News stories from Monday March 23, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- A tentative coal labor settlement was reached in five hours of overnight bargaining. The pact would provide miners in Appalachia and the Middle West with a 36 percent raise over three years and other provisions sought by the miners. It is expected to win rank-and-file approval after a five-day strike required by the union's "no contract, no work" provision. [New York Times]
- Rulings on abortion and rape were issued by the Supreme Court. Voting 6 to 3, the tribunal held that a state may require a doctor to notify the parents of a teenage girl before performing an abortion on her, or face criminal penalties, at least when the girl is a dependent and is living at home. By a vote of 5 to 4, the Court upheld the constitutionality of statutory rape laws that punish men, but not women, for intercourse with an underage partner of the opposite sex. [New York Times]
- Nearly one-fifth of welfare families would be made ineligible or have benefits reduced as a result of Reagan administration budget proposals before Congress, according to the administration. In a detailed state-by-state analysis, the administration estimated that 400,836 of the 3.8 million families would lose all benefits and 258,528 families would lose some benefits. [New York Times]
- A clash over control of foreign policy in has been renewed by a series of inconsistent public statements, according to officials. They said that Secretary of State Haig had conferred with the President several times, apparently to reinforce his role as the dominant foreign-policy adviser. [New York Times]
- Factors contributing to a fatal accident at a space shuttle launching pad last week were cited by sources close to the inquiry. They mentioned a special test added to post-countdown procedures, an open hatch that presumably should have been closed and sealed, the absence of security guards in a hazardous area and lapses in communicating instructions and warnings. The accident killed one technician and critically injured another. [New York Times]
- A cancer study of auto workers was announced by the Chrysler Corporation, the auto union and the Michigan Cancer Foundation in response to scattered evidence of unexpectedly high cancer rates in the industry. The study will be the first broad-based effort to relate the health of assembly line workers to Detroit's general population. [New York Times]
- Atlanta is being sorely tested by the disappearances and murders of 22 black children. The tragedies have overshadowed the progress made by the bustling metropolis in reducing crime in recent years, focused renewed attention on long-term social ills and gripped the young and the old with fear and suspicion. [New York Times]
- New York City publicly sold bonds backed by the guarantee that it could repay debts. It was the first such sale on the city's own since it was frozen out of the long-term borrowing markets in 1975. Within four hours, the $75 million issue was fully subscribed by a syndicate of 110 brokers and bankers that will market the securities to individual investors. [New York Times]
- An officially correct answer to a question on a second mathematics test used in college admissions has been successfully challenged by a student for the second time in a month. As a result, the Educational Testing Service will recognize two correct answers to the disputed question and increase the scores students who took the Scholastic Aptitude Test in January. [New York Times]
- Poland's independent labor movement adjurned a meeting, convened to plan a protest against police violence against unionists, with no decision on when or how to strike. The session ended in shouts as a vote was being taken on a proposal by Lech Walesa, the chairman, to hold a 2 to 4 hour warning strike on Friday and then a general strike on Tuesday. [New York Times]
- An increase in aid to Zimbabwe, to a total of about $225 million over the next three years, has been backed by the Reagan administration. The pledge to seek congressional approval for the increase is to be made public tomorrow at a conference called by Prime Minister Robert Mugabe in Salisbury to seek international support for a three-year development program costing about $2 billion. [New York Times]
- A planned aid program for Pakistan was disclosed by Reagan administration officials. They said that the administration had tentatively decided to offer Pakistan about $500 million in military and economic assistance in the coming fiscal year. That is more than double the amount that was offered by the Carter administration and rejected by the Pakistanis as insufficient. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1004.23 (+11.43, +1.15%)
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* |
| March 20, 1981 | 992.80 | 134.08 | 61.97 |
| March 19, 1981 | 986.58 | 133.46 | 62.44 |
| March 18, 1981 | 994.06 | 134.22 | 55.74 |
| March 17, 1981 | 992.53 | 133.92 | 65.92 |
| March 16, 1981 | 1002.79 | 134.68 | 49.94 |
| March 13, 1981 | 985.77 | 133.11 | 68.29 |
| March 12, 1981 | 989.82 | 133.19 | 54.63 |
| March 11, 1981 | 967.67 | 129.95 | 47.39 |
| March 10, 1981 | 972.66 | 130.46 | 56.61 |
| March 9, 1981 | 976.42 | 131.12 | 46.17 |