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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012
PAGE 3
NEWS OF THE WORLD
NORTH AMERICA
Associated Press
Recent economic growth eases recession worries
NEW YORK The Dow Jones industrial average crossed 13,000 on Tuesday for the first time since May 2008, when the Lehm Brothers investment bank was solvent, unemployment a healthy 5.4 percent and the worst of the Great Recession months ahead.
The milestone came about two hours into the trading day. The stock market got the final push from strong corporate earnings reports and a Greek bailout deal intended to prevent the next financial crisis.
The average was above 13,000 for
Just last summer, the Dow dropped 2,000 points in three weeks. S&P downgraded the United States credit rating. Washington was fighting over the federal borrowing limit, and the European debt crisis was raging.
"Essentially over the last couple of months you've taken the two biggest fears off the table, that Europe is going to melt down and that we're going to have another recession here," said Scott Brown, chief economist for Raymond James.
about 30 seconds before dropping back. It reclaimed the mark just after noon and again just after 1:30, then lost all its gains for the day.
A second recession in the United States was a real fear. But the economy grew faster every quarter last year, and gains in the job market have been impressive, including 243,000 jobs added
EUROPE
in January alone.
The Dow last closed above 13,000 on May 19, 2008. The next day, it crossed under 13,000, not to return for almost four years. The Dow fell as low as 6,547 on March 9, 2009. It has almost doubled since then.
BRUSSELS — The countries that use the euro pulled Greece back from an imminent and potentially catastrophic default on Tuesday, when they finally stitched together a 130 billion euro ($170 billion) rescue they hope will also provide a lifeline to their common currency.
European Union rescues Greece from financial doom
But the patchwork of measures — including the implementation of austerity measures in Greece and approval by skeptical German and Dutch Parliaments — required to give the rescue a chance of success means it's unlikely to be the end of the continent's debt crisis.
The finance ministers from Greece and the other 16 countries that use the euro wrangled until the early morning hours over the details of the rescue, squeezing last-minute concessions out of private holders of Greek debt.
The eurozone and the International Monetary Fund, which will be providing the money for the new bailout, hope the new program will eventually put Greece back into a position where it can survive without external support and secure its place in the euro currency union.
The accord seeks to reduce Greece's massive debts on all fronts, with both
private and official creditors going beyond what they had said was possible in the past.
On top of the new rescue loans, Athens will also ask banks and other investment funds to forgive it some 107 billion euro ($142 billion) in debt, while the European Central Bank and national central banks in the eurozone will forgo profits on their holdings.
MIDDLE EAST
The deal "closes the door to an uncontrolled default that would be chaos for Greece and Greek people," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Iran may extend oil embargo in EU
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has laid out conditions for future oil exports to other European countries after halting sales to Britain and France earlier this week, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.
The remarks by the spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparasat, came a day after oil prices jumped to a nine-month high above $105 a barrel following Iran's announced halts in crude shipments in an escalation of the dispute over the country's nuclear program.
Tehran also said Monday it was considering extending the oil embargo to other European Union countries. The halt in crude to British and French
companies was an apparent pre-emptive blow against the EU after the bloc imposed sanctions on Iran's fuel exports, including a freeze of the country's central bank assets and an oil embargo set to begin in July.
Many Western countries fear Iran's nuclear program masks ambitions to build atomic weapons, and have carried out a string of sanctions aimed to press Iran to cooperate. Iran denies the charges, saying its program is for civilian-sector uses, such as generating electricity.
Mehmanparast told reporters Tuesday that Tehran seeks guarantees of payments, long term contracts and a ban on unilateral cancellation of contracts.
AFRICA
Senegalese presidential candidate accused of recruiting a militia
DAKAR, Senegal — Senegal's government said Monday that one of the candidates vying to unseat the nation's elderly leader in this week's election has recruited a militia to instill chaos and make the country ungovernable.
Serigne Mbace Ndiave, spokesman for Senegal's 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade, refused to identify the candidate and said that authorities would reveal the breadth of the plot in coming days. He said that the unnamed candidate had appointed a retired army colonel to recruit a militia, made-up of 200
ex-soldiers.
"Beyond these 200 soldiers recruited and led by the colonel, there are also youths being recruited in the neighborhoods and in the interior of the country." Mbacke said.
"Those who think that we don't know, let them understand that we have formally identified them. We know who's in charge of recruiting, how much they are paid per day, who is financing it," he said. "Those that are behind this plot are after one thing only — blood."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Police in riot gear stand by as they allow a small group of anti-government protesters to hold a brief, peaceful gathering in Sandaga Market in central Dakar. Senegal, on Feb. 20. Senegal is less than a week away from a crucial presidential poll and unrest is growing.
University opposes pending concealed-carry legislation
LAARON COUCH
aaron@politicalfiber.com
KU students may be allowed to pack guns along with their books and mp3 players when they head to class some time in the near future.
