The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 1

A TUESDAY, Saints in the secular age No. 49,928 RRST PUBLISHED 1831 The most powerful portable computer TT Y1J1: Telstra upset I afv-u it- Mot -J I phone bill OIlfAl FEATURES PAGE 11 i BY JILL DUPLEIX GOOD LIVING I.T. COMPUTERS FOR PROFESSIONALS hi hi hi 90c Rf! A "MS r-' 'A WHIP Rafter brings the house down Angry Charles vows to shield his sons (TO 70 I MS literacy COLUMN LIFE imitates art. Sort of. Craig and Christine Forder went to East Hills Boys' High on Saturday night for the school's big stage show, Dracula Spectacular.

It should have started at 7.30, but the curtain was still down at 8. The reason for the delay was then announced: Lupco Spojcevski, playing Dracula, had suffered a bad, almost unstoppable nosebleed. Finally mopped up, the partially exsanguinated Dracula went on stage. At least he knew what it was like to lose blood. ON THE F4, near the Northern Road, Herbert Woodthorpe, of Springwood, was passed by an elderly white car, number plate WAS 12 A.

This was immediately followed by a less elderly, but still white, car, NOW 12 "What could this possibly mean?" he asks. MARIANNE Vincent, of Thirroul, says she's sure others wonder the same thing "A few years ago we bought an analog mobile phone (eventually to become the phone equivalent of the Beta video-recorder). We have since updated to a digital, but we still have the analog. What do we do with it? Throwing it in the bin seems like such a waste of good technology. Any bright ideas?" THE BEST advice we have is that the phone has no scrap value.

If the account has been cancelled, it's a nice toy for kids. It could be taken to a swap meet to get rid of it for a few dollars. Or it could be reactived for about $165 a year, but calls can be expensive. Nearly all the analog network will go in 2000. ON SATURDAY night while Jan Carroll, of Avalon, and her daughter, Danielle Callaghan, like most people, were watching Princess Diana's funeral, Jan remarked, "Now would be a good time for Famous last words.

Danielle has twin girls, aged two, and twin boys, aged four months, and in the back of Jan's station wagon, parked outside, were two baby seats for the older duo. Someone broke into the wagon and stole the seats. A mean theft PETERSHAM Police had to leave their TV-watching during the funeral to go to a smash in Old Canterbury Road. They had to divert northbound traffic, giving drivers a choice between two streets Windsor and Spencer. Sergeant Rick Janssen says most of the traffic turned into Spencer Street WHY SHOULD a pair of socks be "housebreaking implements" (Column 8, yesterday)? Ron Cowan, of Narraweena, says that when his house was burgled, a pair of socks was taken from a wardrobe.

Why? A detective told him housebreakers put them on their hands so they don't leave fingerprints. Thieves, we're told, will also wear them to remove broken glass after forcing entry. By JODIE BROUGH The Prime Minister yesterday criticised "faddish" educational theories after a new study revealed that nearly half of all Australians aged 15 to 74 6.2 million people have poor or very poor literacy skills. Adults with the poorest skills many of whom were from non-English speaking backgrounds had trouble understanding the instructions on medicine bottles or reading bus timetables, the Australian Bureau of Statistics study found. About 35 per cent had only average literacy skills while just 1 7 per cent had skills of a high Younger people had better skills, suggesting the focus should be on adult education rather than the back-to-basics approach for schools favoured by the Federal Government.

The Opposition's education spokesman, Mr Mark Latham, said the findings highlighted the "folly" of the Government's decisions to cut adult literacy programs by 30 per cent and TAFE spending by nearly $250 million. The survey looked at people's ability to use English and basic maths in daily life, such as filling out government forms and using mathematical tables. Their prose, document and quantitative skills were scaled and divided into five literacy levels. About 2.6 million people, or 19.7 per cent, had very poor skills and "could be expected to experience considerable difficulties in daily A further 3.6 million, or 27.5 per cent, were classified as having poor skills, and could be expected to experience "some Most Australians, 4.8 million people or 35.3 per cent, were in the middle category of level 3, able to cope with most printed material in daily life and at work, "though not always with a high level of Just two million people, or 15 By CHRISTOPHER HENNING Herald Correspondent in London Prince Charles has responded to the public criticism of himself and his parents by the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, by vowing to protect the privacy of his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. Prince Charles is reported to have told aides that the boys needed "time and space" to come to terms with their loss.

And in response to Earl Spencer's criticism of the media during the same tribute to Diana at her funeral, three newspapers or newspaper groups have volunteered to restrict their coverage of the young princes to public occasions, and to shun the offerings of paparazzi. There has been no official reaction from Buckingham Palace to Earl Spencer's funeral oration, in which he denounced the media for hunting his sister, and implicitly criticised the royal family with a vow to continue her imaginative approach to child-rearing to ensure that the boys' "souls can sing The royal family appears to have been stung particularly by the applause which Earl Spencer received at the end of his speech, even within Westminster Abbey. Prince Charles was reported yesterday to be angry at the earl's vow that the boys' "blood family" would take a close hand in their upbringing. Royal sources quoted in The Guardian said Prince Charles was already working hard at developing a positive relationship with his sons, and that Earl Spencer had misunderstood his close relationship with them. The sources also let it be known that Charles was behind the decision to lengthen the route of the funeral cortege.

