Clinton: Rag should come down
by Leigh Strope
Associated Press
COLUMBIA—President Clinton on Tues
day jumped into the fight over the Con
federate flag over South Carolina’s State
house. “He thinks the flag shouldn’t be
flown,” White House spokesman Joe
Lockhart said.
He relayed Clinton’s comments while
flying with the president to Boston.
Lockhart said the president recalled
that .the flag controversy was rooted in
a 1962 decision by the Legislature, which
voted to fly it in “a symbolic act to show
opposition to desegregation.”
“He’s not saying the Confederate flag '
... doesn’t have some historical meaning
to it, but in this case, it’s wrong,” Lock
hart said. “It shouldn’t be flown.”
The battle over the flag shifted inside
after a demonstration Monday at which
nearly 50,000 people called for the
banner’s removal.
Only the Legislature can remove the
flag raised over the Statehouse in 1962
during the Civil War centennial. State
Rep. Joe Neal, a Democrat, said he hoped
that the rally on Martin Luther King Day
changed some legislators’ minds.
“The will of the people is that the
flag come down, I think that’s clear,”
he said Monday. “It has to come down.
This issue is too divisive for South Car
olina. It’s an embarrassment to the state.”
Many demonstrators from out of state
honored a tourism boycott by the Na
tional Association for the Advancement
of Colored People and slept on cots in
church basements instead of checking in
to hotels.
“I don’t want to contribute to the
economy of South Carolina,” said Gary
Jefferson, who drove from Charlotte for
the rally. “Even though I’m hungry, even
though I’m thirsty, I’m going to wait un
til I get home.”
State police officers estimated Mon
day’s crowd at 46,000 people; one man
was'arrested for disorderly conduct.
“In all candor, we welcome people
to Columbia and our Statehouse, but I
don’t think it has any real impact on how
170 members of the General Assembly
will vote if there’s a resolution,” said Re
publican state Sen. John Courson, a flag
supporter. “I think most legislators have
their minds made up.”
Republican Rep. Jake Knotts said he
would vote how his district wants — to
keep the flag flying.
“The problem isn’t the flag in this
state,” he said. “It’s a race issue. People
need to leam to treat each other with re
spect.”
Supporters say the banner is a sym
bol of the state’s heritage and honors Con
federate soldiers killed in the Civil War.
More than 6,000 Confederate flag sup
porters marched a week ago at the State
house.
Some lawmakers have said they’ll dis
cuss a compromise only after the NAACP
backs off the boycott. But NAACP Pres
ident Kweisi Mftime said the boycott will
remain until the flag goes.
“We will continue to march and we
will continue to boycott until it flies no
more,” he said.
A few white marchers joined the most
ly black crowd. Margaret Abbott, 59, who
wore her grandmother’s Daughters of
Confederate Veterans certificate, said her
ancestors fought in the Civil and Revo
lutionary wars so she could have freedom
of choice. She wants the flag removed.
“Wfe have a lot more important things
to do than fight over this stupid flag,” she
said.
While South Carolina is the only state
still flying the Confederate flag from its
Capitol, Georgia incorporated the sym
bol into its state flag in 1956.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rain
bow/PUSH Coalition now wants tourists
to boycott Geoigia until the emblem is
removed Activists are threatening to be
gin the boycott on Jan. 30, the day the
Super Bowl will be held in Atlanta.
Coretta Scott King, who introduced
A1 Gore at a King Day service in Atlanta,
praised the vice president for saying the
flag shouldn’t fly over South Carolina’s
Statehouse.
“I agree with you that it is a hurtful,
divisive symbol,” she told Gore.
Gore, who wants the Democratic
nomination for president, has accused
Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Repub
lican front-runner, of trying to duck the
issue. Bush and his rivals, Arizona Sen.
John McCain and businessman Steve
Forbes, all have said that South Caroli
na voters should determine the flag’s
future and that it shouldn’t be an issue
for their campaigns.
Russia enters central
Grozny, military says
BY LYOMA TURPALOV
Associated Press
Urus-Martan, Russia—After weeks
of ferocious fighting, Russian forces pen
etrated the center of Grozny on Tuesday
and started a final assault to take con
trol of the capital of separatist Chechnya,
Russian officers said.
