TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=94TT1647> <title> Nov. 28, 1994: Chronicles-The Week:November 13-19 </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1994 Nov. 28, 1994 Star Trek </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> CHRONICLES, Page 19 The Week: November 13 - 19 </hdr> <body> NATION The G.O.P. Transition Speaker-to-be Newt Gingrich began laying plans for the Republican takeover of the House. Gingrich said at least three committees would be abolished, others reconfigured and staff reduced all around. The new leader--who some political analysts believe could become a dominating Speaker of a sort not seen since the turn of the century--ignored seniority, grudges and ideology in recommending choices to head key committees. Among them: Louisiana's Bob Livingston for Appropriations, New York's Gerald Solomon for Rules, Illinois's Henry Hyde for Judiciary and New York's Benjamin Gilman for Foreign Affairs. Gingrich also said a balanced-budget constitutional amendment would be the first order of business come January. Clinton: Feeling His Way Though halfway around the globe at an Asian economic summit in Indonesia, President Clinton wasn't neglecting domestic politics. In the wake of sweeping Republican victories in this month's elections, the President again let it be known that he hoped to cooperate with the G.O.P. bipartisan measures like welfare reform, the line-item veto and tax and spending cuts. Amid signs of Republican chafing in the Senate, he once more called on Hill leaders to approve the gatt treaty at the post-Thanksgiving lame-duck session of Congress. A School-Prayer Surprise The President dropped a bombshell on his left-flank supporters by announcing that he would be willing to consider a Republican-sponsored constitutional amendment allowing prayers in public schools--depending on the "details." While civil-liberties groups characterized the President's statement as a "cave-in," White House aides scrambled to clarify Clinton's position, explaining that he only meant to express an interest in neutral legislation for a "moment of silence." Democratic allies in Congress were left grumbling about what they saw as yet another presidential waffle. Military Readiness at Issue The fight over the Pentagon's fiscal 1996 budget began early, when Defense Secretary William Perry acknowledged that three of the Army's 12 divisions were below peak readiness levels, principally due to the cost of missions to Haiti, Rwanda and elsewhere. Republicans claimed the revelation proved the wisdom of their campaign pledge to pump more money into the military. A San Francisco Shootout A lone gunman armed to the teeth with a small arsenal of weapons went on a terrifying 25-min. semiautomatic shooting spree on a San Francisco street before being shot to death by police. One police officer was killed and three people were wounded by the gunman. Desegregation Settlement Ending a 20-year battle over desegregating Louisiana's higher education system, a federal judge approved a $117 million plan to beef up college facilities and programs aimed at encouraging more whites to enroll at the state's historically black universities and more blacks to enroll at the state's historically white universities. The Louisiana chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. criticized the plan, saying it merely preserved the status quo. On Tap: Safer Skies Though stressing that commuter airlines are safe, the National Transportation Safety Board nonetheless recommended that safety rules for such airlines be upgraded to the tougher standards currently imposed on major carriers. The Federal Aviation Administration said it agreed and would work to revise the rules, which now permit commuter pilots to fly more hours and undergo less rigorous training than those of the majors. A Deadly Tropical Storm Having wreaked havoc in the Caribbean--especially in Haiti, where its torrential rains, flooding and mud slides caused more than 500 deaths--Tropical Storm Gordon swept across Florida, devastating some of the state's prime winter farmland and killing six people, before heading out into the Atlantic, where, intensifying into Hurricane Gordon, it pounded the North Carolina coast. WORLD APEC to Form Free-Trade Zone Leaders of the 18 nations of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, including President Clinton, met in Indonesia and agreed to work to create a gigantic free-trade zone by 2020. The accord, without any specific details, aims to spur