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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1988)
News Digest&ssu. Andy Itanhart/DaHy Ntbraekan House OKs plan to track illegally dumped wastes WASHINGTON—The House, alarmed by used syringes and vials of AIDS-infected blood washing up on shorelines, joined the Senate on Thursday in approving legisla tion to combat the dumping of medical waste. “The illegal disposal of medical waste is spreading like an epidemic across the country,” said the bill’s floor manager, Rep. Thomas Luken, D-Ohio. “This waste is not just repulsive; it can literally kill people. “According to recent federal studies, as many as 18,000 people each year may contract hepatitis B from accidental contact with medi cal waste,” he said. “Hundreds of those infected will ultimately die from the infection.” The bill, improved 390-28, would require tne Environmental Protection Agency to set up a sys tem to track infectious or danger l ous trash %xn hospitals, labs and * clinics to its disposal. | The measure, a response to this | summer s much-publicized wash up* of medical trash along the | Atlantic Coast, Lake Frie aodLake Michigan, would initially require rackimihl 10 itflfit They am Connecticut, New Jersey end m states bordering the Great lakes: New York, Pennsyl vania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minne sota. The control program, however, could become national in scope because any other state could peti tion EPA to have its medical waste subjected to the paper-trail system and gain authority to take enforce ment action against incoming waste not meeung the tracking system’s requirements. “This is a national problem,” said Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Orc. “The medical waste system in this country is broken. It is overloaded, and in effect it is starting to regur gitate what it cannot keep down.” The House bill is similar to one passed recently by the Senate. Supporters in both chambers said ttav nmrl no nmhiems rfcftolvhiff II I Editor Curt Wagnar 472*1760 Managing Editor Diana Johnson ' Assoc News Editors Jana Hlrt laa Rood Editorial Page Editor Mik* ReNtey Wire Editor Bob Neiaon Copy Desk Editor Chuck Green Sports Editor Steve Sipple ’ Arts K Enterbtin ment Editor Mlckl Mailer . Diversions Editor Joeth Zucco Sower Editor Andy Pollock Graphics Editor Darryl Mattox Photo Chief Eric Gregory Asst. Photo Chief David Fahleson Night News Editor Amy Edwards Asst Night New* * Editor/lieranan _ Anna Mohrl I; Art Directors John Bruce Andy Manharl General Manager Dan Shattli Production Manage.- Kaiherlna Pollcky Advertising Manager Robert Bates Sales Manager David Thiemann Circulation Manager Eric Shank* The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144 060) is published by the UNL Publications Board Ne braska Union 34, 1400 R St„ Lincoln’ NE (except holidays); weekly during the summer session. i . Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments tu the Daily Nebraskan by phonmg 472-1763 between 9 a m. and 5 p.m Monday through Friday The public also has access to the Publications Board. For iniormotion, contact Tom Macy. 475 9866 Subscription price is $35 for one year Poatmoster: Sand addross changes to toe Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St.Jncoin, NE 06666-0446. Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL BMTJIVM. COPYRIGHT 1MB DAILY . Dukakis rips Quayle; Bush praises him ® i j . . ti l mIIh ur»— > Democrat Michael Dukakis criti cized Dan Quayle in campaign rheto ric and commercials on Thursday, saying the Republican vice presiden tial candidate appeared “extremely insecure” in debate. George Bush praised his running mate’s perform ance but quickly changed the subject to crime control. Quayle shook off a poll suggesting that Democrat Lloyd Bentsen beat him handily in their debate Wednes day night and said the Republicans are “still ahead” in the race for the White House. Most pre-debate sur veys gave Bush a slight advantage over Dukakis with a little over a month remaining in the campaign. Bentsen preferred an instant ABC poll rating him the debate winner by 51 percent to 27 percent. “I was just delighted,” said the Texas senator. The highlight of the debate came as the 41-year-old Quayle said his experience in Congress compared favorably with John F. Kennedy’s record at the time of the 1960 cam paign. “Senator, you’re no Jack Ken nedy,” Bentsen shot back. The Dukakis campaign rushed to air two television commercials ques tioning Quayle’s