6A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THUR5DAY, MAY 3, 2007
FOREIGN ELECTIONS
French presidential debate sees sparks
French Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal, left, faces conservative front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy, right, minutes before their only televised debate in Paris on Wednesday. Some estimates said the live debate could draw more than 20 million viewers. Segolene Royal will face Nicolas Sarkozy in the presidential runoff on May 6. French journalists Arlette Chabot, second from right, and Patrick Poire d'Arvior attended the debate.
Thomas Coex/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Far right, far left candidates bring increased interest
BY JOHN LEICESTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS — The two dynamic and very different candidates to be France's next president faced off Wednesday in their first and last televised debate of the campaign, a highly anticipated encounter before the weekend vote, and sparks flew almost from the start.
Socialist Segolene Royal, struggling in her quest to become France's first woman president, immediately went on the offensive, criticizing conservative Nicolas Sarkozy's record as a minister in President Jacques Chirac's government before he became a candidate for the presidency.
Sarkozy, leading in the polls and looking to get through the debate unscathed, was scrupulously polite and did not rise to Royal's baiting. He addressed her as "madame" and, after she repeatedly interrupted him in a discussion about policing and crime, said, "Will you let me reply?"
Royal wore a dark jacket; Sarkozy a suit and tie. But their differences were more than one of style. An immediate point of disagreement was France's 35-hour work week
— a landmark reform for Socialists but decried by business leaders as a crippling brake on companies.
Sarkozy wants to get around the 35-hour week by making overtime tax-free to encourage people to work more. He described the shortened work week as a "monumental error" and noted that no other country in Europe has followed France's lead.
Royal defended the 35-hour week as a form of social progress
and asked why the government of which Sarkozy was part had not gotten rid of the legislation if it was so opposed.
Again, Royal cut Sarkozy off during the discussion.
"Will you let me finish?" he asked.
"No," said Royal.
"Ah," said Sarkozy
The live duel by candidates could draw more than 20 million viewers in a nation re-energized by its hunger for change after 12 years under Chirac.
"It's the culmination point of the campaign," former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who supports Sarkozy, said on RTL radio. He
said the debate would be "decisive," and credited his own performance in a debate with Socialist Francois Mitterrand for his victory in 1974.
Mitterrand won the presidency the next time around in 1981.
Sarkozy and Royal were the last two candidates standing after the April 22 first round in which Sarkozy won 31.2 percent and Royal
trum taking up the remainder.
Royal's underdog bid has gathered some momentum recently.
She outdid Sarkozy on Tuesday
"I don't think the French choose a president on the lone impression that they'll have after a two-hour debate."
NICOLAS SARKOZY Conservative candidate
had 25.9 percent, with 10 rival candidates across the political spec-
tion on Tuesday, with a larger rally in Paris than one he had over the weekend. Also Tuesday, far right nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen, who placed fourth with 4 million votes, urged his supporters to
abstain in the election Sunday Polls show his voters were more likely
to back Sarkozy than Royal, and it could cut into Sarkozy's support if they stay home.
Sarkozy, who has held a lead in the polls since January, sought to calm speculation before the show-down that it could be decisive.
"I don't think the French choose a president on the lone impression that they'll have after a two-hour debate," he told France-Inter radio Wednesday before the television appearance
The last head-to-head presidential-race debate, pitting Chirac against Socialist Lionel Jospin in 1995, drew 17 million viewers. Chirac won the first of his two terms that year.
DESTINATION:
SPENCER
travel the art world
spring 2007
STUDENT NIGHT AND PARTY AT THE SPENCER MUSEUM OF ART
THURSDAY, MAY 3 / 6 - 8 PM
FREE ACTIVITIES,FOOD,and T-SHIRTS DOORPRIZES FROM LOCAL VENDORS MUSIC BY KJHK
VIEW GLOBAL ARTWORKS AND LISTEN TO MUSIC FROM AROUND THE WORLD — PASSPORTS PROVIDED!
