8A THE WICHITA EAGLE „ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008 WWW.KANSAS.

COM/NEWS

Auto bailout
AROUND THE U.S.
dies in Senate
WASHINGTON — A $14 bil-
lion emergency bailout for U.S.
automakers collapsed in the
Senate on Thursday night after
the United Auto Workers
refused to accede to Republican
demands for swift wage cuts.
The collapse came after bipar-
tisan talks on the auto rescue
broke down over GOP demands
that the United Auto Workers
union agree to steep wage cuts
by 2009 to bring their pay into
line with Japanese carmakers.
The Senate rejected the
bailout 52-35 on a procedural
vote — well short of the 60
required — after the talks fell
apart.
Bush revises rules for
endangered species
WASHINGTON — Just six
some of the mandatory, inde-
pendent reviews that govern-
ment scientists have per-
formed for 35 years on dams,
power plants, timber sales and
other projects, a step that
developers and other federal
agencies have blamed for
delays and cost increases.
Estrogen may ‘trick’
breast-cancer tumors
ST. LOUIS — Estrogen is
medicine’s most two-faced
hormone, confusing doctors
and patients for decades on its
role in the benefits and risks of
heart disease and cancer.
Now researchers at
Washington University have
shown that in some women
who have breast cancer tumors
that thrive on estrogen, giving
them more of the hormone can
actually trick the tumors into
submission.
Estrogen therapy could be
‘Dream job for a sexual predator’
„ An AP investigation Some of them molested patients Exactly how many of these breasts while pretending to
in the back of an ambulance. EMTs were alleged to have tend to her injuries.
found 129 paramedics “It’s a dream job for a sexual committed their crimes on the State health officials in 23
have been accused of predator,” said Greg Kafoury, job is unclear. But some of the states reported receiving sex-
sex-related crimes in a Portland, Ore., lawyer who cases include: related complaints involving
represents three women who „ A Standish, Mich., para- EMS workers. New York
the past year and a half. were groped by a paramedic. medic sent to prison in March reported the most complaints
“Everything is there: Women for molesting a girl who was — 17. Thirteen of the com-
BY DANNY ROBBINS who are incapacitated, so on her way to the hospital plaints were substantiated and
Associated Press they’re hugely distracted. after she was injured at her resulted in workers losing their
Medical cover to put your 15th birthday party. certification. Texas reported 13
DALLAS — They answer the hands in places where, in any „ A Chester County, Pa., complaints, Massachusetts 11
call 24-7, often risking their other context, a predator paramedic sentenced in July to and Virginia 10. No break-
own safety to rescue the sick would be immediately recog- up to 20 years in prison for down was immediately avail-
and injured and rush them to nized as such.” engaging in sex and providing able showing how many of
the hospital. But some para- Across the U.S., emergency alcohol to teenagers he those allegations involved sex-
medics have been more preda- medical technicians have been befriended through their inter- ual misconduct on the job.
tor than hero. accused in recent months of est in emergency medical ser- Several EMS officials said the
Over the past 18 months, at such crimes as rape, soliciting vice. number of complaints is trou-
least 129 ambulance atten- minors over the Internet and „ A Copperas Cove, Texas, bling but does not necessarily
dants across the U.S. have been possession of child porn, paramedic awaiting trial in point to an industrywide prob-
accused of sex-related crimes on according to an AP survey of January on charges he lem. They noted that the pro-
duty or off, an investigation by the state agencies that oversee exposed and touched an 18- fession employs nearly 900,000
the Associated Press found. those professions. year-old accident victim’s people in the U.S.

Deal ends factory sit-in

weeks before President-elect
Barack Obama takes office, the
Bush administration issued
revised endangered species reg-
ulations Thursday to reduce the
input of federal scientists and to
used to treat thousands of
women with certain kinds of
breast cancer, an attractive
alternative to chemotherapy
for the lack of side effects and
its low cost, less than one dol-

Workers will
block the law from being used lar a day. About 40,000
to fight global warming. women die of advanced breast
The changes will eliminate cancer each year.

