News Dicest s-p
“ ^ ^ W w Edited by Roger Price
Thousands protest against Yeltsin
Hard-liners want
Russia to return
to communism
MOSCOW—In a growing split in
public opinion over painful economic
reforms, tens of thousands of people
rallied against President Boris Yeltsin
Sunday, but more than 10,000 Yeltsin
partisans demonstrated in support.
The competing protests, less than
two months after the collapse of the
Soviet Union, were being watched as
a measure of Yeltsin’s popularity as
prices rise and living standards fall.
In a symbolic move, the Yeltsin
backers staged their demonstration at
the Russian Parliament building, where
Yeltsin led the anti-coup vigil in August
that propelled him to the leading
political role in the country.
At the parliament, which is known
as the White House, a speaker told the
cheering crowd: “We don’t want to
demonstrate. We want to work. But
we must come to the defense of the
White House!”
The hard-liners’ rally in Moscow -
where many waved the red flag of the
old union - was one of the biggest of
its kind since the coup. Recent rallies
by pro-communists and other tradi
tionalists rarely drew more than 1,000
people, so Sunday’s turnout indicated
growing support and organization
among the hard-liners.
The rally was organized by a loose
coalition of groups that include the
Russian Communist Workers’ Party,
the Moscow Labor Party and the na
tionalist movement Nashi, or Ours.
They are united by their opposition to
harsh market reforms, foreign aid and
the breakup of the old Soviet Union.
Also Sunday, a two-day confer
ence of Orthodox religious believers,
nationalists and Russian imperialists
founded the new Russian People’s
Assembly to “restore a united and
great Russia,” Russian media said.
At the hard-line rallies, anti-for
eign and anti-Semitic sentiments was
rife. “Get the Jews out of the Commu
nist Party!” one woman shouted at the
Moscow rally.
About 4,000 people rallied in St,
Petersburg, birthplace of the 1917
Bolshevik revolution, with banners
reading “Down with foreigners from
all organs of power!”
Counter-demonstrations also were
held in St. Petersburg and elsewhere,
but they appeared to be outnumbered,
as in Moscow.
Russian media, quoting police
estimates, reported the crowd size in
Red Square at roughly 120,000. But
AP reporters and photographers on
the scene said the rally at its peak
appeared to draw closer to 60,000.
Five blocks away, roughly 3,000
pro-Yeltsin demonstrators had massed
at an intersection to block the hard
liners’ route and sing a mourning
hymn at the site where three young
men were killed during the coup.
Clinton, Tsongas lead;
Kerrey gets aggressive
NASHUA, N.H. — Paul Tson
gas boasted oX momentum Sunday
heading into the final week of New
Hampshire’s leadoff Democratic
presidential primary campaign and
received for his surge a harsh at
tack from rival Bob Kerrey.
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin was home
securing his virtually certain win
in Monday’s
caucuses. Ar
kansas Gov.
Bill Clinton
also went
home, to Little
Rock, but was
due back in
New Hampshire on Monday.
Former California Gov. Jerry
Brown campaigned across Maine,
continuing his attack on the politi
cal system, saying it was prevent
ing national health insurance - and
his candidacy - from taking hold.
A new poll of likely Demo
cratic voters in New Hampshire
showed Tsongas, a former Massa
chusetts senator, benefiting from
wavering support of Clinton, whose
campaign was preoccupied this
week with questions about his use
of a deferment during the Vietnam
War.
In the Republican race, chal
lenger Patrick Buchanan cam
paigned along New Hampshire’s
seacoast as the Boston Globe-WBZ
TV survey released Sunday showed
him trailing President Bush by more
than a 2-1 margin.
Kerrey, a Nebraska senator, is
promoting himself as the Clinton
alternative, aggressively trying to
wrest the mantle of clectability - an
effort that so far has seen little
success.
“I can take it to George Bush
on foreign policy. I can take it to
George Bush on defense,” he said
during a stop at Robic’s Country
Store, a traditional stop for presi
dential hopefuls.
To get that chance, however,
Kerrey needs a strong New Hamp
shire showing.
After weeks of carefully avoid
ing attacks on regional native Tson
gas, Kerrey lashed out Sunday at
Tsongas’ claim that he is best pre
pared to be president because of
his seven years in the private sec
tor since leaving the Senate.
