European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 5, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Supreme court nominee Souter receives top rating from Aba Washington apr supreme court nominee David h. Souter on tuesday received the highest rating from the american bar associations judicial screening panel the Justice department said. Souter received a unanimous a Well  rating from the american bar associations standing committee on Federal judiciary according to a letter from the panel to the Justice department. Souter a former member of the new Hampshire supreme court was nominated by president Bush in july for the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice William Brennan. Souter received a similar a Well Quali fied Quot rating earlier this year when he was nominated for a seat on the 1st . Circuit court of appeals in Boston. He took the Federal Bench last Spring but has not heard any cases. The 15-member Aba committee rates judicial nominees either a not qualified a a qualified Quot or a Well qualified but applies different standards to evaluate candidates for District appellate and supreme court judgeship. The Senate judiciary committee is scheduled to open hearings sept. 13 on Souter a nomination. Attorney general Dick Thornburgh hailed the Abas decision saying it confirmed that a president Bush has selected a Man of Superb intellect and  a i look Forward to a speedy confirmation by the United states Senate a Thornburgh said. In 1987, four members of the Aba panel dissented from the committees finding that judge Robert Bork was a Well qualified for the supreme court. These members found Bork then a Federal appellate judge to be a not qualified for the High court while a fifth member voted a not opposed Quot to Bork a confirmation. Bork a nomination was turned Down by the Senate following a bitter fight led by a coalition of civil rights Ana Abor Tion rights activists. David Souter Sticky gimmick nothing to spit at inventor says new York apr class clowns around the country Are returning to school armed with a new tool for teacher torture a spit wads a a High tech version of the old fashioned spitball. As inventor Ted Skup said a you can to stand in the Way of  a it sounds simple but try developing one a said Skup who created the wads after a years Worth of Sticky Slippery research. So what does this invention mean to the average underachieving student with $1.29 to spend no More telltale straws or Messy clumps of Well chewed paper for one thing because you done to spit a spit wads Quot you toss them. You get a Quarter ounce of a Light Blue non toxic compound enough for several traditional size spit balls. The material is described As a polymeric improvement on the original spitball that wont stain when stuck. A i threw a lot of stuff at the Walls which never came off when i was developing this a said Skup 38, of Schererville ind. A a there re still a lot of Marks on my  Skup came up with the idea during a lunch break from his Job As a refinery worker. After a years Worth of experiments with every glue paste and adhesive he could find Skup produced the space age spitball and trademarked the a spit wads name for the gum like clumps. A i was Lucky to get that a he said proudly. A a that a my own personal trademark for the next 20  Skup brought his creation to an old soccer playing buddy who was soon to be a financial Backer Scott Hicko. Both vividly recall that Day of destiny this past March. A once i threw it against the Wall and it stuck i sold him a Skup said. A you done to need a big presentation when the Guy starts laughing for an  a a in be seen products All my life been in business for 20 years and seen a lot of gimmicks a Hicko said. A something hit me with this a nostalgia maybe the old troublemaker in  Hicko is not the Only one with a misspent youth. Skup quickly announced that he was voted class Clown in High school. Both were surprised the product has been As popular with adults As with children. A it touches something in everybody. Everybody knows what a spit wad is a Hicko said. A i mean we thought our Market was 7 to 12-year-Olds. We go into corporate offices and they go nuts a everybody is flicking Mem at pictures of the  groups dedicated to policing the school system said it was too soon to assess the Impact of the spitball of the �?T90s. A this is the first we be heard of this. Wed have to get a Little More information a said Stacey Moore spokeswoman for the National parents amp teachers association. A i sure can to recall any product like  rehearing sought on decision overthrowing North convictions Washington apr Iran Contra prosecutor Lawrence e. Walsh on tuesday asked a Federal appeals court to reconsider its 2-1 decision that set aside the three felony convictions of former White House aide Oliver l. North. Walsh sought a rehearing suggesting that the full 12-member . Circuit court of appeals for the District of Columbia review the july 20 decision which cast doubt on the Validity