News stories from Tuesday March 2, 1982

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

The virtual end of school busing to achieve racial desegregation is called for in legislation approved in the Senate, 57 to 37, after an eight-month argument. The vote marked the biggest victory to date for conservatives who are pushing bills that could strip federal courts of jurisdiction over major social issues. The measure now goes to the House, where opponents have vowed to use parliamentary maneuvers to kill the bill. [New York Times] House Republicans joined Democrats in expressing strong opposition to President Reagan's plan to sharply reduce financing for college loans and many other education programs. Representative William Goodling, Republican of Pennsylvania, predicted that Congress would restore "several billions" of the $3.5 billion the President seeks to cut. [New York Times] A cut in Medicare payments to hospitals sought by the Reagan administration was opposed by members of Congress, hospital administrators and insurance executives. They said that the plan to reduce the reimbursement for the treatment of Medicare patients would ultimately drive up the cost of health care for everyone. [New York Times] The President took his economic plan to some boisterously friendly audiences in what he called "the great American West." Mr. Reagan denounced alternative budget plans in Congress as "political documents" and pledged that the nation would soon emerge from "this dark tunnel of recession and decline." [New York Times] Senator Bob Packwood apologized to President Reagan and fellow Republican senators for saying Monday that the President's "concept of America" had hurt the party. The Senator from Oregon apologized for having spoken out of turn, but not for the substance of his remarks. [New York Times] Contrasting trends in unions are occurring simultaneously. At a time when the nation's old industrial unions are experiencing membership and contract setbacks, unions that represent professional and white-collar workers are scoring successes in organizing and reporting innovations in negotiating. A specialist said that many white-collar workers had decided on collective action to get "their piece of the pie." [New York Times] Harrison Williams may remain in the Senate. Senator Alan Cranston, the Democratic whip, said he would introduce a resolution to substitute censure for the expulsion of the New Jersey Democrat for his conduct in the Abscam investigation. The Senate Ethics Committee has recommended Mr. Williams's expulsion for "ethically repugnant conduct," but the Senate could censure him instead or delay action until the appeals of his bribery and conspiracy conviction are resolved. [New York Times] Efforts to combat youth crime in New York City are ineffective, according to many juvenile defendants and scores of police officers. They tend to agree that the police are regarded as little more than pests by the youngsters who work the streets armed with guns, knives and threats, and the officers complain that the youngsters openly mock them. [New York Times] Britain cut its price for oil by $4 a barrel, to $31, in its second reduction in a month. Analysts said that London's dramatic action raised the likelihood of a widespread break in world oil prices. They said that Saudi Arabia would no longer be able to maintain its official price of $34 a barrel for the Arab oil that is the benchmark for other OPEC prices. [New York Times] Salvadoran rebels are controlled from abroad, Secretary of State Alexander Haig said in House testimony. He said the United States had "overwhelming and irrefutable" evidence that the insurgency was not an autonomous Salvadoran operation, as the rebels contend. [New York Times] A setback for the Salvadoran army was confirmed. The government troops abruptly ended one of their most ambitious offensives of the war, and the commander of the 2,000-member force acknowledged that a number of rebel encampments had resisted the 10-day assault. [New York Times] Israeli-Egyptian tension rose less than two months before the final Israeli withdrawal from Sinai is to take place. Prime Minister Begin said he would not visit Egypt until President Mubarak had visited Israel and included Jerusalem in his itinerary. [New York Times]

Stock Market Report

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 825.82 (-2.57, -0.31%)
S&P Composite: 112.68 (-0.63, -0.56%)
Arms Index: 1.15

	Issues	Volume*
Advances	834	29.89
Declines	653	26.83
Unchanged	414	7.08
Total Volume		63.80

* 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*
March 1, 1982	828.39	113.31	53.01
February 26, 1982	824.39	113.11	43.83
February 25, 1982	825.82	113.21	54.15
February 24, 1982	826.77	113.47	64.80
February 23, 1982	812.98	111.51	60.20
February 22, 1982	811.26	111.59	58.31
February 19, 1982	824.30	113.22	51.34
February 18, 1982	828.96	113.82	60.80
February 17, 1982	827.63	113.69	47.65
February 16, 1982	831.34	114.06	48.88