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.
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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