Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 1

Look inside to see if you're among today's lucky prize winners. One of America's Great Newspapers 50 CENTS SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2001 VOL. 74, NO. 257 41401 FINAL Dtt A fir fi irftofetirp iwoys say spy crew destroyed most secrets I the gear, the crew has a checklist. They went through that checklist and did an excellent job of doing everything that was, I believe, possible in the period of time they had." He did not qualify what he meant by "excellent job" but added, upon further questioning, "The crew is being debriefed, and what we know at this present time is that they succeeded in doing a major portion of their checklist." SEE CHINA, PAGE A-3 "The crew completed all of its checklist," one of the diplomats in Beijing said yesterday when asked what share of the plane's sensitive items had been destroyed an indication that the losses of U.S.

intelligence data and technology may not have been as great as initially feared. When asked how much had been destroyed by the crew, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in his first public comments about the incident, yesterday said at a Washington briefing: "With respect to By Erik Eckholm The New York Times BEIJING As Chinese troops surrounded the crippled U.S. spy plane, waving their guns and shouting, the crew spent 15 furious minutes after its emergency landing April 1 destroying secret materials before opening the hatch and surrendering, senior U.S. officials and diplomats said yesterday. It is not clear precisely how much material was destroyed.

Department of DefenseAssociated Press The Department of Defense yesterday released video footage showing a Chinese pilot from the vantage point of a U.S. surveillance plane during an intercept that occurred Jan. 24. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used the video to support the U.S. charge that a Chinese fighter jet "maneuvering aggressively" had caused the April 1 collision in the skies above the South China Sea.

'IT STILL FEELS LIKE A NIGHTMARE' Diocese skeptical on image of Mary fc 'i 'l' I WEATHER Mostly cloudy with a chance of a shower. High 64, low 40. Page A-2 OPPORTUNITY LOST The Pirates squander a chance for a big sixth inning in losing to the Cubs, 4-2. Sports, Page C-l POPE OMITS WALK Pope John Paul II for the first time forgoes walking the half-mile route in Rome's Good Friday procession. International, Page A-4 FREE-SPEECH CASE Pitt decides that student Matt Schiros can operate a Web site described as racist and continue research related to it as long as there's no outside financial support.

Local News, Page D-l OLD TOOLS, NEW DIGS Garden writer Doug Oster's acquisition of his parents' old garden tools gives him a chance to sharpen and polish some new care and cleaning skills. Homes, Page B-l ALASKA CASHING IN The hills are alive with the jingle of cash in Alaska, where the economy is riding high on the wings of strong oil prices. Business, Page A-7 NEXT! Brighton's Amber Brkich, fresh from being gonged out of the Outback, makes the rounds of the morning TV shows and looks forward to the opportunities in life after "Survivor." People, Page B-16 BANKER'S INTEREST Dick Jenrette, an investment banker who ioves old houses and antiques, will share his "magnificent obsession" in a slide show and talk at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Homes, Page B-l TAXING TIME President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are done with their taxes. How about you? National, Page A-10 Bv John Murphy By Ann Rodgers-Melnick and Joel Rosenblatt Post-Gazette Staff Writers The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has a skeptical but hands-" off attitude toward reports that an image of the Virgin Mary appears at night on a closet door in Brookline.

The belief that such images have religious significance is usually considered a matter of private devotion, something that the Catholic Church normally does not investigate. The bishop doesn't investigate "unless the media brings so much attention to it that we're forced to," said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the diocese. Last night, people continued to pour into Brookline to get a glimpse of the image. A line of people that police estimated at 1,500 snaked more than two blocks along Pioneer Avenue waiting to get inside Frank Semplice's home.

Semplice, 51, said he planned to allow people inside until 1:30 or 2 this morning, if police allowed him, in order to accommodate the throng. SEE DIOCESE, PAGE A-5 Looking for a miracle on a closet door in Brookline. Dennis Roddy column, Page D-1. Lake FongPost-Gazette Mourners, including former fire chief Bill Voegler, center, of the Unionville Fire Department, comfort each other as the caskets of firefighters Tony Murdick and Scott Wilson are placed onto firetrucks outside Thompson-Miller Funeral Home in Unionville. Murdick and Wilson drowned while trying to recover the body of kayaker Neil Balcer from Slippery Rock Creek on Sunday.

