A L S O__T O D A Y Señor Gringo By Maxine Schur An innocent encounter turns crazy for two travelers and a heartbroken, gun-toting Mexican sheriff Wanderlust's Official Travel Book Partner S A L O N E M P O R I U M FREE! 12-ounce bag of Salon Blend with a purchase of $30 or more. While supplies last.		- - - - - - + this week_.I N_.T R A V E L Wanderlust's selective guide to travel-related news. - - - - - - + From the FAA In order to decrease the likelihood of fires starting onboard airplanes, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday that it will develop a new standard for how airplanes are insulated. Materials such as fiberglass and Curlon, wrapped in polyimide film, are more resistant to fires than other materials currently in use, according to preliminary reports by the FAA. The new "test specification" will be issued within six months. - - - - - - + From USA Today United Airlines is cracking down on those bulging, oversized bags travelers are cramming into overhead bins. The airline will place plexiglass cutouts in front of X-ray machines. If passengers' bags don't fit in the cutouts, they will have to be checked in. The new policy is intended to improve the airline's departure/arrival times. - - - - - - + From CNN Illegal practices of routinely dumping oil -- and then lying about it -- finally caught up to Royal Caribbean Cruises on Wednesday. The second largest passenger cruise line was fined $8 million by a federal judge in Puerto Rico. This is the second fine against the cruise line -- last month a Miami court ordered it to pay $1 million for environmental misconduct. - - - - - - + From the South China Morning Post It hasn't been easy being a foreigner in Vietnam. Foreigners -- and their companies -- are routinely charged more than their native counterparts for the same goods and services; these charges sometimes run as high as five times the locals' price. But that may be changing. State companies have now been ordered to phase out the old "dual-pricing system." - - - - - - + From MSNBC Due to a surge in early retirements by pilots at American Airlines -- because of falling stock values -- the airline has canceled about 36 flights, mostly on Latin American routes. In addition, American will dust off its pilots in management positions, who now fly only occasionally, to fill in the gaps left by the retirees. - - - - - - + From the Chicago Tribune The Yeti -- fact or fable? A U.S. climber/skier claimed Tuesday to have spotted two abominable snowmen on the Chinese side of Mount Everest. He says the creatures had long arms, big hands and shiny, black fur, and that they walked a little hunched over. "What I saw was not a gorilla, not a bear, not a goat and not a deer," the adventurer said. SALON | Oct. 16, 1998