Today Wednesday Thursday
High: 56 High: 58 High: 58
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IN BRIEF
Sea otter spotted
at Oregon coast
CHARLESTON — A lone sea otter
spotted at Simpson Reef on Cape
Arago might be a sign that the
species is beginning a natural recol
onization of the Oregon coast, nat
uralists said.
“There were thousands of them
here once, and I think we’ve got
room for dozens of them today,” said
Wendell Wood, Southern Oregon
field representative for the Oregon
Natural Resources Council.
The last official sighting of the
otter, who spent at least six months
in the area, came on Labor Day
weekend, when the season ended
for volunteers who staff the over
look there.
A student at the Oregon Institute
of Marine Biology in Charleston
looked earlier this month but didn't
spot the otter.
The otter could still be there, said
Jan Hodder, the institute mammalo
gist. It will take multiple failed sight
ings before reaching the conclusion
that the animal has left, she said.
In the past decade, confirmed sight
ings of sea otters along the Oregon
coast have noticeably increased, said
Roy Lowe, project leader for the Ore
gon Coast National Wildlife Refuge.
In addition to several sightings
near Simpson Reef, sea otters have
been spotted at Cape Blanco, Yachats
and Yaquina Bay in recent years.
This particular otter is the only one
that has stuck around for a while, as
far as anyone knows. The only suit
able habitat in Oregon for sea otters
is on the south coast, near shore reefs
where kelp beds attract their favorite
foods, sea urchins and abalone.
Sea otters are the smallest marine
mammals, growing to four feet long
and ranging from 45 to 65 pounds.
Their fur — 600,000 to 1 million
hairs per square inch — is the thickest
of any animal and was highly prized
by fur hunters. The animal was hunted
to extinction in Oregon in 1906.
Democrats signing
up more new voters
The Democrats appear to be gain
ing the upper hand in the battle to
sign up new voters in the all-impor
tant swing states, an Associated
Press analysis said. The AP analysis
of the most up-to-date figures from
across the country found that, in
every state where complete data is
available, the Democrats have regis
tered more new voters than Repub
licans. They have the edge in Ari
zona, Iowa, New Mexico, Nevada
and New Hampshire.
Anglicans criticize U.S.
Episcopal Church
LONDON — On Monday an Angli
can church commission urged the
U.S. Episcopal Church not to elect
any more gay bishops and called on
conservative African bishops to stop
meddling in the affairs of other dioce
ses. The commission, created last
year after the consecration of V. Gene
Robinson as bishop of New Hamp
shire, called for apologies from both
sides and for reconciliation among
the world’s Anglican churches.
Foreign student enrollment
declines in Oregon
College campuses nationally are
struggling to attract foreign students
because of concerns about terrorism
and heightened security require
ments and Oregon schools are
no exception.
At Lane Community College, the
number of foreign students has
stayed flat for the past three years.
Before Sept. 11, 2001, the number
was growing at more than 6 percent
per year.
And the University has seen its in
ternational enrollment drop from a
peak of almost 1,700 in 1997 to an es
timated 1,170 this year.
Colleges want international stu
dents for two reasons: for the diversi
ty of their backgrounds and because
they typically pay high nonresident
tuition and fees.
For example, if Lane Community
College, were to increase its enroll
ment of international students
by 200, it would bring in an estimat
ed $345,689 in annual revenue
after expenses, according to a staff
analysis.
Oregon campuses are now debating
whether to spend the money to active
ly recruit such students, but it's not
clear that even that will be enough to
boost international enrollment.
Residents of many Islamic coun
tries now face demanding, time
consuming background checks, and
if they plan to study in one of a
number of technical fields deemed
sensitive by the State Department,
they face further hurdles and often
are denied. And in certain non-Is
lamic countries such as China, po
tential students also are finding it
difficult to get a visa.
Magid Shirzadegan, director of
international student and scholar
services at the University, said the
number of students coming to the
University from places such as Chi
na,' the Middle East and Indonesia
has been on an especially notice
able decline.
The Associated Press
Iraq introduces
weapons buyback
to disarm cities
Iraqi forces ready to fight terrorists, Prime Minister
Allawi said following a recent eruption of violence
BYTINITRAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi Prime
Minister Ayad Allawi announced
plans Monday to extend a cash-for
weapons program for Shiite fighters
in Baghdad’s Sadr City to cities na
tionwide in an attempt to disarm
the country.
The announcement came as fresh
violence erupted in Baghdad and
Mosul. Multiple car bombs over a
two-day period claimed at least 12
lives, and a militant group, the Islam
ic Army in Iraq, claimed to have be
headed two Macedonian hostages.
U.S. forces also reported fresh at
tacks against alleged terrorist
strongholds in Fallujah.
The government launched the
cash-for-guns program in Sadr City
as part of a deal to end weeks of
fighting in the Shiite district of
Baghdad and has twice extended
the deadline for fighters to hand in
their weapons.
On Monday, Allawi told the Na
tional Council, a government over
sight body, that the program is go
ing so well he wants to extend it to
the rest of Iraq.
"The government is determined
to disarm cities and neighborhoods
because our forces are now ready to
fight terrorists and there’s no
justification for people to keep
weapons at home,” Allawi said.
Iraqi officials hope that Sunni
Muslim leaders in the insurgent
torn city of Fallujah can be persuad
ed to negotiate a similar weapons
buyback deal.
But Fallujah, the focal point of
the Sunni rebellion, presents a
tougher challenge.
The U.S. military announced late
Monday that it had destroyed sever
al safehouses and weapons storage
sites linked to terror mastermind
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The state
ment did not specify whether the
attacks were airstrikes, although
such attacks have been launched
frequently against the insurgent
stronghold in recent weeks.
Iraqi officials insist they are seeking
a peaceful solution to the standoff in
Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad.
But hopes that peace talks could re
sume there quickly were dashed
when the city’s chief negotiator, Sheik
Khaled al-Jumeili, ruled out any
quick resumption of talks despite his
release Monday from U.S. custody.
“I’m negotiating on behalf of Fal
lujah people — civilians, kids,
women — who have no power ex
cept by being represented by some
body,” al-Jumeili told Al-Arabiya
STANDOFF, page 7
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