11
6A - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NATION NEWS
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WEDNESDAY. SEPT.5, 2001
Texas Senator Gramm to retire at term's end
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Texas Republican Phil Gramm said yesterday he would leave the Senate at the end of his third term next year,following fellow conservatives Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond into retirement and closing out a career as an unfinching advocate of lower taxes and less government.
"I have always been happy with the tax cuts I've supported," Gramm said at a news conference, where he sometimes grew emotional. He quickly added, "I still believe that
government is too big,too powerful and too expensive and too intrusive," and he urged a capital gains tax cut this fall.
Granm, 59, said he had made no plans for life after politics. A former economics professor at Texas A&M, he sidestepped questions about the school's presidency, which is vacant.
Gramm is the third Republican senator to disclose plans to retire in 2002. Jesse Helms, 79, of North Carolina, announced last month that his fifth term would be his last. Strom Thurmond, of South Carolina, is 98 and near the end of a remarkable
Gramm has been a relentless love of big government, willing to clash with Democrats and Republicans alike on the subject. Last year, he roiled Republican waters by insisting on additional spending cuts before signing on to a GOP budget blueprint.
career in politics that spans more than seven decades.
Gramm said he was leaving because he had helped accomplish all he had set out to. He mentioned balancing the budget, cutting taxes, reforming welfare, rolling back Communism. "I am proud to be able to say today that not only did I fight for
"I have always been happy with the tax cuts I've supported."
Phil Gramm
Republican senator from Texas
these things, not only did I play a leadership role in each and every one, but that in a very real sense, 25 years later these goals have been achieved."
Crime lab chemist facing five felony fraud charges
The Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — At one time, Fred Zain was a prosecutor's dream; a respected crime lab chemist with a compelling courtroom demeanor whose testimony helped convict hundreds of people.
The trouble, authorities now say, is that much of what Zain had to say was questionable at best, or outright lies at worst.
Yesterday, jury selection started for Zain's trial on five felony fraud charges for accepting a salary and benefits in West Virginia while he allegedly failed to correctly perform his duties.
It's Zain's second trial in West Virginia. In 1995 he was acquitted on one perjury charge; a second was dismissed.
In 1997, he avoided a perjury trial
in Texas because the statute of limitations had expired.
Defense lawyer Tom Smith got the coming trial moved from Charleston to Beckley after a poll of potential jurors found that most had heard of Zain, and half of them believe he's guilty.
In fact, no one knows precisely how many convictions came of Zain's testimony, or how many people are still imprisoned in West Virginia. Texas and the 10 additional states where he served as a consultant.
In West Virginia alone, at least seven convictions have been overturned, and other appeals are pending.
To date, the state has paid at least $6.5 million to settle lawsuits; Texas has also settled lawsuits in which Zain's work was questioned.
Pediatrics group seeking scrutiny of infant deaths
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — The nation's largest group of pediatricians has revised its policy on distinguishing sudden infant death syndrome from murder after getting complaints from medical examiners and parents.
The American Academy of Pediatrics had said in February that all sudden, unexplained infant deaths should be investigated in hospital emergency rooms by a child abuse expert. Its concern is that a small portion of SIDS deaths might actually be homicides.
deaths should include "appropriate utilization of available medical specialists by medical examiners and coroners."
The revision, published in the September issue of the journal Pediatrics, says investigations of sudden, unexplained infant
The National Association of Medical Examiners had complained that the initial policy could result in illegal meddling with autopsies if outside experts examined bodies before the examiners did.
The policy also angered some parents of SIDS babies, who worried that it made them look guilty of crimes they didn't commit.
"It was like they were saying, Who cares what the medical examiner said, you abused your child," said Charlene Melcher, 38, of Orlando, Fla., Her son died of SIDS in 1998.
Prisons unsure how to manage Hepatitis virus
The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — When Charles White was sentenced to prison in Oregon for robbery five years ago, he knew nothing about Hepatitis C. It was only after his release in December that he found out he was infected with the blood-borne virus.
"I asked him, 'What does that mean?' " White said. "He didn't answer my questions, he didn't tell me about hepatitis C, he didn't counsel me."
A prison doctor had told him he had high liver enzymes — a telltale symptom of the sometimes fatal condition—and cautioned him against taking aspirin or drinking coffee. Nothing more.
Inmate advocates say White's experience is common in America's prisons, where 18 percent of inmates are infected, compared with 1.6 percent of the overall population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That translates into about 360,000 out of the nation's 2 million inmates.
Hepatitis C is spread by intravenous drug use and, in rare instances, transfusions or sex. It can cause jaundice, fatigue, pain and vomiting and gradually affects the liver, leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Health care experts still do not agree whether prevention counseling or treatment is the best way to fight the epidemic in prisons.
That is because the liver infection develops slowly and can now be treated only with expensive drugs that have potentially serious side effects and sometimes low rates of success. Liver transplants are an option, but waiting lists are long.
The drugs are not effective unless they are taken for six to 18 months, so many inmates are denied treatment because they will or could be released from prison before their treatment would be complete.
Corrections officials now meet monthly to debate strategies to fight Hepatitis C with state legislators, health officials and inmate advocates, such as White.
Red Lyon Tavern
A touch of Irish in downtown Lawrence
832-8228
944 Mass.
Matador Café LUNCH BUFFET
FRIDAY ONLY
11:30-2:00
beans
Cheese and onion
flour enchiladas
6.75 all you can eat
Homestyle Enchiladas
Sliced pork, rice and
446 Locust St.
841-3837
Serving Lawrence
for almost 50 years.
OPEN FOR DINNER
Tues-Sat 5:00-9:30
Try the Caffe Freddo:
a double shot of straight cold press over ice in a mug.
058 Massachusetts • 832-CAFE
--limit one per person
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Here's what you missed from yesterday's issue of the Kansan:
- Cheaters might end up winning under new retake policy
-600 Women inducted into sororities
-New offense looks promising for Jayhawk football
Catch what you missed in the kansan.com archives
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