------- Index of Articles
NUCLEAR
Let the Future of a Nuclear-free Asia Begin in Taiwan!
Los Alamos, N.M., Fire Victims Still Unsettled
MILITARY
Man Sentenced on Arms Export Charge
Coca Conflict in Colombia Snares the Innocent
KUWAIT ARRESTS GROUP IN ANTI-U.S. PLOT
Request for Proposals to Partner in the Development of Space.TV
Iraq Says UN Embargo Is Collapsing
USS Cole To Be Repaired in Miss.
Vietnam diplomat asks war-related U.S. aid
Salutes, Some Skeptical, as Schools Go 'Bolivarian'
OTHER
California alternative energy companies profit from utility crisis
Get set for tailpipe testing
Police killing might be swept under rug
After 25 years, founder of Red Army arrested
ACTIVISTS
Judge: State police must turn over notes from GOP convention
TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING
-------- NUCLEAR
-------- taiwan
Let the Future of a Nuclear-free Asia Begin in Taiwan! --
Support the decision to halt Taiwan's 4th Nuclear Power Plant.
Please help us spread this petition.
Urgent! Please send your endorsement to tean-mail@uclink4.berkeley.edu
(Please reply ASAP, preferrably before November 10, 2000!)
From: Wen-Ling Tu <wtu@uclink4.berkeley.edu>
An unprecedented victory for anti-nuclear groups in Taiwan occurred on October 27, 2000 when the Taiwanese government halted the construction of a fourth nuclear power plant on the island's northeastern coast. However, this victory may be short-lived if the opposition's strong appeal for a recall of the government's decision is realized. An umbrella organization of over 100 NGOs, drawing with them approximately 200,000 supporters will gather in Taipei for an anti-nuclear demonstration on November 12, 2000.
The construction of NPP4 on Taiwan is not just a matter of economics, as the opposition would like people to believe. Rather, it is about the lives of millions of people on Taiwan and across Asia. Halting the construction of NPP4 is the first step to curtailing nuclear exportation in Asia. It is about choosing an alternative model of political and economic development. It is about long-run sustainable growth, rather than short-run power supplies that fuel business operations.
Taiwan Environmental Action Network (TEAN) appeals to environmental/social justice organizations/ activists around the world to join forces in solidarity with green and anti-nuclear groups in Taiwan to protest against the construction of Nuclear Power Plant No. 4 (NPP4).
To show your support, simply reply to tean-mail@uclink4.berkeley.edu with the following information
Name of Organization: Contact Email: Contact Address: Organizer's Name:
Sincerely,
Taiwan Environmental Action Network (TEAN) - a project of International Environmental Protection Association - http://tean.formosa.org http://tc.formosa.org/projects/noNuke/statement.htm
Contact us at tean-mail@uclink4.berkeley.edu or tean-com@formosa.org
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Taiwan: anti-nuclear victory may be recalled
An unprecedented victory for anti-nuclear groups in Taiwan occurred in late October 2000 when the Taiwanese government halted the construction of a fourth nuclear power plant on the island's northeastern coast. However, this victory may be short-lived if the opposition's strong appeal for a recall of the government's decision is realized. An umbrella organization of over 100 NGOs, drawing with them approximately 200,000 supporters will gather in Taipei for an anti-nuclear demonstration on November 12, 2000. Proponents of a nuclear-free Taiwan will carry a sunflower, symbolizing solar energy and a smiling face. International Environmental Protection Association-TEAN (Taiwan Environmental Action Network) appeals to environment organizations around the world to join forces in solidarity with green and anti-nuclear groups in Taiwan to protest against the construction of Nuclear Power Plant No. 4 (NPP4).
The power plant, which will use two Japanese-made advanced boiling water-type reactors, was originally scheduled to begin operation in 2004 and to generate 2,700 megawatts of electricity once fully operative.
Corporate conspiracy involves U.S. nuclear industry
This is a joint project of General Electrics Corp. along with Japanese corporate giants, Hitachi, Mitsubishi and Toshiba. In 1999, Taiwan has three nuclear plants (six reactors); nuclear power accounted for 27 percent of the electricity generated by Taiwan Power Corporation. The aftermath of Chernobyl has taught the West to begin the phase-out of commercial nuclear reactors and other dangerous nuclear technologies. Yet, these same governments, often in partnership with multinational corporations are exporting nuclear technologies abroad, this time to less and newly developed nations. For example, the United States nuclear industry has placed ample pressure on Taiwan's new government popularly elected only in April 2000, to reverse the decision to scrap NPP4. GE has won billions of dollars worth of contracts in the controversial $US 5.6 billion project, and is doing everything it can to keep the project alive. Nuclear threat, not economics Environmental justice is breached with the construction of NPP4. The nuclear waste issue tops our concerns. The consequence of an additional nuclear plant on Taiwan is far more out-reaching than many would expect. A Japanese researcher, Hiro Komura, a professor at Shizuoka University's Department of Engineering conjectured that with prospects slim for the construction of further nuclear power plants in Japan, the nuclear power industry is attempting to survive by exporting plants to other Asian countries, beginning with the construction of NPP4 in Taiwan. The construction of NPP4 on Taiwan is not just a matter of economics, as the opposition would like people to believe. Rather, it is about the lives of millions of people on Taiwan and across Asia. It is about long-run sustainable growth, rather than short-run power supplies that fuel business operations. The Taiwanese populace is concerned about the scarcity of energy sources on Taiwan - many have been persuaded by proponents of nuclear power to believe that without the construction of Nuclear Power Plant No. 4, Taiwan would not be able to sufficiently meet the energy consumption needs of industry and the general public.
IEPA-TEAN seeks to dispel such a myth: according to the estimates of Taiwan Power Corporation, Taiwan has reserve power supplies at the rates of 19.2%, 17.7% and 12.5% through years 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively. These reserves are in fact greater than reserves of any year in the past decade. (In 1993 reserves were 4.2%; in 1996, 5.6%; and in 1996, 7.7%.) Therefore, even forgoing the construction of NPP4 and in the absence of alternatives, Taiwan will not have to worry about power supplies for at least 7 years to come.
