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News in Brief
Thursday August 28,1997
NEWS FROM CAMPUS, AROUND THE NATION AND THE WORLD
Campus
Officials continue inquiry into fraternities' fight
KU and Lawrence police are continuing to investigate the fight that took place between Kappa Alpha Psi and Phi Beta Sigma fraternities last week.
University officials also are investigating the incident.
"The investigation is going awfully slow because some people are not talking," said James Kitchen. dean of student life.
The fight occurred Aug. 20 at the Potter Lake Pavilion, KU police said. Kappa Alpha Psi had reserved the pavilion for a party that night. A fight ensued during the party between members of Kappa Alpha Psi and Phi Beta Sigma. During the fight a 9-mm gun reportedly was brandished. No shots were fired. Three students were injured, according to KU police reports.
The cases have been sent to District Attorney Christine Tonkovich. Tonkovich said she had seen the cases but had no additional information.
Kitchen said the University eventually would take action, but it had to wait until all the facts came in.
"We are trying to gather all the facts. We're not sitting back idling. I can say that there are more people involved than we first thought." he said.
Kitchen said he could not estimate how long the investigation would take to complete.
-Kansan staff report
State
Graves to recommend millions for state parks
WICHTA — A multi-million dollar upgrading of Kansas' park system will be
recommended by Gov. Bill Graves when the Kansas Legislature convenes in January.
Although no dollar amount has been determined, spokesperson Mike Matson said yesterday that Graves could propose spending as much as $10 million more than the $6 million normally spent each year on upkeep of Kansas' 24 parks.
Graves told the editorial board of "The Wichita Eagle" this week that he intended to recommend the money.
Matson said Steve Williams, secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Parks, would refine the proposal and develop a total amount to be sought.
The governor's recommendation, based on conclusions of the Wildlife and Parks
Commission's Task Force on Outdoor Kansas, would be used to upgrade camping utilities, repair toilets and showers and bring the parks into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Wildlife and Parks has a $28-million annual operation and maintenance budget.
Of that, the Parks Division operates with $6 million — $3 million from park fees and $3 million from the state's general fund.
"I'm very excited that the governor has indicated that kind of support for the department's programs and, more importantly, for park patrons and other folks involved in outdoor recreation," Williams said Tuesday.
"When our folks hear it out in the field, it couldn't help but boost morale. They've been struggling for years and years, trying to make ends meet, and this would be a tremendous infusion of money."
Williams said that the new money would be used only to upgrade or repair items identified by the task force.
National
Former agriculture secretary accused of accepting gifts
WASHINGTON — A grand jury accused former agricultural secretary Mike Espy
of accepting more than $35,000 in gifts, trips and favors from large agribusinesses that did business with the USDA when he headed the agency between 1993 and 1994.
Espy also was charged with witness tampering by ordering a USDA employee to alter a document that had been sought by the Agriculture Department's inspector general, which initially investigated.
Espy: Accused of accepting more than $35,000 in gifts
amended the allegations against Espy. Among the sources of gifts was a lobbyist for Tyson Foods Inc., the Arkansas-based chicken processor. The company has been notified that it is a target of the investigation by independent counsel Donald C. Smaltz, according to a person familiar with the probe.
In May, a federal judge fined Sun Diamond Growers of California, the largest grower of raisins, prunes and other dried fruits, $1.5 million for giving Espy $6,000 in illegal gratuities and for illegally donating $4,000 to the failed congressional campaign of Espy's brother, Henry.
Sun Diamond joblybist Richard Douglas is awaiting trial in San Francisco on charges of lavishing favors and gifts on Espy and his girlfriend, Patricia Demusew.
Espy resigned in December 1994, three months after Smaltz began his investigation. A former Mississippi congressman, Espy has denied any criminal wrongdoing.
Black women organize Million Women March
recapture the spirit of the Million Man March in Washington two years ago.
WASHINGTON — Organizers say they expect a huge crowd of black women in Philadelphia Oct. 25 for a rally designed
Mandela: Will speak at women's rally in Philadelphia
"We are sisters who are concerned," Aminata said. "Women are in crisis in general. Any woman living in this society is dealing with at least one of the problems we plan to address."
Specific details on the planned march are murky at this point. South African activist Winnie Mandela is the only speaker who has been announced.
Aminata said the organizing group met with Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and expected her cooperation.
However, Waters, who was contacted after the news conference, said she had not met with anyone from the group. She said she would not support the effort until she determined who the organizers represent, who would finance the march and whether people would be charged to attend.
"It might be a wonderful event, but I've asked them for information and I haven't received a thing." Waters said. "I can't do something like that willy-nilly."
