Thursday, September 11 , 1997 • Vol. XXXI No. 14 THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING NOTRE DAME AND SAINT MARY'S • STUDENT GOVERNMENT Lunching with ResNet? Nothing new for Larry Rapagnani, dirnctor of OfT brings on-line OJT, said the OIT plans to acti­ access to more vate 66 jacks on the second Student Senate !'loor of Hesburgh Library, user-friendly scheduled to come on-line Nov. By DEREK BETCHER 24. Associate News Editor campus locations The remaining connections are in LaFortune Student In its second meeting of the year, Student Observer Staff Report Center, with 22 in The Huddle Senate looked at old business and deferred and two located in the build­ any decision-making. Constitutionality issues With the n~maining campus ing's laundry room. and a "Spirit of Inclusion" response will wait residences slated to come on­ Laptop users need both an until next week, senators decided. litw before the end- of the Ethernet card in their machine Early in the meeting Lee Hambright spoke semester. the Office of and the ResNet software in to the senate, offering a dose of pragmatism Information Technologies is order to use the jacks, to an ongoing issue. Hambright's April staying busy by expanding the Rapagnani said. appointment as student government assistant availability of HesNet. Separately, Rapagnani con­ controller has been under fire since last Ninety-eight Ethernet jacks firmed that the O'Hara-Grace spring because Hambright also serves as arP lwing installed in many of Graduate Residences will come Hall Presidents' Council treasurer. tlw most student-used campus on-line Oct. 8, with installation Many senate members consider buildings, an dfort to make fairs extending through Oct. 9. Hambright's dual-position holding a conflict HnsNet readily accessible to Old College, the last residence of interests because it entitles him a voice in studt>nts, nspnrially off-campus scheduled for activation, will be two of the eight seats on the Financial students. with laptop comput­ brought on-line Jan. 20. Management Board, which appropriates Prs. Morrissey Hall's ResNet acti­ hundreds of thousands of dollars to student Tlw first phase of the project vation date is postponed to Nov. organizations. is already complntn. In 17, with the installation fair "I just wanted to tell you real quickly about DPBartolo llall's student extending through Nov. 19. what I do - it's not rocket science," JoungP. adjacPnt to tlw comput- t\s of last spring. the OJT Hambright told the senate. "People give me 1'1' rlust!'r. night HnsNct connec­ expected to complete the receipts, I give them to Nerea [Arrien, stu­ tions wnrP installed and are dorm's wiring in time for an dent government treasurer], and she gives curTnntly active. Oct. 27 activation. them money." But more than pleading his case, Hambright asked the senate for closure on the issue, which has remained unresolved for so long that some senators now refer to it as "Lee-gate." (Above) LaFortune "I don't have any plans to take over tlw has been added to financial management board. If this is still an the long list of issue, tell me and I'll resign," Hambright places · where said. "Forty-five minutes on this issue at your ResNet jacks are last meeting is just too much time wasted." being installed by Later in the meeting, the senate agreed to the OIT. Students will be able to plug resolve the issue later - possibly at next in their laptops for week's meeting where measures will be easier on-line introduced which specify how to deal with access. such matters of constitutionality. • Keough Hall Senator A.J. Boyd raised the question of whether the senate should take (Left) Students in action in the wake of Mother Teresa's death. DeBartolo Hall "I think it would be appropriate that we do enjoy using their something in memoriam. This is Notre computers. OIT is Dame," Boyd said. currently expanding so that both on- and Rajit Basu, O'Neill Jlall's senator, proposed off-campus stu­ one of the most well-received ideas. dents may be more "A day of service would be more fitting productive when in than any statue or other item money could popular campus buy," he noted. buildings. Senators agreed to ask their constituents for other possibilities. see SENATE I page 4 Pulitzer Prize-winning economist visits Notre Dame By REBECCA HAMMEL !its. Barlett said that by empha­ News Writer "Five thousand people lined sizing prices and the GOP, the up on a sid!