News stories from Friday February 2, 1973
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- President Nixon delivered his State of the Union address in writing, rather than in person, to Congress. It states that the President wants to stop the growth of the federal bureaucracy and hold down federal spending. Cabinet members and other officials were sworn in at the White House today. Caspar Weinberger, the Health, Education and Welfare Secretary-designate, is still unconfirmed by the Senate. Weinberger is under fire for proposing to make budget cuts. [CBS]
- The Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, announced that President Nixon has been accepted as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. [CBS]
- President Thieu says that he is ready for South Vietnam-Viet Cong meetings to begin next week in Paris. The meetings are required by the cease-fire agreement in order to work out a political reconciliation for South Vietnam, including new elections. [CBS]
- Many truce violations were reported in South Vietnam, but no major battlefields were involved. Inspection teams of the International Control Commission have taken up positions in the field. ICC teams are now in Pleiku, Danang and Hue inspecting their quarters. UPI reports that the Joint Military Commission will meet on Sunday to discuss details involving the release of American POW's. [CBS]
- A Protestant was shot and killed in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as a reprisal for a Catholic's death. [CBS]
- The unemployment rate dropped to 5.0% in January. [CBS]
- Judge John Sirica set bail at $100,000 each for G. Gordon Liddy and James McCord. Sirica indicated that he doesn't feel the whole truth was revealed during the Watergate bugging trial, and he gave prosecutor Earl Silbert a list of names of people who didn't testify in the trial but whom he feels should be called before the grand jury. Sirica said that he believes Hugh Sloan didn't tell the whole truth in testifying that he didn't know what the $199,000 he gave to Liddy was to be used for, and Sirica stated that he hopes the Senate investigation will get to the bottom of the bugging case. [CBS]
- Former Senator Daniel Brewster was sentenced to 2-6 years in prison and fined $30,000 for taking a bribe of $14,500 from Spiegel Inc. to vote against higher mail rates. [CBS]
- Delta Airlines was fined $2,000 for allowing Senator Vance Hartke to board a plane without passing through anti-hijacking inspection. Hartke feels that airline passenger screening is unconstitutional. [CBS]
- The National Center for Disease Control reports that 1,027 people in the U.S. have died from the London flu since January 1. Washington, Oregon and California were the hardest-hit states. [CBS]
- The federal government is preparing a plan for rationing gasoline and fuel oil. The plan wouldn't go into effect unless a national emergency was declared by the President. Office of Emergency Preparedness director Darrell Trent says that he feels the oil industry could increase production. [CBS]
- Plenty of fuel exists underground, but oil companies are not using these resources to the fullest extent possible. Government policy adds to the fuel shortage, and the environment is a new concern which hampers oil exploration.
The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill dumped 235,000 gallons of oil into the ocean. Damage to wildlife, marine life and beaches was extensive. A major spill in the Gulf of Mexico followed in 1970. The result was a moratorium on new drilling while experts studied the problem. But environmentalists differ among themselves on what precautions are necessary for safe drilling and refining. In the future, new technology must be applied to developing more and better energy sources; a national energy policy is needed. Oil companies advocate higher prices for fuel and better oil depletion allowances. Industry critics say that import quotas should end and tax laws should change in order to encourage domestic drilling and increase competition by helping small companies.
[CBS] - The Navy discharged 3,000 "troublemakers" and says it will discharge that many more this month. [CBS]
- The image of the military is visibly changing, especially at Fort Lee, Virginia. Leroy Martin is learning to cook so that he can become an aide to top military brass. Instructors explain tasks like how to set tables correctly, how to make salad and how to prepare proper uniforms for generals for various occasions. Household help for generals costs $17 million yearly. School commander Maj. Richard Weinz says that having aides do such things is one of the benefits of being a general.
Senator William Proxmire claims that aides also babysit, drive the general's wife around and wash cars for the general's family. Proxmire believes that this is humiliating for the aides, and he wants the enlisted aide program to be stopped.
[CBS]
|
Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 980.81 (-4.97, -0.50%)
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* |
| February 1, 1973 | 985.78 | 114.76 | 20.67 |
| January 31, 1973 | 999.02 | 116.03 | 14.87 |
| January 30, 1973 | 992.93 | 115.83 | 15.27 |
| January 29, 1973 | 996.46 | 116.01 | 14.68 |
| January 26, 1973 | 1003.54 | 116.45 | 21.13 |
| January 24, 1973 | 1004.59 | 116.73 | 20.87 |
| January 23, 1973 | 1018.66 | 118.22 | 19.06 |
| January 22, 1973 | 1018.81 | 118.21 | 15.57 |
| January 19, 1973 | 1026.19 | 118.78 | 17.02 |
| January 18, 1973 | 1029.12 | 118.85 | 17.81 |