News stories from Tuesday December 5, 1972

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

The Vietnam peace talks between Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were postponed today without explanation. The U.S. and North Vietnam are trying to work out a plan whereby North Vietnam would agree to pull out its troops from South Vietnam gradually and without publicity. But President Thieu of South Vietnam is against the settlement, and his government has ordered people to protest the terms of the cease-fire agreement. [CBS] Bombs exploded in Cookstown, Northern Ireland. In Belfast, two people were shot by British troops by mistake; one was killed. [CBS] The countdown for Wednesday's lift-off of Apollo 17 is in progress. Astronaut Eugene Cernan is a space veteran of Apollo 10; Dr. Harrison Schmitt is a professional scientist who said he is glad that NASA is finally taking a scientist to the moon. Ron Evans, a jet pilot, will orbit the moon while Cernan and Schmitt are on the lunar surface. Mice accompanying the flight will study the effects of cosmic rays. Lift-off is scheduled for shortly after 9:30 EST on Wednesday night. [CBS] The federal government ordered the airline industry to take new anti-hijacking measures. Transportation Secretary Volpe contacted officials representing airlines, pilots, airports and police to inform them of the new policy. Through a Federal Aviation Administration measure, airlines are now required to electronically screen all passengers and search all hand luggage. Airports must have armed police at passenger checkpoints. The Air Line Pilots Association applauded the measures, but the municipalities which are shouldering the costs of the program are critical. Roman Gribbs, president of the National League of Cities, said that the federal government is putting the responsibility on local officials who can't afford it. The airlines also agree that security ought to be a federal job. [CBS] Progress is being made towards U.S.-Cuba anti-hijacking talks. Silvio Masnata, the Swiss ambassador to Cuba, is the key middleman between DC and Havana. Secretary of State Rogers expressed the U.S. desire for talks with Castro; the Swiss ambassador to the U.S., Felix Schnyder, said that the outlook for talks is promising. The deal would require Cuba to prosecute hijackers and would require America to prosecute Cubans who flee Cuba by ship. The U.S would also be obligated to crack down on anti-Castro Cubans operating in America. [CBS] Former President Harry Truman was admitted to a Kansas City hospital with pulmonary congestion. [CBS] Rogers Morton will stay as Interior Secretary; George Romney will be replaced at the Department of Housing and Urban Development by James Lynn, ex-Secretary of Commerce.Housing and Urban Development is a dream gone sour, being plagued by scandal and inadequate funds. Romney wanted to increase housing opportunities for low-income groups, but his program turned into a windfall for profiteers. "Model cities" have been a failure. Lynn said that he hopes to learn something about housing in his new job. It is feared by some that Lynn will preside over President Nixon's dismantlement of HUD. [CBS] A Senate committee on nutrition was told by Dr. George Briggs, a California professor, that the American diet is responsible for $30 billion a year in health care costs. Much food has no nutritional value. Georgetown professor Dr. Sol Katz told the committee that chicken soup is better for colds than some medicines. [CBS] A court ordered the federal government to postpone requirements that air safety bags be installed in cars until more testing is done. [CBS] Boston detectives are investigating a series of murders. Four young female hitchhikers have been killed in the last three months and two of the cases involved sexual attacks.In Boulder, Colorado, a police officer acquaints college students with the hazards of rape on campus. In the last two years, 58 sex-related crimes were reported at the University of Colorado. Police feel that most rapes are related to hitchhiking, and most rapes are not reported. One student said she was beaten and almost raped; she claimed that the police laughed and suggested she invited the assault. Another raped student said that the police have an attitude of doing nothing about rape, and they wouldn't make a arrest without her being 100% sure of the identity of the attackers. An escort service has been set up by female students, and now the police are being more helpful. [CBS]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1022.95 (-2.26, -0.22%)
S&P Composite: 117.58 (-0.19, -0.16%)
Arms Index: 0.95

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	620	6.59
Declines	836	8.43
Unchanged	364	2.78
Total Volume		17.80

* in millions of shares

Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish.

Market Index Trends
Date	DJIA	S&P	Volume*
December 4, 1972	1025.21	117.77	19.73
December 1, 1972	1023.93	117.38	22.57
November 30, 1972	1018.21	116.67	19.34
November 29, 1972	1018.81	116.52	17.38
November 28, 1972	1019.34	116.47	19.21
November 27, 1972	1017.76	116.72	18.91
November 24, 1972	1025.21	117.27	15.76
November 22, 1972	1020.54	116.90	24.51
November 21, 1972	1013.25	116.21	22.11
November 20, 1972	1005.04	115.53	16.68