If the construction of Nuclear Power Plant No. 4 continues, it is estimated to produce a total of 992,500 barrels of low-level radioactive nuclear wastes and 7,313 metric tons of high-level radioactive nuclear wastes, along with Plants Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in forty years' time. The Taiwan government concedes that at the moment there is no viable solution in Taiwan (or elsewhere) to deal with additional hazardous wastes.
Viable alternatives exist
However, the current Taiwan government is committed to promote alternative measures through the Ministry of Economics in order to provide sustainable electric power for generations to come. The government has already proposed to open up power generation to private operation and to promote liberalization of the industry. Alternative plans will diversify and decrease the risks of supply shortage, benefit regional balance in electric power, increase demand internal to the industry and create employment opportunities. IEPA-TEAN applauds this move to alternative energy sources. History of dumping Taiwan already has a history of haphazard dumping of toxic wastes both on the island and abroad. Taiwan currently stores the nuclear waste already generated on Orchid Island, home to an indigenous minority under grave threat of cultural extinction. Recent attempts at dumping wastes on cash-strapped neighbors like North Korea and the Marshall Islands fortunately have proven unsuccessful. Urban structures built upon cobalt-laden bars still today have people living in them. The source of these bars has yet to be established, but the tragedy shows in the most graphic possible terms how the Taiwan government has failed in its responsibility to properly handle radiation contamination problems. These violations of basic human rights are unacceptable to the international community. The construction of NPP4 would only exacerbate these and like problems of environmental concern. Politics in control, not the environment An environmental concern has turned intensely political. The Kuomintang, the previous authoritarian ruling party now the opposition, has joined forces with other opposition parties to co-opt the current unraveling of events surrounding the construction of NPP4 to fuel political fervor against the newly elected government. The Kuomintang Party, New Party and People First Party not only demand for the recall of the current government's decision to halt the construction of NPP4, but also for the impeachment of the newly elected president and vice president! IEPA-Taiwan condemns such politicking and urges international organizations to join us in support of a nuclear-free Taiwan.
Endorse a nuclear-free Taiwan, Asia
Let us stand in solidarity with Taiwanese environmental NGOs as they march through downtown Taipei to support the government's decision and counter the opposition's demand for the continual construction of NPP4. The promise of a sustainable nuclear-free Asia begins in Taiwan.
-------- u.s. nuc facilities
-------- new mexico
Los Alamos, N.M., Fire Victims Still Unsettled
Washington Post
Thursday , November 9, 2000 ; Page A18
By Heather Clark Associated Press
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48609-2000Nov8?language=printer
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. -- As flames neared his home last spring, Norman Hamer packed a suitcase with some clothes and drove off, thinking he would return in several days. Six months later, he still has no permanent place to live.
The 57-year-old systems engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory discovered his three-story frame home had been destroyed while watching a television news broadcast on the Cerro Grande Fire at a friend's house.
"It feels sort of like a lump of acid in your stomach," he said. "Everything I had in my whole life is gone. . . . I don't even know if I have a picture of my father and my mother."
Hamer and his wife, Ann, are among 400 families who lost their homes in the blaze, which was started by the National Park Service on May 4 as a controlled burn to clear brush in the nearby Bandelier National Monument.
Within days, strong winds swept the fire toward Los Alamos--home of the national nuclear lab--and 25,000 people were evacuated.
The blaze scorched more than 47,000 acres in northern New Mexico's Jemez Mountains. It took more than two months to bring the wildfire under control. Losses are estimated at $614 million.
An independent review board report released in late May found that National Park Service personnel failed to follow their own guidelines for prescribed burns.
And now, six months later, survivors are rebuilding homes, seeking compensation from the federal government and dealing with the pain of losing nearly everything they owned.
George and Linnea Sarwinski, both in their seventies, grabbed clothes, a few pieces of jewelry and their children's artwork and embroidery as they fled their north Los Alamos duplex, which burned to the ground.
Today, just three houses remain on their street. There are gaping holes where people once lived and clear views of mountains where towering Ponderosa pines once stood.
"It's basically just down to dirt," said Anna Swertfeger, the couple's 44-year-old daughter. "There's hardly any trees."
About a quarter of the fire survivors have started rebuilding. Many have rented apartments or houses while they wait for compensation.
In July, President Clinton approved a $661 million measure to compensate the victims; $455 million of the money was used to set up a fire assistance fund.
As of Oct. 31, $8.1 million from the fund had been distributed, said Ricardo Zuniga, a federal fire claims office spokesman.
"People are weighing their options, seeing what kind of financial compensation they're going to get and then deciding whether they're going to rebuild or do something else," he said.
The Hamers, who rented a house in Los Alamos, will move to nearby Santa Fe, where Ann Hamer teaches elementary school. The couple said they can't bear to return to their scorched lot, which brings painful memories.
Hamer still regrets he didn't take a box of family photographs to his brother's house last Christmas, as he had planned.
"Those are the things that really eat into you. You sort of kick yourself afterward," he said.
For Bev Katcher, 77, the demolition offered one reward: A builder found her diamond wedding ring among the remains of her duplex.
She and her husband, Joe, 75, are still wrangling with an insurance company and fear having to borrow money.
"You know what the biggest problem is?" Katcher asked. "Sleeping. I don't know if we got that way because of the fire, but it seems like something's still bothering us."
Most mornings, the couple finds themselves wide awake at 3 a.m.
"I pray to my dear God to help us. Pray for us, pray for everyone," said Bev Katcher, tears brimming in her eyes.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has proposed a speedier way of compensating victims by offering them a base rate of $160 per square foot for a single-family home plus additional money for appliances, landscaping and belongings, said David de Courcy, the Santa Fe-based director of FEMA's compensation program.
While FEMA has gotten high marks so far from most fire victims, questions about compensation abound.
How much are Joe and Bev Katcher's 500 Indian-head pennies worth, not to mention rare antiques or decades-old trees that graced many lots?
De Courcy said FEMA plans to remain flexible on compensation.
While fire victims have little reason to trust the federal government, which started the blaze, most are no longer resentful.
The Sarwinskis' daughter says her parents have started replacing golf clubs and stocking up on kitchen gadgets.
"They've been doing remarkably well, considering," she said. "They were kind of down when it first happened, but they have accepted it and have gone on."
