Thursday, September 19, 1985
Page 2
Daily Nebraskan
Bis
Bv The Associated Press
News
est
G
Studies show drug major health threat
I hi SvlQ'i
WASHINGTON A series of drug
abuse studies released by the govern
ment Wednesday indicated more than
one of every four young adults has at
least tried cocaine, which has emerged
as a major public health threat, said a
top federal health official.
Dr. Donald Ian McDonald, head of
the federal Alcohol, Drug Abuse and
Mental Health Administration, said
cocaine "is one of the most powerfully
addictive drugs known."
"For years, people thought cocaine
was harmless a so-called 'recrea
tional drug,' " Mac Donald said. "Now,
we know the truth: Cocaine can be a
killer. Emergency-room admissions as
sociated with cocaine use tripled be
tween 1981 and 1984. The number of
deaths associated with cocaine also
tripled."
In one of the papers published by
the agency, Michigan researchers re
ported that use of cocaine, unlike other
illicit drugs, tends to increase among
young people after they graduate from
school, and that young people also see
less risk in cocaine experimentation by
themselves or others as they grow
older.
The researchers also said that while
physical dependence on the drug is not
inevitable, even among heavy users, the
risk of becoming dependent is higher
for cocaine than for other drugs.
"Overall, we find a disturbingly high
proportion of young adults in America
place themselves at risk of developing
a dependency on this highly reinforc
ing drug by taking the initial step of
trying it," said Drs. Patrick O'Malley
and Lloyd D. Johnston of the University
of Michigan.
The two researchers, reporting on
the progress of surveys under way for
the last 10 years, said that about 16
percent, or one in every six, of high
school seniors in the class of 1984
reported experimentation with cocaine.
Twelve percent reported use within the
was a minuscule 0.3 percent, indi
cating that cocaine use "is not all that
common a behavior among high school
seniors," the researchers said.
But experimentation with cocaine
tends to increase in later years, the
researchers siad. Citing follow-up polls
of people who were first surveyed when
they were in high school, the study
found "a dramatic increase in cocaine
use after high school," with new users
for the drug appearing well into their
20s.
Among young adults aged 18 to 25,
28 percent have tried cocaine, MacDo
nald said. And an estimated 60,000 12
and 13-year-olds have tried the drug, he
said.
People became more tolerant of
cocaine experimentation as they grew
older, the researchers said.
Yet, the researchers said, the risk of
Mostcase weir it
previous year, while 6 percent reported cocaine appears very real. While there
use within the previous month. is no inevitable progression to a nabit,
Daily use defined as use on 20 or a full 18 percent of those trying cocaine
more occasions within the last month go on to use it on 40 or more occasions.
n 71 iO
CONCORD, N.H. The Rev. Ben
jamin Weir is free after a 16-month kid
napping ordeal in Lebanon, but Presi
dent Reagan said Wednesday that he
"will not be satisfied" until the six
remaining American captives also are
released.
Weir was released to U.S. authorities
in Beirut on Saturday, but an announce
ment was withheld to determine whether
the release of the other Americans
might follow.
"We were trying to keep it so quiet
because we don't want to do anything
that endangers the chances of the
other six," Reagan said at the conclu
sion of a speech promoting his tax
reform proposal.
But White House spokesman Edward
Djerejian, briefing the press after Rea
gan's speech, said it became apparent
Tuesday night that no more releases
were "imminent."
Weir, 61, a Presbyterian minister,
was kidnapped by terrorists May 8,
1984, in Beirut. Neither Reagan nor
Djerejian offered any detials about his
release. He said the United States had
"absolutely" made no deal with the
terrorists who had held Weir. "Our
position on negotiating with terrorists
is very clear," he said.
When Weir was kidnapped, a man
claiming to represent Islamic Holy War
or Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group, told
the French news agency Agence France
Press that his organization was behind
the incident. The group had claimed
responsibility for the Oct. 23, 1983
truck bombing of Marine headquarters
at Beirut airport, which killed 241, as
well as attacks on a French paratroop
building in Beirut and an Israeli post in
southern Lebanon.
In addition to Weir, Islamic Jihad
also has claimed responsibility for
abducting the other six Americans.
