The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, July 25, 2001, Image 6

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    Page 6
NATION
—
Wednesday.'
THE BATTALION
Upgrading Capitol security
Prompted by the Capitol shooting three years ago that killed two policemen, the bombing in Oklahoma City
and threat of terrorism, the Capitol is undergoing a $126 million effort to make it more secure. Inside, the
congressional police force has better guns and protective equipment and the newest models of X-ray
machines and metal detectors. Here's a look at improvements to the outside.
Vehicle barriers
at the four corners
juuimwiuun^^
Capitol
Reflecting
Pool
Capitol Visitor Center
is planned to be
completed in 2005. As
an underground
structure, it will be able
to hold 5,000 people
and provide better .
Control for large
crowds.
Government building
getting security upgra
Bollards, 42 inches tall, along
the north and south drives will
complete a perimeter.
Vehicle barriers at the
exits and two entrances
rise and lower to block or
allow cars to pass.
Traffic islands at
the north and south
entrances will slow
entering and exiting
traffic and block
unauthorized
vehicles.
SOURCE: Capitol police
Emily Brannan/AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
government has spent $126 million
on security improvements at the
Capitol since a gunman burst through
the doors three years ago and killed
two police officers. Finding the
changes is not so easy.
The most visible are cast-iron posts
now being installed to stop any truck
laden with explosives before it can get
close to the Capitol. But even these
bollards, more than a yard tall, look in
nocuous. They are emblazoned with
eagles and freshly painted forest green.
Other improvements to make the
Capitol less penetrable to would-be
attackers are less visible.
The 1,200-member congressional
police force has more powerful guns
strapped into holsters, higher quality
bullet-stopping vests, guard posts with
bulletproof glass, night-vision equip
ment and devices to detect and com
bat a chemical or biological attack.
New X-ray machines provide the
clearest possible pictures of items in
handbags or briefcases, and top-of-
the-line metal detectors tell officers
— through a display of lights —
what location on a person’s body set
off an alarm.
Still, those charged with keeping
the landmark complex safe say the
n^ed to keep the Capitol open and ac
cessible to Americans comes with
some security trade-offs. Just a few
feet from lawmakers, millions ot
tourists a year squeeze through lines
and stand in corners to get a glimpse
of democracy in action.
“There’s an inherent vulnerability in
the Capitol complex because of the
openness we have to maintain,” said po
lice Lt. Dan Nichols. “Our job is to do
the best we can to manage this threat.”
At 3:40 p.m., the time of the July
24, 1998, Capitol shootings, members
of Congress, the families of the slain
men and current officers gathered at
the scene and bowed their heads to
honor victims Jacob
John M. Gibson. The a
er, Russell Eugene Weston)
held in a federal mental fad
to face trial.
Tourists say they feel safe
“You walk through a lot
detectors, so I felt fine,” sail
Johnson, of Maple Grove,
who visited recently. “It’s kb
curity nightmare with people
around in all different directi
those tours. But I think th
pretty good job.”
The Capitol is just one foe;
of a broad and expensive effor
government to better pro:
buildings and workers from
like those that struck Oklaho:
in 1995, a military barracksii
Arabia in 1996 and U.S.erak
Africa three years ago.
The State Department k
$3 billion to better secure
bassies overseas.
■spect ch
H-hour st;
Study shows parents rely on ratings, not V-chi
ALLAS (AP)
ested after h
limself inside
vith a hostage
Wednesday wii
>lano toy store.
wVillet Thorna
was charged wi-
cibery for the h.
R' Us in Plano la.^
■was in the Co
in l eu of $100,0*
■Police arreste
ter an 11 -hour
hotel suite wf
had barricadeq
refused to leavd
■ Police were iij
with the suspec
■e night, wh|
Iclrtrie out of his:
tel suite. The thi
ml)tel had been ■
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
Parents rely more on television
ratings and less on the high-tech
V-chip to choose the shows their
children watch, according to a
survey released Tuesday.
While 40 percent of American
families own a television set widi
a V-chip installed to block desig
nated programs with sex or vio
lence, only 17 percent of those
parents use the device, the Kaiser
Family Foundation found.