Firefighters gather by thousands to honor two young heroes Civil rights panel scores Indians as mascots their fallen friends to separate firetrucks. The pallbearers were uniformly dressed in formal caps, white shirts, black ties and navy slacks. Onlooking firefighters, who came from as far as Texas, dispersed to their vehicles, nearly all of which were draped in black. A three- to five-mile procession of 500 firetrucks, paramedic vans and police cars moved through downtown Butler and onto Route 8 on their way to the fire station where the two men served, then the cemeteries. Hundreds watched the procession.

Flags were flown at half-staff. SEE HEROES, PAGE A-5 Wilson and Murdick died in McConnell's Mill State Park in Lawrence County. They drowned while attempting to recover the body of a 23-year-old kayaker, Neil Balcer, from the swift-flowing waters of Slippery Rock Creek. Their deaths were the first in the line of duty in the 64-year history of Unionville Fire Co. The men, both 25, were remembered as dedicated fathers and firefighters.

"This is a dangerous job they do," said Unionville Fire Chief Mark Lauer, who knew both since they were junior firefighters. "They put their heart and soul in the department." After the service, amid the sounds of the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Pipes and Drums Band, Unionville firefighters carried By Antonio Gilb Post-Gazette Staff Writer Thousands of firefighters from all over the state and country descended on Butler yesterday to honor their fallen Unionville comrades, Scott Wilson and Anthony Murdick, who died while trying to recover the body of a kayaker Sunday. Through loudspeakers outside, a solemn crowd of onlookers and firefighters listened to a memorial service held inside Thompson-Miller Fineral Home. "It still seems like a nightmare," Murdick's fiancee, Beth McCurdy, said during the 45-minute memorial service. "I guess I'm still in shock." INDEX Local News Lottery D-2 Movies B-8 Obituaries D-4 People B-16 Dennis RoddvD-1 Scoreboard C-10 Sports C-1 Television 2 Weather A-2 Ann B-10 Bridge B-11 Business A-7 Churches D-3 Classified B13.D7 Comics B-10 Crosswords B-13 Deeds B-4 Editorials A-8 Homes B-1 Horoscope Did McCandless woman get fair shake for role in discovery of streptomycin? At post-gazette; i if By Greg 'oppo The Associated Pres WASHINGTON Saying the.

use of Indian names and mascots may violate anti-discrimination laws, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights called for an end to their use by non-Indian schools, colleges and universities. The group's recommendation yesterday does not carry the weight of law, but Indian groups working to get schools to shed the names saw it as an endorsement of their effort. "I think it's going to make a big difference," said Cyd Crue, president of the Illinois chapter of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media. "I realize it's not the end of stereotypes in sports, but I think it was really important that a federal commission get involved and make a statement to move our country toward more equality and social justice." SEE MASCOTS, PAGE A-6 i Elizabeth Gregory, whose maiden name Elizabeth Bugie should have appeared on the 1944 patent for streptomycin, an antibiotic that has saved millions from tuberculosis.

Search Post-Gazette newspaper libraries as far back as 1990. Check for a link to details on our archive service. Visit www.post-gazette.com OI1P1PH By Christopher Snowbeck Post-Gazette Staff Writer The death of a McCandless woman has brought a new twist to an old controversy about who should share the credit for discovering streptomycin, an antibiotic that has saved millions of people worldwide from dying of tuberculosis. Two male researchers and a graduate student named Elizabeth Bugie published the landmark article in 1944 announcing the discovery of strep- tomycin in a laboratory at Rutgers University. But when Selman A.

Waksman, the director of the lab, and his graduate student, Albert Schatz, submitted an application that year to patent the discovery, Bugie's name wasn't included. Bugiers daughter, Patricia Camp of Hampton, recalled yesterday the explanation her mother regularly gave for the omission: "She said, 'They approached me privately and said, some day SEE DISCOVERY, PAGE A-5 1990s photo.