Bush, Gore win in Delaware
McCain finishes second in primary despite not campaigning in state
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -
Republican George W. Bush won
Delaware’s presidential primary
Tuesday and earned a badly needed
boost into a Southern showdown, even
as antagonist John McCain burnished
his insurgent candidacy by finishing
second in a state where he did not cam
paign.
“I think this is a piece of good news
that will buoy our supporters,” the
Texas governor told The Associated
Press after securing the state’s 12 dele
gates.
McCain, who skipped Delaware to
focus on the critical Feb. 19 primary in
South Carolina, attributed his totals to
the momentum generated by his shel
lacking of Bush in New Hampshire’s
leadoff primary last week.
“It’s bound to give us a boost,” the
Arizona senator told The AP. “I think
there are some good signs for us, but I
think we still have a long, long way to
go. I’m still the underdog.”
With 26 of 28 precincts reporting,
the Texas governor had 51 percent of
the votes and McCain 25 percent, a
solid victory for the national front-run
ner. Though far behind Bush, the
Arizonan did surprisingly well for a
candidate who didn’t visit or spend
money in the state.
By contrast, conservative Steve
Forbes had a disappointing 20 percent
after winning the state’s primary in
1996 and campaigning heavily in the
state this year. He will be under pres
sure to pull out of the race.
Former ambassador Alan Keyes
had just 4 percent of the vote.
Democrats voted Saturday in
Delaware, giving Vice President A1
Gore an easy victory over Bill Bradley.
Exit polls in Delaware suggested
McCain benefited from a wave of
post-New Hampshire publicity:
Almost half of his supporters decided
to vote for him in the week since that
primary. And a quarter of his backers
were new voters who didn’t vote in the
1996 primary.
•• I think this is a piece of good news
that will buoy our supporters.”
George W. Bush
Republican presidential candidate
The surveys showed Bush did best
among voters who are middle class,
elderly, conservative and believe he is
likely to win the presidency. McCain
voters tended to be affluent, well-edu
cated and self-identified independents
and moderates who said they were
looking for a candidate who stands up
for what he believes.
Forbes, who has pushed for a flat
tax since his failed 1996 run, did well
among voters who listed taxes as their
top concern.
McCain’s victory in New
Hampshire erased Bush’s lead in South
Carolina and dramatically shrunk his
advantage in California, Michigan,
New York and national polls, as he
sought to draw new and independent
voters into the GOP fold.
Looking ahead to South Carolina,
Bush and McCain intensified their
rivalry with bitterly personal ads.
The Texas governor’s spot accuses
McCain of hypocrisy over campaign
finance reform. McCain says in his
new ad that Bush “twists the truth like
Clinton.”
The overheated rhetoric under
scored what is at stake in upcoming
contests. Despite his financial and
organizational advantages, Bush faces
a serious threat from the Arizona sena
tor. And McCain, with just one victory
under his belt, can’t afford losses to his
party’s front-runner.
Lebanon hit by Israeli airstrikes
■ Peace process breaks
down as Israel bombs
Lebanese border.
KIRYAT SHEMONA, Israel (AP)
- Tens of thousands of Israelis living
near the Lebanon border huddled in
underground shelters or fled south out
of rocket range Tuesday, fearing
reprisals by Lebanese guerrillas for the
heaviest Israeli bombardment in eight
months.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak
ordered a military state of emergency
along the border, a sigathat Israel was
preparing for extended fighting.
Hezbollah guerrillas on Tuesday killed
an Israeli soldier - the sixth in two
weeks - only hours after Israeli
airstrikes cut electricity across parts of
Lebanon.
“In all that is connected with the
protection of our people, our settle
ments and our soldiers, we will do
everything required,” Barak told resi
dents of Kiryat Shmona who had spent
the night in shelters.
In its second night of attacks,
Israel’s air force struck a Hezbollah
offices in the coastal city of Tyre and
the guerrilla stronghold of Iqlim al
Tuffah, Lebanese security officials
said. At least two people were wound
ed.
The Israeli army confirmed the two
attacks on Iqlim al-Tuffah but identi
fied the other target as a Hezbollah
radar station.
Israeli leaders blamed Syria for the
latest flare-up and said peace talks will
not resume with Damascus until it ends
the wave of Lebanese guerrilla attacks.
