News stories from Wednesday November 11, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Trouble aboard the space shuttle Columbia interrupted the countdown and forced a delay of at least two and a half hours in the planned launching until least 10 A.M. tomorrow. Project officials said that a data signal processing unit was malfunctioning, and they had a replacement unit flown to Cape Canaveral, Fla., from California. [New York Times]
- David Stockman became the focus of a major controversy as Democrats assailed him for what they called a "devastating admission" that he never had much faith in the Reagan administration's economic theories and projections. The reported admission by the federal budget director dismayed and infuriated senior White House officials. [New York Times]
- The planned transfer of illegal aliens to Fort Drum in upstate New York brought charges of racism from Haitian leaders and the newly re-elected Mayor of Miami, attorneys for the Haitians and civil rights organizations in Miami and New York. One spokesman said that the Reagan administration was putting the refugees in a freezing, alien environment isolated from their attorneys with the intention of speedily returning them to Haiti. [New York Times]
- A major protest against nuclear arms was held at 151 colleges in 37 states. Thousands of students and faculty members took part in the day-long informal seminars at the opening of what the sponsors plan to be a national informational program in support of demands for international nuclear weapons reduction. [New York Times]
- Low reading comprehension skills were found in a federally financed study last year of more than 100,000 students. The study concluded that while American schoolchildren are learning to read a wide range of materials, the vast majority do not develop adequate thinking skills or the ability to interpret what they read beyond a superficial level. [New York Times]
- About 29,000 more votes were cast for Governor of New Jersey than for the other races in Middlesex County on Nov. 3. Representative James Florio, the Democratic candidate, won there by 6,000 votes, a much lower margin than expected in the predominantly blue-collar industrial county. Both sides agreed that the sharp difference between the total vote for Governor and the total for local offices was highly unusual. [New York Times]
- A Republican official was suspended with pay in the controversy over the party's ballot security program in the New Jersey election for Governor. The party's national committee relieved from duty John A. Kelly, who organized the task force of lawyers and off-duty police officers at various polling places as investigations were pressed into his background and complaints of voter intimidation. [New York Times]
- Redistricting has disappointed blacks bitterly in the Deep South. In the last decade, aided by the Voting Rights Act, increased voter registration and more candidates, Southern blacks made marked political gains. But many now say that the reapportionment lines drawn after the 1970 census gave them far fewer legislative seats than their share of the population indicates they should control. [New York Times]
- A ban on American nuclear warheads is sought by Greece, according to the spokesman for the new Athens government. He cited renewed proposals by the leaders of Yugoslavia, Rumania and Bulgaria for a "denuclearization" of the Balkans. [New York Times]
- Poland officially celebrated the anniversary of its 1918 rebirth as an independent republic for the first time since the German invasion of 1939. Until now, the occasion was ignored by the Communist authorities. [New York Times]
- Peace proposals by Saudi Arabia prompted an unexpected comment from the leader of an Israeli parliamentary delegation sent to Washington to argue against the plan. The legislator, Moshe Arens, said that the Saudis had "gone a little way in our direction," but that they still had "a long way to go to become part of the Mideast peace process." [New York Times]
- Support for African troops in Chad by the United States is under active consideration, according to Reagan administration officials. They said that Washington was weighing a request by Nigeria to transport and supply part of a 5,000-member peacekeeping force that will be sent to Chad to replace departing Libyan troops. Washington has also been asked to provide economic aid to the strife-torn country now that Libya is halting all support. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 857.12 (+3.14, +0.37%)
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* |
| November 10, 1981 | 853.98 | 122.70 | 53.93 |
| November 9, 1981 | 855.21 | 123.29 | 48.30 |
| November 6, 1981 | 852.45 | 122.67 | 43.26 |
| November 5, 1981 | 859.11 | 123.54 | 50.86 |
| November 4, 1981 | 866.82 | 124.74 | 53.47 |
| November 3, 1981 | 868.72 | 124.80 | 54.62 |
| November 2, 1981 | 866.82 | 124.20 | 65.12 |
| October 30, 1981 | 852.55 | 121.89 | 58.56 |
| October 29, 1981 | 832.95 | 119.06 | 40.07 |
| October 28, 1981 | 837.61 | 119.45 | 48.10 |