THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Debt top issue of Africa-Europe summit By Jeffrey Ulbrich ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER CAIRO, Egypt Sharp rebukes and frank pleas punctuated the first day of the Africa- Europe summit yesterday, overshadowing the warm words of cooperation and hope that marked the opening ceremony. The two-day meeting is a major effort to overcome the bitterness of Europe's colonial past and launch new efforts to bring the heavily indebted African nations into the global economic and political mainstream. But a vehemently anti-Western statement by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi raised ten sions that more moderate leaders had hoped to avoid. In a closed-door session attended by heads of governments and top ministers, Gadhafi said Europe "had been submerged by Amer 'Babylift' orphans hold By Tini Tran ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam David Shakow recalls the day 25 years ago when he heard the radio report: A cargo plane loaded with Vietnamese orphans had crashed in Saigon, killing 144 people. His heart dropped. His adopted son Jeffery was on board. For weeks, Shakow and his wife lived in agony as reports filtered in that their baby was among 76 infants killed in the April 4, 1975, crash 26 days before the end of the Vietnam War. "We kept hearing that he was dead, then alive, then dead again," Shakow recalled. "That was a tough time." But a month later, 13-month-old Jeffery arrived in the United States, his eyelashes burned off, his bangs singed and his cheek and back scarred. Yesterday, father and son returned to Vietnam for the first time as part of a memorial tour led by Sister Mary Officials forecast low voter turnout From ELECTIONS, Page 1. Johnson said College Democrats, College Republicans, Undergraduate Student Government and Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life worked together to attract students to register. Jason Salus, chairman of the Penn State Israel Public Affairs Committee in Hillel, said this voter registration drive was the first of its kind, bringing together these organizations for labor and publicity. "It made more of a solidified impact," said Salus, adding the drive registered about 250 students. Hillel plans to modify the process for another voter registration drive this fall, he said. Along with the registration drive, USG INSURANCE RETIREMENT Whg is TIAA-CREF the #1 choice nationwide?* The TIAA-CREF Advantage. Year in and year out, employees at education and research institutions have turned to TIAA-CREF. 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Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc. distributes the variable component of the personal annuities, mutual funds and tuition savings agreements.TlAA and TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Co. issue insurance and annuities. TIAA-CREF Trust Company, FSB provides trust services. Investment products are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not bank guaranteed. For more complete information on our securities products, including charges and expenses, call 1 800 842-2776, ext. 5509, for the prospectuses. Read them carefully before you invest or send money. 0 2000 TIAA-CREF 1/00. c 'O''O'Ocg'evV"(g(geWre 7 (g'e'ro'o'o'o . (o'o 7 co 7 (o'('O'e 7 eW'c'c'cgcg'cg ican imperialism," according to a diplomat who heard Gadhafi 's speech. The diplomat quoted Gadhafi as saying in the unflinching 20-minute address "unless Europe is freed from NATO, it cannot be free." Summit host President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt had tried to keep the session from deteriorating into a forum for airing old grudges. Arab diplomats speaking on condi tion of anonymity yesterday said Mubarak had asked Gadhafi not to raise controversial topics. Gadhafi's message conflicted with the con ciliatory tone set by Prime Minister Antonio Guterres of Portugal, whose country holds the presidency of the 15-nation European Union. "It is time to change our conception and preconceptions of each other," said Guter res. Nelle Gage, an organizer of the evacuation. In the final days of the war, more than 2,000 Vietnamese children were airlifted to safety from Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, as part of Operation Babylift. Gage, who now lives in Denver, hopes the two-week tour will help the participants including 15 former Vietnamese orphans now in their mid-20s to early 30s come to terms with their past. Many were adopted by American families. For Shakow, 57, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the trip brought back memories of the painful days following the crash when Jeffery's very existence was in doubt. "He just disappeared for a while. There were rumors that he was in the hospital badly burned," Shakow said. "Then others swore that he was on the manifest of those killed. The world was falling apart there and we couldn't get any information." Today, the group, including Jeffery Shakow, 26, and two other crash survivors, will hold a memorial service at the crash site. works to organize on-campus voting, said Darren Robertson, USG director of town affairs "USG is responsible for coordinating polling places in the HUB primarily," said Robertson. USG also has worked to coordi nate election workers for the primary, he said. Currently, USG is working on a Web site with comprehensive maps of all the polling locations, information about all the candi dates and a voter registration form to down load, Robertson said. "We really wanted to get it done in time for the primary, but it wasn't all that realis tic," said Robertson, adding the site should be ready in time for the general election. Like others, Robertson does not expect a MUTUAL FUNDS TRUST SERVICES THE If' REF ArNAPITA Proven Performance Low Expenses Highly Rated Quality Service Trusted Name 1 800 842-2776 