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Dr Page designer: Kathleen Scott, 213-5847 www.thestarpress.com Wednesday, February 12, 2003 5B Investigators: Shuttle mystery will be solved SPACE CENTER, Houston The head of the space shuttle inquiry said Tuesday he had the best investigators in the country to figure out what caused the Columbia crash and was confident the mystery would be solved. But one of those experts cautioned the scope of the disaster was the biggest any of them has ever seen. "Looking at the complexity of this, it is huge. It is one of the biggest debris fields that I think any of us have ever seen," said Navy Rear Adm. Stephen Turcotte, who as commander of the Naval Safety Center is responsible for investigating every aviation mishap in the Navy and Marine Corps.

Thousands of pieces of debris have been found in a 500-mile area across Louisiana and Texas. The search is expected to take at least several more weeks. The head of the investigation board, retired Navy Adm. Harold Gehman said the panel was still collecting data and hadn't ruled out any potential cause. He A WOMAN grieves at the flowerstrewn grave of Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon, shortly after Ramon's remains were laid to rest Tuesday in a private burial service in Nahalal, northern Israel.

said no debris had been recovered west of Fort Worth, Texas. "We don't have proof, but we have reason to believe that we should keep looking west of Fort Worth," Gehman said. He said NASA was tapping into military and weather radar to try to pinpoint wreckage. Debris found west of Fort Worth could be extremely important because it would help investigators understand how and when Columbia started breaking apart as it aimed for a Florida touchdown the morning of Feb 1. All seven astronauts aboard were killed when Columbia broke apart at an altitude of more than 200,000 feet.

Air Force Maj. Gen. John Barry, a board member, noted there was no "black box" aboard Columbia, as there is on every airliner. Instead, each shuttle has "on the order of 4,000 sensors that we're going to be able to take advantage of." Separately, NASA said officials from Johnson Space Center called experts at its Langley research facility in Hampton, on Jan. 27 to ask what might happen if the shuttle's tires were not inflated during a landing attempt.

NASA's Keith Henry said the question was based on assumptions that damage to the shuttle's thermal protection system would cause the tires to deflate. The Langley experts said such a failure could cause broad damage to the shuttle's tires. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION commander Ken Bowersox (center), Russian flight engineer Nikolai Budarin (left) and science officer Don Pettit hold a news conference Tuesday from the Space Station in this image from television. Men on station say they've wept THE ASSOCIATED PRESS tened in on last Tuesday's Hoosier commander memorial at Johnson Space CenNAME Kenneth Bowersox. SPACE CENTER, Houston ter with President Bush.

After the said AGE 46; Born Nov. 14, 1956, An astronaut from Indiana and ceremony, Bowersox in 1 Portsmouth, Va. the two other men living on the they rang the ship's bell seven times in tribute to their fallen EDUCATION Graduated from international space station said Tuesday they had for their friends. Bedford (Ind.) High School, 1974; wept friends who died aboard Colum- "At that point, it was very, bachelor's degree, U.S. Naval bia but were now trying to move very quiet on the station.

We Academy, 1978; master's degree, forward. spent 15 or 20 minutes in silence Columbia University, 1979. In their first public comments and then we moved on. We had OCCUPATION NASA on the shuttle disaster, the three work to do," Bowersox said. astronaut since 1987; pilot and crew members also said their The three have been in orbit captain in U.S.

Navy. emotions seemed to be amplified since November and were sup- SPACE FLIGHTS Currently in orbit because of the sense of posed to return to Earth next commander of three-man crew solitude. month aboard a space shuttle. on international space station "When you're up here this But all shuttle flights are on in- since Nov. 25; four previous long, you can't just bottle up definite hold because of the Co- space shuttle flights in 1992, your emotions and cope with it lumbia disaster Feb.

1, which 1993, 1995 and 1997. He was the all the time," said the comman- killed seven astronauts. first two All three said that they were pilot on shuttle flights der of the space station, Ameriorbit as and commander on his third and can astronaut Kenneth Bower- prepared to remain in long as even to a fourth flights. SOX. necessary, up "It's important for us to ac- year.

The space station is PERSONAL Married, with that the people on equipped with a three-man three sons. knowledge were our friends, lifeboat at all times, and NASA is QUOTE "It's important for that we had a connection with considering having them return us to acknowledge that the them and that we feel their loss," in it, if their replacements arrive people on were our he said. "Each of us had a chance by another Soyuz spacecraft. friends, that we had a connection to shed some tears, but now it's "We are enjoying our mission with them and that we feel their time to move forward, and we're up here. The extra time the loss." doing that slowly." is not something we conBowersox, who grew up in sider a negative," Bowersox said.

workouts have helped, he added. Bedford, said he and his He said NASA had been "real "One of the things we noticed crew, American Donald Pettit good" about giving them some that really helps is exercise," and Russian Nikolai Budarin, lis- time off to grieve. Treadmill Bowersox said. Study: Preemies' IQ can improve CHICAGO Very small premature babies born with brain damage are not necessarily doomed to below-normal intelligence after all, according to a surprising new study that found that many youngsters' IQ scores improve over time. Children born extremely prematurely run the risk of a variety of neurological problems, ranging from cerebral palsy, retardation and vision trouble to more subtle learning and behavior difficulties.