Syria is the main power-broker in
Lebanon, and Israel says it encourages
the violence.
The airstrikes “signal that... the
continuation of Hezbollah action with
Syrian encouragement and Lebanese
government praise, must be stopped,”
said Barak’s foreign minister, David
Levy.
Syria’s state media warned that the
bombing could hurt the peace process.
“Bombs and missiles are actually
striking the already stalled peace
process and destroying all prospects of
peace in the region,” the English-lan
guage Syria Times said.
The airstrikes early Tuesday
destroyed three power stations at
Jamhour near Beirut, in the northern
mountains east of the port city of
Tripoli and in the eastern Bekaa Valley
town of Baalbek, a Hezbollah guerrilla
stronghold where a base for the group
also was targeted. The base remained
sealed and damage could not be
assessed.
Fifteen civilians were wounded in
Baalbek and were treated at hospitals
for various injuries from broken glass,
debris and shrapnel. Parts of Lebanon
were left without electricity and severe
rationing was imposed.
The airstrikes were the harshest
since a similar strafing by the outgoing
hard-line government, just before
Barak took office in July.
The escalation in attacks on Israeli
troops staffing a buffer zone in
Lebanon’s south coincided with the
collapse in Syrian-Israel peace in mid
January.
Syria wants a prior commitment
from Israel that it will withdraw from
the disputed Golan Heights before talks
ensue; Israel refuses, and says the
resumption of violence is a crude effort
to get Israel to cave in.
Barak was getting closer to playing
his own card against Syria - a unilater
al withdrawal from Lebanon that would
leave Syria without its single most
effective method of pressuring Israel,
and would raise uncomfortable ques
tions about the presence of 30,000
Syrian troops in Lebanon.
“If we will not reach an agreement
(with Syria) in the next two months, I
believe -1 know - that the Israel gov
ernment will meet and decide if we will
withdraw unilaterally,” Cabinet minis
ter Haim Ramon, a Barak confidant,
told The Associated Press. Ramon is in
favor of a unilateral pullout, and says
most other ministers are as well.
While such talk could influence a
Syria that is eager to end its internation
al isolation, it will have little influence
on the Hezbollah.
Should the violence torpedo the
peace, that would sit well with a mili
tant group that negates the very exis
tence of the Jewish state.
* f r-' ****** m rw !•*%
| i** #vl: I Sf^f t“* -1
lllMt Nfec Aby.lM At ■» A 5S tbiw/A A •£>.
Partly cloudy / Scattered showers
high 58, low 35 high 51, low 25
Nebraskan
Editor: Josh Funk
Managing Editor: Lindsay Young Act farttL annrnnriato c<Jtinn nHitnr at
Associate News Editor: Dane Stickney Ask for *** ed,tor at
Associate News Editor: Diane Broderick ' .{ y~lr , .
Opinion Editor: JJ. Harder ore-maildn@uni.edu.
Sports Editor: Sam McKewon
A&E Editor: Sarah Baker General Manager: Daniel Shattil
Copy Desk Co-Chief: Jen Walker Publications Board Jessica Hofmann,
Copy Desk Co-Chief: Josh Krauter Chairwoman: (402) 477-0527
Photo Chief: Mike Warren Professional Adviser: Don Walton,
Design Co-Chief: Diane Broderick (402) 473-7248
Design Co-Chief: Tim Karstens Advertising Manager: Nick Partsch,
‘Art Director: Melanie Falk (402) 472-2589
Web Editor: Gregg Steams Asst Ad Manager: Jamie Yeager
Asst Web Editor: Jewel Mlnarik Classifleid Ad Manager: Nichole Lake
Fax number: (402) 472-1761
World Wide Web: www.dailyneb.com
The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by tne UNL Publications Board, Nebraska
Union 20,1400R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during the academic year;
weekly during the summer sessions.The public has access to the Publications Board.
Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by calling
(402) 472-2588.
Subscriptions are $60 for one year.
Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 20,1400 R St..
Lincoln NE 68588-0448. Periodical postage paid at Lincoln, NE.
ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 2000
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
Navy seeks broken
piece of Alaska plane
rUK.1 MUtMtMt., Cailt. (Ar) -
The Navy will try to find a piece that
may have broken off the Alaska
Airlines plane as Flight 261 began its
fatal plunge into the Pacific Ocean, the
National Transportation Safety Board
chief said Tuesday.
