Bush’s approval ratings rebound
President Bush, buoyed by falling gas prices and a two-week drive to highlight his administration’s record in fighting terrorism, scored a 44 percent job approval rating – his highest in a year – in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.
The poll also showed likely voters evenly divided between Democratic and Republican candidates for Congress, 48 percent-48 percent. Among registered voters, Democrats had a 51 percent-42 percent advantage.
The results come seven weeks before closely contested elections for control of Congress, as Republicans struggle to overcome problems ranging from Bush’s low approval ratings to the war in Iraq to the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina. “It’s a challenging environment,” said GOP spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.
Princeton, N.J.
Princeton ends early admissions
Princeton University on Monday became the second elite university to drop its early admissions program, following Harvard in a move the Ivy League schools say will benefit disadvantaged students and reduce anxiety.
“We agree that early admission ‘advantages the advantaged,’ ” Princeton President Shirley Tilghman said, echoing Harvard’s comments last week.
Harvard’s announcement last week that it would evaluate all applicants in a single pool prompted speculation about whether other universities would follow suit – a change that could transform the admissions process for high-achieving students.
OKLAHOMA CITY
Hospital patients exposed to TB
Hundreds of patients and hospital workers may have been exposed to tuberculosis by a health care worker sick with the airborne disease, and at least 10 people have caught it, public health officials said Monday.
A letter sent to about 1,650 patients and 350 workers at Integris Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City warned of their potential exposure. About 250 members of the public have also been alerted.
WICHITA, Kan.
BTK killer to forgo appeal
BTK killer Dennis Rader on Monday abandoned the appeal of his convictions in the deaths of 10 people.
In a brief court filing, his attorney, Carl Maughan, asked the court to dismiss the appeal.
Court papers did not say why the appeal was dropped. Rader, who called himself BTK for his preferred method to “bind, torture and kill” his victims, pleaded guilty last year to killing 10 people from 1974 to 1991. His chilling courtroom confession ended a mystery that haunted Wichita for decades.
He was sentenced in August 2005 to 10 consecutive life prison terms. Kansas had no death penalty at the time of the murders.
DAYTON, Ohio
Air Force tests coal jet fuel
The Air Force is scheduled today to test a new jet fuel blend made partly from coal.
A B-52 bomber at Edwards Air Force Base in California is expected to take off with two of its eight jet engines burning a 50-50 blend of synthetic and oil-based fuel.
Research on the fuel project has been conducted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. The goal is to develop, test and pave the way to commercialize the fuel.
Compiled from news wires