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IN BRIEF
September consumer
prices pick up momentum
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Consumer
prices picked up momentum in Sep
tember, especially hitting the pockets
of people paying for medical care, ed
ucation costs and gas. Although out
of-control inflation is not a current
danger to the economy, the accelera
tion justifies an interest rate increase
next month by the Federal Reserve,
analysts said. They expect the Fed at
its Nov. 10 meeting to boost short
term interest rates for a fourth time
this year to ensure inflation doesn't
become a problem.
U.S. to Get 2.6 Million
Flu Shots in January
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal
health officials said Tliesday that an
other 2.6 million doses of flu vaccine
will be available in January to aug
ment existing supplies as they sought
to calm fears about the shortage.
“We’ve successfully worked through
vaccine supply problems in the past,
and we're doing so this time as well,”
said Health and Human Services Sec
retary Tommy Thompson. “We need
all of us to take a deep breath. ”
Social Security recipients
to receive check increase
WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than
47 million Americans will get a 2.7
percent increase in their Social Secu
rity checks starting in January, mean
ing an additional $25 per month for
the typical retiree. But almost half of
that gain will be gobbled up by a
record increase in Medicare premi
ums. The cost of living adjustment,
or COLA, announced Tliesday by the
Social Security Administration will be
the largest percentage gain since a 3.5
percent increase in 2001. The in
crease last January was 2.1 percent.
U.S. prods China to
resume stalled beef trade
BEIJING — The United States is
pushing China to lift import bans on
beef and poultry imposed because of
mad cow disease and bird flu
outbreaks, a senior state department
official said Tuesday.
Under Secretary of State for Eco
nomic, Business and Agricultural Af
fairs Alan Larson said the United States
has “taken all the steps necessary to
show we are free of avian influenza. ”
“We would like to see that trade re
sume,” Larson told reporters at a
news briefing.
China was one of about 25 countries
that banned imports of all U.S. poultry
products in February when avian
influenza, commonly known as bird
flu, was discovered in Texas, Pennsyl
vania, Maryland and New Jersey.
In Asia, more than 20 people have
died after contracting the disease.
An 11-month ban has been in place
for beef imports because of mad cow
disease after U.S. officials announced
that a cow in Washington state had
the brain-wasting disease, also
known as bovine spongiform en
cephalopathy.
— The Associated Press
Low-rise jeans cause ruckus
among Italy's high-schoolers
School officials take a stand against the fashion trend
of baring it all, suggest more convervative dress
BY ANGELA DOLAND
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME — In an era of low-rise
jeans, one Italian high school has
launched an uprising.
A school in central Italy asked
students to stop wearing low-slung
trousers that expose navels, under
wear and sometimes much more. In
a nation that prizes kids and fash
ion, the suggestion unleashed a de
bate among parents, teachers and
students, and at least one other
school followed suit.
Throughout Italy, the question is
whether Vitruvio Pollione Scientific
High School in Avezzano over
stepped the boundaries of student
freedom of expression, or whether
school wardrobes in Italy have
grown a tad too free and expressive.
A letter read out loud to Avez
zano students this month singled
out “low-rise pants, which expose
parts of the body that would be bet
ter off covered up, for good man
ners, in the school setting.”
Deputy Principal Nazzareno
Desiderio elaborated in a phone in
terview: “It’s a piece of advice for
their educational reflection.”
The school’s principal came up
with the idea during a class trip,
when he saw one boy’s baggy pants
slide to his feet.
The letter has sparked a sea of In
ternet blog entries and letters to
newspapers. A parents’ group called
Moige applauded the appeal for good
taste, while the consumer group Co
dacons advised principals to stop
worrying about fashion and fix up di
lapidated school buildings instead.
Although attention has focused
on Avezzano, other school officials
have made similar requests, includ
ing one principal in the Alpine town
of Ortisei who was reportedly wor
ried that exposed bellies would
make students vulnerable to stom
ach aches.
Despite the hullabaloo, the meas
ure in Avezzano was not a strict dress
code, just a suggestion. Dress codes
and school uniforms are all but un
heard of in Italian public schools.
“We didn’t want a spirit of prohi
bitionism,” Desiderio said. “You
can’t put a ban on fashion; you’d
have to be joking.”
Italians, known for being at ease
with their bodies and always on the
forefront of sexy fashion trends,
seem to have embraced low-rise
pants more than many other Euro
peans. Two of the hottest brands of
jeans — Diesel and Miss Sixty —
are Italian-run and offer countless
low-slung styles. High-schoolers are
big fans.
At a prestigious Rome school
whose alumni include atomic pio
neer Enrico Fermi and Pope Pius
XII, teenagers stream out of the
heavy wooden doors at lunchtime
exposing their midriffs and the
waistbands of their underwear.
Inspired by the decision in Avez
zano, the principal of Rome’s Vis
conti High School has suggested
that students show less skin and
proposed a debate on the matter. In
an interview, he lamented the lack
of mystery of the modern young
woman’s wardrobe.
“Today, boys are less tickled by
such visions (of skin), because
there’s no more big effect in seeing
a girl’s legs or shoulders, lower back
and navel,” principal Antonino
Grasso said.
Most kids have simply ignored
such concerns. Ludovica Gaudio, 14,
wore ultra-low pants, orange cotton
underwear and a bare midriff to
class. It was chilly, so she acces
sorized with a matching orange scarf.
Another 14-year-old suggested
she would probably respect the
school’s request, simply for practi
cal reasons.
“I don’t really feel at ease” in low
slung pants, said Sarah Lattanzi,
who covered up with a hooded
sweatshirt. “In winter, when it
comes down to it, it’s freezing.”
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