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The Inside Front
Thursday October 2,1997
News
from campus, the state, the nation and the world
CAMPUS/AREA
Kansas City, Mo.: Richard Armitage warned and praised Asia's future in a speech at the Kansas City Marriott. The dinner and speech were sponsored by the University of Kansas' Office of International Studies.
NATIONAL
WASHINGTON: Capping weeks of intense maneuvering, Congress approved legislation Wednesday that clears the way for a $3,000 cost-of-living increase in lawmakers' $133,600 pay.
TOMS RIVER, N.J.: Edward Werner, 11, was found strangled near his home after he went door to door alone selling candy and wrapping paper for his school's PTA. Prosecutors say he was killed for his money by a 15-year-old boy who answered the door.
WASHINGTON: President Clinton's request for congressional authorization to negotiate new trade agreements, a top priority of his second term, cleared its first legislative hurdle yesterday.
WASHINGTON: A federal grand jury is investigating whether Hudson Foods Inc. tried to hide the extent of potential E. coli bacteria contamination in what eventually became the nation's biggest meat recall.
WASHINGTON: Faced with soaring food imports, disease-tainted fruits and vegetables and far fewer safety inspections, the Clinton administration is moving aggressively to police the world's food.
INTERNATIONAL
JERUSALEM: Unmoved by the release of its spiritual leader from an Israeli prison, the radical Islamic group Hamas vowed yester day to keep up its campaign of terror attacks in Israel.
CAMPUS/AREA
University sponsors speech by diplomat Armitage
KANSAS CITY, MO — Former diplomat Richard Armitage gave both warnings and praise for the future of Asia during a speech at the Kansas City Marriott Monday night.
Armitage, who held senior troubleshooting and negotiating positions for the administrations of both Ronald Reagan and George Bush, said Asia's future was uncertain because of the continued shifting of power to Western nations. Armitage said the relations between Russia and China were especially uncertain and the two could possibly have some conflict.
Armitage also said he supported Japan's wishes to have a seat on the United Nations Security Council. However, he said that he would like to see a more robust role for the Japanese military.
About 70 business executives and University of Kansas leaders gathered for the dinner and speech sponsored by the University's Office of International Studies, International Relations Council, Business Executives for National Security and the Navy League of Kansas City.
—Kansan staff report
NATIONAL Increase in lawmakers' pay approved in Congress
WASHINGTON — Capping weeks of intense maneuvering, Congress approved legislation yesterday that clears the way for
a $3,000 cost-of-
increase in lawmasters'
$133,600 pay.
The 55-45 Senate vote was the latest in a series of close calls for
the bill, which leaders in both houses and both parties nursed toward passage over many weeks without permitting a direct roll-call vote on a pay increase.
Even so, the political anxiety was evident in the Senate, where 19 of the 30 lawmakers seeking re-election next year voted against the bill, and only 11 voted in favor.
"We shouldn't be receiving a (cost-of-living adjustment) during that period of time when lawmakers are asking others to sacrifice," said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who faces the voters in 13 months and was one of a small number of senators to speak out against the increase. "I cannot support the COLA at this point in time."
While partisan tensions inevitably surfaced, the issue exposed generational splits within the two houses. In the House, the younger, reform-minded Republicans were vocal in their opposition, while the older lawmakers of both parties provided the bulk of the support needed for passage.
"Maybe it's the fat $100 a month that "everybody gets out of this," second-term Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., said scathingly after an earlier House vote.
priority of his second term, cleared its first legislative hurdle yesterday.
New trade agreements are cleared in legislation
WASHINGTON — President Clinton's request for congressional authorization to negotiate new trade agreements, a top
The Senate Finance Committee approved the measure by voice vote with no public discussion after members had spent more than an hour huddled with administration representatives behind closed doors.
Clinton is seeking so-called fast-track negotiating authority to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico to other countries in Latin America and beyond.
Clinton has been criticized by labor unions and environmental groups for emphasizing trade agreements more than worker rights and environmental protection, but administration officials said they were happy with compromise language that had been worked out.
The fast approval from the Finance Committee sends the measure to an uncertain future in Congress. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott expressed concerns yesterday about lack of Democratic support in the Senate, and House Speaker Newt Gingrich was even more blunt, saying no more than 14 House Democrats are currently willing to publicly commit to support for the proposal.
Child, 11, strangled while selling PTA products
TOMS RIVER, N.J. — Before he was found strangled near his home, 11-year-old Edward Werner was eagerly pursued a set of walkie-talkies, the top prize for selling the most candy and wrapping paper for his school's PTA.
He was going door to door alone — a practice discouraged by most fund-raising groups and sales were going so well he was flashing a $200wad of bills to friends.
Prosecutors said yesterday that Edward was a victim of his own success, killed for his money by a 15-year-old boy who answered the sixth-grader's knock on the door.
They say Edward was brought inside the home, sexually assaulted and strangled. The older boy then dragged the boy's 4-foot-11 inch, 60-pound body into the woods.
The 15-year-old boy, whose name was not released, was charged with murder and aggravated sexual assault in a case that has focused new attention on the widespread practice of using children to raise money for schools and other nonprofit organizations.
Door-to-door selling is discouraged by the national PTA, the child's school district, youth organizations, as well as the multibillion-dollar industry that puts products into the hands of a juvenile sales force.
WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury is investigating whether Hudson Foods Inc. tried to hide the extent of potential E. coli bacteria contamination in what eventually became the nation's biggest meat recall.
