News Digest
Federal Reserve against raising rates
■The Fed decide not to rise interest
rates because of the healthy pace of
economic growth.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve,
encouraged that the record-breaking econ
omy is slowing to a more sustainable but
still-healthy pace, decided Wednesday
against raising interest rates.
A key rate controlled by die Fed, called
the federal funds rate, will stay at 6.5 per
cent, the highest level in nine years. The
funds rate is the interest that banks charge
each other on overnight loans.
Instead ofbeing cheered by the no-rate
increase stance, investors apparently were
upset by die Fed’s indication that it was not
closing the door to future increases. The
Dow Jones industrial average, which was up
113 points when the Fed announced its
decision, plunged 90 points within 15 min
utes. The Dow recovered some ground, nar
rowing its loss to around 15 points in after
noon trading.
The central bank’s decision came after
the end of a closed-door meeting of the
Federal Open Market Committee, die offi
cials, including Fed Chairman Alan
Greenspan, who set interest rate policy.
The outcome had been widely expected
by private economists, especially with the
uncertainty surrounding the presidential
election, which has given Wall Street one
more thing to worry about
It marked the fourth meeting in a row in
which the Fed passed up the chance to raise
rates another time this year. The Fed left
interest rates unchanged at its June, August
and October meetings, citing signs of mod
erating economic growth.
In a statement explaining its decision
Wednesday, the Fed said increased energy
prices still raise inflation dangers down the
road. But the Fed also noted a “softening in
business and household demand.”
In the part of the statement that reflects
possible future moves, the central bank left
the door open to further rate increases. The
Fed said it believes the risks continue to be
“weighted mainly toward conditions that
may generate heightened inflation pres
sures in die foreseeable future.”
The Fed said it is still concerned about
tight labor markets and rising energy prices,
saying they threaten “the possibility of rais
ing inflation expectations.”
Diane Swonk, chief economist for Bank
One in Chicago, doesn’t foresee the Fed any
time soon either moving to a stance where it
would be neutral about the prospects of
additional rate increases in the future or eas
ing interest rates "because there’s still a heck
of a lot of cheer in this economy.”
Without a boost to the key funds rate,
commercial banks won’t feel the need to
raise their prime lending rate, a benchmark
for millions of loans, from home equity and
unpaid credit card balances to short-term
loans for businesses.
The prime rate stands at 9.5 percent, its
highest level since January 1991, when the
country was in its last recession.
Since June 1999, the Fed has raised rates
six times with the goal of bringing about a
“soft landing” - slowing economic growth
enough to keep inflation under control but
not so much as to cause a recession.
Israel mourns loss of campaigner for peace
U.S. first lady
and New York
Senator-elect
Hillary Rodham
Clinton lays a
wreath at the
grave of Leah
Rabin during
her funeral
Wednesday in
Jerusalem.
Rabin, widow of
assassinated
Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak
Rabin, and a
tireless cam
paigner for
peace, died Nov.
12 at the age of
71
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM — Leah Rabin,
a passionate campaigner for
peace, was buried Wednesday
beside her husband, Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who
was assassinated in 1995 by an
extremist Israeli who objected
to his peace offers to the
Palestinians.
World leaders, including
U.S. first lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton, paid tribute to Rabin,
who died Sunday of cancer.
More than 1,500 invited
guests attended the simple cer
emony in a pine grove at
Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl cere
mony. The mourners included
German President Johannes
Rau and Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder, Russian Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov and U.S.
Mideast peace envoy Dennis
Ross.
Rabin’s daughter, Dalia
Rabin-Pelossof, pressed a white
handkerchief to her face to hold
back tears as the simple wooden
coffin was lowered into the
ground.
In a sign of the unique status
Rabin had acquired, she was the
first Israeli who did not hold
high office to be buried in a plot
normally reserved for presi
dents and prime ministers.
Clinton said Rabin was "a
wonderful woman, a dear
friend, an ambassador of peace,
a woman of valor.” She said she
was wearing a pin Rabin had
given her, and pledged that the
United States would always
stand by Israel, “especially in
difficult times like these,” a ref
erence to six weeks of Israeli
Palestinian violence that has left
more than 200 people dead.
Former Israeli Prime
Minister Shimon Peres praised
“Rabin was a
wonderful woman, a
dear friend, an
ambassador of peace,
a woman of valor.”
Hillary Rodham Clinton
U.S. first lady
Rabin for taking her husband’s
message of Israeli-Arab peace to
the world after he was shot and
killed on Nov. 4,1995.
“When Yitzhak was assassi
nated, Leah knew that she must
not turn into a grieving, ago
nized widow,” but must carry
the torch ignited by her hus
band, Peres said.
Rau recalled that Rabin was
bom in Germany but emigrated
with her family when the Nazis
came to power. When she visit
ed Germany after her husband’s
assassination to spread his lega
cy of peace, “people listened to
her,” Rau said.
