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Tuesday, February 19. 1991 / University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Nation/World briefs
Moscow
State of emergency considered
A legislative committee also met into the night to discuss various proposals for the region, according to Yeyeğen Savinova. She said the final legislature would take up the issue again later.
The Supreme Soviet yesterday debated declaring a state of emergency in South Osetia, a region of Soviet Georgia best by a separatist conflict, a lawmaker said.
Both meetings yesterday were closed to the news media. Such sessions frequently are closed because of fears that emotional statements by deputies could lead to violence in areas of ethnic
Tensions between Ossetians and Georgians, who are the majority, erupted in September when South Ossetia declared its own republic and elected a legislature.
South Ossetian leaders have appealed to the Kremlin to impose a state of emergency so that Soviet troops, and not Georgian Interior Ministry troops, control the area.
Washington
Infant mortality study released
The children's advocacy group said its study called into question President Bush's budget proposal to reallocate federal resources for higher education to 10 major target cities to be named later.
Eighty-five of 172 cities with populations of 100,000 or more registered infant mortality rates exceeding the national average, and many smaller cities have a worse record than the bigger ones, the Children's Defense Fund said yesterday.
The 10 worst cities were New Haven, Conn., with a rate of 20.2; Detroit, 19.7; Washington, 19.3; Baltimore, 19.2; Savannah, Ga., 19.0; Richmond, Va., 17.9; Syracuse, N.Y., 17.8; Portsmouth, Va., 17.7; Memphis, Tenn., 17.7, and Flint, Mich., 17.6.
South Connellsville, Pa.
Explosions emit toxic fumes
Sixty-six employees of Anchor Hocking Packaging Co. in southwestern Pennsylvania and 22 firefighters were treated at hospitals for symp- tise from the attack of the throat and nose, headaches and nausea.
Two drums containing chemicals exploded yesterday at a packaging plant, exposing scores of workers and firefighters to toxic fumes, authorities said.
All were released except a 58-year-old woman who complained of chest pains and a firefighter who suffered from low oxygen in his blood, hospital representatives said.
The drums contained a mixture of hydrazide and a soybean oil calledvikoklex. Shley said. The mixture is used to make the plastic-like seals used inside some metal lids.
One 55-gallon drum exploded inside the plant, sending smoke and fumes throughout the building, said Roy Shipley, director of the Fayette County fire department. The other drum later exploded outside the plant.
David B. O'Casek, the plant's personnel manager, issued a brief statement acknowledging a chemical reaction had occurred. The plant staff apologized for the operations in the afternoon, the statement said.
Anchor Hocking prepared the mixture according to specifications Saturday for use yesterday, said Richard Stephens, a senior coordinator for Chemtrec, a Washington, D.C.-based clearing-house for information on chemical emergencies.
■ From The Associated Press
The state Department of Environmental Resources tested air at the site and found no dangerous fumes lingering yesterday, representative Betsy Mallison said.
Maryland law passed in support of abortion
The Associated Press
Law safeguards right in case Roe vs. Wade overturned
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Gov. William Donald Schaefer signed into law yesterday a bill that would protect a woman's right to abortion in the event the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision is overturned
The Maryland House sent the measure to the governor on a vote of 84-32, ending a round of talks.
"I think the House and Senate acted wisely." Schaefa said. "They voted their conscience."
Abortion advocates hailed the law as a major victory. Abortion foes vowed to launch a petition drive to allow voters to reject the law.
A proposed antabortion conscience amendment to bar lawsuits against people who refuse to refer patients for an abortion was rejected by the House on a vote of 61-73.
The law already contained a provision barring such suits. It also includes a parental notification provision, but one that doctors may opt to ignore. The Senate appended the bill *Bif.* 17, a rate of 6%.
The Senate approved the bill Feb. 11 on a vote of 29-18.
"By securing a woman's right to choose, the Maryland Legislature is taking a necessary and vital step toward safeguarding the health and lives of Maryland women," said Kate Michelman, director of the National Abortion Rights Action League.
In the hours leading up to the House session, lobbyists for the Roman Catholic Church and other antabortion groups sought support for the amendments would have sent the measure back to the Senate.
"It will become the most liberal, the most extreme, abortion law in the entire 50 states," said
Democratic Delegate Timothy Maloney, an anti-abortion leader. "Maryland will stand alone as being the most unregulated state in the nation regarding abortion."
