www.sun-sentinel.com By Joe Kollin Staff Writer Posted March 14 2003

PEMBROKE PINES · The owners of a 5,500-student private university in Venezuela have leased space for a campus off University Drive that will offer classes in education, computers and business graphics.

The new university, however, won't be affiliated with the Venezuelan operation, Universidad Jose Maria Vargas, and will seek all students rather than targeting those from the South American country. It will use the same name.

The owners of the new college are awaiting approval from three state agencies before opening in the 24,530 square feet of space leased from the city of Pembroke Pines. The space is in the Senator Howard C. Forman Human Services Campus -- the old South Florida State Hospital.

Alicia Parra de Ortiz, the university's vice president for administration, declined to discuss the plans for the new college until the state approves her application.

But Bill Edmonds, spokesman for the state Education Department, said his information shows the college will be independent rather than a branch of the Venezuelan operation and that it won't appeal strictly to Venezuelans.

According to the 2000 census, 8,807 Venezuelans live in Broward County, and 21,593 live in Miami-Dade.

The college, in its application to the state, said it plans to apply to the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools in Atlanta for accreditation, but it must graduate its first class first.

The state permit will have no limit on the number of students it enrolls.

The state Commission for Independent Education on March 21 will consider the owners' application for a license. The commission licenses independent schools, colleges and universities.

The Universidad Jose Maria Vargas was started in 1983 and has two campuses in Caracas. It offers graduate and undergraduate degrees in law, political science, architecture, business, education and engineering, according to its spokeswoman, Mercedes Montilla in Caracas.

Sandra M. Hernandez contributed to this report. Joe Kollin can be reached at jkollin@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7913.

www.nj.com Friday, March 14, 2003 BY KITTA MacPHERSON Star-Ledger Staff

Scientists have decoded a grave lesson from the past that they say could shed light on whether global climate change really matters.

A long period of dry climate, punctuated by three intense droughts, probably played a major role in the collapse of Mayan civilization, researchers report today in the journal Science.

Studying ancient cores of mud drilled from the Cariaco Basin off the coast of Venezuela, researchers have found that the prolonged dry spell, with 10-year droughts in the years 810, 860 and 910, doomed a culture renowned for its wealth, might, art and inventiveness.

"Here they were, this prospering civilization with a relatively large population that was very active in agricultural pursuits, and they apparently suffered due to natural climate change," said Daniel Sigman, an assistant professor of geosciences at Princeton University and one of the authors of the study. "I'm not totally confident that we would do better than the Maya."

The Mayan civilization was at its peak from about 250 to 900. During that time, known as the Classic Period, it was centered in the tropical rain forest of the lowlands of what is now northern Guatemala. Many of the major Mayan cities, such as Piedras Negras, Tikal and Uaxactun, developed in this area.

Living in both desert and cleared jungle and depending on an inconsistent rainfall cycle, the Maya developed a variety of reservoirs, canals and other systems for catching and storing rainwater.

Until now, climate records from this time period have not been precise enough to test the relationship between the Maya's mysterious decline during the ninth and tenth centuries, Sigman said.

The scientific team, with members drawn from Switzerland, Florida, Massachusetts and New Jersey, was searching for clues about ancient climate in sea sediments, a field known as paleoceanography. To do this, the researchers scooped long cylinders of mud from the deep, undisturbed Cariaca Basin.

They identified annual variations in titanium levels, which reflect the amount of rainfall each year. The pristine sediment layers in the basin form distinct bands, corresponding to yearly dry and wet seasons.

The three drought periods identified through the samples correspond to the three phases of Mayan collapse suggested by archeological evidence. The three droughts may have been what "pushed Mayan society over the edge," the authors wrote.

By about 900, most of the Maya abandoned the Guatemalan lowlands and moved to areas to the north and south, including Yucatan and the highlands of southern Guatemala. In those areas, they continued to survive until Spain conquered almost all of the Maya in the mid-1500s.

Today, descendants of the Maya live in Mexico and Central America. They speak Mayan languages and carry on some religious customs of their ancestors.

The results also suggest that a more subtle but long-term drying trend was occurring during the collapse.

"This fits, it makes sense," said Gillett Griffin, the faculty curator of ancient American art at the Princeton University Art Museum. "It corroborates what I thought must have happened."

The Mayan civilization reached its period of greatest development in the year 250. They produced remarkable architecture, painting, pottery and sculpture. They made great advances in astronomy and mathematics and developed an accurate yearly calendar. They were one of the first peoples in the Western Hemisphere to develop an advanced form of writing.

www.thestar.com Mar. 14, 2003. 01:00 AM RICHARD VALDMANIS REUTERS NEWS AGENCY

NEW YORK—World oil prices plunged yesterday as wrangling at the United Nations further delayed a vote on a new resolution that could pave the way to war with Iraq.

