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University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1985
News Briefs Suspect in murders may also be car thief
LOS ANGELES — The so-called Night Stalker, suspected of 14 killings and two dozen other brutal attacks throughout California, may have a penchant for stealing Datsuns and Toyotas as part of his method, authorities said yesterday.
Police said they were looking for a 1976 orange Toyota station wagon that was stolen in Chinatown on Saturday night. The car was reportedly seen in suburban Orange County near the scene of the Stalker's latest attack.
Spy dust examined
WASHINGTON — A four-member medical team was dispatched to Moscow yesterday to work out a plan for detecting and analyzing the "spy dart" the KGB living in the Soviet Union.
Officials have estimated that it could take years before medical tests determined with any certainty whether the powder, known as NPDD, actually is carcinogenic.
Rebels cut off power
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Leftist guerrillas knocked down power lines in five eastern and central provinces, cutting power in almost half of the country as part of a widening economic sabotage campaign, civilian sources said yesterday.
In the last two weeks, the rebels in their sabotage campaign have also closed highways in the eastern and central regions for six days and have blown up a train.
From staff and wire reports.
Poverty threshold increases
From Kansan wires
WASHINGTON — There were 1.8 million fewer Americans living in poverty in 1984, the first big improvement in nine years, but the total remained far more than when President Reagan took office, the government said yesterday.
The Census Bureau's annual report on poverty showed that 33.7 million people - 14.4 percent of the American population - were below the poverty line in 2015, a reduction from the 15.3 percent of 1983, or 35.5 million people.
The biggest reason for the improvement was the low inflation rate, bureau officials said, which allowed poor people to catch up slightly with the rest of the country as it enjoyed a 3.3 percent increase in family income last year.
The poverty threshold for an urban
family of four was $10,609 last year,
up from $10,178 a year earlier. The rate is slightly lower for rural families.
The White House quickly said that the improvement was a result of Reagan-endorsed tax cuts and anti-inflation measures that influenced the economic recovery, not higher welfare benefits prescribed by laws put in place by previous administrations.
In Santa Barbara, Calif., Reagan said, "I believe these numbers are further proof that the greatest enemy of poverty is the free enterprise system."
But Reagan added, "The success of 1984 does not mean that the battle against poverty in this country is over. It does mean that America, after a difficult decade, is once again headed in the right direction."
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-N.Y.,
chairman of the House Post Office and Civil Service subcommittee on census and population, took issue with the administration claims.
"Reaganomics is not working in our inner cities."
"If you dig below the surface," Garcia said, "it becomes evident that the plight of minorities, specifically Hispanics and blacks, has not dramatically improved.
An analyst for a watchdog group, OMB Watch, said the figures show poverty is increasing among women, with poverty-stricken families increasingly now, for the first time, almost as many as those headed by a man.
The report showed that 21.3 percent of children under 18 live below the poverty line, an improvement from 1983's 22.2 percent. The rate for children was nearly twice that for the elderly.
Nigerian army unseats president
From Kansan wires
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- Army officers overthrew the Nigerian government yesterday in an apparently bloodless coup, charging that Maj. Gen. Mohammed Buhart's 20-month regime had failed to bring an end to corruption or improve the oil-rich country's fishing economy.
The army later installed Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, the army chief of staff, as the new president. Babangida was a leader of the coup that elected civilian government Dec. 31, 1884, and installed Buhari.
In a statement over Lagos radio, Brig. Gen. Joshua Dongonyar announced the coup, which took place while Buhari was in his home village, away from Lagos, and imposed a nationwide dusk to-dawn curfew. He also closed the country's air and sea ports and halted all Telex and telephone communications.
The coup was the sixth in black Africa's most populous and richest nation since its independence from Britain in 1960. No violence was reported in the takeover.
The statement also said Buhari's Supreme Military Council was being removed because it had abused power and failed to revive an economy severely damaged by the glut of oil on world markets.