The Americans who remain captive and
the dates they were kidnapped are:
William Buckley, 56, U.S. Embassy pol
itical officer, March 16, 1984; Peter
Kilburn, 60, a librarian at the American
University of Beirut, Dec 3, 1984; the
Rev. Lawrence Jenco, 50, a Roman
Catholic priest, Jan. 8, 1 985; Terry And
erson, 37, chief Middle East corres
pondent for the Associated Press, March
16, 1985; David Jacobsen, 54, director
of the American University Hospital,
May 28, 1985, and Thomas Sutherland,
53, dean of agriculture at the American
University, June 9, 1985.
Education reformers chalk one up
By Lee Mitgang
AP Education Writer
California's decision to reject
nearly 30 biology textbooks for water
ing down the theory of evolution has
opened a crucial new front in the
three-year battle to weed out medioc
rity in America's schools.
California's school board, led by
schools superintendent Bill Honig,
voted last week to reject the junior
high school texts printed by about a
dozen publishers. On Monday, several
publishers agreed to revise their
texts to put more emphasis on the
theory of evolution, which holds that
mankind evolved from lower forms of
life. This wasn't just a replay of the
old debate over Darwin and apes.
For the first time, the spotlight of
school reform shifted to where some
educators have argued it has
belonged all along: On educational
materials like textbooks and compu
ter software which many have critic
ized as so dull and intellectually
bankrupt that they represent a road
block to school excellence.
California's use of its textbook
buying power to force publishers to
make changes in biology texts
showed that in at least some
respects, educational excellence and
the laws of the marketplace are
inseparable.
Honig, a maverick not easily categ
orized as a liberal or conservative,
has taken on two formidable foes. On
one hand are religious fundamental
ists like Kelly Segraves who operates
the Science Creation Research Center
in San Diego and who have had con
siderable success in getting biology
texts to give less space to the theory
of evolution. On the other hand are
textbook publishers who have seen
school reform movements come and
go, and who have openly doubted that
educational excellence sells in the
long run. But it's the struggle with
the publishers, not the fundamental
ists, that could have lasting signifi
cance in determining the future
direction of school reform.
Until California's action last week,
it seemed that the school reform
movement might eventually founder
in a losing battle with the balance
sheets of publishers. But Honig's
action, and the publishing industry's
quick response, demonstrated that
some states may have more power
than they think to get publishers to
change their texts quickly, and for
the better.
California has told the publishing
industry it wants more challenging
and intellectually sound texts and
it's putting its $100 million in text
book purchasing power where its
mouth is.
5 WS 01 S EC TS A rounduP of the day's happenings
Patrick Ewing, a 7-foot center from Georgetown
University signed a contract Wednesday with the New
York Knicks that makes him the highest-paid rookie ever
in pro basektball and one of the richest ever in profes
sional sports. He reportedly will earn more than $16 mil
lion. The length of the contract has not been disclosed.
Chrysler Corp. chairman Lee Iacocca has deli
vered another emphatic "no!" to the notion that he will
run for president of the United States. "I don't want to
sound selfish," he said. "I'd pitch in. I would help out. But
I'm not a political animal and I don't want to be in the
political world."
A Lancaster County man has filed a lawsuit against
two casket companies after the bottom fell out of a casket
during a funeral in January. Joseph Pearl filed the suit,
alleging that as he and other pallbearers were removing
the casket from the hearse at the cemetery, the casket's
bottom fell to the ground, striking his foot and exposing
the deceased's body to him. Pearl said the incident
caused him "extreme embarrassment, humiliation and
ignominy" and forced him to see a psychiatrist. .
Most Lancaster County employees now are getting
a 3-percent raise in wages, retroactive to Aug. 29. The
Lancaster County Board approved a one-year contract
calling for the salary increase for about 650 full-time
workers.
The State Department of Banking and Finance
closed the Elba State Bank and acting state Banking
Director Roger Hirsch says he doubts a buyer can be
found. That means the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
would pay for insured deposits and would take over out
standing loans, 85 percent of which are agriculture
related. The bank failure is the ninth this year in Nebraska
and the 82nd in the nation.
Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode says he is
optimistic that new homes will be ready by next May for
all 250 people left homeless by the fatal MOVE fire four
months ago. At a "topping-off ' ceremony Tuesday marking
the installation of the first roof on one of the 61 homes
being rebuilt, Goode said construction is on schedule and
that he is satisfied with the quality of the work.
Britain calls halt to 'sp expulsions
LONDON Britain called a halt Wednesday to the exchange of
diplomatic expulsions that began when the KGB's top agent in London
defected, the end came after the Soviet Union ordered six more Britons
out, making the score 31-31.