qualifications. One showed pictures of Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford, all vice presidents who succeeded to the presidency without an election, while an announcer said Bush’s pick of Quayle as running maie iii<ukou a “lapse of judgment.” Dukakis told reporters aboard his campaign jet en route to Texas the debate was a “real plus for us and called Quayle’s performance “very disturbing.” “I thought he was programmed beyond belief... extremely insecure, this fellow.” Dukakis said in Lone Star, Texas, where he campaigned together with Bentscn. ‘He didn t have a sense of strength or control or anything. ... Thinking about Quayle being a heartbeat away from the presi dency, to watch that, I think, is very, very troubling.” Republicans from Ford to Ronald Reagan rallied to Quaylc’s cause as the Bush organization appeared to be practicing damage control. Bush aides conspicuously vio lated their rule about publicly dis cussing polls. Campaign manager Lee Atwater said the vice president was ahead in Michigan and New Jer sey, two key swing states. He pre dicted the vice president would carry Bcntsen’s home state of Texas by at least six points. “This race is going to quickly get back to the two candidates for presi dent,” Atwater said. “There arc two gladiators in the arena that arc going to count in the end.” In Midland, Texas, campaign signs distributed tochildrenattcnding JFK. Thank God.” Bush delivered his first speech of the day on crime without mention of his running mate or the debate. In stead, he ridiculed a Massachusetts prison furlough program by mimick ing tough-guy actor Clint Eastwood’s popular refrain “make my day.” “My opponent’s answer is slightly different,” Bush said. “His motto is: ‘Go ahead, have a nice weekend.” He praised Quayle’s performance as he warmed up for a morning jog, though, and later told a rally in Mid land, Texas, “I think Dan Quayle did an outstanding job.” Reagan, coming to Quayle’s de fense, said Bentscn resorted to a “cheap shot... unbecoming a senator of the United Slates” with his much quoted debate put-down of the GOP vice presidential candidate. Bcnlsen disputed any suggestion of nastiness on his part. “What happened there was Quayle kept comparing himself to Kennedy, and he overreached himself and I got fed up with it,” the Texas senator told reporters. However, Bentsen threw his jab after Quayle’s one and only reference to Kennedy in the 90-minute debate. One Democratic aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bentscn and his debate advisers had honed the remark in practice sessions. Foes of Chilean president jubilant SANTIAGO, Chile — Thousands of jubilant foes of President Augusto Pinochet chanted “He has fallen!” and marched in confetti-strewn streets Thursda> to celebrate their ballot-box victory over the military ruler. “An authoritarian system has been overthrown,” said Ricardo Lagos, a leader of a 16-party coalition that campaigned for Gen. Pinochet’s de feat in a yes-or-no referendum. Wednesday’s rejection of the army commander, who seized power in a bloody 1973 coup, cleared the way for elections to return Chile to democracy. The opposition urged elections be held before December 1989, a plan that has been rejected by the still-powerful military. In downtown Santiago, police used tear gas and water cannons to scatter the demonstrators several times when they neared the govern ment palace, the Defense Ministry and other strategic buildings. Otherwise, there was no sign of the swift and harsh repression that was routine before voters soundly re jectcd the bid of the 72-year-old Pino chet to rule until 1997. Pinochet did not appear in public. Under the constitution, Pinochet will rule until the new elections. If the military leaves power, it will further signal an end to the military govern ments that have dominated South America. Elected civilian rule has replaced the military in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay in the past decade. The nearest military ruler to Chile is Gen. Alfredo Strocss ncr, who has ruled Paraguay since seizing power in 1954. With 99.6 percent of votes counted, “no’f votes against Pinochet’s continued rule totaled 3,945,865, or 54.7 percent, while “yes” voles totaled 3,106,099, or 43 percent, the Interior Ministry re ported. Voided ballots totaled 164,427. The turnout was more than 7.2 mil lion of the 7.4 million registered vot ers. By midmorning, small groups of students dressed in blue school uni forms had gathered in Santiago’s streets