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'(the ©amccocfc Leader of Zaptistas ready to leave jungle to seek peace by Will Weissert Associated Press LA REALIOAD, Mexico — The first time he burst from the jungle it was to start a war that shook Mexico to its core and vaulted Indian rights to the top of the national agenda. Now Subcomandante Marcos says he’s ready to leave the Chiapas wilderness again in search of an agreement that could lock those rights into Mexico’s constitution. Responding to offers from new President Vi cente Fox, the ski-masked leader of the Zap atista guerrillas announced he will travel to Mex ico City in February to lobby for an Indian rights bill Fox promises to introduce on Tuesday. “We will go, and we will see what happens,” Marcos told a news conference Saturday in this jungle hamlet that serves as a sort of rebel capi tal. After Fox ordered government troops to pull back from roadblocks, the road to La Realidad showed only skeletons of army posts erected since the revolt: abandoned encampments of cinderblock and sandbags and wooden roadblocks that had been pushed to the side of winding dirt highways. But if the peace moves were a quick triumph for Fox on his first full day as president Saturday, profound complications remain. The Zapatistas say they want further military pullbacks before talks can resume. Fox doesn’t have the power of earlier presidents to force a bill through the now-divided Congress. And the rights bill is one of only several issues on the road to peace. The Zapatista National Liberation Army emeigedfromthejungleonJan. 1,1994. The over whelmingly Indian rebel force briefly captured six Chiapas towns. A cease-fire took hold only 12 days later af ter more than 145 deaths. But with peace talks stalled, low-level vio I lence and instability have festered in Chiapas, with repeated clashes between pro- an<j anti-rebel fac tions. The rebel demands mixed socialist econom ics with more passionate calls for democracy, de velopment and respect for Mexico’s long-op pressed Indians. The only major peace agreement came in Feb ruary 1996, when officials agreed to more au tonomy for Indians nationwide. It was meant to , be only one step toward a final accord. Congressmen drew up a bill to enact the ac cord. The Zapatistas quickly agreed. But Presi dent Ernesto Zedillo balked, saying it would ere ate legal conflicts and endanger Mexico’s sover eignty over its land and resources. The president’s counterproposal was reject ed by the Zapatistas. Fox’s July 2 election, which ended 71 years of single-party rule, seemed to answer the rebel demand for greater democracy in Mexico. Zedil lo’s party also lost Chiapas’ governorship in Au gust elections. While campaigning, Fox quipped that he would like to sit down with Marcos and end the Chiapas revolt “in 15 minutes.” Astronauts install solar wings on international space station by Marcia Dunn Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Two astronauts floated out of space shut tle Endeavour on Sunday to install the world’s largest, most powerful set of so lar wings on the international space sta tion. It was a task as monumental as the wings themselves: The future of space statioi^construction hinged on the as tronauts’ ability to pull off the job and thus provide much needed power to the newly inhabited outpost. Spacewalkers Joe Tanner and Car los'Noriega, who trained for more than three years for die flight, were need ed to guide the $600 million solar wings onto space station Alpha and bolt them down. Canadian astronaut Marc Gameau, working from inside Endeavour, moved the folded wings 3 feet above the at tachment spot with the use of the shut tle robot ami. Then he waited for the spacewalkers to position themselves on either side of that spot, so they could give him directions for closing the final distance. With no direct view himself, Gameau needed their eyes. He also need ed their hands to drive the capture latch es. Before the wings could be unfurled to their full 240 feet and begin gener ating electricity, Tanner and Noriega had to release all the bolts and pins that were used to secure the payload for Thurs day’s launch aboard Endeavour. The blue- and gold-colored wings, made of silicone cells and thin Kapton layers, were folded like an accordion for liftoff. They were to be commanded to open, one by one, with a few com puter keystrokes by shuttle comman der Brent Jett Jr. Each wing was expected to take 13 minutes to spread. Alpha’s wings will be the largest structure ever deployed in space, and will cover half an acre. The bigger the wings, the more sunlight that can be col lected for conversion into electricity. Each wing is 38 feet wide and cov ered with 32,800 solar cells, and has power-storing batteries and radiators at the base. The combined wingspan — 240 feet — exceeds that of a Boeing 777 jetliner. NASA expects the solar panels to generate 65 kilowatts at peak power, four times what currently is produced by the small Russian-built solar wings already on the space station. Without this extra electricity, the space agency could not launch its Destiny science lab in January — or any other power-hun gry pieces. Alpha commander Bill Shepherd and his two Russian crewmates were mere observers to all the action 235 miles above Earth. The hatches between the docked spacecraft remained sealed because of the difference in cabin air pressure. Two more spacewalks are planned this week by Tanner and Noriega, on Tuesday and Thursday, to finish wiring up the solar wings and to install other