News Digest
Test-tube baby used to save sister's life
■Forthe first time,a couple
genetically screens and selects
embryo as a tissue-donor match.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS - In the first
known case of its kind, a Colorado
couple created a test-tube baby
who was genetically screened and
selected in the hope he could save
the life of his 6-year-old sister.
The sister, Molly Nash, has a
rare genetic disease, Fanconi ane
mia, that prevents her body from
making bone marroW. But last
week, doctors gave her an infusion
of umbilical-cord blood from her
newborn little brother, Adam, to
try to correct the disease.
Doctors should know in a cou
ple of weeks whether die infusion
is helping Molly develop healthy
marrow cells.
Screening laboratory-created
embryos for genetic diseases
before implanting them in a
woman is not new. But this is the
first known instance in which par
ents screened and selected an
embryo in order to find a suitable
tissue donor for an ailing sibling.
"People have babies for lots of
reasons: to save a Ming marriage.
to work the family farm,” said Dr.
Charles Strom, director of medical
genetics at the Reproductive
Genetics Institute in Chicago,
where Adam was conceived. “I
have absolutely no ethical prob
lems with this whatsoever.”
Molly was just beginning to
show signs of leukemia, which is
frequently associated with the dis
ease, when she had the transplant,
said Dr. John Wagner, her physi
cian at the University of
Minnesota. The infusion proce
dure between siblings has a 90
percent success rate.
"Molly’s doing very well,”
Wagner said Tuesday, although
she had a slight cold* She was play
ing on a computer, he said.
As part of her disease, Molly
was born without thumbs, but
surgeons built some from a finger
on each hand. She also had no hip
sockets but can now walk thanks
to the use of heavy braces.
Her parents, Jack and Lisa
Nash of Englewood, Colo., wanted
more children but were afraid to
conceive because both carry a
faulty version of the Fanconi gene,
meaning each child would have a
25 percent chance of developing
the disease.
The Nashes used a process
called pre-implantation genetic
diagnosis, or PGD: Embryos were
created from lisa Nash’s eggs and
her husband's sperm.
Then the fertilized eggs were
analyzed, and when one was
found to be disease-free and a tis
sue match, it was implanted. The
couple had to try the procedure
several times before she became
pregnant
Lisa Nash, who works as a
neonatal nurse, said she and her
husband could not knowingly
bring another child into the worid
with the disease.
"We wanted a healthy child,”
“People have babies for lots of reasons: to save
a failing marriage, to work the family farm. I
have absolutely no ethical problems with this
whatsoever”
Dr. Charles Strom
Reproductive Genetics Institute director of medical genetics
she told the Star Tftbune newspa
per last month.
“And it doesn't hurt him to
save her life.”
Adam was born Aug. 29. On
Sept. 26, umbilical cord blood
cells from Adam were given to
Molly at the University of
Minnesota.
If the transplant doesn’t take,
the next step could be to repeat
the process with Adam’s bone
marrow.
Arthur Caplan, director of the
Center for Bioethics at the
University of Pennsylvania, said
he doesn’t see anything morally
wrong in die Nash case, but it rais
es interesting questions.
“The first issue is, is it right to
design anybody as a tissue
source?” he said.
"And sometimes it can be. In
this case, there’s no harm or dan
ger to a person.”
The procedure also raises the
question of whether children will
be "designed” for specific traits.
“To what extent are doctors
and parents going to be free to
design whatever they want in their
kids?" Caplan asked. “That's not
going to happen tomorrow, but
this is a baby step down that road.”
When Molly is healthy, the
Nashes plan to have more chil
dren through test tube fertiliza
tion, Strom said.
Bill aims to lure
foreign workers
■ U.S. unemployment rate
prompts Senate to pass a bill
to help software companies
ease worker shortages.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - High-tech
companies could bring in near
ly 600,000 new skilled foreign
workers over the next three
years and also hire thousands
more foreign students from U.S.
graduate schools under a bill
die Senate passed Tuesday.
With U.S. unemployment
rates holding steady near a 30
year low, companies in Silicon
Valley and along other burgeon
ing high-tech corridors say they
need the additional workers
with six-year H-1B visas to fuel
their continuing rapid growth.
"The short-term problem is
how to fill the key positions
immediately so that we don’t
lose opportunities to foreign
competitors or so that we don’t
force American businesses to
move offshore to where skilled
workers might live,” said Sen.
Spencer Abraham, R-Mich.
Despite the overwhelming
Senate vote, obstacles remain in
the House, where Republican
leaders have differed over meas
ures aimed at assuring that the
skilled immigrants don’t dis
place American workers.
A bill from Rep. Lamar
Smith, R-Texas, that was
approved by the Judiciary
Committee would require com
panies using visas to increase
the median pay of their U.S.
workers in addition to establish
ing job projections for them.