The Kremlin, in its first major diplomatic imbroglio since Mikhail
Gorbachev assumed power March 11, took the unusual decision to retal
iate in equal number to Britain's expulsion of 25 alleged Soviet spies last
Thursday and six more on Monday.
The Foreign OlUce said after Moscow completed the second round
Wednesday that it would not evict any more Soviets, insisting that it had
net backed down and that Britain had come out ahead.
The cycle of ejections reduced the number cf British citizens In Moscow
. jrem 103 to 72 and the number cf Soviets in London from 234 to 203.
Special session to convene tonight
LINCOLN A special legislative session will convene at 9 p.m. today
to repair a defective law that was supposed to appropriate $3.5 million for
claim filed on behalf of Commonwealth Savings Co. depositors.
Gov. Bob Kerrey emphasized Wednesday that he wanted the session
limited only to the issue of amending the law involving the Common
wealth appropriation.
To expedite work to correct technical flaws in LB713, a tentative
week-lor.g schedule was drawn up by legislative leaders. It calls for
senators to work shortly past midnight two nights.
Sileven proposes farm program
OMAHA The Rev. Everett Sileven, who is seeking the Republican
nomination for governor, proposed a farm program that he said would save
the state's agricultural economy while keeping farmers on their land.
In a speech to Douglas County Republicans Sileven suggested that the
state buy the balance due on farmers' loans from banks by issuing scrip
currency to banks holding the loans. The scrip could be backed by either
silver or state tax revenue, he said. Farmers would then have seven years
to repay their loans, interest-free to the state, Sileven said. He said he
chose the seven-year period because of its biblical significance in the Old
Testament bock of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy.
"We don't need a solution whereby farmers are removed from their
farms," Sileven said. "We need a solution whereby farmers stay on their
farms and their youth are encouraged to go into farming."
Changes in reading ability recorded
WASHINGTON The reading ability of 17-year-old students improved
in the past four years after a decade of stagnation, but 9- and 13-year-olds
have stopped making progress, a federally backed testing agency said
Wednesday.
At all three ages levels, pupils read better now than in 1971, the
National Assessment of Educational Progress reported, and the biggest
gains have been registered by blacks and Hispanics.
But "The Reading Report Card," a study based on tests administered to
250,000 school children during the past 14 years, also dramatized the big
gap remaining between minorities and the white majority.
The average black and Hispanic 17-year-olds can read "only slightly"
better than the average white 13-year-old, it said.
Secretary of Education William J. Bennett called the findings "good
news and bad news."
He expressed concern that almost 36 percent of the 9-year-olds have not
acquired the basic comprehension skills needed to succeed in third- and
fourth-grade work, and the 40 percent of 13-year-olds and 16 percent of
17-year-old students lacked the intermediate skills "to handle much of
what is studied in a sixth-or seventh-grade class."
New law could restrict AIDS coverage
MILWAUKEE A state legislator has drafted a proposal to allow
insurance companies access to AIDS virus tests following complaints that
a new Wisconsin law limiting such access might mean excluding AIDS
victims from insurance coverage.
"If we were forced into it by the state telling us we could not even find
out what a person's condition is, we would have to consider (exclusion) of
some policies," said George Hardy, legislative counsel for Northwestern
Mutual Life Insurance Co.
He has drafted language for an amendment to allow insurance compan
ies to see the AIDS test results, and Rep. Gcrvase Hephncr of Chilton has
drafted a proposal that would allow insurance companies to look at test
results.
Soviets technology collection experts
WASHINGTON The Soviet Union is conducting a campaign to
acquire Western technology that has been so successful that the West is
subsidizing the Soviet military build-up," the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The Pentagon report released by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger,
said only recently has the fall extent of illegal Soviet technology collec
tion euorts become known.' While there are signs that effots by the United
states and its allies to stem the diversion of technical information have
made Ike more difficult for the Soviets, much more must be done because
the boviets appetite for Western technology will continue to be vora
cious," the report said.
According to the report, the Soviets have divided their technology
diversion euorts between two programs. The first is managed by the Soviet
Military Industrial Commission, drawing on agents of the KGB, the mil
itary intelligence directorate known as the GEU and "surrogate" agents
from the Warsaw Pact.
The second program is managed by the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Trade
and focuses on the acquistion of so-called "dual-use equipment" -equipment
designed for one prupose byt capable of being used in the
production of weapons as well