equipment on the space station. If all goes well, the two crews will get to meet Friday. Sunday’s spacewalk featured some thing new: helmets equipped with small cameras to provide five views of what the astronauts were seeing. They were dubbed “Joe-cam” and “Carlos-cam.” “We promise to make all of our movements nice and slow and steady so nobody gets sick looking at the pictures,” Tanner said before the flight. Sierra Leone crowds praise Annan, plead for protection from rebels by Clarence Roy Macaulay Associted Press PORT LOKO, Sierra Leone — Sixteen times in the past six months, this fishing and fanning town has been at tacked by a brutal rebel army that razed houses, raped women and kidnapped children. On Sunday, crowds of Port Loko residents implored U.N. Secretary-Gen eral Kofi Annan to “deliver us from this bondage of war.” Local leaders crowned him honorary successor to a legendary 19th century freedom fighter who de fied British colonial rule. Annan, on the second and last day of a visit to this West African nation, promised that “the U.N. will stick by Sierra Leoneans in these difficult times. ” Thousands of cheering adults and children in school uniforms greeted An nan, waving white handkerchiefs and singing in the Krio language. The crowds thronged around Annan and his wife, asking for assurances that die U.N. peace keeping force in Sierra Leone plans to stay. Since the Revolutionary United Front rebels launched Sierra Leone’s civil war in 1991, the renegades have systematically murdered and maimed tens of thousands of defenseless civil ians in a terror campaign to increase dieir influence. The RUF’s signature atroci ty is cutting off the hands, legs and lips of women, children and the elderly. The U.N. chief flew by helicopter to Port Loko, a town on the edge of gov ernment-held territory some 45 miles northeast of die capital, Freetown. Niger ian U.N. peacekeepers are the main de terrent preventing yet another attack by rebels on the town, and the roads re main unsafe. At a ceremony in a military tent, local traditional leaders paid tribute to Annan’s U.N. peace efforts by pro claiming him “honorary paramount chief Bai Bureh Kabelai H” after Sierra Leone’s beloved warrior who fought British im perial rule in the late 1800’s. Kabelai was eventually captured and sent to prison in Gold Coast, now Ghana, where he died. Annan met with a few of the 20,000 refugees living in makeshift tents made front plastic sheeting and sticks in a camp at the edge of town. Many of them had been driven from villages by the rebels and some told stories of rebels pillaging their homes, capturing young girls as sex slaves and boys as porters. On Saturday, Annan renewed the world body’s commitment to the U.N. peacekeeping force, which has been plagued by organizational troubles and has failed to stem rebel attacks against civilians. Consumer groups want government to hold hearings ‘lemon laundering’ BY NEDR A PlCKLER Associated Press WASHINGTON — The trouble be gan soon after Vicki and Joe Parisi bought their used car in 1994. The radio would go out. The power windows stopped working. The gas gauge incorrectly read empty. Soon, the 1993 sedan needed a brake job, transmission repairs and major front end work. Then came the last straw: The car died while the Parisis traveled in the fast lane of a busy Ohio freeway. When the Uniontown, Ohio, cou ple investigated, they discovered the car was a lemon that the manufacturer had bought back from an owner who had similar problems in New Jersey, a state that required the veiiicle’s title be stamped as a lemon. The automaker did repair work and shipped it to Ohio, which at the time did not require title stamping but does now. The dealership got a new title in its name, effectively erasing the lemon stamp. Consumer advocates say this “lemon laundering” is widespread, a claim the auto industry denies, and want the Fed1 eral Trade Commission to require au tomakers to tell consumers about their duds. ‘If you are going to put your family in this car and travel at 70 mph down the road, you want to know if there is a history of problems.' Rosemary Shahan Founder of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety “If you are going to put your fam ily in this car and travel at 70 mph down the road, you want to know if there is a history of problems,” said Rosemary Shahan, founder of Consumers for Au to Reliability and Safety, a Sacramento, Calif.-based group working to im prove lemon laws. The FTC will wait to review the proposal before commenting, agency spokesman Mitch Katz said. “It’s pos sible that this could be in our jurisdic tion, but you are talking about a major resource investment,” Katz said. The FTC held hearings on lemons four years ago at the request of the con sumer groups, but has not taken any ac tion. No one knows how many repur chases all the manufactures make, in part because different state laws make it hard to track buybacks. States have different definitions for a lemon, require varying levels of disclosure when the vehicle is resold, and offer different ways for consumers to seek compensation. In the Parisis’ case, they success fully sued the automaker and the deal er, which has since gone out of business, after they refused to take the car back. Some private companies, for a fee, will search a vehicle’s history, but their data can be incomplete because of the differing state requirements. Phil Nowicki, a consultant on lemon laws who used to head Florida’s Lemon Law Arbitration Program, estimates that about 75,000 of the roughly 45 mil