The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 02, 1989, Page 2, Image 2
• ' * By the Associated Press Edited by Victoria Ayotte E. Germans make triumphant exodus West HOF, West Germany - Thousands of East Germans arrived to a triumphal welcome in West Germany on Sunday after their govern ment agreed to let them flee to the West, the latest chapter in a historic exodus from ah increasingly splintered Soviet bloc. "We made it, we made it," screamed one tearful young woman after arriving in this northern Bavarian city at dawn. "We hnd no future there,” said 34-year-old Uwe Kuestar of Cottbus. About6,000refugees either arrived or were on their way from Czechoslovakia, border police said, and another 800 arrived from Po land. The refugees had holed themselves up weeks ago in the West German embassies in Warsaw and Prague after they were unable to reach Hungary v a liberal Warsaw Pact nation that had opened its western border to the East Germans last month. Many of those arriving here had tears of joy ‘ heir faces. Others cheered and d Warsaw, East Germans who heard wow! of the exodus raced to railroad stations, some arriving in time to jump on board the trains. West German news recoils and witnesses said more East Germans were rushing in their cars toward Czechoslovakia and at least 200 were once again filling the embassy in Prague. The new arrivals follow the more than 24,000 East Germans who have fled through Hungary since Sept 10, when the reform minded Communist government in Budapest * decided to open its border. Hard-line East Germany reluctantly agreed to the exodus and trains began shuttling refu gees from Prague on late Saturday night, iriuns from Poland arrived on Sunday. The East German govemmem insisted the refugees from Prague and Warsaw had been “expelled.” As part of the agreement with West Ger many announced Saturday night the East Germans had to travel in state-run trains back through their former Communist homeland as a face-saving measure for the government. Hard-line Czechoslovakia had vowed that it would not allow the refugees to leave for the West from Czechoslovakia. Still, the action represented an embarrass ing retreat for the aging leadership in Ead Berlin, which had severely criticized Hun gary's action. The once- unthinkable exodus of East Ger mans reflects dramatic changes in the East bloc and a growing disunity among its member states. Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the galvanizingforce for reforms sweeping much of Eastern Europe, will visit East Benin this week for celebrations of East Germany’s 4Qefc anniversary. His talks with East German leader Erich Honecker are expected to deal with the exodus of young people, which has threatened the nation's already demoralized work force. “I hope that Gorbachev, during his talks with the leaders of (East Germany) will try to convince them thayx>litical reforms are also in the interest of the German Democratic Repub lic,” said West German Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher, who engineered the exodus. In Prague, police initially surrounded the West German embassy to block newly arrived East Germans from scaling a spiked fence into the muddy grounds. But the embassy later again began letting East Germans back into the embassy. Bavarian border police spokesman Klaus Pappenfuss said six trains were bringing the more than 6,000 refugees from Prague during the course of the day. Well-wishers handed out bottles of wine, , champagne and fruit as the East Germans dis embarked in Hof. Red Cross volunteers distrib uted hot tea, noodle soup, baby food and dia pers to the refugee families. * Several former East Germans, who had fled earlier to the West from Hungary, carried a banner that restd: “We got out through Hungary and you made it through Prague. Soon the zone (East Germany) will be an empty coffin.” The cast Germans were taken immediately to several refugee processing centers and tem porary shelters set up by border police and the military, officials said. West German law automatically grants East Germans citizenship an arrival. More than 100,000 East Germans have emigrated or fled to West Germany this year. Americans report drugs not big problem locally NEW YORK - Nearly one-third of American adults know someone who uses cocaine, but most say drug abuse is not a serious problem in their own neighborhoods, a poll has found. While President George Bush pursues a multibittion-doUar war on illegal drags, saying they are “sap ping our strength as a nation,” just 14 percent in the survey called the prob lem “very serious where they live. Bjg-city dwellers were the most concerned about drags in their neigh-. borhoods, with half saying illegal drugs pored a “very” dr “some what” serious problem where they live, as opposed to “not too” or “not at all” serious. In the nation as a whole, four in 10 sated drugs a serious local problem and nearly six in 10 did not To stop the flow of drugs into this country, eight in 10 respondents said Bush should order the military to patrol the borders for smugglers. But a minority of 43 percent said he should order military strikes against illegal drag operations in foreign countries. Sixty-one percent in the Media General-Associated Press poll identi fied drug abuse as the nation’s great est problem overall, a level that has risen steadily in opinion polls as the issue drew increasing political and media attention. Among that majority, barely more than a third expected ore problem to lessen in the next decade. And re spondents split sharply on whether die best line of attack is drug producers, dealers or users. Majorities came together, though, m opposing some priorities of Bush’s program. While most of its funds are for law enforcement, for example, 60 percent said treating drug users will accomplish more than punishing diem. Moreover, a 51 percent majority said budding more federal prison cells