growth in the region, which already accounts for half the world economy. Arafat's Forces Open Fire Palestinian security forces opened fire on Islamic militants at a Gaza City mosque, setting off violent street fighting that shook Yasser Arafat's fragile government. The clashes, in which 15 people were killed and some 200 were wounded, broke out after police and soldiers turned up in force at the mosque in an attempt to prevent members of the fundamentalist group Hamas and Islamic Jihad from marching to protest the arrest of some 200 fellow activists detained after a suicide bomber had killed three Israeli soldiers earlier this month. Serbs Attack Bihac Pocket Rolling back most of the gains made by the Bosnian army in recent weeks, Bosnian Serbs pressed into the northwestern enclave of Bihac. The Serbs launched assaults from the north, east and west, prompting Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic to appeal to the United Nations and NATO for help. Key to the assault were Serbian jets from Croatia that bombed Bihac itself and another town, Cazin. Ukraine Joins Nuke Treaty The world's third largest nuclear power, Ukraine, agreed to accede to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, clearing a roadblock that had held up two other international disarmament accords. The Ukrainian parliament voted 301 to 8 to pass the resolution, which follows a commitment made in January to eliminate the country's 1,800 warheads. Until Ukraine agreed to go nuclear free, Russia had said it would not put into effect an agreement to cut its long-range nuclear weapons and also would not take up ratification of another arms-control accord. Kohl Squeaks Through Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany for 12 years, was elected to a fourth term--but just barely. Kohl received 338 parliamentary votes, just one more vote than the absolute majority he required. Two legislators from Kohl's Christian Democratic Party were roused from sickbeds, and another rushed into the Parliament chambers just two minutes before the voting closed, apparently having overslept. Irish PM Resigns The coalition government of Ireland's Prime Minister Albert Reynolds collapsed over the extradition of a child-molesting priest, leading Reynolds to resign and leaving the country's political parties to try and forge another ruling coalition. The crisis was precipitated when the Labour Party, which governed jointly with Reynolds' Fianna Fail Party, withdrew over the appointment of a former attorney general, Harry Whelehan, as president of Ireland's High Court. Labour was unhappy that Whelehan had failed to act on extradition warrants from Northern Ireland for a Roman Catholic priest accused of child molestation. The priest eventually surrendered, was convicted and is now serving a prison sentence in Northern Ireland; Whelehan resigned hours after Reynolds. On Saturday Finance Minister Bertie Ahern was elected to replace Reynolds as Fianna Fail Party leader, paving the way for a new coalition government. Pontiff Urges Church to Atone Pope John Paul II urged the Roman Catholic Church to mark the beginning of its third millennium by atoning for historical errors, including "acquiescence" in the violation of human rights by totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. In a letter written to prepare for the "Great Jubilee," the Pope said the church has "an obligation to express profound regret for the weakness of so many of her sons and daughters who sullied her face." He also suggested that he hopes to mark the celebration in 2000 with a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. BUSINESS The Fed Ups the Ante--Again The Federal Reserve raised short-term interest rates by a whopping three-quarters of a point. The hike was the sixth for 1994 and the steepest since 1981. Wall Street reaction to the move was generally favorable, but manufacturers and labor leaders groused that the rise would lead to job cutbacks and weakened sales. Reversal of Fortune The Sony Corporation announced it was taking a staggering $2.7 billion write-off on Columbia and Tri-Star, the Hollywood studios it acquired for $5 billion just five years ago. The move was necessitated by a string of costly executive buyouts and a series of box-office duds that included Last Action Hero, Geronimo and, most recently, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and The Road to Wellville. SCIENCE Cosmic Mystery, Continued Scientists have long speculated that small, faint "red dwarf" stars make up a