2A
The Inside Front
Wednesday October 22.1997
News
from campus, the state, the nation and the world
CAMPUS
Student Union Activities will host the last Tunes at Noon of the semester tomorrow, weather permitting.
NATIONAL
WASHINGTON: Researchers claimed a breakthrough yesterday that they said could lead to virtually pollution-free electric cars that drivers could refuel at the corner gas station. No need anymore for big, range-limiting batteries.
WASHINGTON: The Clinton administration, reversing months of strong opposition, endorsed a House bill aimed at restructuring the IRS yesterday, saying sponsors have agreed to make key changes.
NEW YORK: Restaurant operator Jing Fong is at the center of a dispute over exploitation in Chinatown's restaurant industry, where immigrants seeking a better life are often willing to do backbreaking work for less than a dollar an hour.
INTERNATIONAL
COPENHIGEN, Denmark: Neighbors of the modern nursing home in downtown Copenhagen considered it an example of the Danish state's humane and high-quality care for the elderly. But behind the white-stucco facade, a nurse was stealing from patients and injecting some of them with a morphine-based drug, police said yesterday. Twenty-two men and women — ages 65 to 97 — died.
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo: The man who took control of this central African nation by force moved quickly yesterday to seal his hold on the country, detaining more than a dozen foreigners suspected of aiding his wartime enemy and seizing weapons at highway roadblocks.
CAMPUS/AREA
Cold snap means farewell to Tunes at Noon concerts
A new season has arrived, which means the end of Tunes at Noon.
Tomorrow, weather permitting, Tank Farm will perform in front of the Kansas Union at the last Tunes at Noon of the semester.
Nathan Meckel, Nashville senior and guitarist for Tank Farm, said that if it rained or there was lightning, the band
could not perform with its electrical equipment. A chance of rain is 60%.
is forecast for tomorrow.
"We're going to be troopers about it," he said.
Student Union Activities sponsors Tunes at Noon, which usually is held on Fridays. However, during October, the Hispanic American Leadership Organization is using the space every Friday for Hispanic Heritage Month events.
John Orcutt, SUA's live music coordinator, said he thought tomorrow would be a good day for the show.
"A lot of people are done for the week, and they're just kind of out there chillin' on the plaza," he said.
Orcutt said that Tank Farm was supposed to perform last Thursday, but instead the space was used for the Center for Community Outreach to speak out against violence.
Kansan staff report
NATIONAL
Pollution-free electric cars could get stellar gas mileage
WASHINGTON — Researchers claimed a breakthrough yesterday that they said could lead to virtually pollution-free electric cars that drivers could refuel at the corner gas station. No need anymore for big, range-limiting batteries.
The power process, using a fuel cell and hydrogen extracted from gasoline, is the latest in a string of technology advances that have surfaced in recent months, all aimed at building cleaner. more efficient car engines.
In this version, a team of researchers at Arthur D. Little Co., a Boston-based energy consulting firm, came up with a fuel cell that produces energy by combining oxygen and hydrogen from gasoline.
The company said it would work with major automakers to develop the system in an electric car, cutting auto emissions by 95 percent while doubling fuel efficiency. Officials estimated commercial production as early as 2005
Some remaining challenges include reducing the cost, making the system small enough to fit under a car's hood and developing more power than the laboratory model, company officials said.
A representative of Chrysler Corp., which has worked with the research team, said costs would have to be cut drastically for the engine to compete with current cars. Even mass produced, the technology would cost $30,000 per car now compared
But, said Chrysler representative Tony Cervone, the automaker anticipates having a prototype car using the technology in less than two years and expects to cut costs enough to have commercial production before 2010.
with $3,000 for conventional cars.
Energy Secretary Federico Pena hailed the breakthrough — which coincidentally came a day before President Clinton was to disclose a proposal to combat the global warming threat — as "a technology that can play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gases."
Clinton endorses House bill on IRS reform after changes
WASHINGTON — The Clinton administration, reversing months of strong opposition, endorsed a House bill aimed at restructuring the IRS yesterday, saying sponsors have agreed to make key changes.
