By The
Associated Press
Edited by Jennifer Mlratsky
News Digest
Friday, April 14, 1995 Page 2
Citadel ordered to give
women military training
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A fed
eral appeals court opened the way
Thursday for Shannon Faulkner to
become the first woman to take part in
military training at The Citadel.
A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals panel agreed that
South Carolina’s all-male military
college violated her rights under the
equal protection clause of the 14th
Amendment in refusing to admit her.
The 2-1 decision upheld an order
last July by U.S. District Judge C.
Weston Houck, who ended 151 years
of all-male military education at the
Charleston school.
Faulkner has been attending classes
at The Citadel since January 1994
under an order from Houck. But
Faulkner had not been allowed to
takepart in military training or wear a
uniform while the case was being ap
pealed.
The appeals court ordered the
school to admit Faulkner to the corps
of cadets in August unless it can come
up with an alternative plan to give
women military-style education by
then.
‘Tm very optimistic
about getting in ..”
m
SHANNON FAULKNER
First woman at Citadel
But the panel also said it was un
likely the school could have such a
plan ready by the fall, when Faulkner
will be a junior. Cadets cannot begin
the program after their junior year.
“We’re basically where we were
last summer, playing beat the clock
again,” said Faulkner, a 20-year-old
sophomore. “I’m very optimistic about
getting in, it’s just how are things
going to work out.”
Her mother, Sandy, reached by
phone at the family’s Powdersville
home, let out a little cheer and laughed
when told of the ruling but would not
comment further.
The Citadel’s lawyer, Dawes
Cooke, said school officials have been
working on an alternative plan.
Clinton won’t sign pledge
that promises no-tax hike
WASHINGTON—Calling it a
matter of principle, President
Clinton said Thursday he won ’ t si gn
a pledge to refrain from raising
taxes. To do so, he said, would run
the risk of “breeding cynicism”
among Americans.
In atelevision interview, Clinton
also promised to examine Republi
can proposals to scrap the current
income tax system in favor of a flat
tax, but warned that most studies
suggest such a move would boost
the deficit and increase taxes on
Americans earning less than
$200,000 a year.
“I’m going to put a pencil to a
piece of paper and figure out how it
works,” Clinton told CNN.
Clinton said he supports efforts
to simplify the tax system, but
warned, “We must not explode the
deficit. And we must not have a big
“I’m going to put a
pencil to a piece of
paper and figure out
how it works. ”
■
Bill Clinton
U.S. President
tax shift from people making over
$200,000 to all people making un
der $200,000. That’s not the fair
thing to do.”
Clinton declined to make a
pledge against raising taxes, an is
sue that has surfaced in recent presi
dential elections, particularly
among Republicans. President Bush
look me pieuge in ivoo anu won
the presidency, but he lost his sup
port, and the 1992 election, after
raising taxes.
Just last week, Senate Major
ity Leader Bob Dole of Kansas,
who is seeking the Republican
presidential nomination, agreed
to sign the pledge that he had
refused to embrace in 1988, a de
cision that contributed to his loss
to Bush in New Hampshire’s lead
off primary.
“On principle, I think a presi
dent runs the risk of breeding cyni
cism to sign that kind of pledge
when you have no idea what will
come forward,” Clinton said.
In a wide-ranging interview, the
president rejected suggestions that
he is too accommodating and shuns
confrontation with Republicans,
saying, “I like to fight. That’s how
I got elected president.”
News... _
in a Minute
Drug will reduce heart attacks
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is allowing
makers of the anti-cholesterol drug Pravachol to advertise that it helps
reduce heart attacks by 67 percent.
The labeling change makes Pravachol the only cholesterol-lowering
medicine to state that it cuts heart attacks, a long-sought asset in the
fierce marketing battle between cholesterol medicines.
But it does not mean doctors will use the Bristol-Myers Squibb drug
any differently—it is still just for heart patients who have not been able
to lower very high cholesterol levels with diet alone.
Only a fourth of U.S. heart patients take cholesterol medication
because although the drugs do decrease the fatty substance in the blood,
there was no proof it actually saved lives.
Then last fall, a landmark study indicated Merck’s competitor Zocor
reduced deaths by 30 percent. The Pravachol change stems from newer
studies showing that drug helped reduce by 67 percent both fatal and
nonfatal heart attacks. ■'<
Iraa offered new plan to sell oil
UNITED NATIONS—The United States and its allies on Thursday
offered Iraq a plan to let it sell oil to buy food, medicine and other
humanitarian supplies for its people.
The Security Council was expected to vote on the proposal Friday.
Iraqi Deputy Premier Tariq Aziz, who is in New York, was consulting
with his government on whether it would accept terms of the draft
resolution, a British diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
The plan aims to deflect criticism that ordinary Iraqis are suffering
from U.N. economic sanctions in place since Saddam Hussein’s army
invaded Kuwait in August 1990.
Chances for lifting sanctions — which include a ban on oil sales —
dimmed this week after U.N. weapons inspectors said Iraq may be
making germ warfare agents.
Quake jolts Texas, New Mexico
EL PASO, Texas — An earthquake rocked Texas and New Mexico
Thursday night, rattling dishes and jolting residents.
The 7:30 p.m. quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6, was felt as
far north as Roswell, N.M., and as far south as San Antonio, according
to the National Earthquake Center in Golden, Colo.
Some minor damage was reported, but no injuries, officials said.
