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Show THE NATION NATIONAL DIGEST WHITE HOUSE OFFERS VISITS VIA COMPUTER: Without ever leaving their seats, Americans with computer access to the Internet can sign a White House "guest book," mosey · through the Oval Office, listen to a few plaintive meows from Socks the cat, scan political cartoons poking fun at Vice President Al Gore, or drop a line to President Clinton. It's all available to visitors to a new Internet address that offers computer users a free interactive citizen's handbook called "Welcome to the White House." SURVEY FINDS TEEN-AGE DRUG USE RISING: The number of high school students using marijuana at least once a month during the 1993-94 academic year increased from 11.3 percent to 15.6 percent, said a survey by the National Parents' Resource Institution for Drug Education - or Pride. Among junior high students, it climbed from 3.3 percent to 4.9 percent. PANEL WARNED OF DANGERS OF LASER FOR EYE SURGERY: An experimental laser that zaps cells off corneas could give nearsighted Americans an alternative to the knife for correcting their vision. Many doctors tout the excimer laser as a better alternative to conventional eye surgery, but others warned a government panel today that it also poses danger to eye patients and should be used cautiously. Firestorms add to flood victim woes HOUSTON (AP) - Two pipelines beneath a roiling river burst yesterday, sending 100-foot flames of burning gasoline snaking more than a mile down the San Jacinto River. At least 69 people were injured. "It looked like hell opened up on the water and the whole river was gasoline," said Mike Norman, who was on the bank trying to retrieve his sailboat when the explosion occurred. Some 11,500 people were forced from their homes by heavy rain that began Sunday. Skies were clearing, the murky water had begun to recede in most areas, and some people were returning to their damaged homes when the pipeline broke east of Houston, sending smoke and flame hundreds of feet into the air. The flooding has claimed at least 15 lives. The burning mixture wound 1 1/2 miles downstream, setting fire to homes and boats along the banks. Schools and businesses in the path of the smoke were evacuated. Ken McCann covers his face as he tries to keep from breathing fumes from the pipeline fire in the San facinto River as he returns from checking out his flooded home. Most of the injured were treated for minor burns and smoke 1nhalation. "There were three loud booms and then an immediate black cloud," witness Doug Trowbridge said. "It just began to spread like wildfire." The first explosion, around 10:30 a.m. occurred near "The Spaghetti Bowl," the mouth of the nation's interstate pipeline network. Simpson judge bars media from jury selection LOS ANGELES (AP) - Overwhelmed by publicity so wideranging he's gotten news clippings from Tibet, O.J. Simpson's judge barred the media yesterday from part of jury selection. Superior Court Judge Lance Ito closed the part of voir dire in which prospective jurors will be asked whether they can still be impartial despite intensive coverage of the case. Reporters will be allowed back in the courtroom Wednesday when prospective jurors are quizzed about other matters. Ito's ruling drew protests from First Amendment experts, many of whom initially thought he was barring the media from the remainder of jury selection. Later, Ito sent a court spokeswoman to the media center to say he was misinterpreted and planned to ban reporters only from that part of jury selection in which prospective jurors are questioned about their exposure to media coverage of the case. Attorneys for media organizations, including The Associated Press, were studying the ruling before deciding whether to file an appeal. The motion to close jury selection was made by both the defense and the prosecution at the urging of the judge, who has long expressed frustration about the amount and nature of the coverage. Coke ... Discover for ypurself what ~I the noise is about. |