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Show Today'sHsue Colleges warn students about spring break travel to Mexico Today is Friday, Feb. 27, 2009. Today's issue of The Utah Statesman is dedicated to Danielle Tuerpe, a freshman majoring in social work from Sandy, Utah. PHOENIX (AP) - The US. State Department and universities around the country are warning college students headed for Mexico for some spring-break partying of a surge in drug-related murder and mayhem south of the border. "We're not necessarily telling students not to go, but we're going to certainly alert them," said Tom Dougan, vice president for student affairs at the University of Rhode Island. "There have been Americans kidnapped, and if you go you need to be very aware and very alert to this fact." More than 100,000 high school- and college-age Americans travel to Mexican resort areas during The policy of The Utah Statesman is spring break each year. Much of the drug violence to correct any error made as soon as is happening in border towns, and tourists have possible. If you find something you generally not been targeted, though there have would like clarified or find unfair, been killings in the big spring-break resorts of please contact the editor at 797-1762 Acapulco and Cancun, well away from the border. orTSC105. The University of Arizona in Tucson is urging its approximately 37,000 students not to go to Mexico. Other universities - in the Southwest and far beyond, including Penn State, Notre Dame, the University of Colorado and the University at Buffalo - said they would call students' attention to the travel warning issued Feb. 20 by the State Lawmakers pass 2 bills Department. The State Department stopped short of warning on sex-offender laws spring breakers not to go to Mexico, but advised SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah law- them to avoid areas of prostitution and drug-dealmakers have unanimously supported ing and take other commonsense precautions. two bills to tighten sex-offender laws. House Bill 29 would require registered sex offenders to have written or verbal consent of parents before accompanying a child younger than 14. If the offender does not have parental permission, the penalty would be an additionalfiveyears as a registered sex offender. House Bill 41 would require a sex offender to notify officials within five days upon moving so the registry can be updated. The bills have been passed by both houses unanimously and will require one more reading by the Senate before being sent to the governor. ClarifyCorrect Nat'lBriefs "Sage advice," said Tom Mangan, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "We have had documented violence, attacks, killings, shootouts with the drug cartels involving not only the military but law enforcement personnel. It is indiscriminate violence, and certainly innocent people have been caught up in that collateral damage." Mexico's drug cartels are waging a bloody fight among themselves for smuggling routes and against government forces, carrying out massacres and dumping beheaded bodies in the streets. More than 6,000 people were killed in drug violence in Mexico last year. But Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said in an interview with The Associated Press: "There is no major risk for students coming into Mexico in general terms. It is always important to advise the youngsters to behave." Despite the bloodshed, the number of foreign tourists visiting Mexico surged to 23 million in 2008, up 5.9 percent from the year before, spurred in part by the tumbling value of the peso against the dollar, according to the country's Tourism Department. The department estimates 80 percent of tourists in Mexico come from the United States. "If anything is going to deter people," said Danielle Jones, a North Carolina State student who is staying close to home because of a family emergency, "it's the recession." Volcanic mudflow sweeps through Chilean town Judge hears arguments on radioactive waste SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A federal judge heard oral arguments Thursday in a lawsuit to determine whether an interstate compact that includes Utah has the authority to regulate the country's only privately owned lowlevel radioactive waste dump. Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions Inc. filed a lawsuit last year after the compact refused to allow it to dispose of up to 1,600 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy at its Give, Utah, facility. Gov. Jon Huntsman has said he's only willing to allow domestic waste. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said it won't grant the company an import license for the Italian waste if there's no place to dispose of it, and its decision will depend heavily on the court's ruling. U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart said Thursday he will rule in the case as fast as possible, although he didn't give a timeline. "We feel that our position regarding this matter is on sound legal ground," Steve Creamer, CEO and Chairman of EnergySolutions, said in a statement. "We appreciate the thoughtfulness of the judge and we look forward to his ruling after he has considered all of the information presented." EnergySolutions wants to import up to 20,000 tons of radioactive waste from Italy's shuttered nuclear power program through the ports of Charleston, S.C., or New Orleans. If the Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants the company an import license, it would be the largest amount of nuclear waste ever brought into the country. After processing in Tennessee, the remaining waste would be shipped to Utah. Huntsman is using the compact to keep the foreign waste out. Additionally, congressmen from Utah and Tennessee are proposing federal legislation that would ban the importation of any foreign waste, saying they don't want the U.S. to become an international dumping ground because the country needs its limited disposal space for domestic waste. EnergySolutions disputes that notion, saying capacity is not an issue and that it will limit international waste to 5 percent of Clive's remaining capacity. A CAR IS SUBMERGED I N VOLCANIC ASHES near the Rio Blanco river in Chaiten, Chile, Sunday, Feb. 22.The Chilean government says the town destroyed by a volcanic eruption will be rebuilt six miles (10 kilometers) away and out of the path of the volcano's landslides.The original seaside village is in ruins after the volcano sprang to life in May 2008 for the first time in thousands of years.. Volcanic mudflows swept through much of the town, forcing evacuation of its 4,000 residents. AP photo Celebs&People LOS ANGELES (AP)-The woman who was with Morgan Freeman the night of a car crash that injured both of them insists she was never romantically linked to Freeman