Meanwhile, Viscount Rother-mere, chairman of the company which owns the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and the Evening Standard, announced: "In view of Earl Spencer's- strong words and my own sense of outrage, I have instructed my editors no paparazzi pictures are to be purchased without my knowledge and consent." This less-than-watertight pledge was matched by a Murdoch tabloid: "The Sun, for its part, has no intention of carrying photographs which invade the privacy of Princes William and Harry." The Independent, however, gave a clear undertaking: "We will never publish pictures of the young princes William and Harry in private situations again. On state occasions maybe, or on matters of constitutional significance, but even then we will be sparing." But then, its circulation is a tiny fraction of the others'. PAGE 6: Diana the sorrow and the blame. fx n- Kiss of life for Aussie tennis By ALAN ATTWOOD Herald Correspondent in New York Patrick Rafter has called it Fantasyland. He's called it fate.

He's talked about riding a wave and letting things flow. He came to New York, played the best tennis of his life, and now he's US Open champion. King of the hill. Until he nailed one final volley to seal a 6-3 6-2 4-6 7-5 victory-over Greg Rusedski, no Australian had won a grand slam since Pat Cash at Wimbledon in 1987. Twenty-three years had passed since an Australian man last contested the US Open final.

And Rafter is just 24. Not only is he now a champion, he's rocketed to third in the world rankings. No Australian man has been ranked higher since John New combe held the top spot in 1974. And for the first time, Rafter is daring to dream he could be number one himself. The only men ahead of him are Pete Sampras Michael Chang.

When Sampras, the defending champion, lost last week he tipped Chang or Andre Agassi as the most likely to win the title. Rafter beat both of them. 1 test per cent, had good skills, while 300,000 had very good skills. Overall, Australia's literacy skills were "generally comparable with that of several other developed countries" for those aged 16 to 65. They were better than those in the United States and Switzerland, but worse than the skills in Sweden, Canada and Germany.

Of those under 45, the 15-19 age group had the poorest literacy levels but the survey said many in this group had not completed their studies, had little work experience, and their literacy skills "may develop Mr Howard said the survey "probably casts some doubt on some of the more faddish approaches to education in our schools that have held sway over the last "I think it underlines very strongly the emphasis we have placed as a Federal Government on standards of literacy and numeracy in schools," he said. A survey director, Mr Mel Butler, said it was not a report card on the education system and did not suggest that literacy standards had dropped. "It is a comment on the overall population," he said. "Look at all the people in their 60s and 70s we've included in the survey who received their education many years ago. the real point is we will still have a high number of people with poor skills for everyday life." The report said English literacy skills were strongly related to whether English was the first language spoken.

NSW had the largest proportion, 50.8 per cent, of people rated as having very poor or poor skills, which the survey's authors said was probably linked to the State's big immigrant population. The Minister for Schools, Dr Kemp, said he was concerned by the results, which would provide a "useful input" into the Government's assessment of adult literacy programs. blood pressure or pulse problems. Dr Jakubowicz and Dr Hennessy are specialists based at Royal North Shore Hospital. There is no suggestion Dr Jakubowicz acted inappropriately, but Mr Butcher said questions would be asked about the lack of a specialist doctor in the Mater's intensive care unit on the night of the operation on Ms McPhail.

At a relatively late stage in the operation Dr Jakubowicz noticed Dr Hennessy consulting another anaesthetist, and asked if there was a problem. Yes, he said, but it was probably due to faulty equipment. Mr Butcher asked Dr Jaku bowicz: "If you are conducting an operation ana tnere is a significant fall in blood pressure would you expect to be notified?" "Yes, absolutely, she replied. She was told about the problem more than one hour into surgery. It was then too far advanced to be halted, she said, The operation continued smoothly and Ms McPhail was taken into intensive care, with no apparent problems.

It was only after Dr Jakubow icz left the hospital for the night that it became clear something was seriously wrong. Ms McPhail was transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital. She died three days later. The inquest continues. I -5 ft; Pat Rafter with the US Open Agassi said Rafter could not win the tournament.

It took Rafter two hours and 26 minutes to prove him wrong. He had to survive some anxious moments, not to mention Rusedski's sledgehammer serving (including one clocked at 228.8 kmh, the fastest recorded), but he got there. With seagulls circling over the new Arthur Ashe stadium, Rafter reached his first match point with his seventh ace of the match. He finished the contest playing the way he has been for a fortnight -first serve in, rush the net, stay cool, punch away a volley. Then he collapsed flat on his back on the court for one mad, marvellous moment It was not relief or exhaustion that caused this reaction, he said later.

