Corvallis Gazette-Times from Corvallis, Oregon • 17

SECTION EnvironmentC3 EusinessC5 EditorialC6-7 Mid-Valley Sunday December 30, 2001 In Brief I Associated Press Camels and their masters take a rest after a day's work while others take tourists for a ride Thursday in Sam, 45 kilometers from Jaisalmer, India. Despite the troop buildup along the Pakistan border, life in the sand dunes of Sam carries on as always. warnors 7 People of Jaisalmer heritage in India say they are ready to fight Pakistan like fort. "The Jaisalmeris are warriors by nature, always on alert and never afraid to fight," says Vasa, spitting out juice from his "gutkha," a concoction of tobacco, betel nut and spices. "It's time to put Pakistan down, for good.

As Indian tanks, artillery and soldiers stream into this western desert state of Rajasthan and other border regions, including neighboring Gujarat and Punjab states and the Indian-held part of the disputed Kashmir region Jaisalmeris are proud their city has been of strategic military importance for centuries. From the legendary Rajputs the traditional Hindu warrior clan who ruled much of western India during the medieval era to the 1998 nuclear tests in nearby Pokharan, the See DESERT VJARRiSRS on C2 By Beth Duff-Brown The Associated Press JAISALMER, India The fiercely independent people of this ancient desert outpost, near the parched Pakistan border where Indian soldiers still patrol by camel, are aching for war. A medieval sandstone fort that turns golden as the sun sinks into the Thar Desert and weary camels come to their knees is a constant reminder of the people of Jaisalmer's heritage as great warriors. "Bring on another war, we are ready," shouts Jagdish Prasad Vasa, a craggy shopkeeper who has lived through the three wars between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947. His war cries draw similar chants from the old turbaned men drinking sweet tea at the foot of the sandcastle- Firefighters scolded for proposal help LONGVIEW, Texas Five on-duty firefighters who used a ladder truck to help an off-duty colleague propose to his sweetheart on Christmas Eve have been reprimanded.

Fire Chief Richard Lazarus said the crew did not have permission to use the rig. "The equipment belongs to the citizens," Lazarus said. "They shouldn't use city property for their own use." Adam Deary's friends helped him climbed to the top of a fire truck ladder and reach the balcony of his girlfriend's apartment to propose. Andrea Jones accepted. The lovebirds drew media attention and complaints from some residents who said the truck shouldn't have been used for personal reasons.

Deary was not reprimanded because he was off-duty. The chief said the firefighters had not asked for permission and if they had, he likely would have said no. Anthrax cleanup attempts continue WASHINGTON The latest effort to remove residual anthrax spores from the heating and ventilation system of a Senate office building entered its second day Saturday. Capitol Police Lt. Dan Nichols, said the fumigation of the Hart Senate Office Building should be completed late Saturday evening.

The building has been closed since Oct. 17, two days after an anthrax-laced letter was opened in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. On Friday, technicians began pumping steam into the ventilation system to raise humidity. At first, as in a past attempt, the humidity remained below optimum levels. Anthrax-killing chlorine dioxide was added at 5:30 p.m., Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Jennifer Browne said.

"They've got the humidity where they need it," she said. "Everything is going as expected." To test the effectiveness of the gas, technicians have placed strips in the building that contain a bacteria more resistant to the chlorine dioxide than this strain of anthrax, Browne said. If the gas kills those bacteria, it is a good indicator that the anthrax is dead as well. Nichols said the fumigation work, initially expected to be finished Saturday morning, was not being rushed. Two previous attempts to clean the building failed to eliminate the potentially deadly spores.

While other work was being done inside the building to remove anthrax, the EPA has said it hoped this would be the final fumigation using toxic gas. Once the fumigation process is completed, another 72 hours of testing probably will be necessary before the building is declared safe, experts said. Airport calendar has burning plane photos IMPERIAL, Pa. -Passengers trying to get their air legs back after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks might not want to peek at the Allegheny County Airport Authority's new calendar.

The October page includes a picture of firefighters douse a flaming jetliner. February features a bomb-sniffing dog inspecting luggage at Pittsburgh International Airport. Airport authority spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny said the calendar is issued to airport and authority workers and to journalists not to the general public. "This is for the airport family. People who walk around the airport love it.