of the convictions of both North and former National Security adviser John m. Poindexter. The divided panel ordered a witness by witness examination of the testimony against North to determine whether the trial was unfairly tainted by references to testimony the retired Marine lieutenant colonel gave Congress under a limited Grant of immunity from prosecution. The hearing As ordered by the appeals court would determine whether the testimony of other witnesses was influenced by what North told Congress during televised congressional hearings in 1987. Under the immunity Grants Congress gave North and Poindexter their testimony to the Iran Contra committees could not be used against them As evidence in the criminal trials. Prosecutors were also barred from using any of their testimony As leads to obtain evidence. The appellate panel also reversed outright one of North a three felony convictions on the ground that . District judge Gerhard a. Gesell gave erroneous instructions to the jury. Chief judge Patricia Wald wrote a Sharp dissent from the opinion saying that North received a fair though not a perfect trial despite the problems posed by his congressional immunity. In a court filing Walsh said the panels ruling a that further Post trial hearings must be held to examine the extent to which witnesses recollections May have been refreshed through their Independent exposure to immunized testimony is an unwarranted Extension of immunity  the former National Security Council aide was convicted of aiding and abetting the obstruction of Congress altering or destroying Csc documents and accepting an illegal gratuity a the construction of a Security Fence around his Home. North was fined $150,000 and ordered to perform 1,200 hours of Community service. If allowed to stand the appellate court decision also jeopardizes the five felony convictions of Poindexter who was sentenced to six months in prison for lying to Congress about Covert assistance to the nicaraguan contras and the Sale of . Arms to Iran. Walsh could have bypassed the appellate court and gone directly to the supreme court to seek reinstatement of North a conviction. But he chose a More cautious approach of returning to the appellate court and seeking reconsideration of its decision. Thousands of students education disrupted by 4-state teacher strikes by the associated press teachers went on strike tuesday in school districts in Michigan Washington Rhode Island and Pennsylvania and new Orleans teachers voted to strike next monday unless their demands Are met. College professors walked out in contract disputes at Wayne state University in Detroit and Temple University in Philadelphia. In All the strikes disrupted education for a total of about 60,000 students in Saginaw mich., Yakima wash., and some suburban Seattle and Everett wash., schools. School openings Are also threatened by strikes at three smaller districts in Cheboygan mich., North Kingston r.i., and Ligonier a. Those districts have a total of about 10,000 students. A strike in new Orleans where school starts next week could affect about 85,000 pupils. Teachers there overwhelmingly approved a strike pledge in a voice vote tuesday morning. They want the school District to pay More of their health insurance Bills and raise the salaries of teachers aides. The teachers dropped a demand that their own salaries be raised. In Yakima school officials said they would show videotaped lessons to the 12,000 pupils affected by the strike. Teachers urged parents to keep their children at Home during the strike. The Yakima teachers struck despite a restraining order from a judge who prohibited them from strik ing picketing or engaging in a other acts disruptive to the Normal school  a we Are not afraid a said Melanie Mitchell president of the teachers Union the Yakima education association. A we made a decision which we Are committed to and the District is not going to scare us Back into the  the Union said the sticking Points in contract negotiations included class size evaluation of teachers and special education issues. The District characterized the remaining contract Points As Money issues. A u Washington strikes affected 22,500 pupils m the Lake Washington school District in the Seattle suburbs of Kirkland Juanita and Redmond and 9,100 pupils in Mukilteo South of Everett. At Wayne state and Temple administrators pledged us  without the striking instructors. The University will be open a said president Peter Liacouras at Temple which has an undergraduate enrolment of 31,000. University spokesman George in Gram said some classes were Neld tuesday but others and to be cancelled for Lack of teachers. Similarly Wayne state administrators said they would try to hold classes this week despite a strike by the american association of University professors which represents 1,500 instructors or about 35 percent 30 000 a Wayne state has an enrolment of faculty members turned Down annual raises of 5 percent at Temple and 4.8 percent at Wayne