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News Digest Tuesday, October 31, 1995 Page 2 Quebec votes to keep Canada together Bouchard urges secessionists to ‘keep the faith’ MONTREAL — By a perilously narrow margin, Quebeckers heeded pleas for national unity and voted against secession Monday, sparing Canada a traumatic fracture but leav ing the French-speaking province spl it down the middle. Losing by only 1 percent of the vote, the separatists quickly and defi antly vowed to try again for indepen dence. “To see it escape our grasp is hard to bear,” said the separatists’ charis matic leader, Lucien Bouchard. “Let’s keep the faith, because the next time will be the right time. And the next time could come quicker than you think.” In nearly complete returns from 22,400 polling stations, the federal ists led by 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent —2,3 50,65 7 votes to 2,301,917 votes. About 82 percent of Quebeckers are French-speaking, and roughly 60 percent of them voted for separation. As expected, roughly 90 percent of English-speaking and immigrant Que beckers voted No. Federalists celebrated raucously at their headquarters, waving Canada’s maple leaf flag amid a flurry of bal loons. Not all was civil: Hundreds of Yes and No supporters taunted one another in downtown Montreal, and a dozen came to blows after the results were announced. Other separatist campaigners — who came closer than many had dreamed a few months ago—wept on each other’s shoulders. But they came to life, cheering proudly, when Bouchard congratulated them for im proving so dramatically from a 60-40 percent defeat in a 1980 independence referendum. “We roll up our sleeves and we try again,” said Bouchard’s partner, Que bec Premier Jacques Parizeau. “We won’t wait 15 years this time.... We want our country, and we will get it.” Even if another referendum is not Quebec’s close vote A Yes vote was for secession from Canada. Nearly all polling stations had reported. □ Yes 49.5% Ef^No 50.5% Source: AP DN Graphic imminent, there will be immediate calls for constitutional reform. “Canada on paper may still be a country — but there’s something wrong with this country,” said Louise Beaudoin, culture minister in Quebec’s separatist government. “We had 9 percent more than we had in 1980 — something has to be done.” Some leading backers of the feder alist side also said the narrow result should fuel the nationwide call for reforms that would end decades of constitutional wrangling. “We have to put an end to to this business, the referendum,” said Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow. “We have to make accom modation with respect to the province of Quebec. My part of the world wants change.” Comments like that will place heavy pressure on Prime Minister Jean Chretien, a Quebecker committed to national unity, to develop some strat egy to meet the demands for change. Chretien was to convene his Cabinet on Tuesday to assess the impact of the vote. The vote will leave scars in Que bec. But it will hearten the throngs of Canadians from other provinces who joined marches, rallies and vigils last week beseeching Quebec to stay. A separatist victory would have spelled economic turmoil for Canada — and perhaps the greatest political crisis of its history. It would have lost one-fourth of its people and one-sixth of its land—a fracture without prece dent among prosperous Western de mocracies. The turnout, after a passionate cam paign, was exceptionally large: 92 percent of the roughly 5 million regis tered voters. In Verdun, a working-class suburb of Montreal, unemployed Bertrand Fontaine, 48, explained his Yes vote. “I worked 18 years for a company, and now I’ve been unemployed for two years,” he said. “That’s enough. Maybe with new companies here, I’d have new chances. I have nothing to lose.” Annette Dupuis, 83, said she was proud to cast a No vote in the Montreal suburb of Anjou. “My country is Canada,” she said. “This is very important to me. If the Yes vote wins... I will shed tears. It will be the death of Canada.” Bouchard said all Quebeckers should take pride in the campaign — one of the few times in world history where citizens were offered a vote on whether to secede. “We demonstrated in Quebec that we are a democracy, that we can talk to each other,” Bouchard said. House to peacemakers: Don’t presume US. troops will go to Bosnia WASHINGTON—Brushing aside administration objections, the House passed a non-binding resolution Mon day telling Bosnia peace negotiators they should not presume U.S. troops will be available to enforce an agree ment. The House acted two days be fore talks were to begin in Dayton, Ohio. Before the vote, U.S. mediator Ri chard Holbrooke said supporters of the House resolution were “doing grave damage to the national inter ests.” He said the negotiations would open “without any assurance of suc cess.” The resolution said it was the sense of the House “there should not be a presumption” that enforcement of a peace agreement “will involve deploy ment of United States armed forces on the ground in the territory of the Re public of Bosnia.” The resolution also said no troops should be sent to Bosnia “until the Congress has approved such a de ployment.” The resolution was adopted on a vote of 315-103. The House resolution needs no fur ther action and there was no compa rable bill in the Senate. At a news conference before he left Washington, the assistant secretary of state said his chances of persuading the presidents of Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia to reach an agreement heavily depended on showing “some Ameri can and allied leadership.” “This kind of resolution is ex tremely unhelpful,” he said.“It would weaken the United States.” But Rep. Stephen Buyer, R-Ind., a Gulf War veteran who was one of the principal sponsors of the resolution, said “U.S. troops will become tar gets” if they are sent to Bosnia. Opposing the resolution, Minority Whip David Bonior, D-Mich., referred to reports ofatrocities against Bosnian Muslims and asked, “Will the blood shed continue? We have turned our backs long enough.” President Clinton has said he would commit up to 25,000 U.S. troops to a NATO peacekeeping force if all war ring parties in Bosnia agree to a peace agreement. Clinton has said he would seek agreement for any deployment from Congress, but said he did not believe he was required to do so. