Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Page A10 Thursday, August 19,1999 Swastikas found on Columbine walls by Robin McDowell Associated Press Littleton, Co. - Students returning to Columbine High School for the first time since a massacre by two student gunmen were met by swastikas scratched on restroom walls and a brick wall outside the school. School officials said Tuesday that they had etched off the four one-inch Nazi symbols and would punish any stu dent responsible to the full extent of school policy. The two gunmen had openly admired Adolf Hitler, and the April 20 massacre that left 15 dead was on the anniversary of Hitler’s birth. “It’s like they are laughing in our faces, ‘Ha, ha, school’s back in session and so are we,” said Tammy Theus, mother of one of the 15 black students at Columbine. She and a group of other parents dis covered the graffiti Monday while patrolling the school before the start of semester classes. They covered the symbols with duct tape until school officials could have them removed Two 1-inch swastikas were found scratched into a freshly painted stall in a girl’s restroom,'another was found in a boy’s restroom and a fourth was scratched into a brick wall outside the school, school officials said “We are taking this incident very seriously, and I am asking students to cooperate to find the person or persons responsible,” Principal Frank DeApgelis said At a rally Monday, he had warned students that slurs and harassment would not be tolerated. Jokes about the killings or jokes with racial or sexual overtones are grounds for suspension, school officials said. Nearly 2,000 students returned to Columbine on Monday, their first day back since students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, heavily armed with explo sives and guns, opened fire in the school. The two killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 23 people before committing suicide. Students said Harris and Klebold had often told racial jokes and gave the Nazi salute in bowling class when they threw strikes. The two also wore black trench coats in school, and Harris wrote hate filled messages on the Internet, vowitig death to all who had slighted him. District officials said they believed the swastikas had been etched in the restrooms on Monday because all of the rooms were repainted before fall classes began. Israel to free Palestinian political prisoners \ •' by Dana Budeiri Associated Press Jerusalem - Israel could free up to 250 Palestinians jailed for anti-Israel activity in two phases starting Sept. 1, an Israeli official said as negotiators held new talks Wednesday on the prisoner issue. Wednesday's talks were also to touch on a timetable for Israeli withdrawals from some West Bank territory under the ULS.-bro keied Wye accord, over which Israel and the Palestinians have been wrangling for weeks. The two sides held six hours of talks Tuesday, described by Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat as "deep and tiring." Prime Minister Ehud Barak's office released a statement saying that "progress was made on the issues discussed" There was no immediate Palestinian reaction to the plan for releasing 250 "security prisoners." But it would seem to fall short of Palestinian demands that Israel free 650 prisoners jailed for anti Israeli activity before Sept. 1. The 250 prisoners would be freed in two stages, on Sept. 1 and on Oct. 8, a day observed by Palestinians as “Prisoner Day,” said the Israeli official, who wished to remain anonymous. The same official said Palestinian officials could be brought into the Israeli jails where the prisoners are being held to better deter mine who is eligible for release. The October accords reached in Wye River, Md, call for the release of 750 Palestinian prisoners. Barak's predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, freed 250 before freezing the accord But the Palestinians say at least half of those were common criminals, not prisoners involved in activities against Israel. Most Palestinian families have had at least one member of their family juled in the past 30 years. Both sides agreed Tuesday to draw up a list of prisoners' names, with their charges and sentences, to be discussed at Wednesday's meeting. A senior Palestinian source, speaking on condition of anonymi ty, said that the Israelis have accepted the Palestinian demand for discussions to center on security prisoners, and that no common criminals would be part of the deal. Israeli officials have repeatedly said that no prisoners with 'blood on their hands," meaning those involved in serious anti Israeli attacks, were to be released. Speaking on Israel radio Wednesday, Haim Ramon, minister without portfolio in Barak's government, said that even if that crite rion were stretched, only 250 prisoners could be released, not the total 750. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his aides have repeatedly said they view the prisoner release as an essential confidence-build ing step, one that would be indicative of Barak's seriousness about reviving the peace process. "I would be surprised that there would be an agreement at all, if we don't agree on this particular point," Erekat said after the meet ing. Erekat said the other main issue front Wye, the timetable for withdrawals from 11 percent of the West Bank, was still unresolved after Tuesday's talks. Barak wants the two phased troop withdrawals, which will begin in October, to stretch out until February. The Palestinians want the pullbacks wrapped up by mid-November. Israel at a glance $ Population *97-98: Primary Religions: 5,643,966 Judaism 82%, Islam Government: 14%, Other 4%, Democratic Republic, no Prime Minster: written constitution Ehud Barak Ethmc Groups: Area: Jews 82%, Other 18% 8,020 sq. miles Chef Export: Capttal: Diamonds, citrus fruit Jerusalem Bush turns to pros, polls and academics for advice “I think