The worldwide death total from the pneumonia-type illness known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is reported to have eclipsed 100, according to the BBC. Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and the U.S. have all announced tough internal defenses against SARS-allowing health authorities to detain anyone showing its symptoms. China, where the virus is thought to have first emerged, has been criticized by Gro Harlem Brundtland, the head of the World Health Organization, for not quickly reporting the first cases. Chinese scientists have announced that they have detected the presence of the bacterium Chlamydia in some SARS victims. They say this raises the possibility that the disease is caused when the bacterium acts in tandem with another pathogen, such as a virus from the corona family. There are more than 2,500 suspected SARS cases world wide. China reports 1,268 cases (53 deaths), Hong Kong 883 cases (23 deaths), Canada 217 cases (9 deaths), Singapore 112 cases (8 deaths), Vietnam 65 cases (4 deaths) and Malaysia fewer than 70 suspected cases (1 death), according to the BBC.

Proportion of incarcerated black men at highest level ever

Nearly 12 percent of African-American males between the ages of 20 and 34 are in jail or prison, according to a report released Monday by the Justice Department. Only 1.6 percent of white men in the same age group are incarcerated, according to The New York Times. 2002 marks the first time that more than 2 million people were incarcerated. Although, nationally, this is merely a 0.3 percent increase in prisoners, the number of inmates is still four times what it was before the enormous increase in the prison population began in the mid-1970s. The proportion of young black men who are incarcerated has been rising in recent years. This year's proportion is the highest rate ever measured, according to the Justice Department. California has the most inmates with 160,315, down 2.2 percent from 2001. Texas, with the second highest number of inmates, saw a 3.9 percent decline to 158,131. Generally, people sent to jail are awaiting trial or serving sentences of a year or less. The Bureau of Justice Statistics has calculated that 28 percent of black men will be sent to jail or prison in their lifetime.

Vote to replace Select Board with mayor fails by 13 votes

A town vote to replace the five-member Select Board and 254-member representative Town Meeting with a single mayor and nine-member council failed by 13 votes last Tuesday. Nearly 31 percent of eligible voters participated, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. There will most likely be a recount due to the 2413-2400 outcome of the balloting. Outcomes aside, the close nature of the voting indicates how deeply divided Amherst is about the future of town governance. Advocates of both sides of the issue agree that some changes need to be made no matter the final outcome, according to the Gazette. This vote was much closer than the vote in 1996, when a charter proposal that would have trimmed Town Meeting membership and replaced the Select Board with a mayor and council was defeated 2,559-1,769. Voter turnout in 1996 was only 24 percent. Under state law, this same charter proposal can be put on the ballot again within two years if 10 percent of the town's registered voters sign a petition requesting it.