The lack of announced speakers did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the 15 women at the news conference who said the march would help start a new era of activism.
Aminata said a national network of 25 separate local organizing committees was helping to coordinate the event.
Damaged valves cause heartbreak for dieters
BOSTON — Fifty-eight more cases of heart-valve damage among users of fenphen have been reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since new concerns arose last month about the popular prescription pill combination taken by millions to lose weight.
As a result, the agency said Wednesday it would require new drug labels warning patients of the potential danger. A drug company also announced a new study on the medication's effects.
The possibility that the diet drugs might damage heart valves came to light July 8, when physicians from the Mayo Clinic
The FDA then asked physicians to report any other patients. That search turned up the 58 additional cases, all but two of which were in women.
said it had identified 24 cases.
How many of those cases were actually caused by the medicines, however, is unclear. Some doctors wondered whether newly vigilant physicians might be hearing heart murmurs — the telltale sound of bad valves — that have been there all along.
Fen-phen is a combination of the prescription drugs fenfuramine and phentermine that suppresses appetite. Both drugs are approved by the FDA for short-term use in dieting, although not specifically in combination.
Given the large number of people using these drugs, the risk of heart damage is clearly low. But just how great the risk is — even whether it truly exists — cannot be determined without a careful study comparing diet pill users with overweight people who are not taking the medicines.
International
Israeli officials lift blockade of Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Pushing aside the red-and-white barriers that had blocked traffic for nearly a month, Israel lifted its much-represented blockade of Bethlehem yesterday.
The move followed days of violent Palestinian street protests and international criticism — including from the Vatican, which complained that Christian pilgrims were kept from visiting the birthplace of Jesus.
David Bar-Illan, a representative of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the closure imposed after a suicide bombing July 30 in a Jerusalem market was lifted for security reasons. He gave no further details on why security officials reversed their position.
The gesture was expected to help improve the deeply troubled relation between Israel and Yasser Arafat's Pales tinian Authority.
But Arafat representative Nabil Abourdeineh said it "must be followed by many other steps," including the lifting of a general closure that keeps tens of thousands of Palestinian workers out of Israel and the resumption of tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority.
"Things must be returned to their nor mal situation in order to return to the negotiating table and the protection of the peace process," he said.
The market bombing, which killed 16 people, was claimed by the Islamic militant group Hamas. Israel reportedly maintained its blockade of Bethlehem for 28 days because it suspected two masterminds of the bombing were hiding in the city.
N. Korea closes gates as U.S. defends defector
WASHINGTON — North Korea's grudging opening to the West was closed at least temporarily yesterday after the United States took in a diplomatic defector from the communist country.
Negotiations were sidetracked immediately to curb the spread of North Korea's missile technology, most ominously to Iran.
So far, preliminary four-way peace talks that would include South Korea and China remain on schedule for next month. But North Korea's sudden and angry suspension of the missile negotiations just before midnight Tuesday may cast a long shadow.
In calling its negotiators home from New York, North Korea's exclusive government urged the Clinton administration to turn over Ambassador Chang Sung Gil, who defected from his post in Egypt, and his brother, Chang Sung Ho, a diplomat on a trade mission to Paris.
The State Department, which incorrectly announced the men had been officially granted asylum, nonetheless gave no ground. The brothers and their families entered the United States under temporary arrangements that could be made permanent later.
Spokesperson James P. Rubin said the administration would try to put the negotiations back on track soon. He cited several suspensions in past talks with North Korea that he said suggested the delay could be temporary.
On the Record
A KU student's metal-with-wood door frame was damaged between 1 and 5:30 a.m. Sunday in the 2300 block of Wakara, Lawrence police said. The damage was estimated at $50.
A KU student's Sony compact disc player and 175 compact discs were stolen between 10 p.m. Monday and 2:15 p.m. Tuesday from the 1200 block of Sunset Drive, Lawrence police said. The items were valued at $3,025.
A KU student's 1986 Pontiac station笼 was stolen between 4 and 6:10 p.m. Aug. 22, from the 900 block of Iowa, Lawrence police said. The car was valued at $800.
A KU student's housing parking permit was stolen between 12:20 and 12:30 p.m. from Ekdahl Dining Commons, KU police said. The permit is valued at $75.
A KU student's housing parking permit was stolen between 2 and 6 p.m. Monday from lot 72, KU police said. The permit was valued at $75.
- The Chi Omega Fountain was soaped and colored between 9 and 9:31 p.m. Monday, KU police said. The damage was estimated at $150.
A KU student's housing parking permit was stolen between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Aug. 22, from lat 111, KU police said. The permit was valued at $75.
ET CETERA
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