NATIONAL BRIEFS

TEXAS: Army approves officer's garb

Amid lines of soldiers, one after the other in standard-issue fatigues and combat boots, was one in a turban and full beard, the first Sikh in a generation allowed to complete U.S. Army officer basic training without sacrificing the articles of his faith. Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan, 31, a dentist, graduated Monday at Fort Sam Houston after the Army made an exemption to a uniform policy that had prevented Sikhs from enlisting since 1984. "I'm feeling very humbled. I'm a soldier," he said, grinning as members of the Sikh community milled about nearby. "This has been my dream." An immigrant from India who arrived in New York as a teenager, Rattan said it was important for him to serve a country that has given him so many opportunities.

WASHINGTON: Court supports ban on "Ave Maria"

The Supreme Court refused Monday to let a student sue over school officials' refusal to let her play an instrumental version of "Ave Maria" at her high school graduation, a decision one justice, Samuel Alito, said could lead to wide-ranging censorship of student speech. Kathryn Nurre, a senior at Henry M. Jackson High School in Everett, Wash., in 2006, wanted to play "Ave Maria" (Hail Mary in Latin) with the band's wind ensemble. School administrators raised red flags when they heard about the idea from the wind ensemble seniors, who had played Franz Biebl's up-tempo 1964 rendering of "Ave Maria" without controversy at a winter concert. Alito said he would have heard her case. There are nearly 10 million students under the jurisdiction of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Alito said.

Safeguarding the water

The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening drinking water standards to impose stricter limits on four contaminants that can cause cancer. In a speech Monday, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency is developing stricter regulations for four chemical compounds: tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, acrylamide and epichlorohydrin. All four compounds can cause cancer. Trichloroethylene, also known as TCE, and tetrachloroethylene are used as industrial solvents and can seep into drinking water from contaminated groundwater or surface water. The other two compounds are impurities that can be introduced into drinking water during the water treatment process. Jackson said the EPA will issue new rules on TCE and tetrachloroethylene within the next year. Rules for the other two compounds will follow. Jackson made the comments Monday as she announced a new strategy to better protect public health from contaminants in drinking water.