Thursday, November 2, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A • Page 5
5
State/Nation
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
Vote trading lambasted
Secretary of State threatens legal action in Kansas
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh said he would take legal action against anyone in Kansas who agreed to swap votes for president in next week's election.
Some Internet sites are urging Ralph Nader supporters in states where the race is close between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush to vote for Gore on Tuesday.
In exchange, Democrats would agree to vote for Nader — the Green Party's candidate — in states where Bush is expected to
win, such as Kansas.
Three Internet sites that arranged vote trading between backers of Gore and Nader have closed down following complaints from California election officials, but at least three others still are operating.
Thornhurgh said Wednesday he wasn't sure whether the practice was illegal, and he wasn't aware of any vote swapping in Kansas. However, he also said he would go to court if anyone tried it in the state.
"I will do everything I can to vigorously prosecute vote swapping," Thornburgh said. "The vote is a very precious instrument in democracy, and to use it in this scheme is risky at best and irresponsible at worst."
VOTE TRADING ON THE NET
http://www.winwincampaign.org
http://nadertrader.org
http://VoteExchange.com
and the Green Party
Gore would gain valuable votes in close states where Nader is threatening to siphon off Democratic votes. In return, the Green Party would qualify for federal money in 2004 if Nader received 5 percent of the nonlar vote.
Thornbury said he had not looked at any of the Internet sites but was surprised to learn of their existence.
"It is one of the most amazing schemes I have ever seen in electoral politics," he said. "It just astonishes me that somebody thinks they can get away with this."
Window blinds recalled
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In its largest-ever product recall, the government says some 500 million horizontal window blinds sold during the past decade need their cords repaired because 130 babies and young children have been strangled since 1991. It is the second such recall in the past five years. Children can't use the curved windows.
Children can turn the puls corns — as well as the inner cords that adjust the slats — into nooses around their necks, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and an industry group. Window Covering Safety Council, said yesterday. About 55 million horizontal blinds are sold each year.
"It's a horrible hidden hazard that even the best parent would never think of," said Ann Brown, the safety commission's chairperson. "It's a silent death — the children can't call out — and the par-
"It'sa horrible hidden hazard that even the best parent would never think of"
Ann Brown
safety commission's chairperson
ent comes in and finds their child hanging from the blind."
The agency first addressed the problem in 1995 by issuing a similar recall, providing repair kits to consumers and getting the blinds industry to redesign its products.
Last year, another investigation found the inner cords that adjust the slats could also endanger children.
Of the 130 deaths reported, the inner cords contributed to the strangulation of 16 children, all of whom were 9 to 17 months old and
Halloween pranks turn dangerous
in cribs placed next to windows. In most eases, the outer pull cords were placed out of reach, but the children pulled the inner cords into loops and were strangled.
The window coverings industry redesigned its products to remove the inner cord danger. Peter Rush, head of the Window Covering Safety Council, said consumers could visit the council's Web site at http://www.windowcoverings.org to learn how to check blinds for safety.
the safety commission advises owners of blinds to call the council toll-free at 1-800-506-4636 to request a repair kit for each set of blinds.
The commission said parents should consider buying cordless models or keep window covering cords and chains out of the reach of children, even when they climb on furniture. Cribs also should be away from blinds, and the cords should never be tied, creating another hazardous loop.
The Associated Press
A 12-year-old boy was killed in a shooting during a Halloween egg fight, and several hundred revelers pelted police officers near a college campus.
A 14-year-old boy in Atlanta shot and killed a 12-year-old boy because he was angry about being struck in a Halloween egg fight, police said. The boys' names were not released.
About 2,400 Halloween revelers mobbed streets near Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., leading to dozens of arrests.
At one point, several hundred people surrounded seven police officers, pelting them with rocks, bottles and cans while the officers fired back with mace. The Southern Illinoisan newspaper reported. More police soon moved in and broke up the crowd with tear gas.
Police in Newark, Ohio, said a 13-year old boy and a friend set up a hangman's skit Monday evening to scare trick-or-treaters. One boy stood on a plastic laundry basket to reach a noose hanging from a tree branch and fell with his head in the noose when he either slipped or the basket collapsed. He was listed in poor condition yesterday.
A 20-year-old New Bloomfield, Mo., man was charged yesterday with endangering the welfare of children by giving condoms and covered, unused syringes to trick-or-treaters.
Sheriff John Hemeyer said the man put the items in a container along with candy on the front porch of a Jefferson City home he was visiting on Tuesday and telling children to "help yourselves."
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