The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 2

1 Page A2, Friday, January 8, 1999 The Beacon Journal www.01m.com NewsChannel 5 forecasters Akron Area Kite w(tic Weather mmum Don Webster, Mark Johnson, Susan Davies and Brad Sussman For updated weather information, call First Forecast (216) 931-1212 Akron forecast: Snow today, could be heavy, possibly mixed with freezing rain. High 31. Low 25. Snow ending tomorrow. High JLL zo.

Low lb. Partly cloudy bunaay. High zb. Low 13. Snow flurries Monday.

High 22. Low 14 L4. may be wrom Canada N.Y. Buffalo 277 Mich. Detroit 2710 i Associated Press Toledo 3010 Pa.

I 1 Ohio 266 A Akron QtoK 309 i Indianapoffs 3017 Columbus 3018 30715 i Cincinnati 3421 unarresion 4324 Va. Louisville 4324 Area Forecast 1 ,5 71, jt Today Snow 3125 Sunday Partly cloudy 2613 Tomorrow Snow 25715 Monday Flurries 2214 Impeachment trial in Senate could present a number of surprises for public and politicians By Robert A. Rankin Knighl Riddtr Newspaper Washington: The Senate's im peachment trial of President Clin ton is not what it may seem, so be prepared to be surprised. A year of scandal has led many Americans to a number of question able conclusions: Extreme partisanship controls the whole Pjljgll Senate tMiekmAMmMi trial is more about politics than law. The longer it goes, the worse it will be for the nation.

Clinton will never be convicted, because even if he is guilty, the public wont stand for his removal from office. Censure, not conviction, is the likeliest outcome. Each of those assumptions is widely held, yet each is at least oversimplified, and events may well prove them wrong. The truth is far more complex: The Senate is awash in crosscurrents of pressure that mix partisan calculations with grave principles of law, justice and responsibility to history. Consider the question of party politics.

Nineteen GOP senators face reelection next year, 13 of them from states that Clinton carried in 19. If politics alone guided their decision, self-interest suggests they would heed polls and push to cut the Senate trial short, censure Clinton and get on with more popular business. But they are noL These Republicans insist on holding a full trial One of them, Sea Rick Santo-rum, R-Pa, explained why to reporters Wednesday. "We have to look at how we're going to be judged by history," San- Indexes Air quality Ultraviolet rays nil nil I --II 1 hi- rr ilhwil II ifil VYTwn tht? imk is Peak time of day, Kenerally KM p.m. to High merino, UK! Em advises people with lunK or heart problems to slay inside.

Pollen index The pollen index, which measures the amount of pollen in the air, will resume in the spring. Associated Press At top, President Clinton waits to make remarks on his education agenda at the White House yesterday. Meanwhile, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist (center, coming through the door), shown in this image from video, is escorted into the Senate chamber to be sworn in for Clinton's impeachment trial. ft Moderate 2 100 I I 18 50' NA Sunrise 7:50 a.m.

i Truf-'i'irir Sun and moon Last New First Full Jan. 9 Jan. 17 Jan. 24 Jan. 31 Sunset 5:15 p.m.

torum said. "My concern is not how I'll be judged in the next election, but how my 1-year-old daughter, when she reads about me in the history books and what happened, when she's in college 20 years from now, how she'll see how her dad did. And to me, that's the most important thing." If there is an element of self-serving rhetoric in that, there also is probably a heavy dose of honesty, for senators generally do hope to make history, and this trial offers their best chance to define what America stood for in the Clinton era Almanac As of 10 p.m. yesterday Precipitation Yesterday: 0.09 inch Month-to-date: 1.02 inches Year-to-date 1.02 inches Normal 0.45 inch Deviation (year): 0.57 inch Snowfall Yesterday: trace Month-to-date: 3.8 inches Season-to-date: 7.7 inches Temperatures Yesterday: high 18; low 10 Mean temperature: 14 Record temperature for today: High 63 in 1973; low -10 in 1942. A year ago today: High 48, low 37, mean 43 Other Barometric pressure: 30.35 Humidity: 69 percent Area temperatures 3 Then there is the issue of legal principle and precedenL Many senators believe that if the Senate followed the polls and short-circuited the trial because "everyone assumes Clinton will never be convicted, so why put the country through it," that would set a dangerous precedent Suppose the next time a president is impeached by the House, polls show the public believes he is guilty and deserves to be ousted.

