to upstage Johnson. Reps. Mel Levine, D-Calif., Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., invited Johnson to attend as they presented the legislation that would make anabolic steroids a controlled substance, similar to the designation given cocaine and heroin. The lawmakers emphasized the increasing abuse of steroids by college, high school and even junior high school athletes who believe the substance will enhance their performance. ``America is about to have an adolescent time-bomb explode in its hands,'' Levine said. ``But if we act quickly enough to restrict steroid distribution, and to increase the penalties for illicit distribution, we can prevent this plague from spreading.'' Levine referred to the abuse of steroids as ``the silent side of the drug disease in this country.'' He applauded Johnson's courage for attending the news conference. Johnson later stepped up to the microphones and in a quiet voice with a slight stutter told other athletes not to make the same mistake he did, urging them ``to come forward, to come clean.'' Lewis dismissed reporters' questions that he had used steroids, indicating he would be willing to run against Johnson ``if he comes back and he's clean.'' While Lewis held the spotlight, Johnson slipped away to adjoining congressional offices. ``He's not here to compete with Carl Lewis. I hope he will someday,'' said Ed Futerman, Johnson's lawyer.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "gold medal;seoul;ben johnson;controlled substance;world-class sprinter;canadian;anabolic steroids"}
+{"name": "AP891017-0204", "title": "Area Where Earthquake Hit Seen as Highly Probable in 1988 Report", "abstract": "The major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay area Tuesday occurred in a region seismologists targeted as having the highest probability of a strong quake in Northern California. A 1988 report by the U.S. Geological Survey placed the probability of an earthquake of 6.5 magnitude on the Richter scale at 30 percent by the year 2018 in the Southern Santa Cruz mountains. The high probability is based on several factors, including length of time since the last major earthquake struck the area in 1906, said Clarence Allen, professor of Geology and Geophysics at the California Institue of Technology in Pasadena. ``This is not to say we predicted the earthquake. It just has to do with the probability of an earthquake in this area,'' Allen said. He noted that the 1988 report, titled ``Probabilities of Large Earthquakes Occurring in California on the San Andreas Fault,'' presented information that was already widely known among scientists. Allen said this information should have alerted officials to take preventive steps. Frank Baldwin of U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Center said the quake's magnitude was 6.9 on the Richter scale. It was centered in the Santa Cruz, Calif., area, 75 miles south of San Francico. The Richter scale is a measure of ground motion as recorded on seismographs. A reading of 6 can cause severe damage. A quake of 7 magnitude, a ``major'' earthquake, is capable of widespread heavy damage. Initial reports indicated widespread damage from Tuesday's quake, especially affecting highways and old masonry buildings. ``It's not like an earthquake of this size in this area is a calamitous event. It's something we should therefore be ready for,'' Allen said. The damage in the Bay area occurred to the same kind of structures heavily damaged in the 1987 Whittier quake in the Los Angeles area, which registered a 5.9 Richter reading, Allen said. ``I think we'll learn a lot from an engineering point of view from this earthquake,'' he said. ``What will be important is to see how the modern structures behaved.'' Allen said many of the same kinds of older structures that appeared to have been damaged in San Francisco also exist in the Los Angeles region. In addition, some of the roadways and overpasses in the area have roughly the same kind of construction as the Bay Bridge. In some areas of Southern California, there is a higher probability of a major quake occurring. The highest, the USGS says, is in the central California town of Parkfield, where there is a 90 percent probability of a magnitude 6 earthquake by the year 2018.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "earthquake center;large earthquakes;northern california;san francico bay area;richter scale;widespread heavy damage;strong quake;major earthquake;high probability"}
+{"name": "AP891028-0022", "title": "Earthquake Measuring 7.2 Hits Solomon Islands", "abstract": "A major earthquake registering 7.2 on the Richter scale shook the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific today, the U.S. Geological Survey says. The preliminary reading of 7.2 is slightly stronger than the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit the San Francisco Bay area Oct. 17. The earthquake struck the islands at 8:05 a.m. today, or 5:05 p.m. EDT Friday, said USGS spokesman Don Finley. It was the largest earthquake in the Solomons since a 7.4 quake on Nov. 5, 1978. There were no immediate reports of injury or damage. Major earthquakes in the Solomons usually don't cause much damage or many casualties because the area is sparsely populated and not extensively developed. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said no Pacific-wide tsunami _ popularly called a tidal wave _ was generated by the quake, but some areas might see small changes in sea levels. Saturday's earthquake was the strongest in the world in five months, Finley said. An 8.3 quake hit the Macquarie Islands south of Australia on May 23. The survey's earthquake monitors in Golden, Colo., said early seismograph readings placed the epicenter of Saturday's earthquake about 200 miles southeast of Honiaria, which is on Guadacanal Island and is the capital of the Solomons. That places the earthquake just east of San Cristobal, the easternmost island in the Solomons chain and about 1,300 miles northeast of Brisbane, Australia. The Richter scale is a measure of ground motion as recorded on seismographs. Every increase of one number means a tenfold increase in magnitude. Thus a reading of 7.5 reflects an earthquake 10 times stronger than one of 6.5. An earthquake of 3.5 on the Richter scale can cause slight damage in the local area, 4 moderate damage, 5 considerable damage, 6 severe damage. A 7 reading is a ``major'' earthquake, capable of widespread heavy damage; 8 is a ``great'' quake, capable of tremendous damage.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "epicenter;richter scale;major earthquakes;largest earthquake;solomon islands;widespread heavy damage;earthquake monitors"}
+{"name": "AP891116-0115", "title": "Twister Rips Through Alabama City, Killing 17", "abstract": "Rescuers crawled through collapsed homes and shops today looking for more victims of a tornado that carved a 3-mile stretch of destruction, killing 17 people, injuring 463 and leaving 1,000 homeless. ``It's like taking six to 10 city blocks and putting them in a blender and putting it on liquefy,'' said rescue worker Bob Caraway, whose specialty is cave rescues. He was among those called out to help dig through rubble for survivors or the bodies of the dead. The tornado was one of a series that touched down Wednesday in an arc spanning at least seven states from the Deep South to the Midwest. The other tornadoes caused at least 19 injuries and far-flung property damage. In Huntsville, teams with cranes and floodlights searched for the injured or dead, hampered by wind-whipped rain and temperatures that plummeted overnight from 73 degrees into the 30s. Gov. Guy Hunt sent 50 National Guardsmen to help and said he would view damage Friday. His spokesman, Terry Abbott, said aerial surveys indicate the twister hopped along a 25-mile path, much of it straight through Huntsville. By this afternoon, severe thunderstorms were crossing the Northeast. The National Weather Service put out a tornado watch for parts of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, all of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and parts of Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. In Pennsylvania, the weather service said it received unconfirmed reports of a tornado that turned over a car and knocked down trees and power lines near Gettysburg. Elsewhere: _In Georgia, 19 people were injured, four critically, and at least 200 people were evacuated after a tornado strus.C., and a tornado toppled trees, downed power lines and damaged 20 houses near Greenwood, S.C. No injuries were reported in either state. _Tornadoes caused minor property damage in Mississippi, Kentucky and Indiana. _In West Virginia, high winds believed to be tornadoes swept Jefferson County early today, overturning trailers, blowing roofs off homes and downing power lines, authorities said. Four people were injured, two seriously. _Heavy thunderstorms destroyed at least a dozen homes in Alorton, Ill., killing one person and injuring 20 others, five seriously, authorities said. The tornado struck Huntsville with virtually no warning Wednesday afternoon as the city's streets grew busy with the approach of rush hour. In a matter of seconds, cars were hurled through the air and crushed, and apartments and stores looked as if they had been bombed. ``It was fast,'' said Lucy Lee Rusk, whose apartment was battered by debris. ``It was like one big pop and that's when everything went.'' The National Weather Service had issued a tornado watch earlier in the day, but did not issue a more urgent tornado warning until 4:39 p.m. CST, when the tornado was spotted at the municipal golf course. By then, it was already tearing up the city. A watch means a tornado is considered possible, while a warning means a tornado is believed to exist. Huntsville Police Maj. Robert Moder said this morning that 463 people were injured by the twister, which plowed through a school and rural areas as well as a shopping mall and adjacent apartments. Police Chief Richard Ottman initially put the number of dead at 19, but his clerk, Kitty Whitworth, later said the death toll was lowered to 17 after police confirmed the count of bodies. She said police had no firm reports of people missing. No children in the school were killed, but about 30 youngsters were in a kindergarten class at the building, and five were reported injured. Most of the dead were in apartments, stores or cars. Mayor Steve Hettinger estimated the number of homeless at 1,000 and said officials were preparing a request for federal disaster assistance. A worker at a building owned by the Madison County Jaycees said 42 people were staying there early today, and described the mood of the survivors as ``shock, mostly, and disbelief.'' ``They're thankful to be alive and they're thankful their families are alive,'' he said, adding that the shelter had received calls from around the country from worried relatives. The tornado was Alabama's deadliest since a 1975 twister killed 22 people in Birmingham, said Danny Cooper, state emergency management director in Montgomery. Along a highway near a destroyed apartment complex, cars were flipped and smashed into telephone poles and crushed by trees. The roadway was strewn with used bandages and medical gloves left by emergency workers treating the injured. Humana Hospital administrator David Miller said doctors had difficulty reaching the hospital because of blocked roads. Those in the tornado's path spoke with awe of its fury. ``It came in with a huge roar, an enormous amount of water, and it just started shaking and tearing at everything it could get hold of,'' said real estate broker Ike Carroll, who was in his car. Heavy overhead power lines ``started snapping just like a circus performer would snap his whip,'' Carroll said. ``All of these heavy arcing, flashing lines that were just popping and snapping over the top of us. ... It was as if you were looking into an arc-welder, they were so bright.'' Kenneth Lenhard had undergone an operation at the Crestwood Hospital on Wednesday and returned to his room about an hour before a window in the next room blew out as the tornado passed. ``There wasn't anything I could do, so I covered my head,'' Lenhard said. ``I thought, `What the heck, I'm already half dead.' '' The downtown Jones Valley Elementary School, the Waterford Square and adjacent Queensbury apartment complexes were reduced to rubble. Kindergarteners were the only pupils left at the school by the time the twister hit. The city is home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the Army's Redstone Arsenal, but no serious damage was reported from the space agency or weapons testing center. At least two other tornadoes were reported in Alabama, injuring at least three people in addition to the Huntsville total. Near Palmetto, Ga., resident Jeff Bryant said his home at the Sweetbriar Mobile Home Park near Interstate 85 began to vibrate when the twister approached. ``Then we heard a large, loud, swirling and humming noise,'' he recalled. ``It didn't sound like a train like everybody says it does. I lived near a train track. It did not sound like a train. It sounded more like a jet aircraft at very close range.'' Thomas Farr was driving on Interstate 85 when the tornado hit. ``It was picking up cars and tossing them like toys off the interstate,'' he said. ``I saw one 18-wheeler flip over. The car in front of us was flipped about 100 yards, and the guy was thrown out of his passenger window and landed 50 feet from his car.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "severe thunderstorms;rescue;disaster;tornado watch;tornadoes;huntsville;property damage;victims;federal disaster assistance;destruction"}
+{"name": "AP891116-0191", "title": "With AM-Southern Tornadoes, Bjt", "abstract": "Here is a state-by-state look at the tornadoes and severe thunderstorms that have killed at least 27 people, injured more than 500 and left hundreds homeless since Wednesday:", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "severe thunderstorms;damage;death;tornadoes;destruction"}
+{"name": "AP891201-0100", "title": "Slovenia Claims Serbia Wants to Expel Slovenia from Yugoslavia", "abstract": "The government of the northern republic of Slovenia said Friday that Serbia, in the south and east, is attempting to ``oust us from Yugoslavia.'' The statement from the Slovenian presidency followed Serbia's decision Tuesday to ban all political and economic contacts with Slovenia. Liberal, prosperous Slovenia and the hard-line communist leadership of Serbia have been feuding for years. But the Serbian action Tuesday was the gravest threat to the unity of the Yugoslav federation since the death of the nation's post-World War II leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980. Earlier Friday 13 people were arrested when police dispersed a crowd of about 100 gathered for a pro-Serbian rally in Ljubljana that had been prohibited by Slovenian authorities. Slovenia issued an order Tuesday banning the rally and Serbia reacted by severing relations with Slovenia. In its statement, Slovenia's collective presidency called Serbia's action ``a flagrant violation of all constitutional, legal and civilized norms.'' ``We shall never permit anyone to drive us away or oust us from Yugoslavia,'' it said. ``Yugoslavia is our country. We have the right to be citizens of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia and also to be different. Those who do not acknowledge this separate themselves from the federal state.'' It denounced the Serbian communist leadership, saying, ``We do not accept a comprehensive control of a single truth, of political uniformity, authoritarianism and intolerance, of ideologic monolithism.'' Serbia is the largest of Yugoslavia's six republics. Aleksandar Prlja, Serbia's secretary for foreign affairs, told The Associated Press that Slovenia's ``banning of the peaceful rally was deeply humiliating for the Serbian people. ``This is irreconcilable with joint existence in a federal state.'' Slovenian officials said the rally had been organized by Serbian politicians trying to oust the Slovenian leadership. Economic decline has brought increased friction between the republics with their different ethnic populations, and the Slovenian Serbian conflict also involves liberal vs. conservative communist leaders. Slovenia advocates regional autonomy and has legalized opposition groups that will contest the region's first multi-party balloting in elections next spring. Serbia insists on a centralized federtion with the Communist Party the only official party. The Serbian news media on Friday accused Slovenia of ``fascist-like'' behavior and called for the resignation of Yugoslav President Janez Drnovsek, a Slovene. Delo, Ljubljana's major newspeper, said Friday's rally was ``an integral part of a plan to alter by force the Yugoslav federation. It was yet another attempt to bring Slovenia to its knees.'' It called Serbia's imposition of an economic boycott a ``declaration of war'' and said Slovenia would respond by ``opening itself to the world, introducing greater democracy and by holding free elections.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "hard-line communist leadership;serbian action;yugoslav federation;slovenian serbian conflict;regional autonomy;pro-serbian rally;slovenian presidency;economic contacts;economic boycott"}
+{"name": "AP891210-0079", "title": "An AP Study: Cashing In on the Drought", "abstract": "America's 1988 drought captured attention everywhere, but especially in Washington where politicians pushed through the largest disaster relief measure in U.S. history. The Associated Press went back to track where the $3.9 billion went and found the money spread far beyond the drought.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "drought;associated press;drought relief program;disaster relief measure;america;drought relief bill"}
+{"name": "AP891213-0004", "title": "An AP Study: Cashing In on the Drought", "abstract": "The drought of 1988 hit hardest in the upper Midwest _ perhaps nowhere harder than in North Dakota. More disaster relief aid went there than to any other state. The third story in a four-part series, ``Cashing In on the Drought,'' examines how the $3.9 billion disaster aid program helped farmers most in need.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "drought;upper midwest;disaster relief aid;north dakota;four-part series;disaster aid program;farmers"}
+{"name": "AP900215-0031", "title": "Study: Blacks More Susceptible than Whites to Tuberculosis", "abstract": "Black Americans suffer six times more tuberculosis than whites do, and one important reason appears to be a genetic susceptibility to the disease, according to a study today. The research found that when living conditions are identical, black people are twice as likely as whites to get infected with the TB bacteria. The relatively high rate of TB among blacks has traditionally been blamed on crowded housing and other conditions of poverty. While social factors undoubtedly play a central role, the study suggests that innate susceptibility also contributes. ``We found that there is a systemic difference between whites and blacks,'' said Dr. William W. Stead. ``Whites seem to be more able to fend off the organism without it's ever being able to establish an infection.'' Stead, a tuberculosis specialist at the Arkansas Department of Health, discovered the racial difference while analyzing health statistics from nursing homes and prisons. ``It's a very intriguing finding,'' commented Dr. George Comstock of Johns Hopkins University. ``I never quite believe anything until somebody replicates it. But I don't know of any real holes in this one.'' At the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. George Curlin called the findings ``plausible and provocative.'' However, he added: ``I'm scared to death that people are going to say this explains it all and forget everything else. Of the total six times difference, what proportion is attributable to biology and what to social factors? I would say that biology is relatively minor.'' Stead's study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was based largely on a review of 25,398 elderly people who were free of TB infection when they were admitted to Arkansas nursing homes. When they were retested at least two months later, 14 percent of blacks and 7 percent of whites showed evidence of new infections. Prison data from Arkansas and Minnesota also found that black inmates were twice as likely as white prisoners to catch the bacteria while incarcerated. Another soon-to-be published study reports the discovery of a racial difference in the way blood cells respond to the TB bacteria, which could help explain why blacks seem to be more prone to tuberculosis. About 22,000 cases of tuberculosis are reported annually in the United States, resulting in 1,700 deaths. In the population at large, tuberculosis is about six times as common among blacks as whites. An estimated 10 million Americans are believed to be infected with the bacteria but not sick. The disease, which attacks the lungs, has long been associated with poor, crowded living conditions. Stead's study found that blacks got infected more readily than whites, regardless of the race of the person who initially brought the infection into the nursing home. In homes where the initial source of the disease was white, 17 percent of blacks and 12 percent of whites caught the infection. When the primary source was black, 12 percent of blacks and 8 percent of whites contracted the bacteria. This phase of the study also suggests, however, that infected whites are more potent spreaders of the infection than are blacks. Stead speculated that whites have evolved better defenses against TB, because the bacteria has long been common in Europe and parts of Africa north of the Sahara, but is traditionally rare in sub-Saharan Africa. By contrast, blacks are genetically more resistant than whites to malaria, which is common in Africa. In the other study, Dr. Alfred Crowle of Webb-Waring Lung Institute at the University of Colorado found differences in the resistance of germ-eating blood cells called macrophages. In blacks, these cells are more likely to harbor TB infections. ``This helps explain why black people are more susceptible to tuberculosis than are white people,'' said Crowle. At the turn of the century, TB was the nation's leading cause of death. The number of cases fell steadily in recent decades until 1984. Experts believe the decline has leveled off in part because of the emergence of the AIDS virus, which weaken the body's resistance to TB bacteria. Others possible factors include homelessness and immigration of people from areas where the disease is still common.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "infectious diseases;tb bacteria;black americans;tuberculosis;racial difference;whites"}
+{"name": "AP900217-0078", "title": "Researchers Declare Success in Putting AIDS in Remission", "abstract": "Drugs are now available that can put AIDS patients into remission, and recent advances have made clear that a vaccine to protect against AIDS infection is possible, a panel of AIDS experts said Saturday. At the same time, however, the AIDS epidemic is being followed by a suddenly resurgent epidemic of tuberculosis, the scientists said. ``We have now made demonstrable first steps in inducing remission,'' said William Haseltine of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. ``I think there is evidence that a substantial number of people who would have died are now alive,'' Haseltine said at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He cautioned against a premature conclusion that the AIDS epidemic may be coming to an end. A number of treatments for AIDS and AIDS-related infections are available, he said, but many of them are not available to the poor or to developing countries. ``It looks like most of these will be expensive, hard to deliver and require monitoring,'' Haseltine said. ``Unless we develop a vaccine, the future of this epidemic worldwide will be extremely grim,'' he said. A year ago, the prospects for an AIDS vaccine looked doubtful, said James Mullins of Stanford University. But that has changed. ``There has been a transition in the effort to find a vaccine,'' Mullins said. Vaccines to protect animals against AIDS-related viruses have shown some success, he said, encouraging researchers to believe that similar vaccines can be found for humans. ``There's new hope and interest that a vaccine is possible,'' said John McGowan of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md. Sten Vermund, also of the Allergy Institute, noted that an epidemic of tuberculosis is emerging in AIDS patients in the inner cities. In New York City, for example, tuberculosis declined between 1960 and 1977, but is now increasing and has reached the 1960 level again. ``We anticipate in our major cities losing two decades of progress in our tuberculosis control efforts,'' said Vermund. And unlike the AIDS virus, which cannot be transmitted through casual contact, tuberculosis is easily transmitted through the air. ``I think we should worry about tuberculosis and the risk to the general population,'' Vermund said. Many of the cases of tuberculosis are occurring when individuals who were exposed to tuberculosis early in life contract AIDS. They lose the ability to continue suppressing the tuberculosis bacteria, which normally would have remained dormant, and tuberculosis appears. ``It's likely to be yet another health problem imposed on the inner cities, where the health problems are already legion,'' Vermund said. There is no strong evidence yet that tuberculosis is spreading to a significant number of poeple who do not have AIDS, but that is likely, Vermund said. He said the rise in tuberculosis began before the AIDS epidemic, probably because of the rise in the homeless population during the 1970s. Homeless people are at elevated risk of tuberculosis, Vermund said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "drugs;tuberculosis bacteria;remission;aids infection;aids epidemic;aids vaccine"}
+{"name": "AP900306-0105", "title": "Senate Confirms Thomas as Federal Judge", "abstract": "The Senate today confirmed conservative civil rights official Clarence Thomas as a federal appeals judge, brushing aside complaints about his record from some liberal and senior citizens groups. The Senate had planned to take a roll call on the nomination but changed course at the last minute and confirmed Thomas on a voice vote. Thomas, 41, will be a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia. As chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the last eight years, he has been one of the most visible black officials in the Reagan and Bush administrations. Thomas, a critic of quotas and affirmative action to fight hiring discrimination, has been highly praised by conservatives. But liberals have criticized his record. It became clear Monday night that Thomas' critics had failed to muster enough support to defeat his nomination. ``I am prepared to concede that Mr. Thomas is going to be confirmed,'' said Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, a leading critic. The only other opponent to materialize in the debate was Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark., chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, who complained that the statute of limitations on 15,000 age-discrimination cases before the EEOC ran out without any action being taken while Thomas was in charge. ``Those cases might as well have been sent to Beijing,'' Pryor said. ``They might as well have been sent to Bulgaria. They might as well have been sent to Romania. ... It's too much to overlook.'' Pryor said, however, that Thomas was virtually guaranteed to win confirmation and added that he wished the nominee well in his new post. Danforth, Thomas' chief Senate supporter and former employer, said he could vouch for the nominee's abilities as a lawyer. ``I hired him twice,'' Danforth said. ``People say, 'Don't you ever make a mistake?' Well, yeah, but not twice.'' Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., dismissed complaints that Thomas had failed to cooperate with the Aging Committee several years ago when former Sen. John Melcher, D-Mont., was chairman. Simpson said the panel's investigation of the employment commission was flawed to begin with. ``They wasted a lot of time trying to nail Clarence Thomas,'' he said. Thomas was born in poverty in rural Georgia, worked his way through college and is a graduate of Yale Law School. Before becoming chairman of the commission, he worked under Danforth in the Missouri attorney general's office and in the Senate as well for the Monsanto Corp. Civil rights forces have been divided over the nomination. The Alliance for Justice, a liberal court-watcher group based in Washington, and several senior citizens groups have been critical. But the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People did not take a stand on the issue.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "nomination;black officials;columbia;clarence thomas;u.s. circuit court;federal appeals judge;senate"}
+{"name": "AP900313-0191", "title": "One Year Later, Nation's Worst Oil Spill Is Hidden But Not Gone", "abstract": "From a helicopter, the wave-washed beach looks as if the worst oil spill in U.S. history had never touched it. Silvery sticks of driftwood poke through a deep blanket of snow, and smooth gray pebbles roll in the surf under the gaze of a bald eagle perched in a shoreside spruce. But the view doesn't impress Joe Bridgman of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Dashing out as the chopper lands, he digs into the cobble beach and quickly finds what he knew he would. ``Oil,'' he says. ``Smell it?'' The pungent odor of petroleum wafts through the air as the hole turns black with crude oil, an oozing remnant of the 10.8 million gallons spilled into Prince William Sound last March 24 by the tanker Exxon Valdez. Bridgman scoops up a shovelful of gravel, lugs it to the water's edge and dumps it in. A rainbow sheen of oil spreads across the water. ``Hundreds of gallons of oil are locked up under this beach,'' he says. ``And this isn't isolated. There are hundreds of beaches all over the sound that are still oiled, and the oil is slowly bleeding out. ``The beaches can look beautiful at the surface, but you can dig down, in this case just a few inches below the surface, and find lots of oil. Now, is that a threat or isn't it?'' A year after the wreck of the Exxon Valdez, the question clings like the oil under this Perry Island beach. Certainly, the worst is over; thousands of dead birds no longer wash up on shorelines as they did last summer. But assessing the continuing damage wrought by the nation's most extensive _ and expensive _ oil spill has just begun. As a growing slick of lawyers haggles over who is to blame, Exxon Corp. and government agencies debate how to clean up what's left and scientists track wildlife populations' first steps on the long road to recovery. Any hope of a quick solution faded last summer as oil from the Exxon Valdez spread across 1,100 miles of Alaska's wild southern coast. A cleanup army of 12,000 workers polished rocks by hand, blasted beaches with hot water and sprayed fertilizer to promote the growth of oil-eating microbes. But when Exxon suspended its $2 billion cleanup in mid-September, it had recovered only 5 percent to 9 percent of the oil spilled, state officials estimate. About 20 percent to 40 percent is believed to have evaporated. That leaves 50 percent to 75 percent of the oil in the water, on the ocean bottom or on beaches. Some was soaked up by unwilling sponges: the seabirds, eagles and sea otters whose carcasses now lie frozen in five vans in an Anchorage storage yard, awaiting their day as physical evidence in court. Workers found more than 1,000 dead otters, a sizable chunk of the spill area's total population of 15,000 to 22,000. Many of Prince William Sound's 3,000 bald eagles also suffered; at least 151 died, most poisoned by scavenging the oily remains of some of the 34,400 dead seabirds recovered. Those numbers alone make the Valdez spill the most lethal ever, but scientists say the actual death count is much higher, estimating that up to 90 percent of the seabirds caught in oil sank from sight or drifted out to sea. Exxon notes the spill did not wipe out any species and says surviving animals and birds will rebuild populations. But that may take up to 70 years for some hard-hit seabird colonies, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service researchers say. ``We never claimed that the spill put any animal on the endangered species list, but that's missing the point,'' said Fish and Wildlife spokesman Bruce Batten. ``It's still the greatest human-caused wildlife disaster that this agency knows about.'' Oily carcasses were an obvious measure of the spill's impact, but victims also included less visible members of the ecosystem, such as young salmon and tiny intertidal creatures. Assessment studies for these populations are not finished, and even preliminary findings are hard to come by _ researchers have been told by lawyers to save their findings for court, where it seems nearly everyone involved in the spill is headed. Capt. Joseph Hazelwood, skipper of the Exxon Valdez, is on trial this month in Anchorage on charges including criminal mischief and drunken driving of his vessel, and a federal grand jury recently issued criminal indictments against Exxon, starting a case that could take years to finish. Exxon already faces more than 150 civil lawsuits. Fishermen sued because of lost seasons. Tour-boat operators sued because fewer people wanted to cruise an oiled sound. The state sued, claiming the company was negligent in responding to the spill, only to be countersued by Exxon, which claimed state officials hindered the use of chemical dispersants that could have broken up large quantities of oil early on. Information about the spill is filtered through this litigious atmosphere, making much of it suspect. Exxon distributes before-and-after pictures of cleaned beaches; Bridgman and other state officials, accusing Exxon of ``myth-making,'' eagerly make room for journalists on flights to oiled beaches. State officials cite an October survey that showed 117 miles of shoreline remained moderately or heavily oiled, with oil more than two feet deep in some spots. They say observers flying over the sound still report 15 to 20 oil sheens bleeding off beaches daily. Exxon officials, meanwhile, say their winter monitoring of 64 sites shows wind and waves have scoured away, on average, more than half the surface oil left in September, and up to 80 percent of the buried oil. ``From a layman's point of view, what's left out there is really insignificant,'' said Exxon scientist Andy Teal.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "human-caused wildlife disaster;tanker exxon valdez;crude oil;oil spill;environmental conservation;criminal indictments;wildlife populations;capt. joseph hazelwood;civil lawsuits"}
+{"name": "AP900316-0028", "title": "Nation's Tuberculosis Rate Still Falling _ But Very Slowly, Due to AIDS", "abstract": "A steady decline in tuberculosis has all but stopped amid the continuing threat of TB for the AIDS-infected, federal health researchers say. In 1988, the last year for which complete statistics are available, 22,436 U.S. tuberculosis cases were reported, down 0.4 percent from 1987, the national Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday. That slight drop compares with an average annual decrease of 6.7 percent from 1981 to 1984. One reason for the slowing of progress in wiping out TB is ``the increasing occurrence of TB in persons infected with ... HIV,'' the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome, the CDC said. AIDS leaves the body susceptible to a number of serious illnesses, including TB, and studies have found that about 4 percent of AIDS patients also are listed as TB patients. If the 6.7 percent average annual decline had kept up through the late 1980s, an estimated 14,768 fewer TB cases would have been expected during 1985-1988, the CDC said in its weekly report. Tuberculosis was down 8.7 percent among whites in 1988, as compared with 1985, but up 9.1 percent among blacks and 17.6 percent among Hispanics _ two groups with proportionately higher rates of AIDS cases. In 1988, 7,720 new tuberculosis cases were reported in whites, compared with 8,280 in blacks and 3,637 in Hispanics. The TB rate among blacks was 28.3 per 100,000, compared with 18.3 for Hispanics and 4.1 for whites. Another 2,371 TB cases were reported among Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States, for a rate of 36.3 per 100,000. The CDC estimates that 10 million Americans are infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, an infection of the lungs. The vast majority will never become ill. But the number of new cases is only part of the toll from tuberculosis, the CDC said. In 1987, more than 115,000 Americans were under TB treatment: 20,000 new patients plus 95,000 people labeled high-risk and on preventive therapy. Tuberculosis, which is curable in most cases with drug treatment, killed 1,755 Americans in 1987.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "steady decline;disease control;complete statistics;tuberculosis cases;aids cases"}
+{"name": "AP900322-0192", "title": "Diamond Business Loses Some Sparkle", "abstract": "A stone's throw from the smelly Smithfield meat market is an office building complex with no sign or anything to attract the attention of Londoners hurrying by. Mounted cameras, jumpy guards and heavy doors keep out the uninvited. The gold-colored interior is hushed and luxuriously decorated. This is the Central Selling Organization, London-based marketing arm of the De Beers diamond empire, controlled by the wealthy Oppenheimer family of South Africa. Its experts sort mounds of rough diamonds constituting 80 percent of the world's annual production. But scratch the surface of this secretive world, and the diamond business loses some sparkle. Sales have declined sharply, and the 56-year-old cartel is facing pressure to give producers better terms and allow them to sell more of their own gems. Although its prosperity and control of the world diamond industry looks unchallengeable, the pressures could loosen its grip and crimp its profits. ``This year is going to be a critical one for De Beers,'' says Diamond Intelligence Briefs, a trade publication. De Beers' South African interests face an uncertain future, largely because of a newly energized political will by the black majority in that country, an important diamond producer. The African National Congress has pledged to nationalize South Africa's major sources of wealth if it takes power. Apparently attempting to limit risk, De Beers recently announced it would split South African and foreign interests into two publicly held companies, one based in Switzerland. After growth spurts of 19 percent in 1987 and 35 percent in 1988, rough diamond sales fell 2 percent to $4.09 billion last year because of slowing economies, high interest rates and the organization's two double-digit price increases in 1988 and 1989. The decline was sharpest in the second half of the year, when sales fell 24 percent from the first six months. ``There was a very definite, noticeable slack in demand,'' said analyst Peter Miller of Yorkton Securities Inc. in London. The decline has limited De Beers' scope for raising prices. This past week, De Beers announced it was increasing prices 5.5 percent, compared to a 15.5 percent increase a year earlier. The organization must this year renegotiate five-year contracts with Botswana, the second biggest diamond producer in terms of value, and Argyle Diamonds of Western Australia, the biggest producer in terms of quantity. The government of newly independent Namibia, meanwhile, is expected to demand a one-fifth stake in Consolidated Diamond Mines, De Beers' Namibian subsidiary. The organization sells most of the Soviet Union's West-bound diamonds, but the Soviets, the biggest value producer, have been acting more independently and squeezing the cartel's margins, the experts say. Jack Lunzer, managing director of IDC Ltd., an independent diamond distributor in London, said De Beers undoubtedly will continue to control the major part of world production, but its marketing arm's profits will fall. The effect hasn't been felt yet; De Beers' profit rose 37 percent to $1.1 billion in 1989. Few diamond-producing countries dare sell their output outside the organization, and some bold enough to leave have returned because of the difficulty in peddling diamonds alone. Zaire returned in 1983 after a two-year split. Angola, which broke in 1985, has been negotiating its re-entry. ``We are as strongly in control of the diamond market as we have been for many years,'' said Tim Capon, the cartel's director. The organization buys rough diamonds from De Beers' own mines, which represent 30 percent of world production, and from producers in Tanzania, South Africa, Zaire, Botswana, Namibia, Australia and the Soviet Union. It reveals few details about security. It was robbed once, in the early 1980s, when some diamonds were snatched as couriers carried them from one building to another. De Beers picks its 160 or so buying customers from thousands of hopefuls. Ten times a year, at sales called ``sights,'' the clients are offered a selection of diamonds chosen by the organization and placed in a simple cardboard box. The buyer basically can take it or leave it. The gems then go to cutters in the world's major diamond-cutting centers: Bombay, India; Tel Aviv, Israel; Antwerp, Belgium; and New York. Of all diamonds mined, only 15 percent will end up in jewelry, but these represent 80 percent of the value of the world's diamond production. The rest are put to industrial use. The organization is fighting the lackluster sales trend by trying to create new demand. Last year, it spent $160 million on advertising and promotion, trying, for example, to boost purchases of men's diamond jewelry. De Beers's achievement over the decades has been to mass-market what was once an aristocratic luxury without greatly diminishing its value. Today, diamonds remain ``the gem of gems,'' although millions of people own them. De Beers insists it seeks long-term stability and prosperity for the industry, saying price fluctuations would undermine confidence in the value of diamonds. So far, it has succeeded. While other commodities markets have suffered repeated convulsions, rough diamond prices haven't fallen since the organization started announcing price changes in 1964. Even its fiercest competitors laud De Beers for putting up considerable amounts of money and assuming the risks to develop mines and support the market. During the early 1980s, when high interest rates caused the worst diamond slump since the 1930s, the organization prevented the market's collapse by doubling its diamond stockpile to nearly $2 billion worth. But producers criticize the organization's secretiveness and what they call its arbitrary valuation system. Some want more of the industry's millions of jobs relocated in their own countries. Said Lunzer: ``It's not unnatural for people in the producing countries to say, `Are we getting a proper share of the value of our national resource?''' After reviewing a complaint filed by the British mining company Consolidated Gold Fields PLC alleging anti-competitive practices, Britain's Office of Fair Trading decided in August against formally investigating whether the organization abuses its monopoly. Gold Fields acknowledged the complaint was a defensive maneuver against a hostile, and ultimately unsuccessful, takeover bid from Oppenheimer-controlled Minorco SA last year. Formally known as De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., and based in Kimberley, South Africa, the company was formed in 1888 by the British industrial colonialist Cecil Rhodes. Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, a diamond merchant, became chairman of De Beers in 1929 and five years later formed Diamond Trading Co., the precursor of today's cartel. Oppenheimer, who linked the diamond business with his extensive Anglo American Corp. gold-mining interests, is credited with steering De Beers through the Depression. He died in 1957 and was succeeded by his son, Harry Oppenheimer, who has made the company more internationally minded and therefore less vulnerable. Now 81, Oppenheimer still serves on De Beers' board of directors, of which he previously was chairman. His 44-year-old son and heir apparent, Nicholas, is deputy to Chairman Julian Ogilvie Thompson.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "south african interests;diamond producer;de beers diamond empire;diamond business;world diamond industry;rough diamond sales;central selling organization"}
+{"name": "AP900322-0200", "title": "Government Boosts Spending to Combat Cattle Plague", "abstract": "``Mad cow disease'' has killed 10,000 cattle, restricted the export market for Britain's cattle industry and raised fears about the safety of eating beef. The government insists the disease poses only a remote risk to human health, but scientists still aren't certain what causes the disease or how it is transmitted. ``I think everyone agrees that the risks are low,'' says Martin Raff, a neurobiologist at University College, London. ``But they certainly are not zero. I have not changed my eating habits, but I certainly do wonder.'' Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, was diagnosed only in 1986. The symptoms are very much like scrapie, a sheep disease which has been in Britain since the 1700s. The incurable disease eats holes in the brains of its victims; in late stages a sick animal may act skittish or stagger drunkenly. The suspicion is that the disease was transmitted through cattle feed, which used to contain sheep by-products as a protein supplement. The government banned the use of sheep offal in cattle feed in June 1988, and later banned the use of cattle brain, spleen, thymus, intestines and spinal cord in food for humans. Sheep offal is still used in pig and poultry feed. Earlier this month, the government announced it would pay farmers 100 percent of market value or average market price, whichever is less, for each animal diagnosed with BSE. ``I think it is a recognition _ not just of pressure from farmers _ but that the public would feel more confident that no BSE-infected animal would ever be likely to go anywhere near the food chain if there was 100 percent compensation,'' said Sir Simon Gourlay, president of the National Farmers Union. The disease struck one of his own cows, Gourlay said. ``In the course of 24 hours, the animal went from being ostensibly quite normal to very vicious and totally disoriented.'' As of Feb. 9, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said that 9,998 cattle have been destroyed after being diagnosed with BSE. The government has paid $6.1 million in compensation, and is budgeting $16 million for 1990. Ireland's Department of Agriculture and Food said about 20 cases have been confirmed there, all of them near the border with the British province of Northern Ireland. Because of the disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service banned imports of cattle, embryos and bull semen from Great Britain in July, said Margaret Webb, a USDA spokeswoman in Washington. Similar embargoes have been imposed by Australia, Finland, Israel, Sweden, West Germany and New Zealand, according to the agriculture ministry, and the European Community has proposed a ban on exports of British cattle older than 6 months. David Maclean, a junior agriculture minister, has complained of ``BSE hysteria'' in the media and has insisted that the risk of the disease passing to humans is ``remote.'' The government has committed $19 million to finding the cause of the disease. A commission chaired by Professor Sir Richard Southwood of Oxford University reported last year that the cause of BSE ``is quite unlike any bacteria or known viruses.'' The report said the disease was impossible to detect in apparently healthy animals because it did not prompt the immune system to produce antibodies. The Southwood report said it was ``most unlikely'' that the disease was a threat to humans. But the report added: ``If our assessments of these likelihoods are incorrect, the implications would be extremely serious.'' There is a human variant of spongiform encephalopathy, known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. About two dozen cases were reported in Britain last year. Another form, known as kuru, had been found cannibals in New Guinea. According to a report in the British Medical Journal, the incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is no higher in Britain than it is in countries free of scrapie. ``It is urgent that the same reassurance can be given about the lack of effect of BSE on human health,'' a consultative committee reported to the agriculture ministry. The committee's report, released early this year, said it is only a ``shrewd guess'' that BSE was transmitted through sheep offal in cattle feed.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "mad cow disease;exports;british cattle;immune system;sheep disease;scrapie;bse;government"}
+{"name": "AP900323-0036", "title": "Exxon-Valdez Chronology", "abstract": "Here is a chronology of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, its cleanup and related developments:", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "cleanup;exxon valdez oil spill;developments;chronology"}
+{"name": "AP900416-0188", "title": "AGENCIES AND RADIO OUT", "abstract": "John Hatch, founder of the non-profit Foundation for International Community Assistance, promotes village banking to encourage private enterprise in the Third World. What he foresees is a body blow to world poverty through bootstrap economics.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "john hatch;private enterprise;village banking;third world;poverty vaccination;world poverty"}
+{"name": "AP900419-0121", "title": "Elizabeth Taylor, Hospitalized With Pneumonia, in Stable Condition", "abstract": "Actress Elizabeth Taylor, hospitalized with pneumonia, was listed as stable Thursday at St. John's Hospital and Health Center, her publicist said. ``She's stable. She's OK. We have nothing else,'' said Lisa Del Favaro, a Taylor spokeswoman with Chen Sam and Associates public relations in New York City. Inquiries to the hospital were referred to Chen Sam. Miss Taylor, 58, hospitalized with a sinus infection April 9 at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital, was transferred to St. John's on Monday because of a persistent fever and pneumonia. ``She is currently being treated intravenously with antibiotics and will remain hospitalized,'' Dr. Patricia Murray, an infectious disease specialist treating Miss Taylor, said in a statement Tuesday. Miss Taylor said in the statement: ``I have been advised by my physician to remain hospitalized and I expect to make a full recovery.'' The actress had a nearly fatal bout of pneumonia in 1961, the year she won an Oscar for ``Butterfield 8.'' Doctors performed a tracheotomy _ inserting an air tube in her windpipe at the neck _ to help her breathe. Miss Taylor's health problems started with a fall from a horse when she was 13 and filming the movie ``National Velvet.'' She has had back problems ever since. In 1983, she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and pain killers prescribed for a wide range of health problems. Miss Taylor has been treated for alcohol and drug abuse at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "actress elizabeth taylor;st. john's hospital;health problems;sinus infection;pneumonia;miss taylor"}
+{"name": "AP900424-0035", "title": "Elizabeth Taylor in Intensive Care Unit", "abstract": "A seriously ill Elizabeth Taylor battled pneumonia at her hospital, her breathing assisted by a ventilator, doctors say. Hospital officials described her condition late Monday as stabilizing after a lung biopsy to determine the cause of the pneumonia. Analysis of the tissue sample was expected to take until Thursday, said her spokeswoman, Chen Sam. The 58-year-old actress, who won best-actress Oscars for ``Butterfield 8'' and ``Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf,'' has been hospitalized more than two weeks. She was in the intensive care unit at St. John's Hospital and Health Center. ``She is seriously ill,'' her doctors said in a statement. ``After surgery, her breathing is now being assisted by a ventilator. Her condition is presently stabilizing and her physicians are pleased with her progress.'' Another spokewoman for the actress, Lisa Del Favaro, said Miss Taylor's family was at her bedside. She did not identify the family members. Miss Taylor entered Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital on April 9 with a persistent fever and sinus infection, doctors said. Her condition worsened and she was transferred April 16 to St. John's and moved into intensive care on Friday. ``It is serious, but they are really pleased with her progress. She's not well. She's not on her deathbed or anything,'' Ms. Sam said late Monday. While it is unusual to put a pneumonia patient on a ventilator, it does not mean that person is near death, said Dr. John G. Mohler, a University of Southern California lung disease expert who emphasized he had no direct knowledge of Miss Taylor's condition. Doctors may put a patient on a ventilator simply to restore oxygen in the blood to proper levels if pneumonia-related breathing difficulties have reduced those levels, Mohler said. ``It may be that because she is such a prominent person, they are taking a conservative course,'' he added. Miss Taylor has been plagued with health problems for years, particularly back troubles from filming of ``National Velvet' in 1945, when she fell off a horse. In 1983 she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers. Miss Taylor has been treated for alcohol and drug abuse at the Betty Ford Clinic. During a nearly fatal bout with pneumonia in 1961, Miss Taylor underwent a tracheotomy, an incision into her windpipe to help her breathe. She appeared at the 1961 Academy Awards with a bandage over her scar as she accepted the ``Butterfield 8'' Oscar.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "st. john's hospital;lung biopsy;elizabeth taylor;health problems;sinus infection;pneumonia;58-year-old actress;miss taylor"}
+{"name": "AP900426-0054", "title": "Doctors Say Liz Taylor Nearly Died Over the Weekend", "abstract": "Elizabeth Taylor has rallied from a near-fatal bout with pneumonia _ and even joked about coming out in her ``balcony attire'' to wave to reporters _ but is ``not out of the woods,'' doctors say. ``I believe her life was in jeopardy over the weekend and I believe that has now passed,'' Dr. Bernard Weintraub, a lung specialist treating Miss Taylor at St. Johns Hospital and Health Center, said Wednesday. The 58-year-old actress was taken off the ventilator that had aided her breathing for several days and was smiling again and ``very happy the tube was out,'' said Dr. Patricia Murray, an infectious disease specialist. ``She said she'd come out and wave to you but she's not in her balcony attire,'' the doctor said. About 80 reporters and camera crew members, along with some 100 St. Johns employees, jammed the hospital courtyard to hear the latest reports on Miss Taylor. Miss Taylor has had back troubles since she fell off a horse during filming in 1945 of ``National Velvet.'' She had to undergo a tracheotomy during a bout with pneumonia in 1961 that nearly killed her. In 1983 she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers, and her weight has been up and down over the years. In response to persistent rumors about AIDS and other illnesses, Weintraub said there was ``no suggestion of either cancer or infections commonly seen in AIDS.'' The actress had issued a statement earlier denying she has AIDS. Weintraub said the actress, hospitalized since April 9, remained in intensive care. ``She is in serious condition. She is not out of the woods,'' he said. With her were her four children from three marriages, Maria Burton-Carson, Liza Todd-Tivey and Christopher and Michael Wilding. The hospital released a statement on Miss Taylor's behalf thanking fans and friends for their cards and letters.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "elizabeth taylor;near-fatal bout;pneumonia;58-year-old actress;st. johns hospital;miss taylor"}
+{"name": "AP900428-0005", "title": "Colombia To Proceed With Presidential Elections Despite Candidate's Slaying", "abstract": "With a third presidential candidate assassinated, Colombia's government refused Friday to put off next month's election and vowed to keep up the fight against drug traffickers. A telefaxed communique, purportedly from the Medellin drug cartel, denied responsibility Friday for the assassination of presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro, who died in a hail of bullets Thursday aboard a Colombian jetliner carrying 97 people. But on Thursday, within hours of Pizarro's assassination, a man had called the national radio network station Caracol and related in detail how the cartel had allegedly ordered the former guerrilla's killing. The authenticity of neither claim could be verified. That is not the first time there have been contradictory communiques, verbal and faxed, claiming and and then denying responsibility for assassinations and terrorist acts. Friday's telefax accused police of instigating violence in order to force the government to continue its crackdown on traffickers, and accused the police of putting out false communiques purported to be from the cartel. The August assassination of another candidate, Sen. Luis Carlos Galan of the governing Liberal Party, prompted the government to launch a U.S.-backed crackdown on Colombia's cocaine cartels. Since then, drug traffickers have killed more than 230 people, including judges, politicians, policemen, soldiers, newspaper employees and two other presidential candidates. Leaders of the leftist Patriotic Union Party, whose candidate was slain last month, urged the government to cancel the May 27 vote. But Interior Minister Horacio Serpa told reporters Friday that the elections will not be postponed or canceled. In a televised speech late Thursday, Serpa said the government will fight terrorists ``without rest.'' On Friday, thousands of men, women and children filed past Pizarro's coffin, displayed in an open patio in the Congress building. Supporters of Pizarro's M-19 movement burned buses and threw rocks at police in clashes in several cities. Hundreds of leftist guerrillas belonging to the M-19 rebel group laid down their arms last month and formed a political party with Pizarro as its presidential candidate. Government officials had said Pizarro could have helped mediate peace agreements with other leftist insurgents. Governing party candidate Cesar Gaviria, the presidential front-runner, suspended campaign activities following the Pizarro killing. In a radio interview, he condemned the killing as another act by ``powerful organizations'' trying to impose an ``empire of evil and crime.'' The other candidates are Alvaro Gomez Hurtado and Rodrigo Lloreda, both of the Conservative Party. Gomez, suggesting that Barco does not have the confidence of Colombia's military, urged the president Friday to name a three-man council to run Colombia's security forces. He said such a move would help ensure peace in the last month of the presidential campaign. Barco, through a spokesman, rejected the proposal. The Patriotic Union's presidential candidate, Bernardo Jaramillo, was fatally wounded March 22 at the Bogota airport by an assassin with a machine gun. Pizarro's killer, 25-year-old Alvaro Rodriguez, was sitting two rows behind Pizarro on the flight and apparently retrieved the machine gun from an airplane bathroom before returning to his seat, Capt. Fabio Munevar told Caracol. Minutes later, he stood up, pulled the weapon from his black leather jacket, leaned forward and fired at Pizarro's head from about a foot away, Munevar said. Pizarro's bodyguards immediately killed the assassin. The plane, en route to the Caribbean coastal city of Barranquilla, returned immediately to Bogota. Pizarro died about an hour later at a hospital. The Bogota morgue said he was struck by 13 bullets. Two men with machine guns were arrested at Barranquilla airport, a police spokesman there said. They apparently were part of an assassination squad with orders to kill Pizarro if he survived the flight, police said. In another development, church officials in Medellin said they had foiled a plan to kill Colombia's Roman Catholic prelate, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo. The city's Catholic church said it discovered the plan to kill Lopez Trujillo after intercepting messages on a radio frequency used by the men plotting the crime. Three men disguised as police agents entered Lopez Trujillo's offices on Wednesday and Thursday asking for the prelate, but he was not in, said the church statement late Thursday. Lopez is archbishop of Medellin, the country's second-largest city, and chairman of Colombia's Bishops Conference.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "assassinations;election;drug traffickers;presidential candidate carlos pizarro;colombia;pizarro's assassination;medellin drug cartel;terrorist acts;cocaine cartels"}
+{"name": "AP900428-0108", "title": "Instability Worse Than Ever After Candidate's Murder", "abstract": "Less than a month before elections, the assassination of a third presidential candidate has pushed Colombia to the brink of political chaos. After the shooting of candidate Carlos Pizarro in a jetliner Thursday, the country's largest newspaper implored the government to ``do something, for the love of God.'' Addressing President Virgilio Barco, the El Tiempo editorial said: ``In your hands, and only in your hands, is the power to avoid the country's dissolution.'' ``The gravest aspect of Colombia's bloodletting is that the government has no idea how to even slow it,'' said a member of a regional human rights committee based in Medellin, the cocaine capital. He declined to be identified because he was afraid someone might be angered by his statements and kill him. Four of his predecessors have been assassinated. In recent interviews, Pizarro, the candidate for the leftist April 19 Movement, or M-19, admitted he was afraid. But he said his desire to lead Colombia was greater than his fear of assassins' bullets. A gunman on a suicide mission shot Pizarro aboard a Colombian jetliner after it took off from Bogota's airport. Pizarro's bodyguards shot and killed the assassin. Two other presidential candidates had already been assassinated during the campaign for May 27 elections. Sen. Luis Carlos Galan of the ruling Liberal Party was gunned down last August at a political rally in Bogota, and Bernardo Jaramillo of the leftist Patriotic Union Party was killed last month at the Bogota airport. Authorities blamed the assassinations on drug traffickers. The media, citing security sources, reported that traffickers were the main suspects in Pizarro's killing as well. But the Medellin cartel denied involvement, and no government official has yet said who was responsible for Pizarro's assassination. On Saturday Antonio Navarro, a longtime guerrilla leader of the April 19 Movement, announced he would take Pizarro's place as candidate for president. Traffickers have carried out a terrorist campaign that has killed nearly 300 Colombians in the past nine months in an effort to halt the government's campaign to capture and extradite drug barons to the United States. Bombings by the Medellin cartel have caused millions of dollars in property damage, led to the militarization of Medellin and other cities and shattered the nerves of citizens. Pizarro's death appears to have pushed the country to its limit. For the first time, leading politicians suggested the government itself might be compromised by the killing. Several politicians and analysts said an armed assassin could not have been aboard a jetliner without the complicity of government and airport security personnel. Former president Alfonso Lopez said the assassinations of three candidates indicated that Colombia's armed forces must be reorganized. Lopez, of the Liberal Party, was president from 1974 to 1978. Official investigations have shown that certain members of the armed forces are allied with drug traffickers and the country's right-wing death squads. One of the country's presidential candidates, Alvaro Gomez, said Friday that Barco should name a three-man council to run Colombia's security forces to avoid a military coup. He suggested that Barco had lost control over the armed forces. Gomez made the proposal in a written statement given to the press. ``Never has there been such a great and pathetic image of anarchy,'' said Gomez, a presidential candidate of the Conservative Party. Barco, of the Liberal Party, rejected Gomez's suggestion of a triumvirate, saying the armed forces would be reorganized only if necessary. Continuing to focus on a military solution to Colombia's problems, Barco said late Friday he would double the size of a 3,000-man anti-terrorist police unit. The unit achieved its greatest success against drug traffickers when it killed a Medellin cartel leader, Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, in a gunfight last December. Both Barco and his party's presidential candidate, Cesar Gaviria, have linked Colombia's salvation to constitutional reform. Through such reforms they hope to reform the corrupted Congress, strengthen the judicial system and provide more political representation for minority parties. According to recent polls, Gaviria is heavily favored to win the presidential elections.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "assassinations;colombia;suicide mission;drug traffickers;presidential elections;gunman;political chaos;drug barons;candidate carlos pizarro;terrorist campaign"}
+{"name": "AP900511-0159", "title": "Elizabeth Taylor Suffers Complications, Six More Weeks in Hospital", "abstract": "Elizabeth Taylor suffered complications including new infections in her fifth week of hospitalization for pneumonia, and will remain hospitalized for about six more weeks, doctors said Friday. The recovery of Miss Taylor, near death two weeks ago with viral pneumonia, was dealt a setback by bacterial pneumonia and a yeast infection, her doctors said. During the next 1{ months, she will require intravenous therapy in the hospital, they said in a statement released by St. John's Hospital and Health Center. Bacterial pneumonia is generally considered less serious than the viral pneumonia Miss Taylor initially contracted. That's because antibiotics are effective against bacteria but not viruses. ``She is tolerating this therapy extremely well and her doctors are pleased with her progress,'' Miss Taylor's publicist, Chen Sam, said after talking to doctors. Hospital spokeswoman Paulette Weir said she couldn't go beyond the statement. Miss Taylor was still in a private room and not the intensive care unit, she said. Earlier this week, Ms. Sam said the 58-year-old actress was improving and would be released from the hospital this week to recuperate at home. During a news conference last month, Miss Taylor's doctors revealed she was near death on April 22. The Oscar-winning star of ``Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' and ``Butterfield 8'' entered Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital on April 9 with a sinus infection, but her condition deteriorated and she was moved to St. John's for treatment of viral pneumonia. Miss Taylor was reportedly in one of the hospital's suites. Suites are ``like a small hotel room with a sitting room, a living room area,'' Weir said without confirming whether the actress was in a suite. Visitors throughout Miss Taylor's hospitalization included her four children, Maria Burton-Carson, Liza Todd-Tivey and Christopher and Michael Wilding. Entertainer Michael Jackson also paid a visit.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "st. john's hospital;elizabeth taylor;sinus infection;viral pneumonia;intravenous therapy;58-year-old actress;yeast infection;bacterial pneumonia"}
+{"name": "AP900512-0038", "title": "Taylor Faces Six More Weeks in Hospital", "abstract": "Elizabeth Taylor will remain in the hospital six more weeks due to complications in her fifth week of treatment for pneumonia, doctors said. The recovery of Miss Taylor, near death two weeks ago with viral pneumonia, was dealt a setback by bacterial pneumonia and a yeast infection, her doctors said Friday. ``This secondary bacterial pneumonia often follows viral pneumonia. Her condition is listed as stable and she is improving significantly,'' they said in a statement released by St. John's Hospital and Health Center. Earlier this week Miss Taylor's New York publicist, Chen Sam, had said the 58-year-old actress was improving and would be released from the hospital this week to recuperate at home. During a news conference last month, Miss Taylor's doctors revealed she was near death on April 22. The Oscar-winning star of ``Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' and ``Butterfield 8'' entered Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital on April 9 with a sinus infection, but her condition deteriorated and she was moved to St. John's for treatment of viral pneumonia.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "st. john's hospital;recovery;elizabeth taylor;viral pneumonia;58-year-old actress;yeast infection;miss taylor;bacterial pneumonia"}
+{"name": "AP900521-0063", "title": "Increase Of Tuberculosis Due to AIDS Virus Poses New Health Threat", "abstract": "Tuberculosis is alarming health officials again because it's posing new health threats with its connection to the AIDS virus. A 35 percent increase in tuberculosis in 1989 in Newark, N.J., has caught the attention of health officials, who had been previously recording with satisfaction a slow, steady decrease in TB cases over the last few decades. They attribute the 5 percent national increase in TB cases in 1989 to the ravages of the AIDS virus, which destroys the body's immune system and leaves victims open to TB infection, Dr. Philip C. Hopewell of San Francisco General Hospital said Sunday. Hopewell and other health officials discussed the link between AIDS and TB during the a four-day World Conference on Lung Health in Boston, which ends Wednesday. About 4 percent of Americans identified as having the AIDS virus also have been diagnosed as being infected with tuberculosis, said Dr. Dixie E. Snider Jr., director of the division of tuberculosis control at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The American Lung Association estimates that 20,000 Americans a year develop TB. In parts of Africa, where AIDS is already a health risk, tuberculosis has become epidemic, said Dr. Annik Rouillon, executive director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease in Paris. ``The combination of the two is really catastrophic,'' she said. Snider stressed that tuberculosis, unlike AIDS, is a curable disease and called for TB screenings at drug rehabilitation programs, prisons or other places where AIDS tests are being administered. Snider also said doctors should administer TB tests to all persons testing positive for the HIV virus since TB may not be readily diagnosed in AIDS patients. ``It's important we get control of the situation,'' he said. In Wyoming, the Centers for Disease Control recorded no new cases of TB in 1989, demonstrating that it is a condition that can be controlled and cured, according to Dr. Lee B. Reichman, director of the pulmonary division of the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey. ``I have never heard of a rise of the magnitude seen in New Jersey or, on the other hand, the hope generated by no cases in one state,'' Reichman said. Moreover, unlike AIDS, TB is a highly contagious disease that can be spread by airborne particles coughed up by a person with untreated, clinically active pulmonary TB. Untreated, tuberculosis kills about 50 percent of its victims within two years, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Snider said sustained contact is necessary for TB transmission, and would not pose new problems for AIDS victims already fighting discrimination in jobs and housing. However, he noted that there had been an increase in positive TB tests among AIDS health workers. Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium that commonly affects the lungs but can attack almost any organ. For the last three decades, it has been preventable and curable through multiple drug therapy, Snider said. Snider said 10 million to 15 million Americans have been infected with the tuberculosis germ, but only a small percentage of them develop the disease because their immune system was strong enough to prevent the disease from developing. If, however, a person's immune system is impaired by poor nutrition or weakened by the HIV virus, people can develop active TB. ``TB is long known as an opportunistic organism,'' Hopewell said. The doctors said U.S. minority groups have become increasing susceptible to TB. Snider said there has been a 150 percent increased in cases of TB among young blacks in New York City. Tuberculosis can be effectively treated, even in AIDS patients, underscoring efforts to screen persons for the disease, the doctor said. Reichman noted that most American have forgotten about the problems of TB; from 1981 to 1984, TB cases declined an average of 6 percent per year according to the Centers for disease control. But, he said, ``TB is back with a vengeance.'' While associated with poverty and crowded living conditions, TB through history has ravaged both the poor and the famous. TB victims include Henry David Thoreau, Washington Irving, Franz Kafka, Ring Lardner, Somerset Maugham and Vivien Leigh. An estimated 3 million persons a year die worldwide from TB, according to the American Lung Association.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "disease control;aids virus;tb cases;lung disease;new health threats;tuberculosis"}
+{"name": "AP900529-0005", "title": "Hugo Instructive for Coastal Residents as Hurricane Season Begins", "abstract": "People caught by Hurricane Hugo last year might disagree, but forecasters here say the deadly storm may have had a positive side effect _ it got the public's attention. And one forecaster says hurricane seasons may be getting worse. Hugo, which caused an unprecedented $10 billion in damage, killed 28 people in the Lesser Antilles islands and an additional 29 in South Carolina. But it would have been much more deadly if it had hit almost anywhere else, says Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center. At the advent of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, Sheets and other hurricane experts are using Hugo's example to get the attention of complacent coastal residents who've never experienced such fury. ``We'll take advantage of the fact that there was a Hugo last year and raise people's awareness,'' said Sheets. ``The consequences of not being prepared are too great.'' Early warnings about Hugo last September allowed 350,000 people to evacuate safely, and in South Carolina the worst of the hurricane struck the Francis Marion National Forest between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, Sheets said. It heavily damaged the fishing village of McClellanville and several small rural communities, but the population there is sparse. If Hugo had struck a major coastal population center, the destruction would have been greater than most Americans have ever seen, according to computer simulations known as SLOSH models, for Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes. With SLOSH, forecasters can predict the height of the storm surge _ the mass of water piled up by the storm that is a hurricane's most destructive component _ anywhere along the U.S. coast by punching in a storm's speed, size and intensity, Sheets said. ``The population density in South Carolina is a lot different from the Florida coast, New Jersey or Galveston, Texas,'' Sheets said. ``Compare that situation to the Miami-through-Palm Beach area _ all of Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties would have been ... destroyed.'' Hugo was the worst hurricane to strike the southeastern U.S. coast since Betsy hit the Florida Keys in 1965, killing 74 before it went on to Missisippi and Louisiana. Since then, the population of areas such as south Florida has ballooned and most residents have never directly experienced a hurricane. According to one of the nation's leading hurricane experts, Hugo may have been the first in a new era of killer storms. ``No one knows for sure, but the odds are, Florida and the East Coast are going to get it,'' William Gray, professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, told a national conference of weather experts this month. Gray came to this conclusion after his usually accurate predictions for hurricane activity were off the mark last year. He had figured the 1989 season would be relatively mild, with only four hurricanes; instead, seven hurricanes and four tropical storms killed a total of 84 people. ``He blew it pretty bad,'' Sheets said. ``But then he looked at the rainfall over Africa, and found an amazing correlation between rainfall there and hurricane activity over Florida.'' Gray realized the 30-year drought in Africa's Sahel region corresponds almost exactly to the years when no major hurricanes have struck the southeastern coast. ``Whether one causes the other is uncertain. They both may reflect larger-scale events. But the Sahel is now getting up to near-normal rainfall,'' Sheets said. Gray plans to release his predictions for 1990 on June 5. Tropical storms have been recorded in the Atlantic in every month except April, but are rare outside the June 1 to Nov. 30 season. Last week, a preseason tropical depression brought heavy rain to Cuba. A tropical depression becomes a tropical storm and is given a name if its sustained winds reach 39 mph; it becomes a hurricane if winds reach 74 mph. The names for Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms this year are: Arthur, Bertha, Cesar, Diana, Edouard, Fran, Gustav, Hortense, Isidore, Josephine, Klaus, Lili, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paloma, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "william gray;damage;forecasters;population density;deadly storm;atlantic hurricane season;southeastern u.s. coast;hurricane hugo;south carolina"}
+{"name": "AP900601-0040", "title": "Hurricane Center Director Warns of New Era of Destructive Storms", "abstract": "The 1990 Atlantic hurricane season begins today amid dire warnings that killer storms on the East and Gulf coasts in the last two years may have been harbingers of a new era of destructive storms. The hurricane season runs until Nov. 30 and was ushered in by a tropical depression last week in the Caribbean that brought heavy rain to Cuba and south Florida but did not intensify into a hurricane. Many coastal communities, with swelling populations, are ill-prepared to handle a hurricane emergency, said Robert Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center. A recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report predicts the number of people in seaside counties from Maine to Texas will grow 60 percent, counting from 1960 until 2010. Some states such as Florida and Texas will experience near 200 percent growth during the period, the report said. ``What we're looking at is the possibility of greater destruction and greater loss of life,'' Sheets said Thursday. ``We can't stop the hurricanes. The only thing we can do is work on better preparedness and emergency planning.'' The aftermath from Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 and Hugo last year taught officials what improvements are needed to better evacuate and protect the estimated 45 million coastal residents from Maine to Texas, Sheets said. ``If the long-term trends are any indication of what's to come, we are in for more frequent and stronger hurricanes,'' said Sheets. Gilbert killed more than 300 people and caused heavy damage from the Lesser Antilles to Mexico. Hugo killed 28 people in the eastern Caribbean and 29 more in South Carolina and caused a record $10 billion in damage. Sheets said the predictions of increased hurricane activity are based on studies of past decades, atmospheric low-pressure waves and increased rainfall trends in West Africa, near the breeding waters for most hurricanes. Hurricane activity started dropping after drought conditions began in the early 1960s in Africa's Sahel region, he said. Between 1940 and 1969, the United States was hit by 22 hurricanes with minimum winds of 110 mph. From 1970 to 1989, there were only eight such storms, including Hugo, Sheets said. ``I hope we don't catch up this year with the decade of the '40s,'' he said. There are five categories of hurricanes, ranging from Category 1, which has top sustained winds of 74 mph to 95 mph, to Category 5, with top winds greater then 155 mph. Both Gilbert and Hugo reached category 5, according to meteorologist Barry Fatchwell of the National Hurricane Center. Sheets praised most South Carolina officials' response to Hugo, but said some leaders ``didn't have their proverbial act together'' and lives may have been saved. Also, he said Hugo showed inadequacies in the Emergency Broadcast System and some communities used emergency shelters ill-suited to withstand a powerful hurricane. In the Caribbean, officials have worked to improve communications systems after links were cut by Gilbert.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "hurricane gilbert;destructive storms;caribbean;coastal residents;hurricane emergency;hurricane activity;hugo;predictions;atlantic hurricane season"}
+{"name": "AP900607-0039", "title": "Shining Path Rebels Have Formed New Urban Front, Garcia Says", "abstract": "Shining Path rebels have formed a new front to push their insurgency into Lima and other coastal urban areas, President Alan Garcia said after two powerful car bombs exploded within blocks of the Government Palace. Garcia spoke Wednesday in an atmosphere of stepped up rebel attacks in Lima and a series of weekend raids around the capital that resulted in the seizure of five Shining Path safe houses and 31 arrests. The president, who leaves office July 28, said the newly formed People's Defense Revolutionary Movement, is the ``urban, metropolitan organ of the Shining Path.'' The Maoist-inspired Shining Path operates in at least half of Peru, especially in the mountains and jungle, but has had little success in expanding to coastal cities. At least 18,500 people have been killed in political violence related to the decade-old insurgency, which was launched in the Andean highlands. The Shining Path draws much of its support from indigenous peoples resentful of the economic and political dominance in the country of 22 million of descendants of European immigrants. The wave of violence comes four days before a presidential runoff that pits novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, a free-market activist, against centrist agricultural engineer Alberto Fujimori. The Shining Path has called on voters to boycott Sunday's vote and threatened election day ``armed strikes'' in Andean cities. In one of the guerrilla safehouses raided in an upper-class Lima suburb, police found tons of Shining Path documents and propaganda. They also found personal possessions that apparently belonged to Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman. Garcia said he believed the raids proved that ``the chief of terrorism actively participates'' in Shining Path operations. Guzman went underground in 1979 and, over the years, there have been numerous rumors he was dead. The raids also proved that the new urban front has been formed, Garcia said: ``The people who were captured were essential to the new movement.'' Two people were injured in the car bombings near the Government Palace on Tuesday night and Wednesday and Garcia called the upsurge in urban violence a ``desperate response'' to the weekend raids. In other violence Wednesday in Lima, a city of 6 million, four rebels armed with machine guns took over a neighborhood electoral office. They forced the electoral workers outside and set fire to the office. Firefighters said the blaze destroyed most of the documents in the building, including identification for electoral workers. Guerrillas blew up at least three high-tension power pylons Tuesday night, blacking out parts of the capital and other coastal cities where most of Peru's 22 million people live. In pre-dawn attacks Wednesday, guerrillas threw gasoline bombs at a city bus and at a stove factory owned by a senator-elect of Fujimori's Change 90 party, according to police. Tuesday's car bomb went off behind Lima's Roman Catholic cathedral, which faces the main plaza where the Government Palace is located. Police said the cathedral was not damaged, but one passerby was wounded. Operating out of its stronghold in Ayacucho, the Shining Path has spread throughout Peru's highlands since it launched its armed insurgency in May 1980. The movement, which seeks to impose a peasant-worker state, also controls much of Peru's jungle. Efforts to move into Lima's sprawling shantytowns, however, have been countered by strong police crackdowns.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "shining path rebels;indigenous peoples;defense revolutionary movement;powerful car bombs;president alan garcia;lima;shining path leader abimael guzman;presidential runoff;coastal urban areas;political violence;rebel attacks"}
+{"name": "AP900619-0006", "title": "Midwest Sees 1990 Tornado Parade", "abstract": "1990 is fast becoming one of the worst years on record for tornadoes and flooding across the middle and southern sections of the nation. So far this year, 726 tornadoes have touched down nationwide, well ahead of the 640 tornadoes recorded during the first six months of last year, and the 30-year average of 482 tornadoes recorded between January and July, said Frederick Ostby of the National Severe Storms Forecast Center here. The nation had 747 tornadoes in the first six months of 1973 _ one of the biggest years for tornadoes since 1950, when the forecast center began keeping reliable records of the storms. There were 756 tornadoes reported in 1982. ``We seem to be on a pace that would put us up with those two years,'' Ostby said. The culprit in this tornado barrage across the Plains is a persistent West Coast pattern of low pressure in the upper atmosphere that is keeping the jet stream anchored at a southern latitude. This year's storms seem particularly violent, as illustrated by the March 13 tornado that cut a swath a mile wide and brought winds of 300 mph to a field in Kansas. The tornado was the strongest to hit the United States since 1985. The first weekend in June saw the worst outburst of tornadoes since 1974. Ostby said 101 tornadoes touched down from Kansas to Kentucky, leaving nine people dead. But a break in the storm pattern may be at hand. As summer wears on, the land warms up and cold air from Canada retreats. This moves the boundary of the jet stream to the north, Ostby said. ``Our longer range computer forecasts are suggestive of that. There is some kind of a readjustment beginning to take place in the upper atmosphere,'' he said. However, a study of tornado trends indicates parts of the Midwest, particularly Kansas and Missouri, are heading into a six-year period of more intense tornadoes. The study of tornadoes since early this century shows that they are concentrated in regions for five- or six-year periods, said Michael Smith, president of WeatherData Inc. But warning of impending storms is becoming more sophisticated, leading to fewer deaths. Tornadoes have caused 20 deaths this year, while an average year in the 1980s saw 52 deaths, and in the 1970s nearly 100, Ostby said. ``There are better watches, better warnings and a better response,'' Ostby said. Ostby credited the quicker response to computers that allow meteorologists to see many sources of data, such as satellite readings, more clearly. Flooding in the South and the Plains has been as destructive as the tornadoes. The death toll from last week's flash floods in Shadyside, Ohio, rose to 21 on Monday, making the flood one of the most deadly in recent years. Authorities held out little hope for more than a dozen others listed as missing. Wegee and Pipe creeks overflowed during storms that dumped 5{ inches of rain in 3{ hours. The floods destroyed as many as 70 houses and damaged up to 40, officials said. Flooding in Texas has been blamed for at least 16 deaths since April. An estimated 10,000 people were forced from their homes, and high water caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "damage;storms;study;tornadoes;tornado trends;deaths;flooding"}
+{"name": "AP900625-0160", "title": "Slovenia to Start Work on New Constitution Giving it Sovereignty", "abstract": "The republic of Slovenia plans to begin work on a constitution that will give it full sovereignty within a new Yugoslav confederation, the state Tanjug news agency reported Monday. Slovenia, whose 2 million inhabitants account for a fraction of Yugoslavia's total population of 23 million, is the most politically liberal and prosperous of the country's six member republics. Slovenia ``should be set up as a sovereign state, with all attributes of factual authority and with full international-legal rights,'' Tanjug said, quoting from a declaration of the Slovenian presidency, the top local ruling body. The Slovenian move was endorsed by Slovenia's president, Milan Kucan, who told a Monday session of the presidency that the new constitution will be the ``constitution of the sovereign state of Slovenia, and not of one of the federal (republics),'' Tanjug said. The proposal is to be discussed by Slovenia's parliament in mid-July, Kucan said. Its approval is viewed as almost certain. Slovenia has been frequently accused by politicians and the media in Yugoslavia's more conservative southern republics, and particularly in the country's largest republic of Serbia, of harboring separatist tendencies and of protecting its own interests at the expense of federal goals. Slovenian authorities claim Serbia is trying to politically and economically dominate the Yugoslav federation by introducing greater federal control and by limiting the autonomy of the republics. More than 70 percent of the residents of the northern republic believe their region might be better off if it were outside the Yugoslav federation, results of a public opinion poll said last March. Only 15 percent of the Slovenes surveyed expressed their wish for Slovenia to remain a republic within Yugoslavia in the present form. Both Slovenia and Croatia, the two Yugoslav republics that held free elections this year, have proclaimed a readiness to turn the Yugoslav federation of six republics and two provinces into a looser confederation of states cooperating voluntarily. Also Monday, Serbia's president Slobodan Milosevic, in a speech to the Serbian parliament, said the new constitution Serbia is preparing is designed to ``offset the transformation of federal Yugoslavia into a confederation.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "slovenian presidency;serbia;milan kucan;full sovereignty;federal goals;yugoslav federation;new yugoslav confederation;federal control;separatist tendencies"}
+{"name": "AP900629-0260", "title": "England-France Tunnel Halfway There Despite Problems", "abstract": "It's been described as the largest current civil engineering project, a multibillion dollar link that will help revolutionize Europe's economy and physically end Britain's historic isolation, a dream born in Napoleon's day. The ``Chunnel'' between Britain and France is half-dug and scheduled to open on time in three years. But the three-tunnel thoroughfare under the English Channel is almost 60 percent over budget, embroiled in a contractor dispute and scrambling for more investment money. The project also has raised increasing hostility among many Britons, who fear it will provide an easy conduit for ills from the continent ranging from terrorism to rabid animals. ``We will have the money to finish the project,'' says Alastair Morton, British deputy chairman of Eurotunnel, the privately owned Anglo-French company overseeing the work. The Chunnel's June 15, 1993 scheduled debut will come six months after the 12-nation European Community formally drops remaining trade barriers and becomes a unified marketplace of 320 million consumers. But the project's success hinges on much more than just finishing the undug part. While the French are forging ahead with a high-speed rail link to their end of the tunnel, for example, state-owned British Rail is dragging. ``Britain becomes branch line of Europe,'' a Guardian newspaper headline declared after the government announced June 14 that it would not fund a high-speed rail link between London and the British end of the tunnel. It's not the first time the idea of a tunnel has irritated Britain's island identity. The British resisted an undersea bond with the continent envisioned nearly 200 years ago by a French engineer named Albert Mathieu. Napoleon wanted to build it but Britain warned him off. Tunneling actually was started in subsequent efforts in 1882 and 1974 but they were scrapped. The Chunnel project also has been marred by eight accidental deaths on the site. The British public demonstrates little enthusiasm for the Chunnel. Random samplings elicit fears that it will import rabies, terrorists, invading armies. ``There is an attitude in France that this is a great project in the national interest. In this country, the attitude to these projects tends to be the reverse,'' Morton told a recent news conference. Eurotunnel Chairman Andre Benard said the company has provided for any foreseeable problems, but stressed: ``We always made it very clear that this was a risk project.'' Giant boring machines are digging three tunnels toward each other from Folkestone, England and Calais, France, with the first underground meeting expected in November in the service tunnel between the rail tunnels. Tunneling is three months ahead of schedule on the French side, a week behind on the British. As of mid-June, workers had dug 53.2 of the total 91.9 miles. Chunnel trains will carry passengers, cars and freight between London and Paris in about three hours, roughly the same time as a flight including ground travel, and at least twice as fast as a car-ferry journey. Eurotunnel estimates that 28 million passengers and 17 percent of Britain's non-oil trade will pass through the tunnel in the first year. The Civil Aviation Authority says the tunnel should divert 5 million out of 53 million air passengers annually. This past Wednesday, shareholders approved a sale of an extra $906 million worth of stock to existing shareholders, who already have bought $1.7 billion worth. That step could clear the way for a bank syndicate's approval of additional credit Eurotunnel has requested, from $8.6 billion to $12 billion. Assuming banks approve, the project would have a total of about $14.6 billion in debt and equity financing. The company most recently estimated it would cost $13.1 billion to complete, vs. $8.3 billion forecast initially. ``History dictates that that will not be the last figure we hear. But the order of magnitude of increase will slow down,'' said Richard Hannah, a transport analyst with the London investment firm UBS Phillips and Drew. He expected the extra financing to come through. ``It's one of these situations where the more money you put in, the more you have to spend or else you're walking away from billions of pounds,'' Hannah said. Eurotunnel says it doesn't expect to p end of the century, and probably won't pay shareholders a dividend until 1999, four years later than envisioned. But stockholders haven'rofit before thet fared badly: The shares, first traded in November 1987 at about $6, have traded recently at $8.55. The more urgent worries for Eurotunnel have been costs, creditors and contractor feuds. In October, concern about the rising pricetag drove Eurotunnel's banking syndicate to freeze funds for three months until the company reached a truce with Trans-Manche Link, the consortium of 10 British and French contractors doing the construction, over responsibility for $1.7 billion in overruns. The problems led to Eurotunnel's second management shakeup since 1987. The British government's refusal to finance a rail link has presented another big obstacle. Eurotunnel says is can survive without a new link. But cnt that she won't spend taxpayers' money on a rail link. The French government, on the contrary, is spending roughly $2.8 billion building 210 miles of rail from Paris to the tunnel, with a branch to Brussels, where the EC is headquartered. Trains capable of 190 mph will link the tunnel's freight and passengers to another planned high-speed system. One reason the French are enthusiastic is that the tunnel surfaces in one of the most depressed areas of France. On the other hand, residents of Kent, in England's rural and prosperous Southeast, have campaigned strenuously against having high-speed trains screaming through their back yards.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "contractor dispute;budget;english channel;chunnel trains;rail tunnels;easy conduit;high-speed rail link;chunnel project;investment money;three-tunnel thoroughfare"}
+{"name": "AP900703-0040", "title": "Full Sovereignty Proclaimed by Slovenian Parliament", "abstract": "The lawmakers who replaced the Communists as leaders of the prosperous northern republic of Slovenia have proclaimed the state's full sovereignty, but stopped short of calling for secession. There was no immediate reaction to the Slovenian declaration from federal authorities or from rival Serbia. Monday's parliamentary declaration provides for establishing an independent legal system that would take precedence over federal laws and for Slovenian control over armed forces stationed in the republic, state media said. The document said Slovenia should adopt a new democratic constitution within the next 12 months, but made no mention of earlier calls for the republic to secede from the troubled Yugoslav federation. The media said a joint session of the republic's 240-seat legislature voted unanimously to adopt the Declaration of Sovereignty of the State of Slovenia. Slovenia contains 2 million of Yugoslavia's total population of 23 million. The Ljubljana nightly television news said the declaration asked Slovenian authorities to ``assume control over units of the (Yugoslav) armed forces stationed on Slovenian territory,'' and said a 30 percent cut in defense spending would be implemented. A coalition of center-right parties formed a new government last month in Slovenia, the most prosperous of Yugoslavia's six republics, after trouncing reform Communists in the first free state elections held in Communist-ruled Yugoslavia in 45 years. The republic's new authorities demand that Yugoslavia transform itself into a loose confederation of sovereign states. They threaten that Slovenia will declare full independence from Yugoslavia if the remaining republics do not accept its proposals for a confederation. Yugoslavia, including Slovenia, was created in 1918. Premier Lojze Peterle and other Slovenian leaders also say Slovenia should take urgent steps to join the European Community, no matter what Yugoslavia's Communist-ruled southern states say. The demands have been echoed in Croatia, the country's second-largest state. A center-right party came to power there last month in free elections. The hard-line Communist government in the largest state of Serbia vehemently opposes turning Yugoslavia into a confederation. Serbia rejects Western-style democracy and does not plan to hold free elections for at least another year. The Slovenian declaration also said police should take over control of frontiers with neighboring Italy and Austria, replacing border guards deployed for the past 45 years by Yugoslavia's Communist government, Ljubljana TV said. It said the state would establish its own intelligence and counter-intelligence services, that would be independent of their Communist-controlled federal counterparts. The adoption of a declaration of sovereignty has been under discussion in the new Parliament since the new government was installed in May. Slovenia's president, Milan Kucan, has said that Slovenia intends to proclaim sovereignty as part of its drive for liberal political and economic reform in Yugoslavia. The timing of Monday's proclamation by Slovenia may have been affected by Serbia's sudden decision last week to hold a special referendum Sunday and Monday on adopting consitutional reforms that would virtually destroy any remaining autonomy for its troubled province of Kosovo. Slovenia and Croatia increasingly have sided with Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority in its drive for autonomy from Serbia. In Kosovo's capital of Pristina, after Serbian police on Monday barred about 100 ethnic Albanian deputies from entering the province's Parliament, about 40 deputies proclaimed Kosovo equal to the six Yugoslav republics. The deputies want to revoke a constitutional amendment that gave Serbia almost total control over Kosovo.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "communist-ruled yugoslavia;federal authorities;independent legal system;troubled yugoslav federation;loose confederation;yugoslav republics;slovenian control;full sovereignty;slovenian declaration"}
+{"name": "AP900721-0110", "title": "Weather Could Cloud Eclipse Spectacle for Finns", "abstract": "Cloudy weather Saturday threatened to mar the show for thousands of Finnish and foreign skygazers hoping to glimpse a total solar eclipse in this land of the midnight sun. The weather forecast took a turn for the worse in the evening, when the Finnish Meteorological Services predicted cloudy weather with a chance of showers for eastern Finland on Sunday. In the eastern town of Joensuu, a television news broadcast late Saturday showed it was already cloudy there with a light drizzle falling. The solar eclipse in Finland starts at 4:03 a.m. Sunday (9:03 p.m. EDT Saturday). At that time, the moon will begin gradually moving between the Earth and the sun. The total eclipse begins at 4:52 a.m. in Helsinki and will last 83 seconds. After the total phase of the eclipse, the moon will move away, uncovering more and more of the sun. The eclipse ends at 5:45 a.m. in Helsinki. About 10,000 people _ including 3,000 foreigners _ have converged on Joensuu, about 50 miles from the Soviet border. There conditions there are considered especially good for viewing the eclipse _ weather permitting. In Helsinki, the total eclipse phase will occur 16 minutes after sunrise, when the sun is only 1 degree above the horizon. At Joensuu, 310 miles northeast of Helsinki, the sun will be 5 degrees above the horizon in the total phase at a better angle for watchers. The sun rises unusually early during summer in the extreme northern latitudes where Finland is located. The sun comes up unusually late during winter. Ten months ago, Joensuu hired an ``eclipse secretary'' to handle arrangements for the expected influx of visitors. But that official, Marjut Cadia, said she had underestimated the interest in the event. ``We completely sold out the 10,000 special eyeglasses we made for this event, and our extra stock is finished too,'' she said in a television interview Saturday. During the past week, newspapers, television and radio have been full of information about solar eclipses, as well as advice for spectators not to stare directly into the sun. Some eclipse viewers won't have to worry about the clouds, because they will be above them. Finnair, the national airline, has arranged a dozen special flights for eclipse watchers, and private companies with small planes will provide more. The eclipse will be total in an arc about 125 miles wide from the northern Baltic Sea and southeast Finland, across the Kola Peninsula and northeast Soviet Union, to the Aleutian Islands near Alaska. Scientists will conduct several experiments during the eclipse, including gravity test measurements of the radius of the sun. However, scientific interest in this eclipse has been less than in longer eclipses, such as the seven-minute eclipse seen from northern Kenya on June 30, 1973. Seppo Linnaluoto of the Ursa Astronomical Association said the best place for observations of this eclipse will be the northeast Soviet Union. The last total eclipse to be seen in Finland occurred in 1945.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "total phase;solar eclipses;total solar eclipse;watchers;observations;special eyeglasses;finland"}
+{"name": "AP900829-0120", "title": "Military Cargo Plane Crash Site Yields Few Clues", "abstract": "Nine reservists helping in the U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf were among the 13 people killed in the crash of U.S. military cargo plane in West Germany, military authorities said Wednesday. The crash early Wednesday of the huge C-5A transport was the first major accident in the nearly 3-week-old, round-the-clock deployment of U.S. personnel and equipment to the gulf. ``I don't want to speculate on the cause of this mishap,'' said Brig. Gen. Richard Swope of the 316th Air Division. ``We don't have any indication as to what the cause of the accident was.'' Four of the 17 people aboard the cargo plane were injured when the massive aircraft tumbled into a field early Wednesday after taking off from Ramstein Air Base, a stopover for many U.S. military flights bound for the gulf region. The plane was bound for Frankfurt carrying medical supplies, food and aircraft maintenance equipment for U.S. troops sent to Saudi Arabia following the Aug. 2 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, U.S. Air Force officials said. Late Wednesday, the Air Force released the names of the victims. No hometowns were listed. Nine of those killed and one of those injured were reservists with the 433rd Military Airlift Wing from Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio. The four others were stationed at Ramstein or at nearby Hahn Air Base. Listed as dead from the 433rd were Maj. John M. Gordon, pilot; Maj. Richard W. Chase, pilot; Sgt. Rosendo Herrera, flight engineer; Sgt. Carpio Villarreal, flight engineer; Sgt. Daniel G. Perez, loadmaster; Sgt. Edward E. Sheffield, loadmaster; Maj. Richard M. Price, first pilot; Sgt. Lonty A. Knutson, crew chief; and Sgt. Daniel Garza, crew chief. Also killed were Capt. Bradley Schuldt and Sgt. Rande Hulec of Ramstein and sergeants Samuel Gardner and Marc Cleyman of Hahn. Listed as injured were Lt. Col. Frederick Arzt and Sgt. Dwight Pettit, both of McChord Air Base in Washington state; Capt. Cynthia Borecky of England Air Base, Louisiana, and Sgt. Lorenzo Galvan Jr. of the 433rd. The four were hospitalized and reported in satisfactory condition, said Sgt. Rourk Sheehan, spokesman for the Landstuhl Army hospital nearby. The 433rd had not been called to active duty, but some reservists with the wing were voluntarily participating in Operation Desert Shield after arranging time off from their civilian jobs. The plane was from the 60th Military Airlift Squadron from Travis Air Force Base in California and was en route to Rhein-Mein Air Base near Frankfurt, authorities said. It left the Ramstein air base at about 12:30 a.m. and clipped the tops of trees before crashing and breaking apart. Twisted chunks of wings, landing gear, fuselage and other debris were scattered over a wide area. Firefighters were still dousing smoldering sections of wreckage 12 hours after the crash. The weather was hazy but visibility was about one mile, said Swope. He said the aircraft was just over 20 years old, which he said is not uncommon for the C-5. The accident occurred about six miles from Miesau, where U.S. military authorities have been removing a cache of chemical weapons under an agreement with the West German government. The West German Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday the crash posed no danger to the operation. Ramstein, the largest U.S. Air Force base in Europe, is 90 miles west of Frankfurt. The C-5 is the largest transport plane in the Air Force fleet and costs about $148 million. It was the first crash of a C-5 in 15 years. On April 4, 1975, a C-5B carrying Vietnamese orphans crashed shortly after takeoff near Saigon, killing 172 people. The crash Wednesday occurred a day after the second anniversary of a collision during an air show at Ramstein which killed 70 people.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "crash;ramstein air base;u.s. military cargo plane;victims;major accident;west germany;massive aircraft;c-5a transport;reservists"}
+{"name": "AP900910-0020", "title": "1988 Drought Effects Not as Bad as Feared", "abstract": "Two years ago, it looked as if a vast part of the nation's farm empire was burning up as drought and heat parched crops and livestock. But the 1988 drought wasn't as bad as it might have been, according to an Agriculture Department analysis. Crop yields plummeted, but commodity prices rose. For those who eked out some production, or had grain stored from previous years, it wasn't too bad. The latest postmortem of the 1988 drought's effects was written by Gerald W. Whittaker of the department's Economic Research Service. It concentrated on the most severe drought region, centered in nine states of the Midwest and upper Great Plains. All of the information used in the study was from USDA's annual Farm Costs and Returns Survey, which includes detailed income and expense information derived from personal interviews of farm operators. Basic findings: _Net farm income decreased in 1988 in the drought region to an average of $28,899 per farm from $38,122 in 1987. Income in non-drought areas rose to $62,822 in 1988 from $50,967 in 1987. As used by the agency, net farm income includes gross income from farming during the calendar year, including federal payments, minus costs of production. It also includes allowances for changes in the value of inventories and adjustments for depreciation and other factors. _Despite drought, farms in all areas of the country continued to improve their solvency position in 1988. _The number of farms considered financially vulnerable continued to decrease in 1988 in both the drought and non-drought regions. _Farms in the drought region received lower direct government payments in 1988, despite an infusion of federal disaster relief. _The average farm in the drought region survived financially by selling off inventories and taking advantage of higher commodity market prices to redeem price support loans made by USDA's Commodity Credit Corp. No state-by-state breakdowns were included in the report. The nine states studied as the ``drought region'' were Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. In the category of net farm income, the report said the share of farms in a ``favorable financial position'' in 1988 held fairly steady at 68 percent in the non-drought region, compared with 69.1 percent in 1987. In the drought states, 62.2 percent of the farms were said to be in favorable financial position, compared with 62.8 percent in 1987. ``Even with lower incomes, farmers in the drought region continued to improve their debt position (in relation to assets),'' the report said. ``A major factor in their improvement was the continued upward trend in land values.'' The report noted that higher market prices helped reduce the direct payments to farmers in 1988 under USDA's commodity programs. Nationally, those payments dropped to $9.8 billion from $11.5 billion in 1987. But Congress also provided nearly $3.9 billion in emergency drought aid to farmers in 1988. The nine states in the study collected about $2.57 billion, or two-thirds of the total.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "agriculture department analysis;federal payments;favorable financial position;commodity market prices;severe drought region;federal disaster relief;solvency position;emergency drought aid;1988 drought"}
+{"name": "AP901010-0036", "title": "F-111 Crashes in Saudi Arabia, Killing Two", "abstract": "A U.S. Air Force F-111 fighter-bomber crashed today in Saudi Arabia, killing both crew members, U.S. military officials reported. It was the fourth American aircraft to crash in three days among those deployed to this kingdom for Operation Desert Shield. Eight Marines are missing in the crash of two helicopters in the northern Arabian Sea on Monday. An Air Force F-4 reconnaissance jet also went down that day, killing both crew members. Lt. Cmdr. J.D. van Sickle, a military spokesman, said the F-111 crashed in the ``southern Arabian peninsula'' while on a training mission and that the incident was under investigation. The names of the flyers were withheld pending notification of next of kin. The aircraft was attached the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath Air Base in Britain. The wing was sent to Turkey as U.S. forces massed in the region in response to Iraq's Aug. 2 takeover of Kuwait. Today's crash brought to at least nine the number of Americans killed in the Persian Gulf region since Operation Desert Shield began. The eight Marines aboard the two UH-1 Huey helicopters that vanished Monday are still officially listed as missing. In addition to those killed in Saudi Arabia, 13 other Air Force personnel were killed in a crash of a C-5 jet cargo plane in Germany. That aircraft was ferrying supplies and equipment to the Saudi peninsula. Officials said the F-111 crashed at dawn. The aircraft was an F-model, the latest version of the 23-year-old swing-wing jet that first saw action in Vietnam. The F-model has more powerful engines, and state-of-the-art equipment to operate against enemy targets at night. The plane can carry up to 12 tons of bombs and missiles and has a crew of two, a pilot and a weapons systems officer.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "crash;crew members;f-model;operation desert shield;u.s. air force f-111 fighter-bomber;saudi arabia"}
+{"name": "AP901012-0032", "title": "Desert Shield Training Flights Resume After Grounding", "abstract": "U.S. Air Force war planes participating in Operation Desert Shield are flying again after they were ordered grounded for 24 hours following a rash of crashes. Pentagon and Air Force officials said regular training flight schedules resumed Thursday at noon local time (5 a.m. EDT). The flights account for a majority of U.S. air missions in the Persian Gulf region. The Air Force ``has not changed anything'' in flight operations as a result of the suspension of flights, Capt. A.C. Roper, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said in Saudi Arabia. He said Air Force officials wanted to ``examine potential hazards and to be sure they were doing everything possible to prevent accidents. ``They have not identified any common cause or common contributing factors'' to the recent accidents, he added. At the Pentagon, spokesman Pete Williams said the number of U.S. aircraft accidents in the gulf - including three separate crashes this week - were not out of the ordinary. However, suspension of training flights indicated otherwise. Williams said the Air Force gave its pilots in the gulf ``safety awareness'' briefings during the flight ban in order ``to review what they need to do to fly more safely.'' Aircraft on operational missions were not grounded, said Col. Miguel Monteverde, another Pentagon spokesman. Those included reconnaissance aircraft, refueling tanker planes and F-15 jets patrolling areas near the Kuwait or Iraqi borders. He said pilots of those planes received special safety briefings but their flight schedules were not changed. ``So there was no degradation of our ability to defend ourselves,'' Monteverde said. Desert Shield, the largest U.S. military buildup since the Vietnam War, involves an estimated 700 Air Force combat and support aircraft. Williams said information about the number of flight hours in Desert Shield is classified and will not be disclosed. As a result, he said, he could not compare the accident rate with that of previous deployments. The toll for accidental deaths since Operation Desert Shield began rose to 31 on Wednesday when an Air Force F-111 fighter-bomber crashed on a training mission in Saudi Arabia, killing both crew members. On Monday, two pilots were killed in the crash of an Air Force F-4 Phantom reconnaissance jet in Saudi Arabia, and just hours earlier two Marine Corps UH-1 Huey helicopters, each carrying four crew members, crashed over the Arabian Sea, killing all eight men. Williams said the Air Force was the only service that has taken special measures to review safety in the gulf since this week's accidents. ``They're concerned about the accidents, they're concerned about the number of accidents that happened so quickly over a short period of time,'' he told reporters. He said, however, that the military's safety record in Desert Shield remained good. ``Given the amount of flying that has to be done, given the extraordinary circumstances and given the higher than ordinary operating tempo in the area, I think our service people are doing very well, but any accident is cause for concern,'' he said. Five U.S. aircraft have been involved in fatal crashes in the gulf area since the start of Desert Shield two months ago: an F-111, an F-4 Phantom reconnaissance jet, an F-15E and two Marine Corps UH-1 Huey helicopters. Also, a C-5 transport plane crashed in West Germany while ferrying equipment to Saudi Arabia. Also, 20 other aircraft have been involved in non-fatal accidents in the gulf area, Williams said. Fifteen of those were helicopters.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "u.s. air missions;u.s. aircraft accidents;regular training flight;operation desert shield;fatal crashes;u.s. air force war planes"}
+{"name": "AP901013-0046", "title": "Fundamentalists Or Iraqi Agents Blamed For Slaying Of Parliament Speaker", "abstract": "Egypt honored its slain parliament speaker and four security men today with a state funeral led by a grim-looking President Hosni Mubarak. The government said Iraqi agents or Egyptian Moslem fundamentalists were to blame for the assassination Friday of its second-highest official, Rifaat el-Mahgoub. He was the first Egyptian politician assassinated since Islamic extremists shot President Anwar Sadat at a military parade nine years ago. Four assassins riding two motorbikes killed el-Mahgoub in a car driving by a luxury hotel by the Nile. The death toll from the attack rose to six today with the death of the speaker's chauffeur. Doctors in a Cairo hospital said the driver suffered bullet wounds in the stomach, back and arm. Hassan Abu-Basha, a former police minister, told the Cairo newspaper Al-Ahram he believed el-Mahgoub's slaying was the work of Iraqi agents. He said the perpetrators possibly belonged to the Palestinian extremist faction led by Abu Nidal. The funeral was at Nasr City, the same suburban neighborhood where Sadat's funeral took place. Hundreds of red-bereted military police and white-uniformed policemen sealed off all streets leading to the mosque where the religious service was held. They also lined the funeral procession route, as did hundreds of plainclothes security men. Mubarak, wearing a black suit and sunglasses, and British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd, on a two-day official visit, were in the front row of about 1,000 mourners. They included relatives of the dead, government officials and foreign diplomats. Symbolic units from the military services spearheaded the procession, followed by a military band and two dozen wreath-bearers. Behind them were four military jeeps carrying coffins of the four security men, draped in the red, white and black Egyptian flag. A caisson bearing el-Mahgoub's coffin followed, also wrapped in the flag. It was drawn by three pairs of black horses. Military officers rode the three horses on the right. Immediately behind came two officers carrying el-Mahgoub's decorations laid on black-velvet cushions. The procession began from the mosque and stopped about 1,500 feet away. Relatives of the dead then lined up to accept condolences from Mubarak and other mourners. Interior Minister Abdel-Halim Moussa had warned days earlier of such an attack. He said authorities arrested alleged saboteurs who were entering the country with orders from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to assassinate Egyptian officials. Saddam has called Egypt a traitor to the Arab cause for sending its troops to back the U.S. military buildup in the gulf in response to the Aug. 2 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram, quoting police sources, reported Monday that local Moslem extremists were collaborating with Palestinian terrorists sent to the country by Iraq on sabotage missions. It said the extremists had provided weapons and explosives to five Palestinians from Abu Nidal's faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Recent reports said Abu Nidal's Fatah-Revolutionary Council recently moved its headquarters from Libya to Iraq. Police ordered a state of alert at airports to keep the assailants from fleeing and set up security checkpoints along Cairo bridges. El-Mahgoub's authority extended solely over the 458-seat Parliament, which he had headed since 1984. He was not active in the gulf crisis, Al-Ahram noted in a front-page editorial today. ``In fact he was assassinated because he was a prominent Egyptian politician. The assasins wanted to tell their terrorist bosses that they pierced the stability of Egypt,'' the newspaper said. In Washington, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said: ``We are shocked by the assassination of the Egyptian speaker. ``We certainly deplore these kinds of terrorist activities and assassination is the most vile kind of terrorism. We don't have any indication at this time who was responsible or what their purposes were,'' he said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "islamic extremists;egyptian politician;egyptian moslem fundamentalists;iraqi agents;assassination;funeral;rifaat el-mahgoub;death toll;terrorist activities"}
+{"name": "AP901029-0035", "title": "Accidental Shooting Another Blow to Police Force", "abstract": "The accidental shooting death of a young stockbroker by an officer looking for a burglar is one more strike against a police force already struggling with allegations of brutality and racism. Terry D. Barnes, 24, was shot between the eyes in his apartment. Police said an officer investigating a report of a prowler had entered the apartment at 3:30 a.m. and fired after Barnes got out of bed to see what was wrong. It was the seventh shooting death involving Kansas City police officers this year. In the previous three years, five people were shot and killed. ``I just hope that this case will draw the line on where the police can kill an innocent man. Where do you draw the line?'' said roommate Andy Brez, 23, who was sleeping in another bedroom when police entered on Saturday. Barnes was white, as is the officer who shot him; however, other recent incidents of alleged excessive force involved black citizens. Police said they were told the prowler might have run to the floor on which Barnes lived. Two police officers, whose names were not disclosed, noticed the door to his apartment was not tightly shut and entered, authorities said. An officer encountered Barnes, unarmed, in a T-shirt and boxer shorts, standing in his bedroom, police spokesman Sgt. Greg Mills said. Barnes made ``a kind of lunging motion,'' and the officer fired from about 5 to 8 feet, Mills said. Friends of Barnes questioned whether his apartment door was ajar and whether he would have lunged at the officer. ``We are defending the officers being in that apartment,'' Mills said. ``As for the shooting itself, we will make no assessment of the propriety of that until after the investigation.'' The department has suffered a string of complaints about excessive force and racism since the spring. Police Chief Steven Bishop said before the latest slaying that the department's standing has fallen in the community, and a ``behavior modification'' program is being developed for offending officers. ``We're part of the problem out there on the street, and we've got to get back to good, basic police work,'' Bishop said after Barnes' death. In June, several white officers bloodied a Nigerian-born Roman Catholic priest with nightsticks as he lay on the ground. The Rev. Joseph Okoye said officers who stopped him on suspicion of drunken driving mistook his foreign accent for drunken speech. In May, another black clergyman was hit on the head with a shotgun by a white officer while lying on the ground. Police said a youth in the car of the Rev. William Fountaine matched the description of an armed robber. Neither clergyman nor the passenger in Fountaine's car was charged. Both clergymen alleged racism; Bishop suspended some of the officers involved in the May incident. In another case, three undercover officers were suspended for a shooting this spring that left a young black man crippled. The officers and the victim accused each other of starting the fight that led to the shooting. Also this year, four oficers riddled a man brandishing a barbecue fork with 15 bullets, killing him. And an officer killed a man who was spraying him with a fire extinguisher. No officer involved in the two killings was charged. The officer who shot Barnes was a two-year veteran of the force. He was placed on paid leave pending a police investigation and that of a grand jury. ``This is a tragic chain of events that is regrettable for Mr. Barnes' family and for this officer,'' Bishop said. ``The officers were reacting appropriately to a number of circumstances which together led them to that apartment.'' ``Terry was a good man. He would have been a good husband and a good father,'' said Barnes' fiancee, Alison Brady. They had planned to marry in June.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "accidental shooting death;black citizens;brutality;terry barnes;excessive force;police force;racism"}
+{"name": "AP901030-0216", "title": "British, French Link Up Under Channel Tunnel", "abstract": "Britain and France were linked beneath the English Channel on Tuesday when workers used a two-inch probe to connect two halves of a 31-mile undersea rail tunnel, officials reported. Management sources at TransManche Link, the construction consortium building the ``Chunnel'' - the Channel Tunnel - confirmed the historic linkup occurred about 8:25 p.m. when British workers sent the probe through to French colleagues. ``It is an example of what Europe is about,'' British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said in London. ``This is Europe in practice.'' The linkup fulfills a dream by Napoleon in 1802, who thought he could defeat the English by connecting Britain to Europe with a land passage. The Chunnel is scheduled for completion in June 1993. ``This is a hugely historic moment because it means, in effect, that Britain is no longer an island,'' said a construction union official. Eight workers suffered injuries, two seriously, about 90 minutes later when a tractor towing supplies rolled over on them in a service gallery, authorities in nearby Sangatte reported. The basic goal of the Channel Tunnel project is to enable passengers to travel between London and Paris in about three hours. That time is comparable to flying, if transport to and from airports is included, and is half the time of a car-ferry journey. The conservative Daily Express newspaper noted in its Wednesday editions that Britons would theoretically be able to walk to France for the first time since the last Ice Age. The cost of the project has soared from an initial estimate of $9.4 billion to $16.7 billion, including an extra $1.97 billion for unforeseen cost overruns. The threading of the probes through 100 yards of chalk under the English Channel marks a major turning point in three years of drilling on the world's costliest tunnel. The meeting point was just over 13{ miles southeast of Shakespeare Cliff, the British terminus near the town of Dover, and 10 miles northwest of the French town of Sangatte, near Calais. The tunnel starts a few miles inland on each side, accounting for its total length of 31 miles. Geological conditions account for the different progress on each side. French workers reaching the tiny hole telephoned their British counterparts and relayed the news to TransManche officials. The first champagne corks popped minutes later. ``It's an exciting moment. It's the first time we have air passing between the two tunnels,'' said Gordon Crighton, tunnel engineering manager. ``We see it as just another exercise, but I'm sure there will be a lot of parties going on,'' he said. Preliminary tests indicated the two halves were 20 inches out of alignment. Another day will be needed to be certain, technicians said, but they called the line-up ``exceptional,'' considering the massive boring machines are drilling holes about three stories high. The workers will now bore out a one-yard hole to permit passage from one half to the other. They are expected to greet each other with handshakes in a few weeks. Two Japanese-designed boring machines are drilling the tunnel. After it is finished, one will be dismantled and hauled out in pieces. The other will drill its own grave and be buried in cement because French officials said it will be too costly to extricate it. A work slowdown since last week by militant tunnelers demanding more pay on the French side appeared likely Monday to stall the linkup until the weekend or beyond. But TransManche officials said earlier Tuesday that the meeting in the middle would occur on schedule. The Chunnel actually consists of three tunnels - two for railway trains and a smaller maintenance tunnel between them. Taking into account all the tunnels, 80 percent of the drilling has been completed by giant, Japanese-built boring machines working from Calais and Folkstone, England. Tuesday's linkup in the service tunnel is described by the French as a ``mouse ole'' - a bore only two inches in diameter. President Francois Mitterrand and Mrs. Thatcher are expected to meet each other in the tunnel Jan. 26, after the digging for much of the tunnel is finished. The first coupling of the two rail tunnels is scheduled for mid-1991. Eurotunnel PLC, the world's largest engineering project, announced Oct. 8 that it had reached an agreement with its banks on $3.5 billion in new credit. More than 200 banks are involved in the financing. The Chunnel's scheduled debut in mid-1993 would come six months after the 12-nation European Community formally drops remaining trade barriers, becoming a unified marketplace of 320 million consumers. Officials estimate the tunnel may carry 28 million passengers in the first year of operation, although Eurotunnel doesn't expect a profit until the end of the century. A study released last Friday in Paris by transportation experts said the tunnel's completion will aggravate traffic congestion in a wide area of continental Europe. Some Britons have worries of a different sort, fearing an influx of ills from the continent ranging from terrorism to rabid animals. Since construction began in late 1987, there have been seven deaths on the British side and two on the French. Five British firms were ordered last Wednesday to stand trial on charges related to the death of a construction worker last year. The undersea bond between the two hereditary enemies was envisioned nearly 200 years ago by a French engineer called Albert Mathieu. Napoleon wanted to build it, but Britain warned him off. Tunneling actually started in subsequent efforts in 1882 and 1974, but were abandoned.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "chunnel;traffic congestion;continental europe;channel tunnel project;english channel;31-mile undersea rail tunnel;france;britain;historic linkup;transmanche link;cost overruns"}