-------- MILITARY
-------- arms sales
Man Sentenced on Arms Export Charge
Associated Press
November 9, 2000 Filed at 8:19 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-BRF-Arms-Arrest.html
BOSTON (AP) -- A Chinese-Canadian accused of trying to send missile guidance system parts and other weapons to China was sentenced Thursday to 2 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to violating U.S. export laws.
Collin Xu admitted he tried to ship optic gyroscopes to China without State Department permits. The parts are used in a variety of weapons, including so-called smart munitions, missiles, aircraft guidance systems and tank turrets.
Xu, a naturalized Canadian citizen, lived in Montreal and was charged along with Yao Yi, a Chinese citizen and president of Lion Photonics Inc., a Beijing-based company. Yao's case is pending.
Xu and Yao were caught in a sting operation by customs agents who posed as export brokers in Boston.
Xu was also sentenced to three years' supervised release after his prison time, unless he is deported to Canada. He could have received 10 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.
-------- colombia
Coca Conflict in Colombia Snares the Innocent
New York Times
November 9, 2000
By JUAN FORERO
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/09/world/09COLO.html
SAN MIGUEL, Colombia, Nov. 6 - The 16 cars were lined up in a row, their drivers pushed to the side of the road at gunpoint. Then the rebel leader waved his weapon and gave an order, "Get the gasoline, and start lighting."
Moments later, one vehicle after another was ablaze, with black plumes of smoke filling the blue sky. The Colombian guerrillas, AK-47's hanging from their shoulders, ran from exploding Toyota jeeps and old Ford trucks as the stunned owners watched silently.
The drivers had merely wanted to pick up some food and fuel in neighboring Ecuador and return to their homes. But in doing so they had flouted the most basic of laws here in Putumayo, a Vermont-sized province of coca-growing jungle and a crucial battleground in the country's civil conflict. The Marxist rebels have banned everyone from traveling Putumayo's rocky roads, strangling the local economy.
The upheaval underscores the challenge that President Andrés Pastrana faces as he works with the American government in imposing a $7.5 billion plan to curtail the lucrative coca trade and weaken the rebels.
For all the financial and military aid that Washington is providing, much of the countryside in Putumayo is controlled by the rebels. Guerrillas patrol the smaller communities, and their roadblocks have resulted in dwindling food supplies in many communities.
Guerrilla checkpoints - typically a handful of men standing by the side of the road with AK-47's and jugs of gasoline - seem to pop up anywhere. Behind every turn a driver risks losing his car or worse.
"They just took it, and this is all I have, these keys," said Javier Pimiento, 22, who was only a few hundred yards inside Colombia from the bridge to Ecuador when he was ordered from his car. "I feel terrible. I can't even bring food home. They have a conflict going, but why get us involved?"
The rebels are unfazed by the fact that the villagers they profess to support have suffered in this latest of several vehicle burnings. They justified their actions by saying the drivers had been ferrying military provisions.
This sparsely populated corner of the country has become hotly contested because about half of Colombia's coca crop is grown here. With the province a major focus of the government's anti-drug plan, American-trained counterinsurgency battalions, working with the national police, will by next year take aim at the drug traffickers and laboratories that process coca leaves into the paste used to make cocaine.
But it won't be easy, the government concedes.
Col. Gabriel Díaz, commander of the Colombian military's 24th Brigade in Putumayo, said the burning of cars and trucks by the guerrillas was intended to make it more difficult for the government to attack the cocaine industry.
"They want the people to feel hunger," the colonel said, "and possibly provoke a protest and a confrontation with the government forces."
For their part, the rebels say the destruction is meant to send a message to the government in Bogotá: rein in the paramilitary gunmen. Paramilitary forces have been battling the rebels in Putumayo in a series of ferocious skirmishes since September.
"We have to show them that we're a force," said a rebel leader who goes by the nom de guerre Olbani. "That we're capable of paralyzing the whole country."
He accused the Colombian forces of working with the notorious paramilitary gunmen of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, who are the main challengers to the rebels' control of the coca fields here. Human rights groups say the Self-Defense Forces are responsible for widespread massacres of villagers and have ties to rogue elements in the military, a charge the government has long denied.
The stranglehold has been especially hard on towns like Puerto Asís, La Dorada and La Hormiga, which the rebels say are hotbeds of paramilitary activity. Asserting that the government has not done enough, despite airlifts to ease the food shortages, officials from across Putumayo are planning to travel to Bogotá in a convoy of cars, possibily on Sunday, as a sign of protest.
But many people have given up on living here. At least 1,100 refugees now live in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, all but 38 of them in the homes of relatives or friends, according to the relief organization that has coordinated shelter for them. An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 more have avoided the roadblocks by traversing Ecuador and re-entering Colombia through the western province of Narińo, where many have roots.
José Pablo Pascal, who fled La Dorada on Saturday to join his wife and five children in Ecuador, is now sleeping on the concrete floor of a friend's kitchen, next to a sack of potatoes and the refrigerator.
"What terrorized us was the fear," Mr. Pascal, 42, said. "You didn't know if when you went to sleep that something wouldn't happen. You couldn't even sleep."
At a small house in Lago Agrio that is sheltering eight families, refugees said that they were afraid of being attacked by guerrillas or paramilitaries operating in their communities.
"We were in the middle of the conflict, and so we had to get out," said Roberto Rosero. "Where we were, we had guerrillas and then just over the bend were the paramilitaries, and they were fighting all the time."
Relief workers in Ecuador have been working to complete four other shelters, which together will be able to house 230 people.
"We think that the problem is just starting, and it's going to get worse," said Gribaldo Cueva, one of the workers. "With the combat between the guerrillas and the paramilitaries in the countryside, more people will be coming."
Both the rebels and paramilitaries appear firmly established and prepared to fight for months on end. In the countryside, guerrillas are such a presence that they have taken part in the meetings farmers have lately held with local officials to discuss coca eradication efforts. In towns like Puerto Asís and La Hormiga, meanwhile, residents quietly point out the paramilitary gunmen drinking at the local bar or enjoying a snow cone in the town plaza.
The government, though, does have a presence, and engagements between soldiers and rebels are not unusual. This year, 22 guerrillas have been killed by the military in combat in Putumayo and 16 others have been captured, said Colonel Díaz, reading from the latest battlefield reports. But he acknowledges that his forces cannot be everywhere.
