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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1997)
r . ■ » A pril 2, 1997 • I'm P oru and O bsi rvt r P agi A6 Discontent toward Zaire government grows Clement Biondi Kalondwa ped als his bike hundreds o f miles each month hiding the diamonds he buys in his shirt collar to sell in this sweaty diamond-trading capital He makes just enough to feed and educate Ins five children by trading ihc diamonds at the garish store fronts like Mister ( ash and Rambo Diamond that line Kisangani s broad boulevards It s a brutal life." Kalondwa said I in hoping lot something better under the rebels More than anything else, eco nomic hardship has fueled the rebel lion that swept through eastern Zaire 11, the past six months. Throughout th is vast land studded with diamonds and gold, people are angry w ith Presi dent Mobutu Sese Seko for impover- ishing what should be a prosperous nation Rebel leader Laurent Kabila has said notching up m ilitary successes has been easy compared to what lies ahead running a government and building an economy II I can't do better than Mobutu, ihcn our rebellion w ill have been .1 lailuie ." Kabila told I he Associated Press We are looking at the economy so people in this liberated area can stall normal life," he said "Norm al life not as before but something better .. so they can live in peace, w ithout corruption, without the ter rorizing o f the people." In the third o f Zaire under his control, Kabila has reduced duties on most im p o rts and exports, trimmed the c iv il service, tried to quash corruption and encouraged investment from abroad Border crossings with Uganda. Rw anda and Burundi are again busy with traders ami ports have reopened on Lake I angany ikaand Lake Kivu Some foreign-owned businesses are starting up again after fleeing in October, including the Heineken brewery in Bukav u. a Canadian tex tile business in Kisangani and a sugar refinery in I Ivira To residents o f eastern Zaire it's the basics that count - electricity and water, hospitals, schools forthe c h il dren. Transportation is also a big prob lem. Kalondwa - gesturing at his b i c y c le , k n o w n by Z a iria n s as guarded secret, known only to in dustry engineers But the research ers performed their work based on documents that were leaked from within the communications indus try and dissem inated over the Internet late last year " The industry design process is at fault," said David Wagner, a re searcher at the I inversity o f Califor nia at Berkeley and a member o f the team that broke the code "W e can use this as a lesson, and save ourselves vulnerabilities in the future.'' The Times said other members o f the team were Bruce Schneier and John Kelsey o f Counterpane Sys tems, a Minneapolis consult ing firm. Schneier is the author o f a standard textbook on cryptography. Fears about the digital code's ef fectiveness were raised five years ago when the communications in dustry agreed under government pressure to adopt a watered-down privacy technology Several telecom munications industry officials told the Times that the pressure came from the National Security Agency, which feared that criminals or ter rorists might benefit from stronger encryption technology Chris C arroll, an engineer at GTE Laboratories and chairman o f the industry committee that oversees privacy standards for cellular phones, told the Times that work is being done to fix the problem "W e're already in the process o f correcting this flaw ," Carroll said. Thousands o f pieces o f space junk are orbiting Earth at enor mous speeds, threatening to smash into satellites and manned space Hights and interfering with astro nomical observations After a three-day conference on space junk, scientists from 18 coun tries said while the probability o f such collisions remains small now. the hazard would increase as the skies become more crowded. The first confirmed collision be tween a w orking satellite and space trash occurred July 24, when a French microsatellite was damaged by a fragment o f the exploded third stage o f an Ariane rocket, they said. Almost 300 new satellites are NationsBank Donates $350,000 To 100 Black Men of America, Inc. 100 Black Men o f America, Inc., w ill use a $350,000 g ift from NationsBank (N Y SI NB) to help improve the quality of lile and edu cational opportunities for African- Americans and minorities through out the country. help to support our mission to em power a new generation o f leaders. “ This g ift is consistent with the goals o f NationsBank and its Profes sional A frican-A m erican Market Development U nit." said Shedrick Barber, national coordinator, Pro Ihe contribution was presented fessional African-American Market m Charleston, South Carolina at a regional training conference o f the organization. Thomas W. Dortch. Jr.. National President o f 100 Black Men, said, NationsBank has been a long-time supporter o f the ‘ 100 s' programs. This philanthropic contribution w ill Development for NationsBank "NationsBank partners with or ganizations like 100 Black Men to strengthen the com m unities we serve. These resources w ill not only benefit our communities, but w ill also benefit the individual members o f 100 Black Men o f American, Inc., as they go forward in their important w ork." NationsBank, through its Profes sional A frican-A m erican M arket Development Unit, formed in 1996. is committed to assisting African- Americans in wealth accumulation, management and preservation f ollow ing its January 17. 