0 2A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 3, 2003 NATION WORLD Safety concerns beleaguer NASA NEWS IN BRIEF,, HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD f ' f .., ... 6 'c.y t WASHINGTON (AP) - Shortages of key experts, tight budgets and mounting safety concerns all plagued the nation's space program in recent years, according to a trail of reports by congressional audi- tors, outside panels and NASA retirees. How much of a forewarning they were to Satur- day's space, shuttle Columbia tragedy may be deter- mined in the next several weeks. NASA critics both in and outside the government and investigators into the accident are sure to comb the reports for anything that might explain the disinte- gration of the spacecraft nearly 40 miles above Texas as it screamed toward a landing in Florida at more than 12,000 miles per hour. As President Bush took office, the investigative arm of Congress found in 2001 that NASA's shuttle work force over the years had declined significantly to the point of reducing the agency's ability to safely sup- port the program. Many key areas were not sufficiently staffed by qualified workers and the remaining work force showed signs of overwork and fatigue, the General Accounting Office stated. There were other warnings, including a report to Congress last April on the shuttle program by a feder- ally mandated safety panel of outside experts which expressed "the strongest safety concern" in 15 years. "We just received a GAO report, I think last week, that looked at NASA's oversight of some of their pri- vate contractors and basically said it was inadequate, Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), said yesterday on CNN. Breaux and other members of Congress made clear yesterday that safety and the NASA budget will come under intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill this year, beginning today when the White House sends lawmakers details of Bush's priorities fo the agency next year. "Inevitably, there will be a discussion out of this about how much NASA should be funded, should there be another orbiter built, and in fact, has it been so poorly funded in recent years that maybe, just maybe it wasn't as safe as it should be?" said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), a former astronaut who flew aboard Columbia. The House Science Committee will take the lead in Congress's investigation of the tragedy, focusing on how much money has been devoted to the safety of the shuttle and other space pro- grams and whether the disaster could have been prevented with more resources. NEW YORK Lawmakers debate reimposing the draft During the Vietnam War, presidents and the Pentagon defended the draft, while the peace movement assailed it. As America edges toward a possible new war, roles have reversed. Backed by other opponents of a war with Iraq, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has proposed that the draft - shelved since 1973 - be reinstated in the name of "shared sacrifice." The Pentagon disagrees, insisting that today's all-volunteer forces are more efficient and professional than conscripts. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has gone further, asserting at a news confer- ence that draftees added "no value, no advantage" to the military because they served for such brief periods. After members of Congress and veterans groups protested, Rumsfeld apologized, but made clear he opposes a return to conscription. Still, Rangel's proposal - though unlikely to win passage - has revived a dor- mant national debate about the concept of mandatory national service. It is a dis- cussion that creates unusual allies and goes to the heart of American citizenship. While the Pentagon and the Bush administration support an all-volunteer mili- tary, a broad constituency favors some type of universal national service, either military duty or a civilian alternative. WASHINGTON Bush announces budget, proposes tax cuts President Bush will send Congress a $2.23 trillion spending plan today featuring new tax cuts to boost the economy, a conservative tilt to major social programs and record deficits for the next two years - shortfalls that Democrats blame on Bush's tax cuts. White House budget officials said yesterday the president's tax and spending blue- print, complete with dozens of agency briefings, will roll out as scheduled despite Sat- urday's space shuttle disaster. Bush's budget outline for the 2004 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, is required by law to be sent to Congress the first Monday in February. The numbers and spending priorities undoubtedly will change somewhat over the next several months as Congress acts on his request. The Columbia tragedy certainly will prompt added scrutiny to the president's spend- ing proposal for NASA, which has come under heavy criticism from Congress in recent years because of cost overruns for the orbiting space station and other programs. Bush's budget also will seek to overhaul some of the government's biggest social programs, like Medicare. S 0 Reports of a lack of resources in NASA programs could lead officials to finding out the cause of Saturday's shuttle crash. 13th Asian Business Conference 0'*'managing VEi WN J IOM EJ A & Rediscovering University ., ..February 7-8 2003 Buuinas School Iraq, U.N. inspectors prepare for talks BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Just days before a crucial round of talks with chief inspectors, a senior Iraqi official said yesterday that Baghdad is "keen to resolve any pending issues" in the U.N. search for banned weapons, but didn't immediately offer new conces- sions. Maj. Gen. Hossam Mohamed Amin indicated, nevertheless, that Iraq may have compromise proposals on hand for the talks next Saturday and yester- day with Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei. "We shall do our best to make his (Blix's) visit successful," Amin told reporters. Iraq, which steadfastly denies it has forbidden arms, is under pressure to make concessions and show progress in the U.N. inspections process, to forestall any U.S.