2A
The Inside Front
Friday May 4,2001
News
from campus, the state the nation and the world
CORRECTION
A story in Monday's Kansan incorrectly stated the legal drinking age in Japan; it is 20.
STATE
Former Mexican leader addresses "globaphobia"
MANHATTAN, Kan. — In his first public speech since leaving office, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo defended free trade policies yesterday and called protesters against them "globaphobic."
against them. Zedillo, who served as president from 1994 through last year, said the North American Free Trade Agreement had helped his nation more than triple its exports from 1996 to 2000.
his exports.
Delivering a Landon Lecture on the campus of Kansas State University, Zedillo said among the biggest threats to Mexico's stability were ongoing internal strife and poverty. He described "world interdependence" as a solution.
He said isolationism never had been a good policy. His remarks were designed to respond to anti-globalization protesters at last month's Summit of the Americas in Quebec, which resulted in an agreement among 34 nations to unite the Western Hemisphere in the world's most powerful trade bloc.
"They believe they have truly altruistic reasons for opposing globalization, but on close scrutiny, their common agenda turns out to be shared protectionism — mostly targeted against developing countries," Zedillo said.
Natural gas companies to give consumer refund
The money is a refund from natural gas producers who overcharged consumers in the 1970s and 1980s. Conversion
TOPEKA — State regulators signed an order yesterday directing $29.3 million from a legal settlement to help low- and middle-income natural gas customers pay their bills.
The Kansas Corporation Commission already has allowed Kansas Gas Service to distribute $5.6 million in settlement funds as refunds to its 625,000 customers. The company also made a $75,000 donation to the American Red Cross.
Under the KCC order signed yesterday, the money will help households with incomes at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level. A household of four could have an income of up to $51,150 and still receive the benefit, the KCC said.
Earlier this year, the state House and Senate adopted resolutions urging that the money be directed to natural gas customers who don't qualify for existing assistance programs.
NATION
Penn State students end standoff with university
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State University students are celebrating the end of a bitter eight-day standoff after negotiating an agreement with school officials to increase opportunities for African-American students.
ties for African American students. Hundreds of students have been camped out in the student union building since April 24, angered by the university's response to complaints about racism and several recent death threats against African Americans.
On Wednesday night, after several African-American professors helped mediate an agreement, the standoff turned into a party.
Last week, the university said it would strengthen the African and African-American studies departments, create an Africana Studies Research Center and restructure the position of vice provost for educational equity. Students complained the changes didn't go far enough.
Possible link discovered in case of decapitated girl
PINE BLUFF, Ark. — A man who killed himself while being pursued by authorities Sunday may be linked to the death of a little girl in Kansas City, Mo., a Pine Bluff police officer said yesterday.
But Kansas City police say they know of no connection.
Reginald Morrow, 34, was wanted in connection with the killing of 18-year old Shanda Wilson of Kansas City. Morrow shot himself in the head after a foot chase Sunday by a Pine Bluff police officer.
A search of Morrow's car turned up what police in Pine Bluff believe to be the murder weapon in another crime — the decapitation of a 3- to 6-year-old girl whose headless body was found Saturday in a wooded area of Kansas City, said Pine Bluff police Lt. Pete Dennis. Her head was found near her body Tuesday.
Dennis said blood and hair were also found in Morrow's rented vehicle.
China defense memo mistakenly released
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon further complicated an already tense relationship with China by first stating that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had suspended all contacts with the Chinese military and then retracting the statement, which it called a misunderstanding.
An official memorandum from Rumsfeld's office Monday to senior military and civilian officials in the Pentagon said he had directed "the suspension of all Department of
defense programs, contacts and activities with the People's Republic of China until further notice."
Hours after the memo leaked on Wednesday and was reported worldwide by U.S. news organizations, a spokesman for Rumsfeld, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, said the memo was a mistake. In the interim, Quigley and other officials had struggled to explain the move, which also appeared to catch the White House by surprise.
First space tourist didn't disrupt work
WORLD
MOSCOW — Russian officials denied yesterday that space tourist Dennis Tito had disrupted work on the International Space Station, saying he was spending his time making videos and staying out of the way.
into's presence, according to our information, doesn't influence the program of the primary expedition or the visiting expedition at all," said deputy Russian flight controller Viktor Blagov.
Tit0, 60, an investment banker from Santa Monica, Calif., arrived at the station Monday on a Russian Soyuz space ship together with two cosmonauts. He reportedly paid up to $20 million for the trip, which NASA opposed and said would disrupt work on board.
"Of course, when a visiting expedition arrives, the schedule changes a bit. It's not important whether Tito is there or not." Blagov said in an interview on the Echo Moskvy radio station. "Programs are carried out without damage, and scientific experiments are carried out."
"Tito is busy with his program, making videos and observing," Blagov said.
North Korea extends missile test moratorium
PYONYANG, North Korea — A European delegation said North Korea's leader told them yesterday that his moratorium on missile tests would last until at least 2003, and that he wanted a second summit with South Korea's leader.
But Kim Jong Il said any summit with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Daejung, would not happen while the United States reviewed its policies on the North, the European Union officials said.
During five hours of talks with the first Western European leader to visit North Korea, the communist nation also agreed to send officials to Europe this summer to discuss opening talks about its widely criticized human rights record. The agreements came as the North's ties with South Korea and the United States seem to have soured.