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R Ga., told reporters: “It would be nice if the president told us what he in tended to do and asked our advice before he did it.” And Senate Republican leader Bob Dole of Kansas said, “The president ought to persuade you, the American people.” Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, the senior Democrat on the House Inter national Relations Committee, said that over the weekend Secretary of State Warren Christopher and White House National Security adviser An thony Lake tried to reach Gingrich. “I am not aware their calls were returned,” said Hamilton. Holbrooke said there could be no peace in Bosnia without U.S. troops under NATO command and prepared to retaliate instantly if attacked. He rejected any comparisons to Vietnam, where he worked as a young foreign service officer. “We are not going to send people into war,” he said. “We are going to send Americans into peace.” One-third or protected species still losing numbers, report says WASHINGTON — About one third of the plants and animals pro tected by the Endangered Species Act are believed to be still declining in numbers, the Interior Department said Monday. Most of the species continuing to decline are among those more recently listed for special protection and where recovery programs have not yet been fully implemented. The law, however, has kept hun dreds of species from becoming ex tinct. Only seven species listed be tween 1968 and 1993 are officially considered as extinct, said a report released by Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “The fact that more than 99 percent of all endangered species continue to exist is one of the successes of the endangered species program,” said Mollie Beattie, the agency’s director. The report said 58 percent of 106 species listed from 1968 to 1973 are considered “stable and increasing,” “The fact that more than 99 percent of all endangered species continue to exist is one of the successes of the endangered species program. ” MOLLIE BEATTIE U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service o'* f compared with only 22 percent of the 294 species listed from 1989 and 1993. In many cases recovery programs have not yet had time to work among species listed in recent years, the re port said. The report “shows we can save endangered species, but it takes time,” George Frampton, assistant interior secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, told reporters. He criticized Congress for cutting money for species-recovery programs and for pre-listing of species that may be in the early stages of decline, call ing thi s “wrongheaded” because i t wi 11 prevent officials from heading off fu- ' ture problems. Asked for an overall assessment of endangered-species protection, Frampton said it’s “a mixed picture” because of the proposed budget cuts being sought by the Republican-run Congress and legislative proposals to overhaul the Endangered Species Act. Frampton said legislation intro duced in both the House and Senate would “basically wipe out” recovery efforts and place the endangered spe cies protection program “under a seri ous cloud.” News ^ — in a Minute'* Court to review rulings in crack cases • WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court-tackled a sensitive racial issue Monday, agreeing to decide whether federal prosecutors must respond to accusations that they discriminate against blacks in crack cocaine cases. The justices said they will review rulings that threw out federal indictments against five men who had been charged with trafficking in crack in the Los Angeles area. The men said they were chosen for federal prosecution because they are black, and federal prosecutors initially refused to rebut the allega tions. The issue for the nation’s highest court is not whether racially biased prosecution took place, but whether lower courts wrongly required the federal government to combat the selective-prosecution allegations. A decision is expected by July. Yeltsin’s political involvement unclear MOSCOW — Boris Yeltsin’s prime minister gave mixed signals about the hospitalized president’s health Monday, insisting he was fine but disclosing that top Cabinet officials were no longer reporting to him. Adding to the uncertainty of Russia’s political scene, major parties were threatening to boycott Dec. 17 parliament elections to protest a ruling this weekend that disqualified a top reform party. Yeltsin is hospitalized with heart trouble for the second time in four months, and it isn’t clear how involved he is in government affairs. “We coordinate on important issues,” said Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin during a tour of a Moscow oil refinery. Yeltsin’s wife, Naina, attended the opening of a cosmetic boutique and said, “He’s better.” Doctors have allowed Yeltsin to see only family members and his politically powerful bodyguard. But his deputy chief of staff, Sergei Krasavchenko, insisted there was no “information barrier” between Yeltsin and his aides. Volunteers try to douse Devil’s Night DETROIT — Hundreds of vacant buildings were razed so they couldn’t be set on fire, and about 35,000 people patrolled the streets Monday in this year’s drive against the destructive Devil’s Night tradition. “The primary thing is to keep the fires away, to protect lives and property,” said Cliff Russell, a spokesman for Mayor Dennis Archer. Devil’s Night fires peaked at 297 in 1985, but declined after then Mayor Coleman Young enlisted thousands of Detroiters to safeguard their city. This year, at least 25,000 volunteers signed up to patrol streets and about 35,000 turned out. Netiraskan FAX NUMBER 472-1761 The Daily NebraskanfUSPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Ne braska Union 34, 1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during the academic year; weekly during summer sessions. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Tim Hedegaard, 436-9253,9 a.m.- - 11 p.m. Subscription price is $50 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St.,Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1995 DAILY NEBRASKAN