TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=93TT2040> <title> Aug. 02, 1993: The Week:July 18-24, 1993 </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993 Aug. 02, 1993 Big Shots:America's Kids and Their Guns </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> THE WEEK, Page 11 NEWS DIGEST, JULY 18-24 </hdr> <body> By Tom Curry, Michael Duffy, Christopher John Farley, Richard Lacayo, Alexandra Lange, Michael D. Lemonick, Erik Meers and Michael Quinn NATION Indictment for Rostenkowski? Just as he assumed center stage in the delicate negotiations to craft a House and Senate compromise on the President's budget plan, Illinois Representative Dan Rostenkowski, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, found himself under the threat of a criminal indictment. His troubles resulted from last week's guilty plea by former House postmaster Robert Rota, who admitted that he had helped several unnamed Congressmen embezzle tens of thousands of dollars from the House Post Office. A comparison of court papers with public records indicated that Rostenkowski may have been one of these Congressmen. He denies the allegations. Federal prosecutors have not said whether they will seek indictments. The Flood: Week Six A few days of dry weather allowed water levels to recede slowly along parts of the Mississippi River. Des Moines, Iowa, turned its tap water back on for the first time in almost two weeks. But later in the week heavy rain returned to much of the area, causing still more flooding. "We are going to have another crest coming down," said Larry Crump, Army Corps of Engineers spokesman at Kansas City, Missouri. So far, the flood has killed at least 40 people, submerged 16,000 sq. mi. of farmland and caused $10 billion in damage. Clinton Aide's Suicide The White House was shocked by news that Vincent Foster Jr., 48, a childhood friend of the President's, a former law partner of Hillary Rodham Clinton's and the No. 2 lawyer in the office of the White House counsel, was found dead in a Virginia park. Foster apparently shot himself in the head with a composite 1913 Colt revolver. A father of three, Foster left no note or other explanation. "No one can ever know why this happened," said the visibly grieving President, who asked the Justice Department to investigate Foster's death. A New FBI Director--Finally After months of resisting pressure to resign, FBI Director William Sessions said he would leave only if President Clinton fired him; Clinton obliged and promptly nominated U.S. District Judge Louis Freeh for the position. A former FBI agent, Freeh, 43, first made a name for himself as a federal prosecutor in New York City, where he helped obtain the 1987 convictions of a Mafia drug-dealing ring in the Pizza Connection cases. Ginsburg Aces Hearings Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Clinton's nominee to the Supreme Court, emerged virtually untouched from four days of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. While reassuring conservatives with her view that judges should avoid making policy from the bench, Ginsburg declined to state her position on the death penalty and other issues that might come before the court--but she did take the unprecedented step of strongly endorsing abortion rights. Elders Gets Heard In a one-day Senate confirmation hearing, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, Clinton's nominee for Surgeon General, reaffirmed her strong support for sex education and condom distribution. Elders, a former Arkansas health director, also acknowledged that she had been cited by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for mismanagement as a board member of the National Bank of Arkansas. Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Get Caught The Administration unveiled a somewhat confusing compromise on the vexing issue of service by gays in the military. The scheme won the blessing of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by making large concessions to their concerns. Gays may remain in the service if they remain celibate and do not identify themselves as gay. But frequenting gay bars or marching in gay-rights parades will not automatically constitute the "credible information" required for an investigation. Senator Sam Nunn's Armed Services Committee voted to write the policy into law. Antigay Measure Thwarted The Colorado Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that temporarily bars enforcement of Amendment 2, the measure passed by voters last November to forbid any state or local laws that would prohibit discrimination against gays. Using language that gave gay-rights groups the hope that the lower court will eventually strike down the amendment altogether, the judges said it appeared to violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection. WORLD U.S. Gives Up on Bosnia With Bosnian Serb troops shelling Sarajevo and close to capturing key roads leading to the city, Secretary of State Warren Christopher acknowledged that the Clinton Administration would take no action to aid the besieged Muslims in Bosnia. "The United States is doing all it can, consistent with our national interest," Christopher insisted, while admitting that the U.S.