1997 merger w ith Boatmen s Bancshares. Inc . o f St. Louis, MO, NationsBank has primary retail and commercial banking operations in 16 states and the District o f Columbia. On a pro forma combined basis. NationsBank had total assets of approximately $227 b illion at year-end. 100 Black Men o f America. Inc., through the development and sup port o f 60 chapters in 27 states, works to improve the quality of life for African Americans and other citizens and Io enhance educational opportunities lor youth. The 01 ganization has mentored more than 60.000 young men and women in its 34 year history Re cently, the 100 Black Men pledged to mentor an additional 120,000 youth by the year 2000 to the President's Summit on Am erica’ s Future. Railroads economic impact on Oregon Oregon's freight railroads con tributed more than $200 m illion d i rectly to the state economy in 1995 through wages and retirement ben efits to current and former railroad workers in the state, according to figures released by the Association o f American Railroads (A A R ). In addition, the AAR noted, the jobs o f thousands o f Oregonians de pend on the safe, efficient and envi ronm entally sound transportation that railroads provide to link O r egon business, industry and agricul ture with markets throughout the nation and the world Payrolls for the 2.867 active O r egon freight railroad employees to- taled $142 m illion in 1995. Oregon railroad employees are near the top o f the U.S. wage scale, with average individual salaries o f $49,682. The railroad retirement system, which is separate from the social security sys tem, paid more than $121 m illion in retirement benefits to 11.500 ra il road retirees in Oregon and their families. In addition to the $263 m illion in wages and retirement payments, rail roads contributed m illions o f dollars more to the ( Iregon economy through the purchase o f goods and services from Oregon vendors, and the pay ment o f income, property and other taxes Unlike the highway and wa- Africans die early, Westerners live longer age or more, says me new u.rx. study, "D ie World Social Situa tio n." Ihe report points out that the lowest life expectancies are in A f rica. while the highest are in Eu rope. North America, Australia, Japan and New Zealand Rwanda, which experienced genocide in 1994, saw life expectancy decline from 46.3 years in the period 1980- 85 to 22.6 in 1990-95. Life expect ancy in Sierra Leone is 34.4 years. 39.4 years in Liberia, and 41 years in Uganda. The highest African life expectancies are in Botswana (54.3). Kenya (54.1). Cote d’ Ivoire (52.1), Congo (51.5) and Togo ( 5 1.0). According to the report, the average person in Japan lives the longest, reaching up to 79.5 years. followed by Iceland at 78 8 years, and Canada at 78.5 years. The overall figure for A frica is 5 1 8 years, for Asia 64.5 years, for Latin American 68.5 years. North America 76.2 years. Europe 72.7 years and Oceania 72.9 years. A l though there is no gender break down by country, the study says that on average women can be ex pected to live about fouryears longer than men. Lor the world, life expectancy for men is 62.2 years while that tor women is 66.5 years. In the more developed regions, this male-fe male disparity is as high as 7.6 years, whereas in the less devel oped regions, women live only three years longer than men. In North America, however, women's life expectancy improved by fouryears over the past decades, while male life expectancy improved by live years, thereby decreasing the male- female gap from 7.7 years to 6.7 years The male-female gap also decreased slightly in Africa, from 3.1 to 2.9 years. Mawampanga said •‘The rebels get more money now than Mobutu did before Money * as going into people's pockets, now it goes to the cause," added Koteeha Ramniklal. president o f Chamber o f day. Mawampanga promised tax con cessions to help them get started “ We don't have enough money, we don't have a lot o f resources... so there is only so much we can do with the means that we have, but we re try ing our best." the former I Iniver- sity o f Kentucky economist said in an interview But he claimed credit for "doing things that even for 30 years Mobutu d id n't do. W e've lowered taxes, we're rebuilding roads." Already, he’ s made it easier for Zairians to enter the lucrative gold trading industry by reducing gov ernm ent-required deposits from $200,000 to $1,000. As a re s u lt, s m u g g lin g has dro pp ed , tax rece ip ts are up. Commerce in Bukavu Under Mobutu, corruption was rampant Poorly paid officials taxed almost everything and demanded bribes from anyone who needed gov ernment services. None o f the money w as put in the treasury "W e inherited a disaster,’ said Anatole Bishukwabo, governor o f South K ivu. “ We have to re v ita l ize an enormous country that was neglected fo r a long time. That means starting again from the be g in n in g .” Space trash threatens satellites Cellular code breached A team o f computer security ex perts has cracked the electronic code meant to protect the privacy o f calls made with new digital cellular tele phones. The New York Times re ports Thursday The experts planned io announce the breach Thursday as a public w arn ing that the new phones may be no mote secure from eavesdropping than analog cellular phones in use the last 15 years, the Times said I ndependent security experts now say the code is so easy to crack that anyone w ith sufficient technical skills could make and sell a m oni toring device as easy to use as a police scanner. Technical details o f the security system were supposed to be a closely “ M o b u tu tr a n s p o r ta tio n " - is pleased that the rebels have