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Show et we Thursday, June 3, 1993 3A Taxpayers fund repairs to officials’ homes WASHINGTON (AP) — Beware of home improvements. They can make life uncomfortable, especially if you're in government and taxpayers foot the bill Just ask Defense Secretary Les Aspin, who needed his leaky roof fixed. Or FBI Director William Sessions, who needed a fence. And many years ago, when President Richard Nixon needed better security at his San Clemente retreat he billed taxpayers among other things to renovate an old gazebo It’s routine for high-level government officials 8 X ZOOM REMOTE To keep the rain out, the Pentagon spent $3,000 to repair the leaky roof. gency the Pentagon spent $3,00% to repair the leaky roof. A Pentagon lawyer said it was OK for the public to pay for the repairs because the Penta- to get home-based equipment to assist in their jobs, especially when the White House changes hands. Secretary of State Warren Christopher recently got a $50,000 closed circuit security television system at his home while Attorney General Jan- et Reno and White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty got new, secure phones. But none of those arelikely to cause a flap as the repair to Aspin’s roof did. The Pentagon in January installed $165,000 in communications and security equipment in the attic of Aspin’s home. To keep the rain out, gon was the primebeneficiary. But in May the Pentagon’s Inspector General said it looked bad to stick taxpayers with the tab. “The secretary received the benefit of substantial repairs to his personal residence,” the IG declared in a memo urging Aspin to“beprudent,” reimburse the government and “avoid even the appearance of personal enrichment.” Aspin sent the government a $390 check back in February — the amount ofthe roofrepair work not directly related to the protection ofthe government equipment. $9939 SONY FX310 $ main heedquarters. SO “we have n mment” about what’s been done to the home f CIA Director R. James Woolsey, an agency The Secret Service won't talk about securityrelated improvements to the home ofVice President Al Gore. The Gores are staying in the Argton, Va.. home wherehis wife Tipper grew up — while the Navy does $1.2 million in repairs t the vice president’s official residencein Washi ngton. Elsewhere, the government put in secure phones and “a couple of related items” in the rented apartment of Attorney General Reno, Justice Department spokesman Dean St. Dennis said. “It all comes out the day she leaves, so there’s no benefit to her,” St. Dennis said. We Beat Everybody All Packages, All Current Models Expires 6/12/93 2419 Washington Bivd. Mon.-Sat. 9:30-6:00 Fri. 9:30-9:00 621-7666 Contestants advance in national spelling bee Some students frustrated by more familiar words Scripps Howard News Service WASHINGTON — While spell- ers breezed through such obscurities as “geniohyoid,” “supralapsarian” and “strephosym- bolia” in the first three rounds of the National Spelling Bee on Wednesday, they missed more familiar terms like “avocado” and “anchovy.” Many felt the easier words came just as the spelling bee, sponsored by Scripps Howard, should have been getting harder. “I think it wasn’t fair. The firstround people got hard words and the second round was easy,” said Hillary Eddy, 13, a seventh-grader at Spring Lake Junior High in Spring Lake, Mich. She was ousted in the first round with “douceur.” “Most of the people who stayed in had easy words,” said Lisa Da- vis, 11, a fifth-grader at Loveland Elementary School in Loveland, Ohio, who missed “coadunate” in the first round. Two-hundredthirty-five students began the competition Wednesday, and 131 advanced to Thursday’s final rounds. Each competitor reached the national bee after winning local contests. Words for the first two rounds were taken from study sheets of nearly 1,350 words given to spellers as they won qualifying bees in April. Words for the third round were taken at random from the dictionary. Alex Cameron, an associate professor of English at the University of Dayton, is the bee’s official pronouncer. Even though the words might have been more obscureat first, said Brian Foltz, 14, an eighthgrader at Tichenor Middle School in Erlanger, Ky., “it was easy” if spellers had memorized them from the word lists. Those who missed them “just didn’t study hard enough or maybe they don’t have as good a memoryas I do,” added Foltz, who fell by the wayside in round three because of “domineering. Some spellers had to face disappointed parents. “Did you think?” said one mother to her son after he missed “gallantry.” “I thought it was pretty easy,” she said while her son looked down at the floor. Somespellers broke down. Michele Avey, 14, an eighth-grader at Grand Coulee Dam Middle School in Grand Coulee, Wash., didn’t even finish misspelling “calibrate” before she started crying on stage. According to judge Mary Brooks, a 22-year veteran of the National