News stories from Monday July 5, 1982

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

The Southeast's economic slowdown is not necessarily caused by the current recession. Many people believe that there is more to the region's problems than this recession and that underlying troubles will increasingly hinder its ability to remain competitive. The steady influx of industries, jobs and people into the Southeast in the 1960's that made it the manufacturing center of the Sun Belt slowed considerably in recent years. Five of the 9 Southeast states had jobless rates higher than the national average of 9.5 percent in May, and three had rates of 10 percent or more. [New York Times] A shift to a service-oriented economy in the United States has placed employment in the consumer, financial and service industries above the job total in the production industry for the first time in the history of the American economy, according to Labor Department figures. [New York Times] The probability of nuclear accidents established in a new study for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is "about 10 times higher than we would like to see it," Robert Bernero, director of the commission's Division of Risk Analysis said. The study examined thousands of mishaps at nuclear plants from 1969 through 1979 and concluded that an accident as bad as the one at Three Mile Island, or worse, could be expected every 10 to 15 years. It found that the likelihood of a major accident would be one in 1,000 years of reactor operation, contradicting the commission's previous major study of the subject, which predicted such an accident only once in 20,000 years of reactor operation. [New York Times] The emotional effects on survivors of the collapse a year ago of the two skywalks in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Mo., are still widespread, a psychiatric study has found. The study by Dr. Charles Wilkinson, a psychiatrist who is associate dean of the University of Missouri (Kansas City) Medical School said he made the study to assess the often neglected emotional trauma associated with disasters. Interviews with 103 of the 1,400 survivors and rescue workers, found that all but two suffered significant symptoms, including repeated recollections of the event, recurrent dreams and nightmares. [New York Times] West Beirut was bombarded by Israeli gunboats and artillery, while ground troops continued the blockade of the Moslem half of the capital, where Palestinian guerrillas are encamped, causing serious shortages of food, gasoline and some medical supplies. An end to the Israeli siege, intended to force out the Palestine Liberation Organization and its members, was demanded by Prime Minister Shafik al-Wazzan, who called the siege "criminal." [New York Times] Restoring the cease-fire in Lebanon was essential, the United States said and called on Israel to observe a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding that the Israeli blockade of supplies to west Beirut be lifted. [New York Times] Argentina plans to devalue the peso in an emergency economic program of strict controls announced by Argentna's new economics minister, Jose Maria Dagnino. He said the economy was "in a state of destruction without precedence." [New York Times] A meticulous count of the Chinese is being made in a census started by the Peking government, which is not sure how large the population is, but estimates it at 1 billion. Peking is responding ostensibly to a United Nations call in 1974 for all countries to start a census before 1985. [New York Times]