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Show Monday, Sept. 8, 2010 Page 2 WorldeiNatiOn Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com Clarify Correct 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. Nat'lBriefs Two U.S. soldiers killed by gunman BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military says a gunman wearing an Iraqi army uniform has killed two American soldiers in northern Iraq. A military statement says the Americans were among a group of U.S. soldiers meeting with Iraqi security forces Tuesday at an Iraqi army compound near the city of Tuz Khormato, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) north of Baghdad. They were the first U.S. military deaths since President Barack Obama declared an end to combat operations on Aug. 31. Warren Jeffs refuses to come to Utah SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs is fighting extradition from Utah to Texas, where he faces criminal charges of bigamy, aggravated sexual assault and assault. Jeffs on Tuesday refused to sign a waiver that would have allowed Texas authorities to transfer him there to face the charges. He refused to sign a similar warrant in June. After Jeffs refused to sign, 3rd District Judge Terry Christiansen in suburban Salt Lake City set a hearing for Nov. 15. Texas authorities have charged Jeffs over alleged incidents with underage girls at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' ranch in Eldorado, Texas. He is the head of the church. The southern Utah-based faith practices polygamy in arranged marriages that have sometimes involved underage girls. Boulder's blaze BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — David Myers knew it was time to leave when he looked out into the forest and spotted bright red flames towering skyward. Then came a blinding cloud of smoke and a deafening roar as the fire ripped through the wilderness. "You can hear just this consumption of fuel, just crackling and burning. And the hardest thing is ... you couldn't see it because at the point the smoke was that thick," he said. Myers was among about 3,500 people who desperately fled the fire after it erupted in a tinder-dry canyon northwest of Boulder on Monday and swallowed up dozens of homes. Residents packed everything they could into their cars and sped down narrow, winding roads to safety, encountering a vicious firestorm that melted the bumper of one couple's van. LateNiteHumor David Letterman, August 15, 1997Top Ten Signs the 1V.Y.P.D. Is Out Of Control 10. Besides handcuffs, officers carrying chains and leather whips. 9. Many have appeared on both "Cops" and "America's Most Wanted." 8. Emptying service revolvers into donut racks to see which have jelly. 7. They drive around Wall Street in a Sherman tank, shooting accountants in the ass. 6. We're 20 games into the season and they still haven't arrested a single New York Met. 5. Instead of sirens, squad cars now blaring John Tesh. 4. From the back they all look like Ebert. 3. Any chance they get, they take off clothes and do push-ups. 2. They spend most of their time frisking themselves. 1. Goodbye, uniforms — hello Batman outfits! Trapped miners receive supplies SAN JOSE MINE, Chile (AP) — Rescuers have sent down antibiotics and ointments and were working Tuesday to blast cool, dry air to 33 miners trapped a half-mile underground for more than a month. All the men have suffered from skin sores, foot fungi or abrasions, and infections could prove dangerous in the sweltering heat and humidity, with rescue at least six weeks away. Scrapes, cuts and infections like athlete's foot and jock itch are usually just minor annoyances. But trapped as they are in unrelenting 86-degree (30degree Celsius) heat, with humidity at 88 percent, the miners don't have any way of drying out. In videos transmitted from down below, the miners can be seen shirtless and sweating. In such an environment, any open wound presents a serious risk, so the miners have been instructed to use extreme caution. A simple cut from moving rocks could lead to dangerous infections, Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich told the Associated Press. Most at risk are diabetics, who face increased complications from skin infections under the best circumstances. There is at least one diabetic among the trapped miners, who has been receiving insulin through the narrow bore holes that have become a lifeline for the miners. The constant exposure to moisture creates the possibility of infections, especially when the men are living and sleeping together in close quarters and can't shower, according to Dr. Boni Elewski, a dermatology professor at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. The exposed skin on the feet as well as areas where sweat accumulates, such as around the groin, the neck, under the chin or between fat rolls, could foster sores or fungi — commonly known as athlete's foot or jock itch — that could become infected with bacteria. Limited hygiene and constant humidity also makes the miners susceptible to an infection and inflammation of hair follicles that causes itchiness. And then there is