A proposed bill in the state legislature would make Kansas just one of four states that currently allow concealed guns on its campuses, according to armed-campuses.org; the other states are Utah, Colorado, Michigan and Virginia. It's a possibility that has evoked an intense response from gun advocates, educators and students and has sparked a debate about the best way to keep university campuses safe.
Since 2007, Kansas has issued concealed-carry permits to applicants who are 21 or older, pass a criminal background check and participate in an eight-hour firearm course, according to the Kansas Attorney General's website. The permit gives holders the right to carry a concealed gun into any business or public building that does not have a "no guns allowed" sign at its entrance.
In 2010, Rep. Forrest Knox (R-Altoona) proposed a similar bill that would allow concealed weapons on campus, but although it passed in the House, it stalled in the Senate.
The Kansas Board of Regents and police chiefs from nine Kansas colleges and universities oppose the measure, saying it would make campuses less safe and make things more chaotic if a tragedy unfolds.
"The University of Kansas opposes allowing concealed weapons on campus, as doing so would not improve public safety and would make it harder for law enforcement officers to respond to a crisis," wrote Jack Martin from the Public Affairs Office in an email.
"The chaos that surrounds a shooting situation is enormous, and people don't realize that," Oliver said. "The last problem we need when we get there is to figure out if two guys are shooting at each other, who's the bad guy?"
University Police Chief Ralph Oliver agrees with Martin.
Senate's office did not respond to a request for comment on whether it would address the issue. Student Body President Libby Johnson told The Kansan she was against the bill.
The student governments of four state universities have come out against the bill, but Student
A GUN-FRIENDLY CAMPUS
Similar debates are raging throughout the country. Last year, legislation was introduced in 18 states that would allow concealed carry on college campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislature's website. Mississippi passed a law allowing guns on campus if concealed carry holders took an additional gun-safety class. However, the law is not being honored by all universities in the state. Some continue to ban weapons from campus, saying it goes against their student code of conduct for
"People sometimes lose their temper. If they've got a gun on, its much more dangerous than if they don't."
ALLAN HANSON Professor of anthropology
Sgt. Justin Sprague, an employee at Utah Valley University, said concealed carer hadn't changed his job much, and most university officers "don't have an issue with it."
Sprague said he has not seen any gun violence on campus since the law passed, though he occasionally deals with students who want to carry guns openly in holsters; one young man said he wanted to keep his gun in a holster so terrorists would know not to mess with him.
Utah is the only state in the country that explicitly allows concealed carry on its university campuses, a law that has been in place since 2008.
students to carry weapons.
It's that type of person whom Allan Hanson, professor of anthropology, would rather not see with a gun at the University.
gerous than if they don't."
"People sometimes lose their temper," Hanson said. "If they've got a gun on, it's much more dan-
CAN CONCEALED CARRY PREVENT TRAGEDY?
Sprague is questioning one of the major arguments for concealed carry: whether or not a good Samaritan with a gun might stop a tragedy.
Police are trained to fire guns under extreme pressure when adrenaline is high; concealed-carry users are not, Sprague said. He said he doubts concealed-carry users would have the skill to stop a shooter in a high-pressure situation.
"Adrenaline changes everything." Spraugue said.
Gun-advocacy groups think otherwise. They don't think that legalizing concealed carry would affect crime rates.
"If you look through the news, you don't see the dire things happening they say would happen," said Robert Auten, who is employed by Kansas State University but volunteers his time as state director of the national advocacy group Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.
Gun advocates also say crime statistics tend to drop in concealed-carry states. However, researchers have disputed that, saying statistics are too complicated to be explained by just one factor.
However, Chief Oliver said on the off chance that a concealed-carry holder would stop a campus crime is far outweighed by its drawbacks. Most people who commit shootings have no previous criminal record, so a background check does not ensure lawful behavior in the future, Oliver said.
Knox said his bill is about giving students options for their safety, but he does not expect college campuses will become violent.
He also pointed out that concealed-carry permit holders go through background checks and a safety course.
"Life doesn't function like that," Oliver said. "There are no absolutes. There are no guarantees."
Edited by Taylor Lewis
CONCEALED CARRY ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES
21 states have banned concealed carry on all college campuses
25 states let colleges and universities decide whether to allow concealed carry
3 states allow concealed carry on college campus
state does not issue concealed carry permits
Permit
BAN CONCEALED CARRY ON ALL COLLEGE CAMPUSES
Arkansas California Florida Georgia Louisiana Massachusetts Michigan Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas Wyoming
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES DECIDE WHETHER TO ALLOW CONCEALED CARRY ON CAMPUS
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
ALLOW CONCEALED CARRY
ON CAMPUS
Maryland
Minnesota
Montana
New Hampshire
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Utah
Mississippi
Wisconsin $ ^{a} $
DO NOT ISSUE CONCEALED CARRY PERMITS
District of Columbia Illinois
*In Wisconsin, colleges and universities must allow concealed weapons on campus grounds. However, these institutions can ban concealed weapons from campus buildings by placing signs at all building entrances clearly marking that weapons are not allowed.
P
POLITICALFIBER Graphic by Kelly Stroda
Source: National Conference of State Legislatures
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