But the study found that many youngsters considered borderline retarded made up for lost ground and end up scoring in the nearly normal IQ range by age 8. The findings are surprising, because previous research has States are tuition to THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Cash-strapped states from coast to coast are weighing hefty tuition increases for public colleges and universities, prompting experts to wonder aloud whether state schools are pricing themselves out the market. for most students. "This trend is going to catch up with the middle class at some point," said Barmak Nassirian, an analyst with the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. With most states unable to cover their expenses, tuition increases have been imposed midway through this academic year by several states including Maryland, Oregon and California.

Vermont, Hawaii, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, New York and Utah are among the states that have already adopted or are considering tuition hikes at public institutions for the fall semester. The tuition increases come in an academic year when tuition at 4-year public institutions jumped by an average of 9.6 per- raising college balance budgets THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS found long-term consequences in very small preemies and because the conventional wisdom says that IQ does not change at least in people born at normal weight. "We were thrilled by the findings and surprised because previous reports suggested that there's an adverse outcome for very low birth- babies," said lead researcher Laura Ment, a Yale University pediatric neurologist. "We found children progressively getting better between 3 and 8 years of age." Ment said the study results echoed recent research in animals showing that the developing brain can repair itself. In the study, children who received early attention such as speech therapy, those from twoparent families and those whose RACHEL PILLIOD (right), student body chats with Hayley Harris, a junior, between Ore.

Pilliod said she might not be coming costs went much higher. cent, according to the annual survey of college costs released last October by the College Board, the owner of the SAT exam. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education reported in a study released Tuesday that students at public, 4-year colleges in 16 states were hit with tuition hikes of more than 10 percent for this academic year. One expert sees no end in sight. president at the University of Oregon, classes on the campus in Eugene, back for her senior year if tuition "Just about every state out there, except for a couple, is dealing with significant budgets shortages," said Julie Bell, the education program director with the National Conference of State Legislators.

"And almost every state is looking at higher education either through a budget cut or a tuition increase." Overall, the College Board found that students at public 4- year colleges this year paid an average of $9,663 for tuition, fees, room and board. Indiana increases above average STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS Tuition increases at Indiana's public colleges and universities last year averaged 13 percent, the 10th highest increase in the nation, a new national study found. Massachusetts had the nation's biggest increase in tuition and fees at 24 percent, according to the report released Tuesday by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Missouri, Texas and Iowa all had increases of 20 percent. Indiana's average increase from $3,947 to $4,468 topped the national average of 10 percent.

The report called the increases, "the worst fiscal news for ALL TEACHERS including those who have participated in past years are invited to participate in a SMS training workshop at 4:30 p.m., February 18 at First Merchants Bank, 200 E. Jackson. To sign up for the workshop or for questions about the SMS please call Jeannine Lee Lake at 21.3-5805. The Stock Market Simulation will begin on Monday, February 10, 2002, running for 10 weeks. To register for the SMS, teachers may go to the website atwww.indianasms.com.

public higher education institutions in at least a decade." Stan Jones, Indiana's higher education commissioner, said he believed tuition increases at the state's colleges exceeded what was needed to compensate for state funding losses and that he was concerned about hikes. "I think we're headed down the wrong path here," he said. Students attending 2-year public colleges in Indiana, such as Ivy Tech State College, paid an average of 14 percent more the fifth largest increase in the country. After 3 years of freezing or cutting tuition, Ivy Tech raised its per credit hour rate by 10 percent. It also added a technology fee and a temporary fee to help recoup renovation costs.

Indiana, Purdue and Ball State universities all increased tuition at least 9 percent last year. Ball State's in-state tuition went from $1,962 a semester for 2001-2002 to $2,160 a semester for 2002-2003 and that's not even counting the extra $1,000 fee for new students that Ball State and other schools added this year. State university officials last month indicated that significant tuition increases might be needed if they do not get more state funding. Some legislators have said the state might need to cap tuition to keep tuition from becoming too expensive. FOR The Market Stock CARTAGE The Star Press Simulation The Indiana Stock Market Simulation (SMS) is a unique approach to learning about the American economic system.

Student teams "invest" a hypothetical $100,000 in stock to compete for the best portfolio performance. A stock market portfolio management program has been successfully offered by the Indiana Council for Economic Education and your local sponsors, The Star Press and First Merchants Investment Vest Financial Services The new version of the SMS has many improvements: No more scan sheets A reliable Internet site at www.indianasms.com More investment choices: stock, preferred stocks, mutual federal funds and initial public offerings. Your local sponsors: First Merchants PV PRIMEVEST. Bank FINANCIAL SERVICES Member The Star Press It's all about YOU! To subscribe call 213-5717 or click on The StarPress com) mothers had high levels of education showed the most improvements in intellectual ability. The study involved 296 children born at 28 weeks and weighing just over 2 pounds on average.

The findings appear in today's Journal of the American Medical Association. In an accompanying editorial, Glen Aylward, a developmental specialist at Southern Illinois University's medical school, suggested that broader tests of mental function would have had poorer results. And he noted that the IQ improvements were still in the average to low-average range. "Despite improvements in scores, such low-average functioning can place a child at significant academic disadvantage," Aylward said..