Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2001)
Bush to give funds to religious charities ■Two executive orders have gained criticism for blurring the line between church and state. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON—President Bush said Monday he will tap religious institutions for more charitable work, confronting critics who say using public money for such pro grams could violate the wall between church and state. “Compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government” he said. Bush established a White House office that would distribute billions of dollars to religious groups and charities over the next 10 years. The president said such groups grapple daily with “deep needs and real suf fering” in communities and deserve a chance to compete for taxpayer money for after-school programs, prison ministries and drug treatment, among other things. “Government will never be replaced by charities and community groups,” Bush said. "Yet when we see social needs in America, my administration will look first to faith-based programs.... We will not dis criminate against diem.” The president signed two executive orders, one to establish a White House office of religion-based community initiatives, and the other instructing five Cabinet-level agencies to create entities to work with reli gious groups. Bush said he issued the sec ond order to clear barriers "that make pri vate groups hesitant to work with govern ment” To build support, Bush will meet throughout the week with leaders ofspiritu al and charitable groups, and he plans to attend the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday. Bush chose University of Pennsylvania political science professor John J. Dilulio Jr. to head the office. He tapped former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith to serve on the board of the Corporation for National Service, which will work with the new White House office. Bush said both men will report directly to him. Skeptics say shifting government money to churches, synagogues and mosques so they can expand assistance programs raises church-state separation questions. Even some churches are wary of government money that might come with strings attached. Dilulio, Goldsmith and other support eis brushed aside such questions when they spoke with reporters after Bush’s announce ment “It's proven that when there's a faith component to social services, it brings about a greater opportunity and a greater percentage (chance) that that person’s going to be changed from the inside out, as opposed to from outside in,” said the Rev. Herbert Lusk, who attended Monday's meeting. Lusk endorsed Bush at the Republican National Convention. Striking pre-emptively at critics, Bush said religious groups must be part of the solution to cure society's ills. “A compassionate society is one which recognizes the great power of faith,” Bush said last week. “We in government must not fear faith-based programs - we must wel come faith-based programs.” Rare rescues ✓ offer India some hope THE ASSOCtATH) PRESS * BHUJ, India—Rescue workers digging through the rubble of a collapsed building Monday uncovered a dead woman and, in her lap, an eight-month-old child, covered in her blood but kept alive by the shel ter ofher body throu^ three cold nights. It was one of the increasingly rare dramatic res cues in this devastated town, where funeral pyres have been burning around the clock in the wake of Friday's earthquake. So feu:, 6,287 people are known dead, and officials said Monday that damages reached $5.5 billion. “It was just miraculous,” said R.K. Thakur, a Border Security Forces assistant commandant, who was among the rescue workers who found die baby, Murtza Ali, under a collapsed building in Bhuj’s Kansara Market His team was trying to recover the body of a woman from the rubble when they realized the blood-covered baby in her lap was alive. “We saw the toby in the mother's lap. We saw some movement from the baby. I took the baby in my hand, and I found it was alive,” Thakur said The boy was rushed to a medical center, where doctors later said he was conscious and smiling. Doctors said it was the warmth of the mother’s body and the protection it offered that helped the baby sur vive during nights when temperatures dropped to 44 degrees. In Bhachau, a town east ofBhuj, a seven-month old gid was rescued from the rubble of her home and hours later was being passed around the arms of her joyous mother and relatives. By official count, Friday’s 7.9-magnitude quake had killed6,287people in die state of Gujarat in west ern India, and die state's chief minister, Keshubhai Patel, said the toll could go as high as 20,000., Tremors lasting up to 30 seconds continued to shake India on Monday, panicking residents but causing no new damage beyond minor cracks in buildings. Amagnitude-43 quake struck in the morn ing near Bangalore, a city 850 miles southeast of Friday’s epicenter , Weather TODAY TOMORROW Snow Snow showers high341ow24 high 37, low 23 £ta*7rNebraskan Editor: Sarah Baker Managing Editor Bradley Davis Associate News Editor: Kimberly Sweet Assignment Editor Jill Zeman Opinion Editor JakeGlazeski Sports Editor Matthew Hansen Assistant Sports Editor David Diehl Arts Editor Samuel McKewon Copy Dock Chief: Danell McCoy Copy Desk Chief: Jeff Bloom Art Director Melanie Falk Art Director Delan Lonowski Photo Chief: Scott McClurg Design Coordinator Bradley Davis Desip Coordinator Samuel McKewon Web Editor Gregg Stems Assistant Web Editor Tanner Graham General Manager Daniel Shattil Publications Board Russell Willbanks Chairman: (402) 436-7226 Professional Adviser. Don Walton (402) 473-7248 ' Advertising Manager Nick Partsch (402)472-2589 Assistant Ad Manager Nicole Woita Classified Ad Manager Nikki Bruner Circulation Manager ImtiyazKhan Fax number (402) 472-1761 ' World Wide Web: www.dailyneb.com The Daily Nebraskan (USPS144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board.20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St, Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during the academic year weekly during the summer sessions.The pubfc has access to the Publications Board. