2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 7, 2001 NATION/WORLD Feds drop Microsoft breakup plan WASHINGTON (AP) - In a dramatic shift, the Bush administration yesterday abandoned the Clin- ton-era effort to break up Microsoft. It suggested a lesser antitrust penalty that could still force changes to the company's new Windows operating system. The Justice Department also dropped charges that the software giant illegally hurt competitors by tying or bundling separate features, like a Web browser, to its flagship computer operating sys- tem. Microsoft had hotly contested those charges because the company's strategy calls for integrat- ing more new features into products like the new Windows XP operating system, due in stores next month. Officials said the legal shift was not an over- ture to Microsoft to settle. They suggested the government will ask the new judge handling the antitrust case to review the Windows XP software and seek a penalty that ensures the company doesn't operate as an illegal monopoly in the future. But the news that reverberated from Wall Street to Silicon Valley was the decision to stop trying to break up an American corporate icon that helped fuel the technology revolution of the 1990s. The 19 states that joined the government in suing Microsoft and seeking its breakup acqui- esced, saying an appeals court decision earlier this summer would make a breakup more difficult to pursue. "This is an industry that moves incredibly fast," said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. "The case has gone on for quite some time now. It was time to move as quickly as we could to remedy." Microsoft reacted with cautious optimism. "We remain committed to resolving the remaining issues in the case," spokesman Vivek Varma said. Investors, however, showed some concern that the penalties the Bush administration will seek might still affect or delay next month's planned debut of Windows XP - which many on Wall Street hope will help invigorate the sluggish tech- nology industry. Microsoft shares finished the day down $1.72 at $56.02 per share. Justice said it made the about-face to stream- line the case and bring it to an end as quickly as possible. The goal, it said, was to "obtain prompt, effective and certain relief for consumers." The department said it would still seek a penal- ty that would open the operating system market to competition. To that end, the government proposed a penalty similar to some interim penalties imposed by the original trial judge, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. NEWS IN BRIEF WASHINGTON Fox lobbies for iumgration reform Mexican President Vicente Fox pressed his case for swift immigration over- haul to Congress yesterday. But President Bush called proposals to grant legal status to Mexicans now in the country illegally "an incredibly complex issue." Bush suggested it was unlikely that Congress would be able to come up with a plan within a year but said he fully understands Fox's desire to expedite the process. "We have heard his call;' said Bush, flanked by Fox at a joint news confer- ence. On Wednesday, Fox, in a surprise move, urged that the two governments reach an agreement by the year's end but Congress, which has the final say, is deeply divided on the issue. Bush said that a major obstacle was devising a system that would allow many of the up to 3 million Mexicans now in the United States illegally to gain legal status - without penalizing those who have already applied for such status though existing channels. Earlier, Fox addressed a packed joint session of the House and Senate, urging greater trust between the neighboring countries as the basis for "a new partner- ship in North America." WASHINGTON Campaign finance reform gains support Advocates of campaign finance reform inched closer to forcing a vote on their legislation in the House this fall, picking up the support yesterday of a key Democrat who had not signed a petition to bring the measure to the floor. Reform backers said the signature of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) leaves them just 11 shy of the 218 needed to override House Republican leaders and compel a vote on a bill that seeks to reduce the influence of big money in poli- tics. The petition drive is crucial to reviving a bill that cleared the Senate in April and was supposed to face a decisive vote in the House two months ago. But the measure was yanked at the last minute amid intense partisan fighting over the rules of debate. The bill's sponsors yesterday vowed to step up pressure on House members who previously voted for reform but have so far not signed onto the petition. They said they would conduct a series of town hall meetings - including one in Memphis, Tenn., today and others in Chicago and Philadelphia in the coming weeks - to drum up support. 