Promoting safe ownership
SALEM — Encouraged by voter
approval of her measure to expand
background checks to all gun show
sales, Sen. Ginny Burdick said
Tuesday she is drawing up a bill to
persuade gun owners to use trigger
locks or other safe storage devices
to protect children.
The Portland Democrat said the
overwhelming voter passage of
Measure 5 in the November elec
tion shows that even in gun-crazy
Oregon, where more than half the
state’s households have firearms,
there is popular support for laws
promoting responsible ownership.
As it stands now, however, there
are many households around the
state where children still have access
to unsecured firearms, she said.
Burdick’s legislation, similar to a
bill she sponsored in 1999, would
create the crime of unlawful storage
of a firearm, punishable by up to a
year in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Gun owners could be convicted if
they leave a gun where a person un
der 16 could find it, and the youth
subsequently takes the gun to a pub
lic place, brandishes it in a careless
or threatening manner, or injures and
kills someone with the firearm.
Burdick’s bill would create an
“affirmative defense” for those gun
owners if they could show that they
tried to keep the gun from being
misused by children by outfitting it
with a trigger lock or placing it in a
locked container.
But John Hellen of Oregon Gun
Owners, which tried unsuccessful
ly to defeat Burdick’s Measure 5 in
last fall’s election, said his organiza
tion will work to derail Burdick’s
latest gun control effort in the Legis
lature.
Hellen said the bill’s definition of
“safe storage” is vague and could
still leave gun owners at risk legally
even if they take steps to keep unse
cured weapons out of the hands of
children.
Time has changed
SEATTLE — As Seattle Times
employees who spent seven weeks
on strike begin returning to work
Wednesday, many will go back with
the belief their newspaper will nev
er be the same.
“I think all of us aren’t really sure
what to expect,” said Chuck Taylor,
an aerospace reporter who has been
managing editor of the strike news
paper, the Seattle Union Record.
“It was an adversarial relation
ship for the last seven weeks. Hurt
ful things were said on both sides. I
think everyone is probably anxious
and cautious about going back in.”
Times Managing Editor Alex
MacLeod said 15 to 20 people who
had been on strike would return to
their jobs in the newsroom Wednes
day.
Members of the Pacific North
west Newspaper Guild on Monday
approved the newspaper’s contract
offer 359-116. Although the strike
began over pay, at the end the stick
ing point was who would return to
work and when. A settlement was
finally reached last week after U.S.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., inter
vened to call the two sides together.
Building ban debated
BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Land
Board filed suit in federal court
Tuesday, seeking to overturn the
Clinton administration decision to
ban road-building on 58.5 million
acres of national forest where no
roads currently exist.
Attorney General Al Lance, on
the board overseeing income from
state property, filed the suit in U.S.
District Court in Boise. He alleged
the Forest Service analysis was in
adequate under the National Envi
ronmental Policy Act’s require
ments for research and public
comment.
push you to
then tell you to
jump
You know it's in you. The desire to go farther. To start where
others stop. It’s why you should consider Army ROTC. It’s a "Pj
class where you’ll face unique challenges while developing
skills like how to think on your feet and be a good leader. KrjH
Register today. And hold on tight.
ARMY ROIC Unlike any other college coarse yoa can take<
SIGN UP FOR MIL 122. More than just a class!
Call 346-ROTC or: army@oregon.uoregon.edu
“From the beginning, the admin
istration’s process was designed to
reach a predetermined conclusion,”
Lance said. “In October of 1999,
President Clinton announced he
wanted a rule mandating roadless
conditions.
“He described his plan was one
of the largest land preservation ef
forts in American history,” Lance
said. “To no one’s surprise, only 15
months later the president signed a
rule mandating roadless condi
tions.”
The suit follows one filed Mon
day by a coalition including Boise
Cascade Corp., two mountain coun
ties, snowmobile advocates and
Emmett rancher Brad Little.
Gunman kills 3
HOUSTON — A man apparently
engaged in a feud with a Houston
business shot and killed three peo
ple there Tuesday before he also
died of a gunshot wound, authori
ties said.
The gunman’s fatal wound may
have been self-inflicted in the noon
time gunfire at Amko Trading, a
wholesale clothing and perfume
store.
Police spokeswoman Silvia
Trevino said two women and one
man were found dead inside the
store. It wasn’t immediately clear if
the dead were employees or cus
tomers, Trevino said.
The suspected gunman died at
Ben Taub General Hospital of a gun
shot wound to the head, police
spokesman Robert Hurst said.
Hostilities continue
JERUSALEM — Despite efforts by
the U.S. administration to wring a par
tial agreement or a statement of princi
ples out of the Israelis and Palestini
ans before President Clinton leaves
office, the chief Palestinian negotiator
said Tuesday that Palestinians want a
full peace treaty or nothing.
The declaration by negotiator
Yasser Abed Rabbo further dimmed
prospects for a diplomatic achieve
ment for Clinton, who finishes his
term Jan. 20, and for Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak, trailing far be
hind a hard-line rival as a Feb. 6
election looms.
Meanwhile, hostilities persisted
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A
70-year-old man was shot and
killed on his farm near an Israeli set
tlement in Gaza, although the cir
cumstances were unclear. Palestin
ian police said there were no
clashes there. The Israeli military
was checking.