and is suing the actor for negligence. Demaris Meyer and her lawyer, Gloria Allred, held| a news conference Wednesday announcing that FREEMAN Meyer has filed a lawsuit against the 71-year-old Academy Award winner. The lawsuit claims that Freeman failed to keep a proper lookout, maintain attention, keep the vehicle under control and obey the posted speed limit. Meyer is suing for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, permanent disability and property damage. Allred did not specify how much in damages that Meyer, who worked as an executive assistant, is seeking with the lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court in Northern Mississippi. She said that Freeman has only provided "minimal support" for Meyer following the accident. NEW YORK (AP) - No agreement has been reached in the Jeremy Piven grievance hearing. Piven appeared Thursday at the session requested by the producers of "Speed-the-Plow," which the performer abruptly quit in December after his doctor said he was suffering from mercury poisoning. Bat after hearing from both parties, a panel composed of Actors' Equity and Broadway League representatives were unable to reach a unanimous decision. A joint statement issued by the union and the Broadway producers' trade association said "the producers have the right, as a next step, to proceed to arbitration." NEW YORK (AP) - Pop singer Jewel says she injured her knees while rehearsing for "Dancing With the Stars" but plans to return to the dance floor as soon as she heals. Jewel blogs on her Web site Wednesday that she's been sidelined for the ABC series' upcoming season due to tendinitis in both knees, and that her physical therapist said she'd be "good to go by next week" if she takes time to recover. In a statement issued by ABC on Thursday, the singer says she's dedicated to getting better. LgfeMfeHumor 4 members of assisted suicide group arrestedDavid lettermaris Top Ten Favorite ATLANTA (AP) -Joining the Final Exit Network costs $50, and the privileges of membership include this: When you're ready to die, the organization will send two "exit guides" to show you how to suffocate yourself using helium tanks and a plastic hood. The Georgia-based organization says it is providing an invaluable and humane service. Authorities call it a crime. Four members of the Final Exit Network, including its president and its medical director, were arrested Wednesday and charged with assisted suicide in the death of 58-year-old John Celmer last June at his home near Atlanta. Investigators said the organization may have been involved in as many as 200 other deaths aroundthe country. "The law is very clear, and they clearly violated it," said Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead. The arrests came after an eight-month investigation in which an undercover agent posing as someone bent on suicide infiltrated the Final Exit Network, which bases its work on "The Final Exit," a best-selling suicide manual by British author Derek Humphry. Members of the Final Exit Network are instructed to buy two new helium tanks and a hood, known as an "exit bag," according to the GBI. In court papers, investigators said the organization recommends helium because it is undetectable during an autopsy. The network, which was founded in 2004 and claims 3,000 members, donors and volunteers nationwide, has long operated in the open. It has its own Web site, and its leaders have held news conferences and appeared at paid speaking engagements. The group's members bristle at the term assisted suicide, saying they don't actively aid suicides but rather support and guide those who decide to end their lives. "We're just there to help," said Jerry Dincin, the group's vice president, who was not arrested. "People insist upon it. They want to do what they want to do. They're suffering, and if they have intolerable pain, then they want to sometimes get out of that intolerable pain." Celmer did not appear to be seriously ill. While his mother said he had suffered for years from throat and mouth cancer, court documents quoted his doctor as saying he had made a "remarkable recovery" and was cancer-free at the time of his suicide. Authorities said he may have been embarrassed about his appearance after jaw surgery. Also, his doctor told investigators that Celmer was in pain because of arthritis, but that it could have been lessened if he had taken his medication properly and stopped drinking and smoking. Georgia authorities arrested the group's president, Thomas E. Goodwin, and member Claire Blehr. According to investigators, Goodwin and Blehr were with Celmer when he died, each holding a hand, and the two cleaned up the scene afterward by removing the hood and the helium tanks. Maryland authorities arrested the organization's medical director, Dr. Lawrence D. Egbert, 81, of Baltimore, and Nicholas Alec Sheridan, a regional coordinator. Investigators said Egbert and Sheridan evaluated Celmer before his death and gave the OK for his suicide. Those arrested could get up to five years in prison on the assisted-suicide charges. They were also charged with evidencetampering and racketeering. Oregon and Washington are the only states to legalize assisted suicide. Authorities in Arizona are also investigating whether the group helped in the 2007 death of a woman who suffered from depression but was not terminally ill. As part of the probe, investigators searched 14 sites in Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado, and Montana. Goodwin said in a 2006 interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the organization had worked with 36 people who wanted to end their lives. In court papers, Cl See SUICIDE, page 10 Elementary School Excuse Notes Feb. 22,2001 10. "Jerry was at his grandmother's yesterday and she did not bring him to school because Jerry couldn't remember where the school was." 9. "Ronnie would not finish his work last night. He said his brain was too tired of spelling." 8. "Eric hurt his knee in a karate tournament over the weekend. He won his age group, but was in too much pain to do his math assignment." 7. "Amy did not do her homework last night because we went out to a party and did not get home until late. If she is tired, please let her sleep during recess time." 6. "Henry stayed home because he had a stomachache from eating too much frosting." 5. "It was my fault Mike did not do his math homework last night. His pencil broke and we do not have a pencil sharpener at home." 4. "Scott didn't practice last night because he lost his tooth in the mouthpiece of his trumpet." 3. "Diane was late on Wednesday. She fell asleep on the bus and was taken back to the bus yard." 2. "Cody was absent yesterday because we were at disco bowling until 2 a.m." 1. "Tommy wasn't in school yesterday because he thought it was Saturday." |