TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=94TT0175> <title> Feb. 14, 1994: Chronicles:The Week </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1994 Feb. 14, 1994 Are Men Really That Bad? </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> CHRONICLES, Page 13 THE WEEK:JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 5 </hdr> <body> NATION Vietnam Trade Ban Dropped President Clinton lifted the 19-year-old trade embargo against Vietnam, opening a potentially lucrative market to U.S. firms. Although he cited Vietnam's cooperation in the search for evidence of the more than 2,000 Americans still missing from the Vietnam War as justification for the move, Clinton's decision disappointed veterans' groups and families of MIAS. On the other hand, firms such as American Express and United Airlines were thrilled; both announced plans to open for business in Vietnam ASAP. It still remains for the two countries to establish full diplomatic relations. Health-Care Haggling President Clinton's health-care plan was dealt a blow when the influential Business Roundtable of 200 of the country's largest firms endorsed a rival plan sponsored by Tennessee Democratic Representative Jim Cooper--this despite avid lobbying by the White House. The National Governors' Association, meanwhile, came out in favor of health-care reforms similar to those proposed by Cooper's bill, and the 215,000-member U.S. Chamber of Commerce said President Clinton's plan "cannot even be used as a starting point." White House Releases Budget White House aides leaked details of the proposed $1.5 trillion budget that President Clinton will send to Congress this week. The plan eliminates more than 100 federal programs, caps or cuts spending in 600 others, and trims 100,000 jobs from the federal payroll. The billions in cuts are necessary to meet congressionally imposed limits on discretionary spending and to increase funds for the President's pet projects: the Head Start program for preschoolers, worker training and highway construction. In Like Perry After only one day of hearings, the Senate voted 97-0 to confirm William Perry as Secretary of Defense. He replaces Les Aspin. Third Time's the Charm? After a months-long search, President Clinton chose Deval Patrick, 37, to fill the post of Assistant Attorney General in charge of the civil rights division, still vacant a year after Clinton took office. Patrick was previously a partner in a Boston law firm and a litigator with the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Two previous candidates, Lani Guinier and John Payton, were scuttled. Tonya Trouble The U.S. Figure Skating Association has decided that Tonya Harding must face disciplinary proceedings in the attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan. The skater need not respond till after the Olympics, but the action could influence the U.S. Olympic Committee's decision on whether she will compete. Earlier, her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, pleaded guilty to racketeering in the assault on Kerrigan and said Harding approved the attack in advance. She denies it. Farrakhan Rebukes? Under heavy pressure from mainstream black politicians, Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam, stripped aide Khalid Abdul Muhammad of his title and rank for making a speech last November that many critics labeled racist and anti-Semitic and that Farrakhan labeled "vile in manner, repugnant, malicious, mean-spirited." But Farrakhan also said he stood by "the truths" in the speech. Squalor in Chicago Police officers searching a Chicago apartment for drugs instead found 19 children, ages 1 to 14, scattered among filthy diapers, cockroaches and food strewn over the floor. Seven adults were arrested; one was charged with cruelty to a child, the others with contributing to child neglect. Said police officer Patricia Warner, who made the discovery: "It's something you wish you'd never seen." WORLD On Again, Off Again After weeks of setbacks, word came from Switzerland that the Middle East peace talks were back on track. But by week's end squabbles over the terms of Palestinian self-rule in Jericho and the Gaza Strip had once more brought things to a halt. Exasperated by splits between his Foreign and Defense ministries, Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin speculated that the present deadlock could last at least another three or four weeks. Shopping-Day Slaughter The mortar shell that slammed into Sarajevo's main downtown marketplace last week was timed to kill a maximum number of people: Saturday morning, the peak shopping period. In the worst single incident since violence broke out in the former Yugoslavia, at least 66 people were killed and 200 injured. Only the day before, 10 people died in a shelling in another part of the city. After Saturday's attack, newly installed U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry reiterated President Clinton's statement that the U.S. would not "permit the strangulation of Sarajevo." More Deaths and a Warning A U.S. Marine convoy fired into a crowded Mogadishu street, killing eight Somalis. The Americans blamed snipers, but Somali witnesses insisted that the crowd was peacefully waiting in line for free food. With American troops pulling out by March 31, the U.N. Security Council voted Friday to scale back the troubled operation and exhorted Somalis to get serious about forming a government. Adams' Visit Causes a Stir A tremor was sent through U.S.