per suaded com m unities to improve the torturous 125-mile track from Bukavu to W alikale, where he buys a lot o f diamonds. Mobutu spent so little on infra structure that most roads are nearly impassable Railways, airports and ferries are decrepit Telephones rarely work. At a meeting o f businessmen Thursday in Kisangani, Zaire's third largest city. Kabila’ s finance m inis ter, Mwana Nanga Mawampanga, was peppered with questions. M any wanted to know when the economy w ould boom and how to recover from the looting spree by government troops and c iv ilia n s before the rebels took over Satur- terway modes o f transportation, rail roads pay property taxes to state and local governments on their privately owned rights-of-way and are self- supporting. During 1995, Oregon ranked 16th in the U.S. in the number o f freight railroads ( 18), 3 1 st in the total num ber o f rail miles (2,445), and 40th in rail traffic (58 m illion tons). Railroads move more lumber and wood products than any other com m odity in Oregon, originating 5 m illion tons in 1995 America s railroads haul 4 1 percent o f all U.S. intercity freight ton-miles, far more than any other mode. Railroads are the environmen tally preferred mode o f transport and have improved their fuel effi- ciency by 60 percent since 1980. Using the same amount o f fuel, rail roads move a ton o f freight more than three times as far as a truck. Shipping by rail also eases highway congestion Since 1980. the rail industry has reduced train accidents by 68 per cent. According to the U.S. Depart ment o f Transportation, 1995 (the most recent year for which statistics are available) was the safest year in railroad history, bettering previous safety records in 1993 and 1994 in spite o f the fact that rail traffic was at an all time high. AAR is the w orld’ s leading rail road policy, research and organiza tion focusing on increasing the safety and productivity o f rail carriers. A half-inch diameter fragment, traveling at an average o f 17,400 miles an hour, can destroy a $100 m illio n satellite. N AS A has had to replace 50 tiles on its space shuttles that were damaged by scheduled to be launched over the next two years, 75 percent more than the previous two years Since "clean-up in space is nei ther technically nor financially fea sible. efforts must be directed to wards reducing and avoiding the creation ol space debris." the scien tists said Wednesday in a statement Only 5 percent o f the more than 10,000 trackable, man-made objects orbiting Earth are operational. The rest is debris from sources such as exploded rocket stages and old satel lites. In addition, an estimated 70,000 to 150,000 orbiting bits - smaller than 4 inches - pose an even bigger risk because o f their greater number, the statement said. liny debris. George Levin, a NASA spokes man, said the U.S. space agency supported international cooperation in monitoring the dangerous debris and w ill come up with recommen dations on how to collect such trash. Proposals include setting up a “ space cemetery” for out-of-service satellites, destroying the trash with lasers, or forcing it to re-enter the atmosphere so it burns up. The conference was organized by the European Space Agency. CRIME STOPPERS U.S. Postal Inspectors in Port land and the Salem Police Depart ment, in cooperation with Crime Stoppers, are asking for you help in locating and apprehending Sheila Melanee St. John. U.S. Postal Inspectors currently hold a Federal Arrest Warrant, charging St. John w ith possession o f stolen mail. In addition. Salem Police want to question her in con nection with checks stolen from the mail in the Salem area that are being forged and passed as tar north as King City Sheila Melanee St. John is a 22 y e a r-o ld w h ite fem ale (D O B 050774), 5'6, 150 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. I f you have any information re garding this case, call the Crime Stoppers Program Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward o f up to $ 1,000 for information, reported to Sheila M elanee St. John Crime Stoppers, which leads to an arrest in this case or any unsolved felony crime, and you do not have io give your name. Call either U.S. P o s ta l Inspectors at (503) 279- 2072. Crime Stoppers at (503) 823- ENTER TO WIN $1,000 and other great prizes! November 13 ,1996 through June 14 ,1997 Play MEGABUCKS DOUGH Second-Chance Drawing! Just send in four nonwinning Megabucks tickets from four drawings in a row for a chance to win these prizes each month: DO YOU REMEMBER? J k Ay VT 0 } When music was simple? When it made your spirit, mind& body move? We at Shawdon's Restaurant SC Lounge do every Sunday 5:30 pni to 10:30 pm Join us for a bit of Nostalgia See brochure available at Oregon Lottert) Service Centers for details. 1 st prize - $ 1,000 plus jacket ( I prize awarded) 2nd prize - $500 plus jacket ’ (1 prize awarded) 3rd prize - $ 100 plus jacket (5 prizes awarded) 4th prize - Megabucks Dough denim baseball jacket J CN, (25 prizes awarded) MEGABUCKS DOUGH KsSa S e c o n d -C h a n c e D ra w in g Send four consecutive nonwinning Megabucks tickets for drawings dated Novem ber 13, 1996, through June 14, 1997, w ith this entry fo r a chance to win! Enter as many times as you like. This entry is good fo r one drawing only. no cover charge hors D"O euvre 2 7 SC older please 2731 N. Killingsworth sc Greeley Portland, OR 5 0 3 -2 8 5 -4 1 4 4 Name & location of store where you bought your ticket(s): Send entry in a plain white envelope no larger than 4 " i" x 9 " i" to. MEGABUCKS DOUGH Second-Chance Drawing PO Box 14280. Salem, OR 97309.
