Category: Fall 2002 Newswire
Tierney to Vote ‘No’ on Iraq Resolution
WASHINGTON, Oct. 09, 2002–Rep. John Tierney (D-Salem) said he will vote against the resolution to use military force in Iraq when the House of Representatives votes on the measure this week. Meanwhile Sen. John F. Kerry, who had not previously announced his position, said yesterday that he would vote for the resolution.
Congress this week is debating a resolution that would give broad power to the President to use “necessary and appropriate” military force against Iraq even without backing from the United Nations.
Tierney said Saddam Hussein does not present an immediate threat to United States security. He suggested the U.S. and U.N. work diplomatically to enforce inspections and destroy weapons of mass destruction.
“The administration says that Hussein is bad and no one disagrees. Nor do we disagree with the notion that the U.N. resolutions must be enforced by U.N. Security Council action. The administration, though, asserts that the U.S. must act peremptorily and right now because Iraq is an imminent threat. But the truth be told it has not met the burden of truth to that claim,” Tierney said in a speech on the House floor Wednesday.
Rather than implementing a measured, international inspection program Tierney said the Administration is pushing a hasty and costly resolution that will sacrifice the U.S. military and economy.
“What about the sacrifices in terms of our economy. What will people be asked to forgo in terms of education and health care and prescription drugs,” Tierney said.
Tierney also cited declassified CIA reports that said Iraq would only be likely to use biological or chemical weapons if it was provoked by United States military intervention.
In a statement on the Senate floor Kerry said he was “voting to give this authority to the President for one reason and one reason only: to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction if we cannot accomplish that objective through new though weapons inspections.”
Kerry had previously criticized Bush for rushing into a military campaign against Iraq without the consent of the American public, but said his opinion changed after the Bush Administration outlined a comprehensive case against Saddam Hussein to Congress and the American public.
“In the clearest presentation to date the President [in a speech on Monday] laid out a strong, comprehensive and compelling argument why Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programs are a threat to the United States and the international community,” Kerry said.
Kerry said that he is voting for the resolution because he believes that Hussein’s “deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction…is a real and grave threat to our security and that of our allies in the Persian Golf region.”
But he also emphasized that Bush should use military force only as a last resort. “I will support a multilateral effort to disarm Iraq by force, if we have exhausted all other options. But I cannot and will not support a unilateral, U.S. war against Iraq unless the threat is imminent and no multilateral effort is possible,” Kerry said.
“By standing with the President, Congress will demonstrate that our nation is united in its determination to take away Saddam Hussein’s deadly arsenal, by peaceful means if we can, by force if we must,” Kerry said.
Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy continues to oppose the Iraq resolution. Since the end of September he has been a leading Democrat against military action, arguing that a war in Iraq would undermine the war against terrorism, disrupt interests in the Middle East, and put American lives in jeopardy.
In a statement released this week Sen. Kennedy commended Bush for taking his case to the American people in his speech on Monday, but said the President failed to show that the “the time has come for war.”
“There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein is a despicable tyrant…but the war against terrorism and our wider interests in the region and the world demand a course that relies on war only as a last resort, after all reasonable alternatives have been fairly tried,” Kennedy said.
Bush’s prime-time speech from Cincinnati did not outline a specific military plan of action, but warned that the United States must intervene before Saddam Hussein has the chance to act.
“Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud,” Bush said.
Kennedy said that without an outline of what a possible war would like it would be wrong to send troops to Iraq.
“Before Congress acts, the Administration has an obligation to the Congress and the American people to explain the potential consequence of war. As of now, it has not,” said Kennedy’s statement.
Senate and House leaders hope that a final vote on the resolution will follow the end of floor debate on Thursday.
Published in The Newburyport Daily News, in Massachusetts.
Bush’s Budget ‘Leaving Children Behind’
WASHINGTON, Oct. 09, 2002--Despite President George W. Bush's promise to "leave no child behind," students in the nation are suffering from massive state education cuts-and no help from the federal government is on the way, members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation are saying.
