World
Iraq bans U.N. weapons inspection
 BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declared yesterday his country had ''to choose between sacrifice or slavery,'' suggesting a confrontation with the United States might be inevitable.
His strident comments came as Iraq barred U.N. weapon inspection teams, which included Americans, for a seventh day and sent its deputy prime minister to argue its case before the U.N. Security Council.
More ominously, the statement came as Iraq has threatened to shoot down an American U-2 spy plane scheduled to resume flights over the country today.
Saddam said Iraq has ''been put in a position where it has to choose either to live honorably and with dignity or to face all the possibilities.''
Films of the U.N. inspection teams' activities in Iraq showed ''how much material and psychological harm the people of Iraq have endured,'' according to the statement on Iraqi television, carried also by the British Broadcasting Corp.
Despite the United States' refusal to negotiate, Iraq has demanded reduced American presence in the country, both on the weapons inspection teams and in aerial surveillance operations.
In Washington, President Bill Clinton reiterated that the United States will not allow any moves that imperil the American surveillance flights, and has stressed that any attack quickly will be met with a counter-attack.
National
Clinton working toward Cuban ties
WASHINGTON - President Bill Clinton said yesterday he wants to develop ''an ongoing relationship'' with Fidel Castro's Cuba much like the one he has with China, but only after America's communist neighbor moves toward democracy.
In an interview on NBC-TV's ''Meet the Press,'' Clinton said he had been working toward ''a gradually evolving relationship'' with Havana until Cuban fighters shot down two small planes piloted by Cuban-Americans in February 1996. Until then, Clinton had resisted tougher anti-Cuba legislation in Congress, but he signed the so-called Helms-Burton Act after the attack.
''So, we are at an impasse now,'' Clinton said. ''I still want that kind of relationship with Cuba, but we have to have some kind of indication that there will be an opening up, a movement toward democracy, ... and I don't have that indication today.''
Clinton stopped short of saying he wants diplomatic relations with Cuba, as his reference to China ties would imply, and White House officials said it was not his intent to indicate he wants such ties. ''No,'' said national security spokeswoman Ann Luzatto, ''not under the current circumstances.''
The Cuban president himself nixed prospects for change in the near future. ''In Cuba there was, there is and there will be a revolution based on principles that are not for sale,'' Castro told 21 heads of state Saturday at the annual Ibero-American summit in Porlamar, Venezuela.
Local
Classes canceled for Veterans Day
Classes will not be held and all university offices will be closed Tuesday in celebration of Veterans Day, according to the Fall Quarter Schedule bulletin.
Alden Library, the Ping Center and campus dining halls will be open regular hours. The Computer Services Center will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Ironton travel program highlighted
The Institute of Certified Travel Agents selected OU's Southern Campus in Ironton as one of the first 10 certified sites for its competency test.
Entry-level travel agents can take the Travel Agency Proficiency tests Jan. 12 and June 19, 1998 at the Ironton campus.
The American Society of Travel Agents and ICTA developed the TAP test and expects to have more than 100 sites nationwide.
OU's Southern Campus has offered a travel and tourism curriculum since 1995.
Four new officers join OUPD staff
The OU Police Department recently hired three police officers and one communications officer to replace officers who took positions at other law enforcement agencies.
After completing the department's Field Officer Training Program, which familiarizes the officers to OUPD's campus law enforcement procedures, techniques and philosophies, police officers Jamie Spergin, John Stabler, Michael Swearingen and communications officer Janet Parks were added to OUPD's staff of 27.
GSS endorses AFSCME/VCATS
Graduate Student Senate passed a resolution last night voicing its support for unionization efforts by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and Voice for Clerical and Technical Staff.
VCATS represents the approximately 700 clerical and technical employees at OU. Members want to take a more active role in the decision-making process that affects them and university jobs.
AFSCME and VCATS joined in an effort to negotiate with OU administration about forming a union to empower the clerical and technical staff and help them gain leverage and bargaining capabilities, said Jackie Bennett-Hanning, a secretary in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, who spoke on behalf of VCATS.
She asked for the senate's support to help make the clerical and technical staff more visible on campus and to prevent further erosion of their health benefits.
Michael Hunter, GSS president, encouraged the senate to support the clerical and technical staff.
"They are an invaluable resource to us as graduate students . . . I think the interest would be there because without them our lives would be more complicated," he said.
Patrol
A Station Street resident contacted the Athens Police Department early Saturday morning when he found an unknown man asleep on his couch, according to an APD report. The unknown man, who was intoxicated, was charged with trespassing, according to the report.
An Athens woman reported her car stolen from a parking place on South Court Street, according to an APD report. The keys were not in the vehicle and it had been locked. The car was later located on North Congress Street with no signs of forced entry, according to the report.
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