2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 26, 1997
NASA gives the go for Mir mission
-CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)-- With just hours
to go before liftoff, NASA gave the go-ahead yester-
day to put another American aboard the ramshackle
Mir space station despite pressure to back out before
someone gets killed.
Space shuttle Atlantis was scheduled to leave as
planned on a night flight with astronaut David Wolf.
NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin insisted his
decision was not based on emotion or politics, but
rather science. He relied on two concurring, last-
milute safety reviews conducted by outside
experts.
"In light of the increased scrutiny and heightened
emotion, I can assure you: This intensely rigorous
intenal and external review of the shuttle-Mir ana-
lyied thoroughly risk, readiness and, foremost, safe-
ty,".oldin said.
Ti recent weeks, NASA had come under increasing
pressure from members of Congress and others not to
put another American aboard. But U.S. and Russian
space officials had warned that if the United States
pulfed out, it would be an insult to Moscow that could
jeopardize the project -to build an international space
station.
Wolf didn't learn for certain until late Wednesday
that he would be flying to Mir for a full, four-month
stay. Earlier, he had given Goldin "a resounding yes"
when asked if NASA should press ahead.
"It's going to be a fun mission. It's going to be
great," shuttle-Mir program manager Frank
Culbertson quoted the 41-year-old, never-married
Wolf as saying.
During its 10-day flight, the shuttle will bring back
Michael Foale, the fifth American to live on Mir.
Foale has spent 4 1/2 months aboard the space station.
In addition, Atlantis and its crew of seven will deliver
a new computer along with other repair gear and
urgently needed supplies.
Gen. Yuri Glazkov, deputy commander of the cos-
monaut training center near Moscow, insisted that he
would never send anyone to Mir and "expose him to
danger."
"Some people of the media say it's Russian roulette,
something like that. It's not roulette," Glazkov said.
"It's Russian ability to assess the situation. It's Russian
courage and self-assurance."
Goldin said there are always risks in spaceflight,
and NASA officials are "deeply touched" by the pub-
lic interest in the flight and fears for the Mir astro-
nauts' well-being.
But "the decision to continue our joint participation
aboard Mir should not be based on emotion or poli-
tics,' he said. "It should not be based on fear. A deci-
sion should be based - and is based - on scientific
and technical assessment of the mission safety and the
agency's ability to gain add experience and knowledge
that cannot be gained elsewhere."
Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, chair of the House
Science Committee, which opposes sending more
Americans to Mir, said he does not believe Goldin was
unswayed by U.S.-Russian relations. What's more, he
said he hopes the safety evaluations are "not a NASA
whitewash of the many significant safety risks aboard
Mir."
"We have learned from the Challenger accident that
ignoring safety warnings can lead to tragedy and a set-
back of space exploration for years," the congressper-
son said.
NASA's own inspector general also has questioned
the safety and value of Mir, especially since a June 25
collision that ruptured a lab module, wiped out half
the U.S. experiments and cut power on the 11 1/2-
year-old station.
NASA already has paid most of the $472 million to
send astronauts to Mir over the past two years. Space
officials contend it is money well spent in order to
avoid problems on the international space station, to
be assembled in orbit beginning next summer.
01.AROUND THE NATIO6N
Albert pleads guilty, is fired from NBC
ARLINGTON, Va. - After three days that put the details of his kinky sex life
on trial, Marv Albert pleaded guilty yesterday to assault and battery charges that
could bring him a year behind bars and perhaps a lifetime of humiliation. WitIin
hours, NBC fired him.
"From my point of view, I just felt like I had to end this ordeal,"Albert said outside
court in a weary voice after agreeing to a deal in which prosecutors dropped the m
serious charge of forcible sodomy, which carried from five years to life in prison.
Albert was accused by a longtime lover of flinging her onto a bed, viciously bit-
ing her back and forcing her to perform oral sex in an Arlington hotel room Feb.
12 because she failed to bring another man into their bed.
His plea came a day after a surprise witness came forward with similar accusa-
tions: that Albert - wearing white panties and a garter belt - bit her on the neck
and tried to force her to perform oral sex on him during a 1994 struggle in a Dallas
hotel room that left her holding the sportscaster's toupee.
"The significance of that testimony is profound," Arlington Couwty
Commonwealth's Attorney Richard Trodden said outside court.
As he left court, Albert thanked NBC for standing by him. But less than fou
hours later, the network issued a statement saying it had terminated its relationsh
with Albert.
r i n r r r. r rrr ir nr
.warx, ..
