Nation & world briefing
War in Iraq will require more reservists
Michael Kilian
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
WASHINGTON — If the United
States goes to war with Iraq, a large
part of the military burden will be
shouldered by civilians.
By the tens of thousands, they will
leave their jobs and families to serve
with the U.S. military for as long as
they’re needed, which in some cases
might mean a year, or possibly two,
away from home.
Though some call them “the new
draft,” they are not conscripts but
civilian volunteers—members of the
Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine and
Coast Guard Reserves, and the Na
tional Guard and Air National Guard.
Today, America cannot wage a major
war without them.
The Pentagon on Tuesday refo
cused attention on the near-certainty
of a large call-up. Thomas Hall, assis
tant secretary of defense for reserve
affairs, said some Guard and Reserve
members might get advance notice
of mobilization. “We’re looking at a
full range of options.”
Though they normally lead civil
ian lives, the declining strength of the
active duty military, the increased
demands for an American military
presence around the world and the
war on terrorism have dramatically
increased Reservists’ roles in defend
ing the nation.
Some 83,000 Guard and Reserve
personnel were on active duty at the
height of the Afghanistan war, and
about 51,000 still are. An estimated
100,000 Guard and Reserve troops
may be needed in a war with Iraq.
The Guard and Reserve represent
47 percent of the total force the Pen
tagon counts as the U.S. military.
Army National Guard and Army Re
serve troops outnumber those of the
active-duty Army, 550,000 to
480,000. Yet reserve forces consume
only about 8 percent of the military7
budget, providing the Pentagon with
a huge, relatively inexpensive force.
Ageneration ago, they were often de
rided as “weekend warriors” who ful
filled their military obligation mostly
by attending monthly meetings. Now,
personnel in the Guard and Reserve
are an integral part of the U.S. military.
The increased use of reserves has
raised questions about whether it is
sound policy to rely so heavily on
civilians, who may be ill-prepared
and unwilling to interrupt their lives
for such long periods.
Jay Farrar, vice president of Wash
ington’s Center for Strategic and In
ternational Studies, said the country
should do a better job of explaining
the burden.
“It’s not a matter of reservists be
ing undertrained or incapable,” he
said. “It’s that we’re inadequately
telling them and our country that
they’re now callable ... for extensive
periods of time.”
© 2002, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by
Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
N.Y. looks to house
homeless on ships
Dave Saltonstall and Leo Standora
New York Daily News (KRT)
NEW YORK—With shelter scarce
on dry land, New York is looking at
cruise ships as possible lodging for
the homeless.
But top-of-the-line luxury liners
with fancy restaurants, ballrooms
and pools aren’t in the picture for
down-and-outers.
A handful of city officials, led by
Homeless Services Commissioner
Linda Gibbs, examined “a couple of
retired cruise ships” Wednesday in
the Bahamas, her spokesman said.
The group flew to the island on a
private jet owned by New York Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and was to return
late Wednesday. Bloomberg did not
make the trip.
“It is just a fact-finding mission, ex
tremely preliminary. The trip is to
determine if the ships would be safe
and applicable to shelter homeless
clients,” the spokesman said.
“We can’t reject anv idea that’s of
fered,” Gibbs told NBC-TV. “I think we
have to be unafraid to think creatively
and to explore options that maybe
haven’t been looked at in the past.”
The spokesman declined to say
how many officials would accompa
ny Gibbs and which agencies they
represented.
About 36,000 people stay in shel
ters in the city each night, according
to the Coalition for the Homeless.
The city is bound by law to provide
free temporary shelter to those who
say they have no place to live.
The city has used ships in novel
ways before, putting prisoners on a
converted barge in the East River in
the early 1990s. The prison ship was
reopened in 1998 for a time to house
juvenile offenders.
© 2002, New York Daily News.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
Most U.S. youths can t find
Iraq, Afghanistan on maps
Michael Kilian
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
WASHINGTON — The United
States may soon go to war there, but
only 13 percent of Americans between
the ages of 18 and 24 can find Iraq on a
map, according to a National Geo
graphic survey released Wednesday.
The United States has been involved
in a yearlong war in Afghanistan
against the Taliban regime and al-Qai
da terrorists following the Sept. 11 at
tacks, but 83 percent of those surveyed
could not find Afghanistan on a world
map, the survey found.
“If our young people can’t find
places on a map and lack awareness of
current events, how can they under
stand the world’s cultural, economic
and natural resource issues that con
front us?” asked National Geographic
Society President John Fahey.
The National Geographic study
was conducted by the RoperASW or
ganization in June and July among
3,000 respondents ages 18 to 24 in
the United States, Canada, France,
Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan,
Mexico and Sweden.
An average of 19 percent of young
adults in the nine countries were able
to locate Iraq. In Britain, America’s
closest ally in confronting Iraq, only
10 percent could, while the more
nearly neutral Sweden had the top
showing of 30 percent.
American youths were the least
able of those surveyed to identify
Afghanistan as the base of al-Qaida
and the Taliban, the study found.
“This is not the fault of young peo
ple, but the responsibility of the cul
ture that has reared them,” Fahey
said. “These are children bom of the
Information Age. Their lives are
spammed with information and en
tertainment alternatives. As a result,
this generation is highly skilled at
tuning out that which they feel they
do not need to know. Unfortunately,
that seems to include knowledge of
the world they live in.”