"State reductions in school funding and the worst federal education budget in seven years are cutting off the promise of school reform at the knees," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass) said Tuesday.
"In fact, the federal budget released by the Bush Administration increased education funding by less than inflation-the smallest increase in education funding in the last seven years," according to a report Kennedy issued the same day.
The report was prepared by the Democratic staffs of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
The Leave No Child Behind Act was signed into law in January after winning overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress. It was aimed at dramatically reforming the K-12 school system. These changes included requiring schools to be more accountable for the success of their students and to emphasize teaching methods that have proven successful.
Some Massachusetts members of Congress, however, are saying that the budget that President Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress have proposed is not living up to Bush's promise of ensuring that every child has a quality education.
"Millions of public school children and their families are being left behind, and it looks now as if the Republican leadership in the House may not even bring up the education appropriations bill because it would embarrass their own members so close to the election," Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) said last month. "They are afraid the public will catch on to the fact that the president's rhetoric doesn't match the reality of his budget."
"In combination with inflation, the result of this lowball budget is 18,000 fewer teachers getting trained, 33,000 fewer children in after-school programs and yet another year without the needed resources to turn around failing schools," Tierney added.
Bush's budget calls for a 2.8 percent increase for education this fiscal year, compared with a 16 percent hike last year, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Thomas Consolati, the district superintendent of Gloucester Public Schools, said he was most concerned with obtaining enough money from the federal government to increase literacy among disadvantaged students. Most so-called Title I funds are used to pay for special-education teachers' salaries and student services, which are usually adjusted annually for inflation.
"If the Title I allocation to us doesn't increase commensurate with salary and benefit increases of the staff, then you end up with less money, meaning less services-bottom line-to kids," Consolati said.
Ken Lisaius, a White House spokesman, would not comment on specific numbers in Bush's budget, but said: "The president's landmark education legislation that passed in Congress is the most significant piece of education legislation ever passed. It returned accountability to a system that too long lacked it."
OMB, which helps the president prepare the federal budget, emphasized that now was the time for schools to be accountable for the funds they have allocated.
"We have provided resources. We are providing resources," said Amy Call, a spokeswoman for OMB. "Now they need to move forward and show results from the resources they've gotten."
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
Maine Delegation says ‘Save Military Strike as Last Resort’
WASHINGTON, Oct. 09, 2002--The battle over the future of Saddam Hussein's regime continued Wednesday at the Capitol, with Republican Sen. Olympia J. Snowe saying she planned to vote for the resolution supported by President Bush authorizing the United States to use force against Iraq.
Snowe said that "in the shadowy world of terrorism" there is great difficulty in tracking and intercepting weapons of mass destruction. She questioned where the line should be drawn when determining imminent threat.
"But how will we know when the danger is clear, present and immediate? When people start checking into hospitals? When the toxin shows up in the water supply? When the dirty bomb goes off?" Snowe asked.
The resolution was expected to pass both houses of Congress within about a week's time.
Snowe emphasized that Iraq poses a threat not only to the United States but also to the entire international community, especially since U.N. weapons inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq four years ago.
"I believe the world must disarm Saddam Hussein now, when the development of his capability is imminent-not waiting until it is imminent he is about to strike," Snowe said.
Snowe said unilateral military action should be a "last resort" tactic and that Bush must invest every last effort in organizing an international coalition against Saddam Hussein.
"By granting military authority to the president in advance, it leaves no question or uncertainty as to the level of our commitment-thereby strengthening the president's ability to secure U.N. implementation of a new and enforceable resolution," Snowe said.
Rep. Thomas H. Allen, a Democrat, disagreed with the president's resolution because, he said, it provides a "blank check" for unilateral attack on Iraq without a vote in Congress.
"We are being used as a megaphone to communicate the president's resolve," Allen said. "We should have a larger role. An equal role."
Allen joined South Carolina Democrat Rep. John M. Spratt in co-sponsoring an alternative resolution this week that would require the president to consult Congress on a unilateral strike should U.N. actions prove inadequate.