“He’s a lawyer, I mean, please!”
Kerrey said. “He’s a lawyer and
he’s sat on some (corporate)
boards.”
Kerrey contrasted that with his
ownership of restaurant and health
club chains and his tenure as Ne
braska governor “out there sign
ing notes and creating jobs.”
On his way to a town meeting
in Nashua, Tsongas shrugged off
the attack. “1 constantly apologize
for being a lawyer and I’m willing
to do that again,” he said.
Capital gains tax cut argued
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deni Bush and congressional Demo
crats bicker over the fairness of a
capital gains tax cut, the experts are
just as far apart on whether such a
reduction would trigger an economic
revival.
Both issues will be on the table
Wednesday when the House Ways
and Means Committee begins writing
a Democratic alternative to Bush’s
tax cut program. How the capital gains
questions arc settled could determine
whether the tax burden on families
will be reduced this year.
At slake are proposals to give a tax
credit of up to $5,000 to homebuyers
who haven’t owned a home for at
least three years; a S500-a-child in
1^1 VUJV III WIV - -- r
expanded Individual Retirement
Accounts; a temporary credit of up to
S400 a couple to partially offset So
cial Security taxes; and a variety of
incentives to encourage saving and
investment.
“A cut in the capital gains tax
increases jobs and helps just about
everyone in our country,” Bush said
in his Stale of the Union message last
month.
But the Congressional Budget
Office, after analyzing eight capital
gains studies, concluded that “the
studies ... raise doubt about whether
cutting taxes on capital gains can be
counted on to raise saving and invest
ment enough to significantly increase”
economic growth.
Study finds black crime rate
unchanged by more education
CHICAGO — Rising income and
educational levels since World War
II were accompanied by a drop in
crime rates among whiles but not
among blacks, said a study released
Sunday.
The findings challenge “one of the
most widely held assumptions of
postwar society,” namely that liberal
social programs can reduce crime by
ameliorating social and economic
injustices, said the study’s author,
Gary Lafrec of the University of New
Mexico in Albuquerque.
Lafrce also found that an increase
in the number of broken families was
not accompanied by a rise in crime
among blacks.
“Blacks were making dramatic
educational strides in the 1960s and
1970s at exactly the lime crime in
blacks was rising,” Lafrcc said. Family
income among blacks also increased
during that period, he said.
“What we’re trying to do now is
figure out why that is the case," Lafrcc
said at the annual meeting of the
American Association for the Ad
vancement of Science.
One explanation might be that ris
ing education and income levels among
blacks created expectations for jobs
that the economy couldn’t meet, he
said.
He said his findings were obtained
by correlating such things as meas
ures of education and income with
the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s
uniform crime reports.
Algerian
turmoil
rages on
ALGIERS, Algeria — The
government declared a 12-month
state of emergency Sunday to
quell spreading Muslim funda
mentalist unrestand said it would
ban the Islamic Salvation Front.
A month ago, before the start
of an intensive crackdown, the
party was on the verge of win
ning power in parliamentary
elections.
The moves by the army
backed ruling council came hours
after police raided Salvation
Front headquarters and after
clashes between fundamental
ists and security forces left about
40 dead and hundreds injured
this past week.
The emergency decree was
issued by the five-member High
State Committee and announced
on national television Sunday
evening.
Later,, the Interior Ministry
said the Salvation Front would
be dissolved because of “sub
versive actions... that seriously
threaten public order and the
state’s institutions.”
The emergency decree em
powers police and military offi
cials to set up special detention
centers, to carry out arrests and
searches without observing
normal legal procedures, and to
try detainees before military
tribunals.
All demonstrations “likely to
disturb public order” are banned.
Authorities have the power to
dissolve municipal councils.
Most of the councils have been
controlled by fundamentalists
since local elections in 1990, a
year after the Salvation Front
and other opposition parties were
legalized.
The announcement said the
emergency decree was effec
tive for one year, but could be
lifted earlier.
The Interior Ministry mean
while filed a legal complaint
against the Salvation Front. If
thecourt upholds the complaint,
the party would be banned, state
radio said.
Speculation had grown re
cently that the government would
impose a state of emergency as
part of its crackdown.
ASUN
Continued from Page 1
The resolution, passed on Jan. 29,
said that ASUN would co-sponsor, in
name. Affirmation Day on April 8.