major part of the invisible cosmic stuff, called "dark matter," that is believed to account for 90% of the universe's mass. But astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope ruled out this idea when they discovered that red dwarfs are much scarcer than they originally thought. Now attempts to square long-standing predictions about the universe's mass with the observable data will have to focus on exotica such as the existence of unknown elementary particles. More Protections for Tigers Asian countries attending the ninth Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species took unprecedented and unexpected action when they proposed stronger safeguards for tigers, whose numbers in the wild have declined to about 5,000. A ban on trade in elephant parts was also upheld. THE ARTS & MEDIA A New Head for MOMA After an embarrassingly long search, New York City's Museum of Modern Art named Glenn Lowry its new director. Lowry, 40, is a somewhat surprising choice to head the world's pre-eminent collection of 20th century art; an Islamic art expert, he has curated the Near Eastern treasures of the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries. "He doesn't want to be a curator; he wants to be an administrator," explained MOMA board chairman Agnes Gund. "At the same time, he understands what a curator does." By Kathleen Adams, Melissa August, Robertson Barrett, Hannah Bloch, Steve Mitra, Michael Quinn, Jeffery Rubin, Alain Sanders and Sidney Urquhart HEALTH REPORT The Good News -- A five-year study by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute finds that early symptoms of lung diseases such as emphysema and bronchitis disappear when smokers kick the habit, no matter how many years they have smoked. -- Cigarette smoking by adults has reached its lowest lowest level since 1942, says a government study. -- Many women with early-stage breast cancers that have not yet metastasized can safely forgo mastectomies, according to new information released by the National Cancer Institute. Patients can rely instead on lumpectomies and radiation treatment to prevent recurrences. The Bad News -- The negative effects of having more than one alcoholic drink per day may wipe out any benefits to the heart, says a new report. The 11-year study showed that any decreased risk of men dying from heart disease was offset by an increase in deaths from cancer. -- Unlike adults, teenagers have not decreased their cigarette consumption; rates have held steady for the past 10 years. -- An FDA advisory committee has refused to approve the highly touted drug etidronate as the first nonhormonal treatment for osteoporosis, because many patients did not seem to benefit significantly from its use. Sources--GOOD: Journal of the American Medical Association; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Journal of the National Cancer Institute. BAD: American Heart Association; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Associated Press. RETIREE OF THE WEEK With a first-round loss in her final signles tennis tournament, Martina Navratilova ended her Ali-like career as one of sport's most dominating champions. INSIDE WASHINGTON To Do: Lunch w/ Gore, Nap, Abolish Commerce Worried White House operatives are cranking out executive policy options that, they hope, would allow President Clinton to stay a nimble step ahead of Speaker-presumptive NEWT GINGRICH's government-trimming, voter-pleasing butcher's knife. Proposed initiatives--none of which the President has yet agreed to--include merging the Interior and Energy departments and abolishing Commerce altogether. While neither step looks likely, Commerce Secretary RON BROWN is already maneuvering to keep his bailiwick intact. WINNERS & LOSERS Winners JOANNE WHALLEY-KILMER--Brit actress draws unexpectedly nice reviews for Scarlett. HEIDI FLEISS'S CLIENTS--Judge won't open her little black book. Hollywood exhales. ABRAHAM ZAPRUDER--First amateur filmmaker to be enrolled in national film registry. Losers MIKE WALLACE--60 Minutes star secretly tapes interviewee. Tsk, tsk... JUDGE LANCE ITO--Media-bashing jurist bashed back for his five-part gig on TV news. COMMUTER AIRLINES--A plague of deadly crashes spurs FAA to tighten safety rules. ATTENTION: JIM BAKER "I think a lot of people will want to be on my staff, but not because they're groupies. I understand there are some very ambitious people in Washington. They'll probably look at working for me as very high profile and want exposure, and those people I want." -- Congressman-elect Sonny Bono (R.