On Sunday, just a day after the burning of the cars, government counterinsurgency troops could be seen patrolling on foot stretches of road that rebels had occupied the day before. Near the community of El Tigre, a patrol leader was asked why the military had not stopped the rebels from burning the cars.
"We couldn't get there fast enough," he said. "It's too far, and you can't take the road anyway because of the ambushes."
-------- kuwait
Morrock News, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2000
THE MORROCK NEWS DIGEST
Fast, free and independent http://morrock.com
KUWAIT ARRESTS GROUP IN ANTI-U.S. PLOT: Kuwaiti officials said Thursday that three suspects were arrested in a plot to attack unidentified U.S. targets in the region, and explosives and hand grenades were seized. Those arrested were Kuwaitis. A North African linked to the group was said to be still at large. Others who were arrested initially were released.
-------- space
Request for Proposals to Partner in the Development of Space.TV
SPACE MEDIA NETWORK
Space.TV is a new venture of SpaceDaily.com the leading international space site.
Space.TV is focusing on the development of broadband space media with the goal of building the number one 24/7 global space tv channel.
To achieve this we are seeking proposals from firms, organizations and individuals who would like to partner with us in building Space.TV into a profitable long term enterprise. Our primary need at the moment is to establish partnerships with advertising sponsors who would like to make use of a golden opportunity to be the founding advertisers of Space.TV.
The following is a brief series of questions that should be incorporated into your proposal.
RFP: Space.TV - October 2000
Contact Name: Organization: Email Address: Direct Phone:
Do you have production capabilities and the ability to supply Space.TV both turnkey and stock material? YES NO MAYBE
Industry Sector: (tick all that apply - add details if useful)
- Space Tourism - Media Publisher: - Media Production: - Individual (describe specific skill set) - Launch Provider: - Satellite Maker: - Telecommunications: - SubSystem Supplier: - IT/Software House: - Financial Services:
- Immediate Partnership Interest:
- content supply - advertising sponsorship - software/hardware development - financial - redistribution of space.tv - workers
Please describe how your organization can work with Space.TV to achieve specific business goals for both our organizations.
Please submit your RFP to Simon Mansfield at simon@spacer.com.
Join Space.TV Today.
------------------------------------
Why Space.TV
Space.TV is being produced by Simon Mansfield, who brings 15 years experience to making money out of media products with a science and technology bent.
Most recently, this has been SpaceDaily.com - a business that has been profitable for over two years and now commands viewers originating from virtually every Internet domain within the space and military industrial complex the world over.
Now it's time to go and entertain the general public - or at least the space cadets and the huge K-12 markets - with a mix of television-style content packages that can reach a global audience. Over time we expect to develop a mix of channels to reach different demographics, supported by archive packages that have a high reuse value.
Our primary need at the moment is to establish partnerships with advertising sponsors who would like to make use of a golden opportunity to be the founding advertisers of Space.TV.
Long term recognition will be provided for this, ensuring your marketing investment provides an ongoing return as audience levels build. A semi-exclusive arrangement is also available for the next 12 months to 36 months depending on the terms.
Additionally, we need to partner with companies within the space industry who can work with us to create ongoing content that is engaging and interesting.
On a broader level we are interested in co-production opportunities with companies active in the movie, television and gaming industries. The possibilities here are limitless with Space.TV perfectly positioned to capture the public's attention with the right projects.
The business will initially be entirely advertising sponsorship supported utilizing the latest in broadband advertising techniques. Longer term, additional revenues opportunities will be possible via non-Internet media distribution.
We look forward to your proposals and will provide NDAs where appropriate following initial discussions.
Proposals should be directed to; Simon Mansfield Executive Producer Space.TV email: spacetv@spacer.com tel: 61-2-9360-2257
-------- u.n.
Iraq Says UN Embargo Is Collapsing
Associated Press
November 10, 2000 Filed at 3:29 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-US-Iraq-Sanctions.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It seemed like an unremarkable event -- 11 Russian oil experts departing on a flight from Moscow last September. But this was no ordinary flight because its destination was Baghdad. The trip appeared to flout U.N. economic sanctions against Iraq and has emboldened other countries to follow suit, with dozens of visits since then.
``The embargo has started fizzling,'' Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said recently.
Robert Kagan of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace agreed, saying, ``The international sanctions regime is collapsing.''
The State Department disputes these assertions, cautioning against overemphasizing the importance of the increased traffic at Saddam Hussein International Airport.
``The basic sanctions regime remains in place and continues to work,'' said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
He says the Iraqis can bring an end to sanctions -- imposed 10 years ago in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait -- by meeting the standards for weapons inspections and monitoring that are spelled out in U.N. Security Council resolution 1284.
But there have been no weapons inspections in almost two years, and Iraq has shown no inclination to allow their resumption. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan plans to talk to Iraqi leaders about that at a meeting of Islamic countries starting Sunday in Qatar.
The U.S.-led coalition of countries that liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation is now moribund. The Clinton administration, perhaps influenced by the lack of an international consensus to do battle with Iraq again, rarely mentions Iraq's refusal to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors.
Although the issue received minimal attention during the U.S. presidential election campaign, Kagan said he believes the next president will face an Iraq crisis.
``During the next administration, Iraq will get a missile and mount something deadly on it, which will have a cataclysmic effect on an already unstable Middle East,'' he said this week.
But Hans Blix, who heads a revised U.N. weapons inspection team that Iraq has spurned, says he does not believe Saddam has been trying to rearm.
For the time being, Saddam seems to be riding higher than at any time since the sanctions were imposed. He is benefiting from high oil prices, and a recent international trade fair in Baghdad left the impression among some that he is overcoming his international isolation.
According to Iraqi estimates, the fair drew foreign trade officials from 12 countries and 18,000 businesspeople from 45 countries.
Some were hoping to expand exports to Iraq under an exception to the sanctions that lets Iraq export oil as long as the proceeds are used to buy food, medicine and humanitarian goods for its people.
Others were positioning themselves to do business with Iraq once the sanctions are lifted. More than 100 French companies took part in the fair.
The Clinton administration has been fighting the increasingly widespread view that the Iraq sanctions are hurting the Iraqi people more than the Iraqi regime, a position embraced by Russia and France, both Security Council members.