TISCH
Continued from Page 1
Being on campus brought back fond
memories for Tisch, who met his wife,
Joan, on the steps of the Hatcher
Graduate Library. He was an under-
graduate student at the University from
1944-48. He joked about his memories
of the University, adding that his
biggest complaint about Angell Hall
used to be that the seats were too far
apart from each other. for him to copy
from his future wife's notes.
Tisch is co-chair of Loew's Corp., a
firm with an annual revenue of $20 bil-
lion that includes Lorillard tobacco,
hotels, watches, clocks, insurance and
oil and gas drilling.Tisch also has start-
ed a University philanthropic fund,
endowed a professorship in Judaic
studies and supported University
Hospitals.
LSA senior Sora Moon, captain of
the women's varsity tennis team, said
the new facility already has helped the
tennis teams recruit potential players
and has made practices more conve-
nient for players.
"All in all, this building will help us
maintain our position as the leaders and
the best," Moon said. Before the new
courts were built, the teams practiced at
private tennis clubs.
Moon said she hopes the facility
will build more student support for
tennis.
"I think a lot of people just don't
know what it's like to watch a tennis
match and if we get them out here, they
might enjoy it," Moon said.
- Daily Staff Reporter Chris Metinko
contributed to this report.
IRS agents alleg
agency wrongdoing
WASHINGTON - IRS agents,
faces hidden and voices scrambled to
protect their identities, told senators
yesterday that pressure to increase col-
lections is distorting the nation's tax
system and trampling taxpayers' rights.
The agency's head apologized for past
wrongdoing and promised reform.
"Statistics drive the organization....
The tail wags the dog;' one Internal
Revenue Service inspector testified as
the Senate Finance Committee conclud-
ed three days of hearings featuring hor-
ror stories alleging tax agency abuses.
The inspector and the five other
secret witnesses, concealed by devices
usually reserved for organized crime
hearings, also asserted that the agency
retaliates against whistleblowers and
does too little in investigating internal
misconduct.
"Retaliation in our office is almost
on a daily basis," said another wit-
ness, described as a long-term rev-
enue officer.
! AROUND THI
Indonesian fires
cloud Southeast Asia
JAMBI, Indonesia - The smoke is
so thick it stings the eyes and burns the
throat, making the simple act of breath-
ing a chore. It's impossible to see
beyond 50 feet and the sun seems to
have disappeared.
All across Southeast Asia, people
are struggling to cope with an
unprecedented ecological disaster
caused by hundreds of forest fires in
Indonesia.
The fires - many of them delib-
erately set as a cheap way of clearing
land - have been burning for
months, creating a cloud of smoke
that covers an area more than half
the size of the continental United
States.
Known as "the haze," it has made
life miserable for millions of people,
not only in Indonesia but also in five
other countries where it has sent air
pollution levels soaring: Malaysia,
Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines and
Thailand.
The high-rise office buildings of
Still another witness, identified as a
criminal investigator, said the agency's
"climate and culture" often hinders
investigations of employee wrongdo-
ing. IRS managers have weakened
administrative sanctions to the point
"where they have no effect in conti
ling employee misconduct;' the witner
said.
Researchers say
ifants learn in crib
WASHINGTON -Better watch your
language around the cradle. Babies as
young as 8 months can hear and remem-
ber words researchers have discovered.
Peter Jusczyk of Johns Hopkj
University said new research shows that
reading to children at such an early age
can start the process of learning lan-
guage.
"As you are sitting there reading, the
child is learning something about sound
patterns of words," he said. "That is
important because they learn how
words are formed and it helps them to
segment sound patterns out of speech."
E WORL
Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, are
barely visible. Some beach resortslm;:
southern Thailand are blanketed, -
Airports across the region have been
closed. Many schools have been sh
down.
But nowhere is the smoke worse than
in this town of 300,000 on the
Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Albright says Israeli
response not helpfu
UNITED NATIONS - Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright yesterday s
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's defiance of her request to
freeze Jewish housing on the West Bank
was "not helpful" for peace.
Albright had urged suspension of
new housing construction less than two
weeks ago in her first Mideast mission.
But on Wednesday Netanyahu brushed
her appeal aside and disclosed plans to
build about 300 housing units on a dis,-
puted site adjacent to Efrat, a JeWis
settlement 12 miles south of Jerusalem
- Compiled from Daily wire reports.
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REDEEMER LUTHERAN CHURCH
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1360 Pauline Boulevard
Robert Hoepner, Campus Pastor
SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:30 AM
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NEWS Jod S. Coahe, Mag g ditor
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EDITORIAL Erin MgJ
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SPORTS Nicbola J. CptsmuIka, Maagbg MiitWr
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-m a 1e I r m i 1 r !TaT n1/ l ': TT A E raT
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