News stories from Saturday March 7, 1970

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

President Nixon, in a statement issued at his Florida White House, announced that the United States would launch an unmanned probe of the solar system's outer planets and a nuclear-powered rocket during the next decade. The space goals he set were considered ambitious but tempered by plans to keep spending at current levels. [New York Times] Millions of people across much of North America saw the moon pass in front of the sun in one of nature's rarest spectacles, a solar eclipse. Thousands of sightseers crowded beaches, towns and islands in the path of the total eclipse, while hundreds of scientists conducted experiments. [New York Times] The prosperous suburbs should not leave city slum-dwellers alone to solve their problems themselves because the "resources needed to solve the urban poverty problem -- land, money and jobs -- are presently scarce in the inner cities," Vice President Agnew told the National Alliance of Businessmen. "They exist in substantial supply in suburban areas," he added, and should be put to use to solve city problems. [New York Times] School integration will be pursued by the administration only as it achieves educational purposes and does not disrupt the neighborhood school concept or require too much more busing. That, after more than a year of confusion, has emerged as the Nixon administration's school desegregation policy. It coincides perfectly with the President's 1968 campaign promises. [New York Times] Misguided Washington policies have been frustrating United States efforts to improve life in underdeveloped countries, a diplomatic adviser to the Secretary of State says in a controversial report. The adviser, Edward M. Korry, Ambassador to Chile, calls for a new approach to economic development. [New York Times] American and Laotian air missions over Laos are coordinated by a joint center in Vientiane, the commander of the Royal Laotian Air Force Base at Paske disclosed. The center is evidence of the active role of American planes in Laos. Officially, only Laotian planes fly combat missions over the country. [New York Times] If revolution comes to the Philippines, it could start among the hungry cane-field workers. "Even the Roman slaves before the birth of Christ were treated better than these workers," a priest commented. And a plantation owner, considered radical because he conforms to minimum-wage laws, said his "biggest problem" is trying to see that his workers can go to mass each week instead of once a year. [New York Times]