i fi| ,' - - \ *■ ; o - v ,
S.C. Legislature to move flag
from Statehouse dome
1 COLUMBIA, S.C. — Ending
months of fierce debate, the
South Carolina Legislature ap
proved a compromise plan Thurs
day to take the Confederate flag
down from the Statehouse dome
and move it to a monument on
the grounds.
The bill goes to Democratic
Gov. Jim Hodges, who indicated
he will sign it. If he approves, the
flag will come down July 1.
“I hope this represents the last
battle of the Civil War,” said De
mocratic state Sen. Dick Elliott.
South Carolina is the only state
that still flies the flag, with its
blue cross with white stars on a
red background, above its State
house.
It was hoisted in 1962 to com
memorate the Civil War centenni
al, though critics say it was a ges
ture of defiance toward the civil
rights movement. In 1995, the
Legislature gave itself sole power
to take the flag down.
The agreement that passed
Thursday came after months of
debate, marches and demonstra
tions that attracted thousands of
flag supporters and opponents to
the Statehouse. Supporters say it
is an important part of the state’s
heritage; opponents say it repre
sents slavery and racism.
N.H. Legislature votes
to repeal death penalty
2 CONCORD, N.H. — New
Hampshire lawmakers ignored
a veto threat from the governor
and voted to repeal the death
penalty Thursday, reflecting
r
growing doubts about capital
punishment around the country.
The move is largely symbolic
— no one is on death row in New
Hampshire, the state had the low
est murder rate in the nation in
1998 and Democratic Gov. Jeanne
Shaheen has said she won’t let
the repeal stand.
“There are some murders so
heinous that the death penalty is
an appropriate punishment, and,
accordingly, I will veto this legis
lation,” she said after the Senate
voted 14-10, endorsing a House
vote taken in March.
At the same time, the vote adds
to the momentum death penalty
opponents have built around the
country.
“The vote today is indicative of
what many persons are beginning
to realize about the death penalty
— that it is unnecessary. There are
other ways to ensure safety,” said
Steven Hawkins, director of the
National Coalition to Abolish the
Death Penalty in Washington.
Breast cancer deaths slashed
by one quarter
3LONDON — Better treatment
over the last decade has
slashed breast cancer death rates
by about a quarter in the United
States and Britain and will save
the lives of 14,000 women this
year in the two countries, new re
search shows.
Most of the credit goes to the
drug tamoxifen, taken by about 1
million women worldwide, said
Sir Richard Peto, a professor of
epidemiology at Oxford Universi
ty who headed the study, pub
lished this week in The Lancet
medical journal.
“This is the first time that im
provements in the treatment of
any type of cancer have ever pro
duced such a rapid fall'in nation
al death rates,” Peto said. “They
really are remarkable trends.”
While “a lot of things con
tribute, I think the key one is ta
moxifen,” he said, adding that it’s
much too sudden a drop to be due
to changes in the causes of the
disease.
Britain and the United States
were studied mostly because they
had the most current, detailed sta
tistical information and because
they were among the first to use
tamoxifen, Peto said.
Israeli forces pound southern
Lebanon after attacks
4BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israeli air
and ground forces attacked
guerrilla bases in southern
Lebanon on Thursday, leaving
one militant dead and five people
wounded, Lebanese security offi
cials said.
In Jerusalem, a top aide to
Prime Minister Ehud Barak ac
knowledged Thursday that Is
rael’s withdrawal from Lebanon,
promised by July 7, is being driv
en by public pressure to end Is
raeli casualties there.
Hezbollah has stepped up at
tacks in recent weeks as Israel be
gins to dismantle its positions in
preparation for a complete with
drawal. The attacks have prompt
ed harsh Israeli retaliation.
Israel announced three Israeli
soldiers were injured and a sol
dier of the Israeli-allied South
Lebanon Army was slightly hurt
in strikes overnight and early
Thursday by Shiite Muslim guer
rillas in south Lebanon.
The Shiite Hezbollah group
said one of its guerrillas was
killed in the fighting near the port
of Tyre..
A shell fired by the pro-Israeli
South Lebanon Army exploded
in the village of Mansouri,
wounding a 34-year-old woman,
her daughter, 8, and son, 6,
Lebanese officials said on condi
tion of anonymity.
The Associated Press
1 Sluqent Groups. Advertise your upcoming events in the Oregon Daily Emerald. Special student rates. Call 346-3712
UO students
drinks
when they party
2QQQ
Office of Student Life
Data taken from 1998 UO Health Center Survey. University Of Oregon