Thursday, April 30, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 7
Gore stumps for Internet access
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In a high-tech ceremony Tuesday that was as much policy as politics, Vice President Al Gore nudged forward the administration's effort to guarantee universal access in America's schools, and he congratulated labor unions for their help.
Gore and Education Secretary Richard Riley invited officials from three of the nation's largest and most politically powerful labor unions — the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the Communications Workers of America — to the White House for the announcement of new Internet initiatives:
The Education Department is donating 2,000 surplus computers to schools in poor communities.
to the Internet by April 1999.
Special education rate discounts of between 20 percent and 90 percent off Internet access will allow every school in the 50 largest urban school districts to connect
The Bureau of Indian Affairs will receive special help to connect its 185 schools to the Internet by next spring.
The National Science Foundation and Education Department have developed online tutoring and mentoring services for students.
The Commerce Department will conduct a three-month analysis of trends in Internet usage to determine whether there is a racial divide between informational haves and have-nots.
"We can let technology be a negative force that furthers divisions, or we can use it to connect all Americans together and give them the same shot at success." Gore said.
To the unions, in his all-but-current bid for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination, Gore gave credit for connecting 700 of the nation's poorest schools to the Internet during the past four years.
"Y'all have worked so hard," he drawled. Aides privately billed that thank you as the ceremony's central purpose.
In 1994, Gore and President Clinton promised to help hook up every America
Gore: Promoting initiatives to get schools online
every American classroom and library by 2000.
Despite technical glitches, Gore was able to connect Tuesday via online conference with students in Los Angeles, Kansas City, Kan., and Mississippi. Wyandotte High School senior Sakhone Khouvongsa试 an approving Gore that she surfed the Internet for college-scholarship applications and information to help her prepare for a job.
In a separate White House event, Gore proffered evidence that the administration's $195 million antidrug media campaign was working in 12 pilot cities and said it would go national in July. A recent administration review of the ad campaign showed that 97 of residents in the pilot cities had seen the ads, and 80 percent of those surveyed said the ads encouraged conversation about drug use.
On another political front, New York Democrats said Tuesday that Gore would be the keynote speaker at their state Democratic Convention next month. New York could be key to his winning the nomination in 2000.
A statewide poll out Tuesday from Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion showed Gore as the preferred nominee of 44 percent of New York Democrats. Former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley was second at 20 percent.
Dole awarded medal for public service
Cohen cites work with government army at ceremony
The Associated Press
FORT MYER, Va. — Praising the former Senate majority leader as the definition of heroism and courage for millions of Americans, Defense Secretary William Cohen awarded Bob Dole a public service medal yesterday.
At the armed forces full service review, Cohen recognized Dole for his leadership on the battlefield, where he served in the
Army, and on Capitol Hill, where he served in both the House and the Senate.
"He has remained a man with fire in his heart," said Cohen, who gave Dole the Defense Department's Distinguished Public Service Medal. Cohen compared Dole to a warrior eager every day to take on a new battle.
Dole: Most proud of being a Kansan and a veteran
The former Kansas Republican senator nodded his head in
rhythm with the military band and watched as soldiers from all divisions of the armed services marched before him.
Dole, who lost his bid for the presidency in 1996, accepted the award with characteristic humor.
"Between receiving an award from a secretary of defense and appointing a secretary of defense, I'd choose the latter," Dole said.
But Dole said of all the titles he has accumulated in his career, he is most proud of two that have nothing to do with an elected office: Kansan and veteran.
Dole's combat wounds in Italy during World II cost him the use of his right arm. He received the
Purple Heart Medal twice.
Cohen cited Dole for his continued commitment to veterans during his Senate career, with a law protecting the rights of the disabled and a missing persons act.
Dole responding by applauding American service men and women for their work and pledging to stand up on issues important to them.
When it comes to national defense, Dole said, "We should not define ourselves as Democrats or Republicans but simply as Americans."
Dole's wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Robin, also attended the ceremony at the Ft. Myer base.
Tibetans begin to lose faith in peaceful ways
The Associated Press
NEW DELHI, India — For decades, the Dalai Lama has preached calm and patience to fellow Tibetans campaigning against Chinese rule in their homeland.
Now, with growing hunger strikes and the death of a man who set himself on fire, the political and spiritual leader has admitted that his moderate approach has failed in the eyes of many frustrated, desperate Tibetans.
His response could mark a watershed for the Tibetan independence movement: While reiterating that hunger strikes and suicide betray the Buddhist tradition of nonviolence, the Dalai Lama admitted he was unable to offer any alternative solutions.
"For many years, I'd been able to persuade the Tibetan people to eschew violence in our freedom struggle," he said Tuesday after visiting Thupten Ngodup, a protester who set himself on fire during a demonstration Monday against China's rule of Tibet.
Ngodup died yesterday. He was
the first Tibetan exile to die of self-immolation.
"Today, it's clear that a sense of frustration and urgency is building up among many Tibetans as evidenced by the unto-death hunger strike and the tragic incident," the Dalai Lama said.
His followers, who believe he is the incarnation of a Buddhist deity, may interpret his admission as approval of more forceful tactics such as hunger strikes and suicides.
The Dalai Lama — a title that means Ocean of Mercy — has lobbied heads of governments, popes and potentates to try to push China toward more autonomy for Tibet. But China, which invaded Tibet in 1950 and annexed it nine years later, has not budged.
"In that sense my efforts have failed," he said.
Younger militants have expressed increasing impatience with the Dalai Lama's moderate policies.
"We, the people of Tibet, need an answer," said 'Tseten Norbu, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, which organized a hunger strike that culminated
Kristi Elliot/KANSAN
with Nogodup's self-immolation.
"How long should we wait, wait and wait?"
The Youth Congress has long advocated more forceful steps. It organized the hunger strike even though the Dalai Lama had stepped in to stop similar protests in the past.
"The Tibetan youth are getting desperate," said Dawa Norbu, a professor of Tibetan studies at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.
violence to push their cause, either outside the country or against the Chinese in Tibet.
It is unlikely, however, that any Tibetan group would defy the Dalal Lama's principles to the extent of waging a campaign of
The Dalai Lama is the religious and political leader for more than 100,000 people campaigning from exile in India to increase freedom for Tibet and for many of the 6 million people who live in Tibet.
Although radicals disagree with his methods, few challenge his authority.
Nogdup, a 50-year-old former Buddhist monk, was to have been among a group to take up the hunger strike after the first six were forced to stop. Five men began fasting Tuesday.
Ngodup set himself on fire.
A handwritten sign propped against Nodupg's coffin at a prayer vigil yesterday declared Tibetans would follow his example "one by one." But such a radical recipe does not appeal to all.
"I feel that with this sacrifice people will become more determined to achieve independence," said Yang Kyl, a 21-year-old Tibetan who attended the prayer vigil. "But I personally feel it's better to continue the struggle peacefully."
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