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Show 2 Wednesday, Nov. 9,2005 797-1769 statesman@cc.usu.edu People Today's Issue Dedications Today is Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005. Today's issue of The Utah Statesman is published especially for Marie Aitken, a junior majoring in interior design from Orem, Utah. Clarifications 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 AP Photo/Wade Payne Immigrant receives life in prison for six deaths HAYWARD, Wis. (AP) - A Hmong immigrant convicted of murdering six deer hunters and attempting to kill two others after a trespassing dispute was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday with no chance for parole. Judge Norman Yackel ordered Chai Soua Vang, 37, to serve six life prison terms, one after the other, guaranteeing he would never be freed from prison. Wisconsin does not have a death penalty. Yackel described Vang as a "time bomb ready to go off at the slightest provocation. "These crimes are not isolated acts, but a pattern of anti-social conduct," the judge said. Vang, a truck driver from St. Paul, Minn., was convicted on six counts of first-degree intentional homicide and three counts of attempted homicide in the Nov. 21 slayings. The homicide charges carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison, but Yackel could have set a parole eligibility date for Vang. The judge also sentenced Vang to three concurrent terms of 40 years in prison on the attempted homicide charges. The slayings occurred during the state's beloved deer hunting season and exposed racial tension between the predominantly white north woods residents and immigrants from the Hmong ethnic group. Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager sought the maximum sentence for Vang, a father of seven children. She argued Vang would kill again unless he was locked up for the rest of his life, given his "explosive temperament" and lack o f true remorse or regret. Study says coffee might help blood pressure CHICAGO (AP) - Here's good news for women who love coffee: Drinking it doesn't seem to cause long-term high blood pressure, a study suggests. But for some reason, women in the same study who drank colas did seem to have a greater risk of high blood pressure. Researchers were surprised at that and cautioned that the study wasn't conclusive. Caffeine is a well-known ingredient in both beverages, and has been shown to cause short-term increases in blood pressure. But coffee drinkers in the study were no more likely than abstainers to develop high blood pressure during 12 years of follow-up. Previous data on coffee and hypertension is mixed, but there's a common perception that its temporary effects on blood pressure mean an increased long-term risk, said Dr. Wolfgang Winkelmayer, the study's lead author and a researcher at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. "We found strong evidence to refute" that belief, the researchers wrote. There was even some evidence that women who drank lots of coffee - four or more daily cups of regular or decaf - faced a slightly lower risk for developing high blood pressure than those who drank little or none. Winkelmayer said that may be because coffee has lots of antioxidants, substances which are thought to help protect the heart and reduce risks of cancer. He called the results for cola drinkers surprising and potentially worrisome, but also far from definitive because it's unclear how sodas might increase blood pressure. The government-funded study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. PARENTS LEAVE Campbell County High School with tbeir children after a student shot three people Tuesday, Nov. 8,2005, in Jacksboro, Tenn. A student shot and killed an assistant principal and seriously wounded two other administrators at the school Tuesday, officials said. The student was arrested. One killed, two injured in Tennessee school shooting JACKSBORO, Tenn. (AP) - A student shot and killed an assistant principal and seriously wounded two other administrators at a high school Tuesday, officials said. The student was arrested. The motive for the shooting at Campbell County High School, 30 miles from Knoxville, was not immediately known, Sheriff Ron McClellan told WVLT-TV. "We don't know yet. I have the individual at the hospital," McClellan said. "These men are all fine Christian men, and I am at a loss for words." Assistant Principal Ken Bruce was killed, accord- ing to state Education Department spokeswoman Rachel Woods. Principal Gary Seale, who was shot while trying to take the student into custody, was reported in serious condition, and Assistant Principal Jim Pierce in critical condition. Parents rushed to the 1,400-student school to take their children home. The school was locked down after the shooting, and students were evacuated and loaded onto buses. "They are searching each student as they are getting on the buses," said Roger Wallace, a driver at a pizza . restaurant nearby. Senators say Alito has respect for Roe v. Wade abortion decision WASHINGTON (AP) Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito expressed "great respect" for the precedent established by the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision but didn't commit to upholding it, senators said Tuesday as Alito began a second week courting their support. Sens. