OCR Text |
Show 2 Monday, Sept. 26; 2005 Contact : 797-1769 statesman@cc.usu.edu Today's Issue Public relations pushes interfaith dialogue during visit to Egypt Today is Monday, Sept. 26, 2005. Today's issue of The Utah Statesman is published especially for Ryan Avila, a freshman majoring in business marketing from Smithfield, Utah- Clarifications WnS'Cpjrections ..;."/.". ZZ The policy of The Utah Statesman is to correct any error made as soon as possible. If you find something you would like clarified or find unfair, please contact the editor at 797-1762 or TSC 105. National Briefs "Flightplan" propelled big box office weekend LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jodie Foster piloted "Flightplan" to a No. 1 debut, her airborne thriller taking in S24.6 million to land ahead of "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," the runner-up with $20.1 million. The weekend's other new wide release, rapper Bow Wow's rollerskating romp "Roll Bounce," opened at No. 4 with $8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. With two movies topping S20 million at a traditionally quiet time in theaters, the box office surged. The top 12 movies took in S89.2 million, up 51 percent from the same weekend last year. The upswing extended a September rally for Hollywood, which has seen revenues slump most of the year. Receipts are running 6 percent behind 2004, and with higher ticket prices, movie admissions are down 9,percent. No jackpot winner in powerball lottery DES MOINES, IowaNone of the tickets sold for the Powerball game Saturday night matched all six numbers drawn, which were: 2-10-31-43-55 Powerball 14 (two, ten, thirty-one, forty-three, fifty-five) Power Play: 5 Players matching all five numbers and the Powerball would have won or shared the $126 million jackpot. The prize goes to an estimated $148 million for Wednesday. Tickets that match the first five numbers, but miss the Powerball, win $100,000 each, and there were six of those. They were sold in: Arizona, Delaware, New Mexico, South Carolina and two in Missouri There were Power Play Match 5 winners in the states of: Colorado. CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - The State Department's top public relations official praised an Egyptian educator and his school Sunday for the courage to speak out against terrorism. Karen Hughes, President Bush's confidante since he was Texas governor, visited Sunni Islam's most prestigious seat of learning, Al-Azhar, singling out its head Sheik Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, for praise. Al-Azhar was one of the first religious institutions to condemn the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "The reason that I choose this meeting, as my first meeting on my first trip to the Middle East is to talk about the courage of this institution," said Hughes, now U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. "I praised Sheik Tantawi for his . courage, and he said it is not courage but I did the right thing to speak out against terrorism and extremism." At Hughes swearing-in Sept 9, Bush said that her job will be "to improve our governments' capabilities to confront terrorist propaganda quickly before myths have time to take root in the hearts and minds of people across the world." Accompanied by Dina Powell, an Egyptian-American recently named assistant secretary of state for promoting educational and cultural exchange. Hughes met with Egyptian students in a multi-country trip meant to push for "interfaith dialogue" as a tool to bridge the gap between APphoto KAREN HUGHES, U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, meets with Al Azhar Sheik Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, right, the highest Islamic Sunni authority; in Cairo Egypt Sunday, Sept. 25,2005. Enmity in the Arab world for America is because of its policies and "makeup won't work," Mohammed Ali Ibrahim wrote in a column titled, "An American facelift in Cairo." The United States has tried reaching out directly to Arabs in other ways, most recently through the Arabic-language Satellite network Al-Hurra, Radio Sawa, and a slick Arabic-English magazine, "hi," which shies away from politics to inform the Arab world of American culture and life. None of the three appears to be widely popular. America and the Middle East. Hughes will also visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey. At Hughes' swearing-in Sept 9, Bush said that her job will be "to improve our governments' capabilities to confront terrorist propaganda quickly before myths have time to take root in the hearts and minds of people across the world." But the editor-in-chief of Egypt's pro-government al-Gomhouria newspaper said in Monday's edition that Hughes' trip to the Middle East would fail. Bus fire kills 23 evacuees DALLAS (AP) - Edna Briant remembers lying on concrete, praying that her back wasn't broken, screaming for someone to rescue her 84-year-old sister from the burning bus that carried them and dozens of other nursing home patients away from the predicted path of Hurricane Rita. "I said, 'Get Claire!" said Edna, 87, a deep purple bruise evident on her left arm as she pointed to her sister. The two sat in side-byside wheelchairs Sunday in