Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Tue, Mar 31 1992 Date: Tue, 31 Mar 92 05:49:46 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update March 31, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ANENCEPHALITIC INFANT DIES: Nine-day-old Theresa Campo Pearson died Monday. She was born with anencephaly, in which the brain and skull do not develop. The condition is always fatal within days of birth. She became the center of a debate when the courts rejected her parents' plea she be declared legally dead so her organs could be donated. They have deteriorated and medical experts doubt their suitability. QUALITY OF LIFE CONSIDERED: The American Cancer Society has shifted some of its money away from developing technologies and put it into research designed to make patients feel better. Dr. John Laszlo, head of research, says funding for quality of life and prevention studies has doubled from last year. "We are trying to supply a funding vehicle for supportive care for patients with cancer," says Laszlo. WOMEN-OWNED FIRMS POWERFUL: Female-owned firms are a powerful economic force whose employment could soon surpass the Fortune 500, says a new study out Tuesday. They account for 11 million employees and 28% of all U.S. firms, both large and small. "Women-owned Businesses: The New Economic Force" was released by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners. `LAMBS' IS BEST PICTURE: "The Silence of the Lambs" won top Academy Awards Monday night. "Lambs" was named Best Picture and Jonathan Demme, Best Director. Anthony Hopkins was named Best Actor and Jodie Foster, Best Actress. Best Supporting Actor went to Jack Palance for "City Slickers" and Best Supporting Actress, Mercedes Ruehl for "The Fisher King." Director George Lucas was given an honorary Oscar. EMBARGO WON'T DO IT: A U.N. air and weapons embargo against Libya scheduled for a vote Tuesday won't likely cause Moammar Gadhafi to hand over terrorism suspects, according to experts. His bigger fear is unspecified Western efforts to bring him to justice as the man who ordered airplane bombings that killed 441. Already he is planning to get around the embargo with a ferry to Malta as a transit point. PEACE TALKS MAY SEE ROUND FIVE: The State Department has invited all the parties to the Mideast peace talks to a fifth round of talks in Washington April 27, if they all agree to a sixth round in a city closer to the Mideast. The department has asked all the parties to provide a list of cities that would be acceptable to them. So far, only Israel has complied. PUBLIC RUSHES TO SAVE PIGS: Florida residents are rushing to rescue 74 pigs the government wants to burn to test an incinerator. The facility is to burn animals imported into the USA that die or are sick. Before July 1, tests must be performed to see if the furnace meets environmental standards. The plan was to kill the pigs, bought for $7,470 in Ocala, and burn them. But public outcry has cooled the plan. NEW FAA CHIEF ANNOUNCED: Thomas Richards, a retired Air Force general and member of the presidential commission that investigated the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, Tuesday will be named chief of the FAA, The Associated Press reported Monday. Richards, 62, retired in 1989. He is a former deputy chief of the U.S. European Command and Air Force Academy commandant. GOTTI TRIAL GOES TO JURY: John Gotti's federal racketeering trial goes to a New York jury Tuesday. Prosecutor Andrew Maloney painted Gotti as "the boss of a murderous, treacherous crime family" and told jurors they would be "less than human" if they weren't concerned about the reputed Mafia chief's activities. Citing the remarks, Gotti's lawyer, Albert Krieger, unsuccessfully sought a mistrial. PEROT NAMES RUNNING MATE: Would-be independent presidential candidate H. Ross Perot Monday named retired admiral James Bond Stockdale as an "interim" running mate. The move lets Perot backers launch ballot petition drives in the 27 states (and District of Columbia) that require independent candidates to name running mates. Stockdale is a senior research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. THUNDERSTORMS TO SWAMP SOUTHWEST: The Southwest will have the nation's most active weather Tuesday with afternoon showers and thunderstorms rattling the region. In the Northwest, skies will be partly cloudy with temperatures in the 60s. A late-season arctic cold front will blow some snow showers and chilly 30-degree temperatures into the upper Great Lakes. Gusty, bone-chilling winds are expected to rip through the region. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Tuesday at 3235.24, after closing up 3.80 Monday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 222.99, down 0.32. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 393.61, down 0.75. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 602.07, down 2.60. News Editor: Beth Mann. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM