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Cloning, assassination
in less-publicized news
Serbian prime minister killed,
endangered oxen cloned
and Beaufort Sea opened to oil
exploration in recent months
News digest
Aimee Rudin
City/State Politics Reporter
A major media function is to serve
as a public watchdog, alerting citi
zens to important events and provid
ing, in part, a series of checks and
balances on government and govern
ment organizations. With much of
the media focus going toward the war
in Iraq and Severe Acute Respirato
ry Syndrome in China, however, sev
eral world, national and state events
may have at times gone unreported.
Newsworthy events have occurred
around the United States, in places
such as Iowa and Washington, D.C.,
and other countries around the world,
such as Serbia, Somolia and Cuba.
World
In Europe, Serbian Prime Minis
ter Zoran Djindjic was assassinated
on March 12. Since his death, Ser
bia has seen a decrease in organ
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ized crime and an increase in the
number of crimes being solved —
policies that Djindjic worked to
ward throughout his lifetime, ac
cording to Serbian officials. Serbia
has also gained entrance into the
Council of Europe and is expected
to receive financial foreign aid from
the United States and Europe.
Political analysts said Djindjic’s
death initiated Serbia’s reform. Ac
cording to reports by Katarina Suba
sic, a World Press Review correspon
dent in Serbia, the nation is
becoming what Djindjic always
wanted — peaceful and prosperous.
In Africa, warlords are meeting
in Somalia for the 14th time
since the collapse of the Somalia
government in 1991 to discuss
the implementation of a central
government. In the past, faction
leaders were the predominant
parties interested in peace talks;
however, according to a senior
defense department official,
Somalia’s new label as one of the
world’s leading havens for terror
ists has resulted in the United
States joining the discussion.
According to the World Press
Review, Somalia’s location —
which is across the Gulf of Aden
from Yemen — and its rumored
links with the terrorist group al
Qaida make it a likely place for
terrorist activity.
In Cuba, Cuban leader Fidel
Castro has made numerous
recent arrests of critics of the
Cuban government. An almost
immediate trial and sentencing
are often following these arrests.
Several of the people arrested
had shown open dissent toward
the Cuban government in the
past according to reports by Nick
Miroff, a World Press Review cor
respondent. An independent
journalist, an economist and a
campaign organizer have all
been sentenced to at least 20
years in prison.
National
In Iowa, scientists are using
cloning techniques to breed endan
gered and rare animal species. Two
banteng oxen were cloned using the
genetic material of a wild ox that
died in 1980, according to the Zoo
logical Society of San Diego. The so
ciety provided preserved cells from
the ox to scientists at Advanced Cell
Technology and Trans Ova Genet
ics. The two companies had cloned
an endangered species once before,
but it died after two days.
The banteng clones-were carried
to term by two ordinary beef cows.
There are only about 5,000 ban
tengs left. They survive mostly in
their native habitat of Indonesia.
In Illinois, religious leaders from
Chicago and the surrounding area
met at a Planned Parenthood cen
ter on April 12 to voice their sup
port for reproductive rights. More
than 40 of the leaders signed a let
ter affirming women’s right to
choose, and urged all religious
leaders and people of faith to
be respectful of the rights of those
seeking to make free and
respectful choices about their re
productive health, a Planned Par
enthood spokeswoman said in a
press release.
In Washington, D.C., govern
ment officials are opening the
Beaufort Sea, off the coast of
Northern Alaska, to oil explo
ration. According to administra
tion officials, the government will
begin taking bids later this year for
access to drilling rights in the sea.
Unlike drilling for oil in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge, offshore
drilling in the Beaufort Sea would
not require congressional ap
proval.
Offshore drilling is extremely
costly, according to industry ex
perts. Administration officials have
said that in order to make explo
ration more desirable, the govern
ment plans on offering oil and
drilling companies millions of dol
lars in tax incentives.
Again in Washington, D.G., a new
international study comparing the
literacy levels of U.S. fourth graders
with fourth graders in 34 countries
around the world showed that
American children out-performed
23 of their counterparts, according
the U.S. Department of Education.
“The results from this study indi
cate that U.S. fourth-graders per
formed well on many reading tasks,
but there is room for improve
ment,” Grover “Russ” Whitehurst,
director of the U.S. Department of
Education’s Institute of Education
Sciences, said in a statement. “In
the United States, there are signifi
cant gaps in reading literacy
achievement between racial and
ethnic groups, between students in
high poverty schools and other
public schools, and also between
girls and boys.”
In Oregon, the jobless rate contin
ues to rise as the economy continues
to decline, according to the Oregon
Employment Department. Unem
ployment rose from 7.3 percent in
February to 7.6 percent in March, al
most two full points above the 5.8
percent national average.
John Mitchell, the regional econo
mist for U.S. Bancorp, said in a press
release that the Oregon jobless rate
has been higher than the national
rate since February 1996.
Contact the senior reporter
at aimeerudin@dailyemerald.com.
Robbery
continued from page 1
“When he heard the dog barking
and coming up into the attic, he
gave himself up,” McKee said.
Police cordoned off the blocks be
tween Chambers Street and Grant
Alley and West 11th and 13th av
enues for 90 minutes. At 5 p.m.,
there were still more than a dozen
police vehicles in the area, including
at least nine police cars, several un
marked detective cars, a police
truck and two police motorcycles.
Officers and detectives milled
around the run-down blue house
and ducked under yellow police
tape as they secured the area. Sev
eral officers brandished assault ri
ties, and McKee said FBI agents were
also on the scene.
McKee, who has been a member
of the Violent Grimes Unit for four
years, said the robbery was highly
unusual because police acting on a
tip were able to respond and appre
hend the suspects very quickly.
“It doesn’t happen real often,”
he said. “When we receive reliable
information like we did today, we
take it seriously.”
McKee said the FBI is handling fur
ther details of the case because as a
second-degree robbery, it wouldn’t be
pursued in the state court system.
Contact the news editors
atbrookreinhard@dailyemerald.com
and janmontry@dailyemerald.com.