Other findings of the study were
just as startling. More American re
spondents knew that the island in
last season’s “Survivor” television
show was in the South Pacific — the
Marquesas Islands — than were able
to locate Israel, which has been a
center of conflict for a half-century.
Fewer than half of American
youths could identify China, Great
Britain or Japan on a map. Less than
a third of all nine countries’ respon
dents could find the Pacific Ocean.
Fewer than a quarter of the young
adults of France, Canada, Britain and
the U.S. could name four countries
that have nuclear weapons.
© 2002, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by
Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
Jackson apologizes lor dangling son
William Boston
and Corky Siemaszko
New York Daily News (KRT)
BERLIN — Singer Michael Jack
son apologized Wednesday for dan
gling his baby boy from a fourth-floor
hotel balcony here after fans on the
ground and others around the world
watching on television denounced
what they saw.
“I made a terrible mistake,” Jack
son said. “I got caught up in the ex
citement of the moment. I would
never intentionally endanger the
lives of my children.”
On Tuesday, Jackson was video
taped clutching his squirming baby
with one hand while struggling to
adjust a white towel hiding the
baby’s face with the other hand. At
one point, Jackson appeared to be
losing his grip while the baby
banged his bare feet against the bal
cony’s metal railing. He also ap
peared to be laughing.
Antje Sigesmund, a spokeswoman
for Bambi entertainment, which is
presenting a lifetime achievement
award to Jackson on Thursday, said
the child was the singer’s third and
youngest, Prince Michael 2nd.
Wearing a mask over his surgically
remade face, Jackson was greeted by
about 200 screaming fans upon arriv
ing at the deluxe Adlon Hotel, opposite
the landmark Brandenburg Gate.
When Jackson got to the presi
dential suite, he shed the surgical
mask he had been wearing and then
thrust the baby out the window for
his fans to admire. The crowd
erupted in applause.
After handing the blue jumper-clad
tot to a maid, Jackson trotted out an
older child—head also covered with a
towel — to wave to the fans. He later
threw a pillow out the window for fans
to fight over, then gleefully strafed
them with a yellow water gun.
Jackson has two children by ex
wife Debbie Rowe: 5-year-old son
Prince Michael and 4-year-old daugh
ter Paris. Little is known about
Prince Michael 2nd, who is believed
to be 9 months old.
© 2002, New York Daily News.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
lA/iDc rno d rmnw
WIlUl f§|y|||j|Jm 1 lHyrIII
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
In a story on the creation of a Homeland Security Department, Knight Ridder Newspapers
incorrectly said the new department would include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The legislation creating the Homeland Security Department will transfer the ATF from the Treasury
Department to the Justice Department.
© 2002, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Smokeout
continued from page 1
the names of students’ loved ones. A
person dressed as a pack of ciga
rettes will be handing out literature.
The group will also be distributing
Quit Kits, which contain items such
as lollipops to stave smokers’ oral
fixations, as well as suggestions on
how to stop smoking.
“For those who smoke, (the
event) encourages them to quit,”
said Pat Cookson, American Cancer
Society community cancer control
manager. “People don’t usually quit
on the first try. Unfortunately, it
usually takes people many tries be
fore they quit.”
She said the best way to quit is
having a long-term plan and enlist
ing the help of a health care worker
as well as friends and family.
There are several ways to stop
smoking — some more successful
than others.
Health educator Annie Dochnahl
said the best way to quit is with a
combination of products, such as
the nicotine patch and Zyban.
The patch is usually worn on the
arm and releases pure nicotine into
the bloodstream, issuing lower lev
els of the drug after the wearer has
grown accustomed to being a non
smoker. Zyban is a prescription
"The tobacco industry
is really taking
advantage of the
addiction"
Annie Dochnahl
health educator
medicine that helps a person over
come the drug’s pull.
Some health officials say the nico
tine craving hooks smokers, even
those who originally planned to
smoke for a short period of time.
“The tobacco industry is really
taking advantage of the addiction,”
Dochnahl said. “A lot of students
will have their political ire raised
when they think of the corporate
suits getting rich off of their disease
and addiction.”
Contact the reporter
atjilliandaley@dailyemerald.com.
tf-siee tusitk ccmtwl,
dn^oplleA- and desuu-ceA
to- tlupie wdto Cfrualif^.
/670cMiCfU £t, C-uyene. 3UU-99]' 1
793/V. jbanelui-, htuyene- 963-973!
non O. c?y )J inn 11 n
me'
9 m hea lthy ,
9 take cane
&j mtfAeij.
Planned
Parenthood
UMAun. Q91&
you need to take
• GMAT • TOEFL* PPST/P
The University of Oregon Testing Office is an official ETS computer-based
testing site. Testing is available year-round, Monday-Friday, 2 sessions a
day. Appointments can be scheduled by calling 541.346.2772 or by visiting
the Testing Office.
The Testing Office is located on the 2nd floor (Rm. 238) of the University
Health and Counseling Center, 1590 E. 13th Ave., Eugene OR.
The period of greatest demand is usually Sept, through March, so it makes
sense to plan ahead.
For more information visit the Testing Office web site at
http://www.uoregoii.edu/~testing/ * ■ • * *
Do
GRE