"We support the bill in its current form, but we also believe there are changes that can be made and should be made, and we will work towards making those changes," Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin told reporters.
Rubin's endorsement of the IRS overhaul bill originally drafted by Sen. Robert Kerrey, D-Neb., and Rep. Rob Portman, R-
Ohio, came on the eve of a House Ways and Means Committee vote on the measure. The bill is expected to go to the House floor next month, but Senate action this year is not assured.
Rubin said key changes in the measure, negotiated last week during telephone conference calls, resolve many of the
Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin
administration's concerns. Rubin objected to the original bill's proposal to create a new oversight board of private citizens who would have the power to hire and fire the IRS commissioner.
But the new measure, introduced yesterday by Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, would preserve the president's power to hire and fire the IRS commissioner.
"I'm glad the president has completely changed his position on reforming the IRS." Archer said in a statement.
IRS, Archer said in statement.
Some members of Congress who have followed the bill were surprised by the administration's decision.
"It is an amazing development, given the changes of the last week," Portman said. "But I commend the administration for taking another look at it and being willing to work on a bipartisan basis with Congress to fix a troubled agency."
Chinatown restaurant accused of skimming tips.
NEW YORK — There's a festive look to Jing Fong, the biggest restaurant in New York's Chinatown. Red drapes and lanterns line its huge, 1,000-seat dining
The waiters, however, are not a happy lot. Jing Fong is at the center of a dispute about exploitation in Chinatown's restaurant industry where immigrants seeking a better life are often willing to do backbreaking work for less than a dollar an hour.
room. Gold Chinese characters wish happiness and prosperity to couples holding raucous wedding receptions.
The state attorney general's office has sued Jing Fong on behalf of 50 waiters and busboys. The suit seeks $1 million in allegedly skimmed tips plus $500,000 in back wages. A settlement is expected within a month, and Chinatown restaurateurs are paying close attention.
"I told my bosses what they were doing was illegal. They responded by docking me 10 percent of my tips for a month," said Deng Shenghang, the whistle-blower behind the lawsuit. "When I complained again, they fired me."
Deng, a 32-year-old from Guangdong province in southern China, said he endured verbal abuse and 12-hour days, six days a week, at below minimum wage. Deng and the other waiters said they made as little as $200 a month in basic salary, with no overtime pay. Management routinely skimmed up to 50 percent of their tips, they said.
INTERNATIONAL
Doctor and nurse charged in nursing-home deaths
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Neighbors of the modern nursing home in downtown Copenhagen considered it an example of the Danish state's humane and high-quality care for the elderly.
But behind the white-stucco facade, a nurse was stealing from patients and injecting some of them with a morphine-based drug, police said yesterday. Twenty-two men and women—ages 65 to 97—have died.
"I don't get it. It's so nice here. How can someone kill so many here without it being noticed?" Ellen Bentzen, a resident of the home, told Denmark's TV2.
The nurse, 32, and a 50-year-old doctor have been charged in the deaths, which have angered and frightened a country that prides itself on its culture of kindness.
The nurse is charged with murder as well as the theft and embezzlement of $108,000 from nursing home patients. The doctor is charged with negligent homicide and breach of duty.
The nurse arrived for a court appearance on yesterday. Inside the court room, she cried and denied that she killed anyone, saying she gave the medicine to patients on the doctor's orders. Once or twice, she gave medicine without orders, Danish radio said she told the court.
Both were released from custody yesterday after the court decided they were unlikely to leave the country. Denmark has no ball system.
New Congo leader seals hold, detains foreigners
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo —
The man who took control of this central African nation by force moved quickly yesterday to seal his hold on the country. He detained more than a dozen foreigners suspected of aiding his wartime enemy and seizing weapons at highway roadblocks.
As the first planeloads of aid arrived in the capital, fighters from Gen. Denis Sassou-Nguessso's Cobra militia set up blockades on major routes into Brazzaville and searched vehicles for arms and ammunition. The maneuvers aimed to quell widespread looting and lawlessness six days after the Cobras took control of the capital from President Pascal Lissouba.