That means just 7 percent of
all parents have relied on the V-
chip, according to the survey. In
comparison, more than half of
all parents have used TV ratings.
“A year and a half after its in
troduction, the V-chip is being
used by a small minority of par
ents,” said foundation President
Drew Altman. “TV ratings are
more of a mainstream resource
for concerned moms and dads.”
Most parents, more than four
out of five, were concerned that
their children are being exposed
to too much sex and violence on
TV and believed that children’s
behavior is affected by it, the
survey found.
More than half of parents (53
percent) who bought television
sets after V-chips became stan
dard equipment in January 2000
do not know that their set in
cludes one. Among parents aware
of the option, about one in three
(36 percent) has programmed it
to prevent their children from
watching certain shows, accord
ing to the survey from die inde
pendent foundation, which ana
lyzes health issues.
Increasing criticism of TV
fare in the 1990s led to imple
mentation of the V-chip and
the ratings system. The
Telecommunications Act of
1996 required all new TV sets
to contain a V-chip.
To use the chip, parents must
activate and program it.
The 56 percent of parents who
say they have used the TV ratings
system for their children is simi
lar to the proportion who say they
use parental advisories on music
(50 percent) and video and com
puter games (59 percent).
Movie ratings, the Kaiser
Foundation noted, are used by
84 percent of parents.
Most parents (92 percent)
who have consulted TV ratings
find them useful, similar to sim
ilar to satisfaction levels with
other kinds of ratings.
But 40 percent of the parents
surveyed said shows are not be
ing rated in a way that accu
rately reflects their content.
Rating designations include
TV-Y7 for children 7 and older,
TV-14 for children 14 and old
er, FV for fantasy violence, V for
violence and D for suggestive
dialogue.
Nearly half of parents, 48
percent, say they believe that
exposure to sexual content on
television contributes “a lot” to
children’s early sexual involve
ment, while 47 percent of par
ents surveyed think children’s
exposure to violence on televi
sion contributes “a lot” to vio
lent behavior.
Parents are divided about
whether government :§§ Two other w
regulate T V content. A the suite with th
of all parents (48 percent Mere released, C
and about half (47 perct: p^Q j 5 im
pose new government kH, .
tions t(> limit \i()lenced®9ISG tGcJCil
TV shows during t!it« ^ ^
, I EL PASO, Te
evening hours. n , , ' ,
^Aso Independe
American parents^. Bj c t: teachers wii
ly worried aboutwhaiwjp ercent pay rai ;
.!rcnarc"-atchinBl*«, 0 3 mj||ion
kits them hut d° nt ffjackaqe apprt
how to restrict unwanted e r h no i hnpu-H
gramming,” s.nd \icwfckj T he packad
out, vice president andL Tuesday, also wl
■'i 1 In. hHiMil.itionUVfTBor first-year i
the Study ofEntertainme $30,000 from $:
dia and Health. . J JimDamm, aj
t,ertothe El Paso d
COLLEGE SlATICNs #1 LANCE CELL
SC’S REVR© M'%
WEDNESD/ArS
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BAB BEINGS *“
TIL
LCNGNECrS CLOSE
CCLLE«3E NITE TEIERSE4^S
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cent LCNeNECES
8-11 E.A4.
j $100 HOT LEGGS CONTEST
fRIDAr & SATURDAY
S1.CC DAE EEINES & LCNGNECKS
TILL 11 I.M.
18 + A COLTER CHAROE
WITH COLLEGE I.O.
Texas Avenue @ Southwest Pkwy. (Next to 4.0 & Go) 694*0818
Approval rating high fot
Laura Bush, poll shows
WASHINGTON (AP) —
First lady Laura Bush has made
a positive impression on the
public during her six months in
the White House.
Sixty-four percent have a fa
vorable view, a poll says, and
she is not running into the re
sentment faced by Llillary Rod
ham Clinton in the 1990s.
“I like what I’ve seen so far
of Mrs. Bush,” said Marisa
Mayerle, of Bowie, Md., whose
husband serves in the Air
Force. “There isn’t anything
negative. She’s very quiet.”