he wants to make a statement that his presidency will-be a little bit more like Ronald Reagan’s than George Bush’s.” Norman Omstein Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute by Michael Holmes Associated Press Austin, Texas - When Republican presidential front runner George W. Bush needs advice these days, he turns to a circle of politi cal professionals, policy wonks and ■ fellow politicians. _ Some have been with him from the start. Others have come aboard within the past year. Polung Enterprises Mixing public, private and academic experience, they generally are more con servative than the team assembled by Bush’s father, analysts say. But being the son of a former presi dent certainly helps recruiting. “For Bush, it’s not difficult to pull together a group because, of course, he’s been around Republican and conserva tive intellectual circles for a long time,” said Norman Omstein, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “I think he wants to make a state ment that his presidency will be a little bit more like Ronald Reagan’s than Geotge Bush’s,” Omstein said. Gosest to Bush are a trio of advisers who have worked together since Bush’s first gubernatorial campaign in 1994: strategist Karl Rove, spokeswoman Karen Hughes and campaign manager Joe AUbaugh. Rove, a friend of George Bush’s 1988 campaign manager, Lee Atwater, is a longtime political consultant and a major reason the GOP dominates Texas elections right now. Hughes is another member of the so called Iron Triangle, although she says she’s in the dark about the origin of the nickname the news media hung on Bush’s closest advisers. A former Fort Worth television reporter, Hughes moved from covering politics to playing the game. Texas press coordinator for Reagan Bush in 1984, she later became execu tive director of the Texas GOP and joined Bush in the early months of the 1994 race. She has spoken for him ever since. Alibaugh is a big presence in the campaign’s day-to-day workings. A campaign veteran, Alibaugh quickly earned a reputation among staffers in Bush’s first campaign as the guy who said “no” to spending requests. He served as Bush’s executive assis tant until the Texas Legislature ended its 1999 session. The three helped Bush oust popular Democratic Gov. Ann Richards in 1994 and get nearly 70 percent of the vote in his 1998 re-election. “The good campaign teams are the ones that emerge in the heat of battle. They did that in 1994. I have a lot of respect for them,” said Chuck McDonald, spokesman for Richards’ last campaign. “They are very good at getting on their message and staying on their mes ■ sge.” Impressive Backgrounds In many ways Bush’s policy team, now numbering more than 100 conserv ative thinkers, can trace its creation to a small April 1998 gathering at the Palo Alto, Calif., home of former Secretary of State George Shultz. Shultz assembled fellows from Stanford University’s Hoover Institution to meet with Bush. Those who attended say they came away impressed. “We covered the landscape, from foreign policy and national security to tax policy and Social Security reform,” said Bush adviser John Cogan, an econo mist and senior fellow at the institution. “What amazed me and surprised me was how often the governor would ask a series of follow-up questions, probing into your idea,” he said. Bush is leading heavily on the Hoover think tank. Shultz, a Hoover dis tinguished fellow, was on Bush’s presi dential exploratory committee. Cogan and Hoover fellows Martin Anderson and Michael Boskin are giving economics and tax advice. Former Stanford provost and Hoover fellow Condoleeza Rice, a national security adviser to President Bush, heads a foreign policy and defense team that includes Dick Cheney, a for mer White House chief of staff and defense secretary, and Paul Wolfowitz, a former ambassador to Indonesia and President Bush’s undersecretary of defense for policy. Think Tanks Leading the economic team is Lawrence Lindsey, a former Federal Reserve governor and American Enterprise Institute scholar who says he had planned to stay nonaligned in this year’s presidential race. “I knew most of the other Republican candidates. I had never met Governor Bush,” Lindsey said. But after a meeting set up by A1 Hubbard, a Harvard Business School classmate of Bush and former aide to Dan Quayle, Lindsey signed on. “I would say most of the people [advising Bush] are conservative, but most have served in or near government and in that sense have a pragmatic sense of what’s possible,” Lindsey said. Anderson said: “Whether you’re looking at tax policy or national security or education or you name the field, he has managed to draw in the best people in the country who agree with him philosophically.” Principles Advice with a twist comes from Bush’s fellow politicians, including sev eral Republican governors and Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, an advocate of privatization and leader of Bush’s domestic policy team. “He has a set of principles he’s used as governor of Texas, and he applies those to whatever we’re discussing,” Goldsmith said Bush insiders point to three gover nors, John Engler of Michigan, Marc Racicot of Montana and Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania, as having Bush’s ear. All three trace their “family ties” to the elder Bush’s campaigns, all have worked with the younger Bush as state chief executives and all describe Bush as appreciative of those who can get things done in a political arena “He knows they’re seared by experi ence to be responsive to people. Their judgment is rounded out by practical exposure, not just theoretical analysis,” Racicot said “As a governor, you bring a certain mindset to this job that’s a little different from the mindset at the national level,” Ridge said “Having been in Congress, and I say this with all respect, most of the time members of the House and Senate aren’t