Statesman Journal from Salem, Oregon • Page 1

Weekend U.S. seniors discover hidden fan Salem holiday show stars 'Creative Page 1 Life Catastrophic health coverage means higher insurance costs. Page i Business II Final Edition Showers; high near 50 Forecast, Back Page Mount Angel dishes out dinner 1 MJdCril4J JuviivLt" I. i ') A "-It Salem stores will face annual Christmas siege 1 fi" i fy. Frill -ii V.X If.

I sill; vfts I i "SC I 9 I I A i By Vanessa E. Langston Of the Statesman-Journal On your mark, get set, now shop 'til you drop. There are 30 shopping days left before Christmas, and today is one of the biggest, according to retailers. Stores have lowered stocked up on merchandise and hired sales clerks in preparation for what officials hope will be a monthlong shopping frenzy. As a convenience to shoppers, most stores in the Salem Centre and Lancaster Mall will be open from 8 a.m.

to 10 p.m. today. "In the past, we've had people standing outside the store the day after Thanksgiving waiting to get in," Jon Feasel, an assistant manager of Sizes UnlimitedBig Tall store, said. "Hopefully, opening earlier this year will alleviate that problem." Veteran salespeople recommended that consumers shop early to get the best buys. "If you wait until later, most of the good stuff especially sale items is picked over," Kim Smithey, the manager of the Jean Machine, said.

However, morning is expected to bring the largest crowds of the day. Officials at stores like Nordstrom, The Bon and the Emporium expect their busiest times to be between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. To avoid the crowds, shopping around dinner time is advised. "If you don't want to fight the crowds, I'd say shopping at dinner is best," Denise Tallman, the manager of Radio Shack at Lancaster Mall, said.

"By then, most people are tired and hungry, and go home." Smart shoppers can get all of their buying finished in one day if they have the right plan, according to Vera Blake, 33, of decribes herself as a veteran shopper. "My advice is to shop early, shop long, and above all, wear tennis shoes," she said. Slalesman-Journal photo by Bruce Thorson Volunteers serve a Thanksgiving meal Thursday at the Benedictine Sisters' Howard Hall in Mount Angel. Volunteers show thanks by giving False claims plague U.S. amnesty program By Vanessa E.

Langston for the migrant worker in America or in the Mid-Willamette Vallev." Peter Courtney, a newly elected state representative from Salem, said he worked to get into the spirit of the day. "It feels good to stuff your face, which is what I did at dinner at home, and then come down here and help out," Courtney, 45, said. "It's like getting both ends of the pie, get ting and giving." Turn to Volunteers, Page 2A. Of the Statesman-Journal Most people spent Thursday at home sharing Thanksgiving with family and friends. But Yvonne Martinez and her family spent the day away from home, sharing a meal with strangers in need.

For those who are homeless or hungry, the holiday season can be a time of loneliness and frustration. Martinez, 35, of Woodburn said that was Families, friends gather across U.S. Page 2A why she and her family spent the day serving meals at the Benedictine Sisters' Thanksgiving Dinner in Mount Angel. "For us, Thanksgiving is a day of atonement and sadness, really," she said. "It's our way to recognize that things are not all right Scientists create Gannett News Service HOUSTON The rush is on to beat the deadline for the immigration amnesty program for farm workers that ends Wednesday.

As of Monday, 1,060,607 applicants have applied, more than double what was expected. One-quarter to one-half of them may be denied because of phony documents, according to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 'Fraud in the program formally the Special Agricultural Worker program has been reported since it began in June 1987. Farm workers do not have to meet the rigid requirements of the regular amnesty program, which ended in May with 1.7 million applicants. Applicants in the regular program had to show proof of continuous residency from at least Dec.

31, 1981. But farm worker applicants need only pay stubs, letters or other evidence that they worked in U.S. agricultural jobs with perishable crops at least 90 days between May 1, 1985, and May 1, 1986, or for 90 days in each of the years 1983, 1984 and 1985. Teresa Smith, a Dallas, Texas, church worker who has helped 1,500 apply through both programs, said illegal immigrants shouldn't be blamed for trying to get in as farm workers. "This law is a sham and a shame," she said.

"It's making criminals out of people because they couldn't get documents any other way." Joseph Shassetz said in Houston, "We had an applicant who claimed to be picking strawberries from 12-foot trees." Employer inquiries show that "some don't exist, some have never been in agriculture." The Houston office, for example, has recommended denials on 47 percent of 8,053 applications. In the immigration agency's western region, where 62 percent of applications have been made, director Harold Ezell said a fraud crackdown helped, but not a lot. Drug not a cure, researchers say WASHINGTON (AP) A plant toxin combined with a special protein is able to attack and kill AIDS-infected cells in the test tube while leaving healthy cells untouched, a group of Texas researchers report. However, they cautioned that the new laboratory development like other incremental advances in AIDS research was far from being ready for clinical application and, at best, might offer a potential new treatment approach rather than a cure. Dr.