+{"name": "AP901031-0024", "title": "A First: `Chunnel' Links England to Continent", "abstract": "Workmen tunneling under the English Channel have created the first land link between Britain and the Continent, connecting 31 miles of tunnel in a prodigious feat of engineering and finance. TransManche Link, the construction consortium building the ``Chunnel'' said the historic linkup occurred at 8:25 p.m. Tuesday when British workers sent a probe 2 inches in diameter through to their French colleagues. Linking England and France, the tunnel symbolizes the growing unification of Europe. It also fulfills a dream of Napoleon, who wanted to send his armies through the tunnel to conquer Britain. Eurotunnel PLC, the Anglo-French consortium overseeing the world's largest engineering project, plans for high-speed trains to pass through the Channel Tunnel in June 1993. Eventually a train trip from Paris to London should take three hours. Despite her countrymen's fears of losing their ancient moat against Europe, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher described the breakthrough as ``a very exciting moment.'' ``It is an example of what Europe is about,'' she said in London. ``This is Europe in practice.'' In London, the conservative Daily Express newspaper noted today that Britons will be able to walk to France for the first time since the Ice Age. ``This is a hugely historic moment because it means, in effect, that Britain is no longer an island,'' a construction union official in Calais said. Threading a spinning probe the width of a garden hose through 100 yards of chalk under the Channel bears the first tangible fruit in three years of drilling. Champagne corks popped and workers danced jigs after French drillers phoned news of the probe's arrival to their British counterparts. Initial tests indicated the two halves were 20 inches out of alignment. Technicians will be more certain Wednesday, but they called the rough line-up ``exceptional.'' The workers will now bore out a one-yard hole. Tunnelers are expected to walk through and greet each other with handshakes in a few weeks. The tunneling machine on the French side will then guide itself by laser toward the British machine, ensuring perfect alignment. Thatcher and French President Francois Mitterrand will meet mid-tunnel on Jan. 26. The linkup came on the maintenance tunnel, the smallest of three tunnels being dug. The other two will handle rail traffic - freight and special piggy-back trains that will carry passengers and cars. About 80 percent of all the drilling is now complete. Eight workers suffered injures, two seriously, about 90 minutes after Tuesday's linkup when a tractor rolled over on them in a service gallery, authorities in nearby Sangatte reported. Since the tunnel construction began in 1987 there have been seven accidental deaths on the British side and two on the French side. The tunnel's cost has soared from an initial estimate of $9.4 billion to $16.7 billion, including an extra $1.97 billion in case of unforeseen cost overruns. The digging is accomplished by gargantuan boring machines that bring to mind images from Japanese monster movies. Each resembles a gnawing worm, some three-stories high, with a spinning drill of hundreds of blades. Mechanical legs slap together the concrete tunnel lining in the wake of the advancing drill head. Whhen its work is done, the drilling machine on the French side will be hauled out in pieces. The one on the British side will dig a side passage, and be buried in cement. Officials say it is too costly to extricate the machine. The tunnels were joined 13{ miles southeast of Folkestone, England, the British terminus near Dover, and 10 miles northwest of Sangatte, near Calais. The tunnel starts a few miles inland on each side, accounting for its total length of 31 miles. Militant workers on the French side are striking for more pay and began a work slowdown Thursday, threatening to stall the link-up. But it came off on schedule. Eurotunnel PLC announced Oct. 8 that it had reached an agreement with its banks on $3.5 billion in new credit. More than 200 banks are involved in financing the world's costliest tunnel. The three-hour Paris-to-London trip would be comparable to flying, if transport to and from airports is included, and is half the time of the present car-ferry journey. Officials estimate the tunnel trains may carry 28 million passengers in the first year of operation. Eurotunnel doesn't expect a profit until the end of the century. France hopes the project will revitalize depressed northern regions. But many Britons fear an influx of continental ills ranging from terrorists to rabid animals. Britain warned Napoleon not to try to build the tunnel; digging was started subsequently in 1882 and 1974, but both efforts failed.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "chunnel;english channel;france;channel tunnel;britain;historic linkup;tunnel trains;transmanche link;tunnel construction;first land link;growing unification;cost overruns;continental ills"}
+{"name": "AP901130-0060", "title": "Atlantic Hurricane Season: A Lot of Sound, Not Much Fury", "abstract": "The 1990 Atlantic hurricane season had more storms than usual and some forecasters predict that's just a hint of more frequent and more forceful hurricanes in the coming years. But this year's batch did not include the devastating storms of years past and at least one forecaster thinks 1991 will be a calmer year. The season ends today. Dr. William Gray, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, thinks a dry spell in West Africa during the past two decades explained the reduction of storms along the eastern seaboard in the last 20 years. In 1988 and 1989, there was near normal rainfall in the Sahel, the semi-arid land on the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert. Some meteorological experts think the rainfall signaled the end of a 20-year drought - and may have spawned Gilbert in 1988 and Hugo in 1989. Gray on Thursday predicted a below-average hurricane season in 1991. He based his forecast on several factors, including an anticipated below-average rainfall in the Sahel. But Gray and other forecasters agree that the general outlook for the 1990s and the early years of the next century is for more intense hurricanes than those of the last two decades. ``We've been through a real long period of hurricane inactivity in the '70s and '80s up until 1985, and I think we're coming out of that,'' said Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables. ``Perhaps the Gilberts and the Hugos were signaling that,'' he said, recalling Hurricane Gilbert that wracked the Caribbean and Hurricane Hugo that devastated South Carolina - two of the most destructive Atlantic hurricanes ever. Hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic every month except April, but are rare outside the hurricane season, June 1 to Nov. 30. In this year's season, there were 14 named storms, eight of them hurricanes. The average number of storms is nine, with about six becoming hurricanes. Usually only a couple of those storms strike the U.S. While many of the storms spun harmlessly through the Atlantic, several caused their share of destruction. The most deadly storm was Hurricane Diana, which swept into Mexico in early August, resulting in flash floods and mudslides that killed 96 people and caused extensive damage to roads, property and agriculture, the weather service reported. A weather disturbance becomes a tropical storm, and is given a name, if its sustained winds reach 39 mph. Storms become hurricanes if winds reach 74 mph.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "below-average hurricane season;devastating storms;intense hurricanes;forecasters;forceful hurricanes;dr. william gray;atlantic hurricane season"}
+{"name": "AP901203-0166", "title": "At Least Four Earthquakes Occur; None Along New Madrid Fault", "abstract": "At least four moderate earthquakes rattled parts of the world, but there was nary a tremor Monday along the New Madrid Fault, where a scientist said a earthquake was likely to occur. ``This is just a normal day,'' said Waverly Person, chief of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center. ``We're not backing the prediction at all.'' Along the New Madrid Fault, some schools were canceled and residents purchased earthquake emergency kits and others left town, just in case climatologist Iben Browning was right. Browning said there was a 50-50 chance for a major earthquake early this week along the fault, which stretches from Marked Tree, Ark., northeast through New Marid, Mo., to Cairo, Ill. He believes tidal forces can trigger earthquakes, a theory most scientists reject. ``There's just no way to predict an earthquake precisely,'' said Person, who has been with the U.S. Geological Survey for more than 25 years. ``There are no two earthquakes alike.'' The center received more than 50 calls about the New Madrid forecast Monday morning and hundreds last week, said Person, who began doing interviews for radio and television stations just after midnight. As Person talked, 24 seismographs etched out activity recorded by monitoring equipment in different parts of the United States, ranging from Alaska to Tennessee. A needle jumped a few inches across the seismograph connected to monitoring equipment in Tonopah, Nev. Person scanned the chart and called to a colleague, ``It may be a nuclear test. That's where they conduct those tests.'' A few minutes later, the needle jumped again. ``That's not a test,'' he said. ``That's a quake.'' With a measured eye, he estimated the quake was magnitude 2.5 to 3.0 on the Richter scale. Quick calculations showed the quake was magnitude 3.5, centered about 30 miles southwest of Ely, Nev. Between midnight and evening, four moderate quakes were recorded at Golden. Three were in the South Pacific, a 5.9-magnitude shaker near New Caledonia, and quakes of 5.1 and 5.0 in the area of Tonga. The fourth was a 5.9-magnitude temblor in northern Colombia. A quake of that size can cause considerable damage in a populated area, but aren't considered serious in remote spots. About 800 quakes between magnitudes 5.0 and 5.9 are recorded each year, said USGS spokesman Don Finley in Washington. The Richter scale gauges the amount of energy released by an earthquake. A quake of magnitude 2 is about the smallest felt by humans. An earthquake of 3.5 on the Richter scale can cause slight damage in the local area, 4 moderate damage, 5 considerable damage, 6 severe damage. A 7 reading is a ``major'' earthquake, capable of widespread heavy damage; 8 is a ``great'' quake, capable of tremendous damage. The big San Francisco Bay area quake last year registered 7.1 on the Richter scale. In 1989, the earthquake center recorded 14,604 earthquakes, with a magnitude 1 or higher, Person said. An average of 30 a day are recorded. This fall, there have been two in the New Madrid Fault area, magnitude 4.6 on Sept. 26 and magnitude 3.5 on Nov. 9, which ``is not unusual,'' he said. Although earthquakes can be tracked historically, forecasting them is difficult, if not impossible, Person said. Some people watch precursor activity, but that doesn't always lead to an earthquake. Other quakes occur in a swarm over a period of time, he said. Over the years, he has heard countless earthquake predictions. One woman called daily, alerting Person that an earthquake was about to occur, based on the number of birds that crossed her windshield as she drove down the street. The job, he confesses, ``is never boring.''", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "earthquake center;moderate earthquakes;richter scale;u.s. geological survey;monitoring equipment;major earthquake;widespread heavy damage;countless earthquake predictions;earthquake emergency kits"}
+{"name": "AP901231-0012", "title": "Mexico Gets Ready Early For Total Solar Eclipse", "abstract": "Mexico, where sun worship has passed from ancient civilizations to modern beachgoers, is gearing up early for the day next year when the sun will be blotted out. President Carlos Salinas de Gortari has appointed a Cabinet-level commission to prepare for what astronomers bill as ``the slar eclipse of the century'' on July 11. Posters have been placed in Mexico City subways promoting the event, and resorts along the eclipse's path are scrambling to accommodate the expected rush of tourists. ``It's the most important eclipse in history,'' says Miguel Gil Guzman, secretary-general of the Mexican Astronomical Society. This one will cut a swath across one of the most populous regions of the globe, turning day to night for an estimated 50 million residents in 14 of Mexico's 31 states. The eclipse path reaches from Hawaii through Mexico to Brazil. The 165-mile-wide path will go dark for almost seven minutes, the maximum length for a total solar eclipse. On July 11, the moon will pass between the planet and the sun, abruptly swallowing midday's light, except for a weird glow on the horizon. People from British Columbia to Buenos Aires will experience at least a partial eclipse. Viewing conditions may be poor because of the Latin American rainy season. But the special government commission, Eclipse 1991, is banking on the clouds to roll in the country's financial favor. The commission bills the northwestern state of Baja California Sur as the best place to watch because the state has an average of 300 cloudless days a year. Baja California Sur alone plans to spend $26.5 million for public safety for eclipse enthusiasts but banks on raking in millions more from tourism. For three years, scientists and astronomy buffs have been staking out turf in Mexico. It will be the last chance to see a total solar eclipse this century. Most hotels along the eclipse route are full for July 11. Tourism officials are seeking private homes and campgrounds, schools and auditoriums to house the influx. Baja California Sur's tourist facilities can only handle 120,000 visitors, and 90 percent of that capacity is booked, tourism director Rodolfo Palacios says. The state says at least four ships will pressed into service as floating hotels. Some 13,500 amateur and professional astronomers from the United States, Japan, Soviet Union, China, Canada, England, France and Germany have confirmed reservations. Some tourists have been booked into one hotel even before it is completed. The Pacific coast region of Nayarit is bracing for about 1 million visitors, about double the population. Cuernavaca, 35 miles south of Mexico City, is hosting a geophysicists' congress during the week of the eclipse. At least one expedition plans to view the show from the 17,887-foot Popocapetl volcano, the country's second-highest peak. Others plan to see it from boats at sea. An eclipse is an astronomical coincidence. The moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, but because it is 400 times closer to the earth, the smaller body appears to cover the larger one. Rosy rays of light will shoot out around the moon's edges, forming what astronomers call a corona, or crown. Temperatures will drop at least 5{ degrees. The stars will come out; the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter will shine. Streetlights will be triggered on. The National University is developing six half-hour documentaries on eclipses and 10 TV spots on the dangers of looking at the sun, astronomy professor Jesus Galindo says. Since September, the university newspaper has been publishing installments of a book called ``Eclipse'' that will be translated into Indian languages. The government plans to supervise the production of special lenses for viewing an eclipse.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "mexico;total solar eclipse;partial eclipse;eclipse path;slar eclipse;tourists;moon"}
+{"name": "FBIS-41815", "title": "Concern Over Transmission of Spongiform Encephalopathy", "abstract": "Language:  English  Article Type:CSO   [Article by Nigel Hawkes, Science Editor: \"Zoo Antelope  Catch Mad Cow Disease\"] [Text] Scientists at London zoo have discovered that a strain of \"mad cow disease\" affecting a type of antelope can be transmitted much more easily than was thought. The finding uncovers a threat to breeding other species in captivity unless it can be shown that they are not equally vulnerable. The scientists say there is no evidence that similar transmission is occurring among cows. The zoo's small herd of kudu, spiral-horned antelopes closely related to cows, has been severely hit by a disease similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Of eight animals born in the herd since 1987, five have contracted the disease. Only one of the five could have eaten feed containing protein from sheep, believed to be the origin of the outbreak. The kudu is not the only zoo species to suffer the disease since it appeared in cows. It has also been found in domestic cats and their larger relations, the cheetah and the puma, in eland and nyala, and in the gemsbok and the Arabian oryx. In the United States, mink have been affected by it. The infective agent and its mode of transmission are unknown, but the evidence from kudu suggests that some species may be more easily infected than others. Sheep are believed to catch the disease by contact with placentas in fields after births, but in the case of the kudu even this route seems unlikely. In THE VETERINARY RECORD, the scientists eliminate most routes of infection. Infected feed cannot account for four cases. Nor can at least three of the affected animals have caught the disease from their mothers, who did not suffer from it. It is possible but unlikely that the mothers were carriers that passed on the infection without having symptoms themselves. If this were so, it would have important implications for the disease in cows. It is more likely, the scientists believe, that an unidentified agent entered the herd in contaminated feed and was passed along, as with more mundane infections. Because of the danger to other animals, the kudu herd has been isolated. Another danger taken seriously by the zoo, a world centre for breeding rare and endangered species, is that animals bred in captivity could carry the infection when released into the wild. If they proved as vulnerable as the kudu, this could be disastrous. The scientists say that the next step must be to examine whether the agent causing the disease in kudu is the same as that in cows. If it is, the conclusion would be that the kudu were simply more susceptible to the disease. If, however, it turned out to be a different and more easily transmittable form, the case for isolating the kudu would be even stronger. TIMES NEWSPAPERS LIMITED, 1993", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "affected animals;mad cow disease;london zoo;similar transmission;kudu herd;endangered species"}
+{"name": "FBIS-45908", "title": "Spread, Concern Over Mad Cow Disease Reviewed", "abstract": "CSO   [Article by Greg Neale, environment correspondent: \"Creeping  Cow Madness\"] [Text] It is already a multi-million pound disaster for British agriculture and now it threatens to erupt into a major political row between European governments. It is bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) -- \"mad cow\" disease -- and few would be prepared to say exactly when and where it will end. Next week European Community health ministers will meet to discuss a German call for a ban on British beef imports to that country. Some German politicians say their country should risk breaking Single Market free trade rules because the potential health risks are so grave. Nonsense, say British government scientists. Meanwhile, the controversy in Britain is reaching new heights. Last week, the scientific journal Nature called for a start to be made on replacing the British cattle population with animals free from the infection -- which the magazine estimate would cost £30 billion. Next day, one of the farming industry's loudest voices, the magazine Farmers Weekly hit back at what it called \"a diet of speculation, half-truths and downright lies\" and denounced what it called \"certain publicity-hungry scientists promoted by the media more interested in fiction than fact.\" Calling on the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) to do more to explain the disease, the magazine concluded: \"The alternative is to exacerbate the current climate of fear and uncertainty...\" The fear is not just that shared by farmers worried about their livelihood. Could it transfer itself from cows to humans? \"Mad Cow\" disease was probably first observed on a farm in Kent in 1985, when four animals were put down after they were observed drooling, staggering before collapsing. Scientists at the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Surrey found that the animals' brains had become holed and spongelike -- similar symptoms to the disease scrapie in sheep and the rare Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), in humans. MAFF scientists concluded that BSE had appeared in cattle given processed feed that included remains of diseased sheep. New rendering methods, reducing the temperature at which the feed was prepared, were enabling the infective agent to survive, they concluded. Acting on this advice, in July 1988, John MacGregor, then Agriculture Minister, introduced a ban on such ruminant protein being used in feed. Cattle confirmed as having BSE have been put down and incinerated, with the ashes being buried. In 1989 a further ban was introduced, on cattle offal sold for human consumption. That year it was officially predicted that 20,000 animals would be affected before the feed ban, together with the drying up of any supplies already on farms, had its effect. But the spread of BSE has confounded original expectations. The Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday that by the beginning of last week the total number of cattle diagnosed since November 1986 as having BSE had risen to 121,898 -- six times the original prediction. The ministry believes that the reason more cattle have died is that farmers or food renderers kept using infected feed after the ban. Last week, MAFF said that the numbers of confirmed BSE cases in the first two months of this year showed a 20 per cent drop over the same period in 1993 -- proof, the ministry says, that the epidemic is waning. Yet there is still controversy. Some 8,004 cattle have died from BSE despite being born after the feed ban was introduced. MAFF says 5,767 of these were born before the end of 1988, and were probably fed from remaining infected supplies. That theory has been assailed by critics of the ministry. Mark Purdey, a Somerset farmer and independent researcher, believes that the use of organophosphate pesticides, used from the 1980s as a sheep dip and to treat warble-fly infestation in cattle, could have damaged the animals' immune system, exposing them to the disease. Ministry scientists, originally dismissive, are now reassessing his theories. More recently, researchers have suggested that in some cattle, BSE has been \"vertically\" transmitted from cow to calf. Given a long incubation period, such a possibility could make the disease harder to eradicate. This month 19 cattle have died on farms where MAFF is conducting a seven-year experiment into the disease. It is a daunting possibility for the farming industry, which has responded angrily. \"There is no evidence that this disturbing disease can be transferred from cow to calf,\" Farmers Weekly insisted last week. More cautiously, MAFF told The Sunday Telegraph: \"We have never said we have ruled out the possibility of maternal transmission, but even if it occurs, our scientists do not believe it will do anything other than lengthen the time before the disease is eradicated.\" So how long will it be before the epidemic is ended? Richard North, a former environmental health officer turned consultant, and a contributor to The Sunday Telegraph, believes that MAFF's statistics are being skewed to produce more optimistic figures -- claims not surprisingly rejected by the ministry. Mr North said: \"We have more than 8,000 cattle born after the feed ban that have subsequently contracted BSE. The claim that all of these are affected by illegally retained infected feed gets less credible by the hour.\" One question -- perhaps the most important -- remains. If the disease has jumped from sheep to cattle -- and cases have also been reported in kudu antelope at London Zoo -- could it affect humans? That prospect, discounted by most scientists -- including MAFF critics such as Mr Purdey -- is considered a possibility by Richard Lacey, a Leeds University microbiologist who has been studying cases of CJD, a disease with a long incubation period. Reviled by the farming industry and privately disparaged by MAFF, he nevertheless insists that there may be a threat. \"I'd expect an increase in cases of CJD by the early years of the next century,\" he says. \"The bottom line is we just don't know what risks we may be running.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "disease scrapie;british agriculture;mad cow disease;infected feed;bse case;maternal transmission;diseased sheep;british beef imports"}
+{"name": "FBIS3-11919", "title": "Roundup of Reaction to Colosio Assassination", "abstract": "Article Type:BFN  [Editorial Report] The following is a compilation of reactions to the assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta, presidential candidate for the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, on 23 March in Tijuana, Baja California. The Colombian Government and several presidential candidates today rejected the assassination of PRI presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio. It has been disclosed that President Cesar Gaviria spoke with his Mexican counterpart Salinas de Gortari by telephone to express his condolences and to support the Mexican Government and people. Dissident liberal candidate Enrique Parejo said the assassination proves once again the serious threat politicians face when they appear at public rallies. Liberal Party candidate Ernesto Samper, who met with Colosio a few weeks ago, regretted the assassination and said that such violence is the result of \"savage capitalism.\" Conservative Party candidate Andres Pastrana also regretted Colosio's death. (Hamburg DPA in Spanish 1636 GMT 24 Mar 94) Lorenzo Menendez, an expert in Mexican affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, today told PRENSA LATINA that Colosio's assassination caused shock on the island. He extended his sympathy to the Mexican Government and people and to the Colosio family as well. Such an objectionable action fills us with indignation, Menendez said. The news media widely covered the tragic event. (Havana PRENSA LATINA 1813 GMT 24 Mar 94) The Nationalist Republican Alliance, Arena, the ruling party in El Salvador, today released a communique condemning Colosio's assassination and expressing solidarity with Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Arena repudiated the \"cowardly assassination perpetrated by antidemocratic forces.\" Meanwhile, Ruben Zamora, presidential candidate of the left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, National Revolutionary Movement, and Democratic Convergence coalition, at a news conference expressed condolences to the Colosio family and the Mexican Government and people. (Panama City ACAN in Spanish 1706 GMT 24 Mar 94) Venezuelan Foreign Minister Miguel Burelli Rivas today deplored Colosio's assassination and disclosed that he had officially contacted his Mexican counterpart to express sadness over the incident. Colosio's assassination was widely covered by Venezuelan news media today. (Hamburg DPA in Spanish 1639 GMT 24 Mar 94)", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "pri;colombian government;mexican president carlos salinas;antidemocratic forces;presidential candidate luis donaldo colosio;sympathy;assassination;mexican government;reactions"}
+{"name": "FBIS3-22942", "title": "Government, Shining Path Said Negotiating; Possible Agreement", "abstract": "Language:  Spanish  Article Type:BFN  [Text] Lima, 13 Feb (AFP) -- The \"Sunday Review\" television program said that according to a \"very reliable source,\" the end of the \"popular war,\" the surrender of weapons, and a general amnesty, would be the main points of a peace agreement \"without victors or vanquished,\" between the Shining Path and the Peruvian Government. The administration of President Alberto Fujimori has admitted that talks, led by Abimael Guzman who has been serving a life sentence since October 1992, are being held between government representatives and Shining Path leaders in prison. No details, however, have been issued on discussions or possible agreements. According to the \"Sunday Review\" program, directed by journalist Nicolas Lucar on the Lima America Channel 4 Television Network, the 10-point agreement says its main aspect is to \"stop the popular war with its four forms of fighting: terrorism, selective murders, sabotage, and armed agitation and propaganda.\" Another point refers to \"dismantling the People's Guerrilla Army with their surrender and the destruction of their weapons.\" It also includes the self-dismantling of the people's committees and the Shining Path's support base throughout the country. A general amnesty has been mentioned and a process whereby, \"little by little and in accordance with the circumstances, prisoners of war and political prisoners will be released and their sentences reduced.\" Together with the \"improvement of relations between both parties,\" it is also stressed that the agreement would be without \"conquerors or vanquished,\" and would ease the way for the return of those Shining Path members living abroad \"in order to recover the country's social and normal life.\" The agreement would entail a \"cessation of hostilities toward relatives of Shining Path members\" and \"the movement's archives, library, museum, and other symbols would also be returned.\" One of the points in the agreement mentions the need for \"economic support and investments in the areas devastated by the war.\" So far, government authorities have not denied or rejected the accuracy of this agreement between the government and Shining Path.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "shining path members;peruvian government;general amnesty;10-point agreement;popular war;peace agreement;guerrilla army;economic support"}
+{"name": "FBIS3-23360", "title": "Link Between Abu-Nidal, Jordanian Extremists", "abstract": "Language:  Arabic  Article Type:BFN   [Rafiq al-Zayn report from Beirut]  [Text] In less than one month, Lebanese security authorities in coordination with Jordanian authorities have succeeded in unraveling the mystery of the assassination of Jordanian diplomat Na'ib al- Ma'ayitah in Beirut on 29 January. It seems that the Abu-Nidal group is not the only party responsible for the operation. The file AL-WATAN AL-'ARABI has obtained on the investigation confirms close cooperation and coordination between Fatah-the Revolutionary Council [FRC] and Jordanian fundamentalist extremist groups sponsored by Iran. In this investigative report AL-WATAN AL-'ARABI reveals the details of this network, the secret meetings it held in Tehran, Amsterdam, and Beirut, the names of those who planned and carried out the assassination, the centers where they were trained, their affiliations, and how this leads to exposing dangerous secrets which made the Abu-Nidal group send threat letters to those in charge of the investigation. A few days ago, Palestinian Ahmad Mahmud 'Abd-al-Karim, a prominent FRC official, arrived in Lebanon from Finland on the special mission of following up the investigations the Lebanese authorities are conducting with the Palestinians from the Abu-Nidal group who are accused of the assassination of Jordanian First Secretary Na'ib al-Ma'ayitah in Beirut on 29 January. Reports confirm that shortly after arriving in Beirut, Ahmad 'Abd-al-Karim left for the FRC's al-Rawdah camps in Western al-Biqa' from where he followed the investigation through reports sent to him by people who secretly work for the FRC and who provided him with information in exchange for generous sums of money. Reports say that some officials in the Lebanese security organs have links with the Abu-Nidal group. At the same time, AL-WATAN AL-'ARABI has learned that the Abu- Nidal group recently sent threat letters to Lebanese officials who are currently investigating its members who are involved in the al- Ma'ayitah assassination. These are: Yusuf Sha'ban, Bassam Muhammad 'Attiyah, and Yusuf 'Udwani, codenamed Salim Mahyub. Lebanese investigator, Judge Sa'id Mirza ordered the arrest of the three Palestinians and listened to the deposition of three witnesses, including 'Afaf Yusuf [not further identified] who reiterated her previous deposition. Reports mention that the first steps in the investigation have revealed that the FRC planned and carried out the assassination in coordination with the Jordanian fundamentalist Islamic Mobilization Youth Organization [IMYO] which is financed by Iran. The IMYO was exposed in Jordan by Jordanian authorities on 17 August 1992 when the Jordanian security bodies confiscated weapons and ammunition the organization had been hiding in Jordan to be used to destablize the regime and security in the country. During the trials, this organization tried to claim that the weapons found by the authorities were temporarily hidden in Jordan but were to be smuggled into the occupied territories and given to the Palestinian strugglers there to enhance their ability to confront the Zionist forces and carry out military operations against them. The IMYO also claimed that the weapons that were found were not brought in from any neighboring country but were purchased on the local market. At the time, two members of Parliament were arrested; Ya'qub Qirrish anbd Layth Shubaylat on chrages of heading the organization. The security information the investigators have collected on the al-Ma'ayitah assassination shows that as soon as the IMYO was exposed, Jordanian fundamentalist elements belonging to various organizations such as Muhammad's Army, the Islamic Liberation Army, and the IMYO and others moved to neighboring Arab countries. Most of the factions left for Lebanon where they found the suitable atmosphere and the appropriate place to carry out their activities in cooperation with Hizballah. The information gathered also shows that some Jordanian fundamentalist elements moved to Iran where they received training courses in the Al-Quds camp and the Kermandi [name as transliterated] camp, and courses in intelligence work in the Darjah [name as transliterated] institute. Iran has sponsored these organizations to establish Islamic organizations and cells in the countries that have common borders with Israel so they can take power in these countries and turn them into Islamic regimes. Since that time, Iran exploited the elements from these fundamentalist organizations and established the Jordan office in the Liberation Movement's office. Ayatollah Shakhiry [name as transliterated], the official in charge of the Jordan section in the Iranian intelligence organ, took charge of this office. Confirmed information indicates that in early 1994, IMYO elements held an important meeting in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with officials from the FRC. The official in charge of the Jordanian elements was Shakir Abu-Jami', a Jordanian national wanted by authorities in his country and one of the most prominent members of the Jordanian fundamentalist Muhammad Army Organization. Abu-Jami' now lives in Sa'dah, Yemen, which is home to camps for Afghan and Arab fundamentalists. The information adds that the IMYO made several decisions to attack Jordanian interests and institutions and assassinate Jordanian diplomats in a move to pressure the Jordanian regime. The information says that the scheme was designed some two years ago and the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in Jordan refused to get involved in it because of the danger and because the Brotherhood Movement does not agree with the proposals of other fundamentalist organizations. Iran managed to recruit FRC members to work in the Jordanian fundamentalist extremist organizations by taking advantage of the hostility the Abu-Nidal group has harbored against Jordan and its regime and king ever since the group was expelled from the country. The information confirms that Abu-Nidal group's leadership agreed to execute the mission for the aforesaid reasons, because of its commitment to the policy of extremism and rejection that aims at torpedoing the [peace] process, and because of its ties to Iran within the framework of international terrorism. Detailing this cooperation that lead to al-Ma'ayitah's assassination, the security sources note that the al-Ramlah al- Bayda' area in Beirut contained a secret headquarters for Walid Khalid, the FRC official spokesman who was assassinated in the Lebanese capital on 30 July 1992. These meetings were conducted in the presence of an FRC official called Amjad 'Ata, a Lebanese member of Abu-Nidal group named Tha'ir, and a Jordanian IMYO official from the Idkaydik family. The plan to assassinate al-Ma'ayitah was drafted during these meetings. But why did the Abu-Nidal group and the IMYO choose to assassinate Na'ib al-Ma'ayitah and not any other Jordanian official in the Beirut embassy. To carry out the assassination, an intensive training course was conducted for the Palestinians Bassam 'Atiyah and Yusuf 'Adwani in a secret center run by Abu-Nidal group in Buq'atah in Lebanon's al- Shuf area under the supervision of a Palestinian expert in assassinations called A. al-'Umayri [not further identified]. Al- 'Umayri was implicated in the assassination of the FRC official Bahij Abu-al-Hana in July 1992 in Lebanon's al-Biqa' area, after he accused him of contacting the 'Arafat-led Fatah movement. Confirmed security information says a Jordanian fundamentalist took part in the assassination of al-Ma'ayitah. He was charged with observation and backup when the assassination was carried out.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "international terrorism;abu-nidal group;imyo;jordanian fundamentalist extremist groups;ayitah assassination;jordanian diplomat na'ib al- ma'ayitah;investigative report;lebanese security authorities;jordanian authorities"}
+{"name": "FBIS3-30788", "title": "Article Examines Relations With Slovenia", "abstract": "Language:  Serbo-Croatian  Article Type:BFN   [Article by Verica Rudar: \"What Is Ljubljana's Message for  Belgrade?\"] [Text] In the view of Yugoslav diplomats, the normalization of relations between Slovenia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will certainly be a strenuous and long-term project. Although the establishment of communications between Ljubljana and Belgrade would be very important for the situation in the former Yugoslavia in general, the chances that this could happen soon are minimal. A signal that relations between Yugoslavia and Slovenia might be reconsidered came this time from the Slovene capital. According to information published in the Yugoslav newspapers, the Slovene Government could be addressing this issue soon. The establishing of relations between the two states, the exchange of diplomatic representatives, and the abolition of the visa requirement for Yugoslav citizens are some of the topics to be considered. This information has not been denied and, apart from that, it is the logical conclusion to a series of statements issued by Slovene politicians, which pointed to a change in relations toward Belgrade. The announcement about the normalization of relations were also supported by information that an official Slovene delegation had arrived in Belgrade for this purpose, but it was stated that the details cannot yet be published since the matter is very delicate. The FRY Ministry of Foreign Affairs is denying that any official Slovene delegation came to Belgrade. It is stated that this is rather a visit of businessmen, since these contacts have not been interrupted. It is assumed in the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Slovene businessmen might even be checking the atmosphere for possible political contacts, but there have been no official statements about it.   Commercial contacts  The signals from the Slovene side are being received in Yugoslavia with reservations. One could even say with distrust. Yugoslav diplomats point out that Yugoslavia has not been officially recognized by Slovenia. It is also true that Slovenia does not accept Yugoslavia on the international scene. Yugoslav sources claim that Slovenia is becoming increasingly isolated because of its extreme policy toward Yugoslavia, so that this might be one of the reasons why it has decided to \"soften\" its attitudes toward Yugoslavia. Official Belgrade has not forgotten \"the extremist, anti-Serbian statements issued by Milan Kucan in Albania\" or the moves made by Slovene statesmen who \"instead of soothing the passions, stirred them up, always to Serbia's disadvantage.\" After reporters remarked that this relatively negative attitude might negate the unofficial signal from Ljubljana, a Yugoslav diplomat said: \"We do not think that there is only one opinion in Slovenia about Yugoslavia. Slovenia is the former Yugoslav republic that made the greatest effort to harm the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. I am now speaking about the official Slovene attitude, not about the attitudes of all the politicians, and especially not about the attitudes of the Slovene people.\" Yugoslav diplomats have the impression that there are differences between Milan Kucan, the president of Slovenia, Lojze Peterle, the minister of foreign affairs, and Janez Drnovsek, the prime minister, the last being \"sober, realistic and trustworthy.\" The first signs of a change in the Slovene attitude toward Yugoslavia were noticed during the visit of Karolos Papoulias, the Greek foreign minister, and Vaclav Havel, the Czech president, to Slovenia, in November 1993.   Diplomatic Pirouettes  At that time the press carried statements made by Milan Kucan and Lojze Peterle that unquestionably represented a shift in policy toward Belgrade. Kucan said that \"Slovenia never had any conflict with Serbia,\" and Peterle that \"Slovenia would be happy if the conditions for the removal of the sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro were fulfilled.\" At the beginning of December 1993, Mr. Peterle, the Slovene minister of foreign affairs, made that attitude concrete in a letter to Warren Christopher, the U.S. secretary of state, in which he wrote: \"A possible removal of the sanctions against Yugoslavia is being fully considered since the aims for which they were introduced have not been achieved.... The European Union initiative makes us hope that the situation in the Balkans can be solved.\" In the view of Slovene political commentators, the softening of the Slovene attitude toward the FRY is a part of the diplomatic tactics the aim of which is to adapt Slovene policy to the policy of the European Union, with which Slovenia is awaiting negotiations about associate membership. Belgrade diplomats agree with this assessment and claim that the first announcement of possible contacts between Yugoslavia and Slovenia were made by arrangement with Germany and Austria. In the focus of Serbian attention now are relations with Croatia, and as far as Slovenia is concerned, the official proposal for the normalization of relations has to be specified first. Single statements and \"diplomatic pirouettes\" are not enough to overcome the present differences, including the Slovene attitude toward Kosovo, the interruption of economic relations, the way Slovene independence was achieved by force, and diplomatic duels on the international scene.      [Box, p 7]    Jovanovic: \"Slovenia Must Excuse Itself\"  \"In order to enter the process of normalization of relations with Slovenia, certain conditions must be fulfilled first,\" Vladislav Jovanovic, FRY minister of foreign affairs, said in a statement for POLITIKA, and added: \"First it is necessary for Slovenia to excuse itself for the rude and impertinent move it made a year ago in refusing the Yugoslav offer of recognizing Slovenia. It is further necessary that the anti-Serbian campaign that Slovenia has been spreading all over the world is ended and that it acknowledges that those who remained in Yugoslavia have the right to self- determination. Apart from that, Slovenia must stop challenging the continuity of Yugoslavia as a state. Slovenia made a mistake by insisting that the FRY be excluded from all international forums. In addition, Slovenia supports the lifting of the arms embargo on the Bosnia- Herzegovina Muslims. There are many situations that prove that Slovenia has a hostile attitude toward Yugoslavia. We are not bothered that Slovenia is an independent state. On the contrary, while we lived together, we had excellent relations. That is why our surprise was great when the turnaround occurred. Yugoslavia is interested in good relations with all of its neighbors -- old and new alike. Slovenia is no exception. We cannot account for the hostility that they have shown toward Yugoslavia and toward the people who are living in this region now. Official Slovenia should find ways and means to end this hostility. We are, of course, interested in normal relations between Slovenia and Yugoslavia, but some prerequisites have to be fulfilled,\" Jovanovic concluded his statement.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "slovene politicians;slovene government;yugoslav diplomats;slovene independence;federal republic;normalization;official belgrade;slovene attitude;possible political contacts;anti-serbian campaign;official slovene delegation"}
+{"name": "FBIS3-41", "title": "Shining Path Document Raises New Doubts over Call for Peace", "abstract": "SUMMARY A lengthy statement attributed to the imprisoned Shining Path leadership, published recently in a leading opposition newspaper, provides what appears to be a strategic rationale for the peace proposal made by the insurgents last fall.  While the newspaper has accepted the document as an authentic call for peace by the Shining Path, the paper has also stressed that the peace called for in the statement is nothing more than a temporary tactical retreat by the Shining Path leaders and is not, as President Alberto Fujimori has contended, an implicit admission of defeat. END SUMMARY Although La Republica, a prominent anti-Fujimori daily, provided little information on the origins of the \"important and unusual\" document that it published in a special 25 January supplement, it assured its readers that the lengthy ideological tract explaining the Shining Path's \"struggle for a peace agreement\" was a genuine Shining Path statement.  The paper claimed that the \"anonymous sources\" who supplied the \"secret\" document provided \"full authentication\" and that \"experts\" consulted by the paper also \"agreed\" that the document was the handiwork of imprisoned Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman (La Republica, 26 January).(See Note 1) (Note 1) La Republica did not assert that the document was actually signed by Guzman.  However, the paper did claim that the document was \"approved\" by imprisoned Shining Path Central Committee members Elena Iparraguirre Revoredo, Osman Morote Barrionuevo, Marta Huatay Ruiz, Maria Pantoja Sanchez and Rosa Angelica Salas de la Cruz (25 January). While the anti-Fujimori daily may have, at least in part, published the document to discredit President Fujimori, it contended that it was motivated by a desire to provide Peruvians with information on the peace proposal that had not been made available by the government.  The paper declared that it was \"clearly\" its \"duty\" to publish the document \"given the mantle of silence that the government has cast\" over the peace negotiations (26 January). La Republica's publication of the Shining Path strategy statement follows by three months the October 1993 release by the Fujimori government of letters from Guzman calling for peace talks with the government (Radio Programs del Peru, 1 October 1993; Radio and TV, 4 October 1993; Global de Television, 10 October 1993; Panamericana Television, 30 October 1993).  The Shining Path leadership's sudden willingness to pursue peace talks with the government, just as the 31 October national referendum vote was approaching, raised questions in the media about whether the letters really represented authoritative Shining Path policy [see box].(See Note 2) (Note 2) Among other objectives, the narrowly successful referendum was designed to allow the president to serve a second successive term. Tactical Retreat for Guzman Implicitly rejecting Fujimori's claim that the Shining Path's call for a negotiated peace represented an admission of political defeat by the insurgents, La Republica concluded that the movement's leadership saw its call for peace as nothing more than a \"temporary ceasefire\" (25 January).(See Note 3)  According to the daily's 26 January editorial, the Shining Path tract \"makes it clear\" that in the eyes of Abimael Guzman a \"peace agreement\" is simply an \"armed truce\" until after the year 2OOO, at which time the Shining Path \"would resume its bloodbath.\"  La Republica offered a possible explanation for the insurgents' tactical retreat in a 3O January interview with a \"military and subversion analyst,\" who suggested-that a temporary withdrawal may offer Guzman an opportunity to preserve his authority as political leader despite the obvious limitations of beings imprisoned.  Thee analyst concluded, therefore, that the insurgents' peace strategy represents \"an ideological reaffirmation of Guzman's leadership\" and \"recognition that circumstances have changed.\" (Note 3) For example, in his presentation of the video recording of Guzman's first call for peace talks, Fujimori claimed that the Shining Path \"political\" leadership \"has tacitly admitted that the Peruvian state has totally recovered the initiative in confronting the Shining Path\" (Lima Radio and TV, 4 October 1993). Outlook La Republica's assessment of the Shining Path peace strategy document may quiet doubts about whether earlier letters calling for peace talks actually represented the views of top leaders. At the same time, however, by concluding that the published strategy statement is merely the Shining Path's declaration of temporary retreat, the daily has raised new questions about the credibility of Fujimori's claim that the call for peace represents a victory for the government.  While such doubts are unlikely to seriously affect Fujimori's prospects for reelection next year, they may have further tarnished the image of the Peruvian president, already damaged by his narrow victory in the constitutional referendum last October. BOX Media Doubts over Earlier Shining Path Peace Letters -- Following the first Guzman letter calling for peace talks, announced by Fujimori at thee United Nations last October (Radio Programas del Peru, 1 October 1993), the conservative daily El Comercio reported that one seasoned political observer had warned\" that Guzman's \"reported\" desire \"to reach a peace agreement\" does not mean there is reason \"to claim a victory in the ongoing struggle against terrorism\" since, according to the observer, the imprisoned insurgent leader may no longer control the Shining Path (2 October 1993). -- Following the second Guzman letter, which supplemented the call for peace talks with what seemed to be praise for Fujimori's economic and political program (Lima Global de Television, 1O October 1993), a commentator for the anti-Fujimori weekly Caretas wrote that the government was using a \"broken\" Guzman \"in the campaign for the 'yes' vote\" for the upcoming referendum, adding that \"it is no coincidence that the letters . . . have come out during the 3O days prior\" to the 31 October vote (14 October 1993). -- Responding similarly to the second Guzman letter, an editorial in La Republica wondered whether \"government representatives,\" working to promote the \"yes\" vote on the referendum, had not \"fallen into a trap\" by thinking that Shining Path militants would take seriously such an \"unctuous\" call for peace talks as appeared in the letter (14 October 1993). -- Also in response to the second letter, Caretas on 14 October claimed that Fujimori was \"using\" Guzman \"in the campaign\" to win the 31 October referendum, noting that \"with Guzman's letters\" calling for peace talks, Fujimori's \"promise\" to wipe out the Shining Path by 1995 \"may gain credibility.\" END BOX (AUTHOR:  ROLLINS.  QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS, PLEASE CALL CHIEF ANALYST, EUROPE/LATIN AMERICA GROUP, (7O3) 733-612O.) ELAG/GILISON  cka 17/0107z  mar", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "government representatives;genuine shining path statement;anti-fujimori daily;peace proposal;imprisoned shining path leader abimael guzman;peace talks;political defeat;peace agreement;shining path peace strategy document"}
+{"name": "FBIS3-51875", "title": "Analyst: Shining Path Does Not Seek Reconciliation", "abstract": "Language:  Spanish  Article Type:BFN  [Text] The Shining Path does not intend to seek reconciliation in the country, has disarmed itself neither militarily nor ideologically, and is instead trying to become a semi-legal party operating as a shock force against the opposition, subversion specialist Carlos Tapia has said. Tapia emphasized that the Shining Path faction led by Abimael Guzman Reinoso enjoys government favor, and among other things has been given assistance in organizing a second party congress. He said that imprisoned Shining Path members of the Guzman-led faction, such as Edmundo Cox Beuzeville, have been allowed to tour several prisons and to promote debates to support the proposal of so-called President Gonzalo. Tapia said: \"The Shining Path was defeated, but it seems that after the beginning of negotiations, Abimael Guzman's leadership has been consolidated, tied to the commitment to organize a second party congress.\" \"The documents of this second congress are being prepared to make the Shining Path stop engaging in armed actions. It is true that armed actions will end, but no one knows when. A new, stronger Shining Path could reemerge later for a second beginning, and as a weapon for fighting popular movements...,\" Tapia said. He added that peace negotiations between the Shining Path and the government are being held behind the country's back. Tapia believes the government is seeking to strengthen Abimael Guzman's leadership within Shining Path, countering the hardline faction led by Alberto Ramirez Durand, aka \"Feliciano.\" Guzman's faction, Tapia said, represents the imprisoned Shining Path, while the one led by \"Feliciano\" is made up of the terrorists who are still free. \"They are the ones who plant the bombs,\" he said. For his part, ex-leftist Senator Enrique Bernales has said that the Guzman group is trying to sell itself in order to eventually gain its freedom and later regroup. Tapia and Bernales made these statements during an interview on the \"En Directo\" program hosted by Alfredo Barnechea on Channel 9. The statements were made in the wake of a letter that Shining Path member Edmundo Cox addressed to Colonel Gabino Cajahuanca, the director of the Miguel Castro Castro prison, asking him for an audience \"to inform you about what we have done.\" Cox was referring to the meetings he held with imprisoned Shining Path members in other prisons of the country to support the peace proposal by Guzman Reinoso, against the faction led by \"Feliciano.\" Carlos Tapia, who is a careful observer of the subversion phenomenon, believes that the Shining Path does not seek national reconciliation, and that it maintains its ideological positions, such as \"hatred of classes\" and its stand against the \"legal leftist sector, human rights organizations, popular unions, and nongovernmental organizations.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "government favor;second party congress;semi-legal party;national reconciliation;imprisoned shining path members;shining path faction;peace proposal;peace negotiations"}
+{"name": "FBIS4-27602", "title": "No Evidence Found for Assassination Implication", "abstract": "BFN  [Text] Seoul, May 30 (YONHAP) -- The joint military-prosecution investigation team, which probed the assassination of President Pak Chong-hui by then Central Intelligence Agency Director Kim Chae-kyu in October 1979, had found no evidence that then Army Chief of Staff and martial law commander, Gen. Chong Sung-hwa, was an accomplice in the slaying, a former team member testified recently. Paek Tong-nim, 57, who served as chief investigator of the Defense Security Command and concurrently as a key member of the joint investigating team, told the prosecution that no concrete evidence of Chong's involvement had been detected in the course of probing the assassin Kim, according to a spokesman for the Seoul District Public Prosecutor's Office. The joint investigation headquarters' announcement on Dec. 24, 1979, charging Chong with high treason was based not on any concrete evidence but on what he did after after Kim killed Pak on the night of Oct. 26, 1979, Paek was quoted as saying. The Seoul District Public Prosecutor's Office is looking into a criminal suit filed by the victims of the Dec. 12 \"coup d'etat-like incident of the Army\" against the perpetrators, including former Presidents Chon Tu-hwan and No Tae-u. Chong Sung-hwa is one of the victims. Paek dismissed as \"not true\" then Defense Minister No Chae-hyon's statement on Dec. 13, 1979, that martial Law Commander Chong was arrested for interrogation because new evidence was discovered in the course of investigating the assassination. The joint probe team felt the need to question Chong because when Kim killed Pak he was nearby and Prosecutor Chong Kyong-sik, a member of the joint team, called on the martial law commander at his office three times to question him about his actions on the assassination day, Paek was quoted as saying. Paek said that without evidence supporting his involvement in the assassination and without then President Choe Kyu-ha's permission, the joint military-prosecution investigation headquarters, led by then Defense Security Commander Maj. Gen. Chon Tu-hwan forcibly arrested Chong, seemingly because of the headquarters' \"political motive,\" suggesting that the Dec. 12 incident was a mutiny by the \"new military elite\" to topple the government. The prosecution is considering summoning lawyer Won Kang-hui, who as military prosecutor indicted Chong Sung-hwa on charges of abetting high treason, for questioning. Won recently said there was no criminal evidence against Chong when he indicted him, adding the military prosecution then made \"a different evaluation\" of his actions on the assassination day. The prosecution is expected to shortly conclude its probe into whether Chong was an accomplice in the slaying of Pak Chong-hui in October 1979.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "joint military-prosecution investigation team;president pak chong-hui;gen. chong sung-hwa;assassination day;assassination;criminal evidence;concrete evidence;assassin kim;military prosecution"}
+{"name": "FBIS4-4674", "title": "U.S. F-15 Fighter Crashes in Okinawa", "abstract": "BFN  [Text] Tokyo -- An F-15 fighter of the U.S. Forces on Okinawa crashed near Kadena Air Base on 4 April. Commenting on the crash, Akira Takeshita, deputy director general of the Defense Facilities Administration Agency [DFAA], said, \"Such a crash should not have occurred and it is very regrettable that the crash actually occurred.\" He also made it clear that shortly after the crash, the DFAA asked the command of the U.S. Forces in Japan [USFJ] to take thorough measures for safe management of the U.S. military bases on Okinawa and conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash. The Kadena Air Base public affairs office gave a briefing on the crash and the DFAA released the briefing. The briefing said: An F-15 fighter taking off from Kadena Air Base on a routine training crashed near the air base at 0924 on 4 April. The crashed aircraft belonged to the 44th Fighter Squadron of the 18th Wing and the pilot safely ejected from the aircraft without injuries. A team will begin investigating the cause of the crash and details of the accident will be made public once the investigation is completed. The U.S. military aircraft crashed about 800 meters northeast of a Kadena Air Base runway and the crash site is within the air base's facilities. Mr. Takeshita said: \"As for the safe management of the U.S. military bases on Okinawa, we have long asked the U.S. side for it. The DFAA immediately expressed regret to the command of the U.S. Forces in Yokota over the crash and the Naha DFAA Bureau expressed regret to the commander of the U.S. Forces on Okinawa. We will continue to ask them to work for the safe management of the U.S. military bases in Japan.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "investigation;crash;u.s. military bases;okinawa;f-15 fighter;routine training;u.s. forces"}
+{"name": "FBIS4-56863", "title": "Shining Path To Continue `People's War'", "abstract": "BFN   [\"Exclusive\" report by Angel Paez]  [Text] The Shining Path Central Committee, comprised of leaders who have still not been arrested and alternate members elected by the Shining Path congress in 1988, held a meeting in February that was presided over by Oscar Ramirez Durand, a.k.a. \"Comrade Feliciano.\" During the meeting, the Shining Path Central Committee decided to continue the \"people's war\" and to consider those members who uphold the peace accord with the government to be removed from the party \"by their own free will.\" The document entitled \"To Grow Strong on the Grounds of Partisan Unity and Conquer Power\" [Reafirmarse en la Base de Unidad Partidaria y Construir la Conquesta del Power], which contains the conclusions of the Shining Path event, criticizes the leaders under arrest who try to convince the militants still operating to \"uphold the great decision and definition,\" that is, Abimael Guzman's appeal for the Shining Path to end hostilities against the Peruvian state. A Shining Path pamphlet dated February, which is signed by the leaders under arrest, asserts that \"the people's war has ended, and (therefore) to continue refusing to uphold (the \"great decision and definition\") means obstructing the Peace Accord and placing the life of President Gonzalo and other comrades at stake.\" But the Central Committee meeting in February disqualified the arrested leaders, stating that \"it is an international communist rule that no leader can lead (the party or a war) from prison.\" According to the Maoist theory, a militant who is in prison loses his operational capacity when he is isolated from reality, and therefore is assigned another type of job. In March, the National Counterterrorism Directorate [Dincote] learned about the Shining Path meeting, according to an intelligence report datelined 31 March that states it was held in Razuhuillca, Huanta Province, Ayacucho. As a result, Peruvian Air Force troops carried out operations in the aforementioned area during the second week of April. The operations, however, were unproductive. Dincote also obtained information according to which \"Feliciano\" presided over the meeting, during which it was decided to start a new phase of the \"people's war\" as well as plan an operation to rescue Abimael Guzman, dead or alive, at any cost. The five-point document issued at the end of the meeting is attached to lengthy citations of speeches by Abimael Guzman and documents signed by him that show why the war must not end. The following is one of the citations chosen by the Shining Path Central Committee to uphold its decisions: \"Always taking into account the glorious actions of the people's war, the people's war cannot end. The leadership may be wiped out completely or partially, but those leaders who are not must and can continue carrying out plans, the struggle, the people's war. We were taught that the revolution will not stop, will not become paralyzed.\" This was selected from the document entitled \"To Conquer Power in the Midst of the People's War\" that was drafted during the Second Shining Path Central Committee Plenum, when Guzman was still free. The document even mentions what must be done with those who uphold peace and put down arms: \"There are two reasons for surrendering: to surrender in view of local reaction and to surrender in view of international reaction. This is always the case. Its purpose is to ruin the revolution. Those who surrender, therefore, are no good, and must be wiped out through fire and bloodshed.\" (Preliminary Session of the Second Plenum). The first of the five points discussed during the meeting refers to \"reasserting\" the agreements reached during the Third Central Committee Plenum, which was held in March 1992 and headed by Abimael Guzman Reinoso. This plenum was labeled \"glorious, historic, and momentous\" as it planned the terrible wave of violence unleashed by the Shining Path in July 1992. During the 1992 partisan meeting, it was stated that during an adverse situation the party should draft \"a new plan, taking into account the experience of the past years, establish new axes, sub-axes, guidelines, and lines of action with a nationwide criteria (...), seek new ways to develop and set up strategic military plans, and establish, for example, those objectives and carry them out on an established date.\" It seems that the Third Central Committee Plenum's assessment of what was happening to the Shining Path was negative and, therefore, it was decided to unleash a fierce wave of violence in order to conceal the weaknesses of the Maoist organization. The second point of the document of the Central Committee meeting presided over by \"Feliciano\" highlights the agreements of the Working Meeting of the Shining Path leadership held in August 1993, almost one year after Guzman was arrested, and during which the implementation of the agreements of the Third Plenum held in March 1992 was discussed. During the working meeting, and in addition to approving the efforts to \"step up investigations to determine the sanctions for those who are found responsible\" for contributing to the arrest of Abimael Guzman, it was agreed, among other issues: 1. To defend the life of \"President Gonzalo\" by widely preaching our ideology, by showing great courage, placing even our lives at stake, by keeping our red and invincible flag flying high, and by pursuing our unwavering objective: communism.\" 2. To reassert the conclusions of the Third Central Committee Plenum (March 1992), \"personally presided over by President Gonzalo, whose victorious appearance revealed its glorious, historic, and momentous nature; the second most important milestone after the congress (held in 1988).\" 3. To reassert the three strategies: the political strategy: to conquer power; the military strategy: the people's war, to develop the war of movements and promote arrangements for the uprising of cities; and the construction strategy: to make arrangements to conquer power in the midst of the people's war. Based on the conclusions of the Third Plenum and the Working Meeting, the Central Committee, during the meeting in February presided over by \"Feliciano,\" reasserted \"the principle of revolutionary violence as a universal law expressed in the people's war.\" The third point discussed during the Central Committee meeting headed by \"Feliciano\" referred to the militants who uphold the peace accord. The document addresses this aspect of the internal debate as: \"About the Struggle Against the Counterrevolutionary Hoax and the Black Group that upholds a Right-Wing Opportunist Line (LOD).\" In order to confront the Black Group or LOD, which are nothing but Shining Path militants who sign Abimael Guzman's letters and uphold his \"great decision and definition\" to negotiate with the government in order to end the war, the Central Committee demands that the militants \"grow stronger on the Basis for Partisan Unity [Base de Unidad Partidaria, BUP],\" which is the Shining Path basic principles adopted during the 1988 Congress, and \"arrange for conquering power in the midst of the people's war.\" The Central Committee Plenum that \"Feliciano\" presided over in order to break away from the Black Group orders the \"unleashing of a massive reassertion movement based on the BUP throughout the party, the People's Liberation Army, and among the masses of the New Power.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "shining path congress;arrested leaders;peace accord;five-point document;abimael guzman reinoso;revolutionary violence;shining path central committee;black group;people's war;shining path meeting"}
+{"name": "FBIS4-67721", "title": "Number of Tuberculosis Cases in Latvia Increases", "abstract": "CSO   [Article by Anda Mikelsone: \"Number of Tuberculosis Cases in  Latvia Increases\"] [Text] Riga, Feb.4. There has been an increase in tuberculosis morbidity and mortality during the past year. In comparison with 1992, tuberculosis morbidity has increased by 14.8%, and mortality -- by 44%. The total number of tuberculosis cases in 1993 was 868, while in the 1992 -- it was 771. Inta Pavlovska, director of the data processing and registry division of the State Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Center informed DIENA that the increase in tuberculosis morbidity could be related to the poor socioeconomic conditions in the nation, as well as shortcomings in the legislative process. At the present time, there are no laws in Latvia that would require infectious cases of tuberculosis to undergo mandatory treatment. In November of the past year, the Department of Health of the Ministry of Welfare submitted a medical legislative proposal to the Cabinet of Ministers, which would require infectious cases of tuberculosis to undergo mandatory treatment, explained I. Pavlovska. To this day, the proposal to the Cabinet of Ministers has still not been reviewed. At present, Latvia has 11 state tuberculosis hospitals, providing treatment for tuberculosis cases free of charge. The newest of these -- Ceplisi (in Ogre rayon), only started operations in January of this year. Most of the patients there, however, are chronic alcoholics who suffer from tuberculosis.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "tuberculosis hospitals;mortality;mandatory treatment;tuberculosis cases;tuberculosis morbidity"}
+{"name": "FT911-2650", "title": "Challenge to foster human capital: As bankers and finance ministers gather in Washington, the World Bank looks for fresh vigour under a new chief", "abstract": "How can 6,000 civil servants, mostly based in Washington, best promote development in the Third World? That is the vexing question facing Mr Lewis Preston, the former chairman of J P Morgan, the New York bank, who takes over as president of the World Bank this September. As bankers and finance ministers gathered in Washington this weekend for the spring meetings of the bank and International Monetary Fund, there was no shortage of advice. The US Treasury wants the bank to bypass the governments of developing countries and lend sizeable sums directly to the private sector. The bank is also under pressure to follow the example of Mr Jacques Attali's European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and attach strict political conditions to its loans. Development economists, meanwhile, are urging the bank to respect the rhetoric of last year's World Development Report and focus more on poverty alleviation. Mr Preston may relax on one count. Few in Washington now doubt that the bank is needed: new imperatives, such as reconstruction in eastern Europe and the Middle East, have merely been superimposed on older, unsolved problems: Grinding poverty is a near universal condition in much of the world: 1bn people live on less than Dollars 1 a day. More than 110m Third World children lack access even to primary education. Horrific inequality abounds. In Mexico, life expectancy for the poorest 10 per cent is 20 years less than for the richest 10 per cent. What kind of bank will Mr Preston inherit from his predecessor, Mr Barber Conable? Most reports are mixed. 'It is not an impressive bureaucracy,' says Mr John Williamson, a senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics. 'The morale of staff is lousy,' says Mr Charles Flickner, a senior analyst on the Senate Budget Committee and close observer of the bank. Mr Conable, a former Republican congressman, arrived at the bank in 1986 knowing little about either banking or development. Although now well-liked (partly for championing causes such as women's rights in the Third World), many observers say he never fully recovered from a rocky start involving a divisive internal reorganisation of the bank. Mr Percy Mistry, a scholar at Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford, and former senior adviser at the bank, says it suffered from 'presidential failure' during the 1980s. Mr Robert McNamara, a forceful chief executive in the 1970s, built a presidential institution that responded to firm leadership from the top. But neither Mr Conable nor his predecessor, Mr A W 'Tom' Clausen, a commercial banker, could fill his shoes. For a decade the bank has effectively been run by two senior - and strong-willed - vice-presidents: Mr Ernest Stern (who nearly left last year to join the EBRD) and Mr Moeen Qureshi. Mr Preston's first challenge, says Mr Mistry, will be to wrest control of the bank from Messrs Stern and Qureshi; his second, to prune legions of 'useless advisers' and install managers with real-world experience. His third, one might add, will be quickly to establish his independence from the US Treasury which always browbeats a newcomer. What kind of development legacy will Mr Preston inherit? In spite of recent progress in a few countries, such as Mexico, the past decade has been one of relative failure. Many Third World countries have gone backwards. Real per capita incomes have declined substantially in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, and mildly in Latin America. The biggest drag on growth is the huge debt accumulated in the 1970s and early 1980s. Many optimists see the debt reduction strategy launched by Mr Nicholas Brady, the US Treasury Secretary, in 1989, as a 'final solution' to the debt crisis. Under the plan official agencies assume some of the burden of developing countries' private debts on condition that they implement market-oriented economic reforms. 'The Brady plan is enough,' says Mr Williamson, if developing countries are willing to embrace reform and if it is matched by greater forgiveness of official debt. Officials such as Mr David Mulford of the US Treasury say the recent forgiveness of about half of Poland's official debt will not set a precedent for other debtors. Mr Williamson laughs. 'In the long run it will be impossible to isolate Poland,' he says. 'It is not so much more deserving than other countries.' But why was a Brady-type solution not launched much earlier? For most of the 1980s, the First World doggedly refused to consider debt forgiveness. The result of delay and compound interest is a total debt burden today of some Dollars 1,341bn compared with a relatively manageable Dollars 639bn in 1980. 'The bank failed to take a timely leadership position on the debt crisis,' concludes Mr Richard Feinberg, director of the Overseas Development Council in Washington. (The IMF was equally short-sighted.) As incoming president, Mr Preston must review the bank's strategies for promoting development. The main innovation of the 1980s was a switch from project lending to 'structural adjustment' lending. Making finance conditional on structural reforms was supposed to transform the economic performance of developing countries. But studies indicate the results have been fairly unimpressive. This is both because countries failed to abide by the loan conditions and because the bank's policies were sometimes misguided. Professor John Toye, director of the Institute for Development Studies at Sussex University, recently completed an exhaustive analysis of bank programmes. He concludes (as do internal bank analyses) that policy-based lending has 'achieved something, particularly in relation to the external account, but not nearly as much as the bank and donor community hoped'. On average programmes have reduced balance of payments gaps, had a negligible impact on Gross National Product and led to falls in the ratio of investment to GNP. Mr Feinberg calls the decline in investment the 'great shortcoming of structural adjustment lending in the 1980s'. (Investment to GNP ratios have fallen markedly in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.) He says the bank was naive to expect entrepreneurs to respond to the austerity of adjustment by increasing investment. How can the bank do better in the 1990s? One problem is that it has lost leverage over many Third World governments. The maturing of bank programmes and the failure to expand lending much in the 1980s has led to a marked shrinkage in its net transfers to developing countries.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "poverty alleviation;washington;world bank;third world;lewis preston;president;loan conditions"}
+{"name": "FT911-3463", "title": "Commodities and Agriculture: Botswana tries to loosen De Beers' grip - The world diamond cartel faces strong calls for change", "abstract": "NEGOTIATIONS FOR a new contract between Botswana, the world's most important diamond producer in value terms, and De Beers, the South African group which controls 80 per cent of the market for rough (uncut) diamonds, are taking much longer than expected. The previous three-year contract ended on December 31. Some Botswana politicians want to change De Beers' exclusive sales contract so that part of their country's output can be sold independently of the South African group's international cartel. This would give Botswana its own 'market window' to see what its diamonds are worth in the free market. De Beers is resisting any change. Mr Nicholas Oppenheimer, chairman of the group's Central Selling Organisation, argues that if Botswana chose not to sell its production exclusively through his organisation, the CSO's ability to regulate the distribution of rough diamonds would be compromised. He said: 'Because the major (diamond) producers freely consent to sell exclusively through one channel, the CSO is able to preserve an orderly market by matching rough diamond sales closely to consumer demand.' However, IDC (Holdings), a London-based group which claims to be the most experienced and substantial dealer in rough diamonds independent of the CSO, suggests the CSO's attitude 'is unreasonable and based on a conceptual argument with little substance in fact.' In presentations to Botswana's Minerals Policy Committee and members of parliament, IDC has been arguing that, not only was it commercially essential for Botswana to understand the real value of its diamond output, but that the country had a political responsibility to do so. 'Data accumulated independently of the CSO would put Botswana in a position to have more input into the arrangements for the sale of its diamonds,' IDC pointed out. 'On a political level this would enable the government to answer its critics or its electors with confidence and sure knowledge when questioned about arrangements for the disposal of the country's mineral assets.' If Botswana were to sell 10 per cent of its rough diamond production, worth about USDollars 100m, independently of the CSO - which sells about Dollars 4bn-worth a year from all over the world - it would represent no threat to market stability, IDC said. It claims analysts have estimated that 50 per cent of De Beers' diamond profits in 1989 came from Botswana. 'This profit is disproportionate to the sale of diamonds by Debswana (De Beers' subsidiary in Botswana) to the CSO as a percentage of the CSO's total sales profits,' IDC says. 'It is not unreasonable to reflect whether the fact that Botswana is the only major producer currently selling 100 per cent of its production to the CSO has any bearing on the substantial profits made by the CSO on the sale of its diamonds.' Other substantial producers such as the Soviet Union, Angola, Zaire and Australia do not sell all their production to the CSO and therefore have access to independent market information. IDC does have a vested interest. It already markets diamonds for producers in Guinea, Guyana, Brazil and the Central African Republic, and is offering to do some marketing for Botswana. It acknowledges that all sectors of the diamond trade welcomed the CSO's efforts to keep the diamond market stable. But 'the fact that the CSO forms part of an aggressive, profit-motivated public company with a primary responsibility to its shareholders is often lost from view.' De Beers says Botswana diamonds do not contribute half its diamond account profits - but it will not divulge the true figure. It suggests IDC's arguments are flawed because they are based on an assumption that Botswana needs more market information. However, in common with other producers selling diamonds to the CSO, Botswana has appointed independent valuers who continuously monitor diamond production and the prices paid. According to the CSO, these valuers are fully informed about market conditions and the prices received for Botswana stones. Mr Geoffrey Leggett at IDC suggests, however, the valuer only ensures that the assortment of diamonds from Botswana conforms to an agreed sample and that the agreed contract price is paid. 'He is not a trader, he does not know what the stones are worth in the market.' De Beers insists it remains on cordial terms with Botswana and says the country is still selling its diamonds through the CSO. It is not the first time that contract negotiations have gone on past the theoretical deadline. The Botswana government recently set up a diamond cutting centre with De Beers' technical help, and this, too, should further the country's understanding of the market. There has been a special relationship between the CSO and Botswana since 1987 when the country sold its diamond stockpile to De Beers in exchange for an estimated USDollars 250m and a 5.27 per cent shareholding in the South African group. Analysts suggest market conditions do not help Botswana press its case. De Beers, which itself mines about 40 per cent of the world's annual rough diamond output, markets stones from Angola, Australia, Namibia, Tanzania, Zaire and the Soviet Union, as well as South Africa and Botswana. Prices of rough diamonds, with few exceptions, have moved upwards every year since the 1930s depression. But now De Beers is steering the world's most successful cartel through depressed market conditions caused by the recession in the US (the biggest single market for diamonds), sogginess in Japan (the second-largest), and the Gulf war. To maintain price stability, the CSO is stockpiling diamonds at great expense, rather than releasing unwanted stones to the market. Its promotional budget has been lifted by 20 per cent to more than Dollars 1m a week - Dollars 53m for the year. In addition, Botswana this year faces its first budgetary deficit since 1982 and, according to De Beers' calculations, one of its diamond mines  - Orapa -needs investment of USDollars 600m. The CSO has also notched up some recent coups: bringing a big part of the Soviet Union's and Angola's rough diamond output back into the cartel - or what it calls its 'single channel marketing' - arrangements. However, the CSO is also currently involved in contract negotiations with Argyle Diamonds, the western Australian company which is the biggest individual diamond producer in volume (but only sixth in value) terms. Argyle, too, wants to stay with the CSO when its contract ends on May 1 - but on more favourable terms. A delegation from Botswana is to meet CSO representatives in London at the end of this month for another attempt to break the deadlock. The industry is betting that Botswana will give way, perhaps in return for De Beers helping to finance the Orapa mine investment. However, the 'market window' idea is unlikely to be dropped and will almost certainly be raised again when the next contract negotiations start.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "diamond trade;exclusive sales contract;rough diamond output;south african group;botswana politicians;botswana diamonds;central selling organisation;rough diamond sales;individual diamond producer;de beers;contract negotiations"}
+{"name": "FT911-5176", "title": "Letter: Don't encourage Third World defaults", "abstract": "Sir, Mr James Skinner (Letters, April 11) charges me with misuse of statistics and understanding the debt burden of poor countries. He cites Africa to support his contention. The statistics I used refer to Latin America, the principal thrust of the argument of the Bishop of Oxford, which focused largely on Brazil. The bulk of African debt is owed to official lenders under various aid agreements. The debts represent loans with a substantial grant element. The limiting case is the international development association loans, 50-year loans, unindexed for inflation, at zero interest. The debts of African countries have often been cancelled or rescheduled, frequently several times for the same country. To treat debt as necessarily burdensome also ignores the initial transfer of resources. This is like saying that banks, building societies, and governments issuing saving certificates are burdened when they pay interest. If the funds are used productively, debt service is not a burden in the critical sense that the debtors would be better off if they had not borrowed. I do not know what Mr Skinner has in mind in referring to institutions serving only western interests, and by clear implication inflict suffering on the poor. What I do know is that throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America the level of material achievement declines as we move away from the effect of western commerce. To harp on alleged external causes of Third World poverty diverts attention from the real factors behind this poverty which are domestic, and thereby from the possibilities of addressing these. These factors include, among others, government policies and extensive, often enforced, dependence on precarious subsistence production. It is pertinent also that the poorest are low among the priorities of the local rulers. State help for the poorest, especially the rural poor, conflicts with the political and personal interests of the rulers, and may not accord with local mores. Such considerations are reinforced by ubiquitous civil conflict. An Arab-dominated Sudanese government will not help the poorest blacks hundreds of miles away with whom it is in armed conflict; the Sinhalese government will not help the Tamil poor, nor will the government of Ethiopia the poor of Tigre. As I said in my letter, harping on alleged western causes of Third World poverty reflects and reinforces feelings of guilt, which is a self-centred sentiment. Encouraging Third World countries to default inhibits the inflow of productive commercial capital, which, together with the skills that went with it, over the last 150 years transformed life in many poor countries, notably in south-east Asia, west Africa and Latin America. Bauer House of Lords, Westminster SW1", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "african debt;third world poverty;debt burden;government policies;james skinner;real factors"}
+{"name": "FT921-305", "title": "Survey of Republic of Slovenia (2): EC-sponsored talks may help resolve problems - Debt: Relations with the former Yugoslav central bank must be settled", "abstract": "SLOVENIA'S economic prospects would improve significantly if it could settle its relations with the former National Bank of Yugoslavia (NBY), or central bank, establish new relations with foreign creditors as rapidly as possible, and join the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Relations with the NBY are complicated. Before Slovenia declared independence, any foreign exchange deposits which Slovene citizens deposited in banks in Slovenia were transferred to the NBY. These deposits amount to Dollars 1.2bn. In addition, Croatian citizens in neighbouring Croatia also deposited Dollars 465m into Slovene banks in Croatia. Since independence, these accounts have been frozen. Officials at the the Ljubljanska Bank, Slovenia's largest bank into which the majority of the foreign exchange accounts were originally deposited, are hoping that the the government of Slovenia will guarantee these debts and open up negotiations with the NBY for the eventual return of the deposits. Mr Marko Kranjec, vice-governor of the Bank of Slovenia, or central bank, reckons Slovenes will have to wait years before they can obtain their foreign exchange savings. He says much depends on the negotiations and political atmosphere between Ljubljana and Belgrade. Slovene officials are also anxious to start negotiations on the unallocated Yugoslav federal debt. The federal debt totals Dollars 14.6bn. Of this amount, Slovenia accepts that its allocated share of that debt is Dollars 1.8bn. 'We will not renege on repaying this debt,' said Mr Andrej Klemencic, adviser to Slovenia's Ministry of Finance. The debt-service ratio is about 40 per cent of Slovenia's GDP. Last year's GDP amounted to Dollars 13.5bn. Mr Jose Mencinger, a member of the board of Slovenia's central bank, said servicing that debt should not be a problem. 'Last year, our exports totalled Dollars 3.8bn. That is a decline of only 5 per cent compared to the year before. So, we are not in such a bad position with regard to servicing the debt,' he said. However, negotiating what share of the unallocated federal debt Slovenia should assume is already proving difficult. The unallocated federal debt - which consists of loans to the NBY, or the federal government which had not been specifically earmarked for projects in any of the six republics of the former Yugoslavia - amounts to Dollars 3.5bn. Slovene officials say they are committed to repaying its share of the unallocated federal debt. Mr Kranjec says that the Bank of Slovenia has already proposed negotiations on this issue, as well as trying to discuss the status of the NBY'S foreign exchange reserves, the clearing balances with the countries of the former CMEA socialist trading organisation, and operations of banks. 'This is going to take a long time to settle,' said Mr Kranjec. He and other Slovene economists now believe that the European Community-sponsored peace conference on Yugoslavia could play a role in negotiating issues related to the debt. Resolution of these issues, and recognition by the US of Slovenia, would speed the republic's admission to the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "foreign exchange deposits;foreign creditors;slovene banks;national bank of yugoslavia;yugoslavia;negotiations;independence;unallocated federal debt;slovene citizens;federal government"}
+{"name": "FT921-9310", "title": "Commodities and Agriculture: 'Mad cow' disease spreads to antelopes", "abstract": "THE CONDITION known in cattle as 'mad cow disease', spongiform encephalopathies, has been found in Britain's sparsely-scattered antelope population, the government has admitted. Three elands, three greater kudu and an arabian oryx have been diagnosed with the disease over the past three years. In all, six species other than cattle have been confirmed with the condition during this period. The statistics - released in response to a written question from Mr Ron Davies, a Labour agriculture spokesman - show a disconcertingly rapid increase in the number of sheep found to have the disease. A total of 894 cases of sheep encephalopathies or 'scrapie' were diagnosed in 1991, versus just 348 a year-earlier. However, the government states in a footnote to the table that the reporting of scrapie in sheep has been encouraged since 1991 'to obtain material for spongiform encephalopathy research'. Since 1989, the condition has also been confirmed in 23 cats and 29 goats. Mr David Maclean, junior agriculture minister, stressed that naturally occurring spongiform encephalopathies in species other than cattle were not notifiable diseases. He said there was 'insufficient epidemiological data' to 'draw firm conclusions' as to how the disease might have been contracted in cases other than scrapie. Scrapie, he said, was considered to be transmissible 'both maternally and horizontally'.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "mad cow disease;scrapie;sheep encephalopathies;antelope population;spongiform encephalopathies"}
+{"name": "FT922-10200", "title": "Violence in the US: Final blot on record of insensitive police chief", "abstract": "LOS ANGELES Police Chief Daryl Gates had been accused of nurturing one of the most brutal police forces in the country: now he is under attack for fuelling the violence and then standing by as it rolled across poor black neighbourhoods. Mr Gates acknowledged yesterday that his department had been overwhelmed by the scale of the violence. Police could only look on, outnumbered, as crowds looted shops, and moved in mostly to protect firefighters from attack. The controversial police chief was said to have argued on Wednesday, the first night of rioting, against sending in National Guard troops, and only to have bowed later to evidence that his police force was incapable of handling the violence. That the Los Angeles police department should have been overwhelmed by the riots may be understandable, but it represents one final blot on Mr Gates's reputation. In his 14 years of office, his critics say he has built a heavily politicised force in his own image: aggressive, insensitive and widely tinged with racism. Shortly after his appointment in 1978, Mr Gates told a Hispanic audience that Hispanic officers were not promoted because they were lazy, and he later suggested that the carotid choke hold - a police technique severely curbed in 1983 after police had killed 16 suspects with it - might be more dangerous for blacks because their arteries did not open up as fast as on 'normal people'. In March, Mr Gates strongly defended the detective who had led an investigation 17 years earlier into the killing of an off-duty Los Angeles police officer, although a judge had just released the two men wrongfully convicted, calling police conduct 'reprehensible' and urging an immediate investigation of the 'sordid record'. The detective involved now heads the unit which investigates shootings involving police officers. But the Los Angeles police chief has almost complete protection from removal under a 1937 statute that followed a series of political scandals, and Mr Gates has developed political clout on top of this job security. President George Bush last year called Mr Gates 'an exemplary police chief,' although at the time he called the conduct of the four Los Angeles officers -whose acquittal this week over the beating of a black motorist triggered this week's protests and violence - 'sickening' and 'outrageous'. A high-ranking commission appointed after the beating, under the chairmanship of Mr Warren Christopher, a lawyer and former deputy secretary of state, concluded that the Los Angeles police department got results, in terms of arrests, but had developed a 'siege mentality that alienates the officer from the community'. Besides recommending that Mr Gates should go, the Christopher commission urged a policy of community policing with more foot patrols, as well as measures to discipline racist police officers and to improve the investigation of complaints about police brutality. The commission found that a significant minority of the Los Angeles police force 'repetitively misuse force' without being properly disciplined. Six months after its initial report, however, the commission noted that of the 44 officers identified as the object of six or more brutality complaints, two had been fired, three had resigned and 11 removed from field duty. Mr Gates has finally agreed to step down in June. His replacement, Mr Willie Williams, will be the first black head of the Los Angeles force. Mr Williams faces an uphill struggle, but he has drawn widespread praise as Philadelphia's police commissioner since 1988 for mending fences between the police and the community - notably through the use of the foot patrol methods recommended by the Christopher commission.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "resignation;investigation;daryl gates;violence;brutality complaints;brutal police forces;police brutality"}
+{"name": "FT922-3171", "title": "World Trade News: US political sands shift under Nafta - Prospects for the free trade deal are no longer so certain", "abstract": "JUST weeks ago, the prospects for the North American free trade agreement seemed assured. The proposed pact between the US, Canada and Mexico had the support of the Republican establishment, of Governor Bill Clinton, the prospective Democratic nominee, of the powerful Texas Democrats on Capitol Hill and most of the Democratic leadership in Congress. But the outpouring of public disaffection for 'politics as usual' has pushed to the forefront of many polls in the US election campaign Mr Ross Perot, the Texas billionaire. His campaign for the presidency is stressing jobs, and he has said a Nafta pact would send jobs to Mexico. The White House has taken its own polls and remains convinced that President Bush's support for Nafta is a winning issue. Although many working class Hispanic Americans believe Nafta would cost jobs, the Latino business organisations cautiously support the pact. Under the tightly constrained fast-track procedure - which forces Congress to vote on a trade pact without amendment - it is too late to get Nafta approved by Congress this year. Between retirements and election defeats, one-quarter to a one-third of the House could change, and no one can foresee the prevailing sentiment on trade issues. The president is expected to stage a high profile initialing of the agreement at the most politically opportune time. Politically sophisticated trade lobbyists, like Mr Harry Freeman, executive director of the MTN Coalition, believes the Democrats will use Nafta as a weapon against the president, arguing that he wants to divert jobs to Mexico. A centrepiece of the opposition will be a letter from the president to the Congress in May 1991, in which he committed himself to action on environmental issues, labour rights and worker adjustment assistance. 'Whatever the administration sends to Capitol Hill with Nafta, or if they don't send a complete package in these three areas, the Congressional Democrats will seize upon the deficiency - real or alleged, it doesn't matter,' said Mr Freeman. Governor Clinton is also likely to deem the pact the 'wrong kind of Nafta'. The environment/farm/ labour coalition opposed to the Nafta has prepared its ground well in the House. It now has 200 signatories to a resolution, introduced by Congressman Henry Waxman and majority leader Richard Gephardt, which warns that they will not support a Nafta that does not have strong environment or food safety provisions. Fifty-seven of the 200 signatories voted for the president's fast-track authority and now may be moving over on the issue. 'There are millions more people who 'get' the Nafta now,' said Ms Lori Wallach of Ralph Nader's Public Citizen. 'They have been contacted by their local churches, labour unions, farm groups, environmental or consumer organisations. There is a new awareness of its costs and that has come back to their representatives in Washington.' In the Senate, Nafta is threatened by a resolution introduced by Senator Don Riegle, which would permit Congress to amend the agreement in five areas. 'If the Riegle resolution gets through,' said one business lobbyist, 'we might as well kiss Nafta goodbye.'", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "republican establishment;free trade agreement;us election campaign;congressional democrats;north american;labor coalition;food safety provisions;hispanic americans;public disaffection;president bush;environmental issues;nafta pact;governor bill clinton;mr ross perot"}
+{"name": "FT922-6646", "title": "World Trade News: Slovenia looks to Community for new markets", "abstract": "THE war in the former republics of Yugoslavia is forcing Slovene enterprises to find alternative trading partners among European Community countries as a means of compensating for lost markets in the region. However, Slovene officials warn that capital inflows will not increase unless Slovenia re-establishes trade links with its southern neighbours. Until 1990, over 30 per cent of Slovenia's exports were with the former Yugoslavia, while about 70 per cent were divided between Comecon, the now defunct socialist trading block, and western European countries. But following an embargo by Serbia on Slovene imports in 1990, and ensuing war in neighbouring Croatia last year, Slovene exports to the former Yugoslavia have fallen to 15 per cent of that previously. The loss of markets in the former Yugoslavia, and the war, has led to a sharp drop in industrial production, which last year fell by 15 per cent, and will fall a further 12 per cent this year. Unemployment has risen to 101,000, up from 9 per cent to 11 per cent of the labour force. However, inflation is falling thanks to a strong monetary policy implemented by Slovenia's central bank. Inflation was running at 25 per cent a month last October, but by April it had fallen to 5 per cent. Mr Feri Horvath, head of Slovenia's Chamber of Commerce, said Slovenia, which declared its independence last June, must seek new markets because the republic is too small to be able to attract large amounts of foreign investment to foster growth. Renault, French car manufacturer, which assembles cars in Slovenia, and Siemens, German-based mechanical and electrical goods maker, which has a joint venture with Iskra, Slovenia's electronic and telecommunications manufacturer, have used Slovenia as a base for exporting to other parts of Yugoslavia, as well as to western Europe. 'We have recently signed bilateral trade agreements with Croatia and Macedonia,' said Mr Horvath. 'We want to normalise relations with the other republics,' he added. In the meantime, Slovene enterprises, particularly those in the furniture, electronics, paper, and white goods sector, are exporting to European Community countries. Exports for the first quarter amounted to Dollars 941m (Pounds 513m), and imports totalled Dollars 752m. Last year, total exports of goods reached Dollars 3.9bn, and imports, Dollars 4.1bn. 'Our enterprises are beginning to find new markets,' said Mr Horvath, adding that Germany, Italy, France and Austria are now Slovenia's main trading partners. Mrs Vojka Ravbar, Slovenia's deputy foreign minister, who earlier this week headed a trade delegation to the UK, said enterprises will have to become even more competitive after privatisation. Parliament is now discussing a privatisation bill.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "european community countries;former yugoslavia;foreign investment;trade links;slovene exports;capital inflows;independence;slovenia;slovene officials;slovene enterprises"}
+{"name": "FT922-8860", "title": "World Bank links loan volume to poverty relief", "abstract": "THE World Bank will link loan volume to the strength of a country's efforts to fight poverty, according to an operational directive to staff issued today by Mr Lewis Preston, the bank's president. The link between loans and poverty relief forms part of a new drive to make poverty alleviation the bank's central mission in the 1990s. The shift in priorities is also reflected in a commitment to make comprehensive assessments of the nature and extent of poverty in the third world, allowing the bank to design more effective policies to fight poverty. In the directive, Mr Preston says poverty reduction is 'the benchmark by which our performance as a development institution will be measured'. He adds that the new instructions to staff are intended to 'ensure that these policies are fully reflected in the bank's operations'. The bank is also publishing a handbook containing examples of past best practice on poverty reduction. The bank says poverty assessments should be available for most developing countries within two years. These would form the basis for a 'collaborative approach to poverty reduction by country officials and the bank'. The directive signals an attempt to impose a form of 'social conditionality' on borrowing countries. 'Stronger government commitment to poverty reduction warrants greater support; conversely, weaker commitment to poverty reduction warrants less support,' it says. Mr Preston's emphasis on poverty is a reaction to bank policies in the 1980s, when the aim was to improve economic efficiency in developing countries. The new directive says structural adjustment lending in the past decade 'overshadowed the bank's poverty reduction objectives'. The bank is also reacting to new evidence suggesting that the number of poor in developing countries will rise during the 1990s, rather than stabilise as had been expected. Poverty his judge, Page 34", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "poverty alleviation;world bank;poverty reduction objectives;third world;bank policies;poverty assessments;loan volume;poverty relief"}
+{"name": "FT923-5089", "title": "Bush calls on power to dispense largesse: Hurricane's aid to the president", "abstract": "THERE are growing signs that Hurricane Andrew, unwelcome as it was for the devastated inhabitants of Florida and Louisiana, may in the end do no harm to the re-election campaign of President George Bush. After a faltering and heavily criticised initial response to the disaster, both the president and his administration seem finally to be getting assistance to those rendered homeless and to businesses and farms that have been destroyed. In the process, Mr Bush has been able to call on the power of incumbency, the one asset denied his presidential rival, Mr Bill Clinton, who is to visit Florida today. This was brought home graphically by the president's announcement that Homestead Air Force base in Florida - a major local employer virtually destroyed by Andrew  - would be rebuilt. His poignant and brief address to the nation on Tuesday night, committing the government to pay the emergency relief costs and calling on Americans to contribute to the American Red Cross, also struck the right sort of note. It was only his tenth such televised speech from the Oval Office, itself a testimony to the gravity of the situation. As if to underline the political benefit to the president, a Harris poll conducted from August 26 to September 1 yesterday showed Mr Bush with 45 per cent support - behind Mr Clinton by just five points - reflecting a closer race than other recent surveys. With Mr Bush constantly in the headlines, Mr Clinton has been left on the sidelines, able to do little more than offer sympathy and sotto voce criticism of the president's initial stumbling. First responses were certainly found wanting, specifically in the performance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) set up by President Carter in 1979 to handle disasters such as Andrew. FEMA has, under the Republicans, become the ultimate patronage backwater, with, according to one congressional study, ten times as many political appointees as the typical arm of government. Its current head, Mr Wallace Stickney, is a New Hampshire political associate of Mr John Sununu, the former state governor and White House chief of staff. Contrary to its brief, but confirming a prescient recent report by a House committee that Mr Stickney was 'uninterested in substantive programmes', FEMA was caught completely unprepared by Andrew, resulting in unseemly disputes between state and federal authorities over who did what in bringing relief. However, the arrival in Florida of the military and the assignment of special responsibilities to Mr Andrew Card, the young and telegenic transportation secretary, is making a difference. Also increasingly evident is the hand of Mr James Baker, now ensconced at the White House. It was Mr Baker who reshuffled the president's campaign schedule to make room for visits to the devastated areas and who pushed for a bigger role for the previously obscure Mr Card. It is also Mr Baker who is making the most of presidential powers to dispense largesse. Yesterday, Mr Bush flew to South Dakota to tell farmers of an expansion of the subsidised grains exports programme and then to the General Dynamics factory in Texas to announce an F-16 fighter sale to Taiwan. Both are, of course, intensely political actions. Both involve federal subsidies, as does relief for Andrew, that run counter to Mr Bush's commitment to reduce the budget deficit. But both may be presented by a president as being in the national interest because they guarantee employment, which is what the election is largely about. US insurers expect to pay out around Dollars 500m in claims as a result of damage caused by Hurricane Andrew in Louisiana, the American Insurance Services Group said yesterday, Nikki Tait reports. This takes the insurance bill from the storm to around Dollars 8bn, making it the costliest disaster to hit the US.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "florida;president george bush;disaster;election campaign;hurricane andrew;emergency relief;louisiana"}
+{"name": "FT923-5267", "title": "Hurricane insurers expect record claims", "abstract": "US INSURERS expect to pay out an estimated Dollars 7.3bn (Pounds 3.7bn) in Florida as a result of Hurricane Andrew - by far the costliest disaster the industry has ever faced. The figure is the first official tally of the damage resulting from the hurricane, which ripped through southern Florida last week. In the battered region it is estimated that 275,000 people still have no electricity and at least 150,000 are either homeless or are living amid ruins. President George Bush yesterday made his second visit to the region since the hurricane hit. He pledged the government would see through the clean-up 'until the job is done'. Although there had already been some preliminary guesses at the level of insurance claims, yesterday's figure comes from the Property Claims Services division of the American Insurance Services Group, the property-casualty insurers' trade association. It follows an extensive survey of the area by the big insurance companies. Mr Gary Kerney, director of catastrophe services at the PCS, said the industry was expecting about 685,000 claims in Florida alone. It is reckoned the bulk of the damage - over Dollars 6bn in insured claims - is in Dade County, a rural region to the south of Miami. However, the final cost of Hurricane Andrew will be higher still. Yesterday's estimate does not include any projection for claims in Louisiana, which was also affected by the storm, although less severely than Florida. An estimate of the insured losses in this second state will be released later this week. But on the Florida losses alone, Hurricane Andrew becomes the most costly insured catastrophe in the US. Hurricane Hugo, which hit the east coast in September 1989, cost the insurance industry about Dollars 4.2bn. The Oakland fire disaster, in California last year, cost Dollars 1.2bn. By contrast, insurance claims resulting from the Los Angeles riots earlier this year - the most expensive civil disturbance in the US - totalled just Dollars 775m. Hurricane Andrew leaves the US property-casualty insurers facing their worst-ever year for catastrophe losses. The LA riots and a series of tornadoes, wind and hailstorms in states such as Kansas, Oklahoma and Iowa had already produced insured losses of Dollars 3.9bn. With Florida's Hurricane Andrew losses added in, the total rises to Dollars 11.2bn. This easily exceeds the record Dollars 7.6bn of catastrophe losses seen in 1989, when the industry paid out on both Hurricane Hugo and the Loma Prieta earthquake in California. Wall Street, however, has reacted calmly to the record losses expected, and insurers' shares - although lower initially - have been firming recently. The property-casualty industry is thought to have adequate reserves to cover the disaster.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "property-casualty industry;insured losses;property claims;florida losses;hurricane andrew;insurance claims;insurance industry"}
+{"name": "FT923-5797", "title": "Cleaning up after Andrew", "abstract": "SQUADS of workers fanned out across storm-battered Louisiana yesterday to begin a massive rebuilding effort after Hurricane Andrew had flattened whole districts, killing two people and injuring dozens more, agencies report from Florida and New Orleans. However, local officials in Florida, hit earlier in the week by the hurricane, were critical of what they called a delay in supplying food, drinking water and other supplies for thousands of people in need. Federal emergency officials acknowledged distribution problems, Transportation Secretary Andrew Card yesterday promised 'dramatic' improvements within 24 hours and President George Bush last night ordered troops to Florida, without specifying a number. The government estimated it would cost Dollars 20bn-Dollars 30bn to tidy and rebuild in Florida, and to care for residents displaced by the storm. Louisiana state officials said they had no overall count of storm-related injuries but initial estimates reckoned fewer than 100. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was setting aside Dollars 77m to help Louisiana recover. Most of the storm's fury was spent against sparsely populated farming communities and swampland in the state, sparing it the widespread destruction caused in Florida, where 15 people died. Official estimates in Miami reported that the hurricane had wiped out the homes of one Dade County resident in eight - a quarter of a million people. Andrew had become little more than a strong rainstorm early yesterday, moving across Mississippi state and heading for the north-eastern US. Several of Louisiana's main industries were affected, including those of oysters and alligators. Wildlife and fisheries secretary Joe Herring estimated a 50 per cent decline in the alligator industry. The cotton and sugar-cane crops were threatened, the state agriculture department said. Most Louisiana oil refineries, however, were barely affected and deliveries of crude oil were expected to resume yesterday.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "florida;federal emergency;storm-related injuries;hurricane andrew;widespread destruction;louisiana;massive rebuilding effort"}
+{"name": "FT923-5835", "title": "UK Company News: GA says hurricane claims could reach 'up to Dollars 40m'", "abstract": "GENERAL ACCIDENT, the leading British insurer, said yesterday that insurance claims arising from Hurricane Andrew could 'cost it as much as Dollars 40m.' Lord Airlie, the chairman who was addressing an extraordinary shareholders' meeting, said: 'On the basis of emerging information, General Accident advise that the losses to their US operations arising from Hurricane Andrew, which struck Florida and Louisiana, might in total reach the level at which external catastrophe reinsurance covers would become exposed'. What this means is that GA is able to pass on its losses to external reinsurers once a certain claims threshold has been breached. It believes this threshold may be breached in respect of Hurricane Andrew claims. However, if this happens, it would suffer a post-tax loss of Dollars 40m (Pounds 20m). Mr Nelson Robertson, GA's chief general manager, explained later that the company has a  1/2 per cent share of the Florida market. It has a branch in Orlando. The company's loss adjusters are in the area trying to estimate the losses. Their guess is that losses to be faced by all insurers may total more than Dollars 8bn. Not all damaged property in the area is insured and there have been estimates that the storm caused more than Dollars 20bn of damage. However, other insurers have estimated that losses could be as low as Dollars 1bn in total. Mr Robertson said: 'No one knows at this time what the exact loss is'.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "losses;hurricane andrew;insurer;insurance claims"}
+{"name": "FT923-5859", "title": "Commodities and Agriculture: Oppenheimer to visit Moscow as diamond shake-up looms", "abstract": "MR HARRY Oppenheimer, whose family effectively controls the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa and De Beers, is to visit Russia next week at a time when the republic is considering a big shake-up in its diamond industry. His visit also comes at a time when the beleaguered diamond industry is rife with rumours about unofficial exports from Russia contributing to the present market turmoil which might force De Beers to cut its dividend payment this year. Some industry observers suggest that the presence in Russia of Mr Oppenheimer, who will be 84 in October, will be timely. 'It appears to be another sign that the former De Beers' chairman is taking a more active role in guiding the company through its current difficulties,' says the Diamantaire newsletter today. De Beers said yesterday that the visit by Mr Oppenheimer, accompanied by his son Nicholas, was a private one originally arranged for August last year but postponed because of the coup d'etat in the former Soviet Union. However, it admitted that Mr Oppenheimer would be meeting senior officials from the Russian diamond industry during his stay because he would be going to some of the big mines in Siberia and would be present when De Beers held the formal opening of its Moscow office on September 8. De Beers' London-based Central Selling Organisation, which controls about 80 per cent of world trade in rough (uncut) diamonds, in 1990 signed a Dollars 5bn, five-year sales contract with the former Soviet Union and at the same time advanced a loan of Dollars 1bn. Diamond stocks were moved from Moscow to London as collateral for the loan. After the break-up of the Soviet Union the contract was continued with Rosalmazzoloto, the Russian gold and diamond organisation, and an exclusive sales agreement was later signed with Yukutia, the area in eastern Siberia where most Russian diamonds are mined and which is now an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation. A CSO spokesman said yesterday: 'The Russian contract is working. Everything is normal.' Diamantaire points out that the Russian parliament is to consider next month a plan to set up a state diamond centre under the control of the finance ministry and Komdragmet, formerly know as Gokhran, the Moscow depository of diamonds. Reports suggest that the diamond centre would have exclusive rights to buy all rough diamonds mined in the Russian Federation and it would also have a monopoly of sorting gem diamonds. These proposals are being opposed by the Yakut government, which is backing a joint-stock company, Almazy Rossli (Diamonds of Russia), being set up with Mr Valery Rudakov, formerly in charge of Rosalmazzoloto, at its head. Rosalmazzoloto is to be broken up. Almazy Rossli proposes to bring all the diamond industry's operations under one roof, says Diamantaire. Observers expect Mr Oppenheimer to bring his formidable negotiating skills to bear to ensure that De Beers grip on the diamond market is in no way weakened by any changes in Russia. Meanwhile, the newsletter, which is available only to subscribers to Diamond International magazine, also says that reports in Antwerp suggest that two of the Belgian diamond trading organisations with which the CSO has a special relationship have been punished by temporarily being excluded from the CSO's 'sights' or diamond sales. The CSO invites only about 160 privileged merchants to its ten 'sights' a year in London, Lucerne and Kimberley. Diamantaire says that one of the Belgian organisations has had dealings with Russia for more than 20 years. Diamond International and Diamantaire, from CRU Publishing, 31 Mount Pleasant, London WC1X 0AD, UK.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "state diamond centre;harry oppenheimer;russian federation;unofficial exports;yakut government;beleaguered diamond industry;london-based central selling organisation;rough diamonds;exclusive sales agreement;russian diamond industry;russian diamonds;de beers;south africa"}
+{"name": "FT923-6038", "title": "Hurricane batters southern US but lets insurers off lightly", "abstract": "HURRICANE Andrew, claimed to be the costliest natural disaster in US history, yesterday smashed its way through the state of Louisiana, inflicting severe damage on rural communities but narrowly missing the low-lying city of New Orleans. The storm, which brought havoc to southern Florida on Monday and then headed north-west across the Gulf of Mexico, had made landfall late on Tuesday night some 60 miles south-west of the city in the agricultural Cajun country. Although the damage from the hurricane's landfall in Florida on Monday was much greater than initially esti mated, insurers' losses there are likely to total less than Dollars 1bn, well below earlier expectations, a senior member of Lloyd's insurance market said yesterday. In Louisiana, the hurricane landed with wind speeds of about 120 miles per hour and caused severe damage in small coastal centres such as Morgan City, Franklin and New Iberia. Associated tornadoes devastated Laplace, 20 miles west of New Orleans. Then, however, Andrew lost force as it moved north over land. By yesterday afternoon, it had been down-graded to tropical storm, in that its sustained windspeeds were below 75 mph. Initial reports said at least one person had died, 75 been injured and thousands made homeless along the Louisiana coast, after 14 confirmed deaths in Florida and three in the Bahamas. The storm caused little damage to Louisiana's important oil-refining industry, although some plants had to halt production when electricity was cut. The Lloyd's member, in close contact with leading insurers in Florida, said that damage to insured property was remarkably small. More than Dollars 15bn of damage may have been caused in all, but was mostly to uninsured property, he said. In north Miami, damage is minimal. Worst affected is one hotel, whose basement was flooded. Most of the destruction occurred in a 10-mile band across Homestead, 25 miles to the south of Miami, where a typical house sells for Dollars 100,000 to Dollars 150,000. US insurers will face a bill in respect of such properties, but Lloyd's exposure there is minimal. Many destroyed power lines are thought to be uninsured, as are trees and shrubs uprooted across a wide area. Only one big hotel in that area has been badly damaged, a Holiday Inn. Across Florida, some 2m people remained without electric ity yesterday and health officials were warning the public to boil or chemically treat all water. Hurricane Hugo, which devastated much of South Carolina in 1989, cost the insurance industry some Dollars 4.2bn. Further uninsured losses may have raised the total to Dollars 6bn-Dollars 10bn.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "tropical storm;new orleans;uninsured losses;hurricane andrew;louisiana;landfall;severe damage"}
+{"name": "FT923-6110", "title": "Hurricane damage put at Dollars 20bn as 2m people told to leave homes", "abstract": "DAMAGE CAUSED by Hurricane Andrew could rise to Dollars 20bn, it was estimated yesterday, as one of the costliest US storms this century threatened a further devastating landfall near the city of New Orleans. Government officials in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas yesterday advised or ordered more than 2m people to evacuate coastal areas. The hurricane tore through southern Florida early on Monday morning, causing billions of dollars of property damage and at least 12 deaths, and yesterday was moving north-west across the Gulf of Mexico with winds of about 140 miles an hour. At least three people died on Sunday when Hurricane Andrew crossed the Bahamas. Ms Kate Hale, director of emergency services in Florida's Dade County, which bore the brunt of the storm, estimated that Andrew had already caused Dollars 15bn to Dollars 20bn (Pounds 7.5bn-Pounds 10bn) of damage. However, insurance industry analysts cautioned that it was too early to assess the costs accurately. The US industry's Property Claims Service, the official compiler of disaster losses, had yet to compile a preliminary tally of the Florida bill. A hurricane warning was in effect yesterday along 470 miles of Gulf coast from Pascagoula, Mississippi, to Galvestone, Texas. Several forecasting agencies suggested the likeliest landfall was in central Louisiana, to the west of New Orleans, possibly late last night or this morning. New Orleans, with a population of 1.6m, is particularly vulnerable because the city lies below sea level, has the Mississippi River running through its centre and a large lake immediately to the north. Much of America's oil refining industry is concentrated along coastal Texas and Louisiana and several refineries were yesterday partially shut down. These included British Petroleum's Belle Chasse plant in Louisiana. In Florida, Andrew caused greatest havoc in a largely suburban swathe some 10-15 miles south of Miami. The town of Homestead, near the centre of the storm, was largely flattened, including a local air force base. Miami's city centre escaped with relatively light damage. More than 24 hours after the hurricane, some 825,000 households and businesses were still without power. The brunt of insurance claims from the Florida storm will fall on the US industry, and companies with a heavy local exposure include the State Farm Group and the Allstate Insurance unit of Sears Roebuck. These are also the leading property/casualty and home insurance groups in Louisiana, together with American International Group. A spokesman for State Farm Insurance said he believed the company had roughly 20 per cent of the Florida market. The mutually-owned company has no reinsurance. Its size has made obtaining reinsurance cover difficult and its reserves, at about Dollars 24bn, have made it unnecessary. According to Balcombe Group, a UK-based claims adjustment firm, other insurers with large exposure in the hurricane-hit area are Hartford Insurance, Aetna and Travellers. Travellers said it had flown 50 claims adjusters in to Florida late on Monday and was assessing losses. About 12 per cent of Travellers' home insurance premium income came from Florida last year, and 4.6 per cent of its commercial insurance premiums. The last serious US hurricane, Hugo, which struck South Carolina in 1989, cost the industry Dollars 4.2bn from insured losses, though estimates of the total damage caused ranged between Dollars 6bn and Dollars 10bn.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "new orleans;disaster losses;property damage;hurricane andrew;emergency services;insurance claims"}
+{"name": "FT923-6455", "title": "US insurers face heaviest hurricane damage claims", "abstract": "US CITIES along the Gulf of Mexico from Alabama to eastern Texas were on storm watch last night as Hurricane Andrew headed west after sweeping across southern Florida, causing at least eight deaths and severe property damage. The hurricane was one of the fiercest in the US in decades and the first to hit Miami directly in a quarter of a century. In the Bahamas, government spokesman Mr Jimmy Curry said four deaths had been reported on outlying eastern islands. Mr Justin Balcombe, of UK-based insurance adjuster Balcombe Group, said total losses could exceed Dollars 15bn if business interruption claims were taken into account. That compares with the Dollars 4bn-Dollars 6n (Pounds 2.1bn-Pounds 3.1bn) of insurance industry losses caused by the last big US hurricane, Hugo, which hit South Carolina in 1989. The brunt of the losses are likely to be concentrated among US insurers, industry analysts said yesterday. Mr George Lloyd-Roberts, chairman of Lloyd's Underwriters' Non-Marine Association, said that, unless damage claims exceeded Pounds 3bn, the Lloyd's insurance market would feel little impact. Because the reinsurance of reinsurance risk  - known as the retrocession market  - has shrunk considerably in recent years, US insurers have placed far fewer of their risks through Lloyd's. Mr Roger Hill, insurance analyst at Warburg Securities, said he estimated that mainline UK insurers faced no more than Pounds 75m in damage claims so far. 'At the moment we are relaxed about it,' he said. The real question, he added, is the level of reinsurance available to the UK underwriters. Royal Insurance estimated the company's losses at no more than Pounds 20m. Among other UK insurers, Mr Hill estimated that General Accident may face losses of up to Pounds 30m, while Guardian Royal Exchange faced Pounds 5m and Sun Alliance and Commercial Union Pounds 10m each. However, Hurricane Andrew gathered fresh strength as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico and there was concern last night that it might head towards New Orleans, which is especially low lying and could suffer severe flood damage. Scientists said the storm could make landfall anywhere between the Alabama port of Mobile and the Louisiana-Texas border, probably tomorrow night or early Thursday. It could threaten the large concentration of offshore oil production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Shell Oil was evacuating most of the 900 workers on its offshore platforms as a precaution. A substantial part of America's oil refining industry is concentrated on the Gulf coast, in Louisiana and Texas, and officials there were reviewing emergency plans to curtail or shut down plant operations. Andrew, the first Caribbean hurricane of the season, hit the eastern coast of Florida early yesterday, gusting up to 165mph. It ripped roofs off houses, smashed cars and trucks, snapped power lines and uprooted trees before heading out over the Gulf. A million people had been ordered to flee their homes in southern Florida as the hurricane moved in from the Bahamas on Sunday. The Florida Power and Light company said that about 1.2m of its customers, or 32 per cent, were without power. Some of the strongest winds were in the affluent suburb of Coral Gables, just south of Miami, where the National Hurricane Center is located. Its radar and satellite antennae were blown away. President Bush authorised federal disaster assistance for the affected areas and made plans for an inspection tour of the state. Picture, Page 14", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "southern florida;florida;new orleans;hurricane andrew;severe property damage;damage claims;insurance industry losses"}