The bill was at the center of a yearlong legislative fight over attempts by pro-choice legislators to write into Maryland law key elements of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in response to the first time. The bill was launched in response to the high court might reverse the Roe rulng
The pro-choice bill grants adult women unrestricted access to abortions up to the time when a fetus is able to survive outside the womb. After that, abortions could be performed only to protect a woman's health or in cases where the fetus is deformed.
Both houses of the Legislature are heavily dominated by Democrats and have tended to be pro-choice on abortion in recent years. Last year, an abortion rights bill was killed by a filibuster in the Senate after the bill's supporters failed by one vote to get a two-thirds majority to cut off debate.
The measure also includes what both sides agree is a weak parental notification clause. It requires that at least one parent be notified when an underage girl seeks an abortion. Doctors would be allowed to ignore the requirement if they deemed it to be in the best interests of the girl.
"Only Connecticut has passed a pro-choice bill since Webster," said Delegate Samuel Rosenberg, D-Ballimore, referring to a U.S. Supreme Court that allowed states to restrict abortions.
Pro-choice legislators described their bill as one of the most liberal abortion laws in the nation.
Soviet legislature proposes lifts on state-subsidized price levels
The Associated Press
But other costs — including fuel and vodka — would remain under the plan outlined by Bayer Maloney Vallée.
MOSCOW — Faced with a cripping budget deficit, the Kremlin yesterday proposed cutting subsides on many basic goods and lifting price controls on about 60 million retail items, from
Overall, retail prices are expected to rise 60 percent, Pavlov told the Supreme Soviet legislature. Wages, however, also would increase, he said.
Allowing businesses to set prices would be a radical change for the Soviet Union, where prices have been set often without regard for production costs.
In unveling the long-awaited reform package, Pavlov said the Soviet government no longer could subsidize retail prices. Some of them have been unchanged for 30 years.
The 1991 budget calls for subsidies of about $366 billion, and Soviets cannot afford to pay that for
Pavlov said his plan would permit contractual prices on items, including natural fiber fabric, adult-size leather shoes, carpets, refrigerators, recliners, reclining chairs, radios, smoked sausage and imported cigarettes.
The proposals, which need parliamentary approval, apparently have been endorsed by President Mikhail Gorbachev, who appointed Pavlov.
The budget deficit last year totaled $83 billion as the Soviet Union struggled to move toward a more equitable future.
He did not say whether there would be a ceiling on the prices.
than the fixed, state-subsidized levels.
Recently, many consumer items have appeared on shelves with price tags several times higher
Pavlov led the plan had not been completed because several republics still were objecting to parts of it. Russia, Byelorussia and the Ukraine are seeking authority to set their own salary compensation levels, but Pavlov said that would be unfair to other parts of the country.
He also suggested that the salary increases should be introduced before the price rises, saying that many people did not believe government promises.
When former Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov proposed price increases last summer, a wave of panicbuying swept Soviet stores clean of goods. Feb. 1, Soviet army troops began patrolling in the streets, and many citizens assumed they were there to prevent rioting over expected price increases.
The smallest increase would be $96 a month, a 22
percent rise of the average salary of $432 a month.
Pavlov said the plan called for subsidies to be reduced on milk, fish and medicine, and eliminated on most other foods. Higher prices on luxury foods helped the cost of the remaining food subsidies, he said.
Pavlov said prices would be raised but remain fixed by the state for meat, bread, milk, eggs, sugar, tea, flour, salt, linen and children's goods. Pavlov did not say how much the prices would rise.
Prices will remain unchanged on medicine, coffee, synthetic fabrics, toys, boots, lingerie, gasoline, kerosene, natural gas, coal, electricity, firewood and vodka.
Pavlov said increasing the price of vodka — from $16 to $72 a bottle — would drive many people to use it.
It also might be costly to the state budget.
It also might be USED to the state budget.
The treasury lost $84 billion in revenues when it raised prices and cut alcohol production several years ago in an attempt to reduce alcoholism.
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FOR STUDENTS ONLY BIG EIGHT TOURNAMENT TICKETS MARCH 8-10 AT KEMPER ARENA COST $83.00
Applications for tickets are available at the Allen Fieldhouse ticket office. A drawing will be held with a notification list posted at the KU Ticket Office at 10:00 a.m., Monday, March 4. Tickets must be picked up in person at Kemper Arena and are nontransferable.
One ticket per student.
Application Deadline:
Tuesday, February 26, 1991