2A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS IN BRIEF
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 5, 2001
NATION
Computer chip may change electronics' speed and price
NEW YORK (AP) — Motorola Inc. says it has developed a computer chip that runs 35 times faster than today's models, an innovation it hopes will lead to faster, smaller and cheaper cell phones, computers and other telecommunications equipment.
Motorola says it has solved a 30-year-old challenge: creating a semiconductor that combines the durability and economy of silicon with the high speed of crystal compounds used in lasers and fiber optic equipment.
Its scientists did so by layering gallium arsenide, a fast but brittle semiconductor, onto silicon by way of a spongy middle, which binds the two pieces.
The new wafers will be licensed next year, but the company doesn't expect to see products on the market for a couple of years.
Cell phones and other devices now use separate semiconductors of each material.
Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola has been losing money and struggling to regain investors' confidence. The company announced 30,000 job cuts this year, hit hard by downturns in its cell phone and semiconductor operations.
Botulism outbreak results in food recall in four states
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Classic Foods issued a voluntary recall of more than 15,000 pounds of frozen Sheriff Blaylock's Chili linked to an outbreak of botulism at a church supper.
The company said the recall involved two batches of frozen Sherrill Blaylock's Chili distributed in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.
The recalled chili was in five pound tubs. Each lid has establishment number 13516 inside the USDA seal of inspection and product code 500 printed above the brand name.
Classic Foods said it had notified distributors of the voluntary recall.
Symptoms of food-borne botulism include blurred vision, dry mouth, difficulty swallowing or speaking, general weakness and shortness of breath. It can progress to complete paralysis, respiratory failure and death.
Those who purchased any of the chili can call the USDA Meat and Poultry hotline at 1-800-535-4555, or call Classic Foods' hotline at 1-800-422-4454.
Judge sets deadline, fines to end jail overcrowding
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) State officials said yesterday they have eased jampacked conditions in several county jails by moving more than 1,000 inmates to prisons, an effort prompted by a judge's threat of stiff fines.
Circuit Judge William Shashy had set a Monday deadline for the state to end overcrowded conditions or be fined $26-per-day for each state inmate still in a county jail 30 days after being sentenced.
In June, the state reported that 2,000 inmates were backlogged in county jails because of a lack of space in state prisons. Prisons spokesman John Hamm said the backlog was down to 392 yesterday.
Sheriffs and county commissioners took state officials to court because the state wasn't complying with a 1992 court order to remove inmates from county jails within 30 days after they are sentenced to state prisons.
The Associated Press
NATION&WORLD
Suicide bombing injures 20, detonates near a schoolyard
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM — The young man making his way along the Street of the Prophets was dressed in a skullcap, white shirt and dark trousers—the sober garb of an observant Jew, apparel that would scarcely draw a glance in the center of Jerusalem.
But to sharp-eyed passers-by, the man's demeanor was all wrong. His movements were jerky, nervous; he was almost running. As two Israeli paramilitary policemen confronted him, he smiled, turned away — and detonated explosives in a sack strapped to his back.
Even in bomb-hardened Jerusalem — where the previous 36 hours had produced no fewer than four blasts, none causing serious injury—the gruesome aftermath of this attack
The force of the explosion catapulted the bomber's severed head over a high wall and into the schoolyard of a French school as children were arriving for class. Scraps of mangled flesh were embedded in the cracks of the former convent's high stone wall.
had the power to shock.
Bystanders, including at least one arriving schoolgirl, were pelted with bloody bits of the bomber's body. Others suffered shrapnel wounds from nails and screws packed into the bomb.
Twenty people were injured, including the two paramilitary border policemen. One was in critical condition following surgery for internal injuries and severe burns, and his young partner was inconsolable.
Honduran office in Cuba step toward diplomatic relations
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras will open an interests section in Cuba next week, an attempt to reestablish relations between the two countries that broke off 40 years ago, the foreign secretary said yesterday.
"The opening of the Cuba office is undoubtedly a step toward re-establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries," said Foreign Secretary Roberto Flores.
The office will open on Sept. 15 and will be headed by Reyieri David Amador, a career diplomat who has worked in the Honduran embassies in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Flores said.
Honduras has not had diplomatic relations with Cuba since April 1961, when the Organization of American States expelled the communist island from its ranks.
Cuba opened an interest section in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, in 1999.
The Honduran office will also offer help to Honduran companies who want to do business on the island, Flores said.
'Dr. Death' delights a nation
The Associated Press
BANGKOK, Thailand — For Thailand's unlikeliest celebrity, life is beautiful, but death is a passion.
A man's head riddled with a fatal gunshot wound. A woman's body defeated by cervical cancer. A young boy whose every organ was ravaged by Hodgkin's disease.
Such cases fascinate Pornthip Rojanasunand, Thailand's top forensic pathologist and best-selling author, television personality, government spokeswoman and fighter for justice.
"I'm spellbound by it. Fascinated by the countless ways to die. Also how and what a person feels and thinks at the moment of struggle," said Rojanasunand, who has performed more than 10,000 autopsies, including several linked to high-profile criminal cases.