AROUND THE WORLD get 2 months’

Suicide bomber
kills 55 in Iraq
BAGHDAD — A suicide
attack at a posh restaurant in
the northern city of Kirkuk
pay, benefits
could surpass 60,000, and that
half the country’s population
of 12 million is at risk.
Zimbabwe’s once promising
economy, disastrously mis- BY MICHAEL TARM
managed by President Robert Associated Press
Mugabe’s government, has

killed 55 people Thursday and
wounded 102, security author-
ities said, shattering a calm
that had settled over Iraq dur-
ing the four-day Eid al-Adha
religious holiday.
The Abdullah restaurant was
packed with a lunchtime
crowd that included Kurdish
leaders and members of an
Arab district council that rep-
resents the western half of
Kirkuk (formerly Tamim)
province. They reportedly
were preparing to meet with
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
Cholera races
through Zimbabwe
HARARE, Zimbabwe — A
ferocious cholera epidemic,
spread by water contaminated
with human excrement, has
stricken more than 16,000
people across Zimbabwe since
August and killed more than
780. Health experts are warn-
ing that the number of cases
been spiraling downward for
almost a decade, but residents
here say the free fall has
gained frightening velocity in
recent weeks.
Greek protesters
infect other countries
MADRID, Spain — The
unrest that has gripped Greece
is spilling over into the rest of
Europe, raising concerns the
clashes could be a trigger for
opponents of globalization,
disaffected youth and others
outraged by the continent’s
economic turmoil and soaring
unemployment.
Protesters in Spain, Denmark
and Italy smashed shop win-
dows, pelted police with bot-
tles and attacked banks this
week, while in France, cars
were set ablaze Thursday out-
side the Greek consulate in
Bordeaux, where protesters
scrawled graffiti warning about
a looming “insurrection.”
C
HICAGO — Jubilant workers,
cheering and chanting “Yes We
Can,” celebrated outside a
Chicago factory after approving
a $1.75 million agreement to
end their six-day sit-in, which had
become a nationwide symbol of the
plight of labor.
Republic Windows & Doors, union
leaders and Bank of America reached
the deal Wednesday evening. Workers
carrying sleeping bags left the factory
within hours.
About 200 of 240 laid-off workers
began their sit-in last week after
Republic gave them just three days’
notice the plant was closing.
The workers had argued that
Republic violated federal law because
employees were not given 60 days’
notice. They vowed to stay until
they received assurances they would
get severance and accrued vacation
pay.
Each former Republic employee will
get eight weeks’ salary, all accrued
vacation pay and two months’ paid
health care, said U.S. Rep. Luis
Workers outside the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago
celebrate Wednesday after approving an agreement that ended a sit-in.
Gutierrez, who helped broker the deal.
He said it works out to about $7,000
apiece.
“We lost the jobs but we got some-
thing,” said Lalo Munoz, who worked at
the plant for 24 years.
Gutierrez, D-Illinois, said $1.75æmil-
lion will go into an escrow account for
the workers, $1.35æmillion of which
came from Bank of America in the form
of a loan to Republic.
The workers are “very, very satisfied”
with the agreement, said Mark
Meinster of the United Electrical
Workers union, which represents the
employees.
“Hopefully this is an example for
Associated Press
workers across the country that when
things like this happen, you can step up,
you can speak out, and you can win,”
he said.
Lawmakers earlier criticized Bank of
America for cutting off funds to the
plant after it exhausted its credit line
even though the Charlotte, N.C.-based
bank itself received $25æbillion from the
government’s financial bailout package.
The bank was given that money so it
could provide credit to companies like
Republic that employ workers, Meinster
said.
“We’re hopeful the banks got that
message,” he said. “My sense is it’s
going to take a lot more.”

