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.

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NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

PHILANTHROPY


NEW ENGLANDERS STINGY ABOUT CHARITABLE GIVING


New Englanders remain among the most tight-fisted in the country when it comes to charitable giving, while Bible Belt residents are among the most generous, according to an annual index.


For the fourth year running, New Hampshire was the most miserly state, according to the Catalogue of Philanthropy’s Generosity Index. Mississippi remained at the top for generosity. New York ranked 26th in the index.


The index, which takes into account both “having” and “giving,” is based on average adjusted gross incomes and the value of itemized charitable donations reported to the Internal Revenue Service on 2003 tax returns, the latest available.


The 10 most generous states were, in descending order, Mississippi, Arkansas, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Utah, South Carolina, and West Virginia.


The 10 stingiest, starting from the bottom, were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Minnesota, Colorado, Hawaii, and Michigan.


– Associated Press


WASHINGTON


LEAVITT: VACCINE SUPPLIES FOR FLU PANDEMIC INADEQUATE


America is unprepared for the next flu pandemic, lacking the manufacturing capacity to provide 300 million doses of a vaccine for three to five more years, the health and human services secretary, Mike Leavitt, said yesterday.


“What we all learned from (Hurricane) Katrina is that sometimes we have to think very clearly about the unthinkable,” Mr. Leavitt said. “We’re not as prepared as we need to be. …We will not have enough for everyone.”


A strain of a bird flu that has killed 67 people in Asia has sparked concerns of a super-flu that could kill millions worldwide, and American officials acknowledge that the strain in its current form could reach here through a migratory bird.


While stressing that chances remain slight, health experts say it could lead to a global pandemic if the bird flu mutates to start spreading easily among people.


America, which has not seen any signs of the strain in birds or people, has enough doses now for only 4.3 million people.


– Associated Press


RUMSFELD SAYS HE WAS NOT WOODWARD’S SOURCE


Defense Secretary Rumsfeld yesterday added his name to the list of senior Bush administration officials who say they were not the source who told Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward that administration critic Joseph Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA.


Mr. Rumsfeld said he never spoke to Mr. Woodward about either Mr. Wilson or Mr. Wilson’s wife, CIA officer Valerie Plame. The Pentagon chief did say that, at the direction of President Bush, he did speak to Mr. Woodward while the reporter was working on book projects.


Mr. Woodward says that in June 2003, a highly placed administration official told him of Ms. Plame’s CIA connection. Mr. Woodward has said the source was someone other than I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff and the only person indicted in a federal investigation of the leak case.


– Associated Press


CRIME RATE AT SCHOOLS CUT IN HALF OVER 10 YEARS


One in 20 students was a victim of violence or theft at school in 2003, the government said in a report that shows school crime rates are about half what they were 10 years earlier.


Yet the school crime rate essentially has leveled off, showing no change since 2000, according to a report yesterday from the departments of Education and Justice. There were about 28 crimes of rape, sexual assault, robbery, and physical assault for every 1,000 students in 2003, compared with 59 per 1,000 a decade earlier. The study looked at crimes against the 26.4 million students who were 12 years old to 18 years old in 2003.


In 2002, the violent crime rate per 1,000 students was 24, but government researchers said there was no statistically significant change between 2002 and 2003 because the numbers are estimates from relatively small surveys.


The drop from the early 1990s is long-standing and large enough to overcome any doubts about comparing one year to the next, according to the report. Indeed, it mirrors the general trend in America, in which crime is at a 30-year low.


– Associated Press

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

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.


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