Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, February 09, 2005, Page 3A, Image 3

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    Today Thursday Friday
High: 53 High: 54 High: 57
Low: 33 Low: 36 Low: 40
Precip: 0% Precip: 0% Precip: 20%
IN BRIEF
Suidde bomber kills 21
in crowd of army recruits
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A suicide
bomber blew himself up in the mid
dle of a crowd of army recruits Tues
day, killing 21 other people in the
deadliest attack in Baghdad since
last week’s election and highlight
ing a recent shift by insurgents to
use human bombs instead of cars.
Insurgents are strapping explo
sives on the bodies of volunteers to
penetrate the network of blast walls,
checkpoints and other security
measures designed to block
vehicle bombs.
Several such attackers tried to dis
rupt voting in Baghdad on election
day but were unable to get into
polling stations. On Monday, a sui
cide bomber walked into a crowd of
Iraqi policemen in the northern city
of Mosul and detonated explosives,
killing 12 of them.
Iraqi authorities initially said the
Baghdad recruiting center was at
tacked by mortar fire, but witnesses
reported only a single explosion, and
the U.S. military said the blast was
caused by a suicide bomber on foot.
Attacks have steadily risen since
the Jan. 30 elections, when a mas
sive U.S. and Iraqi security opera
tion prevented insurgents from dis
rupting the vote. Those measures,
including a ban on most private ve
hicles, closing the borders and an
extended curfew, were relaxed
soon afterward.
Dolly the sheep scientist
gets cloning license
LONDON — The scientist who at
tracted the world’s attention by
cloning Dolly the sheep is about to
take another major step for medical
research: cloning human embryos
and extracting stem cells to unravel
the mysteries of muscle-wasting ill
nesses such as Lou
Gehrig’s Disease.
Ian Wilmut, who led the team
that created Dolly at Scotland’s
Roslin Institute in 1996, was grant
ed a cloning license Tuesday by
British regulators to study how
nerve cells go awry to cause
motor-neuron diseases.
The experiments do not involve
creating cloned babies, but the li
cense has nonetheless stirred fresh
controversy over the issue and
prompted abortion foes and other
biological conservatives to con
demn the decision.
“Are we supposed to be appeased
by professor Wilmut’s declarations
that the human embryos will be de
stroyed after experimentation and
that his team has no intention of
producing cloned babies?” asked
Julia Millington of the London
based ProLife Alliance.
“All human cloning is intrinsical
ly wrong and should be outlawed.
However, the creation of cloned hu
man embryos destined for experi
mentation and subsequent destruc
tion is particularly abhorrent.”
Wilmut, speaking after the an
nouncement in Edinburgh, Scot
land, defended the move.
Rice urges Europeans
to end disagreements
PARIS — Secretary of State Con
doleezza Rice took the argument
over American ideals and influence
to her European critics’ door Tues
day and urged cooperation to move
beyond disagreements over the war
in Iraq..
“It is time to open a new chapter
in our relationship and a new chap
ter in our alliance,” Rice told Paris’
Institute of Political Studies as she
defended the Bush administration’s
foreign policy in hostile territory.
France was the most vocal oppo
nent of President Bush’s handling of
the Iraq war, and Rice did not en
gender any goodwill in his first term
when she said the United States
should “punish France, ignore Ger
many and forgive Russia” for their
opposition to the invasion.
Rice chose Paris for the major ad
dress of her first tour of Europe as
America’s chief diplomat to try to
turn the page. She also
took questions.
She did not back down from
Bush’s call last month in his inaugu
ration speech to spread freedom
across the globe, a challenge per
ceived as arrogant or naive on some
European opinion pages.
Bush dose to getting
limits on class-action suits
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress
is close to making it easier for cor
porations to dodge many of the
class-action lawsuits that business
es say are bankrupting them while
rewarding lawyers and doing little
to help victims.
The measure, headed for a vote
this week in the Senate and proba
bly next week in the House, would
be the first fulfillment of one of
President Bush’s priorities for his
second term. But a fragile compro
mise could come unglued if sena
tors make changes in the bill, such
as giving federal judges more discre
tion to keep lawsuits alive.
“If the Senate passes any amend
ment, then they are jeopardizing” it,
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay,
R-Texas, said Tliesday.
Opponents of the legislation say it
would only hurt average citizens and
let big business escape multimillion
dollar judgments for wrongdoing.
But Bush, echoing business lead
ers’ complaints, says a judicial sys
tem that lets lawyers look for friend
ly forums in state courts for “junk
lawsuits” is tilted against corporate
defendants. “Justice is distorted,
and our economy is held back, by
irresponsible class actions,” he said
in his State of the Union speech
last week.
Billions in old tax refunds
waiting to be claimed
WASHINGTON, D.C. — About
1.7 million people are missing out
on more than $2 billion in refunds
for taxes they paid three years ago.
Many of them just never filed re
turns. It’s not too late, but the win
dow to claim the money closes in
nine weeks.
“As soon as you send us your tax
return, you’ll get your money,” In
ternal Revenue Service Commis
sioner Mark Everson said Tuesday.
“But if you don’t file, you won’t
get anything.”
Taxpayers must act by April 15 to
claim a refund for taxes paid in
2001, under laws that make the
money the property of the U.S. Trea
sury after sitting unclaimed for
three years.
The IRS estimated that half the
people due refunds could claim
more than $484. It takes a 2001 tax
return, filed by mail, to get that
check. There’s no penalty for filing
a return late to claim a refund.
People who unknowingly leave
refunds unclaimed often earned
some wages and had taxes withheld
from their paychecks, but they
worked less than a full-time, year
round job.
That points to high school or col
lege students and retirees. Others
made self-employment tax pay
ments during the year. Although
they avoid the paperwork, they
might not realize how much money
they’re giving up.
— The Associated Press
014617
Do you need to take the
GRE • GMAT • TOEFL* PPST/PRAXIS
The University of Oregon Testing Office is an official ETS computer-based
testing site. Testing is available year-round, Monday-Friday, 2 sessions a
day. Appointments can be scheduled by calling 541.346.2772 or by visiting
the Testing Office.
The Testing Office is located on the 2nd floor (Rm. 238) of the University
Health and Counseling Center, 1590 E. 13th Ave., Eugene OR.
The period of greatest demand is usually Sept, through March, so it makes
sense to plan ahead.
For more information visit the Testing Office web site at
http://www.uoregon.edu/~testing/
ift
Love Lines will be published Monday, February 14th
Personal messages due by 1pm Thursday, February 10th
Prizes will be given to messages deemed...
• Most Romantic • Most Clever • Best Group
Call 346-4343 or stop by Suite 300 EMU Today!
>0. ^ T~' UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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Entries collected February 14
at 3 p.m.
One lucky winner will receive:
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Winner announced on Monday, February 14 at 5 p.m.
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