SOUTH

RADIO GIANT CRITICIZED OVER BREAST SURGERY CONTEST

TAMPA, Fla. – Radio giant Clear Channel Communications has come under fire from women’s health advocates over a Christmas contest in which stations granted breast enlargement surgeries to women in four cities.

In the “Breast Christmas Ever” contest, 13 women were awarded the procedure after writing essays to the stations explaining why they wanted larger breasts. A Tampa station claimed to have received more than 91,000 entries.

Clear Channel said it had nothing to do with the contest and that it was a decision by local station managers to hold the promotion. The contest was aired on Clear Channel stations in Tampa, Jacksonville, St. Louis, and Detroit.

The contest has drawn the ire of both the National Research Center for Women and Families and the National Organization for Women. NOW has urged its supporters to file complaints with the Federal Communications Commission against Clear Channel and its stations. While neither women’s group is alleging the breast surgery contest violated decency standards, they are complaining the contest promotes potentially dangerous surgery and leaves its winners with no legal remedies should the surgery go awry. Under the rules, winners must be at least 18 and sign a waiver protecting the company from all liability claims.

David Fiske, a spokesman for the FCC, said the agency does not regulate the content of radio station contests unless it violates decency standards. The FCC only requires radio stations to conduct contests exactly by the stated rules and to fully disclose the terms of the contest.

– Associated Press

WASHINGTON

AMERICA NOW FINGERPRINTING FOREIGN VISITORS AT 50 LAND CROSSINGS

Foreign visitors at the 50 busiest land border crossings in 10 states are now being fingerprinted as part of the government’s new biometric screening system, the Homeland Security Department announced yesterday.

The system, called US-VISIT, scans photographs of the visitor’s face and index fingers into a computer and matches them with federal agencies’ criminal databases.

Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson told reporters that American officials have arrested or denied admission to 372 criminals or immigration violators since the system began last year at 15 seaports and 115 airports. About 17 million people have been enrolled.

Though no known terrorists have been caught by US-VISIT, Mr. Hutchinson said it is possible that it kept out someone traveling on a forged passport who meant to do harm. Mr. Hutchinson acknowledged that much still remains to be done. The system, for example, does not check against all federal databases. And the FBI only shares an updated biometric database of terrorists with Homeland Security about once a month, he said. Another challenge is to set up an exit system so that officials can keep track of foreigners leaving the country. Homeland Security is testing different technologies for an exit system at five ports of entry and will expand the tests to others this year.

The US-VISIT system is in place in Arizona, California, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Vermont, and Washington.

– Associated Press

SOUTHWEST

BOOT CAMP DIRECTOR CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER

PHOENIX – The director of a boot camp for troubled youths was convicted of manslaughter yesterday in the death of a 14-year-old camper who collapsed in triple-digit desert heat.

Charles Long, 59, was charged with second-degree murder in the July 2001 death of Anthony Haynes, but the jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of reckless manslaughter.

Haynes died of complications from dehydration after collapsing near Buckeye. Prosecutors said the regimen at the camp included wearing black uniforms in the extreme heat, enduring harsh discipline, and sleeping on cement slabs.

Long, a former Marine, was accused of telling counselors to bring Haynes back to the America’s Buffalo Soldiers Re-enactors Association boot camp rather than take him to a hospital. The boy nearly drowned when two counselors put him in a bathtub with the shower running to cool down.

Long was also convicted of aggravated assault. He is scheduled to be sentenced February 24 and faces a five- to 15-year sentence on the aggravated assault charge. He faces another four to 10 years on the manslaughter conviction.

The camp was shut down after the teen’s death.

– Associated Press