-California) DON'T RUN, TAKE THE MONEY If you thought corporate pensions were high, you're not a member of Congress. Here are the annual takes* for a few departing notables: <table> <row><cell type=a>Rep. Tom Foley<cell type=a>(D.-Wash.) defeated<cell type=i>$123,804 <row><cell>Rep. Bob Michel<cell>(R.-Ill.) retiring<cell>$110,538 <row><cell>Rep. Jack Brooks<cell>(D.-Texas) defeated<cell>$96,462 <row><cell>Rep. Rostenkowski<cell>(D.-Ill.) defeated<cell>$96,462 <row><cell>Sen. Don Riegle<cell>(D.-Mich.) retiring<cell>$81,078 <row><cell>Sen. M. Wallop<cell>(R.-Wyo.) retiring<cell>$59,775 <row><cell>Sen. D. DeConcini<cell>(D.-Ariz.) retiring<cell>$55,669 <row><cell>Sen. John Danforth<cell>(R.-Mo.) retiring<cell>$53,289 <row><cell>Sen. David Boren<cell>(D.-Okla.) retiring<cell>$47,874 <row><cell>Sen. Jim Sasser<cell>(D.-Tenn.) defeated<cell>$53,289 <row><cell>Rep. Jim Cooper<cell>(D.-Tenn.) defeated<cell>$35,973 <row><cell>Sen. Harris Wofford<cell>(D.-Pa.) defeated<cell>$0 (did not serve long enough to qualify) </table> *Formula: 2.5% of the highest three-year salary average multiplied by number of years served. Source: National Taxpayers Union Foundation THE 10 MOST Senior House Republicans pledged to their party's promise of term limits* <table> <tblhdr><cell>Representative<cell>Serving You Since <row><cell type=a>1. Joseph McDade (Pa.)<cell type=i>1963 <row><cell>2. James Quillen (Tenn.)<cell>1963 <row><cell>3. John Myers (Ind.)<cell>1967 <row><cell>4. Philip Crane (Ill.)<cell>1969 <row><cell>5. Bill Archer (Texas)<cell>1971 <row><cell>6. Floyd Spence (S.C.)<cell>1971 <row><cell>7. C.W. Bill Young (Fla.)<cell>1971 <row><cell>8. Benjamin Gilman (N.Y.)<cell>1973 <row><cell>9. Carlos Moorhead (Calif.)<cell>1973 <row><cell>10. Ralph Regula (Ohio)<cell>1973 </table> *Newt Gingrich, who began serving in 1979, is only the 20th most senior Republican pledged to term limits. VOX POP <table> <row><cell type=a>Percentage of eligible Americans who told TIME's pollsters they voted:<cell type=i>56% <row><cell>Percentage of Americans who actually voted:<cell>39% </table> From a telephone poll of 1,000 adult Americans taken for TIME/CNN on Nov. 9-10 by Yankelovich Partners Inc. Sampling error is plus or minus 3.5%. Not Sures omitted. Source: Committee for the study of the American electorate. GOOFY GETS A PINK SLIP It's a parade! No, it's a cultural barometer! Actually, it's both, as the following list of changes in the balloon lineup of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will attest: 1990 In: Clifford the Big Red Dog, Bart Simpson, Kermit the Frog Out: Garfield 1991 In: Raggedy Ann, Betty Boop, Babar Out: Ronald McDonald 1992 In: Garfield, Goofy Out: Kermit the Frog, Raggedy Ann 1993 In: Beethoven (movie dog), Smokey Bear, Izzy (1996 Olympic mascot), Rex (dinosaur from the movie We're Back!), Ronald McDonald Out: Betty Boop, Goofy, Bugs Bunny, Babar 1994 In: Barney, the Cat in the Hat Out: Smokey Bear, Rex YET ANOTHER O.J. SHOCKER! Did the Zeitgeist finally turn a corner last week when the National Enquirer published an issue whose cover made no mention of O.J. Simpson? NETWATCH--News, Culture, Controversy on the Internet Me Libel, You Pay If you errantly refer to someone as, say, a "Nazi son-of-a-bitch," can your online provider be held responsible? That, in essence, is the issue being decided in state supreme court in New York thanks to a libel suit filed against Prodigy, one of the Big Three online services. A Long Island financial firm claims it was unfairly accused of fraud on a Prodigy bulletin board. Prodigy, like other online service providers, regards itself simply as a conduit through which people communicate--like a telephone company--and thus claims it isn't responsible for postings. The suit, complains a company attorney, is "trying to establish responsibilities that aren't present in traditional media." Nevertheless--and despite the fact that the suit is still pending--Prodigy agreed last week to try and track down the person who allegedly vilified the Long Island firm. It will also explain to the court how it monitors its message boards. At Least They Like the Cat Heartened that a recorded meow and computer photo of Socks have drawn thousands to the new White House Web site (www.whitehouse.gov), Administration officials tell TIME they plan to design an entire Socks department--"in response to citizen demand." Expect new photos but--alas--no updated mewlings. E-mail Netwatch at timestaff1@aol.com </body> </article> </text>