UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, October 26, 1994
7B
Air Force flyover caps retirement of Chief of Staff
The Associated Press
ANDREWSAIRFORCEBASE, Md. — Air Force Chief of Staff Merrill McPeak bid farewell Tuesday to his colleagues, even those he said "think I've pulled a few too many G's and had the blood drained permanently from my head."
Despite his wry jokes, the fourstar general's voice trembled as he thanked those who did the service's day-to-day jobs so he could work on "the virtual Air Force, the Air Force we dream of, the Air Force that ought to be and the one that America deserves."
The controversial general was lauded at his retirement ceremony by Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnall as "the architect of the Air Force of the future," but also as one who was unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom and thereby risk endangering the collegiality other service chiefs.
Because of McPeak's reorganization of the Air Force and slimming its ranks, the service is "simpler, more flexible and tougher ... and ready for the challenges ahead." Ms. Widnall said.
McPeak openly promoted a plan to change the roles and missions of the various services, such as sharply cutting the number of Marine F-A-18 fighter jets or eliminating the role of the Army's long-range artillery in the far reaches of the battlefield.
The Associated Press
Proposed history standards in question
WASHINGTON — Proposed national standards for teaching history were released yesterday amid complaints that they bow to political correctness and ignore America's white male heroes.
But creators of the guidelines say critics misunderstand the purpose of their work, which is part of Congress' plan to create a set of voluntary goals for the nation's schools.
At the heart of the debate is a history guidebook that lists 31 understandings that students should learn in grades 5-12 and examples of interesting ways to teach them.
"The national standards present a
very warped view of American history," said Lynne Cheney, chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Humanities during the Reagan and Bush administrations.
"They make it sound as if everything in America is wrong and grim," Cheney said yesterday.
Cheney noted that examples contain 17 references to the Ku Klux Klan and 19 references to McCarthyism, but no mention of Paul Revere or Thomas Edison.
But Gary B. Nash, co-director of the project, said the standards focus on broad themes in U.S. history, not individuals.
said.
"I think she's confusing a curriculum guidebook with a history textbook." Nash said.
The examples are meant to show
creative ways to teach, not highlight important people such as Edison, he said.
"What we're trying to say in this book is it's important for students to learn about how new technology and communications transformed America, not create lists of which inventors ought to be studied," he said.
National standards also have been set for other subjects including geography and the arts. They await approval by a panel to be appointed by President Clinton.
The history standards call on teachers to give more attention to the history of Native Americans, blacks, women and others who traditionally have been given short shrift in textbooks, Nash said.
Cheney said it was important to study women and minorities. But that should not push aside study of politically incorrect white males, "such as George Washington and Robert E. Lee, she said.
The politically correct examples will have a huge influence on textbookpublishers, she said.
Nash said the standards are designed to reduce the emphasis on dry textbooks and memorization of names, dates and places.
Contractor to pay misbilling
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—Defense contractor Martin Marietta Corp. will pay for concerts by Smokey Robinson, the Beach Boys and others that were billed to the government for "employee morale," the company said.
The payments total at least $940,000, according to figures obtained yesterday from the Defense Contract Audit Agency, the Pentagon auditors who monitor billings by contractors.
Martin Marietta was among the defense and environmental contractors that charged the government for items such as concerts, tennis lessons, golf balls, softball and volleyball officials and a performer in a Santa Claus suit.
Dingell, D-Mich. Dingell wrote the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Alice Rivlin, asking that the government prevent such charges in the future.
The "employee morale" billings were compiled by the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee headed by Rep. John D.
Martin Marietta, in a statement last week, said it would "eliminate all charges" for concerts "held for its employees and their families in appreciation of their contributions to the corporation."
Martin Marietta contends federal regulations permit reimbursement for these events, the statement said, but added such charges are inappropriate in an era of budgetary restraint.
The events billed to the government included concerts by Neil Diamond in 1986; the Righteous Brothers, Gladys Knight and the Temptations in 1987; the Beach Boys in 1988; Smokey Robinson and Stephanie Mills in 1989 and Barbara Mandrell in 1991. In 1990, the company billed for an ice Capades performance.
Artificial feeding may cause more harm to terminally ill
CHICAGO — Terminally ill people should not artificially be given food and water if they don't want it because it may only heighten their discomfort, researchers say.
Starving seems to ease such patients' deaths because dehydration lessens consciousness, promotes sleepiness and diminishes pain, the researchers said.
The Associated Press
Such patients usually want very little
nourishment in their final months.
"Patients terminally ill with cancer
generally did not experience hunger, and those who did needed only small amounts of food for alleviation," the researchers said in today's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study involved 32 patients. All expressed a desire not to be fed or given liquids through tubes. They were allowed anything they wanted to eat and drink, including food brought by families.
"They lost their appetite. They didn't want to eat anymore," said Dr. Annmarie Groth-Juncker, a coauthor who has cared for the terminally ill. "It didn't feel good to them anymore, or a little bit (of food), and they felt satiated."
People dying of other diseases, including Alzheimer's, have the same experience, said Ms. Groth-Juncker, medical director at St. John's Home, a nursing home in Rochester where the research was done.
Almost everyone studied consumed less than 25 percent of the food or fluids needed for basic nutritional requirements.
King was awarded $3.8 million in damages over his 1991 beating by police. Because he prevailed in court, he is allowed to seek payment of his lawyers' fees and court costs.
birthday party was spent discussing his cake — discussing his case."
Lerman and 22 other lawyers submitted bills for $4.4 million, saying they put in 13,000 hours on the case. Deputy City Attorney Don Vincent said King Saints' attorneys should be paid for no more than 1,000 hours — or $350,000.
Rodney King's lawyers seek payment
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Rodney King's lawyers want the public to pay them $4.4 million for representing the beating victim, including time they spent driving him to the "Oprah" show and attending his birthday party.
"Why are two hours of Mr. King's birthday party compensable?" U.S. District judge John G. Davies asked Steven Lerman, King's chief attorney, at a hearing Monday.
The lawyer's response made the judge laugh: "The time of Mr. King's
Clinton to fight harassment allegations
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Paula Jones' lawyers said yesterday that they will pursue sexual harassment allegations against President Clinton even if he wins a court ruling that he cannot be sued while in office.
son, "we would seek to take the president's deposition under oath as a material witness of what happened in the hotel room," Joseph Camarata, one of Jones' attorneys, said at a news conference.
Clinton is seeking to have the case thrown out on grounds of presidential immunity, but Jones' lawyers said that they will seek to press the portion of the lawsuit against state trooper Danny Ferguson, who allegedly asked Jones to meet Clinton in a hotel room. The former Arkansas state employee says she quickly left the room when Clinton allegedly exposed himself and suggested they engage in a sex act.
Clinton's lawyers say in court papers that the immunity they are seeking for the president should be extended to Ferguson. Cammarata said extending a grant of immunity to Ferguson "is not supported in law." A federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., is considering the matter.
"In the end I know I will get my good name and reputation back," Jones said, her voice quavering.
If the lawsuit were limited to Fergu.
Clinton's lawyer in the Jones case, Robert Bennett, said he "will not dignify the performance of Jones and her attorneys by commenting upon it."
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