Lieberman adds ethnic spice to trail
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Joseph
Lieberman isn’t the only one
spouting Yiddish and Hebrew on
the campaign trail. Sometimes it
comes right back at him. Sort of.
In Nashville, there was a sign
in the crowd: “Shalom, Y’all.”
And in Los Angeles: “Viva
chutzpah!”
He talked about that last sign
later, at a fund-raiser in Austin,
Texas, as an illustration of how
culturally integrated America has
become.
“That brings it all together.
That’s what it’s all about,” he said
with a smile.
For all the talk about the
Democratic senator’s being the
first Jewish vice-presidential can
didate on a major-party ticket, he
doesn’t spend whole speeches
quoting Hebrew prayers or toss
ing off Yiddish one-liners. That’s
not exactly his schtick.
Often he’s content to add just
a touch of ethnic spice — maybe
by referring to A1 Gore as a “men
sch” — a good person.
Sometimes, with the right audi
ence, he can get rolling, the wise
cracks flying.
In Tamarac, Fla., before an
audience of retirees, mostly first
and second-generation
European Jews, he spoke their
language.
He introduced Gore as a
“Yiddishe neshoma,” or a Jewish
soul, and commented that their
wives, Tipper and Hadassah,
were getting all the attention,
making the two of them feel like
“nuchshleppers,” or after
thoughts.
Even Gore was getting into
the act. He greeted the crowd
with a hearty “Shalom aleichem,”
or “Peace to you,” and congratu
lated one senior citizen on her
grandchildren with “mazel tov!”
And at a fund-raiser in Florida
later that day, Lieberman joked
that he and Gore wouldn’t con
‘That brings it all together. That’s what it’s all
about. ”
Joseph Lieberman
Democratic vice presidential candidate
fuse “tachlis” with “tuchis.” The
first means to tell it like it is; the
second is Yiddish slang for a per
son’s rear end.
Although Yiddish and
Hebrew are often associated with
one another by Americans, they
are different tongues. Hebrew is
the ancient vernacular of the
Israeli people and is the language
of the Torah—the word of God—
and other sacred texts. Yiddish is
a Germanic language and is the
chief dialect of Ashkenazic Jews
of eastern and central Europe.
Yiddish, written with Hebrew
characters, is spoken most often
by ordinary people, rather than
religious scholars.
At a synagogue in LaCrosse,
Wis., Congregation Sons of
Abraham, Lieberman spoke in
Hebrew to a group comprised
mostly of baby boomers who
have engaged in religious studies,
and their young children,
Lieberman, called to the front of
the temple to participate in the
service, read from the Torah in
Hebrew.
In Chicago, he greeted a
group of religious leaders with a
line from a Hebrew song, Hine
Ma Tov, that calls for "brothers
and sisters to dwell together in
harmony.”
Expert panel calls
for more oversight
of genetic research
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - Attempting to change
genes and create future generations of per
fect, healthy human beings is dangerous, irre
sponsible and should not be permitted now, a
panel of experts says in a report.
A committee of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, in a report
issued Monday, called for the creation of a
public committee
to monitor and
■■■■*■■■■■■■■■ oversee the
“In animal increasingly
sophisticated
experiments, research into
this technology genetic modifica
h(lS been Much of the
highly current research is
inefficient and
not Of proven genes to correct
Safety ” health problems in
' living humans. This
is called somatic
Theodore gene modification
Friedmann and involves
University of changing the genes
California, San Diego in existing mature
cells.
But, me com
mittee said, there is
animal research in
which there is an alteration of genes that
affect future generations. This is called “inher
itable genetic modification,” or IGM.
Applied to humans, IGM could, in theory,
allow the production of “designer children,” or
babies born with genes modified to make
them, and future generations taller, more ath
letic, more beautiful or more intelligent. IGM
could also be used to remove from a family
lineage the genes that cause inherited dis
eases.
Dr. Theodore Friedmann of the University
of California, San Diego, said that IGM tech
. nology now "is not safe for humans.”
He said experiments have produced ani
mals born with major birth defects, gross
physical distortions and fatal abnormalities.
