Oil tanker splits and then sinks, endangering coast of Spain

A damaged oil tanker, which had begun spilling oil off Spain's northwest coast, has completely sunk. The Prestige, a super-tanker owned by Greek company, Mare Shipping Inc. was carrying 70,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, according to the Associated Press. CNN reported that the ship split in two after one of its oil tanks was punctured due to unknown causes during a violent storm last Wednesday. The potential for environmental damage is yet unknown because much of the oil may remain in the ship's reinforced compartments and sink to the Atlantic floor. However, the World Wildlife Fund estimates that it could be one of the biggest oil leaks ever-potentially twice as big as the Exxon Valdez spill off the Alaskan coast in 1989. Local communities are bracing for the worst. The primary industry in the Northwest region of Spain is fishing and an oil slick could seriously impact some of the most fruitful fishing ground, with damages potentially reaching $100 million. According to CNN, the Spanish government said it would push to ban single-hulled tankers like the Prestige from European waters and insist on double-hulled vessels.

National: Washington, D.C.

Senate votes down challenge to Homeland Security Bill

The Senate voted 52-47 to reject an amendment to remove seven provisions from the homeland security bill that Democrats felt favored friends of Republicans, according to The New York Times. The vote was mainly along party lines with several senators acknowledging afterward they had voted against the amendment only after receiving assurances from Mississippi Senator Trent Lott, the Republican leader, that he would work to remove the most contentious provisions. According to CNN, Bush had been a fervent opponent of the bill because he believed it could have seriously delayed creation of a Homeland Security Department. Most Democrats generally support the homeland security legislation. Their complaints are limited to what they see as last-minute favors to party donors such as limited legal liability for thimerosal, a chemical some believe is linked to autism in children and which principally benefits Republican donor Eli Lilly. The only senator who did not vote on the bill was Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) who is in Paris for a fashion tribute to Jacqueline Kennedy. The bill passed in the Senate last night by a vote of 90-9.

Local: Amherst, Massachusetts

ARHS student suspended for allegedly offensive publication

Amherst Regional High School is at the center of a debate on free speech after the third attempt to suspend a student who published a newsletter that school officials deemed obscene. Senior Max Karson was suspended for three days after he published the latest issue of The Crux. Both previous suspensions were rescinded, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. School officials believe that The Crux violates the school handbook's definition of obscenity in that it "describes nudity or sexual conduct in a way that most members of the community think clearly offensive." Karson and his father Michael Karson both said that although the latest issue of The Crux discussed and graphically described masturbation, it was not intended to sexually arouse readers and therefore cannot be labeled as obscene. The school maintains that the issue is about behavioral expectations. In October, the Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee adopted a policy that encourages-but does not require-students to provide their principals with copies of published material and prohibits derogatory or offensive language referring to ethnicity, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.