+{"name": "FT923-7126", "title": "Commodities and Agriculture: Prospectors go for grand slam in diamonds - The latest rush is raising doubts about De Beers' cartel", "abstract": "IT IS ironic that there is an unprecedented, greedy rush for diamonds by miners in Angola and Canada precisely at a time when the diamond business is in turmoil and questions are inevitably being asked about the ability of the world's most successful cartel to keep its tight grip on the market. In Canada's Northwest Territories, the discovery of 81 small diamonds, some of gem quality, has sparked the biggest rush to stake mining claims in the history of the North American industry. Stakers are using helicopters because each claim area is so large and prospectors have claimed every piece of land within 300 km (185 miles) of the discovery. In spite of all this hectic activity, it is very unlikely that anyone will find enough big diamonds to make the development of Canada's first diamond mine worthwhile. The odds in favour of making a fortune are much better for the diamond hunters in Angola. More than Dollars 1m-worth of gem diamonds a day are being smuggled out of that country for sale in Antwerp. An estimated 50,000 private-enterprise diggers are at work already and their numbers are being swelled by 500 a day. This rise of illegal mining, particularly in the Cuango region, which produces 80 per cent of Angola's diamonds and some of its highest-quality gem stones, started in May, 1991, after the peace accord which allowed freedom of movement for the first time in 16 years. As well as experienced miners, many soldiers who could not find civilian jobs have made their way to the diamond areas. The onset of the dry season and the fall in river levels from the end of May this year has encouraged what De Beers, the South African group that dominates the world diamond business, describes as 'a sudden and unprecedented explosion in the supply of illicit Angolan diamonds reaching the market'. Even though there are so many diggers at work, questions are being asked about whether there might be more to this 'explosion.' Did Unita, Angola's rebel movement, build up a stockpile which is now being released? Is Endiama, Angola's state-owned diamond company, implicated in some way? In the murky world of diamond dealing such rumours abound. De Beers probably knows the answers because its intelligence network is remarkable. What is also remarkable is that all those scrambling for diamonds in Angola or dropping out of the skies to stake expensive claims in Canada take it for granted that the diamond cartel will be able to continue to keep prices up and make all their efforts worthwhile. The cartel has survived partly because nobody needs diamonds. They are composed of very hard carbon so they can be useful for drilling holes in tough material, but there are substitutes for this use. Gem diamonds are solely for decoration and serve no useful purpose. But the cartel has ensured that rough (uncut) diamond prices have risen steadily since the 1930s - even when in the depths of the 1981-86 recession the price of a top-quality, one carat gem diamond slumped in the retail market from Dollars 60,000 to Dollars 10,000. The cartel is organised by De Beers' London-based Central Selling Organisation, which markets about 80 per cent of the world's rough diamonds. Apart from De Beers' own production from Namibia and South Africa, the CSO handles rough gem diamonds from Angola, Australia, Botswana, Russia, Tanzania and Zaire. The CSO has been mopping up as many of the smuggled Angolan diamonds as possible to stop havoc being created in a business already suffering severely from soggy demand in the US and Japan, the two biggest markets, which share about two-thirds of demand between them. De Beers says that, because times are tough. it will probably have to cut its annual dividend payment for the first time since 1981. It has also told the producers to cut deliveries by 25 per cent - something the CSO contracts permit at times of stress. De Beers releases a controlled stream of rough diamonds to the market through 'sights' offered by the CSO ten times a year to about 160 selected buyers. They are offered boxes of diamonds, each worth between Dollars 500,000 and Dollars 25m. The contents are judged by the CSO to balance the requirements of the buyers with market demand. Buyers have either to accept all the diamonds or reject the box. Mr Harry Oppenheimer, whose family effectively controls both De Beers and its sister group, the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa, was defending the cartel again last week at the formal opening of the R1.1bn Venetia diamond mine in the Transvaal. 'The CSO does not, and could not, run a monopolistic system,' he said. 'In bad times like this, I sometimes wish that we could. The fact is that the level of world diamond production, which is carried on in many countries, cannot be controlled. Diamond prices cannot be fixed artificially but have to be set at a level which allows production and consumption to be equated. 'What the CSO for many years has done successfully, is to operate a buffer pool, stocking diamonds in bad times and liquidating its stocks when demand is in excess of the level of supply. In this way it has been able to preserve an essential degree of stability in the price of this ultimate luxury of gem diamonds, to the common advantage of producers, processors and consumers of this unique natural product.' All very altruistic. But De Beers makes huge profits from its diamond business - a record Dollars 1.24bn in 1990 and more than Dollars 1bn last year. The cartel nearly lost control of the market in the early 1980s. It was a time of galloping inflation, a weak dollar and low interest rates. Merchants, particularly in Israel, stockpiled diamonds on borrowed money as a hedge against inflation and when recession hit they had to dump diamonds faster than the Central Selling Organisation could mop them up. The CSO's diamond stocks, worth under Dollars 1bn in 1980 rose to Dollars 1.9bn by 1984. Hundreds of diamond investment trusts and traders were bankrupted at that time and Australia and Zaire challenged De Beers' near-monopoly. De Beers has taken good care that merchant stocks have never again been built for speculative reasons, frequently going to the banks, the potential financiers of stockpiling operations, to 'educate' them about the way the diamond market works. After the bust came boom.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "diamond prices;world diamond business;diamond market;london-based central selling organisation;diamond sales;first diamond mine;canada;diamond hunters;diamond cartel;rough diamond production;greedy rush"}
+{"name": "FT931-11394", "title": "Clinton promises welfare task-force", "abstract": "PRESIDENT Bill Clinton yesterday promised to name a task-force within the next 10 days to reform the US social safety net of welfare programmes. He told the National Governors' Association that he was committed to 'ending welfare as we know it' with measures to finance expanded job training for the unemployed, matched by a requirement that people must do some kind of work for their welfare cheque. The president said he would focus on better implementation of the Family Support Act, a 1988 welfare reform based on the work of an NGA task-force which he, as governor of Arkansas, co-chaired. 'The bill that is on the books will work, given the right economy and the right support systems,' Mr Clinton said. Advocates of welfare reform had been discouraged about the new administration's intentions, fearing that the centrist Democratic emphasis on requiring welfare recipients to work or enroll for training might fall prey to left-wing advocacy groups concentrating on greater funding of existing programmes. These suspicions were enhanced when Ms Donna Shalala, new secretary of health and human services, last month devoted only one sentence to welfare reform in a five-page statement of goals. With the onset of the recession, state revenues have been constrained while the number of welfare recipients has grown by 30 per cent. As a result, few states have been able to implement in full the act's requirement that welfare recipients take part in some form of education or training. Mr Clinton promised yesterday his reforms would be based on the principle that 'welfare should be a second chance, not a way of life'. There must be 'a certain time beyond which people don't draw a cheque for doing nothing,' he said. But at the same time people must be helped out of the welfare trap by providing them with continued health coverage, child care, and expanded earned income tax credits when they took jobs. Many states have already embarked on far-reaching welfare reform programmes, such as Michigan's 21-point plan to strengthen families or New Jersey's family development programme. Mr Clinton said he would let states experiment with such programmes, even when he disagreed with them.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "bill clinton;family support act;welfare reform;welfare programs;social safety net;president clinton"}
+{"name": "FT931-341", "title": "Survey of the Republic of Slovenia (1): The Balkans' lucky ones - Though the country has suffered economically from the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the war in the Balkans, independence has given its 2m inhabitants the opportunity to build an open market economy and democratic institutions", "abstract": "SLOVENES always had at least as much in common with their Alpine neighbours as with their Balkan partners in the former Yugoslavia. Since Slovenia's declaration of independence in June 1991, the gap between the peaceful, ethnically homogeneous new republic of 2m people and the war-impoverished rest of former Yugoslavia has widened inexorably. 'We have been very lucky,' says President Milan Kucan, the wily former communist who led Slovenia's drive for independence from the Serb- dominated federation. But he, like Mr Janez Drnovsek, the prime minister of Slovenia's three-pronged coalition government, makes clear that Slovenia suffers economically from the disintegration of Yugoslavia and would be one of the principal gainers from a resolution of the bloody Balkan imbroglio. 'Slovenia's southern border with Croatia has become the border between peace and war in Europe,' Mr Kucan declares. A glance at the map shows what he means. At its narrowest point, only a 46 km- long strip of Slovenian coast- line separates Italy from the rest of former Yugoslavia. Austria is insulated from the war-torn regions of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, both once ruled by the Austrian Habs- burgs, thanks to its own 324 km-long border with Slovenia. But Slovenia would hate to be perceived merely as a convenient cordon sanitaire. The new Karavanke road tunnel beneath the Alps, completed just before the 10-day war between Slovenia and the Yugoslav army which immediately followed indep- endence, has underlined Slovenia's traditional importance as a transit route. The railways and the motorway leading south through the capital Ljubljana to the Slovenian port of Koper and its Italian neighbour Trieste carry freight and travellers heading to and from central Europe and the Adriatic sea. The highway is also thick with aid trucks and an ever-decreasing volume of 'normal' cargoes moving south-east towards Croatia. Independence has, above all, brought peace to Slovenia and left it free to implement the kind of rational market reforms and privatisation policies which remain blocked in the republics absorbed and impoverished by war further south. Economists, however, are quick to point out that independence has its costs. Slovenia, with its self- contained infrastructure and proximity to western markets, was always by far the richest republic of the former federation. Its per capita GDP of around Dollars 6,000 was three times higher than that of Serbia and five times that of Kosovo, the poorest region of the former Yugoslavia. Slovenia has always had a strong tourism industry of its own. But it also benefited from the overnight stays of foreign tourists heading further south to Croatia's Dalmatian coast. Now the once-thriving seaside hotels are filled with discons- olate refugees and Croatia's main source of hard currency income has disappeared. So have the transit tourists through Slovenia. Above all, Slovene enterprises were able to build up exports to the rest of Europe, thanks to the volume of sales they were able to make in Yugoslavia which virtually gave them a 22m strong domestic market. The UN embargo on trade with Serbia means both the loss of the largest of the former Yugoslav markets and an end to cheap Serbian raw materials and other inputs. These helped restrain costs and improve competitiveness in more demanding hard currency markets. Now Slovenia has to lower real wages and increase productivity in order to compensate. On the positive side of the balance sheet, however, the end of the federal state means that Slovenia no longer has to contribute over Dollars 1bn a year to finance the bloated Yugoslav army or see its hard currency deposits 'frozen' by the National Bank of Yugoslavia, as happened before independence. Relations with Croatia, Slovenia's southern neighbour, are generally good but they are complicated by three contentious issues. The first of these is the border itself, which is disputed in parts. The second issue contains Croatia's share of the running costs of the Krsko nuclear plant on Slovenian territory. The plant was built and financed jointly to supply electricity to both republics but financially hard-pressed Croatia is now reluctant to pay its share of the running costs. The third outstanding issue concerns compensation for the assets of Ljubljanska Banka in Croatia. There is no nostalgia for the old Yugoslavia, which Slovenes tried without success to trans- form into a looser confederal structure. But a mixture of compassion for the suffering of their fellow southern Slavs and economic loss ensures that the Slovene authorities, while categorically ruling out any possibility of resuming old political ties with former Yugoslavia, pray, without much hope, for a quick and lasting solution to the conflict and the resumption of normal economic ties. The war, with its violent and deliberate displacement of millions of people, has and is taking place in the ethnically mixed border lands of Croatia and Bosnia relatively distant from the Slovene border. Both Mr Kucan and Mr Drnovsek, who headed the old revolving Yugoslav state presidency for a year before negotiating the exodus of the federal army from Slovenia in July 1991, criticise the failure of the west to intervene more forcibly to stop at an early stage what Mr Kucan calls 'the war of aggression waged by Serbia.' The president is particularly scathing against what he calls the west's definition of the war in Bosnia as a civil or ethnic war. 'Of course the people who are dying do not care how it is defined. But for the inter- national community it is essential to define it as a war of aggression against a UN- recognised state and draw the appropriate conclusions. It is a tragedy that Bosnia's elected leader has now been reduced by the international com- munity to merely one of sev- eral ethnic leaders,' he adds. Preventing the war in parts of former Yugoslavia destabilising Slovenia and scaring off tourists remains a top priority for the new republic. The border with Croatia is now in effect sealed against further immigation after 70,000 refugees, equivalent to 3.5 per cent of the local population, were taken in. Refugees are housed and cared for by local authorities around the country, often in former Yugoslav army barracks, at an annual cost of around Dollars 250m. Many are expected to stay even after the war ends. Meanwhile, the coalition government which emerged from last December's elections to the national parliament and parallel presidential elections, is determined to use its four-year mandate to complete the transformation of the country into a fully-fledged, market-orientated, multi-party parliamentary democracy. At the core of the government is an alliance between the Liberal Democrats, headed by Mr Drnovsek, which emerged as the largest single party with 25 per cent of seats in parliament, and the Christian Democrats led by Mr Lojze Peterle, the foreign minister. But the coalition also includes the four party 'associated list', made up principally of reformed communists. This helps to give the coalition a wider parliamentary base. The inclusion of the 'left- wing' parties, with their traditional links to workers and the trade unions showed its value last month when they twice gave their assent to a new wages pact designed to reduce real incomes. Independent economists calculate that average real incomes have to fall around 10 per cent from current levels of around DM650 a month if the Slovenian economy is to compete effectively for new markets in the west and attract foreign investment. Both are needed to reverse the rise in unemployment and build on the structural reforms to the banking system and privatisation which are currently under way. The next four years will be crucial. But much has been achieved in the first 20 months of independence - including the establishment of a parliamentary democracy and a virtually convertible independent currency, the Slovene tolar, backed by strong reserves. The new republic is peaceful, internationally recognised and a member of the most important inter- national institutions. By the end of the century it wants to be eligible for full membership of an enlarged European Community. As elsewhere in the region, privatisation and other structural reforms are seen as laying the basis for the development of a self-confident middle class capable of ensuring that the democratic and economic reforms under way in Slovenia become irreversible.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "former federation;privatisation policies;former yugoslavia;rational market reforms;independence;slovenian economy;slovene border;normal economic ties;slovene enterprises"}
+{"name": "FT931-3883", "title": "Government seeks to allay fear of 'mad cow' disease", "abstract": "GOVERNMENT veterinary and health experts were yesterday putting out reassuring messages about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or 'mad cow' disease, in the face of growing public anxiety. Dr Kenneth Calman, the government's chief medical officer, yesterday repeated the official advice that beef can be eaten safely: 'There is no scientific evidence of a causal link between BSE in cattle and CJD in humans.' One cause of concern is that the number of cases is continuing to rise, in spite of forecasts from the Ministry of Agriculture that the incidence of cases would peak last year and then decline rapidly. Farmers reported 8,581 animals with BSE during the first nine weeks of this year compared with 8,099 in the same period last year. Another fear is that BSE could cause illness in humans. It was revealed this week that Mr Peter Warhurst, a dairy farmer whose herd had a BSE case in 1989, died last year of Creutzfeld-Jacob disease. Both BSE and CJD are caused by mysterious particles of infectious protein called prions. Dr Robert Will of Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, who is monitoring all CJD cases in the UK for the Department of Health, drew attention to Mr Warhurst's case without naming him in the Lancet, a medical journal. He says he now regrets writing to the Lancet because of the unnecessary alarm caused. Statistical analysis, taking account of the average national incidence of CJD and the number of people working on BSE-affected dairy farms, shows that the probability of one CJD case having occurred among the latter group by chance is about 1 in 20. Even so, Dr Will believes that Mr Warhurst's disease was a coincidence not related to BSE exposure. His study has shown no change in the pattern of CJD since BSE started and no other cases among people working with cattle, such as abattoir staff or vets.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "causal link;mad cow disease;bovine spongiform encephalopathy;cjd cases;infectious protein;public anxiety;bse case;scientific evidence"}
+{"name": "FT932-12322", "title": "World Bank pledges drive to cut poverty: Preston fails to respond to demands from Clinton to set more precise targets", "abstract": "MR Lewis Preston, World Bank president, yesterday promised to strengthen the bank's efforts to reduce poverty in developing countries. 'Poverty reduction must be the benchmark against which our performance as a development institution is judged,' he said. However, he failed to respond to demands from the Clinton administration for the bank to set more precise targets for the proportion of lending that should have an explicit poverty focus. In congressional testimony this week, Mr Lloyd Bentsen, US treasury secretary, said the US wanted to see more funding that 'will create social and economic safety nets' for poor people most affected by war, civil strife and economic mismanagement. 'We will look for specific increases in the share of lending going for these purposes.' In fiscal 1992, nearly half of all World Bank adjustment loans failed to include specific poverty reduction measures, in spite of calls from Mr Preston to put greater emphasis on poverty relief. The share of bank lending allocated for 'human resource development' is still only 14 per cent, in spite of repeated calls from Mr Preston for an increased emphasis on investment in people. At a news conference Mr Preston said the bank was making progress: a decade ago only 5 per cent of bank lending went for human resource development and only 5 per cent of structural adjustment loans had a explicit focus on poverty. But he said the bank had a 'long, long way to go'. While he expected an increase in the share of bank lending aimed at poverty relief, he declined to set precise targets for bank staff. Mr Preston, however, does intend to take several new steps to sharpen the bank's focus on poverty. The bank will publish annual progress reports charting its progress in poverty reduction. It will also seek the participation of the poor in the design as well as the implemention of projects. 'We want this to become the norm for our operations in the years to come,' Mr Preston said. He also released a report, 'Implementing the World Bank's Strategy to Reduce Poverty - Progress and Challenges,' that outlines progress to date. This highlights the diversity of performance on poverty reduction in the third world. East Asia has reduced the proportion of people in absolute poverty from over 30 per cent in 1970 to 10 per cent. Sub-Saharan Africa, however, had seen an increase in poverty which now affected half the people in the region. Mr Preston said bank efforts to reduce poverty could succeed only if governments concerned co-operated. Officials cited Indonesia, China, Mexico, and El Salvador as examples of countries that were co-operating well but declined to name poor performers. He said hoped for a clear signal from this week's meeting of the Group of Seven leading industrial countries that they would deliver on commitments for a Dollars 18bn replenishment of resources for the International Development Agency (IDA), the centrepiece of bank efforts to reduce poverty.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "world bank;adjustment loans;developing countries;third world;lewis preston;bank lending;poverty relief;poverty reduction"}
+{"name": "FT932-5855", "title": "World Trade News: US Hispanic groups link Nafta support to side deals", "abstract": "KEY Hispanic groups in the US are making stringent side agreements, aimed at protecting worker rights and the environment, a condition of their support for the North American Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico. Several Hispanic leaders said last week that the Clinton administration also had to present a 'blueprint' of a plan to retrain displaced workers before they would give their support. The announcement will deal a blow to supporters of Nafta, who counted on Hispanic backing to get the agreement through Congress. But the US Hispanic community is deeply divided over whether to endorse the agreement. Mr Richard Lopez, an aide to the congressional Hispanic caucus, said last week that differing opinion had prevented the group taking an official position on Nafta. Leaders of important Hispanic coalitions such as La Raza, a civil rights group, and the Southwest Voter Registration Project said they feared Hispanics in the US would bear the brunt of the negative impact of Nafta. 'The most competitive sectors on both sides of the border would win,' said Prof Raul Hinojosa, of the University of California in Los Angeles and a leader of the Southwest Voter Registration Project. 'Trade would produce job growth on both sides of the border, but the question is how those jobs are distributed. 'Those sectors of the US economy most vulnerable to import penetration are those sectors most dependent on recent immigration for their labour force.' Fifteen Hispanic organisations, including La Raza, propose to set up a trilateral North American Development Bank to direct resources to regions of the US, Mexico and Canada most affected negatively by Nafta. However, business organisations like the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Trade Council are enthusiastic backers of the deal. Mr Abel Guerra of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said he feared side agreements dealing with issues on the environment and labour rights could jeopardise Nafta. 'It's a giant opportunity we can't let go to waste,' he said. At the other end of the spectrum lies Mr Segundo Mercado-Llorens of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union who is vehemently opposed to the current incarnation of Nafta. 'A vast majority of us (Hispanics) will be losers unless there are fundamental changes in the current Nafta,' he said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "hispanic community;key hispanic groups;north american trade agreement;trilateral north american development bank;worker rights;stringent side agreements;nafta;negative impact"}
+{"name": "FT933-10881", "title": "Nafta foes campaign on a shoestring", "abstract": "IN California, labour leaders, environmentalists and the 'Perotistas' supporting Mr Ross Perot have signed a Declaration of War against the North American Free Trade Agreement. The site of the signing ceremony in Sacramento sent a warning to the city's congressman, Mr Bob Matsui, one of the leading proponents of Nafta in the US House of Representatives. In Washington state, Nafta opponents wrote alternative menus for a dinner given for Mr Rufus Yerxa, the Deputy US Trade Representative. These featured the potential chemical content of the dishes if the free trade pact becomes a reality and allegedly toxic-laden Mexican produce floods into the US. Anti-Nafta crusaders drove caravans through Tennessee, California and Texas to mobilise opposition. Equipped as information centres, the vans cruised from town to town showing films and slides of the environmental degradation in Mexico. With just a shoestring budget - no more than Dollars 200,000 (Pounds 134,230) a year in cash - foes of Nafta have worked for three years to mount a massive campaign to win the hearts and minds of the American public. Nafta's US proponents - mostly the business community - are spending millions, bypassing the voters, to convince Congress to pass Nafta. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released last week showed 31 per cent of all Americans in favour of the pact, a slight increase from previous surveys, while 29 per cent are opposed. However, 63 per cent believe Nafta will cost US jobs. Although the Clinton administration weeks ago said it would appoint a 'Nafta czar' to shepherd the pact through Congress, it has yet to announce it has found anyone to take on the task. By contrast, the opposition has an 'anti-Nafta czar' in place and making speeches around the country. He is Mr Jim Jontz, a former Indiana congressman. Nafta foes have pooled their meagre resources to provide him with a campaign office, and field legislative directors. Forty-one states have been organised, and every two weeks the organisers hold long conference calls to plot strategies. Nafta foes around the country say their protests have persuaded congressman to back away from support of the deal. One California gubernatorial hopeful, Ms Kathleen Brown - sister of former Governor Jerry Brown - has been stalked by demonstrators, who even follow her to fundraising events. According to Mr Craig Merrilees, director of California's Fair Trade Campaign, Ms Brown has expressed doubt about the pact, along with the rest of the state's Democratic establishment. With the expected conclusion this week of the talks over side agreements on labour and environment, both sides are preparing to crank up their lobbying efforts. The opposition is not awaiting an announcement of the details, said Ms Lori Wallach, one of the opposition's leaders. The side pacts will be 'silly,' she said, 'It's the same old Bush Nafta with the supplementals used to create a fig-leaf.'", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "north american free trade agreement;environmental degradation;nafta foes;leading proponents;fair trade campaign;anti-nafta crusaders;side agreements;california;american public;nafta opponents;massive campaign;free trade pact"}
+{"name": "FT933-2760", "title": "World Trade News: Battle for hearts and minds over Nafta - Guerrilla tactics versus White House pomp and press machine", "abstract": "GUERRILLA tactics by Greenpeace were swamped by the White House pomp in which Mr Clinton and three past US presidents this week endorsed the North American Free Trade Agreement. But the environmental activists, who momentarily disrupted a House hearing to unfurl a 15 foot anti-Nafta banner, saw their stunt repeated again and again on evening news shows. With dozens of similar exploits and clever strategic planning, grassroots organisations have succeed in fanning anti-Nafta sentiment into widespread public hostility against the pact with Canada and Mexico. A new Wall Street Journal poll, found opposition, at 36 per cent, had reached its highest level yet with only 25 per cent of those polled in favour of Nafta. The continued economic sluggishness and the drumbeat of corporate layoff announcements have hurt the pact's chances and presented the administration with a formidable challenge. Fifty per cent of the Americans polled disagreed with the administration's argument that more jobs will be created than lost and 54 per cent said that wages would be forced downward so that US companies and workers could compete with Mexico. Pro-Nafta congressmen and senators have been morosely admitting the opposition's success in framing the debate against Nafta as a pact which would cost jobs. But they took heart from Tuesday's presidential show: President Clinton's passionate insistence that the realities of the global marketplace be faced; President Carter's attack on Mr Ross Perot, the populist billionaire, as a demagogue with 'unlimited financial resources,'; President Bush's praise of Mexican President Carlos Salinas; President Ford's warning that the country would be overrun by impoverished immigrants from the South if they are given no work at home. 'It was a revival,' said Texas Congressman JJ Pickle. 'I think Nafta was born again.' To keep the pro-Nafta case before the public, President Clinton Wednesday took off for New Orleans and top officials in his administration fanned out on speaking tours across the country. Government agencies have been mobilised for the battle, given pro-Nafta literature and instructed to boost the pact in seminars and public forums. Congressional committees have begun to examine the details in preparation for writing its implementing legislation, now expected on the Hill in November. It is believed this process may satisfy some of the Congressional doubters, who are demanding a 'level playing field' and a speedup of Mexican tariff reductions. Pro and anti-Nafta forces are keeping the fax lines burning. A Greenpeace release warned that two decades of work on environmental protection would be undermined if the pact is approved. In response to similar charges by hundreds of grassroots environmental, citizen and labour groups, Vice president Al Gore, Senator Max Baucus and other lawmakers with green credentials, accompanied by six leaders of the largest national environmental groups who helped negotiate the environmental side pact, held a briefing to praise Nafta's environmental safeguards. Seemingly unfazed by Nafta's new show of life, the Citizens Trade Campaign, one of the umbrella opposition groups, called a press conference to 'debunk' the Clinton Administration claim Nafta would create 200,000 jobs in the next five years. Unmindful of a television camera, its leaders plotted new strategies: anti-Nafta resolution in 25 state legislatures; a letter writing campaign and more. Notable by his absence from the fray has been Mr Richard Gephardt, the House Majority Leader, who is said to be close to moving from tentative to committed opposition. He will join forces with Congressman David Bonior, the majority whip, and three of Mr Bonior's lieutenants, leaving the House Speaker, Tom Foley, nearly alone on the defence, among the leadership. 'I do not think we have articulated well - the supporters of Nafta - the very positive and energetic reasons that can be offered for supporting this,' Mr Foley acknowledged. Without Nafta, the US relationship with Mexico could 'deteriorate,' and 'much of what people are worried about will happen, perhaps more speedily without Nafta than with it. Those things have to be presented more forcefully.'", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "environmental activists;house hearing;impoverished immigrants;environmental protection;president clinton;anti-nafta sentiment;pro-nafta case;widespread public hostility;north american free trade agreement"}
+{"name": "FT933-5709", "title": "World Trade News: Chicago back-room operator to sell Nafta - Laurie Morse on a Daley drafted in to lead ratification drive", "abstract": "THE MAN President Bill Clinton has chosen to head the task force to help get his free trade pact with Canada and Mexico ratified may lack experience in international trade arenas. But he comes to Washington well prepared for the kind of back-room political arm-twisting that will be required to persuade a divided Congress to pass it. William Daley is younger brother and chief adviser to Chicago's mayor Richard M Daley and offspring of the legendary Democratic machine 'Boss', the late Richard J Daley. Unlike his hot-tempered and very public brother, 45-year-old Bill Daley is a smooth-talking behind-the-scenes operator with important connections in Washington and long-standing ties with organised labour. He has never run for political office. Mr Daley accepted the Nafta position after being passed over for a cabinet position and turning down an offer to be Mr Clinton's chief negotiator at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in Geneva. He chaired Mr Clinton's election campaign in Illinois, where he delivered 48 per cent of the vote to Clinton, above the national average, and continues as a tangible supporter. Most recently, he arranged a posh Chicago dinner for the president that raised Dollars 1m (Pounds 670,000). However, Mr Daley's appointment to chair the White House's task force on the North America Free Trade Agreement is not a cosy political payoff. Recent polls show that as many as two-thirds of the American people do not support Nafta, and grassroots opposition fuelled by labour groups is growing. Mr Clinton himself reserved his support for the deal, negotiated under George Bush's administration, until side agreements dealing with environmental and labour issues were reached last month. Many Democrats in Congress, including some in the powerful Illinois delegation, are uncommitted. With the agreement fated to unravel if it is not ratified by January 1, the battle for congressional support will be fierce, fast, and visible. Mr Daley was chosen for the job, Chicago observers say, because he has proven he can sway votes and is willing to take the risk of losing a controversial battle. 'Bill Daley is no Washington neophyte. Clinton needs someone with political sense to move this thing through Congress, and Daley has the connections,' says a fellow Washington lobbyist. Opposition to Nafta comes from core Democratic constituencies, making it a potential political pothole for Mr Clinton. Mr Daley's talents have been summoned, insiders say, to convince moderate Democrats to back the agreement. The president needs 218 votes in the House to ratify Nafta. The administration counts 125 Republicans in favour of the agreement. Clinton ally and fellow Chicago Democrat, Mr Dan Rostenkowski, chairman of the House ways and means committee, is expected to deliver the 20 Democrats on his committee. However, Mr Rostenkowski is under investigation for improper use of his post office perks and faces an uneasy future. By rough count, Mr Daley will have to marshall 73 votes from Democratic representatives of states standing to gain the most from the agreement: those along the border with Mexico and those with big agricultural, consumer product, or manufacturing export interests. His Chicago-style back-room muscle will be an invisible counterweight to the public tactics of Nafta's most prominent opponent, Mr Ross Perot. Mr Perot's populist anti-Nafta campaign touts the 'giant sucking sound' that will be heard as Nafta-loosened jobs flow south of the Texas border. 'It is a very interesting juxtaposition of styles,' says Chicago political commentator Mr Bruce DuMont. 'Bill Daley is like a Stealth bomber. You may not see him, but you'll see the results.' Mr Daley has taken four months out from his Chicago law firm to lead the Nafta push. He recently rejoined the firm after a three-year stint as president of the Amalgamated Bank of Chicago, which was founded by the Amalgamated Textile Workers union in 1922. Although it passed into private ownership in 1966, its board is still dominated by high-profile union officials. Mr Clinton may be banking on Mr Daley's union ties to help the Nafta effort. However, Mr Daley, by pushing Nafta, runs the risk of alienating his union supporters. Mr Jim Jontz, former congressman from Indiana and director of the anti-Nafta Citizen's Trade Campaign, said: 'I don't know why Bill Daley would want to be in a position like that. It's just wrong.'", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "north america free trade agreement;labor groups;president bill clinton;side agreements;grassroots opposition;congressional support;anti-nafta campaign;william daley;controversial battle;free trade pact"}
+{"name": "FT933-6011", "title": "Read Clinton's lips: No more welfare: America", "abstract": "President Bill Clinton's pledge to 'end welfare as we know it' was one of the most popular lines in last year's election campaign. His idea of a strict two-year time limit on welfare cheques appealed to voters (especially 'Reagan democrats') not just as a way of cutting government spending and thus reducing taxes, but as a solution to the nation's most pressing social problems. In the American mind, welfare has become synonymous with such evils as urban decay, fatherless children, drug abuse and violent crime. By promising radical welfare reform, Mr Clinton was sending a powerful subliminal message: he would wage war on all the diseases that are ravaging urban society. Since becoming president, Mr Clinton has barely mentioned the word welfare, raising fears that his grandiose promise will prove as cynical as former President George Bush's 'read my lips: no new taxes' pledge. The White House insists that welfare reform is not forgotten but has just had to take its turn behind two even more urgent priorities: the deficit reduction plan finally approved this month and the healthcare reform scheduled for September. It claims both measures will help shift people off welfare by 'making work pay.' The budget advanced this cause by expanding the earned income tax credit (a kind of negative income tax). This gives poor working families a cash bonus of up to Dollars 2,500 a year, increasing the incentive to take low paid jobs. If healthcare reform guarantees health insurance for all workers, welfare recipients will no longer be able to reject jobs on the grounds that they stand to lose their health care benefits. In addition, the administration promises to bolster the economic position of welfare mothers by strictly enforcing laws requiring absent fathers to support their children financially. Such measures should help. But they are hardly going to solve America's welfare problem, which differs substantially from that in Europe. In keeping with Franklin Roosevelt's dictum that a permanent dole is 'a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit', the US has never provided permanent welfare support for single, able-bodied adults. When pundits talk of a 'culture of welfare' they are referring mainly to the Dollars 20bn spent on Aid for Families with Dependent Children, a benefit received by 5m single-parent families. The objection is not that some families in straitened circumstances need AFDC as a short-term prop, but that half of those on welfare behave as though they have a meal ticket for life. So what should Mr Clinton do? Many conservatives favour the concept of a strict time limit. Once people accept that benefits are not going to be paid indefinitely, they argue, behaviour will change. Teenagers will stop having babies and start recognising the economic advantages of marriage. Those whose welfare benefits expire will face a stark choice: accept low-paid employment or hand over children for adoption. At first the adjustment will be horribly painful but in the longer term society will gain enormously because destructive lifestyles will no longer be underwritten. With its economic life support system (welfare) ripped away, the underclass will shrivel. But no modern president would contemplate so brutal a social experiment. If welfare stops, something has to take its place. One suggestion is that Mr Clinton should follow the example of Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, an agency that at its peak created over 3m public sector jobs. After two years, welfare cheques would thus be replaced by the offer of a government job at slightly below the private sector minimum wage. Mothers with young children would also be offered state child care facilities. According to one advocate, this would amount to replacing the welfare state by the 'work ethic state'. This solution is more appealing than a mere cessation of benefits. But it would involve a huge expansion of public sector employment and cost perhaps Dollars 50-60bn a year, far more than the Clinton administration is willing to spend on welfare reform. Fortunately there is a fall back position for Mr Clinton: the bipartisan Family Support Act of 1988, which he helped steer through Congress. This recognised the impossibility of ending welfare overnight and instead set targets for the gradual introduction of 'workfare'. Next year states will receive federal assistance only if they ensure that at least 15 per cent of the 'employable' welfare case load is working or in training programmes; by 1995 the required ratio rises to 20 per cent. These seemingly undemanding targets require a much larger fraction of the welfare population to take jobs at some point during the year. Mr Clinton could tighten the definition of 'employable', so as to include mothers with children under the age of three, and set more demanding workfare participation targets, for example that 50 per cent of welfare recipients should be working or in training by the year 2000. Such a gradualist approach would be both humane and cost effective. The only trouble is that it falls far short of the presidential promise to 'end welfare as we know it'. Like Mr Bush, Mr Clinton may have raised expecta-tions that simply cannot be met.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "deficit reduction;president bill clinton;welfare reform;welfare problems;welfare benefits;healthcare reform;federal assistance"}
+{"name": "FT933-8272", "title": "Technology: An outbreak of conflicting opinions - Despite assurances that BSE is waning, there is new concern about the epidemic", "abstract": "The epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy or 'mad cow' disease - which has killed more than 100,000 animals in the UK - is causing a new wave of public concern. New cases are still running at almost 1,000 a week and last month a second dairy farmer died of Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease, a brain disorder similar to BSE. Richard Lacey, a microbiology professor at Leeds University and the leading critic of government policy on BSE, said the deaths this year of two farmers whose herds had suffered from mad cow disease could not be put down to chance. He believes that BSE can trigger human brain disease. 'Our worst predictions are coming true,' he said. 'I find it unbelievable that the government and their hand-picked advisers can go on telling the public there is no danger.' The advisers, led by the government's chief medical officer Kenneth Calman and chief veterinary officer Keith Meldrum, put out a detailed statement to justify their view that last month's death of 65-year-old Duncan Templeman - following that of Peter Warhurst, 61, a year ago - showed 'no features that give cause for undue concern'. The official view is that the deaths are an unfortunate coincidence, even though it is statistically unlikely that two dairy farmers should contract a disease as rare as CJD. Robert Will of Edinburgh's Western General Hospital, who has been monitoring CJD in the UK since 1990 on behalf of the health department, calculated that there was only a five per cent probability of even a single case occurring by chance among dairy farmers with BSE-affected herds. One argument put forward by the health department is that CJD has such a long incubation period - typically 10 to 20 years - that clinical symptoms would not yet have appeared, even if BSE had triggered any cases of CJD. 'Since the illness of the cows (in Templeman's herd) and the patient occurred within months of each other, the animals and the patient had presumably incubated disease in parallel for some years,' the health department said. 'It is most unlikely therefore that there is any direct link between the cases of BSE and the occurrence of disease in the patient.' Another reassuring argument is that both farmers showed clinical features typical of the 'sporadic form' of CJD - of unknown cause - that usually occurs in late middle age. The handful of patients known to have developed CJD through infection (from contaminated human growth hormone) showed a different pattern of symptoms. The second annual report of Will's National CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh, published last month, shows what looks at first sight like a disturbing rise in incidence: from 32 UK cases in the year ended April 1991 to 37 in 1991/92 and 46 in 1992/3. But the report says that this is not statistically significant and is probably due to increasing awareness of CJD (some cases were previously attributed to Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia). Meanwhile, cattle are succumbing to BSE at a rate of about one per 100 every year. The epidemic continues to defy the ministry of agriculture's predictions that it is about to wane; so far this year there have been 26,695 reported cases, compared with 25,898 to the same date last year. The source of infection was protein-rich cattle feed contaminated with scrapie, a related brain disease of sheep. Although sheep-derived feeds were banned from sale in 1988, farmers apparently continued to use existing stocks for longer than the ministry had expected. The incubation period is also longer than originally expected. Veterinary experts say that almost all of the 102,000 confirmed BSE cases so far can be attributed to scrapie-contaminated feed. According to their investigations, maternal transmission from cow to calf - which would prolong the epidemic - is very rare or non-existent. Scientists trying to understand the epidemic face an unusual problem: BSE, scrapie and CJD are caused by a bizarre, infectious agent, the prion, which does not follow the normal rules of microbiology. Recent research shows that the prion is an abnormal form of a protein that is normally present in the brain (though its normal function is not yet known). Unlike viruses and bacteria, prions contain no genetic material of their own. The prion may arise by a genetic mutation (spontaneous or inherited) in the host animal. Or - in the case of BSE - it may arrive from another animal. Once in place in the victim's brain, it catalyses what John Collinge, a prion researcher at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, called a slow 'chemical chain reaction', converting the normal protein into its own abnormal form. The prion molecule is folded in a way that makes it extremely stable and therefore difficult to destroy by conventional sterilisation. Experiments show that BSE can be transmitted between species, for example from cow to monkey, by injecting or eating large amounts of infected tissue. But 'transmission is dose dependent,' Collinge says. Most independent experts maintain that no human being - dairy farmer or beef eater - is likely to be exposed to BSE in sufficient quantities to develop brain disease.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "scrapie-contaminated feed;mad cow disease;public concern;bovine spongiform encephalopathy;human brain disease;bse;maternal transmission;epidemic"}
+{"name": "FT933-8941", "title": "Commodities and Agriculture: Investors sought for Zimbabwe diamond mine", "abstract": "INVESTORS are being asked to provide money for a diamond mine near the River Limpopo in Zimbabwe, which De Beers, the South African group that dominates the diamond business, discovered but then let get away. The mine is River Ranch, 12km upstream from Beitbridge on the southern border of Zimbabwe. De Beers found diamonds there in 1975 but decided to concentrate instead on another site 60km away and, importantly, given the heat generated by the politics of the region, across the border in South Africa. After an investment of Dollars 500m that site went into production as Venetia, one of the world's biggest diamond mines. The South African group eventually gave up its rights to River Ranch in 1991 after it failed to reach agreement with the Zimbabwe government about marketing the diamonds. The government insists that all minerals are sold through its state-controlled Minerals Marketing Corporation. Mr Robin Baxter-Brown, chairman of Redaurum Red Lake Mines, one of the new joint owners of River Ranch, said yesterday that De Beers bulldozed the site before leaving. Also, all documentation about the deposit has mysteriously disappeared from the Zimbabwe Ministry of Mines. (A De Beers official said equipment would usually be removed from a site before it was abandoned but he could neither confirm nor deny that River Ranch had been bulldozed.) Mr Baxter-Brown is a South African geologist who started his career with De Beers and has 36 years of diamond exploration experience. He helped Auridiam, an Australian-quoted company that he co-founded and where he was once chairman, win the mining rights to River Ranch when they were put up for tender by the Zimbabwe government in 1991. The deposit is estimated by the joint venturers to have resources of 17.5m tonnes containing 5m carats of diamonds, and since mining started in March last year it has produced 43,000 carats of diamonds, 60 per cent of them of gem quality, Mr Baxter-Brown said. Redaurum, which is quoted in Toronto, is raising CDollars 1.5m (Pounds 780,000) net of expenses via a placing by London stockbrokers Carr Kitcatt & Aitken to help boost annual output from the present rate of 50,000 carats to 330,000 carats. The increase will be reached in two phases. The first, costing USDollars 2.1m, will raise output to 180,000 carats next year, while the second will cost Dollars 8.7m. The partners have spent about Dollars 850,000 to buy and move a heavy minerals separation plant recently decommissioned at the RTZ Corporation's diamond mine near Mafikeng, 500km away. The joint venturers have exclusive exploration rights to 13,474 hectares of ground around the mine and Mr Baxter-Brown suggested the chances of finding another diamond deposit were good. While most of River Ranch's gem diamonds are small, typically under half a carat, the mine has yielded some big stones, the biggest so far being 29.6 carats. A 28-carat stone was sold for Dollars 110,000 or Dollars 4,000 a carat, and one of 17 carats for Dollars 95,000 (Dollars 6,000 a carat). Diamonds are being sold directly to the market in Antwerp, Belgium, and not through De Beers' Central Selling Organisation, which controls about 80 per cent of the world rough (uncut) diamond trade. But as Mr Baxter-Brown pointed out: '330,000 carats a year is no threat to De Beers.'", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "diamond deposit;joint venturers;diamond trade;diamond mines;exclusive exploration rights;south african group;central selling organisation;diamond exploration experience;diamond business;river ranch;zimbabwe government"}
+{"name": "FT934-10911", "title": "Party loyalties do not apply: The stakes are high in the battle to guide Nafta through the US Congress", "abstract": "'They'd sell off bits of the White House lawn for a vote if they could' - Jim Jontz, head of the Fair Trade Campaign against Nafta 'It's one president, all the living former presidents, 41 governors, 14 Nobel Laureates and 284 economists versus Perot, Buchanan and Brown; it's your choice' - Mickey Kantor, US trade representative Barring the unforeseen, the latest addition to the matriarchy of all political battles will be finally decided on November 17 when 258 Democrats, 175 Republicans, and one independent in the 435-member House of Representatives (there is one vacant seat) vote on whether to approve the North American Free Trade Agreement linking the US, Mexico and Canada on January 1. A simple majority of 218 is all that is needed. If it passes, the Senate will almost certainly follow suit; if it fails, the upper chamber does not have to act. The stakes are enormous - for the political credibility of President Bill Clinton early in his term and for the legacy of President Carlos Salinas as he nears the end of his, for the evolution of the Mexican and US economies, and for a global trading structure in which a Uruguay Round agreement scheduled to be reached by December 15 may be unattainable if Nafta goes down. Conventional party lines are irrelevant in the intense retail political war now going on in pursuit of the 218-vote nirvana. More Republicans, perhaps as many as 120 according to congressman Jim Kolbe of Arizona, far fewer according to Mr Jim Jontz, a former congressman from Indiana, will vote for than against, not least because the original Nafta was negotiated by the Bush administration. This leaves Mr Clinton needing at most 40 per cent of his own party to triumph - and therein lies the problem. For the Democratic coalition that just - by one vote - sustained the president in the great budget battle against unanimous Republican opposition, is in tatters. In July it was the 'new' Democrats, especially moderates from the south, who deserted Mr Clinton while the old liners - labour, liberals, blacks - held their noses and held fast. On Nafta, the positions are in good measure reversed. According to Ms Lori Wallach, a leading co-ordinator of the 'anti-' campaign, the 'no' camp already numbers 208-210 'including some leaners'. Bill Daley, drafted from his Chicago domain to direct the 'yes' campaign, disputes this estimate, counts about 195 in favour and says that some 55 Democrats are still undecided. Mr Jontz disagrees, reckoning there are now more Republicans than Democrats on the fence. He thinks the freshman class - 66 Democrats and 48 Republicans - is particularly resistant to Nafta. Both sides hail and blast each new convert. Democrat John Dingell of Michigan came out for the 'noes' this week, but Mr Daley counters that he could never understand why anybody thought he would do anything different. Ms Wallach is equally dismissive of the impact of the 'yes' declarations of Democrats Joe Kennedy from Massachusetts and Esteban Torres from California. The latter, she insists, probably could not carry the 18-member Hispanic caucus. The politics of Nafta have produced uneasy dalliances among political heavyweights. In one bed lie the president, the Republican leadership, including Newt Gingrich, a fervent conservative, the Senate majority leader, the Speaker of the House, most leaders of big business, and some prominent environmental groups: in the other can be found the House majority leader (Richard Gephardt) and most of the Democratic House whips, including David Bonior of Michigan, the chief anti-Nafta strategist, plus Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate, most of the labour unions, Pat Buchanan, the right-wing ideologue, and Ross Perot, last year's independent presidential candidate. Ms Wallach, who portrays the Nafta divide as one between 'populists and the elites', says there is little top-level contact with Mr Perot, who first spoke of the 'giant sucking sound' of US jobs going south to Mexico, but that his troops offer access to conservatives and small businesses. Mr Daley says that 'Perot's credibility is diminishing because he has become a politician', an assessment borne out by several recent opinion polls. Both sides agree that the role played by President Clinton himself is crucial. 'He is my number one worry - never underestimate the power of the presidency,' says Ms Wallach. He got off to a slow start. In the summer he was consumed by the budget, and more recently distracted by healthcare, Haiti and Somalia. Meanwhile the opposition was off and running early. The administration pinned a lot of its midsummer hopes on Nafta's 'side agreements', covering Mexican environmental and labour laws and guarding against import 'surges', meeting most objections. But these were only completed in mid-August, later than planned, and were only partly successful. Six prominent US environmental groups came out in favour, but union opposition became entrenched. Most important, Congressman Gephardt, whose backing could probably have ensured passage, declared he was not satisfied. Mr Daley insists it does not matter that the president started late because 'in politics, decisions are only taken in the last few days'. Whatever the merits of this argument, there is no questioning that the pro-Nafta campaign is now in full swing, with plans that Mr Clinton himself do little other than argue for the agreement in the next two weeks. Every day brings a new media show. Last week saw Products Day on the White House lawn, a display of 175 goods that would benefit from Nafta. Last weekend the president went to Boston to maintain that JFK would have been pro-Nafta. On Monday he appeared at an electronic 'town meeting' with members of the American Chamber of Commerce. Later this week he is in Louisville, Kentucky. On Sunday an hour-long TV interview is scheduled. About twice a week he has 15-20 congressmen in his office for a Nafta exhortation. He works the phones constantly, and all members of his cabinet are fully engaged, sometimes inventively. Mr Kantor's latest pitch is that Japan is against Nafta and would, along with Europe, seek to profit from its defeat. The Nafta 'war room', operating out of the Old Executive Office building next to the White House, co-ordinates it all and makes sure that businessmen keep up the pressure on individual members. Certain actions, both substantive and personal, get taken with Nafta in view. Last week's creation of the North American Development Bank, with its funds available for border clean-up, obviously helped Congressman Torres come off the fence.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "president bill clinton;fair trade campaign;side agreements;intense retail political war;democratic coalition;anti-nafta strategist;political battles;global trading structure;pro-nafta campaign;jim jontz;north american free trade agreement"}
+{"name": "FT934-11014", "title": "States win approval for welfare reform plans", "abstract": "THE US administration has given the go-ahead for pilot plans to reform welfare benefits in Wisconsin and Georgia that could serve as experiments for the broader overhaul of the welfare system promised by President Bill Clinton. The Wisconsin plan would cut off cash payments under the principal welfare programme, known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, after two years, although it would continue to provide food stamps and health coverage. The pilot scheme will be started in two counties in 1995. Republican Governor Tommy Thompson has made Wisconsin a pioneer in welfare reform, with experiments such as Schoolfare, which cuts welfare payments to teenage mothers who do not go to school. In Georgia, the state does not plan a time limit on benefits, but wants to reduce welfare payments to able-bodied adults who refuse offers of work and deny increases in payments to families on long-term welfare who have more children. The federal government, which has to grant waivers to states wishing to depart from normal US welfare rules, is also considering proposals from Florida and Vermont for time limits on welfare benefits, and White House officials have said that a two-year limit will be a central feature of Mr Clinton's own welfare reform plans. The promise to 'end welfare as we know it' was an important theme in Mr Clinton's election campaign. Although he named a welfare reform task force in June, the reform has been held up by delays in passing the budget and is now expected to be delayed until the ambitious reform of the healthcare system has passed Congress.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "wisconsin;president bill clinton;welfare reform;clinton administration;food stamps;healthcare reform;georgia;welfare plans"}
+{"name": "FT934-12800", "title": "Welfare versus wealth of nations: Governments are anxious to cut the cost of pensions, healthcare and benefit payments", "abstract": "The welfare state, the glue that binds the social fabric of the world's advanced capitalist economies, is coming unstuck. The immediate cause is its increasing cost at a time when budget deficits burden most of the 24 member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Rising welfare spending has been a significant factor in the average increase in net state borrowing of 3 percentage points of GDP across the OECD between 1989 and 1992. In the longer term, there are fears that the cost of the welfare state could become insupportable as populations age over the next 50 years. While short-term measures may ease the immediate budgetary pressures, more fundamental reforms will be needed if the welfare state is not to undermine the economic performance that has underpinned its enormous expansion since the second world war. Reform of national welfare systems to bring costs under control is now on the political agenda throughout the OECD, as countries struggle to rein in government spending. Total government spending in the OECD countries has risen from 28.1 per cent of GDP in 1960 to 43.8 per cent in 1990. The biggest element in this growth has been the cost of pensions, healthcare, unemployment benefits and family support. Social security payments more than doubled during this period, from 7 per cent of GDP to 15.4 per cent. Health expenditure also doubled, from 3.9 per cent to 7.8 per cent. The largest single budget item in most welfare states is the cost of publicly provided pensions. Expenditure has risen rapidly in recent decades, more than doubling its average share of GDP in OECD countries since 1960. Pensions typically account for about a quarter of the increase in public expenditure over this period. The growth is largely attributable to three factors: The increase in coverage as pension schemes introduced after the second world war mature. The rise in the number of elderly people. Improvements in pension benefits, such as automatic increases to match rising earnings. The maturing of the welfare state is also a significant factor in the doubling of health expenditure since 1960. Countries such as Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands have been extending their public healthcare systems to provide universal coverage. As with pensions, health systems have become more generous in the wake of economic growth - for example, including grafts and transplants that were previously regarded as experimental. The ageing of the population has also contributed to rising costs, though not as much as for pensions. Rising unemployment has added to the cost of the welfare state in both unemployment benefits and general family support for low-income families. But it has also helped to push up the budget for sickness and invalidity benefits, which often offer an escape route into early retirement for older workers. Most OECD countries have recognised the need to curb growth in these main areas of welfare spending during the 1980s, and have introduced policies to tackle the underlying causes. For example, governments have become much less willing to offer improvements in pensions. Moves are afoot in countries such as Germany and Italy to raise the pension age. Automatic indexation of pensions to earnings has been weakened in Germany and ended altogether in the UK for the basic flat-rate pension. Healthcare systems have been reformed to make them more efficient and to bear down on the cost of pharmaceuticals. Although there are considerable differences between national health systems, healthcare reforms in countries such as the UK and the Netherlands are increasingly converging on models that use competition and price incentives to control costs. Many countries have also begun to tighten up on unemployment benefits, with reductions in benefit levels and more rigorous conditions to qualify. Active labour market policies have been introduced to promote a return to employment. Some countries have succeeded in stabilising their welfare costs by measures such as these. But what most concerns those responsible for public finances is the strength of underlying pressures on welfare spending that will push costs upwards in the future. The most important of these is demography. Increases in life expectancy have already increased the number of elderly people collecting pensions. The number of over-65s in the 24 OECD member states rose from 61m in 1960 to more than 100m in 1990. The growth is accelerating, with the number projected to rise to more than 115m in 2000, 131m in 2010 and 156m by 2020. Only halfway through the 21st century will the number of over-65s peak, at about 190m. The strain that this will put on the welfare state can best be seen by relating it to expected trends in the number of people of working age. The standard measure for this is the age dependency ratio, the population over 65 as a percentage of the population aged 15-64. For the OECD as a whole, the age dependency ratio is predicted to rise from about 19 per cent in 1990 to 28 per cent by 2020 and 37 per cent by 2040. Some countries face much greater pressures from the ageing of their populations than others. Germany and Japan, for example, will both have age dependency ratios of 34 per cent by 2020 - one person over the age of 65 for every three people between 15 and 64. By 2040, almost half of Germany's population could be over 65, though the proportion will fall thereafter. Age dependency ratios will climb more slowly in the UK and US, to about 25 per cent in 2020 - four people of working age to support every elderly person. In both countries, ratios will peak at about 33 per cent in 2040. The most immediate impact of these demographic changes will be on pensions, where costs will in any case rise as pension schemes continue to mature. Overall, the OECD estimates that the pension burden could double over the next 50 years. Real economic growth rates of up to 1.5 per cent a year would be needed to pay for pensions alone - and that on the assumption that the pensions do not increase in real terms. In practice, increasing pensions in line with prices might be difficult to sustain if earnings rose faster. The growing gap between pensioners and those still at work that would result could be politically unacceptable. However, raising pensions by more than prices would either require much higher growth rates or higher taxes for those in work to pay the bill. The impact of an ageing population on healthcare costs is less clear-cut. Experts differ on whether increased longevity inevitably means more medical care: while more might be required for the very elderly, less might be needed for younger people as chronic diseases become less common. Additional costs of new drugs and advances in medical technology could be at least as important as demography in pushing up healthcare bills. However, there will be an increase in demand for geriatric care and social services for the elderly.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "budget deficits;welfare costs;healthcare reforms;welfare reform;national welfare systems;president clinton"}
+{"name": "FT934-13350", "title": "World Trade News: US ready to back Nafta bank - White House steps up campaign on pact with aid for affected communities", "abstract": "THE Clinton administration will soon announce support for a North American Development Bank, which would fund projects in communities hit by job losses resulting from the North American Free Trade Agreement. The so-called NADBank has been strongly supported by Congressman Esteban Torres, who has insisted on some sort of lending institution to support adjustment throughout the continent. Agreement by the administration is expected to bring Mr Torres and at least 7 other Hispanic congressmen into the pro-Nafta fold. The administration believes it can garner 200-210 pro-Nafta votes, out of the 218 needed. It is assuming that every undecided congressman only wants a reason - favourable constituent mail - to vote for the pact, and it is pushing feverishly to turn anti-Nafta public opinion around. The White House 'war room' believes the vote currently breaks down into 110 Republicans in favour, 65-75 Democrats in favour; and 20-30 leaning towards it. Under this hopeful scenario, the White House will use the last few days before the November 17 House vote to cajole, bargain and twist arms to get the remaining 8 votes. However the anti-Nafta forces expect a different outcome. They count 190-200 Democrats against, 10-15 Democrats leaning against, and 5-10 Republicans opposed. The pro-Nafta campaign this week began moving into high gear. State by state, undecided congressmen are being lured to the White House for intimate briefings, as are business leaders and journalists. Members of the cabinet are being sent to congressional districts, where they visit and publicise factories that are expected to gain jobs if Nafta passes. President Bill Clinton on Wednesday gave his second impassioned speech on Nafta at an exhibit on the White House lawn of products likely to benefit from Nafta. He envisioned continent-wide free trade 'when we'll have over 700m people in this trading bloc, united in believing that we can help one another grow and flourish,' he said. The Nafta opposition has been just as busy. Across town, the AFL-CIO trade union grouping on Wednesday had its own products exhibit, but those were likely to be hurt by Nafta. The speakers were workers who had lost their jobs when their employers moved to Mexico.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "undecided congressman;house vote;job losses;president bill clinton;pro-nafta votes;clinton administration;anti-nafta public opinion;north american development bank;pro-nafta campaign;north american free trade agreement"}
+{"name": "FT934-5781", "title": "Guns 'n' poses: George Graham examines an important victory for US advocates of tougher firearms laws", "abstract": "The smoke has cleared a little. After seven long years, the US Congress this week passed its first significant gun control law since the assassinations of Mr Robert Kennedy and Rev Martin Luther King Jr in 1968. The legislation - known as the Brady bill after Mr James Brady, the former White House press secretary severely wounded in an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan - would impose a five-day waiting period on purchases of handguns. It would give law enforcement authorities time to check the buyer's background. Advocates of tougher controls on guns were jubilant about their victory over stubborn resistance by Republican senators from western states such as Idaho and Alaska, who have long opposed any restriction on gun ownership in the US. The Brady bill's opponents in Congress say it will inconvenience only law-abiding citizens, not criminals who buy or steal their weapons away from the government's prying eyes. They point to glaring failings in the federal government's policing of the 276,000 licensed gun dealers in the US as evidence of the Brady bill's likely ineffectiveness. For instance, one newspaper reporter successfully obtained a dealer's licence for his dog by submitting a made-up social security number. Studies of state laws requiring some form of background check suggest, however, that at least some sales to convicted felons have been stopped, and some suspected criminals have been caught when they tried to buy a gun. But even the most ardent supporters of the Brady bill acknowledge that it will make no more than a dent in the estimated 7.5m legal sales each year of new or used firearms, let alone the approximately 200m guns in circulation; and will barely affect the more than 14,000 murders and 1,400 accidental deaths involving guns each year. 'The longest journey begins with a single step,' Mr Brady said after the bill's final passage in the Senate on Wednesday. Despite its uncertain effect, passage of the Brady bill is read by some as a sign that the tide has turned decisively in favour of gun control. Other initiatives in Congress and in state legislatures are under way: the Senate last week agreed in a separate bill to ban assault weapons, a measure already in force in California, New Jersey and Connecticut. Virginia has passed a law restricting people to one gun purchase a month. With the federal government considering the imposition of punitive taxes on some particularly devastating types of ammunition, the Winchester company recently decided to withdraw its Black Talon bullet. This is prized by some game hunters for its killing power but detested by emergency room doctors for the damage it inflicts on humans as it mushrooms on impact. The strength of public feeling about rampant gun use has clearly grown in the face of an apparently unstoppable wave of urban violence that has brought the rate of death by shooting among young black men to more than 150 per 100,000, and led to the installation of metal detectors in city schools. The fear of violent crimes such as carjackings and drive-by shootings has spread even beyond the inner city and into the suburbs and the countryside, provoking a widespread feeling that something - anything - must be done. The message from an outraged public is not, however, unequivocally in favour of gun control. Paradoxically, while thousands of people have been telephoning their Republican senators to demand that they stop blocking the Brady bill, thousands have also been flocking to join the National Rifle Association, the leading organisation among the pro-gun lobbies. In the past year and a half, it has gained 1,000 members a day to bring its total, which had declined to about 2.6m in 1991, to a record of about 3.3m. Many new members and gun owners are women. Recent election results have shown, too, that simply being tough on guns is not enough to woo the voters. Although Democratic Governor Jim Florio of New Jersey came close to victory in the gubernatorial race this month by striking a tougher stance on both guns and crime in general than his Republican challenger, Mrs Christine Todd Whitman, this was not enough. Voters were swayed by economic considerations and particularly by his first-term tax increase. In Virginia, meanwhile, Ms Mary Sue Terry, the Democratic candidate for governor, relied in her campaign on gun control and was thrashed by Mr George Allen, her Republican opponent, who did not favour tighter curbs but promised to be tough on criminals by abolishing parole. While such results do not indicate that the NRA has been routed, they have put the association on the defensive. Most members now favour some form of gun control, but the core membership opposes all restraints on the sale of firearms. Their beliefs are rooted in an almost theological  - some would say fanatical - interpretation of the second amendment to the US constitution, which states that: 'A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.' 'The second amendment is not about duck-hunting. In the 1990s, it is about self-defence,' says Mr James Jay Baker, the NRA's chief Washington lobbyist. To many members, the right to self-defence is not just against muggers or burglars, but against a tyrannical government. Mr Neal Knox, sacked from a lobbying position with the NRA in the 1980s but now one of its elected directors, argues that the second amendment is the citizen's 'freedom insurance plan' against tyranny. Mr Knox says the Holocaust would not have happened if Europe's Jews had owned rifles, and if the Nazis had not been able to confiscate guns, thanks to gun registration laws passed in the 1930s. He also contends that the solution to Somalia's problems is to arm Somali mothers with AK-47s. Such beliefs have led the NRA to campaign against restrictions on machine guns, assault weapons and armour-piercing bullets. In the process they have lost touch with many of their members, who back gun control in general and specifically the Brady bill. Two trends over the past few years have weakened the advocates of gun rights. First, left-wing Democrats have begun to champion gun control as a supplement to tough anti-crime measures, rather than an alternative; they have recaptured much of the 'tough on crime' high ground by backing boot camps for young delinquents, harsher sentences and stiffer restrictions on parole or habeas corpus appeals. The NRA is trying to fight back with a campaign called CrimeStrike, calling for harsher measures against criminals. Second, the NRA's insistence on combating any gun control, even that viewed as reasonable by a majority not just of the US population but of gun-owners, has driven away some former political and police supporters. Senator Denis DeConcini of Arizona, once voted the NRA's 'legislator of the month', is backing a ban on assault weapons. Delegate Clinton Miller of the Virginia state assembly, once rated 'A+' by the NRA, now calls the organisation's top members 'hateful, spiteful, arrogant'. This alienation is apparent among gun-owners at large.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "gun control law;complete ban;restriction;gun ownership;brady bill;us congress;gun purchase"}
+{"name": "FT934-8628", "title": "Virginian congressmen feel the Nafta heat: Nancy Dunne sees protesters trying to influence the vote on Wednesday", "abstract": "IN VIRGINIA the North American Free Trade Agreement evokes a passionate opposition, but football, apparently, still is the reigning obsession. A 'not this Nafta' rally on Saturday provided little competition for the college 'game of the century' - Florida State University against Notre Dame. Only 115 demonstrators turned out amid the autumn foliage in the grounds of Virginia's capitol in Richmond. They came promptly at two in the afternoon and by three most were gone. The organisers said they were sending a message to Virginia's three wavering congressmen that a 'yes' vote on Nafta in the House on Wednesday would be 'remembered in November'. That is, next November's mid-term elections, when those assembled - mostly followers of Texas billionaires of Mr Ross Perot and union members - would unite to throw the rascals out of office. 'We are absolutely for free trade,' says Mr Bill Diggitt, the state director of Mr Perot's United We Stand. 'But Nafta undermines our constitution. It puts decision-making in the hands of international panels, which undermines our judicial system.' He says he is concerned about the loss of Virginia's tax base as companies move production to Mexico and place continuous downward pressure on wages. 'The administration is selling everything it can to every congressman it can. That's wrong,' he says. Mr Josh Greenwood, owner of a small hydroelectric company, says: 'I might run against my congressman myself.' Mexican workers are treated like slaves, he claims. 'In Virginia there was slavery, but the slaves were expensive and the people who owned them valued them. They had better housing and better sanitary conditions than the workers in Mexico today. The babies of the slaves weren't born with brain damage from concentrated pollution.' Virginia has 11 congressmen. Three have joined the anti-Nafta forces; five have declared themselves in favour of the pact. The three undecided have found themselves in the eye of a lobbying whirlwind. Mr Greenwood's congressman, Norman Sisisky, spent Friday meeting groups from both sides. 'He is trying to sort through the misleading information,' says his press secretary. As a member of the House armed services committee he expects the foreign policy implications of the Nafta vote to weigh heavily in his decision. This argument carried little weight at Saturday's rally. Mr Ralph Dombrower, a Perot devotee, brought the results of an interactive computer poll showing a growing isolationism among American voters. 'The public is becoming less inclined to see the US as arbiter of worldwide human behaviour and wishes to get out of our foreign policy involvements,' he says. The Virginia business community began a pro-Nafta lobbying effort last March. 'The unions had gotten to everyone. We were going against a tide of misinformation,' says Ms Kathy Otts, co-captain of Virginians For Nafta. The coalition - 100 of the state's largest businesses and 500 small and medium-sized companies - counter-attacked with an 'education' campaign. Company employees were exhorted to write or call their congressman. The anti-Nafta forces on Saturday published long lists of business contributors to the pro-Nafta congressmen. 'Constituents only have votes to give, and it seems these congressmen are having a hard time hearing their message,' the cover page said. On Friday, after the fifth pro-Nafta congressman announced his position, a dispirited Lorrie Beckwith, an opposition organiser, said her campaign had been hindered early on by a lack of unity. President Bill Clinton seemed to be buying off the undecided congressmen. One was reported to have been promised that a manufacturing research centre would be located in his district. Another was said to have received assurances of funding for a new aircraft carrier to be built in his district. A visit to Congressman Sisisky had not been encouraging, says Mr Beckwith. 'He says he had a bad feeling about the agreement in his gut. He was concerned it may hurt family farms. But if he is offered a decent project, he says he might find it tough to say no.' In Portsmouth, Virginia, one of the last undecided congressmen, Owen Pickett, is in his district office, as he is every weekend. His door bears a sign, 'This office belongs to the people of the second district of Virginia'. The unionised port workers are urging opposition. The military, which comprises most of the district's voters, are worried about jobs in the face of Pentagon cutbacks. 'He will listen to everyone's side,' a Pickett aide says.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "pro-nafta lobbying effort;foreign policy implications;demonstrators;president bill clinton;pro-nafta congressmen;virginia;opposition organiser;passionate opposition;anti-nafta forces;judicial system;north american free trade agreement"}
+{"name": "FT934-8748", "title": "Markets: Traders nonplussed by trade vote - Wall Street", "abstract": "just try explaining what GATT, the Uruguay Round or Blair House are all about - but US investors have adopted a sensibly direct approach to the North American Free Trade Agreement: if Congress passes the treaty next week, it will be good for the economy, good for US companies, good for the stock markets, and good for President Clinton. Their reasoning is quite simple. Investors believe that Nafta will lift corporate profits because in a more open trading environment between the three signatory countries the US, with its superior industrial productivity rates and better-quality products, will enjoy the greatest economic benefits. The expectation is that growth in US exports to Mexico and Canada will outpace growth in imports from its neighbours to the north and south. Investors are not alone in their optimistic view of Nafta. Most Wall Street economists are pro-Nafta, as are the majority of business leaders, if recent polls are to be believed. There is, however, the dark side of Nafta to consider. What if Congress votes no? Investors fear that a rejection of Nafta would have dangerous knock- on effects around the world, depressing share prices in the US, Latin America and eventually Europe, and endangering vital trade negotiations over the Uruguay Round. By coincidence, the day after next week's Nafta vote, Clinton will be in Seattle for a trade conference with leaders of Asian Pacific Nations. If he arrives there fresh from defeat on Nafta, the President's authority on trade issues will be compromised. Investors' darkest fear is that a no vote on Nafta would throw such a spanner in the works of world trade that it would lead to a new era of international protectionism, higher inflation and slower world economic growth. In this scenario, inflation would be the biggest concern of markets. Many economists argue that the competitive forces unleashed by the accelerating collapse of international trade barriers have helped restrain global inflation. Low worldwide inflation has kept bond yields at historic lows, which in turn have boosted share prices to record highs in many markets. Thus, any reversal in that trend - a return of trade barriers, higher inflation, higher bond yields, - could undermine equity markets that are already vulnerable to a sharp downward correction because of expensive stock valuations. Then there is the political cost of Nafta's failure to consider. Although the President inherited the trade pact from his Republican predecessor, he has invested a lot of his own political capital in getting Nafta through Congress. On paper, this should not be a particularly difficult task, because Congress is controlled by Democrats. Yet, opposition to Nafta among Democratic legislators beholden to labour interests is considerable. Anti-Nafta forces have warned that opening up trade with Mexico will lead to a migration of American jobs south of the border, where wages are much lower. Because the domestic labour market remains weak, this line has struck a strong chord with ordinary Americans. The result is that the President faces a tough fight ensuring that the House of Representatives votes to approve the treaty on Wednesday. As of yesterday, the outcome of the vote was deemed too close to call. Stock markets in Mexico and the US, however, believe the chances of success for Nafta improved this week. Share prices in Mexico rose on Wednesday and Thursday, and US stocks made solid gains, following the televised debate on Tuesday between Vice-President Al Gore and Ross Perot, who is Nafta's most celebrated opponent. Gore clearly bested Perot in a heated war of words, and polls taken over the next few days revealed that more Americans had been won over to Nafta. Whether this helped swing the votes of some anti-Nafta legislators the Clinton administration's way remains to be seem. Nafta is playing on investors' minds because doubts over its passage through Congress have arisen at a vulnerable time for stock and bond prices. A week ago bond yields jumped amid worries that resurgent economic growth might rekindle inflation. Although data released this week on producer and consumer prices showed that fears of rising inflation are, at least for now, unjustified, equity investors remain nervous about rising bond yields. Amid all the doubts over the Nafta, one thing is certain, trading on markets next week is likely to be hamstrung by uncertainty over Wednesday night's vote, which, like the battle over President Clinton's first budget, will be extremely close. ----------------------------------------------- Monday         3647.90    +   04.47 Tuesday        3640.07    -   07.83 Wednesday      3663.55    +   23.48 Thursday       3662.43    -   01.12 Friday         3684.51    +   22.08 -----------------------------------------------", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "international protectionism;trade pact;economic benefits;investors;open trading environment;anti-nafta forces;global inflation;president clinton;north american free trade agreement"}
+{"name": "FT934-9116", "title": "US public opinion swings behind Nafta", "abstract": "THE FIGHT over the North American Free Trade Agreement yesterday shifted outside Washington to the Congressional districts of members, sampling public opinion at home during this Veterans' Day holiday weekend. The pro-Nafta forces, exulting over the debate victory of Vice President Al Gore over Texan billionaire Ross Perot, hoped they had finally captured the elusive momentum necessary to carry them to victory in the House vote next Wednesday. A USA Today/CNN poll of debate watchers found support for the trade pact between the US, Canada and Mexico had shot up from 34 per cent before the debate to 57 per cent after it. Arthur Andersen & Company yesterday released a survey, by its tax and business advisory service, which found that large majorities of executives of medium-sized companies in Canada, Mexico and the US strongly support Nafta. Meanwhile in Mexico the country's Congress launched a fierce attack on Mr Perot and other critics of its political system yesterday, in a furious response to Mr Perot's comments in the debate. Mr Perot claimed Mexicans were treated worse than animals and livestock in the US, were oppressed by the government, and enjoyed few if any labour and democratic rights. He said just 34 families owned half the country, and some 85m others lived in poverty. The Mexican Congress issued a statement, supported by most political parties, which said: 'We cannot ignore however, that certain judgments expressed, apart from showing a serious ignorance for our country, attack and offend Mexicans. We condemn them as inadmissible and without foundation.' US opponents of Nafta believe that fear of job and investment losses to Mexico will outweigh any new-found enthusiasm for the pact. 'The only thing that matters is the economy,' said Mr Christopher Whalen, a Washington trade consultant. 'The political equation still is going to be that congressmen who vote for Nafta will have to look for other employment next year.' Trying to blunt any momentum for the administration, Congressman David Bonior, an anti-Nafta whip, on Wednesday announced that he had 219 of 434 members pledged to vote against the pact. However, he needs at least 10-12 votes more than the majority to prevent last-minute switches, as the Administration increases its pressure. The Administration this week has picked up 10 public endorsement votes, and claims to have a total of 192. It is publishing a free 800 telephone number with the offer to voters to send, free of charge, pro-Nafta telegrams to their congressman. Around the country, the opposition troops are planning rallies, marches, town hall meetings and 'accountability meetings' with congressmen. Ms Lori Wallach, an anti-Nafta leader, said Nafta would be won or lost in the congressmen's home districts. Washington will not be bereft of activity over the long weekend. The anti-Nafta Citizens' Trade Campaign is bringing 'Nafta Claus' to the Capitol to distribute gifts in a parody of the president's effort to sell Nafta to a reluctant Congress.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "house vote;anti-nafta whip;debate victory;trade pact;public opinion;mexican congress;trade campaign;pro-nafta forces;congressional districts;north american free trade agreement"}
+{"name": "FT941-1547", "title": "Commodities and Agriculture: Germany sets scientist to work on BSE threat", "abstract": "The German government yesterday announced the launch of a new research project to examine whether the cattle disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) can be transmitted to human beings. The initiative comes as the country is pushing for a European Union ban on British beef imports, arguing that there is still no conclusive evidence that the disease cannot affect humans. Seven German universities and research institutes will be sponsored by the country's research and technology ministry to examine possible connections between the origins of BSE and two other diseases, Creutzfeldt Jakob disease and Gerstmann Straussler syndrome, which very rarely affect humans. Several German scientists have expressed concern that BSE - popularly known as 'mad cow disease' because of the way it debilitates the brains of cattle -may be transmissible to humans who eat contaminated beef or take medicines made with ingredients from contaminated animals. 'The danger that BSE can be transmitted to humans is minimal or non-existent,' said Professor Hans Kretzschmar from Gottingen University. 'However, we do not know that it is non-existent. I personally think (British beef) should not be imported.' Contaminated British beef will be discussed at a meeting of EU health ministers on March 30, but a German official said that any decisions about a ban would be made by the union's agriculture ministers, who were likely to argue that existing safeguards were sufficient. In 1992, the last year for which figures are available, Germany imported 2,092 tonnes of British beef - 2 per cent of all its beef imports from other EU countries - and 13 tonnes of veal. The research ministry said that more than 100,000 cattle had died as a result of catching BSE in Britain. A further 50 cases of the disease had been recorded in Switzerland and there were two known cases in Germany, one of which affected a cow imported from Britain.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "mad cow disease;cattle disease;bovine spongiform encephalopathy;possible connections;bse;british beef imports"}
+{"name": "FT941-1750", "title": "World Trade News: Neighbours line up at the door of Nafta - Caribbean basin nations hope for help to ease the pain", "abstract": "Central American and Caribbean governments are awaiting with more than passing interest an imminent US statement on measures to cushion the economic dislocation which the region expects from the North American Free Trade Agreement. However, Washington's proposals, promised by Mr Alexander Watson, assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, are likely to disappoint Caribbean basin governments which have been seeking a comprehensive package to allow free access to the US and Canadian markets. The US proposals could also be 'at a cost' to the region, say some Caribbean officials. Claiming that a more competitive Mexico, with free access to the US and Canada, will capture markets which Caribbean basin countries have developed under current trade agreements, the region has asked for 'parity' with Mexico in exporting to Nafta signatories. Some regional government officials and US legislators supportive of the Caribbean's concerns - which include the possible diversion of investments to Mexico - have now concluded that what would amount to a de facto extension of Nafta is unlikely. They believe that the US administration would not again willingly confront the coalition of opposition which fought the implementing legislation last November. The measures to be announced by the US are a result of discussions last year between President Bill Clinton and leaders from the Caribbean and Central America. Mr Clinton and his Mexican counterpart, Mr Carlos Salinas, assured the Caribbean basin countries that they would not be adversely affected by the implementation of Nafta, and that efforts would be made to protect their markets in the US and Canada. What the Caribbean basin countries want is quick action by legislators in Washington, and then in Ottawa and Mexico City, to ratify proposals by some US congressmen to put all the region's exports to the US and Canada on a par with Mexico's. The parity proposals are aimed at giving Caribbean basin countries an open door to the Nafta market for three years. During this time they would have the opportunity of negotiating their future trade relationship with the Nafta signatories, with the option of seeking membership either as individual states or as a group. 'President Clinton has said his administration will ensure that the benefits of Nafta are felt by the Caribbean countries,' said Mr Manuel Esquivel, prime minister of Belize. 'We are heartened by President Salinas' assurances that it is not Mexico's intention to take investments away from the Caribbean. But we remain apprehensive.' There is yet no indication of what the US administration will propose for the Caribbean basin. Mr Edwin Carrington, secretary-general of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), said he expected parity to be given to 'only a few' of the region's exports, including textiles. 'The parity issue, which is the first step we are seeking, is becoming a case of limited benefits for a very great price,' he said. While willing to give parity to a few products, the US wanted the Caribbean basin countries to meet new conditions, including bilateral investment treaties, intellectual property rights agreements, workers' rights and environmental legislation, democracy, good governance and accountability, Mr Carrington said. 'The costs of parity are much higher than we anticipated and any thoughts of full membership of Nafta are as far down the road as they ever were.' In presenting their case for parity, Caribbean leaders have argued that the US and Canada will also be the losers if there is extensive economic dislocation in the region caused by a loss of markets to Mexico. Mr P J Patterson, Jamaica's prime minister, claimed that many jobs in the US depended on trade flows between that country and the Caribbean region. 'Each Dollars 1bn of US exports to the region creates 20,000 new jobs in the US,' he said. 'In the past 10 years US exports to the Caribbean basin have doubled, making the region the tenth largest market for US exporters. As Caribbean economies grow our ability to absorb US exports will also increase. 'Currently 60 cents of every dollar earned by the Caribbean returns to the US through the purchase of US goods, compared with only 10 cents for each dollar spent by Asia. This is why we must pursue efforts to ensure that the question of the granting of parity be given early and positive consideration.' Without improved access to the US and Canadian markets to counter Mexico's benefits under Nafta, the Caribbean basin countries will have to continue depending on their current trade preference agreements with the US and Canada. The benefits from these were diminishing, said Mr Carrington, as the region's exports became less competitive and Mexican products enjoyed the benefits of the market. 'The Nafta playing field will never be level for the region,' he said. 'Nobody is going to give us an even playing field, but we have to work to make it less uneven.'", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "economic dislocation;possible diversion;nafta market;parity proposals;president bill clinton;caribbean basin countries;competitive mexico;central american;north american free trade agreement"}
+{"name": "FT941-4219", "title": "Survey of Residential Property (1): Tunnel to increased value - The Chunnel is about to change life in northern France and Kent. Gerald Cadogan looks at the implications for the property market", "abstract": "On May 6 the Queen and President Mitterrand will declare the Channel Tunnel open. That should be the starting signal for a recovery in the property market in Kent and north eastern France. At the moment, agents report more inquiries, but the markets in both countries are still quiet and prices low, especially in France. That is an excellent long-term reason to buy. Le Shuttle's high starting prices for a vehicle and its passengers will eventually come down creating price competition between rail, ferry, catamaran and Hovercraft. Far-sighted prospective buyers looking near Calais include hauliers wanting to set up a base on the Continent, and Asian entrepreneurs who see an advantage in being close to Belgium. John Hart, author of A House in France, notes: 'It is not a rush. The tunnel does not mean much to the continentals. Most of the ferry trade is from Britain to France.' The British are mainly looking for houses, rather than apartments, although French and Dutch buyers are also in the market. Inquiries about northern French property picked up just before Christmas, says Maggie Kelly, of French agents L'Abri-tanique in Hesdin. Growing confidence in the UK market is slowly stimulating interest in French property. UK buyers can now sell their UK home to put money into a main residence or second home in France. Prices have stopped falling in northern France and hopes are high that the tunnel, motorways and new railways will resuscitate the region. Britons who bought in 1989 or 1990 may find it a good time to sell, if they did not pay too much at the time and have renovated their properties since. But some paid far too much. Spectacular price cuts can be found. For example, a glorious, repossessed abbey with five acres in Tortefontaine, with a 12th century hall and many outbuildings, is on sale at around FFr750,000 (Pounds 86,000) from agents Latitudes or L'Abri-tanique. Four or five years ago it cost FFr2.5m (after being put on the market at FFr4m). A mill near Montreuil, which cost FFr2m in 1989, sold last year for FFr500,000. French banks and mortgage providers have taken it 'on the chin', said Kelly, and some smaller banks in Calais are none too happy when Britons seek loans. However, show you have the cash and there are bargains to be had. A house in Hesdin, or a nearby country cottage, make good weekend retreats and are far cheaper than their English equivalents. A small house in Montreuil, a walled town with cobbled streets, costs FFr280,000 from La Residence. A small, partly-restored farmhouse near Montreuil can be bought for FFr135,000 from A House in France. Thirty minutes' drive from Boulogne, a long, low, Norman-style, half-timbered, farmhouse is for sale at FFr515,250, and 50 minutes away another costs FFr436,800 (reduced from FFr650,000). Near St Omer agent Cote d'Opale is selling an 18th century chateau with wings added in 1908 for FFr4.46m. La Residence offers another with 28 watercress beds and 12 hectares (30 acres) in good condition for FFr2.6m and a flat in town for FFr380,000. In Hesdin, the Wine Society, an English-based group of wine enthusiasts, has an outlet for members where they can pick up society-recommended wines free of UK taxes. When Kelly sees Range Rover and Jaguar drivers collecting their cases of wine in Hesdin, she would like them to drop into her office 100 metres away and choose a house as well. Latitudes has on its books an 18th century town house with internal courtyard for FFr1.3m, a snip when you think what you would pay in Paris. Near Fruges is a water mill for FFr900,000 and, in the valley of the Ternoise, an 18th century brick house needing work is available for just FFr450,000. On the coast, Boulogne is a smart, pleasant town far preferable to Calais. It has good shops - including the Philippe Olivier cheese shop  - and restaurants. The French favourite is Le Touquet, still an elegant place for Parisians to spend le weekend. Shops open in winter on Saturdays and Sundays -and close on Wednesdays and Thursday mornings. You can play golf and tennis, ride, go to the casino and live in an elegant domaine in the Foret. As in Deauville, the town's cachet has kept prices up. Penny Zoldan, of Latitudes, has a flat in Le Touquet and sees it as a good base for foreigners. Nearby, at Hardelot, there are plenty of building plots for sale beside the two golf courses (consult Latitudes). Outside Le Touquet, A House in France offers a chateau complete with fortification wall and tunnels for FFr1.3m. In the countryside beyond Dieppe, a typical Norman house, restored and including most of the furniture and a cottage, is for sale for Pounds 125,000 from Domus Abroad. Towards Paris, off the autoroute from Calais, Philip Hawkes is selling the 18th century Chateau de Pronleroy for FFr13m. Egerton and Knight Frank & Rutley is offering the more recent Chateau de la Chaussee, near Chantilly, the centre of French racing, at FFr19m. At the other end of the tunnel Cluttons reports Belgians and Dutch registering at the Canterbury office for period cottages for around Pounds 200,000, and French and Belgians at the Folkestone office - where David Parry reports that Arabs are interested in blocks of flats on the sea front. 'The tunnel has more psychological impact than anything. Vendors see it as a bonus. Buyers don't see that yet.' Once the tunnel is open, said Parry, industry will be attracted to the area and people will move in. Central and east Kent need a stimulus but it may take four or five years before there is any evidence of new opportunities in the area. An apartment in The Grand at Folkestone, the former hotel, is for sale from Cluttons for Pounds 89,500. Along the M2, Strutt & Parker offers 52 St Margaret's Street, Rochester, a Grade II* late 17th century house, for Pounds 190,000, and a Tudor (1508) and Georgian Kentish hall, Cobrahamsole Hall at Sheldwich near Faversham for Pounds 275,000. Lane Fox is selling the half-timbered Manor Farmhouse at Milstead, near Sittingbourne, for Pounds 275,000. In the old Cinque Port of Deal, Strutt & Parker and Bright & Bright offer Woodbine, a Georgian house with walled garden and studio, for Pounds 330,000. Cluttons' Canterbury office and Weatherall Green & Smith are selling Highland Court, at Bridge, a columned stately home, for Pounds 750,000. The far-sighted are buying now, either side of La Manche. The value in France is formidable. And it is not bad in Kent. Further information in France: L'Abri-tanique, Hesdin (21 81 59 79); Cote d'Opale, Le Touquet (21 05 21 05); Knight Frank & Rutley, Paris (1) 42 96 88 88; Philip Hawkes, Paris (1) 42 68 11 11. And in England: Bright & Bright, Deal (0304-374071); Cluttons, Canterbury (0227-457441) and Folkestone (0303-850 422); Domus Abroad (071-431-4692); Egerton (071-493-0676); A House in France (081-959-5182); Lane Fox, Sevenoaks (0732-459 900); Latitudes (081-958-5485); La Residence, Ruislip (0895-622020); Strutt & Parker, Canterbury (0227-451123); Weatherall Green & Smith (071-405-6944).", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "property market;recovery;starting signal;prospective buyers;france;channel tunnel;britain;price competition;uk market;french property"}
+{"name": "FT941-575", "title": "Commodities and Agriculture: Commission to back Britain on 'mad cow disease'", "abstract": "The UK will get strong backing from Brussels today when Germany seeks a ban on British beef exports because of fear of 'mad cow disease', or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). The European Commission planned to tell Germany that it would take legal action if Bonn attempted to introduce a unilateral ban, commission officials said yesterday. Health ministers of the 12 will also discuss the BSE row tomorrow afternoon. Mr Horst Seehofer, the German health minister, has been the prime mover for action against the UK. Bonn is calling for a ban on all live cattle and beef exports from the UK after the discovery in Germany of BSE imported from the UK. The commission has reminded Germany that it is the EU that sets veterinary rules, and that there is no scientific evidence proving a link between BSE and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, which affects humans. A series of restrictions have been imposed in the UK beef sector, which Britain and the commission say are working. In 1990, certain bovine offals, like brain and spleen, were banned for human consumption. Since June 1990 there has been a ban on the export of live cattle over six months from the UK, and on the progeny of BSE-affected cows. In addition, all British exports of bone-in beef must be certified as coming from herds that have been free of 'mad cow disease' for two years. British officials say that the EU single market will be disrupted unless all member states stick to the scientific evidence, and that Germany's threat of unilateral action risks a collapse in beef consumption similar to the fall that followed the 1990 BSE scare. 'We feel we have a sound case and other member states and the Commission agree with us,' a senior British agriculture official said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "british beef exports;mad cow disease;bovine spongiform encephalopathy;restrictions;unilateral ban;british exports;bse-affected cows;germany"}
+{"name": "FT942-11114", "title": "Survey of The Channel Tunnel (16): Big potential benefits - Belgium looks for economic spin-offs", "abstract": "The official opening of the Channel Tunnel later this year promises to help revitalise the north-west regions of Belgium, even though the country's biggest ports will suffer a loss of traffic. The chambers of commerce in Veurne and Courtrai, along with the West Flanders Regional Development Authority in Bruges, are gearing up to become part of what they refer to as the 'new European Metropolitan Area.' This takes in the Nord-Pas de Calais in France, Western Flanders and Hainaut in Belgium, and Kent in the UK. The potential for this region is enormous. According to Mr Anthony Vande Candelare, an urban planner who made a study of the influence of the Channel Tunnel on the west of Belgium and the North of France: 'Overnight, the Belgian coast and the North of France will become the centre of Europe.' Mr Jo Libeer, managing director of the Courtrai chamber of commerce, is equally optimistic about the likely impact on the area of the tunnel. 'With the TGV and the chunnel this region, which was sort of in the corner of Europe, will now be in the middle of a new developing area,' he says. This is no bad thing for Belgium. In its last economic survey of the country, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said the Belgian economy had deteriorated 'progressively' since the 1980s. 'And over the last 10 to 12 months it has taken a distinct turn for the worse.' Furthermore, Flanders, the area most likely to benefit from the arrival of the tunnel, has recently suffered more rapid increases in unemployment than in Wallonia and the Brussels region. The unemployment rate, which in 1990 was 9.5 per cent in Flanders has risen to 13 per cent. The Belgian chambers in the regions most directly affected believe there are two main areas for development: firstly, increasing traffic through western Flanders as holidaymakers and freight carriers head towards the tunnel-opening in Calais; and secondly tourism. To benefit fully, however, a crucial 7km stretch of the E40 European motorway between Veurne and the French border has yet to be completed. Once this is done it will be possible to drive from Russia to England without leaving a motorway, says Mr Philippe Claerhout, chairman of the Veurne chamber of commerce and industry. Fortunately, plans to complete the stretch have been agreed and it should be open some time next year. On the downside, the Westhoek region is badly placed to benefit from rail transport. 'Even after the doubling of the tracks and electrification of the railway line between Ghent and De Panne, we will still be a remote corner,' says Mr Claerhout. Furthermore, Belgium's biggest ports are expecting traffic loads to fall, as freight and passengers are directed towards Calais. Worst affected will be Ostend and Zeebrugge, two ports hoping to hold their own by concentrating on links with ports in the north of England. Nonetheless, the improved, if imperfect, transport communications of the West Flanders region are apparently paying off. Mr Geert Sanders, who works for the Regional Development Authority of West Flanders, says there is already evidence that the region's enhanced communications are attracting new businesses. For example, Baronie, a Dutch chocolate company, is opening a new base in the southern part of West Flanders. There is, however, a danger that Belgium will not make the most of the commercial opportunities - 'we will try to attract new industry, but our region is very small and our industrial zones are full,' says Mr Ludo Verstraete, of the Veurne chamber of commerce. The Belgian authorities have dragged their feet over decisions to dedicate new areas, he says. The other main focus for development is tourism. As Mr Claerhout says: 'We need to convince people from other countries that it is worth their while to stop in Westhoek at the time of their journey through the North of Europe to England.' The potential is there. West Flanders is home to some of the best-known World War One battlefields, and promoters of the region insist that its large, open green spaces will, when properly developed, attract foreign visitors. But once again, there is a danger that Belgium will miss out. It has been slower to develop the tourist potential of the Channel Tunnel than France. Around Calais, a commercial and leisure centre, hotels and activity parks, known as 'La Cite de L'Europe', are springing up while Lille is home to Euralille, a similar development. As Mr Verstraete of the Veurne chamber of commerce says: 'Tourism is very important . . . we really have to develop our hotels and tourist infrastructure.' But the biggest advantages for Belgium will come from close co-operation between the national and federal authorities and their French and UK counterparts. In a Europe without frontiers, this will be the most effective way of benefiting from the the Channel Tunnel.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "chunnel;holidaymakers;european metropolitan area;rapid increases;western flanders;channel tunnel;traffic loads;freight carriers;development;official opening;belgium"}
+{"name": "FT943-12341", "title": "Technology: Waiting for the big one - There is growing scepticism about Japan's earthquake prediction programme", "abstract": "Some 160km west of Tokyo in Japan's coastal Tokai region is what may be the world's most dense array of geophysical instruments. More than 150 meters and gauges track seismic activity, rock strain, crustal tilt, tidal movements and ground water levels. The data are telemetered to Tokyo where they are monitored around the clock in the hope that six experts, to be summoned at a moment's notice, will recognise unusual phenomena that may indicate an imminent earthquake. If the committee so advises, Japan's prime minister will issue an earthquake warning for the Tokai area. Trains will be stopped, traffic routed out of the area, stores closed and pupils let out of schools. Areas prone to landslides and tidal waves will be evacuated. Hospitals, firefighters and rescue crews will go on alert. And then everyone will wait for an earthquake measuring eight on the Richter scale. Long after the rest of the world has abandoned hope of predicting earthquakes, Japan continues to spend Dollars 2.5m (Pounds 1.6m) a year monitoring the Tokai region and close to Dollars 100m more on general earthquake prediction research. For prediction believers, it is a small price to pay, as Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. But for increasingly vocal sceptics in Japan, it is at best a misguided effort that wastes money and is dangerously misleading the public. Despite the protests, however, Japan's earthquake prediction programme rolls along on inertia, insularity and unrealistic public expectations. Japan made earthquake prediction a national project in 1965 when scientists throughout the world were optimistic about prediction. Research was also being taken seriously in the US, Russia and China. In Japan, prediction took on urgency when seismologists concluded that the Tokai area was overdue for a significant quake. The Suruga Trough, a deep submarine trench running just offshore, forms the boundary between two of the earth's tectonic plates. The Philippine Sea Plate is diving beneath the Eurasian Plate. Friction between these plates causes the area's earthquakes. The Tokai section last ruptured in 1854. If the entire section ruptures again, the resulting quake could reach eight on the Richter scale, endangering the lives of 10m residents in the area. That prospect led to the 1978 Large-Scale Earthquake Countermeasures Act, which established the warning procedure and launched hazard mitigation and emergency response programmes. Since then, optimism about prediction has faded. Even prediction supporters admit there is no scientific theory on which to base a forecast. Prediction hinges on spotting anomalous phenomena, or precursors. Unfortunately, it has proved impossible to conclude consistently and definitively whether the signspredictors look for - swarms of small earthquakes, unusual bulges and creeps in the earth's crust, sudden changes in geomagnetism or electrical resistivity - are precursors or simply background geologic noise. Precursors are often only recognised as such after a large earthquake. And many earthquakes occur without any identifiable precursor, even in retrospect. There are also questions as to whether Japan's monitoring efforts are focused in the right place. Recent studies by seismologists at the Ministry of Construction have indicated the possibility of a significant quake occurring in the Izu area between Tokai and Tokyo. The city is overdue for a big quake, according to several theories. Japan has had numerous killer quakes outside the Tokai monitoring network, including a 7.8 earthquake off the coast of Hokkaido last year that claimed more than 200 lives. Kiyoo Mogi, chairman of the six-member panel that will make the call on the Tokai earthquake and former head of the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute, says several factors make the Tokai region more suited than others for what he calls 'a national experiment'. The region's geology is straightforward, so they can narrow down the likely location of the anticipated earthquake. Historically, strain along the Suruga Trough has been released in infrequent large earthquakes, rather than numerous small ones. The evidence is that significant strain has accumulated along the fault since the region's last big earthquake. Recognising precursors will still be difficult. Mogi says they now believe that precursor patterns may be particular to each section of a fault. He says if they knew what precursory phenomena occurred the last time that section of the fault slipped, in 1854, they would be able to predict the next earthquake. Instead, the six experts are watching for the rapid uplift of the crust on the westward side of the trough that preceded quakes along adjacent sections of the fault in 1944 and 1946. This all makes a successful prediction a long shot. Aside from the Tokai effort, scientists outside the programme are disturbed that it is so generously funded and has so little to show. Prediction research elsewhere withered as scientists who could not convince review committees of the scientific merit of their research lost their funding. Japan's prediction research activities, primarily overseen by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, are subject to no such review. A sub-committee of one of the ministry's innumerable advisory bodies draws up five-year plans. But, in effect, the budget is divided among researchers and institutions in the same proportions each year. The public, and even public officials, remain largely unaware that Japan's scientists are debating whether prediction is impossible or merely difficult. Most citizens do not realise that Tokai is the only region in which the government even intends to attempt a short-term warning. High public expectations are coming back to haunt the six-member panel of experts, which must conclude that the gathered data indicate either 'a cause for concern' or 'no cause for concern'. Mogi would like to add a third category between the two that would indicate 'some level of concern'. Many scientists agree a 'maybe' is not unreasonable, given the state of the art. Public officials, however, are insisting the experts make an 'it's coming' or 'it's not' decision. Meanwhile, the controversy might be settled if the experts get their call from the technicians monitoring the Tokai data.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "earthquake warning;japan;general earthquake prediction research;imminent earthquake;coastal tokai region;richter scale;seismic activity;tokai earthquake"}
+{"name": "FT943-4951", "title": "Commodities and Agriculture: De Beers digs deeper into its resources - The new lease of life for the Jwaneng and Finsch diamond mines", "abstract": "The Jwaneng mine, on the fringes of the Kalahari desert in Botswana, is known as 'a gem in the world of gems' because it almost certainly is the richest diamond mine in the world - at least in terms of the value of the stones it yields. Jwaneng's position is being reinforced by a USDollars 160m expansion programme at present being completed three months ahead of schedule and under budget. Meanwhile, 160km west of Kimberley in the northern Cape Province of South Africa, another diamond mine, the Finsch, where operations started in 1964, has been given a new lease of life. Having dug an open pit 423 metres deep, miners have now gone underground. Mr Simon Webb, the general manager, says that the underground development has given it another 35 to 40 years of life. All this goes to show that De Beers, the South African group that dominates world trade in rough (uncut) diamonds, still has complete faith in its ability to maintain stability in the diamond market despite short-term difficulties such as those the company is experiencing with Russia. It also remains intent on maintaining its diamond output even though its 100-year-old mines at Kimberley are now running down. The South African group believes that its control of at least 50 per cent of world diamond production gives it a powerful base from which to negotiate with the other producers who have marketing contracts with De Beers' Central Selling Organisation, In Botswana De Beers controls half of Debswana, the company that owns the Jwaneng mine, with the government owning the rest. The value of Jwaneng to Botswana cannot be overstated. It, and the country's two other (smaller) diamond mines, between them account for 50 per cent of the government's revenue and 40 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. No wonder Jwaneng's company slogan is Re phtas imisa Botswana, which translates as 'We make Botswana sparkle'. Production started at Jwaneng in 1982. Now a so-called fourth stream is being completed which is adding one-third to processing capacity. In turn, this means a 21 per cent rise in the number of carats produced. Last year the mine treated 5.8m tonnes of ore which yielded 8.546m carats of diamonds, well below the 1992 output when the 5.77m tonnes treated gave up more than 9m carats. Jwaneng's open pit has reached a depth of 190 metres. Already it is 2kms long and 1km wide. Mr Loz Shaw, chief geologist, says drilling down to 600 metres shows there are still plenty of diamonds at that depth and so the pit will go down at least that far. Mr Derrick Moore, the general manager, says this indicates mining in the open pit will last another 35 years - 'and then we might go underground'. If experience at De Beers' wholly-owned Finsch mine in South Africa is anything to go by, planning the underground development at Jwaneng might already have started. Planning for the underground mine at Finsch started in the 1970s and the first work began in 1979. Yet the bottom of the Finsch open pit - 423 metres -was not reached until 1990. Unfortunately, things did not go completely as expected when underground mining started, to some extent because the development was designed by a management whose expertise was mainly in open pit mining. However, Mr Mark Button, mining superintendent, says: 'Finsch has come of age as an underground mine after two years. Our costs compare with the best in the group.' Among the innovations that have helped Finsch achieve its objectives are some remote-controlled LHD (load-haul-dump) trucks which are similar to radio-controlled toy vehicles or boats. Using VHF radio signals, a driver can stand back and send a truck on its own to dig out material from areas between the old pit wall and the underground development that would not otherwise be mined because of the dangers involved. When, as occasionally happens, rock crashes on to the LHD trucks, it is relatively simply to haul the vehicles out virtually undamaged. Mr Webb says the objective is to mine down to a depth of 830 metres, at which point there are not enough diamonds left in the ground to make recovery viable. Finsch - named after the discoverers, Messrs Fincham and Schwabel, who stumbled across the kimberlite pipe containing the diamonds when actually they were looking for asbestos - is one of the victims of the present turmoil in the diamond market caused mainly by uncertainties about Russian exports. About 500 of its 1,900 employees were laid off in August 1992. It is mining only five days a week at present and processing on four days. Last year Finsch mined 2.68m tonnes and recovered 2m carats of diamonds compared with 4.7m tonnes mined and 3.446m carats in 1992. Mr Webb suggests 1994 output will be similar to last year's. But when market conditions improve, production can be brought back up to previous levels in about six months.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "wholly-owned finsch mine;diamond mines;jwaneng mine;south african group;diamond output;botswana;central selling organisation;underground mine;russian exports;de beers;world diamond production"}
+{"name": "FT943-5628", "title": "Commodities and Agriculture: Showpiece diamond mine shares the market's strain", "abstract": "Turbulence in the global diamond markets is being felt even here at Venetia, De Beers' newest diamond mine, 30km from South Africa's borders with Botswana and Zimbabwe. Only weeks before the mine came into production in July 1992 at a cost of USDollars 400m, De Beers' Central Selling Organisation, which controls 80 per cent of world trade in rough (uncut) diamonds, imposed quotas on its producer-suppliers because of a flood of gem stones from Angola. For a time Venetia, the first mine of any sort in South Africa to gain permission for seven-day working, moved to a five-day week. This year it has gone back to seven-day working as the quotas were eased so that the CSO is now accepting 85 per cent of the diamonds it contracted to take from producers. However, there is still turmoil in the diamond market, caused by uncertainty about Russian exports following 'leaks' of stones from that country outside its contract with the CSO. Consequently, Mr Hans Gastrow, general manager, says that this year Venetia will process 4.3m tonnes of ore, 6.5 per cent below its capacity. It is also mining an area of lower grade ore, which has fewer diamonds in each tonne. Mr Gastrow is giving no forecasts but all this implies that output will be well below the 5.6m carats a year De Beers predicted Venetia would yield at full production. Last year the mine, building up rapidly, more than doubled output and processed 3.6m tonnes of ore to recover 4.96m carats. About 70 per cent of Venetia's diamonds are of gem quality and analysts suggest that at Dollars 100 a carat on average the mine is generating annual sales of about Dollars 500m. Mr Gastrow says that, apart from the imposition of the CSO quota, Venetia 'has made a remarkably smooth transition from construction to production'. This year will be a time of consolidation. He insists that the quota is having no impact on employment. Nevertheless, Venetia originally was to have employed 870 and it now has 764. A mine of Venetia's size in the past would have employed 2,000. The total has been kept down here partly by highly automated process plant but also by 'fewer people employed just to see that other people are doing their jobs', according to Mr David Gadd-Claxton, ore extraction manager. Venetia was the first new South African diamond mine for 25 years. It is also the country's biggest diamond mine and a major contributor of export earnings. The mine has also revitalised De Beers' production, as it is accounting for half the group's output in South Africa and replacing production from its 100-year-old Kimberley mines, which are now fading away. Venetia's success is strategically important to De Beers because, when its output is added to that in Botswana and Namibia, it gives the group direct control over more than 50 per cent of world rough gem diamond output. This provides a major base for the CSO to work from and gives it a powerful position from which to negotiate with other producers in the diamond cartel. And, while Venetia is using conventional methods to mine about 500m tonnes of waste and to mine and process 100m tonnes of ore over its projected 23-year life, it is trying some highly innovative ideas about labour relations and environmental issues, at least as far as South Africa is concerned. For example, there are no migrant workers at the mine. Employees are bussed in from nearby towns for 12-hour shifts and then return to their families. Venetia is also breaking with the De Beers' tradition that, for security reasons, no equipment leaves the mine but is burried within the top security area once it is no longer useful. Here worn out equipment will be stockpiled and sold off when the mine closes. It could be worth millions of dollars.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "south african diamond mine;russian exports;rough gem diamond output;central selling organisation;diamond cartel;venetia;turbulence;global diamond markets;de beers"}
+{"name": "FT944-18184", "title": "Who next? Reformers fear the assassin in Mexico - The aftermath of the killing of another PRI leader", "abstract": "If Mr Ernesto Zedillo, Mexico's next president, had any doubts about the difficulties of reforming Mexico's governing party and the country's corrupt judicial and legal system, the assassination last week of Mr Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu, the party's number two official, will probably have removed them. Mr Ruiz Massieu's killing was allegedly ordered by Mr Manuel Munoz Rocha, a federal deputy of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI), and Mr Abraham Rubio Canales, a former tourism developer with strong links to the Gulf drug cartel in the state of Tamaulipas. The two allegedly hired the gunman, and other accomplices, according to testimony from one man who has confessed to his role in the killing. This alleged alliance between a hardliner in the governing party and a man with links to a drug gang has underlined concerns that efforts by Mr Zedillo to reform his party and the country's criminal justice system will be met with fierce and violent resistance from those who stand to lose from these changes. According to testimony from the alleged accomplices to the assassination, the conspirators drew up a list of reform-minded politicians with plans to kill all of them. Since Mr Ruiz Massieu's assassination, there has been renewed speculation that political reactionaries and drug traffickers may have had a hand in the killing six months ago of Mr Luis Donaldo Colosio, the ruling party's reform-minded presidential candidate, even though no evidence has emerged to indicate this is the case. Mr Carlos Fuentes, the novelist, asked yesterday in a newspaper article entitled 'Who is next?' whether Mexico, like Colombia, was facing a period of sustained political violence orchestrated by drug barons. Other columnists have insinuated that more groups than currently revealed might be involved in Mr Ruiz Massieu's murder. Mr Munoz Rocha has promised to hand himself in if his safety is guaranteed, according to a statement by Mexico's Congress. Two newspapers reported yesterday that Mr Munoz Rocha has admitted to a role in the crime but put the responsibility on Mr Rubio Canales, who reportedly blames Mr Ruiz Massieu for his conviction for fraud in 1992, and the prison sentence he is currently serving. Mr Munoz Rocha said he participated in the assassination 'because I was angry that I had not been supported in my political aspirations'. The ruling party has denied that the crime reflects an internal battle between ideological factions in the PRI. Mr Ignacio Pichardo, the president of the party, declared on Monday that Mr Munoz Rocha 'never had intellectual interests, never raised issues of political theory, and was never associated with making ideological pronouncements.' Mr Pichardo insisted that the reform of the PRI would go ahead. As if to underline this pledge, Ms Maria de los Angeles Moreno, the head of the PRI group in the Chamber of Deputies and a reformist, was appointed to replace Mr Ruiz Massieu as the party's secretary-general. Government officials have suggested the Gulf drug cartel may have deliberately involved Mr Munoz Rocha in the assassination to maximise the political impact of the crime. The motives of drug traffickers are uncertain. One view is they believed the assassination would weaken Mr Ruiz Massieu's brother, Mario, who is the deputy attorney general in charge of drug enforcement. If this was the motivation, the plan may have backfired. Mr Ruiz Massieu has taken charge of the investigation into his brother's death, and search for drug cartel members appears to have intensified. Another view is the cartel was seeking revenge. Mr Mario Ruiz Massieu recently had arrested Raul Valladares, top lieutenant in the Gulf Cartel and son-in-law of Mr Rubio Canales, the man in the Acapulco jail accused of jointly plotting the assassination.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "mexico;alleged alliance;gulf drug cartel;violent resistance;criminal justice system;reform-minded politicians;assassination;jose francisco ruiz massieu"}
