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Nation & World News Rumsfeld faces criticism for internal memo leak The defense secretary will keep his job even though questions have been raised about his policy problems By Thomas M. DeFrank and Richard Sisk New York Daily News (KRT) WASHINGTON — Defense Secre tary Donald Rumsfeld angered the White House on Wednesday with a leaked memo questioning whether the U.S. was winning the war on terror. "This has put Rummy in a bad spot," one Bush administration source said. "Before this he had personality and policy problems," the source said. "Now he has a credibility prob lem because he's acknowledged that they've all been putting on a happy face about Iraq." It was the latest blow for the belea guered defense secretary. Earlier this month, the White House switched re sponsibility for rebuilding Iraq from Rumsfeld to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. "The president isn't happy," but he won't fire Rumsfeld, a Bush official said. Officials said sacking Rumsfeld would give the appearance of admit ting that Iraq is as big a mess as his critics contend. White House press secretary Scott McClellan, traveling with Bush in Australia, quickly gave a vote of confi dence to Rumsfeld. "That's exactly what a strong and capable secretary of defense like Secretary Rumsfeld should be doing," said McClellan. The Oct. 16 Rumsfeld memo to top Pentagon aides, first disclosed by USA Today, warned of a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan, and openly questioned whether the mili tary can win the global terror war. He complained about "mixed re sults" on al-Qaida and fretted that terrorism was winning recruits faster than the United States could kill or capture them. Rumsfeld also wondered if the Pentagon was capable of beating the terrorists and pressed aides to consid er whether "to fashion a new institu tion" to take over the terror war from the military. Bush officials told the New York Daily News the memo has further di minished Rumsfeld's standing at the White House by embarrassing Bush Stem cell research to help inherited disease treatment Scientists hope to use the findings to develop cures for bone-marrow diseases By Alan Bavley Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Scientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Re „ search have taken important steps to ward identifying where blood-form ing stem cells are nurtured in bone marrow, a discovery that has eluded ' researchers for a quarter-century. Their preliminary findings, and those of two other research centers, could help lead to ways to grow large numbers of these cells in the laboratory and alter them genet ically to improve the odds of pa tients with sickle cell anemia and other diseases. "This is basic research that you can translate into better human health," said Linheng Li, the biologist who led the research team at Stowers in Kansas City, Mo. "How stem cell numbers are regulated in the body — that was unknown." In separate studies using genetical ly engineered mice, the researchers at the 3-year-old Kansas City research campus and a team of scientists from Harvard and the University of Rochester found evidence of what they believe is the "niche," or biologi cal environment, where blood-form ing stem cells reside in bone marrow. These hematopoietic stem cells are tied closely to a certain type of bone-forming cells called os teoblasts in bone marrow, both re search groups reported. Using different techniques, the researchers were able to increase the number of osteoblasts that make up the niche areas in the mice, more than doubling the number of stem cells. Studies by the two groups are be ing published Thursday in the jour nal Nature. Stem ceils have become a central focus of biological research because they can reproduce almost indefi nitely and be turned into the diverse kinds of cells that make up the body. In embryos, stem cells develop into all the different tissues of the body. Fully grown organisms retain more specialized stem cells that replenish the blood, skin and other tissues. Scientists hold out hopes of devis ing numerous applications for stem cells — from replacing the destroyed brain cells of Parkinson's disease pa tients to providing new insulin-pro ducing cells to diabetics. Doctors have long used transplants of hematopoietic stem cells to replace the blood-making system in patients with leukemia and some other can cers and blood disorders. Most transplants have used bone marrow from donors, but in recent years doctors more frequently have used stem cells extracted from donors' blood. Patients undergo radiation or chemotherapy to kill their own bone marrow before receiving injections of stem cells from a donor. The cells mi grate to the bones and resume mak ing blood. There is evidence that patients are less likely to reject stem cells harvest ed from blood contained in discard ed umbilical cords. So far, cord blood stem-cell transplants have been given to children because doctors haven't been able to extract enough stem cells to use in adults. Growing blood-forming stem cells in the laboratory also would give sci entists the opportunity to modify them genetically as potential treat ments for inherited diseases. That kind of research has been hin dered because stem cells rapidly turn into blood cells once they are isolat ed in the laboratory. (c) 2003, The Kansas City Star. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune information Services. when his Iraq policy is under con stant attack by Democrats and even some Republicans. While the source of the leak was a prime topic in Washington politi cal corridors Wednesday, there was a broad consensus that the leaker was no friend of the embattled de fense secretary. "Rumsfeld has stepped on many toes at the Pentagon," a senior con gressional source said, "and this was the revenge of the toes." Rumsfeld and his top aides de fended the memo as the typical inter nal work product of a hard-charging executive posing tough questions and pressing his staff to think aggressively and make tough choices. Rumsfeld said he used the memo to urge his aides to "lift our eyes up and look out over the horizon. I do it periodically." But the pessimistic tone of the memo contrasted with the drumbeat of positive statements from the White House and Pentagon on steady progress in Iraq that allegedly has been overlooked by the body-count reporting of the major media. (c) 2003, New York Daily News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. GIVE ME 5! Run your "for sale” ad (items under $1,000) for 5 days in the ODE Classified Section. If the item(s) doesn't sell, call us at 346-4343 and we’ll run it again for another 5 days free! Free birth control, supplies and services to those who qualify. P Planned 1670 Hi*h st tu*ene wv'wu Parpnthnnd mN Danebo'Eu*ene/*6}'97JI rarentnooci zzsQst.sprinyfieidju-jm 998910 mm iwion 199 E. 5th Ave - (541) 484-1334 Come see our sushi-go-round and open grill Sushi Starting at $1.75 We serve tempura udon yakisoba teppanyaki teriyaki lunch box specials and more... Take out available Lunch M F 11.30 -2:30 « Dinner M- Sat 5 00 10 00 • Sunday Closed CONVOCATION 2003 Friday, October 24,2003 Beall Concert Hall 2:30 PM Ceremony 4:00 PM Reception Convocation serves as the ceremonial beginning to the academic year. It provides an opportunity for faculty and staff members, students, alumni, and members of the community to assemble together. On this occasion we focus on the University's rich academic heritage and celebrate our collective accomplishments. o UNIVERSITY OF OREGON .. - . 11
