TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=93TT2249> <title> Dec. 20, 1993: Chronicles:The Week </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993 Dec. 20, 1993 Enough! The War Over Handguns </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> CHRONICLES, Page 11 The Week:December 5-11 </hdr> <body> NATION Clinton on Crime President Clinton spoke out against violence, saying The American people are tired of hurting and tired of feeling insecure. The Administration hopes to push through new crime legislation that will include gun-control proposals that would go well beyond the Brady Bill, and Attorney General Janet Reno said she would support a national licensing system for handguns. Murder on the L.I. Rails Clinton was motivated to address the problem of handgun violence in part because of a gruesome incident on New Yorks Long Island Rail Road in which an evidently deranged man wielding a 9-mm pistol killed five commuters and wounded 18 others. The assailant, Colin Ferguson of Brooklyn, is black; he carried notes that told of his hatred of whites, Asians and "Uncle Tom" Negroes. No Decisions on North Korea Pyongyang offered to allow partial inspections of North Korean nuclear sites, which havent been examined by U.N. officials in months. American officials found the proposal unacceptable. Legalizing Drugs Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders remarked that legalizing drugs would reduce violent crime and suggested that the consequences of drug legalization should be studied. The White House forcefully repudiated Elders comments, and G.O.P. lawmakers called for her resignation. Health-Care Numbers In a study conducted by a nonpartisan team that includes high officials from the Reagan Administration, a consulting firm, Lewin-VHI, determined that President Clintons strategy for financing his health-care reforms was basically sound. Meanwhile, the President has asked New York lawyer Harold Ickes to lead the campaign for passage of the Clinton health plan. Texas Senator Reindicted Six weeks after felony charges against her were thrown out on a technicality, a Travis County grand jury has filed similar charges against Kay Bailey Hutchison. The Texas Senator, a Republican, is accused of using state staff and equipment for political purposes while she was Texas State treasurer. Hutchison insists that the accusations are politically motivated. No Atheist Scouts The Supreme Court let stand a ruling that allows the Boy Scouts of America to refuse membership to agnostics and atheists. Hidden Nuke Tests Uncovered The U.S. has conducted more than 200 secret nuclear tests since the 1940s, according to the Department Energy. The department has declassified documents that describe huge U.S. stockpiles of plutonium stored in weapons factories. Serial Killer Feared in Midwest Parents in suburban St. Louis, Missouri, were refusing to let their children out of their sight after a second missing girl was found dead in the area. Similarities in the cases suggest a serial killer. Police are pursuing more than 400 leads. WORLD Israel May Miss Deadline As a response to continuing violence in the occupied territories, Israel moved thousands of soldiers into the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The action was taken five days before Israels Dec. 13 deadline to begin withdrawing troops from Gaza and the West Bank town of Jericho. Israel and the P.L.O. were seeking to prevent a delay in the withdrawal. Syria Softens There was better news on another front in the Middle East: Damascus and Jerusalem may resume peace talks as early as January. Syria broke off the U.S.-sponsored negotiations in September. In signs of conciliation, President Hafez Assad last week announced that Syria would help investigate the fates of seven Israeli soldiers missing in Lebanon since the 1980s and also said Syrian Jews would be issued exit visas by the end of December. Assad will meet President Clinton in Geneva in mid-January. End of White Rule South Africa inaugurated a multiracial, multiparty Transitional Executive Council to oversee the governing of the country until all-race elections take place in April. The 32-member councils first meeting effectively ended almost three centuries of white-only rule, since the government of President F.W. de Klerk will be unable to make any major decisions without the council's approval. GATT Down to the Wire Negotiators overcame several obstacles to a major world trade agreement by resolving the persistently thorny issue of protection for French farmers and by lifting a Japanese ban on rice imports. Progress was halted, however, by France's demand that it retain subsidies and protection for its film industry. The talks face a Wednesday deadline. Austrian Letter Bombs The mayor of Vienna, Helmut Zilk, lost two fingers and a thumb when a letter bomb exploded as he opened it at his home. Zilk was the most prominent victim of a wave of 10 letter bombings that has injured five people in Austria since Dec. 3. Police arrested two right-wing extremists they believe are responsible for the attacks. All the bombs were accompanied by notes signed Count Rudiger von Starhemberg, a