a neat Dallas nursing home room, their calm smiles giving no hint of the harrowing month they had just survived. The sisters were evacuated from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. On Friday, they were hustled from Houston amid gridlocked traffic as frantic Texans fled the coastal region. But before they got to Dallas, the pair survived a fire aboard a bus that left 23 people dead. Briant, seated two rows behind the driver, said the group was on the bus for more than 15 hours when it "made a funny noise." The bus had already stopped once to fix a blown out tire, causing "some mumbling and grumbling" among passengers. When the bus stopped a second time, the driver looked concerned, she said. "All of a sudden, he got out of the chair and he pushed my legs over and he's looking underneath" to the floor of the bus, she said. The driver checked outside the vehicle and apparently noticed a problem, perhaps seeing flames or smoke. He briefly conferred with aides and yelled for passengers to get off the bus. "I said, 'You know I can't walk!'" Edna said. An aide rescued her by throwing her "on her shoulder or something," quickly putting her down on the ground, and going back for more people. "I couldn't move, and I said, 'Please God, don't let my back be broken,'" she said. Claire later joined her on the roadside, along with several others dragged from the burning vehicle, Edna said. A series of explosions, at least some caused by the passengers' oxygen tanks, fueled more intense flames, authorities, said. Tina Jones, a nurse at Baylor University Medical Center, was on her way to work around dawn when she noticed black smoke billowing from a bus ahead of her on Interstate 45 just south of Dallas. The bus moved over to the shoulder. That's when the first explosion happened, rocking Jones' minivan. At first, she thought she had been rear-ended. Then, the second blast came and fire erupted from the bus. "The flames were just horrific. They were huge, especially it being so dark," Jones said. Jones looked out her car window and saw a police officer. She yelled that she was a nurse, and the officer waved her through traffic. Two off-duty paramedics who also passed the bus were already tending those who had escaped. Jones then noticed an elderly man lying on the pavement and sobbing, calling for his wife, who died See page 7 2 753-4084 GREAT MEXICAN FOOD 753-4276 1079 N. Main Logan Fax 753-4161 NEW YORK (AP) - When he was ^ invited to play a role on "Sex and the • City," Mikhail Baryshnikov says he had two questions: "Which sex, and which city?" The legendary dancer told an audience at The New Yorker Festival ' that until then he'd never seen the ' HBO series. "I was kind of amused, and shocked," Baryshnikov said "At first " I was watching it with my children. ' Then I said 'Children, OUT!'" Baryshnikov played a self-involved: artist named Aleksandr, a love inter- '. est of Carrie Bradshaw, played by ' ; series star Sarah Jessica Parker. SEATTLE (AP) - Microsoft Corp.'; co-founder Bill Gates' foundation is . donating $40 million to the private ; school he attended. The money from the Bill & " Melinda Gates Foundation will be used to create scholarships for low- ] income children and to support pro- : grams to help students become better; global citizens. *: The north Seattle school enrolls more than 730 students in grades five through 12. Tuition this year "\ is between $19,480 and $20,100, ;' depending on the student's grade. DANVILLE, Calif. (AP) - The '; town that playwright Eugene O'Neill1 called home during the twilight of his life will dedicate a $100,000 -1 memorial honoring him near a public! f| library. The memorial's centerpiece is a large plaque that features bronze letters spelling out a passage from "Long Days Journey Into Night," one'J of his most famous works. Late Night David Letterman, Sept. 23, 2005 Top Ten Signs Your Airplane Is About To Go Bankrupt 10. "When boarding, gate attendant '"• asks, 'You sure about this?'" 9. "200 passengers, 1 bag of peanuts" ' 8. "Instead of a pillow, you're told to rest your head on the guy next to you" 7. "You notice your landing is being covered by the local news" "i 6. "Flight is delayed until attendants •' finish shredding important financial '• records" 5. "Comlimentary headsets are fifty bucks" 4. "Navigator uses the 1983 HammondRoad Atlas" 'i 3. "Provides daily non-stop service •'$ from gate 54 to gate 53" 2. "Instead of feature films, passengers watch video of co-pilot doing it" • EVACUEES CATCH OF THE DAY People 1. "Pilots borrow money for cocktails" Fast Facts •sYdW Torrential rains expected in Rita's wake Hurricane Rita dumped over 10 inches of rain in a few hours in parts of Texas and Louisiana since making landfall early Saturday. The rainfall total could reach 20 inches by Tuesday in some areas of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. Predicted rainfall total (inches) ending 8 a.m. on Sept. 27 '^Jjf° .5Oml' i- -€fc\ o 50 km Ci. LufkinM\ /TEXAS Alexandria 1 Beaun HOUSE OF THE FAMOUS FAJUAS SEAFOOD AND MUCH, MUCH MORE BANQUET FACILITIES - UP TO 100 PEOPLE D.A.B.C. License MON.- TOUR. 11AM- 10PM FRL- SAT. 1 1AM- 1 1PM • SUN. 12PMCall Ahead for Carry-Out 10PM SOURCES: Weather Underground; NOAA AP - |