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Report: I Study says policies based on reactions to violent, pigh-profile incidents WASHINGTON (AP) - Youth violence is falling, but more children are paying the price for public fears driven by high-profile school shoot ings - harsher punishments for non violent or minor offenses - says a new report. “We’ve got kids getting kicked out of school for saying ‘bang-bang’ to each other,” said Vincent Schiraldi of the Justice Policy Institute, a youth advocacy think tank that co-authored the report. “It’s no more fair to stereotype them all as school shoot ers than to stereotype all adults as Timothy McVeigh,” who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City. The report - released a week before the first anniversary of the April 20 Columbine High School massacre - says the public isn’t pay ing attention to overall youth-vio lence trends. Instead, shootings in Colorado, Arkansas, Oregon and most recently Michigan - where a first-grader shot and killed another youngster in class - have driven schools to install more metal detectors, conduct more locker searches and impose more suspen sions and expulsions for threats, Schiraldi said. “Even though these are awful tragedies, we can’t set public policy based on these events,” Schiraldi said in a recent interview. The report by the Justice Policy Institute, based in Washington and San Francisco, and the nonprofit legal aid Children’s Law Center pi Covington, Ky., recommends more school counseling, balanced media coverage of school shootings and tougher gun control laws. The groups - which gleaned data from federal and state agencies and nonprofit research centers - are releasing the report publicly today. The report’s findings include: ■ Seven in 10 Americans think a school shooting could happen in their communities, but a child has a one in 2 million chance of being killed in a U.S. school. ■ Youth homicide arrests dropped 56 percent from 1993 to 1998, but-two-thirds of 1,000 people polled by The Washington Post in November said they believed chil dren were getting more violent. ■ Citing Maryland as an exam ple, suspensions for false alarms and bomb threats went up 44 percent from the 1997-98 school year to the 1998-99 year. Although it was not known whether the alarms and ” Even though these are awful tragedies, we can’t set public policy based on these events.” Vincent Schiraldi Justice Policy Institute threats themselves increased, the group said the significant increase in su|ppnsions alone reflected a crack down on such infractions. ... ’ . .. " Clinton endorses Israeli withdrawal of troops , ■ President asks Israeli Prime Minister Barak to speed up West Bank withdrawal plans. WASHINGTON (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak drew the Clinton administration’s endorsement Tuesday for his decision to pull Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon. At the same time, he was prodded to move faster with the Palestinians toward a West Bank withdrawal. “We will do what we can to help,” President Clinton said as he met at the White House with the Israeli leader. Responding to reporters’ questions on the South L?iwn, with Barak at his side, Clinton said he would try in their meeting to energize the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, now engaged in talks at a Washington Air Force base. “There’s a lot of hope for rapid movement on the Palestinian front,” Clinton said. But he said the next few-weeks will be critical. As for Israeli stalled negotiations with Syria, Clinton would not rule that track dead. “There are still differences,” he said. “What we’ve got to do is to figure out where we go from here.” Barak, meanwhile, said he had “a variety of ideas” to take up with Clinton about how “to give new momentum and energy to the Palestinian track” to meet a mid-September deadline for an accord. “This is an issue that needs to be done as rapid ly as possible,” Secretary of State Madeleine*! Albright said earlier about the slow-moving negoti ations with the Palestinians on turning over more of the West Bank. The talks, under way at an Air Force base in southeast Washington, are aimed at reaching an overall settlement and also working out the details of an Israeli pullback on the West Bank scheduled for June. “So faf, there are no results,” said Hasan Abdel Rahman, the PLO’s representative in Washington. “Let’s hope that will change.” Albright praised Barak at a news conference for planning to pull Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon in July under U.N. resolutions. “It is strange that a country is criticized for withdrawing ^ There s a lot of hope for rapid movement on the Palestinian front.” President Bill Clinton from another country,” Albright said. Barak, in Washingtori on aiast-paced 18-hour visit, has expressed concern the pullback could touch off violence. Syria, which has considerable influence in Lebanon and with Hezbollah guerrillas there, wants a withdrawal as part of an overall agreement in which Syria would recover the Golan Heights along its own border with Israel. But Israeli-S^rian negotiations broke down three months ago. Albright said the Clinton admin istration would assist Israel at the United Nations in making preparations for a unilateral withdrawal. Israel’s approach on Lebanon, the Palestinians and Syria all were on the agenda for Barak’s meet ings with President Clinton and other top U.S. offi cials. Palestinian diplomat Rahman said in an inter view that confidence in the peace process will be shaken if the current round of negotiations does not produce concrete results “and show seriousness on the part of the Israelis.” An earlier round was unproductive, he said. Rahman said the Palestinians wanted Clinton to make clear to Barak that the negotiations must be concluded successfully by Sept. 13, a deadline set by the United States, Israel and the Palestinians. Barak flew in at 3:15 a.m., had some rest and met with members of his staff before his first appointment, with