Dispute over space tourist cools off
by Kathy Sawyer
The Washington Post
March 21,2001
A heated U.S. - Russian confronta
tion over an American space tourist
cooled slightly this week, with the end
of a brief cosmonaut walkout on a
scheduled training session in Houston,
The core conflict remained, but NASA
officials suggested a possible compro
mise.
Despite U.S. opposition, Russian
space officials have insisted they will
launch California millionaire Dennis
Tito to the fledgling International
Space Station on a Russian Soyuz
spacecraft April 30, in exchange for
his $2O million payment. NASA
maintains Tito could pose a safety
hazard at an extremely busy time
aboard a space complex still under
construction.
The matter came to a head Mon*
day, when NASA officials at Johnson
Space Center in Houston barred Tito
from a scheduled training session.
Two Russian cosmonauts refused to
continue withouthim, but Tuesday the
Russian Space Agency directed thi
tago ahead with the training without
out (If the face&ff thay
|n ml "timing, NASA officials si
gested at a briefing this week.
though Tito, 60, has trained for mom.
in Russia, he still needs at least six to
eight weeks of instruction in Houston
to gain minimal competence in emer
gency procedures and other require
ments, said Michael Hawes, NASA’s
chief space station official.
“Six to eight weeks of training in
Vatican is ‘dealing’ with reports
of sexual abuse
Faced with reports that priests have sexually abused
many African nuns, the Vatican said Tuesday it is work
ing with bishops and leaders of religious orders to deal
with the problem.
“The problem is known, and is restricted to a geographi
cally limited area,” the Vatican spokesman, Dr. Joaquin
Navarro-Vails, said in a written statement.
He did not specify the area, but two explosive reports -
in the weekly National Catholic Reporter Friday, then
Monday in the Rome daily La Repubblica - said the prob
lem was serious in Africa, where the Church has grown
rapidly and recruited many new priests and sisters in re
cent years.
National Catholic Reporter quoted a series of reports
written over the past seven years by senior members of
women's religious orders and a priest who now holds a
prominent post in the national bishops' conference in Wash
ington. The newspaper posted the story and documents
on its Web site at www.natcath.com/
NCR-Online
The reports said sisters, viewed as
safe targets in AIDS-ravaged Africa,
were being sexually harassed by
priests and even raped. The docu
ments indicated the problem has got
ten attention at high levels in the
Vatican.
The most extreme instances were
cited in a 1995 memo written by Sis
ter Maura O’Donohue, a physician
and member of the Medical Mission
ary of Mary order, that recounted a
meeting with Cardinal Eduardo
Martinez, head of the Vatican's con
gregation for religious life.
“Examples were also given of situ
ations where priests were bringing sis
ters (and other young women) to
Catholic health institutions for abor
tion,” the memo said. “I gave one ex
ample of a priest who had brought a
sister for an abortion. She died dur
ing the procedure and the priest offi
ciated at the Requiem Mass. The re
sponse was of stunned silence.”
In its statement, the Vatican said it
was “dealing with the question in col
laboration with the bishops” and with
organizations of the superiors general
of priests and sisters. It added that the
“heroic fidelity of the great
majority”of priests and sisters should
not be forgotten.
In her memo, O’Donohue wrote
that a prominent priest, the Rev. Rob
ert Vitillo, had worked with her and
joined in her concerns. Vitillo, then
director of programs at Caritas Inter
national, a major charity, is currently
executive director of the Catholic
Campaign for Human Development
in Washington.
In a 1994 talk at Boston College on
AIDS, Vitillo referred to the same
Houston to go visit the space station
is a fairly minor price to pay, over
all,” Hawes said.
If Tito could delay his flight until
October, the next Soyuz launch, it
would allow time for him to pass mus
ter in Houston, while giving NASA
and the Russians time to work out
questions of legal liability and other
issues, Hawes said.
Former astronaut Bill Readdy, who
commanded a shuttle flight to Mir and
is now a NASA space flight official,
stressed the demands of space flight,
noting a string of crises that required
finely honed responses that come only
with training.