and enthusiastically chanted anti-Pinochet slogans. Initial police attempts to disperse the youngsters with water cannons and tear gas angered bystanders and only attracted more participants. By noon, thousands of demonstrators had spilled onto the city’s main eight-lane boulevard, jamming traffic as they shouted, “Go away, Pinochet!” and “He has fallen!” Drivers beeped their horns with the chants. Other demonstrators marched through the streets waving Chilean flags and opposition party banners. Confetti and streamers floated down from windows of down town office buildings. No arrests were reported. Under the terms of a 1980 constitution fashioned by Pinochet’s administration, his defeat sets the stage for an open presidential election the government said will be held in December 1989. Congressional elec tions also are planned in a year. Communist party bosses ousted in Yugoslav province NOVI SAD, Yugoslavia — The Communist party bosses of a Yugo slav province were ousted Thursday night while a stone-throwing crowd of30,000people assaulted their head quarters. They had promised to resign ear lier Thursday in the most dramatic development in three months of mass street protests over ethnic strife and economic crisis. Several people were reported in jured when the crowd outside party lieadquarters in Novi Sad, capital of Vcjvodina province, surged toward lines of riot police, hurling stones that smashed windows in the building. Belgrade radio quoted doctors as saying some people suffered bone fractures, but no figures were giver. The protesters began to disperse after the leadership stepped down. Removal of the provincial leader ship could lead to wholesale changes in the national party and Yugoslavia’s six republics. Stipe Suvar, the national party chief, said Tuesday night there will be changes in the ruling Politburo and policy-making Central Committee at or before a Central Committee meet ing scheduled for Oct. 17. Tanjug, the official news agency, said the Vojvodina party committee voted 87-10 to dismiss the 15-mem ber Politburo, the highest political body in the province. Provincial party leader Milovan Sogorov said a 10-mcmbcr provi sional group would be established while new leaders were chosen tor Vojvodina,' a flat, fertile area that produces most of the nation’s gram. Pentagon slashes cost estimate for SDI program w AoriiJNU lUN—in what one official acknowledged was “a star tling change,” the Defense Depart ment said Thursday it has slashed the cost of the first phase of a Star Wars defensive shield from $115 billion fo.S69 billion, rod the sys tem could be availabfe within a But Sea. Sam Nunn, P Ga., chav man of the Scania Armed Services Committee, said the fig ures should be viewed with “some skeptic ism" the cost of weapons programs often goes down while they ace in the planning sfegee and then rtves when produc tion mm ihttt.iHlIiHiilUtiliitiKittWiiM tini IL- ■ - - - -.: I He new tigures tnsc from a re structuring of the Strategic De fense Initiative, the formal name of President Reagan’s 5-ycar-ok! program to develop a high-tech shield against attack by Soviet mUtiifff Those changes were approved after Defease Secretary Frank C. Cariucci ordered a review when it became apparent the Democratic coctroUed Congress would cut Rcatan’s Star Wan budget request for me fiscal year that began last Saturday. The president sought $4.8 bik~ host lor Star Wars, but Congress approved $4.1 billion, tin fror* %m year s 3>J.v buhon budget. The current debate over Star Wars centers around plans to de velop a first-stage program that could form the basis of a wide ranging system. The initial phase is based chiefly on space-based interceptor rockets, kno wn as SBIs, that would be housed in flying “garages” cir cling the globe, ready to be fired at launched Soviet missiles. The large cost reduction is chiefly achieved by scaling back plans for the number of interceptor rockets, Pentagon officiate told a joint hearing of the Senate and House Armed Services commit tees. White the exact figure is classi fied, the Pentagon said “there worId be fewer than 200carrier ve hicles (garages) with several SBls aboard each carries The Defease Department also said il can develop a better guid ance unit for the rockets, meaning; the chances of success for each rocket would be increased and thus the number that would have to be fired would be reduced. In addition, the sophistication of a planned surveillance and tracking satellite system is being reduced, leading no another sav