-British relations when Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, was granted a 48-hour visa to visit New York City. There he attended a conference on Northern Ireland and met with groups of supporters. British officials, who opposed President Clinton's decision to allow Adams' visit, were angered that Adams had not explicitly called for an end to I.R.A. violence. Adams repeated his demand that British officials clarify their joint declaration with the Irish government, which promises the I.R.A. a seat at the negotiating table if it lays down its arms. Playing Hardball with Russia Against a background of increasing concern in the West that Russian reform is moving in the wrong direction, the head of the International Monetary Fund announced that his agency would not back away from the stiff conditions it has sought for the release of more aid to Russia. As an IMF team arrived in Moscow, Michel Camdessus warned that the economic changes necessary to unlock $1.5 billion in aid "may not be easy." Hosokawa as Survivor Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa confronted his third crisis in less than three weeks and abandoned a tax-reform plan that threatened to topple his shaky coalition. At issue: a new 7% national welfare sales tax intended to offset lower income taxes. The crisis could undermine efforts to finalize a $137.6 billion economic-stimulus package, part of an effort to reduce Japan's huge trade surplus with the U.S. Hosokawa wants to present the package to Clinton at their summit meeting in Washington this week. Traveler's Advisory: Egypt The Islamic Group, linked to a rash of 1993 killings, promised "extremely ferocious and strong" actions and warned foreigners to leave Egypt immediately for their own safety. That threat was a response to a Cairo police raid in which seven suspected radicals were killed. Last Friday unidentified gunmen killed a witness scheduled to identify suspects in the attempted murder of the Prime Minister. Mackerel Wars Furious French fishermen, protesting cheap imports from South America, Russia and Eastern Europe, went on a fish-throwing rampage in supermarkets across the country. More than 100 policemen, protesters and bystanders were injured in the melees. The 12-nation European Union has decided to set minimum prices for some fish, and may also impose stricter controls on non-E.U. fish imports. BUSINESS A Tumble for Wall Street The Dow Jones industrials--nudging toward an unprecedented 4000 mark--plunged nearly 100 points Friday after the announcement by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that the Fed would raise interest rates. It was the biggest one-day drop for the stock market in more than two years. Paramount Wants Viacom After more than four months of stormy courtship, the two rivals for the hand of Paramount submitted their sweetest proposals last week. In the end it all came down to cash as Viacom's offer of $107 per share for 50.1% of Paramount beat out the $103 bid from QVC. Paramount chairman Martin Davis said shareholders would have until Feb. 14 (Valentine's Day) to decide. SCIENCE Frankenchips? Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington report that they have found a way to grow individual nerve cells from rats onto computer chips. Eventually, they hope to coax the cells into linking up with each other. That feat could lead to the development of "biochips," which might be used to test memory-enhancing drugs or detect the presence of chemical weapons such as nerve gas. Big Brother Chips? The Clinton Administration has decided to foster use of "Clipper Chips" in government communications equipment, thus allowing the FBI et al. to eavesdrop on computerized messages. The FBI reportedly is also investigating increased use of "sniffer" programs, which steal passwords and access to private data on the Internet. Lost City Found in Mexico Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a vast city on the Gulf coast of Mexico. Known as El Pital, the pre-Columbian seaport flourished more than 1,500 years ago--centuries before the Aztecs conquered the central Mexican highlands--and may have had as many as 20,000 inhabitants. THE ARTS & MEDIA Networks' Clean-Air Plan Television and cable industry leaders accepted the appointment of an outside monitor who would scrutinize their shows for unacceptable violence and issue an annual report card on compliance. The announcement was hailed by Illinois Senator Paul Simon, a leader of the anti-smut-and-violence