National Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

EAST
ECOTERRORISTS SUSPECTED IN ARSONS
INDIAN HEAD, Md. – A dozen expensive homes under construction were burned down early yesterday in a suburban Washington housing development in Maryland that had been criticized by environmentalists because it is next to a nature preserve, officials said.
An FBI agent said the fires may have been set by environmental extremists.
Beside the dozen homes destroyed, 29 others were damaged near the state’s Mattawoman Natural Environment Area. No injuries were reported. Damage was estimated at a minimum of $10 million.
Faron Taylor, a deputy state fire marshal, said investigators believe fires were set in at least four of the homes, which were priced at $400,000 to $500,000. Mr. Taylor refused to say what led investigators to conclude it was arson.
An FBI spokesman, Barry Maddox, said agents were on the scene and would investigate whether the fires were ecoterrorism.
“Anything and everything will be considered, but we’re not labeling this anything other than suspicious fires,” Mr. Maddox said.
Environmental groups and some local residents sued the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers last year, claiming that the granting of permits for site construction were violations of the Clean Water Act.
– Associated Press
WASHINGTON
SENATOR CLINTON JOINS COMMITTEE ON AGING
Senator Clinton will join the Special Committee on Aging as part of new committee assignments announced yesterday. Mrs. Clinton, a New York Democrat, said the committee’s work is becoming more important as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age. New York has more than 3.2 million residents age 60 and older. The Aging Committee has oversight of issues such as prescription drug costs, long-term care, Social Security solvency, and Medicare. It’s led by Senator Craig, a Republican of Idaho. Some expect a major battle in the next Congress over Republican efforts to create personal accounts for Social Security
Mrs. Clinton will continue to serve on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; the Environment and Public Works Committee; and the Armed Services Committee.
– Associated Press
NATIONWIDE
BATTLESHIP HONORED 63 YEARS AFTER PEARL HARBOR
Sixty-three years after the sneak attack that plunged America into World War II, hundreds of men who died aboard the battleship USS Oklahoma are finally getting their own special tribute.
A new exhibit of photos, artifacts, and oral histories was unveiled yesterday to honor the 429 men from the Oklahoma who died in the December 7, 1941 attack. That is the second-highest number of Pearl Harbor casualties behind the USS Arizona, where most of its 1,177 killed crewmen remain entombed after the ship sank in the Japanese attack.
The anniversary also will be marked with simultaneous ceremonies today aboard the Arizona Memorial above that sunken battleship, and on shore at the National Park Service’s visitors center. Each ceremony was to feature a silent pause at 7:55 a.m. – the minute the attack started.
While the better-known Arizona has a gleaming white memorial straddling its hull, the Oklahoma has gone largely unrecognized over the years.
Yesterday, Paul Goodyear, head of the USS Oklahoma Survivors Association, joined four other survivors and about two dozen friends and family for the exhibit’s unveiling at the USS Arizona Memorial museum and visitors center.
– Associated Press
AMERICAN STUDENTS LAG BEHIND INTERNATIONAL PEERS IN MATH
Fifteen year-olds in America don’t have the math skills to match up to peers in many other industrialized nations, test scores released yesterday show.
The latest international comparison also underscores an achievement gap in America: White U.S. students scored above average, while blacks and Hispanics scored below it.
Overall, American students scored below the international average in total math literacy and in every specific area tested, from geometry and algebra to statistics and computation. Known as the Program for International Student Assessment, the test measures math, reading, and science literacy among 15-year-olds every three years. This time, the main focus was math. The test is not a measure of grade-level curriculum, but rather a cumulative gauge of skills learned inside and outside school – and how well students apply them to real-life problems. It also aims to give America an external reality check about how it is doing. Among 29 industrialized countries, America scored below 20 nations and above five in math. The American performance was about the same as Poland, Hungary, and Spain.
When compared with all 39 nations that produced scores, America was below 23 countries, above 11, and about the same as four others, with Latvia joining the middle group.
“If we want to be competitive, we have some mountains to climb,” Deputy Education Secretary Eugene Hickok said at a news conference yesterday. “The good news is, we know that. This report goes into great detail to give us the facts. The challenge is, what are we going to do about it?”
– Associated Press
MIDWEST
25 HURT IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO HIGH-RISE FIRE
CHICAGO – Fire broke out high in a downtown office building last night, belching smoke and flames from windows as firefighters helped workers to safety through darkened stairways. Twenty-five people were injured, including a dozen firefighters.
Eight injured firefighters and five others were hospitalized in serious condition, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. The rest of the injured were treated for smoke inhalation or minor injuries, Mr. Langford said. He added that he had no reports of anyone trapped in the 43-story LaSalle Bank building in Chicago’s Loop, but searches of the stairwells and floors were still underway. Firefighters shot water into the windows of the burning structure, and metal window frames were twisted from the heat of the flames.
A spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office said it had not been notified of any deaths.
The fire on the 29th floor was reported about 6:30 p.m., said police officer JoAnn Taylor. People who escaped said firefighters escorted them downstairs through the thick smoke.
– Associated Press