News stories from Friday October 5, 1979
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Pope John Paul II staunchly upheld Roman Catholic teachings on sexuality, including his church's ban on artificial birth control, in an address to 250 American bishops in a closed meeting in Chicago's Quigley South Seminary. In the longest address on his American visit, John Paul II emphasized fidelity to Catholic doctrine on divorce, homosexuality, pre-marital and extra-martial sexual relations and artificial birth control. [New York Times]
- The Pope greeted Polish-Americans in Chicago, which has the nation's largest Polish-rooted community, and celebrated a simple mass in his native language. He also spoke to a gathering in a poor Hispanic neighborhood, and to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Hundreds of thousands attended an afternoon mass in Grant Park, at which the Pontiff was the sole celebrant on a tiered altar above the lakefront gathering. [New York Times]
- A substantial increase in employment last month was accompanied by a decline in the unemployment rate to 5.8 percent of the total work force from 6 percent in August, causing some economists and legislators to question whether the nation is in a recession. The unemployment rate has been running from 5.8 percent to 6 percent for more than a year, and it was generally expected that September's rate would be higher than it was, in view of the recession prediction. [New York Times]
- A new president was elected at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is Paul Gray, an expert on electronic circuits and semiconductors. He warned in an interview that the United States was rapidly losing its lead as a technological pioneer. Dr. Gray, M.I.T.'s chancellor since 1971, succeeds Dr. Jerome Wiesner, who will retire next July 1. [New York Times]
- Amtrak was ordered to operate three money-losing trains until Oct. 26 by the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver. In a 2 to 1 vote, the panel of judges granted a motion to stay a decision by a federal district judge to allow Amtrak to discontinue the trains. [New York Times]
- The Hambletonian Trot will move to the Meadowlands In New Jersey in 1981. That was decided by the Hambletonian Society, owner of the 54-year-old harness race. It voted on bids from the Meadowlands, New York state and Du Quoin, Ill., where the race has been held for the last 22 years. [New York Times]
- A housing discrimination suit in Connecticut may be joined by the Justice Department. The department announced that it will seek to join the private suit, which charges the town of Manchester, a suburb of Hartford, with discrimination. At issue is whether Manchester, whose population is nearly all white, will be allowed to withdraw from a federal program it voluntarily joined four years ago or be forced to remain in the program and continue with plans to build low-income housing. [New York Times]
- President Carter said he could "whip" Senator Edward Kennedy in a New York primary. In an attempt to head off a New York swing to Mr. Kennedy's as-yet-undeclared campaign, Mr. Carter invited New York Democratic leaders to a luncheon at the White House, where he won the support of the Democratic leader of the Bronx. "Mr. President, I commit myself to you," said Stanley Friedman, the first of the city's party leaders to do so. [New York Times]
- America's ambassador to South Korea was called home in retaliation for Seoul's renewed harassment of its political opposition. According to administration officials, the decision to summon Ambassador William Gleysteen to Washington for consultations was taken because "there has been a definite retrogression in the state of human rights in South Korea" since President Carter's visit to Seoul in July. [New York Times]
- Refugees continue to escape from East Germany despite the obstacles along the West German border. This week East Germany, which has the highest living standard in the Soviet bloc, is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its founding. The continuing willingness of East Germans to risk their lives to break out is perhaps the most striking fact of its existence. [New York Times]
- The arms pact "enhances the ability" of the United States to monitor the development and deployment of Soviet strategic nuclear weapons, the Senate Intelligence Committee said. The committee unanimously agreed that the numbers of Soviet strategic weapons could be counted by the United States with "high or high-moderate" degrees of confidence. [New York Times]
- Zimbabwe Rhodesia decided to accept British proposals for a new independence constitution, Prime Minister Abel Muzorewa said. Bishop Muzorewa's acceptance of the draft was conditional on "satisfactory arrangements for bringing it into effect," and on Britain's agreement to lift the economic sanctions it imposed after Rhodesia's independence in 1965. [New York Times]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 897.61 (+7.51, +0.84%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| October 4, 1979 | 890.10 | 110.17 | 38.80 |
| October 3, 1979 | 885.15 | 109.59 | 36.47 |
| October 2, 1979 | 885.32 | 109.59 | 38.32 |
| October 1, 1979 | 872.95 | 108.56 | 24.98 |
| September 28, 1979 | 878.58 | 109.32 | 35.96 |
| September 27, 1979 | 887.46 | 110.21 | 33.12 |
| September 26, 1979 | 886.35 | 109.96 | 37.70 |
| September 25, 1979 | 886.18 | 109.68 | 32.41 |
| September 24, 1979 | 885.84 | 109.61 | 33.79 |
| September 21, 1979 | 893.94 | 110.47 | 52.38 |