E. coli-contaminated meat investigation underway
Tom Monaghan, the U.S. attorney for Nebraska, issued a statement saying the investigation arose from information received last month from the Department of Agriculture's inspector general regarding the August recall of 25 million pounds of hamburger produced at the Hudson plant in Columbus, Neb.
Monaghan would provide no other details, but Hudson officials confirmed yesterday that they had received a subpoena for documents related to the recall and expected some employees to be called to testify before the grand jury in Omaha, Neb.
"Hudson Foods is confident that a thorough and fair investigation of the facts will confirm that it has violated no law," Rogers, Ark.-based Hudson said in a statement.
Hudson shut down the Columbus plant at the insistence of the Department of Agriculture after the amount of meat recalled due to possible E. coli contamination rose from 20,000 pounds initially to 25 million pounds — by far the largest meat recall in U.S. history.
Sale of the still-closed plant to meatpacking giant IBP Inc. is nearly complete. Hudson, which lost a big Burger King contract because of the recall, is itself in the process of being sold to Arkansas rival Tyson Foods Co.
Clinton pushes to make U.S. world's food police
WASHINGTON — Faced with soaring food imports, disease-tainted fruits and vegetables and far fewer safety insnse
tions, the Clinton administration is moving aggressively to police the world's food.
Under a plan President Clinton is to announce today, the government would spend up to $24 million inspecting farms overseas. Those failing to
meet certain food-safety standards would not be allowed to export goods to the United States.
U. S. farmers also would face new sanitation guidelines in part to forestall any complaints that the United States would hold foreign farmers to higher standards.
Critics charge that the food plan is an effort to counter opposition to free-trade legislation Clinton has pending in Congress. They argue that the U.S. food supply already is the world's safest.
"Clearly, being the world food police complicates the trade environment we operate in," said John Aguirre of the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association. Risks from produce are low enough
that this is unwarranted, he added.
But the Food and Drug Administration, which has been pushing for the changes since 1993, said it hasn't kept pace with Americans' food supply.
FDA figures show budget constraints made its inspections of domestic food supplies plummet from 21,000 in 1981 to just 5,000 last year. Foreign food imports have doubled to 2.2 million shipments a year since 1992, while FDA border inspections were cut in half. A mere 2 percent of imported foods are sampled for contamination at the docks.
INTERNATIONAL Release of spiritual leader won't stop Hamas attacks
The Israeli government was silent on reports that the release of the Sheik Ahmed Yassin was part of a deal to win the freedom of two Israeli agents held in the attempted assassination of another Hamas leader.
JERUSALEM — Unmoved by the release of its spiritual leader from an Israeli prison, the radical Islamic group Hamas vowed yesterday to keep up its campaign of terror attacks in Israel.
Yassin, 61 — who is quadriplegic and nearly blind — was spirted out of Israel's Ayalon Prison in a wheelchair before dawn yesterday. Wrapped in blankets, he was hustled aboard a Jordanian helicopter that took him to Amman, where he was hospitalized.
The release came a day after Jordan's king Hussein urged Israel to free Yassin, who had served eight years of a life term for ordering the killings of Israeli soldiers and Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel.
White House press secretary Mike McCurry said the Clinton administration welcomed the release as a "humanitarian gesture."
Hamas, which has carried out more than a dozen suicide bombings in Israel since 1994, had often cited Yassin's imprisonment as one of the reasons for its armed attacks. Yassin's release was timed to coincide with the Jewish New Year during which there would be little public reaction, including criticism from hardliners.
The Associated Press
ON THE RECORD
A KU student's parking permit was stolen between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday from the lot west of Murphy Hall, KU police said The permit was valued at $7.5
A KU student's parking permit was stolen between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday from the Lied Center lot, KU police said. The permit was valued at $75.
A KU student's nylon belt pack, gold ring and other items were stolen between 8:05 and 8:10 a.m. Friday from Olive..'s 'lall', KU police said. The items were valued at $54.30.
A KU student's black leather wallet, $62 and other items were stolen between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Monday from Robinson Gymnasium, KU police said. The items were valued at $115.
A KU student's parking permit was stolen between 5 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday from the parking lot in front of Watkins Health Center, KU police said. The permit was valued at $75.
ET CETERA
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.
The University Daily Kansan (USPS 650-440) is published at the University of Kansas, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66044, 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.
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Nation/World stories
http://www.kansan.com/news/nation/
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.
http://www.kansan.com
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.
SUA
The On Campus section is now located in the University Daily Kansan's Classified section.
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DO YOU KNOW AN OUTSTANDING SENIOR?
1998
HILLTOPPER
AWARDS
*Nominations now being accepted for the 1998 Hiltopter Awards.
*Nomination forms available at 428 Kansas Union.
*Anyone may nominate an outstanding senior.
*Seniors must be graduating in May.
*All nominees will receive an application.
*Nominations must be turned in to 400 KS Union (O&L office) or 428 KS Union (Jayhawker office) by Friday, Oct. 3 at 5p.m.
1998 Jayhawker Yearbook
428 Kansas Union 864-3728
Sponsored By:
ATTENTION SENIORS:
It's time to recognize the professor who has positively impacted your college career. Nominate them for the H.O.P.E.Award.
Honorable Outstanding Progressive Educator
Nomination Forms can be picked up at the Organizations and Activities Center in the Kansas Union or at the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center."115 Strong Hall.
Nominations are due by 5:00 Thursday October 9,1997.
Voting is October 15th and 16th on Wescoe Beach.
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