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daly Nebraskan by calling (402) 472-2588. Subscriptions are 860 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 2001 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN AM for too opprapriito i (402) 472-2508 or e-mail dotoml.odo. Spencer Platt/Newsmakers Ui. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) speaks out against the nomination of President Bushes Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft at a press conference Monday in New York City. Hillary among Ashcroft foes THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton became the latest sena tors Monday to say they will vote against John Ashcroft's nomination to be attor ney general. Sen. Patrick Leahy ofVermont, who chaired four days of hearings on President Bush’s nomination of Ashcroft, cited the Republican former Missouri senator's views on civil rights, homosex uals, abortion, guns and the role of judges. “John Ashcroft’s unyielding and intemperate positions on many issues raise grave doubts both about how he will interpret the oath he would take as attorney general to enforce the laws... and about how he will exercise the enor mous power of that office," Leahy told the Senate. But Leahy also said he would not support a filibuster against Ashcroft, as once suggested by Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. Senate Democratic leader Thomas Daschle of South Dakota, also has said he would not support a filibuster but had not disclosed how he would vote on the nomination itself Kennedy floated the idea of a fili buster during Ashcroft’s confirmation hearings two weeks ago but Democrats concede they lack the 41 votes to suc ceed and little has been heard about the effort since. Clinton, D-N.Y., said at a news con ference that Ashcroft’s “record and his views placed himonthedistantshores of American jurisprudence.” The Judiciary Committee is expected to vote as early as Tuesday, and Senate Republican leader Tlent Lott has said the full Senate might vote Thursday. Meanwhile, the liberal People for die American Way planned full-page adver tisements Tuesday in USA Today, The New York Times and nine other newspa pers aimed at senators in Connecticut, the Dakotas, Maine, Louisiana and Wisconsin. “The bitter left is still trying to The bitter left is still trying to squeeze the Democrats as much as they can.” Trent Lott Senate Republican leader squeeze the Democrats as much as they can,” said Lott. He estimated that Ashcroft has the support of all 50 Senate Republicans and 10 to 20 of the cham ber’s Democrats. Some senators targeted by the new $260,000 ad campaign have already said they intend to vote for Ashcroft, includ ing Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrats Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad of North Dakota. Some undecideds are being heavily lobbied, including Wisconsin’s Russ Peingold and Herb Kohl, both Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee. Merger fails to help automaker ■ After suffering steady losses, DaimlerChrysler lays off numerous U.S.and Canadian employees. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — DaimlerChrysler A's slashing of26,000 jobs at its ailing Chrysler division stands as the most dramatic sign yet that the 1998 merger of German and American automakers has not lived up to its promise. “Instead of making the billions of dollars in cost savings and synergies at the time of the merger, they're making desperate cuts to get Chrysler back in the black,” said analyst David Healy of Burnham Securities. Now, he said, “surgery is necessary to save the patient” On Monday, the man tapped in November to stem Chrysler's financial hemorrhaging said the U.S. unit would slash about one-fifth of its work force over three years, as well as idle six plants over the next two years. “No one wants this to happen. I per sonally wish it didn't have to happen,” Dieter Zetsche, Chrysler's president and chief executive, said Monday. He called the moves painful but necessary in the face of “brutal” competition, advances by imports and slackened U.S. sales. Zetsche expected a large part of the job-cutting to be done through retire J ment programs; others would be phased out through layoffs, attrition and other programs. About three-quar ters of the job cuts should come this year, he said. In addition, production will be curbed at factories in four states and Canada by slowing assembly lines and trimming the number of shifts, ulti mately paring production by 15 per cent DaimlerChrysler chairman Juergen Schrempp has said Chrysler would lose money this year, and that rehabbing