Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news,americast.usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Thu, Sep 3 1992 Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 04:19:20 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update Sept. 3, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BUSH FIGHTS WITH INCUMBENCY: President Bush wielded Wednesday a potent political weapon: The power of incumbency. In South Dakota, Bush released $755 million in emergency disaster aid for farmers hit by flood and drought and announced $3 billion in new subsidies for wheat exports. And in Texas, he approved the sale of 150 F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, made by Fort Worth's General Dynamics. CALIFORNIA BUDGET SETTLED: The Golden State's budget deadlock ended Wednesday, with Gov. Pete Wilson signing the $57 billion agreement after the state paid its bills with IOUs for an historic 63 days. Public schools and community colleges took a $1 billion cut. Cuts in health and welfare total $1.7 billion. Cities, counties, special districts and redevelopment agencies lose $1.3 billion in state aid. WILSON MAY BE TARNISHED: California Gov. Pete Wilson hung tough for 63 days and finally got the budget he wanted out of the Democratic-majority legislature Wednesday. Now, supporters say Wilson's stubbornness might have earned him a budget win, but it could cost him his political future because the budget hurts a wide cross-section of Californians, from welfare recipients to parents of school children. MIT FIGHTING COURT RULING: Massachusetts Institute of Technology says it will fight Wednesday's federal court ruling that the school conspired illegally to fix financial aid awards. MIT President Charles Vest called the ruling about the 35-year tradition of Ivy League colleges and MIT sharing financial aid data on candidates admitted to more than one of the schools an "unwarranted intrusion." FISCHER WINS FIRST GAME: Chess whiz Bobby Fischer lived up to expectations Wednesday with a convincing 49-move win over long-time rival Boris Spassky in the first game of a highly hyped $5 million match in Sveti Stefan, Yugoslavia. The former world champion began his first professional match in 20 years with the classic Ruy Lopez (pawn to King 4) opening. It took only six hours to force Spassky's capitulation. AIRFARES TO INCREASE: Friday is the last day of a sale on cheap, restricted fares for travel through Dec. 14. Most major airlines also plan to raise domestic fares Saturday or Sunday on most routes. Airlines say fares are going up $10-$40 round-trip on most routes. An American Express analysis of unrestricted coach fares on 100 routes shows an average hike of $35, or 13%. FACTORY ORDERS FALL OFF: Orders to U.S. factories slumped in July for the second time in three months, dragged down by a big drop in aircraft orders, the Commerce Department says. Orders fell 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted $242 billion, the biggest drop since December. Factory orders rose 2.4% in June but fell 0.9% in May. The backlog of unfilled orders fell 1.3% to $484 billion, the lowest level since February 1989. SEARS SETTLES FRAUD LAWSUITS: Sears says it will pay $8 million to settle class-action lawsuits brought against it by California and several other states which charged Sears with fraud at its auto repair centers. Sears is also offering $3 million in $50 coupons to U.S. customers who bought certain Sears auto services between Aug. 1, 1990 and Jan. 31, 1992. Sears also settled suits with Michigan and Pennsylvania. RICE U. IS TOP BUY: Houston's Rice University tops Money magazine's survey of the 100 best college buys for the second straight year. Money used 16 factors in the rankings, including graduation rate and student-faculty ratios. The rest of the top five: University of Washington, Hanover College, California Institute of Technology, Trenton State College and Georgia Institute of Technology. MALE CEOS NOT STEPPING ASIDE: When 201 big-business chief executive officers were asked by Fortune when they'd be succeeded by a woman, a hefty 82% said it would be unlikely in the next 10 years. They say discrimination is the biggest barrier. Women are advancing as middle managers. But in Fortune's Sept. 21 issues, it says companies need to reward managers who train and promote women to break the glass ceiling. CLINTON VISITS ANDREW'S WAKE: Democratic nominee Bill Clinton gets a firsthand look Thursday at the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Andrew, traveling to Miami, Homestead and Florida City. Campaign press secretary Dee Dee Myers said Clinton was invited several days ago by Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles, but wanted to delay any trip to the stricken areas until some of the initial shock had passed. EARTHQUAKE ROCKS UTAH: A 5.5-magnitude earthquake centered near Zion National Park in southwestern Utah Wednesday triggered a landslide that destroyed three luxury homes. No one was hurt but many homes in the St. George area sustained cracks and buckled walls. Some water mains ruptured in Springdale and boulders blocked highways. The temblor, Utah's largest since 1975, was felt in Las Vegas, 110 miles away. TEACHERS WEAR RUBBER GLOVES: Jacksonville, Fla., teachers are getting rubber gloves to care for students with skinned knees and bloody noses. Cited: 44 Duval County children have AIDS; 60 to 70 others have the AIDS virus. The National Education Association, the nation's largest teacher's union, said gloves are becoming more common. A union representative said there's never been a case of HIV transmission in school. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3290.31 Thursday after closing up 24.05 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 230.01, up 0.99. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 382.74, up 1.29. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 571.25, up 5.64. SHOWERS IN THE WEST: A Pacific storm system will whip through California Thursday; showers will extend to Idaho, Wyoming and southwest Montana. Hot temperatures will continue in the Southwest. Cloudy, cool in the Northwest. Showers in the northern Rockies; sun in the southern Rockies. Dry, warm weather in the Plains, with 90s expected as far north as western Nebraska and a few 100s in Texas. News Editor: Kate Coughlin. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution purposes violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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