The industry opposes Smith’s
bill.
Industry advocates - includ
ing Microsoft and Sun
Microsystems, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce and the
National Association of
Manufacturers - praised the
Senate vote and called for the
House to follow suit
Technology businesses have
more than doubled their politi
cal contributions during the
past two years, according to the
independent Center for
Responsive Politics. The com
panies have given candidates
$22.1 million since the start of
last year, with Democrats get
ting a little more than half of
that.
Computer software and
other high-tech companies
contend that 300,000 jobs are
going unfilled for a lack of quali
fied workers. Labor unions,
however, argue that that the
companies want more immi
grants to put keep down wages
of Americans holding the same
jobs.
While lifting the ceiling
entirely on the H-1B visas,
Smith’s bill requires employers
to pay the immigrants at least
$40,000 a year and not use them
to replace Americans on their
payrolls. Companies would also
have to document that they
have at least $250,000 in capital
to participate in the program.
The Senate bill would allow
the Immigration and
Naturalization Service to issue
up to 195,000 new H-1B visas
annually for the next three years
to skilled foreign workers. The
bill also would exempt from the
cap foreign graduates of U.S.
master’s or doctoral programs
or foreign workers at U.S. col
leges, providing another source
of labor to high-tech compa
nies.
Under present law, the gov
ernment issued 115,000 H-1B
visas during the fiscal year ttyat
ended Saturday. With no new
legislation the ceiling would fall
to 107,500 this year and to
65,000 next year.
^i
Alan Dejecacion/Newsmakers
Steven Fanning^o-founder of the online music service Napster, leaves the ninth circuit Court of Appeals on Monday in San Francisco.
■Napster's compromise
would allow artists to be
compensated over copyrights.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO - With the
fate of Napster Inc. awaiting a
decision by a federal appeals
court, the head of the company
has a new idea for saving the
Internet music sharing service:
Get people to pay for the privi
lege so the artists can get a cut
The music industry sued to
shut down Napster, claiming it
contributes to copyright
infringement by allowing its
purported 32 million users to
download music directly from
each others' computers. The
recording industry considers the
case pivotal in its battle against
online piracy.
After arguments Monday
before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals, Napster CEO Hank
Barry floated the possibility of
setting aside his company’s dif
ferences with record labels by
coming up with a business plan
for monthly fees to download
music. Artists would be com
pensated from the proceeds.
“Whether $4.95 a month or
$1.99, the whole structure of this
thing is trying to compensate
artists," Barry said. "We’re willing
to pay very substantial amounts
to the artists. With a very conser
vative estimate, the first-year
payments to the artists would be
in the neighborhood of a half a
billion dollars.”
Napster, started in a
Northeastern University dorm
room last year, pioneered the
concept known as peer-to-peer
computing, in which people
share files from their own com
puters rather than a central serv
er. In Napster’s case, users can
download music from each
other that is stored in the MP3
format.
Some of Napster's users were
online in the company’s chat
rooms Monday bemoaning the
prospect of paying for some
thing they were used to getting
for free.
“I might pay. If I had to I
probably would,” said Jake
Becker of St. Clairsville, Ohio, to
The Associated Press. “I’m 16,
and I don’t work yet. I’m looking
for a job so I can get my car, and I
don't need to be spending my
money on Napster.”
During Monday's hearing,
Judge Robert Beezer, a member
of the three-judge panel exam
ining a lower court judge's pre
liminary injunction against
Napster, told a recording indus
try lawyer that demands that
Napster scale back or shut down
might be a tall order considering
the nebulous nature of the
Internet.
"How are they supposed to
have knowledge of what comes
off of some kid’s computer in
Hackensack, N.J., to a user in
Guam?” Beezer said.
The lawyer; Russell
Frackman, representing the
Recording Industry Association
of America, said the answer
might lie in having Napster
redesign its popular service so as
not to transmit copyright files.
The appellate judges
adjourned without reaching a
decision, which could come at
anytime.
Barry said the company has
been in discussion with individ
ual record labels about a possi
ble settlement, but no deals have
been reached
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Fight erupts at Gaza Strip
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM - Palestinian gunmen bat
tled Israeli soldiers Tuesday at isolated army
posts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that
have degenerated into virtual free-fire
zones, as both sides defied a cease-fire call
on the eve of a U.S. attempt to salvage
peacemaking.
Tuesday’s death toll of five was the low
est since the fighting began last week. In
addition, 206 people were injured, accord
ing to the Palestinians. Overall, 56 people
have died and at least 1,300 have been
wounded, the vast majority Palestinian.
“The results have been very painful,”
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said,
adding that he had called on Israel’s security
forces “to make a supreme effort to prevent
further casualties.”
Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat head to Paris on Wednesday in hopes
that U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright can help end the fighting and revive
peace talks.
Barak also was battling for political sur
vival at home, trying to appease Arab legis
lators who are threatening to topple his gov
ernment over the harsh crackdown on riot
ers in Israel’s Arab towns. The internal rebel
lion, the worst since Israel’s founding 52
years ago, has blocked highways and closed
i
schools, paralyzing large parts of northern
Israel.
With the Israelis blasting away with
heavy weapons, such as rockets launched
from helicopters, and with the Palestinians,
routinely firing automatic rifles, the intensi
ty of the fighting sometimes resembles a
war and has surpassed levels seen during
the 1987-93 Palestinian uprising and three
days of firelights in 19%.
The heaviest clashes Tuesday were
again in the chaotic West Bank and Gaza
Strip, where a hastily arranged cease-fire
quickly unraveled at a pair of chronic trou
ble spots.
Palestinian television’s broadcast an
appeal in Hebrew to Israeli soldiers not to
open fire, and a senior Palestinian official
said an international inquiry into Israel's
actions would be a condition of reviving the
peace talks. \
At one point late Tuesday, the Paris talks
were almost called off, after Palestinian
negotiator Nabil Shaath reportedly said
Arafat had no intention of meeting with
Barak in Paris.
Barak informed the Americans that in
this case, he would not go to Paris, the prime
minister’s office said.
The prime minister only relented after
he was informed by U.S. mediators that
Arafat was ready to see Barak.
World/Nation
The Associated Press
■California
Assassination assignment
leads to teacher's firing
COVINA - A high school
English teacher is out of a job after
assigning his students the mock
task of picking an assassination
victim and planning the killing
without getting caught
School officials on Monday
refused to say if Andrew Phillips
resigned or was fired after giving
the assignment to students read
ing Edgar Allan Poe's “The Pit and
the Pendulum.”
Students said the teacher told
them to choose a victim from out
side Covina High School, detail
why they made that choice and
how to keep it secret .
“The first thing that hit me
was Columbine, and what if he
has a loose end in the classroom
that wants to make a name for
himself and the teacher is sup
porting this type of action? It
could be (my son) that’s shot or
bombed or whatever,” parent
Joyce Jarvis said.
Eric Harris and Dylan
Klebold, both high school seniors,
killed 12 other students and a
teacher at Columbine High
School in Colorado before killing
themselves April 20,1999.
Phillips did not return tele
phone calls seeking comment
■New York
Lennon's killer loses
first bid for parole
ATTICA - The man who
gunned down John Lennon 20
years ago lost his first bid for
parole Tuesday after the ex
Beatle’s widow, Yoko Ono, wrote
that setting him free would “bring
back the nightmare, the chaos
and confusion once again.”
Mark David Chapman was
interviewed for 50 minutes by
three parole board members dur
ing a closed hearing at Attica
prison. Four hours later, he was
given a one-page determination
that began; “Parole is denied.’’
“Your most vicious and vio
lent act was apparently fueled by
your need to be acknowledged,”
the board said. “During your
parole hearing, this panel noted
your continued interest in main
taining your notoriety.”
Chapman, 45, is serving 20
years to life at the maximum
security prison in upstate New
York. He pleaded guilty to second
degree murder in 1981 for fatally
shooting Lennon as the rock star
and Ono, were entering their
Manhattan apartment building
following a recording session on
Dec. 8,1980.
■Yugoslavia
Milosevic orders arrest
of strike leaders
BELGRADE - Escalating the
Yugoslav crisis, President
Slobodan Milosevic's government
on Tuesday ordered die arrest of
leaders of one of the strikes
launched to drive him from
power.
The announcement by the
Belgrade prosecutor followed a
government statement warning
of “special measures” against
those responsible for the wave of
strikes and blockades called to
force Milosevic to accept defeat in
Sept 24 elections.
The arrest order raised fears
that Milosevic may resort to the
army and police to hold on to
power, despite calls at home and
abroad for him to step down in
favor of challenger Vojislav
Kostunica.
The opposition showed no
signs of backing down and has
called on Yugoslavs to come to
Belgrade on Thursday for a final
push to drive Milosevic from
power.
■Great Britain
Heroin addict steals
defense computer
LONDON - A heroin addict
was ordered jailed for eight
months after pleading guilty
Monday to stealing a laptop com
puter belonging to the Ministry of
Defense.
The prosecution told
Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court
that David John Stone, 28, stole
the computer on May 8 from
Navy Capt. Simon Henley as they
traveled by train from Didcot,
west of London, to Heathrow.
Stone later sold the $2,000
computer for about $55 to
finance his addiction, prosecutor
Grace Ong said. Police eventually
recovered it