movement in Congress. -- By Christopher John Farley, Kevin Fedarko, Christine Gorman, Jeffery C. Rubin, Alain L. Sanders and Sidney Urquhart DISPATCHES:SKIN DEEP 101 By MASSIMO CALABRESI, in New York City At Harlem's City College, day one of Professor Leonard Jeffries' spring semester class, African Heritage 101, begins meekly--no sign of the brouhaha that surrounded Jeffries' dismissal in 1992 from his post as chairman of the college's Black Studies department for having allegedly made anti-Semitic statements; no sign of the uproar that greeted Jeffries' court-ordered reinstatement (and $400,000 damages award) last August; no sign of the outraged editorials that have made Jeffries a national figure. And no sign of Jeffries. Forty-five minutes after class was scheduled to start in a windowless, first-floor lecture hall, he still has not arrived. Several of the 40 or so young students (all black but for one Asian) are sprawled face down on their blue Formica fold-out desks. Every few minutes, someone tires of waiting, gets up and leaves. When Jeffries finally does arrive, fully an hour late, he is apologetic and cheerful, with a grin on his angular face. After greeting the class enthusiastically in ancient Egyptian--"Hautep!"--and receiving a decidedly lukewarm "Hautep" back, he explains that he has been trying to retrieve his clothes from the laundry, but it has burned down. According to Jeffries, the class will focus on African contributions to world civilization that have been ignored by Eurocentric scholars. He begins by scribbling a chalkboard chart featuring "the sun people" (i.e., people of color) at one corner of a triangle and "the ice people" (i.e., not people of color) at another. Next to the latter he jots down a few salient attributes: "individualist," "competitive," "exploitative." Jeffries explains that his chart "gives us a paradigm for looking at the world. We're not talking about superiority and inferiority, but we're talking about the important factor of melanin." Blacks have more melanin--a skin pigment--than whites; Jeffries asserts, "It allows us to negotiate the vibrations of the universe and to deal with the ultraviolet rays of the sun." He draws a smaller triangle with "RNA" and "DNA" at the corners and "melanin" on top. Another paradigm? Returning to the large triangle, he offers a synthesis: "[This is] the aspect of internal-external, the aspect of systems analysis the aspect of various bodies of knowledge that you have to master in order to quote this material and do what? Critically think," he answers decisively. "The idea is to get you to be critical thinkers." As class breaks up, students gather around the professor and ask questions. Most are interested in how many papers they will have to write. A reporter asks for a clarification of the DNA-RNA-melanin triangle. "Well, for one thing," Jeffries replies, "you want to have the duality-polarity in life." Two or three students glance about nervously. "There's a mix," he says, and adds, his voice getting softer, "a mix of DNA, RNA, and there's a not-too-understood question of melanin, the organized molecule, in the beginning. And this is the relationship that produces the processes of life, the multiplicity of cells " Now several students are shooting embarrassed glances at one another. "So what we're trying to say is that there are deep things in biology, in psychology, in geometry, in philosophy, in theology, we don't understand." Uh-huh. HEALTH REPORT THE GOOD NEWS -- Vanity does not cause cancer. Countering previous reports, a study of the personal habits of 573,369 women found that long-term use of hair dyes does not trigger fatal malignancies. -- If an expectant mother possesses the stamina and desire to jog, cross-country ski or otherwise kick up her heels during a normal pregnancy, she may do so without risk to herself or her fetus, the latest evidence suggests. -- Scientists report that they are on the trail of a defective gene that allows tumors to spread to other parts of the body. By repairing the gene, researchers might one day be able to save more cancer patients' lives. THE BAD NEWS -- Studies have linked smoking to the development of benign intestinal polyps. A survey of 170,000 people has shown that smokers have up to twice the risk of developing colon cancer as nonsmokers. For most people, the cancer takes as long as 35 years to develop. -- AIDS has muted much of the progress that had been made in treating hemophilia. In the U.S. in 1979, the typical hemophiliac could expect to live until 57. But by 1985, when tests were developed to protect the blood supply, more than half of all Americans with hemophilia had been accidentally infected with the AIDS virus. Their average life-span has dropped to 40 years. Sources--GOOD: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Oncogene. BAD: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, American Journal of Hematology. SO WHAT WAS THE ROBE? "People [in Hollywood] are Jewish. And it's