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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1989)
News Digest - - .... - -;-—-—-——^ ftp- ° * - Paul Chandler/Daily Nebraskan Vandalism investigated OMAHA - Police are investi gating vandalism involving sa tanic slogans and symbols left in at least seven churches in northwest Omaha during the past week, Sgt. Charles Prokupek said Thursday. In the latest incident, the words “The Imperial Order of the Un holy” and “Devil’s Children” and satanic symbols were spray pamted on the walls, pews and doors of Sovereign Grace Church, police reports said. The damage occurred between Sunday and Wednesday. Earlier, a bottle containing paper scrawled with satanic verses was thrown through the window of the Benson vale Covenant Church, Prokupek said. The Rev. Lou Sloger, pastor at Sovereign Grace, said Thursday that nothing was stolen from the church. “There were all kinds of things they could have taken, but nothing of that nature occurred,” he said. “I guess it’s the cowardice of the whole thing that really provokes me.” Sloger said pentagrams and other satanic symbols have been carved into the back of the church building on previous occasions, but this is the first time vandals have entered the church. He speculated that “bored” neighborhood youths might have committed the vandalism. Prokupek said police had no suspects but said, “We have a pretty strong suspicion that it’s the same group of people responsible. We feel right now that the inci dents which occurred were done purely for the vandalism.” Prokupek said these six north west Omaha churches also were vandalized between Friday night and Monday: Northwest Hills United Church of Christ, Fort Street Christian Church, Evangeli cal Friends Church, Lutheran Church of Atonement, Holy Cross Lutheran Church and Bensonvale Covenant Church. An eighth church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reported vandalism last week but because of the church’s distance from the others, damage there might be unrelated, Prokupek said. He said stained-glass windows were damaged with BB-gun pel lets and bottles, and church walls, pews and doors were spray painted. He estimated total dam age at the eight churches at $10,000. E. German official rejects reform; another says government will listen ... »» • 1_!_1_1__1_ BERLIN ~ A high-ranking East German official Thursday rejected the democratic reforms embraced by some of the nation’s Communist al lies and said socialism will continue to dominate society. Another top official said the gov ernment will listen to “all parts of the population’ ’ clamoring for change as long as they are not committed to scrapping the current social order. Despite the staunch public com mitments to socialism, there were signs of strong differences within the leadership over how to grapple with the growing public demands for a freer society. Reports persisted that 77-year-old Erich Honecker, the na tion’s hard-line leader, was in trouble. West Germany’s mass-circulation Bild newspaper, quoting unidentified Communist Party sources, reported Thursday that Honecker would be replaced Ocl 18. Eduard Lintner, the inter-German affairs spokesman for Christian Democrat delegation in the West German parliament, was quoted in the daily Passauer Neue Pressc as saying Honecker’s departure was “immediately at hand.’’ East German Communist Party sources say that an increasing num ber of high-ranking party officials are displeased with how HonecKcr handled the recent wave of pro-de mocracy protests and the exodus of tens of thousands of citizens to the West The East German state-run news agency ADN on Thursday carried a routine dispatch that omitted Honecker’s title as head of the Com munist Party, the more powerful of his two posts. ADN usually refers to him as both head of the Communist Party and head of state. Honecker’s picture has not been carried on the front pages of party newspapers for two days, although he is usually featured there daily. The West Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel reported Thursday that ‘‘a strong majority” in the 21-mem ber ruling Politburo favored Honecker’s departure. After what sources said was a volatile meeting, the Politburo on Wednesday promised to examine the causes behind die emigre exodus and the pro-democracy protests and said the government would be willing to discuss reforms. But in a commentary published Thursday in the state-run Berliner Zeitung newspaper, Central Com mittee member Otto Reinhold em phasized “the leading role of the ym\.y hi U111151115 auuui any uiaugc. Reinhold said he wanted to distin guish the role