Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Nation & World Protestors, police clash following funeral for black man killed by officers in New York by Lukas I. Alpert Associated Press New York —Furious protester^ hurled bottles and clashed with police Satur day after the funeral for an unarmed black man shot to death by an undercover of ficer, the latest police shooting to inflame tensions between Mayor Rudolph Giu liani and the minority community. Police used batons to knock back bot tles thrown outside a Brooklyn church as the funeral Mass ended. One officer was seen holding his head, wrapped in a bandage. In all, 23 police were injured, some suffering tom ligaments or bro ken bones, others had to have shards of glass rinsed from their eyes. Police said 27 people were arrested on charges ranging from disorderly con duct to inciting a riot during the clash which included the burning of an Amer ican flag. They were expected to be ar raigned on Sunday. Five civilians were injured, police said, but details of their conditions were not immediately released A miles-long procession of more than 3,000 protesters and mourners led by the Rev. A1 Sharpton had followed a hearse carrying the body of 26-year-old Patrick Dorismond from a funeral home to Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in for the service. Dorismond’s shooting March 16 was the third time in the past 13 months that an unarmed black man has been fa tally shot by undercover officers. Giuliani has been criticized for re leasing information from Dorismond’s police record, including sealed juvenile files, and for not visiting Dorismond’s family. As Dorismond’s coffin was carried inside, a few protesters surged forward and snatched the U.S. flag that had draped it, tore it to shreds and then set the pieces on fire. “It’s our blood, it’s not cheap. We . must let them know this must stop,’’said Michel Eddy, a 26-year-old Haitian im migrant. With car horns blaring, protesters chanted, knocked down police barricades, and many demanded Giuliani’s resigna tion. A car driving the wrong way on a near by street was plastered with banners, including one that read: “If you shoot one of my children, I shoot five of you,” and others threatening Giuliani’s fami ly Another protester walking through the crowded street shouted: “Rudy, I’ll blow you up to kingdom come, cut you with a chain saw, and feed you to the dogs!” As the two-hour service ended around 2 p.m., a group of unarmed community affairs police and uniformed officers out side the church began having increasing difficulty controlling the crowd. Within half an hour, about 25 officers in riot hel mets carrying batons entered the crowd and were met by people throwing bot tles and knocking down police barricades. The face-off with hundreds of protesters escalated quickly. Giuliani issued a statement praising the restraint of officers involved in the confrontation. “Unfortunately, when you allow dem agogues to take over for political and divisive purposes, the American flag gets shredded and burned; steel barricades are hurled and bottles are thrown injuring police officers and civilians,” he said. The Dorismond shooting has become a major issue in his campaign for the U.S. Senate against Hillary Clinton. The first lady said last week that the GOP mayor’s “utter failure of leadership” was a sign that he couldn’t be trusted. Giuliani has maintained that the news media are incapable of covering police shooting cases fairly, so he has a duty to emphasize the police point of view. The mayhem on the street Saturday contrasted with the message of peace de livered during the funeral. ‘It’s our blood, it’s not cheap. We must let them know this must stop.' Michael Eddy Haitian immigrant Thousands watch launch of Amistad replica BY SUSANNE YOUMANS Associated Press Mystic, Conn. —More than a centu ry ago, Sengbe Pieh led slaves aboard the Amistad in a revolt in which they over threw their captors in an effort to re turn to their homeland. On Saturday, the launching a replica of the 129-foot schooner gave Pieh’s great giaiiu5uu nuyc lui the future and opti mism that his an cestor’s fight for freedom would soon be heard around the world. “It’s unbeliev able that an icon of slavery is being transformed in this millennium into an icon or pannersnip, iaun in eacn other and of human rights for all of us,” said Samuel Pieh, who runs an organi zation that works to improve relations between Africa and the United States. Thousands, including American and Sierra Leone dignitaries and descendants of the Amistad captives, watched and cheered as the 138-ton vessel was low ered into the Mystic River. The ship was christened with water from Cuba, Long Island and Sierra Leone — where the slaves were sold, captured by American authorities and finally re turned home. Shirley Yema Gbujama, the minis ter of social welfare, gender and children’s affairs in Sierra Leone, and African- Amer ican actress Ruby Dee broke the bottle of water over the ship’s bow. A brass bell tolled for each of the ship’s 53 captives. The six-year, $3.1 million marked the beginning of the unending task of teach ing histories, forgotten stories and im proving race relations, organizers said. “She represents friendship, which is the translation of the name Amistad, cooperation... all of the good stuff,” said Wtrren Marr II, who be gan in 1976 to push for the project. The slaves took con trol of the original Amis tad near Cuba in 1839. Their story was depicted in a 1997 movie by Steven Snielhere. Led by Sengbe Pieh, the slaves killed the captain of the Spanish ship and tried to force its crew to sail them back to Africa. The ship wandered up the East Coast before landing on Long Island. They were captured there, brought to New London and then jailed in New Haven and several trials followed. An 1841 U.S. Supreme Court rul ing freed the slaves, whose cause had been taken up by white abolitionists and for mer President John Quincy Adams. The 35 Africans who survived returned to their homeland in 1842 and established churches and schools for others. “Our mission is to tell the story of the Amistad as well as the story of the human rights struggle that exists today,” said William Pinkney, the ship’s captain. “We want to show young people what can happen with cooperation.” The ship will make its maiden voy age to New York City on July 2. It will be operated by the nonprofit Amistad America, created by the Mys tic Seaport. The ship will dock around the world including Cuba and Sierra Leone. ‘She represents friendship, which is the translation of the name Amistad Warren Marr II Project organizer -fy*?