NASA, along with space station
partners from Europe, Japan and
Canada, argue that die international
agreements governing space stadon
operations require consensus on any
thing like the Tito flight»a tenet the
Russians are violating.
There was no immediate sign of
softening. Yury Semyonov, the head
of the state-controlled RKK Energia
corporation, which signed the contract
with Tito, told the Associated Press in
' wrong for
its word
m on the
April flight "We hope it doesn’t come
to that” Hawes said.
The puipose Of the April flight is to
deliver a flesh Soyuz to serve as an
emergency lifeboat. The Soyuzitre
places will return the “taxi” crew to
Garth after a week.
by Paul Moses
Newsday
March 20, 2001
■ s »
Eatery’s sign for ‘Ghetto Burger’ called tasteless
RICHMOND, Va. - Sitting on a ce
ramic plate next to a heap of fries,
the Ghetto Burger looks innocuous
enough-even appetizing. With
seven ounces of hand-slabbed
ground beef, grilled onions and
peppers, lettuce and tomatoes, it has
become a small restaurant's ticket
to the big time.
“This is our signature meal,” says
the burger’s inventor and biggest
fan, Frank Pitchford, 39, an owner
of Send-a-Chef Restaurant just out
side Richmond. “We call it the
Ghetto Burger because this is a
family restaurant, and that’s what
we ate when I was growing up. All
we want to do is celebrate where
we come from. Simple and plain.”
The $3.50 item has been on the
menu since the business opened
several years ago as a catering ser-
But some of Pitchford’s neigh
bors in this middle-class commu
nity in eastern Henrico County find
the burger - and a new large sign
advertising it - insulting.
“This is not the way anybody
should use the word ghetto,” said
Fran Xavier, who was at the restau
rant recently. “I mean, I understand
what he’s trying to say, but isn’t
there a better way of saying it than
using the word ghetto? It just isn’t
right.”
isaitf had
Vsay ex
ito actu-
The debate over Send-a-Chef’s
hot-ticket item in this largely black
of African nuns
concerns, according to National Catholic Reporter. “I
myself have heard the tragic stories of religious women
who were forced to have sex with the local priest or with
a spiritual counselor who insisted that this activity was
‘good’ for the both of them,” Vitillo said. “Frequently, at
tempts to raise these issues with local and international
church authorities have met with deaf ears.”
A call to Vitillo was referred to a spokeswoman for the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Sister Mary Ann
Walsh, who said Vitillo would have no comment.
In a 1998 report to a council of leaders of religious or
ders, Sister Marie McDonald wrote that "everyone here
knows that this problem exists and that in spite of very
many attempts to improve the situation, it seems to be
getting worse, instead of better.”
McDonald said that some student sisters from Africa,
immature and ill-prepared for studies in Rome, wound up
performing sexual favors for seminarians and priests in
return for help with their school work.
In one report, she said she had found examples of mis
conduct in some countries outside Africa, including the
United States, but no details were offered.
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WORLD & NATION
by Chris L. Jenkins
The Washington Post
March 21,2001
-
-jg
neighborhood has impelled a local
minister and the district supervisor,
concerned that the sandwich’s
name reflects badly on their com
munity and celebrates a condition
that needs no celebration, to ask
Pitchford to alter or take down his
sign.
Constance Beecham, a former
schoolteacher and a restaurant cus
tomer, said, “There are a lot of
words that sometimes we use as
black people that we really
shouldn’t throw around." Beecham,
who moved from Chicago several
months ago, pointed to what she
called the “n-word,” which she says
many black people use but should
never say in public. The word
ghetto, as used by Send-a-Chef, is
one of those words, she said.
But Pitchford isn't swayed. “You
see, I’m not ashamed of saying that
I once lived in the ghetto or grew
up poor, so why should anybody
else?” he said. “Anybody who is
worried about using ghetto in this
way has forgotten where they've
come from.”
Last year, Pitchford’s original
Richmond restaurant burned down.