a frightening thing for them to promote Christianity." -- Dolly Parton, on why her proposed TV series about a country star turned gospel singer met with such little interest INSIDE DALLAS:IS PEROT MINDING HIS OWN BUSINESS? ROSS PEROT has become so consumed with national politics that he may not be paying enough attention to his computer-services company. New business for Perot Systems Corp. has trailed off, foul-ups have eaten into the profits on some major contracts, and a public stock offering has been postponed indefinitely. Analysts say the firm is undergoing a thorough restructuring and needs a strong hand to take control of things. Says one analyst: "The company really doesn't know what it wants to be." WINNERS & LOSERS WINNERS JIM COOPER Support for Congressman's health plan gains momentum RON BROWN Clintonite cleared of taking bribe from Vietnamese businessman BUDDY RYAN Obstreperous football coach hired to lead Phoenix Cardinals LOSERS TONYA HARDING Ex implicates her--and they split up for good BERNARD NUSSBAUM White House counsel earns more bad press over Foster probe DOW JONES Greenspan-induced uptick in rates sends stocks tumbling THE RISE AND FALL OF THE POLITICAL CATCHPHRASE December 2, 1993 William Kristol, former aide to Dan Quayle and aspiring Republican power broker, outlines a G.O.P. strategy on health care in a widely read memo: "Republicans should scrupulously avoid endorsing the President's depiction of a nation beset by fear over health care." December 8 Rumored G.O.P. presidential candidate Dick Cheney tries out a new talking point: "I don't believe there is a crisis in our health-care system." January 2, 1994 Bob Dole, Senate Minority Leader, weighs in on Meet the Press: "My view is that I think there isn't a health-care crisis." January 9 Pat Moynihan, iconoclastic Democratic Senator from New York, comes to his own conclusion on Meet the Press: "We don't have a health-care crisis...We have a welfare crisis." January 10 Another Kristol memo: "Republicans must aggressively debunk the Administration's `crisis' rhetoric...there is no health-care crisis." Mid-January TIME, CBS News, CNN, the Wall Street Journal and the Christian Science Monitor run stories questioning whether there really is a health-care crisis. January 25 While Dole responds to the President's State of the Union message: "Our country has health-care problems, but no health-care crisis," Newt Gingrich, House minority whip, frets: "We are in danger of looking like George Bush, really out of touch." January 26 Kristol shrugs off increasing criticism: "No risks, no glory"--and vows to fight on. January 29 Moynihan clarifies his position: "There's an insurance crisis." January 31 Dole tries to put the matter to rest: "I think we're making too much over whether this is a `crisis' or a `serious problem.'" UM, WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID? "The United States and the international community must take action. If the horrors of the Holocaust taught us anything, it is the high cost of remaining silent and paralyzed in the face of genocide. We must discover who is responsible and take steps to bring them to justice for these crimes against humanity." Candidate Bill Clinton on the war in Bosnia, Aug. 4, 1992 "They're going to have to make up their own mind to quit killing each other." President Bill Clinton on the war in Bosnia, Jan. 24, 1994 INFORMED SOURCES Les Aspin May Not Be Beijing Bound Washington--Former Secretary of Defense LES ASPIN probably won't accept President Clinton's offer to be U.S. Ambassador to China. Aspin wants to remain active in the Washington scene, and he's mulling over another job Clinton has proposed to him: head of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. What would please Aspin most, though, is a job in academia, preferably as a university president. Governor King Raleigh--Legendary stock-car racer RICHARD PETTY, nicknamed "the King," seems to be preparing to enter North Carolina's 1996 gubernatorial election, as state G.O.P. officials have urged him to do. The longtime county commissioner has announced that he won't seek re-election, but that doesn't mean he's leaving politics. He recently helped launch both the Richard Petty Political Action Committee and the Richard Petty Policy Group. Paul Shumaker Jr., Petty's political consultant, will say only, "The formation of pac and the policy group does elevate his involvement in the political process." YES, AND THE JAPANESE HAD A PRETTY GOOD 1941 "We should have had the game wrapped up before the half."--Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly after his team lost Super Bowl XXV in 1991 "If we'd scored before the half, we could have won."--Bills center Kent Hull after his team lost Super Bowl XXVI in 1992 "In the first half...we slowed them down."--Bills linebacker Shane Conlan after his team lost Super Bowl XXVII in 1993 "We had a great first half."--Kelly after his team lost Super Bowl XXVIII last week </body> </article> </text>