The Associated Press
Livestock disease nears end
TOLLESHUNT KNIGHTS, England — Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that Britain is in the "home straight" in its fight against foot-and-mouth disease — but plg farmer Peter Morley remains unconvinced.
The Associated Press
Last weekend, 1,644 sheep and 112 pigs were culled on a neighbor's farm after foot-and-mouth antibodies were found in two sheep, and Morley fears a new outbreak in his rural corner of Essex county, which had been on the verge of being declared disease-free.
"The disease is not under control yet and won't be for months," said Morley, who had to have 250 of his healthy animals destroyed on Monday because the restrictions bar them from traveling to slaughterhouses and they had outgrown his facilities. "Blair is just saying that because he wants to hold an election in June."
Blair's cautiously upbeat assessment of the crisis reinforced speculation that he will call a national election on Thursday, June 7, at the same time as local government elections.
Recent opinion polls show Blair's Labor government still well ahead of its chief opposition the Conservative Party.
the Conservative Party. Tim Yeo, agriculture spokesman for the Conservative Party, said he feared Blair "is driven by spin doctors and the need for a good soundbyte, rather than by the substance of the policy."
"We must not relax policy before it is safe to do so merely because there may be an election coming up." he said in an interview with a British Broadcasting Corp. radio program.
The prime minister said Britain had caught
up with the disposal of slaughtered animals and soon would be able to stop slaughtering animals.
"The battle is not over yet, but I believe we are in the home straight," Blair said, adding that the country "cannot in any way be complacent, and it is essential that we be vigilant." Nine more infected farms were confirmed on Wednesday, raising the total to 1,534 since the first case was announced on Feb. 20, the Ministry of Agriculture said.
The rate of new cases has declined steadily from a high of more than 40 per day at the peak of the outbreak. The government has relaxed its policy of slaughtering livestock on farms next to infected sites and has lifted restrictions affecting some 16,000 farms, Blair said.
affecting some of the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday that a total of 2.4 million animals had so far been slaughtered, with 100,000 awaiting slaughter and 59,000 awaiting disposal. The number of animals culled represents 2.5 percent of the nation's herds.
nation's herds. The epidemic, which spread into Ireland and the European continent, has shut Britain's livestock out of international trade. Restrictions on movement in the countryside and intense media coverage of the crisis has hurt tourism.
Agriculture Minister Nick Brown told reporters yesterday that the government expects to spend $820 million to compensate farmers for slaughtered animals.
farmers for staggered earnings. "It's not only the farming, but the retail, catering and bed-and-breakfast trades who need help," said Kathleen Davidson, a local counselor from the Scottish National Party.
ON THE RECORD
A KU student reported her bike and bike lock stolen from Summerfield Hall between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday, the KU Public Safety Office said. The items were valued at $166.
A KU student reported damage to her 1998 Pontiac while it was parked in the Quigley Field parking lot between 8 p.m. April 17 and 6:30 p.m. April 19, the KU Public Safety Office said. The left side of her car was scratched with a key. Damage was estimated at $1,000.
A 19-year-old KU student was arrested Wednesday on a charge of criminal damage to
property, the KU Public Safety Office said. The student admitted throwing a beer bottle out a window of the ninth floor of Oliver Hall at 1:20 a.m. Wednesday. The bottle struck a KU student's car, denting the hood and causing $400 damage. The student was given a notice to appear in Municipal Court on Wednesday, April 23.
A KU student's car stereo was stolen between 10:45 p.m. Wednesday and 2 a.m. yesterday in the 2500 block of Moundview Drive, Lawrence police said. The stereo was valued at $300.
ON CAMPUS
Kt Altkido Club will meet from 10 a.m. to noon tomorrow at 207 Robinson Centre.
Student Senate will have a campus recycling meeting at 3 p.m. tomorrow at the Walnut Room in the Kansas Union. Call Kyle Browning at 842-1351.
1931.
The February Sisters Association will sponsor the Miranda Film Association from 3 p.m. to midnight tomorrow at 3139 Wescoe Hall.
Donations will be accepted to help a lesbian
couple in Lawrence locate their daughter. Boys Don't Cry will be at 3 p.m., Sex Monster will be at 5:15; Chutney Popcorn will be at 7; and Shades of Gray will be at 10:30. Call Sharon Sullivan at 864-4012 for information.
KU Water Polo will practice at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Robinson Center pool.
KU Traditional Karate Club will meet from 1 to 3 p.m., Sunday at 207 Robinson Center.
ET CETERA
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the
The University Dairy Kansan is student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
The University Daily Kansan (ISSN 0746-4962) is published at the University of Kansas, 119 StaufferFlint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 66045, daily during the regular school year, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holidays and finals periods, and Wednesday during the summer session. Periodical postage is
paid in Lawrence, Kan. 60644.
Annual subscriptions by mail are $120. Student subscriptions of $2.33 are paid through the student activity fee.
The Kansan prints campus events that are free and open to the public. When information is submitted, the event's sponsor, name and phone number must be on the form, which is available in the On Campus mailbox in the Kansan newsroom, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. Items must be turned in two days
Postmaster: Send address changes to the University Daily Kansan, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, Lawrence, Ken. 60454.
in advance of the desired publication date. Forms can also be filled out online at www.kansan.com these requests will appear on Kansan.com as well as the Kansan. On Campus is printed on a space available basis. On Campus is a free service provided by the Kansan to the University community.