News stories from Wednesday June 28, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A ruling on "affirmative action" was handed down by the Supreme Court in a decision involving two 5 to 4 votes in the Allan Bakke case. The Justices affirmed the constitutionality of college admission programs that give special advantage to blacks and other minorities to help remedy past discrimination. But the Court also ruled that Mr. Bakke must be admitted to the University of California Medical College at Davis, deciding that the college's program was invalid because it was inflexible and biased against white applicants like him.
The Bakke decision was received by those with a stake in it with conclusions they most wanted to find in the Supreme Court's language. Allan Bakke said he was "pleased" with the decision. Benjamin Hooks, executive director of the N.A.A.C.P., called the ruling a "clear-cut victory for voluntary affirmative action."
Educators generally welcomed the Supreme Court's decision on the Bakke case as a signal to continue most existing admissions policies around the nation. But a minority of colleges and universities said that the ruling would force them to re-examine programs that could now be construed as unconstitutional quotas.
[New York Times] - More limited classification of government documents is planned by President Carter under a sweeping liberalization program. He intends to issue soon an executive order that will sharply curb the extent and duration of the classifications and reduce the number of agencies with classification authority. He thus plans to show his commitment to open government. [New York Times]
- Aiming to restructure the bureaucracy, the Carter administration won a victory. A House committee voted by an unexpectedly large margin of 16 to 9 to limit the federal hiring preference usually given to veterans. [New York Times]
- Stricter reading requirements have been imposed in Chicago for admission to high school. About 15,000 of the city's 40,000 eighth grade pupils are taking part in a seven-week summer program for those who read below the level for a beginning eighth grader. [New York Times]
- Efforts to curb nuclear arms gained. American attempts to persuade South Africa to sign a treaty banning the spread of such weapons reportedly reached an advanced stage as high-level officials of the two governments ended talks in Pretoria. Reports from Washington indicated that South Africa was ready to accept stricter controls to prevent its nuclear energy program from being used to develop weapons. [New York Times]
- A dispute over nuclear safeguards between Western Europe and the Carter administration has been resolved, at least temporarily, according to official French sources. Washington, insisting on stricter rules on the reprocessing of American nuclear reactor fuel, will end a cutoff of supplies to Europe under an accord that is to bring preliminary talks with the Europeans on bringing their rules into line with United States requirements. [New York Times]
- Two German Jesuits were fatally shot at a remote hospital station in Rhodesia, becoming the 14th and 15th missionaries killed this month by attackers believed to be nationalist guerrillas. One missionary had served in Rhodesia for 40 years and the other for 15 years. [New York Times]
- Two American reporters were charged in Moscow with having libeled Soviet television by writing articles about a jailed dissident's televised "confession" that his associates believed had been fabricated. Those accused in court were Craig Whitney of the New York Times and Harold Piper of the Baltimore Sun. Conviction could require a retraction or a fine. [New York Times]
- An American businessman asserted innocence of Soviet charges of black-market currency dealings. Jay Crawford, an International Harvester official, made his first public statement in speaking to reporters He was released Tuesday from a Moscow prison two weeks after his arrest. [New York Times]
- Uruguay was charged with violating human rights, including arbitrary arrests, torture and murder of political prisoners. The allegations were made by an agency of the Organization of American States. The military government in Uruguay, which had been regarded for decades as one of the world's most advanced democracies, issued a detailed rebuttal. [New York Times]
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Dow Jones Industrial Average: 819.91 (+2.60, +0.32%)
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| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| June 27, 1978 | 817.31 | 94.98 | 29.28 |
| June 26, 1978 | 812.28 | 94.60 | 29.25 |
| June 23, 1978 | 823.02 | 95.85 | 28.53 |
| June 22, 1978 | 827.70 | 96.24 | 27.17 |
| June 21, 1978 | 824.93 | 96.01 | 29.11 |
| June 20, 1978 | 830.04 | 96.51 | 27.92 |
| June 19, 1978 | 838.62 | 97.49 | 25.50 |
| June 16, 1978 | 836.97 | 97.42 | 27.70 |
| June 15, 1978 | 844.25 | 98.34 | 29.28 |
| June 14, 1978 | 854.56 | 99.48 | 37.29 |