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, both used the word "respect" when describing the 55-year-old federal appellate judge's discussions with them on the 1973 ruling that established abortion rights. Alito said "Roe was precedent on which people, a lot of people, relied and had been precedent now for decades and therefore deserved great respect," Lieberman told reporters after his private meeting with the judge. Collins said she quizzed Alito on whether it would make a difference if he disagreed with a Supreme Court decision that had been upheld by other judges repeatedly. "I was obviously referring to Roe in that question," she said. "He assured me that he has tremendous respect for precedent and that his approach is to not overturn cases due to a disagreement with how they were originally decided." Abortion will be a key topic at the conservative judge's confirmation hearing in January. President Bush last week selected Alito, a former Reagan administration lawyer who is currently a judge on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, after White House counsel Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination amid withering criticism from conservatives. The Senate Judiciary Committee has already set his confirmation hearing for Jan. 9, although Alito has yet to be officially nominated by the White House. He is being nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has been a key vote on contentious issues like abortion and affirmative action. He already has met opposition from abortion rights groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America, who point NEW YORK (AP) - Kirstie Alley ; has lost 55 pounds - and says she wants to lose more. Alley, whose weight gain was documented in various unflattering paparazzi photographs, said that when she started the Jenny Craig diet program, she was horrified at the results of her weigh-in. "I weighed 219," the 54-year-old actress said Monday on "The Oprah : Winfrey Show." "For someone who spent most of her life at 130 ... it was a shock." Now a spokesperson for Jenny Craig, Alley said of her weight gain: "I • made some good decisions simultaneously with some bad decisions. "The good part of it was, 'I'm going • to spend more time with my kids, I'm • going to cook.' The bad decision was - and this is the dumbest decision I've ever made in my life - it went like this: If a man really loves me, he will not have to love me for my body. He will ' really love me just for me.... When did ' I decide I was a big fat girl?" She divorced Parker Stevenson in 1997. They have two children, William True, 13, and Lillie Price, 11. LOS ANGELES (AP) - Tom Cruise has replaced his sister with a Hollywood insider as chief handler of * his publicity. The 43-year-old actor hired veteran ' publicist Paul Bloch, who's also a cochairman for publicity firm Rogers & Cowan, according to the Daily Variety • trade paper. Bloch also will oversee publicity for the actor's production company, Cruise-Wagner Productions. '• Bloch replaces Cruise's sister, Lee Anne DeVette, who took over as his publicist in March 2004 after he left longtime representative Pat Kingsley. "Lee Anne has done a wonderful job on behalf of myself and CruiseWagner Productions over the last few ••• years," Cruise said in a statement. "But she has always expressed a desire to oversee and expand the day-to-day activities of my charitable endeavors." ' •' LONDON (AP) - Kate Hudson ;'•'• has launched legal action over photos •' she claims wrongly portrayed her as having an eating disorder, her lawyers' •' said. Hudson asked the London law firm•'•• Schillings to take action on images sher said were misleading. The 26-year-old actress has starred in more than a dozen films, including "Almost Famous," "Raising Helen" and • "The Skeleton Key." She is the daugh- ••' ter of Goldie Hawn. Schillings said Hudson instructed lawyers "to make legal complaint of those who took and published images of her which circulated widely and prominently in September and October." 1 News reports on Monday said the " •' firm had sent letters to publications ' including the Daily Mail newspaper, • the National Enquirer and the maga- •' zines Heat, Closer and Star. The images, Schillings said, were "used to accompany and illustrate articles which suggested that she had •an eating disorder that was so grave and serious that she was wasting away ' to the extreme concern of her mother • and family, and although not stated, of commercial and artistic concern to those who might cast her in mov- ' " ies and choose to use her image to endorse products." Late Night AP Photo/Susan Walsh SUPREME COURT NOMINEE Samuel Alito, left, walks through a gathering of press upon his arrival at the Capitol Hill office of Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore.( Tuesday, Nov. 8,2005 in VVashlgton. to an opinion he wrote as a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals holding that states can require women seeking abortions to notify their spouses. The Supreme Court disagreed. Lieberman called his meeting with Alito "encouraging," but also said the federal judge had not assured him that he would not overturn Roe. But reading his decisions, "you don't find ideology screaming off the page," Lieberman said. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., one of the Senate's most strident anti-abortion advocates, said he did not discuss Roe v. Wade with Alito in their meeting. Alito also did not say whether he thinks there is a right to privacy in the Constitution, Brownback said, although the conservative judge has told other senators that he does. "He did articulate that he thinks one should look at the Constitution as the document is set and try to interpret from that document, not trying to bring in things or seeing it as a living document," said Brownback, who will be one of the senators quizzing Alito at his Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing. Alito isn't using his time to just talk about weighty constitutional issues. He also found time to get into a little baseball talk last week with former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jim Bunning, now a Republican senator from Kentucky. Bunning said Tuesday that Alito had told him how he had been a lifelong fan of the club. In fact, a 14-year-old Alito watched the 1964 Phillies collapse after having held first place in the National League for much of the summer, losing 10 straight games and missing the World Series. David Letterman, Nov. 7, 2005 Top Ten Things Overheard During the New York City Marathon 10. "Thousands of New Yorkers urinating in the street - - Typical Sunday." 9. "Only 25 miles to go." 8. "Wait, I could have taken a bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn?" 7. "These wooden shoes were funny the first half-mile." 6. "Is that the finish line or crime scene**.' tape?" 5. "Bus exhaust make daddy dizzy." 4. "Instead of carbs, I loaded up on Cool" Ranch Doritos." 3. "Hello, Triple A? I'm at mile 23 and I need a tow." " 2. "Help...Heart...Gonna...splode." 1. "Taxi!" |