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?’”