the troubled division that pioneered the minivan could take two to four years. Zetsche already has asked for 5 per cent price cuts from Chrysler suppliers. Chrysler also plans to slash hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising and showroom subsidies to its4,400 dealers. Zetsche said Chrysler will unveil its complete turnaround plan Feb. 26. The overhaul comes about 23 years after Lee Iacocca engineered a rescue of Chrysler, including layoffs and a $1.5 billion government bailout^ the com pany teetered on the edge of bankrupt cy. Chrysler was restored to health, even becoming the industry leader in per-vehicle profits. That impressive record was what appealed to the German automaker as it sought to fur ther expand in the United States. The vaunted 1998 trans-Atlantic combination of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corp. was touted as a merger of equals, but last year Schrempp said the company never intended to be an equal partner with Chrysler and that he only said that to gain shareholder approval. The comments prompted a lawsuit by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, one of DaimlerChrysler's largest shareholders, seeking to have the deal reversed on grounds that executives misled investors. DaimlerChrysler’s stock price, now at about $47, has fallen steadily since reaching a high of $108 in January 1999. Chrysler's performance hasn't met Stuttgart-based DaimlerChrysler’s expectations, either. Sales incentives have erased profits and production of the hot-selling PT Cruiser has fallen short of demand. Daimler and Chrysler also have been reluctant to share parts to cut costs, which might change with a new emphasis on saving money. Still, DaimlerChrysler has insisted it has no plans to spin off or sell Chrysler. The job cuts involve 19,000 hourly workers and 6,800 salaried ones. UAW spokesman Paul Krell declined comment Monday. About 22 percent of Chrysler’s Canadian workers would lose their jobs, compared with 18 percent of U.S. Chrysler workers, Canadian Auto Workers President Buzz Hargrove said. “Fbr stockholders, it is a blip, but for the workers it is a tragedy,” he said. World/Nation The Associated Press ■ New York 'Puffy'trial opens with allegations of gun-firing NEW YORK — Rap mogul Sean "Puffy” Combs' weapons and bribery trial began Monday with prosecutors for the first time alleging he fired a gun inside a Times Square nightclub as one of his pro t£g6s allegedly shot and wounded three people. “Mr. Combs fired a shot* into the club’s ceiling, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos said in opening statements. “Witnesses will say they saw the muzzle flash.* Combs, 31, is not accused of shooting anyone in Club New York on Dec. 27,1999. He was arrested after he fled the club with his girlfriend, actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, who has not been charged. Defense attorney Benjamin Brafman said in his opening statement that prosecutors targeted Combs because he is famous. Combs has denied having a gun at the club. “This was a star-struck selective prosecution of a superstar,” Brafman said. “This prosecution is about fame and celebrity, not about a search for truth and justice.” ■ New York 'Survivor'member already ‘ dining adventurously NEWYORK—Figs anyone? An estimated 42 million peo ple watched that unappetizing meal - laced with insects - tried by a member of the sec ond “Survivor” crew. A hungry contestant on the first episode bit into the fig, then quickly spit it out after discovering the fruit had hun dreds of crawling bugs. On the first “Survivor,” adventurous diners ate rat. CBS said the preliminary Nielsen Media Research rat ings for “Survivor: The Australian Outback” on Sunday night might have been even higher if the Super Bowl’s second half had been more competitive and the game show had started earlier than 10:17 p.m. on the East Coast. ■ Chile Judge deades Pinodiet should be prosecuted SANTIAGO — A federal judge ordered Gen. Augusto Pinochet placed under house arrest Monday to stand trial for dozens of political killings dur ing his 17-year rule. Judge Juan Guzman, whose earlier indictment of the for mer dictator was cast aside by the Supreme Court, decided the general should be prose cuted for killings committed soon after he led a 1973 coup, according to a prosecuting lawyer, Hugo Gutierrez. Pinochet’s defense prom ised a swift appeal as allowed by law and said the general hadn’t been immediately informed of the decision for fears of health repercussions. ■ New Hampshire Authorities:'No reason to panic' after professors deaths HANOVER—A key investi gator in the slayings of two Dartmouth College professors said Monday the community should not panic, although authorities had made no arrests. Kelly Ayotte, head of the attorney general’s homicide division, said at a news confer ence that 30 investigators were working the case. Ayotte refused to give further details of the investigation except to say authorities were trying to learn if someone had been liv ing in the home of the victims. “There is no reason for there to be a panic in the pub lic right now,” Ayotte said. “There are no resources being spared to solve these homicides.” Susanne and Half Zantop, both longtime professors at the Ivy League school, were found slain in their secluded house about three miles from campus Saturday, leaving stu dents and colleagues baffled by the crime. 0 w