Would that justify the Senate cutting short his trial and moving to summary judgment? "I just think it opens up a whole Pandora's box," Santorum said. "The rules are here for a reason: to protect people's rights and to protect the republic And I think we should, to the degree we can, follow those rules." Republican Sens. Alien Specter of Pennsylvania and John Warner of Virginia are renowned as independent-minded. Both insist a full trial is necessary to be faithful to the Constitution, a reason that does not sound narrowly politicaL Some Democrats agree If that's mere posturing to mask a mean zeal to get Clinton, as some analysts suggest, why do Democrats like Sea Robert Byrd of West Virginia say much the same thing? "I think the Senate should go forward with a trial and should reach a verdict up or down" on the formal articles of impeachment before weighing any censure option, Byrd said Wednesday on NBC. Discussions of censure are premature, many experts agree.

The Constitution does not offer the Senate the option of censure to resolve a trial, only conviction or acquittal If the Senate censured Clinton without first voting whether to convict him, many say, it would be diluting its own constitutional powers and inviting the House to impeach presidents cavalierly. "Speaking solely for myself, to me, censure is political cover," Warner said. "We would set a precedent that future Congresses which had differences with presi dents could then use as a club against the president" And public opinion is less important to the senators than analysts might suggest While an impeachment trial is partly political by design elected senators are the jurors, and they are supposed to weigh evidence in light of their judgment of what's best for the country broadly it also is inherently a process of law. It is not designed to be settled by direct vote of the people. "Once we face articles (of impeachment) having been forwarded by the House to the Senate, then I think we have a constitutional obligation to have a trial," Specter, a former Philadelphia district attorney, said on PBS.

"There's a lot of pressure right now on the Senate to get it over with, and if we rush to judgment we will not be doing our job. Alexander Hamilton laid it out in the Federalist Papers, holding this responsibility to the Senate to be above what the public may demand." Dangers overstated? To many Washington observers, the dangers of a long trial have been overstated. While Congress is unlikely to get anything else done until the trial is over, it rarely does much in January or February anyway. And something as grave as possibly removing a twice-elected president probably should dominate the public life of the country. Finally, this trial may not end with the failure to convict so widely expected; trials often take surprising turns.

Even though the evidence in this one is widely known, experts warn that opinions can change under the pressure of a trial The longer that senators and the public are forced to concentrate on the evidence against Clinton, the more possible it may be for minds to change. "I could go either way based on the evidence as I've seen it or heard it" Byrd told C-Spaa "And I've followed it pretty closely." 11 p.m. 20 5 a.m. 12 11a.m. 14 5 p.m.

13 Midnight 18 6 a.m. 13 Noon 14 6 p.m. 10 1 a.m. 17 7 a.m. 11 1 p.m.

15 7 p.m. 10 2 a.m. 16 8 a.m. 11 2 p.m. 14 8 p.m.

8 3 a.m. 14 9 a.m. 10 3 p.m. 14 9 p.m. 11 4 a.m.

13 10 a.m. 13 4 p.m. 14 10 p.m. 10 National forecast The AccuWeather forecast for noon, Friday, Jan. 8.

oanas separate nign lemperaiure zones tot tne aay. fc 70. -t. i CS- sot Associated Press Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, signs the official "oath book" after being sworn in yesterday for Clinton's impeachment trial. Pens ink spot in history 30 COLD WARM STATIONARY AccuWeattief Inc UIl E3 t3 E3 IZD Qik sign Japan's World War II surrender agreement aboard the battleship USS Missouri in 1945.

Dwight Eisenhower used two Parker pens to make a at the end of World War II. SHOWERS RAIN rSTORMS FLURRIES SNOW ICE SUNNY FT. CLOUDY CLOUDY Senators use Parker Vector pens to sign oath book, and are keeping them as trial mementos National temperatures HiLo Akron Beacon Journal No. 269, 160th Year feCopyngm 1998 Beacon Journal Publishing Co, HOW tO Call US Area code 330 unless noted Newsroom Business news David Hertz 996-3726 Death notices Laura Walker 996-3352 Editor Jan Leach 996-3501 EditorialLetters David Cooper 996-3512 Features Ann Mezger 996-3586 Local news Akron 996-3700 Medina, Wayne West Summit counties 723-7119 City Today Tom City Today Tom City Today Tom AlbanyvM 2V5 3824 Fargo (V-12 1-16 Orlando 7751 7759 Albuquenjue 0 4M1 Flagstaff 4121 4617 Philadelphia 3522 5IW5 Anchorage 2010 Hartford Spgfld 2415 4024 Phoenix 7044 7042 Atlanta 5544 5252 Helena 212 4022 Pittsburgh 3512 3030 Atlantic City 4125 5441 Honolulu 7667 WG7 Portknd.Ore. 4739 4839 Baltimore 3723 5138 Houston 7262 5349 Providence 3016 4630 Biraiingliara 6450 4644 Indianapolis 3IV17 1815 Raleigh-Durham 5116 5746 Bismarck 3-15 8-18 7IV55 4240 Reno 4820 5219 Boise 4IV22 4323 Jacksonville 7(140 7359 Richmond 4M1 5340 Boston 3019 4610 Kansas City 1912 2V- Sacramento 5032 4832 Buffalo 277 2924 Las Vegas 6141 6137 St Louis 2114 209 230 3523 Utile Rock 5033 3931 Salt Lake City 4128 4526 ChariestonK.