lion used vehicles sold every year in the United States have been repurchased by the manufacturer under a lemon law de cision or settlement. He believes few consumers are aware they have bought a repurchase vehicle. “I’d say compared to two or three years ago, the industry has improved to some degree,” Nowicki said. Congress from page 4 his presidency nears its end, even some Democrats say privately that he would have little taste to spend his final White House days fighting such an effort by Re publicans. But others say returning lawmakers of both parties will be weary of the budget battle and eager to finish it so they can focus on next year. Bipartisan baigainers agreed last month to a record $7.9 billion increase in edu cation spending—20 percent above last year — that was later rejected by House GOP leaders. Clinton used his radio address Satur day to demand that Congress make pass ing the education budget its top priority in the lame-duck session. Haste'rt’s spokesman renewed GOP objections over control of the money. “Republicans want more education dollars to go to the class rooms, not to Washington bureaucrats,” John Feehery said. Still, there were signs of possible progress. White House spokesman Jake Siew ert said administration officials “recog nize we may have to set aside some of the more difficult disputes we were hav ing” before Congress recessed. Many officials saw that as a hint the White House might drop its demand for liberalizing immigration laws in exchange for Republicans ending their drive to block the workplace safety rules. In addition, some Republicans talked about offering a 1 percent across-the board cut in the $ 114 billion portion of the education-labor bill that covers pro grams Congress must approve every year. The rest of the $350 billion measure cov ers automatically paid benefits like Med icaid. Democrats were certain to consider that 1 percent reduction too high. Still, its mention by Republicans under scored that they were willing to trim the measure by a relatively small amount that would still allow record spending increases for hiring teachers, Pell grants for low income college students, after-school cen ters and other programs. Among the other matters awaiting Congress: —$30 billion in higher Medicare re imbursements for health care providers that Clinton wants changed because he says it is too generous to health-mainte nance organizations. —Presidential transition. A House subcommittee scheduled a hearing Mon day on the government’s-refusal to re lease transition funds to Bush. Iraq oil from page 4 to maintain stability in world markets. “We do not interfere in Iraq’s poli cy,” he told the Kuwait News Agency. “But... we are concerned about this is sue.” He did not say if Kuwait was pre pared to increase its oil output, which is currently at around 2.14 million barrels a day. But Oil Minister Sheik Saud Nass er A1 Sabah was quoted in the AI-Rai Al Amm daily Sunday saying there was no need for a hike since the oil market “is currently saturated.” Rashid defended Iraq’s price propos als, saying they are fair and in the inter est of the Iraqi people. He blamed the United States for the oil stoppage and said U.N. overseers “are under political pres sure.” The sanctions committee has said oil companies under new contracts can con tinue loading Iraqi crude onto tankers, but cannot pay for it until Iraq proposes December prices that are in line with fair market value. Rashid also said Iraq will consider ex tending the oil-for-food program for an other phase once a resolution is issued at the U.N. Security Council, but called the deal a “failure” for not fulfilling its pur pose. “We have exported more than $38 billion. Only $8.5 billion worth of con tracts have arrived,” he said. “About $3.5 billion worth of contracts are on hold while there is $14-$ 15 billion frozen in banks.” Venezuela from page 4 lan Workers Confederation vowed civil disobedience if the government tries to oust leaders from their offices. Chavez insists Venezuela’s opposi tion-affiliated union leaders belong to a corrupt oligarchy he has vowed to dis mantle. Over the years, many union lead ers amassed personal fortunes wliile bank rupting a workers’ bank created to safe guard union members’ savings. “What’s more democratic than a ref erendum? When have workers here ever been consulted about their destiny?” Chavez said, after depositing his ballot in a voting center near the presidential man sion in Caracas. A fiery nationalist and former army paratrooper who led a failed military coup in 1992, Chavez has stacked Congress, the Supreme Court and most state gov ernments with his allies through a series of democratic elections and referendums. His victories have left in shambles the two traditional parties that shared pow er in Venezuela for 40 years. But unions remain under opposition control, hi October, Nfenezuela’s oil unions went on strike and paralyzed the state oil industry for four days, forcing a reluctant Chavez to give in to nearly all their de mands for bigger wages. Despite income from booming oil prices, Chavez has yet to deliver on promises to pay workers hundreds of mil lions of dollars in back pay and benefits owed by the government. Friday, December 8,2000 • 6 pm -12 midnight } Blatt P.E. Center < I • LASER STORM • 1 P • 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament begins at 8 pm • 7 • 3 Point Shoot Out • Carolina Trivia Contest • 1 • Scavenger Hunt • Hole in One Golf Contest • 7 • Weight Room Open All Night • \ • FOOD • Door Prizes ■■ ALL FREE! • 7