6A • THEUNIVERSITYDAILYKANSAN
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NATION NEWS
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 13, 2002
Other events at the Union
Brown Bag Classics
Instrumental Collegium Music Wednesday, February 13
Alderson Auditorium, Level 4, Kansas Union 12:30 pm to 1 pm
Thursday Afternoon Tea
3:00-4:00
Traditions Area, Level 4, Kansas Union Free sweets and tea.
FRIDAY FREEBIES
Noon-3:00 p.m.
Questions about these or other SUA events? Call the SUA Office at 864 SHOW
Death rate countered by increase in birth rate
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — American women, encouraged by a decade-long economic boom, are having more children than at any other time in the past three decades — 2.1 on average in a lifetime, the government said yesterday.
For the first time since 1971, women are producing enough children to offset deaths in the United States, the National Center for Health Statistics said.
The center reported 4,058,814 births in 2000,the latest year for which figures were available — up 2.5 percent from 1999. It was the first time since 1993 that births topped 4 million.
The report showed increases in the birth rate in 2000 among women of all age groups except teen-agers. Births to 15- to 19-year-olds dropped to 48.5 for every 1,000 women, an all-time low. The teen birth rate was 49.6 in 1999.
"The credit goes to the teens themselves," said Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. "There are only two ways these rates can go down — less sex and more contraception. There's evidence that these teens are doing both."
"Their financial security was increasing, and they could afford additional children. And then we had this continuing increase in postponed childbearing," NCHS demographer Stephanie Ventura said.
Researchers said the roaring economy of the 1990s was probably a major factor, helping potential parents feel more comfortable about supporting a family.
ventura site.
The national birth total breaks down to an average of 2.13 children for every woman through her childbearing years of 15 to 49. The government uses 2.1 as the figure necessary for a population to fully replace itself.
Researchers believe the strong economy, coupled with a strong fear of sexually transmitted diseases, probably played a role in cutting teen births, which dropped 22 percent in the decade.
The report also found that smoking among pregnant women declined for most age groups, down to 12.2 percent in 2000. That rate has fallen steadily since 1989. The report found 12 percent of babies born to smokers had low birth weight, compared with just 7 percent of babies born to nonsmokers.
Patriotic revelers unfurl their flags at Mardi Gras
NEW ORLEANS — Mardi Gras revelers who filled the streets of New Orleans' French Quarter added a patriotic twist to the debauchery yesterday, mixing red, white and blue with the traditional purple, green and gold of Carnival.
The Associated Press
tional purple gillen and On Bourbon Street, strings of beads — including new red, white and blue necklaces — rained down on young women who bared their breasts.
"I got the really good beads," bragged Joe Chin, 23, of Miami. "I know it's cold, but girls are still happy to show them for these babies."
National Guardsmen patrolled Mardi Gras for the first time, but police said the only direct response to the terrorism alert issued by the FBI on Monday was the posting of the suspected terrorists' photos at police stations.
"Why would terrorists want to break up such a good party?" said Tommy Mitchell, 51, of San Francisco, who wore only a grass skirt and American flag pasties despite the chill. "This is a friendly group. Very friendly."
oup. Very friendly Temperatures in the 30s thinned the crowds
that usually line the Fat Tuesday parade route through the city's Garden District. Some who did bear the cold pulled their costumes on over sweaters. Others had festive outfits hidden under winter coats festooned with beads and boas.
Although tossing beads and trinkets from the balconies is illegal, police ignore the practice during Carnival. Exposing breasts is also illegal, but arrests are rare.
"I hope my mother doesn't find out how I got these," said Linda Vaccaro, 24, of New York, who warded off the chill with a hurricane, an oversized alcoholic fruit punch.
alcohole in the pitcher.
A Statue of Liberty paraded down the street past a man in pink stockings, a skirt and a fake pregnant belly.
hair berry.
Jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain dressed as a sheriff and his 150-member Half-Fast Walking Club wore gold cowboy costumes with American flag patches on the sleeves.
patches on the sleeve.
"It's the time to be patriotic," said Fountain,
marching in his 41st Mardi Gras. "If you don't love
this country now, get the hell out of it."
Christian prisoners held at Guantanamo base
The Associated Press
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Some of the detainees at this American base are not Muslim but Christian, U.S. military officials say, describing inmates as members of a "global community" who in some cases may be sympathetic to groups other than the Taliban or al-Qaida.
"I personally did not expect ... some of the nations that are represented in Camp X-ray," I.t. Col. Bill Costello, a spokesman for the joint task force in charge of the detention camp, said yesterday.
Since the first prisoners arrived from Afghanistan just over a month ago, the number of nationalities represented has risen from a handful to at least 26, with a dozen or more languages and dialects spoken.
gudges and the military is now holding 254 men in cells with walls of chain-link fence at the naval base in eastern Cuba. A handful of translators flown in to help interrogate the detainees and convey their needs has expanded to about two dozen linguists.
U. S. officials have not named all the countries of origin, citing security concerns and requests from governments.
"If I could release the 26 countries that have been affected by the al-Qaida, some of those countries may be shocking to people — the languages, the various backgrounds," Costello said.
The majority are Muslim, but there are Christians among them, Costello said.
them. Coastal In the most detailed breakdown, a senior Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity last week that when there were 158 detainees at the camp, they included about 50 Saudis, about 30 Yemenis, about 25 Pakistanis, eight Algerians, three Britons and small numbers from Egypt, Australia, France, Russia, Belgium, Sweden and other countries.
Flights bringing detainees from Kandahar resumed last week after being suspended so that U.S. civilian and military authorities could focus on interrogations, and 96 have arrived since. The hastily built temporary detention camp now has 320 cells.
320 cells. The military has asked Congress for approval to build a semi-permanent prison that could have up to 2,500 cells.
Officials said investigators working in Kandahar have selected prisoners for Guantanamo based on their potential value as intelligence sources, leaving the most intensive questioning in the hands of investigators here.
gators here.
On Monday, the FBI warned of a possible terrorist attack in the United States or against Americans in Yemen. U.S. officials said the warning came after interviews with detainees in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay.
Pablo Moreira Mosca, 29,
was subdued with the blunt
end of an ax Thursday on the
Miami-to-Argentina flight
after ramming and kicking
open part of the cockpit door
and trying to wriggle
through, officials said.
Passenger ordered held without bail
He later said, "I wanted to destroy everything," according to the FBI.
MIAMI — A passenger accused of trying to storm the cockpit of a United Airlines flight was ordered held without bail yesterday, and his lawyer said he suffered a "complete mental breakdown" aboard the plane.
Investigators said they had no evidence the Uruguayan banker had ties to any terrorist groups.
Moreira was examined by doctors before being sent back to Miami to face charges.
"He had a complete mental breakdown on board the aircraft, and his behavior could not be put down to any voluntariness," defense attorney Rebekah Poston said after a bail hearing in federal court. "The doctors in Argentina even used the term 'insane.'"
The flight-interference charge carries up to 20 years in prison.
Experience Counts!
TRY OUR WIDE SELECTION OF BLACK, GREEN AND HERBAL TEAS.
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Remember that you are dust...
ECUMENICAL ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICES
February 13 in the Danforth Chapel on the KU Campus
8:30AM 11:30 AM 12:30 PM 4:30PM
Imposition of ashes will be offered, but if you have never been to an Ash Wednesday service before,you are welcome to come and observe.
Sponsored by: Canterbury House (Episcopal), Ecumenical Christian Ministries, Lutheran Campus Ministry, and United Methodist Campus Ministry.
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