THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Suspected spy set in nuclear secrets By Richard Benke ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. After nine months in solitary confinement, Wen Ho Lee struck a deal to get out of jail a free man yesterday as federal prosecutors all but abandoned their tattered case against the former Los Alamos nuclear scientist. Once vilified as a suspected spy but never charged with espionage, Lee agreed to plead guilty before U.S. District Judge James Parker to only one of 59 counts accusing him of violating national security. His sentence: the nine months already served. In exchange for his freedom, Lee agreed to explain what he knows about seven computer tapes he was accused of downloading. Lee whose defense con tended he was targeted only because he is ethnic Chinese has insisted the tapes were destroyed at the lab. His willingness to explain in more detail what happened was the turning point in plea discussions. The three-year case began as an offshoot of a Chinese espionage case and led to accusations that Lee had downloaded the "crown jewels" of U.S. nuclear weaponry and might be poised to hand them over to a foreign power. The government has since backed down from nearly all those charges. Government sources said Lee agreed to plead guilty to one count of unlawful gather- `Cats' says final goodbye to Broadway By Michael Kuchwara ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER NEW YORK Cats, Broadway's longest running show, has become as much a "Memory" as the song that was its most per sistent refrain. After a nearly 18-year run, the extremely popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical closed with a roar Sunday at the Winter Gar den Theater before an invited audience of friends and fans. They cheered, screamed and even cried during an emotional, confetti-strewn final performance number 7,485 that was interrupted by several standing ovations. "Tonight is the last night of Cats first life on Broadway," Lloyd Webber said after the exuberant cast and orchestra players took their bows. "So I wouldn't get too excited. I don't quite know what the fuss is about." Among the people called on stage by Read the Collegian Get A Grip! Associated Press The Los Alamos National Laboratory is the former employer of Wen Ho Lee. ing of national defense information, aid fed eral investigators over the next six months and drop claims that prosecutors went after him because he is Chinese-American. Lee is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Taiwan. "He deserves a national apology," said John Vance, a safety engineer at Los Alam os National Laboratory. "The president of the United States should call him in and apologize on national television for the dam age that's done." Lloyd Webber were director Trevor Nunn, choreographer Gillian Lynne and producer Cameron Mackintosh. As they waved goodbye, a shower of yel low, white and silver confetti filled the the ater, covering the cast and still-applauding theatergoers. Cats was based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, a collection of poems by T.S. Eliot. The St. Louis-born poet was praised by Nunn as "the greatest English and Ameri can poet of the 20th century and who was my unwitting collaborator in writing the words for 'Memory' probably unwillingly, if he had known." The poems by Eliot, who died in 1965, also provided the lyrics for the other numbers in Cats. Now for the first time since 1982, the Win ter Garden, one of the few Broadway the aters actually on Broadway, will be dark However, there will be still be one more free case Andrew Lloyd Webber speaks on stage following Cats' final performance. Cats related event held in the Garden Next Saturday, props, costumes and other mementos from the musical will be put on sale in a giant theatrical garage sale. It will be a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. NATIONAL `West Wing' sets Emmy record NBC's drama won nine Emmys and nearly shut out HBO's The Sopranos. By David Bauder ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER LOS ANGELES Once again, crime did n't pay. Weeks before the election of a new U.S. president, the Emmy Awards elbowed aside the mob-focused The Sopranos to shower honors on the White House drama The West Wing. NBC's freshman series won a record-set ting nine Emmys on Sunday, including best drama. Only James Gandolfini's best acting trophy prevented a shutout for The Sopra nos after 18 nominations. "I wish we had done a little better," Gan dolfini said after the show. It was the second straight year The Sopranos met mostly with Emmy disappointment. He suggested the surreal drama may be a little too dark and violent for many Emmy voters. Some of Hollywood's old guard also may be reluctant to vote for a cable show instead of one on the broadcast networks, he said. West Wing is an uplifting look at political life not weighed down with cynicism. Its characters try to do the right thing, even if they don't always succeed. Real Washington 1 .