News Digest
Three Israeli soldiers killed in dash
■ Most of the 160 people
killed in Mideast combat have
been Palestinians.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM - Three Israeli
soldiers were killed Wednesday in
two clashes with Palestinians in
the West Bank, the military said,
the first soldiers to die in combat
since a battle in Nablus Oct 1.
At least 160 people, most of
them Palestinians, have died in
clashes over the past five weeks.
The only other Israeli combat
death was a soldier who died dur
ing a Palestinian siege of a Jewish
holy site in Nablus on Oct. 1.
There, a wounded paramilitary
border policeman bled to death
before he could be removed.
Israel later evacuated the site.
IWo Israeli reserve soldiers
were brutally killed by an
enraged Palestinian mob Oct 12
after the soldiers took a wrong
turn and entered the West Bank
tityofRamallah.
The military has predicted
the fighting could go on for
months and could escalate, and a
senior military official said Israel
was calling up its army reserves.
About 1,000 reservists have
been activated already, and by
the beginning of December, ail
the reserve forces will be called
up to serve stints in the West
Bank and Gaza, said the official,
who insisted on anonymity.
The fighting in A1 Khader
began when Palestinian gunmen
opened fire on Israeli troops
posted nearby, the Israeli army
said.
Palestinian fire prevented
Israeli medics from reaching the
troops, prompting the army to
bring in two helicopter gunships
that raked the village with
machine gunfire. The soldiers
were evacuated after nearly an
hour and taken to a Jerusalem
hospital.
Scores of A1 Khader residents,
trapped on the main road during
the shooting, huddled close to a
cement wall, and one man
sought cover under a car. A
Palestinian boy, about 12 or 13
years old, screamed in panic
when he heard a helicopter gun
ship approach.
Bullets also sprayed the
entrance to the Yamamah
Hospital on the outskirts of A1
Khader. An injured Palestinian
brought to the clinic’s door in a
private car crawled out of the
vehicle as those accompanying
him ran for cover. The injured
man collapsed from the effort,
and eventually was carried to
safety indoors.
Palestinian gunmen also
attacked the Gilo neighborhood
on the southern edge of
Jerusalem from positions in the
adjacent West Bank town of Beit
Jalla. The gunmen hit several
homes and a kindergarten, with
one youngster and several adults
still inside. There were no reports
of injuries.
Israel responded with
machine gunfire from the
ground and from helicopters.
Troops also fired several anti
tank missiles at Beit Jalla. The
fighting lasted for more than
David Silvemun/Newsmakers
Bullets fired by Israeli troops strike Palestinian positions in Beit Jala in the West Bank on Tuesday after Palestinian gunmen opened
fire on the Jewish Jerusalem suburb of Gilo.
three hours.
In the Gaza Strip, more than
20,000 Palestinians joined a
funeral for five of seven
Palestinians killed in the past two
days at the Kami crossing.
“Goodbye, martyrs, we will meet
in paradise,” the crowd chanted.
“We will take revenge against the
Israelis, and this will happen
soon.”
Palestinian envoy Saeb
Erekat was to meet with U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
and U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright on Friday.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo
Ben-Ami was meeting Albright
Wednesday.
Erekat said he was carrying
letters from Arafat to Annan and
Clinton with a request that the
United Nations send a force to
protect Palestinian civilians, and
for the establishment of an inter
national inquiry into the causes
of the violence.
The U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations, Richard
Holbrooke, has criticized the
Palestinian demand for U.N. pro
tection, saying it was “written as
an attack on one side," meaning
Israel
Israel has rejected calls for an
international inquiry, fearing
bias. Instead, Israel suggested
that the United States conduct an
investigation.
Yugoslavia
welcomed
into U.N.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS -Yugoslavia’s new
democratic government joined the
United Nations on Wednesday, opening a
new chapter in Belgrade’s relations with
the international community after eight
years of U.N. ostracism under former
strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
By acclamation and with a loud round
of applause, the 189-member General
Assembly overwhelmingly approved
Yugoslavia's application for U.N. mem
bership and hailed Belgrade’s democratic
transition and the newly elected presi
dent, Vojislav Kostunica.
After General Assembly President
Harri Holkeri proclaimed the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia a U.N. member,
the Yugoslav delegation was led to its
seats in the General Assembly hall.
“With legitimate pride, die Yugoslav
people are going to take their rightful
place in the concert of nations,” French
Ambassador Jean-David Levitte told the
assembly, speaking on behalf of the
European Union.
Under Milosevic, Yugoslavia had
refused to comply with the General
Assembly’s 1992 demand that it apply for
U.N. admission as a new country follow
ing the breakup of the Yugoslav socialist
republic in the early 1990s.
A month after ousting Milosevic in
elections, Kostunica requested the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia be admit
ted. His application moved quickly
through die U.N. bureaucracy.
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Osborne weaves politics with life
OSBORNE from pagel
“I don't think he knows anything about
fanning or living in the 3rd District He lives
in Lincoln, for crying out loud. You can’t
learn to milk a cow by reading a book.
