2A The Inside Front Monday October 26,1998 News from campus, the state, the nation and the world LAWRENCE Case of missing rabbits leads police to suspect Lawrence police arrested a 24-year-old Lawrence man at 4:02 a.m. Thursday at the Hampton Inn, 2300 W. Sixth St., for stealing potato chips, three rabbits and a pickup truck. The man, who was living at the Inn, was suspected of burglarizing Pet World, 71.1 W, 23rd St., and Conoco, 2447 W. Sixth St., police said. He also was suspected of stealing a truck the same morning from an apartment in the 2200 block of West 25th Street and of attempting to rob Scales and Tails Exotic Pets, 2201 W, 25th St. Police identified the man from a surveillance tape recorded during the Conoco burglary. Police said they searched his room at the Inn and found several bags of potato chips that had been stolen from the Conoco. They also found a rabbit, one of three that had been stolen from Pet World. The other two rabbits were found in the back of the stolen truck. The suspect was arrested on one count of attempted burglary, two counts of burglary and one count of criminal damage to property. His bond was set at $10,750. —By Keith Burner By Keith Burner NATION Education bill marks $9.6 million for Kansas WASHINGTON — The Clinton Administration's plan to reduce school class sizes will pay for the hiring of an estimated 246 more teachers next year in Kansas. Kansas likely will get nearly $9.6 million to place more teachers in the early grades, according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Education A down payment on the administration's seven-year plan to hire up to 100,000 new teachers nationwide is part of the massive $520 billion spending bill signed into law Wednesday. It provides $1.2 billion for more than 30,000 new teachers in the 1999-2000 school year. Local school districts will be able to use their share to hire teachers in grades one through three, but districts with reduced class size may also use the money to shrink class size in other grades or improve teacher quality. As much as 15 percent of the funds may go toward teacher testing and professional development and training for teachers. Burning gas well slows retrieval of blast victims BRYCELAND, La. — A natural gas well that exploded and killed six workers burned through the day yesterday, preventing authorities from retrieving the bodies of most of the victims. Emergency crews were preparing to enter the firey, twisted wreckage after cooling it with water and clearing a path to the bodies of five of the victims, state police spokesman Chris Johnson said. The body of the sixth worker was removed hours after the blast. The explosion occurred Saturday afternoon in Bienville Parish, about 45 miles east of Shreveport, as 13 workers were preparing the new well to begin pumping natural gas. Sunday, flames still shot 1,00 feet or more into the air as steam billowed over the site. Authorities said there was no threat of the fire spreading to nearby woods. State authorities won't investigate the cause until the bodies are retrieved and the blaze is put out, Johnson said. the bride. Extinguishing the fire could take days, said Bruce Connery, spokesman for Sonat Exploration Co., which owns the well. Two workers remained hospitalized yesterday. One was in critical condition and the other in serious but stable condition, Johnson said. Five other workers were treated at hospitals Saturday. The names of the dead workers or the survivors had not been released because police were not sure whether all family members had been notified, Johnson said. WORLD Street skirmishes follow West Bank peace accord RAMALLAH, West Bank — Members of Yasser Arafat's political faction fought street battles yesterday with Palestinian security forces in an ominous outbreak of internal conflict stemming from the new peace accord. The clash, representing a serious rupture within Arafat's ranks, followed a bid by Palestinian military intelligence to seize unlicensed weapons. That was among tough new security measures Arafat agreed to at last week's U.S. summit. The fighting in the center of the West Bank town of Ramalah broke out as Marwan Barghouti, the leader of Fatah in the West Bank, was addressing a group of about 100 supporters outside the Palestinian Authority headquarters and the offices of Governor Mwasa Ifa Some of the Fatal activists picked up stones and hurled them over a fence into the compound and at plainclothes intelligence agents who were watching the gathering from the sidelines, witnesses said. Intelligence agents hurled rocks back at the crowd. But then some of the security agents fired from the second and third-floor windows, with some of the gunfire directed into the crowd. About the same time, armed Fathal members arrived on the scene, firing shots into the air. Two men were hurt, including a Fatha activist who suffered a gunshot wound to the head. That silenced the gunfire on both sides, and leaders from both sides quickly withdrew for a meeting. Remote-controlled bomb kills Chechen official GROZNY, Russia — Chechnya's top anti-kidnapping official was killed yesterday when a bomb tore his car to pieces the day he was to launch a major offensive on hostage-takers in the breakaway republic. Shadid Bargishv's two bodyguards were in critical condition after suffering serious injuries in the accident, and several passersby were also injured, doctors said. Bargishev, 27, died on the operating table after losing both legs in the blast in the parking lot of the anti-kidnapping department office in the Chechen capital of Grozny, Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov's office said in a statement. The remote-controlled bomb was planted just inside the gate to the parking lot. The Interfax news agency said. The explosion came as law-enforcement officials were preparing a large operation to rescue people kidnapped in Chechnya. Bargishev's colleagues insisted they would not be intimidated by the attack and would go ahead with the offensive. Other anti-kidnapping officials blamed the attack on Bargishev's recent success in securing the release of several hostages, including 24 Russian soldiers and an English couple. More than 100 people are still being held captive in Chechnia, including three Britons, a New Zealander and a Turk, according to Interfax. Hard-liners dominate Iranian assembly vote TEHRAN, Iran — Even the losers praised the election for an assembly of Iran's ruling clergy, calling it a triumph for democracy. However, the victory for hard-liners announced yesterday could set back moderate President Mohammad Khatami's