11 ra z y _ Tit) 4A The Michigan Daily -Tuesday, October 3, 1995 - 7 M France vow Australia, New Zealand, Environmental groups protest break In testing moratorium PAPEETE,Tahiti (AP)-Emboldenedbyluke- warm reaction to its second nuclear test in the South Pacific, France reaffirmed its commitment yestirday to press ahead with more underground The environmental group Greenpeace called trnday's test beneath Fangataufa Atoll in French Polynesia "an enormous affront." Australia and New Zealand lodged formal protests with the Frenchgovernment, and New Zealand again called in the French ambassador there. . 'the United States andotherkey allies merely 'erssed "regret" at the test, and Britain and I Opxany reacted with indifference. "I haven't heard any demands - I've only heard regrets," French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette said at a meeting of European foreign n1inisters in Luxembourg. Premier Alain Juppe said yesterday that France will conduct up to six more tests and "be among the first" to sign a global test ban treaty next year. President Jacques Chirac has promised to sign the treaty after the tests, which he contends are sf and necessary to check France's nuclear rsenal and develop computerized simulation tests. "The test Sunday was more than five times stronger than the first one, the French Defense Ministry said yesterday. The ministry issued a terse statement, saying only that the blast was "less than 110 kilotons." New Zealand seismologists estimated the blast was about 100 kilotons and produced a shock wave equal to a 5.9 magnitude earthquake. The Sept. 5 test on nearby Mururoa Atoll mea- sftrd less than 20 kilotons, slightly larger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshimain 1945. The tests are conducted about a half-mile below ground. .'~elatest blast was widely believed to be a test afth TN-75 warhead for France's new subma- rih&aunched nuclear missile. The Foreign Ministry repeated yesterday that France might shorten the series of tests, now planned to end by June, if it gets enough informa- tion from the first few blasts. But environmental groups and the nations of the South Pacific have reacted angrily to the tests, which break athree-yearmoratorium. The world's lter nuclear powers, except China, have not td nuclear arms since 1992. J; s a wrong call for France politically and it is fepponsible environmentally," said New 'Zeiland's prime minister, Jim Bolger. unday's blast also provoked swift condemna- 'tion from the prime minister of Australia. Japan, Russia, the United States, Chile, Sweden and the European Commission expressed "re- gret," while Germany and Britain - Europe's othnuclearpower-carefully avoided criticiz- ing the blast. "if the French decide there is a need for tests be~ee a comprehensive test ban treaty, that is a wtQir for them," the British Foreign Office said '4~ Ettement- . e White House defended its reaction. "The d of the word 'regret' in respect to one of our close European allies is strong indeed," said presi- dential spokesman Mike McCurry. rs to press on with nuclear testing Top court rejects abortion chaenge WASHINGTON (AP) - The Su- preme Court cast aside a broad chal- lenge to federal limits on abortion-clinic protests as its 1995-96 term began yes- terday with a blizzard of paperwork but without the chief justice. Giving abig victory to abortion-rights advocates, the court let stand rulings that said the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act does not in- fringe on anyone's freedom of expres- sion or religion. With Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist home recuperating from back surgery, the court turned away more than 1,500 appeals. In other action yesterday, the court: Ruled that the way Tennesseeelects the 33 members of its state Senate does not illegally dilute black voters' politi- cal strength. Black voters had argued that a 1992 redistricting plan violated the federal Voting Rights Act. Rejected the appeal of Prof. Leonard Jeffries, who was ousted as chairman of a New York college's black-studies department after he was accused of making a bigoted and anti- Semitic speech. Refused to hear an appeal by Charles Keating, convicted of fraud and racketeering in the most expensive sav- ings and loan failure in U.S. history., Keating had sought review of rulings that require him to repay $36.4 million to the collapsed Lincoln Savings & Loan. Turned down the appeal of two California men who say they were vic- tims of unconstitutional, excessive force when police dogs pursued and bit them. The challenged abortion-clinic law makes it a crime for anyone to block, hinder or intimidate someone who seeks to enter. Although yesterday's action was not a ruling - and therefore not necessar- ily the definitive word on the law's validity - it was a key setback for anti- abortion activists. Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice called the court's action "very disappointing," but said his organization would continue chal- lenging the federal law. "The Supreme Court missed an im- portant opportunity to strike down a law that has turned the First Amend- ment on its head and crippled legiti- mate, peaceful protest," Sekulow said. Ar PPHOT Special police officers confront Greenpeace members, dressed up as a nuclear bomb and as French President Jacques Chirac, in front of the French Embassy. Q&A: Jacques Cousteau criticizes French leaders, atomic bombs Los Angeles Times ( put it, "He can't avoid us forever." PARIS - Jacques Cousteau had risen at 4 (Nuclear testing) Question: Let's begin with the hot political a.m. to polish a speech and then spent the day in (N ceissue of the moment. What is your opinion of the editing room, .working on yet another doce only means improving President Jacques Chirac's decision to resume mentary. It was after sunset when the 85-year-- nuclear tests? oldFrenchoceanographeremerged,butthenight bombth at are meant Answer: I'm not a nuclear specialist, but I was young. I know what I'm talking about. I was one of the "The day rarely ends before I11 p.m.," he said. to kill opl ,, directors ofthe Marine Radioactivity Laboratory "I have a dinner tonight at 9:30 until I-don't- of the International Atomic Energy Agency for know-when with the director-general of - Jacques Cousteau 25 years. We measured the radioactive fallout UNESCO." French