“I know he’s a behemoth, but it’s
because of football. I’m trying to get agri
culture moving. It’s time to stop talking
about football.”
Osborne concedes his football success
is a major reason for his success at the
polls.
"I feel I’ve been given a little bit of a
platform. It may not be right” he said in an
interview on the way to Greeley. “But if you
have an opportunity to make a difference
and don’t use it, it’s a wasted opportunity.”
For Osborne, who holds a pLd. in edu
cational psychology, the campaign also
offers a platform to discuss issues about
which he is most passionate - what he calls
the “steady, progressive unraveling of the
culture.”
Specifically, Osborne:
■ Deplores the notion, supported by
opinion polls since President Clinton’s
Monica Lewinsky scandal, that private
behavior has no bearing on a person's job
performance.
■ Laments the breakdown of the fami
ly structure, which he says has caused
more young people to grow up without role
models and a core set of values.
■ Maintains these same young people
are thrust into a culture that values materi
alism and feeds them a steady diet of sex,
drugs, alcohol and violence.
■ Believes religion has been pushed
out of public life by court decisions and
public attitudes.
■ Opposes gay marriage and has criti
cized attempts to punish the Boy Scouts for
banning gay scout leaders.
■ Is against further gun control, saying
violence in the media and the entertain
ment industry are mostly to blame for
escalating violence.
"If I survived in coaching for 25 years,”
he said, “I can probably survive in politics
,as well. It takes someone to step forward
and stick his neck out”
The culture wars
At St Pauls Lutheran Church in Grand
Island, Ed and Jackie Schlund have come to
hear Osborne discuss the fraying of
American culture and the need for “spiritu
al reorientation.”
“We support him because of the per
son he is,” said Ed Schlund, a retired postal
worker. “We also believe in his philosophy,
especially the things we need to do with
our young people."
Jackie Schlund said she did not mind
that Osborne had never held elected office.
“He might straighten the rest of them
up,” she said.
For critics who believe Osborne toler
ated violent behavior by some of his play
ers, his emphasis on morality is hypocriti
cal
But in his speech to about 175 people at
St Pauls, Osborne does not mince words
about the problems he sees in society
today.
“I think it’s a real cultural war,” he said.
“It's not imagined. It’s out there.”
He said the most fundamental prob
lem was the breakdown of the traditional
family structure. Many Nebraska players
grew up without a father, he said, including
Phillips.
“When your father doesn't stay around
to see what you look like, it leaves a hole in
you,” Osborne said. “What this has done is,
it has given our young people less of a
sense of rootedness and grounding. They
don't come from moorings like some of us
have come from.”
Osborne objects to a society that he
said teaches children material objects will
make them happy and sexual promiscuity
is common, acceptable and harmful to no
one.
Most shocking, he said during the
speech, was a poll conducted in the wake
of the Lewinsky scandal It showed 70 per
cent of Americans believed there was no
important connection between a person’s
private behavior and job performance.
That’s backwards, Osborne said.
People reveal their true character not when
they are in the spotlight, he said, but when
no one is watching, and they can get away
with things.
If people “cheat on their wife, cheat on
their taxes or cheat on their golf scores,”
they are likely to do the same in their
careers, he said
“What most alarmed me is that this is
the norm. Essentially, what we’re saying as
a nation is that character doesn’t count”
Although Social Security, Medicare and
prescription drug coverage all are impor
tant, he said, “all those things don't really
make a difference if the next generation
can't pull it off.”
Osborne said violence and graphic sex
ual material in movies, TV and video games
have contributed to destructive behavior.
“I think maybe we have to set some
standards,” he said. “People of their own
accord will not set the same standards that
were axiomatic 30 or 35 years ago.
"People get all fired up about gun con
trol But guns have been an integral part of
our culture for well over 200 years. It’s only
been in the last 15 to 20 years that people
have been taking guns to school and shoot
ing other kids. That would indicate it’s
coming from people’s hearts and minds,
not from guns."
An avid hunter and outdoorsman,
Osborne opposes further gun control
measures, saying gun laws should be better
enforced.
He criticized efforts to ostracize the Boy
Scouts for banning gay scout leaders.
“Now people are attacking the Boy
Scouts - the Boy Scouts,” he said. “A private
organization can’t be a private organiza
tion anymore.”
Society also has suffered because of
efforts to push religion out of American life,
he said.
A recent Supreme Court ruling that stu
dents could not lead prayers before public
high school football games was "ludi
crous.” Even though religion has helped
many people turn their lives around,
including many of his players, speaking
about religion has become anathema in
many comers of society, he said.
“If we want to be a great nation, we
truly need to be one nation under God. We
don’t need to apologize for it,” he said.
Tim Butz, executive director of ACLU
“We support him because of
the person he is.”
EdSchlund
Grand Island resident
Nebraska, said he was not familiar with
Osborne’s exact statements about religious
and cultural issues, and the ACLU does not
take positions on individual political can
didates.
