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NATION Page 6 THE BATTALION Friday, March 21, Microsoft division not imminen ay, March 24, WASHINGTON (AP) — The Jus tice Department appears to be retreat ing from demands in secret negotia tions to break up the Microsoft Corp., a concession that would dramatically improve chances for settling the land mark antitrust case. Microsoft has indicated it will not accept any settlement that divides the company, and U.S. Assistant Attorney General Joel I. Klein believes such a pun ishment may not be necessary to ade quately restrain what the trial judge char acter a breakup while anticipating a strongly favorable ruling from U.S. Dis trict Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson in the coming weeks. It also puts Justice’s stance at odds with some state attorneys general, who believe that only the harshest punishment is appropriate. New York’s attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, on Thursday praised Klein’s handling of the antitrust trial but ac knowledged that past cooperation be tween states and Justice “doesn’t mean we’re going to agree on every piece, every remedy.” Spitzer, who declined to comment on settlement talks, described a “healthy dy namic” among the 19 states and Justice debating punishments. Antitrust experts offered several ex planations why Justice now may be in clined to accept lesser punishment than a breakup as part of a settlement, even though the trial judge strongly has hint ed he will rule that Microsoft violated antitrust laws. Punishment worked out under set tlement could apply immediately to Microsoft — even before the next elec tion — without the uncertainty over the outcome of lengthy appeals. Gov ernment lawyers also could negotiate a punishment broadly enough they would apply to controversial practices that were not part of the current trial, such as Microsoft’s dominance in In ternet “server” software and in the market for word processors and spreadsheets. “What Justice has to balance is the benefits in the short run of having a set tlement'that might apply arguably to some things more long term that haven’t been litigated, against the more certain relief of a structural divestiture that Mi crosoft would oppose,” said Glenn B. Manishin, an antitrust lawyer who advo cates breaking up Microsoft. The Justice Department also faces an apparent dearth of support among the public and the technology industry to break up Microsoft, as well as active de bate among some attorneys general on their best course. Jackson bluntly told government lawyers in November that he would “not like to have to deal with divergent points of view” on proposed punish ments. Ohio’s Betty Montgomery, for example, said earlier that lawyers should seek prohibitions on Microsoft’s conduct, not a breakup. Microsoft has indicated it would never agree to any settlement that in cluded a breakup; the company’s chief executive, Steve Ballmer, i proposals “reckless and irresponi The first surprise suggestions! settlement might be possiblecameaj er this month after prominent fia analysts met privately with 1 new financial officer. Walter Winnitzki of Chase 1 brecht & Quist said afterward that lit lieved “there was a near-termoppi ty to have this settled, some I being given that they wouldn't have! change in culture or structure." But there also remain signsoftj tinned acrimony. Sounding far fromjl cated, Klein told a Senate subcon] this week that any remedy “o commensurate” with Microsoft';; gressive business practices. Also. Microsoft e-mailed a news ter to thousands of subscribers Weds day harshly critical ofthegovenmai described as “unseemly at best” Justo efforts to persuade industry leadeis support a breakup. It also deni breakup plans as “an extreme and® less resolution to the government!Ixas A&M fret titrust suit.” lining ways a Rising gas prices? NASA spacecraft damaged Costly fuel The latest surge in prices of gas and oil has greatly affected consumers, but prices are still lower than they were during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Here is a look at the average prices for oil and gas in 1999 dollars. Oil prices imported $70 per barrel 60 during routine testing oei PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — A S75 million NASA spacecraft designed to study solar fiares was heavily damaged when engineers mistakenly shook it 10 times harder than intended during a preflight test. The shaking cracked at least two of four solar panels on the High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, and tests were planned to find internal damage. Launch, which had been scheduled for July, will be pushed back at least to January. BY BLA The The 850-pound HESS1 probe is designedtoeipli the basic physics of particle acceleration andthetM release of solar flares from an orbit of 360 milestej Earth. It’s not clear whether any of the scientific iisli ments were damaged. HESSI’s engineers were cot dent that the spacecraft can be saved, said Mark He spokesperson for NASA’s Goddard Space