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%\\t ©amecock Gore, Bush vie for undecided voters by Laura Meckler Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Al Gore headed straight for the Steelers practice field, hurling a pair of spirals across the turf and land ing on the front page of the local paper. It was a inade-for-Pitts buigh moment — a football-season photo op in a football-cnized town. Newspaper readers awoke to a picture of the Democratic presidential candidate next to a hometown hero, a beaming Steeler coach Bill Cowher. The names Geoige W. Bush and Al Gore are constantly in the Pittsburgh air, particularly during a three-day stretch last month in which both cmididates came to town. Bush’s plans to cut taxes make the front page. Gore’s urg ing? oir oil prices fill TV reports. Every half hour, news radio updates where the candidates are and what they’ve said. Com edy and daytime chat offer no escape. Bush dresses up like Reg is Philbin to visit his morning show, and Gore offers top 10 rejected campaign slogans for David Letterman. And campaign ads on education and health care pop up dur ing every commercial break, particularly during local news. Some of it is bound to sink in, says C.J. Hawk, a first time voter who is still undecided atrd has seen a stream of TV ads. “It’s just like a song,” he says. “You’re not trying to mem orize the lyrics, but before you know it, you ’re singing along. ” ’ Both campaigns are trying hard to reach the fraction of un decided voters who live in states where the race is tight. Each news story, front-page photo and talk-show chat is a chance to reach an undecided voter. “Texas Governor George W. Bush with another stopover in Pittsburgh,” intones all-news radio 1410 during morning drive time, an hour before Bush addresses local supporters. That kicks off a dixy’s worth of overwhelmingly positive stories. The coverage centers on his tax-cutting message, and the morning event concludes with plenty of time for local TV to put Bush atop the noon news. “Before a packed house of supporters, the governor spent most of the morning outlining his ‘blueprint for the mid dle class’ that he calls ‘real plans for real people,”’ KDKA an chor Bob Allen tells viewers, wrapping two of Bush’s slogans into a single sentence. Bush has taken to singling out a local “tax family” — in this case an engaged couple. Dan Steele and Vicki Trybend land on newscasts throughout the day, as viewers leant that mar riage will cost them S996. Bush, they are told, would cut that to $91. The pair also makes the front page of the next day’s Pitts burgh Post-Gazette, where readers learn more about Bush’s tax-cutting plans. Bush was all over the news but Sam Staymates hadn’t seen any of it. The 46-year-old steelworker spends a fair amount of time at Tully’s bar, “Where Beer is Good Food” and the tele vision is not tuned to news. Staymates didn’t even know Bush was in town. But he does remember seeing several TV commercials that raised doubts about the Texas governor. “I don’t like Bush because of the minimum wage in Texas and the lack of mon ey in the education system,” he says, mimicking points made in Democratic ads. Voters don’t like to admit that they’re influenced by TV commercials, but it’s clear that some of the messages are get ting through. ‘Gore aides beamed all through the brief passing drilUknowing that the feel-good pictures of the candidates with the team would be irresistable to local papers and TV stations.’ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Leanne Shu lack, applying for a job at McDonald’s, says she can’t remember a thing that she’s seen in a TV commercial. “There’s just so much mud-slinging,” she said. But when pressed, she docs remember hearing that Texas has the “lowest-rated schools and health care.” And Joe Maker, over cherry pie mid coffee, recalls hear ing about Gore’s plan to make college tuition deductible. He happened to glance at the TV at the right time, he said. For all the talk about serious issues, many voters see the candidates in less serious settings. A week before coming to Pittsburgh, Gore bantered on David Lettemian’s “Late Show,” and Jennifer Richards was watching. The 19-year-old college sophomore remembers see ing Gore once before on Letterman. “He seemed so wooden,” she remembered. “This time he really seemed like he had something to say.” And Melissa Guy, taking a cigarette break from her wait ressing duties, remembers a Jay Leno remark about Bush mid the death penalty. “It was about how he’ wanted to kill all sorts ' of people,” she said. While Bush topped the noon newscasts, by 11 p.m. he’d