+{"name": "LA010890-0031", "title": "COLUMN ONE;   POLITICS, PAIN AND THE POLICE;   ANTI-ABORTION PROTESTERS DECRY HOLDS APPLIED BY OFFICERS DURING ARRESTS. THEIR STAND HAS TURNED LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE ALLIANCES TOPSY-TURVY.", "abstract": "A controversial videotape being shown among activists nationwide shows Los Angeles police officers intentionally hurting the nonviolent demonstrators they are arresting.   They press fingers under their noses. They dig their knuckles into protesters' necks, and torque martial arts weapons around their wrists. At one point, two officers twist a woman's arm till she rises from the ground, her face wrenched in agony. In another scene, a young man winces as officers lead him along. His arm, contorted behind his back, finally snaps.   The law enforcement name for these techniques is \"pain-compliance.\" Police departments nationwide say it's a tried and true way to make uncooperative protesters cooperate. But opponents call the term a euphemism for torture.   Demonstrators have alleged police brutality at least since Freedom Riders launched their sit-down strikes in Alabama almost 30 years ago. This time, however, the outcry -- including the videotapes of police in action -- comes from anti-abortion protesters with Operation Rescue, whose members tend to see themselves as law-and-order conservatives.   As a result, traditional political alliances have been turned topsy-turvy. Suddenly, some pro-choice liberals are as supportive of the police as conservative hawks were during 1960s demonstrations, while some anti-abortion Republicans are voicing the sort of \"police state\" rhetoric once associated with anti-war radicals.   In introducing a measure to limit the police use of force in arresting nonviolent protesters, William Armstrong, Colorado's conservative Republican senator, decried pain-compliance as \"something we expect to hear about in Nicaragua or Nazi Germany -- but not in the United States of America.\"   Other conservative lawmakers have echoed his concerns, and on Nov. 15, with little media attention, President Bush signed legislation withholding certain federal grants from cities whose police use excessive force.   Meanwhile, police officers, many of whom are sympathetic to the anti-abortion cause, claim that religious zeal -- and perhaps the use of muscle relaxants -- has given Operation Rescue anti-abortion protesters an unusually high tolerance to pain -- or even a martyr's appetite for it.   Caught off guard by an ambush from their conservative allies, police are howling that the new law -- which could deprive Los Angeles alone of more than $50 million a year in federal aid -- will handcuff them.   \"I think it's utter stupidity,\" Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said. \"Utter, complete stupidity.\"   In reaction to the uproar, the LAPD is quickly phasing out the term pain-compliance, but not the techniques, which have been used \"in civil rights demonstrations, student demonstrations, Vietnam demonstrations . . . all through the '60s, all through the '70s,\" Gates said. He smiled. \"You didn't hear any Republicans complain then, did you?\"   While Gates acknowledged that this issue stirs up memories of the controversy about \"chokeholds\" -- a restraint the LAPD now uses only in life-threatening situations as a result of fierce public pressure -- he argues that \"come-along\" techniques, properly used, are the safest, most effective way to arrest nonviolent demonstrators.   His officers, he added, are as well-trained in the use of these holds as any in the country.   On a recent morning, for example, the Los Angeles Police Academy gym echoed with the unmistakable sounds of force being exerted, as pairs of recruits, dressed in dark blue sweats, kicked, jabbed, swung their night sticks, or grappled one another into chokeholds or pain-compliance holds.   Reacting to one phase of the exam, a woman cadet knocked back an assailant's hand, backed up quickly and leveled her weapon at the man's chest, shouting: \"Put your hands up, lock your elbows, spread your fingers.\"   Had this been a real incident, she would have had to decide in a flash of synapses whether \"reasonable force\" included opening fire with her handgun.   Deadly force is one extreme among the techniques officers must choose from in confronting suspected lawbreakers, explained Sgt. Fred Nichols, the academy's expert on the use of force. The least forceful tactic is a simple request -- \"Would you do this?\" Pain-compliance techniques fit into the scale above talk but below the use of a Taser gun, tear gas, and the police baton.   Among the most simple \"come-along\" compliance techniques are twist- and wrist-locks, in which a subject's arm or wrists are manipulated so that soft tissue and nerves press against bone, Nichols said. Another trick of the trade: the \"mastoid lift,\" in which officers press the nerves along each side of the neck. Demonstrated on recruits who had seated themselves like protesters on the Academy's playing field, each of these techniques worked promptly.   But while some Operation Rescue demonstrators use a standard civil-disobedience technique and \"go limp\" when asked to move, others link arms. They become \"human worm-balls\" and make themselves tense, rendering standard compliance techniques ineffective, officers say. Trying to carry away protesters in these cases becomes even more dangerous to them and arresting officers, police say.   So LAPD and other police forces around the country, including several in Orange County and the San Diego Police Department, began using a modified martial arts tool called a nunchaku -- now termed a \"police control device\" -- consisting of two 12-inch lengths of plastic connected by a length of nylon.   To demonstrate, instructors jabbed the device between an arm and the chest of a cadet, and twisted it around in what is known as a \"trap-and-wrap\" maneuver. The gentlest twist triggered enough pain to make the recruit comply promptly.   Nichols is puzzled by those who call pain-compliance excessive force, or compare it to the cattle prods police use in South Africa. Protesters are given every chance to move on their own. Police actually plead with Operation Rescue demonstrators in some cases, he said.   Then \"they're told they'll be subjected to excruciating pain. It's a pain control technique,\" he said. \"It's going to hurt. That's what pain-compliance means.\"   But protesters in Los Angeles and elsewhere assert that the nunchakus and more conventional come-along holds produced not only agony while being applied, but lingering pain, broken bones, torn ligaments, and, in some cases, long-lasting nerve damage. As a result, they have filed lawsuits against police in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Atlanta and other cities.   Nichols and other officers are suspicious of Operation Rescue's charges.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "los angeles police officers;anti-abortion cause;nonviolent protesters;police abuse;police brutality charges"}
+{"name": "LA011889-0067", "title": "D.A., FBI TO INVESTIGATE LONG BEACH POLICE CASE", "abstract": "The Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the FBI are investigating a videotaped incident in which a white Long Beach police officer appeared to shove a black man's face into a plate glass window after a routine traffic stop.   The Long Beach City Council voted Tuesday to ask the district attorney's office to launch an independent investigation of the Saturday night incident, which was secretly recorded by an NBC television crew.   But Assistant Dist. Atty. Curt Livesay said the office was already looking into the case at the request of the Long Beach police chief.   \"We agreed to review the matter to determine whether a criminal investigation is appropriate,\" Livesay said, adding that his office hopes to decide by Friday whether a full-fledged investigation is merited. If such an inquiry reveals that brutality was involved, either misdemeanor or felony charges could be filed against the officer, he said.   The FBI has also been called in to determine whether the civil rights of the man who was arrested -- Don Jackson, a sergeant on administrative leave from the Hawthorne Police Department -- were violated during his altercation with two Long Beach officers on Pacific Coast Highway, spokesman Fred Reagan said. He refused to say who had requested the federal investigation.   \"We've had an allegation of a civil rights violation and we opened a ticket on it this morning,\" he said.   Jackson and Jeff Hill, an off-duty federal corrections officer, donned dirty old clothes and drove into Long Beach in a rented 12-year-old sedan Saturday night as the television crew followed behind in a van. The two men said they wanted to demonstrate a long-standing problem of abuse of minority group members by Long Beach police officers.     Full Tape Withheld   While edited portions of the tape have been broadcast, Long Beach officials have said they need to see everything filmed by the NBC crew to move ahead with their own investigation of the incident. NBC officials have declined to release the full tape, saying that it would violate company policy to release unedited footage.   A Long Beach assistant city attorney said his office is considering legal action to obtain the tapes.   Although Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell told NBC's \"Today Show\" on Tuesday morning that the two police officers had been suspended, Police Chief Lawrence L. Binkley said that the officers, Mark Dickey and Mark Ramsey, will remain on duty at this stage of the investigation. They have, however, been reassigned from patrol duty to the detective bureau, he said.   Kell admitted later Tuesday that he was in error in his \"Today Show\" comments, but said he would favor firing the officers if it is proved that they used brutal tactics in dealing with Jackson.     Called 'Unfortunate'   At Tuesday's City Council meeting, the mayor called the incident \"an unfortunate set of circumstances. We will not tolerate this. . . . We need to find out what happened here and make sure it never happens again.\"   An investigation by the district attorney will add credibility to the city's own consideration of the brutality allegations, Kell said.   It is not unusual for the district attorney to look into allegations of police brutality, Livesay said, estimating that the office takes on four to six such cases a year.   In determining whether a police officer has used excessive force, prosecutors have to decide whether the officer acted \"without lawful necessity\" in assaulting or beating a suspect. He declined to detail what would constitute unnecessary force, saying that it would be a \"judgement call\" by prosecutors based on the actions and statements of the police officers and suspects, and the injuries suffered.   Attorney Michael Hannon, who is representing the two officers, said Tuesday that he will contest any allegations of brutality. He said the officers were \"set up\" by black activists intent on creating a scene with police.     Police Have No Comment   In a statement released a day after the incident, Long Beach police said that Jackson's and Hill's sedan was pulled over for weaving across the center line of the highway. They denied that Jackson's head was shoved through the window, saying that his elbow smashed the glass. On Monday, however, department officials stopped releasing that statement and said they would have no comment pending the outcome of their internal investigation.   A spokesman for the Police Misconduct Lawyer Referral Service, a nonprofit group that investigates citizen complaints against law enforcement agencies, said the televised tape makes it clear that Dickey pushed Jackson's head and right arm through the window. Spokesman David Lynn maintained that Hill, the driver of the car, was not violating any traffic laws when he was stopped.   The group also complained that Dickey also used a string of obscenities in his conversation with Jackson, who was booked for suspicion of using offensive language, challenging an officer to fight and obstructing arrest. He was released on his own recognizance pending a Jan. 25 court appearance.   Clarence Smith, the only black member of the Long Beach City Council, said he found the tape \"shocking.\" But other city officials argued that the television footage was not necessarily conclusive because it showed the altercation from only one angle and showed Jackson and Dickey only from the waist up.   \"It's real hard to tell what's happening below the waist,\" said Councilman Evan Anderson Braude, maintaining that it is vital that NBC release the rest of its videotapes.     Concedes Error by Officer   Attorney Hannon conceded that Dickey was wrong to spice his orders to Jackson with obscenities, but he said the cursing was evidence of discourtesy, rather than racism.   He said the two officers saw the car weave within the traffic lane and wanted to check the driver for drunkenness. Although the two men in the car were black, driving an old car and dressed in shabby clothes, they were not stopped for those reasons, the lawyer said, adding that they were in a section of the city where their appearance was not unusual.   \"Obviously, they are not telling the truth when they say they did nothing to bring attention to themselves,\" Hannon said of Jackson and Hill.   He said the two police officers become concerned for their safety when Jackson suspiciously exited the car as soon as it stopped, then immediately started arguing when Dickey ordered him to submit to a search for weapons.     'Proper Police Tactics'   \"The officer, using proper police tactics, pushed him up (against) the side of a building and unfortunately, the window broke,\" Hannon said. \"I'm sure neither Mr. Jackson nor the officer wanted the window to break, because it was dangerous.\"   He said Jackson had an eye for the camera when he screamed as Dickey moved him over to the police cruiser for arrest.   He said Dickey, who has been on the police force for four years, had one earlier complaint about his conduct, which was investigated by the department and determined to be unfounded.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "investigation;dickey;police brutality;civil rights violation;los angeles;jackson;police force"}
+{"name": "LA012090-0090", "title": "LANDSCAPING CAN BE 1ST LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST WILDFIRE;   GARDENING", "abstract": "Most Southern Californians would agree that hills and canyons are among the most desirable places to live. But these wild, yet settled, places at the edge of the metropolis -- what botanists sometimes call \"the urban-chaparral interface\" -- are the properties most threatened by wildfire.   While little can be done to control the natural fires that occur in chaparral country, homeowners can change their approach to landscaping and help improve the chances of their homes and property surviving a brush fire.   \"The idea behind fire-resistant landscaping -- firescaping -- is to design landscaping to minimize the fire hazard,\" says Owen Dell, a Santa Barbara landscape contractor who has many canyon and hillside homeowners as clients.   Dell became interested in the concept after the 1977 Sycamore Canyon fire in which 200 homes were lost and only a shift in the wind prevented the loss of additional Santa Barbara residences. After the fire, Dell began studying its effects. \"Many of my clients lost property, but the fire jumped from house to house, then skipped others. I realized that the landscaping had a relationship to the amount of devastation.\"   Dell, the Santa Barbara City Fire Department, the city government and a number of volunteers combined their efforts and began planning the Santa Barbara Firescapes Demonstration Garden to educate the public about reducing the risks of wildfire near their homes.   The concept behind the garden is that while no plant is fireproof, some are more flammable than others. The garden is a model of how to design and maintain landscaping around the home to provide a line of defense against fire.   The garden is landscaped into four plant zones, with the most flammable vegetation planted farthest from the house. Zone 4, farthest from the house, consists of native vegetation that has been thinned to reduce the amount of fuel that could feed a fire. Native chaparral flora, including oaks, ceanothus and manzanita, are found here.   Zone 3 includes plants selected for their low profile and slow-burning characteristics. Wildflowers such as Pacific Coast iris, monkeyflower and California poppies add a splash of color to this zone.   Zone 2 features highly fire-retardant succulents. It's designed to be a greenbelt zone of maximum fire protection. Jade, aloe vera, phormium and evergreen currant are among the high-moisture-content plants characteristic of this zone.   Zone 1, closest to the residence, is a small area of plants that pose little risk of burning. Cactus, tobira and shiny leaf jasmine are examples of fire-resistant plants that still have a high aesthetic appeal.   Some trees and plants are surprisingly hazardous. \"Those eucalyptus trees,\" Dell says. \"If one of those lights up near your house, there's no way to save it. And the Monterey pine -- it's so full of volatile oils, it's almost unbelievable.\"   One popular plant found almost everywhere in Southern California -- ice plant -- would seem to be an ideal choice for a firescape garden. Actually, it can be a menace. The plant produces a great deal of litter beneath that succulent surface and can smolder for days. Two other surprisingly flammable flora are redwood trees and bougainvillea.   Dell thinks several successive drought years have finally persuaded Southern Californians to rethink approaches to gardening. Suddenly, xeriscaping -- landscaping with drought-tolerant natives -- is becoming commonplace and fashionable. As Dell sees it, while many home gardeners have learned to deal with low-water conditions, they've virtually ignored another common Southern California occurrence -- wildfire.   Just as appropriate landscaping can help gardeners with water shortages, so may careful landscaping help reduce the risk of significant property damage in the most fire-prone areas.   The Firescapes Demonstration Garden is located across the street from City Fire Station 7 at 2411 Stanwood Drive and is open every day from 8 a.m. until sunset. A brochure available at the garden aids your exploration. For additional information, contact the Santa Barbara City Fire Department public education coordinator at (805) 564-5703.   To reach the garden: From U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara, exit on Salinas Street and continue to a five-way intersection. Bear right (north) on Sycamore Canyon Road (144) to Stanwood Drive (192). Turn left and continue to the fire station, on your left, just opposite the garden. There's ample parking at the station, which is located on the corner of Stanwood Drive and Mission Ridge Road.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "fire-resistant landscaping;firescape garden;southern californians;firescaping;fire-retardant succulents;ice plant;wildfire;firescapes demonstration garden;fire-resistant plants;four plant zones;maximum fire protection"}
+{"name": "LA012590-0174", "title": "EXXON RAISES VALDEZ CLEANUP COSTS TO $2 BILLION;   EARNINGS: THE OIL GIANT WILL TAKE ANOTHER $500-MILLION CHARGE OVER THE SPILL, BRINGING ITS TAB FOR THE YEAR TO $1.38 BILLION.", "abstract": "Exxon Corp. on Wednesday increased its estimate of the total 1989 costs of cleaning up the massive Alaskan oil spill to $2 billion and said it would take another $500-million charge in the fourth quarter to cover costs from what is now the most expensive environmental disaster in history.   In reporting its estimated 1989 earnings, Exxon said it would take a $500-million charge in the fourth quarter for costs to clean up the spill of 11 million gallons of oil that spilled from the grounded tanker Exxon Valdez and fouled the shoreline of pristine Prince William Sound last March.   The charges reduced Exxon's 1989 net income to $3.8 billion, compared to $5.26 billion in 1988. Revenue totaled $96.1 billion in 1989, compared to $88.6 billion the year before.   On Wednesday, Exxon spokesman William Smith upped the company's estimate of the spill's total costs so far -- costs to Exxon and others -- to \"about $2 billion.\" The figure does not include any liability from more than 150 lawsuits Exxon faces from the spill, nor does it include additional cleanup costs should Exxon resume work in the spring.   The fourth-quarter charge comes in addition to $880 million that the company already set aside in the first and second quarters, bringing Exxon's total cleanup costs for the year to $1.38 billion. Other costs will be covered by \"more than $400 million\" in insurance, Smith said.   Analysts were not surprised at the additional charge, though \"it was a lot bigger than I expected,\" said Joel D. Fischer, an analyst with Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. in New York. Wall Street showed little reaction to the news, with Exxon's stock falling only 12.5 cents to close at $47 a share.   \"The financial effect of the Exxon Valdez accident was clearly the major reason for lower net income in 1989,\" said Exxon Chairman Lawrence G. Rawl in a statement.   The charges from the Valdez cleanup were partly offset by a one-time gain from a change in accounting methods in the first quarter as a result of changes in federal tax law. That raised Exxon's income by $535 million for the year.   Without the cleanup charge and accounting gain, Exxon said its net income for the year would have been $4.7 billion, down 10.6% from 1988, despite higher oil and gas prices. The decline resulted mainly from slimmer refining and marketing profit margins and lower earnings from chemical operations. In the fourth quarter, earnings before the Valdez charge were $1.28 billion, compared to $1.38 billion in the 1988 quarter.   Analysts said Exxon's size would insulate it from serious long-term financial damage from the charges. \"I think they did end the year on a strong note, largely because of the strength in crude and natural gas pricing,\" said Eugene Nowak, an analyst with Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. in New York.   Still, Exxon's stock, whose performance has lagged behind that of other major oil firms, could suffer from continuing negative publicity surrounding the Valdez spill and the subsequent spill of 567,000 gallons of heating oil into the Arthur Kill waterway between New York and New Jersey on Jan. 2. The bad press will undoubtedly be aggravated when the criminal trial begins next week of the Exxon Valdez's captain, Joseph Hazelwood.   Smith declined to say what costs the new $500-million charge would cover. The previous charges covered everything from wages to boat rentals to boots, as well as payments so far of $177 million in claims by fishermen, cannery workers and other individuals affected by the spill, said Exxon spokesman James Robertson in Anchorage.   In addition, the state of Alaska has asked Exxon to reimburse it for about $34.5 million in costs; so far, Exxon has paid the state $7.4 million in cash and has agreed to pay bills amounting to $23 million more, said the state's Oil Spill Coordinating Office. Exxon must also reimburse the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal agencies.   Meanwhile, Exxon confirmed Wednesday that it would shut down its Denver exploration and production office, which employs about 105 people. The office's operations will be transferred to Midland, Tex. No decision has been made on the future of the workers in Denver, said Exxon spokesman Les Rogers in Houston.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "exxon corp.;exxon valdez accident;tanker exxon valdez;lower net income;expensive environmental disaster;cleanup charge;total cleanup costs;revenue;valdez spill;financial effect;valdez cleanup;massive alaskan oil spill"}
+{"name": "LA021090-0005", "title": "GUN NUTS HAVE A REAL POINT;   CONSTITUTION: THE CLIMATE MAY NOW BE RUNNING IN FAVOR OF MORE RESTRICTIONS, INCLUDING A BAN ON HANDGUNS. BUT THERE'S STILL THE SECOND AMENDMENT.", "abstract": "Around the world, national theologies are crumbling: communism, apartheid and, here in America, the worship of guns -- to foreigners, the single craziest thing about us.   Do you sense an outbreak of sanity about gun control? I do. There was retired Chief Justice Warren Burger preaching sacrilege on the cover of Parade magazine a couple of weeks ago. A Time Magazine/Cable News Network poll reports that 87% of gun owners themselves favor a seven-day waiting period for handgun purchases; three-quarters favor registration of semi-automatic weapons and handguns, and half favor registration of rifles and shotguns.   Unfortunately, there is the Second Amendment to the Constitution: \"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.\"   Most right thinkers take comfort in that funny stuff about the militia. Since the amendment's stated purpose is arming state militias, they reason, it creates no individual right to own a gun. That reasoning is good enough for the ACLU. But would civil-libertarians be so stinting about an amendment they felt more fond of? Say, the First?   The purpose of the First Amendment's free-speech guarantee was pretty clearly to protect political discourse. But liberals reject the notion that free speech is therefore limited to political topics, even broadly defined. True, that purpose is not inscribed in the amendment itself. But why leap to the conclusion that a broadly worded constitutional freedom (\"the right of the people to keep and bear arms\") is narrowly limited by its stated purpose, unless you're trying to explain it away? A colleague says that if liberals interpreted the Second Amendment the way they interpret the rest of the Bill of Rights, there would be law professors arguing that gun ownership is mandatory.   The most thorough parsing of the Second Amendment is a 1983 article in the Michigan Law Review by Don Kates, a gun enthusiast. Kates expends most energy demonstrating that at the time of the Bill of Rights, all able-bodied men were considered to be part of the \"militia\" and were expected to defend the state if necessary. I'm not sure this is as clinching an argument as Kates seems to think. The fact that once upon a time everyone was a member of the militia doesn't prove that everyone still has a right to a gun even after the composition of the militia has changed.   But Kates has other bullets in his belt. The phrase \"right of the people\" appears four other times in the Bill of Rights (including the First Amendment). In all these other cases, everyone agrees that it creates a right for individual citizens, not just some collective right of states as a whole. Kates also marshals impressive historical evidence that the Second Amendment, like other Bill of Rights protections, was intended to incorporate English common law rights of the time, which pretty clearly included the right to keep a gun in your home for reasons having nothing to do with the militia.   If there is a good reply to Kates's fusillade, the controllers haven't made it. Of course the existence of an individual right to own guns doesn't mean that it is absolute. What are the limits? In the Supreme Court's one 20th-Century treatment of the Second Amendment, it held somewhat ambiguously in 1939 that sawed-off shotguns aren't necessarily protected by the Constitution without proof that they are the kind of weapon a militia might have used.   Working from that decision and the common law, Kates says the amendment's protection should be limited to weapons \"in common use among law-abiding people,\" useful for law enforcement or personal defense, and lineally descended from weapons known to the Framers. (No nuclear bombs.) He adds that they must be light enough for an ordinary person to carry (\"bear\"), and even that they can't be especially \"dangerous or unusual.\" He says that the amendment places no limit on mandatory registration or laws against concealed weapons in public.   This list seems quite reasonable and moderate, though where it all comes from is not clear. In suggesting, for example, that it would be fine to ban automatic rifles but not semi-automatics, Kates is slicing the constitutional salami pretty thin. But in what I suspect was the main purpose of his exercise -- establishing that a flat ban on handguns would be hard to justify under the Constitution -- Kates builds a distressingly good case.   The downside of having a Bill of Rights is that the protection of individual rights usually entails social costs. This is as true of the Second Amendment as it is of the First, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth. The downside of having those rights inscribed in a Constitution, protected from the whims of majority rule, is that they can't be re-defined as life changes. It would be remarkable indeed if none of the Bill of Rights became less sensible and more burdensome with time.   Talking and writing are as central to American democracy as they ever were; shooting just isn't. Gun nuts are unconvincing (at least to me) in their attempts to argue that the individual right to bear arms is still as vital to freedom as it was in 1792. But the right is still there.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "gun ownership;right;gun control;law enforcement;kates;constitution;second amendment;handgun purchases"}
+{"name": "LA021689-0227", "title": "BEN JOHNSON'S STEROID USE TOLD", "abstract": "Ben Johnson's personal physician has said the disgraced Olympic sprinter took a banned steroid on one occasion four months before the Seoul Olympics last year, the Toronto Star newspaper reported today.   Dr. Jamie Astaphan, in a telephone interview from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, said Johnson was depressed last May by a hamstring injury that threatened to end his rivalry against Carl Lewis for the 100 meters Olympics gold medal.   \"He bought stanozolol or somebody bought it for him in Toronto,\" Astaphan told the newspaper. But immediately after taking it Johnson suffered \"violent muscle spasms.\"   \"He was immediately brought to me and I nursed him back to top condition,\" he said.   Astaphan said Johnson was not on stanozolol when he beat Lewis in a world-record time of 9.79 seconds for the 100 meters gold, a medal taken away from him when he then tested positive for stanozolol use by Olympics officials.   Asked how he could be certain, Astaphan replied: \"I must admit that even though I am his personal physician, there's no way I can keep a constant check on him.   \"But it would not make any sense for an athlete to go back on a drug which a few months previously could have ruined him for life.\"   Johnson has said he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs. Astaphan has denied he ever prescribed such drugs to Johnson or other athletes on Canada's Olympics team.   The Johnson scandal prompted Canada to call an inquiry into drug use in amateur sport that resumes hearings in Toronto next Wednesday.   Commission counsel Robert Armstrong said it was \"totally irresponsible that Dr. Astaphan made such statements outside of the commission and not under oath where they are available to be tested by cross-examination.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "banned steroid;johnson scandal;stanozolol use;disgraced olympic sprinter;olympics gold medal;jamie astaphan;ben johnson;seoul olympics;personal physician"}
+{"name": "LA030489-0068", "title": "OFFICER ADMITS HE ERRED IN REPORT ON VIDEOTAPED ARREST", "abstract": "A white Long Beach police officer who allegedly pushed a black man through a plate-glass window during an arrest that was secretly videotaped by a television crew acknowledged Friday that he made errors in his official report.   Officer Mark Dickey, speaking publicly for the first time since the Jan. 14 incident, told a state Senate oversight committee in sworn testimony that he had so little faith in his own report that he would not want it used against him if he were suspected of a crime. He blamed the discrepancies on a faulty memory, saying he wrote the report more than three hours after the altercation occurred.   Dickey, who was testifying under subpoena, admitted under questioning that the black man, Don Jackson, never used profanity during the arrest as Dickey had indicated in his report. Dickey also admitted that he intended to inflict pain on Jackson when he put handcuffs on him as a way to control him.     Police Misconduct Allegations   Sen. Daniel Boatwright (D-Concord), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on State Procurement and Expenditure Practices, called the hearing into the incident to review allegations of police misconduct in Long Beach. The legislative committee monitors state funds disbursed to police departments by the state Police Officer Standards and Training Commission.   The incident received nationwide attention after a camera hidden in Jackson's car videotaped the arrest, during which Dickey swore at Jackson after stopping his car for an alleged traffic violation and then appeared to push his head through a plate-glass window.   Jackson, a Hawthorne police sergeant on disability leave and a self-styled crusader against police brutality, had gone to Long Beach that night with an NBC television crew following in a separate vehicle in what he termed a \"sting\" operation to validate reports of racism and brutality by Long Beach police officers.   Investigations have been launched by the FBI, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the Long Beach Police Department. Dickey has been temporarily reassigned to a desk job, and Jackson was charged with interfering with a police officer.   At the hearing, Boatwright repeatedly played the videotape while committee members and about 50 observers watched on television monitors and Dickey and Jackson commented on each scene.   Boatwright questioned whether the car in which Jackson was riding was actually weaving -- the stated cause for the traffic stop -- and whether Jackson acted aggressively toward the officers, as Dickey said in his report.   At one point, Boatwright asked Dickey: \"You became the judge, jury and executioner as to whether he was challenged to a fight?\"   \"No,\" Dickey tersely replied.   Dickey's attorney, Michael Hannon, refused to allow Dickey to answer any more questions after nearly three hours of questioning because of what he called the \"hostile and badgering\" nature of the inquiry.   \"This little kangaroo court gives these politicians a chance to run for office. Any resemblance between this and a fair hearing is just imaginary,\" Hannon told reporters afterward. \"They are taking stuff out of context and just badgering him with it.\"   Earlier, under questioning by Boatwright and as the videotape was played, Dickey testified that the alleged infraction for which the Jackson car was stopped -- crossing the center divider -- occurred before it could be seen on a tape shot from the NBC chase vehicle, but he maintained that the tape does show Jackson's car weaving slowly within the traffic lane.   Boatwright, standing in front of the television monitor, pointed out that a videotape shot from the Jackson car's rear window shows the street lights passing by in a consistent pattern -- indicating the car was not weaving. Dickey acknowledged that the police car he was driving \"was weaving all over, too\" as it tailed Jackson's car.   Jackson, also testifying under subpoena, said that he and Jeff Hill, an off-duty federal corrections officer who drove the car, took great care not to break traffic laws when they cruised along Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach. He alleged that in addition to pushing his face into the glass, Dickey hurt him by bending his fingers while handcuffing him and pushed his face into the hood of the police car. Also, Jackson alleged, officers refused three requests to loosen his handcuffs as he was taken to the police station.   Dickey's eight-page police report, which was provided to reporters, states that Jackson was arrested for saying \"offensive words,\" an allegation that was later dropped. But Dickey conceded at the hearing that it was he, not Jackson, who uttered obscenities.     No Taunts Heard   The report states that Jackson challenged the officer to fight, although Jackson never is heard taunting the officer on the tape. \"There can be a fight without a verbal challenge,\" Dickey said, adding that Jackson's fists were clenched at his sides.   Dickey said that he was swearing to try to alleviate his fear. He testified that he thought Jackson, who immediately stepped out of the car after it came to a halt, might be trying to provide a diversion for an armed partner in the car.   He said his actions were an attempt to \"accomplish my No. 1 job that night: to go home in one piece.\"   At one point in the proceeding, Boatwright had Dickey and Jackson weighed in an attempt to show that Jackson is shorter and weighs less than the officer.   At another point, Boatwright assumed the role of Dickey and had Dickey play Jackson in trying to demonstrate the type of hold Dickey used on Jackson during the arrest. Boatwright contended that in using that type of hold the officer would have had to push Jackson into the window deliberately. Dickey denied it.   The officer said Jackson's face crashed through the window when Jackson suddenly pulled forward. Jackson, according to Dickey, struck the window with his elbows and not with his face as Jackson contends. Dickey, who cut his hand, noted that Jackson suffered no facial injuries when the glass shattered.   Jackson, in his testimony, defended his self-appointed role as a police anti-brutality activist, saying \"my duty is to uphold the law and I am doing that in the highest tradition.\" He said he is troubled, though, that Long Beach police are investigating his background on the Hawthorne Police Department rather than concentrating on the incident.   Boatwright adjourned the hearing, which was held at the Hall of Administration in downtown Los Angeles, after about six hours of testimony. He said it would reconvene later to hear from the additional witnesses.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "police officer;arrest;dickey;police brutality;don jackson;racism"}
+{"name": "LA030789-0047", "title": "ATTORNEY SAYS IMPLICATING LEWIS UNFAIR", "abstract": "Carl Lewis said he knew Ben Johnson was taking performance-enhancing drugs just after their 100-meter final last fall at the Seoul Olympics.   \"He got out of those blocks like a caged lion,\" Lewis said in an interview Sunday at the Los Angeles Marathon, where he was representing a sponsor. \"How can anybody in the world do that after running all those rounds (preliminary heats)?   \"I said, 'Look, I don't know what he is taking or what he is doing, but he is doing something.' \"   Now Lewis has been implicated in an alleged sabotage of Johnson's drug test, which returned a positive result for the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol.   At a Canadian inquiry into drug use in sport Monday at Toronto, Charlie Francis, a Canadian sprint coach, testified that Johnson might have drunk contaminated beer before a urinalysis. Francis based his theory on the fact that Johnson took the steroid furazabol three weeks before the Games, not the difficult-to-detect stanozolol.   According to Francis' testimony, Johnson said that an unidentified man who had been talking with Lewis sat near the beer that was provided for the athletes to facilitate them in providing urine samples.   Francis said that two witnesses told him that the stranger had spoken with Lewis in another area of the waiting room. Lewis had finished second to Johnson, who set a world record of 9.79 seconds in winning the 100-meter gold medal, and subsequently also had to be tested.   \"Any allocation or innuendo that Carl Lewis tampered with Ben Johnson's drink or sample is ludicrous,\" said David Greifinger, Lewis' attorney. \"These sound like the last acts of desperate men who know they've committed wrong and see no other way out other than to continue to lie and to fabricate stories.   \"Charlie and Ben should own up to the fact that what they did was wrong, and should promise to never to do it again and move on with their lives. By continuing their present course of action they are just embarrassing themselves further.\"   Lewis could not be reached for comment Monday.   Though Johnson's gold medal and Seoul world-record time were both revoked, his world mark of 9.83 seconds stands. He set the record at the 1987 World Championships at Rome, where Lewis finished second in 9.93 seconds.   Lewis said Sunday that officials of the International Amateur Athletics Federation should disallow Johnson's world record from Rome because Francis has testified his sprinter took drugs before the World Championships.   If that were to happen, Lewis would replace Johnson as the world record-holder. IAAF officials, however, said the record will stand because Johnson passed a drug test after the 1987 race.   \"If it has been proven that he took drugs, I would think that (withdrawing the record) is the responsible thing for the sport,\" Lewis said Sunday.   Lewis also contended that Francis' testimony painted a false picture as to why Johnson would take performance-enhancing drugs.   According to testimony, since 1981 Johnson has taken such drugs as furazabol, stanozolol and the human growth hormone, which is taken from the pituitary glands of human cadavers or can be taken in synthetic form. The drugs induce the growth of muscle tissue, and some athletes claim, help performances.   \"He is trying to say that everyone was on it, so they got on it,\" Lewis said. \"That's not true. They wanted to beat people. That's why they got on drugs.\"   Lewis said track and field is not infested with steroid users as some are beginning to believe in light of the Canadian inquiry. He said about 90% of the athletes are drug-free.   \"Most of your great athletes are clean,\" Lewis said. \"There are athletes who do have a problem. I can tell who's on it. I've been around it too long.\"   Lewis, however, refused to implicate any of his colleagues.   But Lewis defended Evelyn Ashford, a world-class sprinter who was implicated as a steroid user in Francis' testimony last week. Lewis and Ashford are teammates on the Santa Monica Track Club.   \"No way in the world does she take drugs,\" Lewis said, pounding a table. \"She is a victim. That's going to happen. I don't think that will hurt her image because Evelyn is clean and she always stood for being clean. People who know her know it.\"   In finishing second at the Olympics, Lewis set a U.S. record of 9.92 seconds.   Even before Lewis replaced Johnson as the gold-medal winner two days after the race, the U.S. Olympian said he was happy with his result.   \"I've come to grips with the fact that I'm the best I can be and I can't ask for anything more,\" he said. \"I'm doing what is right. I have to feel there is some merit to that. It didn't ease the pain of not winning and feeling he (Johnson) was on drugs. But it made me feel like I'm putting something back into track and field because I'm setting an example.\"   Lewis called for Johnson to also become a role model.   \"I think Ben is 110% irresponsible in not coming out and telling kids to stay off drugs,\" he said. \"He needs to stand up and say, 'Don't do it. Look what happened to me whether I knew it or not, make sure you know. Don't take it unless you know what it is.'   \"But he is perpetuating continued drug use. I think he's just lying to himself. The biggest thing about drug use is denial. Somebody takes cocaine because they want to get high. Some people take steroids because they want to run faster. It's the same thing. You're trying to cheat somehow.\"   Lewis, who won four gold medals at the 1984 Summer Games and has been one of the great sprinters and long jumpers in track and field, said he is determined to help the sport's image.   \"That's what people don't realize,\" he said. \"I could leave it all alone but the thing is, I want track to be a better sport than when I came. If anybody gets what they deserve in track and field, it's me. I make the most money, I get the appearances. But I still believe that through it all I want to help every single person whether they make $50 a meet or near what I make.\"   Lewis said his deep-rooted conviction comes from his parents, who raised him to stand by his beliefs. Lewis said their philosophy was inspired by the late Dr. Martin Luther King, who once said it is important to make such sacrifices.   \"That people cannot sacrifice for something in their life, whether it is a small insignificant thing to others or a big thing to the world, what's the use of living?\" Lewis asked. \"I feel if I can't sacrifice myself for the betterment of other people in track and field, well, then I cannot leave a legacy that will be remembered.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "carl lewis;world record-holder;drug test;ben johnson;seoul olympics;performance-enhancing drugs;drug use;steroid furazabol;anabolic steroid stanozolol"}
+{"name": "LA030889-0163", "title": "JOHNSON WAS WORRIED ABOUT TEST, FRANCIS' FRIEND SAYS", "abstract": "Canadian Coach Charlie Francis, who claimed that sprinter Ben Johnson's urine sample at the Seoul Olympics was spiked with a banned steroid, told an acquaintance in Seoul that Johnson had worried that he might test positive.   Lynda Huey, who was at Seoul working for NBC-TV and as a physical therapist for some American athletes, said Tuesday that Francis had bragged to her about Johnson's preparations for a showdown against U.S. sprinter Carl Lewis.   Huey said she had known Francis since 1980 when he and sprinter Angella Taylor Issajenko stayed at her home in Los Angeles. Huey said she had seen Francis on a practice track at Seoul and he had greeted her as an old friend.   \"Charlie came over to me and we started talking,\" Huey said. \"We were talking about how Ben might do. Charlie said, 'Ben's more afraid of failing the drug test than he is of Carl Lewis.' He was bragging.\"   Huey said she is tired of hearing Francis, who has been in Toronto testifying at a Canadian inquiry into drug use in sport, say that Johnson was clean at the Olympics.   Francis testified that Johnson was not taking the steroid, stanozolol, before the Games and that a mysterious person might have slipped something into Johnson's beverage in the drug-testing area before the sprinter gave his urine specimen.   Clean or not, Huey said, \"Francis must have had some reason to think Ben may not pass the test.\" JULIE CART", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "canadian inquiry;banned steroid;sprinter ben johnson;canadian coach charlie francis;seoul olympics;urine sample;u.s. sprinter carl lewis;lynda huey;drug use"}
+{"name": "LA032589-0044", "title": "TANKER SPILLS OIL AFTER HITTING REEF OFF ALASKA", "abstract": "A Long Beach-bound Exxon oil tanker ran aground on a reef Friday and spilled an estimated 8.4 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound, a pristine Pacific waterway heavily used by kayakers, fishermen and tourists. It was the largest Alaskan oil spill ever.   The Exxon Valdez, a 987-foot tanker owned by Exxon Shipping Co., rammed the reef about 25 miles from the city of Valdez, the northernmost ice-free port in the United States, at 12:30 a.m. Coast Guard officers speculated that the ship's captain may have been trying to avoid icebergs from the nearby Columbia Glacier when the accident occurred.     Leak a Mere Trickle   A representative of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the tanker had been spilling oil at a rate of 10,000 barrels an hour but the Coast Guard said the leak had become a mere trickle by 2:30 p.m., Alaska time.   U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer John Gonzales said in a telephone interview from Valdez that the spill was staying \"in the mid-channel\" and did not seem to be moving toward the shore.   \"We've had no report of any wildlife hurt at this time,\" he said. But environmentalists feared that if the oil reached the shore, marine birds would be threatened. Herring hatch at this time of year and attract up to 20,000 sea birds for the feast. Environmentalists also expressed concern about whales, sea lions and other wildlife.   Twenty people were aboard the ship but there were no immediate reports of injuries, said Dave Parish, a spokesman for Exxon USA, in a telephone interview from Anchorage. He said three planes from British Columbia, California and England had been dispatched to the scene for aerial spraying to dilute the oil.   Gonzales said 200,000 barrels spilled into the sea. Another Exxon tanker was attempting to pump the oil out of the crippled vessel, and two Coast Guard investigators were on board the Valdez, he said.   Jon Nelson, a deputy regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage, said the reef ripped a 150-foot gash in the vessel, which was carrying 1.2 million barrels of oil, and there was fear that the tanker could break apart further.   \"If it breaks up on the rocks, then anything could happen,\" he said in a telephone interview. The seas were calm Friday and the forecast was for continued calm until Sunday.   Infuriated local residents and environmentalists complained about the slow pace of the cleanup.     Critical of Efforts   \"Where was the crackerjack response team that was supposed to be out there? They are moving way too slowly,\" said University of Alaska professor Richard Steiner, who flew over the slick Friday. \"There (was) no oil (cleanup equipment) out there and it's been 14 hours since it happened.   \"It is huge, literally huge,\" he said in a telephone interview from Cordova. \"It looks devastating. The slick is probably five miles long by three miles wide. Fortunately, there is no wind. . . . We saw six sea lions inside the slick, swimming, trying to avoid it, and they had no idea which way to go.\"   Cindy Lowry, Alaska regional director for Greenpeace, also complained about the pace of the cleanup. \"It is more than 12 hours later and there is no (cleanup) boom, no sweepers. They are bringing equipment from as far away as England. It is just absurd that the equipment is not here already. . . . This will affect everything in the food chain, from crab larvae to orca whales.\"   Exxon's Parish said everything possible was being done. \"It takes time to get activated,\" he said. The immediate response to the spill was handled by crews from the terminal at Valdez.     Floating Oil Booms   Gonzales, the Coast Guard spokesman, said the terminal has cleanup equipment on site for minor spills. He said employees of the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which operates the trans-Alaska oil pipeline for a consortium of oil companies, were getting floating oil booms in place by late afternoon.   Prince William Sound, home to orcas, sea otters and fur seals, is important to both the fishing and the recreation industries.   \"It's a gorgeous marine environment and ecosystem, with lots of little islands and inlets and bays,\" said Emily Barneet, Alaska issues specialist for the Sierra Club in Anchorage. \"It's also a pretty well-established tourist attraction, with sailing and glacier viewing trips. Prince William is a gem.\"   The spill is expected to add fuel to a campaign by environmentalists to prevent further oil development in Alaska, particularly in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. \"It's of concern for two reasons: one is the size of the spill and that this is such a sensitive, very productive area,\" said Lisa Speer, senior staff scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York. \"This is a consequence of North Slope oil development that is rarely mentioned.\"   Valdez City Manager Doug Griffen told the Associated Press that the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline, which carries oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez and the marine terminal, has a good environmental record.     Expected Worst   \"But this could be a catastrophic occurrence, so we're concerned,\" he said. \"Living in Valdez, we've always worried that sometime something like this could happen.\"   Alaska Gov. Steve Cowper arrived in Valdez on Friday to evaluate the spill. He said that state officials were considering the use of chemicals to disperse and sink the oil.   \"The problem is that chemical use can have a bad effect on marine life,\" he said. \"It's going to be a tough judgment call.\"   Cowper said that conventional responses, such as booms, probably would not work because the spill is so large. \"You probably couldn't do it (contain the spill) with all the equipment available in North America. This is a major spill by any reckoning.   \"We've been able to brag for a long time that there's never been a major oil spill in Valdez Harbor. Now, we can't do that anymore.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "exxon valdez;alaskan oil spill;long beach-bound exxon oil tanker;cleanup equipment;crude oil;wildlife hurt"}
+{"name": "LA032789-0038", "title": "ALASKA TANKER PILOTED BY UNQUALIFIED OFFICER;   EXXON UNABLE TO EXPLAIN CAPTAIN'S ABSENCE; RISING WINDS STIR FEARS OF OIL SLICK DAMAGE", "abstract": "An unqualified mate was piloting the Exxon Valdez -- violating both Coast Guard regulations and company policy -- when the tanker crashed into rocks, unleashing the worst oil spill in U.S. history, Exxon Shipping Co. said Sunday.   Exxon also disclosed that the Long Beach-bound tanker actually was involved in two separate accidents that night in pristine Prince William Sound.   Meanwhile, winds kicked up around the crippled ship, stirring fears that choppy waters could destabilize the Exxon Valdez and sweep the slick ashore.   Wildlife experts were summoned from California to coordinate any efforts to rescue birds and sea otters, whose feathers and fur make them the most vulnerable to oil contamination.     Oil-Covered Birds, Otters   Biologists already have counted 95 birds and two otters covered with oil but were unable to capture them for cleaning.   Killer whales, sea lions and ducks also have been spotted swimming in the muck.   Cleanup efforts continued slowly, and Alaska Gov. Steve Cowper declared Prince William Sound a disaster area, freeing state resources for cleanup and paving the way for a federal disaster declaration.   Many questions about the disaster remained unanswered.   Still unexplained is why Third Mate Gregory Cousins was steering the 987-foot vessel through the tricky, iceberg-dotted waters on Friday.   Frank Iarossi, president of Exxon Shipping, told reporters that Capt. Joseph Hazelwood was one flight below the bridge in his cabin when the Exxon Valdez hit the first jagged rock pinnacle about a mile outside shipping lanes.   The ship then \"slid about two miles\" under full power and hit more underwater rocks, Iarossi said. At no time did the ship lose steering, he added.   Iarossi said he did not know whether Hazelwood took the wheel after the first accident, or how much time elapsed between the two incidents.   There would have been no reason for the 42-year-old captain to go below to use the bathroom or get coffee, since both are available on the bridge, Iarossi said.   \"I agree something is missing,\" Iarossi told reporters and local residents at a press conference.   Cousins, a three-year employee of Exxon, did not have the Coast Guard certification required to pilot through the sound but was qualified under other circumstances to steer the ship, Iarossi said.     Puts Off Filing Charges   \"We're not going to file any charges until we are done with our investigation,\" said Coast Guard spokesman Todd Nelson.   \"The Coast Guard may seem slow and plodding at times, but if we file charges, we're going to make them stick,\" he added.   Nelson said piloting a ship without proper certification is a civil, not criminal, violation, which ultimately could result in suspension or revocation of the captain's license.   Exxon has not made any of the Exxon Valdez's 20 crew members available for interviews.   The Coast Guard served subpoenas Saturday on the captain, helmsman and third mate to ensure that they make themselves available to investigators.   A team from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived Sunday to probe the cause of the accident.   Experts from the International Bird Rescue Center in Berkeley, Calif., set up a rehabilitation center here Sunday in case oiled birds are captured. Otter experts from Hubbs Marine Research Institute at Sea World in San Diego were due to arrive today.   But even if animals turn up in distress, rescues may not be feasible.   \"Human life and safety is more important,\" said Pamela Bergmann, the Department of the Interior representative assessing the situation.   She said it might be too perilous to try to capture panicky birds and otters from boats in the frigid water, and there is no road access to the shores where they are likely to show up.   A monitor from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said he felt encouraged about impact on the area's abundant marine life after patrolling the 50-square-mile slick by boat Saturday.   \"The reason we haven't seen a large number of birds affected so far is that the oil is out in the middle of the sound,\" said Everett Robinson-Wilson, the agency's environmental contaminant coordinator.   \"The weather will help us or kill us,\" he added.   Winds of up to 35 m.p.h. were expected by today.   Neither Exxon nor the state and federal agencies involved in the operation could say how much oil had been mopped up or what percentage of the slick is contained.   The Exxon Valdez spewed about 250,000 barrels of North Slope crude into the ice-blue waters. Another 1 million barrels remain aboard the damaged ship, but no new leakage has been reported.   Pumps were being used to siphon the remaining oil into a sister tanker Sunday, an operation expected to take up to a week.   Salvagers hope the two-year-old Exxon Valdez will be able to float free once its load is lightened.     Up to $20 Million Damages   Iarossi estimated damage to the $125-million ship at $10 million to $20 million.   Videotapes filmed by divers revealed 10 sizable holes in the ship's hull, ranging from 8 feet by 15 feet to 20 feet by 6 feet, Iarossi said.     Rocks Charted   He indicated that the rocks the ship hit were charted and well within range of the Exxon Valdez's navigational equipment.   No disciplinary action has been taken against any crew members, Iarossi said. The executive promised to make public results of mandatory drug and alcohol tests on crew members.   So far, oil has washed ashore only on two tiny islands in the sound, and beach cleanup efforts were under way.     Hasn't Seen Plan   \"We have been told by Exxon that they will come up with an organized cleanup plan, but we've yet to see one,\" said Barbara Holian, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.   The agency is studying its \"legal options\" and may ask the Coast Guard to take over the cleanup from Exxon, she said.   At Coast Guard offices here, Nelson said such a move was unlikely.   \"The Coast Guard doesn't have tons and tons of its own equipment, and it would have to hire the same people Exxon has,\" Nelson said. \"That would just slow things down.   \"Right now, Exxon is the oil company with the deep pockets, and it's cleaning up its own spill within federal guidelines.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "investigation;exxon shipping co.;separate accidents;unqualified mate;long beach-bound tanker;federal disaster;cleanup efforts;exxon valdez spill;oil contamination;oil spill;environmental conservation;coast guard regulations;pilot"}
+{"name": "LA040689-0056", "title": "SHIP REFLOATED; FORMER SKIPPER GIVES SELF UP", "abstract": "Exxon salvage crews successfully refloated the stricken tanker Exxon Valdez on Wednesday as the former captain of the vessel surrendered to authorities in New York to face criminal charges in the massive oil spill.   Joseph Hazelwood, 42, surrendered to police in a Long Island suburb of New York City and hours later Judge Kenneth Rohl set bail at $500,000 -- 10 times what Alaskan authorities had sought.   Hazelwood's lawyer said he had not decided whether to waive extradition proceedings and return to Alaska to face the charges; Hazelwood was not required to enter a plea Wednesday.     Fired by Exxon   After the Exxon Valdez ran aground on March 24, Hazelwood was found to be legally drunk and was fired by Exxon. Hazelwood left Alaska before local authorities could interview him, and had been pursued since Saturday on a fugitive warrant on three misdemeanor charges: operating a watercraft while intoxicated, reckless endangerment and negligent discharge of oil at sea.   Together, those three charges have a maximum penalty of 27 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.   \"These misdemeanors are of such a magnitude that has never been equaled, at least in this country,\" Rohl said. \"We have a man-made destruction that has not been equaled, probably, since Hiroshima.\"   FBI officials in Washington say they also are investigating whether Hazelwood could be charged with felony violations of the Clean Water Act, which prohibits negligent discharge of pollutants into navigable waters.   No people have been killed or even seriously injured by the spill, but oil has seriously disrupted the rich Prince William Sound fishing industry. Also, animal-rescue teams estimate the spill has killed several thousand birds and hundreds of sea otters.   Estimates of wildlife deaths are not easy to make because oiled birds are hard to spot from the air, and many beaches are difficult to reach for in person inspections.   In the wildlife-rich sound, cleanup crews continued to skim emulsified oil as thick as pudding. As of Wednesday, 12 days after the Exxon Valdez ran aground, the 240,000-barrel slick was estimated to affect an area the size of Delaware, and Exxon's fleet of oil-skimming boats had picked up only about 5% of the spilled oil.   The state of Alaska condemned Exxon's cleanup on Wednesday and asked the Coast Guard to take over the effort. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), a senior member of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee added during a tour of Prince William Sound that fraud \"is not too strong a word to describe Exxon's cleanup claims.\"   \"What they are really doing is managing the failure,\" Miller said after meeting with Aleut Indian residents in the tiny fishing village of Chenega Bay.   Alaska Gov. Steve Cowper said the Coast Guard should be better able to handle coordination and management of the cleanup than Exxon, which he said was too bureaucratic.   \"Maybe that's been the problem all along. You need a military system to get things done,\" the governor said.   Although Cowper said he did not want to be \"extremely critical\" of Exxon, a letter sent to the Coast Guard by a state environmental official said Exxon had been unresponsive.   \"Exxon has failed to provide . . . the information necessary to make sound planning recommendations regarding the cleanup of oil and the protection of resources,\" wrote Lynn Kent, chief of the state Oil and Hazardous Substance Spill Response Section.   President Bush earlier had sent a team of high-level officials to Valdez and determined that federal management of the cleanup was not necessary. Rear Adm. Edward Nelson Jr., commander of the Coast Guard's 17th District in Juneau had no immediate reply to Cowper's request.   Exxon spokesman Henry Beathard said the company disagreed with charges it was not handling the cleanup properly and thought Exxon was the best organization to manage the effort.   \"We gathered all the resources and organized the cleanup. We think the most effective and efficient way to carry out this project is (for Exxon) to continue,\" Beathard said.   The tanker refloat went unexpectedly well. The 987-foot ship lifted off the reef three hours earlier than the Exxon salvage crew predicted, proceeding without problem under close watch of a flotilla of six tugs and other support craft, including the Coast Guard Cutter Rush, to a cove on uninhabited Naked Island 25 miles to the southwest, where repairs will be made.   Even though a relatively well-known salvage technique was used to float the Valdez -- using compressed air to force water out of the ruptured hold and thus assist high tide in lifting the vessel off the rocks -- \"we couldn't predict this by the exact hour or minute,\" said salvage coordinator Gary Gorski, who supervised from the ferry Glacier Queen II.   Almost 1 million barrels of oil were pumped from the Exxon Valdez to three smaller tankers over the last 11 days, and the salvage process began as soon as the last of the tankers left for Southern California refineries on Tuesday. The ship was made airtight above the water line, and then, on Wednesday, compressed air was forced inside.   The air forced out some of the 998,000 barrels of sea water that had been pumped into the stricken tanker as oil was removed.   Naval architect Richard Smith, hired by Exxon, estimated before the refloat that the pressure would force enough water out of the hull to lift the ship at least three feet. He added that this technique also would produce a pressurized buffer of clean sea water between the oil left in the tanker -- about 15,000 to 20,000 barrels -- and the once-pristine waters off Valdez.   Even so, Exxon officials warned in advance that refloating the ship could uncover additional oil that had been pinned in pockets between the ship's hull and rocky Bligh Reef.   The Port of Valdez was closed at 10 a.m. to clear the iceberg-dotted waters of other vessels as the refloating was attempted and Coast Guard spokesman Bruce Pimental said that the vital oil terminal would remain closed until the stricken tanker was safely anchored.   However, flow through the Alaskan pipeline returned to its normal daily flow of 2.1 million barrels Wednesday, the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. said. Oil flow from the North Slope had been cut by 60% because the spill restricted tanker traffic in Valdez harbor, but traffic has increased.   Gorski said that the ease with which the refloat was accomplished may indicate that the damage, while severe, may not be as bad as earlier feared.   Exxon officials were reluctant to estimate how long temporary repairs would take or discuss where the tanker would be taken to permanently patch its hull and rebuild its internal pumping system, which also was compromised in the accident.   Portland, Ore., was the company's first choice, but it backed away from that option after Oregon Gov. Neil E. Goldschmidt and managers of the Port of Portland expressed concern that the Exxon Valdez would still be leaking oil when it arrived there.   Already under attack by Gov. Cowper for fouling Prince William Sound, Exxon said it would consider having the tanker repaired in the Far East -- Japan, Korea or Singapore.   Even as it made that concession, the company denied its ship would endanger any port it visited for repair.   Staff writer Larry B. Stammer in Valdez contributed to this report.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "massive oil spill;stricken tanker exxon valdez;cleanup;alaska;joseph hazelwood;exxon salvage crews;wildlife deaths;criminal charges"}
+{"name": "LA040789-0051", "title": "ALASKA GOVERNOR THREATENS OIL SHUTDOWN OVER CLEANUP", "abstract": "Backed by public antipathy toward the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster, Gov. Steve Cowper on Thursday threatened to close down the trans-Alaska oil pipeline unless its owners meet his terms for improved safety and cleanup measures.   At the same time, it was disclosed that federal officials are probing the possibility that Exxon's 987-foot oil tanker was on autopilot shortly before it ran aground and that the electronic navigation aid confused the crew and contributed to the accident.   After meeting personally with top executives from three of the seven oil companies that own the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. earlier in the week, Cowper asked them to respond by noon Thursday to his six-point safety plan.   As the deadline approached, the three companies -- ARCO Alaska, BP America and Exxon USA -- responded with a six-page list of ideas. An aide to the governor described the companies' response as \"generally OK\" but said that Cowper may issue an order putting his plan into effect anyway.   In one proposed draft of an order, continuation of routine operations at the Alyeska Marine Terminal near the town of Valdez is described as creating \"a substantial potential risk of additional oil spill\" because the consortium has failed to demonstrate it can manage a large spill with minimal environmental effects.   To reduce the risk, the order, which could be issued as soon as today, would require:   -- A written description, due within 72 hours of the order's being signed, of the location of all oil-spill gear at the consortium's disposal. Equipment must be dedicated to oil-spill cleanup only.   -- The names of 12 oil spill-response team members who do nothing but respond to oil spills and who are available for such duty 24 hours a day.     Installation of Booms   -- The installation of containment booms around all oil tankers in the harbor.   -- Permanent restriction of tanker traffic to daylight hours.   -- A limit of one tanker being loaded at a time until all designated cleanup equipment is in place, and the end of all loading within 72 hours if cleanup equipment is not ready.   -- Demonstration by April 30 of adequate gear and supplies to handle another 10-million-gallon spill.   Failure to comply with the emergency order would carry penalties that range from fines to criminal prosecution and jailing of company officials.   \"We want the oil industry to be ready for a spill of this magnitude if it happens tomorrow,\" Cowper said. \"There is going to have to be a plan that satisfies us, our people, and it will be tough. If it isn't complied with, we don't have any remedy available to us except shut down the terminal. And we'll do it.\"   State law gives the governor the authority to close the terminal if it does not meet state oil-cleanup plan requirements. Such a move would swiftly halt oil production in the state, and worsen supply problems in the lower 48 states.   It also would badly pinch the state treasury, which relies on oil taxes and royalties for 85% of its income. Cowper said he would seek special legislation to tap Alaska's $10-billion Permanent Fund, a kind of super budget reserve, should any terminal shutdown last long enough to cause short-term funding woes for the state.   Even if Cowper's shutdown were found to illegally interfere with interstate commerce and be overturned in court, it could last long enough to drive home a point about improving cleanup response plans.   The Alyeska companies' offer included the immediate start of random drug and alcohol testing on board ships and the continued use of two-tugboat escorts beyond Bligh Reef, the shallows into which the Exxon Valdez crashed March 24 before leaking 240,000 barrels of oil into ecologically sensitive Prince William Sound.   Alyeska also suggested expanding the Coast Guard's radar system, which had been scaled down as a cost-saving measure in the early 1980s, and offered to keep on hand additional equipment to contain, skim and disperse spills.   Meanwhile, the chairman of Exxon Corp. told Congress Thursday that the third mate who was on the bridge of the Exxon Valdez when it ran aground has told company lawyers that he turned off the ship's automatic pilot in an effort to avoid the reef.   \"My understanding is that he turned that computer off and it was not as if it hit the rocks on automatic pilot,\" Exxon Chairman Lawrence G. Rawl said in testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee.   Coast Guard spokesman Bruce Pimental in Valdez said investigators still are trying to determine if the autopilot actually was used the night of the accident and if it was, when it was turned off.   Tom Kilpatrick of the California Maritime Academy, a former captain himself, said autopilots take full control of a ship once they are switched on.   \"The helm will not respond if it's in autopilot,\" he said. \"That should be the first clue to people on the bridge that the autopilot is on.\"   A Coast Guard official in Anchorage said the third mate in charge of the tanker shortly before it went aground did complain of being unable to get the vessel to respond to the helm.   The nation's worst oil spill penetrated a national park Thursday, with an airborne spotter \"seeing an oil sheen up on some of the rocks and seeing staining on the rocks\" at Kenai Fjords National Park, park spokesman John Quinley said. However, favorable winds were still keeping most of the crude offshore, he said.   Also on Thursday, the former captain of the Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood, left jail in New York after a judge slashed his bail from $500,000 to $25,000. Justice Thomas Starke said the earlier bail amount was \"unconstitutionally excessive.\"   Hazelwood, who lives with his wife and daughter in the Long Island community of Huntington, was ordered to return to court May 5 for extradition proceedings to Alaska, where he is wanted on three misdemeanor charges in the spill.   The judge who had imposed the earlier bail is an environmentalist and former commercial fisherman. He called the spill \"the worst man-made disaster since Hiroshima.\"   Douglas Jehl contributed to this story from Washington.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "trans-alaska oil pipeline;exxon valdez oil spill disaster;oil companies;cleanup response plans;gov. steve cowper;six-point safety plan;cleanup measures;oil-spill cleanup;oil spills;improved safety;minimal environmental effects"}
+{"name": "LA041889-0039", "title": "ETHIOPIAN WALTZES THROUGH BOSTON;   MEKONNEN WINS IN 2:09:06; KRISTIANSEN FIRST IN 2:24:33", "abstract": "Out of the horn of Africa has emerged the most devastating and dominant group of marathon runners the world has seen.   Or at least since the last time Ethiopia ventured from its athletic isolation and won three consecutive Olympic gold medals, putting its indelible stamp on the marathon. It appears to be happening again, a generation after Abebe Bikila ran barefoot through the darkened streets of Rome in 1960 to win the first of his two Olympic golds.   Now it is Abebe Mekonnen, who was born the year Bikila won the 1964 Olympic Marathon in Tokyo and a nation named its baby boys after its hero.   Mekonnen, a police lieutenant from Addis Ababa, made a furious rush with a mile to go, passing Juma Ikangaa of Tanzania and winning Monday's Boston Marathon in 2 hours 9 minutes 6 seconds. Ikangaa was second in 2:09:56. It was only the second time an African has won here.   Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway easily won the women's race in 2:24:33 after abandoning her attempt to break 2:20. Kristiansen, the women's marathon world record-holder, started fast but slowed markedly on a hot day. With temperatures in the high 60s during the Patriot's Day race, it was about 20 degrees warmer than it was Sunday and all of last week.   Still, Kristiansen finished 26th overall, believed to be the highest finish for a woman in this race.   Joan Benoit Samuelson, who set a world record on this course in 1983, was beset with physical problems that altered her stride at 11 miles, and she finished ninth among the women in 2:37:52. It was the worst marathon performance of her career.   It also was the first time Kristiansen had beaten Samuelson in a marathon. In an emotional news conference afterward, Samuelson, who won the first women's Olympic marathon in 1984 at Los Angeles, tearfully conceded that she might have run her last marathon for some time.   But the story of Monday's 93rd Boston race was Mekonnen and his nation of 42 million, which has reemerged as a force to be reckoned with in marathon running.   In two days, Ethiopian runners have won three major marathons. In Rotterdam on Sunday, Belayneh Dinsamo won in 2:08:39. Dinsamo holds the world record of 2:06:50, set last year on the same course.   Also on Sunday, in the World Cup Marathon at Milan, Ethiopians finished 1-2. Keleke Metaferia won in 2:10:28, and Dereje Nedi was second in 2:10:36. Ethiopia beat Italy for the World Cup team title with a second-string team.   Nearly a dozen Ethiopian runners have been deployed around the world in this hectic two-week period of spring marathons. Two other Ethiopians were in Monday's Boston race, placing ninth and 18th. And still another, Wodajo Bulti, who has run 2:08:44, is one of the favorites in the London Marathon next Sunday.   Ethiopia's legacy to the world in the last decade has been one of drought, famine and ethnic civil war. More than 1 million people died in 1984-85 during a drought-caused famine. The plight of Ethiopians caught the imagination of the world and inspired rock musicians and others to organize benefit concerts. Because of internal disturbances, however, little of that aid ever reached the needy.   Politically pro-Soviet, Ethiopia's Marxist government ordered boycotts of the Olympic Games in 1976, 1984 and 1988. Had they not boycotted, at least three Ethiopian runners would have been among the favorites in the men's marathon at Seoul.   Despite its erratic participation, however, Ethiopia has a proud Olympic heritage, dating to 1956.   One of the marathon's most enduring figures was Bikila, who won the marathon gold medal in 1960 and 1964. Ethiopia also took the marathon gold in 1968, when Mamo Wolde, 36, won at altitude in Mexico City.   It is the altitude at which the Ethiopians train that enhances their aerobic capacity. Much of the central part of the country is mountainous, ranging in altitude from 6,000 to 15,000 feet.   It was the first time since 1963 that an Ethiopian had run at Boston and Mekonnen, 24, made the most of it. He was among the pack of four African runners that led the 6,418 entrants race for 15 miles. At about mile 16, Mekonnen and Ikangaa took off, running at first side by side, then with Ikangaa holding a slight lead.   And they ran not as strangers, because Mekonnen had beaten Ikangaa in winning last year's Tokyo Marathon.   \"I know him very well as a runner,\" Mekonnen said through an interpreter. \"I knew that I should stay with him until the last (two miles). He's a good runner, but he does not have a good finish.\"   Mekonnen and Kristiansen each earned $45,000.   John Treacy of Ireland, who was third behind Ikangaa here last year, was third again in 2:10:24.   \"I knew that they had gone out very hard,\" Treacy said of the blistering early pace. Until the halfway point, the men were on a 2:04 pace, dangerous in Monday's heat.   The pace got the best of Saimon Robert Haali of Tanzania, who led the race for five miles. He finished sixth.   The women's race had only one leader, Kristiansen. She, too, set an incredible early pace. For the first few miles, before the heat, Kristiansen was running at a 2:17 pace. By the 17th mile, she had added more than 20 seconds to her mile splits.   By her own reckoning, it was at almost 16 miles that Kristiansen felt the heat.   \"I decided to just win the race,\" she said. \"It was too hot to set the world record.\"   Samuelson held on to second place and even ran comfortably until about 11 miles, when she came undone.   \"I was prepared for hot weather and it certainly was hot, but the heat wasn't my problem today,\" Samuelson said. \"I felt real easy the first 11 miles, I felt I was right in the groove. I was right where I wanted to be.   \"Before I came to Boston, I had a lot of problems with my hip and my back. At about 11 miles, it went very quickly. I lost my stride from that point. Lisa Weidenbach went flying by me at that point. Marguerite (Buist) went shortly thereafter. I kept thinking I'd pull it off. I didn't have the day I really wanted. I was duly humbled.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "ingrid kristiansen;dominant group;african runners;ethiopia;abebe bikila;consecutive olympic gold medals;race;marathon runners"}
+{"name": "LA042190-0060", "title": "METRO DIGEST / LOCAL NEWS IN BRIEF: ELIZABETH TAYLOR'S DOCTORS WILL NOT FACE CHARGES", "abstract": "The Los Angeles County district attorney's office declined Friday to press charges against several physicians, ending its investigation into allegations that they over-prescribed painkillers to actress Elizabeth Taylor.   In a written report, the district attorney's office said the prescribing practices \"fell below the accepted standard of medical practice,\" but added that the doctors \"were also attempting to deal with her addiction through alternative means of therapy and treatment, and . . . their conduct was devoid of criminal intent.\"   The report said one of the physicians repeatedly tried to persuade her to enter a rehabilitation clinic but \"these efforts to intervene were strongly resisted by Ms. Taylor until October, 1988.\"   Taylor, 58, acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers and has been treated for alcohol and drug abuse at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "actress elizabeth taylor;rehabilitation clinic;investigation;ms. taylor;medical practice;physicians;painkillers"}
+{"name": "LA042290-0104", "title": "'MAD COW DISEASE' KILLS 10,000 CATTLE IN BRITAIN;   LIVESTOCK: THE GOVERNMENT SEES ONLY A REMOTE RISK TO HUMANS. THE MALADY MAY BE SPREAD THROUGH CATTLE FEED.", "abstract": "\"Mad cow disease\" has killed 10,000 cattle, restricted the export market for Britain's cattle industry and raised fears about the safety of eating beef.   The government insists that the disease poses only a remote risk to human health, but scientists still aren't certain what causes the disease or how it is transmitted.   \"I think everyone agrees that the risks are low,\" says Martin Raff, a neurobiologist at University College, London. \"But they certainly are not zero. I have not changed my eating habits, but I certainly do wonder.\"   Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, was diagnosed only in 1986. The symptoms are very much like scrapie, a sheep disease which has been in Britain since the 1700s. The incurable disease eats holes in the brains of its victims; in late stages a sick animal may act skittish or stagger drunkenly.   The suspicion is that the disease was transmitted through cattle feed, which used to contain sheep by-products as a protein supplement.   The government banned the use of sheep offal in cattle feed in June, 1988, and later banned the use of cattle brain, spleen, thymus, intestines and spinal cord in food for humans. Sheep offal is still used in pig and poultry feed.   In March, the government announced that it would pay farmers 100% of market value or average market price, whichever is less, for each animal diagnosed with BSE.   \"I think it is a recognition -- not just of pressure from farmers -- but that the public would feel more confident that no BSE-infected animal would ever be likely to go anywhere near the food chain if there was 100% compensation,\" said Sir Simon Gourlay, president of the National Farmers Union.   The disease struck one of his own cows, Gourlay said. \"In the course of 24 hours, the animal went from being ostensibly quite normal to very vicious and totally disoriented.\"   As of Feb. 9, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said that 9,998 cattle have been destroyed after being diagnosed with BSE.   The government has paid $6.1 million in compensation, and is budgeting $16 million for 1990.   Ireland's Department of Agriculture and Food said about 20 cases have been confirmed there, all of them near the border with the British province of Northern Ireland.   Because of the disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in July banned imports of cattle, embryos and bull semen from Britain, said Margaret Webb, a USDA spokeswoman in Washington.   Similar embargoes have been imposed by Australia, Finland, Israel, Sweden, West Germany and New Zealand, according to the Agriculture Ministry, and the European Community has proposed a ban on exports of British cattle older than 6 months.   David Maclean, a junior agriculture minister, has complained of \"BSE hysteria\" in the media and has insisted that the risk of the disease passing to humans is \"remote.\"   The government has committed $19 million to finding the cause of the disease.   A commission chaired by Sir Richard Southwood, a professor at Oxford University, reported last year that the cause of BSE \"is quite unlike any bacteria or known viruses.\"   The report said the disease is impossible to detect in apparently healthy animals because it does not prompt the immune system to produce antibodies.   The Southwood report said it is \"most unlikely\" that the disease poses a threat to humans. But the report added: \"If our assessments of these likelihoods are incorrect, the implications would be extremely serious.\"   There is a human variant of spongiform encephalopathy, known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. About two dozen cases were reported in Britain last year.   Another form, known as kuru, had been found in cannibals in New Guinea.   According to a report in the British Medical Journal, the incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is no higher in Britain than it is in countries free of scrapie.   \"It is urgent that the same reassurance can be given about the lack of effect of BSE on human health,\" a consultative committee reported to the Agriculture Ministry. The committee's report, released early this year, said it is only a \"shrewd guess\" that BSE is transmitted through sheep offal in cattle feed.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "mad cow disease;exports;british cattle;bovine spongiform encephalopathy;sheep disease;bse;cattle feed;imports;ban"}
+{"name": "LA042490-0142", "title": "LIZ TAYLOR PUT ON VENTILATOR AFTER BIOPSY FOR PNEUMONIA", "abstract": "Elizabeth Taylor is breathing with the assistance of a ventilator after undergoing surgery aimed at determining the cause of pneumonia that has kept her hospitalized for three weeks, her physicians said Monday.   The Academy Award-winning actress was admitted to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica last week for treatment of the pneumonia, and was listed in serious condition in the hospital's intensive-care unit on Monday, her doctors said in a prepared statement.   \"She is seriously ill and on Sunday underwent a lung biopsy to further determine the cause of her pneumonia,\" the physicians' statement said. \"After surgery, her breathing is now being assisted by a ventilator.   \"Her condition is presently stabilizing, and her physicians are pleased with her progress.\"   The statement provided no additional details of Taylor's condition, and hospital officials declined to comment beyond the statement.   Lisa del Favero, a New York City publicist for Taylor, said the actress is \"seriously ill, but she's not on her deathbed. We're not talking about anything terminal.\"   Taylor's doctors expect to have results of the biopsy by Thursday, she said.   Del Favero said Taylor's four children -- Maria Burton-Carson, Liza Todd-Tivey and Christopher and Michael Wilding -- were with her at the hospital.   Taking a biopsy on the actress is called Sutton's law in medicine, after legendary holdup man Willie (the Actor) Sutton who said he robbed banks \"because that's where the money is,\" said Dr. John G. Mohler, a pulmonary disease specialist at the USC School of Medicine.   \"If you don't know what the trouble is, you grab a biopsy and study it, because that's where the problem is,\" Mohler explained. \"The problem is not easily found another way.   \"You study the biopsy because that will dictate your therapy. If they (took a biopsy), I'm sure she was not responding to antibiotics.\"   Mohler said Taylor's doctors are taking a prudent course by placing her on a ventilator.   She suffered a near-fatal bout of pneumonia in 1961, and Mohler said \"it would seem that there is something basically wrong with her lung structure or function. When she gets pneumonia, apparently it's more severe.\"   Emphasizing that he has no personal familiarity with the actress's case, Mohler said he does not \"blame her doctors for being conservative. Placing her on a ventilator would be a prudent and conservative thing to do, even if she didn't have any difficulty. It may just be a precautionary step in this case.\"   Taylor, 58, entered Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey on April 10 suffering what her publicist then described as a \"severe sinus infection.\" She was transferred to St. John's April 16 when her condition worsened.   Dr. Patricia Murray, an infectious disease specialist, said in a statement last week that Taylor had pneumonia and was \"being treated intravenously with antibiotics and will remain hospitalized (indefinitely).\"   Taylor has been plagued with health problems for years, particularly recurring back troubles that began with a fall from a horse during filming of the 1945 movie \"National Velvet.\"   In 1983, she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers prescribed for a wide range of health problems. Taylor has been treated for alcohol and drug abuse problems at the Betty Ford Clinic.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "st. john's hospital;elizabeth taylor;surgery;health problems;pneumonia;ventilator;serious condition;actress"}
+{"name": "LA042790-0205", "title": "LIZ BIZ;   THROUGH SICK AND THIN, THE WORLD WATCHES TAYLOR", "abstract": "Her movies now are few and far between, but when she is ill, the world still stands at attention. Liz Taylor's latest bout with pneumonia has drawn the kind of intense scrutiny normally accorded presidential polyps. It has inspired a raft of rumors and handed up a field day for the giddy tabloids. And today, yet again, everyone is talking about La Liz.   But then Liz Taylor, 58, has always lived a life of extremes. If she has enjoyed the most brilliant career and the glare of fame, she has also survived seven rocky marriages to six men, the frailest health and the most frightening bouts with addiction to booze, drugs and food. And through it all, there have been armies of press recording each divorce, each hospital stay.   It was partly to still the gossips that Taylor's doctors called a press conference Wednesday at St. John's Hospital and Medical Center in Santa Monica. No AIDS, they said. No cancer. For the tabloid press had been humming with rumors that Liz Taylor had AIDS virtually since she was checked into Daniel Freeman Hospital in Marina del Rey April 9 with a high fever and sinus infection.   And when Taylor's publicists first issued flat denials, the press went on to speculate about the speculation. Did the AIDS rumors start because of Taylor's ballyhooed friendship with publishing titan Malcolm Forbes, whose recent death touched off reports about his alleged homosexuality? Or was it because of her reputation as a major fund-raiser for the disease? Or because one of her doctors, Michael Roth, was a renowned AIDS specialist -- even though Roth was supervising her treatment for drug and alcohol addiction as early as 1983?   \"Liz is a national treasure and when she entered the hospital, I thought it was as important as the President of the U.S. going in and we treated it as such. Liz is as close to American royalty as you can have, and our readers . . . in the heartland . . . they're living and dying with her,\" said Barry Levine, Hollywood bureau chief of the Star, which featured a cover photograph of Liz, hooked up to an intravenous tube and oxygen mask, being transferred from the Marina del Rey hospital to St. John's. Levine declined comment on a rumor circulating among reporters that the tabloid had paid $50,000 for the pictures.   Some press coverage has bent over backwards to tug at the bounds of credibility; the National Enquirer has Liz communing with the ghosts of Forbes and one-time husband Richard Burton.   In all, Liz's current illness has drawn the most attention yet, according to her publicist, Chen Sam. More than 100 reporters, photographers and cameramen converged on St. John's, many of whom had flown in from around the country for the 15-minute press conference. Behind a chorus line of video cameras -- representing the major networks, the local stations, CNN and the tabloid shows -- reporters peppered the doctors with pointed and sometimes testy questions about Taylor's treatment and drug use.   \"I heard some guys talking behind me, saying, 'I can't believe they're hounding her like this.' I felt like saying, 'Are you offended reading about her?' \" sniffed Val Richardson, a reporter from the Washington Times who'd flown in that morning.   At any rate, the news was good. Taylor was off a respirator and breathing with the help of an oxygen mask. She had apparently rebounded from a bad weekend, when doctors feared she might die. Although Taylor's physicians are still trying to identify the virus, they are treating her for pneumonia with antibiotics. And she remains in the intensive-care unit, but she continues to improve and is expected to move to a regular room this weekend, Sam said Thursday.   Meanwhile, her own security guards keep watch over her private room in intensive care. She has received her four children -- Christopher and Michael Wilding, Maria Burton-Carson and Liza Todd-Tivey -- friends Roddy McDowall and Carole Bayer Sager and Liz's younger, ex-trucker boyfriend, Larry Lee Fortensky, 38.   \"I saw her yesterday and I was really pleased,\" Sager said Wednesday. \"I thought her color was good. She couldn't speak because she had the respirator. Her eyes were clear and she definitely understood what I said and motioned, made me know she understood.\"   If Liz's public is fascinated by her frailties, perhaps reassured somehow by the knowledge that even the gods are vulnerable, their interest is also piqued by the public face she puts on her relentless brushes with illness and addiction. The Taylor wit shone through even Wednesday's press conference, when doctors passed on the actress' desire to \"come out and wave at you, but she wasn't in her balcony attire.\" \"I think she's extraordinarily brave,\" Sager said. \"She just has an enormous reservoir of inner strength that she calls on when she has to. All of us were encouraged and optimistic.\"   She has needed it. Taylor's respiratory ailments alone have been a recurring problem. Bronchitis and laryngitis brought down the curtain on numerous performances of \"The Little Foxes,\" which Taylor starred in on Broadway in 1981, and Noel Coward's \"Private Lives,\" which toured the country in 1983. The cancellations prompted the play's co-producer, Zev Bufman, to declare, \"Bronchitis has plagued Elizabeth all her life.\"   In fact, Taylor has been plagued by health woes ever since her 1945 film debut in \"National Velvet\"; her fall from a horse triggered a lifetime of back trouble. And when Taylor retired from films to marry the Republican senator from Virginia, John Warner, her well-being continued to make headlines; she choked on a chicken bone and wrenched her back after slipping on a carpet at a reception honoring former President Gerald R. Ford. Over the years she has endured about 20 major operations on her back, appendix, eyes and teeth; when the Asian flu threatened Taylor's life, doctors made a hole in her throat so she could breathe.   But it has been her wrestling matches with weight and addiction that have consistently lured the world's curiosity and, at times, admiration. Taylor's unhappy stint as a politician's wife prompted her weight to balloon to 180 pounds. When she emerged a born-again beauty in 1985 after shedding 60 pounds, and wrote a beauty book to boot, she was applauded by many -- including comedian Joan Rivers, who had made fat-Liz jokes the mainstay of her act.   \"For somebody like me who is obsessive, it's amazing I was never a gambler,\" she said at the time. \"I could have become anorexic. I got to a size 4 and said, 'Why not a size 2?' Then I slapped myself and went from 118 to 122, which is the right weight for me.\"   But her battles against addiction have played havoc with her fight against the bulge. And her persistent back problems have nurtured her dependence on pills. Her addictions have even been linked to a criminal investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office; last week, prosecutors announced that no charges would be filed against Taylor's doctors, who had been accused of over-prescribing dependence-forming drugs.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "st. john's hospital;liz taylor;celebrity;pneumonia;rumors;addictions"}
+{"name": "LA043089-0197", "title": "FRESH OIL SHEEN SEEPS FROM EXXON VALDEZ", "abstract": "In Valdez, Alaska, the Coast Guard confirmed Saturday that a fresh oil sheen has seeped from the ruptured Exxon Valdez and that a complete cleanup of the damaged tanker is impossible.   Later in the day in Juneau, a package of bills aimed at protecting Alaska from another devastating oil spill like the one that fouled Prince William Sound was passed by the state Senate with little trouble.   \"Oil is clinging to the tanks inside,\" said Vice Adm. Clyde Robbins, the federal on-the-scene coordinator. \"What we're getting is that clinging oil mixed with water that causes sheen.   \"Unfortunately, it's impossible to completely remove the oil unless you steam-clean the tanker, and nobody intends to do that,\" Robbins said.   Robbins did not give an estimate of how widespread the oil sheen, or shininess on the water's surface, had become.     Time-Consuming Repairs   He said he doubted the vessel, which is undergoing temporary repairs 30 miles from the March 24 site where the Exxon Valdez ruptured on a reef, will be moved soon.   \"I'm estimating at least a month to six weeks,\" he said. \"Obviously, this (ship) is a hot potato. Nobody in the Lower 48 (states) wants it. We may end up going to a foreign port.\"   Reacting to the largest oil spill in the nation's history, the Republican-led Senate acted with unusual speed to move the six bills through the chamber and to the House.   However, it appeared unlikely that the Democrat-controlled House would approve the entire package before adjournment, which is scheduled for May 9.     11-Million-Gallon Spill   The Senate action came five weeks after the tanker Exxon Valdez struck a reef, spewing more than 11 million gallons of crude oil into the fish- and wildlife-rich sound.   The Senate bills would increase civil fines for spill damage; impose a surcharge on oil producers to boost the state's spill-response fund; prevent oil companies from deducting spill costs from their oil-production taxes; require the state to create spill contingency plans; establish a spill-response office and cleanup corps, and create a commission to investigate the Exxon Valdez spill.     More Bills Pending   More than a dozen other spill-related bills are still pending in both chambers of the Legislature.   Exxon reported Saturday that it has paid out $500,000 to 150 fishermen on claims of lost work. It is processing another 300 claims.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "spill-response fund;fresh oil sheen;tanker exxon valdez;alaska;spill damage;spill contingency plans;complete cleanup;exxon valdez spill;crude oil;spill costs;spill-related bills;devastating oil spill"}
+{"name": "LA050889-0075", "title": "LONG BEACH MARATHON;   WILSON, YANMIN HAVE THE PATIENCE TO WIN WITH COURSE RECORDS", "abstract": "Patience is often difficult to muster for those who run the 26.2 miles of a marathon. The tendency is to want to finish the race as soon as possible and get a head start on recovering from it.   Patience was its own virtue in the Long Beach Marathon Sunday, as the men's and women's winners shrewdly waited for others to make mistakes and for the sun -- which was obscured by cloud cover early in the race -- to burn through and take a toll on the runners.   Rex Wilson of New Zealand patiently waited for the lead pack to sort itself out, took the lead at 10 miles and rolled to a victory in 2 hours 12 minutes 27 seconds, a course record. The old record of 2:13:22 was set in 1986 by Ric Sayre.   Among the women, the race played itself out in a calm, if not orderly, fashion. Wen Yanmin, a 23-year-old student from Bejing, China, picked her way through a strung-out pack and out-kicked Laura Konatz of Toronto to win in 2:43:33, also a course record. Yanmin broke the old record of 2:44:51 set last year by Dianne Rodgers.   Robert Molinatti of Huntington Beach won the wheelchair division in 1:47:59.   Run as a race within a race was the Pacific Rim Marathon, which consists of teams from invited countries. Wilson and Yanmin won both the Long Beach Marathon and the Pacific Rim race, for total prize money of $9,500 each.   Conditions were excellent at the start of the race, which had its largest-ever field of 4,021 entrants. The weather for the first 1 1/2 hours was cloudy and cool. But the mist burned off and the last eight miles -- the toughest portion of the marathon -- became even tougher. The refrain from the runners was, \"It's not the heat, it's the humidity.\"   The men's race was led at various times by a pack of about six runners. One by one they fell victim to the weather or other equally debilitating elements. Viktor Gural of the Soviet Union, who had been among the leaders for most of the race, said he had trouble with everything. Gural emphatically said it was too hot, \"The sun went to work,\" was how he put it, and he said he experienced tenderness in his liver during the race. American food also did not agree with Gural -- his stomach was upset.   He dropped from third to fifth in the race's final stages. Samson Obwocha, a Kenyan who lives in Gardena, waited for Gural to fade and then made his move.   \"I saw him struggling and I knew I could outkick him,\" Obwocha said. He did, and finished fourth in 2:28.08.   Wilson also made a move, or more precisely, he continued his steady 5:03 mile pace while the rest of the field slowed from the early, faster pace.   \"I didn't really want to lead all the way,\" Wilson said. \"But I wanted to run at 5-minute pace, so I had to lead.\"   The strategy resulted in a personal best time in only his third marathon -- an event he dislikes. \"I hate the marathon,\" Wilson, 28, said, sounding quite sensible. \"At 21 miles I started to hurt. My legs were getting tired, my quads were getting tight. Those little bridges at the end were like mountains.\"   Still, Wilson built a healthy lead on those \"mountains\" in Belmont Shores. Tomio Bueyoshi of Japan was second in 2:15:31 and Liu Wenzun of China was third in 2:19:16.   Yanmin had to come from behind for her victory, giving the women's race an exciting finish. As happened in the men's race, the runners in the lead pack ebbed and eventually faded. Guadalupe Roman of Mexico led through much of the race but lost ground steadily in the last five miles and finished sixth. Two Soviet runners -- Irina Ruban and Tatiana Zueva -- who had run side-by-side in third and fourth place throughout the race, faded. Neither placed in the top 50.   It fell to Konatz, who had been in first and second throughout the race, to hang in there. Even as the Chinese runner was bearing down on her as the finish line came into sight. Konatz was happy with her second place time of 2:43:50.   Asked if she was ever aware of Yanmin during the race, Konatz laughed.   \"The marathon is an unpredictable event,\" she said. \"I knew at 25 miles if someone had a good kick. . . . \"   Someone did. So did Ngaire Drake of New Zealand, who was third in 2:44:09.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "long beach marathon;wen yanmin;patience;winners;race;rex wilson;course record"}
+{"name": "LA051190-0185", "title": "SOUTHLAND;   LIZ TAYLOR SUFFERS RELAPSE, WILL BE IN HOSPITAL SIX MORE WEEKS", "abstract": "Pneumonia-stricken actress Elizabeth Taylor has suffered complications in her fifth week of hospitalization, including new infections, and doctors now say she will be hospitalized six more weeks.   The recovery of Miss Taylor, near death two weeks ago with a viral pneumonia, has been complicated by bacterial pneumonia and a yeast infection, her doctors said today.   \"Miss Taylor has a resolving, newly acquired bacterial pneumonia secondary to her hospital stay at St. John's Hospital and Health Center,\" the doctors said in Santa Monica through Taylor's publicist, Chen Sam.   \"It is improving significantly,\" the physicians said.   \"She has also developed a fungemia of Candida albicans (infection in the blood), more commonly referred to as yeast and will be hospitalized for approximately six more weeks for intravenous therapy,\" the doctors added without elaboration.   Bacterial pneumonia is generally considered less serious than the viral pneumonia Taylor initially contracted because antibiotics are effective against bacteria but not viruses.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "actress elizabeth taylor;hospitalization;st. john's hospital;viral pneumonia;intravenous therapy;yeast infection;miss taylor;bacterial pneumonia"}
+{"name": "LA051590-0065", "title": "WORST FIRE SEASON IN DECADES SEEN", "abstract": "Prolonged drought, bark beetles and a rare fungus are drying out and killing brush and trees that surround many Southern California neighborhoods, creating the potential for one of the worst wildfire seasons in decades, fire officials warned Monday.   A map released Monday by the Los Angeles County Fire Department showed that some of the most vulnerable fire zones can be found this summer in chaparral-covered foothill and mountain-canyon slopes beside densely developed residential districts of Los Angeles and its suburbs.   The map was released as the state Department of Forestry officially opened the region's 1990 fire season, which means its firefighting crews have been placed on higher alert and various fire prevention regulations are now in effect.   While the fire-season announcement came only two to three weeks earlier than usual in the vulnerable foothills, it was a full two months ahead of schedule in the heavily wooded mountain terrain of Southern California's national forests.   \"The last really good rainfall was back in '82-83, so our brush really hasn't recuperated in seven years,\" said Gordon Rowley, a fire management specialist with the U.S. Forest Service. \"Unless we get a hurricane or something -- and that's not very likely -- we're going to have a very bad year.\"   Rowley said other Western states also are experiencing drought, \"which means they won't be able to send us the firefighting forces they normally can deploy out here. . . . It doesn't look good.\"   Los Angeles, which has an annual average of 14.93 inches of rainfall, has received 6.18 inches so far this season, promising to make this the driest season in 30 years. The rainfall season, which runs from July 1 to June 30, is almost over for 1989-90, and Southern California seldom gets much measurable rain in late May and the month of June.   In 1982-83, 31.25 inches of rain fell on the city, more than twice the seasonal average. But since then, the annual rainfall here has averaged only 11.57 inches.   Rowley said the long drought has weakened the vegetation in Southern California, making it more vulnerable to disease and infestation by pests.   He said that with normal rainfall, pine trees are vigorous enough to fight off bark beetles, which bore into trunks and limbs to lay their eggs. He said healthy trees repel the insects with a flow of pitch that suffocates them and forces them out of the bark.   But during the current dry spell, the trees haven't been able to produce enough sap to rid themselves of the beetles. Rowley said the insects have proliferated, killing vast stands of pines and leaving tinder-dry fuel for fires. The problem is acute in the Cleveland and San Bernardino national forests.   In foothill districts closer to Los Angeles, a fungus that preys upon drought-weakened brush has killed as much as 60% of the chaparral in some portions of the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains.   The fungus, first observed about eight years ago, attacks broad-leafed plants such as mountain lilac, manzanita and sumac, some of the more fire-resistant species of brush. Officials said large patches of this dead and dying brush now mottle the hillsides, ready to burst into flame at the slightest spark.   And because of the drought, even the live brush is more incendiary than usual, officials said.   Capt. Scott Franklin, a vegetation management officer with the county Fire Department, said the dead trees and dry brush combine to form a fuel source so volatile that \"any ignition now could become a major fire.\"   Fire officials generally have responded to the threat with increased training and requests for federal money to pay for extra firefighting personnel.   Each densely thicketed acre of hillside chaparral contains about 60 tons of brush, he said, and that 60 tons has about the same fuel energy as 3,750 gallons of gasoline.   \"Then, if you put 80 m.p.h. winds -- the kind of Santa Anas we get in September -- behind all that, a fire can consume 100 acres a minute and keep right on going,\" Franklin said. \"You're talking an energy release equivalent to several nuclear events, the energy of a number of Hiroshimas.\"   The county Fire Department map shows that the most threatened residential areas include a number of hillside and canyon communities within the city of Los Angeles, including parts of Baldwin Hills, Hollywood, the Los Feliz district, Tarzana, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Sunland and Sylmar.   Especially threatened suburban communities include portions of Rolling Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes, Beverly Hills, Glendale, Pasadena, Altadena, Arcadia, Monrovia, Bradbury, Duarte, Azusa, Glendora, Claremont and Whittier.   Doug Allen, a fire prevention officer with the state Division of Forestry, said residents should clear tall grass, brush, trash, firewood and other combustibles at least 30 feet from any building.     FIRE STRESS AREAS   Map shows largely undeveloped land where dead brush and a lack of leaf moisture in live brush create high fire hazards. Fire officials say these are areas where blazes can start and expand rapidly, spreading from open land to homes and other structures.   What You Can Do   Fire officials have a number of recommendations for residents of areas where the wildfire danger is high:   Clear brush and grass a minimum of 30 feet away from any buildings.   Do not not store firewood, trash or other combustibles within 30 feet of any building.   Do not smoke, barbecue or build a campfire outdoors until the rainy season resumes in the fall.   Do not drive motor vehicles in off-road areas where brush and grass grow. Exhaust sparks and hot mufflers start many wildfires.   Do not use an indoor fireplace that is not equipped with a spark-arresting device.   In case of fire, turn off all tap water unless instructed otherwise. Indiscriminate use of water can lower the pressure to those who need it to fight the blaze.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "fire officials;fuel source;prolonged drought;rainfall season;vulnerable foothills;southern california neighborhoods;wildfire danger;fire prevention regulations;vulnerable fire zones;wildfire seasons;high fire hazards"}
+{"name": "LA052289-0050", "title": "RENEWAL AT YELLOWSTONE;   FIRE RULES AFFECTED;   CONTROVERSY STILL SMOLDERS AT YELLOWSTONE", "abstract": "This has always been a land of stark contrasts and magnificent subtleties, never more so than in the aftermath of last summer's spectacular season of fire which scorched enough timber and meadow to rival Rhode Island in size.   From the sky where the graceful bald eagles soar, the oldest and grandest of our national parks now resembles a peculiar marble cake, baked by the caprice of nature into patternless swirls of vegetation and death.     Much Unscathed   Despite infernos that whipped through the treetops like blast furnaces, most of the pristine landscape emerged unscathed, as did the elusive grizzly bears in the high country, the resilient herds of elk and bison and the famous geysers that fill the air with eerie puffs of steam and mist. With the last of the winter snow rapidly melting, much of Yellowstone is bathed in the glorious hues of spring.   But cut into the green are huge gashes of once-thriving forest that now appear either pitch black or rusty brown, depending on whether the trees were roasted or merely singed. Either way, they're dead.   Once-lush hillsides are now covered by little more than the skeletons of stately lodgepole pines. Their needles, twigs and even limbs gone up in smoke, some of these \"widowmakers,\" as loggers call them, still jut precariously from the charred dirt. Others lay scattered across the ground like giant pick-up-sticks.   Down at ground level, the same scenery is a thing of beauty, not devastation, to the eyes of soil scientist Henry Shovic. He turns a spade of blackened earth and finds rich brown soil just beneath the crust, a sign that the forest not only remains fertile but will soon be teeming with new life.   Already, clumps of grasses are beginning to jut to the surface and here and there a yellow buttercup or purple shooting star has also broken through. In a few weeks, meadow floors will be carpeted in a thick blanket of wildflowers. \"Did you see the green?\" asks Shovic, ecstatic. \"I'm amazed. It's going to be a picture postcard.\"     Spring Brings Rebirth   Spring has come to Yellowstone and with it an inspiring process of rebirth and renewal. But while the 1988 blazes have long since flamed out, the controversy they kindled is still smoldering. It is sure to leave its mark on future fire and management policies not just at Yellowstone but throughout the vast system of national parks and wilderness areas.   \"It was a hell of a summer, let me tell you,\" said Yellowstone Supt. Bob Barbee.   Arguments still rage over the impact of the fires on wildlife, the conduct of officials responsible for monitoring the blazes and the role of the media and others in creating an erroneous impression that a national treasure had somehow been reduced to cinders.   The debate has also served to underscore a basic conflict in the mission of national parks as set out by Congress. On the one hand, they are supposed to be preserves of the past, the last outposts in America where nature is allowed to take its course with as little intrusion as possible from man. On the other hand, they are also set aside as vacation and tourist havens for the taxpayers, who, after all, pay the bills.   If nothing else, said James Agee, a forest ecology specialist at the University of Washington, the furor raised by the fires should force environmentalists to temper their purist approach to park management. Ecologists argue that wildfires clear away dead timber and overgrowth and are vital to the rejuvenation of forests.     Tied to Neighbors   But \"parks can no longer be considered ecological and sociological islands,\" Agee told a conference of conservationists here over the weekend. \"They are inextricably tied to their neighbors for better or worse.\"   Some movement in that direction may already be under way. The Interior Department, parent of the National Park Service, has already ordered a summer-long moratorium on its politically sensitive \"let-burn\" policy, under which lightning-triggered blazes are allowed to burn unless they threaten human lives or property. The edict applies to all but two parks in Florida.   \"With the exception of Big Cypress and the Everglades, we will be in full suppression mode,\" a park service spokesman explained.   And, after a sweeping review and nationwide public hearings, the agency has tentatively decided to modify -- though not flatly abandon -- the controversial fire strategy once the moratorium expires. Under the changes, expected to be announced shortly by Bush Administration officials, all parks would have to run through a safety check list that includes an assessment of weather, moisture, winds and available firefighting crews before they could make a decision on whether or not to let a lightning fire burn.   Leading environmentalists are cautiously optimistic about the new plan because it retains at least a stated commitment to the retention of so-called \"natural\" policies. At the same time, however, they warn that saddling park managers with extensive conditions could effectively result in quick suppression of all wildfires.     May Become Gun-Shy   Michael Scott, regional director of the Wilderness Society, said restrictions could lead to a \"systematic politicization of ecosystem management\" and make officials gun-shy about letting fire burn for any reason.   \"They're going to say 'we better just put out the fires,' \" Scott predicted. \"There could be a chilling effect on allowing nature to take its course.\"   From an ecologist's standpoint, the \"let-burn\" policy could be the most serious casualty of last year's blazes, which swelled to historic proportions and ultimately seared nearly 1 million of the park's 2.2 million acres.   Heeding complaints that fires were getting out of hand and could threaten surrounding communities, officials suspended the policy by mid-July. And some of last year's most destructive blazes were triggered by man, not nature, and fought from the first sign of smoke. Eventually 25,000 firefighters were called in from around the nation and the bill for suppression efforts soared to $120 million, nearly 10 times the size of Yellowstone's annual operating budget.   Authorities say the flames were fanned by record drought and gale- force winds and virtually nothing could have stopped them. \"What is most humbling is that one-quarter inch of rain and snow on Sept. 11 essentially stopped what the greatest firefighting effort in history could not,\" argued John Varley, Yellowstone's chief scientist.   But many local politicians and residents disagree. They say the park did too little, too late and let the fires get out of hand. And many people who live in nearby resort communities remain bitter over what they contend was a preventable tragedy that could scare away tourists and imperil their livelihoods.   \"If (park superintendent) Barbee were here I'd choke him to death even today,\" said Betty Morton, a motel owner in tiny Cooke City, where the threat of fire forced a temporary evacuation last September. \"Even a 5-year-old child knows if something's burning you got to stop it quick. All that stuff about burning's good for growth is a crock. I'll never see any of it in my lifetime.\"     Will Keep Job   While many critics have called for Barbee's head, Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. said in an interview that the Yellowstone superintendent was in no danger of losing his job. Still, Lujan, a former New Mexico congressman appointed to his Cabinet post only this year, said park officials should have \"admitted\" that they erred in losing control of the blazes.   To a great extent, lingering resentment over the conduct of firefighting efforts is fueled by economic uncertainty. Morton, for example, said all 12 of the cabins she rents out are usually reserved for the Memorial Day weekend weeks in advance. This year, only one of the rooms has been taken so far.   There are conflicting signals over what impact the fires have had on the tourist trade. Other independent innkeepers, as well as lodges in the park, also report that reservations are soft. However, Marsha Karle, a spokeswoman for the park, said letters and calls logged by Yellowstone operators are about double their usual pace and the number of visitors entering the park so far this spring has been well above normal.   The park has embarked on an unprecedented publicity drive as well as an $8.5-million rehabilitation project to reassure reluctant tourists that it has not been transformed into a bleak wasteland. The centerpiece of the campaign appears to be an effort to turn what, to some might appear a disaster, into an opportunity.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "yellowstone park fires;fire ecology;natural fires;lodgepole pines;lightning fire;human-caused fires;yellowstone national park reforestation;firefighting efforts;destructive blazes;firefighting crews"}
+{"name": "LA060490-0083", "title": "ONE SYMPTOM OF 'MAD COW' DISEASE IS TRADE FRICTION", "abstract": "\"Mad cow\" disease, an enigmatic nervous disorder that has killed thousands of cattle in Britain, is causing trade friction in Europe and is threatening the $3.7-billion British beef industry.   On Friday, West Germany joined France in a ban on British beef imports, citing health fears related to the mysterious ailment, whose technical name is bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).   Concern that the disease can be transmitted to humans has made the subject Topic A in the pubs and press of Britain, and has put a serious crimp in domestic beef sales. Despite assurances from the British government that the beef is safe, consumers and some scientists remain skeptical.   British officials complain that the French and German import ban is a result of economic, not health, concerns. The price of British beef is dropping in the wake of the \"mad cow\" scare. Therefore, British officials believe, France and West Germany imposed the bans to protect their domestic sales.   \"It's totally unjustified and illegal,\" said Patrick Barrow, spokesman for the Meat and Livestock Commission, a trade organization.   France accounted for slightly more than half of Britain's beef exports last year, buying 70,000 tons of beef worth $264 million. West Germany bought $50 million worth last year.   Although other countries have recently placed some restrictions on British beef and cattle, the French and German moves were the strongest by far. The United States does not import British beef and recently rescinded permits for the importation of live cattle.   British officials have been joined by European Community commissioners in protesting the French and Germany import ban.   Mad cow disease has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 14,000 cows since it was first noticed in the mid-1980s. BSE-infected cows \"degenerate very quickly,\" said a spokeswoman from Britain's Ministry of Agriculture. The cows become aggressive and then wobbly-legged before dying.   No one is certain what causes the disease, which affects the cow's brain. But the prime suspect is tainted cow feed. Some experts believe that cattle contracted the disease as a result of eating food contaminated with the remains of sheep infected with a BSE-like disease called scrapie.   Although government and industry officials have been concerned for some time, mad cow disease did not become a household word until recently.   On May 11, the Ministry of Agriculture revealed that a Siamese cat had died from a disease identical to BSE. The press went wild with the story, suggesting, in boldface, that if cats can get it, people can too. Panic ensued.   \"BSE has been around for six or seven years,\" said David Lewis of the Meat and Livestock Commission. \"And until the cat, it hadn't been brought into the home.\"   Beef sales dropped, with surveys showing that about a quarter of British households had stopped eating it. Two thousand schools dropped beef from their menus.   The government and meat industry fought back. Some regulations were enacted to fight the disease, but more overt was the publicity campaign: Princess Anne said her family was still eating British beef.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "mad cow disease;bovine spongiform encephalopathy;germany import ban;health fears;bse-infected cows;british beef imports;trade friction"}
+{"name": "LA061589-0143", "title": "U.S. REACTION;   BEN JOHNSON'S 100-METER RECORD SHOULDN'T STAND, ATHLETES AND OFFICIALS SAY", "abstract": "Ben Johnson should be stripped of his world record in the 100-meter dash and it should be awarded to Carl Lewis, many U.S. track and field officials and athletes said Wednesday in the aftermath of Johnson admitting to his steroid use.   Johnson testified this week at a Canadian inquiry that his seven-year involvement with illegal performance-enhancing drugs included injections before the 1987 World Championships in Rome, where he set the existing world record of 9.83 seconds.   \"I would have to see the evidence, but if he was on drugs at the time of the World Championships, my thought would be to remove his record,\" said Ollan Cassell, executive director of The Athletics Congress, the national governing board for the sport.   Cassell is also a vice president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the world governing organization.   The possibility that Johnson could lose his record was raised when the IAAF asked for \"an urgent legal opinion\" to see what it could do about records and championships of confessed drug users.   The issue would be decided at the IAAF Congress, scheduled for Barcelona, Spain, in September.   \"The . . . actions would allow the IAAF, if it so decided, retroactively to withdraw results obtained and any records achieved by such athletes,\" the statement said.   It was not clear, however, whether any action taken by the congress would affect Johnson's world mark because effective dates of retroactive sanctions would have to be worked out.   Frank Greenberg, TAC president, said: \"We'll wait to see what Canada does,\" following the country's inquiry at which 40 persons, among them Johnson, his coach, Charlie Francis, and his physician, Jamie Astaphan, testified.   \"I feel we will do our best to advocate that our athlete, Carl Lewis, gets the world record,\" Greenberg said.   Lewis has the second-fastest legal time in history, 9.92, in finishing second to Johnson at last year's Seoul Olympics. Johnson, who clocked 9.79 in that race, lost the record and his gold medal, and was barred from competition for two years after testing positive for an anabolic steroid.   There was much discussion among athletes competing this week in the TAC Championships about whether Johnson should be allowed back into the sport after he completes his two-year suspension.   Lewis thinks he should.   \"He went a long time without telling the truth, but he broke down and he has told the truth,\" said Lewis, a six-time Olympic gold medalist. \"He is giving us an opportunity to believe him, to support him.   \"I even heard him speaking out against drugs and that's the important thing.\"   Al Joyner, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump, said Johnson should be allowed to compete again, only because that is the rule.   \"But all his records should be taken because he admitted it,\" Joyner added.   \"He killed a lot of fans . . . a lot of young kids . . . and he almost killed our sport . . . he put a dark shadow over it . . . because of who he was,\" Joyner said.   Sprinter Harvey Glance, a three-time Olympian and president of TAC's Athletes Advisory Committee, said Johnson should be allowed to return after two years.   \"But if he admits he was on anything (when he set the record), then it should go to the next person, Carl Lewis,\" Glance said.   \"Only the records will show it and only Ben knows.\"   Johnson was tested after his world-record run in Rome, but the results were negative.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "canadian inquiry;carl lewis;world record;steroid use;world championships;100-meter dash;ben johnson;illegal performance-enhancing drugs"}
+{"name": "LA070189-0080", "title": "ANTELOPE VALLEY BLAZE CONTAINED; CLEVELAND FOREST FIRE CONTROLLED", "abstract": "Firefighters got the upper hand Friday on an 8,200-acre brush fire in Cleveland National Forest that destroyed 11 structures near Lake Elsinore in Riverside County.   Aided by higher humidity and a decrease in wind, fire crews had more than 85% of the blaze surrounded late Friday afternoon and began releasing many of the 2,300 people who had been fighting the fire. Officials predicted that the blaze would be completely under control by Saturday morning but would not be extinguished until midday Sunday.     2,000 Acres Burned   Meanwhile, a brush fire that burned more than 2,000 acres of mostly rugged terrain in the Antelope Valley this week was contained by firefighters Friday morning, authorities said.   Authorities estimated that fighting the fire near Lake Elsinore will wind up costing $1.5 million. They said the blaze resulted in more than $1.1 million damage to various structures in remote canyons and to the watershed that feeds Lake Elsinore.   Investigators said the fire appears to have been caused by people near a roadside store just across the Orange County line, near the crest of Ortega Highway. They again appealed to the public for help in identifying those responsible.     Charred Landscape   Dean McAlister, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman, said fire crews late Friday were hiking into the rugged, charred landscape along the Orange-Riverside county line to do battle with sections of the fire still consuming brush and timber. Officials said they hope to salvage some of the unaffected terrain, which can act as habitat islands for birds and other wildlife.   Although officials first believed that the fire would be contained by late Friday afternoon, they revised their estimates because of troubles battling lingering flames on the southern edge of the blaze, inside the rugged, 3,400-acre San Mateo Wilderness.   Fire crews were forced to work mostly with shovels, picks and other hand equipment to cut fire lines in that area.   \"It's down to the hard grunt work, the stuff for the guys who like to sweat,\" said Stephen Guarino, a Riverside County Fire Department spokesman.     Residents Return   Residents evacuated from 200 homes near Lake Elsinore on Wednesday evening have returned to their houses, authorities said.   The Ortega Highway will remain closed through the weekend as crews continue to work, effectively shutting down several popular campgrounds and picnic spots over the busy holiday.   Four firefighters were injured fighting the blaze, one of them seriously, authorities said.   U.S. Forest Service spokesman Robert Brady said the Antelope Valley fire was 100% contained at 8 a.m. Friday. All Los Angeles County firefighters were released from the fire lines, and a crew of 95 Forest Service firefighters were left to \"mop up,\" Brady said.     Home Burned   The fire claimed 2,250 acres along the outskirts of Elizabeth Lake and Green Valley. Six structures were burned, including one home, and more than 1,000 people were forced to temporarily evacuate on Wednesday.   More than 300 firefighters battled the blaze during the three days. Brady said there were no injuries reported.   Times staff writer Michael Connelly contributed to this article.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "brush fire;damage;fire crews;blaze;investigators;firefighters;cleveland national forest"}
