News stories from Tuesday February 25, 1975

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

Both President Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger said the Cambodian government would fall to Communist-led insurgents unless Congress approved a $222 million supplemental aid request. Mr. Ford made his appeal in a letter to Carl Albert, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Mr. Kissinger said at a news conference that if the aid was not voted in a few weeks, Cambodia would run out of ammunition though it clearly "wishes to defend itself." [New York Times] Cambodian children orphaned or separated from their parents by battle are dying of hunger in the capital, Phnom Penh. Five years of war, with resulting shortages and high prices, have produced serious malnutrition among children in this once-bountiful country. But hospitals are already crowded with war wounded and few children are admitted. Unofficial estimates say that dozens are dying daily. [New York Times] The House Democratic Caucus, defying most of its leaders, initiated a move to make Congress confront the issue of repeal of the 22 percent oil depletion allowance. It voted 152 to 99 for a resolution expected to require a floor vote on attacking repeal of the depletion allowance to the antirecession tax cut bill. But the caucus action also demanded a vote on an amendment that would limit the effect of the change by letting "independent" producers of not more than 3,000 barrels a day to keep the depletion allowance permanently. [New York Times] The Supreme Court held that school officials who discipline pupils unfairly and become defendants in civil rights suits cannot claim ignorance of the pupils' basic constitutional rights. Dividing 5 to 4, it ruled that a school board member is liable for damages if he knew or if he reasonably should have known that his action would violate the student's rights. The dissenters said this "harsh standard" would destroy most of the immunity from civil suits that lay administrators and board members ordinarily enjoy for good-faith actions. [New York Times] Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago, last of the big-city Democratic bosses, defeated three opponents in the party primary in his bid for an unprecedented sixth four-year term. He was leading his closest rival by more than 2 to 1. [New York Times] The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith accused two federal agencies -- the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Army Corp of Engineers -- and six private companies of discriminating against Jews in violation of civil rights laws. It said they were acting either under orders from Arab lands or in hope of getting business in those countries. [New York Times] The Constitutional Court of West Germany in a controversial 6 to 2 decision struck down as unconstitutional a law allowing abortions on request in the first three months of pregnancy. The court held that the law, enacted last June but not put into effect, violated the right to life for everyone. It said, however, that abortions could be performed in the first three months in cases of rape, danger to the mother's health, a possibility of deformity and when the birth could cause "grave hardship." [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 719.18 (-17.76, -2.41%)
S&P Composite: 79.53 (-1.91, -2.35%)
Arms Index: 1.62

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	203	1.79
Declines	1,298	18.59
Unchanged	289	0.53
Total Volume		20.91

* 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*
February 24, 1975	736.94	81.44	19.15
February 21, 1975	749.77	82.62	24.44
February 20, 1975	745.38	82.21	22.26
February 19, 1975	736.39	81.44	22.19
February 18, 1975	731.30	80.93	23.99
February 14, 1975	734.20	81.50	23.29
February 13, 1975	726.92	81.01	35.16
February 12, 1975	715.03	79.92	19.79
February 11, 1975	707.50	78.58	16.47
February 10, 1975	708.39	78.36	16.12