Just days after the Russian flight landed in Baghdad, France gave the green light for a chartered Paris-Baghdad flight carrying some 60 physicians, athletes and artists.
The State Department, calling it a ``blatant violation'' of the sanctions regime, says that legally, international flights destined for Baghdad must be on a humanitarian mission and have prior approval from the U.N.'s Iraq sanctions committee.
France, along with Russia, says Security Council resolutions only require countries to notify the committee of a proposed flight, not to get its explicit approval.
Since the Russian and French flights to Baghdad, dozens more have followed, including some that have not sought committee approval.
-------- u.s.
USS Cole To Be Repaired in Miss.
Associated Press
November 9, 2000 Filed at 8:45 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-BRF-USS-Cole-Repairs.html
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) -- The bomb-damaged USS Cole is headed to a Mississippi shipyard for repairs, officials said Thursday.
The Navy plans to repair the $1 billion Cole, a guided-missile destroyer, at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula and return it to service. The repairs would begin in January and take a year to complete; the Navy said the work could top $150 million.
Ingalls, a subsidiary of Litton Industries Inc., built the Navy destroyer in 1995. The Navy said it selected the Pascagoula facility because the 505-foot Cole requires extensive repairs and its workers are experienced in building Aegis-class destroyers. Bath Iron Works of Maine, which also builds destroyers, will assist Ingalls in the repairs.
Seventeen sailors were killed and 39 others were injured when the Cole was bombed Oct. 12 in Yemen. The ship is being transported back to America aboard the heavy-lift ship Blue Marlin. The trip began in late October and is expected to take five weeks.
The Cole's crew will remain in Norfolk, Va.
-------- viet nam
Vietnam diplomat asks war-related U.S. aid
Washington Times
November 9, 2000
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://208.246.212.80/world/worldscene-200011921146.htm
HANOI - Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien called for more U.S. aid to deal with the consequences of the Vietnam War yesterday just days before President Clinton's landmark visit here next week.
Mr. Nien acknowledged that Washington had launched several humanitarian projects in Vietnam since the establishment of diplomatic relations five years ago, particularly in the field of flood relief.
-------- venezuela
Salutes, Some Skeptical, as Schools Go 'Bolivarian'
New York Times
CARACAS JOURNAL
November 9, 2000
By LARRY ROHTER
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/09/world/09VENE.html
CARACAS, Venezuela - Nothing in the behavior of the students at the Simón Rodríguez primary school signals that they are participants in a vigorously contested social experiment. As they wait for the morning bell to summon them to classes, the children scamper about and tease one another, or affectionately cluster around and hug their principal.
But the principal, Marco Aurelio Fernández, is an army colonel wearing a khaki uniform decked with medals, and the school was built by army troops on the grounds of Fort Tiuna, the biggest military base here in the Venezuelan capital.
That can only mean that this is a "Bolivarian" school, part of the educational vanguard of the social revolution that President Hugo Chávez has promised to the 80 percent of Venezuela's 24 million people who live in poverty.
Critics of the country's leadership contend that this school and more than 500 others like it are the most troubling sign of a creeping militarization of the government since Mr. Chávez, a former army paratrooper, took office in Feb. 1999.
Current or former military officers occupy governorships, Congress seats and cabinet posts, and recently Mr. Chávez has even appointed generals to run both the state oil company and its American-based subsidiary, Citgo.
Writing in the daily El Nacional, Jesús Sanoja Hernández, a political commentator, described the process under way here as a generalized "devaluation of the civilian and the disqualification of the meritocracy."
Teachers' groups have protested the intrusion of soldiers into the classroom. One teachers' leader, Alberto Lovera, said the approach was based on the fallacy that "the militarization of the supervision of schools is going to resolve all problems" in education.
But Mr. Chávez, who as an army colonel led a coup attempt in 1992, regards the new schools and their "integrated education" program as one of his government's most important initiatives. The military has the staff and resources to make the improvements he wants, and he is more comfortable with it than with other institutions.
"These are measures we are going to accelerate," he vowed in a speech in August, saying that, criticisms aside, he intends to "increase the number of Bolivarian schools by 200 or 300 percent" by the end of this school year.
As María Estrella Uribe, the organizer and first national coordinator of the program, put it: "For a long time, the state has not played its proper role in education. We want to develop our country and give it an aware, committed and conscientious citizenry." Presumably to inspire that citizenry, the project is named in honor of Simón Bolívar, the father of Venezuelan independence and Mr. Chávez's main intellectual influence.
Mr. Chávez has taken a special interest in the Simón Rodríguez school, named for the educator who was Bolívar's mentor, and has held it up as a model. The student body, 620 pupils in grades one through six, is split between the children of military officers and residents of the poor and violent squatter slums on the hills above the military base.
In contrast to other Venezuelan public schools, this and other Bolivarian schools offer a full-day program, including after-school care. At no cost, pupils are fed breakfast, lunch and a snack and also receive health care from a team of two pediatricians, a social worker, a nutritionist and four psychologists who report to Colonel Fernández and his "military support group."
"We think of the army as the people in uniform, but this is certainly a new role for the armed forces," said Colonel Fernández, a cartography and geography specialist who met Mr. Chávez when both were cadets. "We have had to change from warriors to teachers, to put down the rifle and pick up the book."
In most cases, the classes are still taught by civilians, and the military is supervising the schools. And for the moment, the Bolivarian schools still "have the same curriculum as regular schools," Ms. Uribe said. But, she added, "work is now being done to update and adapt the schools to the new Constitution and the needs of the nation," a prospect that has generated further discord.
The Constitution, drawn up to Mr. Chávez's specifications last year, makes the teaching of "Bolivarian ideology" obligatory in all schools. But it is Mr. Chávez, a left-leaning populist, and his government who define what is Bolivarian and what is not, much to the alarm of a group of experts that includes leading Bolívar scholars, educators and even retired generals.
"All Venezuelan schools are by definition Bolivarian schools, because all Venezuelans are Bolivarians," said Guillermo Morón, one of the country's leading historians and educators. "As I see it, this initiative of President Chávez's is purely political, and could be very dangerous because it opens the way to ideological indoctrination and militarization."
