News Digest_ By The Associated Press
Trade deficit skyrockets, stunning experts
WASHINGTON — The U.S.
trade deficit widened to a record
$17.6 billion in October, the govern
ment said Thursday in a report that
confounded experts and sent the dol
lar plunging to new post-war lows.
The October deficit was an aston
ishing 25.3 percent higher than the
$14.1 billion imbalance in merchan
dise trade recorded in September,
according to the Commerce Depart
ment figures.
“It’s an understatement to say
these are bad numbers. These are
startling bad numbers,” said Jerry
Jasinowski, chief economist for the
National Association of Manufactur
ers.
Many analysts had been expecting
the trade figure to worsen modestly in
October, perhaps climbing by $500
million, given the fact that retailers
normally step up their orders of im
ported goods to be ready for Christ
mas. But no one had expected the
$3.56 billion surge that did occur.
“You are sitting there looking for
one thing and here comes a hurricane
that almost takes your head off,” said
Jay Goldingcr, an economist with
Cantor, Fitzgerald, a Los Angeles
bond house.
The trade deficit sent the dollar
plunging on foreign exchange mar
kets in frantic trading despite reports
that the Federal Reserve and central
banks in West Germany, England,
Italy and other countries bought dol
lars in an effort to break the
greenback’s decline.
The dollar broke through the psy
chological barrier of 130 yen Thurs
day, selling at a record post-war low
of 129.15 yen in mid-afternoon trad
ing in New York.
Economists worried about what
future troubles could be in store be
cause of the stubborn refusal of the
trade deficit to show improvement
despite an almost 50 percent decline
in the value of the dollar against major
currencies.
The Reagan administration
launched an effort in September 1985
to push the value of the dollar lower in
an effort to make imported goods
more expensive and therefore less
popular in thiscountry while boosting
the competitiveness of American
products overseas.
Study shows heart-SIDS link
BOSTON — A newly discov
ered defect in the hearts of some
babies may be responsible for half
of all cases of sudden infant death
syndrome, a major k il ler of infants,
researchers say.
The baffling syndrome, also
known as crib death or SIDS,
strikes about one in every' 500
babies in the United States. It is the
most common cause of death
among infants 2 weeks to 1 year
old.
The new evidence suggests that
these babies’ hearts frequently
have a defect in their electrical
stimulation. The malfunction
could make their hearts stall when
they begin to speed up for any
reason.
The discovery does not provide
immediate new ways to prevent
cribdcaths. But the researchers say
it may someday help identify ba
bies who arc at high risk so they
could be treated with drugs.
“It is not something that will
save lives next year, but it’s a clue
that there is-something defective in
the way the nervous system con
trols the heart,” said Dr. Daniel C.
Shannon, a co-author of the study
at Massachusetts General Hospi
tal.
He speculated the defect could
result from immaturity or from
damage triggered by an infection
or toxin encountered as a fetus.
The number of children studied
was too small to be certain how
many crib deaths arc caused by the
heart defect, but Shannon said,
“Our observations suggest it might
account for half.”
Sudden infant death syndrome
has long been a medical enigma.
Seemingly healthy babiesdie with
out warning, often in their sleep.
Some clearly slop breathing be
cause of a respiratory defect, but
Shannon said they probably ac
count for less than 10 percent of all
cases.
^ii\- _____ -1
John Bruce/Daily Nebraskan
Deaver’s prosecutor gives final comments
Leaders conclude summit,
report ‘some progress’
WASHINGTON — President
Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S.
Gorbachev concluded three days of
summit talks Thursday reporting
“some progress” but no agreement to
curb long-range strategic weapons
and an impasse on the withdrawal of
Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
But in an apparent concession,
Gorbachev dropped his insistence for
restrictions on Star Wars testing as a
condition for cuts in strategic arse
nals, a senior U.S. official said.
The United States also preserved
the right for broad testing of the Star
Wars program, the official said, even
though Congress has imposed some
restrictions.
In exchange, the United States
agreed to adhere to the 1972 Anti
Ballistic Missile Treaty for a period of
time yet to be negotiated, the official
said. The official said, however, it
would not constrain the program.
Although a huge crowd of reporters
attended the official’s briefing, he
insisted that his identity remain a
secret.
I he leaders agreed to hold another
summit— their fourth — in Moscow
in 1988 in the first half of the year,
White House spokesman Marlin
Fit/water said. An administration
official said “it might be possible with
hard work” to have a strategic arms
pact ready for signing in Moscow, but
said a summit meeting would be held
nonetheless.
Striking an upbeat tone, Reagan
said, “This summit has been a clear
success.” Echoing that theme, Gor
bachev said, “A good deal has been
accomplished.”
Said Reagan, this summit has lit
the sky with hope for all people of
good will.”
At a news conference before leav
ing Washington, Gorbachev said the
superpowers are emerging from “the
long drawn-out confrontation” of the
past four decades.
“Differences still exist and on
some points those differences are
very serious indeed,” the Soviet
leader said. But “we do not regard
them as insurmountable.”
The two leaders, at a White House
departure ceremony dampened by
rain and overcast skies, stressed that
their meetings had created a sense of
good will important for reducing
superpower tensions.