After he and co-owner Torrence
Smith, 38, reopened in their new
location, adjacent to a convenience
store and an abandoned restaurant,
they looked for a way to draw busi
ness.
So they applied for permission to
erect the 5-by-9-foot sign in Janu-
“I certainly understand why this
would be a sensitive issue for some
Political scientist detained in China
by Philip P, Pan
The Washington Post
March 21, 2001
BEIJING - A Chinese-born political
scientist at American University who
does research on women’s issues and
mainland-Taiwan relations has been
detained in China for more than a
month, her husband said Wednesday.
The Foreign Ministry said she was
suspected of “engaging in activities
damaging state security.”
Chinese officers detained Gao
Zhan, 40, an unpaid faculty fellow at
AU's School of International Service,
as well as her husband and their 5-
year-old son at the Beijing airport on
Feb. 11 as they prepared to return to
Washington, D.C.
Gao’s husband, Xue Donghua, and
her child, Andrew, were released 26
days later. Xue said they had been
held in separate locations, and offic
ers refused to let him, his wife or
other relatives sec Andrew the entire
help
[fill f ion].
ins still bej
people.” said John Marlles, direc
tor of planning for Henrico County,
who added that he couldn’t remem
ber a sign causing such a stir. “But
we don't regulate speech unless
there are constitutional violations.
It's not government's responsibility
to regulate taste."
Nearby businesses have told lo
cal television stations that they are
concerned that the word ghetto on
the sign will damage their attempt
to revitalize the area.
Last week, the sign brought in
tense scrutiny after an article in the
Richmond Times-Dispatch. But
that meant good business for
Pitchford.
Send-a-Chef co-owner Frank Pitchford estimated that 2,000
burgers were sold in one day after publicity about his sign in
Henrico County in Virginia.
Speaking by telephone from the
Washington area, Xue said he was
told he could see his son only if he
first incriminated his wife. He refused
because "she is absolutely innocent."
“My wife has been detained for al
most 40 days now.. .. They wouldn’t
even let me sec her before I left,” said
Xue, a D.C.-based manager for Elec
tronic Data Systems. “I’m very wor
ried because she has heart disease and
other health problems.”
Xue said he sought the U.S.
Embassy’s help immediately, but
waited to speak to reporters because
the Chinese officers warned him that
doing so would make matters worse.
He said he changed his mind because
“waiting hasn't worked.”
The New York-based group Human
Rights in China urged President Bush
to ask for Gao’s release when he
meets with Vice Premier Qian Qichen
in Washington this week. The group
said the detentions violated both Chi-
teovfrffiyohf
WASHINGTON POST PHOTO BY ANDREA BRUCE WOODALL.
Tslk to an
k f \
FRIDAY, MARCH 23,2001
By noon Friday, the line of cus
tomers wrapped outside the door,
past television cameras and photog
raphers, and into the parking lot.
One employee had to break bad
news to the throng.
“I’m sorry, but there is a 45-
minute wait on all burger orders.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”
Nobody budged. Eleanor Cook,
who had snagged a burger before
the rush, offered an explanation
through mouthfuls.
“Look at all this meat!” she said
as she polished off her second-to
last bite. "They can call it what they
want. It doesn’t matter to me.”
nese and international law.
Gao and Xue are Chinese citizens
who immigrated to the United States
in 1989, but their son is a U.S. citi
zen. China failed to inform the Ameri
can Embassy of the boy’s detention
as required by treaty, an embassy of
ficial said.
China's foreign ministry issued a
statement saying that Gao was under
investigation for activities harming
national security and that the case
would be handled according to the
relevant Chinese criminal statutes.
“It's all nonsense," Xue said.
“She’s just an academic, a scholar.
She’s not doing anything against the
Chinese government. We wouldn’t do
that"
Xue said he and his wife were plan
ning to return to China for good and
had been looking for jobs teaching in
Chinese universities after spending
the Chinese New Year with relatives.
“We wanted to go back and do
something for the country,” he said.
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