Russian troops were pushing into the
center from east and west and had es
tablished control over part of central
Grozny, said Lt. Col. Konstantin
Kukharenko, a Defense Ministry
spokesman. “-The decisive phase of the
liberation of Grozny has started,” he said,
adding that the city would soon fall.
The military’s claims couldn’t be con
firmed. There was no immediate indi
cation that the estimated 2,000 well
entrenched rebels in Grozny had fled the
city. The city has been the center of
Chechen rebel resistance, and its capture
would give Russian forces a huge victo
ry after humiliating military setbacks.
Russia has boasted several times
that it was close to capturing Grozny, on
ly to be driven back by the rebels, who
have launched counterattacks in recent
weeks in and around the capital. After
facing little resistance in their steady
march across Chechnya’s northern
lowlands, Russian troops have been stalled
at Grozny for months and only recently
began pressing into rebel strongholds in
the southern mountains.
Chechen commanders admitted Tues
day that there was heavy fighting in cen
tral Grozny.
Aslanbek Ismailov, the Chechens’
deputy chief of staff, told the Interfax
news agency that the Russians were try
ing to reach “the most strategically im
Chechnya see woe «
Kohl resigns party post
BY TONY CZUCZKA
Associated Press
Berun—Helmut Kohl resigned as
honorary chairman of Germany’s Chris
tian Democrats Tbesday, shortly after
the party suspended the former chan
cellor because of his refusal to help
clear up a campaign funding scandal.
Kohl admitted “mistakes” but re
jected a renewed appeal by his party to
identify the sources of apparently ille
gal cash donations, a step the conser
vatives hoped would end speculation
that the money was tied to political fa
“vors. Kohl says he gave his word to keep
the donors secret.
“I cannot bring myself to break the
promise I made to several personalities
who financially supported my work in
the Christian Democratic Union,” Kohl
said in a statement,
“The decision to resign the hon
orary chairmanship was not easy for
me,” he said. “I have been a Christ
ian Democratic Union member for
50 years. It was and is my political
home.”
He admitted making mistakes dur
ing “four decades in important posts,”
but added: “I have always tried to do
my duty.”
Earlier today, the party's national
executive suspended Kohl from the
honorary post—an extraordinary step
illustrating the power struggle between
the CDU leaders and the man who led
the party with a tight grip for 25 years.
He led Germany for 16 years, includ
ing the reunification with communist
East Germany.
News Briefs «
■ Council fails to
reach agreement on
chief weapons
inspector for Iraq
United Nations (AP)—The Securi
ty Council failed to reach an agreement
Tuesday on naming a new U.N. chief
weapons inspector for Iraq, with Rus
sia, China and France objecting to the sec
retary-general ’s candidate, Rolf Ekeus,
and requesting further meetings.
The council president, U.S. Ambas
sador Richard Holbrooke, said ambas
sadors and foreign ministers would con
tinue to discuss the matter among
themselves until agreement is found. He ‘
said it could be several days, if not weeks,
before an agreement is reached. No dead
line was set and no new date scheduled .
for talks.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said
Monday that Ekeus was best suited for
the job. ‘
■ Death increase
shows some held on
to see 2000
New York (AP) — The city’s death
rate jumped in the first week of Janu
ary, suggesting to experts that some ter
minally ill patients held onto life just long
enough to see the year 2000 arrive.
“The will to live can be pretty
powerful,” said Robert Butler, founder
and president of the International Longevi
ty Center.
Preliminary numbers from New
York’s Department of Health show that
1,791 people died in the city in the first
week of2000—a 50.8 percent increase
from the 1,187 deaths for the same peri
od last year and 46 percent more than the
1,226 deaths in the first week of 1998,
The New York Times reported Saturday.
“It’s pretty well established that peo
ple who are seriously ill will hang on to
reach significant events, whether they
are birthdays, anniversaries or religious
holidays,” said Richard Suzman, an asso
ciate director of the National Institute on
Aging in Bethesda, Md. “In this case,
making it into the next century or mil
lennium certainly counts as that.”
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OFFICE OF
ALCOHOL
S^drug
PROGRAMS
Based on survey data collected by the USC Office of Alcohol & Drug
Programs from a random sample of USC students in November, 1998.
\ \
Funding by SC DAODAS Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Project.
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We Can Help You Get Started!
Student Government Spring Treasurer
Workshops Begin This Week.«\
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*SPORTS CLUBS ONLY*
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* Attendance at one Workshop is
required for all student organizations
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