-backed strategy to put Sarajevo and five other cities under U.N. protection as safe havens for Muslims "certainly seems not to have been effective." President Clinton looked more interested in assigning some retroactive blame, saying that the bloody Sarajevo end game had been brought about partly by the European nations that last May opposed his plan to arm Bosnian Muslims. "That's when things began to deteriorate," Clinton said. CIA Wants Stingers The U.S. secretly shipped Afghanistan's mujahedin rebels hundreds of Stinger antiaircraft missiles for use against the occupying Soviet troops in the 1980s. It worked--but now the CIA is scrambling to buy more than 300 leftover Stingers back. Gratitude is one thing, but the Afghans need cash. Worried that Islamic militants or unfriendly governments like North Korea will come up with a better offer, the agency has earmarked $55 million for the missiles. Iraq Bends, U.N. Doesn't Rolf Ekeus, the chief of the United Nations commission monitoring Iraq's weapons industries, got assurances from Saddam Hussein's government that it would submit to long-term surveillance of its arms-production facilities. This sign of Iraqi pliability didn't move the Security Council, which voted to keep in force the three-year-old trade embargo on Baghdad. Humiliated but Still PM British Prime Minister John Major prevailed in a no-confidence vote in Parliament, although the only thing that Major's fellow Conservatives really seemed to be confident of was that the public would have swept them from office if Major had lost the vote and been forced to call a general election. Previously, Major had lost an important vote on the Maastricht treaty of economic union with Europe. Major's victory seemed to clear the way for British ratification of the treaty, but the Prime Minister appears to be weaker than ever. BUSINESS Greenspan Talking Tough Will the Fed raise interest rates? Though inflation is low and holding steady, Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve Board chairman, told a House subcommittee he was disappointed that it "has at best stabilized, rather than easing" in the face of a 7% unemployment rate. Greenspan was hopeful on the economy, however, predicting growth of 2.5% for the year and a drop of 0.25% in the jobless rate by year's end. Greenspan also disclosed last week that the Fed is moving away from more than 15 years of reliance upon monetarism--the attempt to guide economic growth by adjusting the money supply--in favor of its former reliance on adjustments in interest rates. He said that M-2, the Fed's measure of the money supply, was no longer useful because it does not include mutual funds. GM Settles Truck Suits To settle 36 class-action lawsuits by owners of GM trucks that have gas tanks mounted outside the frame, and which critics have said are therefore liable to explode in an accident, the company will distribute between 4.7 million and 6 million $1,000 certificates good for the purchase of its trucks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is still seeking recall of the trucks, and personal-injury suits were not covered by the deal. Cheaper Cigarettes Ensuring a further price war in the tobacco industry, Philip Morris decided to make permanent the temporary price reductions on Marlboro cigarettes that it put into effect in April and to extend price cuts to its other brands. MEDIA & THE ARTS MGM and UA: The Sequel Hollywood mogul Michael Ovitz is revitalizing beleaguered MGM/UA. He's persuaded Credit Lyonnais to pump $400 million into the studio and a new TV division. Overseeing the new MGM/UA: exParamount chief Frank Mancuso. Woody Allen's New Deal It's splitsville again for Woody Allen--he's leaving Sony's TriStar Pictures for Sweetland Films, a tiny independent production company. Sweetland is headed by Allen's friend Jean Doumanian, and Allen's sister, Letty Aronson, is a vice president; Doumanian's longtime companion is Jaqui Safra, nephew of the principal shareholder in the Republic New York banking corporation. SCIENCE Soot, the Unlikely Killer The Environmental Protection Agency and the Harvard School of Public Health estimate that up to 60,000 American deaths a year are caused by particles of soot--an old-fashioned form of air pollution generated by factories and diesel trucks--even though soot levels seldom exceed legal limits. Most victims are children and elderly people with respiratory problems, and asthmatics of all ages. Harder Than Diamond Harvard chemists have come up with a substance that in theory should be harder than diamond, considered the hardest substance on earth. The new synthetic material is a blend of carbon and nitrogen (diamond is all carbon), and if the researchers can make a chunk big enough and pure enough to test, they'll be able to see whether the theory is correct. "Mack, You and George Go Left; Dave, You Cover Them..." Commander in Chief Clinton recently visited the Korean DMZ. He impressed himself. "I understand that I was in a more forward position than any President had been before." July 11, Seoul.