"In the war on terrorism, we need more friends and allies and fewer enemies," Allen said. "We are unlikely to succeed through unilateral, pre-emptive policies so poorly received overseas."
Democratic Rep. John E. Baldacci supports the Spratt-Allen resolution for multilateral cooperation against Iraq.
"It is a workable resolution, which neither ties the president's hands nor promotes unilateral action by the United States," Baldacci said.
Allen, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said that he does not believe the Iraqi threat is imminent based on the information he received in classified briefings.
"In the past year terrorism has threatened us as never before. We should face that new threat resolutely, but not frighten our own people by overstating the risk to Americans," Allen said.
Republican Sen. Susan M. Collins was unavailable for comment, but was scheduled to speak on the Senate floor Thursday morning.
Published in The Kennebec Journal and The Morning Sentinel, in Maine.
Maine Receives F Grade for Affordability
WASHINGTON, Oct. 09, 2002--Maine students may be receiving a first-rate education, but their pockets are empty.
A study done by a private research group named Maine the fifth-smartest state in the country. However, this great education comes with a price. College students in Maine continue to pay more than those in other states, but they tend to complete their degrees, according to another study, a report card on U.S. higher education.
Maine colleges and universities received an F grade for affordability, along with 11 other states, including New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education's report card, Measuring Up 2002, stated that Maine students must spend about a fourth of their family income, after financial aid, to attend the state's public colleges.
"Measuring Up was created to encourage and support state leaders in their efforts to expand and improve college-level opportunity and effectiveness- a challenge in every state," National Center President Patrick M. Callan said in a statement last week.
Directors at community and technical colleges acknowledge that the affordability problem may contribute to the shortage of high school students who move on to higher education.
Even though Maine has the highest high school graduation rate in the nation-- 94 percent-- only 55 percent of high school graduates attend college, according to U.S. Census figures.
Alice Kirkpatrick, director of public affairs for the Maine Technical College System,
says that a combination of cost, financial aid available for low-income Mainers and income levels put the schools in a challenging place.
"We offer the lowest tuition in Maine and still we are concerned that we can't reach the lowest-income families," Kirkpatrick said.
"We have frozen tuition for the past four years and we want to continue doing that, with help from the state," Kirkpatrick said. "Adequate state funding might just bring us into line with the national average."
Maine technical schools' attendance has experienced a 16 percent increase in the past year, the largest increase in the system's history, Kirkpatrick said.
The "report card" also gave Maine these four grades:
*C+ for the number of high school students who immediately attend college
*D+ for the number of residents with bachelors' degrees
*B for the number of college students who finish school with a degree
* B+ for college preparation
Another study has named Maine the fifth-smartest state in the country. The Morgan Quitno Press, which compiled the smartest-state report, didn't just rank states by their student test scores.
"It isn't just about high school student test scores," Scott Morgan, the press's president, said. "The award measures a broad array of educational factors," varying from percentage of household income spent on public schooling to average class size to teacher salary.
Teacher salary in Maine is at an all-time low, ranked 38th in the country. The average Maine K-12 teacher earns only $36,373 a year, compared to Connecticut's $53,507. Connecticut won the award for smartest state in the nation.
Chris Galgay, vice president of the Maine Education Association and a third grade teacher in Buckfield, said Maine might have been ranked higher if not for its low teacher salaries.
"When I heard the different factors that led to the ranking, my first reaction was that we must be awfully high in every category except teacher salary," Galgay said. "We are a poor state, and the average income for most professions is very low. We get a bang for our buck from our educators."
Other high scorers in the study were Vermont, Montana and New Jersey.
Published in The Kennebec Journal and The Morning Sentinel, in Maine.
Capitol Police Trying Out Segway
By Max Heuer
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2002--Gliding atop a Segway Human Transporter, shifting forward then back and finally spinning around on the West front of the Capitol, Officer Ronald Sellner, a 10-year veteran of the Capitol Police force, was enjoying himself on a recent sunny weekday afternoon.
