THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY OCTOBER 22, 2007
NEWS
9A
》 NATURAL DISASTER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Russell Watts of Malibu, Calif., watches firefighters work a fire where a wildfire driven by powerful Santa Ana winds threatened a university and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes in Malibu, Calif. Fires destroyed a church and several homes, one of them a landmark castle.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wildfire forces evacuation
BY NOAKI SCHWARTZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MALIBU, Calif. — A wildfire driven by powerful Santa Ana winds threatened a university and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes in the Malibu Hills on Sunday. Flames destroyed a church and several homes, one of them a landmark castle.
No residents or firefighters were injured, authorities said.
About 500 firefighters worked to protect Pepperdine University and some 200 homes in the upscale Malibu Crest and Serra Retreat neighborhoods, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Sam Padilla.
The blaze had charred at least 1,000 acres, or more than a square mile. Wind that gusted as high as 65 mph carried embers across the Pacific Coast Highway, closing the popular road and setting fire to cars and trees in the parking lot of a shopping center where several stores were damaged.
Television news video showed several other buildings also in flames in the area, including clusters of beach-side homes.
Flames consumed the landmark
Castle Kashan, a stately fortress-like home with turrets and arched windows, as about a dozen residents watched from across a street. Chunks of brick fell from the exterior of the burning building overlooking the coast.
Faculty and staff members at the 830-acre Pepperdine campus were urged to evacuate, school spokesman Jerry Derloshon said. Students were instructed to gather their belongings from their dorm rooms and report to the school's cafeteria and basketball arena.
Power was out at the university, but both evacuation areas had generators, said student and resident adviser Amanda Lewis, 21. Helicopters dropped water on flames in the hills above the campus, and palm trees smoldered on the ocean-facing side of the campus.
At least three homes and two commercial buildings had been confirmed destroyed in the area, and nine other homes were damaged, county Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said.
Fire crews had found downed power lines, which may have started the blaze in Malibu Canyon, fire Capt. Mike Brown said.
Erratic wind gusts hampered efforts to drop water from aircraft
and pushed flames toward HRI Laboratories, commonly known as Hughes Lab, a research and engineering facility jointly owned by Boeing Co. and General Motors Corp. about a mile north of Pepperdine. One outbuilding caught fire, Boeing spokeswoman Diana Ball said.
Flames engulfed Malibu Presbyterian Church, which had been evacuated, said youth pastor Eric Smith. "That's the really good news, that everyone's out and safe," Smith said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Susan Nuttall sat in her black Mercedes in a cul-de-sac just off the Pacific Coast Highway, saying she had fled her condo just below the Pepperdine campus.
"We're all scared to death and we have nowhere to go," said Nuttall, 51, still wearing a bathrobe and holding her Chihuahua.
Mitra Rajabi came to get her 80-year-old mother from her home near Pepperdine.
"We've been through this before, but it's never been this bad," said Rajabi. 39, of Pacific Palisades. "It was like a war zone."
About 200 homes were evacuated in Puerco Canyon and other nearby areas, Brown said.
Wildfires had been widely expected in Southern California during the weekend as hot weather and strong Santa Ana wind marked the height of traditional wildfire season after one of the driest years on record.
Fighterfires battle a fire at the Malibu Presbyterian Church on Malibu Canyon Road on Sunday after embers from a fast moving brush fire caught the steeple, then the attic on fire. A wildfire threatened Pepperdine University and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes in the Malibu Hills on Sunday, authorities said.
Malibu, home to about 13,000 people, stretches along 27 miles of Pacific coastline. The area is home to celebrities including Barbara Streisand, Mel Gibson, Ted Danson, David Geffen and Pierce Brosnan.
Last January, a wildfire driven by Santa Ana winds destroyed the home of actress Suzanne Somers and three other multimillion-dollar residences.
The community also is home to about 25 rehabilitation facilities, including Promises Residential Treatment Center, whose guests have included Britney Spears, Ben Affleck, Charlie Sheen, Diana Ross and Matthew Perry.
If Iran continues on its current course, Cheney said the U.S. and other nations were "prepared to impose serious consequences." The vice president made no specific reference to military action.
ROBERT J. DOLE
INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
Cheney's words seemed to only escalate the U.S. rhetoric against Iran during the past several days, including President Bush's warning that a nuclear Iran could lead to "World War III."