+{"name": "LA070190-0073", "title": "'MR. TORNADO' DEVOTES LIFE TO UNDERSTANDING NATURE'S AWESOME DESTRUCTIVE POWER", "abstract": "Tetsuya Theodore Fujita saw his only natural tornado near Denver in 1982. \"It was like meeting my lover,\" he says.   \"Since then, my passion really went up,\" said Fujita, a professor of geophysical science who has been studying tornadoes for 42 years and is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on the violent storms.   Fujita, 69, spends much of his time in his lab at the University of Chicago creating tornadoes for research.   He creates tornadoes over a large fan, which makes a swirling motion; another fan above simulates a low-pressure system by adding an updraft to the mix. With a bit of steam added to make the phenomenon visible, he creates twisters six to eight feet tall.   The miniature versions are as impossible to redirect or squelch as their full-size cousins, he says. He has tried by crawling right up next to them and using rulers or books to change their direction.   Fujita came to the United States from Japan in 1953, partly because there are so many tornadoes in this country.   \"Tornadoes are very rare in Japan,\" Fujita said. \"They have about 10 to 15 a year. But one occurred within about 15 miles of my hometown. I was quite impressed with the localized severity of the wind.\"   When he saw his first tornado, he and a team of scientists were studying wind shear and its effect on aircraft.   \"It's a beautiful thing,\" Fujita said. \"Of course, I was 20 miles away from that one.   \"If you're in it,\" he added, \"it's a terrible thing.\"   Forecasters still have trouble predicting tornadoes.   But Fujita has helped define the conditions most likely to spawn them. Groups of thunderstorms are not as likely to spawn tornadoes as single, large storms because multiple storms in the same area compete.   \"Each one tries to rotate, but they all can't. They're just like human beings: The rich may become richer and the poor may get poorer.\"   Fujita also discovered that most strong tornadoes are actually six or seven small twisters he calls suction vortices, rotating around the center of a larger tornado.   \"A suction vortex can pick up a car or a small house or something, but when you're standing right next to it you can be completely safe.\"   He has studied tornadoes that have dropped houses into lakes, made off with one car and left another right next to it untouched, and moved whole flocks of cows and sheep -- which lived through the experience.   He also developed the Fujita scale for measuring the strength of tornadoes. It runs from zero -- a tornado that might break twigs on trees -- to five -- a twister that can rip houses from their foundations.   But Fujita considers his work on other air movements called downbursts and microbursts among his most significant achievements.   Downbursts are powerful drafts of air moving down from a thunderstorm cloud. Scientists long thought the drafts dissipated before reaching the ground.   Microbursts are smaller versions of downbursts, but are more dangerous because they give pilots less time to react, Fujita said.   The National Transportation Safety Board has cited microbursts, a term coined by Fujita, as the cause of 17 aircraft accidents in the last 15 years, causing 577 fatalities.   Among them was the 1985 crash of a Delta L-1011 in Dallas that killed 137 people. A downburst also was implicated in the collapse of a wall at a school in Newburgh, N.Y., that killed nine children.   Fujita's work helped persuade the Federal Aviation Administation to begin installing a new radar system at 47 major airports beginning in the early 1990s.   The Doppler radar system was credited with helping three jetliners at Denver's airport avoid potentially catastrophic microbursts last year.   Fujita retires from teaching this year, but will continue his research at the university.   \"In Texas one time, five people were killed when they drove right into a tornado. They just didn't know any better,\" Fujita said. \"I want to make people safer.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "violent storms;small twisters;tornadoes;scientists;natural tornado;fujita;thunderstorms"}
+{"name": "LA071589-0076", "title": "BID TO EXCLUDE ILLEGALS FROM CENSUS HIT;   OFFICIALS SAY MOVE WOULD HURT STATE IN CONGRESS, CUT FEDERAL AID", "abstract": "Public officials throughout California have condemned a U.S. Senate vote Thursday to exclude illegal aliens from the 1990 census, saying the action will shortchange California in Congress and possibly deprive the state of millions of dollars of federal aid for medical emergency services and other programs for poor people.   \"I think it's an outrageous piece of legislation and probably unconstitutional,\" Assemblyman Peter Chacon said Friday. Chacon, a San Diego Democrat, is the chairman of the Assembly's Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee.   At the same time, the Senate's action has created great confusion and stirred hopes, especially among urban Democrats, that it will be overturned by the House of Representatives.     Major Impact   If it becomes law, the Senate's action could have a major impact on California and other states where the influx of illegal aliens significantly boosts the population and, thus, can affect the size of congressional delegations and the amount of federal aid that is doled out. With an estimated population of about 28 million people, California is thought to have at least 50% of the nation's 3 million to 8 million illegal aliens.   Authorities on reapportionment have widely predicted that California would gain five to seven congressional seats as a result of population gains made during the last decade. But if illegal aliens are not counted, the experts say the state would not get one of the anticipated seats.   \"It's hard to tell exactly how many congressional seats California will lose. But we could have gotten six or seven additional seats and this could cost us one or two. It's possible,\" said state Sen. Milton Marks, a San Francisco Democrat who chairs the Senate's Elections and Reapportionment Committee.     Loss of Funds Feared   Jesse R. Huff, the state's financial director, said the state could lose as much as $300 million in federal aid that is allocated on the basis of population as determined by census counts.   Los Angeles County officials said the measure could cut off federal funds for emergency medical services for illegal aliens. In the past, about $80 million annually in such services for illegal aliens has been paid out, with about half of that amount paid in Los Angeles County, according to Mark Tajima, a legislative analyst employed by the county's chief administrative officer.   Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn described the Senate's vote as an attempt by \"callous, self-serving interests in Washington, D.C., to deny representation and financial resources to minorities and underprivileged in our cities.\" Hahn's office said the city could lose at least $20 million in federal aid over the next 10 years -- money that goes for child care, housing rehabilitation, drug counseling and services for homeless people.     Immigration Law Overhaul   The measure passed by the Senate was part of a larger overhaul of the nation's immigration laws that, if it becomes law, would place an annual cap of 630,000 immigrants for each of the next three years and make room for more residents of Western Europe.   The Senate bill is expected to face tough opposition in the House, where states such as California, New York and Illinois with large alien populations have many votes. Moreover, a federal court in Pittsburgh ruled earlier this year that excluding illegal aliens from the census would be unconstitutional.   But even if the Senate's action were to become law, it is not clear how much impact it would have on federal aid.   \"I think the effect is going to be minimal,\" said Michael Myers, counsel to the House subcommittee on immigration and refugee affairs. Myers said the measure would prohibit aliens from receiving direct federal benefits, such as Social Security payments. But he maintained that such ineligibility is already written into a number of federal programs. Myers said that most of the assistance that states and cities now receive comes in the form of block grants that do not qualify as direct financial aid and, therefore, would not be affected.     Puzzled by Action   Still, many local officials remain puzzled by the Senate's action.   Tajima said he was not sure whether programs such as foster care for abused and neglected children or Supplemental Security Income for aged, blind or disabled people would be vulnerable. \"They all involve direct payments by the county of federal money,\" he said.   In Orange County, with the second-largest illegal alien population in the state, officials warned that any effort by the Census Bureau to identify illegals would promote \"fear and intimidation\" among recent immigrants, both legal and illegal. Any such effort, officials said, would discourage people from participating in the census and even further reduce official population figures.   \"They counted them in 1980, and now for them to say they won't count them in 1990 is ludicrous,\" said Angelo Doti, director of financial assistance for the Orange County Social Services Agency.   \"The fact is they are here. They're going to stay here. They pay taxes and are going to avail themselves of our services. We need to know the numbers. To not count them is to close our eyes,\" Doti said.   Times staff writers Jerry Gillam and Marcida Dodson contributed to this article.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "1990 census;federal aid;congressional seats;census bureau;u.s. senate vote;illegal aliens;census counts;california"}
+{"name": "LA071590-0068", "title": "4 WHO CLAIM POLICE BEAT THEM WERE NOT CHARGED;   OXNARD: THE PUBLIC DEFENDER'S OFFICE SAYS IT IS VERY UNUSUAL FOR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE NOT TO PROSECUTE SUSPECTS ACCUSED OF CRIMES BY POLICE.", "abstract": "Over the past two years, the Ventura County district attorney's office in four separate incidents has declined to prosecute suspects who contended that they were victims of police brutality while being arrested for various offenses by Oxnard officers, records show.   In a fifth and more recent incident, the district attorney's office declined to file a charge of assaulting an officer against an Oxnard man who says he and several other guests at a June 15 private party were beaten by Oxnard police. Instead, Anthony Flores, 22, was charged with five misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest.   The men involved in three of the five incidents have filed police brutality lawsuits against the city, the department or the police officers involved. The suits, which seek unspecified damages and medical and legal expenses, are pending.   Two of the incidents have led to an investigation by the Police Department's internal affairs division.   Deputy Dist. Atty. Edward Brodie, misdemeanor supervisor for the office, said the decisions not to prosecute the suspects do not necessarily mean that Oxnard police were not justified in making the arrests. In each of the four cases, Brodie said, his office did not prosecute because it found that police did not provide enough evidence to prove the charges \"beyond a reasonable doubt.\"   But Jean Farley, a supervisor for the Ventura County public defender's office, said it is extremely rare for the district attorney's office not to prosecute a suspect who is accused by police.   The district attorney's office may have declined to prosecute the suspects because police brutality has been alleged, she said. Prosecution is usually turned down when the arresting officer is suspected of using excessive force, she said.   Assistant Police Chief William Kady declined to discuss the brutality allegations against the Oxnard officers because of pending litigation. He said, however, that the decisions by the district attorney's office not to prosecute the suspects do not reflect poorly on the department.   \"I don't think our reputation is any worse than any other department's,\" he said. \"There is always going to be a disagreement over how much force is used.\"   The latest incident involving an accusation of police brutality stemmed from the June 15 clash between 18 officers and about 12 party guests at a house in the 1300 block of South E Street.   It began when four officers answered complaints about a loud party. A police report said Flores started the fight by shoving a policeman. Flores and his brothers, Alex, 19, and Luis Jr., 24 -- all of whom suffered gashes and scrapes on their heads and bodies -- said the officers beat them without provocation.   Police had arrested Flores on suspicion of assaulting an officer and of resisting arrest but the district attorney's office decided two weeks later to prosecute Flores on the five misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest.   \"Based upon my review of all the reports, the charges were the most appropriate charges to file,\" said Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald Gran, who declined to elaborate.   Police Chief Robert Owens has ordered an investigation into the incident.   In an incident April 7, Sergio E. Gonzalez, 19, accused Oxnard officers of ordering a police dog to attack him before he was arrested.   In a suit filed June 29, Gonzalez said he was standing on Sunkist Circle when the dog attacked him, biting him on the arm and left shoulder. Gonzalez was taken to St. John's Regional Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and spent two weeks recovering from his injuries.   Edward M. Fox, an attorney representing Gonzalez, said his client, a gardener, might suffer some permanent injury to his right arm.   According to a police report filed by Officer Michael Cole, police were sent to a parking lot outside the Oxnard Moose Lodge to investigate a report of an altercation between several men after a wedding reception. Cole's report said Gonzalez was found hiding in the parking lot and \"was bit by a police service dog during the arrest.\"   The report, however, does not say why the dog attacked Gonzalez or whether Gonzalez resisted arrest. Police arrested Gonzalez on suspicion of disturbing the peace, Brodie said. But the district attorney's office declined to file any charges because the police report failed to show that Gonzalez was involved in the altercation, Brodie said.   Fox said Gonzalez did not attend the wedding but was visiting a friend nearby and went to the parking lot to find out what was causing the commotion.   In a third incident, Louis M. Cornett, a retired teacher and licensed gun dealer, said he was beaten on Oct. 20 while in custody at Oxnard police headquarters. Cornett said the altercation began as he was returning home after scouting out a site for quail hunting near Santa Maria.   Officer Robert Camarillo said in a police report that Cornett was arrested in the 3600 block of Taffrail Road on suspicion of brandishing a weapon, resisting arrest and possessing a loaded firearm.   Camarillo said in the report that he stopped Cornett while investigating a complaint of a man waving a gun from a car and threatening youngsters packed into another vehicle. Camarillo said Cornett fit the description of the man who allegedly brandished the weapon.   When he searched Cornett's car, Camarillo said, he found a semiautomatic handgun, several rounds of ammunition and a 12-gauge shotgun.   Camarillo admitted that he later shoved Cornett against a wall at police headquarters because the suspect had struggled and had clenched his fists in a threatening manner.   But a lawsuit against Camarillo filed May 8, 1989, alleges that while in custody at the police station, Camarillo shoved and punched Cornett in the mouth. \"He slammed me in the mouth once, twice and a third time,\" Cornett said in an interview.   Cornett, maintaining that he never struggled with the officer, said he suffered a broken tooth and a cut lip during the beating.   The district attorney's office declined to file charges against Cornett because, Brodie said, there was insufficient evidence to prove that Cornett brandished a gun.   In a fourth incident, Alejandro Guzman-Flores, 21, accused three Oxnard officers of beating him on his face, causing severe damage to his eyesight.   Guzman-Flores said he was working in a motorcycle repair shop on Jan. 27, 1989, when his boss asked him to investigate a noise in the alley behind the shop in the 1500 block of South Pine Street.   In a suit filed against the city Nov. 14, 1989, the Police Department and officers Jana Younger, Fred Sedillos and James Struck, Guzman-Flores contends that he was grabbed from behind by Younger while in the alley. The officer poked him with a baton and questioned him about a car parked nearby, Guzman-Flores said in the suit.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "excessive force;forcible brutality;police officers;victims;arrest report;police brutality"}
+{"name": "LA072089-0140", "title": "JET CARRYING 293 CRASHES, BURNS IN IOWA; 166 SURVIVE", "abstract": "A crippled United Airlines DC-10 crashed a half-mile short of a runway while trying to make an emergency landing Wednesday afternoon, bursting into a cartwheeling fireball that broke into what one eyewitness described as \"15,000 pieces\" and killing at least 123 of the 293 passengers and crew members on board.   Remarkably, as many as 166 persons survived the violent crash, according to Richard Vohs, a spokesman for Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad. The fate of four others was not immediately known.     Tail Engine Explodes   The plane's tail engine exploded before the crash but it was not immediately clear how the explosion contributed to what a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman called \"complete hydraulic failure,\" an occurrence regarded as extremely rare in the wide-bodied DC-10, which has three independent hydraulic systems that operate all the plane's control surfaces on its wings and tail, and landing gear and brakes.   As rescuers worked underneath floodlights to remove bodies from the crash site, original estimates of the death toll -- one as high as 190, which would have made the crash the second worst in U.S. history -- were reduced.   \"We don't have a firm count\" of the dead, Vohs acknowledged at a press conference seven hours after the crash. \"But right now, the number (of survivors) confirmed is 166.\"   The survivors of Wednesday's United Flight 232 from Denver to Philadelphia via Chicago included several dozen passengers who managed to walk out of a dark, smoke-filled, upside-down section of the jet after it broke off and came to rest in a tall cornfield off the runway.   \"I walked out (through the back of the plane) and found myself in the cornfield,\" passenger David Landsberger told Cable News Network. \"We were all walking around in shock. I just walked through it like it was a dream. I was a little dazed.\"   \"It's the goddamndest thing I ever saw in my life,\" said Charles Mertz of Castle Rock, Colo., another of those who walked away.   Suitcases, paper, mail, clothes, chunks of burning metal and bodies were strewn over the inactive runway at Sioux Gateway Airport, where the plane crashed after desperately circling for a half-hour.   One hundred ambulances, fire trucks and helicopters from as far away as South Dakota plucked out the victims. The search for bodies was difficult because some of them were scattered in the cornfield. Many of the survivors were listed in critical condition with burns or broken bones.   United Airlines declined to comment on the number of survivors or to release the names of the 282 passengers and 11 crew members.   Eyewitnesses said pieces of the 15-year-old airplane -- one of the oldest airliners in United's fleet -- were falling off as far as 75 miles from the site of the crash.   A team of National Transportation Safety Board investigators left Washington Wednesday night for Sioux City.   The hydraulic system that disintegrated Wednesday works the same way a power steering system operates in a car. By forcing liquid through a tube, the system provides enough power for a pilot to move an airliner's huge tail rudder and elevators, and wing panels known as flaps and ailerons -- all needed to steer an aircraft.   Some aviation experts, speculating on why Flight 232 crashed after completing less than half of its scheduled 930-mile trip to Chicago, suggested that the explosion of the tail engine sent shards of metal through the tail section, somehow destroying common lines that serve the three hydraulic systems.   There were reports from passengers and observers that the plane's right-wing engine also failed before the crash.   In what survivors described as a heroic effort that nearly succeeded, the plane's Seattle-based captain, A. C. Haynes -- a 33-year veteran of the airline who along with the other 10 crew members survived the crash -- struggled for a half-hour to maintain control of the wobbling plane. Radio transmission indicated the plane's maneuverability was limited to right-hand turns.   At one point, Haynes attempted a landing on Highway 20 near Cushing, Iowa, but chose not to touch down there in favor of trying to make Sioux City, a farming and livestock center of 82,000 in the northwest corner of Iowa along the Missouri River.     Preparing for Crash Landing   \"Then they said we were preparing for a crash landing. They said it would be about 30 seconds, but it was about five minutes,\" another passenger said.   Haynes brought the plane into the airport's 9,000-foot-long southwest runway, surrounded by corn, soybeans and pasture with some trees seven miles outside downtown Sioux City.   At about 4 p.m. CDT, the plane made its final approach.   Onlookers watched hopefully.   \"We thought it was going to make it,\" said Glen Olson, city editor of the Sioux City Journal.   It didn't.   Shortly before touchdown the plane's right wing began to dip and the nose began to fall.   The wing hit the ground a half-mile before the runway. The impact caused the aircraft to turn over several times as it slid down the runway, \"breaking up very badly,\" catching on fire and then exploding, according to Bob Raynesford, an FAA spokesman.   \"I think it turned over a couple of times. I think it landed upside down,\" said passenger Melanie Cincala of Toledo, Ohio, who said the plane burst into flames after she got off.   A large piece of the fuselage barreled onto the runway. Huge clouds of smoke and flames billowed upward as firemen sprayed foam over the wreckage. Rescue helicopters hovered overhead.   \"We were sitting there upside down and it began to fill up with smoke,\" said Cliff Marshall of Columbus, Ohio, who was returning home from Denver.     'Push Little Girl Out'   \"Then God opened a hole in the basement (the bottom of the plane) and I pushed a little girl out. I grabbed another, kept pulling them out until they didn't come no more.\"   Marshall said he thought he helped a half-dozen out and then he ran.   Dr. Romaine Bendixen, clinic commander of Iowa National Guard's 185th tactical fighter group, said he was the first doctor on the scene, about three minutes after the crash. He had just landed in another plane.   He said the living were scattered among the dead.   \"In one group of six seats, a woman sitting in the middle was barely injured, her husband beside her was dead and two behind her were dead,\" Bendixen said.   He said rescuers pulled out three of the flight crew alive.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "united airlines dc-10;violent crash;air crash;crash victims;flight crew;tail engine;explosion;emergency landing;complete hydraulic failure;crash landing"}
+{"name": "LA073089-0118", "title": "THE NRA FIGHTS BACK;   ON THE DEFENSIVE OVER ASSAULT WEAPONS, THE GUN LOBBY IS USING CONTROVERSIAL TACTICS TO TARGET ITS ENEMIES", "abstract": "IN BLOOD-RED letters, the sign on the front window of the Dealers Outlet gun store in suburban Phoenix declared: \"Urgent! Act Now! Stop the Gun Ban!\" Inside, customers took time out from browsing through AK-47 assault rifles and a flock of other firearms to sign a petition -- and to vent their wrath at a local \"turncoat,\" U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.).   \"We are petitioning to protest the semiautomatic gun-control bills before Congress,\" read the text above a fast-growing list of names. \"If we allow the government to become involved in any type of gun control, we are violating a basic constitutional right, the right to keep and bear arms.\"   The petitioners' target that sunny day last spring was DeConcini, a longtime opponent of gun-control measures who had suddenly switched sides, sponsoring one of the nine bills currently in Congress to ban the sale of assault weapons. \"I'm a one-issue voter, and I'm going to do everything in my power to take DeConcini out,\" George Hiers, a burly man on crutches, vowed as he bought a semiautomatic shotgun for his wife to defend herself with while he's away on hunting trips.   The attack on DeConcini was stirred up by the National Rifle Assn. in a display of fury that represented far more than retaliation against a former supporter. Long described as \"the powerful gun lobby,\" the NRA is now scrambling to recover from stunning setbacks in the past three years. Over the NRA's opposition, Congress and state legislatures have enacted legislation banning \"cop-killer bullets\" that penetrate protective vests, plastic guns that can be slipped past metal detectors and \"Saturday night specials\" that are used in many crimes. And most recently, the group found itself caught in the furor over assault weapons that was ignited by the massacre of five children in a Stockton schoolyard last January. Those killings, combined with the increasing use of the weapons by drug dealers and youth gangs, have exacerbated the contentious relations between the NRA and its former allies.   Law-enforcement leaders, concerned about rising violence and terrorism, have ended their friendliness toward the gun lobby and become well-organized in opposition. Politicians once fearful of the NRA have been much more willing to stand up to it; President Bush, an NRA \"Life Member,\" on July 7 imposed a permanent ban on imports of assault rifles and has proposed limiting the semiautomatics' ammunition clips. The ban so infuriated some NRA members that they have launched petition drives in two dozen states to oust Bush from the organization. Meanwhile, California, whose voters only seven years ago defeated an initiative that would have frozen the number of handguns in the state, last May became the first state to ban assault weapons. At the same time, gun-control organizations are beginning to match the NRA's mass mailings, ads and lobbying; many schools are showing \"Guns and the Constitution,\" an anti-gun video produced by Handgun Control Inc., whose chairwoman is Sarah Brady, wife of former White House Press Secretary James Brady, who was disabled by gunfire in the 1981 assassination attempt on then-President Reagan.   And the NRA even is feeling pressure from more-militant gun groups that threaten to drain away members and funds. Although enjoying a membership surge, the NRA ran up a record $5.9-million deficit last year after spending more than $83 million.   Thus, in fending off the assaults on assault weapons, the 118-year-old NRA is facing what its leaders call its most daunting challenge.   \"We're at a crossroads,\" James Jay Baker, the NRA's top congressional lobbyist, acknowledged as DeConcini's assault-weapons bill cleared its first Senate hurdle in April. \"We're going to go down the road of either prohibitive firearms regulations or tough criminal justice provisions\" -- that is, more prosecutors, penalties and prisons, the course sought by the NRA. \"Once you get into a (gun-control) rut, it's tough to get out of that rut.\"   Aside from the nation's capital, two of the hottest battlegrounds in the assault-weapons fight are Arizona and Florida. That would seem ironic, since guns permeate the cultures of those generally conservative states. But with opinion polls in both states showing that large majorities of residents support bans -- and with police complaining about being outgunned by criminals -- legislators have moved into action, spurring angry counterattacks from the NRA.     Call Now! Write Today!   AS PAT JONAS signed the petition in the gun store near Phoenix, one could witness the NRA's true political power: mobilizing citizens at the grass roots. \"I don't want to see guns outlawed,\" Jonas said, \"because I like to collect guns.\" Probably no other organization in the world floods government officials with as many phone calls, letters, telegrams and visits from its members as the NRA. Charles J. Orasin, president of 15-year-old Handgun Control -- the NRA's chief nemesis -- estimates that as many as 500,000 members of the NRA and other gun groups regularly lobby elected officials and bureaucrats.   The outpouring is prompted by red-alert mailings churned out by NRA leaders, all sounding essentially the same alarm: They're out to get your guns. These letters go not only to the NRA's 2.9 million members, whose $25 annual membership fee brings such benefits as a magazine, gun-theft insurance and safety instruction, but also to 10,000 affiliated hunting organizations and shooting-competition groups.   Time and again, the NRA has proved that citizen action generated by such mailings can have far more effect on legislation than opinion polls, especially when a majority for gun control is relatively silent. \"If a lawmaker is looking for an excuse to vote with the NRA, all he has to say is, 'I got a hundred calls from the NRA, but none from the other side,' \" said a congressional aide. And in a close election, a well-organized, single-interest group such as the NRA can wield decisive power by turning out highly motivated voters.   It was one of these red-alert warnings, written by NRA lobbyist Baker, that had been delivered to 100,000 gun owners in Arizona and riled up the customers at the Dealers Outlet outside Phoenix. Baker's letter assailed DeConcini's bill, a scaled-down version of the one enacted by California in May. DeConcini's bill calls for a nationwide ban on sales of AK-47s and eight other semiautomatic rifles -- guns enjoying wide popularity because they have the menacing look and much of the firepower of fully automatic assault weapons used by the military and police. (Automatic guns fire 20 bullets or so per trigger pull; semiautomatics fire one bullet per trigger squeeze, but a fast index finger can get off as many as 20 shots in five seconds as ammunition is automatically reloaded from a clip.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "gun-control bills;gun-control measures;nra;deconcini;gun control;constitutional right;firearms;gun ban;gun lobby"}
+{"name": "LA080189-0042", "title": "CREW TRAPPED IN CAPSIZED OIL RIG IN GULF;   HURRICANE PERILS TEXAS, LOUISIANA", "abstract": "Hurricane Chantal, the first of the season, aimed for the Texas and Louisiana coasts Monday, a day in which the storm's winds capsized an oil drilling work vessel and trapped as many as 10 crew members inside.   Three of the crewmen were picked up by a nearby fishing vessel and a fourth was plucked from the water by a Coast Guard helicopter. The Coast Guard also said there were unconfirmed reports that two others had been picked up by another boat.   Rescue divers, however, were unable to search the overturned service vessel for survivors because of increasingly strong winds and high waves. The hope was that at least some of the crew would be in airtight cabins with enough oxygen to survive until help reached them. But Coast Guard Petty Officer Bob Morehead said the search was called off in the late afternoon because winds were in excess of 60 m.p.h. and waves were at 12 feet and building.   Shortly thereafter, the National Hurricane Center in Miami announced that Chantal was blowing at more than 74 m.p.h., strong enough to move it into the lowest hurricane classification, and the winds were later reported at 75 m.p.h.   The 72-foot service vessel, leased to the Chevron Corp. by the Avis Bourg Co., capsized about 25 miles south of Morgan City, La. It is a self-propelled vessel with legs that can be extended to the ocean floor. The boat was ordered into port because of the impending storm.   Late Monday afternoon, Chantal was about 200 miles south-southeast of Galveston, Tex., traveling northwest at about 10 m.p.h. Officials at the National Hurricane Service in Miami said the storm was expected to reach land some time this afternoon or evening.   The best estimate Monday was that the center of the hurricane would hit the western Louisiana or upper Texas coast. Hurricane warnings were issued from Freeport, Tex., to Morgan City. Tropical storm warnings were issued as far south as Port O'Connor, Tex., and as far east as Mobile, Ala. Bob Ebaugh, a weather specialist at the hurricane center, said 10 to 15 inches of rain was expected in southern Mississippi, Louisiana and East Texas.   Meanwhile, coastal residents began what has long been a ritual along the Gulf Coast during hurricane season, which begins in late spring and runs through early fall. Grocery stores began reporting a steady demand for hurricane staples -- bottled water, batteries, canned goods and tape for windows.   One particular concern in Houston was the possibility of major flooding should the city be on the wet, or eastern, side of the hurricane. In that event, the Houston area would have \"extensive flooding,\" said Bill Evans, flood watch director for the Harris County Flood Control District.   Besides heavy rains and wind, the hurricane is expected to cause tides 5 to 7 feet above normal. Chantal is the third named storm since the beginning of the hurricane season June 1. Tropical Storm Allison dumped huge amounts of rain on Texas and Louisiana in June, and Tropical Storm Barry dissipated in the Atlantic without reaching land.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "coast guard;coastal residents;hurricane chantal;oil drilling work vessel;crew members;hurricane warnings;hurricane staples;hurricane season;rescue divers"}
+{"name": "LA080790-0111", "title": "JOE MORGAN'S SUIT PROTESTS DRUG 'PROFILE';   CIVIL RIGHTS: THE FORMER BASEBALL STAR SAYS HE WAS UNFAIRLY TARGETED BY POLICE AND ARRESTED AT LAX BECAUSE HE IS BLACK. A SECOND TRIAL ON HIS CLAIM IS SET.", "abstract": "As they scanned the flow of passengers at Los Angeles International Airport, police detective Clayton Searle and his fellow narcotics officer searched for the likely companion of the suspected drug courier who stood handcuffed nearby.   When Searle noticed a short, muscular black man walk toward them and then turn abruptly toward a bank of telephones, the plainclothes Los Angeles police detective moved in quickly to question him.   Within minutes, however, their words had turned into violence, and the two men toppled to the terminal floor where Searle handcuffed his suspect and pulled him to his feet. Placing his hand across the man's mouth, the officer then marched him away before a gathering crowd of gaping passersby.   Only later did Searle and his partner from the Drug Enforcement Administration realize that the suspected drug courier they had arrested on that March day in 1988 was Joe Morgan, the former Cincinnati Reds second baseman who was inducted Monday into Major League baseball's Hall of Fame.   The 46-year-old Morgan, who is now an Oakland businessman and baseball broadcaster, is suing Searle and the city of Los Angeles in federal court, claiming that he was unfairly targeted because he is black and fit a certain \"profile\" that narcotics officers think a drug courier should look like.   \"There's no doubt in our mind that the only reason they stopped Joe Morgan was because he is black and he was the first black who happened to come by,\" said William Barnes, one of the attorneys representing the former ballplayer.   The Morgan case also reflects a growing criticism of police use of the drug courier profile to stem the flow of drugs through airports.   \"It's purely based on race or dress, not on whether you are involved in any drug activity,\" said Gary Trichter, a Houston defense lawyer and former police officer who specializes in such cases.   First developed in the 1970s, the drug courier profile was based on patterns of behavior believed to be used by those who use commercial airline flights to transport narcotics. Such suspicious behavior include erratic movements, paying for tickets with cash, using an alias, boarding a long flight without luggage and staying briefly in distant cities known to be sources of narcotics.   Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that government agents may stop and question airline passengers who look and act like drug couriers. But the court said brief detentions must be based on a person's behavior, not just on race or appearance.   \"Profiles are important and we use them, but exactly how we use them or what the profile is I cannot tell you,\" said Los Angeles Police Department Cmdr. William Booth. \"It is certainly not something based on any prejudice or racism. It's based on trying to protect the public.\" He said that last year, 254 narcotics arrests were made at Los Angeles International Airport. Through Aug. 3 of this year, there have been 121 such arrests.   Frank Schults, chief of public affairs for the DEA in Washington, denied that his agency uses drug courier profiles.   \"We have any number of investigative techniques and ways to identify people involved in moving drugs, but a profile is not one of them,\" he said.   Neither Booth nor Schults would comment on the Morgan lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial for a second time next month in Los Angeles. Morgan is seeking unspecified damages, claiming that his civil rights were violated.   Last April, a six-person federal jury rejected Morgan's case. But two months later, U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer set aside the verdict after ruling that she had failed to instruct jurors that Morgan had been illegally detained by police.   \"There isn't any possible other conclusion but that the stop was illegal,\" the judge concluded.   Both Searle, a 20-year Police Department veteran, and William Woessner, a DEA agent who was subsequently dropped from the lawsuit, have denied that they did anything wrong.   \"I wish that this hadn't happened,\" Searle said. \"I wish (Morgan) luck now that I know who he is. I just hope I never see him again.\"   Morgan could not be reached for comment. But in court documents, he said that on March 15, 1988, he was waiting at Los Angeles International Airport for a connecting flight to Tucson to attend a golf tournament and was innocently making a phone call when Searle suddenly grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.   Asked to identify himself, Morgan said he told the officer that his wallet was in an attache case about 40 feet away but that Searle refused to let him retrieve it. When a bystander -- who would later testify for Morgan -- recognized the former player and tried to intervene, both men claimed that Searle warned the man to stay away.   Minutes later, Morgan said, Searle grabbed him by the neck and they fell to the floor. Morgan said the officer then put a knee in his back, wrenched his arms behind him and handcuffed him.   He was taken to a small children's nursery in the terminal and interrogated, but within minutes the officers had confirmed his identity, Morgan said. Searle then offered to free him if he would forget the matter, according to Morgan's lawsuit. Instead, Morgan filed his complaint, in part, to discourage similar incidents from occurring, his attorneys said.   \"This happened to Joe Morgan, but it really is applicable to any black person who uses Los Angeles airport,\" said Oakland attorney Edwin Wilson Jr., who also is black. \"If it wasn't Joe, this could have happened to me or my father or to any other black person.\"   Searle, 42, denied the allegations but told The Times he could not discuss specifics of the case.   \"All I can say is that the guy is a great baseball player and appears to be a good announcer,\" Searle said. \"I wish it didn't happen. He just sort of went out of control.\"   Assistant City Atty. Honey A. Lewis, who represents the officer and the Police Department, said Searle had acted properly and was merely asking Morgan to identify himself when Morgan suddenly became belligerent, spewing profanities and slapping the officer.   \"My argument is that Mr. Morgan overreacted,\" Lewis said. \"If he had cooperated, none of this would have happened. I think he had a bruised ego, and he was offended because the officer hadn't recognized him.\"   According to Searle's sworn court deposition, the incident began after he and Woessner, working together as members of an airport anti-drug task force, had arrested a passenger as a suspected drug courier. They said he was using an alias.   Although the officers found no drugs in his possession, Searle said they discovered that the passenger was holding a second plane ticket, and they began looking for his companion. Since the passenger was black and indicated that his companion \"looked like me,\" the officer began looking for a black man who was nervous-looking or having \"other characteristics of a narcotics courier.\"   When they spotted Morgan, Searle said, he tried to speak to him but Morgan started screaming profanities and \"making animal noises\" and hit him in the chest with a wild swing.   In his suit, Morgan denies that and contends that he suffered \"acute physical and emotional distress and embarrassment\" after the incident and expressed concern about damage to his reputation.   RELATED STORY: C14", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "police officer;drugs;public affairs;clayton searle;joe morgan;los angeles;racism"}
+{"name": "LA081489-0025", "title": "LELAND CRASH SITE FOUND; ALL 16 KILLED;   WRECKAGE OF PLANE WITH CONGRESSMAN SPOTTED IN ETHIOPIA", "abstract": "U.S. military helicopters on Sunday located the wreckage of a plane that crashed last Monday with Texas congressman Mickey Leland and 15 others aboard. Witnesses who visited the site said there were no survivors.   U.S. rescue and recovery teams said that the plane hit a mountain about 4,300 feet above sea level, having missed clearing the peak by about 300 feet. The crash site is about 75 miles east of the Fugnido refugee camp that Leland was flying to visit when the plane vanished in heavy weather last Monday.   \"If they would have flown over that peak they would have been home free,\" said Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.), a colleague of Leland's who has accompanied search crews for the last two days and was aboard the helicopter that first spotted the wreckage Sunday. Ackerman said that the plane appeared to have hit \"nose first, right into the rocks; its two wings sheared off, its engines melted, its fuselage gone.\"     Wreckage Examined   Ackerman said that military paratroopers lowered themselves from his helicopter on ropes to examine the wreckage.   \"They told us everyone had died instantaneously,\" Ackerman said.   The 44-year-old Leland, a Democrat, was making his sixth tour of refugee camps along the Ethiopia-Sudan border as chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger, a panel he had helped to establish five years ago.   Also aboard the plane were Hugh Anderson Johnson Jr. and Patrice Yvonne Johnson, both aides to Leland (who were not related); Joyce Francine Williams, an aide to Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley), and an expert on child nutrition; Y. Ivan Tillen, a New York businessman and friend of Leland's; Robert Woods, a political and economic officer at the American Embassy in Addis Ababa; Gladys Gilbert, a special projects officer for the mission of the U.S. Agency for International Development attached to the embassy; Thomas Worrick, the acting AID representative in Ethiopia, and Worrick's wife, Roberta.     7 Ethiopians Killed   Also on board were Debebe Agonofer, an Ethiopian agricultural economist with the AID mission, and six other Ethiopians, including the plane's crew of three.   Reaction to the news in the United States was one of sadness coupled with an outpouring of praise for Leland's work. A statement issued by President Bush said that \"Mickey Leland and the other members of his traveling party, both Americans and Ethiopians, were engaged in a noble cause -- trying to feed the hungry.\"   Dellums spoke of his staff aide who lost her life in the crash as \"a close personal friend for over a decade\" and said that everyone on the plane \"shared a common commitment to helping the poor, the starving and the dispossessed in that war-torn, drought-stricken land.\"   \"Their deaths are a collective loss to all humanity,\" Dellums said.   Discovery of the crash site ended what had been one of the most extensive American search and rescue operations ever conducted in a Third World country. By Sunday, 18 aircraft, including four American helicopters, two American C-130 airplanes and 12 Ethiopian aircraft, were involved in the search. Three more American helicopters were reported to be en route from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida when word of the discovery came.   The search on Sunday was hampered again by thunderstorms, poor visibility and other conditions that characterized many of the previous days of search.   \"The terrain was fairly rugged and the weather conditions were bad getting there,\" said Capt. Clair M. Gilk, commander of one of the two helicopters that were the first to spot the wreckage.   Gilk said that the crash site, in a mountainous and heavily wooded region, is so remote and inaccessible that the nearest landing site for helicopters is half a mile away, a distance that he said could take as much as three hours to cover on foot.     Recovery Planned for Today   Air Force personnel were assigned to remain near the site Sunday night to keep it secure. Recovery of the remains of those aboard the plane, a twin-engine Twin Otter, was to commence at first light today.   Because of the site's inaccessibility, it could take at least two days to recover all of the bodies, according to Maj. Gen. James F. Record, who came here from Washington to oversee the search effort. Record arrived in Addis Ababa about 10 minutes after the first reports were received of the sighting of the crash site.   In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Stan Bloyer, said that the remains of the Americans will probably be returned to the United States through Torrejon Air Base near Madrid, where the American armed forces maintains full mortuary facilities.     Dellums to Accompany Bodies   Dellums, House Majority Whip William H. Gray III (D-Pa.) and Republican Reps. Bill Emerson of Missouri and Jack Fields of Texas plan to fly to Addis Ababa to accompany the bodies back to the United States.   Discovery of the crash site came at about 1:15 p.m. local time Sunday. Ackerman said that the helicopter he was traveling in set down during the morning at an airstrip near the village of Dembi Dolo. There, the crew came upon a Roman Catholic missionary who told them that he had heard reports from local villagers that a plane had been heard nearby last week. Presently, the crew found an Ethiopian surveyor who said he could guide them to an area near where the plane had been heard. The surveyor was taken aboard, crew members said, but on their way toward their destination they spotted the crash site.   The location was described as very steep, with the plane resting on land that was pitched at an angle of about 60 degrees.     'Mostly Rocks and Brush'   Crew members described the site as \"mostly rocks and brush\" and indicated that the pilot of Leland's plane may have been trying to escape bad weather on Monday by following the pathway of a river flowing through a valley. Before the plane reached safety, it ran into the mountainside.   Rep. Alan Wheat (D-Mo.), who with Ackerman had been flying with search crews for the last two days, said he telephoned House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) from Addis Ababa soon after the discovery was made. He said that Foley was \"heartbroken\" at the news.   The crash site was described by U.S. authorities as being about 20 nautical miles due east of the town of Gambela and 230 nautical miles west-southwest of Addis Ababa. It appeared to be near the village of Bure.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "heavy weather;texas congressman mickey leland;crash site;wreckage;rescue operations;twin-engine twin otter;american helicopters;fugnido refugee camp"}
+{"name": "LA081490-0030", "title": "WILDFIRE CREWS PAY A HEAVY PRICE IN HEALTH", "abstract": "The 80,000 men and women who battle the nation's wildfires have always known their lives were endangered by flames or heat or falling debris.   But now, two new studies show they also face an unseen hazard: Their health is under siege from the poisonous stew of gases and soot in wildfire smoke.   Among the culprits are carbon monoxide, which slows reaction and impairs judgment; microscopic particles of carbon that lodge in the lungs; aldehydes and acids that irritate air passages, and hydrocarbon-based substances and other chemicals that can damage genes and cause cancer, tests show.   Wildland firefighters, whose only protection is the cotton bandanna covering their faces, lose as much as 10% of their lung capacity after one routine season, and the damage persists for weeks, according to the studies by the California Department of Health Services and the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore. Combined, the researchers tested the lungs of more than 100 California wildland firefighters before and after the 1988 and 1989 fire seasons.   Health experts also suspect that exposure to wildfire smoke may accelerate aging, prompt fatal heart attacks or cancer and trigger respiratory diseases such as chronic bronchitis or asthma.   \"After fires, they cough up black gunk. Then, after a week, they think they're back to normal. But our studies show their lungs aren't back to normal,\" said Dr. Robert Harrison, the California health department's chief of occupational health surveillance and the physician in charge of one of the studies.   \"For some of the firefighters, the drop in lung function was rather striking.\"   The worst doses of carbon monoxide and other hazardous chemicals, which can be fatal, are given off when fires smolder, the stage in which firefighters spend most of their time, said Darold Ward, a U.S. Forest Service chemist.   Mark Linane, who heads a national firefighting crew known as the Hotshots, said he has seen wildland firefighters so poisoned by carbon monoxide that they can't decide which shoe to tie.   The hazards are particularly acute in Southern California, which is prone to more large, smoky fires than anywhere else in the nation. Its four-year drought has turned grasslands tinder dry, and its stagnant weather conditions and topography can trap smoke for days.   Furthermore, forestry officials predict that the region's 1990 fire season will be devastating.   The Yosemite fires, which have scorched more than 15,000 acres and are still out of control, and the recent Santa Barbara and Glendale fires, which destroyed nearly 500 homes, are only the largest of hundreds of blazes in the state.   \"We've got lots of summer ahead of us and we've already burned 600 or 700 structures,\" said Deputy Chief Keith Metcalfe of the state's southern regional firefighting crew in Riverside. \" . . . Because of the dryness, fires are burning more rapidly and more intensely.\"   For nearly 10 years, urban firefighters have known that toxic smoke from burning structures and cars greatly increases their chances of cancer and heart disease. The bandannas that once were their only protection were replaced by air tanks and masks long ago.   But the U.S. Forest Service and state and county fire officials have been unable to protect their wildfire crews because they know of no gear light enough for firefighters to wear while hiking miles in burning terrain or effective enough to filter out the wide variety of toxic materials in smoke.   Furthermore, developing protection for the crews has gotten little attention and virtually no state or federal funding.   National fire officials say they cannot get help from Congress unless they can prove firefighters are dropping dead. But because no mortality studies have been funded, all they have is the old joke heard around the fire camp: Just try to find a wildland firefighter still breathing after 60.   \"It's a crime that we continue to let these guys function like this,\" said James Johnson, director of hazard control projects at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California, which is developing respiratory gear for its firefighters. \"They're a forgotten group, a hidden subset of people who have been ignored en masse. In all my 18 years of experience in industrial hygiene, I've never seen anything like it.\".   In the past, firefighters believed their coughing and congestion were fleeting side effects. But the new health studies have documented physiological changes in the lungs and airways that do not vanish with the smoke.   The Johns Hopkins tests, conducted on 52 Northern California wildland firefighters during the 1988 season, showed that their lung function -- or flow of oxygen -- remained reduced by as much as 3% even eight weeks after exposure. The researchers said they have not determined if the lungs heal between seasons or if the damage accumulates.   The California health department's tests on 63 firefighters showed they lost as much as 10% of their lung capacity during one six-month fire season, with an average loss of 4%.   For many firefighters, the lung congestion turns into bronchitis or walking pneumonia three times a year, said Linane, 46, who has fought wildfires for 28 years.   \"You take antibiotics and it eventually goes away,\" Linane said. \"But then it comes back. And more often.\"   During the four months of fires in 1988 at Yellowstone National Park, 12,000 firefighters sought medical aid for respiratory problems, and about 600 needed a doctor's care after returning home, a U.S. Forest Service report says.   Stan Stewart, 37, said he knew when he joined the Forest Service at 17 that the job was dangerous. But he didn't know he would feel sicker and sicker every year.   \"The doctor told me I look like I've smoked 10 packs of cigarettes a day all my life. But I've never smoked,\" said Stewart, foreman of the Hotshot crew in Los Padres National Forest near Ojai. \"My lungs are probably shot. I'm a little more worried every year.\"   Health researchers, usually reluctant to interfere in policy decisions, said they feel strongly enough about the hazard that they are urging fire officials to provide respiratory protection as soon as possible.   \"We're not surprised firefighters have decreased lung function. We just wanted to document it so the firefighting agencies would take action,\" said Dr. John Balmes, a pulmonary specialist and occupational health expert at UC San Francisco who helped with the state's study.   Harrison said the forestry agencies and fire departments should at least warn their crews -- and potential recruits -- of the danger and consider rotating shifts more often to reduce smoke exposure.   Although the findings of the national studies have not yet been published, word has spread to top officials in the state Forestry Department, who say they are now starting to search for protection for the agency's 3,500 full-time firefighters and about 2,000 seasonal ones.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "wildfire smoke;poisonous stew;hazardous chemicals;wildfires;lung function;carbon monoxide;respiratory protection;california wildland firefighters;respiratory diseases;fatal heart attacks;health services;unseen hazard"}
+{"name": "LA081589-0043", "title": "MISSISSIPPI REP. SMITH DIES IN AIR CRASH", "abstract": "Freshman congressman Larkin Smith (R-Miss.) died in a light plane crash in Mississippi, authorities said Monday, making him the second member of the House killed in an aviation accident in a week.   The single-engine Cessna 177 crashed Sunday night in thick woods near the tiny community of Janice. Smith and the pilot, Charles Vierling, who also was killed, were flying from Hattiesburg to Gulfport, according to federal and local officials.   Searchers combed the heavily wooded DeSoto National Forest through the night but were unable to find the wreckage until Monday morning, when they spotted it from the air. \"There was a 300-foot-long path cut by the plane,\" Harrison County Sheriff's Department Capt. Rick Gaston said in a telephone interview.   Smith, 45, died the same day the wreckage of a plane carrying Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Tex.) and 15 others was found on an Ethiopian mountainside. Leland's plane had been missing almost a week after he took off on a fact-finding mission to combat hunger.   News of Smith's death was followed by an outpouring of sympathy from Mississippi to Washington, even as Smith's colleagues were still mourning Leland's death.   At the White House, spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said President and Mrs. Bush \"deeply regret\" Smith's death, adding that Smith, who was elected to a seat vacated by Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), \"was just beginning a promising career in the Congress.\"   Smith, a former sheriff and police chief, was already developing a reputation on the House Judiciary Committee as a zealous opponent of illegal drugs.   \"We (the congressional delegation) had come to depend on him in the fight against drugs,\" said Rep. G. V. (Sonny) Montgomery (D-Miss.) \"This is a tremendous loss to his family, his state, and the nation.\"   Smith had thrown out the first ball at the Dixie Youth World Series baseball tournament Sunday and was heading home to Gulfport, taking off at about 9:10 p.m. for the 35-minute flight.   Jack Barker, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman here, said the plane \"lost radar contact\" at 9:25. He said area residents \"heard the airplane crash\" and notified officials. Barker said visibility was 4 to 6 miles, and \"rain was reported, but not heavy.\"   Lamar Breland told the Associated Press that \"my wife was preparing to go to bed, and we heard a plane coming over. I thought at the time it was unusual for a plane to be in the area at night.\" He said he heard a \"revving sound and then a crash.\"   In Miami, Jorge Prellezo, regional director of the National Transportation Safety Board, said a team of investigators had been dispatched to the scene. Investigators generally take months to establish a probable cause of such incidents.   The plane belonged to the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies Inc. in Gulfport. The institute immediately issued a statement saying that Smith had requested use of the plane \"to accommodate his busy schedule.\" Jody Canady, a spokeswoman, said Smith was to reimburse the institute.   The statement said the plane, manufactured in 1973, and purchased by the institute last year, had a \"current inspection.\" The pilot received his license in 1964 and had a physical examination on June 28, the statement said.   Smith was elected last November to represent Mississippi's 5th congressional district. He was Harrison County Sheriff from 1984 to 1989, and was Gulfport police chief from 1977 to 1983. As sheriff, Smith coordinated anti-drug efforts of federal, local and state agencies across five states.   Smith, survived by a wife and one child, was lauded by Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus, who called his death \"a tragic loss\" for the state and ordered flags on state property flown at half staff.   Friends and former associates in Gulfport were stunned and saddened. Gaston, who worked for Smith nine years both in the sheriff's department and earlier when Smith was Gulfport police chief, called Smith \"a pillar of strength. He was progressive, and above all, honest. You just never thought something like this would happen.\"   Researcher Edith M. Stanley in Atlanta and staff writer Lori Silver in Washington contributed to this story.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "light plane crash;single-engine cessna 177;mississippi;wreckage;freshman congressman larkin smith;aviation accident;airplane crash"}
+{"name": "LA081890-0039", "title": "SWAI HOPES COMEBACK TRAIL INCLUDES VICTORY IN HALF MARATHON", "abstract": "Alphonce Swai, who ran in the 1984 Olympics for Tanzania, but who later fell prey to alcoholism, continues his comeback bid in Sunday's America's Finest City HomeFed Half Marathon.   The race is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. at the Cabrillo Monument atop the Point Loma Peninsula. It will wind its way to the finish line in Balboa Park.   Swai began his comeback in late May when he ran the Trib 10K, finishing 16th in 30 minutes 8 seconds.   Since then, however, Swai has won two races, the Coronado Half Marathon in July, which he finished in 1:04.50, and the Goodwill Games 10-kilometer run last month in Seattle.   The Goodwill Games victory came despite Swai's taking a wrong turn and running 150 yards in another direction before getting back on track.   Now Swai, 26, is looking to turn in a 1:02 or 1:03 on Sunday. He insists he'll need that kind of a time to beat a bevy of Mexican and African runners.   The runners Swai fears most include:   Carlos Ayala of Mexico City, who finished fourth in this year's Grandma's Marathon; Jose Luis Chuela of Mexico, who was second in this race in 1988 (1:03:42); Sam Sitonik of Kenya, who placed fourth in the 1987 America's Finest City Half Marathon at 1:06:01; and Sammy Rotich, a Kenyan who ran a personal best 1:01:55 in 1987.   The women's field is led by Kim Jones of Spokane, Wash. Track & Field News ranked Jones third among women marathoners in 1989 and first among U.S. competitors.   Jones, 32, finished the 1989 New York City Marathon second to Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway with a personal-best time of 2:27.54. Also in 1989, Jones won the Twin Cities Marathon, placed second in Houston and third in Boston.   She will be challenged by Janine Aiello of Toas, N.M., who placed second in this year's San Francisco Marathon; Lynn DeNinnof of St. Louis, who won a gold medal in the 10 kilometer at the 1990 TAC championships; and Kathryn Evans of Fort Collins, Colo., winner of the 1990 Nebraska Half Marathon.   The course is considered by runners to be a difficult one -- so difficult, in fact, that most elite runners who train in San Diego stay away from the race.   \"It is a challenging course,\" Swai said. \"The runner who is smart and thinks through it will be the one who is going to win. You can't just go out and run hard on this course.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "challenging course;homefed half marathon;alphonce swai;runners;comeback bid;race"}
+{"name": "LA091889-0088", "title": "THIRD WORLD'S MASSIVE DEBT GROWING WORSE;   WORLD BANK REPORT SAYS ECONOMIC GROWTH MIXED", "abstract": "Third World debtors had to pay $50.1 billion more to service their debts to the United States and other creditors last year than they received in new loans -- a major drain on their already cash-strapped economies -- the World Bank reported Sunday.   The figure, contained in the bank's annual report and made public before its annual meeting here Sept. 23, was almost a third larger than in 1987, when the net pay-back totaled $38.3 billion. The cash drain has been growing steadily since 1984, when it was $10.2 billion.   The bank also reported that, despite the relatively buoyant economic growth in most industrial countries, developing countries turned in a decidedly mixed performance, ranging from a mini-boom in Southeast Asian economies to further impoverishment in Africa.   The bank said that it plans to increase its own commitments for new loans to Third World countries to about $16.4 billion in the current fiscal year, up from $14.8 billion in fiscal 1988. However, actual disbursements of loan money are expected to remain at about $11 billion.   The figures on the cash drain showed that these \"net resource transfers,\" as the bank parlance terms them, are mushrooming rapidly -- a measure of the mounting strain that the global debt burden is placing on Third World economies.   Sunday's total is approximately $7 billion higher than a preliminary estimate of $43 billion for 1988 that the bank published last December. \"The situation in the Third World is getting worse, not better,\" a bank official said.   A bank spokesman said that part of the reason that the figure is so bloated is that some countries, such as cash-rich South Korea, are paying off their debts early. And the new U.S. plan to help countries reduce their debts is expected to trim the total some.   Still, the figure is massive by any measure. The total debt burden of Third World countries currently is estimated at about $993 billion. The debt service for this total -- that is, the payments to cover interest and principal -- amounts to about $143 billion a year.   The bank gave a variety of reasons for the disparity in growth rates among developing countries. In general, however, it said that countries whose governments follow sensible economic policies, such as in East Asia, have attracted heavy new investment and have performed well.   But others, such as those in Latin America, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, that are heavily state-owned economies and consume more than they produce, have not. In particular, investment has lagged in these countries as residents have sent their capital abroad.   The bank said the continuing deterioration in the debt situation underscores the need for further efforts by the industrial countries to help Third World governments pare back their debt -- a major aim of the U.S. plan offered by Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady.     Drain Began in 1984   However, efforts under the Brady plan are going relatively slowly, and World Bank officials cautioned that the results may not show up for at least two or three more years. Some critics believe that the plan -- designed to let debtors swap debt for securities -- may have limited use.   The net cash drain from the debtor countries to the richer ones began in 1984. Until then, the richer countries had provided more in new loans to Third World nations than those countries paid back.   World Bank officials said the outflows are likely to prompt the institution to intensify its emphasis on programs that are designed to alleviate poverty, not just speed development. The bank also intends to step up lending for environmental projects.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "cash-strapped economies;third world countries;third world debtors;creditors;global debt burden;new loans;cash drain"}
+{"name": "LA092189-0123", "title": "BOMB SUSPECTED IN CRASH OF FRENCH PLANE IN AFRICA", "abstract": "A French DC-10 jetliner with 171 people aboard experienced a powerful high-altitude explosion, possibly from a terrorist bomb, before crashing in a remote desert region of Niger in northern Africa, officials in France said Wednesday.   In Washington, intelligence specialists said they believe that the jetliner may have been bombed by people seeking to retaliate against France for its recent actions in Lebanon.   For several months, France has played an active part in the Lebanon crisis, attempting to broker a settlement between Christian and pro-Syrian forces.   Late last month, the French government sent a naval task force of five warships into Lebanese waters as part of what President Francois Mitterrand called a \"rescue mission\" for several thousand French nationals living in the war-torn country. But the action was widely perceived as an attempt to provide protection and support for Maj. Gen. Michel Aoun and his Maronite Christian forces against Syrian troops and Muslim militias in Lebanon.   Ever since, one intelligence official said Wednesday, the French government has realized that its planes were being targeted for some sort of terrorist attack.   The DC-10 operated by the French airline UTA crashed Tuesday after taking off from N'Djamena, Chad, on a flight that originated in Brazzaville, Congo. French military helicopter crews who visited the crash site in the desolate reaches of the Sahara Desert late Wednesday afternoon found no survivors. Included among the presumed dead was the wife of the American ambassador to Chad.   On Wednesday, Michel Friess, a spokesman for UTA, said that \"the wide surface over which the debris of the airplane has been found suggests a high-altitude explosion that leads one to think of a criminal attack.\"   Anonymous callers to the airline office in Paris and to a Western news agency in London claimed responsibility for the crash on behalf of the Shiite Muslim terrorist organization Islamic Jihad.   The London caller linked the attack to the seizure of a Shiite cleric, Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid, by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on July 28.   Saying he was reading a statement from Islamic Jihad, the London caller declared: \"We are proud of this action, which was very successful. We would like to say the French are warned not to exchange information regarding Sheik Obeid with the Israelis no more. We demand the freedom of Sheik Obeid, and otherwise we will refresh the memories of the bombings in Paris of '85 and '86. Long live the Islamic Republic of Iran.\"   However, the message made little sense in the context of France's limited role in the Obeid matter.   A more likely possibility, speculated terrorist experts and one intelligence source in Washington, was a terrorist attack on behalf of pro-Syrian Muslim forces in Lebanon.   The French Foreign Ministry declined to comment Wednesday about the possibility of a terrorist attack. \"The pieces are widely scattered, so it didn't crash on impact,\" a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.   Air controllers lost contact with UTA Flight 772 less than an hour after it took off from N'Djamena. The sudden loss of contact was another explanation given by the French airline authorities supporting the theory of a terrorist explosion.   \"If there had been a very serious problem on board, other than an explosion or the sudden disintegration of the airplane,\" said UTA spokesman Friess, \"there would have been at least several seconds or minutes for the crew to re-establish contact.\"   UTA officials insisted that the DC-10 was in good working condition, having completed 60,000 hours of flying time on 14,700 flights in 16 years of service. Since it was formed in 1949, UTA, which specializes in African and Pacific routes, had never experienced a crash during a commercial flight.   However, in 1984 a UTA DC-8 aircraft flying the same route was damaged by a bomb explosion before takeoff at the N'Djamena airport. Twenty-five people on board were injured in that attack, which the Chadian government blamed on Libya. Chad-Libyan relations have recently normalized after a 10-year guerrilla war.   At the White House, Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said the U.S. government's information on Tuesday's disaster was limited.   \"We can't at this time state for a fact that (the plane) was blown up, but it does have those appearances,\" he said.   In Santa Monica, a RAND Corp. analyst, Bruce Hoffman, said Wednesday he believed the attack was probably staged by Shiite Muslim groups concerned that France might intervene in Lebanon on behalf of the Maronite Christians led by Aoun.   \"It seems to me that there's a much stronger Middle Eastern context than an African context,\" Hoffman said. \"It could be that the Maronites' opponents in general were determined to deliver some sort of a knockout blow in Lebanon, and (it) was designed as a warning to make the French think twice.   \"This would send a pretty clear message to France that they ought to back away,\" Hoffman added. He noted that by the end of August, \"all the main Shiite players in Lebanon had threatened some sort of retribution against France.\"     Threats by Militants   On Aug. 20, the Revolutionary Justice Organization threatened to \"strike deep into the heart of French territory.\" Three days later, Hezbollah threatened to stage suicide attacks against French targets. On Aug. 25, a previously unknown group, the Organization in Defense of the Oppressed, threatened to strike \"at French interests everywhere.\"   An Air France flight on Aug. 28 was delayed for more than five hours before taking off from Dulles International Airport in Washington when security officials received a last-minute bomb threat. According to one well-informed intelligence official, both French and American officials took that threat seriously and searched all the luggage on the plane before allowing it to depart.   While France's willingness to bargain with terrorists for the freedom of hostages had in the past created a modus vivendi that appeared to spare the country from violent attacks, Hoffman and other analysts suggested that the stakes in Lebanon had become too important for those old rules to apply.   \"In these people's eyes, we're really talking about Lebanon's future. That wrenches the entire struggle in Lebanon onto a higher plateau,\" Hoffman said. \"The last battle for Beirut has yet to be fought.\"   \"If it's not the beginning of the end of things there, it's certainly the opening of a new wave of conflicts there,\" agreed another analyst, Jim Blackwell of Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies.   Another analyst at the center, Robert Kupperman, discounted the possibility that a small terrorist group alone could have been responsible for the airborne bombing.   \"When someone puts a bomb on the plane, it normally takes the resources of a state, at least to set it up,\" Kupperman said.   Apart from Syrian-backed Lebanese forces, Kupperman suggested that Libya and Iran also could have been motivated to stage such an attack.   According to intelligence specialists, security at the airport in Chad at which the plane stopped is under the control of French officials. However, the French do not control airport security in Brazzaville, the city from which the plane took off.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "niger;rescue mission;crash site;terrorist attack;french dc-10 jetliner;powerful high-altitude explosion;lebanon crisis;terrorist bomb"}
+{"name": "LA092490-0095", "title": "END OF HIS BAN ONLY STARTS THE QUESTIONS;   TRACK AND FIELD: MARKETABILITY OF BEN JOHNSON AFTER SUSPENSION FOR STEROID USE POSES A GAMBLE FOR PROMOTERS.", "abstract": "It was a scene that recalled the golden days for Ben Johnson. Almost. The media were there, as before, chronicling a news conference. Johnson was as before, shy and yet brimming with confidence. There was the bluster, the bragging, the promise of big things to come.   This scene, which played out two weeks ago in Italy, was familiar, with one exception. The new element was the pervasive skepticism that now attends Johnson's boasts. Overweening confidence among world class athletes is well accepted -- even expected. However, part of the expectation includes the understanding that the athlete can back up the boasts.   Johnson will at last get his chance to do that. It has been two years since Johnson, then world record-holder at 100 meters, was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for anabolic steroids at the Seoul Olympics. Johnson was also suspended from competition for two years; that suspension ends today. And so the questions begin: What can Johnson do when not assisted by performance-enhancing drugs?   \"Once he returns to the sport, and if he returns a winner, all is forgiven,\" said Paul Gaines, assistant meet director for the Hamilton Spectator Indoor Games, the Canadian meet to be held Jan. 11 that will mark Johnson's return to competition. \"I think that is the attitude the public will display. You hear grumblings among media types and in some circles of the sport, but you have to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.   \"When this happened, it was a bitter disappointment for everyone in the sport to acknowledge that the No. 1 athlete in the sport was using drugs. With the accolades cast upon him in the previous years, people were resentful. With the humility and shame that has been reflected on him, people tend to be more open minded about it. They hope the guy comes back clean and fast.\"   Clean and fast. To some in track and field that represents a contradiction in terms. It is this apparent contradiction that Ben Johnson must overcome in his comeback. Charlie Francis, who coached Johnson for 12 years, estimated that steroids made Johnson faster by one meter. How much ground will Johnson lose as a drug-free sprinter?   Johnson, speaking at a news conference in Castelfranco Veneto, Italy, expressed little doubt he can regain his form of 1988.   \"I want to take back the titles and the records I have been deprived of,\" the Associated Press quoted Johnson as saying. \"I have been training very hard recently. I am at 90% right now. By strengthening training, I will be 100% by January. I have decided to start again to show everybody I'm still the best. I'm convinced I can set a new world record.\"     BIG MONEY   Promoters of indoor meets this season doubt that Johnson will regain his records, but they hope that fans will turn out in huge numbers to watch him try. Indeed, in a season that holds the promise of high performance levels in general (as athletes peak for the world indoor championships in Seville, Spain, in March), Johnson's return to competition might help rejuvenate a sport in need of public interest.   Al Franken, promoter of the Sunkist Invitational, is close to signing Johnson for his Jan. 18 meet, saying Johnson will receive the highest appearance fee Franken has ever paid -- $30,000, compared to the $23,000 Franken paid Carl Lewis. And there is a bonus in the contract that rewards Johnson for high attendance figures.   \"I think honestly, you have to figure that a lot of it is curiosity,\" Franken said. \"You'll get people who don't care about track, and you may attract back people who have quit coming to track. We need a push in the sport. It's been struggling. We need a hype. Someone who is a ticket seller. Ben sort of transcends the sport, and, God knows, we need someone to transcend the sport.\"   Transcendent is the word for the appearence fees Johnson will reportedly earn. His value in Europe and Japan has not waned. He will be paid $60,000 for a meet in Stockholm. But American meet directors say they can't pay that kind of money, especially for an unproven runner.   \"If he's eligible to compete, to me, Ben Johnson is an attraction,\" said Ray Lumpp, meet director for the indoor meet at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.. \"I'd like to have Ben Johnson regardless of how he runs. But how well he's running will determine his value. That's the key. Whether he is worth as much after six meets, I don't know. You're only as good as your last race, and the fans know that.\"   Howard Schmertz of the Millrose Games in New York has an interest in Johnson, but perhaps not the budget.   \"There is a lot of interest in seeing whether this fellow is a truly great runner or if he is what Carl Lewis said he is, a fair runner who got there by taking drugs,\" Schmertz said.   \"I have no way of knowing. As far as the money, I expect a lot of big stars and I'm going to have a lot of problems giving out (big appearence fees). If you give him $10,000 and people are beating him, you could have problems.\"   Already the backlash has begun. There is talk of informal athlete boycotts in Canada, where indoor meets often provide car fare and little else to star athletes. Johnson reportedly will be paid $10,000 (Canadian) for the meet in Hamilton, a figure that has caused some jealousy among his peers.   Lumpp, who traditionally has one of the largest budgets in North America, said resentment is a problem faced every season by meet directors. \"How many heavy hitters can a meet afford?\" he said. \"There are very few secrets among athletes, especially when there's X dollars given to one athlete.\"   Hamilton promoter Gaines has heard it before, and makes no apology for paying Johnson more than other athletes. \"My answer to that is 'Who puts (fans) in the seats? Right now, I can't think of anybody who would arouse as much interest as Ben Johnson.\"   It would be ironic if Johnson becomes the star who revitalizes indoor track and field after being blamed for the steady decline of sponsor interest in outdoor track.   \"There has been damage to the sport and people want to blame Ben personally for that damage,\" Gaines said. \"We are very cognizant of the fact that people are looking upon his return with something like skepticism and animosity. To what extent, we don't know.\"   Some meet directors report concern that longtime sponsors will be reluctant to be associated with a meet that has Johnson as its marquee athlete, given Johnson's former association with anabolic steroids. Franken said he had meetings with his sponsor, Sunkist, to discuss the possible image problem.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "drug tests;news conference;hamilton spectator indoor games;suspension;expectation;ben johnson;seoul olympics;performance-enhancing drugs;world record-holder;anabolic steroids"}
+{"name": "LA092790-0010", "title": "PERSPECTIVES ON TERM LIMITATIONS;   . . . NO, IT'LL SHIFT POWER TO THE UNELECTED;   SURE, VOTERS ARE ANGRY. BUT INTEREST GROUPS WITH THEIR OWN AGENDAS ARE FUNNELING THE ANGER TO THEIR OWN BENEFIT.", "abstract": "Proposals to limit the terms of members of Congress and of state legislators are popular and getting more so, according to the pundits and the polls. Students of government like me find it hard to understand why. Contrary to most of the propaganda on the subject, these constitutional changes won't do what their proponents say they want to accomplish.   For example, term limitations will not decrease the influence of interest groups and their money on elections. Quite the contrary. Forcing senior members of a legislature to retire means that the new candidates who try to take their place will have to invest heavily in achieving the name recognition that the veterans already have. This will require large new infusions of money and electoral alliances with interest groups who can supply it.   Veteran members -- proven vote-getters -- are much more powerful in relation to special interests than candidates who have to prove themselves in an uncertain and expensive campaign environment.   Term limitations won't improve the functioning of the legislature, either. People need time to learn their jobs. Term limitations throw away the benefits of learning from experience. Inexperienced legislators are less powerful in relation to legislative staff, executive branch bureaucrats and interest-group lobbyists from whom they must learn the customs and routines of legislative operations and the stories behind policy proposals.   New people in any complex institution are highly dependent on the people around them. Term limitations just shift power from elected officials to the relatively inaccessible officials, bureaucrats and influence peddlers who surround them.   Why do we assume that new blood is automatically better than old? Of course we should pay attention to the quality of our legislators and vote against those whose performance we find wanting. Term limits merely guarantee that the good will disappear along with the bad.   Finally, term limitations won't enhance representative democracy. Just the opposite, since they create an artificial barrier preventing voters from returning to office legislators they might otherwise favor. Why are we so certain that voters have such terrible judgment that they need a constitutional restriction keeping them from voting for incumbents they know and like? It is hard to see how restricting voters' alternatives in this arbitrary way can be proposed in the name of representative government or of democracy.   One must conclude that other forces are at work. More likely, groups and interests that now have a hard time winning against incumbents are seeking term limitations to improve their chances of winning office. They are undoubtedly calculating that non-incumbents are easier to beat, or buy. They're probably right about that.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "electoral alliances;term limitations;constitutional changes;term limits;state legislators;representative democracy;interest groups;constitutional restriction"}
+{"name": "LA093089-0076", "title": "SENATE VOTES TO BAR COUNTING OF ILLEGAL ALIENS IN CENSUS", "abstract": "In a blow to California and other states with large immigrant populations, the Senate voted Friday to bar the Census Bureau from counting illegal aliens in the 1990 population count.   The action came on a voice vote, despite arguments from the Bush Administration and other opponents that it is both unconstitutional and unworkable. Just before the voice vote, the senators voted, 50 to 41, against killing the proposal to bar aliens from the count.   A Senate-House conference committee will decide whether the prohibition against including illegal immigrants in the census totals will be retained or dropped from a $17.4-billion appropriations bill for the State, Justice and Commerce departments.   Even if the prohibition survives, Secretary of Commerce Robert A. Mosbacher has said that he would ask President Bush to veto any bill that comes to his desk with such a provision.   At stake are the number of seats in Congress for California, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and other states that will be reapportioned on the basis of next year's census.   Federal aid to states also is frequently based on population counts, so millions of dollars in grants and other funds made available on a per capita basis would be affected.   The issue cuts across partisan lines in the Senate, with Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) arguing against the White House position on grounds that including illegal aliens in the census is unfair to American citizens.     Loss of Seats Cited   \"Some states will lose congressional seats because of illegal aliens,\" Dole argued. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said that Georgia and Indiana both lost House seats after the 1980 Census, and California and New York -- centers of illegal immigration -- each gained seats.   \"The bottom line is illegal aliens ought to be deported, not counted,\" Cochran said.   Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) countered that excluding illegal residents from the decennial census is unfair to the states that have suffered from a huge influx of immigration beyond the legal limits.   \"There are enormous additional costs for states who have had a surge of population,\" Wilson said, adding that those states should receive additional federal aid to cope with the added problems.   Opponents of a ban on counting illegal aliens said that a ban is impractical because the Census Bureau already has printed questionnaires that do not contain any question about legality of residence.   For 190 years, said Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), the federal government has counted all inhabitants without regard to citizenship in accordance with the Constitution's provisions. \"Fiddling with the numbers\" now will destroy confidence in the census results, he added.   The Senate's action was sharply criticized by Undersecretary of Commerce Michael Darby, but he voiced hope that it would be reversed by a Senate-House conference.   \"There really is a widespread realization that this would not only be unconstitutional but literally impossible,\" Darby said.   But he added that he is \"optimistic, cautiously optimistic,\" that House conferees would resist the Senate-approved ban and not force Bush to veto the legislation.   Mario Moreno, head of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, said he was shocked by the Senate's decision. \"It is going to have a dramatic and disastrous impact in the Hispanic community,\" Moreno said. \"People are going to be discouraged from participating.\"   A Census Bureau spokesman took a more dispassionate view, however.   \"Our position is that we count everybody at their place of residence,\" said bureau spokesman James Gorman. \"If Congress passes a law that says we will or will not count people, we will do what it says.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "prohibition;voice vote;congressional seats;illegal immigrants;federal aid;census bureau;appropriations bill;house seats;illegal aliens;1990 population count"}
+{"name": "LA093089-0126", "title": "SENATE VOTES TO PROHIBIT COUNTING OF ILLEGAL ALIENS IN CENSUS", "abstract": "In a blow to California and other states with large immigrant populations, the Senate voted Friday to bar the Census Bureau from counting illegal aliens in the 1990 population count.   \"I'm stunned,\" said Santa Ana City Council member Miguel A. Pulido. Pulido and other Santa Ana council members say that the 1980 census substantially under-counted its population at 215,000. The city has been lobbying hard to have its illegal alien population -- estimated at 50,000 -- included in the 1990 count.   The Senate's action came on a voice vote, despite arguments from the Bush Administration and other opponents that it is both unconstitutional and unworkable. Just before the voice vote, the senators voted, 50 to 41, against killing the proposal to bar aliens from the count.   A Senate-House conference committee will decide whether the prohibition against including illegal immigrants in the census totals will be retained or dropped from a $17.4-billion appropriations bill for the State, Justice and Commerce departments.     Would Urge Veto   Even if the prohibition survives, Secretary of Commerce Robert A. Mosbacher has said that he would ask President Bush to veto any bill that comes to his desk with such a provision.   At stake are the number of seats in Congress for California, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and other states that will be reapportioned on the basis of next year's census.   Federal aid to states also is frequently based on population counts, so millions of dollars in grants and other funds made available on a per capita basis would be affected.   State officials have said California could lose up to $300 million in federal aid if illegal aliens were uncounted. Santa Ana has estimated its potential loss at $2 million a year.   In addition, Pulido and county advocates for poor Latino residents expressed concern that the decision would promote fear and intimidation in the community.   In 1985, before the federal immigration reform act, the number of illegal aliens in Orange County was estimated at 229,000, ranking it just behind Los Angeles County in California, a county official said. There are no current estimates.   \"For example, we have close to 50,000 people in the city that have qualified through the amnesty process for legal residency,\" Pulido said. \"Those individuals, when asked or challenged about their status, can be legitimately concerned. I think the census's attempt to question them could be misconstrued as an attempt by the immigration service to get information.\"   Councilman John Acosta said he \"was saddened\" by the Senate's action because the city was determined \"to count every single person, and I know that (now) we're going to to suffer from this monetarily.\"   But Pulido said he believes the House of Representatives will not allow the prohibition to survive, especially since it killed an earlier, similar effort.   The issue cuts across partisan lines in the Senate, with Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) arguing against the White House position on grounds that including illegal aliens in the census is unfair to American citizens.     Loss of Seats Cited   \"Some states will lose congressional seats because of illegal aliens,\" Dole argued. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said that Georgia and Indiana both lost House seats after the 1980 Census, and that California and New York -- centers of illegal immigration -- each gained seats.   \"The bottom line is illegal aliens ought to be deported, not counted,\" Cochran said.   Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) countered that excluding illegal residents from the decennial census is unfair to the states that have suffered from a huge influx of immigration beyond the legal limits.   \"There are enormous additional costs for states who have had a surge of population,\" Wilson said, adding that those states should receive additional federal aid to cope with the added problems.   The Senate's action would also have an impact on smaller California cities without substantial Latino populations because census population figures play an important role in Community Development Block Grant formulas, said Don Vestal, Westminster city planner.   Westminster is following a recommendation by the Census Bureau to form a Complete Count Committee of officials and community leaders to help ensure cooperation from all city residents.   \"We feel that it's in our best interest to get as complete a count as we can,\" he said.   The Community Development Block Grant formula, among other things, Vestal said, includes use of income figures and percentage of lower income residents in the city. \"In addition to just counting heads, they're getting economic information of the city that will affect us in the future,\" he added.   Gloria McDonough, director of Abrazar Center, an elderly-assistance center for Latinos in Westminster, said the senators' action shows they have no understanding of the impact of illegal immigration to California communities.   \"Whether you count them or not, the undocumented residents are still going to impact federal dollars in our community. And whether we like it or not they're here and here to stay,\" McDonough said.   In recent weeks, representatives from the census office in Santa Ana have visited such social centers as Abrazar and others and told center staff people that they intend to count \"everyone, regardless of where they came from,\" McDonough said.   \"Their big thing was, 'We do not care about the origins of where these people are from, but, more importantly, their impact to local economies,' \" she said.   When asked to comment, census officials in Santa Ana referred media inquiries to the regional office in Van Nuys.   Adrian Dove, assistant regional director for the U.S. Census in charge of outreach, said that despite the Senate's decision, the census bureau \"really doesn't know how to go about finding who was legal or illegal.\"   \"But we have a mandate to follow that law, and we would have to find out,\" he said.   Opponents of a ban on counting illegal aliens said that a ban is impractical because the Census Bureau has already printed questionnaires that do not contain any question about legality of residence.   For 190 years, said Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), the federal government has counted all inhabitants without regard to citizenship in accordance with the Constitution's provisions. \"Fiddling with the numbers\" now will destroy confidence in the census results, he added.   The Senate's action was sharply criticized by Undersecretary of Commerce Michael Darby, but he voiced hope that it would be reversed by a Senate-House conference.   \"There really is a widespread realization that this would not only be unconstitutional but literally impossible,\" Darby said.   But he added that he is \"optimistic, cautiously optimistic,\" that House conferees would resist the Senate-approved ban and not force Bush to veto the legislation.   Mario Moreno, head of the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, said he was shocked by the Senate's decision. \"It is going to have a dramatic and disastrous impact in the Hispanic community,\" Moreno said. \"People are going to be discouraged from participating.\"   A Census Bureau spokesman took a more dispassionate view, however.   \"Our position is that we count everybody at their place of residence,\" said bureau spokesman James Gorman. \"If Congress passes a law that says we will or will not count people, we will do what it says.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "federal aid;voice vote;congressional seats;illegal immigrants;census bureau;senators;appropriations bill;house seats;illegal aliens;large immigrant populations;1990 population count"}
+{"name": "LA100789-0007", "title": "INTERPRETING 2ND AMENDMENT: RESTRICTING GUN OWNERSHIP", "abstract": "This is not an argument regarding the merits of gun control laws.   Second Amendment states (1791): \"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.\" As often happens in law, a simple English sentence may have legal significance which determines the application of the words.   The Second Amendment was, as was the rest of the first 10 amendments (the Bill of Rights), insisted upon by some of the states for their own protection from the federal government. The Second Amendment stated one of the subjects about which the federal government was prohibited from making any laws. The word \"people\" as used in constitutional law is used collectively and refers to a political entity, such as a state, and does not mean \"persons\" or individuals.   An early ruling in 1875 in U.S. vs. Cruikshank established the view of the U.S. Supreme Court, upheld in cases in 1886, 1894 and 1939. The court in Cruikshank said that the Second Amendment did not create a federally protected right of individuals but was an express limitation on the powers of the national (federal) government.   There have been lower federal court decisions regarding the Second Amendment, all supportive of this established principle.   The status of the Second Amendment as a constitutional issue is and has been for nearly 200 years:   1) A restriction on the power of the federal government to limit or deny the states the right to have state militia.   2) Not a federally protected right of individuals.   There is no national document controlling the states with regard to arms. The states may regulate arms within their borders.   WILLIAM NEALY   Studio City", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "constitutional law;second amendment;gun control laws;arms;federal government;security"}
+{"name": "LA101090-0017", "title": "PERSPECTIVE ON TERM LIMITATIONS;   THE CONSEQUENCES OF TINKERING;   VOTERS MAY FIND THAT THIS PROPOSAL IS AKIN TO BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE JUST TO GET RIDOF THE RATS.", "abstract": "There is a recurring temptation in American politics to wreak vengeance on one's adversaries by overhauling the political institutions that they dominate. What usually results from this ill-considered radical surgery is that the very people who scheduled the operations end up in the recovery room.   Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to expand the Supreme Court in 1937 to dilute the votes of conservatives resulted in the creation of an opposing political coalition that lived on after the controversy to plague every subsequent Democratic President. The Republicans in 1951 wanted to ensure that there would never be another F.D.R., so they pushed through the 22nd Amendment limiting presidents to two terms. The first President to come under the restriction was Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican who might very well have won a third term.   The latest institutional patients to be wheeled into the shock-trauma unit are the state legislatures. The quack therapy being performed on them is the imposition of limits on the number of terms that state lawmakers can serve. The first cut took place on Sept. 18, when Oklahoma voters endorsed overwhelmingly a ballot initiative limiting state lawmakers to 12 years' service.   By itself, the term limitation in Oklahoma might be written off as a cranky act of vengeance in a state not renowned as a political trend-setter, but similar measures will be voted on in November in California and Colorado.   Eager for straws in the wind in an otherwise trendless political year, some journalists have seen in the Oklahoma vote a backlash against incumbents, a manifestation of public alienation and an ominous sign to the Democrats, the party that holds the largest number of legislative seats.   The Oklahoma referendum is none of these. It is, rather, the kind of minor political tempest that gets highlighted briefly by the media, is copied in a few places and then disappears. It is Republicans, naturally enough, who seem to be the most enthusiastic puffers of term limitation, since they have the most to gain, at least in the short term, from an indiscriminate clean-out of the nation's deliberative bodies.   What makes term limitation such a singularly inappropriate tool is the almost total lack of connection between the fancied sins of the lawmakers and the discipline proposed. The very weakness and vulnerability to corruption that have often plagued state legislatures usually result from the amateurism of lawmakers -- the quality that term-limitation backers now assert as a virtue.   Where state legislators are underpaid, have no professional staffs and meet rarely, they usually come under the sway of full-time governors, executive-branch bureaucrats and highly paid lobbyists. Indeed, the goal of legislative reformers for the past 50 years has been more professionalism in the state assemblies, not less.   By turning out the legislators every 12 years -- or even worse, every six years -- you pretty much guarantee that those who are elected won't have much of a stake in their jobs. They will use them as temporary hitching posts on their way to other offices without term limitations. Not every state lawmaker has his eye on a seat in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. But it's a safe bet that more people will be using state seats to groom for higher office if they know that the law will force them out soon.   Lobbyists, of course, will rejoice. Their influence over these legislative birds of passage will grow because they will be guaranteed a perennial crop of callow and ignorant lawmakers. One thing that legislators now have going for them is that they can become conversant with public issues and so challenge, if they care to, the self-serving propaganda of the special interests.   Celebrating, along with the lobbyists, will be the legislative staffs whose tenure would be unaffected. These unelected officials are permanent and beyond the reach of voters, while the very people who are in some measure accountable will be hustled out of office.   Ultimately, what the term limit amounts to is an indictment of citizenship. It is an admission that the voters are civic imbeciles who cannot discriminate between bad lawmakers and good ones. Where surgical strikes are needed to eliminate the incompetent or corrupt, the term limitation uses carpet bombing in the hope that in the resulting carnage, some of the guilty will suffer along with the innocent.   At the most basic level, term limitation is just flat-out wrongheaded and illogical: To throw everybody out when all you want to do is throw out the rascals is like burning down your house in order to get rid of the rats.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "american politics;state lawmakers;opposing political coalition;term limitations;state legislatures;political institutions;legislative reformers;term-limitation backers"}
+{"name": "LA101289-0194", "title": "SILENT KILLER: ONE IN EIGHT LATINOS HIT BY DISEASE", "abstract": "Consuelo wishes she could share her First Communion this year with Abuelita. She misses her grandmother very much.   Abuelita was not very old -- just 62 -- but there was not much the doctors could do to save her life. She had uncontrolled diabetes: her kidneys were failing, her blood pressure was too high and she finally died of a heart attack.   Consuelo and Abuelita aren't actual people, but their story nevertheless is played over and over again among the more than 3 million Latinos in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, health officials say. The reason is diabetes, a silent killer that afflicts one in eight Latino adults. This rate is higher than that of any ethnic group except for American Indians.   Nationwide, it is estimated that there are more than 2 million Latinos who already have diabetes, many of them undiagnosed.   That is why the American Diabetes Assn. and other health education groups in the Los Angeles area and California have begun a major push to educate Latinos about diabetes. The effort is being aided by interested physicians and by drug companies, which make insulin and other drugs used for diabetes that can't be controlled by changes in eating habits.   Like heart disease, the adult-onset diabetes most common among Latinos is a condition that can be largely prevented with proper diet and exercise, doctors say. Being 20% or more overweight is one of the major diabetes risk factors.   \"We need to get into the communities and start teaching the kids and the adolescents and the parents to make some changes in their habits,\" said Dr. Jaime Davidson, a Dallas physician who has spearheaded the diabetes association's Latino education efforts.   \"Many people think that when Latinos come here (to the United States) they gain weight because they continue to eat the way they ate at home. But in fact, they change,\" Davidson said. \"What happens is, fast foods are readily available . . . and they are higher in fat and calories. And at home they didn't have a car, and here instead of walking we take the car to go one block.   \"That ends in having more obesity. If you have already a predisposed group of people, such as the Latinos, you get more obesity and you get more diabetes.\"   With funding from Upjohn Co., the Los Angeles chapter of the American Diabetes Assn. sponsored a diabetes health fair at Olvera Street Plaza on Aug. 26. Of 3,000 who attended the fair, 1,000 underwent tests for diabetes.   More of this kind of effort and wider education among the public and physicians can be expected in the future, said Janet Matkin, of the association's California affiliate.   Diabetes is a defect in the body's system for using sugar in the blood. It results from the body's failure to make insulin or, some studies indicate, from its inability to use insulin that is available.   Latinos are more than twice as likely to get diabetes than are Anglos, and incidence of the disease increases with age. In one survey done in San Antonio, a third of the Latinos between the ages of 55 and 65 had diabetes, Davidson said. Latinos' higher susceptibility is thought to result from a combination of both heredity and diet.   Similarly, American Indians have the highest diabetes incidence of any ethnic group in the United States. Genetically controlled defects in the body's insulin system are also thought to exist both for them and Latinos.   In addition, Latino diets can be rich in high-calorie fried foods that promote obesity and increase the chance of getting diabetes.   Diabetes that begins in childhood requires daily insulin injections. Most commonly in Latinos, however, diabetes takes the form called Type II, which first appears in adulthood and often can be controlled with proper diet and exercise. The disease tends to show up in the late 20s and early 30s among Latinos, a decade earlier than it does in Anglos, Davidson said.   But, because it progresses slowly, Type II diabetes can go undiagnosed for years, allowing complications such as kidney failure, heart disease, blindness and the need for amputation of a foot or toe.   Latinos, who often have less access to regular health care than Anglos, are more likely to go undiagnosed, Matkin said.   The new educational efforts to change that picture are necessary, not only because they help individuals stay healthy but also because the nation's health care funding crisis will only get worse if the problem is not reduced, Davidson said.   \"We are facing a problem that is going to grow, maybe at epidemic proportions,\" Davidson said. \"In some states like California or Texas, if nothing is done we're going to pay so much money for health care for people of Latino origin that it may become prohibitive.\"   The number of Latino diabetics in the United States will nearly quadruple by the year 2000 to 8 million, according to projections by Eli Lilly Co. Caring for them will cost more than $10 billion a year, even if the disease has no complications, the company projects.   Yet life-style changes today to cut down on obesity can prevent many of those cases from ever occurring, health officials say. That means adapting an Anglo-oriented health education network to the needs of a diverse Latino community that has a different social structure, health beliefs and eating habits from the majority culture.   For instance, the fact that Type II diabetes frequently shows up in women during or shortly after pregnancy gives health educators an ideal chance to influence an entire Latino family's eating habits, said Dr. Martin Montoro, co-director of the diabetes and pregnancy service at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.   Any Latino woman whose child was born at 9 pounds or larger should consider herself at risk of diabetes and alter her diet, Davidson said.   Recent immigrants and even some longtime U.S. residents are not likely to want to switch completely away from a diet reliant on beans, tortillas and other carbohydrates, Montoro noted, but modifications can be made easily. One of the most important is to cut down on fat in the diet by eliminating fried foods -- for instance, by not frying tortillas for tacos or enchiladas.   Other barriers to Latinos getting care for diabetes are more subtle, doctors interested in the issue say.   Chief among these is that the Latino patient is less likely to volunteer information or to notice early diabetes symptoms than the Anglo patient, said Dr. Aliza Lifshitz, a board member of the California Hispanic American Medical Assn.   Any physician practicing in Southern California needs to be aware of that and to learn to ask more diabetes-related questions of their Latino patients, Lifshitz said.   Davidson said he is confident that Latinos will respond to education efforts on diabetes. He pointed to the recent indications that Americans' risk of heart disease is lowering as examples of how educational programs can work.   \"I think that if we give them the opportunity and the tools that Latinos are no different than anybody else,\" Davidson said. \"We need to give them the opportunity to enter the health care system, and we need to give them the opportunity to learn that diabetes is the biggest health care issue that they are going to face into the year 2000.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "education efforts;adult-onset diabetes;american diabetes assn.;latino diabetics;major diabetes risk factors;uncontrolled diabetes;american indians;blood pressure;diabetes complications"}
+{"name": "LA101690-0040", "title": "TUBERCULOSIS NOW THE DEADLIEST DISEASE AS TOLL CLIMBS", "abstract": "Tuberculosis has become the world's deadliest infectious disease, and the toll could soon rise even more dramatically if controls are not initiated quickly, the World Health Organization said Monday.   The U.N. agency, in its first comprehensive look at global tuberculosis in a decade, said the disease kills nearly 3 million people a year, most of them between the ages of 15 and 59, \"the segment of the population that is economically most productive.\"   WHO attributed the sharp rise in part to the growing AIDS epidemic. It estimated that about 3 million people worldwide are dually infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, and tuberculosis.   \"It is becoming a parallel epidemic, and it is this trend that has public health officials worried,\" Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, director general of WHO, said in a statement.   The agency estimated that between 15 million and 20 million adults will be infected with HIV by the year 2000, and it predicted that the number of cases and deaths from tuberculosis will rise sharply as a result, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.   \"These new data have been stunning to everyone, because an awful lot of people had thought that tuberculosis had gone away,\" said Dr. Barry Bloom, a professor of microbiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and a consultant to the United Nations.   Tuberculosis is a highly communicable disease of the lungs and other organs caused by a bacterium transmitted through the air when infected people cough or sneeze.   There are about 8 million new cases of tuberculosis a year, according to the U.N. agency. About half of these are infectious. Also, an estimated 1.7 billion individuals worldwide carry the organism but are not infectious to others. In these individuals, the organism can remain dormant without causing active disease for many years unless the immune system is somehow impaired. AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, destroys the body's immune system.   An individual does not have to have a damaged immune system to contract an active case of tuberculosis. But when a case of tuberculosis becomes active, as it can in individuals who carry the organism, that person can also infect numerous others. This is what is happening in developing nations, where the AIDS epidemic is raging.   \"In many places, more than half the beds in medical wards are patients with tuberculosis,\" Bloom said. \"Many of these people do, in fact, die of AIDS. But if they're not treated for tuberculosis, those people will be spreading the disease (tuberculosis) in their communities. You don't have to have a depressed immune system to get tuberculosis.\"   In the United States, public health officials began to recognize about five years ago that tuberculosis -- after steadily declining since the 1950s -- was making a surprising comeback as a result of the AIDS epidemic. At that time, they noticed a startling and unexpected drop in the rate of decline of tuberculosis cases.   This year, Bloom said, the number of cases of active tuberculosis in the United States is up nearly 5% over last year, with 23,495 new cases.   The overall incidence of tuberculosis in the United States is 9.5 cases per 100,000 population, he said. In New York City, which has the highest number of AIDS cases in the nation, the incidence is 36 per 100,000, Bloom said.   Effective drugs to combat tuberculosis cost about $30 to $50 per person, given over six months.   However, the drugs are not always available in developing countries, and compliance is a major problem. The drugs must be taken for the entire six months to eliminate the infection.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "deadliest infectious disease;global tuberculosis;human immunodeficiency virus;tuberculosis cases;world health organization;parallel epidemic;aids epidemic"}
+{"name": "LA102189-0151", "title": "ORANGE COUNTY FOCUS: COUNTYWIDE;   PLAN WOULD COUNT ILLEGALS IN '90 CENSUS", "abstract": "The director of the county Social Services Agency wants all Orange County residents, including illegal aliens, to be counted in the 1990 Census, and he will ask the Board of Supervisors to support his position.   A resolution doing just that will be introduced at the supervisors' meeting Tuesday. Agency officials said that if illegal aliens were to be excluded from the count, it would mean that, on paper, the county had 200,000 fewer residents than the county's actual population. That lower figure would result in the loss of an estimated $56 million a year in federal revenue, they said.   In a letter to the supervisors, Larry Leaman, director of the agency, urged the board to adopt the resolution supporting a complete count of all county residents and opposing \"all attempts to systematically exclude any groups from the census.\"   Such exclusions, the letter said, could result in the county losing representatives in Congress because districts are determined by population.   Just Thursday, efforts to include illegal aliens in the Census received a major boost when negotiators from the U.S. Senate and House agreed on the issue. Before Thursday's action, the Senate had voted to bar the Census Bureau from counting illegal aliens, although the House had twice rejected efforts to exclude aliens. The agreement worked out Thursday at the House-Senate conference will go back to each body before it is sent to President Bush, but it is considered likely to be approved.   Orange County officials contend that much is at stake in whether aliens are included in the count. In 1985, before the Federal Immigration Reform Act, the number of illegal aliens in the county was estimated at 300,000.   In Santa Ana, home to 44.5% of the county's Latinos, city officials worried about the ramifications of undercounting its residents. They figured that in the 1980 Census, the city was shortchanged by at least 50,000 people. If those residents had been included, it could have meant another $2.2 million in state and federal revenue, according to city officials. GEORGE FRANK", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "federal revenue;complete count;1990 census;orange county residents;census bureau;representatives;illegal aliens;u.s. senate"}
+{"name": "LA102190-0045", "title": "POLITICAL FORECAST;   TERM LIMITS: WHAT WOULD BE CHANGED?", "abstract": "Two propositions on California's Nov. 6 ballot would, among other things, limit the terms of statewide officeholders and state legislators. Proposition 131 would limit statewide elected officials to two consecutive four-year terms, state legislators to 12 consecutive years in office; Proposition 140 would hold Assembly members to six years in office, state senators and statewide elected officials to eight.   If either passes, or both do, what would state government be like by 1996 and thereafter? Would passage of such measures be likely to spur similar legislation in other states, or at the federal level? The Times asked six legislators and legislative specialists.   Richard L. Mountjoy, member of the state Assembly (R-Monrovia), first elected in 1978, a former general contractor who has served as mayor and city councilman of Monrovia (1968-76):   By 1996, there would be all new faces. The argument that the lobbyists would take advantage of them, I believe, is not valid.   Term limits would give the people of California more control over the Legislature, and the Legislature would be less prone to special interests, because legislators would know they are going to be there for six years and they're out.   (Term limits) would stop (politics) from being a professional occupation. For many members, that's all they've ever done -- be in the Legislature, legislative staff. I think it will return the Legislature to more of a citizen-type legislator. The Legislature, right now, is controlled by those people who have a vested interest in legislation.   I came to the Legislature after eight years on the (Monrovia) City Council. I knew the system there pretty well. I knew how to get things done. I think that the legislative committee hearings are nothing more than City Council meetings on different subject matters. I think that what would happen in the Legislature is more expertise coming out of the citizenry.   I think there would be people from all walks of life. I think the age bracket would creep up a little more. Get people who have been in business. Folks who want to do it as a public service. At least it would not be dominated by professionals.   Robert Presley, state senator (D-Riverside) since 1974, formerly a member of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department for 24 years, 12 of them as undersheriff:   My guess is that in about 20 years, there would be another initiative to change (term limits) because we will have found that (they) didn't work.   The lobbyists are there for a very long time, and they become very expert in their fields . . . and will be even more influential, more powerful. They are not really accountable to anyone except their employers.   It would become clear rather quickly that you have a bunch of elected amateurs trying to run a very complex, complicated system of state government. We are not a little backwater state, anymore. We have a population of about 30 million people. We are growing at the rate of three-quarters of a million people a year, and that, alone, is hard for people to comprehend.   It is not just the numbers. It is the ethnic mix, the cultural diversity -- all of those things have to be cranked in. So, governing the state of California . . . is not as easy and simple as a lot of people would think. And the other thing a lot of people seem to think is that you the governor -- or you the legislator -- can get up there and solve these problems tomorrow. Well, there are some of them that are almost not solvable. You have to keep trying.   Karl T. Kurtz, director of state services, National Conference of State Legislatures:   The most negative and pernicious impact of term limitations will be on the leadership of the Legislature . . . They need leaders who have a great deal of experience, skill and ability to lead and to get things done, so that they avoid the kind of stalemate we have had in Congress in recent years.   But legislatures also need strong committee chairmen, and term limits mean that relatively inexperienced people are going to be in leadership and that they are -- by definition -- lame ducks from the very beginning. That is probably the most negative impact.   There has been a national movement that started in California, 25 years ago, to really strengthen the role of legislatures and to make them co-equal branches of government; things like term limitations, which would restrict the power and authority of legislatures, are a step backward in that movement. It would mean that, in relative terms, the legislatures would cede more power and authority to the executive branch, to lobbyists and to legislative staff.   Mark P. Petracca, assistant professor of politics and society, UC Irvine:   The national effect would be very impressive because, unlike Oklahoma (where voters recently approved a 12-year-limit on legislators), which does not have a reputation for being in the vanguard of political change in America, California does. Because it is the largest political state in the country, a success for either proposition here is likely to have spinoff moves around the country. . . . Since states do have the power to amend the Constitution on their own, although it is much harder to do it that way, it could very well be that the groundswell of support for (this) movement in some key industrial states would lead to, not only initiatives in those states to restrict their own state legislative terms, but also . . . a demand for a constitutional amendment to do the same.   As to what are the implications of term limitations in the state of California, a lot of people think that this is a partisan issue. I have tried to make the argument that it is not really partisan at all.   The parties could be helped by this . . . people would have to become more dependent on the party for funding and for guidance, and less dependent on the special interests.   The big problem is that nationally -- or locally -- we do not have a culture that encourages and rewards public service for short periods of time. Democracy requires that, and yet we do not have it. That is why we created what, in effect, is a professional elite to govern us. Representation does not occur well then.   Antonia Hernandez, president of the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund:   The Schabarum initiative (Proposition 140, backed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Pete Schabarum), with a six-year limit (for Assembly members), would have an adverse effect on the Latino community. We have begun to look at whether it would violate the Voting Rights Act.   Running for election is a very expensive proposition. For minorities who do not have a financial base, it is usually extremely hard to raise the money . . . well-financed, well-organized candidates who are supported by other communities will have a much better chance.   It seems that as we (Latinos) begin to make entries into the political process, the rules are beginning to change. Elected officials are supposed to represent the people who elect them. If there are constant changes, the impact of term limits would be to empower the bureaucracy -- the people who are not elected -- and (they) would definitely empower the special interests who have the finances and the ability to assist the bureaucrats.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "special interests;political change;consecutive four-year terms;term limitations;professional occupation;statewide officeholders;political process;negative impact;term limits;state legislators;california"}
+{"name": "LA103089-0043", "title": "CHICAGO MARATHON;   PATIENCE CARRIES DAVIES-HALE, WEIDENBACH", "abstract": "Mother Nature conspired against this struggling marathon Sunday, serving up balmy, windy weather and wilting both the men's and women's fields.   Temperatures during the Old Style/Chicago marathon hovered in the mid-60s, with 53% humidity. The heat sapped the strength of most runners, giving the patient and steady runners a distinct advantage. Among the men, Paul Davies-Hale of England proved the most patient, winning in a rather pedestrian 2 hours 11 minutes 25 seconds, in his first marathon ever.   It was the slowest winning time in this race since 1982.   Among the women, Lisa Weidenbach of Issaquah, Wash., repeated as champion, with a personal best of 2:28:15, impressive under the circumstances.   It was the second-hottest race in Chicago history, only 1978 was worse. By comparison, last year's race was 30 degrees cooler at the start. Most distance runners prefer temperatures in the 40s, with cloud cover.   The race conditions were simply more bad luck for the 12th running of Chicago's marathon, which has been fighting for respectability since losing its sponsor in 1986 and staging no race in 1987. After a week of summer-like weather, race organizers hoped to be salvaged by a good race; to have, if not impressive times on this flat and fast course, at least a memorable race.   That developed, at points, Sunday, as about 8,000 runners started at Daley Plaza downtown and wended their way through city streets. A pack of five men took off fast, maintaining a 2:09 pace at nine miles.   Those early leaders: El-Mostafa Nechchadi of Morocco, Don Janicki of Colorado, Gerardo Alcala of Mexico, Carlos Montero of Spain and Gabriel Kamau of Kenya.   They did the early work against the wind, while a second pack hovered 20 seconds behind. The lead pack went through the half-marathon at 1:04:50, a pace that would wither in the second half. No one who was in the lead pack at the halfway point, with the exception of Montero, finished in the top five.   Davies-Hale had been among those who had cagily stayed back, going with a more conservative approach. \"I was concentrating on running five-minute miles,\" he said.   He accomplished that, almost exactly. His time works out to 5:00.8 mile splits.   Davies-Hale caught the second pack at 13 miles and met up with pre-race favorite Steve Binns, who lives 30 miles from Davies-Hale in England's West Midlands. The two quickly went in different directions -- Binns falling back (he eventually dropped out) and Davies-Hale moving up.   \"I asked Binnsie who was in the first group, he told me, and I went,\" Davies-Hale said.   At 22 miles, Davies-Hale was in the lead and in control, running smoothly and not appearing to labor under the bright sun. Following him, and likewise picking off the fading runners in the first pack, were Ravil Kashapov of the Soviet Union, who was second in 2:13:19, and David Long, also from the British Midlands, who was third in 2:13:37. Ed Eyestone was the first U.S. finisher in fourth, 2:14:57.   In the women's race, Weidenbach had not been the favorite and she agreed with that handicapping.   \"To be honest with you, I was afraid of Cathy (O'Brien),\" she said.   With reason. O'Brien, a 22-year-old from Boston, has been on the verge of a breakthrough for a long time. She took off in Sunday's race with authority and ran with a 20-30-second cushion for 15 miles. Then, the heat from the sun and the perceptible heat of Weidenbach constantly gaining did her in.   At 18 miles, Weidenbach came up on O'Brien, her New Balance teammate. They shared some water, then Weidenbach tossed aside the water bottle and put on a surge that left O'Brien flat.   It was the same spot, the corner of Wells and North Avenue, that Weidenbach had taken the lead in last year's race. It was also where dozens of her family members and friends were posted.   Carla Beurskens of the Netherlands, at 37 still an amazing runner, eventually passed the struggling O'Brien and placed second 2:30:24. O'Brien was third in 2:31:19.   Given the heat, the humidity and the wind, Weidenbach's time might have been as much as two minutes faster. Even the 2:28 is respectable -- only five U.S. women have run under 2:30.   \"I guess when you are having a good day, nothing is going to get you down,\" she said.   Davies-Hale, a former plumber from Rugeley, Straffordshire, seemed bemused by the attention and nonplussed that he had just won $50,000 in prize money. About as far as he seemed willing to go, on the celebrity scale, was to say he had pitched the plumbing job.   \"I'll still do the odd washing machine . . . good rates,\" he said.   Davies-Hale, 27, came to the United States in 1985 and settled in Boulder, Colo., the nation's unofficial running center. Davies-Hale may have shown a liking for running in heat when he won the Boulder Bolder that year in terrific heat.   He was a 1984 Olympian in the steeplechase and, on the advice of others, moved up to 5,000 and 10,000 meters.   Still, Davies-Hale is unsure what his future in the marathon is. Like his fellow countrymen, he's low-key and practical and not interested in speculating.   \"I've already had a great track season,\" Davies-Hale said. \"I may run another marathon next year . . . but I really want to get back on the track.\"   Marathon Notes   Race organizers insist that this race is at a world-class level, especially pointing to the world's richest purse. That may be so, but all major marathons have drug testing and Chicago has none. Race director Tim Murphy said the race was not selected by The Athletics Congress, which governs the sport, to conduct testing. . . . Men's and women's winners won $50,000, second place won $30,000 and third place $20,000. . . . Scot Hellebuyck won the men's wheelchair race in 1:45:30. Ann Cody Morris won the women's wheelchair race in 1:58:51.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "distance runners;race conditions;windy weather;steady runners;patient;chicago marathon;second-hottest race"}
+{"name": "LA103089-0070", "title": "JET CRASHES ON CARRIER; FIVE KILLED", "abstract": "A jet trainer crashed Sunday on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Lexington in the Gulf of Mexico, killing five people, injuring at least two and damaging several aircraft, the Navy said.   The crash of the two-seat T-2 Buckeye caused several fires on the World War II-era ship that sailors quickly brought under control, officials said.   Cmdr. Dennis Hessler, spokesman for the chief of naval education and training at Pensacola, said he did not know whether the plane was taking off or landing at the time of the crash.   It was unclear how many people were aboard the jet.   The crash also did major damage to two aircraft on the flight deck and minor damage to another, a Pentagon spokesman said.   The Lexington, the Navy's oldest aircraft carrier, was 17 miles south of its home port of Pensacola when the accident occurred, Coast Guard Lt. Mark Kasper said in New Orleans.   The jet was assigned to Training Squadron 19, based at the Meridian, Miss., Naval Air Station, the Navy said. The victims' identities were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.   Navy helicopters took the injured to hospitals, Kasper said. A burn victim was taken to the University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile.   Kasper said that the Coast Guard sent a jet from Mobile to fly a team of ordnance experts in Panama City to Pensacola because the Navy apparently was concerned that fuel cells aboard the jet might explode after being damaged in the crash.   The 46-year-old Lexington is the only aircraft carrier used by the Navy exclusively for training.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "crash;major damage;aircraft carrier lexington;flight deck;victims;jet trainer;t-2 buckeye"}