ALEX
From Page 1A
and to be leaders,” Karen said.
She paused, then handed
Bush three photos of Alex.
Then she handed him Alex’s
dog tags.
“It is important to me that
you remember my son,” she
said.
Bush appeared startled, and
deeply moved.
A few moments passed.
Are you sure you want to
give me his dog tags? he asked.
“Yes,” Karen said.
Well, Bush said.
Another moment passed.
I’m going to have a presiden-
tial library, Bush said. And these
dog tags will be in my library.
Bush slowly picked up the
photographs. In one, taken by
Lt. Jon Bland, Alex stares defi-
antly at the camera, wearing
desert camo and the brown-
billed “Playboy Club Baghdad”
cap with the long-eared bunny
on the front.
Bush grinned, and looked
quizzically at Bob.
“We’re not crazy about the
hat,” Bob said. Bush laughed.
Bob stood up. He felt like
God had opened a door.
“Mr. President,” he said. “I
would like to pray for you.”
Bush stood quickly, bowed
his head, and reached out. He
took Bob’s left hand in his
right, and Gloria’s right hand
in his left. Karen held Bob and
Gloria’s hands. A prayer circle
of four.
Bob bowed his head.
“I pray that God will give
you insight,” Bob said. “That
God will give you understand-
ing, that God will open a path-
way before you.
“I pray for your and Laura’s
marriage, that you will trust
each other and see each other
as you once did.”
They stood still for a moment,
heads bowed. They slowly
released each other’s hands.
And Gloria spoke.
“Can I ask a couple of ques-
tions?”
„ „ „
Bob braced himself; Karen
Karen and Bob Funcheon and their daughter, Gloria, leave Air
Force One after visiting with President Bush. The family is
accompanied by Army Sgt. Charles Austin Hilt, their Casualty
Assistance Officer, center rear.
too. Karen noticed that Gloria
did not say “Mr. President,”
the way the rest of the world
did. Nor did Gloria ever say it
in the conversation that fol-
lowed.
She took up her note paper
and her pen again, and looked
at Bush with a steady gaze.
Sure, Bush said.
She explained that at
Wichita East High School she
had recently qualified for the
National Forensics League
Student Senate.
Go ahead, Bush said.
“OK, well, given that the
Cold War theoretically ended
in 1989, why are we still prac-
ticing the policy of contain-
ment with the Cuban embar-
go?”
Here comes Gloria, Bob
thought.
Bush shook his head.
We need to keep it in place
because it’s a communist
tyranny there. That country is
run by gangsters who profit
from the exchange of dollars.
When dollars come in from
trade, the Cuban government
takes the dollars, exchanges
them for Cuban pesos, and
that’s what they pay to the
people who earned the dol-
lars; the government makes a
lot of money off the exchange.
All that would happen if we
lifted the embargo would be
that the tyrants would get
richer and the poor over there
would get poorer.
Gloria looked at him. If this
was a real debate, she said
later, she already had him on a
hook — but he had been nice
Dave Williams/File photo
to her, and he was the presi-
dent, so she ignored the temp-
tation to point out that the
U.S. traded billions of dollars
with other supposed tyrannies,
China, Venezuela.
“I have another question.”
“Gloria,” Bob said.
No, no, Bush said, waving
Bob off. Let her ask her ques-
tions.
“Is it possible to grant
amnesty to illegal immigrants
currently living in the U.S.?”
Gloria asked. “What should
our policy be on illegal immi-
gration?”
A complex issue, Bush said.
On one side are those who
want to get all the illegal
aliens out of the country, every
last one of them.
And that is just totally
impractical, Bush said. There
is no way we can deport
12 million people; it isn’t
going to happen.
On the other side, Bush said,
there are those who want to
let everyone come in. The best
solution was somewhere in
the middle, to find a way to let
people become citizens in an
orderly way, to integrate
them, to have them pay taxes
and receive services.
Gloria asked another ques-
tion.
“Are you worried about the
Palestinian militant group
Hamas and their recent take-
over of the Gaza Strip, and did
you have any plans to try to
talk to the leaders of Hamas?
Shouldn’t the United States at
least consider the idea of talk-
ing with them?”
AT KANSAS.COM/FORALEX
„ Watch video interviews
with Alex Funcheon’s parents,
Bob and Karen Funcheon
„ Read earlier installments in
the series
„ Read and sign Alex
Funcheon’s memorial guest
book
„ Read e-mails Alex Funcheon
exchanged with his parents
during his overseas tour
„ Read an account about the
Funcheons touring Air Force
