NPR 2011-05-28

Consumers are spending more apparently 1 because they have to. The Commerce Department reports a 0.4% jump last month as people shelled out more money to buy food and fill up their gas tanks. Take[Taking] those two categories out of the mixing, consumer spending is up by 0.1%. Robert Dye, senior economist 2 at PNC Financial Services, says today's report signals that the recovery still isn't ready to pick up speed. "With the consumer spending, you know, accounting 3 for over 2/3 of GDP, it's a major force in the economy. And with the consumer[s] that are just treading water right now, that is a major signal that we will not have above-trend growth." Driving across the US, you're likely to pay about four dollars for a gallon of regular gas.

Well, Memorial Day may hold new meaning for the residents of Joplin, Missouri. Hundreds of mourners crowded into a church near the town to pay final respects today to one of the victims of Sunday's tornado 4. Adam Dewayne Darnaby was among at least 132 people killed in the storm.

Former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic is deemed fit to be extradited to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports Mladic's lawyers say they will appeal today's court decision in Belgrade.

Mladic's defense 5 lawyer said today the appeal is based on the argument that his client is too frail 6 and sick to face trial and needs urgent medical care. His team is asking for a medical commission to examine the former general. His son today said outside the courthouse that his 69-year-old father had two strokes while on the run for nearly 16 years and can barely speak. But many see the medical claims as stall tactics. A Serbian court spokeswoman said Mladic has chronic 7 ailments 8, but he's well enough and able to follow any trial. Mladic is accused of orchestrating Europe's worst atrocities 9 since World War II, including the massacre 10 of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, as well as the brutal 11 four-year siege of Sarajevo. Eric Westervelt, NPR News.

Abortion 12 rights groups, including Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, are challenging a new South Dakota law that would require women to wait three days before they can get an abortion. Details from NPR's Kathy Lohr.

The court challenge says the law seeks to restrict access to abortion by imposing 13 the longest waiting period in the country, 72 hours, and forcing women to get counseling from pregnancy 14 centers that oppose abortion. The suit also claims the law interferes 15 with the patients' right to privacy. Abortion rights advocates say the measure puts women at risk and makes it harder for them to get abortions 16. It's scheduled to go into effect in July. States across the country have passed dozens of new laws this year to restrict abortion. Indiana was the first state to defund the Planned Parenthood. Others are passing bills to require sonograms before an abortion, and some lawmakers are banning abortions at 20 weeks, based on the assertion that fetuses 17 feel pain. Kathy Lohr, NPR News.

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Do tests help students, teachers in schools improve if there are rewards or sanctions tied to how students perform on tests? The answer apparently, according to a study by the National Research Council, is 'no'. More from NPR's Claudio Sanchez.

Despite the growing reliance on test scores, the study found little evidence that high-stake[s] tests accurately 18 gauge 19 or help drive achievement. For example, high school exit exams now used in 25 states contribute to lower graduation rates without increasing student achievement. The study also found that sanctions and rewards tied to tests mandated 20 by the federal government's No Child Left Behind law have resulted in meager 21 gains in math and reading. Using test scores to evaluate teachers is also questionable 22. In short, teaching to the tests and attaching sanctions or rewards to the results are not good policies. Instead, the study concludes policymakers should rely less on high-stakes tests and adopt broader measures of performance in order to hold students, teachers in schools accountable because what's in place now is inadequate 23. Claudio Sanchez, NPR News.

NASA says it is done with its part of the construction on the International Space Station. Today, Endeavour astronauts Mike Fincke and Gregory Chamitoff became the last shuttle crew members to carry out a spacewalk when they installed a 50-foot boom. From now on, spacewalks will be performed by full-time 24 residents of the orbiting outpost. Endeavour's crew is scheduled to head back to Earth in a few days, ending NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight. The last fight to deliver supplies is planned for July.

Before the close on Wall Street, the Dow was up 39 at 12,442, and NASDAQ gained 14; it's at 2,797.

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