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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1993)
Indian airline crash kills 55, injures 12 AURANGABAD, India (AP) — An Indian Airlines jet carrying 118 people crashed on takeoff in this west ern city after hitting a truck beyond the runway Monday. Officials said 55 people died, but most of the 63 survi vors walked away with scratches. Twelve people were hospitalized. The Boeing 737-200 lost height after its undercarriage and a wheel hit the truck, piled high with cotton bales, just past Aurangabad’s Chitlakthana airport, 680 miles southwest of New Delhi, said S.T. Deo, airline regional director. The survivors said the jet hit a power line while losing altitude. Deo said the plane caught fire and broke into three pieces as it mashed down on its belly four miles from the airstrip. “The plane was in flames minutes after takeoff.. .1 heard a thud.. .then the plane began to break up,” survivor Nagar Sethi told United News of In dia. His nationality was not known. Passenger Niranjan Mohanka, a New York City resident, said “pas sengers at the back simply had no chance to escape.” Internal Security Minister Rajesh Pilot told Parliament one of the two engines burst into flames after take off. Foreign embassies were told that at least four U.S. citizens, two French, a Japanese and a German were on board, diplomats said. But the U.S. Embassy said it had no confirmation any Americans were on the plane. The airline said one foreigner sur vived. Airline spokesman Matin Khan told reporters in New Delhi the names of three survivors indicated they were foreigners, but he could not confirm that they were. The truck was on a road abutting the runway, Deo said. A five-foot wall separates theairficld from a high way. ‘The plane couldn’t have been more than 20 feet high when it hit the truck,” Deo said. The usual height during takeoff is from 50 to 100 feel, he said. Trucks arc routinely over loaded in India and police enforce ment is lax. Arab-lsrael peace talKs open WASHINGTON (AP) — A new round of negotiations between Israel and the Arabs is opening under the watchful eye of the Clinton adminis tration, which may do more than just glance over the shoulders of the bar gaining diplomats. In its first brush with the intrac table Arab-Isracli dispute, the admin istration has declared its intention to be a “full partner” in the talks without saying how U.S. involvement may differ from the coaxing and cajoling of the Bush administration. After a four-month recess, all the participants except possibly the Pal estinians arc understood to be eager to get down to the hard issues, and Sec retary of Stale Warren M. Christopher has tried to encourage the Palestin ians by saluting them as courageous, . and suggesting self-government could be the result. In a liule noticed speech to Arab Amcricans on Friday night, Christo pher pledged that the United States would “actually be cvcnhanded” be tween Israel, its closest friend in the region, and the Arabs who are de manding territorial concessions. On Sunday, concessions to the Palestinians came from Jerusalem. Israel said it would permit 30deportees to be repatriated and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin offered Palestinians a role in directing S75 million in invest ments toward the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinians reluctantly agreed last week to return to the talks Tues day after mounting a boycott to de mand the immediate return of the 396 exiles dispatched to Lebanon in De- . comber on suspicions,of promoting r violence. Russian opinion of Boris Yeltsin How various Russians responded, by percentage, when asked... "Do you have confidence In Russian President Boris Yeltsin?” y£s m — Sex Men 624% 37.7% Women 0 644 35.6 Noanwer 51.7 484 .. Age 18-25 68.4 31.6 25-40 66.4 33.5 40-55 62.0 37.7 55-90 58.7 414 No answer 50.9 49.1 Level of education Higher education 66.7 33.1 Secondary education 62.6 37.4 Below secondary education 60.0 39.9 No answer 484 50.0 Profession Businessman 83.8 164 Manager 64.7 354 Expert, clerk with higher education 65.7 34.0 Army officer, soldier, policeman 64.6 354 Clerk «*h secondary education 714 284 Blue colar, highly qualified 624 374 Blue colar, low qualified 60.9 39.1 Student 63.9 36.1 Pensioneer 56.6 434 Housewife 65.6 34.4 Unemployed 62.7 36.4 Noanwer 484 51.7 Regions Northwest 624 374 Central region 574 43.0 North Caucasus 534 46.6 Volga region (north) 60.8 384 Volga region (south) 684 314 Ural 72.7 274 Western Siberia 56.6 43.4 Eastern Stoeria 664 334 Far East 63.9 36.1 Moscow (city) 784 214 Volga central 57.0 43.4 