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News Digest Page 2 Daily Nebraskan Friday, September 8,2000 Freeze, thaw cycles support warming theories THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - In a study that adds weight to global-warming theories, an analysis of freeze and thaw records for lakes and rivers in the northern hemi sphere shows the* Earth’s temperature has risen steeply over the last 150 years. Researchers reported today in the journal Science that the annual freeze dates of 26 bodies of water in North America, Asia and Europe occurred about 8.7 days later over the last century and a half, and the ice breakup dates occurred about 9.8 days earlier. “The strength of this paper is the robust nature of direct human observa tions,” said John J. Magnuson, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin, Madison- and first author of the study. The results, he said, "are not calcula tions,” which are subjects bias and instrument error, but are "direct human observations of a 150-year trend of ice freeze and thaw” that are difficult to refute. “It is clearly getting warmer in the northern hemisphere,” he said. “This is very strong evidence of a general warming from 1845 to 1995 in areas where there is ice cover.” Other researchers said the ice findings are consistent with recent instrumental temperature readings and tend to support the idea that the Earth is getting warmer. Some scientists have said readings taken by temperature gauges and by satellites tire subject to interpretation errors. "This provides independent evidence that the warming we have seen over the 20th century is real,” said David R. Easterling, chief scientist at the National Climatic Data Center, an archive center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Temperature trends are a part of the ongoing research to determine if the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, is causing global warming. The theory is that carbon dioxide and other gases added to the atmosphere by industry and transportation are trapping heat from the sun and causing the Earth to warm up. Some scientists have contended the warming is not real or that it is part of a natural cycle unaffected by human actions. Magnuson said his study does not address the cause of the warming trend but clearly shows it is occurring. The change in the ice-on and ice-off days found in the study corresponds to an air-temperature warming of about 3.24 degrees Fahrenheit over the 150-year period, he said. An average temperature rise of just a third of a degree is enough to change the icing and de-icing dates by one day, the researchers said. The data was compiled from records kept at lakes or rivers in Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Siberia, Japan and 14 sites in five northern U.S. states. Some of the records date back far longer than the 150 years studied. The oldest records are those kept in two churches on the shore of Lake Constance on the Swiss-German border. Since about the ninth century, there has been a tradition of carrying a Madonna figure from one church to the other on the day the lake froze enough to walk across. A year later, following freeze-up, the figure was returned to the alternate church. In Japan, ice records have been kept since 1443 at a shrine on Lake Suwa. Shinto religious leaders believe male and female deities separated by the lake are united when it freezes over. NO SCHOOL?: Letida Cardenas comforts her son, Luis Zuniga, 5, before he enters Decatur Elementary on the first day of school Thursday in Philadelphia. The threat of a teacher strike by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers still looms over the start of the school year, as the school dis trict and Teachers Union still have not reacheda contract agreement Newsmakers Senate closer to finalizing Chinese deal THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The Senate moved a step closer Thursday to a final vote on the biggest trade bill of this yean a measure that would end the annual battle over U.S.-Chinese economic rela tions and give China permanent normal trade sta tus. By a 92-5 vote, the Senate agreed to move ahead with the bill that could result, in line with China's accession to the World Trade Organization, in significantly lower tariffs for Americans selling goods in the Chinese market. The House last May approved the permanent trade status bill, and there was little doubt that the Senate would follow suit with a final vote next week. The question is whether senators who believe trade with China should be linked to its human rights and weapons proliferation record will suc ceed in pushing through amendments that would force the bill to go back to the House for further consideration. Supporters of permanent trade status say any amendments, regardless of their worthiness, could doom the bill because the House and Senate wouldn’t have time to work out differences before the session of Congress ends sometime next month. Attracting the greatest attention is a proposal by Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., that would increase monitoring and sanctions against countries, particularly China, and businesses that contribute to the pro liferation of weapons of mass destruction. While lawmakers desiring to see a clean bill may vote against the amendment, Thompson said Wednesday that it will be a tough vote in an elec tion year when there is rising concern about Chinese sales of military technology to Pakistan and other countries. Violence in West Timor mars U.N. Summit for leader THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KUPANG, Indonesia - Frightened U.N. relief workers were evacuated from West Timor on Thursday, fleeing ram paging militias, and the caskets of three slain workers were air lifted out, draped in blue U.N. flags and covered *rith tropical flowers. After failing to stop a militia led mob that destroyed a U.N. office in the West Timor town of Atambua on Wednesday, Indonesia’s military deployed troop and police reinforcements and made 15 arrests. With the suspension of international aid operations, some 90,000 refugees were faced with potentially disastrous shortages of food and medicines in their squalid camps on the western side of the border that divides Timor island into the Indonesian west and the U.N. administered East Timor. At the United Nations, President Clinton urged Indonesia to "bring those responsible to justice, to disarm and disband the militias and to take all necessary steps to insure the safety of those continuing to work on humanitarian goals there.” Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, humiliat ed before scores of world leaders at the U.N. Millennium Summit, promised he would work with the U.N. administration in East Timor on removing the hostile militias from the border region. “But to remove such a number of people needs time,” he said. He insisted his forces had tried to prevent Wednesday’s attack, which left three aid workers, including an American, and three civilians dead. Witnesses say soldiers stood by without stopping the mob. “We protected them, but it’s a problem of a cultural nature,” Wahid told journalists, saying tribal differences fueled the militia problem. Foreign governments demanded Wahid make good on past promises and take strong action against the militias, which human rights groups said were backed by hard-line ele ments of Indonesia’s army. Wahid has often blamed such rogue military elements of triggering bloodshed and may hem in Timor and elsewhere in Indonesia to derail attempts by his 11-month-old government to build a new democracy after decades of authoritarianism. Indonesia’s official Antara news agency quoted Wahid ear lier as saying Wednesday’s attack was engineered by his domestic political foes. “This was done at a time when I am in New York, at the United Nations, in order to embarrass me,” he was reported as saying. He did not repeat the accusations when speaking at the United Nations. On Wednesday, about 3,000 militiamen and supporters stormed the Atambua office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and beat and stabbed three workers to death, then burned their bodies. Other workers fled and hid in the homes of sympathetic townspeople or under Indonesian police protection. Alias Bin Ahmal, a Malaysian who managed the U.N. office, was sheltered along with five colleagues by a woman and her husband. The woman told mili tiamen who banged on her door that the U.N. workers had gone on ahead. Dc//7)Nebraskan — - Editor Managing Editor Associate News Editor Associate News Editor Opinion Editor Sports Editor Arts Editor Copy Desk Co-Chief: Copy Desk Co-Chief: Photo Chief: Art Director Design Chief: Web Editor Assistant Web Editor Sarah Baker Bradley Davis Dane Stickney Kimberly Sweet Samuel McKewon Matthew Hansen Josh Nichols Lindsay Young Danell McCoy Heather Glenboski Melanie Falk Andrew Broer Gregg Stearns Tanner Graham Questions? Comments? Ask for the appropriate section editor at (402)472-2588 or e-mail: dn@unl.edu General Manager: Publications Board Chairman: Professional Adviser: Advertising Manager: Assistant Ad Manager: Classified Ad Manager Circulation Manager Dan Shattil Russell Willbanks, (402) 436-7226 Don Walton, (402) 473-7 Nick Partsch, (402) 472-2. Nicole Woita Nikki Bruner Imtiyaz Khan Fax Number: (402) 472-1761 World Wide Web: www.dailyneb.com The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, 20 Nebrask Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during the academic yeai 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 callii (402) 472-2588. Subscriptions are $60 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, NE 68588-0448. Periodical postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 2000 DAILY NEBRASKAN ^ it * ar Clinton, Saudis discuss oil prices THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — President Clinton said Thursday he feared the high cost of oil Weather TODAY Partly cloudy high 81, low 69 TOMORROW Windy high 86, low 66 SUNDAY Partly cloudy high 86, low 62 could lead to a recession in the roaring U.S. economy or elsewhere in the world, and said he has asked the Saudis to help lower crude prices. Clinton met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah on the fringes of the U.N. Millennium Summit. “I told him I was very concerned that the price of oil is too high, not just for America but for the world,” Clinton said before beginning another session with a world leader - this one with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. "There were other reasons why it’s not in our interest, and he agreed with that, he’s been very strong about that,” Clinton said, adding that he hoped the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will take “appropriate action,” to lower prices. Oil prices have more than tripled since hitting a 12-year low of less than $ 11 a barrel in December 1998. World & Nation ■ Turkey Gay cruise passengers barred from Turkish tourist site ISTANBUL - Passengers on a gay-oriented cruise expressed anger and disappointment, and Turkish officials scrambled to apologize Thursday, a day after police barred the tourists from visiting the ancient ruins of Ephesus. The cruise liner Olympic Voyager was taking 800 passen gers, many from the United States, on a seven-day tour with stops in Egypt, Israel and Greece. On Wednesday, the cruise stopped at the Turkish Aegean port of Kusadasi, and passen gers boarded buses for Ephesus, which draws thousands of tourists each year. After allowing several groups to leave, police turned back at least two other buses. The sudden change appar ently came after they realized the passengers were all gay, the tourists and members of the tour’s crew said. ■ Washington, D.C. As Bush, Gore argue, Nader, Buchanan want debates As George W. Bush and A1 Gore squabble over debate arrangements, Ralph Nader says he'd be glad to step in. Pat Buchanan, too. “I would be very happy to take your place on the debate roster as a pinch hitter so that the Democratic nominee does not feel so lonely before a national audience,” Nader, the Green Party candidate, wrote to Bush on Thursday. Bush has agreed to partici pate in only one of the three debates proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates. He instead wants to meet Gore on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CNN’s "Larry King Live.” Gore says that’s fine but only if Bush first commits to all three commission debates. Not to be outdone by Nader, Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan has offered to take Gore’s place on NBC. ■ New York City Castro not on Clinton's guest list, did stop to chat Fidel Castro was excluded from the invitation list for President Clinton’s diplomatic reception for world leaders Thursday, but the Cuban leader managed to exchange a few words with the president, any way. Castro approached Clinton on Wednesday at the end of a luncheon of the United Nations Millennium Summit, a gather ing of about 160 world leaders. “They exchanged a few words. It was nothing substan tive,” said White House press secretary Joe Lockhart. It was the first time Clinton and Castro had ever spoken although they’ve been in the same room before, Crowley said. The United States does not have diplomatic relations with Cuba and maintains economic sanctions against Castro’s gov ernment. ■ Pennsylvania Russians hold suspected American spy STATE COLLEGE - A college researcher who was detained in Russia along with an American colleague accused of spying said he knew nothing about the alleged purchase of secret data. Daniel H. Kiely, head of energy and power systems at Pennsylvania State University’s Applied Research Laboratory, was released after being ques tioned by Russian authorities. But Edmond Pope, a former senior researcher at the lab, has been jailed there since his April 3 arrest. The case has generated ten sion between the United States and Russia, and President Clinton plans to raise the issue when he meets with Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week end, said Rep. John Peterson, D Penn.