gas gangrene, an infection that can start when bacteria commonly found in the soil enters a wound. This bacteria thrives in low-oxygen environments and rapidly kills tissue, making immediate removal of the affected area or amputa- tion of a limb necessary, said Elewski. "The longer they are there in this situation, the higher the risk that someone will develop a serious skin problem," she said. It's unclear how long the miners will be stuck underground. The Chilean government has said it could take until December to drill a hole big enough to pull them out, while other experts have said it could be as soon as late October. Two massive mining drills are being used — one widening one of the existing bore holes and the other forging a new opening — and the government plans to use a third drill to widen one of the other bore holes. Rescuers have become increasingly sophisticated in their use of three narrow bore holes, each less than 6 inches (15 centimeters) wide. But attempts last week to cool the miners' cramped environment with a narrow air hose failed, Manalich said. On Tuesday, rescuers were working to send down a better hose with a compressor that can pump about eight gallons (30 liters) of dry air per minute. This second hose — which contains separate ducts that can also carry water and fiber-optic cables — will emerge about 60 feet (20 meters) from the shelter where the men have taken refuge, and it remains to be seen how much impact it will have on the overall area where the miners are stuck. The lower reaches of the mine stretch more than a mile (two kilometers) below where the main shaft collapsed on Aug. 5. The installation is being phased in over the next couple days, and the air hose should be working by Thursday, Manalich said. He expressed hope that enough fresh air will make it down so that the miners "feel a difference." On Tuesday, another fiber-optic cable brought some relief to the miners, enabling them to watch a live broadcast of the Chilean national soccer team playing Ukraine. A miniature projector snaked down a bore hole displayed the game on an underground wall, creating an image 50-inches wide. Meanwhile, the first huge drill carving an escape tunnel through solid rock reached a depth of about 370 feet (123 meters). Already, the miners below can hear the drilling, though the hole is only inches wide and will have to be enlarged before it can be used to pull the men out — a process that will take weeks or more. The first tunnel is going slowly, because each time a geological fault is exposed, groundwater is released and the walls need to be shored up with concrete. A second drill, capable of carving a tunnel just wide enough to pull a grown man through, started work Sunday and can advance more quickly. But it has experienced technical delays and has only penetrated some 75 feet (26 meters). A third machine, designed for oil exploration, is on its way. That drill has the highest velocity, and is capable of reaching the miners in early November, but could pose greater risks of rock falls in the unstable mine. MEN WORK ON A NEWLY arrived drill that will be used in the rescue operation of 33 trapped miners in the collapsed San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile, Sunday Sept. 5. The thirty-three miners have been trapped deep underground in the copper and gold mine since it collapsed on Aug. 5. (AP photo) Flight attendant's mental health evaluated NEW YORK (AP) The flight attendant accused of onboard antics that captured the nation's attention when he told off a passenger and slid down the plane's emergency chute with a beer will undergo a mental health evaluation with the aim of avoiding jail time in a possible plea deal. Steven Slater, dressed in a trim blue suit, appeared in a Queens courtroom for a brief hearing on charges of criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing after last month's meltdown aboard a JetBlue Airways Corp. flight from Pittsburgh that had just landed at Kennedy International Airport. He was working Aug. 9 when, he said, an argument took place with a rude passenger. After landing at JFK, he went on the public address system, swore at a passenger who he claimed had treated him rudely, grabbed a beer and exited via an emergency chute, prosecutors said. Attorneys on both sides said a deal was being discussed. Slater will be evaluated and may qualify for an alternative sentencing program, which means he could face community service and counseling instead of jail. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said Slater's willingness to be evaluated shows he's taking the charges more seriously than he had in the — past. Slater had spoken out after the incident, as his public opinion swelled and hundreds of thousands of fans online cheered him for standing up to the inhospitable world of airline travel. The district attorney, speaking to reporters after the hearing, said it would behoove the public to take the Aug. 9 incident more seriously, noting the slide cost $25,000 to repair and the plane had to be taken out of service afterward, causing passenger delays. "It's no laughing matter," he said. Slater's attorney, Daniel J. Horwitz, said his client was taking the matter very seriously and said he had been under tremendous pressure because of his terminally ill mother, recently SLATER deceased father, and health problems of his own, adding that his client is HIV positive. He said he was hoping prosecutors would take into account Slater's "long-standing and well-regarded reputation in the industry." Horwitz said he hopes they can come to an agreement that favorably resolves the case, but he wouldn't specify what he was looking for. Brown said if Slater is admitted for alternative sentencing, he could undergo a treatment program lasting weeks, but he said it depended on the outcome of the evaluation and he's not ruling out the possibilty of jail time yet. Slater, his head held high, left the court without speaking to the swell of reporters surrounding him. His publicist and attorney said he's in good spirits and has spent the past few weeks in California ith his ailing mother. Slater resigned from JetBlue ast week after about three years there; etBlue said only that he was no longer an employee. Slater has spent nearly 20 years n the airline industry, but it's not clear hat he's going to do now. "Right now we want to get past the criminal issues. Then we'll worry about the future," publicist Howard Bragman said. "Obviously he will be unemployed until all this is resolved." JetBlue suspended Slater after the incident. It told employees in a memo that press coverage was not taking into account how much harm can be caused by emergency slides, which are deployed with a potentially deadly amount of force. Ban on firearms in ads lifted SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The image of a woman brandishing a gun is gracing more than a dozen San Francisco bus stop shelters after the city suspended a policy banning firearms in advertisements on public transportation. The advertisement, which gunrights advocates created to promote a conference near the city later this month, was allowed to run after city transportation officials decided they might face a legal challenge on Second Amendment grounds for refusing it. The Municipal Transportation Agency is "taking a step back" to review its policy in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that said Second Amendment gun protections apply on a state and local level, spokesman Paul Rose said. The ruling "may have significantly altered the landscape in terms of gun rights in this country," Rose said. "We just want to be very clear — very transparent — about what can be posted on our system." The poster features a black-andwhite photograph of a woman with a shotgun. The red text on top says, "A violent criminal is breaking through your front door. Can you afford to be unarmed?" The poster promotes the 25th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference in Burlingame, south of San Francisco. The city's ban on advertisements that "appear to promote the use of firearms" was enacted several years ago due to concern about the "use and appearance" of guns throughout the public transportation system, Rose said. The policy applies to bus shelters and light-rail train stations operated by MTA, as well as city buses and trains themselves. The pro-gun Second Amendment Foundation said it put up the posters after hearing that a movie poster for the buddy-cop comedy The Other Guys" had to be modified because of the city's policy. Prop guns held by stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg in the poster were replaced with a pepper-spray can and a badge. The gun prohibition for the movie advertisement was troubling to Alan Gottlieb, who founded the Second Amendment Foundation, based near Seattle. "It sort of stuck in my throat a bit," said Gottlieb, whose group previously challenged a handgun ban in San Francisco. "A picture of a firearm, surely, I believe, is protected as much as the firearm is." He said posting the eye-catching advertisement was a "win-win" situation for the group: If the image was allowed to be posted, it would give the conference publicity. If not, Gottlieb said he believes his group would win a lawsuit in court. The group's optimism comes just months after the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, in McDonald v. Chicago, regarding Second Amendment gun protections on the state and local level. Justice Samuel Alito's opinion in that case is quoted in the advertisements, some of which were labeled Monday with a disclaimer that the perspectives in the ad "do not necessarily reflect the views of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency." The posters drew some negative reaction from passers-by Monday morning. "I'm not a huge fan of these posters," said Courtney Pyle, 25, a speech pathologist who says she is not a proponent of gun rights. "They don't make me feel great." Gottlieb says San Francisco's attitude toward gun rights and the Second Amendment Foundation's views is hostile, but he sees the group's conference — just their second in the Bay area in 16 years as an opportunity to support people who feel disenfranchised by local policies. — |