"We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon," he said.
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Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said striking Iran was a last resort and the focus was now on diplomacy to stem Iran's nuclear ambitions, but there was more than enough reserve to respond militarily if need be.
The Bush administration's intentions toward Iran have been the subject of debate in Congress.
Also, on Thursday, the top officer in the U.S. military said the U.S. had the resources to attack Iran if needed despite the strains of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said Iran's efforts to pursue technology that would allow them to build a nuclear weapon were obvious. The regime continues to practice delay and deceit in an obvious effort to buy time, he said.
Bush's spokeswoman later said the president was not making any war plans but rather "a rhetorical point."
interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," Bush said.
The U.S. and some allies accuse Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and have demanded it halt uranium enrichment, an important step in the production of atomic weapons. Oil-rich Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes including generating electricity.
Last month the Senate approved a resolution urging the State Department to label Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization.
Cheney said the ultimate goal of
"Our country, and the entire international community, cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions," Cheney said in a speech to the Washington Institute for Near East Studies.
WORLD
Cheney says no to nukes in Iran
At a news conference Wednesday, Bush suggested that if Iran obtained nuclear weapons, it could lead to a new world war.
LEESBURG, Va. — The United States and other nations will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday.
Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said he feared the measure could be interpreted as authorizing a military strike in Iran, calling it Cheney's "fondest pipe dream."
BY MATTHEW BARAKAI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WORLD
Tensions heat up between Turkey, Iraq
BY VOLKAN SARISAKAL ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cheney accused of Iran of having a direct role in the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and said the government had "solidified its grip on the country" since coming to power in 1979.
Iran's government seeks "to keep Iraq in a state of weakness to ensure Baghdad does not pose a threat to Tehran," Cheney said.
Although he was critical of that government and President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, he offered praise and words of solidarity to the Iranian people. Iran "is a place of unlimited potential ... and it has the right to be free of tyranny", Cheney said.
SIRNAK, Turkey — Kurdish rebels ambushed a Turkish military convoy on Sunday less than three miles from the Iraqi border, killing 12 soldiers in the face of growing threats by Turkey to cross the rugged frontier and root out the guerrillas.
the Iranian leadership was to establish itself as the hegemonic force in the Middle East and undermine a free Shiite-majority Iraq as a rival for influence in the Muslim world.
The University of Kansas
Turkey shelled the border region in response to the attack, and Iraqi Presidentjalal Talabani — himself a Kurd — ordered the rebels to lay down their arms or leave Iraq.
"I'm heartened that he seems to be implying a reluctance on their part to act unilaterally, and I think that's a good thing." Gates said. "I didn't have the impression that anything was imminent."
Turkey's Parliament last week authorized the government to deploy troops across the border, and the military confirmed that soldiers were chasing the rebels and pounding 63 suspected positions with artillery. Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek would not say however, whether some of those positions were in Iraqi soil.
Turkey dismissed his call, saying the time had come for action.
Despite the harsher rhetoric, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday it appeared Turkey's military was not on the verge of invading Iraq's most stable region in pursuit of the rebels — an incursion strongly opposed by the United States and Iraq.
Gates told reporters that in a meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, he advised against a major cross-border incursion despite the continuing provocations.
Date Time Location
Monday, Oct. 22 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. Kansas Union 4th Floor
Tuesday, Oct. 23 2:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m. Watkins Health Center
Thursday, Oct. 25 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. Nichols Hall
Tuesday, Oct. 30 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. Strong Hall
Can't make it to a clinic? You can also get a flu shot or the nasal mist flu vaccine at Watkins Memorial Health Center by calling 864-9507 to make an appointment.
- Payable by check, cash or credit card at time of service. No insurance billing. Medicaid and Medicare are not accepted.
The single best way to avoid getting the flu is to get the flu vaccine. Student Health Services is holding flu clinics that are open to all KU students, faculty, staff and retirees (ages 18 and over).
Cost*:
Flu Shot - $15
Nasal Mist Flu Vaccine - $23
(Nasal mist for ages 4 - 49; subject to availability.)
TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM.DON'T SPREAD THE FLU. GET VACCINATED.
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Watkins Memorial Health Center
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Lauce Irvine, KS 66045
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