Monday, October 23, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
Nation
For comments, contact Lori O'Toole at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
Albright plans historic trip to communist North Korea
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — When Madeleine Albright traveled to the no-man's land buffer zone between North and South Korea in February 1997, she peered through military binoculars into the mysterious, reclusive North. Nothing could have foretold the historic diplomatic foray about to unfold.
Albright flies to North Korea on Sunday, becoming the first American secretary of state to visit the communist nation since it was formed 55 years ago by Kim Il Sung, the Soviet-trained ruler who became known to his people as the Great Leader. His son, Kim Jong II, now holds the reins of power.
These talks could pave the way for President Clinton to visit — an idea that was unimaginable just a few months ago.
Some, in fact, think the administration is moving too quickly and the North Koreans should be expected to demonstrate a more peaceful intention by first pulling back some troops and weapons from the Demilitarized Zone, the 21/2-mile wide buffer that is among the most dangerous patches of land on Earth.
"What is bothering me is that I have seen no change in their military capabilities or disposition," said Robert Riscassi, a retired Army general who commanded U.S. forces in Korea from 1990-93. North Korea still posed a serious threat to the South and the 37,000 American troops there, he said.
At the top of the Clinton Administration's agenda for North Korea is to constrain its buildup and export of ballistic missiles, especially the medium-range
Taepo Dong I that threatens Japan, and the Taepo Dong II, which North Korea has never test-fired but which is believed capable of reaching American territory.
Besides the ever-present possibility that North Korea's million-man army could suddenly invade the South and reignite the Korean War, the great American fear is that North Korea would arm one of its long-range missiles with a nuclear warhead and threaten to fire it — or perhaps actually launch it — at an American city.
These concerns are driving the Pentagon's effort to develop a multibillion-dollar weapon system for shooting down long-range missiles in flight — a defense system capable of dealing with multiple missile threats, but clearly aimed at the potential one from North Korea.
Agencies track Internet visitors
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Despite a White House prohibition, 13 government agencies are secretly using technology that tracks the Internet habits of people visiting their Web sites, and in at least one case providing the information to a private company, a congressional review has found.
The agencies range from the Federal Aviation Administration to the federal offices that provide disaster relief and administer Medicare, the General Accounting Office found in a study obtained by The Associated Press.
"How can this administration talk about protecting privacy when its own agencies jeopardize some of the public's most private information?" asked Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee.
At issue is the use by the 13 government Web sites of small text files called "cookies" that record information about an Internet user's browsing habits when they visit a site.
In June, the White House Office of Management and Budget advised all federal agencies they were not allowed to use such text files without approval from the agency head. If they are used, Web site visitors must be given notice.
But the GAO found 13 agencies were using the technology to track visitors, although their formal Internet policy claimed they weren't, and none of the Web site visitors were advised the technology was being used.
The study found all 13 tracked consumers' paths during their visits to the site, and some were
employing text files that could be read for years after the initial visit. The U.S. Forest Service's International Programs site was found to be using "third-party cookies" that transmit the visitors' activities to a private company.
The other agencies found to be using the "cookies" software were the U.S. Customs Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Bureau of Land Management, Central Federal Lands Highway Division, the Energy Department's Ames Laboratory, National Park Service, Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the Health Care Financing Administration, which runs Medicare.
Kansas & Burge Unions
864-4640 www.jayhawks.com
Buy one GEAR For Sports Sweatshirt and get the second one 50% off.
Register to win a Gear For Sports Thermal tote and stadium Blanket. October 18 - 23 at the KU Bookstores