| Global update |
Today Thursday Friday
High: 54
Low: 40
Precip: 20%
High: 64
tow: 44
Precip: 30%
High: 53
Low: 38
Precip: 80%
IN BRIEF
Senate OKs ban on school
faculty giving supplements
SALEM — Hoping to discourage
the use of performance-enhancing
supplements by teenage athletes,
the Oregon Senate passed a bill
Tliesday that would bar school em
ployees from suggesting or supply
ing them to students.
Backers said while the nutrition
al supplements can make young
athletes stronger and faster in the
short term, they also can lead
to health problems such as depres
sion, high blood pressure and
heart disease.
“This stuff is everywhere, and it’s
very dangerous to the long-term
health of children,” said Senate
President Peter Courtney, a propo
nent of the bill.
Courtney said the measure
doesn’t keep the supplements out of
the hands of young athletes, but it
sends a message to coaches, teach
ers and volunteers that they should
not encourage their use.
The bill prohibits school adminis
trators, teachers, employees and vol
unteers from “promoting, suggesting,
or supplying performance-enhancing
supplements to students.”
Offenders would face a maximum
of three months in jail or a $500
fine, or both.
The Oregon School Activities
Association strongly backs the
bill, saying it’s needed to
protect young athletes from nutri
tional supplements, which are
unregulated by the Food and
Drug Administration.
State governor to decide
whether to declare drought
SALEM — Oregon is on the
verge of a statewide drought,
the state’s Drought Council
announced Tuesday.
“We’re not going to recover to the
point where we have normal condi
tions,” said Dave Cassel of the
Drought Council.
Cassel said drought conditions
exist in all 14 basins measured.
But many areas within those
basins do not meet conditions.
As a result, state officials have de
cided to hold off on recommending
that a statewide drought emergency
be declared.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski will consider
the board’s recommendation later
this week when he decides whether
to formally declare a drought.
Cassel said counties can continue
to request that the council declare
their particular area in drought,
which opens the door to more
flexibility in using emergency
water supplies.
Kulongoski has already declared
emergencies in Klamath County in
Southern Oregon and Baker County
in Eastern Oregon.
Report says insufficient
evidence in Annan probe
NEW YORK — Investigators
probing the U.N. oil-for-food
program said TUesday that
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
didn’t interfere in the awarding
of a contract to a company that
employed his son but criticized
the U.N. chief for not properly
investigating possible conflicts
of interest.
A defiant Annan said “Hell no”
when asked at a news conference
whether he would resign, noting the
report’s findings that he committed
no wrongdoing.
Although the report did not com
pletely vindicate the secretary-gen
eral, the investigation led by former
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul
Volcker said there was insufficient
evidence to show he was aware of
the bid.
Still, the report raised questions
about when the secretary-general
learned about the December 1998
contract to the Swiss firm, Cotecna
Inspection S.A., and strongly
criticized the destruction of
documents by his former chief of
staff that could have shed light
on the oil-for-food scandal in
Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
The independent inquiry, re
leased TUesday, faulted Annan for
conducting a one-day investigation
into the matter, saying it should
have been a more rigorous,
independent probe.
Iraqi lawmakers fail
to agree on speaker
BAGHDAD, Iraq — In a chaotic
session marred by shouting, finger
pointing and walkouts by Iraq’s top
leaders, the new parliament failed
TUesday to choose a speaker, an
impasse that brought tensions to
the surface and raised concerns
about a government that still
isn’t in place two months after
landmark elections.
The National Assembly’s second
meeting was marked by outbursts of
anger and wrangling among Shiite,
Sunni and Kurdish legislators. The
session was delayed for nearly three
hours, then abruptly closed to the
media, its live TV feed cut off.
The Sunni Arab minority — dom
inant under former dictator Saddam
Hussein and believed to be the
backbone of the insurgency — was
given until Sunday to come up with
a candidate to serve as speaker of
the 275-seat parliament.
The Shiite-led United Iraqi Al
liance and the Kurdish coalition
want an Arab Sunni to hold the po
sition as a way of healing rifts with
the Sunnis, many of whom boy
cotted the Jan. 30 elections or sim
ply feared attacks at the polls.
More meetings are scheduled for
this week.
Ousted Kyrgyzstan leader
says he's ready to resign
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Ousted
President Askar Akayev surfaced in
Russia after fleeing Kyrgyzstan and
said Tliesday he would resign if giv
en legal protections — the first sign
he is willing to yield power.
Akayev, who fled after protesters
seized government headquarters
last week, also accused his foes of
plotting his overthrow for months.
Interim leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev
said the storming of the govern
ment headquarters was never
planned, and he called for an
official inquiry.
In an interview with Russia’s
state-run Channel One television,
Akayev emphasized that he is Kyr
gyzstan’s legitimate leader and sug
gested he would keep a hand in its
fragile politics.
Asked whether he was prepared
to step down, Akayev replied:
“Of course, of course — if I am giv
en the relevant guarantees and if
it is in full accordance with the
current legislation.”
Speaking earlier to Ekho Moskvy
radio, Akayev emphasized he
is “the only elected and legitimate
president of Kyrgyzstan” and
stressed that his term ends
in autumn.
The Associated Press
The University of Oregon’s
Coalition Against Environmental Racism (CAER)
presents the
10th Annual
Environmental Justice Conference -
021838
^7
•12:30
FREE ORGANIC LUNCH
•1:00-1:45
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
by Caleen Sisk-Franco,
Spiritual Leader and Chief of the
Wlnnemem Wlntu Tribe of California.
—Saturday, April 2nd, 2005
8am - 6pm
Wesley Foundation Center
1236 Kincaid St., Eugene, OR
*Food Provided*
in Your Own Backyard:
Work within our community to
create change here and elsewhere
The conference is FREE
and open to the public
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~caer/
More info: ela@law.uoregon.edu
GRADUATE SCHOOL FAIR
Wednesday, April 6
EMU Ballroom
IOIOOam-3*OOpm
^jraauate
and Professional School Fair
O
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
Career Center
Student
Grdapsf
Advertise in the Emerald call 346-4343
or place your ad online at
www.dailyemerald.com