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Worker productivity edges up
** Jr f
WASHINGTON — The produc
tivity of American workers barely
rose in 1991, the government said
Wednesday, as the nation struggled
to shake off recession sluggishness
and meet competition from Japan and
Europe.
Productivity —
output per hour of
work — grew just
0.2 percent for
non-farm workers
after falling 0.1
percent in 1990
and 0.9 percent in 1989.
The Labor Department report was
released on the heels of Japanese Prime
Minister Kiichi Miyazawa’s remark,
which he said had been misunder
stood, that Americans had lost their
work ethic.
But economists said the lackluster
productivity growth had less to do
with laziness and more to do with the
natural fluctuations during the busi
ness cycle, the inability of debt-laden
corporations to invest in modern
equipment, poor management, demo
graphic trends and the educational
decline.
Productivity nearly always slacks
off as the economy enters a recession,
as it did in July 1990. That’s because
sales and factory production fall faster
than businesses can trim their pay
rolls.
The reverse occurs when recover
ies begin. Businesses are reluctant to
begin hiring again until they are sure
sales and production gains will be
sustained. Therefore, productivity rises
faster than average.
Examined by quarter, productiv
ity was weakest in the last half of
1990, falling in both the third and
fourth quarters. The last nine months
of 1991 have seen moderate gains:
1.9 percent in the second quarter, 0.9
percent in the third and 1.1 percent in
the fourth.
“The fact that the economy was
able to crank out productivity when
we were struggling to get out of re
cession, I find promising,” said econo
mist Maury N. Harris of PaineWebber
Inc.
Other analysis, however, said that
even after discounting the effects of
the business cycle, productivity gains
were still too slight to sustain robust,
non-inflationary economic growth.
“I wouldn’t go overboard and say
it’s getting worse but the fundamen
tal problem we’ve had for a long time
is probably still in place,” said econo
mist Lawrence Chimcrinc, senior
11980 '81 '82 83 84 '85 86 '87 88 89 ’90 911
AP
adviser to DRI-MeGraw Hill, a fore
casting firm in Lexington, Mass.
Annual productivity growth aver
aged 2.4 percent in the 1960s, 1.3
percent in the 1970s and 0.8 percent
in the 1980s.
White House unveils
health-care program
WASHINGTON — President
Bush’s long-awaited health-care
plan calls for SI 00 billion in vouch
ers and tax breaks to help poor and
middle-class Americans buy health
insurance, government and con
gressional sources said Wednes
day.
In a package to be unveiled in
Cleveland on Thursday, Bush will
urge giving poor people vouchers
worth up to S3,750 to purchase
coverage, said the sources, who
spoke on condition of anonymity.
Middle-class people would be given
tax deductions of up to S3,750 as
well.
An administration document ob
tained by The Associated Press es
timates that 95 million Americans
would use the vouchers and tax
cuts.
The president will propose pay
ing for the benefits by paring back
expected growth of the govern
ment’s rapidly expanding Medi
caid and Medicare spending.
About two-thirds of the SI00
billion five-year cost would come
from Medicare, which provides
health care for 34 million elderly
and handicapped people. The rest
would come from limits on Medi
caid, which helps 30 million poor
Americans get medical care.
The president’s plan allows him
to begin his re-election campaign
with specific proposals to address
a problem that polls show increas
ingly troubles the public. Demo
cratic rivals have advanced several
packages of their own.
Chief among voters’ concerns
arc the rapidly growing costs of
health care and the fact that the
recession has forced many Ameri
cans to lose their health insurance
along with their jobs.
The nation spent about $700
billion on health services in 1990,
about one dollar in every eight.
Some 35 million people arc now
without health insurance.
“My plan ensures that people
can find health care, choose health
care, afford health care and keep
health care,” Bush said in a speech
to the Small Business Legislative
Council on Wednesday.
•1 1
Security Council says more sanctions against Iraq possioie
UNITED NATIONS —The Security Coun
cil escalated its confrontation with Iraq on
Wednesday by renewing its commitment to
punishing sanctions and issuing informal threats
of tougher action.
In a bimonthly review
of sanctions imposed on Iraq
for its invasion of Kuwait,
the 15-mcmbcr council de
cided to keep in place an
18-month-old worldwide
ban on almost all trade with
Saddam Hussein’s government.
Diplomats hinted that tougher action —
possibly including a threat of military force —
could be taken if Iraq docs not fully cooperate
with U.N. inspections of its nuclear, chemical
and biological weapons facilities.
“Stand by for further news,” U.S. Ambassa
dor Thomas Pickering told reporters after lead
ing a closed-door council meeting. He declined
to elaborate.
The council said in a statement that Iraq also
was not moving sufficiently to repatriate Kuwaitis
and other foreigners it holds or to return Ku
waiti property as required under the Gulf War
cease-fire.
Britain’s ambassador, Sir David Hannay,
told The Associated Press that Iraq’s motives
were unclear, adding it appeared Saddam was
again testing the will of the international com
munity.
If they arc, he said, “they arc making a
serious mistake.”
The British envoy declined to disclose the
options available to the council. But a U.N.
source, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said they must include some sort of military
threat. One U.N. resolution already contains an
implied threat of renewed military action.
The renewal of military force could come
from members of the U.S.-led coalition that
drove Iraq from Kuwait seven months after
Baghdad invaded the emirate on Aug. 2,1990.
The Security Council’s resolve appeared to
be strengthened by word that fraq was refusing
to accept U.N. monitoring of its arms-building
or purchasing and had called off talks to ar
range a sale of Iraqi oil to buy food and medi
cine and pay war reparations. Iraq refused the
terms of the sale as being a violation of its
sovereignty.
