MONDAY,OCT.15,2001
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5A
Duplicated votes exposed in New York mayoral race
NEW YORK — Mark Green's victory margin over Fernando Ferrer in the Democratic mayoral runoff shrank as an examination of unofficial returns showed thousands of votes were mistakenly entered more than once. Election Commissioner Douglas Kellner, a Manhattan Democrat, said yesterday the outcome was unlikely to change.
Unofficial returns reported by The Associated Press after last Thursday's election had shown Green, the city's public advocate, with 417,329 votes to 387,523 for Ferrer, the Bronx borough president.
But in an audit of the returns that began Friday, the news service found significant duplication of vote reporting by police officers who tallied the unofficial returns.
After the polls close, election inspectors at each polling place record the numbers from each machine on a sheet that is given to a police officer. The officer takes the paper back to the precinct, where the numbers are entered into the police computer system and the raw vote is sent to the AP.
Sam Boyle, chief of the AP's New York City Bureau, said the errors occurred because some police officers misunderstood how to report results in cases where two precincts had been consolidated into one polling place. For example, if there were a total of 100 votes cast in that polling place, some officers reported 100 from each precinct doubling the true number. In a few cases the same votes were entered three times when three precincts combined into one polling place.
"We have pointed out these kinds of errors to the cops in the past," Boyle said.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the police department's public information unit.
Smart cards catching on
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Smart cards, with their embedded computer chips, caught on more quickly among European and Asian credit card holders than Americans, who have seemed reluctant to stop swiping bank cards with low-tech magnetic stripes.
But in a terror-shaken country where security is now a priority, computer chip cards are gaining favor for a new purpose; as secure ID cards to be checked at borders and airports — and to keep tabs on immigrants.
Some corporate leaders have even called for a national identification cards that uses the technology, now found mainly on credit cards such as American
Proponents say the chip cards, which can hold far more data more securely than a magnetic strip, represent the best available technology for a tamper-proof ID.
Store a personal biometric on the card — a digital scan of a thumbprint, iris or hand — and check it against the real thing, and the identity of the cardholder is airtight, proponents say.
"It's like a PC in your pocket," says Donna Farmer, president of the New York-based Smart Card Alliance. "It's the best tool to protect privacy and fill security gaps."
Farmer's Group says North Americans' smart card use jumped 37 percent in
"It is the best tool to protect privacy and fill security gaps."
Donna Farmer
President,
SmartCard Alliance
2000, fueled by increases on corporate and college campuses.
Experts caution, though that the technology's realworld performance is less reliable than advocates suggest.
"They're not hack-proof," said Kevin Poulsen, editorial director of SecurityFocus, a security technology firm.
Attacks start immigrate debate
The Associated Press
NEW YORK He seemed eager to learn English in America. So he signed up for a four-month language course in California. Nothing seemed strange about that.
When Hani Hanjour didn't show up, the school wasn't alarmed.
A year later, he is believed to have been at the controls of American Airlines Flight 77 that plowed into the Pentagon — one of four terrorist hijackings Sept. 11 that left more than 5,000 people dead in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Most of the 19 hijackers entered the United States legally with the kinds of visas routinely granted each year to millions of foreign tourists, students, workers and business travelers.
The ease with which the
"The terroist attacks reveal to the whole world how weak our immigration system is."
Lamar Smith Texas representative
hijackers exploited the system has prompted calls from officials for tighter immigration laws, a moratorium on new foreign students and a narrowing of America's open door.
"The terrorist attacks reveal to the whole world how weak our immigration system is and how lax the enforcement of immigration law has been," said U.S. Rep.
Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican and co-author of a 1996 wide-ranging immigration reform law.
Some lawmakers are urging steps be taken to close immigration loopholes that terrorists might use to get across the borders and roam the country at will.
Sen. Christopher Bond, RMo., is pushing a measure that would require intelligence and law enforcement agencies to share information with the State Department and Immigration and Naturalization Service as a way of weeding out potentially dangerous visa applicants.
"The INS system is very, very inadequate," Bond said. "We haven't put the personnel in, we haven't put the resources in INS to do the job that is reasonable to expect of them."
Utah porn czar tries to teach
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Paula Houston keeps lewd magazines and itillating advertisements safely tucked inside her desk drawer so she won't offend colleagues.
She describes pornography this wav:
leagues.
The only indication that Utah's first porn czar spends her days immersed in the intricacies of pornography is a bumper sticker proclaiming "Porn Kills Love" and an academic handbook on Prosecution of Obscenity Cases.
Houston reveals her distaste for pornography in her expression and somber tone when discussing the material sent to her office. She tries to avoid using explicit words, resorting to legal terms such as "graphic sex acts" or "indecent public display."
"It portrays a mindset that people buy into — of objectification, of not having a primary relationship. Pornography promotes free sex and that's not good for marriages or families. I absolutely believe the only way to stem the tide is through grass-roots efforts and understanding the law."
Houston has devoted her first eight months on the job to instructing others in pornography laws. She is thought to be the nation's first state official whose role is solely to fight pornography.
So far about 1,500 people have complained to Houston about explicit ads, pornographic Internet spam or partially obscured nude women on the covers of magazines.
She has heard few complaints about Penthouse, Playboy or Hustler; many calls concern Cosmopolitan — offensive phrases about sex on the cover and pictures of busty women.
Much of Houston's time is taken up explaining what makes something pornographic and why much of the material some people
find offensive is nevertheless legal. She encourages distressed parents to petition shopping malls, stores or magazines about changing their advertising policies.
Many people don't understand her job, Houston said.
She has no authority over the most frequent complaint: spam Internet porn from outside Utah. She hasn't prosecuted any cases and doesn't know of any taken to court because of her efforts.
"I'm not supposed to prosecute," said Houston, who earns $80,000 a year. "I'm supposed to educate."
educate. In addition to answering complaints, Houston gives presentations to explain the law. She delivered her most recent talk in September to about 45 Provo parents wanting advice on how to reduce sexual images in their community.
She tells them the law, hands over the appropriate complaint form, and recommends contacting authorities or writing advertisers.
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said the 1,500 residents who called or e-mailed her office proved the job's importance. "Those are the ones that decide if taxpayers' dollars are well spent. In this state the concern about pornography is huge," he said.
At least one person who makes a living from pornography considers Houston's job a worthless effort.
Houston's position actually helps business, Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler magazine, said by phone from Los Angeles.
"She's focusing attention on pornography, and that is good for us," he said, adding that Utah residents don't buy many issues of Hustler.
Before accepting the job in January, Houston spent 15 years as a prosecutor in West Valley City, a Salt Lake suburb, where she handled pornography cases.
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