Nation & World News
Democratic candidates stick to scripts in debates
Many of the presidential
hopefuls who debated took
stabs at front-runner Dean
By Michael Tackett
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
JOHNSTON, Iowa—The Democra
tic presidential candidate who benefit
ed most from the debate Sunday after
noon might well have been retired Gen.
Wesley Clark.
He wasn't there.
Instead, he spent his time doing an
interview on NBC's "Meet the Press"
(with a much larger viewing audience),
serving pancakes and holding small fo
rums with potential voters in New
Hampshire^ a place where he hopes to
have a surprisingly strong finish. It was
perhaps time better spent.
Clark has opted out of the Iowa cau
cuses and opted out of the debate,
broadcast nationally on CNN and Fox,
as well. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Con
necticut, who also decided to spurn
Iowa, did participate, with the seeming
ly single-minded mission of trying to
undercut and undermine former Ver
mont Gov. Howard Dean.
Each of the seven candidates in
the debate (the Rev. Al Sharpton also
did not attend) hewed to their now
rote scripts on policy positions, al
most ensuring an ungainly, mutual
drowning out.
Except when there was an opportu
nity to attack Dean. The volume of the
attacks on Dean, of course, merely
serves as a powerful measure of his
strength on one level and the degree to
which his success has frustrated most of
his rivals, especially Lieberman.
Ueberman, who had a rhetorical
burst of Iowa facts and figures even
though he isn't competing here, did his
best to get noticed. That was most ob
vious when, 76 minutes into the de
bate, he brandished a pen and asked
Dean to release records that cover his
tenure as the governor ofVermont that
Dean has asked to be sealed. It was a
reach for high drama - Lieberman's
aides tried to stir interest by telegraph
ing the stunt before the debate - but it is
not likely to have the desired effect.
While Dean's answer was a bit clum
sy, he did note that releasing all records
without some form of judicial review
could result in devastating violations of
personal privacy. He said that would be
especially true for sensitive correspon
dence he received during the debate
over civil unions in Vermont.
For Lieberman, the answer that
might be better remembered by Iowans
anyway was the senator's explanation
that the compressed campaign calen
dar meant he couldn't compete in
Iowa. As if the other candidates didn't
have the same issue.
Dean also was forced to respond to
questions about his assertions that the
United States was not necessarily safer
after the arrest of Saddam Hussein; that
Osama bin Laden, while deserving of
the death penalty, also deserved the rule
of law; and of his overall penchant for
blurting out responses that he later is
forced to clarify.
And Dean, despite all the heat on
him, scored one light moment when
he vowed to support the eventual De
mocratic nominee and asked for a
show of hands whether his rivals
would respond in kind. All did.
Debates can be a time to offer a
chance for separation, to break out
and be seen in a new light. This, it
seemed, was not one of those times.
That could be good news for Dean,
with the caucuses two weeks away. It
is a game of ball control at this point,
especially if you believe that you are at
or near the top.
The real scramble at this point is to be
at or near the top with Dean. Rep.
Richard Gephardt of Missouri, who is
devoting nearly all of his attention to
Iowa, was himself the object of some
criticism as was Sen. John Kerry of Mass
achusetts, who has committed a surpris
ingly large amount of resources here
As Dean put it, the real "front-runner
in this campaign is Geoige W. Bush."
(c) 2004, Chicago tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
Report: Online
music downloads decrease by half
Fifty percent fewer people
are downloading digital
music files than in the fall
By Chris Cobbs
The Orlando Sentinel (KRT)
ORLANDO, Fla. — The record in
dustry's legal war against music pi
rates could hardly be more effective if
the swashbuckling movie ship's cap
tain Russell Crowe were at the helm, a
new study shows.
Since early fall, the number of online
Americans engaged in swapping digital
music files has declined by 50 percent,
says a study released by the Pew Inter
net & American Life Project.
A nationwide telephone survey of
1,358 Web users suggests the number
of music downloaders plummeted
from 35 million to 18 million be
tween late May and mid-December.
The dramatic plunge in swapping
and sharing of songs was prompted
by a spate of lawsuits and also by the
growth of new, legal online music
stores, said Mary Madden, co-author
of the new Pew report.
"We are assuming the lawsuits by
the Recording Industry Association of
America have impacted the numbers
of downloaders," she said. "We also
realize there are probably more peo
ple who are still downloading than
admit to it. Even so, there has been a
huge decline."
A recent federal court ruling is ex
pected by legal experts to make it
tougher for the RIAA to find and
prosecute illegal file sharers, raising
the possibility of a reversal in the
recent data showing a decline
among downloaders.
"There will be a number of people
confused by all this, who won't want
to deal with the potential legal has
sle," Madden said.
"There are definitely others who've
been scared away, but there will be
younger Web users continuing to down
load files. They're the hardest to stop be
cause it's so ingrained in their behavior."
As the number of illegal downloads
has dipped, the number of Web users
turning to legal, fee-based download
sites has increased, the study found.
In November, more than 3.2 million
individuals visited Roxio's Napster 2.0
paid music site, while Apple's illines
Music Store attracted 2.7 million visitors.
"I would attribute the downturn in
illegal downloads in part to the pres
ence and growth of the legal download
services," said Washington, D C., attor
ney Michael Graif of the firm Chad
bourne and Parke.
(c) 2004, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
PROFESSOR
continued from page 1
The book argues that the Israeli
Palestinian conflict is more than an
issue of land and water in Israel, con
tending that the conflict is also about
symbols and beliefs held by both
sides. The book also states that
r
rhetoric, ideology and myth have
played roles in the development of
the 100-year conflict.
"The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is
usually treated as an issue of land and
water," the Michigan State University
Press-Web site states. "While these ele
ments are the core of the conflict, they
are heavily influenced by the symbols
used by both peoples to describe,
understand and persuade each other."
According to the press release, the
book grew out of Frank's work with
the Carlton Raymond and Wilberta
Ripley Savage Endowment for Inter
national Relations and Peace Com
mittee, which awarded him an
$80,000 grant to create a program on
the conflict.
"The scholars we brought to campus
to examine this conflict and the subse
quent interest and dialogue within the
UO faculty were a precursor to the
book, * Frank said in the release
The cover photos for the book were
shot by University geography Profes
sor Alec Murphy.
Frank is author of "Creative Speak
ing" and co-author of "Debating Values
and The Lincoln-Douglas Debate."
Frank is riow working with geog
raphy Associate Professor Shaul Co
hen to write a book comparing the
conflicts in Northern Ireland and
Israel.
Contact the people/cufture/
faith reporter
at jaredpaben@dailyemerald.com.
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