Separatists take hostages
Group thinks Texas
should be an
independent country.
' FORT DAVIS, Texas (AP) — A
militant separatist group that believes
Texas should be an independent na
tion took two neighbors hostage Sun
day in retaliation for the arrest of two
members by police.
Richard McLaren, the self-styled
“ambassador” of the Republic of
Texas, told San Antonio radio station
WOAI that the group would end its
standoff at the couple’s home in ex
change for the release of Republic
members under arrest and another key
concession.
“We want them to... agree to a ref
erendum to allow Texans to vote on
the independence issue,” McLaren
said from his group's headquarters in
a remote area of the Davis Mountains,
75 miles north of the Mexico border.
Dozens of police had surrounded
the area since the standoff began at
noon. The FBI was also called.
The armed separatists stormed the
home of Joe Rowe and his wife, M.A.
Rowe, firing gunshots, authorities
said. Rowe was injured by broken
shards of glass in the gunfire, but “de
clined” to be exchanged for a volun
teer firefighter who offered to replace
him, a man identifying himself as
White Eagle, a chief aide to McLaren,
told WOAI.
Earlier Sunday, McLaren said the
group exchanged Rowe for a volun
teer. McLaren said the hostages were
being held under the rules of interna
tional law.
“They’re in Mr. Rowe’s house and
being well taken care of,” McLaren
said
A telephone call to the Rowe home
Sunday was answered by a man who
identified himself as Lt. Keys of the
Republic of Texas Militia. He referred
all questions to McLaren.
“I can’t conduct a military opera
tion and answer your questions at the
same time,” he told The Associated
Press.
The Republic of Texas contends
that the annexation of Texas as a state
in 1845 was illegal, that Texas should
remain an independent nation, and
that the group’s leaders constitute the
legitimate government of the indepen
dent nation of Texas.
Texas was an independent repub
lic from 1836, when it broke away
from Mexico in the Texas Revolution,
until 1845.
Nike shoemakers win pay 1
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A
wage dispute at a factory that makes
Nike shoes was resolved Saturday,
with employees winning a 10.7 per
cent pay increase, a Nike spokesman
said.
In demonstrations on Friday, work
ers burned cars and ransacked the
factory’s offices, saying the company
wasn’t paying them a $2.50-a-day
minimum wage. The factory was
closed for the weekend while officials
met with union representatives. Nike
was monitoring the talks but was not
involved in the negotiations.
Almost half the factory’s 10,000
employees took part in the demonstra
tion at Tangerang, an industrial town
outside Jakarta, according to Indone
sian media.
It was the second protest in a week
against PT Hardaya Aneka Shoe In
dustry, which owns the factory that
makes shoes under contract for Nike
Inc., based in Portland, Ore.
Nike spokesman Jim Small said
the settlement was a relief, but raised
concerns.
Small said wages in Indonesia
have increased threefold in the last two
years and “there’s concern what that
does to the market — whether or not
Indonesia could be reaching a point
where it’s pricing itself out of the
market,” Small said.
Nike will not pay more to contract
with the factory as a result of the in
creased wages, Small said.
Indonesia, which allows only one
government-controlled labor union,
has been accused of holding down
wages to attract foreign investment.
Independent labor organizers have
been arrested, beaten and sometimes
killed.
The government acknowledges
that its minimum wage is sufficient to
pay only about 90 percent of the liv
ing expenses of a single person.
Nike and its competitor Reebok
have denied accusations that they pay
Indonesian workers too little and tol
erate poor working conditions and
other abuses at Indonesian factories
run by contractors.
Canada deploys navy
against river flood
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) —
Canada’s military sent navy rescue
units and thousands of soldiers Sun
day to meet the flood pouring down
the Red River from the United States,
expanding its largest deployment in
20 years.
Today more than 6,700 military
personnel were expected to be in
southern Manitoba, helping to build
dikes, guard evacuated towns and
search for people stranded by the
region’s worst flood of the century.
The force includes 200 sailors
equipped with inflatable boats that were
used in the Adriatic Sea during the
Bosnian war. Also coming were air
force traffic controllers assigned to en
force a no-fly zone and keep airborne
sightseers from congesting the sky over
the flooded Red River Valley.
The front edge of the river’s flood
i--—
crest, coming in from North Dakota and
Minnesota, reached the border town of
Emerson, Manitoba, but a huge swath
of southern Manitoba already was
turned into a lake covering everything
but a few dike-protected towns.
The lake is expected eventually to
cover 700 square miles.
Provincial officials Sunday ordered
the last 400 civilians lingering in the
valley to leave immediately. He said
state-of-emergency measures empow
ered police to remove them by force
and arrest them if necessary.
The water was still about 3 feet
below the top of the dike protecting
Emerson.
“We’re going to survive this,” said
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt.
John Fleming, one of the men on duty
at Emerson. “There’s no doubt in
anybody’s mind behind this wall.”
_ |
I
[
There Really Is A Difference.
“iBonus Bucks " in
addition to cash
for your textbooks...
No one gives
you more than
Nebraska
Bookstore!
uuesuons r uommems r ask ror tne
appropriate section editor at 472
2588 or e-mail dn® unlinfb.unl.edu.
Editor: DougKouma A&E Editor: Jeff Randall
Managing Editor: Paula Lavigne Photo Director: Scott Bruhn
Assoc. News Editors: Joshua Gillin Art Director: Aaron Steckelberg
Chad Lorenz Web Editor: Michelle Collins
Night Editor: Anne Hjersman Night News
Opinion Editor: Anthony Nguyen Editors: Bryce Glenn
AP Wire Editor: John Fulwider Leanne Sorensen
Copy Desk Chief: Julie Sobczyk Rebecca Stone
Sports Editor: Trevor Parks Amy Taylor
FAX NUMBER: 472-1761
The Daily Nebraskan (USPS144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board,
Nebraska 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 Nebras
kan by calling 472-2588.The public has access to the Publications Board.
Subscription price is $55 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, Neb.
ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1997 DAILY NEBRASKAN
x -**.
"Bucks Given Are Bucks Saved,
•Sell your textbooks to Nebraska
/ Bookstore before May 11th, 1997 and
^ receive “Bonus Bucks.”
•Get one “Bonus Buck” for every $10 we give
you when you sell your textbooks back to
Nebraska Bookstore.
1
•Use “Bonus Bucks" to purchase textbooks
anytime until September 7,1997.*
•We’ll double the value of “Bonus Bucks"
when applied toward your Fall Textbook
Reservation at Nebraska Bookstore the day you
sell your textbooks back.
•Reservation details on back side.
'One “Bonus Buck' per textbook when purchasing without a reservation.
i— — — — — — — — -i
TEXTBOOK |
RESERVATION CARD -1 |
Fill it out aad briag it ia by I
August 18,1997 to reserve your books. i
(Please type or print) .
I Name_ |
I
* Campus Address_■
| City _State_Zip_ j
| Permanent Address_*_
Phone ( )_Work- |
!
| Student ID/_PIN
| |
I
I Your signature gives Nebraska Bookstore the authority to cancel other reservations Any information
I provided to Nebraska Bookstore will be kept confidential and will not be sold or shared.
---' ]