News stories from Sunday December 12, 1982

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

Senator Robert Dole complained that President Reagan has failed to consult with his main allies in the Senate or with those he appointed to his commission on Social Security reform. Mr. Dole, a member of the commisison and a ranking member of the Senate's Republican majority, also suggested that the President had not yet recognized that losses in last month's elections had shifted what he called the political "center of gravity" to a point "maybe a little closer to Capitol Hill than the White House." [New York Times] Official computers are examining the names and addresses and other information about millions of Arriericans in looking for waste of public funds and a variety of criminal activities. These computer matching projects are supported by many politicians, agency officials and public interest groups, but other people question the efficiency, ethics and long-term impact of at least some of the programs. [New York Times] More demographic information drawn from the 1980 census finds that Hispanics, one of the nation's fastest-growing minorities, have established communities in every region and most large cities, but their expansion has been so selective that half of them live in only 10 metropolitan areas. The Census Bureau's just released "State and Metropolitan Area Data Book" also says that elderly people have so congregated together in warm places for retirement that the eight metropolitan areas having the largest percentages of people over 65 are all in Florida. [New York Times] The tradition of equal college pay for professors is not being observed as faithfully as it once was. Facing aggressive competition from recruiters from private industry and other campuses, more and more schools are finding ways to pay higher salaries to teachers in fields where there is high demand. Right now those fields are computer sciences, engineering and certain business areas. [New York Times] Chrysler's Canadian workers voted overwhelmingly for a new contract that provides pay increases for employees in both Canada and the United States. They ratified the contract by a vote of 7,753 to 787, ending a 38-day strike. [New York Times] Suspension of Poland's martial law by the end of the year was announced by Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, the country's military leader. He said that the basic provisions of martial law, in effect since Dec. 13, 1981, would be lifted, but warned that it was impossible to normalize political life in the country in one step, and that the government would retain some of its extraordinary powers. [New York Times] The Sandinist leaders of Nicaragua should make a "dramatic change" in direction, Nicaragua's Ambassador to Washington said. In an interview that authorities in Managua banned from appearing in an opposition newspaper and that led to speculation that he might resign, the Ambassador, Francisco Fiallos Navarro, said Nicaragua could ease its isolation by improving relations with neigboring governments and by increasing political freedom at home. [New York Times] Central America is being destabilized by the United States, Fidel Castro said in an address to a rally in Havana commemorating his 1956 landing from Mexico and the start of the Cuban revolution. He also denied that Cuba is sending Soviet arms to Latin American revolutionaries. [New York Times] A U.S. proposal to end the impasse in Lebanon over the withdrawal of foreign troops was called a "reasonable solution" for getting the negotiations underway by Ariel Sharon, Israel's Defense Minister. American officials said Saturday that the United States hoped to have two American mediators handle the troop withdrawal negotiations by traveling between Jerusalem and Beirut to avoid direct Israeli-Lebanese talks. [New York Times] Albert Einstein's personal papers have been received by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The collection, said to contain far more social and political commentary than scientific works, was willed by Einstein to the university. The executor of his literary estate kept them at Princeton University for 27 years. [New York Times] Ulster is losing many skilled people because of the violence and economic depression in the province. Its ability to rebuild may become impaired, according to demographic studies being conducted there. [New York Times]