The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 115

fY EDITORIAL Will AcademiesEnglewood be forced to close? 0-2 JAMES AHEARN The Times uncovers a scandal its own. 0-2 TAX CUTS The Bush tax cuts: Do we need them? Pro and con. 0-4 yPINION AP PHOTO U.S. AIR FORCE The first U.S. hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific at Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands, Nov.

1, 1952. Nuke lite: Leaner bo itlO IT b. Biew yeoeraoosi arms in 1993, it appeared to take one more step away from the age of nuclear weapons. The United States had already disposed of most of its smaller, or tactical, nuclear weapons, and U.S. and Russian officials were busy negotiating to get rid of the thousands of strategic nuclear weapons as well.

Other states of the former Soviet Union were taking steps to get rid of their weapons, and it was widely understood around the world that having a nuclear arsenal was an obstacle to countries joining the prosperous Western world. It appeared that nuclear weapons would be, at most, a secondary security issue. Yet these hopes began to fade as the Nineties" ended and it became clear that unstable Third World regimes still coveted the bomb. Pakistan tested its first nuclear weapon in 1998. There were signs of increasingly international traffic in nuclear materials, and worries about the nuclear See NUKES Page 0-7 By PAUL RICHTER A DOZEN YEARS after the Cold War's close raised hopes for an end to the nuclear threat, the Bush administration is embarking on a quest for a new generation of nuclear bombs that are smaller, less powerful and that the Pentagon might actually use in battle.

In the administration's view, the frightening size of Cold War strategic nuclear weapons diminishes their deterrent value today: No one believes that the United States would actually use them against a smaller foe. As a result, they argue, the United States needs the option of smaller nuclear weapons to deter the terrorist groups and rogue states, such as North Korea, that are today's foremost danger. While officials insist that they have no plans to build such bombs, recent steps make it clear that they want to fully explore their options, and get the Paul Richter writes for the Los Angeles Times. deteriorating U.S. nuclear weapons complex in shape so they could move to quickly develop and test such arms, if the order comes.

This month, the administration is taking a step toward a new generation of weapons as Congress moves to repeal a 10-year-old ban on the development of small nuclear arms. Over the protests of outnumbered arms control advocates, the Senate Armed Services Committee on May 9 voted 15-10 to lift the ban; the repeal language is expected to survive as the defense authorization bill moves through the full House and Senate later this month. In the same bill, the Senate committee approved $15.5 million to do further research on a huge nuclear weapon, called the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, that would be used to destroy deeply buried targets such as weapons stockpiles or enemy leadership sites. It agreed to spend $6 million to research other advanced nuclear weapons concepts. And it ear- Hie administration says we need the option of smaller nuclear weapons to deter terrorist groups and rogue states.

marked $25 million to enable the Pentagon to resume, if necessary, the nuclear weapons testing that President Clinton suspended 1 1 years ago. The moves dismay arms control advocates. They fear that by developing small nuclear weapons that could be used in battle, the United States is legitimizing weapons that have been all but unthinkable, other countries to build nuclear arsenals, and undermining arms control treaties. They maintain that such bombs aren't even needed because of the enormous capabilities of conventional precision munitions. When Congress imposed the ban on small nuclear 10 million reasons ou hate this man whyy By TIM MADIGAN EVERAL MONTHS ago, Robert "Bubba" Catts received a small box in the mail that he says was filled with excrement Human xt xt N- Yet Catts, though annoyed by the abuse, is undeterred.

Money is the reason. A bulk e-mail marketer since 1998, the former car salesman and professional bull rider has transformed a room of his modest house into an impressive command center worthy of Operation Iraqi Freedom. There, 16 computers operate around the clock, employing special software to spew up to 10 million e-mail advertisements a day around the globe. A small number of people respond to that advertising bombardment, an average of 50 each day, Catts says. But multiply that 50 by the $39.99 Catts charges for his product software that monitors Internet usage and it works out to more than $700,000 a year, minus the $40,000 or so he spends annually on software and for address lists.

For that kind of cash, a person can put up with a box or two of excrement "I know what it's like to want I'll never be that way again," says Catts, 46, a short, barrel-See SPAM Page 0-5 or animal, he couldn't tell which. Another time an envelope arrived filled with what Catts says was "some kind of crusty stuff" There have been hundreds of similarly anonymous letters, chastising him, in often threatening terms, for polluting the world's in-boxes with his unsolicited commercial e-mail. Such are the occupational hazards of a big-time spammer. "The letters will say things like, Tou GD idiot Why are you sending me this crap? I don't want Catts says in his home near Shreveport, La. "People are spending all this time to do this.

Why don't they just take the two seconds and hit the delete button?" Tim Madigan writes for The Star-Telegram. Distributed by Knight RidderTribune Information Services. MIKE SILVA STAR-TELEGRAM Robert "Bubba" Catts with one of 16 computers he uses for his e-mail advertising operation. He sends millions of e-mails a day; the tiny fraction of recipients who respond fuel his $700,000 annual salary. SARS, fear, rumors feed unprecedented 'infodemic' known carriers, even straightforward global economic and social debacle.

epidemics have left many airlines and the By DAVID J.R0THK0PF cures. Yet, to date, many in power seem unable to contain them or unwilling to acknowledge their existence. These Internet- or media-borne viruses create global panics, trigger irrational behavior, blur our vision of important underlying problems, strain our infra-See INFODEMIC Page 0-6 SARS, as is well-known, has taken a heavy toll with more than 7,200 reported victims worldwide and more than 600 reported deaths so far. But the consequences of the related "epidemic" have been more far-reaching than the underlying disease and, quite possibly, more costly, affecting the lives of millions. What is more, the information epidemic or "infodemic" has made the public health crisis harder to control and contain.

What exactly do I mean by the A few facts, mixed with fear, speculation, and rumor, amplified and relayed swiftly worldwide by modern information technologies, have affected national and international economies, This information epidemic has affected national and international economies, politics, and even security. politics, and even security in ways that are utterly disproportionate with the root realities. It is a phenomenon we have seen with greater frequency in recent years -not only in our response to SARS, for example, but also in our response to terrorism and even to relatively minor occurrences such as shark sightings. Over the past two years, information global tourism industry in intensive care. But their future effects may be greater stilL Unchecked, they could usher in a period of profound new forms of economic inefficiency, opportunities for the irresponsible and for demagogues to practice new forms of social disruption or manipulation, and a set of serious problems for policymakers dealing with challenges from public health to international affairs.

Infodemics are emerging as one of the most virulent phenomena known to man, able to transit continents instantly. In virtually every respect they behave just like any other disease, with an epidemiology all their own, identifiable symptoms, well- SARS IS THE STORY of not one epidemic but two, and the second epidemic, the one that has largely escaped the headlines, has implications that are far greater than the disease itself. That is because it is not the viral epidemic but rather an "information epidemic" that has transformed SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, from a bungled Chinese regional health crisis into a David Rothkopf is chairman and CEO of Intel-libridge which provides open-source intelligence and analysis, and is a member of the Health Advisory Board of the Johns HopkinsBloomberg School of Public Health. This appeared in The Washington Post 1 Record columnist Mike Kelly is off..