8A
Friday, October 27, 1995
NATION/WORLD
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
House passes bill to balance budget
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In a momentous break with the past, the House passed a Republican balanced-budget bill yesterday that would shrink the federal government, cut taxes and return power to states. Democrats battled to the end against the measure.
The vote was 227-203, with 223 Republicans and four Democrats approving the bill. Opposed were 192 Democrats, 10 Republicans and one independent.
"The people should understand that in seven years, we will in fact balance the federal budget and save this country and save the next generation," said House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich of Ohio.
A cheer went up from the Republican side of the chamber as the vote count climbed past 217,the number needed to assure passage in the 433-member House.
Across the Capitol, the GOP-controlled Senate was expected to approve a similar bill today, a major milestone in the Republican revolution launched last winter.
As day gave way to evening, Senate Republicans systematically turned aside Democratic efforts to restore two-thirds of $270 billion in savings proposed from Medicare, as well as additional funds for Medicaid and a program of tax breaks for the working poor.
President Clinton has threatened a veto, and congressional Democrats are certain to sustain it.
"Their agenda is to get rid of
Medicare," House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said of the Republicans. "Their agenda is to give huge tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans."
a veto would set the stage for a widely anticipated effort at compromise in late fall between the White House and conservative Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
The GOP plan, designed to balance the budget in 2002, relies on hundreds of billions of dollars in savings from Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, student loans and other social programs that have flourished since the New Deal and Great Society eras.
The bills ran to 1,754 pages in the House and 1,949 in the Senate. Aside from the Pentagon, the measures scoured the entire government for savings — sometimes down to the penny. Annual cost-of-living increases for certain veterans' benefits would be rounded down to the nearest dollar, a provision that is estimated to save $520 million over seven years.
Billions more would be saved from programs affecting farmers, federal workers would pay more for their retirement benefits, and the Commerce Department would be abolished under the House measure.
The plan includes $245 billion in tax cuts, including a $500-achild tax credit and a tax break on profits from investments.
The proposal was crafted with assistance from the governors, who agreed to accept slower growth in financing in Medicaid and welfare in exchange for a loosening of federal strings.
Bus crash death toll rises to 7
FOX RIVER GROVE, Ill. — Two more teens died yesterday from injuries suffered when a computer train slammed into their school bus, bringing the toll to seven.
The Associated Press
Meanwhile, investigators tried to determine whether a malfunctioning traffic light led to the tragedy.
Stephanie Fulham, 15, and Susanna Guzman, 18, died late yesterday morning at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. The girls were removed from life-support devices after doctors declared them brain dead. Nine other students remained hospitalized yesterday, two in critical condition.
National Transportation Safety Board member John Goglia said yesterday that the traffic light controlling vehicles crossing the tracks was supposed to turn green as the train approached.
"We do not know if that in fact occurred," Goglia said. "The timing doesn't appear to be proper."
Residents said the traffic light had long been a problem, but a state official said it had been inspected the day before the accident and seemed to work.
Goglia said investigators also did not know if a car was stopped in front of the bus, not leaving enough room for the bus to move off the tracks.
Sensors embedded in the tracks are supposed to change the crossing's traffic light to green as a train approaches to allow vehicles to clear the intersection, officials said. But some witnesses reported that the light was red, which could have prevented the driver from moving the bus carrying 35 students into heavy traffic.
"There are indications that there have been previous problems at that particular crossing," said John Goglia, National Transportation Safety Board member.
Illinois Department of Transportation representative Richard Adorjan said that the day before the accident, the department had a contractor inspect the light because local officials were concerned about the possibility of a malfunction.
The town's police chief, Robert Polston, saw Wednesday morning's crash because he was checking out reports of problems with the light. Village officials have said he would not comment because he was an eyewitness.
"The concern was that it was not working properly," Adorian said. "The system apparently was in working order." He declined to identify the contractor.
"People have been saying something's going to happen because it's just not timed right," said Jim Homola, who was in his car behind the bus when the train hit.
Residents said coordination between the gates and signals protecting the railroad crossing and the traffic light at the intersection just beyond it had been poor for a long time.
Regardless of whether the light was red or green, some witnesses said there was no car ahead of the bus and the driver could have moved forward. A crossing gate had come down behind the bus.
The bus was on its way to the 1,400-student Cary-Grove High School in Cary, near the community about 40 miles northwest of Chicago.
The Chicago-bound express train was traveling between 50 and 60 mph and sheared the body of the bus off the chassis, spinning it around 180 degrees. Nobody on the train was injured.
Selena's killer receives life in prison
Federal officials said the bus was designed to break apart like that in a high-speed crash to put distance between the occupants and the gas tank.
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — Yolanda Saltivar was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for shooting Tejano singing star Selena to death at a Corpus Christi, Texas, motel in March.
The prosecution had asked jurors to sentence DSalivar to life in prison, meaning at least 30 years behind bars and a $10,000 fine. Defense attorneys sought probation.
"Nothing you folks can do can bring Selena back," lead defense attorney Douglas Tinker told the jury Wednesday.
Saldivar, 35, was convicted of murder Monday for the March 31 shooting at the Days Inn in Corpus Christi.
punishment Wednesday and recessed after 5 1/2 hours. They deliberated yesterday for four hours.
Saldiver did not face the death penalty because the crime contained none of the aggravating circumstances required under Texas law, such as a multiple murder or a murder committed in robbery.
Prosecutors contended that Saldivar, who rose from fan club president to manager of Selena's clothing boutiques, shot Selena, 23, after the singer's family suspected Saldivar of embezzling $30,000. The defense said the gun had gone off accidentally.
District Attorney Carlos Valdez argued for the maximum sentence.
Jurors began weighing Saldivar's
Carlos Valdez
District Attorney
"I'm asking you on behalf of that beautiful voice, that golden voice that brought joy to millions of peo
ple, that voice that was silenced." Valdez said.
The single prosecution witness, Faustino Gomez, testified Wednesday that he did not think that Saldivar was a law-abiding citizen. Gomez was not allowed to mention that he fired her in 1983 after she suspected her of stealing money.
Eight character witnesses portrayed Saldivar as a loving person who should not be sent to prison.
"Yolanda Saldivar has been punished tremendously for her conduct," Tinker said in his final arguments to the jury.
"There are greater benefits if you let her return to society," he said.
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2919 W. 49th Terrace
Shawnee Mission, Kansas 66205
9th & Iowa · 842-2930
With our major aquifer drying up; and Kansas dependent on the downstream water of other states for ALL our needs; do you really think this year is a good year to invalidate the federal Clean Water Act? Maybe Ralph Reed has a good prayer for clean water, but I, for one, would rather trust a law that has worked for the past 25 years. Maybe someone else agrees with me, that earth science trumps political science.
Dear Senators Dole and Kassebaum.
The University of Kansas School of Law in hosting a Minority Law Day Saturday, October 28,1995
9:00 am-2:00 pm
Green Hall, Room 109
The program will include information on:
- Admission Procedures
- Financial Aid Information
- LSAT Information
- A Mock Law School Class
- Career Information
- Student Life
- Tours of the Law School
For more information, please contact the Law School Admissions Office at (913) 864-4378
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PRESENTED BY COSTARICA'S STUDENT ASSOCIATION AND HALF