"It was total excitement It wasn't tiredness. I think I could have jumped up and down for the next half an hour." But he didn't do that. After shaking hands with Rusedski, who described the new champion as a man "who gives 110 per Rafter ran to the courtside box, where his closest supporters including coach xl I7 5 oj Valerie Michard back to the classroom in her 40s. A mother's struggle to read, write By HONEY WEBB Valerie Michard spent most of her life unable to fill in her children's school forms and struggled to read street signs. To conceal her poor reading and writing skills, she would tell people she had left her glasses at home.

"I had to get someone to help me fill in the forms because I couldn't do it. I found it very embarrassing. I didn't like asking people but I had to do it." Ms Michard, now enrolled in reading and writing classes, is among the many Australians with poor reading and writing skills, according to a new report on literacy standards. Now in her 40s, Ms Michard left high school at the end of ear 9 because of health problems and said none of her teachers seemed to realise she was unable to read or write with any confidence. Continued Page 4 Mobutu dies in exile aged 66 Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled Zaire for nearly 32 years with a combination of brutal repression and greed that impoverished his citizens while earning him a fortune, has died in exile in Morocco aged 66.

PAGE 8: Full report. Five-year wait for sainthood Mother Teresa will not be considered for sainthood for at least five years, a senior Vatican official said yesterday. The Church would examine her writings and question those who knew her. PAGE 7: Full report Patients packed off with no help Patients are being sent home early from hospital whether or not they have family back-up, eVen though early discharge is not a big cost saver, a health economics conference was told yesterday. PAGE 3: Full report Internet www.stnh.com.au Home delivery ISSN 0312-6315 II (02)92823800 l7 Oxygen cut to patient: alert came too late Nor 6 cup.

Photograph by AP Tony Roche and two of his brothers were standing to cheer him. Rafter took their hands and pulled himself up into the stands. It was Wimbledon 1987 all over again. Which was just how Rafter intended it "Cashy did it I thought it was pretty cool." But before he made his ascent he tossed his racquet high into the crowd. While admiring his younger brother's exuberance, this gesture did not entirely please Peter Rafter: "I'd wanted him to hang on to it so we could frame it" It would have made a fine trophy in Brisbane, where Rafter's parents, Jim and Joceiyn, and his six brothers and sisters not in New York with him had got up early to watch him play.

"Oh mate, it'll be a sensational morning back home," said Steve Rafter, who doubles as Pat's manager. "It's just fantastic," said Roche, who lost the US Open final to Rosewall in 1970. "It's been a long time between drinks and we're going to enjoy this one. I think we're all going out to get Raftered." Proud day for family of 1 1 Pat Rafter has come a long way since picking up his first tennis racquet at the age of five, when he and his brothers bashed the ball around the dusty back streets of Mt Isa. He counts his parents, Jim and Joceiyn, and five brothers and three sisters as his greatest fans.

The family home in Brisbane was unusually tense early yesterday until Pat hit the winning shot to take the US singles title. PAGE 40 and 42: Open reports. Shipping 36 PHONE Editorial ..92822822 Classified ............132535 General. ...9282 2833 By ADAM HARVEY An anaesthetist failed to stop an operation that was going wrong because he thought equipment monitoring a patient was faulty, a coronial inquest heard yesterday. The patient, Leonie Joyce McPhail, 41, died three days after the 1994 hysterectomy at Sydney's Mater hospital from brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen.

The court was told she might have survived if the anaesthetist in charge had stopped the operation when he noticed that Ms McPhail's blood pressure and blood oxygen levels appeared erratic. Although he could have called for the operation to be halted in the early stages, the anaesthetist, Dr John Hennessy, did not tell the gynaecologist performing the operation of problems until it was too late to stop surgery, the court heard. There were "serious questions concerning the judgment of the chief anaesthetist in proceeding with the operation, or at least allowing it to said Mr Ian Butcher, counsel assisting the coroner. There were warning signs right from the earliest stages of the 90-minute operation, he added. The gynaecologist, Dr Diana Jakubowicz, told the court she was concentrating on removing Ms McPhail's womb, and relied on Dr Hennessy to tell her of any Proud parents and Pat's greatest fans Jim and Joceiyn Rafter at their Brisbane home yesterday.

Photo by steve Holland TOMORROW Sydney Fine. INSIDE Bridge 36 Mails, Weather today sydney 11 to 19- Dfy-Mid and mostly sunny. South-westerly winds. aouin-wesuosouineriywinaswun uossworas 6 upinion ij an expected maximum of 18. Classified Index 42 Features 11 Personal notices 32 NSW: Showers on the North Amusements 20-22 Law 36 3742 Coast.

Dry inland. Arts 10 Letters 12 Television 24 FULL DETAILS Page 23. Business 25-30 $2 Lottery 6337 20 7-9 -6- Liverpool 10 to 20. Richmond 8 to 21. NSW: Early showers in the south-east, dry and mostly sunny elsewhere.

Sunrise 6.03 am Sunset 5.42 pm. 770312" 631025.