There have already been disputes over textbooks on Venezuelan history, which critics contend were about to be rewritten to suit Mr. Chávez's views. "He wanted to convert the history of Venezuela into something uniformly negative," Dr. Morón said, "as if the country were only now emerging from 500 years of uninterrupted ills and corruption, but the outcry has made him back off for now."
Critics have also complained about proposals to require military training in the schools, ranging from courses in "national identity and sovereignty" to instruction in the use of the compass and weapons. But Héctor Navarro, the minister of education and the son of a military officer, has defended the move, arguing that "this instruction will contribute to the vocational orientation of youth."
Ms. Uribe dismissed fears of militarization as exaggerated, saying that such quasi-military training programs are not new, and are in any case restricted to students in higher grades.
"We're not going to have kids marching in formation," she promised. "We want our students to get sports and recreation, and the military are there to help us do that."
Concerns about state indoctrination have only grown, however, since Fidel Castro of Cuba visited in late October. An "integrated cooperation accord" that he and Mr. Chávez signed on Oct. 30 calls for Cuban educators to help Venezuela in "the consolidation of the Bolivarian schools" through joint teacher training and curriculum development programs.
In addition, a foundation affiliated with the Ministry of Education recently sponsored a nationwide essay contest whose topic was "Che Guevara, Example for Youth."
Mario Villegas, a Ministry of Education spokesman, dismissed the criticism that followed the announcement. "The minister thinks the decision to extol Che Guevara is correct," he responded, because Guevara, the theorist of the Cuban Revolution, "is a figure of dignity and global stature."
In any case, poor neighborhoods here and elsewhere around the country welcome the arrival of military units that repair old, nearly abandoned schools or build new ones equipped with computers and television sets. Reservations have been overshadowed.
Although this school is already at full capacity, when the academic year began in September more than 1,600 more families wanted to enroll their children, Colonel Fernández said.
"The press says the government is militarizing the classroom," he added, "but that is not what is happening here at all. Low-income parents want their children not to be discriminated against, to have discipline and good nutrition and to be able to study in a safe, calm and healthy environment. Education is the only way to change a nation, and that is what we are doing here."
-------- OTHER
-------- alternative energy
California alternative energy companies profit from utility crisis
Thursday, November 9, 2000
By Dan Weisman, North County Times, Escondido, California
http://enn.com/news/wire-stories/2000/11/11092000/krt_altenergy_40012.asp
San Diego County's status as an energy disaster area has propelled the few North County, California, alternative energy companies into seeing green - green as in environmentally friendly systems and green as in increased income.
"Business has picked up tremendously," said Mark Snyder, whose Mark Snyder Electric has been a North County leader in alternative energy systems since the mid-1980s.
"We have a lot more systems going in now," Snyder said. "Right now the demand is as great as it was for Y2K, maybe higher. We had a half-dozen calls a day before interest died down over Y2K Then it was maybe 2-to-3 calls a week. Ten out of 10 of them want to cut their bills. We start with energy efficiency and of those 10 have been selling to 50 percent of them."
Solar energy systems are far and away the most popular with North County homeowners. Wind powered systems and other "off-the-grid" energy solutions are hardly used locally. Not enough wind around here for windmills and continued issues about efficiency and costs with other systems, said Snyder, who sells those systems mainly in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
"Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency," Snyder said as he looked across his self-built home on 20 hilltop acres overlooking the San Pasqual Valley. The Snyder place also has an extensive "permaculture" farming operation that uses no chemicals and is aided by a dozen distinct ecosystems that enable the growing of apples, blackberries, artichokes, guava, papaya and hosts a healthy flock of free range chickens, among other delights.
"Efficiency is really important," Snyder said. "The average home can have energy-saving appliances, evaporative cooling and solar panels and save on 50 percent of the power used in the home. We generally tie solar panels and utility inter-ties with an overall efficiency program."
Typical job: $10,000
The standard solar energy units Snyder sells can provide 8,000 watts at a time through 4-panel solar units installed on the roof. A typical installation costs around $10,000 with a new state "buy down" program providing a $3-a-watt subsidy that accounts for about 30 percent of the costs.
Considering a 25-year lifespan for the units, Snyder calculates the costs end up at 12 cents a kilowatt while the current rate for conventional energy stands at 13 cents a kilowatt.
Of course, this summer, as San Diego Gas and Electric squared off in a newly deregulated market, North County energy consumers found rates exploding from 4 cents per kilowatt to more than 21 cents per kilowatt. Snyder has built a significant presence in the alternative energy marketplace with 15 to 35 employees - depending on available jobs - and contracting projects in 22 states.
Alternative energy accounts for 25 percent to 30 percent of the business, generates $150,000-$200,000 annually and has tripled in the last year, Snyder said.
"I think next year it will continue to increase," Snyder added, referring to new commercial work, remodels, and project roll-outs handled by his company that generates much of its business from a network of informed customers and a MarkSnyderElectric.com Web site.
"When a solar power system is mounted on your home's rooftop, not only do you get electricity at a competitive price but you also avoid the distribution and transmission charges that now represent more than half of your monthly electric bill," Snyder added.
Snyder estimated that five or six companies now provide alternative energy systems that continue to evolve.
One of those is Horizon Energy on Mission Avenue in Escondido. Business has "always been busy," said office manager Carol Landry. "But now we're really busy.
"We have had so many inquiries we now have a seminar Wednesday nights at 6 p.m. for those," Landry said. "Most of the new inquiries have been about solar electric systems. We're installing one a week lately. We do service as well and are booked two weeks in advance right now."
Horizon specializes in 16-20 solar panel systems that generate 10,000 watts a day; 2,000 watts at a time, and cost around $26,000 with the state "buy-down" subsidies covering up to 30 percent of installation costs.
"We sell wind systems, too, for $600 - mainly to people in Mexico," Landry said. "Baja is always having brownouts."
The only other significant application of solar energy technology in North County appears to come in the form of pools. Swimming pool owners have increasingly turned to the sun for heating water and away from natural gas powered heating systems that now are found in the vast majority of pools.
North County companies specializing in installing solar panels for pool heating reported a heavy increase in calls about alternative power in general and a slight increase in overall business.
