Nation in brief

Fix begins at I-95 crash site

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - As Gilbert Robinson crawled out of his shattered windshield after his oil tanker crashed on Interstate 95 Thursday night, he wasn't thinking of how the accident might foul up traffic on the northeast's main corridor for weeks. As his truck, filled with 12,000 gallons of heating oil, began to burn, he said was only thinking one thing: "Run, baby, run!"

From 100 feet away, Robinson watched his truck explode into a fireball, the oil fueling an inferno so hot it melted and buckled a section of the elevated highway, cutting a vital link for the 120,000 or so commuters and truck drivers who take this route each day.

On Saturday, workers had demolished the south-bound lane of the elevated highway and prepared to replace it with a temporary bridge - a process that is expected to take about two weeks. "It's like a giant erector set," said the state Department of Transportation's chief engineer Arthur Gruhn. "We bring in panelized pieces and bolt them together." The northbound lane could be reopened as early as midweek, Gruhn said.

The effect has been serious, but not as bad as early predictions suggested. Weekend traffic was light, and though it snaked slowly through a downtown Bridgeport detour, it was moving.

"People have been following the detours or just avoiding the area," said J. Paul Vance, the spokesman for the state police.

He said police were braced for Monday traffic to be worse than the weekend's, but hoped to resume normal flows in two weeks. "We'll be working 24 hours a day until it's done," Vance said.

WACO, Texas - Supporters of a former Baylor University seminary student who lost his scholarship because he is gay rallied Saturday to protest the school's decision.

Matt Bass and other gay students and alumni say they don't expect the world's largest Baptist university to shun the church tenet that homosexuality is a sin, but they want an antidiscrimination policy for gay students.

"I believe I am gay and that God made me that way," Bass told about 200 people at the gay rights rally. "I believe this is a civil rights movement. We're not looking for any special class or treatment but equal protection under the law."

Bass, 25, said he had no choice but to quit Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary in December after administrators confronted him about his sexuality and revoked his financial aid.

Baylor officials declined to comment Saturday. The seminary's dean has declined to discuss Bass' case but said homosexual behavior is forbidden in the Bible and thus inconsistent with Truett's mission.

Last month, a Baylor student newspaper editorial endorsed gay marriage, creating an uproar. School policy states that no student publications should "attack the basic tenets of Christian theology or of Christian morality."

RENO, Nev. - Bill Gates may be the nation's richest man, but he admits no amount of money is likely to make him a professional bridge player.

Gates, who joined about 5,000 other card players Saturday at a national bridge championship in Reno, concedes his card-playing skills are no match for those of professionals.

"I wish I had more time for bridge. I'd be better," Gates told reporters at the Contract Bridge League's North American Championship.

Gates and his frequent partner, San Francisco consultant Sharon Osberg, were expected to continue playing today.

The league has set an attendance record for the spring championship with more than 15,000 tables, each with four players.

Gates, who played bridge with his parents as a youngster, describes the game as "very relaxing." He began competing in tournaments in 1999.

"It's a very logical and a great mental thing," he said. "It's a game that you can play at any age."

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