Maj. Gen. Sanni Abacha, a member of the new Supreme Military Council, went on the state radio to tell the West African nation's 83 million people that Babangida would address them soon.
said, "The state of the country's economy is getting more and more deplorable, and the life of the country is becoming increasingly unbeearable."
The coup announcement came early in the morning after the feast of Eid el-Kabir, which most members of Nigeria's large Moslem community celebrate at home.
In Washington, the State Department said there was no indication that any of the 7,000 Americans in Nigeria were in danger. Charles E. Redman, the department spokesman, said later,
"We have had a good relationship with Nigeria based on a convergence
In explaining the coup, Abacha
of enduring national interests. We expect that this relationship will continue."
From Kansan wires
Pentagon will drop 'Sgt. York' weapon
"I have decided to terminate the Sergeant York Army air defense weapon system." Weinberg told a jammed Pentagon news conference. "The independent operational tests demonstrated that the officer's performance does not effectively meet the military threat.
"The tests demonstrated also that while there are marginal
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger said yesterday that the Pentagon would scrap the "Sergeant York" aircraft weapon because the program was not worth the cost.
The death knell for the controversial Air Division Defense weapons — also known as DIVAD came after $1.8 billion and 11 years ago to find a new way to knock down Sikorsha, threatening U.S. ground troops.
The weapon has been under development for more than seven years. Designed to protect armored columns from air attack, it consists of two 40 mm cannons mounted atop a modified tank chassis and linked to a computer and radar.
KU Tae-Kwon-Do Club
Weinberger said he hatched the project because it would have required another $3 billion to meet the goal of buying 618 DIVADs, which were nicknamed for World War I hero Seto. Alvin York.
"The most difficult part of this decision is that the problems with the system in no way reduce the urgent need for better air defense than we now have," he said.
From Kansan wires
S. African leader arrested
CAPE TOWN, South Africa Police arrested prominent dissident the Rev. Allan Boesak at a roadblock yesterday on the eve of an illegal march he vowed to lead to the prison where a black nationalist leader is jailed.
improvements that can be made to the DIVAD, these are not significant compared to the capability of current air defense weapons and therefore, not worth the additional cost."
GET STARTED RIGHT THIS SEMESTER
Boesak's wife and lawyer said the march would go on as scheduled today.
duty without charge as allowed by the Internal Security Act. In Washington, the State Department condemned the arrest and made a protest to the South African government.
He was arrested and detained indefinitely without charge as allowed by the Internal Security Act.
Nelson Mandela, leader of the banned African National Congress, was been in prison since 1964.
Attend the
Elsewhere around the nation, violence flared in three black townships, with police reporting clashes with stone-throwing black youths in scattered flareups of racial violence that has claimed almost 650 lives in the past year.
of Reformed Churches, founded the anti-apartheid United Democratic Front two years ago.
Attheo the
Academic Skills Enhancement Workshop
Covering: Time Management
Listening and Notetaking
Textbook Reading
Thursday, Aug. 29 6:30-9 p.m.
Wescoe Hall, room 3139
presented by the Student Assistance Center
Boesak, 40, president of the 50-million-member World Alliance
Mt Oread Bicycle Club
Parlor C, Main Union
Thurs., Aug. 29
8 p.m.
RACING TEAM meeting
Introducng
The
Deli Burgers
served 4:00 p.m. to close nightly
All Deli Burgers are a FULL ONE THIRD POUND of extra lean fresh ground beef. Select a fresh baked deli bun- onion, kaiser or whole wheat.
Crunchy potato chips and a fresh kosher dill spear. Any small soft drink included with this price.
Traditional Burger $1.99*
Swiss & Bacon Burger $2.35*
swiss cheese and ranch style bacon
Big Blue Burger
$2.35*
smothered with blue cheese and sauteed mushrooms
*Add the spicy Owner's Veggies for a real eye opener 60¢