A crowd of about 10 watched Sellner, who ignored a handful of noisy anti-war protesters to talk with reporters and other passers by while he balanced on the Segway.
Dealing with angry protestors, lost tourists and Capitol crime can be grueling work but the Capitol Police force is currently testing the Segway to determine whether the device could make their job easier.
Sellner is one of six Capitol officers, selected out of 1400 mostly on the basis of seniority, chosen for the Segway test to determine whether it would improve response time and the effectiveness of officers moving quickly in a large crowd.
"It's like a futuristic Roman chariot," Sellner said, demonstrating his control over the two wheeled device by easing backward on it and then turning quickly. He added he thought his three-year-old son "would love it."
"It is very important" for Capitol police officers "to interact with the public and do hands-on work," deputy chief Marsha Krug said. "Standing on the Segway gives you the ability to have that personal interaction."
Krug added that the recently appointed Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer was "interested in utilizing technology" to upgrade police work.
The two Segway devices are being leased from the New Hampshire-based Segway company for two months at a total cost of $1,400.
Krug said different divisions within the department would be testing the vehicles every day, operating the vehicle on different terrains and in tight spaces among crowds of people to see if it could help an officer.
Officers need to move from the various congressional office buildings quickly, she said. "On the Segway a person can move rather quickly to an incident to assist in any kind of situation."
Sellner underwent an eight-hour training course, and said that learning to balance on the machine was the trickiest part of operating it.
Once while practicing, the machine's sensitivity made Sellner stop short accidentally and fall forward.
"You lean forward and it wants to go the full (12 miles an hour)," he said.
Sellner said he thought the Segway would help an officer in a footchase, but not necessarily more than a mountain bike or motorcycle.
While the device moves well up hills and on flat ground, Sellner said it could not climb stairs, an important consideration since there are numerous staircases on the Capitol grounds.
The police have about 6 or 7 mountain bikes and 30 to 40 motorcycles on patrol each day, Sellner said.
Krug said the Segway costs $4,000 to $5,000, depending on the features, and that there is some concern officers would become "less fit" if they rarely had to walk on patrols.
She said the decision about whether to purchase any Segways for the department would be made before the end of this year, after a survey. Krug said there is a small amount of money available in this year's budget that could go toward buying a few of the machines, but a major purchase would have to be included in future budgets.
The National Parks Service, Boston EMS Department and the Chicago Police Department are also testing the Segway, considering possible future use in their departments.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Supreme Court Debates N.H. Man’s Case
By Max Heuer
WASHINGTON, Oct. 09, 2002--Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said Wednesday that a 1998 law extending copyrights by 20 years was not sound policy, but she questioned whether the act was unconstitutional.
"I agree in terms of policy [that the law] flies in the face of what the framers had in mind," O'Connor said during oral arguments before the Court. "But does it make it unconstitutional?"
New Hampshire Internet publisher Eric Eldred's attorney presented the oral argument against the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which lengthened copyright terms from 50 years after the author's death to 70 years after.
While the Court's decision will have major consequences for media giants and other publishing companies that could stand to lose millions if deprived of important copyrights, the Court focused on whether Congress has exceeded its constitutional power to grant copyrights "for limited times."
The international community also has an important stake in the decision; the act has harmonized U.S. law with a European Union directive and avoided potential copyright discrepancies abroad.
Eldred's lawyer, Stanford University Law School professor Lawrence Lessig, argued that the act gave Congress more power than the Constitution had vested in the legislative branch. Lessig also argued that extending copyright terms violated First Amendment free-press rights.
Several justices pointed to past copyright extensions as precedents for the 1998 law and debated the validity of any First Amendment argument because of ambiguities in the case before it.
The case, Eldred et al v. Ashcroft, is the first time the Supreme Court has heard a challenge to Congress's power to extend copyright term limits, despite its long history of exercising the provision. Copyright protections, first granted in 1790, were extended in 1831, 1909 and 1976 as well as in 1998.