--"I walked out farther than any American President had, onto the Bridge of No Return, about 10 yards from the line separating North and South Korea..." July 11, Honolulu.--"I was able to take the most forward position that any American President has ever enjoyed, standing on the Bridge of No Return about 10 yards from the dividing line..." July 11, Pearl Harbor.--"I got within about 10 yards of the dividing line between North and South Korea..." July 20, Washington. The 10 Most Dramatic Increases In Consumer Prices, 1992 Percent 1 Former Yugoslavia.... ..15,201 2 Zaire.... ........ ......3,860 3 Former U.S.S.R........ .1,202 4 Brazil.... ........ .....1,038 5 Albania.... ........ ......226 6 Mongolia.... ........ .....202 - Romania.... ........ ......202 8 Zambia.... ........ .......191 9 Cambodia.... ........ .....177 10 Sudan.... ........ ........ 114 Source: IMF World Economic Outlook, May 1993 Losing Interest Our Bosnia Policy, then and now APRIL 1, 1993 "We have a national interest in limiting ethnic cleansing."--President Clinton APRIL 16 "I think we have an interest in standing up against the principle of ethnic cleansing...This is not just about Bosnia."--Clinton MAY 1 "There are, of course, issues of conscience and humanitarian concerns...But fundamentally, our actions are also based on the strategic interests of the United States."--Secretary of State Warren Christopher, after Clinton agreed in principle to air strikes MAY 6 "We do have fundamental interests there..."--Clinton JUNE 3 "Bosnia involves our humanitarian concerns, but it does not involve our vital interests..."--Christopher JULY 21 "The United States is doing all it can consistent with our national interest."--Christopher, on the decision to do nothing about the imminent fall of Sarajevo Winners & Losers WINNERS RUTH BADER GINSBURG Her hearings go even better than anyone expected SEN. CAROL MOSELEY-BRAUN Jimmy Stewart, 1993, challenges full Senate on Confederate flag JOHN GRISHAM Forget Crichton. His next sells to movies for record $3.75 mil. LOSERS WILLIAM SESSIONS Ex-FBI head finally dragged out the door, kicking and screaming REP. DAN ROSTENKOWSKI Linked to stamps-for-cash scam by convicted House postmaster JOE MCGINNISS Eminent historian accuses him of plagiarizing his Kennedy bio Just Ask Anita Hill "I do not think Senator Hatch crossed a line in his questioning. But I am not a black woman."--JOSEPH BIDEN, CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, COMMENTING ON AN EXCHANGE BETWEEN SENATORS CAROL MOSELEY-BRAUN AND ORRIN HATCH DURING THE GINSBURG HEARINGS Informed Sources Looking for POWs and MIAs White House sources have provided Time with specifics on heretofore undetailed joint U.S.-Vietnamese investigations into the fate of American POWS AND MIAS. In Vietnam, since January 1992, there have been eight joint field searches and 40 crash- or grave-site excavations; also, 422 cases from files and 92 live sightings were checked out. Vietnam and the U.S. have been making searches together in Laos and Cambodia as well; there have been a total of roughly 170 investigations of various types in the former country and 110 in the latter. The high numbers seem to indicate that Vietnam--recently, at least--has been very cooperative in helping with POW/MIAs. This may make a difference as Washington decides in September whether to lift its two-decade-old trade embargo against Vietnam. It's Simple--We Use the Extra Money to Treat Lung Cancer The Clinton Administration's health-care task force is a lot more interested in using a cigarette tax to generate revenue than to protect the public health. The task force, headed by HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, once leaned toward raising the tax on a pack of cigarettes to $2 or more. But they discovered that in Canada and other countries that heavily tax tobacco, the very high levies discourage smoking--as they are intended to--and so eventually bring in less revenue than a lower tax. As one task-force official says, "At this point, we're more interested in maximizing revenue." Under the current thinking, the tax will begin at just $1 a pack and then be raised to $1.50 over several years. Aidid Ups the Bidding Cash has become a new weapon of choice in Somalia. First the United Nations offered $25,000 for information leading to the capture of Somali warlord MOHAMMED FARRAH AIDID; now, according to U.S. intelligence sources, Aidid is offering $1 million for the assassination of retired U.S. Admiral Jonathan Howe, the U.N.'s special envoy to Somalia. Howe has been a