UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, February 9.1995
7A
Senators say strike isn't theirs to fix
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Baseball owners and players must settle their differences at the bargaining table and not look to Congress for a solution, Kaness' two senators said yesterday.
"I believe it is a bad idea for Congress to step into the middle of the dispute between the baseball owners and players," said Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, a Republican who chairs the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee.
Kassebaum said she didn't believe the Clinton administration had "fully thought through" the proposal, which she said is unprecedented under the National Labor Relations Act. Such actions usually are reserved for national emergencies.
President Clinton, after falling to gain a settlement Tuesday, said he wanted Congress to approve legislation forcing the owners and players to submit to binding arbitration. Meanwhile, the 1995 season could go forward.
"Our labor laws were designed to provide a framework for parties to resolve their differences at the bargaining table," Kassebaum said. "As disappointed as we may be at the lack of progress so far, we must let the parties work it out themselves."
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole released a statement Tuesday with House Speaker Newt Gingrich opposing congressional action to solve the dispute.
"The president has apparently thrown the ball into Congress" court. We maintain our view that Congress is ill-suited to resolving private labor disputes," Dole and Gingrich said.
The two GOP leaders did agree to meet later yesterday with William J. Ussy, the mediator Clinton chose to try to find common ground. But Dole has signaled his unwillingness to involve government in the strike, despite fan frustration over what he called a "crass tug-of-war over money."
Congress rarely has stepped into labor disputes.
"The magic solution can only be found at the bargaining table," Dole said.
In 1946, faced with a disastrous railroad strike, President Truman told Congress in a speech he would draft all striking rail workers into the Army and order them to end the walkout.
Just as he delivered the speech, however, the two sides dramatically reached a deal and the strike ended without such a drastic step.
'Quebecois' seek sovereignty
The Associated Press
CHICOUTMI, Quebec — This blue-collar town hugging the south bank of the Saguenay River is the epicenter of Quebec nationalism, home to some of the fiercest defenders of Canadian Frenchness.
The region around Lac St. Jean, isolated from the rest of Quebec by distance, forest and ice, is the last outpost of civilization before the vast wilderness of what folks here call "the great north."
Between Chicoutimi and Quebec City, a single road slashes south through 125 miles of thickly forested park land. To the north is forest, then tundra inhabited by bands of Indians and Inuit.
This splendid isolation has preserved Quebec's French culture in its purest form. Here, 99.9 percent of the population speaks French. It is a quiet, rural society largely unsuilled by immigration and "Devil English."
The Lac St. Jean-Saguenay region is home to 300,000 of Quebec's 7 million inhabitants. About 63,000 of them live in Chicoutimi.
The separatist Parti Quebecois sends the area's five deputies to the provincial legislature in Quebec. The Bloc Quebecois, a separatist party that contests federal posts, sends the four representatives to the federal Parliament in Ottawa. The Liberals, generally viewed as the "federalist" party, get no joy on election day.
This is the only region that recorded a majority "yes" vote in a 1980 referendum on sovereignty, which lost by 60-to-40 margin.
The date of the vote has not been set. Speculation is that Premier Jacques Parizeau will call it for sometime in late spring.
People here will vote strongly in favor of separation again in a referendum later this year.
"If we want to enrich not only the French fact, but also have a social and cultural life that reflects what we are, we must have a sovereign government," said Marc-Anndre Bedard, a Chicoutimi lawyer who helped found the Parti Quebeciens.
"We send money both to the provincial and federal government, why not just send it all to Quebec, so that we can be properly administered," said Jean-François Caron, a student leader at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi.
Ever since British Gen. James Wolfe sneaked up on the Marquis de Montcalm at Quebec in 1759 and defeated his army on the Plains of Abraham, French Canadians have felt misunderstood and poorly governed.
Surrounded and vastly outnumbered by English-speakers, French Quebecois once feared for their language and culture. Great strides have been made in the past 30 years and the language is no longer threatened with absorption, but Quebecois still feel the pressures of being a minority.
"Canada has the mentality of a majority, and we are a minority, and we feel it," Bedard said. "It's a matter of respect. When somebody is in the majority, he speaks to you differently, treats you differently. I think the referendum will pass, not because there
are so many sovereignists, but because many believe there must be a shock for Canada to rethink itself."
There are federalists here, of course. Based on election results, they represent 35 percent to 40 percent of the vote. But few speak out.
Most of the important Saguenay families today bear the names of the original 21 pioneers — such as Simard, Tremblay and Bouchard.
Since April 1838, when a group of investors known as "The 21" sailed up the Saguenay to exploit the resource-rich region, the people of the area have been fiercely independent.
"As a result of this enforced isolation, the region always has had a larger autonomy," said Rejean Simard, director-general of the school board.
English-speakers in Canada's other nine provinces are weary of what many feel is Quebec's constant whining and demands for more authority to run its own affairs, particularly those that directly affect people, such as health, welfare, immigration and taxation.
"I'm not sure that the rest of Canada is taking Quebec seriously," said Simard. "They talk about a more flexible federalism, but that's contrary to what I see."
Bedard said independence would mean everything would be done according to Quebec priorities, from education to culture.
"It will be what's good for us, not what's good for Canada."
Man pleads guilty in mail bombing spree
The Associated Press
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — One of two men accused of killing five people in a 1993 mail bombing spree pleaded guilty yesterday in exchange for 20 years at a minimum-security prison.
Figley had faced a life sentence and a fine of up to $2 million.
Earl Figley also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in their case against his alleged accomplice, Michael Stevens, who goes on trial beginning March 6.
Figley, 57, pleaded guilty to eight counts, including conspiracy, transportation of explosives with intent to kill or injure and mailing injurious materials.
He entered his plea yesterday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Telesca, who said if Figley cooperated with prosecutors as he has promised, he would get a 20-year sentence at a minimum-security federal prison in Butter, N.C.
Jonathan Feldman, Figley's lawyer, said his client could be released in 17 years with good behavior.
Peter Pullano, Stevens' lawyer, said outside court that he was not surprised federal prosecutors made a deal with Figley.
"They've shown that they'll deal with anybody to try and get evidence against Mr. Stevens," he said.
Pullano said Figley organized the bombing blitz.
Prosecutors have blamed Stevens, 54, for masterminding the Dec. 28, 1993, bombings. Authorities said he was angry because he thought the relatives of his girlfriend, Brenda Lazore-Chevere, were trying to break the couple apart.
Bombs went off in the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga, in West Valley, Rochester and on the St. Regis Indian Reservation in northern New York, where Lazore-Chevere's uncle was injured.
Killed in the bombings were Lazore-Chevere's mother, her sister, her sister's boyfriend, her stepfather and a co-worker of her stepfather.
Two other bombs either failed to detonate or were intercepted by police. The bombs, made of dynamite and chunks of metal shrapnel and housed in fishing tackle boxes, were sent by private courier, by taxi or through the U.S. Postal Service.
Prior to their arrests, Stevens lived in the Rochester suburb of Victor, and Figley lived in Canandaigua.
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Protect-A-Sweetheart Week February 12-18
-A good time to show concern for your sweetheart and for yourself. Communication and caring in relationships can help to reduce the incidence of HIV and other STDs and unplanned pregnancy.And remember that the use of alcohol and other drugs is strongly associated with failure to communicate effectively and to use preventive measures.
To schedule a Protect-A-Sweetheart presentation or display table for your organization or living group call The Center for Peer Health Promotion 864-9570.