Justice Stephen Breyer said "chaos would ensue" if the 1998 extension was declared unconstitutional on grounds that would also make unconstitutional the 1976 law, which first extended the copyright protection to 50 years.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said there is no "clear line" in the First Amendment that determines who gets its benefits.
O'Connor questioned whether Lessig's two completely different arguments in opposing the 1998 law could be used at the same time.
"I don't think there are examples [where the] Framers seem to have adopted these two [arguments]," she said. "I think there are not examples where you examine [the case] under copyright law and if that doesn't work [use the] First Amendment."
Other Justices prodded U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who was defending the 1998 statute on the government's behalf, on whether the constitutional copyright laws were currently limiting anything.
Justice John Paul Stevens asked Olson if he thought the constitutional clause really imposed limitations on Congress at all.
The solicitor general said he didn't think "there were any substantive limitations" in the clause.
Breyer challenged the government's assertion that the act promotes creativity and artistic creation through added protection.
The Copyright Act of 1790 "originally was to encourage invention," Breyer said, asking Olson if the 1998 act served only to regulate dissemination.
"If we have to ask [whether the] most plausible [intent of the act is] to reward invested interest or stimulate new works… it's probably the former," O'Connor said.
"Limited time doesn't mean anything unless once [a time is set], that's that," Justice Antonin Scalia told Olson.
Olson responded that Congress has been extending copyright protections since the first law, in 1790. He said the precedent in the Supreme Court has been to uphold laws that have been "consistent and unchallenged for over a century."
"The issue is only whether once Congress [makes] a judgment it can change it," Olson said.
"I can find a lot of fault with what Congress did here, because it takes a lot of things out of the public domain," O'Connor said. "It's longer than one would think desirable, but is it not limited?"
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Maine Delegation Takes the Floor on Iraq Resolutions
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2002--Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe went to the Senate floor Wednesday morning to voice her support for the proposed Senate resolution to authorize U.S. military action against Iraq. Snowe said disarming Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is imperative because, "we simply can't afford the risk to humanity."
She added: "As many of my colleagues as well as my constituents in Maine expressed-the use of force should be the last resort. Diplomacy must constitute our first line of defense."
Snowe brought up evidence of Saddam Hussein's violations-from rebuilding biological weapons facilities to producing chemical warfare agents-and illustrated how history has a way of repeating itself with terrorist attacks. In presenting a series of dangerous scenarios in which Saddam Hussein could strike, Snowe expressed her belief that the United States needs to act now.
Quoting former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger's September 26 warning to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Snowe said, " 'We are only at the beginning of global proliferation,' and thus we need to 'consider not only the risk of action but the consequences of inaction.' "
"Therefore, I believe the world must disarm Saddam Hussein now, when the development of his capability is imminent, not waiting until it is imminent he is about to strike," she said.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins was scheduled to speak on the floor Thursday morning and did not have a statement ready for press time.
Democratic Rep. Tom Allen joined Democratic Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina on Tuesday in offering an alternative resolution that would authorize President Bush to work with U.S. allies and the United Nations in efforts to disarm Iraq, keeping war as a last resort.
Allen said his substitute has four principles: disarming Iraq of all weapons of mass destruction, imposing rigorous U.N. inspections supported by Congress, using force if sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council and adopting a separate fast-track congressional authorization for the use of force if U.N. action is insufficient.
"Our resolution authorizes the use of force today through the United Nations, but it provides no blank check now for unilateral military action," Allen said.
Democratic Rep. John Baldacci also said he supports the Spratt-Allen substitute, stating that its principles echo the president's Monday address on Iraq. Baldacci was scheduled to speak on the floor Thursday, and he plans to reiterate that Congress must continue to stay closely involved with the decision-making process. Baldacci said he finds the Spratt approach to be the best workable resolution.