+{"name": "LA110490-0184", "title": "OFFICER PLANS MARATHON ON BATTLESHIP", "abstract": "While Lt. Guy Zanti's wife and father run a marathon today in Washington, the naval officer intends to match their efforts on the battleship Wisconsin in the waters of the Middle East.   Zanti became interested in marathon running in April when he watched his 53-year-old father run his first marathon in California.   Zanti told his father that even if he couldn't make it to today's Marine Corps Marathon, he would still run the 26.2 miles.   \"He had been based in the Mediterranean, so he planned on training on land and the ship, and then running the marathon on land,\" said his father, Frank Zanti. \"When this crisis came up, he was deployed to the gulf. But he didn't stop his training, and he's going to run on the ship.\"   The Wisconsin is 887 feet long, about one-sixth of a mile; the 29-year-old Zanti will have to make about 75 laps.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "marine corps marathon;washington;training;battleship wisconsin;marathon running;lt. guy zanti"}
+{"name": "LA110589-0082", "title": "CHILE WILL STUDY SAN FRANCISCO QUAKE", "abstract": "Scientists and engineers in Chile, which has the distinction of playing host to the largest earthquake ever measured, are waiting with serious interest reports on the Oct. 17 San Francisco earthquake.   Measured by magnitude, \"Chile is the world's most seismic country,\" said building engineer Elias Arze, president of the Chilean Seismology and Anti-Seismic Engineering Assn.   The San Francisco quake measuring 7.1 was comparable to the earthquake that struck Santiago and central Chile in March, 1985, killing 180 people and toppling some 70,000 homes.   And like California, Chile is still waiting for another \"big one,\" an earthquake of magnitude 8 or more. Both areas are situated along the Pacific \"ring of fire,\" the huge faults created by the collision of massive plates of the earth's surface.   \"Chile, along with Alaska, are the sites that have had the biggest seismic occurrences,\" said Prof. Edgar Kausel, chairman of the Geophysics Department at the University of Chile.   Chile has about 2,270 miles of its coast along the earthquake fault between the Nazca plate and the South American plate. The frequency of earth movements prompts Chileans to say that every president has at least one major earthquake during the traditional six-year term in office.   The long history of earth movements in Chile has led to a sharing of information with U.S. and Japanese scientists and engineers over the behavior of the earth and of buildings during earthquakes.   Arze said after the 1985 earthquake, teams of foreign experts arrived in Chile to study the effects of the earthquake on buildings.   \"Our buildings performed very well,\" he said.   Since earthquake building codes were implemented in Chile in the 1930s, only two engineered buildings have collapsed, he said. Older buildings have been replaced over the years.   \"We have so many earthquakes in Chile it has cleaned up our construction,\" Arze said.   Chilean earthquakes tend to be sharper and last longer than those of California, leading to differences in building design.   While California engineers have promoted a flexible design of steel framed buildings that allows them to swing in a quake, Chileans opt for stiffer construction. Chilean buildings are of reinforced concrete with more inside walls.   \"Our buildings move little compared to (those of) the Americans,\" said Arze.   Descriptions of earthquakes in Chile date back to Spanish settlers in 1575.   In an 1835 journal entry about a stop the ship the Beagle made in Chile, scientist Charles Darwin described an earthquake he experienced.   Just a few months before the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, a quake measuring 8.5 struck the central Chilean coast, destroying the city of Valparaiso.   On May 21, 1960, an earthquake measuring 9.5 struck an area about 600 miles long in southern Chile, releasing energy nearly 1,000 times that of this year's San Francisco quake. Parts of the coast stretching south from the city of Concepcion, 325 miles south of Santiago, dropped nine feet.   \"It was the biggest registered in the history of seismic instrumention,\" said Kausel.   About 5,000 people were killed in the sparsely populated area, most of them when the coastline dropped. A tsunami, a tidal wave created by the earthquake, killed others and caused considerable damage in Japan and Hawaii.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "considerable damage;massive plates;chilean earthquakes;seismic country;chilean buildings;earth movements;major earthquake;chilean seismology;chile;san francisco earthquake"}
+{"name": "LA110590-0038", "title": "KENYAN LEADS A FOREIGN SWEEP;   RUNNING: DOUGLAS WAKIIHURI AND POLAND'S WANDA PANFIL ARE WINNERS OF THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON.", "abstract": "Foreigners continued their domination of the New York City Marathon but the winners weren't Juma Ikangaa or Grete Waitz.   Douglas Wakiihuri, a Kenyan who trains in Japan, was the overall winner and Poland's Wanda Panfil, who lives in Mexico, was the women's winner in Sunday's race which was plagued by heat and humidity.   It was the third consecutive marathon victory for each.   Ikangaa, who had captivated New Yorkers last year by winning in course-record time, and Waitz, who had won the race nine times, each ran fourth in their respective divisions.   For Waitz, the result was different than anything she had experienced in New York. It was the first time she had finished the race without winning.   Since Waitz, of Norway, ran the marathon for the first time in 1978, no American has won the women's division. The last American women's champion was Miki Gorman in 1977.   The last American men's winner was Alberto Salazar in 1982, when he took the title for the third time.   Kim Jones of Spokane, Wash., finished second among the women for the second consecutive year, five seconds behind Panfil to make it the closest finish in the race's 21-year history.   Panfil was timed in 2 hours 30 minutes 45 seconds, Jones in 2:30:50. It was the slowest winning women's time since Waitz's 2:32:30 in 1978.   Wakiihuri, who bolted away at 20 miles, clocked 2:12:39, the slowest since Orlando Pizzolato of Italy won in 2:14:53 in 1984, when the temperature reached 79 degrees, the hottest in race history.   Sunday, the temperature got as high as 72 degrees and the humidity peaked at 66 percent.   Ken Martin of Dallas, the runner-up last year, failed to finish this time. Bothered by a virus for the past two months, he dropped out after 19 miles.   The first American finisher was Gerry O'Hara, a 26-year-old New Yorker who was 29th in 2:26:15. Mohamed Idris of Brooklyn, N.Y., who finished 22nd in 2:22:23, originally was announced as the top American, but race officials later determined he was an Egyptian citizen.   It was Wakiihuri's first marathon in the United States and the third for Panfil, who did not finish the '88 New York City Marathon, after falling near the 16-mile mark and suffering a bruised ankle.   After staying with the lead pack for the first 20 miles, the cool, composed Wakiihuri took control and pulled away to a 40-second victory over Salvador Garcia of Mexico.   In only seven previous marathons, the 27-year-old Wakiihuri has won the '87 world championship, the '89 London Marathon in a personal-best 2:09:03 and the '90 Commonwealth Games marathon. He also finished second in the 1988 Olympic Games.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "douglas wakiihuri;foreigners;third consecutive marathon victory;winners;wanda panfil;new york city marathon"}
+{"name": "LA120290-0163", "title": "'HELLO' AND 'BONJOUR' AS TUNNELERS MEET;   ENGLISH CHANNEL: BRITISH AND FRENCH WORKERS KNOCK OUT A PASSAGE BIG ENOUGH TO WALK THROUGH, LINKING THE TWO SIDES OF THE 'CHUNNEL.'", "abstract": "Cheers erupted Saturday on both sides of the English Channel when British and French workers digging the Channel Tunnel finally met after knocking out a passage large enough to walk through and shake hands.   \"Today, for the first time, men can cross the channel underground,\" French President Francois Mitterrand said. \"What a brilliant sign of the vitality of our two countries.\"   The breakthrough came in a 6-foot-tall service tunnel that will be used to maintain two rail tunnels still being bored. It marked a symbolic milestone in Europe's biggest engineering project.   Using jackhammers, Graham Fagg, 42, of Dover, England, and Philippe Cozette, 37, of Calais, France, knocked out the last foot of chalk to link up the British and French sides of the tunnel -- which has been dubbed a \"chunnel.\"   The smiling pair then clasped hands, embraced and exchanged their national flags. Workers in overalls looked on and applauded.   \"God save the queen!\" cried French workers, uncorking Champagne bottles.   \"Vive la France!\" came the reply from the British side.   Saturday's handshake came three years to the day after tunneling began at Sangatte, near Calais, and in Folkestone, England.   The $16.7-billion Channel Tunnel will make it possible to travel from Paris to London by high-speed train in 3 1/2 hours when it opens in June, 1993.   The train trip through just the tunnel is expected to take 35 minutes, compared with 90 minutes to cross the channel by ferry.   Fares for the undersea crossing have not been set. But experts say the charges may be at least double the 1986 projections of $46 per person in a car and $19 per train passenger.   The tunnelers have spent the last month drilling through the last 100 yards of chalk with giant American-built boring machines, trying to align the two halves.   The British tunnelers actually linked up with the French on Oct. 29, when workers drilled a 2-inch hole through the chalk in a service tunnel.   The connection ended Britain's island separation from continental Europe for the first time since the last Ice Age about 8,000 years ago.   Fagg and Cozette were chosen by draw from among the 3,000 workers to represent their countries in Saturday's meeting. After widening the passage from the size of a peephole to a window, they laid down their tools and shook hands.   \"Bonjour,\" boomed Fagg.   \"Hello,\" Cozette said, chuckling.   Michel Delebarre and Malcolm Rifkind, the French and British transportation ministers, rode in small service trains down the maintenance tunnel to witness the handshake.   Fagg and Rifkind rode on to Sangatte, while Cozette and Delebarre headed for Folkestone to join in celebrations that lasted into the night.   Nine workers have been killed during the project. The cost has climbed from an initial estimate of $9.4 billion to $16.7 billion.   The tunnel is viewed positively in France, where it is expected to revive economically depressed northern areas. But Britain has shown worry over the loss of its historic moat from the Continent.   Many Britons fear drug traffickers or terrorists will invade their island via the tunnel.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "continental europe;high-speed train;english channel;brilliant sign;channel tunnel;rail tunnels;6-foot-tall service tunnel;engineering project;symbolic milestone"}
+{"name": "LA120389-0130", "title": "FUTURE HURRICANES MAY PACK MORE PUNCH", "abstract": "The names will be different, but more hurricanes with the powerful punches of Hugo and Gilbert may be prowling the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in the future.   \"The probability of more intense hurricanes in the Atlantic region is greater in the next decade or two than it has been in the 1970s and '80s,\" says meteorologist William M. Gray of Colorado State University, who analyzes hurricane patterns.   Gray predicts a possible return of the more ferocious hurricanes of the '50s and '60s, because of an apparent break in the periodic West African drought. Rainfall in the Sahel, typically associated with more intense hurricane activity, was above average in 1988 for the first time since 1969, he says. A second rainy summer this year indicates an end to the drought.   The most intense hurricanes, Gray explains, usually form at low latitudes from tropical disturbances moving westward from Africa. The well-watered conditions in the '50s and '60s produced 31 of the most severe kind (categories 4 and 5) in the 17-year period 1950 to 1967.   Hurricanes are classified by the Saffir-Simpson scale, the fiercest a No. 5, or catastrophic storm. The atmospheric pressure at its center drops drastically and its wind speed exceeds 155 m.p.h.   In the drier 17-year period of 1970 to 1987, there were only 13 severe storms. In the '88 and '89 seasons -- June through November -- there have been five.   Last year's Gilbert, which left a wide swath of devastation across Jamaica and the Mexican Yucatan, was the mightiest hurricane on record in the Western Hemisphere. Its atmospheric pressure dropped to 885 millibars and its wind speed reached 200 m.p.h.   This September's Hugo, which ripped through the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico before clobbering South Carolina, had sustained winds of 150 m.p.h. and an atmospheric pressure of 918 millibars (27.1 inches). Officially a 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, it \"may be a borderline 5,\" says meteorologist Mark Zimmer of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.   The strongest recorded storm on Earth, Zimmer says, was 1979 Typhoon Tip in the western Pacific, with a low pressure of 870 millibars. Outside the Atlantic area and the eastern Pacific, hurricanes are called typhoons or cyclones.   Fortunately, most Atlantic-region hurricanes do not develop to their worst potential. In this century, only two No. 5 hurricanes have struck the United States with full force, the 1935 Labor Day storm that ravaged the Florida Keys and 1969's Camille, which slammed ashore at Mississippi and Louisiana. In 1980, Allen, the mightiest Caribbean storm then recorded, had lost much of its punch before it hit the Gulf Coast of Texas.   \"If the future is like the past with its pattern of atmospheric conditions, there is a good probability of the return of stronger storms,\" Gray said.   But in the 1990s, he warns, U.S. destruction will be at least four to five times more costly than in the '50s and '60s, because of the boom in population and property development along coastal areas.   The threat of global warming also portends hurricanes more powerful than any yet recorded, says meteorologist Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.   Hurricanes are like huge, self-sustaining heat engines spinning across the sea. They get their power from the water's warmth. To develop, they need tropical ocean-surface temperatures of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit.   \"If tropical ocean temperatures go up, the intensity of hurricanes will,\" Emanuel explains. \"Sea-surface temperatures set the upper limits.\"   The biggest uncertainty, he says, is whether global warming will affect tropical ocean temperatures.   The gradual warming of the Earth results from the greenhouse effect, caused primarily by the accumulation of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere, which, like the glass of a greenhouse, trap heat.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "atmospheric conditions;intense hurricanes;catastrophic storm;hurricane patterns;ferocious hurricanes;atlantic region;meteorologist william gray"}
+{"name": "LA121189-0017", "title": "LATE ENTRANT WINS A RUN FOR MONEY;   MARATHON: ERNESTO BEATRIZ MARTINEZ OF MEXICO CITY, TRAVELED A LONG ROAD TO THE FINISH LINE SUNDAY, BUT HIS VICTORY AND PRIZE MONEY WILL GO ALONG WAY TOWARD HELPING HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS.", "abstract": "While more than a thousand runners were treated to an evening of comedy, music and magic at Saturday night's carbo load dinner on Mission Bay, Ernesto Beatriz Martinez of Mexico City was treated to a bumpy 12 1/2-hour bus ride from his hometown to border town Tijuana.   Not until early Sunday morning did Beatriz Martinez, 29, cross the U.S./Mexican border to register for, then reach the starting line of, the San Diego International Marathon on East Mission Bay Drive.   His recovery was simply amazing. Two hours, 16 minutes and 12 seconds later, in only his second marathon -- his first was this event last year when he finished eighth -- Beatriz Martinez crossed the finish line 39 seconds ahead of South African Mark Plaatjes, now of Lake Forest, Ill.   \"I wasn't 100% sure I'd win,\" he said through an interpreter, \"but I had much confidence that I'd do well. I was well prepared.\"   Marie Rollins, a member of the 1988 Irish Olympic team and now of Glendale, kicked her race up a gear after the 16th mile and won the women's race in 2:39:05, handily defeating hometown favorite Mindy Ireland (2:42:18) of Escondido. It was the first marathon Rollins has completed this year, after dropping out of the New York City Marathon four weeks ago in mile 18 because of stomach cramps.   \"The main thing was to feel the best I could,\" said Rollins, 30. \"I went out real conservative, I ran my own race and it paid off.\"   Indeed it did. Beatriz Martinez and Rollins received $5,000 each for their victories.   And for Beatriz Martinez, who ran cross country for San Diego City College in 1988, he might as well have won the lottery. This was a man who earlier this week was running in tattered shoes and had a TV raffled in his honor to raise the $180 required to cover transportation, the entrance fee and other expenses.   \"I want to help my family and friends who raised the money for me,\" said Beatriz Martinez, a school teacher in Mexico City. \"My family, they are very poor.\"   Plaatjes and Ireland took home $2,500 each, and Maurilio Castillo (2:18:06) of Naucalpan, Mexico, the men's third place finisher, and Great Britian's Gillian Horovitz (2:43:20), now of New York City, third in the women's race, received $1,500.   Doug Kurtis of Detroit was successful in his bid to run his 12th marathon in a calendar year under 2 hours, 20 minutes. His 2:18:16 finish set a world record. Kurtis was originally awarded third place, but miscommunication somewhere along the 26.2-mile course gave Castillo third in his first marathon and moved Kurtis to fourth.   Castillo was entered in the accompanying half marathon, but he and Pedro Casillas missed that races' turn at just over the mile mark and mistakenly followed the longer route.   According to Dr. Bill Burke, co-owner of the marathon, Castillo was told several times that he was running the marathon course, but he decided to continue.   \"I traveled too much to get here to go home and say I went the wrong way,\" Castillo said, also using an interpreter.   There was some question that Castillo hadn't finished the entire race as reporters and photographers on the lead vehicle didn't see him for several miles. But Plaatjes said it was because he and Casillas, who eventually dropped out at mile 18, were so far ahead of the lead pack of Plaatjes, Danny Bustos, Dick LeDoux, Kurtis and Leodigard Martin.   \"We saw them way ahead of us,\" said Plaatjes. \"I told them (Bustos, LeDoux and Martin) not to worry about me, I'm not racing, but they better go catch the other guys. The first time we caught them was at 18 miles.\"   Said Burke: \"My position is that he paid the same fee, he ran the same race and he finished the race.\" Although the city didn't allow any vehicles on the course from miles 18-22, Burke said cameras would verify that he did cover the complete distance.   Bustos of Las Vegas, N.M., led for the first 14 miles, followed closely by Plaatjes, Beatriz Martinez and LeDoux. But Beatriz Martinez took the lead at 23 miles and Plaatjes couldn't close the gap.   Rollins and Ireland ran together for 11 miles until Kathy Smith of Irvine took the lead for miles 12-17. Rollins reeled Smith in gradually and took the lead for the remainder.   Marathon Notes   Marie Rollins' time is the fourth best for women in San Diego-area marathon history and breaks Chantal Best's 1988 race record of 2:42:22. Best decided late Saturday to run the marathon, but dropped out after 18 miles . . . There were 6,014 entries for the marathon (3,056) and half marathon (2,958). . . .San Diego's Steve McCormack finished sixth, 10 minutes behind fifth place LeDoux, with a 2:29:08. . . .Jeffrey Holyfield of San Diego won the men's half marathon in 1:07:44, and Katie Webb of Escondido was the women's winner in 1:21:46. . . . Bill Fricke of Los Angeles won the wheelchair marathon in 1:55:30 and 14-year-old Eric Neitzel of San Diego, recent winner of the Mission Bay 25K, won the wheelchair half marathon in 1:13:14.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "marie rollins;ernesto beatriz martinez;runners;marathon course;mexico city;san diego international marathon"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06012224", "title": "JOHNSON SECOND IN FIRST RACE SINCE BAN", "abstract": "His time of 5.77 seconds was eclipsed by the 5.75-second time of Daron Council, a former narcotics officer who now works in crime prevention for the Alachua County, Fla., sheriff's department.;    The brief race produced a record crowd of 17,050 and drew nearly 500 journalists from 14 countries in North America, Europe and Asia.;    They were attracted by the return of Johnson, whose day of infamy, Sept. 24, 1988, has assured him a millennium of fame.;    He would merely have been a gold medalist if a positive test at the 1988 Olympics had not turned him into the most vilified champion in the history of the Games. It also led to the two-year suspension from the sport that made an epic event of Johnson's race Friday.;    Johnson got off to an uncharacteristically slow start and finished second by a few inches to Council.;    \"I got caught in the blocks,\" Johnson said.;    By then, the start had been delayed eight minutes by two false starts and a problem with the board track.;    Johnson took his second-place finish in stride. \"I think it was a success,\" Johnson said. \"There was a lot of pressure on me because it was my first race back, and it was hard to concentrate on the race with the way the fans were yelling for me.\";    It was Johnson's first indoor loss in 11 meets dating to February 1987. His time was far from the 5.55 he ran in 1987 that is still listed as the fastest ever at 50 meters.;    \"I'm in very good shape, but I'm not in racing shape,\" Johnson said as he was escorted to drug testing, for which he was randomly selected.;    It was a different-looking Johnson than the one who had bolted to apparent victory in the Olympics.;    This Johnson wasn't as bulky in the upper body, nor was his face as puffy.;    Despite Johnson's trimness, he said he weighed the same -- 174 pounds -- and was lifting the same amount of weight -- bench-pressing 365 pounds -- as before his two-year suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing steroid.;    \"People are saying I'm smaller,\" Johnson said before the race. \"Size doesn't matter. It's how fast you run . . . it's speed.\";    When he was introduced before the race, Johnson was given a thunderous standing ovation. When the race ended, the fans thought he had won and broke into loud cheering.;    Banners welcoming him back were draped around the arena. One said, \"Ben Knows Track and Field -- Just Do It, Ben.\" Another said, \"Go Ben Go!\" and a third read, \"Burn Rubber, Ben.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "two-year suspension;slow start;second-place finish;johnson;record crowd;daron council;first race;drug testing;first indoor loss"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06071022", "title": "RAINSTORMS INCREASE THE THREAT OF FOREST FIRES", "abstract": "As of last month, live pines in the Mount Palomar area near San Diego had less moisture than boards at a lumber yard.;    Firefighting also will be made tougher this year because much of the military reserve and National Guard equipment and pilots normally mobilized against wildfires are still in the Persian Gulf and probably will be there several more months.;    The area at risk of severe fires spreads beyond California and takes in about a third of the United States mainland, including Oregon and Washington east of the Cascades and much of Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and the Dakotas.;    But the threat is most extreme in California, where the December freeze added to the accumulation of dead vegetation, or fuel, as firefighters call it.;    While reluctant to predict fires because they depend not just on drought but also on temperature and wind patterns, fire officials are deeply worried.;    \"This year is shaping up to be the worst fire season we've ever experienced,\" said Warner McGrew, assistant fire chief at Santa Barbara, where the drought is worst and where brush fires destroyed 600 homes and did $200 million damage last year.;    The freeze killed the avocado and lemon orchards that used to serve as fire breaks, and McGrew said fire codes are being strictly enforced to compel homeowners to remove vegetation near houses.;    Given the severity of the threat and lack of equipment and water to fight fires, officials throughout the region say they plan an unusually aggressive approach this spring, trying to put out even the smallest wildfires before they spread, and taking preventive measures such as deploying firefighters to an area where lightning storms are forecast.;    It worked in Oregon;  That approach helped last year in the Umatilla National Forest in northeastern Oregon, where 170 fires were reported, said Gordon Reinhart, a fire and recreation officer with the U.S. Forest Service in Pendleton, Ore.; One reason the fire threat is so grave in California is population growth, which has spread suburban development into wilderness areas such as the canyons east of Malibu Beach, 25 miles from central Los Angeles, where million-dollar homes sit on brushy hillsides covered with highly flammable greasewood.;    Fire corridor;  Fire officials consider the Malibu canyons a natural fire corridor because high winds whip through them to the ocean.; \"We are going to have quite a time trying to protect those structures,\" said Paul H. Rippens, assistant chief for forestry at the Los Angeles County Fire Department.;    The department is clearing some areas by setting small fires that are tightly controlled, the first of which recently burned off 335 hillside acres in the Monte Nido area of Malibu.;    Expand youth corps;  Gov. Pete Wilson has proposed expanding the state's youth conservation corps to replace the troops who traditionally have stepped in to help fight the worst Western fires.;    But it will be difficult to replace the C-130 planes that are converted into air tankers to drop retardants onto flames, and the military helicopters with infrared sensing devices that peer through smoke.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "firefighting;preventive measures;fire season;severe fires spreads;wildfires;fire threat;natural fire corridor;aggressive approach;brush fires;firefighters;california"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06084228", "title": "RUNNING AWAY FROM THE TRUTH", "abstract": "St. Martin's, 306 pp., $18.95;  CHARLIE Francis, testifying in 1988 in Toronto at a federal inquiry about the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports, seemed a mad scientist, something on the order of Dr. Frankenstein. Francis, the Canadian national sprint coach, knew the polysyllabic names and complex characteristics of steroids -- furazabol, stanozolol, Dianabol -- as if they were members of his family. And although he spoke of his athletes as if they were family members, too, he made it plain, under oath, that he had given them every steroid combination imaginable, his experiments all carefully calibrated, charted and analyzed.;    His system had worked remarkably. On Sept. 24, 1988, Francis' most famous pupil, Ben Johnson, who immigrated to Toronto from Jamaica as a scrawny 14-year-old, ran 100 meters in 9.79 seconds at the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The time was a world record and gave Johnson the gold medal, ahead of the defending champion, U.S. star Carl Lewis.;    But the Francis system, like all systems, was not foolproof. \"About 42 hours after my life's greatest moment,\" Francis writes on the first page of his confessional, \"Speed Trap,\" his \"nightmare began.\";    Johnson, the world's fastest man, had tested positive for illegal steroid use. Suddenly he was the world's fastest cheat. Millions of dollars worth of endorsements shriveled up. His gold medal was revoked, and his world record was, too.; Because Johnson was caught, the Canadians were embarrassed. Because they were embarrassed, they conducted a federal inquiry. Because they held an inquiry, Francis had to testify. And because of that testimony, we have \"Speed Trap,\" an elaboration of what Francis said at the inquiry and a history of his remarkable path through the world of track and field.;    He argues, essentially, that to be a world-class sprinter, you must use steroids -- he makes this argument even as Johnson attempts a comeback for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, without them.;    Steroids do not make a runner run faster, Francis explains, but they enable a runner to train harder. The desire for speed comes with incredible costs, and they are the trap. By encouraging his athletes to use steroids -- and Francis maintains that they all wanted to do so and knew about steroids before the coach brought the subject up -- Francis argues that he is simply helping to create a level playing field.; We learn that the use of performance-enhancing drugs is nothing new in the world of sports -- that cocaine and arsenic and codeine were used by athletes in the 1896 Olympic Games. We learn that Johnson harmed his own world-record times by raising his hand jubilantly as he approached the finish line. We learn that if athletes take steroids on their own, independent of an official (but still illicit, of course) program, it's called \"free-lancing.\" That's one of Francis' theories for why Johnson got caught.;    But, Francis says, there is no logical reason for Johnson to have been caught. After all, he had never been caught before. No one of Johnson's standing had been caught before. Francis offers theories for the positive test result -- free-lancing, sabotage, a screw-up by the team doctor -- but there is no clear answer.; For all its candor, answers and revelations are not forthcoming in \"Speed Trap.\" Francis, without naming names, convinces us that steroid usage is rampant, but he tells us what that means to him only in a technical sense. The book lacks a strong sense of character development. It does not take any moral stand; it lacks passion. How did Francis feel violating the rules? What drove him? What did he really feel toward Johnson?;    After a two-year ban, Johnson is running again without Francis' coaching. The early word is that he is still extremely fast, probably one of the fastest men in the world -- but no longer the fastest. Francis would have us believe that without steroids, Johnson cannot be the fastest. (Johnson disagrees.);    At the end of \"Speed Trap,\" Francis says that steroids cannot be simply banned -- their use is too prevalent, they can be disguised too easily and they work too well. The dangers have been exaggerated, Francis says. People who want running to be a \"natural\" sport are naive. \"We ceased being natural ages ago, the moment we stopped running barefoot on dirt paths,\" Francis writes. \"It is a formidable challenge to distinguish between nature and artifice, a task I would leave to the philosophers.\";    But \"Speed Trap\" left me wishing Francis had at least tried his hand at philosophy. Isn't that everyone's responsibility? To ask why we do the things we do? \"But I was a sprint coach, and I had a different job,\" he concludes. \"To help a few gifted people run as fast as they could.\"; They ran fast, all right. But he never seems to have asked himself: Is it worth it? (box)", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "gold medal;charlie francis;world record;canadian national sprint coach;ben johnson;federal inquiry;performance-enhancing drugs;toronto;illegal steroid use;steroid combination;steroids"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06105230", "title": "EARLY SPEED MAY TURN BOSTON MARATHON INTO RACE OF ATTRITION", "abstract": "And for the sentimentalists, there will be 83-year-old Johnny Kelley starting in his 60th Boston Marathon. There have only been 35 editions of this race run without him.;    The last three Boston marathons have turned into reckless speed duels. They have produced five of the top 10 times and eight of the top 15 in the race's storied history.;    They also have resulted in a race of attrition, with many of the early speedsters burning out completely or faltering in the late stages.;    Along the historic route that begins in Hopkinton, west of Boston, and ends in Copley Square in the Back Bay section of the city, checkpoint records have fallen at an alarming rate.;    For example, all 11 checkpoint records were shattered through the first 20 miles last year, either by Simon Robert Naali or Juma Ikangaa, both of Tanzania. Neither won.;    The winner was 1988 Olympic champion Gelindo Bordin, who outsmarted the early pacesetters by running a patient, calculating race.; Running alone about 200 meters behind a pack of six Africans, Bordin passed them all by 21 miles and went on to win in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 19 seconds, the second-fastest time in the race's history, behind only the 2:07:51 by Rob de Castella in 1986.;    Ikangaa finished a distant second in 2:09:52. It was his third consecutive runner-up finish in Boston.;    Ikangaa is back again, along with several other formidable Africans. They include Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya, the 1988 winner in 2:08:43, the third-fastest time in Boston and one second ahead of Ikangaa; Abebe Mekonnen of Ethiopia, the 1989 champion in 2:09:06, Boston's eighth-best time; Douglas Wakiihuri of Kenya, the 1987 world champion and 1988 Olympic silver medalist who is making his Boston debut; and Naali, the third-place finisher in the 1990 Commonwealth Games.;    Among those chasing them will be John Treacy, the 1984 Olympic silver medalist and the third-place finisher in Boston in 1988 and 1989; Geoff Smith, the Boston winner in 1984-85; Ed Eyestone, the top-ranked U.S. marathoner; Salvador Garcia, the runner-up to Wakiihuri in last year's New York City Marathon; and Rolando Vera, who finished third in his marathon debut in Boston in 1990.; The women's division also is filled with many respectable entrants.; Foremost among them are Kristiansen, the 35-year-old Norwegian who holds the world record of 2:21:06 and won in Boston in 1986 and 1989, and Samuelson, 33, the U.S.-record holder at 2:21:21, 1984 Olympic gold medalist and Boston champion in 1979 and 1983.;    Challenging them will be Uta Pippig, Wanda Panfil and Kim Jones.;    Pippig finished second in Boston last year in a career-best 2:28:03. Panfil won the London Marathon in 2:26:31, her personal best, and won the New York City Marathon in 1990.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "alarming rate;checkpoint records;boston marathons;storied history;race run;60th boston marathon;respectable entrants"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06129119", "title": "LET CITIZENS REVIEW COP CONDUCT", "abstract": "This was a real case involving a Santa Clara County police agency. I represented the suspect.;    The offending officer's police report indicated that the suspect's injuries were due to a fall from his bike and that he appeared unconscious, although he had also struggled against being handcuffed.;    There is no mention of police brutality. None of the back-up officers reported any brutality. One sergeant reported that the suspect kept trying to move around and had to be told to remain lying down. Another officer reported that the only verbal abuse was by the suspect toward officers.; The suspect subsequently complained of brutality. The internal affairs department determined that the complaint was unsubstantiated and the matter was dropped.;    But four citizens called to complain that they had witnessed the arrest and that the suspect not only was not struggling but also had been brutally beaten.;    According to the witnesses, the officer taunted the suspect, knelt on the suspect's stomach, beat him numerous times with his club and kicked him in his face.;    The witnesses also said:;    The suspect at no time resisted. The only words from the suspect were pleas for help. In response to another officer's inquiry, the original officer picked up the suspect, let his head fall to the pavement and said, \"It looks like he's dead.\" Both officers smirked and laughed.;    The offending officer was later arrested and prosecuted by the district attorney.;    What if there had not been four citizens who observed the brutal beating of my client?;    One of the problems in monitoring police brutality is that almost all victims of police abuse have themselves committed some kind of law violation. This makes their complaints difficult to sustain.;    But there is another problem: a police discipline system that is cloaked in secrecy.;    San Jose Police Chief Joseph MacNamara recently referred to the Los Angeles incident as \"disgusting brutality\" and pointed out that the disturbing aspect was the failure of leadership and the code of silence. MacNamara diagnosed the problem as an organizational attitude for which the leadership must take responsibility. He correctly notes that it is important for police credibility that police chiefs break the code of silence and repudiate such acts and attitudes.; Unfortunately, MacNamara also believes that San Jose does not need a citizens' review board. I respectfully disagree. That is precisely what we need. Communities often don't know the extent and the nature of police misconduct. State privacy laws combined with investigation and reporting procedures keep brutality complaints sealed.;    This is bad public policy. Government must remain accountable to its citizens. Those government employees who are given the right and the power to use force against citizens should be the most accountable. As MacNamara points out, police are public servants. A minimal invasion of their privacy is a small price to pay for the power to maim and kill.;    Monitoring police brutality is further complicated by the fact that local communities leave it to the police departments to investigate citizen complaints. Although the penal code makes the findings of investigations confidential, investigations themselves can be conducted by the public and can be open to the public.;    Complaints of police brutality should be handled in an open process that is neutral and thorough. Having the fox guard the chicken house fails to provide that assurance.;    The attitude of the public will determine the effectiveness of the police discipline system. A system can be theoretically sound, but it must be respected by the public.;    I agree with Councilwoman Blanca Alvarado's suggestion and the San Jose City Council's decision to create a system where a city official will receive and track citizen complaints about the police. I would further recommend that local communities establish citizen review boards.;    Police accountability includes the right of the public to review records of investigations of complaints. Any loss of police confidentiality is a fair and necessary trade-off for the right to carry and use a club. Or a .45.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "brutality complaints;police abuse;injuries;santa clara;police brutality;police misconduct"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06136305", "title": "CLASS COMBATS DIABETES FROM HISPANIC COOKING", "abstract": "Beginning this summer, Torres and other health professionals will be offering nutrition and exercise classes geared toward Hispanics in an effort to educate them on the dangers of diabetes.;    According to state Health Department statistics, the incidence of diabetes in the Hispanic population is three times that of the general population. Health experts believe the Hispanic diet and genetic predisposition may be contributing factors.;    \"Our food is one of the richest in terms of taste and nutrition,\" said Torres. \"But it's the way we prepare the food that messes things up for us.\";    In her classes, Torres said she will instruct her students to prepare tamales, refried beans and other traditional Hispanic dishes using polyunsaturated oil rather than the more traditional recipes that call for the use of lard. And instead of eating four tortillas at one sitting, she recommends they be eaten throughout the day.;    Although courses for Hispanic diabetics and their families have been offered by the Diabetic Society for almost three years, lessons on the benefits of good nutrition and exercise to combat the disease will be offered for the first time.;    Sue Ann Kelly, education director for the Diabetes Society, said the classes may be the first ones ever geared specifically toward the Hispanic lifestyle.;    \"It's a powerful feeling our educators get when they discover all the cultural issues that come in to play when dealing with diabetes,\" she said.; IF YOU'RE INTERESTED; The next course for Hispanic diabetics and their families will be 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Alexian Brother's Hospital, 225 N. Jackson Ave. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. Classes are free. For more information, call (408) 287-3785. For those who can't make it to class, the Diabetes Society of Santa Clara County offers the bilingual booklet, \"Comer Bien Para Vivir Mejor,\" a seven-day Mexican food menu for diabetics as well as those who want to eat healthy.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "hispanic diabetics;hispanic diet;good nutrition;health professionals;diabetes society;education director;hispanic lifestyle"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06142126", "title": "'TINDERBOX' WORSENS WORRY OVER WILDFIRES", "abstract": "\"Right now the rains have caused everything to green up, but that can change in a few weeks,\" Lisa Boyd, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in Sacramento, said Monday. \"The state's really a tinderbox this year. Everyone's going to have to be extra careful.\"; In Santa Clara County, the conditions are not yet extreme; March storms probably delayed fire season until mid-June.;    But the county's wild lands are littered with heavy fuel -- brush and trees -- killed by the drought or the December freeze.;    \"The late rains have given us a real good grass crop, the catalyst to ignite heavier fuels,\" said fire prevention officer Dick Mauldin at the forestry department's Morgan Hill ranger unit.;    Particularly vulnerable are the eucalyptus groves that did not survive the freeze, Mauldin said. \"Fires in there are going to be particularly hot, hard to put out,\" he said.;    Statewide, according to the U.S. Forest Service, 10 percent of the trees in the 18 national forests have been killed by the drought or the insect infestations it spawned.;    State forestry officials estimate 10 million trees -- Boyd called them \"standing kindling\" -- have died in California's wooded areas since the drought began.;    California's worst fire year was 1987, when 900,000 acres burned. Summer weather will be the key to how severe this fire season is.;    \"If we get into a period of temperatures in the 90s and 100s and it stays that way for a week or so, there is some real potential for major fires,\" Mauldin said.;    Firefighters are most concerned about rural areas of the South Bay and East Bay where people have built homes among heavy vegetation.;    \"We preach every year for homeowners to take precautions (such as clearing brush from around their houses), and a lot of people don't do it,\" Mauldin said. \"They think 'it's never going to happen to me,' and when it does they start pointing fingers.\";    Mauldin said the Morgan Hill ranger unit will begin manning some of its seasonal stations Monday, begin hiring summer season firefighters June 3, and have all of the back-country stations opened by July 1.;    The Morgan Hill unit covers parts of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties.;    In Alameda and Contra Costa counties, officials also are bracing for a long, hot summer. \"We don't want to say this is the worst fire season in X years, but we are gearing up for it,\" said Ned MacKay, spokesman for the East Bay Regional Park District. \"We have to be prepared.\";    Statewide, the biggest fire threat looms in the chaparral-covered coastal mountains south of Santa Barbara, where the moisture content of trees and shrubs is the lowest ever recorded for this time of year, Boyd said.;    \"Every year the drought continues, the conditions get more explosive, but we can't say for sure what is going to happen this year,\" Boyd said.;    Two of the forestry department's 22 ranger units -- both in Southern California -- are fully staffed for the fire season now, Boyd said, and all are expected to be ready by mid-June.; California doesn't face the fire threat alone.;    Officials at the federal Boise Interagency Fire Center in Idaho, which coordinates firefighting efforts throughout the West, said parts of 11 states in the far West, and North Dakota and Minnesota, also face major fire danger this year.;     Wildfire precautions; The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection advises residents of rural areas to take special precautions to protect their homes from wildfires this summer:; (box)Clear at least a 30-foot defensible space of brush and dry grass around your house. On some properties, such as those on the ridge tops, the clear area should be as much as 100 feet wide. The break doesn't have to be bare dirt, but could be planted with fire-resistant vegetation.; (box)Remove all pine needles and leaves from your roof, eaves and rain gutters.; (box)Trim tree limbs within 10 feet of your chimney and trim all dead limbs hanging over your house or garage.; (box)Install a spark arrester on your chimney. They are available at hardware stores.; (box)Treat wood shingle roofs with fire retardant on a regular basis.; (box)Make sure there is adequate access for firefighters to get to your home, and ensure that neighborhood streets are clearly identified.; (box)Further information can be obtained from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's fire prevention unit in Morgan Hill, (408) 779-2121.; Source: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "heavy fuel;fire season;national forests;fire threat;wildfire precautions;firefighting efforts;fire protection;california department;fire prevention unit;u.s. forest service"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06143070", "title": "GANDHI'S SLAYING IGNITES TURMOIL MILITARY PLACED ON 'RED ALERT'", "abstract": "India's military and paramilitary forces were put on \"red alert\" as gangs took to the streets of New Delhi and other cities, looking for scapegoats.; India's chief election commissioner, T.N. Seshan, early this morning postponed the remaining two phases of the national parliamentary elections until next month. He acted after consulting the president and the acting prime minister.; The first phase of the elections took place Monday, but voting for the remaining 60 percent of the 537 seats at stake will be June 12 and 15 instead of Thursday and Sunday.;    Eyewitnesses at the assassination scene said Gandhi's body was ripped apart and decapitated by the force of the explosion. At least 14 other people, including a senior police officer, died in the blast.;    Officials in New Delhi said the blast was caused by either a time bomb or remote-control device. A Congress Party spokesman said the bomb was hidden in a bouquet of flowers offered to Gandhi as he approached the dais for his speech.;    It is not clear whether the bomb was thrown at Gandhi or whether he was handed flowers that contained explosives. He had been receiving bouquets and garlands all evening.;    Gandhi recently had been shrugging off security guards.;    There was no immediate indication who was responsible for the bomb, but speculation centered on Tamil separatists seeking an independent state in nearby Sri Lanka.;    President Bush and other world leaders expressed horror and sadness at the slaying. \"When you look at his contribution to international order and you think of his decency, it's a tragedy,\" Bush said in Washington.;    End of dynasty;  Gandhi's death marks the likely end of the political dynasty that has dominated Indian politics since independence in 1947. Analysts here said there is no obvious successor to him as leader of the Congress Party, which was founded by his grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, and later dominated by his mother, Indira Gandhi, who was prime minister when she was assassinated in 1984.;    This morning, Gandhi's body was flown to a stunned New Delhi.; His widow, Sonia, sobbed and hugged the couple's daughter Priyanka as the women stepped down from the air force Boeing 737 that had flown them to Madras to bring Gandhi's body home.;    Even before Gandhi's death, more than 150 people had died this week in violence connected to the election.;    After the assassination, violent mobs rampaged along roads leading to Madras on Tuesday night, smashing vehicles and other property, according to Indian news agencies.;    Government officials in New Delhi ordered all government offices, schools and colleges shut amid widespread fears that the assassination would touch off a wave of violence in a country that has endured a spate of riots during the past year, mainly over religious and caste conflicts.;    Outside Gandhi's house in New Delhi on Tuesday night, hundreds of angry Congress Party workers chanted slogans against the CIA, accusing the U.S. intelligence agency of engineering the assassination. The CIA is often blamed by India's conspiracy-minded political activists for a wide variety of the country's ills.;    Home ransacked;  Some demonstrators in New Delhi set fire to the home of a political rival and attacked foreign camera operators. People broke into the house of Gandhi's neighbor, former Labor Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, and set furniture ablaze, police said.;    Police fired shots in the air to drive away the angry, shouting crowd. There were no injuries.; Paswan, a member of the Janata Dal party, which defeated Gandhi's Congress Party in the 1989 general elections, was not home at the time.;    Some shocked Indian political leaders told reporters they feared Rajiv Gandhi's assassination augured the death of India's four-decades-old democracy. But others, including leaders of the main rival to the Congress Party in this election, the Hindu revivalist Bharatiya Janata Party, denounced the killing and urged the country to remain calm in its aftermath.;    \"It's a tremendous loss to democracy,\" senior Congress leader Vasant Sathe told reporters. \"The loss can never be made up.\" J.B. Patnaik, a powerful Congress politician in the eastern state of Orissa, said: \"I don't know what is going to happen now, how democracy will survive.\";    At the site of the bomb blast in Tamil Nadu, there was no immediate evidence as to who was responsible.;    Gandhi and his Congress Party have many enemies on the subcontinent, including violent separatists in Kashmir and Punjab, leftist revolutionaries and rightist Hindu militants.;    Guerrillas suspected;  Most of the early speculation, however, focused on Gandhi's most hardened opponents in Tamil Nadu, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a disciplined and violent guerrilla force that has used Tamil Nadu as a base in its campaign to win a separate state in Sri Lanka, the island nation just off India's southeastern coast. The Tamil Tigers have assassinated dozens of political enemies in Sri Lanka and southern India, often using powerful plastic explosives set off by remote control.;    Earlier this year, the state government of Tamil Nadu was dismissed and central rule imposed after allegations that local politicians were providing aid and protection to the Tamil Tigers. Gandhi, whose Congress Party provided the main backing to the New Delhi government at the time, was widely seen as being behind the dismissal, which angered the Tamil Tigers and their supporters in southern India.;    During the current election, the Congress Party faced a brisk challenge from a leftist coalition led by former Prime Minister V.P. Singh, who denounced what he called Congress's \"culture of corruption\" and advocated divisive job set-asides for India's lower castes and religious minorities.;    An even tougher test for the Congress -- and the centrist ideology that has held India together for four decades -- has been mounted by Hindu ultranationalists from the Bharatiya Janata Party, who denounced Gandhi for allegedly pandering to India's Muslim minority and directing too many government resources to religious and caste minorities in an effort to win votes.;  Election in India: turmoil and tragedy;    The Congress Party, which has dominated Indian politics since independence in 1947, is being challenged by a center-left coalition that wants to break down the caste system and a right-wing party that seeks a more openly Hindu, less secular India.; ...; Caste system;    Hierarchical ranking of social groups rooted in Hindu religious beliefs that people are born with different intellectual and spiritual qualities and capabilities. Caste membership is a birth-given condition that remains unchangeable during a lifetime.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "india;political dynasty;new delhi;gandhi;time bomb;blast;congress party;indian politics;assassination scene;national parliamentary elections"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06161012", "title": "BEST SEATS ARE SOLD OUT FOR CELESTIAL SHOW", "abstract": "With some people having booked trips as long as three years in advance, airline seats, rental cars and hotel reservations range from difficult to impossible to get, travel agents and others report.;    \"The closer you get to the event, the less there is\" available, said Paul Kloetzel, president of O'Brien Travel Service in San Jose. \"It's an event, and it rarely, rarely happens. There is a certain element of traveler out there (and) there's an awful lot of those people.\";    The eclipse will be seen from Hawaii to central Brazil. If clouds don't spoil the show, viewers along that path will see the moon slip slowly in front of the sun. The sky will grow darker, as if dusk has fallen, until the sun is completely blocked out for a few minutes as the moon's shadow falls on the earth. Stars will shine.;    The length of this \"period of totality,\" as it's known, will depend on where viewers are along the path. The eclipse will last the longest -- six minutes and 58 seconds -- at the center of the shadow in the town of Tuxpan, on Mexico's west coast. In the Bay Area, the moon will cover about 55 percent of the sun's surface.; Among fans of the heavens, a solar eclipse inspires awe, fascination and grandeur. Firm estimates aren't available, but blotted-out-sun watchers are expected to number more than 100,000 -- perhaps 50,000 to 70,000 in Hawaii and an equal number in Baja.;    \"The effect of it -- the view of seeing the sun disappear little by little and then actually having the (blue) sky disappear and having the birds stop singing -- it's miraculous,\" said Irving Hochman, a member of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers. \"It really is the most spectacular natural phenomenon possible.\";    Bob Bruynesteyn, head of the San Mateo Astronomical Society, puts it succinctly: \"Not too many people have stood in the shadow of the moon.\";    It's romantic images like these that are inspiring a last-minute surge of would-be eclipse-watchers, travel agents say.;    Pamela and Daniel Dei Rossi of Campbell were among those scramblers. Learning of the eclipse only a month ago, they began calling travel agents. \"But they basically said they wouldn't even try -- everything was booked,\" said Pamela Dei Rossi.;    They called places where relatives had stayed in Mexico. No luck. She called a friend in Hawaii for a place to stay, but airline ticket and rental car problems still loomed. Then, good fortune struck. She called a travel agent who had taken a class with West Valley College astronomy instructor Tom Bullock. Bullock was leading a group to Hawaii, and some late cancellations came up. The Dei Rossis were in.;    \"We are so excited,\" Pamela Dei Rossi said. \"We had given up.\";    Though travel arrangements are now tough to come by, some opportunities remain.;    One is to go by the back door.;    Hawaii and Baja are the prime spots, because -- statistically at least -- they offer the best chance of cloudless skies. But after enveloping the Big Island and then slicing across southern Baja, the moon's shadow will cross the Gulf of California and race across the southern flank of Mexico and down the west coast of Central America. Two of Mexico's biggest cities, Gaudalajara and Mexico City, lie in the path of totality. So does Mazatlan.;    Puerto Vallarta, a resort city, is only a short distance away. Airline ticket availability is reported spotty for the resorts but still available for other destinations.;    Another possibility is to search around for groups making the trip that have had late cancellations, as the Dei Rossis did.;    What probably won't work is the overland route to Baja. From the border to the northern edge of where the eclipse will be total is about a 16-hour drive, said Raul Cardenas, the Mexican consul in San Jose. Mexican authorities will have a checkpoint from July 7-15 at Guerrero Negro, about halfway down the peninsula. Travelers who can't produce original documents showing they have accommodations will be turned back, Cardenas said. Those staying in private homes must also produce a letter of some kind, he said.; Even firm reservations may not be all they seem. Airlines routinely overbook seats, in expectation of no-shows. With the eclipse, there's concern the overbooking could be particularly bad, especially on inter-island flights in Hawaii. That's important because many eclipse-watchers haven't been able to book a flight directly to the Big Island. They've had to get flights into somewhere else, like Honolulu, and do a short hop to where they want to be.; \"These flights are so overbooked it's actually a laughingstock,\" said O'Brien's Kloetzel. \"I have a feeling this is going to be an ugly scene.\"; IF YOU'RE INTERESTED; An eight-page brochure on the July 11 eclipse is available for $2 from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 390 Ashton Ave., San Francisco, CA 94112. Special Mylar viewers for safely observing the eclipse are also available for another $2.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "hawaii;total eclipse;eclipse-watchers;special mylar viewers;solar eclipse;mexico city"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06169114", "title": "FLORIDA WAITING FOR A 'BIG ONE' TO COME FROM SEA", "abstract": "Newspaper headlines have documented Miami's subsequent hurricanes. The city was \"Lashed\" in '47, \"Slammed\" in '49 and \"Pounded\" in '50. The last to hit Miami was Cleo, a small one, in 1964, and the intervening period of calm defies all odds.;    Many folks here worry about the \"Big One\" just as Californians worry about the Big Quake. What would one of those legendary storms of the past with 200 mph winds pushing huge tidal surges do to this low-lying metropolis on the Atlantic? No one is sure.;    Hurricane season officially extends from June 1 through Nov. 30, and scientists at the National Hurricane Center, tucked away on the sixth floor of a nondescript office building in this Miami suburb, are perking up after another winter lull.; From now until the end of the season, the six hurricane specialists will monitor weather computers 24 hours a day. In this part of the world, technology has made obsolete such disasters as the unnamed hurricane that surprised Galveston, Texas, in 1900, killing 6,000 people.;    The hurricane specialists use the nation's only working geostationary weather satellite to follow developing storms. When a disturbance becomes threatening, a specially equipped plane is sent into the storm's heart to measure barometric pressure, wind speed and temperature.;    One of the specialists, Lixion Avila, has begun counting tropical waves that form off the coast of Africa every few days during hurricane season. About 60 of these waves of air, not water, form every year. About 20 of them intensify into stronger disturbances, ranging from tropical depressions, with wind speeds to 38 mph; to tropical storms, with winds from 39 to 73 mph; to hurricanes, with winds exceeding 74 mph.;    Last year, 16 tropical depressions developed in the Atlantic. Fourteen became tropical storms, seven of which became hurricanes, fewer than usual.; People who venture into such dubious endeavors as long-term hurricane forecasting said this could be another light year. But, they said, a relatively quiet year does not guarantee a thing.;    One such year was 1935 -- only six hurricanes formed, but one was the strongest to hit the continent. More than 800 workers, brought down to build the Overseas Highway through the Florida Keys, were killed when 200 mph winds knocked their evacuation train off the tracks.;    NO MATTER what long-range forecasters say, scientists at the Hurricane Center know that the laws of probability are closing in on Miami. They are a conservative bunch, not given to Sunday-supplement scare stories. Miami has grown immensely since the last major storm and is greatly overdue, they said.;    \"Historically, south Florida has had more hurricanes than any other site,\" said Jerry Jarrell, a hurricane specialist eyeing Miami's 27-year hiatus nervously. \"We would expect a major hurricane to hit within 75 miles of Miami every eight years.\";    At the center, scientists built a computer model to calculate what would happen if the 1926 hurricane were to hit Miami today. That storm was almost exactly the strength of Hurricane Hugo, which hit in South Carolina with 135 mph winds in September 1989. The scientists took data from Hugo and applied it to the path taken by the 1926 hurricane into Miami.;    \"It would be a totally different story here,\" said Max Mayfield, who collected photos from the 1926 storm to illustrate the model. \"How many high-rises did they have on those barrier islands up in South Carolina? None. I think all these folks in their Miami Beach condos are going to be in for a rude awakening.\";    A worst-case storm, with winds topping 150 mph, would put 5 feet of water in Joe's Stone Crabs restaurant, a Miami Beach landmark, and 9 feet of water on Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami. Surging water could reach levels of 13 1/2 feet in low-lying areas south of Miami.;    DESPITE MODERN technology, the specialists cannot forecast precisely where a hurricane will hit. Hurricanes change direction and intensify in a matter of hours and, in 24 hours, the specialists said, they could miscalculate one's track by 100 miles. This, and the number of years since the last major storm hit, has spawned a certain complacency among residents that the specialists find disturbing.;    Mayfield went to Miami Beach recently to discuss his model with officials there, and what he heard worried him.;    \"The fire department did a survey, and 90 percent of the people they talked to said they wouldn't evacuate for a hurricane,\" Mayfield said. \"That makes my hair stand straight up.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "miami;tropical storms;tropical depressions;hurricane specialists;national hurricane center;hurricane season;long-term hurricane forecasting"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06182091", "title": "ARMY GIVES ULTIMATUM TO SLOVENIA FEDERAL FORCES THREATEN ATTACK AS CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT FALTERS", "abstract": "His statement, just a day after both sides agreed to a cease-fire, indicated that a plan to resolve the state's ethnic, political and economic disputes had gone off the rails less than 18 hours after it was accepted.; The ultimatum also appeared to confirm Slovenian fears that the army is acting outside government control in its effort to subjugate the secessionist republic. The independent television station Yutel quoted a federal official as saying the government did not approve of the military statement.; Earlier Saturday evening, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic forced yet another delay in the election of Stipe Mesic, a Croat, as president of Yugoslavia.;    Mesic election was key;  Mesic's election was the political keystone in the peace plan, which also called for the federal troops in Slovenia to return to the barracks and for a three-month delay by the breakaway republics of Slovenia and Croatia in carrying out their independence declarations.;    Slovenia refused Saturday night to send a representative to Belgrade for a meeting of the eight-member Yugoslav presidency. Such a meeting might have resolved the leadership vacuum in the federal government.; Preparations for hostilities were widespread.;    The Tanjug news agency reported that 200,000 Serbs were expected to join a territorial militia in Serbia, the biggest Yugoslav republic, which opposes independence for Slovenia and Croatia, and Negovanovic said Croatia had ordered a mobilization of its \"police\" reserves.;    Urgent legislative meeting;  Slovenia's parliament was called into emergency session after a 12-point list of demands from the army was presented to republic leaders, insisting that all impediments to federal army operations be removed as part of a Western-brokered cease-fire.;    The peace package was assembled by federal Prime Minister Ante Markovic, brokered by an emergency mission of the European Community and accepted by the leaders of Slovenia and Croatia, as well as Serbia.;    But Saturday night Markovic charged that Slovenia's President Milan Kucan had \"torpedoed\" the plan by insisting that the moratorium on independence had to be approved by his parliament to take effect.;    Condition upon condition;  Milosevic, seizing on Kucan's statement, insisted that Serbia would not allow Mesic to become president in the normal rotation until the Slovenian and Croatian parliaments agreed to the moratorium.;    The Slovenian government charged the army with repeated breaches of the cease-fire and demanded the surrender of army units and installations that Slovenian forces had surrounded and cut off since the fighting began Thursday.;    At the end of the day, the maneuvering by all three republics ensured a prolongation of the crisis that has deprived the country of a civilian commander in chief for more than six weeks and effectively left the army to make its own moves.;    Kucan all but ruled out the chances of negotiating the return of Slovenia to Yugoslavia.;    'No way back';  \"There is no way back from Slovenian independence,\" he told reporters in Ljubljana. \"I cannot foresee Slovenia becoming a part of Yugoslavia in a democratic way. The only possibility in this connection is her forced annexation.\";    The Yugoslav army appeared to be beefing up its military presence in Slovenia, sending additional tanks across Croatia toward Slovenia and dispatching two warships from Split, in Croatia, to the port of Koper, in Slovenia. The Slovenian defense forces continued efforts to recapture border posts and said they had several under their control.;    Casualties mount;  At least 40 people were killed in the first two days of fighting in Slovenia, including 20 federal army soldiers, four Slovenian fighters and 12 civilians, said Janez Jansa, the Slovenian defense minister. He estimated that the toll might actually be twice as high.;    Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, was an armed camp, where armed civilians and territorial guards stopped people at random and demanded identification cards. Driving across the republic, which is about the size of Maryland, was difficult because of checkpoints by territorial guards, barricades of trucks or the wrecks of Slovenian vehicles destroyed by Yugoslav government tanks.;    Croatia digs in;  The situation also seemed to be deteriorating in Croatia, which announced that it was halting all contributions to the central government and would send no more recruits to the federal army.;    In Zagreb, the Croatian capital, federal military aircraft flew low, and federal garrisons stood on full alert. Croatian peasants, fearing a surprise attack, reportedly hid in the woods near the Slovenian border 50 miles north of the capital.;    Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said his republic was not hoping for a fight but was ready if need be. \"We do not want to cut all links with other republics,\" he said. \"But if we are attacked, we will respond.\";    Austria and Hungary sent armored units to the Slovenian border, describing the action as precautionary.;    The crisis evoked further expressions of anguish from foreign leaders, and for the first time a high-placed U.S. official hinted that the administration may be weighing the possibility of recognizing Croatia and Slovenia. \"The president and the secretary (of state) have never said 'never,' \" Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger said in a television interview.;    The State Department said Saturday that U.S. dependents at its consulate in Zagreb, Croatia's capital, were being allowed to leave Yugoslavia. The only other U.S. diplomatic post in Yugoslavia is in Belgrade, the federal capital.;    The State Department made the announcement a day after urging Americans in Slovenia and Croatia to leave as soon as they could and suggesting that Americans defer non-essential travel to Yugoslavia until the tensions subside.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "federal troops;croatia;serbia;slovenian defense forces;yugoslav army;breakaway republics;western-brokered cease-fire;slovenian fears;yugoslav republic;independence declarations;federal army operations;slovenia;slovenian independence"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06184003", "title": "BUSH PICKS CONSERVATIVE BLACK TO FILL MARSHALL'S SHOES ON COURT", "abstract": "But Thomas, who has risen in Republican ranks as an advocate of bootstrap conservatism, would present a striking change from Marshall, a civil-rights pioneer and an anchor of the court's declining liberal faction.;    Thomas, barely half the age of the man whose seat he was named to fill, came of age in the world that Marshall helped create.;    Now the question is to what extent Thomas would add weight to the court's new majority that appears willing to dismantle important parts of the legacy that Marshall helped to build.; While not much is known about Thomas' views on most issues likely to come before the court, he has made clear his opposition to affirmative action and to policies that can be viewed as incorporating quotas or racial preferences.; Opposes affirmative action;  In his year as a federal appeals court judge, he has not ruled on affirmative action, but he has long been outspoken in taking the position that government affirmative-action programs are not only unwise but unconstitutional.;    However, in other respects, this nomination is very much a wild card both for conservatives who jumped instantly to embrace it and for liberals whose responses ranged from cautious to hostile.; His views on other major issues before the court, including abortion, church-state relations and the definition of constitutional due process, are unknown. Those views may well remain unknown through a confirmation process that may be contentious but that in the end is not likely to derail the nomination.;    Studied for priesthood;  Thomas attended Roman Catholic schools through college and studied for the priesthood. Although the Catholic Church vigorously opposes abortion, Thomas has apparently never taken a public position on abortion or on the dimensions of the constitutional right to privacy, on which the right to abortion was based.;    His position on affirmative action is probably sufficient to shift the court's direction since the court remains closely divided.;    \"My opposition to preferences and quotas not only is a constitutional, legal opposition, it has been a moral, ethical opposition,\" he said five years ago at a conference sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.;    In its most recent affirmative-action decision, a year ago, the court split 5-4 in upholding a Federal Communications Commission policy that gives preference to blacks and members of other minorities in acquiring some radio and television licenses.; Justice William Brennan wrote that decision a few weeks before he retired from the court. Marshall joined it. The views of Justice David Souter, Brennan's successor, remain largely unknown.;    Views on big issues unknown; Thomas' views on the other major issues remain unknown, although the 1990 confirmation hearing for his seat on the Court of Appeals was widely viewed on Capitol Hill and in ideological interest groups as a rehearsal for a Supreme Court nomination.;    Some Democratic senators said at the time and again Monday that their votes to confirm him for the appeals court should not be taken as endorsements for the Supreme Court.;    Three years ago, the Senate denied confirmation to Judge Robert Bork despite having voted to confirm him only a few years earlier to the same court on which Thomas now sits.; Leaders of abortion rights groups said Monday that they would press the Senate to deny confirmation to Thomas unless he expresses his support for the Supreme Court's abortion precedents, including continued adherence to Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion.; Abortion faction speaks out;  \"The Souter model of silence and evasion that we saw last year is absolutely unacceptable,\" said Kate Michelman, executive director of the National Abortion Rights Action League.;    Her reference was to Souter's confirmation hearing last September, during which the nominee gracefully but firmly deflected questions on abortion.;    Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, an Ohio Democrat who serves on the Judiciary Committee, endorsed Michelman's position.;    \"I'm through reading tea leaves and voting in the dark,\" he said.;    But the Judiciary Committee includes some of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate as well several combative Republican conservatives. If Thomas maintains his silence, his nomination is unlikely to founder on the abortion issue alone.;    Rights groups cautious;  Civil rights groups took a cautious tone Monday, essentially noting \"concerns\" and saying they would study the record.;    \"We urge the Senate not to rush to judgment,\" said a statement from a Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, an umbrella group of 185 organizations that took an early and leading role in the defeat of the Bork nomination.;    Introducing his nominee to the country at a televised news conference Monday, Bush drew on the powerful appeal of Thomas' life story as a self-motivated and self-made success.;    \"Judge Thomas' life is a model for all Americans,\" Bush said.;    At his side stood a black man who was 5 years old when Marshall won his Supreme Court argument in Brown vs. the Board of Education and who was a college freshman when Marshall joined the Supreme Court.;    That was a generation ago, when the court was still rewriting the ground rules by which Americans were to live their lives. Well before Bush presented Thomas to the country Monday, it was clear that that chapter in the court's history is largely closed and that a new page was about to be turned. After Monday's nomination, some -- but by no means all -- of the blanks on that page have been filled in.; CLARENCE THOMAS; Born: June 23, 1948, in Pinpoint, Ga.; Education: B.A. from Holy Cross College, 1971; J.D. from Yale Law School, 1974.; Career:; (box) 1974-'77: assistant attorney general, state of Missouri; (box) 1977-'79: attorney, Monsanto Co.; (box) 1979-'81: legislative assistant to Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo.; (box) 1981-'82: assistant secretary for civil rights, Education Department; (box) 1982-'90: chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; (box) 1990-: U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for District of Columbia; Source: Who's Who Among Black Americans; WHAT'S NEXT?; Now that President Bush has nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, the next step is up to the Senate.; (box)The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to begin confirmation hearings in September, after the August recess.; (box)After the committee makes a recommendation, the nomination will be voted on by the full Senate.; (box)If confirmed promptly, Thomas could be on the Supreme Court by the time it begins hearing cases in October.;    Source: Mercury News Wire Services", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "thurgood marshall;nomination;clarence thomas;racial preferences;second black;affirmative action;supreme court"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06184021", "title": "GRANDPARENTS MOLDED JUDGE NOMINEE GOES FROM POVERTY TO HIGH COURT", "abstract": "Thomas and his brother made it in the white world. Their sister, reared by an aunt, had four children and went on welfare.;    Thomas, 43, credits everything he has achieved to his grandparents. He choked up twice on national television Monday when he mentioned them. In a hostile world, they taught him to rely on himself. They shaped his views on individualism, race and society, views that guide him today.;    \"I was raised to survive under the totalitarianism of segregation,\" Thomas wrote in a paper for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy institute in Washington. \"We were raised to survive in spite of the dark, oppressive cloud of governmentally sanctioned bigotry.;    Self-sufficiency, security;  \"Self-sufficiency and spiritual and emotional security were our tools to carve out and secure freedom,\" he added. \"Those who attempt to capture the daily counseling, oversight, common sense and vision of my grandparents in a governmental program are engaging in sheer folly.\";    The very beliefs that have brought Thomas to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court make him suspect to black political activists, veterans of the struggle to make government accountable for the wrongs done to blacks.;    Yet as Washington Post journalist Juan Williams has pointed out, Thomas is firmly grounded in the black intellectual tradition of Booker T. Washington, who advocated education, self-reliance and mutual support as the principal means of advancement.;    Clarence Thomas was born June 23, 1948, in Pinpoint, Ga., a town in the marshes near Savannah. His mother, Leola, 18 at the time, lived in a house that had no plumbing.; Before Thomas' second birthday, his father moved to the North and left the family behind. His mother remarried, and her second husband did not want the children of her first marriage.;    Taken in by grandparents;  At age 7, Thomas was sent to live with his grandparents. His grandfather, Myers Anderson, had little formal schooling. But life had taught him a lot.;    \"He could barely read and write -- read enough to read the Bible,\" Thomas said in a 1983 interview with the Washington Post. \"But he was a tough old man.\"; He elaborated in the Heritage Foundation paper: \"Of course, I thought my grandparents were too rigid and their expectations were too high. I also thought they were mean at times. . . . The most compassionate thing they did for us was teach us how to fend for ourselves in a hostile environment.\"; But the world that lay beyond the confines of poverty and segregation was not totally closed to Thomas. His grandfather, a Catholic, enrolled him in an all-black school run by the church. On Monday, Thomas also made sure to thank \"the nuns.\";    As a young man, he wanted to become a priest. In 1967, he was accepted at the all-white Immaculate Conception Seminary in Conception Junction, Mo. He was in for a shock. Other seminarians referred to him as the \"black spot on a white horse.\" Disgusted, he left at the end of his first year.;    Flirts with 'black power';  Thomas went on to attend Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass. In the 1960s, he flirted with the politics of \"black power\" and considered himself a follower of Malcolm X. But his true interest was in the law. He received his law degree from Yale University in 1974.;    As a young lawyer, Thomas worked in the office of Missouri Attorney General John C. Danforth. He later joined Monsanto Co.;    Thomas' introduction to Washington came in 1979. By then, Danforth was a Republican senator. Thomas, a former Democrat, joined his staff as a legislative assistant.;    In 1982, after a year as assistant education secretary for civil rights, Thomas was named by President Reagan to lead the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.;    His tenure at the commission, which investigates discrimination complaints, was controversial. Critics said the agency went soft under Thomas. Abandoning support for hiring goals and timetables, Thomas focused on resolving thousands of individual discrimination complaints. He took credit for improving efficiency.;    When President Bush nominated Thomas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, a steppingstone to the Supreme Court, a contentious confirmation process was forecast. But the hearings went smoothly, perhaps because Thomas was never among the Reagan administration's most outspoken critics of civil rights. He took his seat on the appeals court in March 1990.;    Thomas, who lives in suburban Virginia, is married and has a son.;    \"In my view,\" he said of his life Monday, \"only in America could this have been possible.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "u.s. supreme court;grandparents;black power;discipline;clarence thomas;hard work"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06184088", "title": "THOMAS FACES TOUGH SCRUTINY DEMOS WANT ANSWERS ON THE DIVISIVE ISSUES", "abstract": "But Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, said the Senate Judiciary Committee, in confirming four justices without learning how they felt about abortion, has \"given them a free ride\" and should be tougher in ferreting out Thomas' views.;    \"The failure to give an answer may cause me and others to be unwilling to vote for his confirmation,\" Metzenbaum said on \"CBS This Morning.\";    Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., noted that Metzenbaum did not press Justice David Souter during confirmation hearings about his position on abortion. \"I do not think it is appropriate to ask a nominee the ultimate question as to how he is going to decide a specific case,\" Specter said.; \"I will not support yet another Reagan-Bush Supreme Court nominee who remains silent on a woman's right to choose, and then ascends to the court to weaken that right,\" said Metzenbaum, the only member of the Judiciary Committee who voted against Thomas' nomination to the Circuit Court of Appeals to the District of Columbia.;    Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said on NBC's \"Today\" show that \"literally nobody nominated for the Supreme Court should give his or her views with regard to cases that might come up in the future.\";    But Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said \"in the past few months alone the Supreme Court is throwing out past decisions, and I think it is legitimate to ask Judge Thomas, what do you think of settled law, like Roe vs. Wade (legitimatizing abortion), what do you think of a woman's right to privacy, free speech issues, issues of freedom of religion.\";    Civil rights groups have opposed Thomas on grounds he was insensitive to the concerns of minorities and the elderly as chairman of the federal Equal Employment Opportunities Commission in the 1980s.; \"The fact that he is an African-American should not be a basis for avoiding very careful scrutiny of his civil rights record,\" said Julius L. Chambers, director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.;    While some Democrats immediately blasted the nomination, the party's biggest guns held their fire.;    Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del.; Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine; and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., all promised a thorough review of the nomination.;    Confirmation hearings are expected to begin after Congress' August recess.;    Thomas, 43, would strengthen the 6-3 conservative majority on the nine member court. An unabashed conservative, he would succeed the court's leading liberal -- and first and only black justice.;    Bush rejected suggestions that he chose Thomas because he wanted to keep a black in that seat.;    \"I kept my word to the American people and to the Senate by picking the best man for the job on the merits. And the fact he's minority, so much the better,\" Bush said at a news conference outside his vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine.; Potential opponents of the nominee promised in their statements to ignore Thomas' race when they examine his record.;    \"The background of Judge Clarence Thomas is less important than his views and what they mean to protecting our constitutional rights,\" said Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill.;    When head of the EEOC during the Reagan administration, Thomas \"seemed to go out of his way to find ways to weaken some of the basic civil rights protections,\" said Simon, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.;    On a number of occasions Thomas has expressed objections to racial quotas. In a 1985 statement, Thomas said, \"Federal enforcement agencies . . . turned the statutes on their heads by requiring discrimination in the form of hiring and promotion quotas, so-called goals and timetables.\";    In a 1987 article for the Yale Law & Policy Review he referred to affirmative action as \"social engineering.\";    \"I don't want my vote to contribute to an increasingly large and conservative anti-choice majority on the Supreme Court,\" said Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif.;    Thomas said he looked forward to the confirmation process \"and to be an example to those who are where I was, and to show them that, indeed, there is hope.\";    Thomas declined to answer questions about his legal views until his hearings.; WHAT'S NEXT?; Now that President Bush has nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, the next step is up to the Senate.; (box)The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to begin confirmation hearings in September, after the August recess.; (box)After the committee makes a recommendation, the nomination will be voted on by the full Senate.; (box)If confirmed promptly, Thomas could be on the Supreme Court by the time it begins hearing cases in October.;    Source: Mercury News Wire Services; CLARENCE THOMAS; Born: June 23, 1948, in Pinpoint, Ga.; Education: B.A. from Holy Cross College, 1971; J.D. from Yale Law School, 1974.; Career:; (box) 1974-'77: assistant attorney general, state of Missouri; (box) 1977-'79: attorney, Monsanto Co.; (box) 1979-'81: legislative assistant to Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo.; (box) 1981-'82: assistant secretary for civil rights, Education Department; (box) 1982-'90: chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; (box) 1990-: U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for District of Columbia; Source: Who's Who Among Black Americans", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "conservative majority;circuit court;black justice;columbia;clarence thomas;supreme court nomination;senate judiciary committee;confirmation hearings"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06187248", "title": "CLARENCE THOMAS' TRIAL BY FIRE FROM A CRUCIBLE OF POVERTY, A CONSERVATIVE IS FORMED", "abstract": "There, in the segregated black Georgia of four decades past, began the toughening of Clarence Thomas, nominee to the United States Supreme Court.; Abandoned by his father, driven by his hard-eyed grandfather and a band of nuns sent south to teach black children, young Clarence learned sharecropping and scholarship, hard labor and the Latin mass, and how to survive the walk home through black Savannah in his Catholic school uniform.;    From these roots, he might have become one of any number of bright, activist black men to rise out of Southern poverty and press a politically aggressive liberal agenda of civil rights and affirmative action -- as did men like Thurgood Marshall, the retiring justice whose Supreme Court seat Thomas might take.;    Instead, Thomas, now 43, became something else -- a hybrid product of harsh Southern history and baby-boom ambition, a proponent of personal strength over dependence, of individualism over government activism.;    By the time he arrived in Washington with the Reagan administration, he had developed into a rare breed -- a black conservative so impressive to Republican presidents that he was set on the road to the highest court in the land. But he was so disturbing to traditional liberals that they are eager to deprive him of Senate confirmation in September.;    Historically, trying to predict Supreme Court nominees has been extremely risky. Still, many liberals are convinced that Thomas' past clearly shows his future. He would, they say, oppose abortion rights, school busing plans and affirmative action programs. He would also weaken the wall separating government and religion and further restrict the rights of criminal suspects and defendants.;    Not surprisingly, Thomas' many friends and supporters draw different conclusions. They see him as an independent spirit, a probable centrist on a court that has been steering rightward for several years.;    The Georgia beginning;  But any attempt to understand the potential successor to the revered Thurgood Marshall must begin in Georgia.;    There, just the other day, Leola Williams, Thomas' mother, talked about how the force of family worked on her son:;    \"Clarence was surrounded by all our older parents. He saw how our family and other people struggled to make a living.;    \"I guess Clarence wanted to prove to himself he could be what he wanted to be -- and prove to his grandfather he could be the kind of person (his grandfather) wanted him to be.\";    The grandfather, the late Myers Anderson, began training Thomas in earnest when the boy was 9 and Leola Williams' life suddenly began coming apart. Her house off Pin Point Avenue had gone up in smoke, and some months later, her husband went north to Philadelphia, leaving her with two young children and a third on the way.; Williams took her daughter, Emma Mae, and moved in with an aunt while she awaited the birth of her second son, Myers. Clarence went to live with his grandparents in Savannah, to help with Anderson's year-round oil and ice delivery business.;    His grandfather proved to be a profound force in Thomas' life -- a mentor, a role model, an unrelenting taskmaster and the embodiment of a personal philosophy that Thomas once recalled this way:; \"He used to tell me that there was no problem that elbow grease couldn't solve. Then he'd say, 'Old Man Can't is dead. I helped bury him.' \";    When Anderson wasn't coaching Thomas, in his farm fields or on his delivery truck, he made sure the lessons continued, in the hands of the Franciscan nuns of all-black St. Benedict the Moor School.;    Thomas, who had experienced racial mistreatment by white seminarians in Georgia, ultimately rejected seminary life. He has identified an episode at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Conception, Mo., in 1968 as the final humiliation. He said he heard a seminarian there react to the shooting of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by saying, \"Good, I hope the son of a bitch dies.\";    Thomas left the seminary and went north to enroll at Holy Cross College in the gritty New England factory city of Worcester, Mass.;    A Southerner in New England;  The Southern farm boy was forced to endure not only the harsh winters of New England, but also the chilly atmosphere of a white college just beginning to widen opportunities for blacks.;    Within days of King's assassination, the school created a scholarship fund named after the civil-rights leader and stepped up the recruiting of blacks. And so Thomas, who was driven from the Missouri seminary by racism, became one of the beneficiaries of an effort to combat it.;    Thomas, who paid for his college education with loans, jobs and the newly raised scholarship funds, soon was drawn into the turbulence of Vietnam War and \"black power\" politics.;    He helped found a Black Student Union, writing and typing its constitution. In December 1969, he and other black students resigned to protest the suspensions of black students who had blocked a General Electric recruiter on campus. Stung, school officials granted a blanket amnesty and the students returned.;    Thomas went on to run track and write for the campus newspaper. He graduated from Holy Cross with honors and left for Yale University Law School in New Haven, Conn.; Freewheeling liberalism;  \"He came into law school espousing liberal views from his freewheeling, unattached undergraduate days,\" said Harry Singleton, a black classmate, close friend and a former civil rights official in the Reagan Education Department.;    \"But he became more conservative as he went through the process of legal education.\";    Yale law students, Singleton explained, were exposed to conservative law professors with powerful minds.;    \"I used to discuss conservative ideas with Clarence and he was interested in them,\" Singleton said. \"They were about the dangers of big government trying to solve all the ills of society and how every time you do that you take away from the liberties of the people.\";    But it was Thomas Sowell, the conservative black economist now at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, whose work came to grip Thomas' mind.;    Shortly after his arrival at Yale, Thomas remembered when someone gave him one of Sowell's books and \"I threw it in the trash\" because \"it really went against all the things we'd been indoctrinated to believe about the radical movement and the peace movement.\";    But after law school, Thomas rediscovered one of Sowell's books. Sowell's provocative 1983 work, \"The Economics and Politics of Race,\" was \"manna from heaven,\" Thomas said.;    In that book, Sowell, arguing from a laissez-faire perspective, endorsed the notion that blacks would benefit more from pursuing economic achievement than political agitation.;    From Yale to Washington;  Thomas, always a top student, was recruited out of Yale in 1974 by John Danforth, R-Mo., then Missouri attorney general, a Yale trustee and a frequent campus visitor. Danforth brought Thomas to Jefferson City, Mo., to work in the attorney general's office.;    When Danforth became a U.S. senator in 1977, Thomas stayed in St. Louis to work as an assistant counsel for the Monsanto Corp., then in 1979 joined Danforth in Washington as a legislative aide.; Reagan administration officials were so impressed by Thomas and his new conservative leanings that they appointed him assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education. In 1982, they promoted him to the more visible post of chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. There controversy dogged him for the next eight years.;    Congress learned in 1989 that the EEOC under Thomas' direction had permitted more than 13,000 age discrimination claims to lapse.;    Civil-rights groups accused Thomas of failing to enforce other anti-discrimination laws as well, and of retaliating against employees who disagreed with his policies.;    Thomas concentrated on winning relief for victims of actual discrimination. He steered away from lawsuits based on statistical evidence and remedies that included timetables for future hiring.;    But he was unwilling to go along with more strident voices in the Reagan administration who opposed most legal remedies for discrimination, so he often felt isolated from both the administration and the civil rights establishment.;    Several years ago, a top Reagan domestic adviser who wanted his coffee cup refilled at a black-tie dinner looked up and spotted a black man in a tuxedo hovering near the table. Holding the cup aloft, the official asked for more coffee. The black man reached past the cup to shake hands and said evenly: \"Perhaps we haven't met. I'm Clarence Thomas.\";", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "supreme court nominees;u.s. court;black conservative;thomas sowell;clarence thomas;hard-eyed grandfather;affirmative action programs;senate confirmation"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06189077", "title": "SKY-WATCHERS CHASING A SHADOW HAWAIIAN, MEXICAN ECLIPSE ZONES BRACE FOR ASTRONOMICAL CROWDS", "abstract": "While Angel and his followers meditate to prepare for their journey, French New Age musician Jean-Michel Jarre is coordinating an elaborate sound-and-light show to play at the foot of the pyramids in Teotihuacan, north of the capital.;    Also on E-day, July 11, crowded cruise ships will linger off Mexico's Pacific Coast, and thousands of U.S. tourists will drive south into Baja California, which, usually boasting clear skies, is being billed as the world's most promising site from which to view nature's own light show.; Eclipse fans from Japan to New York to the Netherlands are expected in droves, but Californians -- because of their proximity to Baja and propensity for mystical phenomena -- should be conspicuous.;    However, the chic hot spot for eclipse watchers won't be Mexico, but the big island of Hawaii, where the 18,000 tourists who would be there anyway to enjoy the sunshine will be joined by an additional 30,000 or more coming to watch the sun go out for four minutes.;    Even more people might be there for the show, but for the lack of seats on flights to the island. Most visitors will be funneled in through the relatively small airport at Kailua.;    Airlines are adding scores of flights to ferry thousands of people from neighboring islands in the hours just before the eclipse.;    Car rental companies have shipped in 3,000 or so extra cars.; More than one caller from the mainland has asked the visitors' bureau whether the island is in danger of tipping over under the tourists' weight.; But Mexico will host the biggest share of travelers, partly because of its easy access from the United States and partly since the eclipse will last longest here: up to seven minutes, which is three more minutes than the maximum length in Hawaii. This will also be the longest-lasting total eclipse until 2132, according to Alan Dyer, an associate editor at Astronomy magazine.;    The midday eclipse will consist of a 160-mile wide lunar shadow speeding at up to 5,000 miles per hour along the Earth's surface.;    While many Mexicans are looking forward to the event, some are quietly taking precautions. In pre-Colombian times, eclipses were viewed as bad omens by the sun-worshiping Aztecs.;    In the capital's Sonora market, specializing in magic, vendors have stocked up on garlic bulbs tied with red ribbon, which they hawk as protection from \"the bad vibrations of the eclipse.\" A thriving trade is also taking place in magnets, for those with low blood pressure to carry in their pockets on July 11, and old copper coins for pregnant women to place as charms in their belly buttons.;    As in Hawaii, Mexico could probably use some otherworldly intervention to cope with the scores of thousands of tourists who have already started arriving.;    In the southern half of the Baja Peninsula, some hotels have had rooms reserved for more than a year. All are now booked up, and authorities fear competition at campsites.; \"We're worried that Californians will drive down on the spur of the moment, without taking water or fuel,\" said Marivi Lerdo, who promotes tourism to Mexico in New York.;    Although Hawaii's isolation will limit the size of the crowds, locals are still predicting problems. \"By God, there's just one road on this island,\" a circle route that often narrows to two lanes, one shop owner said. \"It's going to be total insanity.\";    \"We're worrying that we won't have enough alcohol and food on the island,\" said the manager of a local restaurant and disco called The Eclipse, named by coincidence 10 years ago.; While authorities fret over infrastructure capacity, many Californians are preparing to revel in a New Age wonderland.;    \"These are people who have never, ever, missed a single episode of 'Star Trek,' \" said Ken Stewart, who is planning to lead a caravan of 50 enthusiasts from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, on the south tip of Baja.;    Mexico's government is heavily involved in eclipse planning, having formed an Intersecretarial Commission for the Eclipse, which, among other things, is supposed to oversee production of as many as 60 million protective lenses. Newspapers here are carrying frequent reminders not to stare directly at the sun.;    During the eclipse, the mystic and the scientific will not be far apart.;    At six observatories atop Hawaii's Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano that is the highest peak in the Pacific, solar researchers will turn their telescopes on the sun's outer atmosphere as the moon covers the rest of the star.;    Twenty miles downhill, at The Crystal Grotto in Honomu, Wendy Gilliam is selling pouches of three stones called corona crystals and advising people to \"expose them to the energy\" during the eclipse. \"As the moon passes over the sun, there are certain power vortexes here that are going to be opened up and awakened,\" she said.; DON'T LOOK DIRECTLY AT IT; (box) If you want to watch the moon's progress across the sun: Don't look at it. Staring at the sun during a partial eclipse could quickly -- without your feeling a thing -- burn into your retina a permanent image of the crescent sun, causing severe and permanent vision loss.;    (box) It's safest to watch the eclipse indirectly by projecting the sun's image through a pinhole and onto a sheet of white paper.;    (box) Other safe methods: (check) Pieces of arc-welders' glass labeled  14 and available at welding supply stores. Most welders' goggles are not suitable protection. (check) Two or three layers of Mylar plastic heavily coated with aluminum. Some stores are selling \"eclipse glasses\" made with this material.; COMING TUESDAY IN SCIENCE & MEDICINE;    (box) All the details about Thursday's eclipse, one of nature's most stunning events.;    (box) How to watch it, including directions for a pinhole projector.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "mexico;sun;tourism;hawaii;total eclipse;visitors;eye damage;eclipse fans"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06191081", "title": "L.A. PANEL LETS GATES OFF RACISM, NOT CHIEF, IS FOCUS", "abstract": "A source speaking on the condition of anonymity said the panel report did not focus on Gates -- who said he would resign if the commission agreed with his critics that he created a climate within the department that condoned racism and brutality.;    The report \"deals with management issues, not directly with the chief of police,\" the source said.;    Commission members and others who had seen the report declined comment Monday. Gates also wouldn't comment.;    Mayor Tom Bradley, who has asked Gates to step down, said through a spokesman he believed the report focused on police management, excessive force and civilian control.;    Sources familiar with testimony and evidence presented to the panel told the Los Angeles Times that a number of racially derogatory messages sent on police car computer terminals have been cataloged.;    One message, for which no context was provided, read: \"It's monkey slapping time.\";    The commission examined 90,000 pages of computer messages and found examples of racially and sexually \"offensive\" remarks scattered throughout. In one section encompassing several thousand messages, 260 such remarks were discovered, one source said.;    In the days after the March 3 nightstick beating of Rodney G. King, the Police Department released transcripts of computer messages that one of the officers at the scene sent to a another officer. The transcripts contained a reference to an earlier incident involving black people, using the phrase \"gorillas in the mist.\"; At the same time, secret testimony by as many as a dozen black police officers told of numerous instances of racial harassment within the ranks and the existence of a double standard in the treatment of minority suspects.;    In one instance, officers said they found racial epithets spray-painted on the lockers inside police stations and concluded that other officers had put them there. In another, an officer testified behind closed doors that he was present when a caravan of patrol cars raced through a housing project with \"Ride of the Valkyries\" blaring from loudspeakers -- a scene reminiscent of the movie \"Apocalypse Now.\";    The officers testified before the commission after being assured that their identities would be kept confidential.;    The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups called for Gates to resign after the March 3 incident in which white police officers repeatedly struck King with batons, kicked him and shocked him with a stun gun after pulling him over for speeding. King, 26, is black.;    A bystander's videotape of the beating prompted a federal investigation of police brutality. Four officers were charged in the case.;    The commission, appointed by Gates and Bradley, held five public hearings, interviewed city leaders and reviewed more than 1 million pages of documents during its three-month investigation. It was headed by former Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher.;    Gates was appointed by the Police Commission and cannot be fired by the mayor. The Police Commission consists of five civilians appointed by the mayor.;    The chief has civil-service protection and can be removed only by the Police Commission for misconduct.;    Geoffrey Taylor Gibbs, who sits on the board of John M. Langston Bar Association, which represents about 900 African American lawyers, said black and Latino neighborhoods are depending on the commission to confirm their view that the white, male-dominated Police Department has subjected them to years of brutality and ignored their complaints.;    \"People are looking to the commission,\" said Gibbs. \"If they don't say this is a problem, then all of their recommendations won't mean a thing.\";    But Ramona Ripston, head of the Los Angeles ACLU, said it does not matter whether the report names Gates.;    \"If they find a series of things the matter with the department,\" she said, \"don't you think it's going to point a finger at Gates whether they name him or not?\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "investigation;racism;white police officers;excessive force;minority suspects;police brutality"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06191174", "title": "LIGHTS OUT! ECLIPSE WILL DIM DAYLIGHT HERE, LEAVE OTHERS IN THE DARK", "abstract": "\"It's maybe the greatest natural occurrence one can witness,\" said Larry Toy, a Chabot College astronomy professor. \"The phenomenon is just awe-inspiring.\";    Solar eclipses occur twice a year, when the sun, moon and earth line up. (This line-up would occur at every new moon, except that the moon's orbit is tilted so it only crosses the sun's path every six months.); Because of variations in the moon's orbit, fewer than a third of the solar eclipses are total eclipses. In these cases the moon's shadow, up to 200 miles wide on the earth's surface, races west to east along the ground at 1,000 to 5,000 miles per hour for a few thousand miles.;    Most total eclipses get little public attention. They occur over water, over the poles or in difficult-to-reach terrain. On average, any point on Earth is eclipsed just once every 360 years.;    But when the shadow's narrow path does cross inhabited areas, people flock there to experience \"totality\" -- to watch the light snap off and the stars snap on, and to gaze at the sun's shaggy corona hanging in the dark sky for a few minutes before daylight abruptly returns.; In the United States, the opportunity has come twice in the past couple of decades -- along the East Coast in 1970 and across the Northwest and Northern Plains in 1979.;    This Thursday the moon's shadow will be back for another performance, one of the century's best.;    It's unusual for several reasons. At its peak, observers will see one of the longest-lasting eclipses this century -- six minutes, 53 seconds. Also, its 150-mile-wide path across Hawaii, Baja California, Mexico City and four Central American capital cities \"puts more people in the moon's shadow than any other eclipse in history,\" says Alan Dyer, an editor of Astronomy magazine.;    Finally, since the center of the shadow will pass right across the world's largest cluster of astronomical observatories, the audience will include several dozen solar scientists intent on getting the best view they've ever had.;    \"It's going to be great from up there on the mountain,\" said Harold Zirin, a California Institute of Technology astronomer who will be at one of the observatories atop Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano that makes up a large piece of the island of Hawaii.;    Historic events;  For science, two eclipses have proved especially historic: In 1868, spectroscopic study of the sun's halo turned up evidence of a new element, which was named helium, from Helios, the Greek sun god. And in 1919, astronomers spotted a star, which should have been behind the sun, instead peeking around the edge of the sun. That was the first confirmation of Albert Einstein's prediction that a star's gravity will bend the path of light.;    But in recent years solar eclipses have declined in significance for researchers.;    For one thing, chasing eclipses by trekking to remote regions with delicate astronomical instruments to capture a few minutes of data has lost much of its glamour, especially in times of tight budgets.; For another, some of the information now can be gathered any day of the year by using instruments that simulate a solar eclipse.;    But this time, the eclipse is coming to them, and they can't resist a look. At 13,800 feet, Mauna Kea is the world's tallest island mountain. The air above it is still, dry and clean, making it one of the world's choicest spots for viewing the cosmos.; It's so high that oxygen deprivation is a serious concern. And, unlike most people headed for Hawaii, astronomers will be packing long underwear and down jackets in case, as sometimes happens even in July, the temperature at the summit drops below freezing.;    7 observatories in use;  Seven of the nine observatories atop Mauna Kea will be used Thursday morning. (The Keck Observatory, being built by the University of California and the California Institute of Technology, is behind its original construction schedule and will not be completed in time for the eclipse.);    What they want to know is more about the temperature and composition of the sun's upper atmosphere -- layers called the chromosphere and the corona -- which normally is difficult to examine against the glare of the sun.;    They hope the information will provide clues to what causes the sun's 11-year cycle of sunspots and flares (now near its peak), what propels the solar wind and why the sun's outer atmosphere is, paradoxically, so much hotter than its lower atmosphere.; Solar wind studies;  At some observatories, astronomers will take repeated photographs of the corona during the eclipse to study it close up and to watch for material accelerating outward to become solar wind.;    Others will use telescopes to study the sun's emissions at microwave frequencies to learn more details about how its temperature varies with altitude.;    But, frankly, the astronomers also want to watch the lights go out.;    They'll be fighting the temptation to abandon their instruments and go outside to watch.;    \"The biggest problem,\" Zirin said, \"is whether we're going to see the eclipse.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "total eclipses;solar eclipses;shadow;sun;eclipse studies;hawaii;solar scientists;mexico city"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06192123", "title": "AND HERE'S HOW YOU LOOK ECLIPSE WATCHERS SCRAMBLE FOR THEIR PLACE IN THE SHADOW", "abstract": "Sure, he'll be able to see Thursday's solar eclipse. But, oh, if only he and the hundreds of other customers could see themselves in the mirror, looking like an audience for a 3-D horror flick.;    It appears from the way people in the Golden State have been acting these days that they have been in the sun too long. Actually, they can't wait to get into the shadow. Millions of Californians will pause Thursday morning to join in an international ritual: watching the longest-lasting solar eclipse until 2132.;    \"What other natural phenomenon can you be involved in and not get killed?\" said Bert Beecher, spokesman for the Minolta Planetarium at De Anza College. \"It's a lot safer than being in a volcano.\";    Eyeshades a hot item;  Bay Area people Tuesday were desperately seeking eyeshades. It took 24 hours for Orion Telescope in Cupertino to sell its stock of 900 Eclipse Viewers, which are made with Mylar plastic lenses and supposedly safe for eclipse viewing. Welding supply stores were inundated with calls for welder's glasses made with the same plastic.;    Local planetariums and observatories were deluged with requests from people wanting to attend solar viewing sessions, even though the Bay Area will be privy only to a partial eclipse -- 63 percent coverage of the sun by the moon from 10:10 a.m. to 12:34 p.m.;    Some Bay Area \"umbraphiles\" -- lovers of the shadow -- were leaving few details to chance.;    Flights heavily booked;  Flights from here to Mexico and Hawaii -- where the eclipse can be seen in total -- were heavily booked by sunstruck people spending thousands of dollars to stand in 6 minutes, 53 seconds of darkness.;    Scott Wiener, a computer company executive from Saratoga, is flying with two buddies to Baja, where thousands will toast the corona with Coronas.;    \"I figure we'll get there in time to see the eclipse from a cab,\" said Wiener, who stood in line at the telescope store Tuesday for the Eclipse Viewers. \"We'll put on the glasses and stick our heads out the window.;    \"I figure it's worth it. I don't know if I'll be around for the next one in 150 years.\"; WHERE TO WATCH; Here are places to view Thursday's solar eclipse:; (box)The San Jose Astronomical Association will set up special telescopes at Branham Lane Park, near the intersection of Branham and Camden Avenue, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For information, call the association's recorded message at (408) 997-3347.; (box)In Berkeley, the Lawrence Hall of Science will offer safe viewing. For information, call (415) 642-5133.; (box)At Foothill College, the Foothill Observatory will be open for public viewing. For information call (415) 949-7334.; (box)In Cupertino, viewing will be offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Orion Telescope Center store at 10555 S. De Anza Blvd. Call (408) 255-8770 for information.; (box)California State University, Hayward is hosting a \"Safe Solar Eclipse\" viewing from 10 a.m. to noon in front of the Student Union. The Society of Physics Students will set up several 6-inch telescopes, and a video camera will record the eclipse for viewing on television. For information, call Kenton White or Charlie Harper at the physics department, (415) 881-3401.; (box)In Santa Cruz, a telescope will be set up in front of the Orion Telescope Center at 2450 17th Ave., and at the Seabright Brewery, 519 Seabright Ave. For information, call (408) 464-0465.; Source: Mercury News", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "mexico;californians;total eclipse;hawaii;partial eclipse;solar eclipse;eclipse viewers"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06193081", "title": "LIGHT SHOW 'ECLIPSE OF MILLENNIUM' DAZZLES MILLIONS DESPITE QUIRKS", "abstract": "From Hawaii to Mexico to Central America, more than 40 million people saw the moon obscure so much of the sun that only a blazing ring was visible. In Hawaii, Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in six years, stunning scientists by releasing a dazzling fountain of lava at the height of the eclipse.;    And in the Bay Area, more than half the sun was covered when the eclipse peaked at 11:20 a.m. The world will not see such a long-lasting eclipse for another 151 years.;    Few people who saw it today will forget \"The Big One.\";    \"It looks neat. It looks like someone took a bite out of an apple,\" said Matthew Mauranoh, 8, of Mountain View, who peered through a homemade black box at the Foothill Observatory.;    The view was diminished for many in Hawaii and Mexico, where low cloud cover obscured the celestial display. In the 160-mile-wide swath from Hawaii to Baja to Mexico to Brazil, the morning turned into night -- the only region where the eclipse made the Earth totally dark.;    Clouds obscured eclipse;  As totality arrived at sea level on the Big Island, the sun was hidden by a cloud layer. At the astronomy observatory at the top of 13,800-foot Mauna Kea, high cirrus clouds thwarted three of the 10 scientific experiments.;    It still got dark, but the clouds disappointed about 500 people gathered on the driving range at the Mauna Lani resort in south Kohala. Their hopes had fallen and risen in the previous hour as the clouds came and went.;    \"I came especially for this, and hope we get to see it,\" said Margaret MacLeod, a mathematics and science teacher from Manhattan Beach shortly before the eclipse in Hawaii. \"If we don't get to see it, I may have to go to Iraq for the next one.\";    Because of the clouds, most were unable to see the stages of the eclipse until it got totally dark.;    In the Bay Area, though, mostly sunny skies made eclipse watching a treat, except along the coast, where it was obscured by fog.;    Parks, parking lots, shopping centers, back yards and planetariums became Eclipsefests as the peak approached.;    More than a hundred sun gazers showed up at the Branham Lane Park in south San Jose with almost as many gizmos to help them spot sunspots and watch the moon cross the sun.;    There were funny Mylar glasses, big pinhole cameras, small pinhole cameras, welder's glass, welder's masks, binoculars projecting images onto cardboard and telescopes.;    None was as impressive as Ralph Reeves' interference birefrigent hydrogen alpha filter telescope. All most of us need to know is that it takes electricity (provided by a gas generator) to run. And that you can take pictures of the eclipse through it. That is, if you have film.;    \"I didn't bring any film with me,\" said Reeves, a retired Lockheed instrument builder. \"Isn't that awful?\";    At the Children's Discovery Museum in downtown San Jose, hundreds of youngsters and adults made cardboard telescopes, which projected the eclipse on white cards through a needle hole opening.;    Paul Stonecipher , a discovery museum staff guide, said, \"We wanted to make little theaters for all of the kids to see the eclipse without burning their eyes.\";    Using mirrors, the eclipse also was projected on the exterior walls of the lavendar-colored museum.; Eclipse theme park;  For nearly a week now, Hawaii turned into an eclipse theme park. More than 500 astronomers and tens of thousands of amateurs flocked to the islands to sell nearly everything under the sun.;    Sun-minded entrepreneurs hawked eclipse T-shirts (60 different designs), hats, posters and cookies. There was even an eclipse haircut and, of course, an eclipse drink at the Eclipse restaurant in Kailua-Kona.;    \"Everything is selling pretty well except for the eclipse Frisbees. Nobody wants eclipse Frisbees,\" said \"Wild Bill\" Lawrence, who helped out at Moonshadows, one of many small shops set up to", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "mexico;sun;hawaii;eclipsefests;moon obscure;eclipse"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06193235", "title": "STILL IN THE DARK ABOUT ECLIPSE? HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW", "abstract": "A Although television networks were pushing to have the eclipse in prime time, nature refused to cooperate. In San Jose, the eclipse will begin at 10:10 a.m., peak at 11:20 a.m. and end at 12:34 p.m.; Q What is an eclipse?; A A solar eclipse occurs when the Earth's moon moves into a position to impede the sun's rays.; Q Can I look at the sun?; A No, a thousand times no. You'll burn your retina, causing permanent damage. You shouldn't look at the sun through film negatives, a camera viewfinder or sunglasses, either. So stand under a tree and watch the shadows. Or punch a hole in a piece of paper and look downward at the shadow.; Q Where can I get those goofy eclipse eyeshades?; A Orion Telescope Center in Cupertino has sold out of the special glasses designed for viewing the eclipse safely. A few welding supply stores offer \"Mylar\" glasses. But some astronomers warn that there is no guarantee that even these glasses will prevent eye damage.; Q Where is the best spot to experience the eclipse?; A Contrary to popular belief, you will not get a better sense of the eclipse on a mountaintop or from your roof. The major part of the shadow will fall mostly through Mexico and Hawaii, where it will get totally dark. The Bay Area gets cheated and will see the moon block only about half the sun's diameter.; Q Can I still get to Baja or Hawaii in time?; A Most flights to Baja are booked. And it's too late to make it to Hawaii. So you're missing 2,000 golfers who will play a shadowy round there with balls that glow in the dark.; Q Can overcast skies block the eclipse?; A In most parts of the Bay Area, skies are expected to be sunny. But along the coast, the morning fog is not likely to have cleared. The eclipse will still be visible through the haze, astronomers say, and the shadows there may actually be more interesting than in sunny San Jose. Again, don't stare at the sun, even through fog.; Q Can children go outside?; A As long as they don't look at the sun.; Q Can I sunbathe in the nude during the eclipse?; A As long as you don't open your eyes.; Q When is the next major eclipse?; A In another 151 years. By then, you may be able to shuttle to the moon and watch it from there.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "sun;san jose;shadow;sunglasses;eye damage;eyeshades;mylar glasses;eclipse"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06195131", "title": "CLINIC BLOCKADERS CHARGE BRUTALITY OPERATION RESCUE SAYS ITS CHARGES OF MISTREATMENT BY POLICE HAVE BEEN IGNORED", "abstract": "In mid-June, a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department was settled when police agreed to stop using a martial-arts weapon, nunchakus, while arresting anti-abortion advocates.;    Hundreds have charged that police in more than 50 cities have used excessive force in removing demonstrators intent on closing down abortion facilities. The demonstrators, most associated with Operation Rescue, have charged and testified that police tactics used during the past 2 1/2 years in cities such as Denver, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles have resulted in serious injury and led to sexual abuse against women who have been arrested.;    Operation Rescue, which draws participants largely from conservative Catholic and Protestant circles, is a national movement that organizes demonstrations at abortion facilities. It is the practice of the protesters to go limp when ordered to move but to otherwise offer no resistance to police.;    The persistent complaints and numerous suits against police by Operation Rescue have taken on a new significance in recent months in the wake of the Los Angeles police beating of motorist Rodney King.;    The images of Los Angeles police swinging nightsticks at King as he lay on the ground, played repeatedly on national news programs, were burned into the national conscience and led to widespread calls for investigation of police brutality.;    But government agencies, the press and civil libertarians have reacted quite differently to Operation Rescue videos showing apparent police brutality and to reports of police abuse of hundreds of the activists across the country.;    A videotape of an Operation Rescue demonstration shows a man's arm apparently snapping under the pressure of being lifted in a manner similar to that used on Lynch. Other scenes show police apparently placing fingers into the nostrils of one demonstrator and grabbing the breast of a female protester to force compliance.;    The settlement over police use of nunchakus in Los Angeles, like the videos and photographs showing police using pain compliance techniques on Rescue participants, received little attention from the public, civil rights groups or the press. Some critics say the lack of attention is a sign of a double standard.;    Police, including Assistant Chief Craig Carrucci of West Hartford, deny the claims of brutality. The FBI investigated complaints of misconduct by members of his department, he said, and \"every single case was closed.\";    He called pain compliance \"a valid tool\" used \"in direct proportion to the amount of resistance.\" Even Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., when arrested, cooperated with police and the courts, he said.; Shortly after Rodney King's beating, a news program on ABC illustrating police brutality showed a still photo of police using a martial-arts weapon against a person being arrested, but there was no mention that the episode involved Operation Rescue.;    Similarly, the CBS Evening News reported March 27 \"on various aspects of police brutality\" but did not include examples involving anti-abortion activists, a producer said.;    \"It (police abuse) has not attracted much attention because a lot of people are not sympathetic to Operation Rescue,\" said Dr. James Fyfe, a professor of justice at American University in Washington, D.C.;    Police may also have a predisposition to use excessive force against the anti-abortion activists, said Fyfe, a former New York City policeman. Their tactics -- going limp and in some cases chaining themselves to buildings -- are \"a little more than police are used to dealing with.\";    Dr. Philip Wogaman, professor of Christian social ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.believes the comparison with other kinds of protests breaks down at several points. For instance, he said, civil rights demonstrators normally were picketing to assert their right to eat at a lunch counter or ride on a bus, not closing facilities to deny the rights of others.;    As early as 1989, soon after Operation Rescue began widespread sit-ins to disrupt abortion facilities, William B. Allen, then chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, sounded an alarm. \"I am concerned that anti-abortion protesters are receiving selective prosecution and selectively harsh treatment, unlike that received by other demonstrators for other causes,\" said Allen, who generally opposes abortion.;    Colleen O'Connor, the American Civil Liberties Union's national public education director, and Carol Sobel, the ACLU's senior staff counsel in Los Angeles, said they agree that police have abused Operation Rescue participants. The ACLU is supporting Operation Rescue in some of those situations, they said.; But the civil liberties group is clearly caught between conflicting rights. The ACLU may support some of Operation Rescue's claims of police brutality, but Sobel said it also has won a $110,000 judgment in a case in which the ACLU had obtained an injunction against the anti-abortion group.;    The Civil Rights Commission in 1989, under pressure from some members of Congress, decided against an investigation of alleged police brutality against anti-abortion activists and decided not to ask the Justice Department to investigate.;    A commission spokeswoman said its legal mandate prohibits dealing with abortion issues. Critics of the commission's decision not to investigate say the issue was, and is, police brutality, not abortion.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "civil rights demonstrators;anti-abortion;excessive force;serious injury;police abuse;demonstrations;police brutality"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06212161", "title": "HOW TO MANAGE DIABETES FREE CLINIC FOR HISPANICS WILL FOCUS ON DIET, EXERCISE, MEDICATION", "abstract": "About 7 percent of the general population has diabetes, McNamara said.; Hispanics who have strong American Indian ancestry may be vulnerable to diabetes because about 50 percent of all Indians develop diabetes, McNamara said. Also, the high-fat diet of many Hispanics leads to obesity, which seems to trigger diabetes, McNamara said.;    Eighty percent of Hispanics over 40 who are diagnosed as diabetic are overweight, she said.;    The clinic Saturday will focus on three ways to manage diabetes -- diet, exercise and medication. Participants will learn that traditional dishes can be just as tasty -- but healthier -- when made with unsaturated fats, and that exercise will reduce weight, which in turn will lower the possibility of contracting diabetes.;    \"There is no magic pill to cure diabetes. You have to manage your own diabetes, and we're teaching people how to take care of themselves,\" McNamara said.;    The hospital and the diabetes society are sponsoring neighborhood diabetes programs for Hispanics, which are taught by bilingual instructors.;    The programs, which first began in 1984, are aimed at people who speak only Spanish or people who are more comfortable receiving instruction in that language.;    \"We found that the regular programs that we started years ago were not reaching the monolingual Spanish-speaker,\" McNamara said.;     IF YOU'RE INTERESTED; The diabetes management program for Hispanics will be from 9 a.m. to noon at St. Louise Health Center, 18500 St. Louise Drive, off Cochrane Road in Morgan Hill. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Further information is available from the Diabetes Society of Santa Clara Valley at (408) 287-3785..", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "high-fat diet;hispanics;diabetes management program;exercise;diabetes society;contracting diabetes"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06246065", "title": "THOMAS' FIERCE INDEPENDENCE IS AT HEART OF HIS CONSERVATISM", "abstract": "Yet in a matter of weeks, Thomas goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee as President Bush's nominee to join the increasingly conservative Supreme Court.;   Thomas' dramatic political and philosophical transformation reveals more about the man than does his Horatio Alger journey from rural Southern poverty to Supreme Court nomination. To friends, his is a story of courage, to foes, a story of opportunism.;   Racial anger, protest lyrics; The homespun homilies of his grandfather, the ruler-slapping discipline of the nuns who taught him at a Catholic school in segregated Savannah, Ga., the racial anger in the writings of Richard Wright and Malcolm X, the iconoclastic theories of such academicians as Thomas Sowell and William Barclay Allen, even the protest lyrics of singer-songwriter Nina Simone -- all are parts of the story.;   As glimpsed in dozens of interviews and tens of thousands of pages of documents that Thomas has turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee, these influences helped shape a set of beliefs that are now the subject of bitter controversy.;   Thomas takes immense pride in having staked out an independent course despite suffering what he said was a heavy personal toll in lost friends and public condemnation.;   Black 'intellectual clones'; \"I refuse to submit to the racially derogatory orthodoxy which says that all blacks should share the same opinion on . . . affirmative action, busing or welfare. . . . I believe it is racist to act as though blacks are intellectual clones,\" he said in a 1984 speech to black students at Yale Law School, where he earned his law degree.;   Thomas underscores his role as a minority figure within a minority by repeatedly quoting Robert Frost's poetic recollection: \"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.