Nation & World News Administrators announce new Iraqi budget, currency Much of Iraq’s $3.5 billion budget, largely directed to infrastructure, will come from oil revenue By Dana Hull and Jonathan S. Landay Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq will get a new national currency, an independ ent central bank and a budget for the rest of the year that calls for spending oil money on electricity and other ba sic needs, the ll.S.-led administration announced Monday. Money in most of Iraq still has Saddam Hussein's picture on it and there are only two notes, the 250-di nar and 10,000-dinar. Many busi nesses no longer accept the 10,000 dinar notes, forcing Iraqis to exchange them for 250s, often at a loss. The Kurdish-controlled part of northern Iraq will use the new na tional currency, too. It has been us ing the so-called "Swiss" dinars that existed before 1991, but they're so old that they're falling apart. The new Iraqi dinars — without Saddam's picture — will be available Oct. 15. They will come in denomina tions of 50, 250, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 25,000. L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. admin istrator in Iraq, also approved Iraq's national budget for the remainder of 2003. Nearly $3.5 billion, a little more than half the budget, will come from oil revenues. Several billion dol lars will come from frozen assets or assets that were found after the war. The biggest line item in the budget is improvements to the electricity sys tem, with other money earmarked for spending on justice and security, pub lic health, water and sewage, and telecommunications. "The officials who used to steal most of Iraq's resources, and misuse what little was left have gone," Bremer said in a radio and TV broadcast out lining the economic plans. "All of Iraq's resources will now be spent on you, the Iraqi people, and on projects which directly benefit you." Bremer's team announced that Faleh Salman will be the acting direc tor of Iraq's central bank, and the bank will be independent of other branches of the government. (c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Judge OKs SEC-WorldCom bankruptcy settlement Investors will receive $750 million in cash and stock later this year in compensation for fraud losses By Jon Van and Michael Oneal Chicago Tribune (KRT) CHICAGO — A federal judge ap proved a settlement between bank rupt WorldCom Inc. and the Securi ties and Exchange Commission that would give defrauded investors $750 million in cash and stock once the company emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings later this year. The deal, which has been in the works for months, is part of World Corn's controversial effort to put its bankruptcy and $11 billion account ing fraud behind it. "The proposed settlement is not only fair and reasonable, but as good an outcome as anyone could reason ably expert in these difficult circum stances," U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff said in a 14-page opinion. Me added that the case "raises fun damental questions" about how market regulators and the courts should respond when "criminals" use a public company to commit "massive fraud." Competitors such as AT&T Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. were quick to decry the settlement, saying it simply isn't proportionate to the billions of dollars in damages in flicted upon WorldCom shareholders, creditors and employees. They have argued that WorldCom should be forced to liquidate so that its assets can be sold to other companies who haven't committed fraud. WorldCom's accounting scandal was among numerous corporate mis deeds last year that rocked investors and Wall Street. The scandals have led to tighter federal security laws and an outcry for tougher corporate standards. The fine, which will be distributed to investors who lost everything when WorldCom declared bankruptcy last year, had originally been set at $ 1.5 bil lion in cash, but later was reduced to $500 million because of the firm's lim ited cash reserves. It will come out of assets otherwise reserved for creditors. The $750 million final setdement includes $250 million in stock that the company will issue when it emerges from bankruptcy under the name MCI and resumes trading as a public company. By seeking a balance between re lief for defrauded investors and the desire to keep a company as large and influential as WorldCom afloat, Rakoff said he was trying to move into new territory. The judge acknowledged that in vestors aren't getting a lot from the SEC setdement, but said that a bigger payout was made impossible both by the bankruptcy law — which subordi nates investors to other creditors — and the general interest of keeping the company afloat. The effort to find a fair amount to compensate investors is difficult be cause much of the money World Com once claimed to have has es sentially vanished. "The bottom line is the money just isn't there," said Jim Speta, an assistant professor of law at North western University. "People want their money back and want the peo ple who committed fraud punished. The judge is stuck making the best of a bad situation." (c) 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Tuition continued from page 1 would pay about $1,236 per term in tuition, an increase of 5.9 percent from spring 2003, while a non-resi dent student would pay $5,229 a term, a 4.4 percent increase, accord ing to the fee book. Overall, Universi ty students would fork out about $1,693 in both tuition and fees, an increase from $1,618 in spring 2003. Moseley said he believes the plateau system will eventually be eliminated completely from the Uni versity because students making use of the plateau rates are riding on the backs of part-time students. Linder the University's plateau system, stu dents taking 13 to 16 credits pay the same amount. This means students going to school only part time have to pay more per credit to cover Uni versity operating costs. "It's not fair to part time students because it puts a heavier burden on them," Moseley said. "Intrinsically, you can understand that even if you don't pay any more for a course, that course still has to be paid for. There's no way we can teach it for free." According to the OUS Fee Book, proposed changes at other universi ties include compressing the tradi tional tuition plateaus at Oregon In stitute of Technology, Southern Oregon University and Western Ore gon University, and replacing the plateau system altogether at Eastern Oregon University and Portland State University. Oregon State University hopes to implement a modified per credit structure, similar to what the University proposes. PSU and EOU have already called for the complete elimination of their plateau systems and both schools want to charge tuition on a strictly per-credit basis. Under the new sys tem, students at the two institutions would experience massive hikes in tuition and fee charges: a 20.2 per cent increase at EOU and a 18.4 per cent increase at PSU. In the most ex Ireme increase, non-resident gradu ates at PSU may have to pay almost 66 percent more in fall 2003. While some students understand the need for tuition increases due to Oregon's harsh economic condi tions, they do not believe the pro posed solutions are the best ones. Oregon Student Association Spokeswoman Amelie Welden said the changes at different schools would make education more expen sive for many students. "By eliminating the plateau, you're encouraging students to take fewer credits," Welden said. "That means it would take students longer to graduate." In addition, she said, the changes are being debated at a time when most students are away for the summer. "Students are totally unaware and they'll get to school in the fall and find tilings changed," she said. She added that the new hikes are coming on top of increases already made in the last school year. Senior general science major Jada Lee said any kind of increases to tu ition and fees would disappoint her. "It's going to increase my loans and it will take longer for me to pay it off, "she said. ASUO President Maddy Melton said the University is becoming less affordable for low-income students and less accessible for middle-in come students. "We're urging the Oregon Legisla ture to look for alternative income sources," she said. "The state needs to start funding its institutions instead of having (funding) come on the backs of students." 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