8A -The Michigan Daily -Thursday, March 25, 1999 NATION/WORLD 737 needs more than just redesign The Washington Post WASHINGTON - Two puzzling Boeing 737 crashes were probably caused when an abrupt rudder move- ment sent the planes spiraling into a dive that the pilots were powerless to control, a federal safety panel said yes- terday in a report that warned a redesign that previously was ordered for the world's most popular passenger jet is not sufficient. The National Transportation Safety Board's report came after eight years of painstaking and often frustrating inves- tigations into a series of 737 incidents, including a United crash in Colorado that killed 25 people in 1991, a USAir crash that killed 132 people near Pittsburgh in 1994 and a serious inci- dent involving Eastwind Airlines at Richmond, Va., in 1996. Unlike most crash probes, the board's conclusions yesterday were based only on circumstantial evidence, making officials skittish about demanding spe- cific technical changes in the 737's San Francisco drag queen. 'nuns' plan Easter party SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco's world-class reputation as a place where a guy can be himself- or herself, for that matter - has been sore- ly tested by a group of drag queens who dress like nuns. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are planning an Easter block party, an idea some Roman Catholics find offensive. In their glittery makeup and false eye- lashes, the "nuns" have shimmied and sashayed in their habits for 20 years, rais- ing money for AIDS, breast cancer, youth groups and gay rights since the 1980s. Block parties in San Francisco's mostly gay Castro District are common, and when the Sisters sought a permit to close down a block of Castro Street for a party on their anniversary, the request got unanimous approval from the Board of Supervisors earlier this month. But last week, the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights protested. Issuing a permit to a group that "mocks Catholics" showed "extraordinary insen- sitivity to people of all faiths," archdio- cese spokesperson Maurice Healy said. "Not everyone does exactly what the Catholic Church does or says on Easter. Sunday." - Sister Ann Key San Francisco nun planning on participating in the Easter ceremony; AP PHOTO John Sherbak and John Kretz take a break from the National Transportation Safety Board bearing yesterday in Springfield, Va. design. extremely rare cases, the board said a The board stressed that the 737 has malfunction in the valve that directs an excellent safety record. Chair Jim hydraulic fluid through the rudder sys- Hall said he regularly flies a 737 on one tem can cause the rudder to move in the leg of his frequent trips home to opposite direction than commanded by Chattanooga, and other board members the pilot. A rudder is the flat movable said they would have no problem plate at the end of the horizontal tail fin putting their families on a 737. that can direct the plane left or right, The board report was based on elim- although it is usually used only in tur- inating all the known possibilities until bulence or on landing in cross winds to only one plausible cause remained. In keep the plane on course. On Tuesday, Mayor Willie Brown and two other city officials backtracked, asking fellow supervisors to reconsider. "I would hope that the Sisters could select some other day on which to do their thing," Brown said. Supervisor Alicia Becerril proposed another date: April I1. But it turns out that's the day Greek Orthodox Catholics celebrate Easter. The Sisters said they're not backing down. The, party will go on, Sister Ann Key, one of the few women in the order, said yesterday. "Not everyone does exactly what the Catholic Church does or says to do on Easter Sunday," she said. The order came into being in 1979, when a couple of men got dressed in the habits they acquired while doing "The Sound of Music" and went out to the Castro on Easter Sunday. Today, there are about 30 active members - men and women, gay and straight - and they go by names like Sister Helle Wheels and Sister Reyna Terror. Some of their antics have raised the ire1 of Catholics, including an "exorcism" during the pope's visit in 1987 and their Condom Savior Mass. Timothy Kenney, principal at Archbishop Riordan High School, said in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle that the city's approval of the party "was an insensitive and fearful decision by a hypocritical board that i extremist and seeks to be 'politically correct' in their anti-Catholic decision." Conflict may delay hurricane aid Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ Composite for Week 3/18 -3124 Los Angelos Times WASHINGTON - The House yes- terday narrowly approved a bill to pro- vide nearly $1 billion in disaster assis- tance for Central American countries still struggling to recover from tropical storm Mitch. The Senate passed a similar bill Tuesday and lawmakers expressed hope that the measure - which also includes aid for U.S. farmers hit by economic hard times - could make money available in time for the spring planting season. But differences in the House and Senate versions of the legislation - as well as continuing disagreements between President Clinton and Congress over contentious side issues - may delay release of the funds for weeks. Indeed, the bill sets up the first budget confronta- tion of the year between Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress. ., The House approved the measure 220- 211, but passage came only after GOP leaders frantically twisted arms to win over conservative Republicans troubled because the cost of the aid package was not fully offset by cuts in other programs. But Clinton has threatened to veto the bill partly because of the cuts it would make in other programs - including U.S. backing for international develop- ment banks. MORE THAN 40,000 SERVED DAILY. THE MICHIGAN DAILY. 3/18 3/19 3/22 3/23 3/24 9,897.44 9,876.35 9,958.77 9,930.47 9,666.84 +124.60 -21.09 +82.42 -28.30 -4.99 2,412.25 2,381.54 2,431.45 2,439.28 2,365.28 +6.25 -30.71 +49.91 +7.83 +42.44 i - ; (Hong Kong Sfyle) cafeteria 510 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor, M ®® Highlights from the week: The launch of air strikes by NATO against Yugoslavia had no apparent effect on the market. Traders are keeping an eye on the events in Kosovo, but for the time being said they were not concerned that NATO air strikes would pull stocks lower. A sign of traders ease with the Balkans sit- uation appeared late Tuesday as bond prices firmed, and the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond eased to 5.53 percent from 5.54 percent. Technology stocks, hit hard Tuesday, recovered some lost ground yes, terday. Heavily weighted in technology shares, the Nasdaq, recently has been weaker as investors worried that companies in the computer-related industry would report disappointing first-quarter earnings. What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average? The DJIA represents 30 stocks traded on the New York Stock - Exchange (NYSE) and are all major factors in their respective industries. These stocks are widely held by individuals and institutional investors. Many financial advisers think of it as a good indicator in telling whether the NYSE is doing well or poorly. What is the NASDAQ Composite? The NASDAQ is the fastest growing stock market in the U.S. due to it being a screen-based stock market, compared to a trading floor market like the NYSE. It also has almost all of the technological stocks available for trading, which has proved to be a very volatile industry in the last couple of years. - Compiled by Daily Stuf Reporter Kevin Magnuson from wire reports..' I 48104 BUSINESS HOURS Mon. - Sat. 11a.m. - 10p.m. Sunday 12 Noon - 9p.m. Tel: 747-6662 Fax: 747-6620 I. 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