Underscoring the insecurity, a French trooper guarding the French Embassy was shot twice in the legs by an unknown assailant overnight. Sassou-Nguesso has yet to appear in Brazzaville, in part because of security concerns.
In the Republic of Congo's second-largest city, Pointe Oointe, 15 foreigners, including French, Belgians and Russians, were being held on suspicion of aiding Lissouba during a four-month civil war that ended Oct. 15 with the Cobras' seizure of Brazzaville and Pointe Oointe.
The Russians include a plane crew accused of flying weapons to Lissouba. They were being held in a Pointe Noire jail along with three French citizens and a Belgian. A freelance journalist, Dominique Pedinielli, said her brother-in-law, Pierre-Henri Bru, was among those held. Bru, a businessman, knows Lissouba but not well, she said.
The other two French detainees were identified as Thierry de la Chapelle and Jean-Jacques Bazin, and the Belgian was identified as Christian Van Oorschott. Accusations against them were not detailed.
On the Record
A KU student's 95 compact discs and black leather purse were stolen and other items damaged between 1 and 8 p.m. Saturday in the 2100 block of Massachusetts, Lawrence police said. The items and damage were estimated at $1,785.
A KU student's passenger side window to a 1994 Ford Ranger and dash board were damaged and car stereo and other items stolen between 4 and 8 a.m. Oct. 1 from the 2000 block of Stewart Avenue, Lawrence police said. The damage and items were valued at $975.
A KU student's cassette car stereo and leather coat were stolen and passenger side window damaged between 10:30 a.m. Oct. 15 and 10 a.m. Friday in lot 105, KU police said. The items and damage were valued at $680.
A KU student's parking permit was stolen between 7.30 a.m. Thursday and 7.30 a.m. Friday from lot 52, KU police said. The permit was valued at $75.
A KU student's Blaupunkt compact disc receiver, 42 compact discs and Case Logic case were stolen and passenger side window damaged between 8 p.m. Thursday and 9:30 a.m. Friday in lot 105, KU police said. The items and damage were estimated at $680.
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer Flint Hall.
ET CETERA
The University Daily Kansan (USPS 650-640) is published at the University of Kansas, 119 Stuffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 660445, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods, and Wednesday during the summer session. Periodical postage is paid in Lawrence, Kan. 66044. Annual subscriptions by mail are $120. Student subscriptions of $2.33 are paid through the student activity fee.
Postmaster: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66045.
The On Campus section is now located in the University Daily Kansan's Classified section.
Listings for the On Campus section can be purchased at the University Daily Kansan business office, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, during regular business hours, Monday-Friday.
Listings are billed on a per-line-per-day basis. Prices are at cost for legitimate University of Kansas organizations.
Listings must be placed by 4 p.m. two days before the listing is to begin in the section. The University Daily Kansan is not responsible for ads that do not run due to missed deadlines.
For a complete look at the day's news and top stories from around the nation and the world visit the University Daily Kansan interactive.
- Nation/World stories
- http://www.kansan.com/news/nation/
Top Stories http://www.kansan.com
More stories in the UDKi
Halloween Dance Party
Date: October 25 1997 (Sat)
Time: i0pm-1.30am
Venue: Kansas Room, Kansas Union
Top Stories
*Organized by Malaysian Students Association
Price: $4.00 (member)
$5.00 (non-member)
{$0.50 off for anyone who wears costume}
STUDENT
SENATF
---
WHEN SOMEONE YOU LOVE IS RAPED
Please join us for information and a discussion about helping the survivor and yourself feel safe.
Monday, October 27, 1997 Pine Room, Kansas Union
7:00 p.m.
FACILITATOR:
FACILITATOR:
Rachel Lee, Graduate Assistant
The Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center
Sponsored by The Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, 115 Strong Hall, University of Kansas. For more information, contact Rachel Lee at 864-3552.
Running out of space in your apartment or dorm room?
- Sick of sleeping on your worn out bed?
- Or just wanting a new desk to study on?
At the House Of Denmark we specialize in making your living quarters organized and comfortable, with a wide range of home items:
- desks • bookshelves • bedroom furniture • lamps • and more!