One
„ View family photos and
images from Alex Funcheon’s
platoon in Iraq
„ Read journal entries written
by Gloria Funcheon, Alex’s
sister
„ Learn the story behind the
series with Roy Wenzl
„ Watch a YouTube clip of
Alex practicing his German
language skills
No, Bush said. They are a
terrorist organization, and
their stated goal is to over-
throw the state of Israel. You
can’t talk with terrorists. How
can you talk to them, when
their stated goal is to wipe out
Israel?
Bob interrupted again.
“We need to go.”
Bush smiled. It’s all right, he
said. What’s your next ques-
tion?
Gloria had caught the look
on her father’s face.
“Dad?”
Bob shrugged. “Gloria, he
said you could ask another
question.” He almost laughed;
the leader of the free world
had just given Gloria permis-
sion to keep interrogating him,
and this cool-eyed girl had
turned to her father asking
approval.
She asked about terror in
Indonesia and what Bush and
the U.S. were doing to work
with Australia to curb it.
Bush sat back, startled at her
depth of knowledge. Bob felt a
surge of pride. How many 18-
year-old American kids know
about the Indonesian problem?
Bush glanced at Bob. She is
going to be a great leader
someday, Bush said. He
turned to Gloria.
You’re absolutely right, he
said. The U.S. is indeed very
concerned about terrorism in
Indonesia and in the Pacific,
and the U.S. is playing a
behind-the-scenes role, letting
Australia take the lead, help-
ing and advising them.
Bush looked at Gloria now
with some wonder.
“I have another question,”
she said.
Bob felt panic rising. But he
could tell, and he thought
Bush could see also, that
Gloria had melted. She had
read for years now that Bush
might be an inarticulate and
unfocused goof; she could see
he was none of those things.
Go ahead, Bush said.
“Do you think it would ever
be good to have a national ban
on smoking?”
No. We tried that with alco-
hol, and it didn’t work.
Bob was sweating; he
thought the temperature in the
room had risen considerably.
He wondered, though he knew
it was preposterous, whether
the pilot had deliberately
turned off the air conditioner.
Bob nodded to Gloria with a
look that said, “Enough!”
At that moment, though the
President had made no sign,
the door opened, and a pho-
tographer walked in. Bush
stood up.
The photographer posed
four photos. He took a family
portrait with the president,
then posed the president with
each of them alone.
What do you want to do
when you get out of school?
Bush asked Gloria.
“International relations,” she
said. “I want to be a diplomat.”
Bush looked delighted. He
began reciting “chapter and
verse,” as Gloria said later,
about how to go about this,
what classes to take; he even
named Web sites she could
check out. He wasn’t just the
president, Gloria realized; he
was the son of a president who
had been a diplomat. He knew
this stuff.
But understand, Bush told
her with a grin, you’re not
going to become a diplomat
right off the bat, you’ll have to
work your way up to that.
And it was over. Or so Bob
thought.
“Could I ask something of
you?” Gloria said.
Bob felt panic again.
Sure, Bush said.
“Could I get your autograph
for two of my friends?”
Bob and Karen looked at Glo
with surprise.
Sure, Bush said. He turned
to his desk, picked up a pen
and a pad of Air Force One sta-
tionery.
Only two? Bush asked.
“Yes.”
Why only two?
Gloria looked at him coolly.
“Those are the only two
Republican friends I have.”
Bush grinned.
Well, Bob thought. At least
he knows she’s not a kiss-up.
“My friends are Creighton
and Jordan,” Gloria said.
“To Creighton,” Bush wrote.
“Best Wishesæ.æ.æ. ” and signed
the paper. He signed one for
Jordan.
Anybody else?
Gloria hesitated.
“I guess I would like to have
one, too,” Gloria said.
Bush smiled and wrote.
He shook hands.
They stepped out the door,
met Army Sgt. Charles Austin
Hilt, their Casualty Assistance
Officer, walked to the back of
Air Force One, and walked out
the back doorway ladder to
the concrete below.
Outside, television and
newspaper reporters, guarded
by police and Secret Service
agents, had baked in the heat
for 45 minutes. The
Funcheons walked slowly
past, inches from notepads
and cameras.
The reporters stood silent
at first. They quickly figured
out that Bush had met with a
soldier’s family. They wanted
to know what was said on
the plane. A couple of
reporters started to ask ques-
tions; the Funcheons waved
them off.
For a long time, the
Funcheons didn’t say anything
to anyone but their closest
friends.
Coming Saturday: Did Alex
Funcheon die in vain?