News stories from Tuesday February 28, 1978

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

Stress on basic education skills -- reading, writing and arithmetic -- was urged by President Carter as he asked Congress for a 24 percent increase in federal funds for education. Mr. Carter said to newsmen at a briefing that such skills remained critical to pupils' "ability to function in a complex society." The President's request for $12.9 billion for education in the fiscal year 1979, beginning Oct. 1, was met by some enthusiasm on Capitol Hill. [New York Times] Tongsun Park testified under oath in Seoul that he cultivated the friendship of three successive chiefs of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency only to thwart business enemies and keep a lucrative rice agent's assignment, according to transcripts of his testimony. Whether he made payments to members of Congress as a private businessman or a secret Korean government agent is expected to be critical to an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee. The panel began questioning him in a closed hearing. [New York Times] The sharpest drop in three years was registered in January by the government's index of leading economic indicators, the Commerce Department reported. However, economists both inside and outside the government attributed the 1.9 percent decline mainly to heavy snows and the coal strike -- temporary occurrences -- and predicted that drops in output, sales and wages would be recaptured soon. [New York Times] G. William Miller was warmly received when he testified before the Senate Banking Committee on his nomination to head the Federal Reserve Board. Most committee members said that they were ready to recommend his confirmation, and the panel chairman predicted that the nomination would probably "sail through" the committee and the full Senate. Mr. Miller, chairman of Textron Inc., denied once again allegations that a subsidiary of the company had bribed an Iranian general to gain a lucrative sales contract. [New York Times] Stock prices fell and the Dow Jones industrial average plunged to its lowest level in three years in the face of a declining dollar on foreign exchanges and negative economic news at home. More than 1,000 issues declined on the Big Board, and the Dow industrials fell 6.23 points to 742.12. [New York Times] A long-term federal loan guarantee and elimination of further short-term loans to New York City will be proposed by Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal when he offers a fiscal rescue plan for the city on Thursday. This was disclosed by the head of the House banking subcommittee that will receive Mr. Blumenthal's plan. The guarantee would be for less than the $2.25 billion the city asked, it was indicated. [New York Times] Harlem seems to be poorer now than it was a decade ago when the Kerner Commission urged the nation to combat racism and ghetto poverty. Black leaders agree that the high hopes of the 1960's are dead there, and this pessimism is reflected in an increased infant mortality rate, alcoholism, unemployment, housing abandonment, welfare dependency, population loss and low school achievement.Detroit has changed since 1967, when it suffered the worst racial riot in American history. The attitude of Detroit's blacks toward whites has softened, some commercial areas ravaged by the rioting have been modestly rebuilt and the gleaming Renaissance Center downtown is a towering symbol of the city's effort to emerge from the ashes of 1967. But the city is more segregated than ever and the population has shifted from mostly white to mostly black. [New York Times] A guilty plea was made by Robert Beasley, a former executive vice president for finance of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, to charges that he had paid personal expenses with corporate funds that were supposedly being used for illegal political campaign contributions. [New York Times] China's leaders seem to be trying to restore an orderly government and regain popular confidence after a decade of turmoil caused by the Cultural Revolution. The leaders have begun a drive to correct a variety of abuses in which Chinese have been persecuted for political reasons or mistreated by arrogant and corrupt officials. A number of such reforms have been given wide publicity in the Chinese press and could involve one of the most significant changes since the death of Mao Tse-tung. [New York Times] A major guerrilla army, assembling in Rhodesia and nearby Zambia, could have a greater influence on the struggle for power in Rhodesia than recent diplomatic talks. The force, with at least 6,000 combat-ready troops and thousands more in training, is led by Joshua Nkomo, the nationalist leader who has vowed to thwart the constitutional accord reached last month by Prime Minister Ian Smith and three rival black leaders. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 742.12 (-6.23, -0.83%)
S&P Composite: 87.04 (-0.68, -0.78%)
Arms Index: 1.27

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	396	3.86
Declines	1,039	12.88
Unchanged	449	3.01
Total Volume		19.75

* 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 27, 1978	748.35	87.72	20.00
February 24, 1978	756.24	88.49	22.51
February 23, 1978	750.95	87.64	18.73
February 22, 1978	749.05	87.56	18.45
February 21, 1978	749.31	87.59	21.86
February 17, 1978	752.69	87.96	18.50
February 16, 1978	753.29	88.08	21.58
February 15, 1978	761.69	88.83	20.17
February 14, 1978	765.16	89.04	20.47
February 13, 1978	774.43	89.86	16.81