reference to the Viennese hero who directed the city's resistance to Ottoman armies in 1683. Leftists Win in Italy Alliances backed by former communists swept balloting in municipal elections in several of Italys largest cities, including Genoa, Naples, Rome, Trieste and Venice. Neo-Fascist candidate Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the dictator, lost her bid to become mayor of Naples. BUSINESS Court Victory for QVC The Delaware Supreme Court upheld a lower courts ruling that invalidated antitakeover measures deployed by Paramount Communications against QVC Network. QVC's rival, Viacom, must now decide whether to increase its $9.4 billion bid to match QVCs $10.1 billion offer. Mellon Buys Dreyfus Mellon Bank, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announced a $1.85 billion deal to acquire Dreyfus, the nation's sixth largest mutual-fund company. Dreyfus manages more than $80 billion in assets. Another Baby Bell Media Deal Southwestern Bell and Cox Cable of Atlanta, the sixth largest cable operator in the country, agreed to form a $4.9 billion joint venture to enter the interactive-media business. Blue-Chip Layoffs Despite signs of an improving economy, the gloomy parade of corporate layoffs continues. RJR Nabisco will cut 6,000 employees, more than 9% of its work force, because of a devastating cigarette price war. Profitable Xerox will sever 10,000 employees, nearly 10% of its work force, to increase productivity. About-Face Williamson County, Texas, reversed itself and agreed to grant tax incentives to Apple Computer in exchange for the firms commitment to build a facility in the county. Concerned that Apple gives homosexual couples the same health benefits as heterosexual ones, officials had previously voted against giving the company a tax break. SCIENCE Now Will the Hubble Work? Ground controllers at nasa began two months of long-distance testing to determine whether the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope will now work as advertised. In five space walks, astronauts from the shuttle Endeavour replaced solar panels and gyroscopes, upgraded computer components and installed a set of corrective lenses designed to help the nearsighted telescope peer to the edge of the universe. Not So Fast A leak has sprung in the solution to Fermat's last theorem, the famous equation that has intrigued mathematicians for 350 years. The 200-page proof that Princeton mathematician Andrew Wiles unveiled with such panache last summer turns out to have a flaw. "I believe I will be able to finish this in the near future," Wiles told colleagues. THE ARTS & MEDIA Video-Game Warning Trying to deflect an assault from Congress, which is considering federal restrictions, the video-game industry pledged to develop a voluntary rating system to keep children away from the more violent games, some of which depict dismemberment. The proposal received a cool reception from a Senate panel.If you don't do something, we will, warned Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl. By Philip Elmer-De Witt, Christopher John Farley, Sophfronia Scott Gregory, Michael Quinn, Jeffery C. Rubin, Alain L. Sanders, Sidney Urquhart HEALTH REPORT THE GOOD NEWS -- A natural blood substance called IL-12 restored normal immune responses in cells taken from people infected with the virus that causes aids. Scientists caution that although IL-12 in the test tube seems to be a powerful regulator of immune response, it has never been tested in humans. -- Last month, for the first time since 1912, when record keeping began, the U.S. enjoyed a three-week period in which no cases of measles were reported. -- The liver takes eight hours to eliminate alcohol from the bloodstream, but Detoxahol, an experimental drug, may shorten that process to minutes. Compumed Inc., the California medical firm that holds the rights to Detoxahol, hopes to market it as a prescription drug within five years. THE BAD NEWS -- Air pollution can reduce life-spans as much as two years, even in areas that meet current federal air-quality standards, a study of six U.S. cities shows. -- Men aged 50 and older who have no close friends or relatives are three times as likely to die after suffering high levels of emotional stress as those whose lives are less lonely, according to a study conducted in Sweden. -- Outbreaks of Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a bacteria that causes a particularly virulent respiratory illness, have struck New York, Ohio and Texas. The cold-like bug could spread rapidly as winter approaches. -- Twins are 10 times as likely to suffer from cerebral palsy as siblings from single births, says a California health survey. LONG ISLAND: THE SUBURBAN JUNGLE For reasons no one quite understands, New York City's suburbs on Long Island have been the setting for particularly bizarre and tragic crimes over the past few years. Dec. 7, 1993--Colin Ferguson shoots and kills five commuters on the Long Island Rail Road and wounds 18 others as the train approaches Garden City. June 28, 1993--Joel Rifkin of East Meadow confesses to the serial killing of 17 women in and about the New York City area. Another murder