Concerned residents swamped law enforcement agencies with calls.
The epicenter was 20 miles east-southeast of Alpine.
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Mistake-prone hospital stripped
in accreditation funds
of millions
TAMPA, Fla. -— The hospital
where a man lost the wrong leg and
another patient was mistakenly re
moved from a ventilator was stripped
Thursday of the accreditation it needs
to continue getting millions in federal
funds.
The Joint Commission on Accredi
tation of Healthcare Organizations
took the action 10 days after a surprise
inspection. The panel issued a state
ment announcing the punishment and
wouldn’t elaborate on its findings.
University Community hospital, one
of three major hospitals in the Tampa
area, has 20 days to appeal. In the mean
time, it will retain the accreditation it
received two years ago with high marks
—a score of 95 out of 100.
Without accreditation, the private,
not-for-profit hospital cannot qualify
for Medicare and Medicaid reimburse
ment. The hospital last year received
$52 million from the government pro
grams, accounting for about one-third
of its patient revenue.
“We do not treat these incidents
lightlyKen Lightfoot, the hospital ’ s
board chairman, said. “However, by
singling out UCH, the industry regu
lators are refusing to accept the fact
that all, and I repeat all, hospitals have
similar patient incidents.”
The problems at the 424-bed hos
pital began Feb. 20, when doctors
amputated below the knee the wrong
leg of 51-year-old diabetic Willie
King.
Less than two weeks later, Leo
Alfonso, 77, died after a technician
mistakenly removed him from a ven
tilator, thinking he was another pa
tient.
Later investigations revealed other
mistakes, including an arthroscopic
surgery performed on the wrong knee
of a patient in February and a tubal
ligation performed without consent
that left a woman partially sterilized.
The American Medical Associa
tion wants to use the hospital as an
example of how a hospital should not
operate. It has called on the private
accreditation board to release its find
ings and recommendations.
“Maybe the situation at the Tampa
hospital was unique,” said AMA Presi
dent-elect Lonnie Bristow. “But if it’s
not, we want to make sure everyone
can leam from it.”
Another threat to the hospital’s
funding looms from the federal Health
Care Financing Administration, which
controls distribution of Medicare and
Medicaid money. It has set an April
20 deadline for a state team to inspect
the hospital and determine if it has
problems that pose an “immediate and
serious” threat to patients.
Six days ago, the state banned all
elective surgery at the hospital.
Florida’s Agency for Health Care
Administration shut down the
hospital’s operating rooms for all but
emergency cases after investigators
last week discovered what it said were
sloppy procedures that jeopardized
patient safety .
State officials said the ban wouldn’t
be lifted until the operating rooms
were deemed safe and until staff mem
bers and all 326 surgeons who use the
hospital received a review of proper
operating room safety procedures.
r
1
U.S. wages assault on Japan’s autos
WASHINGTON—The Clinton
administration has decided to wage
an all-out assault on the heart of
Japan’s industrial might, its auto
industry. The move could turn into
the most bruising trade battle of all
between the world’s two largest
economies.
Administration officials said the
president’s National Economic
Council has given the go-ahead to
drawing up a target list of more than
$1 billion in Japanese imports that
could be subject to punitive tariffs
of 100 percent if the two countries
fail to agree in current talks.
The list of potential targeted
products will be released in early
May, if talks have not made signifi
cant progress by that time. The sanc
tions would go into effect after a
3 0-day public comment period, said
the officials, who spoke on condi
tion of anonymity.
The dispute involves efforts to
open Japan’s market for autos and
auto parts, a sector that accounted
for more than 60 percent of Iasi
year’srecord $66 billion U.S. trade
deficit with Japan. Japanese
automakers have fought fiercely foi
years to protect their home market.
The administration decision fol
lows months of internal debate. One
side argued that the hardline bar
gaining stance has proven to be
counterproductive and was upset
ting currency markets, which have
pushed the dollar to record lows
this year against the Japanese yen.
Others in the administration con
tended that now is the time to pres
sure Japan because of the dollar’s
weakness against the yen. They say
Japan must recognize that the only
way to restrain the yen’s rising
strength, which makes Japanese
exports more expensive, was to re
duce the country’s huge trade sur
pluses.
White House press secretary
Mike McCurry refused to disclose
specifics of the administratin’s
decisions. He said, “We believe
that resolving these imbalances
through negotiation is the best way
to go, but if that fails, we will have
to consider other options” avail
able under U.S. trade law.
The current negotiations, whicl
resumed Thursday in Washington
cover the sale of auto parts for in
stallation at the factory and as re
placement parts and the sale of ve
hicles.
U.S. Trade Representative
Mickey Kantor, signaling a tough
new tone, said last week that the
United States would insist that
breakthroughs be reached in all
three areas, which negotiators have
been bickering over for the past 20
months as part of“framework” talks.
The threat of sanctions worked
earlier in the year in a trade dispute
with China. The administration
moved to impose punitive tariffs on
$ 1.08 billion worth of Chinese goods
before reaching agreement in a dis
pute involving theft of U.S. copy
rights and patents, which at the time
was the largest amount in trade sanc
tions ever threatened by the United
States. One source said the target list
against Japan would be slightly higher
than the Chinese figure.
The U.S. side is hopingthe threat
against Japan will work as well as
the Chinese showdown. However,
the Japanese have repeatedly said
they will not be subjected to what
, they term unilaterally bullying on
■ the part of the United States.