EMC acrali) Ha TH mcc Discounts Spelling Bee and an eighth-grade English teacher in Des Moines, Iowa, such reactions “are pretty average so far.” Because of the age of most spellers, she said, “this is the toughest time of their lives.” Add the pressure of the national bee, and “you know they’re a messinside.” Brooks said Thursday’s rounds “should get more dramatic, since they have more invested in it.” Each one who lost Wednesday will receive $50. Thursday’s participants will get more, depending on how manyrounds they last. The winner of the bee gets $5,000. Writer loses lawsuit onlibel jury deadlocked on damages New Technics ORGANS A 60%Savings 5. eS NATIONAL Standard-Examiner SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The jury in a $7.5 million lawsuit found that New Yorker writer Janet Malcolm libeled a psychoanalyst by putting words in his mouth. But the jurors reported they were deadlocked over how much to award him. The jury in the closely watched case agreed to make another attempt at reaching a unanimous verdict today. Lawyers said a mistrial would be declared if the jury remained deadlocked, but it was unclear whether a second trial would determine damagesonly orstart over with the question of whether Jeffrey Masson was libeled by the 1983 article. Masson, whosefiring as projects director of the Sigmund Freud Archives was the focus of the profile, contended Malcolm fabricated or distorted quotations from him. Among the five disputed quotations were statements that he would be regarded as the “greatest analyst” since Freud, that he would have turned Freud’s house into “a place of sex, women, fun,” and that officials of the archives considered him an “intellectual gigolo.” The jurors returned to court near the end of the third dayof deliberations Wednesday to announce they were “pretty far apart” on the question of damages, in the words of the forewoman, Jeanette Stark. But they said they had agreed on all other questions before them. Under instructions from U.S. District Judge Eugene Lynch, the jurors could consider damages only after unanimously agreeing that at least one of the five disputed quotations was fabricated or materially altered, that it defamed Masson, and that Malcolm had acted with a reckless disregard for the truth. The jurors did not describe the extent of the libel or say whether they had also found The New Yorker responsible for libel. Malcolm walked past reporters without answering questions. Her attorney, Gary L. Bostwick, also refused to comment. Masson wouldn’t comment, but his attorney, Charles Morgan, said, “I think justice is prevailing.” The case has been closely watched by journalists because of its role in shaping libel law and because of the largely unflattering light it cast on their profession, particularly as practiced at one of the most esteemed magazines in America. Malcolm, who has written for The New Yorker since the 1960s, denied inventing any quotations. She acknowledged she had “compressed” quotations — combining statements from different times and places into an unbroken mono- logue at a single location — but said the practice was traditional in long articles and did not distort Masson’s meaning. Jury shaken by photos of dead boy BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Photo- WyNe meet)|e 9 A.M.-9 P.M. Lh UPaat BIG BALLOONS Technics DIGITAL PIANOS From 495 shocked,” agent Dick Rogerstesti- graphs of the slain son of white fied. “We didn’t know that anyone separatist Randy Weaver reduced some jurors to tears on Wednesday in his murder-conspiracy trial for the killing of a federal marshal. Weaver sobbed but refused to look at three photos introduced as evidence by Assistant U.S, Attor- had been hurt.” TOP BRANDS: Weaver, 45, and Harris, 25, are charged with killing Deputy U.S, @ Kimball @ Technics @ Young Chang ® Kurzweil Marshal William Degan during the shootout. Weaver's wife, Vicki, 42 Parenteim MCCAse MOialelastelicle ney Kim Lindquist. Co-defendant Kevin Harris put his hand over his eyes as the pictures were flashed on an overheadprojector. Almost all the jurors were visibly shaken and three wept openlyat the sight of 14-year-old Samuel Weaver's body. He was killed in an Aug. 21 shootout with marshals near the family’s remote northern Idaho cabin, FBI agents found the bo:’s body in a shed near the mountaintop cabin two days later. “When we found Sammy's body we were not only surprised but was fatally shot by a federal sniper on Aug. 22. Weaver and Harris surrendered 10 days later. Federal marshals were trying to arrest Weaver for failing to appear at a 1991 trial on firearms charge. Rogers, who commanded the FBI team, testified early Wednesday that Weaver and Harris were well-armed and more than willing to fire on officers evenafter killing Degan. “It was clear to methat this was not even an accidental shooting of a law enforcement officer,” he said IOAMaLONUPTO MUSIC 4083 Riverdale Rd., Ogden 621-3898 J)atal eyee) |