-British diplomatic bid for support for military action against Baghdad. In his news conference, Amin, the chief Iraqi liaison to the U.N. inspec- tors, also dismissed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's plan to present purported evidence of prohibited Iraqi.. weapons programs to the U.N. Securi- ty Council on Wednesday. That material will probably be "fab- ricated space photos or aerial photos," of a kind the Iraqis could refute if given a chance to study it, Amin said. "It is a political game," he said. President Saddam Hussein is expected to have more to say about the U.S.-Iraqi confrontation in a rare inter- view, conducted yesterday with retired British lawmaker Tony Benn. Benn said the taped interview would be tele- vised within a day or two. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Blix and ElBaradei, head of the Interna- tional Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accepted an Iraqi invitation to return for a new round of talks just ahead of their next report to the Security Coun- cil, on Feb. 14. It will be the second round of Baghdad talks for Blix and ElBaradei in three weeks. The two chief inspectors say they hope to see Iraqi movement before- hand on two immediate issues: U.N. reconnaissance flights over Iraq, and U.N. access to weapons scientists in private interviews. Asked whether Iraq was prepared to bend to the U.N. position, Amin instead repeated Baghdad's positions on both items. The Iraqis say they will allow Amer- ican U-2 surveillance flights on behalf of U.N. inspections as long as the United States and Britain halt air patrols over southern and northern Iraq while the spy planes are in the air. This way, they say, Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries won't mistake the reconnais- sance aircraft for U.S. and British war- planes and fire on them. In their Jan. 19-20 talks here, the chief inspectors "told us they have no authority to achieve this," Amin said. On private interviews with scien- tists, Amin reiterated to reporters, "We cannot force them (scientists) to con- duct such interviews." American officials contend Sad- dam's government has threatened death for any scientist who grants a private interview. New inspections began in Novem- ber, after a four-year gap, to check for any leftover weapons and to ensure that such programs haven't been revived since the U.N. teams departed in 1998. The Bush administration insists, without presenting proof, that Iraq is 1.. h~n ,v 1nnmadA vnnnnrvr A nnw ,ci LAGOS, Nigeria Dozens dead, 32 hurt in bank explosion A powerful explosion tore apart a bank and dozens of apartments above it yesterday in Nigeria's crowded commer- cial capital, killing at least 40 people and trapping many others, relief workers said. Police were investigating a range of motives - including that the blast was part of a bank robbery plot. Looting and bloody fights broke out as hundreds of young men grabbed fistfuls of cash from the leveled bank and battled over them. In the chaos, trapped victims cried for rescue and onlookers wailed as rescuers retrieved bloody, broken bodies. The Red Cross said searchers had recovered more than 30 dead and 32 injured. Ten of the wounded died later at Lagos General Hospital, hospital workers said..,, Many more victims were believed caught in the rubble, and the death toll could rise, said Emmanuel Ijewere, pres- ident of the Nigeria Red Cross. HEBRON, West Bank Israeli army levels Palestinian homes The Israeli army, citing a lack of building permits, demolished nine houses belonging to Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron yesterday, leaving dozens homeless. In another development, dozens of Palestinian inmates rioted at an Israel army prison in the southern desert, and soldiers used tear gas and stun grenades to subdue them, the army said. There was no immediate word on casualties. 0 In Hebron, Palestinian families hur- riedly dragged refrigerators and sofas out of the houses before Israeli bulldoz- ers, guarded by soldiers, began knock- ing down the walls. The families said they had received notices months ago that the houses would be demolished, but had not known when the work would begin. A total of 22 homes were to be destroyed yesterday, all because they allegedly were built without permits, said Talia Somech, a spokeswoman for the army's Civil Administration. MOSCOW Russia launches ship in wake of NASA cras Russia launched an unmanned cargo ship to the interhational space statioji yesterday, a day after the loss of the space shuttle Columbia threw into doubt future missions to the orbitiggcomplex. The Progress M-47 lifted off atop a Soyuz-U rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:59 p.m. and entered orbit a few minutes later, said Nikolai Kryuchkov, a spokesman at Russia's mission control center outside Moscow. The craft is scheduled to dock with the station tomorrow, delivering fuel, equipment, food and mail for the three- astrdnaut crew - a Russian command- er and two Americans. The long-planned launch came as stunned Russian space officials offered condolences for the astronauts - six Americans and one Israeli - killed when the Columbia disintegrated short- ly before it was to have landed Saturday morning. - Compiled from Daily wire reports. 4 President, Asian Institute of Management Former Minister of Finance, The Phillipines The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily's office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $105. Winter term (January through April) is $110, yearlong (September through April) is $190O. University affiliates are subject to a reduced.subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscrip- tions must be prepaid. 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