for drug offenders - as Bush has proposed - will fail (6 reduce drug abuse. Drug treatment and education were seen by far more people as ef fective. Despite those differences, nearly three-quarters of the 1,071 respon dents were convinced that the Bush administration is making a serious effort And two-thirds said the federal government cm reduce dtag abuse significantly. Respondents were split on whether Bush’s $7.9 billion plan spends enough money, too little or too much. About half wanted anti drug money taken from other pro grams, while a third favored raising taxes. The rest were unsure. Though taxes were not popular generally, three-quarters supported raising cigarette or alcoholic bever age taxes to pay for a bigger drug program, and seven in 10 supported a 1 percent increase in corporate in come taxes. Another funding scheme had less support By 53-43 percent, respon dents opposed a 1 pocrcrt increase in personal income taxre The poll, conducted Sept 14-24, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. - - -- -■ - — - -- - - Survey gives curious answers " .WASHINGTON - DO you put oo bothsocks and then both shoes, or put n sock and shoe on one foot and than the other? How often do you weigh your self? WtSt0 visiting a friend’s hotgp and the dower curtain is closedr do you look behind it? while the better-known poll sters are asking Americans their political preferences or their thoughts on the great issues of the worlds a couple of New Yorkers are raising questions that inquiring minds really want answered. “We’ve always been compul sive, obsessive collectors of odd tidbits of information. How many people wear torn underwear under their expensive clothes? How many unmatched socks lie lonely in dresser drawers?” explain Mel • Poertz and Barry S inrod in their new book. Under the modest tide - “The Fust Really Important Survey of American Habits” - Porcu and S inrod have compiled the answers to the questions that have been burning holes in their curiosity. They found, few example, that 19 percent of Americans put both the sock and shoe on one foot first, then the ocher, as opposed to the ■ ana tneniMuraues; r-rtttrr: How do they know these tilings? They asked. More precisely, they polled ^ little more than 2,000 people across the country. Sinrod and Poretz, who are involved in mar keting and polling, say their survey represents the tastes and habits of 89 percent of Americans aged 21 and over. However, details like margins of error that are popular with the more serious surveys were not reported. “All locals are statistically cor rect and can be verified, trust us,” Poretz and Sinrod say. After making that leap of faith, readers will leant that: • Only 7 percent of Americans admit looking behind a closed shower curiam when visiting a friends home • 37 percent of Americans never weigh themselves. Some 41 percent of women and 37 percent of men said they never steD on the scales, • 67 percent of Americans say ttMp'speM less time in the bath room than their mate does. The figure was the same for both sexes. 9 38 percent of the people re sponding say they dean their belly button every day; 20 percent say they never do so. • 80 percent eat com on the cob by going around the ear in the circle; 20 percent nibble from side to-side. like a typewriter. • 61 percent say they would wear torn underwear, 39 percent would not Men were slightly mote willing to wear the tom item at 68 - percent Only 57 percent of the women said they would. There was this further breakdown: 74 percent of white-collar workers said they would wear tom underwear, while only 48 percent of blue collar workers would. I r* ** TWiy *T^ IB Edhor Amy Edwards Photo Chief 473M7BB Night News Editors MsnepintEditor JaneHM ■ Assoc News Editor* Brstwton Laemla EditorialPage Editor LeeAeSd*** ____ VKicna Ayoti# rroouwiofi Manager rwc*y Copy Desk Editor Dmmw Htrieon > Advertising Ms'^egar Jen DaaEtnhe 0 -«... »* ji. |-n a a -* synnn ■ M a* a - a* ^ . - Oparin tonDr Jtn aimm 38w iwnayor Mny Jfrrnti *jt- a a*-— a rv J,Mr^tinna AaaMl Am « tfiWinpi niuffwuwn txwu '•Edhor Lies Deno van Chairman Pam Hem Diversions Editor JeethZsiooo «fMM Sower Editor Lee Hood Proleeatonai Adviser Den Wahon SunfemsntsEdito. Chris Cams* 473-73C1 Graphics Editor John Bnuoe _ Lebanese dispute Syria’s role in their country • * 1 un n 0 TAIF, Saudi Arabia - Lebanese lawmakers clashed Sunday over the presence of Syrian troops in their country and Christian leader Gen. Michel Aoun demanded a timetable for their pullout before agreeing to peace. In BeiniL where Aoun made his comments, Christian forces and Syr-' ian-backed Druse militiamen battled for IS mmoles around the mountain garrison of Souk al-Gharb, testing a fragile cease-fire. No casualties were reported. Sources at the mooting .reported a . stormy session Sunday as the 63 members of Parliament — 33 Chris tians and 30 Moslems * gathered for a second day in their bid to end the 14 year-old civil war and address an Arab League peace plan. The session was dominated by disagreements between Christians and Moslem* over what Syria's role in Lebanon should be. said the sources, who qpofce pa conditio* of anonymity. Supporters of Aoun, a Maronite Catholic, say they will not agree to give Moslems a greater share of po litical power until there is a timetable for a pullout of the estimated 40,000 Syrian troops in Lebanon. Syrian-backed Moslem leaders support a continuing role for Syria to protect their position and help guar antee a settlement of Lebanon ’f civil war. Th9 NsO'MfrtnOJJW'S 144-000} *« puWieNx* by fT»UNt PuO*rut)or.* Bcwrt.f* you; wrtdy during surnmar unions. MMdsrsaroanoguraaad to submit stoiyldooa and «_ hsOgiyl toy prtartne 472-17(ab»Mwm • a.m. and t pjn. Monday trough Friday, Tl r has aeons *> »• PuQnraions Board. For inkvmaibn, contact PsitHiKi, Sign gfigg hi 14J |g ono tBV. .. ■ ■■■ aw —nai ww t I M m I >■■ Ill .—■ Ill — ■■■■■ IIP matmrm