But he criticized many of the views held
by social conservatives. No solid evidence
shows a connection between the enter
tainment industry and rising rates of
crime, drug abuse and illegitimacy, Butz
said
“You could tie an alarm clock going off
to the sun rising,” he said. “That doesn’t
mean the alarm clock causes the sun to
rise. Until there is good solid evidence,
you’re going to be experiencing more elec
tion-year politics of making Hollywood the
whipping boy for cultural conservatives.
"They want to roll us back to the 1950s,
but that’s not possible.”
Butz defended the Supreme Court’s
decision on prayer at football games, say
ing it was part of an effort to stop the gov
ernment from imposing religion on those
who don’t wish to participate.
“We haven't pushed religion out of the
center of American life,” he said. “We've
pushed government out of the business of
promoting religion. There’s nothing wrong
with religion being a force in American life,
as long as it’s not being promoted by the
government.”
But Osborne said religion had long
been part of the fabric of American life.
"As a culture, we've pushed religion
aside,” he said. "If we ignore that, we’re
ignoring our very nature."
Turbulent years
Bom in 1937, Osborne grew up in the
shadow of World War n. His father, serving
in the Army, fought in Europe, leaving
Osborne's unde to raise him near St. Paul.
From his uncle, Osborne learned to
love the outdoors. He also learned the
importance of mentoring, which he now
passes on through his TeamMates youth
mentoring program.
The family moorings and religious faith
that he says are absent for so many young
people today were strong for Osborne. He
said he grew up around good people, espe
cially his parents and grandparents. From
them and others, he said, he learned the
value of hard work and a strong sense of
right and wrong.
Osborne’s father loved sports. When his
father returned from the war, Osborne
said, he wanted to please him, so he played
several sports, and athletics became an
integral part of his life.
At Hastings High School, he starred in
football, basketball and baseball. He
played football at Hastings College, then
spent a short stint in the NFL. When he
returned to Nebraska, he knew he had to be
around football.
Please see OSBORNE on 7
World/Nation
The Associated Press
■Wisconsin
Publishers Clearing House
on trial for first time
PORTAGE - Publishers
Clearing House went on trial over
its sweepstakes promotions for
the first time Wednesday, with
state lawyers accusing it of prey
ing on die elderly with misleading
advertising.
State lawyer Cynthia Hirsch
said the sweepstakes’ mailings
dupe people into buying maga
zines and other merchandise in
hopes of improving their chances
of winning the jackpots, which
can run into the millions.
In the civil case, the state is
seeking an unspecified amount of
money to reimburse residents it
says were defrauded. It also wants
the sweepstakes to change its
marketing practices and pay a
penalty.
Publishers Clearing House
attorney Jon Axelrod said the
state’s own witnesses would say
they knew they had litde chance
of winning and didn't have to buy
anything to enter the drawing.
■ Washington, D.C
Nation of Islam leader
undergoes surgery
Nation of Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan underwent surgery
Wednesday for complications
from radiation therapy he
received for prostate cancer
Farrakhan, 67, was listed in
stable condition following the
surgery at Howard University
Hospital, the hospital said it a
brief statement, which described
the operation as successful
Hospital officials said the sur
gery had been planned for after
the “Million Family March” in
Washington on Oct. 16.
Farrakhan helped organize the
march and delivered a nearly
three-hour speech at the event
He disclosed in Chicago last
month that he would have the
surgery but did not say where or
when."With the help of God I’ll
come through all right,” he said
then.
■Wyoming
Snow doses highways,
strands travelers
MOORCROFT - Up to 13
inches of blowing snow closed
major highways Wednesday in
eastern Wyoming and western
South Dakota, stranding travelers
and shutting down schools.
About 40 people, mostly
truckers, were stalled at
Moorcroft, which got about 5
inches of snow, said Toni
Komemann, an employee at the
24-hour Coffee Cup Fuel Stop
along Interstate 90.
“I’ve had such a mess here this
morning,” she said.
Power was out for a couple of
hours, disrupting food service
and knocking out fuel pumps,
Komemann said.
A 60-mile section of 1-90 was
closed from Moorcroft to just
inside South Dakota near
Spearfish, along with U.S. 85 from
Newcastle, Wyo., to near Lead,
S.6., where 10 to 12 inches of
snow accumulated.
■ Florida
Families of murdered nuns,
missionary ask for $100,000
WEST PALM BEACH -
Lawyers for the families of four
American church women killed
in El Salvador asked Wednesday
for $100 million in compensa
tory damages from two former
generals they say are responsi
ble.
Lawyer Robert Montgomery
Jr. called the amount small
compared with the suffering
three nuns and a missionary
endured when five Salvadoran
National Guard soldiers raped
and executed them on Dec. 2,
1980.
Weather
TODAY
Partly cloudy
high 56, low 38
TOMORROW
Partly cloudy
high 49, low 32