They parted with broad smiles and
handshakes, in stark contrast to the
scene at Reykjavik, Iceland, in Octo
ber, 1986, when their meeting ended
in a fight over Reagan’s Star Wars
mi.>silc defense plan.
Reagan-Gorbachev meet
is ‘etiquette disaster,’
manners expert says
KEWANEE, III. — Plastic wrap
ping on roses, a blue suit at a black- I
tie dinner, unanswered invitations I
and other faux pas turned the
superpower summit into an “eti
quette disaster,” according to sy
manners maven Marjabcllc Young ■
Stewart.
“For the most part, it’s been a
great moment in Americans
minding their manners,” said
Stewart, author of 15 books on
etiquette and an occasional televi
sion talk-show guest.
For example, Raisa Gorbachev
should have responded promptly to
Nancy Reagan’s invitation to meet
over coffee, Stewart said.
"I can’t believe she had to be
prodded to respond to Nancy’s
invitation,” she said.
The Reagans committed faux pas
of their own, she said — the most
glaring being the president’s
handling of the glassware when he
toasted his guests.
“The president held his cham
pagne glass by the bowl rather than
by the stem,” Stewart said. “Every
one knows the tips of your fingers
will warm the glass. That’s why you
should hold it by the stem.”
Nebmyskan
Editor Mike Railley
472 1766
Managing Editor Jen Oeulms
* Assoc News Editors Mike Hooper
Mary Nell Westbrook
Editorial
Page Editor Jeanne Bourne
Wire Editor Linda Hartmann
Copy Desk Chief Joan Rezac
Sports Editor Jeff Apel
Arts & Entertain
ment Editor Charles Liaurance
Asst Arts &
Entertainment Editor Geofl McMurtry
Graphics Editor Mark Davis
Asst Graphics Editor Tom Lauder
Photo Chief Doug Carroll
Night News Editors Curt Wagner
Scott Harrah
Art Director Brian Barber
General Manager Daniel Shattil
Production Manager Katherine Policky
Advertising
Manager Marcia Miller
Asst. Advertising
_ Manager Bob Bates
Publications Board
Chairman Don Johnson.
472 3611
Professional Adviser Don Walton. 473-7301
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1
WASHINGTON — Lobbyist
Michael K. Dcaver gave false testi
mony to bury allegations he improp
erly traded on his White House influ
ence, the prosecutor in the former
presidential aide’s perjury trial told
jurors Thursday.
Dcaver “started on a plan of delib
erate cover-up and perjury was a part
of it” to counter allegations he used
his long association with President
Reagan to gel six-figure lobbying
contracts, independent counsel Whit
ney North Seymour Jr. told jurors in
closing arguments at Deavcr’s trial.
News stories that questioned
Dcavcr’s lobbying activities helped
scuttle the planned sale of Dcavcr’s
firm to a London public relations
company for up to $16 million, Sey
mour said.
But “Mr. Deaver didn’t want a
thorough examination, he wanted an
independent counsel for an obvious
reason — it meant the matter could be
buried” inside a closed grand jury
room, Seymour said.
“With any luck, the thing could be
forgotten” if Deaver “could control
the results of the grand jury in vestiga
tion,”Scymour said. “And that’s what
led to the perjury.”
Junta to choose council
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti —
Haiti’s military-dominated junta will
choose a new Electoral Council and
plans to hold new elections on Jan. 17,
stale-run television reported.
The government’s move came
after three of the nation’s four top
opposition politicians issued a joint
declaration vowing to boycott any
new elections organized by the in
terim government. A fourth top can
didate also was expected to join the
boycott.
The government dissolved the
original nine-member council after it
cancelled Nov. 29 elections because
ofa waveof brutal killingsand attacks
on voters by gangs of thugs.
Five independent civilian groups
refused to name new members and
joined political leaders in calling for
reinstatement of the original council.
But government officials indicated
the junta planned to go ahead anyway.
In Brief
Guilty verdict returned in Frankhauser trial
BOSTON — A former consultant lo Lyndon LaRouche was found
guilty today of charges he conspired to cover up millions of dollars in
alleged credit card and loan fraud by the political extremist’s 1984
presidential campaign.
A federal jury deliberated for about three hours over two days before
reluming the verdict in the case against Roy Frankhauser. Frankhauser,
48, of Reading Pa., faces up lo five years in prison and a $250,000 fine
for conspiring to obstruct justice. He is a former member of the Ku Klux
Klan and American Nazi Party.
ConAgra sets deadline for building its headquarters
OMAHA — ConAgra Inc. has set a Jan. 4 deadline for deciding if
it will build a $50 million headquarters and laboratory in downtown
Omaha, the company said.
If land for a site along the Missouri River has not been acquired by
that date, the company will build at another site. ConAgra’s current
headquarters building is in downtown Omaha. The company is consid
ering building its new headquarters complex in an old warehouse district
between the downtown business district and the river.
Costa Rican leader accepts Nobel peace prize in Oslo
OSLO, Norway — Costa Rican President Oscar Arias a< cepted the
1987 Nobel Peace prize Thursday, saying he hoped it would boost the
chances of success for the Central American peace plan for which it w as
awarded.
Arias called on the superpowers to let Central Americans resolve
their own problems.
“In the name of God, at lea^t they should leave us in peace,” he said.
V_/