particularly outspoken critic of Aidid. Only 953 Campaign Days Left! Either Republican politicians have a deep spiritual need to make pilgrimages to the state once governed by John Sununu, or the 1996 presidential campaign has begun. In a mere 31 months, New Hampshire will hold its primary. Here are some of the visits there that G.O.P. presidential hopefuls have already made or will soon make. LAMAR ALEXANDER (Secretary of Education under Bush): lunch with business leaders, Concord, May 24 DICK CHENEY (Defense Secretary under Bush): speeches to Nashua Chamber of Commerce, May 27 and to New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women "Lilac Luncheon," Windham, May 28 SENATOR ROBERT DOLE (Kansas, minority leader):speech to Manchester Chamber of Commerce and press conferences, April 14-15; reception for Senator Robert Smith, Nashua, May 2; reception at home of Manchester G.O.P. chairwoman Barbara Arnold, Aug. 15 REPRESENTATIVE BOB DORNAN (California): opening of new state G.O.P. headquarters in Concord, April 17 SENATOR PHIL GRAMM (Texas): speech at state Republican convention, Manchester, Jan. 31; speech at Merrimack town meeting, April 17 LYNN MARTIN (Secretary of Labor under Bush): reception at Concord Federation of Republican Women, June 22; discussion with students and faculty at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, June 23 MONITOR With Enemies Like These... By MICHAEL QUINN Since their debut in 1940, cat-and-mouse combatants Tom and Jerry seemed as classic a pair of adversaries as David and Goliath--only more violent. Yet in their first feature film, which is being released this week, the two put aside their traditional enmity and actually become partners. This is just one more example of a dismaying recent phenomenon: beautiful antagonisms turning into friendships. RUSSIA VS. THE U.S.: A few years ago, our differences with the Russians poised us on the edge of Armageddon; now we only wish that we could give them more money. Just as the cold war was reflected throughout the culture, this reconciliation may be the model for others. KLINGONS VS. THE UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS: Certainly, real-life geopolitical circumstances have influenced this conflict. In the original Star Trek, Klingons and the Federation were implacable enemies, with the Klingons and the Federation standing in for the Soviets and the West. Now, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the broad-skulled Klingons and the Federation are pals. QVC VS. THE HOME SHOPPING NETWORK: The dueling purveyors of zirconia gewgaws announced a merger this month. THE TERMINATOR VS. SARAH CONNOR: In The Terminator, he comes from the future bent on killing her. In Terminator II, he comes from the future bent on being a father figure for her kid. SANDINISTAS VS. CONTRAS: It was the last great war of superpower proxies. Now, ex-Sandinistas and ex-contras are fighting together against the elected Nicaraguan government. REPUBLICANS VS. DEMOCRATS: David Gergen worked for Nixon, Ford and, most prominently, Ronald Reagan. Now he works for the man pledged to undo all the terrible effects of Reaganism. PATTI DAVIS VS. THE REAGANS: Meanwhile, on the Reagan home front, alliances have shifted as well. Patti, having called Mom a pill-popping child abuser and Dad cruelly distant, now tells Variety that they all get on just fine. HEALTH REPORT THE GOOD NEWS -- Breast cancer may not be so strongly hereditary as people think. A new study shows that having a mother or sister with the disease seems only to double a woman's risk of getting it herself, rather than tripling it, as earlier studies had suggested. -- High levels of uric acid are usually evidence of gout but have now also been found in some cases of otherwise symptomless high blood pressure. The discovery may give doctors a new diagnostic tool. -- Paralyzed dogs have walked again after having minute electric currents passed over their damaged spines. The current helps heal nerves that normally can't. No one knows why it works, but it may soon be tried on humans. THE BAD NEWS -- Folk wisdom, as well as some medical research, has suggested that megadoses of vitamins may prevent breast cancer. Not true, says a new, large-scale study. An investigation of nearly 90,000 women over the course of a decade has found no evidence that vitamin C or E offers any protection at all. Vitamin A supplements don't help either, unless a woman gets too little in her diet. -- A potentially important AIDS treatment announced last winter may be a dud. A "cocktail" of three drugs seemed to prevent the HIV virus from reproducing in test tubes. But both the original scientists and others have discovered a subtle flaw in the research that made the effect seem more significant than it really was. Sources: New England Journal of Medicine; Journal of the American Medical Association; New York Times; Journal of Restorative Neurology </body> </article> </text>