"We've gotten a ton more calls, probably because of the electric bills," said Lisa Esposito of Performance Solar of Escondido. "Overall, I think business has increased a little bit."
Ted Mount, owner of what is believed to be the largest solar energy contractor for swimming pools in the West, said his company, Natural Energy USA, had a lot of people calling about installations and business was increasing.
Mount said his company also fields several calls a day about solar power for homes and the company's Web site has "gotten a lot more hits."
Consumer interest in savings on water heating, in general, also have contributed to the company's doubling of sales in the last year, Mount said, adding the company projected doubling sales again this year.
The business, based near the Escondido Auto Park on South Vinewood Street, generated $2 million in sales last year, employed 35 people and is expanding into major Arizona and Nevada markets, Mount said.
"Solar electricity today for homes is too costly, so our main market is solar for swimming pools," Mount said. "The energy costs are so high people can't afford to heat their pools. With solar heat, they can heat the pool for nine months a year and using solar panels to heat (home) water can save 80 percent on their annual water bill."
Solar panels to heat pool water are installed in a day by a small crew and average around $4,255 an installation while installing a storage tank heating system that contains 80 gallons of hot water runs around $3,500, Mount said.
-------- environment
Get set for tailpipe testing
Your vehicle will have to pass inspection every two years - but you'll save on gasoline
Montreal Gazette
Thursday 9 November 2000
MICHELLE LALONDE The Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/pages/001109/4838107.html
Beginning in spring 2002, every light vehicle in the Montreal area will have to pass a $40 tailpipe test every two years, or be ordered off the road.
In the first year of the program, emission-related repairs will be capped at $200. But if the car, truck, minivan or motorcycle doesn't pass its next tailpipe test, the registration for the vehicle will not be renewed.
On the bright side, the program is expected to save motorists millions of dollars in gasoline and in wear and tear on their vehicles. It will also reduce smog and air pollution on the island, and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that experts say is causing climate change.
Environmental groups have been lobbying Quebec for more than a decade to make emissions testing obligatory for all motor vehicles.
The province announced its Action Plan on Climate Change last month, which included a commitment to phase in an inspection and maintenance program. Beginning in 2002, owners of light vehicles in the Montreal area, and owners of heavy vehicles across the province will be required to have their vehicles approved by a qualified emissions tester at a government-certified garage every two years.
Inspections Started
Montreal began inspecting its fleet of 2,300 vehicles this week, because the city expects the process of training testers, the testing itself and repairs could take until spring 2002.
In 2003, the program will be expanded to include light vehicles in other large urban areas in the province, and by 2004, all motor vehicles in the province will be required to undergo regular emissions testing. Thirty-seven U.S. states and two Canadian provinces - B.C. and Ontario - already have such inspection programs.
"Quebec has been slow to bring in a program, but we can profit from this delay," said Andre Belisle, president of the Association Quebecoise de Lutte Contre la Pollution Atmospherique. Belisle's association was commissioned by the government to conduct a $500,000 pilot inspections project. Its report in June 1999 recommended the province set up a regime of regular compulsory vehicle inspections.
Belisle said the province's delay allows it to learn from other jurisdictions which acted earlier. For example, other states and provinces brought in inspections for light vehicles first, even though heavy-duty vehicles are responsible for far more pollution than light vehicles. B.C. brought in its light-duty vehicle inspection program in 1992, Ontario in 1998 and both provinces brought in programs for heavy-duty vehicles last year.
The program is starting in Montreal because as a region, it produces by far the most motor vehicle pollution. There are 1.5 million motor vehicles on Montreal-area roads, and projections show 300,000 more will be on the road by 2007. Motor vehicles are responsible for close to 70 percent of total atmospheric emissions in the metropolitan region. They emit 90 per cent of the carbon monoxide and 50 per cent of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change.
Quebec will take four years to implement its program fully, to allow time to train and certify technicians and mechanics for emissions testing and the required repairs. This will avoid the "Ping-Pong" effect experienced in B.C. where motorists had to wait too long for testing and qualified mechanics were in short supply, Belisle said.
Use Less Fuel
Belisle estimated the tailpipe tests will cost about $40 for light vehicles (under 3,000 kilograms) and $50 or $60 for heavy-duty vehicles such as diesel-fueled trucks and buses. But studies show that well-maintained, energy efficient cars and trucks require much less fuel. He says the province as a whole stands to save $450 million in fuel per year through the program.
Montreal will have 200 of its 2,300 motor vehicles tested over the next few days, and pledged yesterday to have its fleet "clean" by spring 2002 when the law is expected to be in force.
The "opaqueness test" for diesel-fueled vehicles was being used to test city vehicles at a city-owned garage in Rosemont yesterday. Developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers, the test measures the quantity of particulate matter coming from the vehicle by placing a smoke-meter over the opening of the exhaust pipe while the engine is revved. A ray of light is sent through the smoke and the opaqueness expressed as a percentage of reduction in the intensity of the light.
The AQLPA estimates that one in six cars in Quebec does not meet air quality standards, and 80 per cent of pollution produced by cars can be attributed to cars that are poorly maintained.
-------- police
Police killing might be swept under rug
Montreal Gazette
Thursday 9 November 2000
LYNN MOORE The Gazette
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/pages/001109/4838372.html
Quebec's police-ethics committee might not delve into the fatal point-blank shooting of an unarmed shoplifting suspect in 1995.
A 22-day hearing that was to focus on the conduct of Constable Michel Garneau of Montreal Urban Community police was to begin today.
But Garneau is to enter a guilty plea to at least one of two charges arising from the death of Martin Suazo on the understanding that he will receive a 45-day suspension from the force.
Should the proposed deal fly, there would be no inquiry into a civilian death at the hands of police that has raised troubling questions.
The deal, reached between committee counsel Christiane Mathieu and Garneau's lawyer, will come as news to Suazo's mother, Lily Salinas. She is to arrive by plane from Peru sometime today to attend the hearings.
James Murphy represented Salinas at the coroner's inquest on Suazo's death and is handling a wrongful-death suit she filed against the MUC.
It has fallen to a reluctant Murphy to inform Salinas of the deal and pass along Mathieu's request to meet with her and other members of the family.
"I will not be attending any meeting with Mathieu," Murphy said. "If the family chooses to meet with her, it is up to them."