"I believe that a multilateral approach offers the best chance to effectively disarm Saddam Hussein and put an end to his chemical and biological weapons programs," he said. "It's important for our government to work with other nations and ensure that all non-military avenues have been exhausted before taking action on our own."
Published in The Bangor Daily News, in Maine.
Groups Laud Conn. Education
By Marty Toohey
WASHINGTON, Oct. 08, 2002--It's been a good couple of weeks for Connecticut's education system.
First, a private research group named Connecticut the smartest state in the country. Then a separate study of higher education gave the state's system high marks in four of five categories - marks rivaled only by Massachusetts, New Jersey and Illinois.
Not bad, even for the state with the first constitution and first newspaper. But not unexpected.
"The results of the reports are quite predictable," said Kathleen Lyons, a spokeswoman for the National Education Association. "Connecticut has been one of the best, if not the best, state for public education for nearly a decade."
The state has some of the strictest requirements for teachers, as well as the highest standards, Lyons said. The association's statistics rank Connecticut second nationally in average salary for public school teachers at $52,693 for 2000-01, and third in per student expenditures at $10,258.
That means the teachers are better, and they're willing to come to Connecticut because of the better money, Lyons said.
"They have no teacher shortage, and there's a reason for that," she said. "Connecticut has set the bar high."
Scott Morgan, president of Morgan Quitno Press, which compiled the smartest state report, said Connecticut came out ahead because it also fares well in the categories other than test scores.
"It isn't just about high school student test scores," Morgan said. "The award measures a broad array of educational factors," ranging from percentage of household income spent on public schooling to average class size to student test performances.
"Connecticut has a very solid record when it comes to education," he added.
The Northeast was well represented on the list, with Vermont ranked second, New Jersey fourth, Maine fifth, Massachusetts seventh and Rhode Island tenth.
Connecticut's K-12 system also earned high marks with the higher education study, which gave the state an A for college preparation.
The "report card," compiled by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, gave these additional four grades:
*A- for the number of high school students who immediately attend college
*A- for the percentage of residents with a bachelor's degree
*B+ for the number of college students who finish school with a degree
*C- for affordability
Each state's report card also included supplemental, state-specific information. Connecticut's report focused on performance gaps between whites and minorities and rich and poor, and it highlighted the following statistic: 78 percent of white students take upper-level science courses, while 33 percent of black and Hispanic students took those courses.
Mikyung Ryu, a policy analyst who helped compile the report, said that performance gaps, both along ethnic and economic lines, are becoming the primary concern for the Center. She also pointed out the highest-earning 20 percent of the Connecticut families need only spend an average of 16 percent of their annual income to put a child through a four-year private college; the lowest-earning 20 percent, however, must spend 159 percent of the family income.
And that's after all financial aid is taken into account.
"So it's impossible for those low-income families to send children to school," Ryu said. "That shows how big the gap is."
The gap is a major concern for the state, said Tom Murphy, spokesman for the Department of Education. Theodore Sergi, commissioner of the department, has called the gap the issue of the next decade.
But the gap between minorities and whites is difficult to close in part because, while the performance of minority students is improving, white students in the state continue to improve as well, Murphy said.
"Without question the gap must be closed, but it's difficult because there's a moving target," Murphy said. "Our minority students have to improve at a faster rate."
In Connecticut, 30 percent of public K-12 school students are minorities, with 13 percent Hispanic and 13 percent black.
Forty-eight percent of New Britain public school students are Latino, and 65 percent of those students live in non-English speaking homes, according to Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters, which operates several Latino mentoring programs.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
CCSU Signs Anti-Intimidation Statement: UConn. Declines, says Statement Isn’t Enough
By Marty Toohey
WASHINGTON, Oct. 08, 2002--Three months after taking fire for facilitating a forum many felt favored Palestinians over Israelis, Central Connecticut State University's president signed a statement that appeared in a full-page advertisement in Monday's New York Times decrying intimidation on college campuses, particularly that directed at Jewish students.