fallen to story No. 6 on Channel 4, upstaged by an apartment building that cracked in half and “tonight’s big story: danger ous dogs,” about a pit bull attack. Still, it is a day fdled with upbeat images of Bush. Gore is barely mentioned — except to say lie’s coming to town in a couple of days. And two days later, the vice president arrives, traveling straight from the airport to the Steelers training facility be fore talking about oil prices with union workers. He lands on the front page of the Post-Gazette throwing a pass. The story revolves around his uiging President Clinton to release oil from the nation’s strategic reserves. The newspaper and TV stations all depict Gore listening to work-a-day Pitts burghers talk about the high price of home heating oil. But in Pittsburgh, the images of Gore passing the ball may be remembered longer. “Gore aides beamed all through the brief passing drill, knowing that the feel-good pictures of the candidate with the team would be irresistible to local papers and TV stations,” re ported the Post-Gazette. Irresistible they were, as Gore scored a media touchdown in a swing state. Lazio, Clinton spar over campaign financing in second debate by Marc Humbert Associated Press NEW YORK - Hillary Rodham Clinton, facing Republican Rep. Rick Lazio in the second debate of their Senate campaign, took him to task Sunday for what she says is a violation of their agreement to ban outside money from the race. “Last month, Mr. Ltzio said this was an issue of trust and character. He was right,” Clinton said. “And, if New Yorkers can’t trust him to keep liis word for 10 days, how can they trust him for six years?” Ltzio, who insists he has not violated the agreement, blast ed her back, raising the issue of whether the Clintons have used slcepovers at the White House and Camp David to generate campaign contributions. “Mrs. Clinton, please, no lectures from Motel 1600,” lie said, referring to the White House’s 1600 Pennsylvtmia Avenue address. In what turned out to be a one-hour, rapid-fire exchange of ideas, charges and countercharges, Clinton was even asked by one journalist to explain her decision to stay with President Clinton after his affair with Monica Lewinsky became public knowledge. “The choices that I’ve made in my life are right for me,” she said. “I can’t talk about anybody else’s choices. I can only say mine have been based on my religious faith, on my strong sense of family ;uid what I believe is right mid important.” Lazio was careful not to criticize his opponent on that. “I think this was Mrs. Clinton’s choice mid I respect what ever choice that she makes,” lie said. “This race is about the is sues, about who emi be most effective for New York.” On the issues, Lazio was asked who he admired on the U.S. Supreme Court with particular attention to the abortion is sue. He picked Sandra Day O’Connor, a Rcpublicmi who sup ports abortion rights. For her p;trt, Clinton criticized Reptiblicmi presidential can didate Gcoige W. Bush for saying lie admired Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, two anti-abortion judges on the high court. Clinton has said she would never vote to confirm judges who arc opposed to abortion rights. Lazio has refused to make that a litmus test for judicial confirmation voles. The two disagreed on everything from public financing of campaigns - he opposes, she supports - to a domed stadium for the West Side of Manhattan - she opposes, he supports. After the debate, Clinton said she felt “very good about it. I got to talk about the issues. 1 drew the contrasts. I feel like it was a good exchange.” Liizio said: “I thought it was a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to talk about my record, my accomplishments, the things I’ve gotten done.” The fust debate on Sept. 13 in Buffalo wits marked by Lazio walking over to ClinlonA podium and demanding she sign a pledge to ban soft-money advertising from the campaign. Clin ton turned that into a joke on Sunday. “Mr. Lazio, to put your mind at c;isc in c;tsc you’ve been worrying, I won’t be coming to your podium today,” she said as the debate opened. While Clinton had refused to sign the soft-money ban dur ing the debate, the two later reached an agreement that called for an end to television advertising by political parties on their behalf and for them to do what they could to keep inde pendent groups from running ads trying to influence the race. While President Clinton skipped the debate, as he had the first one, daughter Chelsea was on hand to provide support for her mother. Lazio’s wife, Patricia, also attended. Even before the debate, the two