Israeli forces killed a 27-year-old
Palestinian during a West Bank
rock-throwing clash, Palestinians
said. The shooting brought the
death toll in violence that broke out
Sept. 28 to 364, most of them Pales
tinians.
Eclipse draws crowd
TEHRAN, Iran — As a lunar
eclipse darkened the night sky over
parts of the Eastern Hemisphere on
Tuesday, tens of thousands gathered
on rooftops in the Persian Gulf re
gion to watch the moon and say
prayers marveling the powers of
God.
“I didn’t want to miss this oppor
tunity and I waited on the rooftop to
watch the eclipse until the end. It
gives me a stronger trust in God,”
said Farida Ahmadi, a 39-year-old
architect and mother.
The partial eclipse began at 10:15
p.m. in Iran and became total an
hour later. State radio and television
called on Iranians to perform the
ayat prayers, a Muslim ritual de
signed to marvel at the powers of
God.
The eclipse was very apparent
through much of the Persian Gulf
region, in Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Egypt
and Yemen.
Lunar eclipses are associated in
Iraq with a popular children’s story
about a moon that is “eaten by the
great big whale.” During past
eclipses, tens of thousands of chil
dren flooded the streets, singing
songs and begging the “whale” to
give the moon back.
Kumbh Mela celebrated
ALLAHABAD, India — Millions
of Hindus, hands clasped in prayer,
plunged into the icy Ganges River
hoping to wash away their sins at
the opening of a festival that falls
every 12 years — and is especially
auspicious Tuesday because of the
lunar eclipse.
“I have come here to get a new
life, to wash away the sins I have
committed in the last few years,”
says Pratap Garh, a teacher wearing
only a loincloth as temperatures
dropped to 38 degrees.
Millions flocked Tuesday to a sa
cred riverbank on the first day of the
Kumbh Mela festival and as many as
65 million are anticipated to dip into
the river’s chilly waters for a holy
bath during the 43-day celebration.
Kumbh Mela derives its name
from a Hindu myth that tells how
the gods and demons fought over a
“kumbh,” or pot, of nectar that
would give them immortality. Leg
end has it that one of the gods ran
off with the pot, spilling four drops
of nectar near four blessed cities.
/eeozoo
SCREEN PRINTING
EMBROIDERY
344-72S8
triangle@pond.net
Not all t-shirts are created equal.
y
Oregon Daily Emerald
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene OR 97403
The Oregon Daily Emerald is published
daily Monday through Friday during the
school year and Tuesday and Thursday
during the summer by the Oregon Daily
Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the Uni
versity of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. A
member of the Associated Press, the
Emerald operates independently of the
University with offices in Suite 300 of the
Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is pri
vate property. The unlawful removal or
us&ofpaper&is prosecutable by law. . .
NEWSROOM — (541)346-5511
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Managing editor: Jessica Blanchard
Community: Darren Freeman, editor.
Lindsay Buchele, Rebecca Newell, reporters.
Freelance: Serena Markstrom, editor.
Higher education: Andrew Adams, editor.
Brooke Ross, reporters.
Student activities: Jeremy Lang, editor.
Emtly Gust, Beata Mostafavi, Lisa Toth,
reporters.
News aide: Suzanne O’Kelley.
Perspectives: Michael Klecknec, editor, .
Jayna Bergerson, Bret Jacobson, Pat Payne,
Eric Pfeiffer, columnists.
Pulse: Rebecca Wilson, editor.
Lisa Griffing, Mason West, reporters.
Sports: Jeff Smith, editor. Scott Pesznecker,
asst, editor. Peter Hockaday, Adam Jude,
Robbie McCallum, reporters.
Copy: Sara Lieberth, Katie Mayer, copy chiefs.
Jessica Davison, Monica Hande, Lori Musicer,
Tom Patterson, Jessica Richelderfer
copyeditors.
Online: Carol Rink, editor.
Timur Insepov, webmaster.
Design: Katie Miller, editor.
Azle Malinao- Alvarez, Brooke Mossefin, Russ
Weller, designers.
Bryan Dixon, Giovanni Salimena, illustrators.
Adam Amato, Crystal McConnel.Tom Patter
son, Laura Smit, photographers.
BUSINESS — (541)346-5512
Judy Riedl, general manager.
Kathy Carbone, business supervisor. Sarah
Goracke, receptionist. Masahiro Kojima, John
Long, Jeff Neely, Laura Ramelli, Gretchen Sim
mons, distribution.
CLASSIFIEDS — (S4l) 346-4343
Trina Shanaman, manager. KatyHagert.Amy
Richman, Laura Staples, assistants.
ADVERTISING — (541) S46-3712
Becky Merchant, director.
Doug Hentges, Katie Harsany, Nicole Hubbard,
Trevor Kuhn, Jesse Long, Chau Nguyen, Adam
Rice, Hillary Schultz, Chad Verly, Lisa Wood,
sales representatives.
Erin O’Connell, Van Nguyen, assistants.
PRODUCTION — (541) 3464381
Michele Ross, manager.
Tara Sloan, coordinator. Laura Chamberlain,
Kara Fallini, Cassie Keller, Melissa O’Connell,
Laura Paz, Ross WarcJ, designers., , , , , ,