6645 6655 Los Angeles 7250 8049 San Antonio 7458 5842 4124 3939 Louisville 4124 2625 San Diego 6950 7248 5143 5W46 Memphis 5639 3333 San Francisco 5rV42 5742 Cheyenne 321 4118 Miami Beach 7965 8169 San 8271 8372 Chicago 227 105 Milwaukee 1545 80 Santa Fe 4424 4419 Columbia. 5M3 5851 MinneapouVStPaul 99 710 Seattle 4641 4843 Dallas-Fort Worth 6753 4W0 Nashville 5IV37 3838 Tampa-Sl Ptrsbg 7854 7566 Denver 3923 4618 New Orleans 7260 5550 Topeka 2010 2tt2 Des Moines 177 154 NewYorkCity Wft Wl Tucson 6940 6817 Detroit 2710 2118 5315 5947 Tulsa 3228 3514 Duluth 4-15 OklahomaCity 32ffi 3215 WashuigtoiiDC. 3834 5219 El Paso 6638 6032 Omaha 18ft 15M Wichita 2M5 3610 JOHN DOTSON JR. President Publisher MJTCILELL K. ALLEN VP Advertising and Marketing RICHARD A.

DANZE VP Production JANET C. LEACH GLEN L. McCAlILLEY VP Finance JOHN S. MURPHY Director Marketing Contmunications MICHAEL J. NEEDS Director Converging Technologies ROBERT J.

TIGELMAN VP Information Technology TERRY A. WIITTNEY VP Circulation Toll-free 800-615-5014 478-6000 800-478-5445 650-5950 800-624-9260 Stark South Summit Counties Toll-free North Summit Portage Counties Toll-free Columbus Washington, D.C. Kwujhl Ridder Newspnpern Washington: Talk about a product-placement opportunity. As sen ators signed a pledge yesterday to "do impartial justice" in the im peachment trial of President Clinton, they used pens that sell for less than $10 apiece at most stationery stores. Each of the 100 senators was allowed to keep the black and silver Parker Vector pen with "United States Senator" written in script It has a rollerball and black ink.

The Parker Pen Co. pens are the only brand made in the United States, said company spokeswoman Michele SzynaL The Parker pen was created in the late' 1890s by George Saf-ford Parker, a teacher in Janes-ville, Wis. who got tired of fixing his students' broken fountain pens. That was decades too late to be used at the only other presidential impeachment trial, that of Andrew Johnson in 1868. But Parker pens are no strangers to history.

One was used to sign the treaty that ended the Spanish American War. Gen. Douglas MacArthur used one to For home delivery concerns or Customer Service, call toll-free: 800-777-2442 com http:www.ohio.com 253-9524 614-224-1613 202-383-6029 Debbie Van Tassel 996-3635 Olga Reswow 996-3861 Ohio Magazine National news Photo reprints Public Service Foreign temperatures Today' HiAo 996-3000 996-3880 996-3720 996-3830 996-3800 996-3560 Photography Susan Kirkman Public Editor Gloria Irwin Scoreline Sports Larry Pantages Weddings, Anniversaries Ethel Stephens Amsterdam Athens Bangkok Barbados Beying Belgrade Berlin Bermuda 800-777-2442 Akron Beacon Journal (USPS 010-720) Published daily and Sunday by the Beacon Journal Publishing Co. for $3.40 per week home delivered (Sunday-only home delivery $1.50 per week and 33 cents for New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Other selected bonus days, as advertised, at no additional cost) or $3.60 per week at newsstands and vending machines.

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