The council said in a statement that its
members “strongly deplore” the cancellation
of the oil sale talks, which had been scheduled
to begin on Wednesday.
“The government of Iraq, by acting in this
way, is foregoing the possibility of meeting the
essential needs of its civilian population and
therefore bears the full responsibility for their
humanitarian problems,” the statement said.
Satellite sweep nets violators
NORFOLK — Twelve Madi
son Couniy residents— including
the couniy attorney and a Nebraska
State Patrol trooper — were charged
Wednesday in connection with il
legal reception of satellite televi
sion signals.
Dodge Couniy Attorney Dean
Skokan filed the misdemeanor theft
of services charges against Madi
son County Attorney Joseph Smith
and state patrol trooper Harold
Neilsen.
They arc among 18 people and
two businesses in Madison, Wayne,
and Stanton counties that had search
warrants served on their homes last
month.
The charges were filed after the
state patrol seized altered descram
bler devices last month. The twelve
face a Feb. 25 arraignment in
Madison County Court.
Skokan said he was approached
by the patrol to prosecute the ease.
He was appointed on Jan. 21.
Suicide doctor charged with murder
Kevorkian indicted
for helping 2 to die
PONTIAC, Mich. — Dr. Jack
Kevorkian was arraigned on two
murder charges Wednesday in the
deaths of two women who used his
suicide machines after saying they
could no longer bear their chronic
illnesses.
Kevorkian’s lawyer predicted the
charges would be dismissed. He noted
that no change has been made in
Michigan law since Kevorkian in 1990
helped an Alzheimer’s patient inject
herself with a fatal dose of drugs. A
first-degree murder charge in that ease
was dismissed.
“There is no crime of assisting
suicide in Michigan,” Geoffrey Fieger
told Oakland County Circuit Judge
Richard Kuhn at a hearing. “Doctor
Kevorkian assisted those two ladies.
That is not a crime.”
The new charges stem from the
Oct. 23 deaths of Sherry Miller, 43,of
Roseville and Marjorie Want/., 58, of
Sodus. They were found dead in a
cabin north of Detroit, hooked to
devices invented by Kevorkian, one
of which provided an injection and
the other a lethal gas.
Shortly before their deaths, the
women made a video in which they
described their pain and their wish to
die.
Ms. Miller suffered from multiple
sclerosis and Ms. Want/ from a chronic
pelvic disease. Neither woman’s ill
ness was terminal.
A medical examiner ruled their
deaths homicide, not suicide.
Drinking
Continued from Page 1
that many students sec others drink
ing heavily and assume it is normal
behavior, Hunnicutl said.
“When we look around and com
pare our drinking with each other, it
looks normal,” he said. “But heavy
drinking is like high-risk sexual ac
tivity — it may seem normal, but it
isn’t healthy.”
Hunnicutl said heavy drinking by
college students also might cause them
to overlook the signs of alcohol-re
lated problems, such as alcohol poi
soning.
“If you come home, find your
roommate passed out on the floor and
sec Valium pills scattered over the
floor, you’d probably call 911,” he
said. “But if your roommate is passed
out in a pile of beer cans, you might
take his clothes off and draw on him.”
A rise in alcohol poisoning may be
attributed to an increase in “binge
drinking,” he said, when a student
only drinks one night a week, but
drinks heavily on that night.
While overall student drinking
seems to be declining, binge drinking
has increased dramatically, accord
ing to the New York Times.
Joan Day, nurse supervisor at the
University Health Center, said that
about 10 UNL students were admit
ted to the health center every month
for treatment of alcohol blood poi
soning or alcohol-related problems.
“It’s often hard to determine how
many students come in just because
of alcohol poisoning,” Day said. “Most
students come in with injuries related
to the alcohol problem.”
Janet Crawford, director of com
munity health at the health center,
said that about 46 University of Nc
braska-Lincoln students completed
evaluations for alcohol- or drug-re
lated problems in the 1990-91 school
year.
An evaluation includes having a
professional look at the student’s drink
ing patterns, interviewing the student
and making recommendations for
treatment.
The student health center at Okla
homa State University treats about 10
eases of severe alcohol poisoning each
semester, up from six a decade ago,
the Times reported.
ASUN senators oppose
English proficiency bill
By Kara Morrison
Staff Reporter
AS UN voted Wednesday night to
direct the Government Liaison Com
mittee to lobby against the Nebraska
Legislature’s -
English profi
ciency bill.
LB 1044 would
require all foreign
faculty and staff
to be proficient in
English, and
would require all faculty with rank
ing of assistant professor or above to
teach a minimum of six credit hours
of classes each semester.
Erin Nelson, a freshman architec
ture major, told AS UN senators that
difficulty in understanding foreign
teaching assistants was a concern of
some UNL students.
Business Sen. Heidi Pulenscn said
that English proficiency requirements
at the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln should be explored further, but
that LB 1044 was not the way to go
about it.
James Gricscn, vice chancellor for
student affairs, agreed.
“We shouldn’t gel the Legislature
involved,” Gricscn said. “Thai’s not
the kind of involvement we need.”
Giicscn told AS UN that complaints
about foreign teaching assistants have
“greatly diminished” over the last few
years, and that UNL has been tighten
ing its English proficiency policies.
He also said that UNL has a man
datory, three-week program for for
eign TAs, in which they undergo tests
and cultural adaptation seminars.
If any questions exist about a TA ’ s
ability after the seminar, Gricscn said,
a panel comprised of students and
faculty vote on whether the person
will be able to teach.
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