~walk looking for an upper class and the govern­ The statistics that indicate opportunity to make beds is not ment have overlooked the that the United States is in the tho sign of a healthy economy," "humanity" of the economic midst of an economic boom do Barlett said. "A society built on issue. not rPflect the true economic the economic principle that all "None of the statistics reflect n~ality of the nation, according that matters is the lowest price the growing bitterness in soci­ to Pulitzer Prize-winning greatly differs from a society ety and the mean streak run­ author and investigative based on the principle that ning through it," he said. reporter Donald Barlett. everyone who wants to work "There have always been Commenting on the govnrn­ can." wealthy people, but never mPnt's percpption of the econo­ The competition to achieve before have they been so isolat­ my, Barlett said that the rising the lowest prices, he continued, ed. Today's executives have indices in the stock market and forces American factories to gated communities and securi­ tlw decreasing unemployment relocate abroad, causing more ty guards; there is no sense of lJPrcentage do not indicate the Americans to lose their jobs. community responsibility." "stability and social health" of "I'm not just talking about According to Barlett, modern tlw cou ntrv. blue collar workers," Barlett America tends to equate money II!~ expl<iined that the statis­ emphasized. "This has spread with success. This contributes tics do not tell the story of the into white collar fields, espe­ to a profound lack of respect millions of American people cially computer engineering." for the lower classes and the who are out of work, or the lie also criticized the govern­ idea that they do not work as many others who make 50 per­ ment's attempts to retrain hard as the higher-paid, upper cent of their previous salary workers for high technology classes. while still working longer occupations. "There aren't "Arrogance and elitism runs The ObseJVer/ Alan McWalters Donald Barlett, investigative reporter for Time magazine, spoke on hours and n~ceiving no health enough high tech jobs to sup­ care, pensions or fringe bene- port this country," he stated. see BARLETT I page 4 current economics last night in the Hesburgh Auditorium. page 2 The Observer· INSIDE Thursday, September 11, 1997 • iNSIDE COLUMN • WORlD AT A GLANCE What's the Macho Picchu escapes flames as drought-dried forest burns LIMA, Peru are archaeological monuments and Fires burned out of control for a populated centers - but still burn fifth day Wednesday in the moun­ '0 with intensity," the government said Matter Here? tains surrounding the lncan ruins of Mach~ in an official statp,ment. Machu Picchu, destroying spectacu­ \ Picchue A nearby tourist hotel and 500 resi­ -f • Cusco~ <( Since when did going lar tropical forests and filling the dents who live near the ruins have to a Notre Dame foot­ ruins with smoke. been evacuated, and tourist visits to While South America's top archae­ .'I . ' ·_·····.'.' :-_\_ J }:ERU ,'· •. , . ..._ . oco~ the aroa have been susponded until ball game become an i ~'i ,.-· ·. ological treasure was safe, experts at least Sunday. The Inca Trail, a unpleasant experience? I l . PERU ' BRAZIL feared the destruction of thousands l '\, . favorite hiking rout!~ for backpackers. Since this past : \, ' 1 /. Saturday. of acres of nearby forest and smoke 150 m1les is closed. As a senior. I have damage to the stone ruins would Pacifi~' ~ E3 The tropical forests around Machu 150 km seen Notre Dame's sons dan1ago Machu Picchu's attraction Ocean \~ ~ Picchu arc ecologically sensitive and to tourists. '---'-"'--'co march onward to victo- have a great biological diversity, including dozens of varintios of rare ry for four years. As a Rachel Torres The ruins sit atop a craggy peak high in Peru's southern Andes Mountains. orchids, reptiles and trees. spectator from the stu- Saint Mary's Accent Editor dent section. I have Some 600 firefighters and volunteors battled two The fire was apparently started Saturday by peas­ truly enjoyed the experience. fires, and helicopters dropped flame retardants on ants burning weeds to dear farmland on tlw banks of Until now. dense vegetation in front of the flames to prevent them the nearby Urubamba Hiver. A. drought that has dried Some of the things I saw this weekend in from spreading to archaeological sites. out vegetation in the area has accelerated the fire's the student section make it hard for me to "The fires have lcf't the critical zone - where there spread. believe our community of students is sup­ posed to be filled with some of the greatest Clinton pushes for 'fast-track' Cops grab Yamaguchi-gumi ga[lgsters minds in the nation. First, I must ask: What are the strategic WASHINGTON TOKYO masterminds thinking when they arrive min­ Facing skepticism among Democrats, Police raided nearly 100 known gangster havens in utes before kickoff expecting to sit in their President Clinton asked Congress on Tokyo on Wednesday to quell a smoldering gang war, assigned seats? I know I am not the only one Wednesday for expanded trade-negoti­ and thousands of people rallied for toughm· action this weekend who was hassled by these arro­ ation authority that he said was against organized crime.