Richard Judd, CCSU's president, is one of about 300 college and university presidents to sign the statement, which comes after a nationwide rash of anti-Semitic since January. Those incidents include vandalism of synagogues and an attack of a Jewish student at the University of California-Berkeley by a group of men who allegedly were praising Hitler.
"We want students to know that colleges are places that are safe and inclusive and protect free expression," Judd said in an interview Tuesday. "The statement made a lot of sense to me."
The statement was sponsored by six college presidents, led by Dartmouth president James Wright, and was organized by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group. The statement ran as a full-page ad on page A13 of Monday's Times.
The statement wasn't inclusive enough for several college presidents, however. Absent from the list of names was that of Philip Austin, president of the University of Connecticut-Storrs. Austin didn't learn of the statement until Tuesday morning, but wouldn't have signed it anyway because of concern for student groups not mentioned in the statement, particularly Arab and Islamic students, said Karen Grava, an Austin spokeswoman.
Austin "has sent out numerous letters to the community" about ensuring the safety of Jewish students, "but has reservations about signing something that isn't inclusive," Grava said.
Four of the five paragraphs in the statement didn't mention any group specifically. The fourth paragraph, however, reads: "In the past few months, students who are Jewish … have received death threats and threats of violence … creating an atmosphere of intimidation."
Austin isn't the only president with misgivings about the statement. Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University, declined to have his name included on the list because it refers only to Jewish students specifically. He contends that the statement should cover all groups that could be threatened.
Grava also pointed out that presidents of several prominent institutions, including Yale and Harvard, didn't add their names to the statement.
Judd, however, said that he would sign any statement endorsing students' rights.
"I think they have a right to that view, but I think that protecting any group at any time is the right thing, the morally correct thing, to do," Judd said. "If such a statement circulated for Palestinian students or other groups, I would sign that, too."
A press liaison for the American Jewish Committee said the phones were ringing "all morning" on Tuesday with requests from colleges for information about the statement.
Although many colleges don't track the number of Jewish students enrolled, because a person can be of Jewish faith without being of Jewish ethnicity, UConn and CCSU say they have active Jewish student populations.
Judd and CCSU took criticism in August, when Connecticut Jewish leaders charged that a Middle East teachers' training forum at CCSU was "hostile to Israel" and unbalanced. The forum featured several professors sympathetic to the Arab point of view.
Yossi Olmert, a former director of Israel's Government Press Office and an adviser to former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, lectured before two CCSU journalism classes Monday morning and offered an Israeli perspective on the conflict. School officials have denied bringing in Olmert to provide a counterbalance to the summer training forum.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Democrats, Teachers, and Students Call for Action on Education Bill
WASHINGTON, Oct. 08, 2002--At a crowded Capitol Hill rally Tuesday, Sen. Edward Kennedy urged colleagues to pass a key education spending bill before the Nov. 5 election.
More than 100 representatives of the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers and the United States Student Association cheered seven House and Senate Democrats who told the audience that the Bush administration and congressional Republicans have tried to divert public attention from education issues by focusing on national security.
"All of us are going to fight with every bit of our strength to make sure that that proposal comes to the floor of the U.S. Senate," Kennedy said of the spending bill. He also said that states have cut education spending by an overall $9.l billion in the last fiscal year not only because of the weak economy but also because of a lack of federal assistance.
According to a report provided during the meeting by key congressional Democrats who focus on education, no federal help is on the way despite last year's passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. The report said that the Bush administration's proposed federal budget increased education spending by less than inflation and charged that the House Republican leadership plans to freeze education spending until past the election or longer in an effort to escape accountability to the voters.
In a statement, the Republican leadership of the House Education and the Workforce Committee fired back, accusing Democratic leaders and the education groups of distorting the facts about education funding. "President Bush's fiscal year 2003 budget provides a much higher increase for education over the next five years than for defense and federal law enforcement," the committee Republicans said in the statement. "Even amid war and concern about homeland security, President Bush's commitment to education has not wavered."
Published in The New Bedford Standard Times, in Massachusetts.