The same thing, he said, could happen in
humans if the current IGM technology was
applied.
Friedmann said reports of gene manipula
tion and cloning experiments tend to concen
trate on the successes. But behind each tri
umph there can be scores of animals that were
bom with terrible and usually lethal genetic
problems. This, the committee said, shows
that the IGM research is not now safe to use on
humans.
“In animal experiments, this technology
has been highly inefficient and not of proven
safety,” said Friedmann. "There are major
tethnical barriers to using this technology in
humans.”
Sondra Wheeler, a teacher at the Wesley
Theological Seminary in Washington, said
permitting IGM research in humans also
could be socially disruptive. She said there is
the possibility that genetic changes that
would produce healthier and improved chil
dren would be available only to the wealthy.
“This would widen the gap between the
‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ to an unprecedent
ed extent,” the report said.
"There is a moral problem on the distribu
tion of these benefits,” said Wheeler. “Who
gets it? Who decides? What criterion do they
• apply?”
The committee report said a public com
mittee should be organized to monitor and
oversee any IGM research on humans. The
report called for a public discussion to deter
mine if Americans really want to approve
human IGM research.
The American Association for the
Advancement of Science is the world's largest
federation of scientists, with more than
146,000 members. The AAAS publishes
Science, one of the world’s major, peer
reviewed journals of general scientific
research.
I Traders skeptical of OPEC
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEWYORK-Oil prices
soared Monday to a new
10-year high as traders
remained skeptical that
OPEC’s promise to increase
output would have much
short-term impact and
escalating tensions
between Iraq and Kuwait
raised fears that oil produc
tion from the Persian Gulf
would be disrupted.
Crude oil for October
delivery rose 96 cents to
$36.88 on the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
Oil prices surged last
week on the tensions as
well as worries that
Hurricane Gordon would
disrupt production in the
Gulf of Mexico. Gordon was
downgraded to a tropical
depression on Sunday.
“In a bull market, every
thing’s bullish, and right
now there seem to be a vari
ety of stimuli,” said Peter
Gignoux, head of the petro
leum desk at Salomon
Smith Barney in London. "If
it’s not the Hurricane
Gordon, it’s Saddam. If it’s
not Saddam, we’re worry
ing about inventories.”
Gignoux believes
Clinton’s refusal so far to tap
the strategic petroleum
reserve has contributed to
unease in the market
October heating oil rose
.86 cent to $1,042 a gallon;
unleaded gasoline for
October delivery climbed
.36 cent to 97.02 cents a gal
lon; October natural gas
was up 8.9 cents to $5,295
per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, November
Brent crude from the North
Sea rose 48 cents to $34.46 a
barrel.
Julian Lee of the Center
for Global Energy Studies in
London blamed the latest
price rise on low heating oil
inventories and on a short
age of the light, sweet crude
that refiners “desperately”
want to produce it
“We’re getting very late
now for refiners to do very
much ahead of the winter,
and that’s really what’s driv
ing price at the moment.”
U.S. heating oil inven
tories are about 10 percent
less than what they were
last year, when inventories
were already at an unusual
ly low level.
Iraq’s tiff with Kuwait is
also a factor.
In the past two weeks,
Iraq has flown a jet fighter
over Saudi airspace for the
first time in more than a
decade and re-aired an old
complaint that Kuwait digs
border wells that allow it to
steal Iraqi oil — an accusa
tion combined with a warn
ing Iraq will take unspeci
fied measures to "stop the
theft”
Theft of Iraqi oil was
one of the reasons Iraq gave
for invading Kuwait in 1990;
a U.S.-led coalition force
drove Iraq out seven
months later.
Gulf states have been in
contact to decide whether
to meet about the latest
Iraqi threats, and a Saudi
Foreign Ministry official
has said a meeting affirm
ing solidarity with Kuwait
could be held in the coming
days. Details were not avail
able on where such a meet
ing would be held or at
what level.
In Singapore on
Sunday, visiting U.S.
Secretary of Defense
William Cohen warned
Saddam Hussein to avoid
taking "any kind of aggres
sive action” against his
neighbors.