So far, there is not the parti
san and gender resentment
stirred by Mrs. Clinton, says the
poll by the Pew Research Cen
ter for the People & the Press.
Half of Republicans viewed
Mrs. Clinton unfavorably early
in her husband’s term and more
than a third of men viewed her
unfavorably. Merf were just as
likely as women to have a posi
tive view of Mrs. Bush. One-
fourth of Democrats saw her un
favorably in the poll.
The poll of 1,003 adults was
taken July 2-12 and had an er
ror margin of plus or minus 3.5
percentage points.
Mrs. Clinton, now a New
York senator, had plenty of sup
porters as well, with six in 10
viewing her favorably at the
start of her stay in the White
House, and almost that many
viewing her favorably now.
“Mrs. Bush is not as dynamic
as Hillary Clinton was,” said
package could c(j
leed for a distric
The El Paso d^
$1.56 per $U
Valuation. The t
tied to adopt a t
September.
— Nat
The first lady’s Man sente
approval rating infant's o'
Laura Bush has a higherapp^! PHILADEl Pf
rating than Hillary RodhamClWer Ivy Leagur
had after six months at the# dent who fed c
House.
■Mi Laura Bush
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Total
Shawn Johnstone of Reston, Va.
“This first lady seems a lot more
low key.”
When people were asked
what word best describes 1 Mrs.
Bush, they offered such re
sponses as “nice,” “lady,”
“classy,” “intelligent,” “quiet”
and “good.” The same question
about Mrs. Clinton drew such
answers as “intelligent,”
“smart,” “bossy,” “good,” “ag
gressive” and “domineering.”
People seem to view Mrs.
Bush as personally consistent
— from her low-key campaign
personality to the private role
she now plays in the White
House.
■ 64%
60
Men
162%
Women
166%
69
Republicans
month-old boy
quiet has been
five to 10 years i
child's death.
H Donald P. f
convicted of thii
der and reckli
ment in the 195
mund Porter |
sentenced Tue:
ffivo years in p
distribution ch;
0 Ford and the
Andrea Blue, :
two-day drug I
apartment wl
died. The cocaii
a baby bottle.
I Ford gradual
■niversity and
psychiatry resic
versity of Penns
The poll of 1,003 adults wastaken4|School. Blue, i
12 and has an error of marginolpl- Supervisor, W3
minus 3.5 percentage points. charges that HI
41
Democrats
154%
?L
Whites
I70 1 .
57
Blacks
I 37%
SOURCE: Pew Research Center
ei dangermert
Pjenced to 11 1|
1/2 months ini
News in Brief
Women pleads no contest to
adopted child's abuse, death
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — A woman accused of
murder in the torture death of her adopted son
pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 55 years
in prison Tuesday in a case that brought changes in
Florida's child protection system.
Heather Ciambrone, 32, was charged in the death
of 7-year-old Lucas, who weighed 27 pounds when
he died. Investigators found he had been kept locked
in a bathroom and had bruises, scratches and bro
ken ribs.
Ciambrone's husband, Joseph Ciambrone, was
convicted of murder in 1997 and sentenced to life. He
has blamed Lucas' death on his wife.
The Ciambrones were allowed to adopt Lucas
even though a caseworker, a doctor and others had
expressed concerns.
The Department of Children and Families has
since created an early-warning system to handle
abuse reports more efficiently.
Tennis
Continued from Pol
Cass described Hunter 1
metts, a top-100 player natiof
at the junior levels, as “a f
sleeper.
“I look for him to come in
add great depth,” Cass said.
“He comes from an Aggie*,
ily, so that can’t he bad.”
Cass described Lester Coe
consensus top-10 player d
brother played for Cass at.
Mexico as “a great all aroundf
er, very solid.
“I’m looking for him tocofl*
and help us and win right aw/
Croatian national Ante Mi 1
vie, another top TO player, “k
excellent pedigree,” says Cass
“He’s played in Wimbledon
French Open, so he has a lotoi
perience and he should mn
impact right away.”