oceanographer, film-maker ' from the atmospheric tests done by the Russians After more than six decades of traveling, div-' and Americans during 1972-1973, and so there I. ing, writing and producing films, Cousteau, as weight here..For years now, opinion polls have ' got quite an experience. his schedule suggests, still has plenty of energy ranked him among the most-respected French I have all my life been against atomic bombs left for a good fight. And that is bad news for the figures, second only to .Abbe Pierre, another and for complete nuclear disarmament. I have French government. octogenarian who is an advocate for the home- never approved of these tests, because they can Since June, when President Jacques Chirac less. only mean improving bombs that are meant to decided to resume nuclear-weapons tests in the Cousteau's battle with the French government kill more people if you use them. There is no South Pacific, Cousteau has become a vocal isn't his first. In 1960, Cousteau and Prince question about that. critic, calling the tests "an unavowed menace to Ranier of Monaco opposed France's plan to Q: What about the argument that Chirac makes future generations."A few days ago, he and other dump radioactive wastes into the Mediterranean -that these tests will make the world a safer members of a presidential advisory group, the Sea, evcntually forcing France to abandon the place by giving the French scientific community French Council for the Rights of Future Genera- plan. a better understanding of its nuclear weapons? tions, abruptly resigned, en masse, in protest. This season's battle, though, is tougher. Chirac A: Bull, the scientific community. We don't Ofcoursethe French government faces world- shows no signs of calling off the tests and, so far, want any kind of atoric weapons. Chemical wide protests. But criticism from the slender, he has declined to meet Cousteau and others on weapons have beenoutlawedby all the nations of gray-haired Jacques-Yves Cousteau carries great thepresidential advisory council. But,asCousteau the world. Bacterial warfare has been outlawed. Daschle's Medicare plan calls for lower premiums in 1996 1. -7 From Daily Wire Services WASHINGTON - Further raising the stakes in the par- tisan battle for public opinion over Medicare reform, the Senate's top Democrat yesterday unveiled an alternative plan that would allow seniors to actually pay less in premi- ums in 1996 but would cut Medicare's spending growth by about a third as much as the Republican proposals. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said he intends to offer his plan as a substitute to the GOP bill when the controversy reaches the Senate floor later this year. He called the Republican proposal, which was approved Saturday by the Senate Fi- nance Committee, "radical and extreme," and said his proposal represents "a sen- 2" sible" alternative. It would reduce Medicare spending by $89 billion over 10 years--compared to the $270 billion in savings over rP seven years that the GOP is Daschle seeking. Both plans would achieve the savings largely through payment reductions to providers. Daschle said the spending reductions in the Republican blueprint go "way beyond what is necessary" and would cause "a Medicare meltdown." At a Capitol Hill news conference, Daschle added that his plan would not require seniors to pay more in co-payments, premiums or deductibles. The Senate minority leader's plan was the third Demo- cratic alternative to be announced in less than a week - a good barometer of the growing Democratic resolve to scale back both the Republican Medicare proposal and the $245 billion GOP-proposed tax cut. For months now, Democrats have been doggedly fighting the Republican Medicare plans, characterizing the proposed reductions in the annual growth of spending as too severe (from about 10 percent to 6.4 percent) and inappropriate at a time when the GOP also wants to enact such a large tax cut. Republicans have strenuously argued that there is no connection between the two, but the unrelenting Democratic Congress votes to deny welfare to non-citizens WASHINGTON (AP) -- If Republicans get their way, people who renege on promises to support immigrant relatives could be forced to repay the government for any public assistance those family members receive. It's one way that Congress is trying to crack down on health and welfare benefits paid to more than a million non-citizens. Lawmakers may go even further and decide to bar lower-paid Americans from bringing immigrant family members into the country - a problem for military per- sonnel who marry while stationed abroad. The crackdown on legal immigrants who wind up on welfare is part ofa larger effort by Congress to cut federal spending by billions of dollars, undo the social programs of the New Deal and Great Society, and turn responsibility for the poor over to individual states.. The House passed its welfare overhaul in March; the Senate followed in September. Many specifics of the legislation must be worked out by House and Senate negotiators, but the bottom line is the "same: Millions of legal immigrants eventually will lose their right to receive a wide range of public benefits, from food stamps and cash to disability payments and non- emergency health care. Under both bills, the families who bring these immi- grants to the United States will beheldto the promises they, have made to support their relatives.Today, such promises ,,are not legally binding due to court decisions. People who sponsor an immigrant relative would be subject to a $5,000 penalty and required to notify authori- ties whenever the sponsors move. The sponsors also could be held liable.for the costs of any services or benefits provided to the immigrant by public assistance programs. of the tax cut because some conservative Republican sena- tors now harbor doubts about enacting the tax cut, which the House passed in March. "Some Republicans are finally hearing what we've been Reach your gol Study abroad T" he choices you make today build your prospects for tomorrow. Choose to study abroad. An experience in another country will help you to visualize, define and reach your goals. Take the first step and call for our free catalogs today. Specify Australia, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Austria, Mexico, or Peace Studies. 1.800.755.5607 I m