really concerned about how a program will work back in die states.” Iraq improves anti-aircraft missile, Pentagon says by Robert Burns Associated Press Washington - The Pentagon says Iraq has extended the range of one of the missiles it has occasionally fired at American and British war planes patrolling no-flight zones over Iraq. But it insists the improved SA-2 missile poses no sig nificant additional threat. Skirmishes in Iraqi skies contin ued Tuesday, when Iraq fired anti aircraft artillery and tracked U.S. nlanes with radars used bv surface to-air missiles, U.S. officials said. In response, U.S. planes bombed Iraqi missile sites. Kenneth Bacon, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said frequent U.S. and British air attacks this year have reduced by 40 percent to 50 percent the number of Iraqi anti-air craft missile batteries in the no flight zones over Iraq since Iraq began challenging the patrols last December. T Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is protecting his remaining air defense systems by placing most of them near Baghdad, the capital, and Tikrit, the hometown of Hussein and his closest relatives, Bacon said. Both Baghdad and Tikrit are outside the no-flight zones and off-limits to U.S. patrols. “We have scared him to the point where he doesn't want to turn on his radars, and missiles that aren’t guided by radars aren’t particularly threatening or dangerous,” Bacon said. "We think thiift basically the [Allied] responses to the attacks that he is making against our planes are slowly but measurably degrading his air-defense system.” Iraqi air defense forces began firing a longer-range version of the SA-2 surface-to-air missile a couple of months ago, Bacon said. In Baghdad, the official Iraqi News Agency quoted the military as saying eight people were killed in attacks in the northern no-fly zone Tuesday, and 11 were killed in the south. The U.S. European Command, which oversees U.S. operations in northern Iraq, insists only military sites are targeted. In a statement Tuesday, the U.S. European Command said U.S. Air Force planes bombed a surface-to air missile site west of the city of Mosul, 250 miles north of Baghdad, and a missile support system south of Mosul. It described the U.S. attacks as acts of self-defense in response to Iraqi provocations. No Allied pilots were injured. Briefs ■ U.S. students return to school with caution, hope Washington (AP) - The doors opened, the hallways filled, the cliques reunited, the classes began. So it goes each year when students across the country head back to school. A few months after the Colorado and Georgia school shoot ings, and within weeks of summer shooting incidents seemingly spurred by racial or ethnic hatred, schools nationwide are opening their doors warily. “It’s a mixed mood,” said Bruce Hunter of the American Association of School Administrators. “There’s a real current of optimism running smack into just a dread of potential violence.” School officials, recovering from last spring’s shootings in Littleton, Colo., and Conyers, Ga., and the prank threats that followed, spent a , busy summer installing metal detec tors, practicing emergency drills, adding security cameras and two- ■ way radios, crafting dress codes and bookbag bans, and trying to hire counselors. ■ Thousands killed in * earthquake Istanbul, Turkey (AP) - When > rural Turks by the millions poured i into Istanbul in recent years seeking work, contractors made a killing throwing up slipshod, concrete-and cinderblock apartments to house them. When the big one hit, the cheaply made, multistoried blocks collapsed, crushing thousands as they slept. “Murderers,” one news- 1 paper cries, blaming builders and local officials for ignoring their own codes. i ■ Taiwan pushes for mis sile defense system Taipei, Taiwan (AP) - In a move likely to anger Beijing, Taiwan’s president pushed Wednesday for the island to adopt a defense network capable of shooting down the mis siles that rank among China’s best weapons. An anti-missile defense system *’ “not only responds to current needs, but even more, fulfills the nation’s long-term development interests,” President Lee Teng-hui was quoted as telling the ruling Nationalist * Party’s top decision-making body. China’s renewed threat to attack Taiwan follows earlier reports that it is boosting deployment of M-9 and M-ll ballistic missiles targeting the island. v I ■ Drought turns > neighbor against neighbor Ellicott City, Md. (AP) - The ; restrictions on water use in the drought-stricken Northeast are turn ing neighbors into snitches. Since the rules went into effect i in Maryland, New Jersey and , Pennsylvania earlier this summer, calls have been pouring in to police and public works departments from 1 citizens pointing out their neigh bors’ too-green lawns and too-clean j automobiles. A woman in Queen Anne’s J County, Md., asked if it was legal for her neighbor to collect conden- d sation dripping off her air condition- , er for sprinkling her plants. (It’s legal.) 1 In suburban Washington, police officers investigated neighbor com plaints of a man washing his car and^_ found him dousing the lime-green Mercedes with bottled water. (Legal, just expensive.) ■ Doners who visited Britian blocked from giv-4 ing blood o Washington (AP) - Some * Americans who traveled frequently to Britain during that country’s mad 1 cow disease crisis are being banned from donating blood back home, a restriction that will cut the U.S. blood supply during a critical time 3 of shortage, but one the government deems a necessary precaution. ft The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday imposed the ban on blood donations by any one who has traveled to, or lived in, Britain for a total of six months since 1980. The donor ban is strictly a pre caution; there is no evidence that any mad cow-type illness has been ,> spread through blood transfusions.