News stories from Saturday January 1, 1977

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

President-elect Carter had little enthusiasm for President Ford's proposal that Puerto Rico be given statehood through processes originating in Washington. Mr. Carter would prefer that the initiative come from Puerto Rico. He told reporters that, in his campaign, "The position I took was that until the Puerto Ricans themselves expressed a preference for statehood that the Congress should not take the initiative." He said, "I would be perfectly willing to see Puerto Rico become a state if the people who live there prefer that." Meanwhile, he studied the names and qualifications of people under consideration for import sub-cabinet jobs in his administration. [New York Times] Medicaid, the troubled federal-and-state health program for the poor, may cost taxpayers no more than many private health plans cost their subscribers, and in some cases even less. Despite repeated instances of indifferent administration and systematic financial abuse in the $19 billion Medicaid program, figures gathered in interviews with a broad cross-section of experts suggest that programs for the middle class can be as expensive as Medicaid. [New York Times] Many gaps in the understanding of the fundamentals of government were found in a government survey of the political knowledge and attitudes of school children 13 to 17 years old. Although they are within a year of being eligible to vote, 47 percent of the 17-year olds did not know the basic fact that each state has two Senators, the National Assessment of Educational Progress said in the report. [New York Times] Chief Justice Warren Burger said that a procedure must be established for reviewing sentences imposed by federal judges in criminal cases to solve the problem of similarly situated defendants who get markedly different punishment. "Discretion in sentencing has been a double-edged sword," the Chief Justice said in his annual year-end report on the problems and the progress of the federal judiciary. [New York Times] Jacqueline Means, a 40-year-old mother of four children, was ordained a priest of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the first woman to be ordained since the Episcopal Church opened the priesthood to women at its General Convention last September. In January, 29 more women are scheduled to be ordained in 13 dioceses, including nine in the Diocese of New York. Mrs. Means, a former Roman Catholic, is a nurse and a prison chaplain. [New York Times] Tough narcotics laws adopted by New York state have failed to deter illegal drug trafficking in New York City, according to a survey of judges and rehabilitation specialists. Life imprisonment is one of the penalties under the laws. Nevertheless, the laws have "contributed to a worsening of the situation," the city officials said, because juveniles under the age of 18 are being used as drug couriers since they are immune from the harsher provisions of the anti-drug laws. [New York Times] China, in official publications, pledged greater political toleration in which it was promised the country will flourish. In an apparent effort to overcome widespread uncertainty after a year of political turmoil, the official editorial said: "The situation is steadily improving and will develop more rapidly and better than people expect." The editorial also sought to dispel any doubts about the authority of Hua Kuo-feng, the new party chairman. [New York Times] Human rights have been violated to varying degrees in Argentina, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Peru and the Philippines, but they should still continue to receive American military support, the State Department said in its first detailed report on human rights conditions abroad. The report was submitted to the House International Relations Committee, which asked for reports on only those six countries as an initial test of compliance with a new congressional law mandating reports on human rights from the State Department when asked for by any member of Congress. [New York Times]