FlightG ter, which is managing the mission. The60th-ranki nisteam (6-7, i % finding the For example, :kfromtheir9- e University o feating the enti lion of Oklahi 50 40 30 20 10 0 ml ’70 ’75 Gas prices Retail, regular 87 octane $2.50 per gallon ’80 ’85 ’90 ’95 ’99 2.00 1.50 0.50 ’99 Source: Energy Information Administration AP It’s the latest embarrass ment for the space agency and Jet Propulsion Labora tory, which last year lost two high-profile missions to Mars. The cause of the mishap was still under in vestigation, JPL spokes woman Mary Beth Murrill said Thursday. JPL engineers were performing tests on a shake table Tuesday to ensure the probe could "It continued to function even through the test. We know there are structural and other elements of the satellite that are still working." "It continued to fiuffi oun( i an( j i ost , even through the test, said. “We know there; structural and other eleK of the satellite that ares lomaStateUni (rsity yesterday, The Aggies v the University d Sunday befor It 8-1 and 6-3 v — Mark Hess NASA spokesperson working.” NASA will appointai view board to investigate! [andCowboys mishap —just as itdidt"| Women’s tem last year after the Mats Icke said he was mate Orbiter and Mars Ptih against Lander losses. What a great di: Investigators later State reall) Climate Orbiter mission ii because critical navigJ h withstand twice the force of gravity, which it would experience during launch. Instead, it was subjected to 20 times the force of gravity for about 200 mil liseconds. “The folks who were involved in the test are mysti fied at this point,” said Lany Dumas, JPL’s deputy di rector. “There’s no obvious reason that’s presented itself (for the unexpected shaking).” units were not translated into metric. Polar Lander's re« board is expected to make its findings public next wa HESSI’s mishap disappointed dozens ofscieM who have been working on the project for more two years. The satellite was being tested at JPL because of lab’s proximity to Gilbert, Ariz.-based SpectrumAsi where it was built, and the University of CalifoS 12 year-old boy holds classroom hostage LISBON, Ohio (AP)—A sixth-grader pulled a gun in his classroom Thursday morning but a teacher persuaded him to drop the weapon, the school superintendent said. No one was hurt and the 12-year-old boy was taken into custody. He told authorities that his mother is in jail and he wanted to join her, Superintendent Anthony Krukowski said. The boy came into his McKinley Elementary School classroom at about 9 a.m., pointed a gun at the floor and told his classmates and teacher Dan Kemats to get down, Krukowski said. A pupil in the hallway overheard the exchange and summoned another teacher, Linda Robb, who persuaded the boy to give up the gun, Krukowski said. The whole thing was over in less than five minutes, he said. Authorities didn’t immediately say if the gun was loaded. The boy apparently got it from home and kept it in his pocket, Krukowski said. The school was closed for the day. It will not have class es Friday but will be open for students who want to come in for counseling. Krukowski said he wasn’t very familiar with the boy and was unaware of any behavior problems. “As far as I am aware of, there was nothing substantial,” he said. Campaigning at a Cincinnati elementary school. Vice President Al Gore said the incident in Lisbon “once again raises the question that has confronted us so often in the past year or two or three. That is, how can we all come to gether to give our children better values?... Isn’t it time for all of us to come together across party lines to require mandatory child-safety trigger locks and other common- sense measures to deal with this problem?” The school has about 650 students from kindergarten through sixth grade. The district has about 1,350 students. Lisbon is about 25 miles south of Youngstown, near the Ohio-West Virginia-Pennsylvania lines. Mich. Lake Erie Sixth-grader pulls a gun in class. Ind. o Columbus W.Va. m .260-2660 4F4~% 'W m 'W jP'l rf-y 725B University Drive HUM mil SUN Mar 26 MON Mar 27 TUES Mar 28 WED Mar 29 THUR Mar 30 , 6-8 PM CHEM 102 CH.20 CHEM 102 CH.21A CHEM 102 CH.21B CHEM 102 Prac. Tesl 8-10 PM llplliil Phys 202 Ch.23,24 Phys 202 Ch.25 Phys 202 Ch.26 Phys 202 Prac. Tesl 10PM MID mmmmyg V ' Phys 208 Ch.28 Phys 208 Ch.29 Phys 208 Ch.30 Phys 208 Ch.31 6-8 PM CHEM 102 CH.19 CHEM 101 Ch.8 CHEM 101 Ch.10 •• V ^ « 8-10 PM CHEM 228 Ch 21B CHEM 228 Test #1 Harding/Tiner CHEM 228 Test #2 GG/Tiner CHEM 102 CH.20 CHEM 102 TBA 10PM MID CHEM 101 Test #2 lill iilll I Phys 201 Ch.8 Phys 201 CH.9&10 —r—TTl 8-10 PM - % CHEM 227 Ch 7A CHEM 227 Ch 7B * TUES 4-Apr WED 5-Apr THUR 6-Apr SUN 9-A£L 7-1 opm Part ivj FINC 341 7-9 PM X ;,; T; , •: ■ • ; Parti Part II Part III 9-11 PM Part I Part II Part III Sunday /Han Umuersa/ist Monday, Mai d:00am-l:0i Fountain by ribbons here Monday, Mat Issues Edua Check out a Monday, Mat Families and (PFLAG)atf Come join us Tuesday, Ma lesbian, Bise (GLBTA) in 1 Come on out Tuesday, Ma bisexual d T Showing of i For mor )ENT