\";   Even his close friends have trouble explaining why Thomas took a different road.;   As a youth, Clarence Thomas shared the liberal attitudes of many bright young black people who were born into a segregated America and came of age after freedom rides, lunch room sit-ins and the 1964 Civil Rights Act began erasing the overt signs of racial discrimination.;   As a Holy Cross College student in the turbulent 1960s, he joined black protesters, wore a beret and a leather jacket, and decorated his dormitory room with a poster of Malcolm X.;   But Thomas came to see his college years as wrongheaded.;   His rightward shift -- or, by his account, his circling back to conservative values -- began while he was a Yale law student from 1971 to 1974.;   Thomas was admitted while an affirmative action program was in effect, although there is no evidence that he would not have gotten in without it.;   Friend's view; Whatever the reasons -- and his classmates and faculty members at Yale are unable to pinpoint any particular turning points or pivotal events -- Thomas \"became more conservative as he went through the process of legal education,\" said Harry Singleton, a friend.;   By the time Thomas arrived in Jefferson City, Mo., in 1974 to work for John Danforth, now Thomas' chief supporter in the Senate, then the Republican state attorney general, his attitudes were largely formed.;   \"His philosophy by that point was that he felt that this country was affording people opportunities if they were willing to work and that to rely on government was in the nature of servitude,\" said lawyer Harvey Tettlebaum, who worked with Thomas.;   Several years later he captured the attention of the Reagan transition team, which offered a civil rights job to a reluctant Thomas. His friends urged him not to shun a rare opportunity to make policy, and he accepted successive jobs as assistant secretary of education for civil rights and chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.; A colorblind Constitution; In those jobs, Thomas began questioning preferences in jobs and education for racial minorities who had historically suffered discrimination. Later, he began openly opposing such preferences, denouncing the Supreme Court decisions that upheld them and calling for a colorblind Constitution.;   Some critics cynically attribute his ideological metamorphosis to opportunism.;   Thomas, who has declined to be interviewed since his Supreme Court nomination, has not responded. But he has offered an explanation for his political change of heart. In handwritten notes from his files, he recalled telling his Democratic grandparents why he had turned Republican.;   \"You all made me become Republican,\" he told his incredulous grandparents. \"Remember . . . when you told me that it wasn't right to beg as long as I could work and get it myself? . . . Remember when you told me that if I ever amounted to anything it would be by the sweat of MY brow and MY elbow grease?;   \"And remember when you said you would rather starve than have anyone give you something -- as long as you could work for it? . . . Politically, I had no choice: The only party openly standing for those values was the Republican Party.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "political change;thomas sowell;clarence thomas;racial minorities;supreme court nomination;senate judiciary committee;affirmative action program"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06255434", "title": "THOMAS' SPOUSE ALSO IN SPOTLIGHT CRITICS SAY HER VIEWS COULD INFLUENCE CASES", "abstract": "Her critics see her as more than the supportive spouse who'll accompany her husband, Clarence, through his Senate confirmation hearings, which began Tuesday and are likely to run through next week. They see a woman with strong opinions on issues that are bound to come before the court.;   Some women's-rights activists are upset by her lobbying against such issues as comparable-worth legislation. Some religious rights groups are troubled by her anti-cult activities in light of her former involvement with Lifespring, a motivational group.;   Skin color an issue; Even the color of her skin is being used to determine the content of Clarence Thomas's character. The fact that she is white has drawn criticism from some blacks who see the marriage as evidence that Clarence Thomas has rejected his roots.;   In their respective careers, the Thomases have embraced the view that women and minorities are hindered, rather than helped, by affirmative action and government programs. True equality is achieved by holding everyone to the same standard, they believe.;   \"I don't think it's fair to say she's anti-women's rights,\" said Ricky Silberman, vice chairwoman of the EEOC and a friend of the Thomases. She said Virginia Thomas opposed legislation on comparable worth because it would have involved the government in determining wages, which is \"not good for the economy, not good for workers, not good for women.\";   Conservative viewpoint; Virginia Thomas has represented the conservative viewpoint in her jobs as a staffer for a Republican congressman, spokeswoman at the U.S. Chamber of Congress and deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Labor.; Clarence Thomas advocates a colorblind society, and his marriage may be an example of that philosophy. But others see a different symbolism.;   \"His marrying a white woman is a sign of his rejection of the black community,\" said Russell Adams, chairman of Howard University's department of Afro-American studies. \"Great justices have had community roots that served as a basis for understanding the Constitution. Clarence's lack of a sense of community makes his nomination troubling.\";   Religious leaders wonder; Some religious leaders are troubled as well. Dean Kelley, the National Council of Churches' counselor on religious liberty, wrote a critique of Clarence Thomas that was used as grounds for his organization's opposition to the Supreme Court nominee. The author did not mention Virginia Thomas in his text, but has said he was concerned about her involvement in the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), a Chicago-based organization that says it educates the public about \"destructive\" cults. That involvement, he said, might affect her husband's handling of religious-liberty cases if he shares her views on the subject.; During the early '80s, Virginia Thomas enrolled in Lifespring, a self-help course that challenges students to take responsibility for their lives. A small percentage of the program's 300,000 graduates have been deeply disturbed by Lifespring's methods, which involve intense emotional self-examination.; A clean break; Virginia Thomas was troubled by some of Lifespring's activities and eventually broke with the organization. Since 1985, she has been a public advocate against cult activities.;   When she served as a labor-relations attorney at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 1985 to 1989, she represented the interests of the business community at congressional hearings on such issues as comparable worth, affirmative action and federal child-care legislation.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "conservative viewpoint;nomination;supportive spouse;clarence thomas;affirmative action;senate confirmation hearings;criticism;supreme court;virginia thomas"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06276078", "title": "MODERN OFFICE BUILDINGS ARE SLEEK, AIR-TIGHT AND PERFECT FOR SPREADING DISEASE THERE'S SOMETHING GOING AROUND", "abstract": "What's the link? A poor ventilation system that does little more than recycle old, stale air from one end of the building to another.;   Millions of American office workers are getting more than they bargained for when they inhale in a building that has no fresh air. Along with oxygen, they may be getting flu and other infectious bugs from their co-workers.;   That's because, in today's modern office buildings, recirculated air can mean recycled flu and other airborne infections. The evidence comes from various studies of tuberculosis, measles and flu that spread in a manner that can only be explained by poor air ventilation.;   \"Modern office buildings are tight,\" says Jon Rosenberg, public health officer in California's occupational health program. \"In order to conserve energy, they're often sealed.\";   Experts say the problem is not the same as \"sick building syndrome\" -- a situation in which workers are exposed chronically to toxic chemicals and gases emitted from carpets, furniture and other building materials. Nor is it to blame for last month's outbreak in Richmond of Legionnaire's disease -- an illness caused by a bug linked to wet, damp spaces rather than poor ventilation.; But as in \"sick building syndrome,\" it's the airtight environment that sets the stage for problems. Lack of windows is not necessarily the culprit. \"If it has a good ventilation system . . . you don't necessarily have to have a sick building,\" Rosenberg says.;   But, alas, many modern ventilation systems recirculate indoor air with little or no fresh air. So the infectious bugs that a worker exhales at one end of the building can end up, via the ventilation system, being inhaled at the other end.;   \"The building is not the source. People are the source,\" says Dr. Edward Nardell, who studies airborne infections for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. \"Very bad ventilation makes the system worse.\";   In a study published in the August issue of the American Review of Respiratory Diseases, Nardell and colleagues at Harvard Medical School found that an outbreak of tuberculosis documented in one unidentified government building could have been cut in half had the ventilation been better.;   The study found that 40 percent of the building's workers -- or 27 of 47 -- were infected with tuberculosis from one 30-year-old sick employee. The infection rate was as high in some distant parts of the building as it was next to the sick employee.;   \"By recirculating the air, you spread it throughout the building,\" says Nardell. \"People who had no direct contact with this case, might have been exposed in far reaches of the building.\";   If tuberculosis can spread in poorly ventilated buildings, so can other infectious bugs. Respiratory infection experts say that flu viruses and measles are easier to spread than TB.;   \"This particular study deals only with TB,\" says Dr. Jonathan Samet, a respiratory-disease expert at the University of New Mexico, \"but the observations may apply to other organisms, such as the respiratory viruses that cause flu.\";   Building workers had complained for years about poor air quality.;   The building's ventilation system permitted circulation of some outdoor air -- 15 cubic feet per minute -- a low level commonly found in buildings since the 1930s. Even lower levels of outdoor air ventilation, below 10 cfm, have become common since 1973, the post-oil embargo era.;   In the study, Nardell estimated that if outdoor air ventilation in the government building had been doubled -- to about 35 cubic feet per minute, a level that Massachusetts recommends for buildings where smoking is permitted -- only half as many workers would have been infected with tuberculosis.;   Other studies have documented:;   (check) Flu spreads quickly on airplanes where ventilation systems consist entirely of recirculated air.;   (check) Measles are transmitted by infectious air in a pediatrician's waiting room.;   (check) Tuberculosis can spread in homeless shelters, prisons and hospitals where ventilation is poor.;   Flu spreads much more easily than TB. \"It may survive several hours in dry air,\" says Vernon Knight, a respiratory virus disease expert at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. \"In those tight buildings, they continue to recirculate it, and they probably build up.\";   Nardell and others recognize that the solution to this problem -- fixing or replacing ventilation systems to include more fresh air -- can be expensive. Flu and colds will probably never be eliminated from the workplace entirely, and it may not make sense to install a new ventilation system unless the air quality is very low.;   In his tuberculosis study, he found that the biggest benefit comes from improving the worst ventilation systems that allow very little fresh air. If the ventilation is moderately effective but not ideal, further improvements yield only a slight decrease in infectious illness.;   \"There's only so much you can do,\" Nardell says. \"There's going to be a price of living together in a communal society.\"; YOU'RE INTERESTEDEmployees who think that poor air quality at their workplace is contributing to health problems can call Cal-OSHA, a state agency that monitors worker safety and health. In San Jose, Cal-OSHA can be reached at (408) 452-7288.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "tuberculosis study;airborne infections;ventilation system;poor air ventilation;infectious air"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06283083", "title": "L.A. LAW UNDER THE PUBLIC'S GUN EVEN SHERIFF FEELS HEAT OF THE CRITICS", "abstract": "Just last week, a federal judge hearing a civil rights suit issued an unusual order that employees follow department policy -- and the department appealed, winning a temporary delay of the order.;   The spotlight that had been trained on the police department and its 8,300 officers now has widened to take in the equally large sheriff's department. Block's measured response to the criticism -- and the lack of a riveting videotape -- have spared him the level of heat felt by Police Chief Daryl Gates. But after years of boasting that their methods were models in policing, both departments are facing pressure to revolutionize their tactics to better fit this first-of-its-kind metropolis.;    \"We are a multiracial, multicultural city more than any other,\" said Ramona Ripston, head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. \"If something can be worked out here, it would be really, I think, a model that can be exported.\";   Joseph McNamara, retired chief of San Jose's department and now a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, said he has been getting calls all summer from cities around the country about racism and brutality in their departments.;   \"There's got to be a revolution in American policing,\" McNamara said. \"Militarizing police is a definite trend in the past 10 years, and part of it is because of the Los Angeles models.\";   But some observers say that, for a variety of political and social reasons, the possibility for substantive change on L.A. law's front lines is scant.;   Low level of interest;   \"There isn't the level of interest among voting people, people with power, people with influence,\" ACLU spokesman Joe Hicks said. \"They don't really care much about police reform. They just want to make sure their communities are safe.\";   The poor minority communities that do care suffer \"a lack of organization that really can take advantage of the anger over the police and keep some momentum going that could potentially force reforms,\" Hicks said.;   The King beating led to an investigation of the police department by an independent commission that found racism, brutality, inadequate discipline, mismanagement and a \"siege mentality\" pitting officers against the community.;   The Christopher Commission's scathing report made more than 100 recommendations, many of them aimed at moving away from the department's \"hard-nosed\" approach and improving relations with residents.; At the street level, it suggested officers spend more time out of their patrol cars, work more with community groups and ease up on the common practice of making suspects lie face down on the ground even when they pose no apparent threat.;   The city council is reviewing the recommendations, some of which -- for instance, a term limit for the chief -- require voter approval.;   Now, critics are calling for the same kind of independent investigation of the sheriff's department.;   But Block has dug in his heels, insisting a panel he appointed is independent enough to advise which Christopher Commission recommendations might apply to his department. Critics say its leaders have been supporters of the local law establishment.;   But because Block is elected, his is the last word.;   Like Gates before him, Block maintains his department is a good one with \"a reputation as being one of the most progressive, one of the most professional, one of the finest law enforcement agencies.\";   The sheriff has said that his department continually re-examines itself and launched several Christopher Commission recommendations before the commission even existed -- but that it can't do everything.;   'A last-resort mechanism';   \"Law enforcement, and I'm going beyond the sheriff's department, did not create the social conditions out there from which the violence is springing,\" he said. \"People are looking at the criminal justice system today as being the linchpins of government. . . . (But) We're a last-resort mechanism when other kinder and gentler processes fail in our society. And fail they have.\";   Block pointed to social ills including high drop-out and illiteracy rates, \"young people who are raising themselves,\" and a county jail system that is \"perhaps the major houser of mentally ill people in our society in this nation.\";   Countywide, homicides soared to 1,964 last year, compared with 1,463 five years earlier.;   There are 950 known street gangs with more than 99,300 members in the county, according to the sheriff's department.; Agreeing that law enforcement is not the answer to all of society's failures, critics say Block is missing the point.;   \"Police brutality (or) racism is not a social problem, it's a law enforcement lack of leadership,\" the Hoover Institution's McNamara said. \"The basic goal and mission of law enforcement people is to reduce conflict in the community. . . . The rhetoric of the Los Angeles police establishment through the years seems to have escalated conflict, not lowered it.\";   The FBI, Amnesty International and the county grand jury are investigating allegations about both departments.;   But some critics are skeptical that the police culture here will change significantly.; 'Window dressing' predicted;   On the city side, they worry that the Christopher Commission recommendations will be diluted by the time the city council and voters are finished with them. Besides a new police chief, the ACLU's Hicks predicted only \"some window dressing and some moderate changes made to training.\";   On the county side, critics say Block's position as an elected official insulates him from the kind of independent review the city was able to order for the police department.;   And although he can be voted out, they say, the voters include great numbers of people in cities that his department doesn't patrol.;   John Burton, an attorney specializing in police misconduct cases, offers a grim view on the potential for change: \"I think it's going to get worse, because of the general decay in social conditions and unemployment. The government doesn't have anything to offer except police repression, so that's what we get.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "investigation;police reform;police brutality;public criticism;rodney king;inadequate discipline;racism"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06290146", "title": "PRAYERS, SONG IN PIN POINT AS VOTE IS TAKEN", "abstract": "And, a reporter asked, what would she say to Anita Hill if she had the chance?;   \"I'd tell her to pray,\" she replied. \"She needs God bad. I won't say nothing bad about her because she's a mother-child, too. But, whoever put her up to it, I just pray she'll get her life straightened out.\";   In Thomas' birthplace, the hometown crowd has made no attempt to disguise where its heart lies. A handwritten sign on the main thoroughfare announces: \"Pinpoint Georgia, the home of Judge Clarence Thomas.\";   Not surprisingly, no one here seemed to believe Hill's allegation that Thomas had sexually harassed her between 1981 and 1983 while she worked for him.;   From a roof, a sign announced: \"We believe Clarence.\";   Much of the community gathered before the only big-screen television available, at the home of Abraham Famble, deacon of the Sweet Fields of Eden Baptist Church, as the time for the Senate vote neared.;   Williams prayed silently in the kitchen, asking God to watch over her son as she rubbed her hands nervously. The crowd joined her in the 23rd Psalm : \"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . .\";   As the tally reached a majority for Thomas, a cry of joy and applause rang out.; \"Earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal,\" Famble said.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "senate vote;williams;clarence thomas;hometown crowd;birthplace;georgia"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06301029", "title": "WHY IT COULD HAPPEN HERE CONDITIONS IN SOUTH BAY HILLS MIRROR DEADLY MIX", "abstract": "Now, in the wake of that firestorm, local firefighters are looking up at the hills that surround this area and wondering not whether, but only when and where.;   \"I know it's there,\" said Saratoga Fire Chief Ernest Kraule. \"Every fire chief -- there's 12 of us in this county -- knows it's there.\";   The danger is in the Saratoga foothills, where Kraule's department has battled nine deliberately set fires since June -- most recently Oct. 19, the same day Oakland firefighters thought they had contained a brush fire that a day later blossomed into the deadly firestorm.;   It's in the mountain communities that straddle Highway 9 in Santa Cruz County, isolated by weak bridges that won't support some firetrucks and connected by a two-lane road that will hinder escape.;   It's in Los Altos Hills, where residents in 1984 repealed an ordinance requiring fire-retardant roofs; a year later, a fire destroyed 100 acres and 12 homes, many of which have been rebuilt -- with the same flammable shake roofs.;   In fact, the danger of an Oakland-like inferno is in almost all of the hills that ring the South Bay, where homes often are surrounded by dense brush or stately trees, the fuel of rapidly spreading wildfires.;   And the risk is increasing, as cramped Bay Area residents push farther into the hills and canyons in search of living space and rural atmosphere. State officials say it's no coincidence that six of California's 10 most damaging wildfires have occurred since 1980.;   \"The tendency is to have bigger fires that are much more expensive to put out, with much more property loss,\" said Roy Pike, a deputy chief in the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's Santa Rosa office.;   Privacy's high price;   Having pushed into these areas, city dwellers don't understand that the wooded seclusion and natural beauty exact a cost in fire protection, rescue workers complain.;   In cities, a firetruck might respond to an alarm within two or three minutes; in the Highway 9 communities, they hope for 10 minutes. Instead of an eight- or 10-inch water main ensuring pressure for fire hoses, the mountains are laced with two-inch pipes.;   \"Those are the risks you take when you live in an area like this,\" said Dean Lucke, chief of the forestry department's San Mateo-Santa Cruz ranger unit. \"We can't guarantee everyone's safety up here at all times.\";   In general, firefighters say, the heavily wooded Santa Cruz Mountains are more susceptible to major fires than the grass-covered eastern foothills. Take the 1985 fire above Lexington Reservoir, which blazed for six days, scorching nearly 14,000 acres and destroying 42 homes.;   But there are exceptions, such as narrow Kilkare Canyon near Sunol, where 200 homes are strung along a narrow, five-mile dead-end road that empties onto narrow, winding Niles Canyon Road.;   \"A large concentration of vegetation, heavy fuel loads, lots of wooden structures, ingress-egress (problems), lack of water, they're all there,\" said Fremont Fire Chief Dan Lydon, whose department would be one of the first called to a fire in Kilkare. \"If there's an area that has the significant potential for disaster, that's one.\";   Codes rarely enforced; In the hills, nearly every home is surrounded by thick brush or dense woods. Fire codes require residents to keep the trees 30 feet from their homes, but fire officials admit they rarely enforce them. Instead, as they drive by, some firefighters make mental notes about which homes would be worth saving.; \"You do this evaluation of what you think you'd be effective at salvaging,\" said Don Shaw, a battalion chief for the Palo Alto Fire Department. By not trimming dense brush, he said, some homeowners are \"virtually signing a death warrant.\";   And increasingly, fire officials worry about wildfires spreading into even more heavily populated areas at the base of the foothills, where numerous trees create an \"urban forest.\";   \"We could have a fire going from rooftop to treetop to rooftop to treetop in any number of areas in this city, if the weather conditions are right,\" said San Jose Fire Chief Robert Osby.; The lesson of the Oakland hills, firefighters say, is to contain and extinguish even the smallest fires as quickly as possible. But, often, that means firefighters have to overcome narrow roads, weak bridges, inadequate water pressure and gridlock from fleeing residents.;   Challenge for firefighters;   Many of the South Bay's most vulnerable areas -- such as Redwood Estates above Los Gatos and Emerald Lake Hills above Redwood City -- began as colonies of summer homes, a handful of secluded cottages strung along narrow winding roads. Now, these communities are the year-round home for thousands, often still dependent on volunteer firefighters and an overtaxed network of roads and water lines.;   \"On a good day, trying to maneuver fire apparatus on those roads is tough,\" said Steve Cavallero, a battalion chief for the Redwood City Fire Department, which covers a portion of Emerald Lake Hills. \"Combine that with panic, with people getting out of the way, and you're setting the stage for disaster.\";   An estimated 25,000 people live in the communities along Highway 9 between Santa Cruz and Boulder Creek, the curvy, two-lane road that would be the only way out in the case of a major fire. How would all those people escape?;   \"That's a good question,\" said O.J. Burrell, chief of fire prevention at the San Mateo-Santa Cruz ranger unit.;   Weak bridges keep firetrucks out of many of those communities, as well as New Almaden Valley south of San Jose, forcing firefighters to carry hoses by hand. Ed Ekers, chief of the Santa Cruz city fire department, worries about sending his trucks through \"a tunnel of fire\" if flames were ever to spread across the canopy of trees above Highway 9.;   Will there be water?; Even if they can reach a blaze, firefighters know there may not be any water to fight it. In Oakland, water pressure dropped as electricity failures shut off pumps and thousands of open hydrants and water connections quickly drained reservoirs.;   That could happen even in urbanized areas of Santa Clara County because the major water suppliers rely on a similar system of electric pumps to maintain water pressure in the foothills.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "fire officials;brush fire;saratoga foothills;damaging wildfires;deadly firestorm;oakland firefighters;fire prevention;fire hazards;fire protection"}
+{"name": "SJMN91-06312120", "title": "VACATION? HOW 'BOUT A MARATHON?", "abstract": "But a unique subset has formed: people who like to do both at the same time. And to help these folks along, companies arrange tours for marathon vacations. The result? Bangkok in November, London in April and Stockholm in May.;   \"Skiers have mountain ranges, tennis players have resorts, why can't a runner take a marathon vacation?\" said Thorn Gilligan, president of Marathon Tours in Boston. \"A runner should be able to enjoy a closed city for a day. It's a celebration for the sport as much as a competition.\";   Gilligan took 5,500 people last year on 20 tours to countries from Bermuda to Moscow. In addition to air fare and hotel, runners are guaranteed spots in restricted entry races such as the London Marathon. Qualifying times are not required.; London, the most popular European city to visit, holds the world's largest marathon (April 12 next year). Berlin's race (Sept. 27, 1992) has grown with the demise of the wall.;   \"Most marathons take you through cities, so you get a chance to see things you'd never see on a sightseeing bus,\" said Fred Lebow, president of the New York Roadrunner's Club and director of the New York Marathon. Lebow has run in 32 marathons, including London, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Iceland, Seoul and Vienna.;   \"The most exciting thing is the start of the race,\" he said. \"Each city has something unique.\";   The cities are different, but most marathons include a carbo-loading pasta party the night before, medical exams, a post-race celebration, commemorative T-shirts and awards to finishers. Entry fees vary; Brussels is $16, Venice $40.;   Marathon Tours includes the entry price in the package. Going to Bermuda, for example, costs approximately $900 from San Francisco. The price includes round-trip air fare, four days and three nights at the Grotto Bay Beach hotel (per person, based on double occupancy), full breakfasts and dinners, a welcome cocktail party and post-race parties and discounts.;   England has similar organizations: Sports Tours International and Keith Prowse, a company that specializes in British theater, sports and concert tours.;   But it isn't necessary to run 26.2 miles to go on a running vacation, especially if it's a family trip. Some marathons, like Portland's, include additional races: a five-mile run, a five-mile walk and a kids run. Tel Aviv has a half-marathon and a fun run. Budapest offers a half-marathon and a mini-marathon along the Danube.;   There are also trips that incorporate running into the sightseeing schedule. Running coach Pat Savage and Hal Higdon, a senior writer for Runner's World, are taking a group to Ireland in June. The eight-day trip will leave from Chicago and will include sightseeing, guided runs and a fun run from Malahide Castle to Swords.;   \"On a running vacation you plan something around running everyday,\" Higdon said. \"We know the unique scenic routes and put together special runs.\";   Some runs are intriguing because of current events. The Tel Aviv Marathon course went past houses hit by Scud missiles during the Gulf War. The Belgrade Marathon was held despite Yugoslavia's turmoil. The Munich course is the same as the 1972 Olympic route and finishes in the same stadium.;   Running 26 miles just to see a city definitely isn't for everyone, but at the very least, it's a way to kill two birds with one stone. In the recent Chicago Marathon, a German man ran with a camera, snapping photos every few miles.; IF YOU'RE INTERESTED;   If you're interested in combining a vacation and marathon, here are some firms to contact:;   (box) Marathon Tours, 108 Main St., Charlestown, Mass. 02129. (617) 242-7845.; (box) Roadrunner Tours, 2815 Lake Shore Dr., Michigan City, Ind. 46360. (219) 879-0133.;   (box) Keith Prowse, based in England. (8OO) 6MY-TOUR.;   (box) Sports Tours International, 91 Walkdon Rd., Walkdon, Worslay, Manchester M28 5DQ, United Kingdom. (061) 703-8161.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "marathon vacations;running vacation;restricted entry races;marathon tours"}
+{"name": "WSJ870123-0101", "title": "REVIEW & OUTLOOK (Editorial): Wither Welfare Reform?", "abstract": "In his State of the Union address last January, President Reagan announced that welfare reform would be a priority of his administration in its final three years. He instructed his charges to draw up plans for \"immediate action\" that would enable poor families to achieve \"real and lasting emancipation\" from welfare dependency. \"The success of welfare,\" he said, \"should be judged by how many of its recipients become independent of welfare.\"  The president's convincing message raised hopes that something would finally be done to break the cycle of poverty and dependency that afflicts several million welfare families. Americans have become increasingly exasperated by the enormous amount of money the federal government devotes each year to anti-poverty programs, with little apparent abatement in poverty. The president correctly sensed that the public wants reform.  If the president lets up on welfare reform, he will disappoint those whose hopes he raised last January, a group that surely includes many of the poor who understand better than any politician how deficient the current system is. To build on the momentum he created a year ago, the president must make plain his commitment in the State of the Union message next Tuesday. To pull away now would be to undercut the welfare-reform movement just as it has hit its stride.  The president ought to challenge Congress to respond to his initiatives. His Domestic Policy Council has drafted a blueprint. It would give the states wider latitude to experiment with welfare programs. Many of the governors seem to like the plan, as they have already unveiled their own proposals for welfare reform. The president and the governors should be natural allies on this issue, and the chances of success would be enhanced if they could jointly commit themselves to a plan of action.  The president will need all the help he can get if he is to convince Democrats in Congress to go along. Most have paid lip service to the idea of welfare reform but nary a bill has been put on the docket. This suggests that the Democrats aren't as serious about welfare reform as the governors and the American public are.  There is a reason for this. The Democrats have long been beholden to the welfare lobby, whose interests now have less to do with alleviating poverty than with enlarging the welfare bureaucracy. This past December, a coalition of some 80 organizations, most with headquarters in Washington, issued a \"statement of principles\" calling for increased spending for poverty and jobs programs. It also insisted that the federal government has \"primary responsibility\" for operating welfare.  Congressional Democrats seem to be in agreement with the welfare lobby. However, the public wants the system changed. It will be difficult for Congress to sell restored or additional spending on current poverty programs when the American people are already spending more than $100 billion a year on these programs.  The president should take up his case for reform directly with the American people. With the alliance of reform-minded governors and the support of the public, the president can press Congress to move off the deadening status quo. With the ball in its court, Congress can decide either to work with the president and the governors, or it can continue to place the interests of the welfare lobby ahead of the interests of the poor.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "americans;welfare reform;president reagan;welfare programs;federal government;welfare dependency"}
+{"name": "WSJ870227-0149", "title": "REVIEW & OUTLOOK (Editorial): Toward a Welfare Consensus", "abstract": "While there is agreement in virtually every quarter that something needs to be done about welfare, disagreement remains over exactly what to do. The White House has a formula for welfare reform, as do Sens. Moynihan and Kennedy. Now the nation's governors are asking Washington to adopt their plan.  Meeting this week in Washington, the governors said they want to transform the current welfare system -- largely an income-maintenance system -- into more of a job-support system. They would require all able-bodied welfare recipients (except mothers with children under 3 years of age) to work in exchange for their benefits. Those who do would be eligible for help with education and training, day care and transportation.  Many states already have launched work-for-welfare experiments. The results in Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Utah have been promising. Substantial numbers of welfare recipients have moved into jobs and off the public rolls. These successes have encouraged the governors of New York, New Jersey, Washington and Missouri to undertake their own reform programs.  The leaders of the National Governors Association came away from a White House meeting this past Tuesday pleasantly surprised that they were able to reach an accord with the president on many points. The conference's chairman, Democratic Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, even backed off earlier criticism of the administration's welfare plan, saying after the White House meeting, \"I feel better about the prospects of welfare reform than I did yesterday.\"  That is not to say the president agreed with the governors on every count. One item on the governors' agenda that Mr. Reagan didn't go for was a national minimum level for an individual recipients's welfare benefits. By endorsing a federal welfare standard, the administration would undercut its own proposal to give the states wider latitude to set their own welfare criteria and standards, tailored to their populations.  The most unattractive feature of the governors' welfare plan is its price tag -- up to $2 billion a year on top of the $100 billion-plus already devoted to assorted anti-poverty programs. However committed the administration and Congress may be to reform, they're unlikely to endorse a plan that increases the deficit.  The governors argue that by spending the extra $2 billion a year, the federal government would be making an investment. By setting aside more money for job training, day care and other support, they say, taxpayers would ultimately realize savings as welfare recipients are weaned from the public rolls.  But taxpayers can be forgiven if they view this part of the governors' argument with skepticism. After all, Americans have spent more than $1 trillion over the past two decades to alleviate poverty and curb dependency without seeing evidence of an appreciable return on their substantial investment. An extra $2 billion a year added to the present anti-poverty programs (which, as we have mentioned before, if simply handed out in cash would be enough to lift every poor household in America above poverty) is unlikely to accomplish all that the governors promise. Oversold political programs and promises are largely what got us into this mess.  Nonetheless there is merit in the governors' plan, as there is in the administration's reform proposals, and in the reform bills under consideration in the Senate. Most important, the governors would require that welfare recipients do something productive in exchange for their benefits, be it completing school, receiving vocational training or holding a job. Only by requiring individual initiative and productivity can welfare recipients ever achieve self-sufficiency.  The degree of consensus forming around welfare reform is unusual. All the important players -- the president, the governors and congressional leaders -- agree that the goal of such reform is to transform the welfare system into one that enables poor families to achieve, in the president's words, \"real and lasting emancipation\" from welfare dependency. On this point, at least, there doesn't seem to be much conflict. Since all of the principals agree on the ultimate goal of welfare reform, it seems reasonable to expect that they can achieve a plan of action.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "welfare system;reform consensus;welfare recipients;welfare reform;president reagan;reform programs"}
+{"name": "WSJ870306-0171", "title": "De Beers Diamond Syndicate Flourishes As Other Commodity Cartels Flounder --- By Neil Behrmann Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Confounding predictions of its demise four years ago during the worst diamond slump since the 1930s, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., the South African concern that controls 80% of the world's uncut-diamond market, is thriving.  The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is floundering, and the international tin cartel has collapsed. But De Beers not only halted a fall in rough-diamond prices, it raised them an average 14.5% last year. Sales still soared 40% to a near-record $2.56 billion, double the $1.26 billion posted in the 1982 doldrums.  De Beers managed the comeback by convincing diamond producers, dealers and the jewelry industry that its marketing muscle was indispensable. \"Selling diamonds is the business of dealers and jewelers; helping them to sell more is ours,\" says Stephen Lussier, a De Beers marketing executive.  De Beers helped with an advertising and promotion budget that swelled to $110 million this year, up from $43 million in 1980. Supplemented by $20 million spent by the diamond trade, the De Beers campaign helped raise world sales of diamond jewelry to 47 million pieces valued at $21.6 billion in 1985, up from 42 million pieces valued at $16 billion in 1979. Figures for 1986 aren't yet available, but De Beers says it was another record.  The promotional budget covers market research, a world-wide network of as many as 200 public-relations officials, and advertising campaigns coordinated by the agencies N.W. Ayer & Son in the U.S. and J. Walter Thompson Co. in 27 other countries.  The master sales plan began in 1938, when former De Beers Chairman Harry Oppenheimer asked Ayer to woo American couples to buy expensive diamond engagement rings. Today the U.S. is the world's No. 1 market, with $8 billion in annual retail diamond jewelry sales, or about a 40% share, even though a 1971 antitrust law prevents De Beers from operating directly there. About three-fourths of American women own diamond engagement rings that cost an average $1,300.  De Beers's strategy is two-pronged, says Mr. Lussier. General \"diamond image\" advertising aims at perpetuating the mystique of quality diamonds as \"the ultimate expression of love,\" he says.  De Beers applied similar promotional techniques world-wide. One out of 17 Japanese couples bought engagement rings two decades ago. Now two-thirds do, and Japan is the second-largest diamond jewelry market, followed by West Germany.  De Beers's Central Selling Organization, known as the Syndicate, is the pipeline between diamond mines and dealers based mainly in Antwerp, Belgium; Bombay, India; Tel Aviv, Israel, and New York. As the sole middleman, De Beers usually avoids the acrimony that has divided other cartels.  The Syndicate has purchase contracts with De Beers's own mines in South Africa and Namibia (a territory controlled by South Africa), other African states such as Botswana, Zaire and Sierra Leone, and Australia.  De Beers offers its cache to select dealers 10 times a year at sales known as \"sights.\" Each dealer gets a box containing uncut diamonds. The dealer must accept or reject the entire box, valued at between $1 million and $25 million. If the dealer refuses to buy, De Beers may never invite him back.  This ritual has enabled De Beers to maintain price stability. The cartel hasn't cut prices since it was founded more than half a century ago. Despite grumbling, diamond dealers generally believe that a healthy international diamond market depends on the Syndicate.  OPEC members \"tend to do what they like,\" says Jo Flies, chief economist of the Antwerp Diamond Council. But De Beers is unique, he says, in influencing production and consumption of diamonds. \"People mesmerized by the producers' cartels forget that De Beers is an aggressive, ruthless and effective sales organization,\" says a London dealer.  Some analysts warn, however, that De Beers's future may be affected by the surge in diamond output elsewhere, notably Australia. World diamond production has soared to 88 million carats from 47 million carats in 1982. A carat equals 1/142 of an ounce. About 20% of the prize diamonds are produced in southern Africa, but the market is being flooded by cheaper diamonds mainly from Australia and Zaire.  The Soviet Union, which produces an estimated 12 million carats of top-grade diamonds annually, is another unknown. De Beers has a sales arrangement with the Soviets, but Moscow has dumped diamonds before and may prove difficult to keep in line. Angola left the cartel last year, partly because it is involved in a bitter war with South African-backed rebels. Other African nations in the cartel want more control over distribution, dealers say.  \"De Beers can't stop evolution,\" says Jack Lunzer, chairman of IDC Holdings Ltd., a London-based diamond firm that sells diamonds for Guinea, an African nation that isn't a cartel member. While sales independence from De Beers \"could be disastrous\" for the market, Mr. Lunzer says, that won't deter those producers who want \"more information and knowledge about final sales of their material.\"  But the fate of De Beers, South Africa's most famous company, will depend largely on developments in that troubled country, dealers say. International sanctions, including a possible U.S. import ban on South African diamonds, pose a growing threat.  Recent history indicates, however, that it would be hasty to write off the cartel. In 1981, Zaire, which mines 22% of world diamond output, left the cartel. Australia was about to open a huge diamond mine and a speculative boom had led to widespread dealer bankruptcies. The monopoly was threatened with extinction.  While average prices of De Beers's rough diamonds rose 37%, prices of polished diamonds in dealers' stocks collapsed. The top-grade investment diamond, D-Flawless, tumbled to around $8,000 a carat in 1985 from an average of $55,000 in 1980.  In a series of shrewd moves, De Beers forced Zaire to rejoin the cartel by dumping diamonds. Meanwhile, diamond demand by consumers increased, fueled by De Beers's promotion campaign and favorable economic trends.  Dealers say trade is buoyant again because of lower interest rates and a weak dollar that makes dollar-priced diamonds cheaper in Japan and Europe. Since November 1985, prices of D-Flawless diamonds have risen 56% to around $14,000 a carat.  \"De Beers is powerful; it is everywhere,\" says Alfred Lachowsky, chairman of the Antwerp Diamond High Council.  The cartel will continue to control world diamond markets, Mr. Lachosky says. \"You can't mix diamonds with oil.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "diamond jewelry;south african concern;diamond trade;de beers campaign;diamond producers;uncut-diamond market;world diamond markets;promotion campaign;rough-diamond prices;world diamond production;de beers consolidated mines ltd."}
+{"name": "WSJ870501-0141", "title": "The Americas: Peruvian Rebels Supplant Army as Shield for Drug Producers --- By Tyler Bridges", "abstract": "In the late 1970s, poor farmers living in communities surrounding this small town began replacing their fields of cacao and coffee with coca to meet the growing U.S. demand for cocaine. Like thousands of other farmers in Peru's Upper Huallaga Valley, they discovered that while cacao and coffee could give their families enough to eat, coca could make them rich. Lately, someone else has been attracted by its big profits: the country's murderous guerrillas, the Shining Path. Development workers, farmers and priests in the area say that the rebels have steadily streamed into the Upper Huallaga, a vast stretch of jungle northeast of Lima, and the biggest coca-growing zone in the world.  Until recently, the Shining Path had largely neglected the jungle. In pursuing its strategy of trying to topple Peru's democratically elected government, it had concentrated its bombings and shootings in the mountains and in Lima. But the guerrillas have discovered they can easily win support among farmers in the jungles of Upper Huallaga because of widespread anger generated by the U.S.-financed Peruvian anti-drug campaign. This effort focuses on interdicting drug trafficking and eradicating coca plants.  While Washington has been quick to trumpet links between guerrillas and drug trafficking in other countries, U.S. officials downplay the connection between drugs and the Shining Path. One reason is embarrassment that the U.S.-financed anti-drug effort may have pushed coca growers closer to the guerrillas. But more important, if it were admitted that guerrillas are in large numbers in the Upper Huallaga, the army might again be given emergency control over the zone. And this is something Peruvian and U.S. officials apparently would rather avoid.  The army was in force in the Upper Huallaga during the declared period of a state of emergency, from July 1984 to December 1985. During this period, the army had virtual dictatorial control over all military and nonmilitary operations in the region. Government officials from the anti-drug police (UMOPAR) and the coca-eradication unit (CORAH) sent into the region to wipe out drug production were often confined to their barracks by the army; they simply were not allowed to carry on with their work. The army continued its raids against the Shining Path in one part of the valley, but the drug growers were increasing production in several other parts while anti-drug officials were virtually kept under lock and key. Anti-drug police, Upper Huallaga residents and Interior Ministry officials report that army officers received hundreds of thousands of dollars in payoffs from drug lords for their help in keeping anti-drug officials at bay. \"It's better for the 'narcos' when the army is here,\" says one UMOPAR officer.  When new President Alan Garcia lifted the state of emergency, the army lost any ability it may have had to protect coca growers. Not only did it lose the power of authority in the region, but the number of troops in the Upper Huallaga Valley was dramatically reduced. The troops were dispatched to other areas of the country, particularly in the mountainous Ayacucho region where guerrillas have been active.  With the army impediment gone, the anti-drug campaign set about pushing traffickers out of Tingo Maria, their former headquarters, eliminating coca growing in the immediate vicinity of the town. But the narcos have now entrenched themselves in the towns of Tocache and Uchiza, where the police have repeatedly been blocked from entering by armed residents. At the same time, farmers are now planting coca in rugged parts of the jungle, far from CORAH's sweep.  Nevertheless, the loss of army protection provided the Shining Path with a golden opportunity. \"The guerrillas now present themselves as the defenders of the coca farmers,\" says Segundo Ramirez, owner of Aucayacu's radio station. In return for their protection, the guerrillas demand that farmers turn over one-fifth of their coca crop, according to UMOPAR officers, farmers and priests. The rebels then process the leaves into coca paste and sell the paste to international traffickers -- usually Colombians -- for weapons and money, local sources say.  The commander of the anti-drug police, Gen. Juan Zarate, says there are few guerrillas in the Upper Huallaga and denies that an alliance exists between the drug traffickers and the Shining Path. But residents insist that the rebels operate as a de facto government in the zone, even in Aucayacu and Tulumayo, where the police and army have outposts.  An important guerrilla activity is organizing community self-defense groups against the hated police. Twenty-nine CORAH workers have been murdered in the valley since 1984, and it's likely that the Shining Path will encourage this kind of violence. In early January, the rebels were apparently behind a strike protesting the anti-drug program. For three days they shut down the 50-mile road from Tingo Maria to Rio Uchiza -- the only continuous, paved road in the valley.  The relationship between the Shining Path and the people of the valley is not entirely cordial. As part of its efforts to impart revolutionary \"justice\" among the people, the Shining Path has administered brutal reprisals against those peasants who do not fit its \"new-man\" profile. During the January strike, the guerrillas killed an alleged thief and a seller of coca-paste cigarettes, according to a crop substitution program worker who works directly with the farmers in the area. The rebels are also believed responsible for the murders of four homosexual men last November in Aucayacu. On March 13 in El Triumfo, a small community near Aucayacu, they executed a 23-year-old man who spoke out against a guerrilla-organized activity. \"That really shook up the 80 families in the community,\" says Enrique Pena, a parish priest who can no longer enter the guerrilla-controlled area.  The guerrillas are held responsible for assassinating six mayors in the area since 1985, including two mayors from Aucayacu, which has 3,500 residents. Says Aucayacu Deputy Mayor Luis Salazar: \"The captain of the army has told me I'm on the guerrillas' black list.\"  The government's problem in combatting the current violence and influence of the Shining Path is how to ensure that army troops sent into this coca-rich region won't become corrupted by the lure of drug money, as they reportedly did in the past. This is the Catch-22 that now confounds Peruvian and U.S. officials trying to eradicate both drugs and guerrillas from Peru.  --- Mr. Bridges is a free-lance writer.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "peruvian anti-drug campaign;drug trafficking;guerrillas;coca farmers;anti-drug police;upper huallaga valley;emergency control;shining path;coca growers"}
+{"name": "WSJ870818-0002", "title": "Northwest Jet That Crashed in Detroit Had Engine Problems in Prior Years --- A Wall Street Journal News Roundup", "abstract": "The Northwest Airlines jet that crashed Sunday in Detroit, killing at least 154 people, was involved in two incidents of engine failure in the past two years.  According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the McDonnell Douglas Corp. MD-82 jet made emergency landings in 1985 and 1986 following the loss of power in one of its two engines. A Northwest spokesman confirmed that the incidents happened, but said they weren't related to Sunday's crash of Flight 255.  Though federal investigators were looking into a number of possible causes for the crash, which occurred shortly after takeoff, engine failure appeared to be a likely culprit. According to Associated Press reports, some witnesses to the crash, including an air traffic controller, said they saw blue flame coming from one of the jetliner's engines just before it hit the ground and exploded into a fireball.  The accident, the second-deadliest ever in the U.S., could have a broad range of effects on the airline industry regardless of the specific causes, aviation specialists said. Following a summer of near-misses, delays and other snafus, some airline specialists said the accident could serve as a catalyst for a reassessment of the nation's air-travel system.  Unlike the recent near-misses, the Detroit accident doesn't appear related to air-traffic control problems. Even so, some congressional aides believe there will be a \"spillover\" effect, and that all aviation safety issues will now get closer scrutiny. Moreover, although service problems have been the focus of much of the attention in recent months, the debate may now center more strongly on safety issues.  \"There is going to be a lot of noise from Capitol Hill,\" said John Galipault, president of the Aviation Safety Institute. \"This one is going under the microscope.\" Added a Senate Commerce Committee staff member: \"Delays and other consumer concerns will end up in the back seat.\"  In Detroit, federal crash inspectors and representatives of United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney unit, the engine maker, arrived at the accident scene. Officials said that the aircraft's flight recorders, which record cockpit conversations, had been found in wreckage that extended over half a mile.  The MD-82 jet, which has a good safety record, is designed to be able to take off and land even if one engine fails. Safety officials wouldn't speculate on whether the plane's heavy load may have contributed to the crash.  In addition to a large fuel load for the flight to Phoenix, Ariz., the flight was jammed with passengers. There were 153 people on a plane with 143 passenger seats. The extras included six crew members, two babies who were being held by passengers and two Northwest employees riding on two of the plane's jump seats. Wire-service reports said two persons on the ground also were killed, and that a 4-year-old girl was hospitalized in critical condition. Late last night, the Associated Press reported that the girl was identified by her grandfather. Her father, mother and brother were passengers on the Northwest airliner and died in the crash.  The JT8D-219 engines used on the jet have been the subject of some concern among federal safety officals. In April, the National Transportation Safety Board urged the FAA to conduct a safety investigation of the 200 series of JT8D engines after some dangerous in-flight engine failures.  The board made the recommendation after a March 23 incident in which an American Airlines MD-82 plane approaching the Minneapolis airport experienced an engine surge and loss of power. The engine, a JT8D-217A, was shut down, and the plane landed without further trouble. A later inspection showed that all 44 of the pins used to lock jet-engine turbine-vane clusters to the outer part of the turbine case had fractured.  The board recommended that the FAA order inspections of the JT8D engines to detect any pin fractures and to replace existing ones with improved pins. The board said similar incidents involved Pacific Southwest Airlines and Muse Airlines.  The FAA, in a May 29 response, told the board it essentially agreed with its recommendations and would take steps to require inspections of the engine and replacement of parts where necessary. The new rules, proposed last month, will go into effect this fall, FAA officials said.  In its April report, the National Transportation Safety Board warned that \"many\" of the 330 MD-80 series airplanes operated by 12 U.S. and 14 foreign airlines world-wide \"are potential candidates\" for engine failure. More than 900 of the engines have been manufactured, according to the board. However, engineering changes have been made in some engines. In others, airlines have made changes, based on a Pratt & Whitney service bulletin, to reduce the risk of pin failure.  Thomas Haueter, of the safety recommendations staff of the safety agency, said that the board hadn't put out an emergency recommendation for immediate replacement of the pins because it was unclear if the problems that had occurred were merely isolated incidents or reflected system problems.  FAA officials at the crash scene wouldn't speculate on the reasons for the crash or comment on the plane's engines. John Lauber, one of five members of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a news conference at a hotel near the airport last night that there was no evidence at this point that either engine exploded or caught fire during flight. He stressed that it was too early to draw any firm conclusions. A board spokesman said it will take nine to 12 months to determine the probable cause of the accident.  Despite an excellent safety record, Northwest could be hurt in a number of ways by the crash. Among other things, the accident has focused attention on its recent service problems as well as discord among its workers. The airline early yesterday denied that its labor troubles may have played a role in the crash.  Such concerns arose following reports of a work slowdown by Northwest mechanics. In January, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating incidents of alleged tampering with Northwest planes in Minneapolis.  Northwest, a unit of Minneapolis-based NWA Inc., also has had a rash of service problems since its acquisition of Republic Airlines last year. There were reports yesterday that relatives of crash victims being flown in from Phoenix were asked to switch from one Northwest jet to another because of mechanical problems.  The MD-82 that crashed was a former Republic jet that Northwest acquired as part of the merger. The two emergency landings that involved the jetliner, number N312RC, took place in Minneapolis and San Francisco. In the Minneapolis incident, the plane landed missing part of its tail cone. A Northwest spokesman said the engines involved in those two incidents had since been replaced by other JT8D-200 series engines.  The FAA said in Washington that air-traffic controllers in Detroit gave the Northwest flight takeoff clearance for Runway 3C, the center of the airport's three runways. The controllers reported that shortly after the jetliner lifted off, it pitched from left to right, according to FAA spokesman John Leyden.  Then they \"saw a blue flash from the left engine,\" Mr. Leyden said. \"The left wing hit the ground, and the aircraft burst into flames,\" according to the controllers' account.  FAA records show that besides those incidents that involved the plane that crashed, problems with the turbine sections of JT8D-200 series engines occurred on three Republic flights in the past four years. None of those problems resulted in a serious accident.  In one such incident, in September 1983, falling debris from an engine caused fire damage to several homes around John Wayne International Airport in Orange County, Calif. In another incident, at the Detroit airport in October 1985, an engine on an MD-82 \"popped and began to unspool\" on takeoff. Later inspection revealed extensive turbine damage to the engine, the FAA report said.  An FAA official said all jetliners, in order to be certified, must be capable of completing their takeoff ascent even if one engine fails, provided the aircraft is within prescribed weight limits. Why the Northwest airliner failed to make the climb and whether it was carrying too much weight will be subjects for federal investigators, he said.  Congress is expected to act on a half-dozen major aviation bills this fall. Staff members now expect those bills to attract new measures aimed at improving safety.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "dangerous in-flight engine failures;federal crash inspectors;aviation safety issues;emergency landings;northwest airlines jet;crash victims;detroit;safety investigation;heavy load"}
+{"name": "WSJ870908-0047", "title": "De Beers Plans to Raise Diamond Prices By 10% Next Month as Demand Surges --- By Neil Behrmann Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Flexing its muscles as a cartel, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. is raising its diamond prices an average 10% next month.  The South African concern, which controls 80% of the world diamond market through its London-based Central Selling Organization, sells a vast array of diamonds, varying in quality and size, dealers say. So the increase could be as much as 20% on top-grade diamonds. The rise follows an average price increase of 14.5% last year.  \"The diamond price increase was expected,\" said Jacques Zucker, of Lachowsky Zucker, diamond dealers in Antwerp, Belgium. By changing the mix of diamonds that it sells to dealers several months ago, De Beers signaled to the market that it intended to raise quotes, he said.  \"Few listened to us two years ago when we advised clients to buy diamonds at depressed values,\" Mr. Zucker said. \"Now they must accept higher prices.\"  \"The price rise provides the necessary psychological lift to the market,\" said Peter Miller, a mining analyst at Shearson Lehman Securities in London. It will help the diamond producers \"consolidate their gains.\"  Prices of one-carat D-flawless diamonds have risen to about $14,800 a carat from $12,000 at the beginning of the year, dealers said. In 1985, at the low point of a deep slump, a top quality stone was $8,500 a carat, down from an average of $55,000 in 1980. A carat equals 200 milligrams.  De Beers decided to raise prices because rough diamonds were already trading at a premium over its own quotes on the open market, said Andrew Lamont, a company spokesman. Demand is especially buoyant in the Far East. In the first seven months of 1987, Japanese imports of polished diamonds surged 60% from the similar period last year to $777 million, he added.  After the U.S., Japan is the second biggest diamond jewelry market, followed by West Germany. Only one out of 17 Japanese couples bought engagement rings less than two decades ago; now more than two-thirds buy.  \"The sharp appreciation of the yen reduced the cost of diamonds for Japanese buyers,\" Mr. Lamont says. Stronger currencies and lower interest rates in West Germany and other European countries also boosted diamond sales, he says. Diamonds are priced in U.S. dollars.  Demand for polished diamonds in the U.S., Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, and the Philippines also raised exports of the leading diamond cutting and dealing centers, primarily Antwerp, Tel Aviv, Bombay and New York.  To meet growing orders from diamond dealers and cutters who supply the retail trade, De Beers sales of rough diamonds jumped to $1.56 billion in the first half of this year from $1.2 billion in the similar period in 1986.  Sales of $2.56 billion last year were the highest since the 1980 boom when De Beers turnover reached $2.72 billion. Analysts are predicting sales of $3 billion in 1987.  Yet some dealers worry because world diamond production surged to 89.6 million carats last year from 47 million carats in 1982. Only about 10% to 20% of the diamonds are gems, but De Beers must continue to find new markets, they say.  De Beers surprised skeptics and revived trade from the slump in the first half of the decade by withholding stocks and pursuing an intensive marketing campaign.  An advertising and promotion budget which rose to $110 million this year from $43 million in 1980 helped raise world-wide sales of diamond jewelry to a record 49 million pieces valued at $24.6 billion last year. In 1979, about 42 million pieces valued at $16 billion were sold, De Beers says.  In more than half a century of its existence, the Central Selling Organization, which includes as members black African state producers, has outlasted other commodity cartels by never cutting diamond prices.  The cartel controls most of the world's rough diamond market via a \"pipeline\" that stretches from mines in Africa to Australia to diamond dealers and cutters.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "diamond prices;diamond price increase;south african concern;diamond jewelry market;diamond sales;london-based central selling organization;world diamond production;diamond dealers;world diamond market;de beers consolidated mines ltd."}
+{"name": "WSJ871215-0109", "title": ")HL    REVIEW & OUTLOOK (Editorial): Welfare's Trojan Horse", "abstract": "How much more of an \"investment\" should American taxpayers make in the welfare system? This is the question the House of Representatives is scheduled to take up today when it votes on the Family Welfare Reform Act of 1987. The bill proposes $5.2 billion in new spending over five years, and most of that will increase benefits currently received by welfare recipients.  It appears that what we have here is something of a Trojan horse -- a piece of legislation that is represented as \"reform\" when all it does is expand existing welfare programs. The bill's questionable premise is that larger expenditures on welfare will reduce welfare dependency. This thinking was nicely summarized by Rep. Anthony Beilenson, who said plainly, \"The truth is, for welfare reform to be successful, it's got to be expensive.\"  The proposed new spending on welfare should be viewed as an investment, say its proponents, led by Rep. Thomas Downey. They point out that part of the money will go for special education, training and work programs for welfare mothers, to induce them off the rolls and into jobs. At the same time they say, certain existing benefits -- mainly Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) -- must be increased to offset real declines since the base year of 1970.  House members on both sides of the aisle agree that welfare-to-work programs are worthwhile. That conclusion was presumably the basis for the bipartisan consensus that was going to produce a serious welfare-reform bill this year. But less than a quarter of the $5.2 billion outlay would go for that purpose. The bulk of the new money would go to higher AFDC pay-outs, extension of mandatory benefits to two-parent families and maintenance of certain benefits for welfare recipients earning some income. In short, the Family Welfare Reform Act amounts to an expanded investment in the status quo.  Of course, House Democrats could hardly promote this bill as more of the same. That might produce reprisals from voters who've watched their tax dollars build and maintain the welfare system, with little evident return on their investment. Instead, after nearly 20 years, the system's defenders and funders repeatedly tell the public that the problem, if anything, has gotten worse. So the House's liberal majority hoped to achieve an increase in welfare outlays by making a bow to \"reform.\"  In fact, while the level of AFDC benefits has decreased in real terms since 1970, the total level of all welfare benefits has not. Nearly all AFDC families also receive Medicaid coverage, for instance; more than three-quarters receive food stamps, and one-third have children who receive free school meals. One-quarter receive housing assistance.  Together, spending for the seven major welfare programs (those just mentioned plus the Women, Infants and Children program and the Low Income Energy Assistance program) has actually increased since 1970 by 232% in constant dollars, to an annual total $65.7 billion. The House Democrats' claim that welfare recipients are worse off than they were in 1970 -- in terms of the level of benefits received -- is dubious.  Measured in the terms that really count -- namely the number of welfare dependents liberated from the rolls -- the situation has become worse. During the unprecedented expansion of the welfare state, the most notable and highly publicized phenomenon has been the development of an entrenched class of long-term welfare dependents. It is difficult to accept that the $4.3 billion increase in basic benefits proposed in the Family Welfare Reform Act will do much of anything about the problem of hard-core welfare dependency.  At the least, welfare reform should have these goals: to shrink rather than enlarge the welfare system, to ultimately eliminate perverse incentives to remain on welfare, and to make work the focus of the system.  The House bill doesn't do that. By adding several welfare programs to what already exists (without eliminating any), the House bill adds another layer to an already complex welfare system. By further increasing rather than gradually reducing the level of benefits available to recipients, it makes welfare more, not less, enticing. By diluting proposed work-for-welfare requirements, it diminishes the importance of work.  Earlier this year, there were hopeful signs that we would see sweeping, serious welfare-reform legislation emerge from Congress. Democrats and Republicans alike agreed on the need for change. This rare opportunity is being squandered.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "welfare system;house democrats;welfare recipients;welfare reform;american taxpayers;welfare programs;welfare benefits;investment;welfare dependency"}
+{"name": "WSJ871216-0037", "title": "Bank of Boston's Loan Write-Off Plan Is Expected to Have Wide Repercussions --- By Peter Truell Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Bank of Boston Corp.'s decision to treat its Third World loans much more conservatively is expected to have significant domestic and international repercussions, bankers and analysts say.  Domestically, the move reflects the competitive advantage that regional banks with large loan-loss reserves have over their big brothers in such money centers as New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Internationally, it appears that it will be even more difficult for economically troubled developing nations to attract new bank loans.  U.S. banks are increasingly splitting into two groups. On one hand, there is a small group of money-center banks with comparatively thin reserves against large loans to developing countries. On the other hand is a group of regional institutions which, with relatively small exposure to developing countries, are willing to establish big reserves against such loans or, as Bank of Boston decided Monday, to completely write off some loans as uncollectible.  \"It's a parting of the ways between the money centers who are out to collect on their assets and the regionals who want to get out,\" says Lawrence Cohn, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co.  The Bank of Boston decision \"may well drive a wedge between the money-center banks and the regional banks,\" adds James J. McDermott, Jr., director of research at Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc., a securities firm which specializes in bank stocks. \"It's created an enormous quandary for many money-center banks,\" Mr. McDermott says.  Actions such as that taken by Bank of Boston highlight a potential competitive edge that regional banks have over money-center banks. Management could use their reserve position to emphasize stength when competing for deposits and banking business against larger banks. The reserve action also could make it easier for institutions like Bank of Boston to attract investors to their stock and other securities, bank analysts said.  While the large banks are eager to remain competitive with such regionals as Bank of Boston, they also want to ensure that the regionals continue to lend to heavily indebted developing nations. Earlier this year, Bank of Boston proved one of the more difficult regionals to corral into a $6 billion bank loan for Mexico, according to New York bankers. Now that Bank of Boston has reserved and written off most of its loans to less-developed countries, it's likely to be much less willing to join any such new efforts. That could add to the lending burden for the biggest U.S. banks.  Moreover, most of the nation's big banks couldn't afford to follow Bank of Boston's lead without crippling their capital, and reducing their common equity-asset ratios to unacceptably low levels. For instance, if Manufacturers Hanover Corp. imitated Bank of Boston's action, it would have to add $3.13 billion to reserves and would have a common assets ratio of only 0.69%, Keefe Bruyette estimates.  In order to take steps similar to Bank of Boston's, large money-center banks would have to sell assets, shrink balance sheets and slash dividends -- and they show little sign of doing that. Yesterday, Manufacturers Hanover announced a regular quarterly dividend of 82 cents a share, offering investors a yield of more than 13% annually.  Manufacturers Hanover declined to comment on whether it might follow Bank of Boston's action. Other large New York banks also declined to disclose their plans, although a spokeman for Chase Manhattan Corp., said, \"We're obviously looking at it.\"  Mellon Bank Corp. said yesterday that it expects a fourth-quarter loss of about $220 million, and that it would increase loan-loss reserves by about $180 million to cover troubled foreign loans.  The stocks of several major money-center banks fell sharply yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Chase Manhattan skidded $2.25 to close at $20.125, Manufacturers Hanover fell $2.375 to $24.25, and J.P. Morgan & Co. was off $1.50 to $30. Bank of Boston closed up 50 cents at $20.75, while Mellon fell $1 to $26.25.  Analysts expect that other regional banks may copy the action taken by Bank of Boston. \"I wouldn't be surprised if some of the medium-sized regionals decided to follow,\" said Cheryl Swaim, an analyst and vice president at Oppenheimer & Co. In Boston, there were rumors Bank of New England might announce a similar move, but a company spokesman said \"reserve levels are appropriate.\"  Bank of Boston announced Monday that it was writing off $200 million of loans to less-developed countries and that it was placing all but a small portion of its loans to the Third World on a non-accrual basis.  When a loan is placed on non-accrual, a bank only credits interest it actually receives, and doesn't automatically accrue interest due.  Bank of Boston also placed on non-accrual $470 million in loans to less-developed countries that are unrelated to trade. Along with $330 million in such loans previously put on non-accrual, Bank of Boston has now either charged off, or put on non-accrual, all of its $1 billion loans to heavily indebted developing countries. This doesn't include $170 million in trade-related debt.  While Bank of Boston's action is the most striking to date to remove Latin exposure from its balance sheet, smaller similar actions began at other banks around mid-year.  First Bank System Inc., Minneapolis, the nation's 15th biggest banking concern, charged off $25.4 million in troubled foreign loans during the third quarter. First Chicago Corp., the 11th largest banking concern, charged off $48.9 million in Third World loans during the quarter.  And even before the big reserves were set aside, banks were quietly charging off Latin debt, though on a smaller scale. Last March, Continental Illinois Corp. said it had charged off about half of its $100 million of loans to Peru. Continental wouldn't comment yesterday on Bank of Boston's action.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "regional banks;boston corp;loan-loss reserves;developing countries;money-center banks;u.s. banks;third world loans"}
+{"name": "WSJ880617-0024", "title": "White House Moves to Deal With Drought --- Farm Export Subsidy Curbs Are Mulled; Stock Prices Drop on Inflation Fears --- This article was prepared by Bruce Ingersoll in Washington And Scott Kilman and Alex Kotlowitz in Chicago", "abstract": "The Reagan administration moved to deal with the worsening drought, and a top trade official said that farm export subsidies may have to be curbed.  Meanwhile, fears mounted that the fragile recovery of agriculture-related industries will be derailed by continuing lack of rain.  Concern that the drought could fuel inflation drove stocks and bonds sharply lower yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 37.16 points to close at 2094.24, while U.S. government bonds fell more than 1 1/2 points. Grain and soybean futures continued their drought-driven rally.  President Reagan appointed an interagency group to deal with the drought and Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng authorized farmers in drought parched counties in 13 states to harvest hay on idled crop land in the government's Conservation Reserve Program.  White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said that the president is \"very concerned\" about the drought, and \"wants to make certain that everything that the federal government can do to assist will be done.\"  While he wouldn't predict what kind of disaster relief might be authorized, Mr. Fitzwater said the drought \"certainly is going to drive up food prices. We've already seen some increases in some products.\" But he said the administration doesn't believe the drought will have \"overall implications for the economy.\"  At a news briefing, Special Trade Representative Clayton Yeutter warned that the administration may have to curb its so-called export enhancement program if the drought becomes even worse. This program is designed to boost farm exports by reimbursing U.S. exporters for the difference between the prices they receive for grain and other commodities in world markets and higher U.S. prices.  \"Clearly, we will have to appraise very carefully the desirability of using export enhancement funds at a time when (U.S.) supplies are unpredictable,\" Mr. Yeutter said.  Shrinking soybean stockpiles and soaring prices have stirred speculation that the government may impose an embargo on exports of soybeans and soybean products. Growers still complain about the 1973 embargo, which they say hurt the nation's reputation as a reliable supplier.  But Mr. Yeutter said he would \"vigorously\" oppose any embargo on U.S. soybean exports. Earlier this week, Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng took an equally adamant stand against such an embargo.  Before the drought began damaging crops this month, the year was shaping up as one of the best in the decade for rural industries that depend on farmers. Hefty government subsidies on last year's strong harvests put a record amount of cash into farmers pockets.  But bankers that lend to farmers suddenly are worrying anew about their borrower's financial health. Farm equipment makers say they are concerned that sales could suffer. Realtors in rural areas say that land prices, which had just begun to turn around, may be affected.  For many, the drought couldn't come at a worse time. \"This is probably putting a damper on one of the most optimistic years in the last eight years,\" says Richard Hahn, president and chief executive of an Omaha, Neb.-based farm management concern.  In April, the price of good-quality Iowa farm land was one-third higher than it was a year earlier. Tractor sales by farm equipment dealers were up 12.8% during the first five months of the year.  Now, with farmers in many Midwest states expecting smaller harvests this year, these businesses are seeing their new-found trade evaporating.  \"Everybody is watching the dollars they have,\" says Allen Olson, a vice president of the National Bank of Harvey, N.D., where the drought has already halved the potential yield of the local wheat crop. \"People are borrowing minimal amounts.\"  Few in farming expect the drought to trigger an agricultural recession, although more farmers could go bankrupt because of it. But all bets are off on how farmers will fare at the end of this year's harvests. While crop prices are soaring on weather-worries, yields may be so low in many areas that farmers won't do nearly as well as expected.  If farmers are strapped for cash this year, the effects would ripple throughout the farm economy. Bob Pfiefer, owner of a Massey-Ferguson farm equipment dealership in Sioux Falls, S.D., says he has already canceled some orders for fear that sales will soon begin dropping off. If the drought continues, he says, \"it could bring us to our knees again.\"  In Franklin, Tenn., implement dealer Larry Holt is slashing his fall orders by one-third, even though sales so far this year are up roughly 25%. He expects sales for the rest of this year to drop 10% to 20% from the second-half of 1987.  J.I. Case, the farm implement-making unit of Tenneco Inc., is considering cutting production schedules if the drought continues through July. \"It's already getting harder to sell farmers tractors because of the drought,\" says James K. Ashford, Case president and chief executive officer. He said that if the drought continues, industrywide tractor sales could turn flat next year instead of climbing the 5% to 6% that was originally forecast for 1989.  Among rural banks, loan problems are expected to rise and profits to fall. \"Before the drought we expected a very solid year\" for farm lenders, says Mark Drabenstott, an economist at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. \"There are a lot of question marks right now.\"  Many rural lenders this spring were banking on farmers losing some of their post-farm crisis inhibitions about going into hock. One of the biggest problems for farm banks has been that their number of loans, a major source of bank income, has shriveled as farmers paid off their debts with last year's profits.  In Anadarko, Okla., bankers worry now that ranchers are going to make less money this year because crop damage is escalating the cost of feeding cattle. \"The drought is going to hurt us because it hurts the cattle market,\" says Lance Shenold, a vice president of Anadarko Bank & Trust Co.  The land boom is wilting. Because of the drought, Iowa realtors expect land prices to rise somewhat less than the 5% to 10% they had been expecting. \"Everybody has just kind of pulled in their horns,\" says Jim Frevert, vice president of Hertz Farm Management Inc., Nevada, Iowa.  A big drop in harvests this year could squeeze investors who had planned on good yields to help pay their real estate loans. Most of the farmers who have bought land recently did so for cash, but many of the urban investors got in on credit, real estate agents say.  Among all the uncertainty, however, some are looking for a silver lining.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "export enhancement program;export enhancement funds;drought-driven rally;drought damage;worsening drought;reagan administration;disaster relief;food prices;farm economy;farm export"}
+{"name": "WSJ880621-0079", "title": "Under Fire: World Bank's Conable Runs Into Criticism On Poor Nations' Debt --- Liberals Assail His Refusal To Give Much Assistance; He Defends His Policies --- One Issue: His Ties to Baker", "abstract": "World Bank President Barber Conable was so well regarded during his 20-year career as a Republican congressman from New York that some journalists nicknamed him \"H.R.\" -- for \"highly respected.\"  And to many on Capitol Hill, Mr. Conable still is. Rep. Tom Foley, a liberal Democrat from Washington State, calls him \"a very strong asset\" to the 151-nation institution \"because of the enormous respect he has on both sides of the aisle.\"  But at the World Bank, Mr. Conable finds himself under fire. After a year and a half in office, he has failed to move the bank into a leadership role on the Third World debt problem.  \"The World Bank has been reluctant to step out on this issue in confrontation and conflict with the Treasury,\" charges Sen. Bill Bradley, a New Jersey Democrat and Congress's leading voice on the debt problem. Rep. John LaFalce, a New York Democrat and another leader on the issue, agrees. \"There surely is a much larger role for the World Bank in the debt problem than it has played so far, but they just can't get out ahead of the administration,\" he says.  While the debt morass has deepened, Mr. Conable's World Bank has looked inward, shuffling its organization charts around in a disruptive reorganization and then campaigning for a $74.8 billion increase in its capital.  As Congress considers the increase, liberal critics on Capitol Hill are demanding that Mr. Conable show he is ready to use the bank's vast resources to make some direct impact on reducing the huge burden of Third World debt. House Democrats, in fact, cut out of the foreign-aid bill passed last month all $70 million the administration had sought for the first year of the U.S. share of the increase in capital. The deletion was made pending action by a committee looking into the bank's approach to the debt crisis.  So far, Mr. Conable has approached the debt crisis more like a cautious financier than a bold politician. He has clung to the bank's traditional role of a conventional lender and adviser to developing nations and has deferred on ideas about the debt to the man who picked him for his job -- U.S. Treasury Secretary James Baker. Mr. Conable subscribes to the \"Baker Plan,\" which stresses new lending by commercial banks and the World Bank to debtor countries that adopt growth-oriented, market-based economic reforms. The bank has tried to help the countries by tiding them over with some new loans.  That policy contrasts sharply with some of the more aggressive debt-reduction plans. Sen. Bradley, worried that the debt burden stalls growth and threatens political stability in developing countries, proposes that Third World debtors be required to make certain economic reforms; in return, their lending banks would forgive some of the loans and write them down on their books. Even the World Bank's longtime financial wizard, Eugene Rotberg -- who quit the bank for Merrill Lynch over Mr. Conable's reorganization plan -- proposed last month that the World Bank guarantee new 20-year commercial-bank loans to Third World countries. Other experts advocate a \"debt facility\" to buy and refinance the debts.  Defending his approach to the debt problem, Mr. Conable explains: \"We aren't a financial institution but a development institution. We can't go to our member countries and say, 'Give us a tremendous capital increase so we can assume the obligations of all these other creditors that a developing country owes.' Obviously, that would be viewed as our not performing a development function but our simply accepting other people's risks.\"  But critics reject that view. Jeffrey Sachs, a Harvard economist who has offered one of many debt-reduction plans, says the World Bank's officials \"have the great potential to play a central role in the problem, but they're basically ducking. There is a lack of intellectual leadership within the bank itself.\"  Even some Reagan administration officials privately despair of Mr. Conable's leadership and fear that it may have been a mistake to appoint him.  While financial experts often urge the bank to do more, the ponderous institution has intervened only about half a dozen times in debt crises, usually just to guarantee a small portion of a commercial-bank loan package. Mr. Conable makes it clear that it won't do that often.  Recently, commercial-bank lenders to Brazil tried to get the World Bank to insure a portion of a big new loan package they were negotiating. But the U.S. Treasury was firmly opposed to the idea, saying it was unnecessary in Brazil's case and might foster the impression that such guarantees should be common.  Secretary Baker says Mr. Conable is being criticized largely by legislators and academicians who favor grand debt-relief schemes that would \"take the debt and put it on the backs of the taxpayers. I'll tell you who'll pay for it: you and me when we file our 1040s. It's a bad idea. They want Barber to subscribe to it, and I think that he sees that it's a bad idea.\"  Yet even inside the bank, there is increasing worry that the Third World debt -- totaling $1.19 trillion last year -- frustrates the bank's goals. Because of \"chronic debt problems . . . the development process in these countries has stalled,\" the World Bank said earlier this year.  Also within the bank's own ranks, there is talk that could lead to a more aggressive role on debt once President Reagan leaves office. \"Baker's approach has to be adapted to the circumstances of today,\" says the bank's No. 2 man, Operations Vice President Moeen Qureshi. \"Perhaps we have excessively underplayed our own role.\" He adds, \"It seems to me it will be desirable, in the present environment, to see what can be done\" to reduce debt, rather than just lend new money.  Partly in response to the external and internal pressures, Mr. Conable sent a debt study to his board early in April. \"The likelihood is that the bank will need to play a more extensive and diversified role in two areas: new money packages and facilitating other forms of financial relief, including debt-reduction schemes,\" declares the study, which was drafted by David Bock, a vice president and the bank's debt expert. The document even says that for a few debtors, \"consensual debt relief,\" including \"outright forgiveness,\" might be the only workable solution, but it stresses that the bank must avoid moves that threaten the \"preservation of the bank's prime standing in financial markets.\"  The bank's own annual world-debt report illustrates its determination to stick to a back-seat role on the issue. Published early this year, the report noted that the debtor countries' position \"has stubbornly failed to improve,\" said \"imagination and resolve are needed,\" and emphasized that \"leadership will itself be crucially important.\" But conspicuously absent from the report, which discussed debt-relief proposals from Secretary Baker, Sen. Bradley and others, were any ideas from the bank itself.  The World Bank's ethos is decidedly traditional.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "world bank president;third world debt problem;debt burden;third world debtors;debt crisis;third world debt;barber conable;criticism"}
+{"name": "WSJ880923-0163", "title": "Back to Life: Yellowstone Park Begins Its Renewal --- Research Biologist Despain Roots Around in the Ash, Finds Reasons for Cheer", "abstract": "Wearing a bright yellow flame-retardant shirt, Donald Despain crouches down to study the ash-covered forest floor. The scorched hillside around him appears utterly lifeless.  Almost everything in sight is black, from the tips of trees 40 feet above the ground to the powdered ash blanketing the earth. The firestorm that raged through here in recent weeks was driven by 60-mile-an-hour winds that fanned temperatures to more than 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit. The fire was so intense that a gray shadow on the forest floor is all that remains of a fallen log.  Where many people recoil at the sweep of nature's destructive power, the 47-year-old Mr. Despain marvels at the tiny steps life is already taking to renew itself. As Yellowstone National Park's research biologist, he has already begun to monitor the forest's rebirth from the worst fire on record.  His eyes red from the blowing ash, Mr. Despain patiently counts the quarter-inch lodgepole pine seed \"wings\" within a rectangular frame he places on the hillside. The tiny seeds are slowly released from rock-hard pine cones only after the cones have been seared by the passing flames; indeed, they require a fire to propagate themselves. The little wings act like the rotary blades of a helicopter in dispersing the seeds.  \"This is amazing,\" says Mr. Despain, reflecting on his count. \"This works out to one million seeds an acre.\" Only about 500 mature trees were on an acre of hillside here before the fire. Of course, not all the seeds will become trees. Deer mice will eat some of them. Others won't take root. But next spring many of the seeds, fertilized by nutrients leaching into the soil from the snow-packed ash, will sprout, along with a bouquet of grasses, flowers and shrubs, as burnt areas of the park erupt with life.  The profusion of pine seeds is just one of the rejuvenating forces at work in Yellowstone even as the fires, largely quenched this week by rain and snow, still smolder. Grasses and several types of wildflowers, ranging from fireweed to wild geraniums, are already sprouting less than seven weeks after fire roared past Grant Village near Yellowstone Lake. Next year, the ground cover replacing the park's burnt stands of aging lodgepole pines should provide a 30-fold increase in plant species. More edible plants, in turn, support larger, and more various populations of birds and other animals.  \"We see what's going on here not as devastation and destruction, but, rather, rebirth and renewal of these ecosystems,\" says John Varley, Yellowstone's chief of research and Mr. Despain's boss.  Mr. Despain's research should play a major role in a new debate over whether to reforest burnt areas of Yellowstone or to let nature take its course. In recent years, environmentalists have for the most part succeeded in promoting the natural processes of the parks. But the approach is again under attack. The National Park Service has already been at the center of a much-publicized political firestorm over its 16-year-old \"natural burn\" policy, which allows lightning-caused fires to burn themselves out, except where they threaten towns or park buildings.  Critics, including elected officials from Western states and the logging and tourist industries, have grabbed headlines by blaming that policy for fueling the inferno that this summer raged over half of Yellowstone's 2.2 million acres and cost more than $100 million to fight and clean up.  Reforestation would give wooded areas in Yellowstone a \"five-year jump\" on natural regrowth of the woods and would \"get it green again,\" says John Davis, Willamette Industries Inc.'s general manager for Western timber logging operations in Lewiston, Idaho. Gerald M. Freeman, the president and chief operating officer of Stone Forest Industries Inc., agrees: \"Controlled burning, selective logging and reforestation are a much better way to manage the forests.\"  The pressure to bring back Yellowstone's forest through reforestation may get intense. In an average year, 2.5 million tourists visit the huge park, and a drop-off because of the fire damage could severely hurt business. In August, with fires out of control, the tourist trade was off 30% here.  The emotional appeal of replanting the parks already has led to some reforestation proposals -- some of them a bit off the wall. New Jersey's governor, Thomas Kean, for instance, announced that his state planned to donate thousands of evergreen seedlings to replant Yellowstone, apparently without realizing that none of the proffered species are indigenous to the park. Although the offer was later amended to include native varieties, the park service politely declined.  Mr. Despain hopes that the scientific evidence that park researchers are gathering will testify to the forest's ability to renew itself, while countering emotional calls for human help. \"When I hear the word 're-vegetation,' my blood runs cold,\" he says.  Mr. Despain joined the park's research department in 1971 after finishing his doctorate at the University of Alberta on the plants of the Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming. He worked under Glen Cole, the park's head of research from 1968 to 1976 and a leading advocate of letting natural processes prevail in the park. Alston Chase, an author and park critic, describes Mr. Despain as one of the park's \"most orthodox believers\" in the official natural management policy.  Mr. Despain has set up or is planning several long-term research projects to study the effects of this year's fires. In addition to his seed-counting, Mr. Despain has created nine \"before and after\" study plots to gauge effects of the fire.  Within these 15-by-25-meter plots, he and other researchers cataloged the size and the number of lodgepole pines, as well as the variety of plant growth on the forest floor. (He had to abandon one such study area two weeks ago. Fire licked at its corners even as he was mapping the trees within.) After the fire is out, he surveys damage to a plot. Next spring he will chronicle rebirth.  Some of the impulse to reforest Yellowstone may be based on a misapprehension of just how much damage has been done here. Television pictures of the Yellowstone's fires at their height made things look worse than they are. True, fire boundaries within the park cover about half the park's acreage. Yet only 10% to 15% of land within these boundaries was scorched by raging crown fires that burn everything in sight, Mr. Varley estimates.  In fact, nearly half the area within the fire zones remains untouched by fire.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "fire damage;ash-covered forest floor;rebirth;firestorm;scorched hillside;tiny seeds;worst fire"}
+{"name": "WSJ890828-0011", "title": "Politics & Policy: @  Problems Loom for Census as Congress Debates @  Whether Illegal Immigrants Are U.S. 'Persons' @  ---- @  By David Wessel @  Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Though the forms for the 1990 census are already at the printers, Congress is contemplating adding a question: Are you an illegal immigrant?  The Census Bureau, as it has in the past, is planning to count all residents of the nation regardless of legal status. But the Senate already has voted to force the Census Bureau to exclude illegal immigrants in preparing tallies for congressional reapportionment. A majority of the members of the House of Representatives has signaled support.  \"It is wrong to apportion congressional seats by counting people who would be deported if our immigration laws were enforced,\" Rep. Thomas Petri (R., Wis.) said in a recent House debate.  Replied Rep. Jim Kolbe (R., Ariz.): \"A very clear reading of the Constitution says that we shall count all those who are present.\"  Although the debate is often couched in constitutional arguments, it's largely driven by geography. Wisconsin has few illegal immigrants; Arizona has lots.  \"It boils down to regional politics,\" says Arturo Vargas, census-program director for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, one of several Hispanic organizations lobbying in favor of counting illegal immigrants.  Counting illegal immigrants in 1990 is likely to mean one less seat in the House for Pennsylvania and one more for California, according to the private Population Reference Bureau. The Census Bureau's chief antagonist in the Senate, Sen. Richard Shelby (D., Ala.), says seats for Connecticut, Michigan, North Carolina and Alabama also are at risk. On the other hand, Texas, Florida and New York could benefit.  \"Illegal aliens are actually taking representation away from Americans,\" says David Ray, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.  The Census Bureau, based on comparisons of its data with figures kept by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, estimates that it counted about two million illegal immigrants in 1980, half of them in California. That meant one extra seat in the House for California and New York and one less seat for Indiana and Georgia.  \"You end up diluting the vote when you start including illegals,\" says Rep. Thomas Ridge (R., Pa.), who leads the charge against the practice in the House.  Organizations that represent Hispanics are particularly worried about the congressional campaign. They fear that any attempt to ascertain the legal status of respondents will exacerbate difficulties the Census Bureau already faces in accurately counting Hispanics and blacks.  \"As it is, the Census Bureau has a tremendous challenge in trying to convince everybody that the census is confidential,\" Mr. Vargas says. \"If the Census Bureau attempts to ask people their immigration status, that's going to be even harder.\"  The Census Bureau agrees. \"We tell people: Put your name down on the census form. We won't report you to the housing authority {if there are too many occupants},\" says Peter Bonpanne, an assistant director. \"If they see a lot of questions on there about somebody's legal status, that could hurt all kinds of people's participation.\"  Although the 106 million census forms can be reprinted if Congress acts soon, wording a question so that illegal immigrants answer accurately is a challenge, Mr. Bonpanne says. The bureau already plans to ask one in six respondents if they are citizens. To satisfy congressional critics, it would have to ask everyone that question, and then ask the legal status of anyone who isn't a citizen.  Rep. Ridge dismisses the practical problems. \"We're spending billions on the census, and the only thing we get is a bunch of belly-aching about how difficult it will be,\" he complains. \"The primary purpose of the census is to distribute political power . . . not to gather demographic information.\"  The Senate, by a vote of 58-41, added a provision to a pending immigration bill to require the government to subtract illegal immigrants when it comes up with figures used for reapportionment.  Because California, Texas and other populous states that benefit from counting the illegal immigrants have such large delegations in the House, the House has always presented a bigger obstacle to the opponents of counting such immigrants. The House did open the door to an amendment to a spending bill that would have barred census takers from \"knowingly\" counting any illegal immigrants, but the provision was quickly sidetracked on procedural grounds.  All sides in the debate predict a lawsuit no matter what Congress does. In 1980, a federal appeals court upheld a lower-court decision throwing out a suit that sought to bar the government from counting illegal immigrants. A similar suit was dismissed this year when a federal district judge in Pittsburgh ruled that the states that sued -- Pennsylvania, Kansas and Alabama -- couldn't show they had been harmed.  The Constitution simply calls for apportioning the House on the basis of the \"the whole number of persons\" in each state. The Constitution originally called for counting \"free persons\" and indentured servants, and for counting slaves as three-fifths of a person. That was changed with the passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868. Only \"Indians not taxed\" were excluded, but no one has fallen into that category since 1940.  Much of the argument in Congress turns on the use of the word \"person\" in references to the census. Elsewhere in the Constitution, the framers used the word \"citizen.\" They wrote, for instance, that only those who have been \"seven years a citizen of the United States\" can serve in the House. The word \"person\" was repeated in the 14th Amendment, which was drafted after the Civil War.  Those in Congress and at the Census Bureau who favor continuing the practice of counting all residents of the U.S. conclude that this language unambiguously resolves the debate. Their opponents say the drafters of the Constitution and the 14th Amendment never even considered the concept of an \"illegal immigrant,\" let alone contemplated their current numbers.  --- @ Estimates of Illegal Aliens @ Counted in 1980 Census @ TOTAL U.S. 2,057,000 @ California 1,024,000 @ New York 234,000 @ Texas 186,000 @ Illinois 135,000 @ Florida 80,000 @ Source: Census Bureau", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "congressional campaign;1990 census;congressional seats;illegal immigrants;census bureau;congressional reapportionment;illegal aliens"}
+{"name": "WSJ900418-0193", "title": "REVIEW & OUTLOOK (Editorial): Lawmakers for Life", "abstract": "The root of the problems with Congress is that, barring major scandal, it is almost impossible to defeat an incumbent. In the past three elections, 96% or more of House incumbents who ran won. This lack of turnover has resulted in legislative arrogance, a dearth of new ideas and unaccountability. Congress just violated its legal budget deadline; where are the special prosecutors? Franking privileges, huge staffs, gerrymandering and unfair campaign finance laws have combined to give incumbents a grossly unfair advantage. One out of four House districts this year likely will have an incumbent running with no major-party opposition -- up from one out of five in 1988. One-candidate races are now spreading to the Senate. Democratic Arkansas Senator David Pryor had spirited competition in 1984 when he won with 57%; this year he has no opponent at all. Senators have become just as brazen as their House brethren in shutting out competition. Take Republican Senator Larry Pressler's latest mailing to South Dakotans. It contains five pictures of the Senator and mentions his name 29 times on four pages. Last year, Mr. Pressler sent out more than 2.8 million pieces of mail, the equivalent of 10 pieces per household. Critics of term-limits say that -- franked mail or not -- it's wrong to blame Congress for the now nearly 100% re-election rates since it is just as easy to vote against an incumbent as for. Michael Kinsley writes in the New Republic that if incumbents always win, it's because voters can't be bothered. This presumes that voters can find out who the other candidate is. It is a political axiom that people won't vote for someone they know nothing about. That takes money, and skewed campaign finance laws combined with taxpayer-paid junk mail effectively mean that only incumbents have the cash to make themselves known and to be taken seriously by the media. Incumbents ended the 1988 elections with $63 million left over, while challengers were able to raise and spend a total of only $39 million. Some complain that limiting terms would infringe on democracy by not allowing voters to elect whom they please. The polls indicate voters by two to one think the only way they can control Congress effectively is by limiting terms. We also note that these critics are not agitating in support of Ronald Reagan's call for repeal of the two-term limit for Presidents. A big problem of the current system limiting Presidents but not Congress is that this means political power is constantly tipped in favor of the legislative branch. Getting incumbents to reduce the advantages they have voted themselves is something like asking banks to leave their vaults unlocked. That's why the Washington, D.C.-based Americans to Limit Congressional Terms is asking states to call for a constitutional amendment to limit terms. It already has won in Utah and South Dakota. This fall, the group will try to get both incumbents and challengers to pledge they will not serve more than 12 years in office. Self-imposed limits on office-holding were once part of this country's public-service ethic, with Members returning to private life after a couple of terms. As late as 1860, the average length of House service was four years. The number of freshmen in a new House never dipped below 30% until 1901. In the current House it is 8%. Term limitation, once the accepted American tradition, has been replaced by congressional careerism. The opinion polls for term limitation show that the voters don't like the change. They now think the voluntary service limitation of the past must be made mandatory. --- Curbing the Incumbents   Do you think there should be a limit to the number of times a member of the House of Representatives can be elected to a two-year term, or not?   FAVOR        OPPOSE   Total Sample                          61%          31%   By Party Republicans                         64%          28% Democrats                           60           30    By Philosophy/Ideology Liberal                             58           34 Moderate                            64           30 Conservative                        63           29   By Presidential Preference Voters pro-Bush                     61           32 Voters anti-Bush                    60           28   By Race White                               61           31 Black                               61           27   By Gender Men                                 57           35 Women                               63           27   Source: New York Times/CBS News poll. Survey of 1,515 adults conducted March 30-April 2, 1990, with a 3% margin of error.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "house incumbents;unfair campaign finance laws;unfair advantage;voluntary service limitation;legislative arrogance;constitutional amendment;congressional careerism;opinion polls;limit congressional terms;term limitation"}
+{"name": "WSJ900615-0131", "title": "British Government Says It Won't Help Fund High-Speed Rail Link to `Chunnel' ---- By Barbara Toman Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Sarah Talbot-Williams, a spokeswoman for the Confederation of British Industry, Britain's main employers' group says, \"1992 is going to produce a much more competitive market. \"If we don't have the infrastructure to get the goods to Europe, we'll continue our status as an island.\" Long plagued by soaring costs and drilling delays, the tunnel now looks set to open on time in June 1993. British diggers, who once lagged months behind schedule, currently are just one week behind; their French counterparts are running three months ahead of plan. And although the project's estimated cost has soared to #7.66 billion ($13.11 billion) from #4.9 billion, tunnel executives have obtained underwriting for an equity rights offer and preliminary agreement for more bank loans to cover the added cost. \"There will be no more talk of crisis,\" says Alastair Morton, chief executive officer of Eurotunnel PLC, the consortium building the cross-channel link. \"The money will be together this year, and the project will be clear from there.\" But the lack of a high-speed rail link to London, and improved service beyond, means Britain may miss out on the tunnel's total benefits. \"There is a danger of not being able to exploit the tunnel to its full potential,\" says Prof. Christopher Nash, a transport expert at Leeds University in Northern England. The government's refusal to help fund a fast rail service between London and the tunnel terminal at Folkestone culminates an 18-month squabble. European Rail Link Ltd., a consortium formed last November to build the rail link, had asked the government to contribute #350 million towards the total #2.6 billion cost of the link. Transport Secretary Cecil Parkinson told the House of Commons that the consortium's plans involved \"unacceptable\" risks for taxpayers. He said British Rail, which owns 50% of the consortium, would consider other options for a fast-rail link. But no one expects a viable scheme anytime soon. Defending the decision, Mrs. Thatcher earlier told Parliament that the government already had earmarked almost #2 billion for chunnel-related projects, including #600 million on roads leading to the tunnel and #1.3 billion in passenger and freight rail services. But that didn't satisfy opposition legislators. \"Britain will enter the 21st century with an inadequate 19th-century railway link,\" said John Prescott, the Labour Party's transportation spokesman. As a result of Thursday's decision, the journey time to London from Paris will be about three hours -- 30 minutes longer than with a high-speed rail link. Passengers boarding high-speed trains in Paris will zoom at 180 miles an hour north to Calais, slow to 100 miles an hour through the tunnel, then crawl at an average of 60 miles an hour across southeast England's crowded commuter belt. \"The traffic will now speed through as far as our side of the tunnel, and then the men with red flags will lead it on to London,\" complains Keith Speed, a Conservative member of Parliament whose constituency is near the tunnel terminal. Eurotunnel insists the tunnel will be financially viable without the high-speed rail link. The tunnel-building consortium argues that only 39% of its total revenue will come from direct London-to-Paris trains; the real money-spinner will be freight traffic hauled by road to the tunnel, then loaded onto special Eurotunnel wagons for the journey under the channel. \"We make more money on road traffic using our tunnel,\" Mr. Morton says. \"There is in no sense a feeling we must have that link to make the tunnel successful.\" But Mr. Morton admits he wants to see the high-speed link built, professing it would divert traffic from southeast England's clogged roads. The high-speed link \"will be a benefit for us,\" he says, \"but essential for the country.\" Some analysts go further, arguing the tunnel indeed needs better rail links if it is to compete with improving ferry and air services. \"A high-speed link which covers {only} part of the route proves to be fairly uncompetitive with other transportation modes,\" says Bill Steinmetz, vice president of transport for consultants Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc. in London. \"If you're going to build high-speed rail, you have to decide how to provide complete links. It's like having part of a house built. It may function, but you do worry about it.\" The worries don't end in London. North of the capital, industrialists fear poor railway links will isolate them on the fringes of the European Community's single market. \"The Channel Tunnel is a marvelous addition to the infrastructure,\" says David Merrill, corporate-affairs director at Pilkington PLC, the big glass maker based in St. Helens in Northwest England. But \"it's important that the quality of the rail network and capacity is improved. I don't think there's any time to lose.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "single market;added cost;channel tunnel;high-speed rail link;refusal;total benefits;cross-channel link;fast rail service"}
+{"name": "WSJ900705-0145", "title": "LEISURE & ARTS: Mad Dogs and Frenchmen: `Chunnel' Politics ---- By Isabel Fonseca", "abstract": "Folkestone, England -- \"We've been fighting the bastards since 1066\" was the taxi driver's response to my faint-hearted suggestion that the Channel tunnel, one end of which we were making our way toward, signaled a new epoch in Anglo-French relations. Had he read my mind, or just the same edition of the Sun, which that morning had offered the Black Death, Paris streets \"ankle deep in dog mess,\" and a comparatively high suicide rate (in France \"suicide relieves the daily grind\") among its 10 reasons to hate the French? \"Froggy bashing\" is nothing new here, though it does seem to have gained momentum. But the English objection to the tunnel is not a simple xenophobic reflex. Nationwide opinion polls about this, the biggest civil-engineering project in Europe this century, show convincingly that the English don't want a fixed link; that they like ferries and their island story; that they are worried about the costs to the environment and to themselves; that they are afraid of long, dark tunnels underwater; and of rabies, rats and terrorists crawling through, not to mention other undesirables, say, Europeans in general. The chalk marl under the Channel may be perfectly pliable; the spirit of gloom and resentment about the tunnel (though the disgruntled always are noisier than the positive or the indifferent) may prove more intractable.   Nevertheless, after at least 20 false starts since 1802, the project to join England to \"Europe\" is irreversibly under way. This attempt, which began life on Feb. 12, 1986, at Canterbury with the signing of the Tunnel Treaty by Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterrand (whose Rolls-Royce reportedly was met with flying eggs and chants of \"Froggy, Froggy, Froggy, Out, Out, Out\"), promises to be completed and open for business by June 1993. The British terminal may be seen, or at least imagined, below a ledge of dewy grass near Dover, dotted with poppies and daisies, with church spires in one direction and the white cliffs in another. Slow tractors are piling up walls of earth, cranes and pulleys hoist slabs of cast concrete through a jungle of rusting iron armatures. It looks like child's play, until you spot the men in hard hats: tiny beside their mechanical dinosaurs, they are the toys in the sandbox. Later, I get close to the toy chest, the construction camp in the shadow of Shakespeare Cliff, where nearly 1,000 of them live. \"Farthingloe Village -- a new concept in community living\" -- consists of 42 featureless blocks, spike-topped fencing, floodlights, security guards and warnings that \"All personnel may be searched on leaving the premises\"; residents pay #45, or $80, a week. But the men staying here -- most of them migrant laborers from Ireland and northern England -- are rumored to earn as much as $1,750 a week. Inside the tunnel it is cold and wet and dark, but mainly it's big. We few journalists, looking weedy as hell clutching our notebooks, trudge along in borrowed boots on a guided tour past some very large men (inwardly I take back all I thought, from the safety of the dewy green, poppy-sprayed ledge, about \"toys\"). The site manager gives us the big figures. The total length of each tunnel will be 32 miles, 25 of which will be under the sea. Seven thousand British and 4,000 French workers, on eight- to 12-hour shifts, have completed more than half of the job. Of the three tunnels -- two big ones for trains and another for service -- the smallest is the most advanced: They've bored more than 27 miles. The breakthrough is expected by November. The boring machines are fantastic: guided by satellite, gyroscope, computer and laser, these monsters, equipped with Cuisinart-style blades more than 16 feet wide, can chop and shred chalk at about 15 feet an hour, or 650-1,000 feet a week. We only hear of other machines, such as a giant pump in a 230-foot shaft that sucks the spoil slurry out of the tunnel, but we get some more big figures for the notebooks: Two thousand tons of spoil come out every hour; 500 tons of material go in; money, the press here reports, is being spent at a rate of $4.4 million a day. The 1986 treaty, which contains a clause prohibiting government subsidies for the tunnel, gave a 55-year concession to Eurotunnel, an Anglo-French partnership that commissioned Trans Manche Link, a consortium of five English contractors (Costain, Wimpey, Taylor Woodrow, Balfour Beatty and Tarmac) and five French (Boygues, Dumez, Societe Generale d'Entreprise, Societe Auxiliaire d'Entreprises, Spie Batignolles) to design and build the tunnel. The original forecast for the whole project was $8.5 billion; to the chagrin of the 206 banks involved, it now has reached $13.3 billion and many people estimate tunnel costs of $17.5 billion before we see the light at the end. All this for mad dogs and Frenchmen in 1993? Not quite. Nineteen ninety-two may mean an end to duty-free goods, but the tunnel will be more than a symbol of European unity; it will, transport analysts say, reinforce historically dominant trading links in the London-Frankfurt-Milan so-called \"Golden Triangle,\" bolstering northern Europe as an economic entity at a time when its pre-eminence is being challenged by a strengthened Mediterranean \"sunbelt,\" stretching from Barcelona to Trieste, and by new opportunities to the east. And for the rest of us, it will mean that you can climb aboard and whiz from London to Paris in three hours. There also is, however, a missing link. All leaders like to leave their monuments. For Mr. Mitterrand, with his pyramid and his own triumphal arch, the Chunnel is a new shape for the collection. For Mrs. Thatcher, in her way a choreographer or a sculptor, the monument may be seen in terms of negative space: The tunnel is perhaps her final proof that Britain's Victorian glory can be recaptured without spending a penny of public money. In the same week that the French government revealed its plans to spend 190 billion francs ($34 billion) on expanding its high-speed rail network, the prime minister announced that there will be no government subsidy for a fast train between London and the tunnel, in effect shelving plans for a much discussed new 70-mile link between London and Folkestone. Many observers believe that, by doing nothing to improve the nation's creaking rail system, Britain will lose out on the full benefits of the Chunnel. (\"Britain is about to enter the 21st-century with the worst transport infrastructure in northern Europe,\" John Banham, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said recently. \"We will become the butt of French jokes and be economically marginalized in Europe.\") And travelers from France will have to adjust, perhaps by chewing gum rapidly, when they switch from the \"grande vitesse\" of the Chemins de Fer Francais to the homely milk route of British Rail, and sit out an extra half-hour until arrival at Waterloo.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "full benefits;british industry;boring machines;tunnel treaty;dominant trading links;british rail;high-speed rail network;british terminal"}
+{"name": "WSJ900720-0113", "title": "The Americas: The Shining Path Fights On in Peru ---- By Gustavo Gorriti", "abstract": "As Alberto Fujimori prepares to take over as Peru's next president on July 28, the question of whether the Shining Path will hound his administration as it has the previous two ranks high among his concerns. Among Shining Path watchers (\"Senderlogos\") there is strong disagreement on fundamentals: Is the Shining Path getting stronger or weaker? Is it making progress or losing ground among the population? And finally, who is actually winning the war? There are no easy answers. There is not much of a dispute on the basic data, however. The Shining Path went to war in 1980, on the same day Peru was holding general elections after 12 years of a military dictatorship. Its first actions were cautious, modest and often ludicrous in a crazy way (like hanging dogs from lampposts, with scribbled insults over them to Chinese Communist martyrs). But the actions intensified and soon became quite lethal. While President Fernando Belaunde's regime did what it could to maintain democratic legality at first, it was quite unprepared to deal with any insurgency -- especially with one that had been meticulously planned and organized several years before the first shot was fired. In October 1981, emergency laws were imposed for the first time on part of Peru; they covered only 2% of the population. Now about 50% of all Peruvians live under emergency law. In 10 years, the war between the Shining Path and the government has cost about 20,000 lives. Damages are estimated at $16 billion, or about 85% of Peru's annual gross national product. If the armed forces have been rightly accused of systematic violations of human rights (Peru ranks as one of the world's worst human-rights offenders), the military faults the civilian authorities for failing to provide much-needed leadership. Mr. Belaunde (the first to deal with the problem), who tried to ignore the insurgency out of existence, is regarded as a well-meaning but inept leader. There are no kind words for Mr. Garcia, on the other hand. In the first weeks of his mandate, he made several right moves -- like emphasizing his role as commander in chief of the armed forces and reorganizing the corruption-ridden police. But things began to unravel soon after. At first, he tried a liberal approach, looking for a dialogue with the fanatical Shining Path, and sending scores of young professionals to the emergency areas to attack what he said were the \"root causes\" of the insurgency. But dialogue was disdainfully rejected: Dozens of these professionals were assassinated, and the armed forces slowed down their actions, while the rebels made largely unimpeded progress. Then, Mr. Garcia tried a tougher approach, and human-rights violations surged to their current level. And for the first time, death squads -- linked by some analysts to Mr. Garcia's APRA Party -- began to contribute to the killing. Midpoint during his term, Mr. Garcia lost all hope of defeating the Shining Path, and decided just to coexist with it, says Rafael Merino, a respected analyst on security matters. Not even in that was Mr. Garcia successful, as violence climbed steadily during the second half of his term. In 1988, 1,986 people were killed as a result of insurgent or counterinsurgent actions; in 1989, 3,198 were killed; and 1,730 during the first six months of 1990. How well is Mr. Fujimori expected to deal with the insurgency? His campaign pitch advocated an approach closely resembling that of Mr. Garcia's first year. According to Francisco Loayza, Mr. Fujimori's adviser on internal-security matters, military actions against the Shining Path should be subordinated to economic-development initiatives. \"{The military} should mainly provide security for development projects,\" Mr. Loayza says. He stressed that the main thrust of Mr. Fujimori's \"pacification\" policies would be to address the \"structural violence {read: social injustice} that makes subversion possible.\" Mr. Loayza says that President Garcia's approach failed because of corruption and ineptitude. He also feels that the Shining Path is weakened, and that an important Shining Path faction would be willing to engage in peace talks. This is only wishful thinking, according to Mr. Merino: \"If President Fujimori thinks he'll finish the war through those `pacification' policies, it will be like riding into battle with no better dress or weapons than a tuxedo.\" Actually, Mr. Fujimori might end up implementing internal war policies that would be quite different from those advocated during his campaign. At least, that's what seems is going to happen with the economy, where the vote-getting populist message appears in the process of being replaced by a far more orthodox approach. Free-market economist Hernando de Soto, who has been advising Mr. Fujimori during the past month, thinks that might be the case. \"He learns fast,\" Mr. de Soto told me recently, \"and he has all the right instincts.\" Even if Mr. Fujimori proves to be a quick learner, he will have his work cut out for him. Running against all major trends of contemporary history, the insurgents have followed Shining Path founder Abimael Guzman with the commitment that the faithful reserve for their prophet. This was evident when walking through their safe house in Lima. It looked, said a Peruvian journalist, like the seed for the future \"Museum of the Revolution\" -- wood carvings; woven baskets; tapestries; paintings; chiseled stone; all meticulously, lovingly crafted with the mythified motifs of the internal war. There were also the hagiographic representations of Mr. Guzman himself, in the various postures that endeavored to combine the heroic with the intellectual. A whole closed, inbred culture, developed in the underground and unnoticed by most Peruvians -- except when it explodes in their faces. --- Mr. Gorriti is a Peruvian author and journalist.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "peru;alberto fujimori;president garcia;emergency laws;next president;shining path;armed forces;democratic legality"}
+{"name": "WSJ900914-0127", "title": "Technology & Medicine: Rise in Hurricanes Off U.S. East Coast Is Forecast, Using Study of African Rain ---- By Michael Waldholz Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Based on the new findings, Mr. Gray predicted earlier this summer that the 1990 tropical storm season would be above average, and so far he seems to be right. In July he said there would be 11 storms severe enough to be named, of which six would be hurricanes. The National Hurricane Center said that as of yesterday there have been nine named storms this year, including four hurricanes, a higher rate than normal. Weather researchers have been seeking to predict hurricane patterns more accurately as an early warning for coastal residents of the U.S. and the Caribbean. A sharp decrease in hurricane activity over the past two decades spurred business and residential development that would be vulnerable to increased hurricane activity. Mr. Gray said the West African Sahel region is the newest of five indicators he uses to predict global hurricane activity. Atlantic hurricanes form from especially strong tropical storms that are triggered by winds and other air disturbances that sweep across Africa. Wind moving across warm ocean air causes powerful updrafts of air bearing sea water that eventually turn into rainclouds. Mr. Gray said he believes that in the absence of moisture, these storms quickly dissipate, but that the storms gather strength with additional moisture. Mr. Gray said his research, published in the current issue of Science, suggests that \"intense Caribbean hurricanes Gilbert, Joan and Hugo of 1988 and 1989 may be the forerunners of this change.\" Comparing year-to-year rainfall levels in the Sahel with the number of high-powered Atlantic hurricanes, Mr. Gray found a striking correlation. From 1947 to 1969, for instance, rainfall in the western Sahel was especially abundant, and during this time there were 13 severe hurricanes that formed in the Atlantic Ocean. From 1970 to 1988, the Sahel suffered through a terrible drought, and hurricane activity was unusually low; only one severe hurricane, Gloria in 1985, formed in the area. Mr. Gray searched back in recent history and found that the Sahel, which includes parts of Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and Gambia, goes through long periods of alternating dry and wet weather. He found that the Sahel was especially wet from 1870 to 1900 and from 1915 to 1935. Hurricane activity was much higher during this time than during intervals when the Sahel was dry. Mr. Gray predicted that, based on historical cycles, the Sahel is entering a wet period. He said the drought conditions ended in 1988 and 1989. He based his 1990 storm forecast on the higher-than-normal rainfall in the Sahel in July. Mr. Gray said his research suggests that climate changes in the Sahel don't result from global warming problems associated with environmental pollution but from natural weather cycles.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "west african sahel region;coastal residents;hurricane patterns;atlantic hurricanes;weather researchers;national hurricane center;rainfall levels;global hurricane activity;tropical storm season;mr. gray"}