Several speakers noted her
sharp tongue. Prime Minister
Ehud Barak offered thanks to
Rabin for her steadfast commit
ment and work for peace and
“also for the tough criticism that
you gave me in recent days.” In a
newspaper interview, she said
her husband would be spinning
in his grave because of conces
sions Barak offered the
Palestinians in Jerusalem.
Earlier Wednesday, Rabin's
coffin was placed at the Tel Aviv
square where her husband was
killed. Hundreds of mourners
filed past the coffin, which was
flanked by bird of paradise flow
ers and draped with an Israeli
flag. The square was later
renamed after Rabin.
Weather
TODAY
Windy
high 32, low 18
TOMORROW
Partly cloudy
high 33, low 21
gmm
mmm
Coov Di
(/)
^^^^sslstant
Questions? Comments?
Ask lor the appropriate section editor at
(402)472-2588
ore-mail: dn€>unl.edu
Editor: Sarah Baker
Managing Editor: Bradley Davis
News Editor Kimberly Sweet
Opinion Editor Samuel McKewon
Sports Editor Matthew Hansen
Arts Editor Dane Stickney
Copy Desk Co-Chief: Lindsay Young
Copy Desk Co-Chief: Danell McCoy
Photo Chief: Heather Glenboski
Art Director Melanie Falk
Chief: Andrew Broer
Editor Gregg Steams
Web Editor Tanner Graham
General Manager
Publications Board
Dan Shattil
Russell Willbanks,
,Professional Adviser
Advertising Manager
Chairman: (402) 436-7226
Don Walton,
(402)473-7248
Nick Partsch,
(402) 472-2589
Nicole Woita
Nikki Bruner
Imtiyaz Khan
Ad Manager
Ad Manager
Manager
Fax Number: (402) 472-1761
Id Wide Web: wwwdailyneb.com
The Daily Nebraskan (USPS144-080)
ished by the UNL Publications Board,
20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St.,
Uncoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday
h Friday during the academic year;
1 ly during the summer sessions.
.... r_ic has access to the Publications Board.
m Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas
arraignments to the Daily Nebraskan by calling
(402)472-2588.
bscriptions are $60 for one year.
master: Send address changes
Daily Nebraskan, 20 Nebraska Union,
1400 R St.,Lincoln, NE 68588-0448.
iodical postage paid at Uncoln, NE
ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 2000
DAILY NEBRASKAN
Three officers found
guilty of corruption
■The biggest scandal in Los
Angeles history sends those
involved to a sentencing.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES—Three offi
cers accused of framing gang
members were convicted of con
spiracy and other crimes
Wednesday in the first trial result
ing from the biggest police cor
ruption scandal in Los Angeles
history.
Alter weighing testimony
from a parade of gang members
and police officers, the Superior
Court jury found Sgts. Brian Iiddy
and Edward Ortiz and Officer
Michael Buchanan guilty. A fourth
officer, Paul Harper, was acquitted
of all charges.
“There's good cops and there’s
bad cops,” jury foreman Victor
Flores said. “A lot of us on the jury
felt that they just didn't happen to
cover themselves enough, and
they never thought it would come
bade to haunt them.”
The convicted officers face
one to four years in prison at their
sentencing Jan. 16. Defense attor
neys said they will appeal
"There's been so much public
ity about the Rampart scandal the
jury might be afraid if they came in
with all not guiltys, people would
think it was the O.J. jury,” said
Harland Braun, who represented
Buchanan.
The scandal, centered within
the anti-gang unit at the LAPD’s
Rampart station, involves allega
tions that officers framed gang
members, planted evidence,
committed perjury and even shot
innocent victims.
The scandal has led to the dis
missal of about 100 criminal cases
tainted by police testimony.
Dozens of officers have quit, been
fired or suspended.
According to some estimates,
it may cost the city $125 million to
settle lawsuits resulting from the
scandal
The first trial was considered
an important test which could
determine whether prosecutors
would go forward with cases
against more officers. So far, only
one other officer has been
charged and is awaiting trial
The partial convictions were a
victory for District Attorney Gil
Garcetti, who lost his re-election
bid one day before the case went
to the jury. He had been criticized
for pursuing a case that appeared
thin and was still stinging from
die O.J. Simpson murder trial loss.
The issues in this case go to
the very heart of the criminal jus
tice system," Garcetti said. “We
must be able to depend on the
honesty of all police officers.”
Prosecutors had pressed for
ward with the trial despite losing
their star witness: Rafael Perez, a
disgraced former cop whose alle
gations started the scandal
Perez turned informant in
exchange for leniency after he was
caught stealing $1 million worth
of cocaine from a police evidence
room.
He was expected to be the top
prosecution witness until he
demanded immunity from mur
der allegations - now recanted -
made by an ex-lover.