Jonathan W. Uhr, the chairman of the department of microbiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said a study to be published today shows that a synthetic molecule called recombinant CD4 can be used in a test tube to cells not infected with HIV, he said. When exposed in a test tube to HIV-infected cells, he said, a combination of CD4 and a toxin called ricin binds to cell surfaces, and the ricin then kills the cell, thus eliminating a source of HIV virus. Uhr said it would be at least a year before the drug could be tested on patients. Though this technique shows promise, he said, it would not cure AIDS.

Firm says AIDS drug helps Page 7A deliver a killer toxin to AIDS-infected cells. Uhr said the CD4 molecule naturally binds to a gycoprotein, called gpl20, that forms on the surface of cells infected with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which causes AIDS. CD4 will not attach itself to Dangerous bacteria raid King Tut's tomb VALLEY OF THE KINGS, Egypt (AP) -Rapidly multiplying bacteria are eating away vivid pictures from the walls of King Tut's tomb. Specialists have begun applying an antidote that they hope can arrest the bacteria, but antiquities officials say the original color can never be restored. "The situation inside the tomb is extremely serious," Mutaw'ie Balboush, the Egyptian Antiquities Organization's director for upper Egypt, said.

At the start of the winter tourist season in early November, officials were so worried that they considered closing the tomb. After the antidote was developed last week, however, work to save the paintings was scheduled before and after tourist hours. Tutankhamen, a young pharaoh who died in 1323 B.C., was buried in a makeshift tomb stuffed with riches in the barren Valley of the side a tomb, such as a rise in humidity, then bacteria can come to life," Arini said. "When this happens, the situation is extremely dangerous not only for the tomb but for others in the vicinity." Nakhla said bacteria in Tut's tomb could have been activated by high humidity, difficult to control with so many visitors. And the number of tourists is expected to increase dramatically during the next two months.

The tomb owes part of its allure to the myth of a curse visited on anybody who violates it. It gained prominence in the 1920s and 1930s, after a number of people from the expedition team that found the tomb in 1922 died unusual deaths. Egyptologists scoff at the idea. Grave robbers violated the tomb at least twice in antiquity, and Egyptologist Howard Carter, the expedition leader, died naturally in 1939 at age 66. Kings the southern wasteland where royalty and nobility were buried for 500 years.

Its wall paintings, some with colors as bright as the day that they were painted, depict noblemen and officials transporting Tut's mummy to the tomb. "We can't simply remove the infection, because the bacteria have become part of the paint itself," restoration director Shawky Nakhla said. "We have to put the bacteria in a situation that won't endanger the tomb itself. "In the past, the bacteria were dormant, but something has triggered them to life. When we looked at them in Cairo, they were so active, they were duplicating every day." Omar Arini, a science officer at the U.S.

Embassy in Cairo, said bacteria had been present in Egyptian tombs since they were sealed thousands of years ago. "If something changes the environment in Bacteria are defacing the walls of King Tut tomb, one of the most popular tourist sites in Egypt. The tomb features Tut's golden mask and vivid paintings. AP photo I Insider Index News, Section A World 3, 4A Nation ...2, 6-9, 11A Opinion 10, 1 1 A Weather 12A Lite, Section People 1B Milestones 2B Obituaries 2B Conversation 3B Landers 3B Bridge 3B Entertainment 4B Diner's choice 5B TV 6B Movies 6, 7B Comics 8B Business, Section Your money 1C LocalNorthwest, Section Region 2D Almanac 2D Public Notices Classified Crossword 11D Horoscope 110 Classified, Section Classified 1-8E Sports, Section Scores 2F Hockey 2F Colleges 2F Football 3F Basketball 3F i fJ i i 4 Business Shop owners sue Eugene Four businessmen contend that Eugene's drug paraphernalia ordinance unfairly targets their shops. PageIC Northwest Lawmakers split orvparty line Republican lawmakers from the Northwest show their independence from the president.

Democrats toe the party line. World Soviet troops fail to quell riots More deaths occur in ethnic rioting in the Soviet Union despite Kremlin officials' deployment of roops and tanks. Page 3A Nation U.S. senator meets with Castro Sen. Claiborne Pell, flies to Cuba for talks with President Fidel Castro about friendlier relations.

Page 6A Life Pentacle gives a play Pentacle Theatre in Salem tonight will stage See How They Run, a vintage English farce. Director Jo Dodge calls it a charmingly silly Christmas gift to the community. PagelB Copyright 1988, The Statesman-Journal Un no kin nun in rage ID A Gannett Newspaper.