Rojanasunand is lauded for pioneering DNA testing in Thailand and raising standards in her traditionally male-dominated field.
She shot into the public limelight with an
"I'm spellbound by it. Fascinated by the countless ways to die."
Pornthip Rojanasunand Thailand's top forensic pathologist
appearance on a television talk show in 1998. Her introduction of DNA testing in a murder case made "Mor (Dr.) Pornthip" a household name.
Rojanasunand has frequently wielded her profession as a weapon against endemic corruption and a judicial system that readily goes after the weak and poor but rarely touches the rich and powerful.
Rojanasunand's goal of upgrading forensic standards was realized when she was assigned to the Justice Ministry last year to help set up a forensics department.
Scottish authorities refuse to extradite alleged criminal
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Scottish authorities refused yesterday to arrest an alleged war criminal, saying his poor health made it impossible to carry out an extradition request from Lithuania.
Anton Gecas, 85, is currently in Edinburgh's Liberton Hospital after suffering two strokes. Lithuanian authorities have accused him of taking part in executing Jews in Lithuania and neighboring Belarus during the 1941-44 Nazi occupation, when he allegedly was a lieutenant in the 12th police battalion.
Cocos has formed the location of Lithuania formally asked Scotland in March to extradite the Lithuanian-born Gecas.
Gecas has denied the charges.
Efraim Zuroff, head of the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center's Jerusalem office, said the failure to bring Gecas to justice was "an absolute travesty."
"While we would naturally prefer that Gecas be present for the trial, such a proceeding would have considerable significance and benefit even if he cannot personally attend," said Zuroff.
The Associated Press
An 18-year-old KU student reported a theft from a campus bus between 3 p.m. and 3:10 p.m. on Aug. 29, according to a KU Public Safety Office report. A brown leather billfold purse was stolen along with a bus pass and $5. The stolen goods were valued at $135.
ONTHERECORD
A 20-year-old KU student reported a parking accident in the Robinson parking lot at 11 a.m. Thursday, according to a KU Public Safety Office report. The student was pulling into the parking spot when he struck a legally-parked unknown vehicle, causing a dent and scraps. The cost of damages was unknown.
A KU employee reported a theft from Dyche Hall between 8:30 p.m. Thursday and 8:30 a.m. Friday, according to a KU Public Safety Office report. Two computer mice were stolen from KU Natural History Museum, valued at a total of $118.
A 22-year-old KU student reported a theft from his vehicle in the East Joseph R. Pearson parking lot between 8:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Friday. A parking permit, valued at $50, was stolen.
A 22-year-old KU student reported a traffic accident at 15th and Iowa
streets at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, according to a KU Public Safety Office report. The student said he was driving west-bound on 15th when he slowed to a stop and signaled to turn left into the Visitor Center parking lot. He said that as he started to turn, he was hit by a car driven by a 19-year-old KU student, who was passing close to his left side. Damage was done to the side panels of both vehicles. The value of the damages was unknown.
A KU employee reported a false fire alarm at 3:18 a.m. Monday at McColum Hall, according to a KU Public Safety Office report. The alarm went off after a fire extinguisher was activated.
A 22-year-old female KU student reported an aggravated burglary between 7:30 p.m. and 7:40 p.m. Saturday at 2222 W. Sixth St. Room 321, Lawrence police said. A black male, 5-foot-7 to 5-8, with a muscular build, wearing a white tank top, white visor and dark jeans, entered the victim's room while she was sleeping. Police said the victim was unsure if anything was missing.
A 20-year-old male KU student was charged with underage possession of
a cereal malt beverage and possession of an open container Saturday in the 1100 block of Illinois Street, Lawrence police said.
A 19-year-old female KU student reported a burglary from her 1995 Ford Explorer between 11 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. yesterday, Lawrence police said. The suspect broke the driver's side window and took a CD player and about 60 CDs. Damage was estimated at $1,300.
Lawrence police recovered a trombone Saturday that belonged to a 23-year-old male KU student, Lawrence police said. The trombone, which was reported to have disappeared between 6 p.m. July 22 and 8:56 p.m. July 24, was found at Mass Street Music, 1347 Massachusetts St. The trombone was valued at $1,700.
A 20-year-old male KU student reported that someone had intercepted his mail between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. May 5 and had used his mail to obtain a credit card in his name, Lawrence police said. The suspect withdrew $151 from an ATM at Perkins Restaurant, 1711 W. 23rd St.
ON CAMPUS
TaeKwonDo club meets from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight in 207 Robinson for a martial arts class. Contact Greg Isaac at 749-4649.
Pre-Journalism club will meet at 5 p.m. on Thursday on the third floor of Templin Residence Hall. Contact Julie at ku_pre_j@hotmail.com or Janice Davis at 864-0613.
Vietnam Veterans for Academic Reform will present an interview with Rev. Ron Goodman, First Christian Church, about religion and academic apartheid from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10 on Cable Channel 19.
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ET CETERA
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