Electors on top
of polling tide
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
They’re like anybody else—teachers, stay-at
home moms, business people, retired military offi
cers. Except for the fact that every four years, these
538 electors decide who becomes our next president
Usually a dry formality to sign off on the popular
vote, this year the Electoral College could tip die elec
tion: George W. Bush or A1 Gore. No electors have
publicly said they will break their pledge, but it could
take only three to upend the results.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said Jo Slaughter, a Bush
pledged elector from Charleston, W Va. A homemak
er with a grown daughter, she gets questions about
the Electoral College at church, charity meetings -
and from reporters hounding her on the phone. Now
she plans to speak to a fourth-grade class to explain
how it all works.
Suddenly, what was once a question on a social
studies test becomes front page news. “We had no
clue it was going to be like this,” said Kristie Mann, a
Gore-pledged elector from California.
A few facts: The college is not actually an institu
tion. All 538 electors don’t ever meet; instead, each
state’s electors gather in their state capitals to cast
votes. Whichever candidate gets the majority
becomes president.
Electors are chosen by the political parties in their
states (sometimes elected at the state convention,
sometimes chosen by a committee or just appoint
ed). Each party chooses a slate of electors pledged to
their nominee - so Bush winning Texas means GOP
electors get to vote, and the Democrats stay home.
This election could come down to a four-vote
margin in the Electoral College - and since the
Constitution doesn’t require electors to stick to their
pledges, it raises the possibility that a few switches
could turn the election. (About half the states require
electors to keep their promise, but those laws may
not be enforceable.)
For the electors, the uncertainty has brought
attention. “It’s just been a really wild experience, to
say the least,” said Don Wilcox, a Gore elector from
California active in Democratic politics. “I never had
any thought other than it would be anything other
than a fabulous ceremonial civics lesson.”
World/Nation
The Associated Press
■Italy
Fiat dynasty hit hard
with death of Agnelli heir
ROME—Edoardo Agnelli, the
son of die head of the Bat dynasty,
was found dead Wednesday
under a highway bridge, the sec
ond tragic blow for Italy’s most
prominent family in recent years.
Investigators suspected sui
cide in the death of the 46-year
old son of Bat magnate Giovanni
Agnelli. Edoardo Agnelli was
described by Mends as a dreamer
more interested in mysticism
than cars, but his death gave new
edge to the question of who will
lead Fiat in years to come.
Fiat officials said Agnelli’s
body was found by a highway
patrol alongside a stream under a
240-foot-high bridge. Italian
reporters who went to the scene
about 50 miles from Fiat head
quarters in Turin, said the body
suffered trauma to the head and
face from an apparent falL
Like the Kennedys in the
United States, the Agnelli family’s
doings are widely chronicled in
Italy. Giovanni Agnelli is quoted
on subjects ranging from busi
ness to finance to soccer:
■ Washington, D.C
Survey finds public knows
little about tire maintenance
The huge recall of Firestone
tires linked to 119 U.S. traffic
deaths has prompted many driv
ers to pay more attention to tire
maintenance, but most still know
little about what's needed to
insure safe tires, according to a
survey released Wednesday.
The Rubber Manufacturers
Association, which commis
sioned the poll, plans to use the
results in a campaign promoting
tire maintenance and safety.
“What we’ve found is that
people just assume that their tires
are indestructible, but we all
know that tires fail,” said Isabel
Jasinowski ofThe Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Co.
The nationwide survey asked
400 licensed drivers to answer 16
questions about tire safety and
maintenance. No one received an
A while 36 percent scored a D and
41 percent an F, meaning they
answered fewer than 10 questions
correctly.
OXFORD — A man who
■Great Britain
Former Beatle's attacker
acquitted by insanity
stabbed George Harrison
because he believed he was pos
sessed by the former Beatle, was
ordered confined to a mental hos
pital Wednesday after being
acquitted of attempted murder by
reason of insanity.
Judge Michael Astill said
Michael Abram would be held
“without time restriction’’ and
must gain the approval of a men
tal health tribunal if he seeks
release.
Abram, 34, had been accused
of breaking into Harrison’s home
in Henley-on-Thames, west of
London, and stabbing him
repeatedly, puncturing a lung. He
also was charged with attacking
Harrison’s wife, Olivia, when she
came to her husband’s defense.
In a statement read outside
Oxford Crown Court by the cou
ple’s son, Dhani, the Harrisons
criticized the "ancient lunatic
law” that allows acquittal on
mental grounds.
■ Washington, D.C
Advocates: Breakfast program
offered at too few schools
About 6.4 million poor
schoolchildren are getting free or
reduced-price breakfasts, nearly
double the number a decade ago,
but millions of other needy kids
aren't receiving the meals because
too few schools offer them, an
advocacy group says.
About 42 percent of low
income children who participate
in the federal school lunch pro
gram also got the government
subsidized breakfasts during the
1999-2000 school year, according
to a report released Wednesday by
the Food Research and Action
Center.
West Virginia has the highest
participation in the breakfast pro
gram, with 56 percent of kids get
ting free or reduced-priced lunch
es also receiving the breakfasts.
If children in other states par
ticipated in the breakfast program
as much as they do in West
Virginia, an additional two mil
lion kids would be getting the
meals, at a cost to taxpayers of
$321 million, the report stated.