Vladimir region 664 33.0 Moscow (surrounding region) 554 444 No answer 0.0 0.0 Source: An exit pot of voters on the Russian referendum, conducted Sunday by the Russian Center for Public Opinion and Market Research. Based on interviews with stout 5.000 adults after they cast their ballots. Margin of error is > plus or minus4.5percent • . rftn^rhif Yeltsin claims ‘massive support’ MOSCOW (AP) — A new round in Russia’s power struggle began Monday as Boris Yeltsin’s team claimed “massive support” from a weekend referendum while his oppo nents said the vote had hurl the coun try. Preliminary official rcsullsandexil polls showed that a majority of voters in Sunday’s referendum gave the 62 year-old Russian president a vote of confidence and endorsed his painful frcc-market reforms. Hard-liners pointed to the fact that only about 35 percent of Russia’s 105.5 million eligible voters actually expressed confidence in Yeltsin. “In less than two years after Yeltsin was elected president of Russia, mil lions of his former supporters deny him support,” said a statement by the All-People’s Union of Russia, headed by hard-line lawmaker Sergei Baburin. - Yeltsin made no public appear ances Monday, his press office said. Presidential spokesman Vyacheslav Kostikov issued a victory statement saying the results showed that Russia was rallying around Yeltsin and his reforms. “The massive support given by the people of Russia to the president and his policy show thata nationwide will for revival through democratic re forms has emerged and is strengthen ing in Russia,” Kostikov said. “The referendum demonstrated that broad circles of the population are consolidating around the president’s policy and the goals of building a great Russia,” he said. Ycl Lsin ’ s ri val, pari iament speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, said the referen dum had worsened the political crisis, which pits the president against hard line lawmakers who are steadily erod ing his authority and blocking re forms. .. “There were no clear winners or losers,” Khasbulatov said during a leadership meeting of the Supreme Soviet legislature.' V Brian Shelllto/DN “This referendum has split soci ety,” he said. “This referendum is another stage on the road of weaken ing Russia's statehood.” Kostikov shot back, saying that Khasbulatov and his allies ignored the will of the people and wcre“oulof touch with reality.” “As the Supreme Soviet leaders feel the ground slipping from under their feet, they may push the legisla tors into hasty aggressive actions that can do harm to democracy in Russia,” Kostikov warned. In a statement released by his press office, Yeltsin also rejected Khasbulatov’s interpretation. “The attempt by the Supreme So viet leadership to disrupt the expres sion of the people’s will, under the pretext that the population is tired of politics, did not succeed. Efforts to discredit the people’s (vote) will not succeed,” Yeltsin said. On Monday, Ilya Konstantinov, a conservative legislator, called for a session of the Congress of People’s Deputies to be convened as soon as official results arc announced. Pro-Yeltsin legislators urged the president to push ahead with reforms. Yeltsin has said he will also press nfor a new constitution to replace the Congress with,a Wcs)crn-stylc, bi cameral legislature.' Angry shareholders vent frustration at IBM s leaders TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Angry IBM share holders on Monday un leashed a torrent of pent up frustration at new Chairman Louis V. Gerstner Jr., who promised to revive the com puter maker but asked for patience. In just his 18th workday at IBM, Gerstner tried to use the annual meeting to focus on a broad outline of goals. Instead, he heard impassioned calls by a dozen stockholders for the ouster of the board of directors that were greeted with loud ap plause. “If I were a director I would be embarrassed toeven show up here and have my name on a list to be elected,'* said Dr. Gilbert Jannclli of Clearwater. “How can you work with that group of people when their attitudes, their truslftl decisions caused this company’s de mise?