is attributed to him days later. Jan. 13, 1993--John Esposito is arrested for imprisoning 10-year-old Katie Beers in a dungeon-like room he has painstakingly and secretly constructed under the garage of his home in Bay Shore. May 19, 1992--Amy Fisher, 17, shoots and severely wounds Mary Jo Buttafuoco, wife of her lover Joseph Buttafuoco, in front of the Buttafuocos' Massapequa home. Dec. 12, 1990--Physician Robert Reza, having an affair with a church organist, flies from a Washington medical convention to his home in Bayport, shoots and strangles his wife, then flies back to the conference to establish an alibi. March 3, 1989--Kelly Ann Tinyes, 13, is bludgeoned to death and mutilated by her neighbor bodybuilder Robert Golub in his parents' home in Valley Stream. Dec. 24, 1987--Matthew Solomon chokes to death his new bride, Lisa, after a Christmas Eve argument in Huntington Station and disposes of her body in garbage bags. Nov. 15, 1987--Nurse Richard Angelo of Lindenhurst is arrested for administering lethal doses of muscle relaxant to patients, as part of a scheme to make himself look like a hero by reviving them. Feb. 5, 1986--Sean Pica kills the sexually abusive father of fellow Selden high school student Cheryl Pierson after she hires him for the job. INSIDE WASHINGTON WELFARE REFORM RETURNING TO THE BACK BURNER? Although recent front-page leaks suggest that PRESIDENT CLINTON will soon make good on a major campaign promise and present a welfare-reform package, he may delay any such initiative until summer and simply announce some vague "principles of welfare reform" early next year. Largely neglected by the Administration, welfare may be put off, says a White House official, because "Hillary wants a clear field for health care." But it isn't a "postponement," insists another official. "It's a matter of sequencing." WINNERS & LOSERS WINNERS RUSH LIMBAUGH Bowing to pressure, Pentagon will air him on Armed Forces Radio THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA Court rules that they can discriminate against atheists SENATOR DAVE DURENBERGER Legal loophole spares Minnesotan trial on two felony charges LOSERS ZSA ZSA GABOR Catty comments about Elke Sommer cost her $3.3 million in suit MARKUS WOLF East German spy guilty of treason...against West Germany JOYCELYN ELDERS Clinton rebukes Surgeon General for floating drug legalization LIBERTE, FRATERNITE, HANKS After years of negotiations, the argument that could bring down the huge gatt is a dispute over Sleepless in Seattle. The U.S. and France disagree bitterly over France's protection of its film industry. The fight concerns money and cultural identity: U.S. films, comedies and action pictures have a 60% market share in France, while films from the entire European Community, many of which involve ineffable sentiments, have barely 1% of the U.S. market. Here's a rundown of what's hot in France. BOX-OFFICE HITS NOW PLAYING: (tickets sold through Dec. 7) JURASSIC PARK American 6,116,118 GERMINAL French 5,613,040 ALADDIN American 1,774,462 MEURTRE MYSTERIEUX A MANHATTAN American 1,204,990 (MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY) SOLEIL LEVANT American 700,570 (RISING SUN) LES MARMOTTES French 630,133 NUITS BLANCHES A SEATTLE American 545,248 (SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE) CHASSE A L'HOMME American 529,367 (HARD TARGET) ADIEU MA CONCUBINE Chinese 420,714 THE SNAPPER British 412,660 Source: Le Film Francais NOVEL IDEA "We need to send the signal that two-parent families are vitally important." -- ASSISTANT HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY DAVID ELLWOOD, ON A CLINTON PROPOSAL TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR FAMILIES TO COLLECT WELFARE INFORMED SOURCES U.S. Supercomputers May Be Headed for China Washington--The Clinton Administration has persuaded Japan to agree to a dramatic loosening of controls on Supercomputer sales to China and former Warsaw Pact nations. Since 1987, Japan and the U.S. have had a pact to restrict sales of supercomputers because of their value in nuclear-weapons programs. The policy shift could be worth $5 billion to U.S. firms. Martha's Vineyard with Palm Trees Miami--The White House is considering Fisher Island, a luxurious resort off Miami Beach, as a winter vacation spot for the Clintons, but The First Family won't be heading there this Christmas. To smooth his initially rocky relations with the Secret Service, Clinton will stay in Washington, giving his protectors a chance to spend the holiday with their families. Chavez, Rollins and the Rejected Vote Scheme Washington--Last week there were reports that Reagan civil rights official Linda Chavez had accused Ed Rollins of suggesting voter suppression when she ran for a U.S. Senate seat from Maryland in 1986. But Chavez told Time that she was actually referring to a secret proposal from Maryland's former Democratic Governor Marvin Mandel to use G.O.P. funds to support Chavez instead of Democratic candidate Barbara Mikulski. "I felt I was being hustled," says Chavez, who turned down the "bizarre" offer. Mandel says he has "absolutely no recollection" of the incident. </body> </article> </text>