The construction guys are going nuts over it," she said. The flaming jetliner photo was taken during a simulated crash drill and was included because the airport's Federal Aviation Administration Fire Training Facility "is one of the things that makes us one of the leading airports in the country," Jenny said. Of the bomb-sniffing dog, Jenny said: "I thought it was warm and fuzzy." The Associated Press Shri Nand Kishore Sharma, a historian and author of books on jaisalmer, poses for the camera Thursday in Jaisalmer, India. Sharma is trying to preserve the desert culture and lifestyle. Argentine president gets taste of anger over economic crisis -4 protests outside of the capital, Buenos Aires, some 5,000 people gathered at the Plaza de Mayo to bang pots, and pans in a spontaneous outpouring of anger in part over a weeks-old government order restricting cash withdrawals from banks to $1,000 a month.

Hours into what began as a peaceful protest late Friday night, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd as it threatened to storm the Government House, better known as Casa Rosada. Later, some protesters briefly broke into Congress as rage over government austerity measures erupted one week after the deadly riots drove Fernando de la Rua from office. Twelve police officers were injured, six of them seriously, including one officer who was beaten bloody by a mob before he could be led away from the street battles outside the Government House. See ARCENT1KA on C2 5,000 people gathered outside the Plaza de Mayo. By Kevin Gray The Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -President Adolfo Rodriguez Saa got a taste Saturday of the unrest that brought down his predecessor when a protest against his government's handling of Argentina's economic crisis turned violent.

At least 12 police officers were injured. For the second time in as many weeks, thousands of middle-class Argentines took to the streets with sticks and stones, this time directing their anger at Rodriguez Saa for continuing to restrict access to bank accounts and for appointing several high-ranking officials widely considered corrupt. Although there were no reported Fighting myth of biblical proportions By Yuki Noguchi Washington Post No one knows where the rumor first started that a famous atheist was trying to ban all mention of God from the airwaves. The Federal Communications Commission denied it. Nevertheless, millions of people continued to write letters to the commission.

In response, the FCC sent out its own letters. Then it ran public-service ads saying the rumor was not true. Letters still came. People called in. So the FCC started a hot line and mailed pamphlets to citizens who believed the rumor.

But e-mail boomed, and with it more gossip, generating still more mail despite the FCC's Web page devoted to debunking the rumor. Nearly three decades and more than 10 million letters, e-mails and phone calls later -the agency that deregulated the telecommunications industry and helped usher in the communications revolution seems to have met defeat in its fight against this one rumor. Since 1974 when the rumor first surfaced the commission has spent untold dollars and employee time responding to citizens worried that the late Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the leader of a well-known atheist movement, is trying to halt all religious references on the radio and TV. Just to be clear: There is no O'Hair broadcast petition. In fact, O'Hair the founder of American Atheists best known for championing a ban on prayer in schools has been dead since 1995.

Nothing else at the FCC rivals this rumor, in both its longevity and its bizarre ability to withstand the commission's repeated attempts to convey the truth. Every year, around Christmas and Easter, something breathes new life into it. Last month, the FCC received 108 O'Hair-related correspondences. In October, it received 249; in September, 124; and in August, 91. It's nothing short of exasperating for K.

Dane Snowden, who heads the FCC's consumer See ETCH on C2 Associated Press A worker cleans debris Saturday outside the graffiti painted Buenos Aires' Government House. Preparing for euro Adopting the euro are: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain. Those staying out are Britain, Sweden and Denmark. ready for the introduction Tuesday of the European Union's new single currency. At the stroke of midnight, if all the lines of computer code have been written correctly, if all the employees have been drilled and trained, if enough armored cars, have been lined up, the bank's 1,050 cash machines should spring to life and begin dispensing euros.

His assignment has been to literally think of everything. In just days, he'll find out how well he and his team of 50 did their job, which cost 70 million euro, or $62 million. See E'jna on C2 Getting one bank ready is an 18-month project. By David McHugh The Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany Commerzbank's Robert Janda is the kind of guy who gets a twinkle in his eye just talking about a new cash machine, who chuckles over new computer software and, on his days off, ponders employee life insurance. Janda, the bank's euro transition manager, has relished the last 18 months of getting Germany's fourth-largest bank.