American mediator Dennis Ross, at Blair House across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. The Israeli Emhassy spokesman Mark Regev said Barak was “very serious about the series of meetings he has today.” After talking with Ross, Barak met in the Lee sitting room at the presidential guest house with Albright, Ross and Sandy Berger, Clinton’s nation al security adviser. Reno to meet v 1 " - ■*' • ■-* • a~ with Gonzalez family in Miami MIAMI (AP) - Pushing for a swift end to the Elian Gonzalez saga, Attorney General Janet Reno probably will get involved personally by meeting in Miami with the boy’s relatives and Cuban commu nity leaders today, a Justice Department official said. The Justice Department said such a meeting would not delay its efforts to reunite the boy with his father. The government planned to send the Miami rel atives a letter Tuesday outlining how and when they are to hand him over. Reno’s possible return to her hometown - where Cuban protesters have displayed signs depicting her with horns and blaming her for the Waco confrontation - would come at a crucial time in the Elian case. His Miami relatives have resisted her goal of reuniting the 6-year-old with his father this week, balking at handover plans and continuing to press their court appeals. A senior Justice Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Reno proba bly will go to Miami today and talk with federal officials, community leaders and - most signifi cantly - the family of Lazaro Gonzalez, Elian’s great-uncle, with whom the boy has been living. Arrangements still were being worked out, said the official, who added that any meetings involving Reno wouldn’t alter the timetable being worked out for Elian’s return. One Justice Department official said there had been no discussion about having Reno present when Elian is transferred from his Miami relatives. Miami Mayor Joe Carollo, who discussed the situation with the attorney general in Washington on Tuesday, said Reno was “very willing to meet Lazaro and any member of the Gonzalez family and wants to meet with community leaders in Miami.” In a statement issued after the meeting with Carollo and Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas, Reno said she “stressed that the transfer of Elian to the care of his father must move forward without delay.” J- Jt; r 7 Nebraskan «. i Questions? Comments? Ask for the appropriate section editor at (402) 472-2588 or e-mail dnOunl.edu. THE DALY NEBRASKAN Editor: Josh Funk Managing Editor: Lindsay Young Associate News Editor: Diane Broderick Associate News Editor: Dane Stickney Opinion Editor: J.J. Harder Sports Editor: Sam McKewon A&E Editor: Sarah Baker Copy Desk Co-Chief: Jen Walker Copy Desk Co-Chief: Josh Krauter Photo Chief: Mike Warren Design Co-Chief: Tim Karstens Design Co-Chief: Diane Broderick Art Director: Melanie Falk Web Editor: Gregg Steams Asst. Web Editor: Jewel Mlnarik General Manager: Daniel Shattil Publications Board Jessica Hofmann, Chairwoman: (402)477-0527 Professional Adviser: Don Walton, 5 (402) 473-7248 Advertising Manager: Nick Partsch, - (402)472-2589 Asst Ad Manager: Jamie Yeager OassUleid Ad Manager: Nichole Lake i. gg f g-^ ji *•«* s | ll 411* §Jk i |H| t** iife «■» if & & & I &<sv*tf & %>. ' 'i t r pi _ w Partly cloudy high 73, low 50 V * —- r — * ' ■ Maryland President encourages stricter gun regulations ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Bemoaning America’s “sad histo ry” of gun violence, President Clinton on Tuesday urged Congress to join Maryland in passing gun safety legislation. Clinton flew by helicopter to Maryland’s capital to watch Gov. Parris Glendening sign a hard fought law requiring built-in locks and other strict rules for handguns. It was Clinton’s first stop in his two-day national bid to focus attention on gun violence. The president stood on stage with Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, shaking hands with several children, as Glendening signed the bill. i “The truth is, we’re all here because too many children got killed,” Clinton said. ■ Washington, D.C. Marines won’t ground aircraft because of crash WASHINGTON (AP) - The Marine Corps intends to resume flying its Osprey aircraft “in the very near future,” before complet ing the investigation of last week end’s fatal crash in Arizona, the Marines’ top aviation official said Tuesday. Lt. Gen. Fred McCorkle told a Pentagon news conference that flying would resume unless the initial investigation reveals a major mechanical or design flaw, in which case the Osprey fleet would be grounded. “I’ve talked to a lot of people on this particular accident... and I’ve had nothing so far to lead me to believe that we would have to (ground) them,” McCorkle said. ■ Cuba* Developing nations propose more power be given to UN HAVANA (AP) - Leaders of developing nations on Tuesday were drawing up a call for a new world order meant to help them escape poverty, while other heads of state held meetings aimed at solving regional prob lems. Foreign ministers at the Group of 77 summit were pro posing calls on rich countries to forgive debts, increase aid and trade, stfarenew technolo gies and shift more decision making to the United Nations away from institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. “We want to achieve a more democratic and equitable arrangement,” said a draft of the proposed plan of action for the 133-nation organization, which is holding the first summit in its 34 year history. ■ Bosnia-Herzegovina Three children die after venturing into minefield SARAJEVO,Bosnia Herzegovina (AP) - Helpless to save her, NATO peacekeepers and townspeople watched from the edge of a minefield as a dying 11 year-old girl waved and pleaded for hours to be rescued. Ema Alic and two other youngsters died Monday after venturing into the minefield on . the outskirts of the capital, the lat est casualties of the Bosnian war that ended five years ago. Police identified the other dead children as Goran Biscevic, 12, and Haris Balicevac, 12.