6A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
MONDAY.OCT.1,2001
Kids hit sidewalks tomorrow
By Courtney Craigmile Kansan staff writer
Local students are being asked to abandon their cars and bus rides tomorrow and walk to school as part of International Walk to School Day.
Mayor Mike Rundle proclaimed the day at the Lawrence City Commission meeting last Tuesday. This year is the first year that Lawrence is participating.
The day is recognized in 20 nations around the world.
Katy Buck, nursing supervisor for Lawrence Public Schools and member of the Douglas County Safe KIDS Coalition, spoke at the meeting about the
importance of the day.
"It's an event that everybody's excited about for different reasons." she said.
The day's main goals are that children walk to school to better their health and to better the environment, Buck said. The main age group targeted is elementary school children, but Buck said she was encouraging students of all ages to participate.
Leon Greene, associate professor of health, sport and exercise science said the benefits of exercise, especially walking, were great for children.
"Being physically active on a
regular basis will benefit the cardiovascular system and the cardiorespiratory system." Greene said. "It's going to make them stronger by developing muscle, especially in the legs."
Greene said that people who had exercised as children tended to continue exercising as adults.
He cited evidence that physical activity burned energy, helping the body and mind. That makes students more alert and attentive in their classes, Greene said.
KU Environs member Sam Lane, Leavenworth junior, said International Walk to School Day was also important for environmental reasons.
"Walking to school saves fossil fuels," he said. "It also helps prevent air pollution."
Buck said the pilot program had sought show students that walking to school wasn't hard, in hopes that they would walk more often.
The Douglas County Safe KIDS Coalition, Lawrence Public Schools, Lawrence Police Department and local parent-teacher organizations are sponsoring the event.
Contact Craigmile at 864-4810
Taliban: We know bin Laden's location
The Associated Press
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan Under threat of U.S. military strikes, Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers said explicitly for the first time yesterday that Osama bin Laden was still in the country and that they knew where his hideout was.
But the Pakistan's president, who has been appealing to the Taliban to resolve the crisis with the United States, said hopes were "very dim" that the Taliban would surrender bin Laden. Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar took a hard stance in a radio address yesterday, telling Afghans not to fear U.S. strikes, because "Americans don't have the courage to come here."
Meanwhile, fierce fighting was reported in the jagged mountains of northern Afghanistan.
Rebel guerrillas said they had seized a district from Taliban troops, while the Taliban said that at least a dozen opposition
soldiers were killed and several hurt in a blast at a base north of Kabul.
Since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Taliban have given varying accounts of their dealings with bin Laden, the United States' top suspect in the attacks. U.S. officials say bin Laden, who has been sheltered in Afghanistan since 1996, presides over a terrorist network known as al-Qaida, or "the base."
Initially, the Afghan rulers said they didn't know where to find bin Laden. Then, last week, they said they had been able to deliver a message to him, a week-old request from the country's top clerics that he leave Afghanistan voluntarily.
On Sunday, the Afghan ambassador in neighboring Pakistan said bin Laden was hidden away for his own protection at a site inside Afghanistan known only to top Taliban security officials.
"He's in Afghanistan. He is under our control," the envoy, Abdul Salam Zaeef, told a journalists in Islamabad. "He's in a place which cannot be located by anone."
"He's in Afghanistan. He is under our control." Abdul Salam Zaeef Afghan ambassador
Zaeef said the Taliban, who have rejected a series of appeals to hand over bin Laden and avert a military confrontation, were willing to talk. "We are thinking of negotiation," he said, adding that if direct evidence against bin Laden were produced, "it might change things."
That met with a crisp rebuff from Washington. "The president has said we're not negotiating," White House chief of staff Andrew Card said on Fox News Sunday. Card said the Taliban had worked closely with bin Laden and "clearly it is not right."
Omar, the Taliban leader, denied any role in the terrorist attacks and blamed them on unspecified U.S. policies in an interview with Taliban-run Kabul Radio. He repeatedly warned the United States to "think and think again" about attacking Afghanistan.
The United Nations this weekend began delivering its first shipments of food and other emergency humanitarian supplies since the Sept. 11 attacks. A convoy of trucks carrying more than 200 tons of wheat left Pakistan for Kabul on Sunday. Other supplies headed Saturday for opposition-controlled territory.
In Kabul, the trial of eight foreign aid workers charged with preaching Christianity resumed for the first time since the terrorist attacks.
The top judge in the trial told the workers, including two Americans, that the threat of U.S. military action would not affect their case.
Empire State Building reopens
NEW YORK — Once again the tallest structure in New York, the Empire State Building reopened its 86th floor observation deck Saturday to tourists who looked south with disbelief at a ravaged skyline.
"I just don't know how it could happen here," said Joan Carroll, of Cheyenne, Wyo., as she looked downtown at the gap where the World Trade Center stood. "It is sad. It's very sad."
But Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was determined not to let terrorists keep New York from getting back to business, including entertainment. Giuliani appeared on the season debut of NBC's Saturday Night Live. After a somber introduction praising police and fire department heroes, Giuliani belted out the show's catch phrase, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
Less than three weeks after terrorists slammed two hijacked planes into the 110-story twin towers, visitors at the Empire State Building said they were not worried about a terrorist attack at the midtown Manhattan landmark.
"We have to claim back what's ours," said Albert Fabrizio, 35, of Philadelphia. "We have to open the gates."
More than 500 tourists queued up by 10 a.m. to pass through an airport-style X-ray machine for the elevator ride upstairs. Building officials said they expected 10,000 tourists Saturday.
A makeshift sign read, "No knives or cutting instruments of any length are permitted beyond security checkpoints."
The absence of the towers in lower Manhattan was painfully obvious from the deck, and a wisp of white smoke rose above ground zero. The Empire State Building's deck closed within hours of the Sept. 11 attack.
Giuliani, standing with dozens of firefighters and police officers, delivered a mostly solemn opening monologue on NBC's show.
"Our hearts are broken, but they are beating, and they are beating stronger than ever. New Yorkers are unified. We will not yield to terrorism," Giuliani said. "We will not let our decisions be made out of fear."
After the mayor's speech, the cameras quickly panned over to singer Paul Simon, who performed "The Boxer."
Giuliani then said, "Having our city's institutions up and running sends a message that New York City is open for business. The show's executive producer, Lorne Michaels, asked the mayor, "Can we be funny?"
"Why start now?" Giuliani deadpanned.
At the site of the trade center, workers continued digging out the 1.2 million tons of rubble left when the towers collapsed. The latest police figure showed 5,641 victims missing — down about 300 from Friday. As of Saturday, 309 bodies had been recovered, with 248 of them identified.
"The reality is we don't expect to find anyone alive." Giuliani said.
Crews were still demolishing the remains of the adjacent building at 4 World Trade Center on Saturday. City officials warned that other nearby buildings were unstable and may also have needed to come down.
Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem toured ground zero Saturday, saying a prayer before leaving the site.
"Terror does not have a religion or a geography, just as it has no justification," said Cem, whose country is the only Muslim member of NATO. "The Turkish people stand together in our fight against terrorism."
the city's ban on single-occupant cars entering Manhattan below 62nd Street was suspended for the weekend, but was expected to resume on Monday.
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