10A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2008
》 ARCHEOLOGY
67 Civil War skeletons discovered
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Working in secret, federal archaeologists have dug up the remains of dozens of soldiers and children near a Civil War-era fort after an informant tipped them off about widespread grave-looting.
The exhumations, conducted from August to October, removed 67 skeletons from the parched desert soil around Fort Craig -39 men, two women and 26 infants and children, according to two federal archaeologists who helped with the dig.
The government kept its exhumation of the unmarked cemetery near the historic New Mexico fort
out of the public's eye for months to prevent more thefts.
The investigation began with a tip about an amateur historian who had displayed the mummified remains of a black soldier, draped in a Civil War-era uniform, in his house.
Investigators say the historian, Dee Brecheisen, may have been a prolific looter who spotted historical sites from his plane. Brecheisen died in 2004 and although it was not clear whether the looting continued after his death, authorities exhued the unprotected site to prevent future thefts.
The remains are being studied by Bureau of Reclamation scientists, who are piecing together information on their identities. They will eventually be reburied at other national cemeteries.
Most of the men are believed to have been soldiers — Fort Craig protected settlers in the West from American Indian raids and played a role in the Civil War.
Alberts described seeing the mummified remains of a black soldier with patches of brown flesh clinging to facial bones and curly hair on top of its skull. Alberts said the body had come from Fort Craig.
Weeks later, Hanson and fellow archaeologist Mark Hungerford surveyed the cemetery site and found numerous holes — evidence of unauthorized digging.
While records show the cemetery had been disinterred twice by the Army in the late 1800s, it wasn't known how many bodies remained. Hanson said ground-penetrating radar revealed the Army left behind about one-third of the bodies.
Brecheisen's son told authorities where the mummified remains from his father's home were, and a person who hasn't been publicly identified handed over a more-than-century-old skull packaged in a brown paper bag. Alberts said that skull, which still had hair attached, was the one hed seen years earlier.
Authorities also found some Civil War and American Indian artifacts in Brecheisen's home, but the display rooms that showcased
This image provided by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation shows tractors and contractors clearing the ground in August 2007.
Brecheisen's collections had already been emptied out and auctioned
》 ECONOMY
off by his family after his death, Hanson said.
Gas could reach $4 per gallon
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Retail gas prices could climb as high as $4 a gallon this summer, but prices at such lofty levels will make many Americans think twice about hitting the road this summer, the Energy Department said Tuesday.
High prices and a weak economy are expected to cut demand for gasoline by about 0.4 percent during the peak summer driving season, the department's Energy Information Administration said in a monthly report on petroleum supplies and demand. Overall consumption of petroleum products will drop by 90,000 barrels a day this year. Previously, the EIA had projected petroleum consumption would rise by 40,000 barrels a day.
Average monthly gas prices will peak around $3.60 a gallon in June, the EIA said. However, prices could rise much higher than that at times.
"It is important to note ... that even if the national average monthly gasoline price peaks around $3.60 per gallon this summer, it is possible that prices at some point will cross the $4 per gallon threshold," the EIA said.
The government had previously estimated that average monthly prices would peak near $3.50 a gallon. Many analysts predict prices will peak close to $4 a gallon.
On Tuesday, gas prices slipped slightly to a national average of $3.331 a gallon from Monday's record of $3.339, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Prices are 55 cents higher than a year ago.
Diesel prices, which are already averaging more than $4 a gallon nationwide, will average $3.62 a gallon this year, up 74 cents from 2007, the EIA said. Diesel fuel is used to transport the vast majority of the world's food, consumer and industrial products. High diesel prices are one of the reasons food prices are soaring.
Crude oil prices are the biggest reason gas and diesel prices are rising, the EIA said. Oil is now expected to average $101 a barrel this year, up from the EIAs previous projection of $94. Next
year, the EIA expects oil to average $92.50 a barrel, up from a previous projection of $86.
On Tuesday, light, sweet crude for May delivery fell 13 cents to $108.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But prices fluctuated as investors kept an eye on the dollar and on Iran, which announced plans to expand its uranium enrichment program. Prices rose to a trading record of $111.80 a barrel last month.
While high prices are damping demand in the U.S., petroleum consumption remains strong in China, India, Russia and the Middle East, the EIA said.
"The combination of rising world oil consumption and low surplus production capacity is putting upward pressure on oil prices," the EIA report said. "The flow of investment money into commodities has contributed to crude oil price volatility."
The EIA also projected that OPEC oil production will average 32.3 million barrels a day this year, up about 100,000 barrels a day from previous forecasts.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
》OLYMPICS
A Pro-Tibet protester escapes a police officer during the Olympic Torch relay Monday in Paris. Security officials extinguished the Olympic torch four times Monday as chaotic protests against China's policies on human rights and Tibet turned a relay through Paris into a jarring series of stops and starts.
Torch trip causes protests
SAN FRANCISCO — The Olympic torch arrived for its only North American stop amid heavy security Tuesday, a day after its visit to Paris descended into chaos and activists here scaled the Golden Gate Bridge to protest China's human rights record.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the body's executive board would discuss Friday whether to end
a recent crackdown on Tibet have been protesting along the torchs 85,000-mile route since the start of the flame's odyssey from Ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Rogge told The Associated Press he was "deeply saddened" by violent protests in London and
"All the bloodshed in Tibet, they don't need the torch there to cause more blood shed."
NGAWANG NORBU Tibetan from Boston
the international leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay because of widespread protests.
The torch's global journey was supposed to highlight China's growing economic and political power. But activists opposing China's human rights policies and
Paris and concerned about Wednesday's six-mile relay in San Francisco, where activists expressed fears that the torch's planned route through Tibet would lead to arrests and violent measures by Chinese officials.
trying to stifle dissent.
The flame arrived in San Francisco shortly before 4 a.m. and was immediately put in a vehicle to be whisked away to a secret location, San Francisco Olympic Torch Relay Committee spokesman David Perry said. Security was
heightened because several protests were planned before the relay.
"We treated it like a head of state visit," airport spokesman Mike McCarron said.
No protesters greeted the flame at the airport, but hours later hundreds gathered in United Nations Plaza, a pedestrian area near City Hall, to call on China to cease its heavy-handed rule of Tibet. They also expressed fears that the torch's planned route through Tibet would lead to arrests and violent measures by Chinese officials trying to stifle dissent.
"All the bloodshed in Tibet, they don't need the torch there to cause more bloodshed. We're here because we want George Bush and other world leaders to pay attention to what is going on inside Tibet," said Ngawang Norbu, a Tibetan from Boston.
The demonstrators planned to march to the Chinese Consulate as part of a daylong Tibetan Torch Relay that will end with a peace vigil. Actor Richard Gere and human rights activist Desmond Tutu are expected to be among the speakers.
Leaders of China's expatriate community in San Francisco held a news conference a few miles away in Chinatown, calling for a peaceful Olympic torch relay. They said they were proud China, a country with a long and vibrant culture, was selected to host the summer games and were saddened by the anger accompanying the torch.
Hundreds of Chinese students from Stanford University also planned to board buses for San Francisco early Wednesday to attend the torch relay to show their support.
"We are begging for five hours of peace," said Sam Ng, president of the Chinese Six Companies, a prominent benevolent association.
Already, one runner who planned to carry the flame during the San Francisco relay dropped out because of safety concerns, Perry said. The person was not identified.
"The first and foremost concern is security," Perry said. "Security for those who will carry the torch and security for those who, of course, are also exercising their First Amendment right to protest."