candidates were seeking to score points with one important electoral block in New York, Jewish voters, by criticizing Saturday’s U.N. Security Coun cil resolution condemning the Middle East violence ;uid criti cizing Israel. The resolution passed with 14 votes ;uid the Unit ed States abstaining. Scientists hope impregnated cow , will revive endangered species by H k 11) i B . Perlman Associated Press BOSTON - Meet Bessie, who could soon be the first cow to give birth to a cloned ox. If she delivers the rare Asian gaur growing inside her, she will herald a stunning new way to save endangered, or even re cently extinct, animals. The bovine surrogate mother is carrying the gaur fetus on a .arm near Sioux City, Iowa, and is expected to give birth to “Noah” next month. “He will be the first endangered animal we send up the r.unp of the ;uk,” said Robert Lanza, the vice president of med ical and scientific development at Advanced Cell Technolo gy, ;md one of the lead authors of a study published Sunday in the journal Cloning. “This is no longer science fiction. It’s very, very real. ” Scientists had previously shown it is possible for one species to give birth to implanted embryos taken from a similar species. But this is the first time they have combined that technique with cloning. Using a technique developed by ACT in Worcester, scien tists removed the DNA from one of Bessie’s eggs and fused the egg with a skin cell taken from a living gaur, producing a ge netically gaur egg that would be accepted by Bessie’s im mune system. Noah doesn’t have a father. Before being implanted in Bessie’s uterus, the egg was artificially induced to begin di viding without being fertilized. The technique could not be used on long-extinct species because the DNA donor cells must come from a live animal, ^ one that has been dead for less than five days, or one that has been frozen since its death. The goal of the research is to use the cross-species cell transfer technology to reprogram human cells for medical pur poses, said Michael West, chief executive officer of ACT. Until then, if Noah’s birth is successful, developers say the technique could be used to repopulate rare animal species. The Spanish government has given ACT approval to clone the bucardo, a newly extinct Spanish mountain goat. The last bucitrdo died c;irlicr this year and was immediately frozen. Re searchers also arc considering rare animals such as the African bongo, the ocelot ;uid the guuil piuida. “We’re not trying to build a big Nixih’s Ark ;uid save every iuiimal, but we w;int to point the way for how this c;ui be done,” he said. “Saving the world is a tall order, but we’re trying.” However, animal preservationists fear the public will prefer the less-costly cloning techniques :uid pull funding for expensive breeding ;utd habitat protection programs already in place. “The danger is that this could be seen as iui alternative,” said Jolin Rennie, editor of Scicnlilie American magazine. “But cloning is just one more tool to use along with the rest of the measures we already lake to preserve species.” Even some critics of cloning say the ACT researchers may have stumbled upon a positive use of the technology. “There arc no moral problems with this,” said Michael Grodin, a professor in Boston University’s School of Public Health who has opposed advances that could lead to the cloning of humans. “There are a host of reasons why cloning humans is wrong, but this could be a positive step toward maintaining these species.” Bessie was one of 32 cows impkmtcd with the fused eggs, and the only one to bring an embryo to near-term. Three others came close, but researchers removed the em bryos midway through the pregnancy to make sure the fetus es were developing. “The tests showed that the chromosomes were develop ing as beautiful little gaurs,” Luiza said. “This is the very first time this technology has ever generated a full pregnancy.” Although the technique could be used with cells from animals that were frozen immediately after death, it could not resurrect a woolly mammoth from specimens frozen for cen turies in Siberiiui permafrost because their DNA has become fragmented, he said. “It’s like trying to rebuild the Roman Forum,” Lanza said. “All the pieces are somewhere in Rome, but you have to be able to reassemble them. And that would take a long time.” JUST SAY! ^ltMBuGS!! » ■»! i ■ i t ■ * It's a simple calculation: TIAA-CREF’s low expenses mean more money working for you. calculator / The equation is easy. Lower expenses in managing a fund can equal better performance. How much? 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