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_ Nation & world„ Thousands gather in India to see Dalai Lama by Rick Callahan Associated Press BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Billie Dreyfuss shelled out $700 to get her old car in shape for a trek from Las Cruces, N.M., to Indiana to see the Dalai Lama. It was worth it, said Dreyfuss, among thousands who’ve de scended on this city to watch the exiled Tibetan leader perform the • dachakra, a Buddhist ceremony that means “cycles of time” and is intended to cleanse the Earth of violence. “My car’s been making some scary rumbling noises — and I still have to get home. But right now I’m here and it’s wonderful,” Dreyfuss, 47, said last Monday as she sat with a friend munching dried figs and apricots under a shade tree near the Tibetan Cultur al Center outside Bloomington. Since Dreyfuss arrived, she’s been living out of her car, making € daily trips to the cultural center founded by the Dalai Lama’s old er brother. The 100-acre park-like property, guarded now by watch ful Secret Service agents, is where the 64-year-old Buddhist monk is hosting his “Kalachakra for World Peace 1999.” Dreyfuss attends daily prayer and meditation sessions in the retreat’s huge air-conditioned tent with her newfound pal, Carolyn Matthews, 52, of Columbia, Mo., who hitched a ride to Indiana. The events cost $40 to $50 for daily admissions, but both women say it’s money well-spent. The Dalai Lama drew a crowd of 40,000 at an appearance at New York’s Central Park earlier this month. The Dalai Lama’s cur rent trip to the United States is drawing more spectators and me dia interest than previous trips. His visit to Central Park in 1991 drew just 5,000. Matthews and Dreyfuss say they are students — not followers — of the Dalai Lama, the exiled holy man who received the No bel Peace Prize in 1989 for his work to liberate his native Tibet from Chinese control while opposing the use of violence. John Karrqvist, a 25-year-old Swede who works in Ithaca, N.Y., for a Swedish finance company, is on his third trek to see the Dalai Lama Karrqvist, who along with three friends who booked hotel rooms six months ago, said seeing the Dalai Lama is enlightenlhg. “He just brings me amazing happiness,” Karrqvist said during a lunch break at the cultural center’s food court, where vendors hawk everything from sushi to roast beef sandwiches. • The coming days will be the highlight of the Dalai Lama’s 12 day Indiana stay at the center founded by his older brother, Thubten Norbu, a 79-year-old retired Indiana University professor. Up to 5,000 people a day are expected to converge on Bloom ington to watch him perform the Kalachakra initiation, a series of Buddhist rituals and teachings intended to bring personal enlight enment and foster world peace. Actors Richard Gere, Steven Seagal and Harrison Ford are ex pected to be among the throngs participating. The ritual involves creating a mandala, a painting crafted from colored sand represent ing a four-faced god with 24 arms who subdues violence. At the end of the ceremony, the Daiai Lama will sweep up the sand and pour it into an as-yet undetermined body of water. Be lievers say the sands’ healing qualities will sweep across the Earth. Watching the entire event unfold from adistance is Jim Pullon, who lives across the street from the cultural with his wife and two children. “My daughter saw him come in yesterday in a black limou sine, and he waved at her,” Pullon said. “She said ‘I saw the Lama.’ But you know, she was really hoping to see Steven Seagal.” U.S. releases video of embassy bombings by Rick Callahan Associated Press WASHMGTON — A video featuring graphic footage of the bomb ings last year of two U S. embassies in Africa are being released by tj^“ State Department in an effort “to bring to justice” the terror ists responsible for the crimes. “In an instant, 224 innocent people died, murdered by terror ists,” a voice says as the video begins. “Here are the victims of these evil crimes: Mother, wife, daughter, father, husband, son.” The 30-second public service announcement features pictures of bloodied or burned bombing victims trying to escape from the rubble. One scene shows a person falling from the ledge of a build ing. The video also features wanted posters of several alleged crim inals, including OSama bin Laden, the charged mastermind of the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Among those killed were 12 y Americans. The State Department said it hopes the video, which was re leased in English, Arabic, French and Spanish, will “bring to jus tice those responsible for the terrorist bombings of our embassies in East Africa, as well as to prevent future acts of terrorism world wide.” The State Department released the tapes earlier this month. It sent copies to every U.S. embassy, more than 250, with hope that officials there would work with host governments and local media to broadcast them. Millions of dollars in reward money already has been awarded for information leading to any arrests, according to the video. It en courages individuals with such knowledge to “take a stand, protect the innocent,” and contact U.S. officials. Author credits marijuana for inspiration by Scott Andrews Associated Press S£N FRANCISCO—The late astronomer artu author Carl Sagan was a secret but avid marijuana smoker, crediting it with inspir ing essays and scientific insight, according to Sagan’s biographer. Using the pseudonym “Mr. X”, Sagan wrote about his pot smoking in an essay pub lished in the 1971 book “Reconsidering Mar ijuana.” The book’s editor, Lester Grin spoon, recently disclosed the secret to Sagan’s biographer, Keay Davidson. Davidson, a writer for the San Francis co Examiner, revealed the marijuana use in an article published in the newspaper’s mag azine Sunday. “Carl Sagan: A Life” is due out in October. “I find that today a single joint is enough to get me high ... in one movie theater re cently 1 found I could get high just by in haling the cannabis smoke which permeat ed the theater,” wrote Sagan, who authored popular science books such as “Cosmos,” “Contact,” and “The Dragons of Eden.” In the essay, Sagan said marijuana in spired some of his intellectual work. “I can remember one occasion, taking a shower with my wife while high, in which I had an idea on the origins and invalidities of racism in terms of gaussian distribution curves,” wrote the former Cornell Univer sity professor. “I wrote the curves in soap on the shower wall, and went to write the idea down. Sagan also wrote that pot enhanced his experience of food (particularly potatoes), music and sex. Grinspoon, Sagan’s closest friend for 30 years, said Sagan’s marijuana use is evidence against the notion that marijuana makes peo ple less ambitious. “He was certainly highly motivated to work, to contribute,” said Grinspoon, a psy chiatry professor at Harvard University. Grinspoon is an advocate of decrimi nalizing marijuana. Ann Druyan, Sagan’s former wife, is a director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The nonprofit group promotes legalization of marijuana. Sagan died of pneumonia in 1996. He was 62. r (aero-BIGWORDS flight 420) BlGWORDS.com - the world’s most dangerous textbook cartel. BUY TEXTBOOKS owNE ro EsnEiaM) & ft • limited lime offer on order* over $35. . end remember, liver I* pert of delivery ® BIO WORDS, me. ___- -f-i-'• * Canterbury ™ OF COLUMBIA*' The Episcopal Church on Campus 2827 Wheat St. St. John’s Episcopal Church Holy Communion, Dinner and Program Tuesdays 6:30pm The Episcopal Church Welcomes You! 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