Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Nation & World McCain joins as Bush courts California win by Walter R. Mears Associated Press George W. Bush and his van quished presidential rival John McCain joined forces last week as the Texas governor told Cali fornians he would battle for every vote in their powerhouse state. “Lovely place,” McCain said as Bush met the Arizona senator at the airport, launching three days of West Coast campaigning together. The two shook hands. At a railroad depot in San Luis Obispo Wednesday, Bush scoffed at the idea that he will wind up backing away from California, rather than spend the time and money to challenge Al’Gore all fall in a state where the De mocrats hold the advantage. For mer President Bush wrote off California eight years ago during his failed campaign against Bill Clinton. “Somebody said, ‘You know, Gov. Bush isn’t going to try hard in California,” he told the crowd at the end of a day of campaign ing from a chartered train. “That’s wishful thinking. Nor only are we going to try hard, come No vember we’re going to carry the great slate of California. ... And should we do so, you’re looking at the next president. “We’re not writing off any place, particularly this important state,” Bush had declared earli er at a rally in Oxnard. His remarks came hours be fore release of an independent poll Thursday showing him trail ing Gore only 3 points - 40 to 37 - in a survey with a 3.5 per centage point margin of error. Bush told supporters he want ed to dispel suspicions that his California campaigning is a feint against Gore and that as in 1996 and 1992, the national GOP tick et will not make a heavy in vestment here. McCain, the man Bush beat in a brief but bitter primary elec tion contest for the GOP nomi nation, was teaming up with him in Salinas for a day in Califor nia before moving on to Oregon and Washington. Their campaign reconciliation has not always been smooth; there are still staff grudges left by the hostilities of the primary season. “We were in a tough cam paign,” McCain says now. “When you’re in a tough primary, a lot of things are said.” McCain endorsed Bush three months ago, although he wryly HKeneu u at me time to taking his medicine. But he delivered a prime-time salute to Bush at the Republican National Convention last week, saying it is “my time to serve” the nominee and that he is proud to do so. “We think Senator McCain will help Governor Bush reach out to independents and swing voters,” Karen Hughes, the Bush communications director. They are to join forces again for a to tal of a week to 10 days in the fall. McCain will spent much of his time campaigning for GOP congressional candidates; more than 125 have asked on Califor nia campuses, among veterans and with independents. Still, he lost the California primary to Bush by 400,000 votes. Bush rolled 150 miles along the California coast Wednesday on a 1950s railroad car. That pro vided the flavor of an old-fash ioned whistlestop, but it was more whistle than stop. The train only slowed down so he could wave from the rear platform when there was a crowd waiting, as at the station in Santa Barbara. It was Bush’s seventh cam paign trip to California since the March 7 primary. Over the past 40 years no candidate has been elected president without carry ing California. i 28 states allege CD price fixine in national lawsuit by Scott Marinaro College Press Exchange Even as the cost of producing a compact disc declined sharply during the 1990s, an illegal price-fixing scheme between ma jor record labels and music re tailers helped raise the average price of Mozart to Metallica CDs from $10 to $15, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by 28 states. While state officials still are tal lying total damages, “it was hun dreds of millions of dollars na tionwide,” said Christine Hehmeyer Rosso, chief of the Illinois antitrust bureau. If successful, the suit probably would not result in refunds for overpriced CDs. More likely, a set tlement might seek a rollback in prices for a certain amount of time or other approaches, such as re quiring record merchandisers to donate recordings to libraries and schools, Rosso said. The suit centers on a policy called “minimum advertised pricing” under which the labels subsidized advertising for retailers that agreed not to sell CDs below a minimum price determined by the labels. U.S. consumers bought more than $10 billion worth of recorded music last year. New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer said in a statement, “This illegal action ... has not been mu sic to the ears of the public. Be cause of these conspiracies, ten of millions of consumers paid in flated prices to buy CDs.” The suit alleges that the polic; increased CD prices in violatioi of state and federal antitrus laws, kept CD prices artificiall; high and penalized retailers tha did not participate. The five labels are Time Warn er Inc.'s Warner Music Group; Son; Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment Seagram Co.'s Universal Musii Group; BMG, the music unit o Bertelsmann AG; and EMI Grouj PLC. Also named as defendants wer< three retailers: Musicland Store Corp., Tower Records and Tran World Entertainment Corp. In a settlement with the U.S Federal Trade Commission an nounced in May, the five label agreed to ban the policy for sevei years. The settlement did not re quire the labels to pay any dam ages, nor did the labels admit an; wrongdoing. Spitzer said the FTC estimat ed damages to consumers at $48( million. According to the states' law suit, the minimum pricing polic; was put in place beginning in Feb ruary 1995. At that time, large departmen stores and consumer electronic retailers began selling CDs belov cost as a “loss leader,” in an effor to get people into the stores to bu; Ui/v t lol/nt itAmr Wlitli CT^r nn rnli 5 for $10, music consumers flocked to chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Circuit City Stores Inc. i Efforts to counteract such ag 1 gressive competition were well t known topics of discussion in mu r sic business journals and trade t shows. In 1995, Musicland Chief Executive Jack Eugster decried the - devaluation of CDs and “called for ' a return to a sane marketplace,” ; according to the suit. : At the time, he urged retailers f and manufacturers to join forces, i so as not to “devalue the product in the consumer's mind.” The labels say they started the policy in an effort to help smaller music retailers compete with laige discount chains. They say smaller retailers do not have the option of ■ offsetting losses from cut-price CD ; sales with sales of other prod i ucts. The labels say they received no financial gain from the pricing pol ' icy. “The wholesale price we • charged retailers was the same I whether or not they participated in MAP,” one label executive said. Pamela Horowitz, president of . ' the National Association of Record ing Merchandisers, said record re tailers operate in a highly com petitive environment, but compete ; on a variety of fronts such as se ' lection, convenience or even a store's ambience. r [Warning...error...Warning...error...Warning...error...Warning...error...Warning...err There is at least one error in this paper. We know there is. Please don't point it out. We don't want to know about it. We cannot fix it anymore. By the way, it is not our fault. It is not advertising's fault. It is not our printer's fault. It is pot the press' fault. Is it your fault? Sincerely, The Gamecock. or...Warning...error...Warning...error...Warning...error...Warning...error...Warning. Economy N from page 8 to keep inflation in check. When the government two weeks ago reported that instead of slowing, the economy actually accelerated in the July-September quarter, grow ing at a robust 5.2 percent rate, it set off alarm bells that the Fed would feel the need to boost rates for a sev enth time. Since that scare, other reports have shown the economy starting to slow in the current July-September quarter, including last week’s report that unemployment held steady at a 4 percent rate in July while private job growth slowed significantly. The easing of concerns that an overheated economy could trigger inflation has already helped to low er interest rates set by the markets. Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the nationwide average for 30-year fixed rate mortgages dipped this week to 8.0,4 percent, the lowest level since late last year. David Lereali, chief economist for the National Association of Re altors, said he believed the Fed is ready to sit on the sidelines for the rest of the year, preferring to watch to see if the credit tightening it has already engineered will be sufficient to bring the economy in for a soft landing. He said it is likely further rate hikes will be needed, but that they will not occur until next year. AN HISTORIC RESIDENCE Efficiciency $445 One Bedroom $505 Two Bedroom $540 Rents include all utilities and cable TV. All rates quoted are month to month. (Leases available, prices subject to change) Located across from the University Of South Carolina Horseshoe and the State Capital, Cornell Arms offers the premier location for downtown living. ■ * (803) 799-1442 1230 PENDLETON STREET COLUMBIA, SC 29201 Dorm Doom Carpet Cheao! 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