*^ Quick Cash<Sg§SJ?Opportunities Decaf Or regular? Sleep in or go to class? Life is full of hard decisions. Does anyone pay you to make them? We do!!! Take part in USC researchers’ decision-making experiments on campus. Give us 2 hours of your time and make about $10 per hour. Register online http://econ.badm.sc.edu/beam Gore from page A3 to revisit the Gore issue. • One of Gore’s former friends and political supporters, Maria Hsia, was con victed of fund-raising illegalities at a trial that featured video of Gore with Buddhist nuns at a California temple event that generated $60,000 in illegal dona tions. The footage quickly made its way from the courtroom to the vast Internet, compliments of the Republican Nation al Committee. Gore long ago apologized for his ini tial answers to questions about fund-rais ing, such as an often-ridiculed response that “no controlling legal authority” pro hibited him from making fund-raising calls from his White House office. But FBI interview reports show Gore continued to use crafty answers to sticky questions. In one interview with FBI agents, Gore suggested he may have missed a key discussion because he drank too much iced tea and needed a restroom break. To blunt the criticism, Gore has donned the mantle of campaign fund-rais ing reform in hopes of picking up swing voters attracted to presidential dropouts John McCain and Bill Bradley, both ear ly champions of lessening the influence of big money in politics. That strategy too has given fodder to Gore’s political enemies. Bush frequently suggests that Gore must mistake voters for having “amne sia” and borrows one of Gore’s famous flubs to underscore his own bid for the presidency. “There needs to be controlling legal authority in the White House,” Bush says with a smile. Cognizant of polls showing his vul nerability, Gore frequently says he has learned from his mistakes. “I know it’s time to change a broken system,” he tells voters. Of the Buddhist temple event, he says, “I should have known that it was related to fund raising. I did not. But the very fact that I was there was a mistake.” Even as he embraces reform, Gore heads a fund-raising machine eager to keep pace with Bush’s record-setting campaign. Last week alone, Gore raised $400,000 for his own campaign and $2 million for the Democratic Par ty. UNDERGRADUATE STUDY ABROAD GREATBRITAIN AUSTRALIA IRELAND NEW ZEALAND ARGENTINA CHILE COSTA RICA Fall, Spring or Full Year. Scholarships Available. Study Abroad Information Session: Representative: Steve Seaworth £jate; Tuesday, March 28 10:30 am - 1:30 pm Location: Information Table Outside Russell House on Greene Street, if rain inside Russell, 2nd Floor Lobby For further information contact the Institute for Study Abroad. Butler University, 4600 Sunset Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46208, Tel: 800/858-0229 Fax: 317/940-9704 INSTITUTE FOR STUDY ABROAD BUTLER UNIVERSITY Graphic Design Position Available Undergraduate student for part-time position or graduate student wanted for assistantship in on-campus office. Must have strong experience in HTML, Adobe Photoshop 5.5, Pagemaker 6.5, Illustrator 4.1, ImageReady 2.0 and Macromedia Flash 4.0, Fireworks 3.0, Freehand 9.0. Salary commensurate with experience. Contact A. Dawn Ward at (803) 777-0311 for more information. EPSCoR The University of South Carolina is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Cheaper than Tuition... more fun than Body Piercing Special Student Airfares Great Travel Products Adventure Holidays Beds on a Budget Travel Insurance Eurail Passes Contiki Tours Student ID’s i W 1 V. . .atJ, 800-777-0112 I [travel] WE’VE BEEN THERE. xXXXXXBXSf Strike averted by tentative deal for flight attendants by Alice Ann Love Associated Press Washington — US Airways and the Association of Flight Attendants hailed their agreement Saturday on a tentative five-year contract that keeps planes fly ing and provides raises for the union’s 10,000 members. “It’s an agreement that shows the company has recognized the value of the flight attendants,” union negotiator Lynn Lenosky said. The company said the pact, which the union’s rank and file must approve, allows it to remain competitive. It also meant US Airways flights were not disrupted this weekend as had been feared. Travelers boarded planes in US Airways’ hub of Charlotte this morning with no problems. “ Wfe’ve got airplanes, we’ve got crews and we are flying a full schedule and op erating normally,” US Airways spokesman David Castelveter said Saturday. Union and airline bargainers stayed at the table with federal mediators for more than three hours past a 12:01 a.m. EST Saturday strike deadline. US Air ways had said it would halt operations rather than try to weather a strike. The tentative agreement would guar antee raises totaling 10 percent for US Airways attendants, plus some new paid holidays and a signing bonus, according ^ to Lenosky. The starting salary for at tendants has been $17,145 a year, with those at the pay scale earning $36,918. The attendants have not had a raise since 1996, the year their previous contract expired. Also, union negotiators said they won pension improvements, including the elimination of a two-tiered system under which married attendants received low er benefits. Lenosky said the