U.S. light, sweet crude dropped $1.82 (U.S.), or 4.8 per cent, to $36.01 a barrel in New York. London's benchmark Brent crude oil slid $1.44 to $32.47.

Oil prices are still up roughly 12 per cent this year, underpinned by concerns that a war in Iraq, which ships around 4 per cent of world oil exports, could upset supplies from other producers in the Middle East.

A report that Japan, Asia's largest oil consumer, may sell 300,000 barrels per day from its emergency petroleum reserves if U.S.-led forces invade Iraq added to the day's slide, oil dealers said.

Prices slumped after the White House said diplomatic efforts to secure a consensus at the United Nations on a new resolution on Iraq could spill over into next week.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told a congressional committee there may be no vote at all on the resolution, widely seen as a war trigger. Some see that as a sign Washington fears it may not get enough support at the international body to lead a war against Iraq.

A German government source said in an interview that a compromise on an Iraq proposal was unlikely, even if a vote in the U.N. security council is put off until next week. France has threatened to veto any resolution that would call for military force, and China, Russia and Germany have all expressed opposition.

Further relief from soaring oil prices came from an end to freezing U.S. temperatures that have supported heating oil prices at near-record levels in recent weeks.

Prices had jumped on Wednesday as a fall in U.S. stocks combined with worries that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would not be able to compensate for lost Iraqi exports in event of war.

The latest U.S. data showed crude inventories at a 27-year low. Sharp drops also hit gasoline inventories, which ought to be growing to accommodate the summer driving season. Analysts say core oil stocks are now 89 million barrels below normal.

"Given the reported ramping of OPEC production and the continued recovery of Venezuelan production, the shortfall is shocking," SG Securities said in a research note.

The OPEC cartel has stepped up output this year to cover the lack of crude from Venezuela, where an anti-government strike brought production to little more than a trickle in December and January.

Venezuela, normally the fifth-biggest exporter, providing about 13 per cent of U.S. oil imports, has since increased shipments of crude and oil products, although rebel oil workers say production is still less than half of normal amounts.

Analysts say timing is now key for a war in Iraq because oil demand is generally 2 million barrels a day lower in the second quarter of the year as spring advances, and the loss of Iraqi crude would not be as acutely felt.

The International Energy Agency, a Paris-based energy watchdog for industrialized countries, has said OPEC probably doesn't have enough production capacity to compensate immediately for the loss of Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil.

OPEC, however, has pledged to guarantee supplies if war breaks out.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi reiterated yesterday that OPEC can deliver more oil in case of war in Iraq.

The Nihon Kezai daily newspaper reported yesterday that Japan will consider releasing oil from emergency reserves with the United States.

www.business-standard.com

Even as the Bush administration masses troops in the Persian Gulf in preparation for a war to topple Saddam Hussein, US refineries are the biggest buyers of Iraqi oil, according to a report on the website of Bloomberg.

Shipments of Iraqi crude to the US more than tripled from September to January, according to data released by the Commerce Department, the report said. Iraq supplied 17.1 million barrels in January - 6.4% of total US oil imports, the report added.

The jump in imports came as an illegal surcharge that benefited the Iraqi government was dropped and refiners sought alternatives for crude from Venezuela where a strike crippled oil production, the report said.

www.delawareonline.com By EDWARD DE LA FUENTE Staff reporter 03/14/2003

Amid a swirl of controversy and an investigation by Major League Baseball, Phillies closer Jose Mesa retreated from his threats against former Cleveland Indians teammate Omar Vizquel on Thursday.

Mesa issued a statement apologizing for his remarks in a newspaper report published Tuesday in which he vowed to hit Vizquel every time he faced the All-Star shortstop and said that "if he charges me, I'll kill him."

Mesa and Vizquel, once close friends, have been feuding for several years. Mesa was most angry at Vizquel's autobiography, released last year, in which he criticizes Mesa for his blown save in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series.

"I am sorry that my comments have caused a disruption," Mesa said in the statement. "I was hurt by remarks by a former teammate. I would never injure anyone.

"My goal is to bring a championship to Philadelphia. I would hope that this would not continue to be a distraction to the Philadelphia Phillies organization, my teammates or our great fans."

The Phillies have not taken any disciplinary action against Mesa, who wasn't given the opportunity to face Vizquel when the Phillies and Indians met Tuesday at Jack Russell Stadium. However, Bob Watson, who handles disciplinary issues for Major League Baseball, has said he is looking into the issue, and Mesa could face a suspension or fine.

Vizquel, a native of Venezuela, said Tuesday he thought Mesa, a Dominican, might not have realized the severity of the word kill.

"I don't know if he knows what he means in English," Vizquel said. "In Spanish, we say it a lot in the translation."

Phillies fodder

Infielders J.P. Roberge and Buzz Hannahan were on loan from the minor-league camp and were on the travel squad Thursday. ... The Phillies host Pittsburgh at 1:05 p.m. today, with right-hander Vicente Padilla facing Pirates righty Josh Fogg.0