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Show DAILY HERALD Friday, September X 2004 A3 Islamic head scarf ban passes test Survey: Atkins side effects may lead to other problems Elaine Ganlev THt ASSOCIATED PRESS PARIS It was easier for lfryearold Nadia Arabi to remove her Islamic head scarf Thursday than.to defy a new law banning religious signs in the classroom, or to risk contempt for breaking a national chain of solidarity for two ' Frenchmen held hostage by militants in Iraq. - Nadia was not akne as pub-I- k schools opened the fall term. Despite divisive debate over the law, compliance was widespread, Education Minister Francois Fillon said. But that was seen less as a sign of surrender by conservative Muslims than part of the national effort with the Islamic community at the forefront to save two French , journalists held by Islamic radicals demanding that the law be Scrapped. The French government firmly refused the demand. "It is clear that the international context has played a role" in the peaceful return to school, Martin, head of Raymond Queneau High School in Villeneuve d'Ascq, told 1X3 television. His school, outside the northern city of Lille, held the unofficial record for girls wearing Muslim head scarves last year 58, according the newspaper Le Monde. Fillon said only 240 school- girls in all of France showed up in head scarves Thursday, compared to 1,200 counted last " Emma Ross ASSOCIATED PRESS THE LONDON Dieters on the lowarb popular high-fa-t, Atkins approach lose just as much body fat as those on low-fdiets, but the annoying low-car- b side effects could mean problems down the road, according to a scientist who reviewed five dozen diet studies. Danish obesity expert Dr. Arne Astrup, whose survey is published this week in The Lancet medical journal, concludes that headaches, muscle weakness and either diarrhea or constipation are reported more often by Atkins dieters than people on conventional diets. Those side effects may be signs that the eating plan isn't healthy in the long run, he says. However, other experts said the diet remains a viable option for some because the side effects aren't bad enough to throw them off the eating plan famous for its shunning of bread, pasta and many fruits. "More people stayed in the low-car- b group than in the low-fgroup, so you've got to wonder how severe those side effects were if more people kept b to the diet," said William Yancy, a Duke University researcher who conducted one of the major studies that Astrup reviewed. The Atkins diet, which allows unlimited consumption of protein and fat but drastically lim at MICHEL SPINQLER Associated Press student, left, puts on her head scarf as she and a friend leave the Faidherbe High School in Lille, France, on Thursday, because of the law banning them from being worn at school A young Muslim le year. Only 70 refused to remove their scarves when they walked through the school door, he said. Those who defied the new measure, which was adopted to reinforce France's secularist traditions, are in discussions with school officials, Fillon said. The law calls for a period of dialogue, guaranteeing offenders cannot be expelled immediately. Each school decides whether those Ar-ma- . girls attend class or go to study halls during the discussion period. "I. was always treated badly and I felt uncomfortable, so I decided to take it off," Nadia said outside the gates of the Henri WaDon school in the Paris suburb of working-clas- s Aubervilliers. "Just because I wear a head scarf doesn't mean I think it's right to kidnap French people or anyone else," she said. Students, at Henri Walton, where two veiled sisters were , expelled last October, said they were given a handout spelling out the law and instructed to be able to explain it. The law, passed in March, forbids conspicuous religious signs or apparel in public schools, including Jewish skull caps and large Christian cross- at low-car- es. However, its real target is the Islamic head scarf. its carbohydrates and does not restrict calories, has had a following for decades but only recently has come under serious scientific scrutiny. It has been embraced by an estimated 20 million people worldwide. In his review, Astrup, director ot research in the department ot human nutrition at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Frederiksberg, Denmark, examined the evidence from about 60 studies on the Atkins and other loworb diets. Several small studies in the last year or two have surprised the experts by showing that people lose more weight on the Atkins diet than on the standard low-fa- t diet, at least in the short term, with even hot ter cholesterol improvements. Experts have suspected that b the weight loss on a diet may be largely due to water loss, because lots of fluid is bound up in the body's carbohydrate stores that are depleted. However, Astrup said body composition studies indicated the weight loss is a real fat loss, not just water. The most frequent complaints with diets are constipation and headache, which are readily explained by the lack of fruit, vegetables and whole grains, Astrup said. . Also, bad breath, muscle cramps, diarrhea, general weakness and rashes are more often ,. low-car- low-car- b jtm Lthbi nniV on low-f- at r4jnf-- tmnm diets, Astrup found. M Army ready to try Jenkins for desertion il tJ C3 Eric Talmadge i . THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TOKYO Responding to Sgt. Charles Robert Jenkins' pledge to surrender after spending four decades in North Korea, U.S. military officials say they are ready to put the frail back in uniform, give him a haircut, set him up in e housing and then try him for desertion. "We're always ready to take in deserters and receive them back," said Maj. John Amberg, spokesman for the U.S. Army, Japan headquarters at Camp Zama. just south of Tokyo. ', Ending months of silence, Jenkins said in a statement this week he would turn himself in at Camp Zama as soon as he's deemed fit enough to leave the hospital. Jenkins has been hospi- on-bas- fkrwn here on a plane chartered by the Japanese government in July. Japanese media have speculated Jenkins could be released within days. . Once he surrenders, he would be assigned to a new unit, receive pay and other benefits and be able to live on base with his family. He would be placed under custody only if he is considered a flight risk, dangerous or seen as likely to tamper with witnesses. The Jenkins case, however, is anything but ordinary. His wife, Hitomi Soga, is one of more than a dozen Japanese who were kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and '80s and forced to train the North's spies. Seen as a tragic hero in Japan, she was repatriated after a landmark summit tetween North Korea leader Kim Jong II and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2002. Jenkins, fearing prosecution, stayed behial with their wo daughters. Facing an outpouring of sympathy for Soga, Koizumi personally led the effort fij reunite the family in Japan. At another summit in May , Koizumi won approval for a meeting between Jenkins and Soga in Indonesia. After a brief feunton there, the family was whisked to Tokyo, ostensibly because of Jenkins' poor health. He is believed to have a heart Condition, though details remain vague. Public sentiment here favors leniency for Jenkins so the , Koizu-m- i family can live together. vowed Wednesday to "continue to do all we can to help." Accused of leaving his Army Aatrol along the border butween North and South Korea in Janu-- . charges try 1965, Jenkins faces U desertion, aiding the enemy ' frri encouraging other soldiers to desert or to be disloyal The maximum penalty for Peacetime desertion is life in also can prison. But punishment IPC). tTTT? a ir. Mil iwiumiiuji Cfflm j.m. I wsm ABlli illilil i i pj 1 i i 250 PEOPLE IN LINE RECEDVE FREE GDFT CARDS THE FDRST A Only ct the Utch Sportscastle J ( 7: GART SPORTS GIFT CARD TO THE FIRST 25 PEOPLE IN LINE Cfofc sunnfmuf m rhaca Caf Lalra GART SPORTS , GIFT CARD TO v THE NEXT SO PEOPLE IN LINE Gift Cards Must Be Redeemed Otv Arm Locations: Interim markdowB ."ar . NNAIkh f CIO. SU4U4 1 .7T available at an locations. Soma quantities limited to stock on hand. Ad043166sl Sniagreh Starts Tomorrow ., GART SPORTS GIFT CARD TO THE NEXT 1 25 PEOPLE IN LINE By Sept. 12, 2004 nan man iouii. style. sizBS or colors , MIMA GART SPORTS GIFT CARD TO THE NEXT SO PEOPLE IN LINE - Saturday, September 4th 8:00cm - 9K)0psn September 5th 9K)0an - 9.00pni Monday, September 6th 9:00cm - 9K)0pm -- . fv.- -. |