** About 2300 shareholders attended an un usually contentious meeting that reflected just how far International Business MachinesCorp. has fallen. The meeting capped a remarkable four months at 79-year-old IBM, whose founder's — II If I were a director I would be embarrassed to even show up here and have my name on a list to be elected. —Jannelli IBM shareholder -99 - credo — “Think” — set a standard of excel lence for corporate America. In addition to hiring Gerstncr as its first outsider chairman, IBM laid off workers for the first lime and lost $285 million from January through March. IBM has lost more than $7 billion in the past two years, cul.a quarter of its work force since 1987, and lost significant market share amid growing competition. The company has sought to reverse itself through restructurings that have given IBM business units more free dom. * Gcrstner, the 51-year-old former RJR Nabisco chairman, took over on April 1 after a closely watched search for a successor to now maligned former Chairman John F. Akers. Gcrstner said slow demand and poor econo mies had reshaped the computer industry, but he defended IBM’s technological and market power. “IBM has changed, but most people would say not fast enough,’’ Gcrstner said. “This slowness and failure to act quickly is really the root cause of IBM’s problems.” Gcrstner listed four priorities for 1993: com pleting major staff reductions, defining what businesses IBM will pursue, improving cus tomer relations and decentralizing. He said he hadn’t been working long enough to be more specific. “I don’t have answers for you yet and we can ’ t expect quick f xcs,” Gcrstner said. But he promised: “I can tell you the steps we will take will not be pussyfooting but bold strides.” IBM slock rose 62 1/2 cents to $48.37 1/2 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. Thai’s still well off last summer’s peak of $ 100 a share. Before the meeting, IBM’s board declared a 54 cents-per-share quarterly dividend. In Janu ary, IBM cut the dividend for the first time, from SI.21 per share. Shareholders vented anger over IBM’s fallen stock price, the rapid and drastic nature of its cuts, and a pay package under which Gerstncr can make tens of millions of dollars in stock options if the company’s stock rebounds. • Their sharpest criticisms were directed at IBM’s 18 board members. The directors were re-elected but the company did not say by how much. When a proposal came up to hall gener ous retiree benefits to directors, 28 percent of the shareholders supported it, reflecting an unusually high level of dissatisfaction. “Most of them come from the era of manual typewriters and carbon paper,” shareholder Bill Steiner complained. Homze Continued from Page 1 student and let me go home," he said. “They mistreated their own people as well as foreigners.” The souvenir Homze brought back to the university classroom from his travels is an excitement and love for Germany, but what he said the journey had taught him more than anything was about people. “I can sec the differences between culture. Behind the Coca Cola and blue jeans arc different people,” he said. “I would not be the same type of person ... had I not been there at that time.” Because he was there shortly after World War II, Homze was fascinated by Nazi Germany and an era he considers the most interest ing of the 20th century. But the quick pace of European Kjlitics makes every aspect of omze’s field exciting, he said. “I’m at an advantage as a teacher because I’m not teaching about people like Abraham Lincoln,” he said. “Most of the people I talk about are still alive because it is contemporary Europe,” he said. Hom/.e said his subject was too interesting to be bound within the straight and proper lecture, he said. “Every lecture is kind of like a performance because this is exciting stuff,” he said. If he can generate enough excitement about German history to gel students caught up in what he’s teaching, Homzc said, then he feels he’s done his job. Homzc’s favorite subject may be Nazi Germany, but his favorite students were those he taught in the 1960s. He said he enjoyed seeing people trying to figure out what’s going on politically. But the hippies of the past have been replaced in his heart by the young students of today. Homze said he loved teaching freshmen courses.. “Freshmen aren’t quite as jaded,’’ Hom/.c said. ‘They go into a senior-year slump where they * think they know everything and then they gel here and think, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know anything!’ “They have a curiosity and an eagerness to know.’’ Curiosity is something Homzc can relate to. He said his own eagerness to know everything about German history was unlimited. His office is filled from floor to ceiling with books on European history, several of which he wrote. He has researched his next book, about the German air industry during World War II, for more than eight years. “What could be more interesting than Hitler?” he asked. “It’s got great issues — moral, cultural and economic issues. “You can wake up each morning and think, ‘What are the Germans up to today?’”