News stories from Sunday November 15, 1981

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

Visible wear and tear on the Columbia was "considerably less" on its second flight into orbit than its first, and the craft should be ready for another trip in March. The manager of the orbital test program, said the Columbia "looks superb, looks considerably better than after the first flight, with considerably less damage." [New York Times] The Columbia's pilots had breakfast with Vice President Bush at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Col. Joe Engle of the Air Force and Capt. Richard Truly of the Navy told the Vice President that they were disappointed in the early ending of the mission, "because they were just getting the hang of it." [New York Times] Richard Allen will remain as President Reagan's national security adviser, the White House said, during the federal investigation of his acceptance of $1,000 from a Japanese magazine. But the White House position could change if a special prosecutor is appointed, officials said. [New York Times] The affirmative action programs that are part of the nation's civil rights laws are being dealt with in sharply different ways by three policy-setting agencies that enforce those laws. In recent weeks, senior officials of the Justice Department, the Labor Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have made conflicting statements that reflect fundamental disagreements about affirmative action, which has been the remedy most often used to redress the effects of discrimination against women and minority groups. [New York Times] Union control over benefit funds is a far more effective tool for labor unions than participation on corporate boards of directors, according to Lane Kirkland, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. In an interview before the start of the federation's 14th biennial convention in New York City tomorrow, Mr. Kirkland, while not rejecting directorships for unionists, said there was "far greater potential" in "getting an effective voice in the flow of investment capital, as represented by an accumulation of pension and welfare funds." [New York Times] Home prices have begun to level off, and in many parts of the country they are declining after a decade of steady increases. After adjustment for inflation and financing discounts, the average price of existing homes has fallen 10 percent in the last 12 months, the sharpest drop since the Depression. Housing will continue to be a safe long-term investment, real estate experts say, but it may no longer be the instrument for savings and speculation that it was. [New York Times] A runoff Mayoral election in Houston on Tuesday generally favors city Controller Kathryn Whitmire over Jack Heard, the Sheriff of Harris County. Mrs. Whitmire received 36 percent of the vote in the Nov. 3 primary in a field of 15 candidates. Mr. Heard got 25 percent. [New York Times] A cutoff of federal funds for parks in New York has been mandated by the Reagan administration's 1982 budget, Orin Lehman, the state's Parks and Recreation Commissioner, said. All of the $15.4 million in federal aid received in the last fiscal year has been eliminated, as have the jobs of more than 1,000 park employees, he said. The state had received federal assistance through four programs. [New York Times] An appeal for calm in Ulster was made by the British cabinet member respsonsible for Northern Ireland affairs after the slaying of a Unionist Member of Parliament, who was also a Methodist minister, Saturday. [New York Times] A vote on Spain's Joining NATO is sought by the Socialist Workers Party, which organized one of the biggest demonstrations since the death of Franco to support its demand for the vote. Tens of thousands of people marched in Madrid. The party leader, in a keynote speech, said, "What will the allied countries of NATO say when they see that half a million people have gathered in Madrid to say that they do not want to go into NATO without a referendum?" [New York Times] Mobilization of the P.L.O.'s troops in Lebanon was ordered by Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian guerrilla leader, in anticipation of what he said was an imminent attack Israeli attack. He made the announcement in a speech to Palestinian students, who form part of the military ranks of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He said he had told the Arab League that the P.L.O. would accept no curbs on guerrilla armament and that he had informed the United Nations that he had rejected a proposal for an increase in the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. [New York Times]