"He should understand
that the United States and
our British friends are fully
prepared to take whatever
action is necessary to pre
vent him from trying to
repeat his past actions,”
Cohen told reporters
aboard the USS
Germantown.
Unapproved corn
focus of investigation
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - The government is investi
. gating whether a variety of biotech corn that has
n’t been approved for human consumption was
used in taco shells sold in grocery stores under the
Taco Bell brand, officials said Monday.
The corn, which is genetically engineered to
kill an insect pest, is approved for use only in ani
mal feed because of unresolved questions about
whether it could cause allergies to humans.
Testing by an Iowa company found evidence of
the corn in the taco shells, and a group of environ
mental organizations that are opposed to geneti
cally engineered food announced the results in a
press release.
Officials with the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Food and Drug Administration
said they had not seen the test results but were
looking into them.
“Our concern, of course, is whether or not this
product, which is registered for animal feed, is
somehow illegally finding its way into food that
people eat,” said David Cohen, an EPA
spokesman.
If the test results are correct, the FDA would
"consider that a very serious matter and would
take action to get it out of the food supply,” said an
official of the agency who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
FDA, EPA and the Agriculture Department
share oversight of genetically engineered crops.
The corn at issue, which is produced by
Aventis Corp. and goes under the trade name
StarLink, is the only biotech crop that isn’t
approved for human consumption. The corn con
tains a bacterium gene that makes the plant toxic
to the European corn borer.
The taco shells that were tested were made in
Mexico and distributed by Kraft Foods Inc.,
according to The Washington Post, which first
reported on the test results in its Monday editions.
“Taco Bell and Philip Morris are using an ille
gal genetically engineered ingredient that could
put the health of their customers at risk,” said
Larry Bohlen, a spokesman for Friends of the
Earth, one of the groups that announced the test
results. “This food contamination incident could
easily be just the tip of the iceberg.”
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Drunken driver
on campus arrested
A drunken driver cruising
through campus clipped a
light pole and cut across side
walks, causing at least $3,000
damage early Saturday morn
ing.
University Police arrested
Ryan Grim, 25, a non-student
from Grand Island at 4:30 a.m.
for driving while intoxicated
and refusing a Breathalyzer
after his tear through campus,
Assistant Chief Mylo Bushing
said.
Grim drove west on Vine
Street and around the stadium
loop before he started causing
serious damage, Bushing said.
When Grim turned right
onto 14th Street, he sheared
off a light pole at the ground
level before continuing south.
Grim drove straight south
across campus and sidewalks.
By that point he had also lost
both tires on the left side of his
car and was driving on the
rims, which is when he was
reported to police.
Police stopped Grim near
10th and Q streets, and Grim
seemed surprised when
informed that he was driving
on his rims, Bushing said.
After failing the field sobri
ety tests, Grim was taken to
detox where he refused a
breath test. Police then took
him to jail where he tested
.256 blood alcohol content.
Police break up
early-morning party
Lincoln Police broke up a
200-person party at the
Claremont Park apartments
Sunday morning.
Several people com
plained of the crowd around
1:30 a.m., and when police
arrived the party-goers threw
beer bottles at the cruisers,
Lincoln Police Ofc. Katherine
Finnell said.
It took police one and a
half hours to get the crowd to
disperse from the west end of
the building where it had
gathered on the lawn.
But some people couldn't
take the hint. Police handed
out tickets for failure to com
ply, failure to disperse and
interfering with an arrest. TWo
people were also cited for
minor in possession of alco
hol.
Compiled by Josh Funk
Sheldon gallery to examine security
after outdoor sculpture damaged
SHELDON from page 1
Around 8 p.m., an 18-year
old white man with a goatee
wearing a dark baseball cap
and white T-shirt was seen
removing panels from the
wall, Bushing said.
The suspect was seen rid
ing away on a fluorescent
orange BMX bicycle.
Driesbach said the gallery
will work to educate students
about the sculpture garden
and the pieces inside to help
prevent further problems.
“We will try to raise aware
ness of the artists and the
pieces, so people will think
twice before doing something
that might damage a piece or
the area,” she said.