Murphy said he was told of the arrangement and the proposed penalty by Mathieu within the last week. Although Salinas will surely seek his assessment of Garneau's punishment, Murphy declined to say publicly whether he thinks it is sufficient.
Nor could he say whether it was the committee's usual practice to inform victims' families or other parties of plea bargains only after they've been worked out.
"I really couldn't tell you what is normal practice for the police-ethics committee," Murphy said. "It would appear to me a matter of common courtesy (to consult with interested parties about plea bargains). As to whether or not it's accepted practice, I have no idea."
Mathieu would not discuss the settlement yesterday. It is not clear how much weight a joint submission by the prosecuting lawyer and the defence lawyer carries with the committee.
"I will inform the committee (of the arrangement) before informing you (reporters)," Mathieu said.
Mathieu said today's session was to be a "preparatory conference" but she will seek an immediate adjournment. The session will resume after she has met with Salinas, she said.
Garneau's lawyer, Philip Schneider, said he has "no comment whatsoever" to make about the matter or his client.
The complaint before the committee, filed by Salinas in 1995 and endorsed by the Black Coalition of Quebec, alleged that Garneau used excessive force in the exercise of his duties on May 31, 1995, and used his firearm without the necessary care and judgment.
Suazo, 23, was fatally shot while on his knees, about to be handcuffed and surrounded by about a dozen MUC police officers. He and two other people traveling in a car had been pursued by a police cruiser after a store-owner complained that he had been robbed.
Suazo obeyed police orders to get out of the car on St. Laurent Blvd., near Norbert St. He was shot by Garneau's service revolver, a .357-calibre Ruger that went off about 30 centimetres from Suazo's head. He died the following day.
The ethics-committee hearing on the Suazo shooting isn't the only public window on the fatal shooting that is being closed this week.
Yesterday, Murphy said an out-of-court settlement has been reached in Salinas's $178,000 wrongful-death suit. That deal includes a confidentiality clause that bars him from disclosing its terms, he said.
Yves Manseau of the group Citizens Against Police Brutality has been following developments in the Suazo case since 1995. He closely monitored the coroner's inquest, which found that Suazo died as a result of an accidental gunshot and recommended improvements to police firearms training.
Yesterday, Manseau said he is "outraged" by the proposed muzzling of the committee hearing.
"We are in very muddy waters right now," he said. "When we look at all the circumstances surrounding the event and attempts to prevent us from knowing everything ... it is cause for great concern."
Manseau pointed to startling testimony by an MUC police officer during a pre-trial hearing of the wrongful death suit as one basis for his concern.
During a discovery hearing, Pablo Palacios, an MUC police lieutenant on leave from the force, testified that he fudged his initial report of the shooting because he did not want to "justify that which could be hard to justify."
In his initial account, Palacios - who wasn't called to testify at the coroner's inquest - saw absolutely nothing. But in 1998, during the civil suit, Palacios described a situation where substantially more physical force was used by Garneau in subduing Suazo than had been suggested.
Palacios testified that Suazo was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and dragged out of the car he was in. He said Garneau deliberately tripped Suazo and was kneeing him in the back when his pistol accidentally fired.
Palacios, who had been dubbed Dirty Harry for his unorthodox techniques of nabbing drug dealers, launched a $650,000 lawsuit against the police and ex-chief Jacques Duchesneau, alleging that Duchesneau defamed him in a series of interviews.
Manseau said his group will demand a public inquiry on the Suazo shooting.
-------- terrorism
After 25 years, founder of Red Army arrested
Washington Times
November 9, 2000
World Scene Combined dispatches and staff reports
http://208.246.212.80/world/worldscene-200011921146.htm
TOKYO - Police arrested a fugitive founder of the lethal left-wing Japanese Red Army yesterday, ending more than 25 years underground for a leader of a terrorist force blamed in a 1972 massacre at an Israeli airport and a series of other attacks.
Police captured 55-year-old Fusako Shigenobu as she left a hotel in the western city of Osaka with two companions.
"I'll fight on," Shigenobu shouted on arrival in Tokyo under heavy escort, raising her handcuffed wrists high in the air to give a defiant thumbs-up sign.
Shigenobu was arrested on a Japanese warrant accusing her of taking hostages in a 1974 attack on the French Embassy at The Hague, police said without elaboration.
Authorities in the September 1974 attack ultimately freed a jailed Red Army member in return for the militants' release of the French ambassador.
-------- activists
Judge: State police must turn over notes from GOP convention
CNN
November 9, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/11/09/gopconvention.protest.pol.ap/index.html
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- State police must turn over notes, memos and other investigation information regarding state troopers who posed as protesters during the Republican National Convention, a city judge ruled.
Staee police have a week to turn the information over to the defense lawyers for about 75 protesters arrested at a Philadelphia warehouse, Municipal Judge James M. DeLeon said Wednesday.
The activists' attorneys said the undercover officers may have overstepped bounds of privacy or legality by participating or encouraging demonstrators who have since been charged with misdemeanor conspiracy to obstruct highways.
Four state troopers pretending to be union carpenters spent a week undercover in the warehouse where activists were making giant puppets for use in street protests, city prosecutors have said in court. The troopers were gathering evidence used to raid the warehouse Aug. 1 and arrest everyone inside.
Defense attorney Bradley S. Bridge said in court that his clients had provided him with information suggesting that the troopers either broke the law themselves or encouraged others to do so.
State police attorney Joanna Reynolds said some of the information revealed by the judge's order might reveal infiltration methods or names of informants, but she said police would comply.
---
"DayTips.com" <info@daytips.com>
Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2000 04:36:24 -0800
TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING
Voters in Greensboro, N.C., have rejected a bond referendum that would've funded a civil-rights museum at a historic Woolworth's lunch counter where a national sit-in movement began in 1960. The $3.1 million would've been used to make a museum out of a Woolworth's store closed by the chain in 1993. But Skip Alston, a county commissioner who formed Sit-In Movement Inc. after the store was closed, said he hoped to obtain funding from other sources. The sit-in movement -- which has been called a turning point in the civil rights struggle -- was started by four students at North Carolina A&T State University as an act of civil disobedience in February 1960. The protest gradually spread and led to the desegregation of lunch counters throughout the South.
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