of the party in East Germany from the “ever-increasing variety’ ’ of changes in other Socialist countries. The statement was obviously a reference to East Germany’s previ ously sharp repudiations of the dra matic democratic reforms sweeping East bloc allies Hungary and Poland. “Reforms for the sake of reforms aren’t in demand, but rather changes which will serve the further develop ment of socialism,’’ Reinhold said. Kurt Hager, East German Com munist Party ideology chief and an other influential Politburo member, offered a more conciliatory line. He was quoted by West Ger many’s ZDF television as saying that there were no “differences of opin ion’’ in the party leadership. He said leaders had agreed it was necessary to open a dialogue with “all parts of the population.’’ But Hager strongly indicated that he did not include the growing oppo sition movement among them. Hager’s remarks came during a trip to Moscow for the opening of a culture exhibition. Soviet Piesidcnt Mikhail S. Gorbachev, during a visit to East Berlin last week, urged Honeckcr to undertake reforms. House approves ban on flag burning WASHINGTON - The House voted final, overwhelming approval j Thursday for a federal ban on flag burning, just four months after a Supreme Court decision allowing destruction of an American flag as political protest. “This is the least we can do to protect the sanctity of the flag,’ ’ Rep. Butler Derrick, D-S.C., said before the House voted, 371-43, to approve the bill. However, President George Bush and many Republicans say Congress must do more than pass a mere stat ute, and they have been pressing for a constitutional amendment to outlaw flag destruction or desecration. The Senate will take up that .ssue next week. Still, 154 Republicans joined 217 Democrats in supporting the statu tory ban on Thursday, while only 18 Republicans and 25 Democrats op posed it. The bill passed the Senate 91-9. House Speaker Thomas S. Foley, D-Wash., said he assumed Rush would sign the measure into law, despite his clear preference for a constitutional amendment. Bush said last week that a new statute would net be adequate to get around the Supreme Court decision, which threw out the conviction of a Texas flag burner. The bill on its way to Bush would revise existing federal law and pro vide up to a year in a jail and a $ 1,000 fine for anyone who ‘'knowingly mutilates, defaces, physically de files, bums, maintains on the floor or ground, or tramples upon any flag of the United States.” The one-sided votes in Congress reflected the power of the flag as a political symbol, which was demon strated by a public outcry following the Supreme Court decision in June. Dei Tick told the House that the court’s decision, throwing out the conviction of Texas flag burner Gre gory Lee Johnson on grounds that his right to free speech was violated, hit Americans like ‘‘a slap in the face.’’ Bush joined the call for a constitu tional amendment, but Democratic leaders said changing the Constitution would be too drastic an action in response to an isolated case. “Amending the Constitution as some would advance should be a last resort and not a first resort,” said Rep. William J. Hughes, D-N.J. South Korean students protest U.S. trade pressure SEOUL, South Korea -- Radical students armed with firebombs briefly occupied part of the residence of U.S. Ambassador Donald Gregg early today and held off security guards with tear gas before being seized by police, authorities said. Police said six students scaled the wall of the ambassador’s residential compound in downtown Seoul and occupied one building to demand a meeting with Gregg. Riot police, who overpowered the students and dragged them away, reported no injuries. U.S. embassy officials said Gregg had not been involved in the incident but they had no further comment In Washington, a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Gregg and his wife were not injured in the early morning incident, which lasted about a half hour. The students urged an end to talks with South Korea on the U.S.’s trade imbalance with Seoul, shouting “Punish Gregg!” and “We oppose U.S. trade pressure!” police said. At least one student draped himself with a South Korean national flag. Police said the intruders brandished fire bombs, tear gas grenades and steel bars. Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, said the protesters also carried flammable liquid and what it described as crude homemade explosives. Yonhap said one tear gas grenade was used by the students but caused little damage. Police said the students did not use any other weapons when they forced their way into the compound. Police dragged the kicking and screaming students from the compound and hustled them into police cars that drove away at high speed. “Drive out the Yankees!” several of the stu dents screamed. At New Jersey’s Newark Airport, where President George Bush was boarding a plane to return to Washington after a day of campaign appearances. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater told reporters Gregg had * ‘gone back into the residence and the intruders have all been arrested. There’s no real problem.” Bush, said Fitzwater, “Just asked if they (the Greggs) were safe and I assured him they were.” Radical students have opposed Seoul’s I close lies with the United States, demanding 1 Washington abandon its trade pressure to in- K crease U.S. exports to South Korea. | The United Slates has been seeking greater | access to South Korean markets to help correct | its trade imbalance in Seoul’s favor. The incident came two days after U.S. trade P representative Carla Hills left Seoul after talks E with South Korean officials. Hills and other |j U.S. officials have demanded South Korea B drop its import barriers. i| The protesters also demanded South Korean H President Roh Tae-woo cancel his scheduled I visit to Washington. Roh will leave Seoul I Sunday for an official five-day visit._B Senate considers $14.1 billion bill to cut deficit WASHINGTON - The Senate began plowing through a $14.1 bil lion deficit-reduction bill Thursday as Democrats claimed enough votes to block Republicans from tacking on a cut in the capital-gains tax. Unless Congress completes action before Monday on the eight-inch thick bill - which is almost impos sible — automatic, across-the-board reauctions will be triggered in most federal spending programs. But Con gress has left itself an out: Even if the automatic cuts take effect, they can be restored as soon as the bill is en acted. The sheer size of the bill and the fact that it was put into final form barely two hours before debate began were enough lo cause some senators to view the automatic spending cuts as the lesser of two evils. “If somebody wanted to manufac ture a piece of legislation absolutely confirming the worst suspicions they have about the budget process, it would be this piece of legislation,'’ said Sen. William Armstrong, R Colo. “It is impossible as a practical matter for any senator to have more than a general idea of what’s in this bill.” He lodged his complaint as the Senate Budget Committee, voting 9 7, approved the bill, which was writ ten by eight other committees. Members of both parties ex pressed concern because the bill is laden with amendments that have nothing to do with reducing the defi cit. Sen. James Sasser, D-Tenn., chairman of the Budget Committee, and Sen. Fete Domenici of New Mexico, the senior Republican on the panel, promised an effort on the Sen ate floor to strip away some of the extraneous provisions. Although the major purpose of the spending bill is to reduce the deficit in the current budget year to about $110 billion, most of its bulk is attrib utable to hundreds of pet projects. These range from a child-care initia tive to repeal of a law designed to prevent discrimination in employer paid health care to scores of tax breaks for various special interests. NetSra&kan Editor Amy Edwards Photo Chief Eric Gregory 472-1766 Night News Editors Eric Planner Managing Eduor Jane Hlrt Dare la Wlegeri Assoc News Editors Brandon Loomis Librarian Victoria Ayotte Ryan Sleeves Art Director Andy Manhart Editorial Page Editor Lee Rood General Manager Dan Shattll Wire Editor Victoria Ayotte Production Manager Katherine Pollcky Copy Dean Editor Deanne Nelson Advertising Manager Jon Daehnke Sports Editor Jett Apel Sales Manager Kerry Jeflrles Arts & Entertainment Publications Board Editor Lisa Donovan Chairman Pam Hein Diversions Editor Joeth Zucco 472-2566 Sower Editor Lee Rood Professional Adviser Don Walton Supplements Editor Chris Carroll 473-7301 Graphics Editor John Bruco The Daily NebraskanfUSPS 144-080) Is published by the UNL Publications Board. Ne braska Union 34.1400 R St„ Lincoln. NE, Monday through Friday during the academic year, weekly during summer sessions Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Dally Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board For Information, contact Pam Heir,, 472-2'08 Subscription price is $45 for one year. n Postmas ter; Sena a caress cnanges to tne Dally Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,14uu R St.,Lincoln, NE 66588-0446. Second-class postage paid at Llncolr,, NE. * _ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1969 DAILY NBBRA8KAN _