A loud noise heard on the cockpit
' voice recorder corresponds to radar
signals picked up when the MD-83
begins its final dive into the sea with
88 people aboard, NTSB Chairman
Jim Hall said at a news conference in
Washington, D.C.
Radar showed what could have
been parts of the aircraft carried by the
wind up to 2Vi minutes after the plane
struck the water. The Navy will search
an area four miles from the main
wreckage, where investigators believe
any pieces might have landed, Hall
said.
“These primary radar hits might
be indicative - and l emphasize might
be indicative - of something coming
off Flight 261 near this point,” Hall
said.
Officials revealed that the MD-83
had two “maintenance write-ups” late
last year tor problems with its horizon
tal stabilizer, the wing-like piefce of
equipment on the jetliner’s tail that is
the focus of the crash investigation. In
October, the system was checked and
the plane returned to service.
A month later, mechanics replaced
a switch. It was unknown what
prompted the concerns, and Hall did
not elaborate.
The Navy on Monday night recov
ered two parts of the horizontal stabi
lizer, including an 8-foot section.
The NTSB described the final
minutes of the flight, when the plane
abruptly dropped 7,000 feet and lev
eled off before free-falling nearly
18,000 feet in one minute.
Analyzing the flight data recorder
and cockpit voice recorder, investiga
tors determined Flight 261 was cruis
ing on autopilot at 31,000 feet 12 min
utes before the Jan. 31 crash.
The horizontal stabilizer, which
controls the plane’s up and down
motion, moved to an apparent full
“nose-down” position as the pilots’
simultaneously disengaged the autopi
lot, Hall said.
■ England
Four men fall 20 feet out
of hijacked plane’s cockpit
STANSTED, England (AP) -
Four men dropped from the cockpit
window of a hijacked plane and ran
to safety Tuesday night, fleeing the
Afghan aircraft that has been parked
for two days at a British airport while
negotiators sought thejsafe release of
more than 150 passengers.
In the darkness shortly before
midnight, the men fell about 20 feet
to the ground and ran toward posi
tions manned by police.
It was not immediately clear if
the four were hostages or hijackers.
Police said they were trying to gauge
what effect the escape was having on
the people aboard the plane. It
appeared all was calm on the aircraft,
they said.
Earlier, negotiators warned that
the talks, which gained the release of
a ninth hostage during the day
Tuesday, could go on for days.
■ California
Scientists say asteroid
will not collide with earth
LOS ANGELES (AP) - An aster
oid initially thought to be on a possi
ble collision course with Earth in
2022 will miss the planet,
astronomers said Tuesday after
reviewing new data collected by sci
entists around the world.
Using the latest calculations,
researchers determined that the
orbiting rock will come no closer
than 3.5 million miles in the next 50
years, said Andrea Milani, a mathe
matics professor at Pisa University in
Italy.
The half-mile-wide asteroid,
2000 BF19, is the fifth discovered in
the last two years that researchers
feared could hit Earth. A rock that
size could do tremendous damage
but would not cause planet-wide
destruction.
■ Russia
Russians capture Grozny,
head toward south
URUS-MARTAN, Russia (AP) -
Russian aircraft focused their bomb
ing runs on Chechnya’s southern
mountains Tuesday, while ground
troops tried to seal off routes used by
rebels to move men and supplies to
southern strongholds.
The Russians are looking south
now that they claim to have seized
the breakaway republic’s capital,
Grozny. But the city’s skyline was
punctuated by black plumes of
smoke Tuesday from oil refineries hit
by continued Russian shelling.
■ Washington
Clinton bars job discrimination
based on genetic testing
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Christine DeMark worried about her
medical future when her mother was
diagnosed with Huntington’s disease.
>But she didn’t know her life would
change by taking a test to see if she
had inherited the genetic abnormali
ty
Soon after learning she had the
gene that causes the degenerative
nerve disorder, DeMark was fired
from her job at a Milwaukee manage
ment consultancy.
President Clinton sought Tuesday
to focus attention on the plight of
people like DeMark.
Clinton immediately barred fed
eral agencies from discriminating
against employees on the basis of
genetic tests and urged Congress to
prohibit the private sector from
refusing to hire people at risk for
health problems and insurers from
refusing to cover them.