SPONSORED BY THE SPENCER MUSEUM OF ART STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD
Spencer Museum of Art 1300 Mississippi Street Lawrence, KS 65044
www.spencerart.ku.edu
VETOED LEGISLATION
BY DAVID ESPO ASSOCIATED PRESS
Congress wants goals set for Iraq government
WASHINGTON — Congress failed to override President Bush's veto of legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq on Wednesday, a defeat for anti-war Democrats that triggered immediate talks on a new measure to fund the conflict.
"Make no mistake, Democrats are committed to ending this war," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif). "We hope to do so in unison with the president of the United States," she said on a day of carefully scripted political drama at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
The vote in the House was 222-203, 62 shy of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. With few exceptions, Republicans stood fast with Bush in the wartime clash.
"I'm confident we can reach agreement," the president said moments after the vote as he sat down at the White House with leaders of the Democratic-controlled Congress.
The veto vote hewed closely to party lines, with 220 Democrats and two Republicans in favor of overriding the president, and 196 Republicans and seven Democrats voting to sustain him.
signaled they were ready to make concessions such as jettisoning the troop withdrawal timetable in order to gain Bush's signature on a replacement measure. There was early talk in both parties of setting goals for the government of Iraq to meet as it strives to develop a self-defending, democratic society.
Democrats flashed defiance, yet
KANSAS CITY SHOOTING
Suspect may have also killed neighbor
"It might be a stretch to say that he was living there," said Detective Alane Booth of the Kansas City Police Department. "But it would be reasonable to say he left and came back and had taken advantage of some of the things she had that he didn't have, like food, water and electricity."
Logsdon. 51, suspected of killing two people in the parking lot of Ward Parkway Center on Sunday and injuring a police officer who had stopped him earlier, was shot to death by police at the mall. Seven other people were injured.
Patricia Ann Reed, 67, was found dead in her home about two hours before police stopped Logsdon for driving Reed's car. Police have not said Logsdon killed Reed, but Booth said the evidence was pointing in that direction.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — David W. Logsdon used the home of his next-door neighbor for days while her dead body lay on the floor before he drove her car to a shopping mall and opened fire, killing two people.
BY MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER ASSOCIATED PRESS
"We haven't technically proved it yet," Booth said. "But it's more probable than not that he's the person responsible for her death."
Booth could not confirm a report in The Kansas City Star that Logsdon used a semiautomatic rifle that belonged to Reed's late husband in the rampage at Ward Parkway.
Police said Reed had been beaten to death but they were also still awaiting test results to determine how long Reed had been dead, but it was likely a few days, Booth said. Reed was last seen by her family April 21.
According to Logsdon's sister, Kathy Cagg, Logsdon had a history of mental illness, and was taken for evaluation in October 2005, but had been released after six hours.
Logsdon had also made a little living space for himself above the garage, where he kept books about weapons, survival and magic, Booth said.
It's likely Logsdon had been using Reed's home because of the deteriorating condition of his own home, where Logsdon had to improvise because the electricity and water were cut off after he did not pay the bills.
"He had been using one of those jumbo plastic square containers of kitty litter that was in the center in the bathroom floor, and it was apparent that he was using that to defecate in," Booth said.
Logsdon's house, which was where he grew up, was unkempt and a "walk back in time," Booth said. But police have not found evidence of a suicide note or anything to explain his actions.
Ward Parkway Center scheduled a public candlelight vigil at 7 p.m. Thursday at the mall.
The University of Kansas Department of Theatre & Film University Theatre the KU Department of Music & Dance, and Capitol Federal Savings Present
Based on a story and characters by Damon Runyon
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Book by
Jo Swerling & Abe Burrows
Reserved seat tickets are on sale in the KU ticket offices: University Theatre, 864-3982; Lied Center, 864-ARTS, and SUA Office, 864-7469, and online at ku theatre.com. Tickets are $18 for public, $10 for all students, and $17 for senior citizens and KU faculty and staff. All major credit cards are accepted for phone and online orders.
Please join the director and cast members for a talkback immediately following the Saturday, April 28, performances.
The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fund, is also provided by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
7:30 p.m.
April 27, 28 & May 3, 4, 5, 2007
2:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Crafton-Preyer Theatre
KU UNIVERSITY THEATRE The University of Kansas
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