www.tiaa-cref.org INTERNATIONAL Debt remained the overriding issue. Africa as a whole has $350 billion in exter nal debt, with some countries paying more every year to service their loans than they do on health and education. President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania said African nations know where they have to go, what's unclear is how. "it is not necessary to hammer to African governments the value of competitive eco nomic regimes with and between countries," he said. Africa, Mkapa said, "wants to be part of the action, not an object of perpetual inter national pity." Even though African hopes for immediate substantial relief from the EU were dashed, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder offered $350 million in debt relief to almost 30 African nations as "a special sign of solidari ty:, memorial on anniversary of crash large number of students to vote today. "I don't really anticipate a really high turnout," Robertson said. He added the current lack of competition in the presidential primary also might deter voters. In contrast, East Halls Sen. Bryan McKinney said while students are not gen erally interested in the state primaries, he still plans to vote. McKinney said he believes students will vote because of the nature of the presiden tial primary. "I've talked to a lot of people. and a lot of my friends plan on voting because this is not a boring election." McKinney said. "The people who are interested are doing their research." TUITION FINANCING Call us for a free information Package Twenty-five years ago to the day, a giant C-5A cargo jet the largest plane in the world at the time— sped down the runway of Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airport carrying more than 300 children and their caretakers. Shortly after takeoff, an explosion blew out the rear doors. The pilots were able to turn the aircraft around and crash-land two miles from the airport. Skidding 1,000 feet, the aircraft bounced up again before hitting a dike and shattering on impact. Virtually everyone in the bottom cargo compartment was killed the majority children age 2 and under. Jeffery Shakow, born Luu Khiet Minh, survived, but his twin sister did not. It's a thought that haunts his father today. David Shakow served his tour of duty in Vietnam in 1965-66. When he and his wife decided to adopt, Vietnam was a natural choice. After trying for two years, they finally got word that an infant from Danang's Sacred Heart orphanage would be theirs. By the time their son arrived in New York, the "I am confident that the other creditor nations will follow our example," the chan cellor said. Salim Ahmed Salim, secretary-general of the 53-member Organization of African Unity, said the need for a "faster, deeper and broader process of debt relief cannot be overemphasized." "We should not wait for a major catastro phe to occur," he said. The European Union, which recently offered $1 billion in debt relief to the world's poorest nations, had little more to give at the summit beyond a promise to write a report that will be studied at a future ministerial meeting. Most work on African debt will be handled by other international institutions, such as the Paris Club of creditor nations, the World Bank and the International Mone tary Fund. Students campaign for candidates From CAMPAIGN, Page 1. seeing people inspired by Ron Klink's cause," Jones said. Students helping with campaigns will also be at the polls tomorrow, encouraging vot ers to support their candidates. Most Republican students aren't cam paigning aggressively in today's primaries because many of their candidates are run ning uncontested, said T.J. Kokolis, College Republicans treasurer. Some Republican students are already planning to support their candidates in the fall, even if that means simply informing other students of a politician's platform. Student participation is important to a candidate's campaign, said J.J. Balaban, Klink for Senate press secretary. In the Klink campaign, students have done every Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak speaks the Africa-Europe summit in Cairo yesterday. Shakows saw an emaciated, undernourished toddler w couldn't walk "He had these little, little legs and arms and a lift stomach from the parasites," Shakow recalled. "He had night terrors for a while, and got up screen:, ing and shaking. He had been so malnourished lie hod diarrhea for a month, but he never complained." After Jeffery's arrival, the Shakows discovered from his birth certificate that he had a twin sister. Luu I .( Quyen. Shakow spent the next 20 years trying to find her. He finally discovered the two children had been sepa rated at the orphanage but had ended up on the saw( disastrous flight. Luu Le Quyen, he learned from an orphanage official, was listed on the official manifest .1 one of the children "who did not return. - For both lathe) and son, the return to Vietnam has been worthwhile. "He needed to come back to see this," the eld(— Shakow said. "You can see pictures of Vietnam all yoti like, but until you walk around the streets here. ther , , would be pieces you'd miss." thing from Web design to answering ill: phones. "The students we've been involved with have been very excited about communicat ing our information," Balaban said. Students seem to have an advantage in influencing the ideas of their peers. sari Justin Zartman (sophomore-political sci ence), who plans to work on Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign. If students hear another student clis cussing a candidate, he said it can sho\‘ that them that the candidate is at the ii level. However, many students helping with campaigns said that the apathy of many Penn State students is hard to deal with. "It's extremely difficult to get your m(-: - sage out." Kokolis said. TUESDAY, April 4, 2000 9
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