Here's what newspapers around the nation are saying:
Los Angeles Times
SCHOOL UNIFORMS: In an indication of growing enthusiasm for school uniform codes . . . President Clinton has directed the Department of Education to distribute manuals touting benefits of the policy across the country. The announcement has drawn fire from critics who accuse the administration of intrusive policies, but the last word will come from the nation's 16,000 school districts - not from Washington. Long Beach (Calif.) School District became the first (public) system in the country to require uniforms for elementary and middle schools (two years ago). Initial reviews were not all favorable. But communities took notice the following year when the district released statistics showing sharp decreases in campus crime, including fighting, vandalism and weapons and sex offenses. True, uniforms are not a panacea . . . but evidence suggests . . . if they are applied fairly, (they) instill a sense of unity, pride and discipline in students while reducing altercations, jealousies and peer pressure.
Chicago Tribune
TRADE SANCTIONS: After more than 30 years, it should be clear trade sanctions against Cuba will not force Fidel Castro to surrender. What a shame, then, . . . the United States has surrendered its foreign policy to a tiny population of hard-line anti-Castro Cubans. By agreeing . . . to impose new economic penalties against Cuba, President Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress have proven that, given a choice between sound foreign policy and pandering to the rabid anti-Castro crowd in a critical electoral state, they'll pander. In no way do we defend . . . the outrageous disregard for human life represented by Cuba's downing . . . of two small civilian aircraft. But Brothers to the Rescue, an exile group, went looking for trouble by violating Cuba's sovereign airspace. . . . The Cuban exiles invited this "crisis," if they didn't actually manufacture it, and suckered both a Democratic president and a Republican Congress into making policy to suit their purposes.
The Boston Globe
BAD RECORD: It's hard to say which has a worse long-term record - the succession of can't-govern-straight regimes that have made Washington, D.C., a miserable municipality . . . or the meddlers in Congress who as often as not make matters worse. Either way, the district is a national embarrassment, a city the size of Boston that can't protect its own citizens from blizzards or burglars. Trash collection is spotty . . . (and) a federal judge put the city's child-welfare system into receivership. Now Congress is in turmoil over the city's schools. New interest is developing in a radical proposal that would render the who-is-worse competition between the district government and the Congress moot: Keep a limited area - including the Mall and the major public buildings - as the district and give the rest back to Maryland.
The Dallas Morning News
TWO FACTIONS: Gaming pro-ponents point to gambling as a guaranteed cash cow for financially strapped states. Critics say legal wagering has created far more social problems than economic gains. Money wagered in the United States has grown from $125 billion in 1982 to more than $482 billion two years ago . . . and the push will continue for more casino gambling bills to be approved. That is why a measure now pending in Congress is so timely. The bill, proposed by Rep. Frank Wold, R-Va., would create a national gambling impact and policy commission . . . that would cut through the rhetoric and make a comprehensive study of . . . the economic impact - both positive and negative - of gambling.