attendants won con tract language they wanted protecting their jobs if US Airways ever sells off part 4 of its operations. The airline said it accomplished its goal of bringing labor costs and policies closer in line with major competitors. US Airways said in a written state ment that the deal “works for our flight attendants and allows the company to compete in the marketplace.” ---- Mideast from page A3 Time is running out on Clinton’s presidency and his hopes to polish his legacy with a historic Mideast deal. The outlines of an agreement already are well known — a return of the Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for securi ty guarantees for Israel and normaliza tion of relations. Peace in Lebanon would follow any agreement with Syria, which controls its neighbor’s military, politics and economy. But the two sides still have to agree on how far Israel withdraws from the Golan, security arrangements, wa ter rights from territory Israel surren ders and normalization of relations. Barak has made a peace deal with Syria a top priority of his administration. But Israelis want concrete assurances of what they would get in return. Israel cap tured the Golan in the 1967 Mideast War, defended the territory in a bloody war in 1973 and annexed it in 1981. Barak, in an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” predicted before the Gene va talks began that they would indicate “from this highest level of leadership in Syria ... whether we will have real peace.” He said Clinton knows the demands of both Israel and Syria. “The only question that remains is whether those needs could be brought together in a deal,” Barak said. “Tough decisions on both sides” are required. In Syria, the state-run Syria Times said the summit provided an opportu nity to reveal how much U.S. efforts “have nudged the conditions for pro ductive talks into place.” Clinton and Assad held two summits in 1994, in Damascus and Geneva. They also saw each other briefly at the funeral of Jordan’s King Hussein in February 1999. ( The two sides talked for more than two hours, took a two-hour break, and then resumed the meeting, Lockhart said. Secretary of State Madeleine Al bright and national security adviser Sandy Berger accompanied Clinton into the meeting, along with chief of staff John Podesta, Ross, and another aide. Assad was accompanied by For eign Minister Farouk al-Shaara, Abdul Raouf al-Qasem, head of the National Security Office, and a legal adviser. In separate interviews broadcast Sun day on ABC, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat each expressed hope for success in Gene va. “I believe this is the golden oppor tunity for the Israelis and Syrians to ^ achieve some sort of peace,” Abdullah said. Arafat, who is engaged in his own fitful peace negotiations with Israel, said he hoped progress on a deal between Is rael and Syria will generate momentum for a deal with the Palestinians. The Unit ed States had acted as host and go-be tween in that process, as well. Assad has not attended any of the Syrian-Israeli negotiating sessions that have been proceeding in fits and starts since the process began in 1991. Shaara headed the Syrian delegation to the Shep herdstown talks while Barak led the Israeli side. « Russia from page A3 is rampant and life miserable for most people. “When Putin takes charge of something, he takes it to the end.” Some Russians, particularly liberals, fear Putin may trample Russia’s fragile democracy and restore the iron control the secret police enforced during the So viet era. But some Russian reformers and West ern officials and businessmen have praised Putin as a pragmatic reformer who will restore stability in Russia and improve people’s lives by making reforms work. With a trademark poker face, Putin comes across as stem and colorless, of ten cold. He is described often as re sembling the archetypal “chekist” or se cret policeman — which appeals to many Russians who believe tough government alone can clean up the country and re store stability. Putin insists he is a democrat, but he has been vague about his plans beyond stressing the need for strong government. Some analysts say Putin has few specif ic plans because of his rapid rise to pow er and it may be months before his in tentions are clear. Nor is Putin likely to turn things around quickly after decades of authoritarianism and economic disin tegration, they add. Yeltsin, who stunned Russians by re signing six months early and dubbing Putin as his political heir, said Sunday he was confident that the younger leader would continue the reforms set in place after the Soviet collapse. “Everybody is waiting for change,” said Yeltsin after casting his ballot. “Ifhere will be some changes, but the main thing is the course of reform must stay, aj^it will stay. I am convinced of that.” ^ “ Putin, who rose through a series of mostly obscure government posts in the 1990s and has never held elected of fice, was appointed prime minister by Yeltsin in August. He gained immediate popularity for his vigorous image and his tough handling of the war in Chechnya. Putin was named acting president when Yeltsin resigned on Dec. 31. Little is known about Putin and ex tensive checks by journalists and others in recent months have produced more questions and few insights. Unlike many prominent officials, Putin has not been linked to major corruption, boosting his image in the eyes of Russians who have seen political insiders amass vast fortunes while living standards for most people plummeted. ^ The election campaign was lacKKs ter because a Putin victory seemed in evitable. The other candidates appeared resigned to not winning and there was lit tle in the way of campaign rallies and trips. State television lavished Putin with daily coverage, boosting his chances. There will be some changes, but the main thing is the course of reform must stay and it will stay. I am con vinced of that.’ Boris Yeltsin Former Russian President