The resolution also said that promo
tional materials for the event would
be displayed in the ASUN office.
According to ASUN bylaws, Th
omlison said, all legislation passed
by the 1991-92 senate dies when its
term ends.
Because the 1991-92 senate term
ends April 1, Thomlison said, ASUN
“exceeded its authority by entering
into a contract that it couldn T fulfill.
The use of ASUN’s name on pro
motional materials after April 1 would
be illegal, Thomlison said. He asked
the court to declare the resolution
“null and void.”
Massey said the 1992-93 senate
would not be obligated by the resolu
tion, but that the 1991-92 senate would
continue to recognize its support of
Affirmation Day.
“Although the resolution dies April
1, support stated from the ’91-92 senate
does not die,” he said.
Massey cited several examples of
resolutions passed by AS UN senators
that supported events occurring after
the senate’s term had ended.
Massey also said the years 1991
92 were part of the resolution, and
would be used on promotional mate
rials with ASUN’s name for specifi
cation.
Thomlison said that designating
the senate on promotional materials
would be “undermining the authority
of next year’s senate.”
Chief Justice Tiffany Seevcrs, a
second-year law studcntatUNL.said
the court’s decision would be revealed
Tuesday in a written statement.
i-1
Legislature
Continued from Page 1
confusion about whether people liv
ing in rural areas, especially around
Omaha, should flpply to the county
sheriff or to the city police.
Collins called LB 1034 “a clarifi
cation . .. not an expansion” of the
1991 waiting-period law. He said the
bill’s content resulted from dialogue
with public and law enforcement
officials around the state.
John Lindsey, a representative of
the National Rifle Association, said
his group supported LB 1034 because
the bill cleared up problems with the
1991 law.
Lancaster County Sheriff Tom
Casady said he thought the passage of
LB 1034 was important.
He said it was impossible for law
enforcement agencies to conduct in
two days an all-inclusive background
check for each permit application they
received.
“What we ncQded was a law to
specify exacdy what our investiga
tion would consist of,” said Casady, a
member of the Nebraska Sheriffs’
Association board of directors.
Law agencies use the Nebraska
Crime Information System, the Na
tional Crime Information Center, the
FBI and their own records to check
backgrounds, Casady said.
“We’re conducting exactly the kind
of investigation this bill proposes,”
he said.
The second Ashford bill, LB 1039,
would make possession of a gun on
the premises of a school or recog
nized youth center a felony offense.
Ashford said the bill was meant to
mirror the concept of the Crime Control
Act of 1990. The federal act prohibits
the possession or discharge of a fire
arm on or within 1,000 feet of public,
private or parochial school grounds.
Larry Roberts, deputy chief of the
Omaha Police Division, said that guns
in schools were a big problem in
Omaha.
But Joe Herrod, vice president of
the Nebraska Sportsmen’s Council,
said that if guns in schools were a
problem in Omaha, the Omaha au
thorities should have acted to remedy
the situation.
Herrod said he and his family, who
hunted and were involved in com
petitive shOQ.tingv .regularly carried
guns in their vehicles and left them
there while attending or stopping by
their schools.
Lindsey said case law suggested
that even that kind of “possession”
could be considered felonious.
Ashford said amendments to
LB 1039 would remedy wording prob
lems and help ensure that the bili
would not cause unnecessary hard
ship for people like Herrod who carry
firearms in their vehicles.
The bill was opposed by several
other witnesses, from Bellevue gun
shop owner Charles Emig, who called
LB 1039 “ill-conceived,” loCrawford
resident James Carlson, who said the
measure would be unenforceable.
But Ashford said he thought it was
his duly as a state senator to keep the
. .discussion of gun safety alive.
Nebraskan
Editor Jana Pedersen
472-1766
Diversions Editor Dtonne Seercey
Photo Chief Michelle Paulman
Night News Editors Adeana Leftln
John Adkleeon
Wendy Mott
Tom Kunz
Art Director Scott Maurer
General Manager Dan Shattll
Production Manager Katherine Pollcky
Advertising Manager Todd Sears
Sales Manager Eric Krlngel
Classified Ad Manager Annette Sue per
Publications Board
Chairman Bill Vobejda
472- 2568
Professional Adviser Don Walton
473- 7301
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