+{"name": "WSJ900918-0121", "title": "Will the Earth Move On Dec. 3? Midwest Rattled by Prediction --- A Scientist Expects a Quake; Some Map Plans to Flee, And Entrepreneurs Profit ---- By Michael J. McCarthy Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "But even as Memphians whoop it up, the prediction that the Big One may come in December is triggering tremors up and down the Mississippi Valley. Shaken, thousands of people are crowding into earthquake survival classes. In Arnold, Mo., 3,000 people showed up for one course. In Missouri and Arkansas, some schools and businesses have announced plans to close in early December. Entrepreneurs are hawking quake insurance, survival kits and gas-line safety gadgets. Some people are planning to flee. \"You can't run from everything,\" says Tammy McCormick, a nurse in Blytheville, Ark., who will take her two youngsters and spend several days with relatives in North Carolina. \"But it seems stupid to stay on a fault line with a prediction like this.\" Everybody talks about the San Andreas fault in California. But the Midwest actually has had three of the most powerful earthquakes on this continent. In 1811 and 1812, along a 120-mile zig-zag formation called the New Madrid fault, a series of quakes ravaged the Midwest. Researchers estimate those earthquakes ranked stronger than 8 on the Richter Scale, which hadn't been invented yet. They were more than 10 times greater than the 7.1 quake that rocked California's Bay Area last October. Church bells rang as far away as Boston. Chimneys crumbled in Cincinnati. And as tons of soil and rock bed pitched and rolled in a seismic frenzy, new waterfalls spiked up, causing part of the mighty Mississippi River to flow backward for several hours. The New Madrid (pronounced MAD-rid) fault still has 150 small, mostly unfelt, earthquakes a year. In the next 10 years, experts warn, the area has a 33% chance of a quake measuring 7.1. That could produce billions of dollars in damage and thousands of casualties. \"We're overdue for one in the 6s and low 7s,\" says David Stewart, an earthquake expert at Southeast Missouri State University. Over the years, a few pinpoint-on-the map towns have tried to capitalize on the little-known fault. New Madrid, Mo., the fault's namesake, draws tourists to a museum with exhibits on the 19th century devastation. And Paragould, Ark., has held earthquake festivals with events like the \"Miss Faultless\" beauty contest. But as Monday, Dec. 3, approaches, the whole matter is becoming more serious. That's because the predictor has gained credibility in some important circles for his work on the climate. Iben Browning, a 72-year-old scientist, predicted October's Bay Area quake a week before it happened, say people who heard him speak to the Equipment Manufacturers Institute. And he predicted \"geological danger\" on Sept. 19, 1985, along a band of latitude that included Mexico City -- where a massive quake struck on that day. Mr. Browning, who has a Ph.D. in physiology, genetics and bacteriology, writes a climate newsletter out of New Mexico. He has clients, such as PaineWebber Inc., who have long paid for his wisdom on how the weather will affect their agricultural investments. Since 1971, Mr. Browning says, he has picked the correct dates of four large earthquakes, two volcanoes -- and one day with both a volcano and an earthquake. He bases his forecasts on tidal forces caused by the positions of the sun and the moon -- an old theory, critics say, that doesn't wash. On Dec. 3, those forces are expected to be at a 27-year high. Mr. Browning says that will exert pressure that could trigger faults already ripe to fail. The New Madrid area has a 50-50 chance of producing at least a 7 quake on Dec. 3, give or take a day or two on either side, Mr. Browning says. At that time, a similar quake has a lesser chance of occurring on California's San Andreas or Hayward faults, according to Mr. Browning, and an 8.2 quake in Tokyo has a greater chance. Skepticism abounds. \"No responsible scientist can predict an exact day for an earthquake,\" says Brian Mitchell, a quake expert at St. Louis University, echoing the majority opinion. But Mr. Browning shouldn't be written off so quickly, says Southeast Missouri State's Mr. Stewart, who recently spent four days with Mr. Browning. \"He has a methodology that can determine, plus or minus a window of a day or two, an enhanced probability of a volcano or an earthquake in certain latitudes,\" says Mr. Stewart. \"No one else has been able to replicate it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong.\" Mr. Browning says it's not easy being on record with predictions that few other scientists will support. \"I feel like a lonely little petunia in a cabbage patch,\" he says. But asked if he enjoys being right, he says, \"It's the only damn thing that matters. If one is a business consultant, they don't pay you for being wrong.\" Plenty of other business people are cashing in on his prediction. Insurance salespeople are peddling earthquake coverage to homeowners and businesses. Salespeople from a Memphis company pop up at survival seminars with a device (for $259 and up) that turns off gas lines when a quake hits. And entrepreneurs are marketing two kinds of earthquake T-shirts in Memphis. One says, \"I'm staying,\" the other, \"I'm leaving.\" All of this has changed life in places like Blytheville, Ark. (pop: 24,314), tucked amid vast flat farmland, right at the corner of the Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri borders. So many people plan to skip town on Dec. 3 that the Flexible Technologies tubing plant already plans to shut down for two days, at a cost of thousands of dollars. Says Jimmy Connell, plant superintendent, \"It's going to be a ghost town around here.\" Robert Edwards, a Blytheville fireman who teaches seminars in earthquake survival, has become a hot property. For five years, most of his classes were lightly attended. Now his phone-answering machine says he is almost completely booked through October. For one recent class, he was in Osceola, Ark. It is 9 a.m. on a rainy Saturday, and 325 Osceolans, gripping legal pads and spiral notebooks, fill the high school auditorium for an all-day session on earthquake preparedness. With his booming voice, Mr. Edwards lays out a grim scenario: \"One hundred and fifty thousand dead in Memphis instantly -- instantly. And all the federal emergency help is going to go there and St. Louis. You have to be prepared to take complete care of yourself for 24 hours to two weeks. You may be five to six months without power.\" After the seminar, two elderly sisters, both widows, split on what to do. Fearing their home will be looted, Bess Mann, 86 years old, wants to ride it out. But her sister, Hallie Peterson, 83, wants to stay with their nephew in Mississippi. Scared that the big Memphis-Arkansas bridge that spans the Mississippi River will collapse in a quake, she's charting an alternate route two hours out of her way. School districts in Earle and Wilson, Ark., have announced closings around Dec.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "prediction methods;earthquake preparedness;quake insurance;earthquake expert;federal emergency help;new madrid fault;national earthquake prediction evaluation cuncil;earthquake survival classes"}
+{"name": "WSJ910107-0139", "title": "Detective Story: Brains Turn to Sponge And Scientists Find Some Bizarre Clues --- Research on Deadly Disease May Bear On Alzheimer's And Theories of Life Itself --- An Outbreak in Pennsylvania ---- By David Stipp Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Thus began another chapter in one of medicine's most bizarre mysteries, a tale of sick sheep and mad cows, cannibals and Pennsylvanians, ancient life forms and a cat named Max. The plot revolves around a family of brain diseases, probably variations of a single disorder, called spongiform encephalopathy. It is infectious, invariably fatal and as insidious as termites, sometimes eating away brain cells for years without detection before a critical mass is spongified. Then, over a few months, motor control buckles and cognition crumbles. Victims then die quickly, usually within a year. Now, after decades of detective work, medical sleuths appear to be closing in on the molecular culprits behind the disease. Their dogged pursuit won't nail a public-health enemy No. 1 -- the disease is rare -- but it may pay off in a big way because the findings could shed light on more common killers, including Alzheimer's disease. The work also promises basic science breakthroughs. Spongiform research already has raised questions about a cornerstone of biology and spawned a Nobel Prize. The uncanny nature of the disorder sometimes grips scientists with a kind of obsessive fascination, notes NIH researcher D. Carleton Gajdusek. He should know, having chased spongiform leads around the globe for 33 years and won a Nobel Prize in the process. Recently the fascination has taken on a more anxious cast as the disease has struck humans and animals with suspicious regularity in several places, underscoring a longstanding question: Do people get the disease from animals? The question has burned with special intensity since scrapie, the form of the disease in sheep, jumped to British cattle a few years ago after they were fed ground-up parts of infected sheep. About 20,000 British cattle have been destroyed since 1986 in hopes of eradicating the spongiform \"mad cow\" disease, which makes the animals jittery before they keel over. A few weeks ago, the first confirmed case of mad cow disease outside Britain turned up in Switzerland. U.S. meat producers have reason to be anxious about this because the incidence of scrapie has been rising in American sheep since the mid-1980s, says Richard Marsh, a University of Wisconsin scrapie expert. Scientists agree, however, that the disease in animals probably poses little danger to people. Scrapie has existed for centuries and \"the world is bathed\" in its infectious agent, says Dr. Gajdusek. Yet sheep have never been strongly implicated in cases of the human form of the disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD. At least not until the Poltar journalist and two other people died of CJD at about the same time in a rural, sheep-herding part of eastern Czechoslovakia. When Dr. Mitrova, a researcher at a Bratislava medical institute, heard of the unusual cluster of cases, she decided to investigate. From the first, one clue stood out like a bloodstain: \"Almost all of the people are involved in raising and taking care of sheep,\" she says. The local cuisine includes a soup of sheep meat stewed in sheep milk. The area's equivalent of chicken soup for colds is sheep brain fried in onions. One CJD victim even slept with a pet sheep until age 13. Now such coincidences seem like a serial killer's pattern. Against all odds, CJD has struck again and again in the same region, called Slovakia -- 69 times since 1975, mainly grouped in two areas. The outbreak has become something of an epidemic around the Orava area, where 26 cases have occurred since 1987, a rate hundreds of times higher than normal for CJD. Residents of the affected areas \"are very afraid,\" says Dr. Mitrova. She has found evidence of scrapie in the area's sheep. Now villagers there call CJD \"our sheep disease.\" That's a leap of folklore, though, and the sheep link may well turn out to be false, cautions Dr. Mitrova. Indeed, CJD is a nefarious trickster; the first reported case of the disease, which entered medical texts in the 1920s, really wasn't CJD after all, scientists now believe. And it usually strikes so rarely and randomly -- killing about one in a million people world-wide each year -- that scientists didn't even begin to suspect it was infectious until 1957. That year, the NIH's Dr. Gajdusek, then a young scientist casting about for big questions, planned a trip to Papua New Guinea to visit a friend. He never arrived. En route, he heard that a primitive New Guinea tribe, the Fore, were dying in droves from an unknown brain disorder they called kuru, \"the shivering disease,\" because it started with tremors. Fascinated, he dropped everything, plunged into the backwoods with a local doctor and took charge of investigating the affair, to the great annoyance of Australian authorities then overseeing the area. \"Gajdusek . . . has an intelligence quotient up in the 180s and the emotional immaturity of a 15-year-old,\" one of his mentors warned the Australians in a letter, and \"won't let danger, physical difficulty, or other people's feelings interfere in the least with what he wants to do.\" In short, he was perfect for the job. Soon kuru victims' brains started issuing from the heart of darkness to distant medical centers, compliments of Dr. Gajdusek. He swapped axes and salt for autopsy rights, dissecting one victim with a carving knife by lantern-light in a native hut during a howling storm, according to his letters home. He and the local doctor, Vincent Zigas, tried everything from tranquilizers to hormones on kuru patients. Nothing helped. The cause remained elusive. Two years later, William Hadlow, a U.S. veterinarian, saw a picture of one of the kuru brains in a medical journal and was struck by its spongy appearance. He had seen that look before in scrapie, the sheep disease, and put in a call to the NIH. Another link fell into place when Igor Klatzo, an NIH scientist, noticed kuru brains resembled ones from CJD victims. Based on the clues, Dr. Gajdusek, back at NIH, led studies in the 1960s showing kuru, CJD and scrapie to be essentially the same infectious disease, studies that won the 1976 Nobel Prize for medicine. The discoveries confirmed a long-suspected connection: The kuru outbreak sprang from a Fore mourning ritual, in which relatives ate their deceased kin's lightly cooked, and often kuru-infected, brains. But the infectious agent continued to baffle scientists. It somehow could hide in the brain for decades without causing the usual signs of infection, such as fever. Brain tissue of infected animals could transmit the disease when injected into different animals' brains, yet microscopes revealed no signs of infectious microbes. And why did the agent sporadically appear in people with no known exposure? It seemed like \"biological spontaneous combustion,\" says NIH researcher Paul Brown. In the early 1980s, scientists discovered that CJD, like Alzheimer's disease, often gums up the brain with a kind of junk, or \"amyloid,\" protein. Further studies showed the junk mainly contains a botched form of a naturally occurring brain protein, sometimes called a prion. Many scientists now believe it's the culprit. But their theory entails a biologically weird premise: that the altered protein replicates itself without the aid of genetic material, the basis of all known reproduction.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "infection;mad cow disease;infected sheep;british cattle;sheep disease;cjd cases;cjd victims;altered protein"}
+{"name": "WSJ910208-0130", "title": "Letters to the Editor: Forget Gun Control; It's Crime Control", "abstract": "-- More than 90% of police chiefs and sheriffs surveyed agree that criminals are not affected by a ban on any type of firearm, while more than 70% oppose \"waiting periods\" for the same reason. -- A prisoner survey conducted by James D. Wright et al. found that unarmed felons listed tougher penalties for using a gun as an important reason for not arming themselves. -- 75%-80% of U.S. violent crimes are committed by career criminals, many on some form of conditional or early release (30%-35% of career criminals are rearrested with previous criminal charges still pending). -- Gary Kleck found that using a gun for protection from violent crime -- rape, robbery, assault -- reduces the likelihood that the crime will be completed and that intended victims will be injured. Clearly, the issue at hand is not gun control but, rather, crime control. According to Mr. Gartner, \"this year about 3,000 teen-agers . . . will use handguns to kill themselves. Some 9,000 adults will do the same.\" Suicides are, without doubt, tragic events affecting parents, families and society. Is how these people killed themselves the real issue, or is why more important? The unfortunate truth is that if a person is desperate or depressed enough to commit suicide, he will find a way to do it. Guns or no guns. The most important fact of all must not be overlooked. Criminals don't care about gun-control laws. They never have and they never will. Frank T. Iorio Mamaroneck, N.Y. --- As a life member of the National Rifle Association, I agree with Mr. Gartner -- it is not too much to ask for a nationwide \"seven-day `cooling-off' period\" (the Brady Bill) to give the authorities time for background checks. As a law-abiding citizen, it would be of comfort to know that other potential handgun buyers would be screened and keep those with a criminal past from owning a handgun. The reason Washington has yet to enact serious gun-control laws is due to the enormous voting and financial pressure of the pro-gun lobby. While Congress is congratulating itself on how well it acted during the vote on the Persian Gulf war, more than 100 body bags were filled here in the U.S. due to handgun violence. The NRA has not acted prudently and is alienating the support and respect of many legislators, police departments and its members. James Forbes Atlanta --- It is refreshing to read the actual motives of those who claim they simply want a waiting period for the purchase of a handgun. Mr. Gartner has now made it abundantly clear that his goal is the elimination of handguns from our society. I find it incongruous that the president of NBC News, a man who should believe in the broadening of constitutional rights, obviously has no regard for the Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. I am sure that if there were a movement to narrow and restrict the First Amendment freedoms of the press, he would be at the forefront of the opposition. Mr. Gartner ignores the key issues regarding suicide and crime. The problem is not the instrument used to kill oneself or someone else. The problems are the breakdown of the family (black and white); an education system that fails to educate; poverty; illegal drugs, and emasculated police, justice and penal systems. This has been the message preached by the NRA for years. As evidenced by New York City and Washington, which have the nation's strictest gun-control laws and virtually ban the ownership of handguns by law-abiding citizens, Mr. Gartner's placebo doesn't work because it ignores the root causes of suicide and crime. Richard W. Bonds Cordova, Tenn. --- Mr. Gartner should have read The Federalist No. 46 by James Madison before he wrote his anti-gun diatribe. If he had, he would understand that the constitutional guarantee of uninfringed firearms possession is for protection against tyranny. It has nothing to do with duck hunting or target shooting. Furthermore, Madison makes it clear that state militias, by the fact of their being organized, would give private arms their greatest effectiveness in the resistance to tyranny. Otherwise, in the words of Alexander Hamilton, \"the citizens must rush tumultuously to arms, without concert, without system, without resource; except in their courage and despair.\" Thus the \"well-organized militia\" phrase in the Second Amendment was not intended to restrict arms to those in the militia -- as the anti-gun lobby would have us believe. When we realize that the individual right to keep and bear arms is our ultimate defense against tyranny, all of the arguments about magazine capacity, armor-piercing bullets, sporting use, etc. suddenly stand before us in their naked falsity. Robert M. Beckett Fountain Valley, Calif.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "violent crimes;gun-control laws;prisoner survey;brady bill;gun control;ban;criminals;protection;firearm"}
+{"name": "WSJ910304-0002", "title": "TB Cases Increased 38% In New York City in 1990", "abstract": "The health department said it is providing tuberculosis testing and treatment for the Human Resources Administration's program for the homeless, and will train staff members on tuberculosis prevention and control. The department also has an established residence for homeless tuberculosis patients, and is working with substance-abuse treatment services to extend tuberculosis prevention in its programs. The Board of Health approved a resolution last year requiring all children entering city schools to be tested. The Health Department estimates that one million New Yorkers may be infected by the TB germ. But only a fraction of a percent of those who have active tuberculosis disease can spread the infection to susceptible individuals. The germ is inactive in more than 99% of those infected. Those at high risk for contracting TB are people whose capacity for resisting infection is weakened, either through diseases such as HIV infection, by drug or alcohol abuse, serious illness such as cancer, or by poor nutrition. The greatest concentration of tuberculosis was in the 25-to-44 age group, accounting for 57% of the total. Men outnumber women two to one in the caseload.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "tuberculosis prevention;health department;active tuberculosis disease;control;tuberculosis testing"}
+{"name": "WSJ910304-0005", "title": "Crash of United Jetliner Kills 25 in Colorado ---- By Asra Q. Nomani and Laurie McGinley Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Local news reporters quoted witnesses as saying that the plane appeared to nosedive into the earth. The crash comes at a particularly sensitive time for the travel industry. Although it has always been difficult to measure the effect of crashes on travel, this accident comes just as people were starting to get over fears of terrorism related to the Persian Gulf war. Airlines have been slashing their flight schedules and laying off employees because of the downturn. Some travel agencies have gone to four-day workweeks. Most of the travel sector has resorted to sharp discounting to spark travel. This, in fact, may have been one reason why the load on the United flight was light. The jet, which can hold at least 100 passengers, carried 20 passengers and a crew of two pilots and three flight attendants. Yesterday's marks the third crash of a United jet in the past three years. In July 1988, a United DC-10 crashed in Sioux City, Iowa, after an engine broke apart in flight, killing 112 people. In February 1989, the cargo door on United Boeing 747 burst open near Hawaii, tearing a gaping hole in the fuselage. Nine passengers died. About two hours before yesterday's crash, the National Weather Service in Colorado Springs issued its first high wind warning for the area since January, according to James Hall, a meteorological technician observer in Colorado Springs. Moments after the crash, the average wind speed was 23 miles per hour, gusting to 32 mph, Mr. Hall said. \"When it's gusty like that, the conditions are quite choppy. It would be like a turbulent river current. It's essentially like water hitting rocks and splashing and foaming over.\" A Federal Aviation Administration official said, \"There were some reports of gusting winds but whether or not that had any impact or whether there was any kind of mechanical problem, I can't speculate.\" Another FAA official said that although it is too early to pinpoint the cause, \"wind shear would be a major area of investigation.\" If preliminary reports that there was wind shear in the area are true, then \"that would indicate there was some instability in the atmosphere,\" he added. Wind shear is a sudden, violent shift in wind direction. It can smash an airplane into the ground. However, he said that wind shear is most dangerous when an aircraft is flying at a very low altitude, either shortly before landing or right after takeoff. In Sunday's crash, the jetliner was a few miles from the airport and so should have been at a somewhat higher altitude. The last major U.S. wind shear accident occurred in Dallas in 1985, when a Delta Air Lines jet crashed on approach. Since then, the FAA and the industry have revamped pilot training on wind shear and have devoted considerable resources to dealing with the hazard. No buildings or structures on the ground were damaged by the crash, according to the El Paso County Sheriffs Department. An eight-year-old girl who was playing nearby, was treated for a head injury and released. The jet involved in the crash is almost nine years old. It was delivered in May 1982 to now-defunct Frontier Airlines. United acquired the plane in June 1986. The plane was operated by an engine manufactured by United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney division. --- Brett Pulley in Chicago contributed to this article.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "first high wind warning;travel industry;colorado springs;last major u.s. wind shear accident;united flight;third crash"}
+{"name": "WSJ910326-0090", "title": "He Paints Still Lifes But John Kelley, 83, Is Still on the Move --- He Lives for Boston Marathon Which He'll Be in April 15, Running His 60th Race ---- By Joseph Pereira Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Mr. Kelley is in training for the Boston Marathon -- his 60th Boston Marathon. And even at the age of 83, he probably will finish ahead of a large number of the 13,000 runners expected to compete -- officially or unofficially -- on April 15. Bill Rodgers, a four-time Boston Marathon winner who plans to run again this year, marvels at Mr. Kelley: \"It's incomprehensible that a man his age is doing what he's doing. I'm struggling at the age of 43. . . . This isn't golf.\" Even the thought of running a course of 26 miles and 385 yards leaves some of Mr. Kelley's rivals of yesteryear gasping. \"Aghast is more like it,\" says Leslie Pawson, 86, a three-time Boston champion who ran against Mr. Kelley half a century ago. \"My doctor says: `No running, whatsoever.' I can't even remember when I ran my last marathon.\" John Adelbert Kelley is a throwback to a time when marathoners did it for glory and cab fare. A two-time winner in Boston (1935 and 1945) and runner-up seven times, Mr. Kelley is to be the oldest competitor in the race this year -- as he has been for 15 years. Mr. Kelley is such an institution that Hopkinton, Mass., where the race begins, has made him an honorary citizen. (\"That means I don't have to pay taxes there,\" he jokes.) Two state troopers will run alongside the 5-foot-6, 130-pound Mr. Kelley into Boston so he won't be trampled by \"groupies,\" as he calls them, clamoring to shake his hand. Last year, five Japanese runners were waved away by the bodyguards, as they sidled up to the old celebrity during the race. Recalls Suni Tomomitsu, one of the runners: \"At first we thought, `Oh, wow, he's like Mafia man.' Then we said, `Oh no, this is nice Johnny Kelley.' In Japan, he is awesome.\" Though he isn't the oldest person ever to enter the Boston Marathon, Mr. Kelley is the oldest to run it. Peter Foley, who was born in 1859, was a regular until he was well into his 80s. But he walked the course. Starting at dawn (six hours before the official noon start), Mr. Foley would eventually saunter across the finish line in the moonlight. Of course, Mr. Kelley -- not to be confused with the other John Kelley, who won the Boston Marathon in 1957 -- isn't the runner he was in 1935 when he won the race, in 2 hours, 32 minutes, 7 seconds. His best time ever was in 1945: 2 hours, 30 minutes, 40 seconds. Last year he finished in 5 hours, 5 minutes. He hopes to do better in 1991. \"That's not a prediction, just a goal,\" he says. When John Kelley first toed the line in 1928, George Bush wasn't yet in kindergarten, Joe DiMaggio was an unknown and Nike was the winged goddess of victory, not a running shoe. In those days, Mr. Kelley recalls, he ran in black leather high-jumping shoes that he cut open at the toes with a razor blade. \"I would have loved to run with the worst pair of sneakers on the market today,\" he says. Back then, the sport didn't have much of a following. Today, of course, the Boston Marathon is a big deal, covered by TV from start to finish and offering $402,000 altogether in prize money. \"The winners get a medal and $55,000,\" says Mr. Kelley. \"I got a medal and beef stew. God bless them,\" he adds. \"They deserve it.\" The rosy-cheeked, supple Mr. Kelley is a medical wonder. Each year, he visits the Cooper Clinic at the Aerobics Center in Dallas for a battery of endurance tests. \"Physiologically, whatever that means, I got all A's,\" Mr. Kelley reports of his checkup four months ago. \"What that means,\" explains Kenneth Cooper, the physician who wrote \"Aerobics\" and several sequels and is now at work on a book on elderly athletes, \"is that Johnny has the body of a man 23 years younger. He's going to be one of the stars of my book.\" Mr. Kelley's resting pulse rate -- 60 beats a minute -- is well below the average person's 72 beats. (That's good.) On the stress test the clinic gives, Mr. Kelley holds the endurance record for his age group. A mechanic for Boston Edison Co. before he retired in 1972, Mr. Kelley started running in the evenings after work more than six decades ago. His only purpose was to relax and have some fun. \"All day long, I did what my boss told me to do,\" he recalls. \"But when I ran at night, I felt free. I ran till I was exhausted.\" In 1928, when he was 21, he entered his first Boston Marathon but didn't finish. He dropped out three-quarters of the way through the race. Then, in 1933, he finished 37th in a field of about 200 runners. In all the years since, he has missed the race just once, in 1967. (He has competed, all told, in 112 marathons, including the 1936 and 1948 Olympics. Mr. Kelley well knows the jagged course from Hopkinton to downtown Boston: The first challenge comes five miles into the race, where a set of little hills can get a psyched runner to waste energy charging up the slopes. A mile and a half later, there's new reason to beware: The smells of Cavanaugh's Bakery can set off hunger pangs. An Exxon station in Wellesley marks the halfway point. A steep descent into Newton Lower Falls can jar a tired runner's bones. Then, at the end of a long column of oak and maple trees, is Heartbreak Hill, his nemesis. It cost him at least two victories, he says. And finally there's the Haunted Mile, a stretch where many runners have collapsed. Boston's skyline, 2 1/2 miles in the distance, can seem so far away. Though still going strong, Mr. Kelley acknowledges the marathon gets tougher each year. To compensate, he trains harder. He used to start preparing in earnest at the end of January. \"In recent years, I've been in training 12 months a year,\" he says, though the serious stuff -- a daily one-hour run, sprints on the track and long, 2 1/2-hour runs every other week -- begins in December. (He doesn't count the miles he puts in, as many long-distance runners obsessively do, but he says he wouldn't object to an estimate of about 50 miles a week.) Mr. Kelley always trains at 5 a.m., and alone: \"It's a quiet time, no traffic; the air is fresh and sweet.\" His routes vary. In January, he prefers the frozen sands of the beach. With the approach of spring, he takes to the alder and scrub-pine hills and bluffs where the sun can be seen rising over Cape Cod Bay. After his morning run, he spends a couple of hours painting (still lifes and Cape Cod scenes), a hobby he took up about 25 years ago. Unlike many runners, Mr. Kelley doesn't bother with stretching exercises before he runs in the morning. \"This is my warm up: I empty the dishwasher, I set up the coffeepot, but I don't plug it in. I set up the breakfast table. Then I check the outside temperature to see what clothes to wear.\" He and his wife, Laura, live in a two-bedroom ranch-style house here in East Dennis, with more than 350 trophies, medals and sweat-stained marathon numbers scattered about. He isn't particular about brands of shoes (\"I wear them all\") or what he eats (\"I never eat broccoli, but I love steak and ice cream.\") Mr. Kelley aims to run till he is at least 100 years old. \"He's a strange man,\" says Laura Kelley, in awe of her husband's vigor. The 82-year-old Mrs. Kelley adds, \"I just try to stay in his shadow, but I have a hard time even doing that.\" In a rare moment of reflection, Mr. Kelley explains what makes him tick: \"I paint because I like it. I run because I like it. If for some reason I don't finish the marathon, I don't owe an apology to anyone. But I'll tell you, the Boston Marathon -- with all those people waving -- is better than my birthday.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "john kelley;training;two-time winner;runners;oldest competitor;60th boston marathon;mr. kelley"}
+{"name": "WSJ910405-0154", "title": "Police Chiefs Must Denounce Gates ---- By Joseph D. McNamara", "abstract": "A police chief plays an essential role in setting the climate in which his department operates. Through the years Mr. Gates has made public statements clearly at odds with the new concept of community policing, in which officers work with citizens to improve neighborhoods and prevent crime. A few years ago Chief Gates referred to gang members as \"dirty little cowards,\" and warned them that \"there is resounding applause to every fall of the hammer.\" The exchange sounded more like one gang challenging another than a police chief seeking to reduce conflict in the community. Indeed the Rambo-like challenge did not lower violence, and may have increased it. Hundreds of gang homicides occur every year in Los Angeles despite sweeps by the city's police. Mr. Gates would have been better advised to seek community programs for jobs, education, elimination of prejudice and improvement of neighborhoods. But this kind of reasoning is foreign to a man who publicly claimed that his SWAT team could free the Iranian hostages. Similarly, Mr. Gates vehemently opposed the Police Corps Program backed by other police chiefs. The Police Corps would send idealistic young people, including minorities, to serve a three -- or four -- year tour of duty after college graduation in return for federal funding of their educations. Mr. Gates opposed the Police Corps because its members would not be professionals. Yet the presence of such \"non-professionals\" would discourage the racism and brutality exposed by the Rodney King beating. Such attitudes survive only in a closed police culture. The presence of even one police corps officer witness would have deterred the criminal cops. Many chiefs openly disagreed with Mr. Gates when he opposed the Police Corps Bill in Congress. We should be as openly critical of his other statements. For example, Mr. Gates once said that blacks were more susceptible than \"normal people\" to chokeholds. More recently, he described the killer of a policewoman as an \"El Salvadoran, who shouldn't have been here.\" The nationality of the murderer was irrelevant. Mr. Gates's statement did nothing to lessen the tragedy of the fallen officer, but like his statement about blacks, it gave comfort to bigots within and outside the department. And it hardly reduced conflict in a city where the majority of the population is made up of minorities who need and deserve police protection, whether or not they are citizens. Two years ago, on a national television documentary, Mr. Gates defended a special unit that had shot many criminals during stakeouts. The unit had advance knowledge that crimes were about to occur, but often stayed outside and let robberies occur, even though innocent retailers and customers were put at risk. The chief said that arresting the criminals before the robberies wasn't a good idea because the courts were so lenient. The unit has been allowed to continue to operate despite its high shooting rate -- or, worse still, because of the shootings. Last year Los Angeles paid $3 million to 52 residents of an apartment complex ransacked by police. Mr. Gates reluctantly admitted that the officers who did the ransacking were wrong, but said he could understand their frustration in trying to fight drugs. Even more recently, Mr. Gates told the Senate that \"casual drug users should be taken out and shot.\" He assured the senators that he was not being facetious. And his initial reaction on television to the Rodney King brutality tapes was defensive. Mayor Tom Bradley told the media that such conduct wouldn't be tolerated, and that the wrongdoers would be sought out for punishment. Mr. Gates said that while he was shocked, he wasn't drawing conclusions and would look into the \"background,\" of the incident. Presumably, the chief has now received wiser council. He has called for prosecution of three of the officers, and has produced a videotape for his troops condemning the beating. But condemnation of misconduct and excessive force should have been a constant message from the command staff before the brutality, and not an afterthought. Yet, it's hard to imagine commanders preaching restraint in light of the chief's constant belligerent pronouncements. Even Mr. Gates's apology to Mr. King sent the wrong message. He said that he hoped the incident might help Mr. King to straighten out his life. It is hard to imagine someone unlawfully beaten by uniformed officers as others looked on being inspired to respect law and order. Or was the chief suggesting that the beating was a warning against further run-ins with the police? Clearly, Daryl Gates's words and actions create doubt about his claim that the Rodney King incident was an aberration. Public opinion polls in Los Angeles show the majority of people believe police brutality is common, and they disapprove of the way Mr. Gates has done his job. When he characterizes such opposition as cop-haters, he embitters his department and to some extent all police. Mr. Gates's military style of policing is at odds with that in the rest of the country, and it's about time police leaders publicly repudiated it. It is hard to see how the Los Angeles Police Department can regain credibility unless Daryl Gates's leave becomes permanent. But the videotape of the LAPD brutality affects the credibility of all police officers. It has cast a cloud over policing that won't be lifted until police chiefs drop their own code of silence and speak out against one of their own's peculiar philosophy of policing. --- Mr. McNamara is the police chief in San Jose. He comes from a family of policemen and has been one for 35 years.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "lapd brutality;excessive force;rodney king incident;los angeles;police brutality"}
+{"name": "WSJ910529-0003", "title": "Marketing & Media: Elizabeth Taylor, Enquirer Settle Actress's Lawsuit", "abstract": "The lawsuit, which has been pending for nine months, arose out of two articles published by the Enquirer in June 1990 reporting on Miss Taylor's condition and activities at St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica, Calif., where she was treated last spring for pneumonia. The Enquirer said that after gaining access to all of Miss Taylor's medical records, it is satisfied that the articles reporting on the actress's medical condition and the report that she was drinking were in error. The paper said it published the articles in good faith reliance on information provided to it, but the information was inaccurate. Iain Calder, Enquirer editor, said in a statement, \"we regret the inaccuracies in the articles but are pleased that this dispute has come to an amicable end.\" Miss Taylor said she feels \"completely vindicated,\" and that after the newspaper's management determined the articles were in error, the Enquirer \"acted promptly and in good faith.\" Miss Taylor initially sought damages of $20 million in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to Neil Papiano, her attorney. Although Mr. Papiano wouldn't specify the size of the settlement, he said \"we were persuaded that it was certainly large enough that we shouldn't go to trial.\" As previously reported, G.P. Group Inc., the Lantana, Fla., publisher of the Enquirer and Star tabloids, plans to raise $350 million by offering 43% of the firm in an initial public offering.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "st. john's hospital;lawsuit;enquirer;pneumonia;medical condition;actress;miss taylor"}
+{"name": "WSJ910607-0063", "title": "Enterprise: Third-World Debt That Is Almost Always Paid in Full --- With a `Microloan,' Cameroonian Women Parlay a Rabbit Into Two Shops ---- By Brent Bowers Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Tiny Third World businesses commonly repay these \"microloans\" faithfully because they crave the security of a favorable credit rating. This rescues them from the clutches of loan sharks -- microloans typically charge the prevailing local commercial loan rate -- and lets them borrow again in hard times. The money helps them start or expand their businesses -- selling vegetables, sewing, repairing shoes, making furniture and the like -- and boosts their local economies. Their repayment performance shines when compared with that of many sovereign nations. It also looks good compared with a default rate of 17% by U.S. recipients of federally guaranteed student loans. Though microlending has been around for years, it is now booming. With the decline of communism, U.S. development groups believe they are exporting free-market economics to tiny businesses that can fuel growth in the developing world. \"Micro-enterprise lending is the hottest thing in development since the Green Revolution. Everybody does it,\" says Accion International spokeswoman Gabriela Romanow. The Green Revolution sent farm output surging in many poor nations. Ms. Romanow cites the case of Aaron Aguilar, an unemployed factory worker in Monterrey, Mexico, who borrowed $100 to buy clay and glazes for making figurines with his wife in their back yard. In six years, the couple took out and repaid five loans and built their business to 18 full-time employees. Sometimes borrowers have to struggle against setbacks that might seem comical in the prosperous West. One group of women in Cameroon received $100 from New York agency Trickle Up to start a rabbit-breeding business, but the rabbit ate her offspring, recalls Mildred Leet, co-founder of the U.S. agency. Undaunted, the women switched to chickens and made enough money selling eggs to branch out into tomatoes and tailoring, ultimately opening two shops, Ms. Leet says. Some Third World commercial banks are taking note of poor entrepreneurs' repayment rates. Accion persuaded family-owned Multi Credit Bank of Panama City, Panama, to start making microloans two months ago. Isaac Btesh, a director and son of the founder, says the bank has lent $80,000 to 100 people so far on 60-day, rotating lines of credit -- with a 100% repayment rate. \"When we got in touch with Accion, we were incredulous,\" Mr. Btesh says. \"We couldn't believe their figures. But everything they said is true.\" Poverty lending has such promise that Multi Credit plans to make it the bank's number one activity, ahead of trade financing, consumer loans and merchant loans, the official adds. Accion, a Cambridge, Mass.-based nonprofit international development group and a leader in the U.S. microloan movement, says it plans to increase its microlending this year to $66.5 million from $37.8 million in 1990 and $9.8 million five years ago. It says it plans to add 64,000 new clients, up from 40,000 last year and 9,000 five years ago. Its average loan is $303. Accion's Ms. Romanow says the group, which serves Latin America, plans to expand the lending to a total of between $500 million and $1 billion over the next five years. The payback rate is 98%. CARE, New York, perhaps the world's largest private international-development group, says small economic-activity development -- primarily microlending -- is its fastest-growing portfolio. \"There's energy and creativity out there, people bootstrapping who aren't waiting for the next handout,\" says Larry Frankel of CARE. Trickle Up, which makes thousands of $100 loans annually, says its budget rose to $1 million this year from $800,000 in 1989 after doubling almost every year throughout the 1980s. Trickle Up makes $100 loans in two installments of $50 each to small groups of individuals. \"We feel private enterprise is the way to help the poor,\" says Mrs. Leet, who founded Trickle Up with her husband in 1979. The group started a program in China in 1989 and moved into Laos, Vietnam and Namibia last year. Betsy Campbell, economic-development manager of Westport, Conn.-based Save the Children, says her group underwent a shift in the 1980s \"from being primarily a charitable organization\" to being one oriented towards helping profit-making activities. She says microlending to individuals in 20 nations is rising sharply, with more than $3 million in circulation at the moment. Repayment rates in most nations exceed 90%, she says. \"These people value access to credit so highly that default isn't really a problem,\" she says. Some Third World banks, notably in Asia, have been making microloans for years. Grameen Rural Bank of Bangladesh is considered a pioneer. However, most such banks were set up with state support specifically to target the poor. Not every charity group in the U.S. has joined the microloan bandwagon. The Christian Children's Fund of Richmond, Va., sticks to relief efforts and to person-to-person sponsorships, in which a U.S. donor makes regular payments to an impoverished Third World child, for example, while Africare House in Washington, D.C., focuses on helping cooperatives improve food production and health care. Nor is the booming field of microlending without its detractors -- or its controversies. David Munro, an official with TechnoServe of Norwalk, Conn., says he prefers to work \"on a larger scale, and I also don't see {microlending} as passing on much in the way of skills.\" And officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which finances a big chunk of many private groups' overseas operations, say they support the principle of expanding poverty lending but oppose congressional efforts to mandate minimum levels. AID has more than doubled its micro-enterprise budget, which includes microlending, training and other activities, to an estimated $114 million this year from $58 million in 1988.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "repayment performance;micro-enterprise lending;tiny third world businesses;favorable credit rating;microloans;poverty lending"}
+{"name": "WSJ910628-0109", "title": "International: Yugoslav Army Cracks Down on Rebels --- Militias Are Outmatched By Belgrade's Forces; Clash at Austria Border ---- By Roger Thurow Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "JEZERSKO, Yugoslavia -- On Wednesday, the Slovene soldiers manning this border post raised a new flag to mark Slovenia's independence from Yugoslavia. Yesterday, under artillery fire from the federal army, they waved a white flag and surrendered as Yugoslavia lurched closer to civil war. Less than two days after Slovenia and Croatia, two of Yugoslavia's six republics, unilaterally seceded from the nation, the federal government in Belgrade mobilized troops to regain control. Accompanied by tanks, jet fighters, helicopters, the regular troops, including paratroopers, battled Slovene militiamen across the breakaway republic. They surrounded the airport near Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital, and retook Slovenia's main border crossings with Austria, Italy and Hungary, effectively cutting off international traffic. Local militiamen shot down a federal army helicopter as it flew over the capital, killing the pilot and co-pilot, the Associated Press reported.   There were no official reports of casualties. But Slovene Defense Minister Janez Jansa said in a television interview that fighting was going on in at least 20 places in Slovenia, and he estimated there were more than 100 dead and wounded on both sides. He claimed six government helicopters had been downed. \"To put it briefly, Slovenia is at war,\" he said. Reuters news service reported from Ljubljana that thousands of local defense forces were patrolling with automatic weapons. Outside the Slovene capital, government armored vehicles smashed through barricades and road blocks, leaving a trail of twisted metal, flattened cars and shattered glass. In Croatia, the army moved into areas where fighting erupted between Croats and minority Serbs, Yugoslavia's two largest nationalities and historic rivals. Four people had been killed and 14 hurt Wednesday. The first shooting between the federal army and the militias occurred here, in the mountains that mark the border with Austria. Throughout the morning, federal soldiers, some bearing bazookas, fanned out in the woods surrounding the Slovenia customs house. Meanwhile, tanks and artillery wound up the narrow mountain pass. In midafternoon, the customs house was rattled with a burst of rifle fire and a few minutes later it was rocked by three projectiles from anti-tank guns. The blasts left holes in the roof and walls and shattered windows in the house. The Slovenes, about three dozen strong, waved a white sheet from one of the windows, laid down their weapons and were marched down the road. None of them seemed to be injured. The scene was like something out of the U.S. Civil War, where civilians gathered for picnics to watch the early battles. Here, the drama was watched by several Yugoslavs trying to return to their country from Austria; the cooks, waitresses and a few guests at restaurants on both sides of the border; several tourists who were caught on the Yugoslav side; and a dozen Austrian customs officers and policemen. Those on the Austrian side gathered near the restaurant's beer garden and watched through binoculars as the army soldiers moved through the forest, and then they scrambled for cover when shots were fired. No spectators were harmed. Slovenes watching the action were horrified, as the consequences of their independence grab became clear. \"Yesterday we had a big party, and today we're fighting,\" moaned Bogataj Vejko, a truck driver from near Ljubljana, who had safely crossed the border early in the morning and was now trying to get back home. \"We were hoping it wouldn't come to this.\" After the shooting stopped, he talked to a group of the federal soldiers, and discovered that some were conscripts from Slovenia. \"This is what we have come to,\" he said. \"Slovenes shooting at Slovenes.\" After the army established control, Milan Jelen, a Slovene businessman, reached into the backseat of his car and retrieved his son's toy slingshot. \"Now I'll go at them myself,\" he joked. Then he turned serious, scoffing, \"Some independence.\" Emil Herlec, a leader of the local Slovene mountain rescue team, scrambled up the mountain, through the woods, when he heard the shooting. \"The first shots that have been fired in Slovenia since after World War II,\" he said. \"If we want our freedom, we will now have to defend it.\" In Ljubljana, Milan Kucan, Slovenia's president, vowed in a television address that the republic's militia would respond with \"all methods\" to any aggression against his \"independent state.\" He called on Slovenes in the federal army to desert and join the republic's militia. In Croatia, officials also vowed to defend their sovereignty. But the poorly trained and equipped Slovene and Croatian militias, formed in the past several months, are no match for the 180,000-strong federal army. The local militias also have nothing to counter the central government's several thousand tanks and other armored vehicles, not to mention the government's air forces. Politically, the two republics' declarations of independence have been ignored by the rest of the world, which supports a united Yugoslavia. So far, no foreign countries have recognized Slovenian and Croatian independence. On the contrary, the European Community and the U.S. have lobbied heavily for the maintainance of the Yugoslav state, and have threatened to withhold millions of dollars in aid if the country breaks up. But U.S. Secretary of State James Baker appealed to Belgrade to find a way for Croatia and Slovenia to express their \"national aspirations\" through \"negotiations and dialogue\" rather than bloodshed. Mr. Baker and White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater had suggested to reporters Wednesday that the breakaway republics be granted greater autonomy and sovereignty within a united Yugoslavia. The federal army, dominated by Serbs, has long warned that it won't stand by while the country disintegrates. And on Tuesday night, after the two republics declared their independence, the federal parliament called on the army to intervene. In a letter to Slovenia's premier, Gen. Konrad Kolsek of the federal military district that controls Slovenia said he had orders to seize all border crossings and would \"crush\" any resistence. The independence declarations came after months of unsuccessful negotiations among the leaders of the six republics over the post-Cold War shape of Yugoslavia. The Communist leadership of Serbia, Yugoslavia's largest republic, insists on strong central control from Belgrade, the capital of both Serbia and Yugoslavia. The nationalist governments of Slovenia and Croatia have been demanding a looser confederation of sovereign republics. Serbian attempts to deny Croatia and Slovenia their independence are motivated by two fears. They worry that the 600,000 Serbs living in Croatia (about 11% of that republic's population) will be discriminated against by the Croatian government. And they fear losing the economic support of Slovenia and Croatia, the two wealthiest republics. On the other hand, Slovenia and Croatia say they could no longer tolerate the erosion of their finances by the Serbian-dominated bureaucracy. Together, Slovenia, with two million people, and Croatia, with five million, supply nearly two-thirds of Yugoslavia's foreign exchange and about half of the country's gross national product. They are also Yugoslavia's gateway to Western Europe.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "slovene soldiers;federal soldiers;breakaway republics;civil war;independence declarations;yugoslavia;strong central control;independence grab;slovene militiamen;federal government;croatian independence"}
+{"name": "WSJ910702-0078", "title": "Clarence Thomas on Law, Rights and Morality ---- By Dinesh D'Souza", "abstract": "What kind of justice would Clarence Thomas, President Bush's nominee to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Thurgood Marshall, be? In a series of interviews with me a few weeks prior to his nomination, Mr. Thomas echoed themes that run through his articles and speeches over the past decade. -- \"I don't believe in quotas. America was founded on a philosophy of individual rights, not group rights. The civil rights movement was at its greatest when it proclaimed the highest principles on which this country was founded -- principles such as the Declaration of Independence which were betrayed in the case of blacks and other minorities.\"   -- \"I believe that society is now in a position to vigorously enforce equal rights for all Americans. . . . But I believe in compensation for actual victims, not for people whose only claim to victimization is that they are members of a historically oppressed group.\" -- \"America should not fall into the trap of blaming all the problems faced by blacks or other minorities on others. We are not beggars or objects of charity. We don't get smarter just because we sit next to white people in class, and we don't progress just because society is ready with handouts. As a people, we need to find solutions to problems through independence, perseverance and integrity. As a society, we should develop better policies to deal with the underclass than the failed solutions of the past.\" While the views of President Bush's first Supreme Court nominee, David Souter, were virtually unknown before his confirmation, the 43-year-old Mr. Thomas has boldly articulated his vision of constitutional law, both as a judge -- he now sits on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the nation's second-highest bench -- and, before that, as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for eight years. \"Basically the job of a judge is to figure out what the law says, not what he wants it to say,\" Mr. Thomas told me. \"There is a difference between the role of a judge and that of a policy maker. {Judge Robert} Bork was right about that, no question. Judging requires a certain impartiality.\" At the same time, \"impartiality is not the same thing as indifference. This isn't law school speculation. When I hear a case, I know damn well that something is going to happen as a result of what I decide. People's lives are affected. Sometimes a man's life depends on the outcome. And these are people looking to me, to the judge, to figure out what's just, to correctly apply the law. That's not a responsibility I take lightly. No way.\" Many of Mr. Thomas's critics have taken his unconcealed admiration for Ronald Reagan, his former boss, and Robert Bork, his predecessor on the D.C. Circuit, as evidence that Mr. Thomas shares their philosophy of jurisprudence. But in fact, a careful reading of his articles and speeches reveals a different sort of judicial conservatism. Writing in the Howard Law Journal in 1987, Mr. Thomas argued for what he called a \"natural law\" or \"higher law\" mode of judging, in which the judge examines not only the text of the Constitution or statute but also the moral principles underlying the American form of government. Mr. Thomas maintains, with support from Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, that the Constitution must be read in the context of the principle of equality inherent in the Declaration of Independence. In a powerful speech Mr. Thomas gave on Martin Luther King Day three years ago, he defended certain forms of civil disobedience. King often quoted Thomas Aquinas's statement, \"An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.\" Part of King's legacy, for Mr. Thomas, is his reflection on the close connection between law and morality. President Bush's nominee understands the hostility he is likely to face in Congress. \"When you're up before those confirmation hearings, it's like going through Dante's Inferno. . . . I've seen a glimpse of that process. When you get up there, you just hope that you don't get destroyed so that even if you don't make it, you can go on with your life.\" Mr. Thomas is likely to be a very different kind of judge from the man he is replacing. When reminded of Thurgood Marshall's comment that he could not wholeheartedly celebrate the bicentennial of the American founding because the Constitution permitted slavery, Mr. Thomas shook his head. \"I have felt the pain of racism as much as anyone else,\" Mr. Thomas says passionately. \"Yet I am wild about the Constitution and about the Declaration. Abraham Lincoln once said that the American founders declared the right of equality whose enforcement would follow as soon as circumstances permitted. The more I learn about the ideals of those men, the more enthusiastic I get. . . . I believe in the American proposition, the American dream, because I've seen it in my own life.\" Mr. Thomas's life is a remarkable story. Born in a small frame house on the outskirts of Savannah, Ga., in 1948, Mr. Thomas endured all the hardships of the segregated South. His father left before he could walk, and his mother worked as a housemaid and picked crabs from the marsh to eat and sell. The family shared a single outhouse with several neighbors. In the summer of 1955, Clarence Thomas and his brother went to live with their maternal grandparents, who owned an ice delivery and fuel oil business. It is here, under the stern tutelage of his grandfather, Myers Anderson, that Mr. Thomas locates the beginning of his true education. \"My grandfather has been the greatest single influence on my life,\" he claims. In 1987 he told the Atlantic, \"When the civil rights people indict me, the man they are indicting is that man. Let them call him from the grave and indict him.\" As Mr. Thomas remembers, his grandfather believed that \"Man ain't got no business on relief as long as he can work. Damn welfare, that relief]\" At home the Thomas boys worked six hours a day in addition to school: raising the chickens, pigs and cows; cleaning the house and the yard; painting, roofing, plumbing and fixing; maintaining the oil trucks and making deliveries. These lessons of hard work, personal dignity and self-sufficiency were reinforced through years of Catholic school and college. He finished his undergraduate studies at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass. \"That's where I started to get political and radical,\" Mr. Thomas recalls. \"I read Malcolm X. I became interested in the Black Panthers.\" In 1971 he founded the Black Student Union at Holy Cross. He went on to Yale Law School, where he worked summers at New Haven Legal Assistance, continuing what he calls \"my political consciousness raising.\" Nevertheless, \"I never gave up my grandfather's ideals, and when my left-wing opinions began to clash with those ideals, I began to move away from the left.\" Eventually he took a job with Missouri Attorney General (now Senator) John Danforth because \"he promised to treat me like anyone else. He promised to ignore the hell out of me.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "minorities;mr. Thomas;supreme court nominee;clarence thomas;columbia circuit;judge;judicial conservatism"}
+{"name": "WSJ910709-0115", "title": "Clarence Thomas: To Be Young, Gifted and Black ---- By Peggy Noonan", "abstract": "But the lesson that should not be lost is the transcendent one: Clarence Thomas made it in America because he was loved. His mother loved him. And when she could no longer care for him she gave him to her parents to bring up, and they loved him too. And they cared enough to scrape together the money every year to put him in a Catholic school where they hoped the nuns would teach and guide him and they did. He got love and love gave him pride and pride gave him confidence that he had a place at the table. This is something we in the age of the-family-that-is-not-a-family forget: the raw power of love and how it is the one essential element in the creation of functioning and successful people, and how its absence twists the psyche and the heart. (The children of the mother on crack are not consigned to lives of uselessness and pain because AFDC payments are low; they are so consigned because crack has broken the maternal bond that brings with it caring and succor.) Lives like Judge Thomas's remind us of this simple truth. --- It was once thought that to choose a conservative black for a high appointment put liberals in an uncomfortable position, but we will learn in the Thomas hearings that this is no longer so. Not that the hearings will be color blind, it's just that senators are going to use Mr. Thomas's race to prove things about themselves with it. Senators of the left will use him to prove they are not minority-whipped. They will demonstrate through measured abuse that they are able to treat a black man as their equal. Their ferocity, they will think, is proof of their sophistication, a compliment: \"Our party doesn't patronize minorities.\" This will be cloud cover for their real intention, which is to serve the interests of the interest groups -- the pro-abortion lobby, the civil rights lobby, labor -- that control their careers. Some on the right will use Mr. Thomas's race to demonstrate again that ours is the party of true racial progress, that not a trace of racism clogs the conservative heart. Expect an especially spirited defense from Jesse Helms. The left will be tough not only because Mr. Thomas represents ideological insult. Those on the left are unmoved by Mr. Thomas's climb from nothing to something because he didn't do it the right way -- through them and with their programs. His triumph refutes their assumptions; his life declares that a good man of whatever color can rise in this country without the active assistance of the state. This is a dangerous thing to assert in a highly politicized age. And to make it worse, Judge Thomas didn't \"make it on his own.\" He has been helped all his life by affirmative action, but the kind liberals do not see and cannot accept: the uncoerced, unforced affirmative action that Americans tend to take when someone at a disadvantage -- race, physical disability -- needs help. When Mr. Thomas made his moving statement at Kennebunkport last week he thanked the people who had helped him along the way, including the nuns who taught him. (What a touching and old-fashioned thing to do. If Sandra Day O'Connor had thanked the nuns it would have been a skit on \"Saturday Night Live\" and an issue in her confirmation.) The nuns' affirmative action for Clarence Thomas was the only effective, meaningful kind: the kind we perform for individuals, not because it is state-mandated but because it is right, not because we love a race but because we care for people and love our country. One strategy to be expected from Mr. Thomas's opponents: deference and respect. Expect phrases of rolling sympathy as senators of the left bring up for him his humble origins and congratulate him on his grit and determination. Already I can see Joe Biden's telegenic tick of a smile, the one he uses to show how civil he is in spite of his growing moral exasperation. He will celebrate Mr. Thomas's gifts and use them against him. \"But what, Judge Thomas, about those who were not born with your advantages, and by that I mean not wealth and comfort but brilliance and determination and a family. What about those poor blacks not greatly gifted or guided -- what about them?\" --- For Judge Thomas's proponents, two great hopes: One is that the administration will hit America where it lives and go over the heads of the talking suits and straight to the people, presenting as witnesses on television the affirmative action crew that lifted a young boy with nothing to great heights -- the mother who was a maid, the grandmother who saved up the tuition and the nuns who helped open his eyes. The force of their presence will remind us that real change in a democracy comes from the people up, not from the government down. The second hope: that the administration will demonstrate moral confidence in its choice and not go into a defensive crouch. In 1980, '84 and '88, the American people voted overwhelmingly for presidents who promised to appoint conservative jurists. The left calls the Thomas appointment a hijacking, a right-wing coup for the court, but this is the opposite of the truth. Mr. Thomas's appointment is not a traducing of the people's will but a fulfillment of their directive. --- Miss Noonan is a writer in New York.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "thomas hearings;clarence thomas;conservative jurists;conservative black;triumph;affirmative action;judge thomas"}
+{"name": "WSJ910710-0123", "title": "International: Slovenia Awakens to Price of Its Dream --- Secession Takes Unexpected Toll on Identity, Economy ---- By Roger Thurow Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "Yesterday, with a tenuous peace settling over Slovenia, the exchange panicked. Slovenia bonds slumped. No one touched the stocks. The foreign exchange rights went begging. \"There is a certain logic to this,\" says Drasko Veselinovic, the exchange's chief executive. \"Slovenes are now beginning to see the costs of independence more clearly than when we were at war.\" The two million people of this picturesque Alpine republic are waking up from their two-week nightmare sobered by the implications of their intoxicating declaration of secession from Yugoslavia on June 25. Their bravado is undiminished, reflected in the almost unanimous feeling that there can be no going back now that blood has been spilled in defense of independence. But there is also a growing unease about going forward, because no one knows where Slovenia is headed. For the moment, the Slovenes are feeling lonely, unrecognized by the nations of the world. Their considerable trade with the rest of Yugoslavia, which helped make them the country's richest people, is vanishing. Their identity is being turned upside down; once known as Yugoslavia's \"developed north,\" Slovenia will now be lumped together with Western Europe's \"underdeveloped south.\" Nationalism overshadows pragmatism, a quality that once distinguished Slovenia from the rest of the often bewildering Balkans. \"We've decided to be our own country,\" says Mr. Veselinovic, \"but we really don't know how we will execute it.\" The Balkanization of this Balkan country has also become Europe's worst nightmare. Almost every country on the continent has its own disenchanted minorities, from the Soviet Baltics to French Corsica, that could be encouraged by the independence declarations of Slovenia and the neighboring republic of Croatia. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has held up recent events here -- the Yugoslav army assault on Slovenia and the bitter ethnic clashes between Croats and Serbs -- as a warning to his land of what can happen when nationalism fractures a country. While the European Community is counting on the peace plan it brokered to defuse tensions (it calls for a three-month period of negotiations in Yugoslavia), most governments concede that the country's breakup is inevitable. But the West Europeans also are wary of moving toward recognition of the various pieces. \"We have every sympathy for small peoples who aspire to affirm their national identity by democratic methods,\" the Swiss foreign minister reportedly told a European conference on national minorities. \"But that doesn't mean we can accept the unilateral alteration of frontiers.\" This shunning by Western Europe, and the U.S., is particularly disillusioning for a people who enjoy their BMWs, Peugeots and Fiats, their shopping trips to Munich and Venice and their vacation chalets in the Alps. The Slovenes, from their days in the Austro-Hungarian empire, have always considered themselves to be Westerners. Nestled between the Alps and the Adriatic, Slovenia became the most prosperous patch of communist Europe. The per capita annual income of nearly $7,000 is 10 times that of the southern regions of Yugoslavia. But as Slovenes measure themselves with Western Europe, it is they who are the poorer cousins. Joze Mencinger, an economist and former finance minister of Slovenia, illustrates the republic's economic resilience by noting that while Yugoslavia's industrial output fell 18% so far this year, Slovenia's declined only 10%. When reminded by a visitor that Austria, in contrast, is posting robust growth, he grows somber. \"Okay, we must realize that we will be the less-developed part of Europe,\" he says. \"Unfortunately, in times of transition like this, people's expectations are often wrong. Everybody expected that we could become Austria and Switzerland overnight.\" Over a decade might even be too soon. Slovenia's exports of assembled cars, pharmaceuticals, refrigerators and furniture account for a third of the total value of the goods and services it produces. But Slovene economists reckon that exports would have to double to match the performance of other small European countries. Slovenia is counting on expanding its already extensive ties with Austria (a joint venture between Austrian and Slovene companies recently completed a high-tech Alpine tunnel opening another border crossing) as well as courting more business with its other old Austro-Hungarian partners, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. But what Slovenes dream of is one day being admitted to the EC. \"It's not size that makes a country successful,\" says Josip Skoberne, head of the international division of the Slovene Chamber of Economy, citing EC-member Luxembourg, far smaller in population and area than Slovenia. \"It's your ability to engage in international trade that makes you viable.\" Finding new markets in the West is all the more urgent with the certain decline in Slovenia's trade with the rest of Yugoslavia. A quarter of all goods produced in Slovenia are purchased by other Yugoslavs, and Slovene leaders counted on maintaining these ties even after declaring independence. But the recent fighting, they believe, ended all hope of economic union. \"Unbelievable,\" scoffs Mr. Skoberne as he reads a letter telefaxed from the council of Banja Luka, a town with a large Serbian population in the province of Bosnia-Hercegovina, decreeing that all Slovene-owned assets in the city are to be inventoried and frozen. One of the major motivations behind Slovenia's independence grab was to free itself from the \"Yugoslav risk\" that hampered most attempts to attract foreign investment. Now, Mr. Skoberne and others worry about an emerging \"Slovene risk.\" At the stock exchange, Mr. Veselinovic frets that his post-independence plans to trade in gold, commodities and foreign currencies are jeopardized by the uncertainty engulfing Slovenia. \"We had been getting a lot of interest from abroad, but they won't invest now while things are so unsettled,\" he says. \"But this is only logical. I wouldn't do it, either.\"", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "slovenia bonds;post-independence plans;slovene risk;national identity;independence declarations;european community;yugoslavia;industrial output"}
+{"name": "WSJ910710-0148", "title": "Politics & Policy: Report on Los Angeles Police Department Finds Racism, Suggests Changes, Gates's Resignation ---- By David J. Jefferson and Sonia L. Nazario Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal", "abstract": "While the commission stopped short of blaming Chief Gates for these problems, it said that no chief should serve more than two consecutive five-year terms, and that Mr. Gates, having served 13 years, should therefore turn in his badge following a transition period. But the chief, who has remained steadfast through repeated calls from community leaders for his ouster, said later: \"I don't expect to just run away\" from the job. Nearly one-quarter of 650 officers responding to a commission survey agreed that \"racial bias on the part of officers toward minority citizens currently exists and contributes to a negative interaction between police and community,\" and in some cases \"may lead to the use of excessive force,\" the report said. A scant eight hours is devoted to cultural awareness training at the Los Angeles Police Academy, and many officers who train new recruits in the field openly perpetuate the \"siege mentality that alienates patrol officers from the community,\" the commission concluded. Officers commonly typed racial epithets to one another on their patrol car computer systems, such as: \"Sounds like monkey slapping time\" and \"I almost got me a Mexican last night.\" Yet supervisors made no effort to monitor or control these messages, evidence of a \"significant breakdown in the department's management responsibility,\" the report found. The Los Angeles Police Department has long been emulated by others around the country because of its reputation for being efficient and corruption-free. But the commission called for a shift away from the force's paramilitaristic, us-against-them style, and said the department must embrace the \"community-based\" policing style that encourages officers to spend less time in their cars and more time interacting with citizens in the communities they serve. \"This report will be a must-read for police chiefs around the country,\" said Hubert Williams, executive director of the Police Foundation, a Washington, D.C., law enforcement research group. \"The word is clear: the public expects high quality law enforcement within the parameters of the law.\" Mr. Williams likened the report to the Knapp Commission, a 1970s blue-ribbon study that exposed widespread corruption in the New York Police Department and led to significant improvements there. \"As troubling as some of our findings are . . . they are not unique to Los Angeles,\" said John A. Arguelles, vice chairman of the 10-member Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department. Among the commission's recommendations are: -- A commission appointed by the mayor that oversees the department should be reorganized and strengthened, and made responsible for handling citizen complaints. It also should be \"reconstituted\" with members not linked with the current controversy, in the interest of a \"fresh start.\" -- A \"major overhaul\" of the police disciplinary system and the process used by citizens to file complaints against LAPD officers, especially in excessive force cases, is needed. The current system is \"skewed against complainants,\" by allowing officers' station-house colleagues to investigate complaints, perpetuating a \"code of silence\" among officers. -- A new community-based police force should focus on \"service to the public and prevention of crime\" as primary tasks rather than amassing arrest statistics. However, the commission didn't address how Los Angeles would pay for this major overhaul, though Mr. Christopher said that \"when you see the costs of settlements accelerating\" in police misconduct lawsuits as they have in recent years, \"I'm not sure there will be a net cost\" increase to implement the changes. But with the city still sharply divided over the future of Chief Gates, and a general feeling that taxes are high enough already, it's questionable whether there will be a popular groundswell to immediately fund changes. Over the years, the city council and the mayor have been reluctant to even add additional officers to the LAPD. Of the six largest police departments in the U.S., the nation's second largest city has the fewest officers per thousand residents. There are 8,450 officers here for more than 3.5 million people; Chicago, with a smaller population, has 12,000. However, Michael Yamaki, one of the city's five police commissioners, believes that given the systemic problems in the department that have come to light, \"citizens now will be more willing to fund police issues.\" The commission's recommendations will now be reviewed by the City Council, which will weigh whether to adopt them in whole or in part. Ultimately, voters must decide several issues, including whether to set term limits on the chief's tenure. The commission intends to reconvene in six months to assess the progress. Even before the commission's report was issued, community groups that monitor the LAPD noted a decline in brutality complaints. The harsh tone of the report was welcome vindication for community leaders who have claimed that police brutality is widespread. The report \"proves once and for all that the Rodney King incident was not an aberration,\" said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. \"Any fair reading of the report constitutes an `F' for {Chief Gates's} job performance.\" The report shows a particularly damning pattern of acceptance, and even encouragement, of officers who violate the rules governing excessive force. One officer who had seven complaints against him that had been sustained -- as well as numerous others that hadn't been -- was described in his performance evaluation this way: \"His contacts with the public are always professional and positive and his attitude with the citizens is one of concern.\" The report also reveals that racially derogatory remarks are made on an ongoing basis within the department; racist jokes and cartoons appear from time to time on bulletin boards in station locker rooms. Sexism and homophobia abound. Minority officers complain that whites dominate managerial posts within the LAPD, possibly contributing to these problems. More than 80% of the black, Hispanic and Asian police officers in the force are in the entry-level ranks, the report said. But the most surprising part of the report was its recommendation that Chief Gates resign, after a transitional period in which he would begin implementing the commission's proposals. \"We're not startled by any of the things in this report,\" the chief said a few hours after its release. He added that he has worked on his own to accomplish some of what the commission suggested, but has often been stymied by budget cuts. As for the recommendation that he step down, the embattled chief said he will wait until the voters sanction a move to limit a police chief's tenure. Overall, Chief Gates added, \"It's a good report. There's a lot of thoughtful recommendations.\" And the chief said he will stay to implement them. Mayor Bradley said he hopes that Chief Gates's will \"follow the commission's recommendations\" to \"commence the transition to a new chief of police.\" The mayor, who appointed Gates but lacks the authority to fire him, has previously called for Chief Gates's resignation.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "excessive force;rodney king incident;brutality complaints;los angeles;racial bias;police brutality;lapd officers"}
+{"name": "WSJ910718-0143", "title": "Letters to the Editor: Hamilton, Madison Opposed Term Limit", "abstract": "For that reason and others, the Constitutional Convention unanimously rejected term limits and the First Congress soundly defeated two subsequent term-limit proposals. Hamilton, who did not even support term limitations on the presidency, reasoned that imposing limits \"would be a diminution of the inducements to good behavior.\" Madison said that some members of Congress will \"by frequent re-elections, become members of long-standing; will be thoroughly masters of the public business.\" In fact, that has been the case. Over the years, term limits would have unseated Daniel Webster and Henry Clay 10 years before they forged the 1850 Compromise that held the Union together. Term limits would have cost us Everett Dirksen, who rallied Republicans around early civil-rights bills and Florida's own Claude Pepper, who long defended Social Security and Medicare against revenue raids. It was not the Federalists but their adversaries who clamored for term limits, perhaps because they were then out of power. Robert Livingston said it best at the New York convention to ratify the Constitution: \"The people are the best judges who ought to represent them. To dictate and control them, to tell them who they shall not elect, is to abridge their natural rights.\" T.K. Wetherel Speaker Florida House of Representatives Tallahassee, Fla.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "constitutional convention;term limitations;natural rights;first congress;frequent re-elections;subsequent term-limit proposals;term limits"}
+{"name": "WSJ911030-0008", "title": "Reform Congress By Limiting Committee Stints ---- By Albert R. Hunt", "abstract": "But as Mr. Hart summarized their findings, the discussion quickly centered on the dismay and disgust many voters feel about politics and government these days. The reaction in the room was one of \"deep depression,\" according to one participant. Another described it as \"combustible.\" The Hart-Bailey report found the public \"downbeat\" about the way the country is going, convinced that Washington politicians are \"more concerned with political self-preservation\" than with the public good. Average citizens, the pollsters found, believe they \"simply are not being heard in Washington,\" and more and more are losing confidence in the electoral system as a means of influencing government. Accordingly, these politicians may be in real trouble this year. The 1990 election offered some early warning signs. True, 96% of all incumbents were re-elected. But a few days after the election, political analyst Alan Baron offered a revelation: For the first time since World War II the average re-election margin of House incumbents from both parties declined from the previous election. Normally, when Republicans have a good year, Democrats' average victory margin declines, and vice versa. But in 1990, voters declared a plague on both parties' houses, underscoring what polls and other focus groups demonstrate: The disaffection with politicians isn't ideological. Voters don't want more conservative or more liberal representation; they want more responsive representation. This helps explain the strong momentum for limiting lawmakers' terms, a sentiment fueled by the recent disclosures of the House banking and restaurant fiascos. Term limits would accomplish few of their proponents' goals -- more-independentminded and less-beholden lawmakers -- and would result in many unintended consequences-far more power accruing to unelected staff and special-interest lobbyists. But that's of little concern to frustrated voters who are lashing out because nothing else seems to work. Plainly, Congress can best address this frustration by doing a better job on the issues bothering people-health care, taxes, jobs. But there's little consensus among either politicians or the voters themselves on these issues. So progress will be slow. Congress can make some symbolic moves, however. It can eliminate its more indefensible perquisites, such as the free prescription drugs. More important, lawmakers ought to overhaul the disgraceful campaign-finance system to make congressional elections more competitive, and to reduce the role of money and influence peddlers in campaigns. Granted, incumbents have little incentive to work against their narrow self-interest. But the threat of term limits or of electoral defeat focuses even the narrowly self-interested mind. But there also have to be more fundamental changes in Congress's cozy arrangements. The nexus of many of the problems -- entrenched arrogance, more concern for powerful interests than average citizens and the obscene preoccupation with campaign contributions -- is the committee system. A powerful antidote would be to limit committee service, which would have few of the political and constitutional drawbacks of term limits. The case is well articulated by two of the most experienced congressional observers: Richard Fenno, a University of Rochester political scientist and author of numerous books on Congress, and Charles Ferris, an attorney who served as chief counsel to both former Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield and former House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill. While both men are deeply dismayed at the current state of Congress, they see term limits as a cure worse than the illness. \"Term limits really hit at democracy,\" says Prof. Fenno. Argues Mr. Ferris: \"Voters never should be prevented from electing a person who they think is the best representative of that community.\" But they see a lot of virtue in limiting committee assignments. \"This really would challenge these guys to shake up the system,\" says Mr. Fenno, noting that the power of interest groups is centered in committees. Mr. Ferris believes this would \"put a vitality in the system\" while not resulting, unlike overall term limits, in \"a bunch of neophytes who'd be more dependent on staff and lobbyists.\" Mr. Ferris notes that the current system, in which a lawmaker gets a cherished committee assignment in his first or second term and then stays there for the rest of his tenure, breeds staleness. \"Technology and economics and world dynamics are moving so quickly, but many of these members, while very bright, are locked into outdated beliefs and approaches,\" he says. If lawmakers had to change areas of expertise every three or four terms, \"they wouldn't have the luxury of being intellectually lazy.\" Currently, the Intelligence committees in both houses and the House Budget Committee limit members to six or eight years. Why shouldn't the Commerce committees and the tax-writing and appropriations panels be subjected to the same limits? Any loss of legislative expertise would be more than offset by new ideas, new receptivity -- new thinking. There'd be one other incalculable benefit. This would drive the lobbyists crazy. --- Mr. Hunt is the Journal's Washington bureau chief.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "congressional elections;house incumbents;special-interest lobbyists;washington politicians;average re-election margin;electoral system;average victory margin;term limits;limiting committee assignments"}
+{"name": "WSJ911031-0012", "title": "Term Limits Are Constitutional ---- By William H. Mellor", "abstract": "State statutes that bar first-time candidates from running for Congress have been held to add to the qualifications set forth in the Constitution and have been invalidated. For example, the 1972 decision in Dillon v. Fiorina struck down a New Mexico law requiring candidates entering a congressional primary to have belonged to their party for a year and to pay a registration fee. But state statutes that simply limit the tenure of existing congressional officeholders have not yet been tested in court. The constitutionality of such state term limits may, however, be tested next month. Florida's attorney general has asked its state Supreme Court for an advisory opinion on a term-limit initiative that would limit the state's members of Congress to eight consecutive years in office. Three U.S. House members, led by Democrat Larry Smith, have filed briefs asking the court to rule state term limits unconstitutional. The court will hear arguments Friday, and may rule later this month. By 6 to 1, the California Supreme Court ruled this month that the state's new term-limit law was constitutional. The court said the \"state's strong interests in protecting against an entrenched, dynastic legislative bureaucracy\" outweighed objections that term limits restrict voter choice at the ballot box. But the court's decision affected only term limits on state officials; federal officeholders weren't included in California's limits. Nevertheless, the California decision demolished many of the legal arguments made by incumbents. They claimed there is a \"fundamental right to be a candidate for public office,\" which they found among the \"associational rights\" in the First Amendment. They argued that voters were denied the right to be represented by the same legislator indefinitely, and that term limits discriminated against incumbents and denied them their right to equal protection of the laws. California's highest court rejected all of these arguments. Term limitations do not restrict the right to vote for a candidate because of his or her ideology or party. Therefore, they do not deprive voters of the freedom to associate with candidates based on their viewpoint or with any particular party. Rather, they prevent citizens from voting for a particular candidate after he has served in office a set number of years. They may vote for that candidate again after a \"waiting period\" has ended. The restriction is imposed in a non-discriminatory manner on all candidates regardless of viewpoint or party affiliation. In its 1972 decision Bullock v. Carter and again in its 1982 decision Clements v. Fashing, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that a particular candidate has no \"fundamental\" right to ballot access or to run for office. Federal courts have upheld many state restrictions on who may qualify for ballot access. They have never held reasonable, non-discriminatory restrictions on who may run a violation of the right to vote. Likewise, term limits do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court has found that clause violated only in those cases where ballot access restrictions discriminate against the poor and against new, small or independent party candidates. Unlike the age, residency and citizenship requirements, term limits do not prevent any non-incumbent from running for Congress. Nor do they prevent a House member who has reached a term limit from running for the U.S. Senate or vice versa. Nor do they limit an incumbent who leaves office for a period of time (six years in Washington state) from running again. Moreover, term limits do not in any way modify the age, residency or citizenship requirements in the Constitution. Consequently, the argument that term limits are \"qualifications\" just like those already in the Constitution -- and that therefore they can be added only by amending the Constitution -- isn't particularly convincing. Viewed in this way, term limits imposed by states would be constitutional. The Supreme Court has long held that the power to ensure a fair electoral system, truly responsive representation in Congress and a high degree of citizen participation in elections rests with the states. In its 1974 decision Storer v. Brown, the Supreme Court upheld a California law that prohibited an independent candidate from running for Congress because he had changed his registration to Independent less than 11 months before the election. This law was found not to be an improper additional qualification because a valid state interest was pursued. In explaining that interest, the court recognized that \"there must be a substantial regulation of elections {by the states} if they are to be fair and honest,\" and if some sort of order is to accompany the democratic process. As recently as June of this year, the Supreme Court again reiterated that the states have reserved to themselves, via the Tenth Amendment, \"the power to regulate elections.\" Elsewhere, the court in 1988 ruled in South Carolina v. Baker, that certain \"extraordinary defects in the national political process might render congressional regulation of state activities invalid under the Tenth Amendment.\" The court has not defined what it means by \"extraordinary defects,\" but surely the fact that 98% of House incumbents are routinely re-elected and that one out of five incumbents ran with no major-party opposition in 1990 might qualify. Where the incumbent is almost the pre-ordained winner in an election, there is no effective competition of ideas or candidates and incumbents are less responsive to the will of the electorate. On this basis, term limits merely ensure a fair election system and the \"republican form of government\" guaranteed the states under the Constitution. Should the court rule against term limits by the states, numerous other ballot access restrictions will likely be passed that have many of the same effects as term limits. One option would limit an incumbents' access to the ballot. States could allow an incumbent who has served a set number of years in the same office to run again, but only as a \"write-in\" candidate. Presumably, if an incumbent were truly effective and popular he wouldn't find that a crushing obstacle. Two sitting U.S. House Members won their first terms as write-in candidates. Incumbents would certainly have the resources to educate voters in write-in procedures. Another option would require candidates to have \"ballot statements\" appear next to their names. Each candidate would have to answer the question: \"Will you adhere to a -- year term limit?\" The answer would appear on the ballot so voters would know a candidate's views on term limits. Many such ballot restrictions have been upheld by the courts. Incumbents should take heed. If they count only on the courts to safeguard their political castles, they may be in for a rude surprise. --- Mr. Mellor is president and general counsel of the Institute for Justice, a Washington, D.C., litigation and educational organization.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "house incumbents;congressional regulation;term limitations;u.s. house members;fair election system;congressional officeholders;term limits;constitution;new term-limit law;supreme court"}
+{"name": "WSJ911106-0109", "title": "Liberals for Term Limits ---- By John H. Fund", "abstract": "One reason is that term limits would open up politics to many people now excluded from office by career incumbents. These include blacks, other minorities, and women. Most of the authors of Washington state's term limit are liberal Democrats who want to break up \"the old-boy network.\" One of the authors, Sherry Bockwinkel, says \"You won't see white incumbents hanging on to districts that long ago became largely minority.\" \"Incumbency is the glass ceiling of American politics,\" says Kay Slaughter, the Democratic candidate in a special U.S. House election in Virginia yesterday. She thinks term limits will give women more opportunities in politics; her GOP opponent refused to support federal term limits. Former Rep. Shirley Chisholm, who in 1972 was the first black to run for a majorparty presidential nomination, says \"longterm incumbency is a big reason that Congress no longer works and isn't representative. We need a lot more turnover.\" Colorado Rep. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the only American Indian in Congress, backed a term limit measure last year that restricted his own tenure. Term limits for Congress have been supported by some of history's most prominent Democrats. Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy both endorsed the idea while they were president. Today, former California Governor Jerry Brown says advocacy of term limits is a key element in his populist presidential campaign against a \"constipated\" political system. \"Term limits are a castor oil that democracy needs to take,\" he says. Last year, as head of the California Democratic Party he refused to sign a party slate mailer against term limits. \"I saw incumbents spend their time fund-raising and worrying about how to stay in office. It's time more candidates thought of politics as a calling instead of a career.\" Mr. Brown says arguments that legislative staff and the unelected bureaucracy would gain power under term limits are simply proof that \"we must curb the excessive power of those political players as well.\" He notes both groups opposed term limits in his home state; the California initiative included budget cuts that retired more than 700 legislative staffers. Other former Democratic governors who favor term limits include Vermont's Madeleine Kunin and Colorado's RichardLamm. \"Breaking the gridlock of incumbency could throw the doors open to new people and new ideas that would make politics rewarding, meaningful and fun,\" says Ms. Kunin. \"The system needs a kick in the rear,\" says Mr. Lamm. \"Term limits have flaws, but they will provide badly needed competition.\" While many prominent Democrats support term limits, party \"apparatchiks\" are dead set against them. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has quietly put out the word that it will blacklist political consultants who advise candidates to back term limits and has told pollsters not to ask term-limit questions. Intimidation like that has slowed support for term limits among Democratic officeholders, but there are exceptions. In Massachusetts, the state's Democratic attorney general and secretary of state both favor term limits. In Texas, Gov. Ann Richards says she \"would be glad\" to sign a bill limiting congressional and legislative terms. Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock also leans in favor of term limits. Journalists are under fewer constraints than elected officials in expressing enthusiasm for term limits. Among those who have, and who will never be accused of being card-carrying Republicans, are: Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, syndicated columnist Richard Reeves, the National Journal's Neal Peirce and Time magazine's Michael Kramer. Hendrik Hertzberg, a former speechwriter for Jimmy Carter who edited the New Republic until last month, agrees term limits would mean a loss of some distinguished legislators. However, he concludes \"it would be a cost worth paying to be rid of the much larger number of time-servers who have learned nothing from longevity in office except cynicism, complacency and a sense of diminished possibility.\" Columnist Ellen Goodman says \"We have to learn once again that ideal public service is, by definition, temporary.\" She thinks the current Congress proves \"the politically privileged class has become more isolated than experienced.\" Such recent body-blows to Congress as Kitegate and the Clarence Thomas hearings have convinced some liberal media outlets to reevaluate term limits. The liberal Seattle Times, Washington state's largest newspaper, stunned its readers by endorsing term limits. WCVB-TV, the ABC affiliate in Boston, has often had its liberal editorials called \"the Boston Globe of the airwaves.\" In April, it denounced term limits as \"the latest anti-government fad to sweep the country.\" Last month, the station made a highly unusual about-face and endorsed term limits for Congress: \"We're not going to get {leadership} till we have a massive infusion of new blood.\" Among Democratic Party activists, James Calaway of Texas is typical of those who now favor term limits. Currently the national treasurer for the American Civil Liberties Union, Mr. Calaway was also chairman of the national Democratic Party's $15 million \"Victory Fund\" in 1988. He says term limits would mean \"we're governed by citizens who go home after their service and not permanent, elitist people who never leave office.\" Other Texas Democrats who have joined him include Frances \"Sissy\" Farenthold, who cochaired George McGovern's 1972 national campaign, and Leonel Castillo, Jimmy Carter's director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Neo-liberals, who believe that centralized bureaucracies are the biggest obstacle to reforming government, are also warming to term limits. David Osborne, who became sort of a guru for neo-liberals with his book \"Laboratories of Democracy,\" speaks for many reform-minded liberals when he says, \"Term limits are necessary to shake things up and disrupt the careerist mindset that leads to so much cowardice in elected officials.\" While Speaker Tom Foley reacts to term limits the way that Linus in the comic strip \"Peanuts\" would if his security blanket were taken away, some House Democrats think his concern that term limits would result in large GOP gains in Congress is a fantasy. \"People who say term limits are a Republican plot to oust incumbents should know that a majority of open seats are won by Democrats,\" says Rep. Andy Jacobs of Indiana. Indeed, the Democratic Party could actually be helped by term limits, according to former Oklahoma state legislator Cleta Mitchell, a self-described \"liberal feminist\" who works with the Denver-based term limit group Americans Back in Charge. \"Democrats must offer voters more than the simple powers of incumbency,\" she says. \"So long as our party is dominated by cynical veterans it will turn off the young people who are our party's future.\" No one suggests the drive to enact term limits will be easy -- especially in states that ban voter initiatives. But there are already signs that business lobbies, labor unions and other term limit opponents are relying more on convincing judges -- starting with Florida's heavily politicized state Supreme Court -- to overturn state term limits than on trying to convince voters to reject the idea. The leading anti-term limit group, Let the People Decide, has closed its Washington, D.C., offices and been reduced to a skeleton staff. --- Mr. Fund is a Journal editorial writer.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "california initiative;liberal democrats;american politics;democratic officeholders;career incumbents;political system;term limits;special u.s. house election;term limit measure"}
+{"name": "WSJ911121-0136", "title": "Gun Control Sprouts From Racist Soil ---- By Roy Innis", "abstract": "When his owner died in 1846, Scott sued in the state courts of Missouri for his freedom, on the ground that he had lived in free territory. He won his case, but it was reversed in the Missouri Supreme Court. Scott appealed to the federal courts, since the person he was actually suing, John Sanford, the executor of the estate that owned Scott, lived in New York. It was in that setting that Chief Justice Taney made his infamous rulings: 1. That black people, whether free or slave, were not citizens of the U.S.; therefore, they had no standing in court. 2. Scott was denied freedom. 3. The Missouri Compromise was ruled unconstitutional. Well known to most students of race relations is the former attorney general and secretary of the Treasury's pre-civil war dictum that black people \"being of an inferior order\" had \"no right which any white man was bound to respect.\" Much less known are his equally racist pronouncements denying black people, whether slave or free, specific constitutional protections enjoyed by whites. In Dred Scott Chief Justice Taney, writing for the court's majority, stated that if blacks were \"entitled to the privileges and immunities of citizens, . . . {i}t would give persons of the negro race, who were recognized as citizens in any one state of the union, the right . . . to keep and carry arms wherever they went. And all of this would be done in the face of the subject race of the same color, both free and slaves, and inevitably producing discontent and insubordination among them, and endangering the peace and safety of the state. . . .\" Although much of Justice Taney's overtly racist legal reasoning was repudiated by events that followed -- such as the Civil War and Reconstruction -- the subliminal effects were felt throughout that era. In the post-Reconstruction period, when the pendulum swung back to overt racism, Justice Taney's philosophy resurfaced. It was during this period that racial paranoia about black men with guns intensified. It was potent enough to cause the infringement on the Second Amendment to the Constitution's \"right . . . to keep and bear arms.\" Under natural law, a freeman's right to obtain and maintain the implements of self-defense has always been sacred. This right was restricted or prohibited for serfs, peasants and slaves. Gun control was never an issue in America until after the Civil War when black slaves were freed. It was this change in the status of the black man, from slave to freeman, that caused racist elements in the country (North and South) to agitate for restrictions on guns -- ignoring long established customs and understanding of the Second Amendment. The specter of a black man with rights of a freeman, bearing arms, was too much for the early heirs of Roger Taney to bear. The 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, along with the various Reconstruction civil rights acts, prevented gun prohibitionists from making laws that were explicitly racist and that would overtly deny black people the right to bear arms. The end of Reconstruction signaled the return of Taneyism -- overtly among the masses and covertly on the Supreme Court. Gun-control legislation of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, enacted at the state and local levels, were implicitly racist in conception. And in operation, those laws invidiously targeted blacks. With the influx of large numbers of Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants into the country, gun laws now also targeted whites from the underprivileged classes of immigrants. Eventually these oppressive gun laws were extended to affect all but a privileged few. Throughout the history of New York state's Sullivan law, enacted at the start of the 20th century, mainly the rich and powerful have had easy access to licenses to carry handguns. Some of the notables who have received that privilege include Eleanor Roosevelt, John Lindsay, Donald Trump, Arthur Sulzberger, Joan Rivers and disk jockey Howard Stern. Of the 27,000 handgun carry permits in New York City, fewer than 2% are issued to blacks -- who live and work in high-crime areas and really are in need of protection. And what of the origins of the National Rifle Association, which is wrongly viewed as a racist organization by the black supporters of gun prohibition? It was inspired and organized by Union Army officers after the Civil War. --- Mr. Innis is national chairman of the New York-based Congress of Racial Equality.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "dred scott;black people;racial paranoia;infamous rulings;gun control;second amendment"}
+{"name": "WSJ911212-0080", "title": "Counterpoint: Gun Control Is Constitutional ---- By Robert A. Goldwin", "abstract": "The best clues to the meaning of the key words and phrases are in debates in the First Congress of the United States. The Members of that Congress were the authors of the Second Amendment. A constitutional amendment calling for the prohibition of standing armies in time of peace was proposed by six state ratifying conventions. Virginia's version, later copied by New York and North Carolina, brought together three elements in one article -- affirmation of a right to bear arms, reliance on state militia, and opposition to a standing army: \"That the people have a right to keep and bear arms; that a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in times of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and therefore ought to be avoided. . . .\" The purpose was to limit the power of the new Congress to establish a standing army, and instead to rely on state militias under command of governors. The Constitution was ratified without adopting any of the scores of proposed amendments. But in several states ratification came only with solemn pledges that amendments would follow. Soon after the First Congress met, James Madison, elected as a congressman from Virginia on the basis of such a pledge, proposed a number of amendments resembling yet different from articles proposed by states. These eventually became the Bill of Rights. In the version of the arms amendment he presented, Madison dropped mention of a standing army and added a conscientious objector clause. \"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country, but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.\" In this version, \"bearing arms\" must mean \"to render military service,\" or why else would there have to be an exemption for religious reasons? What right must not be infringed? The right of the people to serve in the militia. This militia amendment was referred to a congressional committee, and came out of committee in this form: \"A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; but no person religiously scrupulous shall be compelled to bear arms.\" Two significant changes had been made: first, the phrase \"to render military service in person\" was replaced by the phrase \"to bear arms,\" again indicating that they are two ways to say the same thing; second, an explanation was added, that the \"militia\" is \"composed of the body of the people.\" The House then debated this new version in committee of the whole and, surprisingly, considering the subsequent history of the provision, never once did any member mention the private uses of arms, for self-protection, or hunting, or any other personal purpose. The debate focused exclusively on the conscientious objector provision. Eventually the committee's version was narrowly approved. The Senate in turn gave it its final form, briefer, unfortunately more elliptical, and with the exemption for conscientious objectors deleted: \"A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.\" Certain explanations were lost or buried in this legislative process: that the right to bear arms meant the right to serve in the militia; that just about everybody was included in the militia; and that the amendment as a whole sought to minimize if not eliminate reliance on a standing army by emphasizing the role of the state militia, which would require that everyone be ready to be called to serve. But what about the private right \"to keep and bear arms,\" to own a gun for self-defense and hunting? Isn't that clearly protected by the amendment? Didn't just about everyone own a gun in 1791? Wouldn't that right go without saying? Yes, of course, it would go without saying, especially then when there were no organized police forces and when hunting was essential to the food supply. But such facts tell us almost nothing relevant to our question. Almost everyone also owned a dog for the same purposes. The Constitution nevertheless says nothing about the undeniable right to own a dog. There are uncountable numbers of rights not enumerated in the Constitution. These rights are neither denied nor disparaged by not being raised to the explicit constitutional level. All of them are constitutionally subject to regulation. The right to bear arms protected in the Second Amendment has to do directly with \"a well-regulated militia.\" More evidence of the connection can be found in the Militia Act of 1792. \"Every free able-bodied white male citizen\" (it was 1792, after all) was required by the act to \"enroll\" in the militia for training and active service in case of need. When reporting for service, every militiaman was required to provide a prescribed rifle or musket, and ammunition. Here we see the link of the private and public aspects of bearing arms. The expectation was that every man would have his own firearms. But the aspect that was raised to the level of constitutional concern was the public interest in those arms. What does this mean for the question of gun control today? Well, for example, it means that Congress has the constitutional power to enact a Militia Act of 1992, to require every person who owns a gun or aspires to own one to \"enroll\" in the militia. In plain 1990s English, if you want to own a gun, sign up with the National Guard. Requiring every gun owner to register with the National Guard (as we require 18-year-olds to register with the Selective Service) would provide the information about gun owners sought by the Brady and Staggers bills, and much more. Standards could be set for purchase or ownership of guns, and penalties could be established. Restoring a 200-year-old understanding of the Constitution may be difficult, but there isn't time to dawdle. Americans now own more than 200 million guns, and opinion polls show Americans want gun control. Why not avail ourselves of the Second Amendment remedy? Call in the militia, which is, after all, \"composed of the body of the people.\" --- Mr. Goldwin is a resident scholar in constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "gun control;private right;constitutional amendment;arms;gun owners;second amendment;congress"}
+{"name": "WSJ911224-0085", "title": "A Free Marketeer's Case Against Term Limits ---- By Robert J. Barro", "abstract": "Another argument is that a citizen Congress with its continuing flow of fresh faces into Washington would result in better government than that provided by representatives with lengthy tenure. The counter-argument is that experience is an important characteristic for legislators. Each viewpoint has some validity. Presumably the best solution is to let the market decide, that is, to allow the electorate to determine the proper balance between freshness and experience. Most of us would not want the government to determine whether a familiar or a new brand of toothpaste is preferable; why is a political representative different in this respect? Many commentators bemoan the high tendency for incumbents to be re-elected. But if the electoral control process is working, so that officeholders conform with the interests of the majority of their constituents, then the electorate rewards its representatives with re-election. If the public voted against satisfactory performers just to install a new face, then officeholders would have less incentive to behave and the system would work badly. Thus the main inference from a 95% re-election rate is that the political process is working and that officeholders are conforming to the wishes of their constituents. If we ever see a 50% re-election rate, then there really would be reason to worry. The threat not to re-elect works only if the incumbent is interested in another term, whether for his current or for another office. A problem with term limits is that it creates more lame ducks, who are less responsive to the desires of the electorate. Much has been made of Alexander Hamilton's reflections on this point in Federalist 72: \"One ill effect of the exclusion {from re-election} would be a diminution of the inducements to good behavior.\" (It is interesting to note, however, that Hamilton was not discussing term limits on the legislature, and was actually arguing against the term limits on the chief executive that are contained now in the 22nd Amendment.) The only respectable argument in favor of term limits that I know of refers to the legislature and involves the interaction with the seniority system. Representatives accumulate more power as they become more senior, partly because of better committee assignments and more staff and partly because of increased familiarity with government officials and institutions and with outside interest groups. Some aspects of this power, such as greater experience with governmental programs, are desirable; others, such as the increased ability to extract funds from interest groups, are not. Even if seniority is a net cost in the aggregate, however, each district has an incentive to re-elect its own incumbent (and would if possible vote against the incumbents from other districts) because the representative's relative seniority translates into a large share of governmental largess. The voters would be better off if they could reach a binding agreement that precluded the re-election of incumbents, that is, if term limits were instituted. As an example, the voters of Washington state recently rejected a proposal that would have limited the seniority of their congressional representatives relative to those of other states. Yet the same voters likely would have approved a proposal that limited the terms of all Congressional representatives, not just those from Washington. Changes in the seniority system may therefore be a superior alternative to term limits. If a representative's power to favor his or her district did not vary with seniority, then voters would not have an excessive incentive to re-elect incumbents. The seniority system could be changed only by getting Congress to alter its own rules (as it has at times in the past) or else by constitutional amendment, which would, from a practical standpoint, also have to initiate in Congress. Although the chances of success seem small, one way to proceed would be to call the proposal the Civil Rights Amendment -- recent experience shows that calling something a Civil Rights Act helps to get it passed. It does not seem to matter much -- it may even be detrimental -- if the content of a Civil Rights Act actually has something to do with civil rights. The weakening of the seniority system in Congress would, it must be conceded, sacrifice some genuine benefits. Greater experience may justify positions of more authority, and, the rewards from seniority give Congress an efficient method to motivate good behavior from junior members. These arguments parallel the benefits from worker seniority in firms (or, indeed, the usefulness of a parole system as a carrot to help control inmates in prisons). The formal system of seniority is also only a part of the story; members' increasing familiarity with interest groups is a kind of seniority that would not be eliminated by changes in the rules for committee assignments, staffing and so on. It is unrealistic as well as undesirable to try to remove completely the operation of a seniority system in any legislature. The various complexities about legislative term limits and their interaction with seniority do not arise for executive term limits. Voters do not have to worry that rejecting their incumbent puts them at a disadvantage relative to other voters' incumbents, so the electorate can properly weigh experience, fresh ideas, the value of rewarding satisfactory performance in office, and so on. The only defense for executive term limits is that the electorate needs to be protected against itself, an argument which, if true, would mean that democracy was seriously flawed and would work much less well than it seems to. Of course, since the passage of the 22nd Amendment in 1951, there is a two-term limit on the presidency, and 29 of the 50 states have some kind of term limit on the governor. (Seven of these limits have been introduced since 1960.) The origins of these limits may have more to do with competition between legislative and executive branches than with a desire to improve public policy. The 22nd Amendment reflected Congress's desire to shift the balance of power away from the executive, and notably the desire of a Republican-dominated House and Senate to prevent the rise of another powerful Democratic president like Franklin Roosevelt. To some extent, the current pressures for legislative term limits reflect the reverse desire to shift power away from Congress. From the standpoint of balance of power, it would surely be preferable to repeal the 22nd Amendment.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "officeholders;executive term limits;civil rights amendment;re-election rate;political process;electoral control process;legislative term limits;citizen congress;constitutional amendment;political representative"}
+{"name": "WSJ920103-0037", "title": "Letters to the Editor: `Culture of Ruling' Corrupts Politicians", "abstract": "There are two solid reasons for congressional term limitation that economists, at least those of the public-choice persuasion, should fully appreciate. First, the less time that a politician spends inside the Beltway the less his or her common sense will be corrupted by the \"culture of ruling\" that exists there. To have microphones pushed in your face every day and to be asked your opinion on everything under the sun is a corrupting influence. Soon you start thinking your opinion is more important than it really is and, worse, that perhaps you should codify your opinion on everything under the sun. Other than this corruption of common sense, for instance, what could explain Congress's attempt to repeal the laws of economics through federal deposit insurance? Second, term limits end the adverse pre-selection process that exists whereby most individuals seeking office today actually find the prospect of spending the rest of their lives in Washington, D.C., attractive. Such individuals are the last ones we should want passing laws governing the rest of us. What Congress needs is experience in living in the real world, not in passing legislation. Today, business people, teachers, computer programmers and other productive citizens look at the prospect of running for Congress and recognize that they must be willing to commit 10 or 15 years of their lives to being politicians if they expect to have any legislative influence. They opt not to run. With six-year limits in the House (which most term-limit initiatives are now proposing for state congressional delegations), such individuals would recognize that they would immediately be on a par with their colleagues in Congress and that they would not have to give up their productive careers in the private sector in order to serve. Indeed, a true citizen Congress would consist of legislators who view their time there as essentially a leave of absence from their real jobs. Certainly the composition of Congress under term limitation would reflect something other than 95% men and 46% lawyers, as it does now. Seventy-five percent of Americans support term limitation -- everyone from Ralph Nader to Milton Friedman -- because they recognize it as an opportunity for citizens to wrest control of government from an impervious Congress full of check-bouncing, power-lusting professional politicians. Edward H. Crane President Cato Institute Washington", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "congressional delegations;congressional term limitation;six-year limits;corrupting influence;power-lusting professional politicians;true citizen congress;term-limit initiatives;term limits;impervious congress;legislative influence"}
+{"name": "WSJ920114-0145", "title": "Letters to the Editor: Smile When You Say Gun Control", "abstract": "Mr. Goldwin's mistake stems from his having confused a necessary with a sufficient condition. The Second Amendment, in its language and its history, makes plain that the need for a well-regulated militia is a sufficient condition for the right to keep and bear arms. Yet Mr. Goldwin treats it as a necessary condition, which enables him to conclude that Congress could deny an individual the right to own a gun if he did not join the National Guard. Mr. Goldwin makes this mistake, in turn, because he has misread Madison's original version of the Second Amendment, which exempted conscientious objectors from military service. Thus he says that \"In this version, `bearing arms' must mean `to render military service,' or why else would there have to be an exemption for religious reasons? What right must not be infringed? The right of the people to serve in the militia.\" Plainly, any conscientious-objector provision would arise not from a right but from a duty to serve in the militia. Yet Mr. Goldwin believes the amendment means, as he later says, \"that the right to bear arms meant the right to serve in the militia.\" Thus does he reduce the first of these rights to the second, when clearly it is much broader. Roger Pilon Senior Fellow and Director Center for Constitutional Studies CATO Institute Washington --- The militia is not the National Guard but rather the people of the original states. In Ohio, we have an Ohio militia that is not a part of the National Guard. The fear of standing armies and the control these armed men gave a central government was foremost in the Framers' minds when writing the Bill of Rights. Thomas Jefferson moved to prevent this type of power in a few people's hands by the Second Amendment. He stated, \"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.\" The addition in the early drafts of a conscientious-objector clause was added for the preservation of religious freedoms, which the Colonists had not had in England. It is unfortunate today's \"scholars\" seem to spend their time picking apart history and the great thoughts of the visionary men who formed this country. In my personal celebration of this 200-year-old document, I have pledged the following: I will give up my freedom of speech when they cut out my tongue; I will give up my right to worship when they have slain my God and myself; I will assemble with the people of my choice even when they are imprisoned, and I will give up my rifle when they pry my cold dead fingers from around it. Samuel R. Bush III Cincinnati --- Let those who want guns join the National Guard, says Mr. Goldwin. Ah, the sanctimonious arrogance of it. What gives Mr. Goldwin the right to deny mine when I abide by the laws? He stresses the differences between the world of 1791 and today to suit his prejudice. He studiously ignores other major differences between 1791 and today. In 1791, punishment was swifter and surer. Plea bargaining was not epidemic; judges did not provide revolving doors on prisons. There was no army of drug dealers and junkies preying on the public. If anything, the reasons for citizens to own weapons for self-defense are more compelling today than they were in 1791. Let Mr. Goldwin show us how he would make us safer in our homes and we might understand his wish to strip away our only sure defense. Carl Roessler San Francisco --- Mr. Goldwin's article is a casebook example of convoluted logic. Consider that George Mason (1725-1792), the great Virginia constitutionalist, defined quite clearly the meaning of the word \"militia\" during a debate in 1788. \"I ask who are the militia?\" he said, and then answered his own question with the words: \"They consist now of the whole people\" (emphasis added). Mason's credentials are reliable: He is the author of the first 10 amendments to our Constitution. {There is a debate about who actually drafted the amendments -- Mason or Madison}. Further, a 1903 U.S. law defined the militia as not only the National Guard, but all able-bodied males between 18 and 45. I, along with millions of other Americans, am not against sensible gun control, i.e., licensing, character searches, etc. What I resent is Mr. Goldwin's agenda, which is removal of all guns from American citizens through the implementation of total regulations; a direct violation of the Second Amendment through nefarious means. Edward F. Menninger Sterling Heights, Mich. --- Mr. Goldwin suggests gun control via enlistment in the National Guard. Swell idea. Updating the right to bear arms from 1791 to 1991, when I report for service I'll bring, as required, a few items consistent with the current infantryman's inventory: a Barett Light .50 semiautomatic sniper rifle, so I can reach out and touch people half a mile away; a Squad Automatic Weapon firing 5.56mm rounds at the rate of a whole lot per second out of 30-round clips or hundred-round belts; a 40mm grenade launcher . . . but you get the idea. Then, as a thoroughly modern, well-regulated militiaman, I'll take my weapons home, just as did Morgan's riflemen, and the musket bearers of Lexington and Concord, and the Colonial light artillerists. Andrew L. Isaac Canterbury, N.H.", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "right;national guard;bearing arms;gun control;mr. goldwin;second amendment"}
+{"name": "WSJ920211-0036", "title": "Letters to the Editor: Regulating Guns Isn't A Denial of Any Right", "abstract": "That same correspondent accused me of calling for \"removal of all guns from American citizens through the implementation of total regulations.\" I said nothing like that. I said that although the Second Amendment has nothing to do with private uses of arms, there is an unenumerated but undeniable right to own a gun. We have many rights not enumerated in the Constitution, such as the right to marry, drive a car or own a dog. These rights are not denied just because the Constitution doesn't mention them; and the rights are not disparaged by the fact that we must obtain a marriage license, driver's license or a dog license. In the same way, the right to own a gun is not disparaged by being licensed or otherwise regulated and controlled. One letter writer who also knows something about the Constitution, though disagreeing with me on another point, agreed on the central issue, that regulation of gun ownership and use does not violate the Constitution. All the letters missed entirely my point about requiring gun owners to \"sign up\" with (not \"join\") the National Guard. I likened it to the current law requiring 18-year-old men to register with the Selective Service. Registering is very different from enlisting for active service. Requiring gun owners to register with the National Guard would provide the kind of scrutiny the Brady and Staggers bills contemplated, and, if Congress dared, could provide an additional measure of control over who owns what kinds of weapons. But my main point was to show how far Congress can go in gun-control legislation without exceeding its constitutional powers, using as a model the legislation of the Second Congress, which included most of the authors of the Second Amendment. Another letter writer thinks I have confused the issue by calling the duty to serve in the militia a right to serve, but if he will look at the debates in the First Congress he will see that there is no confusion at all, that the authors of the Second Amendment were talking about the right to serve. Consistent with all of the Bill of Rights, its subject is rights, not duties. Elbridge Gerry opposed James Madison's clause exempting persons \"religiously scrupulous,\" because of the danger that it might be abused to discriminate against members of certain sects, \"to declare who are those who are religiously scrupulous,\" and then keep them out of the militia. The real issue is that the Second Amendment addressed a serious public concern, to protect the right of citizens to serve as defenders of the community in times of peril, not the personal uses of guns. And since the proliferation of guns in the hands of criminals has become a national calamity, as police officials all over the nation attest, it is essential that we recapture the true purpose of the Second Amendment. Plain and simple, it is no barrier to sensible gun control. Robert A. Goldwin Resident Scholar American Enterprise Institute Washington", "fulltext": "", "keywords": "gun-control legislation;gun ownership;national guard;gun control;american citizens;second amendment;undeniable right"}