- 4 ,r 4 6 ,1 K . 7 1 :I f ! 1 4 side of • • I • friedor wile lice & iside of soup or an egg roll.liside of soup 0144 tgiatitt I, A pp. 10/3/00 aso sag mut Alt all . 1 James Gandalfinl embraces Sarah Jessica Parker after winning the emmy for best actor in a drama series for his work on The Sopranos. leaders are constantly thanking producers for their portrayal. "By and large in movies and television shows, the country's leaders are portrayed as either dolts or Machiavellian," series cre ator Aaron Sorkin said. "Here, they are nei ther. They're very bright, committed and energetic people." Sorkin won an Emmy for his writing; Thomas Schlamme for directing. Richard Station spacewalk goes smoothly By Marcia Dunn ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Spacewalk ers sped through six hours of work outside the international space station yesterday, hooking up cables, installing a navigation tool and dislodging a jammed piece of equipment. The astronauts and cosmonauts next turned their attention to the inside of the space station. "Basically, it's a cabin we have that we're trying to get some furniture into and get it ready to move into," said mission opera tions director Milt Heflin. The crew of space shuttle Atlantis planned to enter the space station late yes terday. It was expected to take a few hours for the seven men to make their way through the 140-foot-long complex and all 12 hatch es. The space station is almost double the kte.l iyhtv s o i I Includes side of ob' I fried or white icit Schiff, who plays the grim aide Toby Ziegler, and Allison Janney, who plays the White House's tough press secretary, won support ing actor awards. The show won four other technical awards. Asked whether The West Wing educates viewers about politics, Sorkin replied: 'We're not asking anyone to eat their veg etables." Martin Sheen, President Josiah Bartlet in The West Wing, was dead-on walk ing into the Emmys with his prediction that Gandolfini would beat him for best actor, Imit his show would win best series. "James was selected MVP, but we won the game," Sheen said. "That's the most important thkig." Emmy voters showed their sentimental sides Sunday. Michael J. Fox won best actor in a comedy for his final performance in Spin City before retiring because of Parkin son's disease. Jack Lemmon won best actor in a miniseries or movie for Oprah Winfrey Presents: Tuesdays With Morrie. Both veteran actors drew standing ova tions. Will & Grace was selected best come dy, boosting the show as it moves to Thurs day nights. Its supporting actors, Sean Hayes and Megan Mu!laity, each won their first Emmys. For the third year in a row, David Letterman's Late Show won the award for best variety series. It came during a year Letterman had to take a break for a quintuple bypass operation in January. "Dave, if you're watching at home, it looks like the fake heart surgery paid off," said the show's executive producer, Rob Burnett. size it was the last time astronauts visited in May. Zvezda, the Russia-made control mod ule, was added in late July. With only four days inside the station before Atlantis undocks this weekend, the astronauts and cosmonauts had to work fast. One of their first chores was to unload 1,300 pounds of gear from a Russian cargo ship that arrived in August NASA was cheered by the success of yes terday morning's spacewalk by Edward Lu and Yuri Malenchenko. About 20 spacewalks are planned outside the station over the next year and a half alone. By contrast, yesterday's outing was only the 50th in almost 20 years of space shuttle flight "We're going to really start getting into the assembly of the space station in very short order here, and I feel like this space walk set the tone for what's about to come," said Mike Hess, the lead spacewalk officer inside Mission Control. ..,„„F .m:2 4 " , , -V , . :". 1• -A.i't: ,': i 4 d:::(' -1: = • ' -'-4 1; , , ' J : '4‘ ,4, ' ! '. , - , . 5. '.4., te' -7,, 7r42 ''' ' • , 4- * ' '''' '' 10` ' 4 4 ; -. 4. r. - r - , • 7 111."11. TUESDAY, Sept. 12, 2000 Tr. r Iv