0 oa~ " EA CAMPUS PAY LEAPEd - Do youlove theU-M? * Do you want to share your U-M experiecewith high school saion? Qfl °© a Q v QO a4 0 CaVIpus Pay is held every Mon., Thur., & Fri., Jan. 28-April 19, 2002. Usual time commitment is 5-10 hours/week. Approximately 15-20 hours of training, including 2 Saturday sessions, will be held between October and January. Pay rate is $6.75 and up. Rrst-time applicants must attend the Information session on Tuesday, Septe iber .1001 5.40..040 .. at the SAI. For more information, E-mail: dini@umich.edu Deadline to apply is Thursday, September 13,1001 at 5:00 p.m. Campus Pay leaders host a small group of admitted high school students and their parents. Activities include leading a walking tour of central campus, facilitating a discussion session, and more. Some clerical work is required. Q Leaders are expected to be punctual, reliable, and conscientious in all responsibilities. 0 6 .. .Thenwe want youto be aCampus Pay leader! I WASHINGTON U.S. normalizes Vietnamese trade More than a quarter-century after the end of the Vietnam War, the House voted yesterday to normalize trade rela- tions with Hanoi, but only after approv- ing separate legislation denouncing the country's Communist regime for ethnic, religious and political repression. The bills, approved in back-to-back votes, allowed lawmakers to express dis- gust with the Hanoi government while still approving a trade agreement designed to open the Vietnamese mar- ket to U.S. products and permit Viet- namese goods to enter the United States with the same low tariffs that apply to most other countries. In a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee, read on the floor by the panel's chairman, Rep. William M. Thomas (R-Calif.), the Bush adminis- tration said the trade bill "completes a normalization process that has spanned four administrations." DURBAN, South Africa Racism conference centers on Mideast Arab states at a U.N. racism confer- ence rejected a second attempt at com- promise yesterday on wording on the Middle East conflict. However, South African officials said they were shut- tling between the Arab and European delegates, trying to work out a new compromise. Efforts to reach agreement over another contentious issue, a proposed Western apology for slavery and colo- nialism, remained bogged down a day before the eight-day conference was scheduled to end. The proposed Mideast compro- mise, the second South African pro- posal rejected by the Arab states, sought to bridge the gap between the Arabs' call for the conference to condemn Israeli practices as racist and the European Union's refusal to allow the conference to take sides in the conflict. PARIS Force in Macedonia may be necessary European diplomats and military planners have concluded that some kind of foreign troop presence in Macedonia will probably be needed after the NATO disarmament mission there ends late this month. Otherwise, they fear, the Balkan country's shaky peace deal could unravel and the coun- try could again be plunged into civil strife. Officially, NATO is still committed to ending its operation based on a strict 30-day deadline, once weapons have been collected from ethnic Albanian insurgents and Macedonia's parliament approves a new power- sharing accord. But in European capitals, the ques- tion has largely moved on from whether there will be a post-NATO presence to what kind, under what flag, for what duration, and with what man- date. - Compiled from Daily wire reports. The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S; mail are $100. Winter term (January through April) is $105, yearlong (September through April) is $180. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 734): News 76-DAILY; Arts 763-0379; Sports 647-3336; Opinion 764-0552; Circulation 764-0558; classified advertising 764-0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 764-0550. E-mail letters to the editor to daily.letters@umich.edu. World Wide Web: www.michigandaily.com. I l a lii 21. Fl A Pii -e T ;TYW,'"TT r II 7"2R1 W a !Ir i 0 I - mui s ummi6 a mrr uuul limy wagnun, Cultur III t.mer T NEWS Nick Bunkley, Managing Editor EDITORS: David Enders, Usa Koivu, Caitlin Nish, Jeremy W. Peters STAFF: David Baybik, Kristen Beaumont, Kay Bhagat, Ted Borden. Anna Clark, Courtney Crimmins, Uzzie Ehrle. Whitney Elliott, Rachel Green, Ahmed Hamid, Lisa Hoffman, Elizabeth Kassab, Shabina Khatri, Susan Luth, Louie Meizlish, Jacquelyn Nixon, Shannon Pettypiece, James Restivo, Stephanie Schonholz, Karen Schwartz, Sarah Scott, Maria Sprow, Carrie Thorson, Kelly Trahan, Elliott Wells-Reid, Kara Wenzel CALENDAR: Lisa Koivu GRAPHICS: Amanda Christianson, Scott Gordon. EDITORIAL Michael Grass, Nicholas Woomer, Editors ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Johanna Hanink, Aubrey Henretty, Manish Raiji, Josh Wickerham STAFF: Howard Chung. Sumon Dantiki, Jessica Guerin, Rachel Fisher, Catherine Groat, Henry Hyatt, Fadi Kiblawi, Ar Paul, Jess Piskor, Rahul Saksena, Jim Secreto. Lauren Strayer, Ben Whetsel CARTOONISTS: Dane Barnes, Chip Cullen, Thomas Kulgurgis COLUMNISTS: Peter Cunniffe, David Horn, Rebecca isenberg, Steve Kyritz, Dustin J. Seibert, Amer G. 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