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Friday, May 2, 2003
NAT!
THE BATTAli
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^/UuhUcu "Heeded.. .Ad mafou welcome/
Economy improves in first quartc
Brochure & application - Room 104 of Henderson Hall.
For more information call Susan Vavra at 845-4470 ext. 133 or visit
www.scs.tamu.edu/emergency/volunteer.asp
By Jeannine Aversa
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Our Everyday Beer Prices
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WASHINGTON — U.S. pro
ductivity improved in the first
three months of 2003, increas
ing at an annual rate of 1.6 per
cent as companies produced
more while they kept work
forces lean.
The gain in productivity
posted in the January to March
quarter was more than twice the
size of the 0.7 percent growth
rate registered in the previous
quarter, the Labor Department
reported Thursday.
Productivity in the first quar
ter wasn’t as strong as the 2 per
cent growth rate economists
were forecasting.
New claims for unemploy
ment benefits dropped last week
by a seasonally adjusted 13,000
to 448,000, the department said.
Even with the decline, claims
clocked in at their second-high
est level of this year.
In other economic news
Thursday, manufacturing failed
to pick up in April, with activity
falling for the second straight
month. Manufacturing has been
the weakest link in the national
economy’s ability to get back to
full health.
The Institute for Supply
Management’s manufacturing
index fell to 45.4 last month.
slipping from 46.2 in March. A
reading below 50 means manu
facturing activity is contracting;
above 50 indicates the industry
is more busy or growing.
Economists were expecting a
reading of 47 for April.
And, construction spending
declined by 1 percent in March,
the largest drop in seven
months, the Commerce
Department reported. Much of
the weakness came from a
decrease in spending on big
government projects, such as
highways and schools. Spending
on commercial ventures, such as
office buildings, by private
builders also was lackluster.
Economists were predicting a
small rise in overall construction
spending.
The latest batch of economic
reports pushed stocks lower. The
Dow Jones industrial average
lost 89.5 points and the Nasdaq
was off 4 points in early after
noon trading.
For 11 straight weeks, job
less claims have been above the
400,000 mark, a level associated
with a weak labor climate. The
level of claims last week were
higher than economists were
expecting.
The more stable, four-week
moving average of jobless
claims, which smooths out
weekly fluctuations, went up
last week by 1,250 to 442,000.
Construction
spending
Here is a look at monthly
construction spending.
Seasonally adjusted
Volume 1<
$880 billion
860
840
By Rob
THE B/
A M J J ASONDJFI
2002 20m
SOURCE: Department of Commerce
That marked the highest lev;
just over a year.
“The persistent high level
new claims for unemplovi
insurance suggests tl
may still be finding itpossil
meet their customers
increases in demand withak
er work force,” Federal Rei
Chairman Alan Greenspan
Wednesday, when he
House lawmakers
updated picture on theeconoi
recovery.
No immed
jihe potentially
jbome West Ni
|Brazos County,
said, but
[warn residents
|for signs of the
Don Plitt, i
Jof the Brazos
Imental health <
|county is imp
Virus pre\
include a
|and door hange
“We didn’t
llems last year.
KEYSTONE UGHT
Gay rights cases increasing steadil]
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Next to Wing Stop in the Blockbuster Shopping Center
WASHINGTON — Legal cases involving the
rights and treatment of gay people are on the
increase. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor said Thursday, suggesting a major new
focus for the nation’s courts in the 21st century.
Asked to predict what issue might define the
work of the Supreme Court in the 21st century,
O’Connor said cases “relating to how homosexu
als are treated legally” are one possibility.
“We see a lot of these,” O’Connor said.
She did not mention a major gay rightsci
now before the high court. The court is
ering whether states such as Texas may
acts between homosexuals that are If
heterosexuals.
At the same time, the Supreme Court is
dealing with the legacy of race, an issue!
pied the courts for much of the 20th
O'Connor told high school students.
“I don’t know that we’ve solved everythin'
the race issue yet,” O’Connor said. “We haw
know we haven’t, because we have cases at
court this term dealing with affirmative actioi
higher education.”
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iS
A lawsuit
against Texas
family of Bra
A&M football
last November
lions of a bit
knee surgery.
The lawsuit
Brazos County
fted damages
Valerie Fails
Fails’ physicia
were negligen
the clot that f
surgery and e\
Poor
By Samee
THE ASSOC
BAGHDAD,
ordered by the
force to beg
Capons showe
compliance Sun'
Of a two-week