reforms. Conservatives won at least 54 places on the 86-seat Assembly of Experts in Friday's vote. Moderates won only 13 seats in the assembly, which oversees the country's supreme leader. Sixteen seats went to candidates whose affiliation was unearl — but who probably lean toward the hard-line camp, and three others went to independents who are believed closer to the moderates Yesterday's results came as no surprise because most moderate candidates had been dropped from the ballot in advance by the Council of Guardians, which determines eligibility and is dominated by hard-liners. Saeid Laylaz is a member of the Executives of Construction party, which supports Khatami. Even with just 15 percent of the seats, Layaz said the moderates still will have a substantial say in the oversight of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the choice of his eventual successor. ON CAMPUS Assadallah Badamchian, a leader of the ultra-conservative Islamic Coalition Group, saw the vote itself as the real success. ■ Intervarsity Christian Fellowship meets for prayer at 5 p.m. every weekday at Danforth Chapel. Call Susan Hines at 864-6503 for more information. Susan Hines at TPC, Writer's Roosts, sponsored by Writing Consulting: Student Resources, will be open at the following times and locations: from 9 am. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday at 4003 Wescoe Hall and at the Sunflower Room in the Burge Union; from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday at Alcove G in the Kansas Union; from 9 am. to noon Mondays at 156 Strong Hall; from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Conference Room 109 in the Multicultural Resource Center; and from 7 to 10 p.m. Sundays at Templein, ARC. For more information, call 864-2399. me international Student Association will meet at 6 p.m. today at the International Room in the Kansas Union. Call Vladimir Sinkov at 841-5092 for more information - The Christian Science Organization will meet at 7:30 p.m. today at Alcove A in the Kansas Union to discuss "Christianity vs. Spiritualism," *Call Kara Kelly* at 865-3658 for more information. OAKS Nontraditional Students Organization will have a brown bag lunchmenu from 1:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. tomorrow at Alcove E in the Kansas Union and at the same time Wednesday in Alcove A. Call Simmie Berraya at 830-0074 for more information. ■ The SUA Fine Arts Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow. The SUA Public Relations Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow. The SUA Special Events Committee will meet at 6 p.m. tomorrow. The SUA Forums Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow. The SUA Feature Films Committee will meet at 7 p.m. tomorrow. All meetings will be in the Kansas Union. Call the SUA box office at 864.3477 or visit SUA's web site at www.suafinearts.com for more information. The Hispanic-American Leadership Organization will meet at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Multicultural Resource Center, Call Janell Avila at 864-HALO for more information. KU Environs will meet at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the International Room in the Kansas Union. Call Matt Dunbar at 864-7325 for more information. The KU Meditation Club will meet at 6:15 p.m. tomorrow at the Daisy Hill Room in the Burge Union. Call Beng Beh at 864-7544 for more information University Christian Fellowship will meet at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries. Call Tim Watats at 841-3148 for more information. The Latin American Solidarity will present "Chiapas: The Secret War in Mexico," at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Frontier Room in the Burge Union. There will be a slide presentation and a discussion by three local individuals with recent experience in Chiapas. Call Megan Hope at 331-2403 for more information. Earth science center to be established The University of Kansas will receive $2.5 million from NASA and private contributors to establish the Great Plains Regional Earth Science Applications Center. The money, which will be distributed during the next three years, will allow the University to finance the center and to begin satellite-mapping research. Ed Martinko, director of the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program, said that the center would be one of nine in the country. "We'll conduct both fundamental and applied research using satellite data," Martinko said in a written statement. "Our focus will be on vegetation analysis." The work will help farmers predict harvests and help ranchers forecast the availability of hay for their cattle, said Kevin Price, Applied Sensing Program associate director, in a written statement. In also will help resource managers predict the locations of fire hazards and wildlife managers to assess the health of vegetation vital to the survival of animals including pheasant, antelope and prairie chickens. By Jason Pearce Today IN HISTORY 1492 - Lead pencils first used. 1492 Lead pensils first used. 1529 Thomas More appointed English 1774 1st Continental Congress nducers in Philadelphia 1916 - Margaret Sanger arrested for obstinency (birthting birth control) obscenity (advocating birth control) 1985 -On a call in the sixth game, umpire Don Deckinger starts a string of events costing Cardinals that game of the World Series. ON THE RECORD A KU student reported being followed between 10:30 and 11 p.m. Oct.21 on 11th Street west of illinois St, the KU Public Safety Office said. The student said that she turned and threatened the man who was following her, and he stopped. A KU student ran over the foot of another student at 8:15 p.m. Oct. 22 in a crosswalk on Sunny-side Avenue near Summerfield Hall, the KU Public Safety Office said. The student's foot was not seriously injured. The student who ran over his foot was arrested at 10:26 p.m. Oct. 22 at home for failing to yield to a pedestrian and leaving the scene. A KU employee's red parking permit was stolen between 6 and 3:00 p.m. on Oct. 19 in the 2500 block of Iowa Street, Lawrence police said. The permit was valued at $100. - The driver-side door of a KU student's car was damaged, and a CD player was stolen from it between 10:30 and 11 p.m. Thursday in the 1600 block of Tennessee Street, Lawrence police said. The damage was $125 and the CD player was valued at $300. A pullover jacket and a shirt were stolen from a KU student between 8 and 11 p.m. Thursday in the 1300 block of Ohio Street, Lawrence police said. The clothing was valued at $104. 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