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NEWS: 76-DAILY
CLASSIFIED: 7640557
www michigandaiy. com
Wednesday
October 24, 2001
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$ i D
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U.S. 'jets
pummel
bin Laden
stronghold
BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) -
U.S. jets struck Taliban front lines and
an Osama bin Laden stronghold north
. of Kabul yesterday - attacks the
opposition hopes will open the way for
an advance on Kabul. But Taliban
troops held their ground, launching
rockets and mortars toward positions
held by the northern alliance.
After sundown, American jets also
returned to Kabul, repeatedly blasting
targets on the outskirts of the city in
what appeared to be one of the largest
attacks in the capital area.
War planes apparently renewed the
attack shortly before sunrise today as
sounds of heavy bombardment were
heard near Kabul's airport.
Opposition and Taliban officials
also reported U.S. attacks yesterday
around the key northern city Mazar-e-
Sharif, where an offensive last week
by the opposition northern alliance fal-
tered. The Taliban claimed they
repulsed opposition attacks that fol-
lowed the American bombardment.
American warplanes set fire to criti-
cal Taliban oil supplies in the Taliban
headquarters in the southern city of
Kandahar - said to be all but aban-
doned by its half million inhabitants
after weeks of attacks.
In other developments:
The Pentagon said two U.S. heli-
copters came under fire in Pakistan as
their crews tried to retrieve the wreck-
age of another helicopter that had
crashed during a covert weekend com-
* mando raid.
m Three U.S. bombs went astray
over the weekend, with two landing in
a civilian neighborhood near Kabul
and the other near a senior citizens'
center in Herat, the Pentagon said. The
military said it had no information on
casualties. The United Nations said a
U.S. bomb struck a military hospital in
the western Afghan city of Herat but
said it had no information regarding
casualties. Taliban rulers said more
than 100 patients and medical workers
were killed Monday.
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria
Clarke said a U.S. bomb went astray
near a senior citizens' home in Herat,
landing in a field between the home
and a military vehicle storage facility.
The 1,000-pound bomb was dropped
Sunday by an F/A-18. She said it was
not know if the so-called senior citi-
zens' center was the same building
referred to in the U.N. report.
* Britain will send troops and
equipment to join the U.S.-led military
effort against Afghanistan, though just
how much has not been decided.
Italy offered the United States an
armor regiment, attack helicopters,
fighter jets and specialists in nuclear,
chemical and bacteriological warfare
for the coalition against terrorism.
BBC-TV reported yesterday that
a U.S. bomb hit a house in Kabul
Monday night that was used by the
Kashimiri militant group Harakat ul-
See ATTACKS, Page 7
Fears
reach
White
House
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WASHINGTON (AP) - The
nation's anthrax scare hit the White
House yesterday with the discovery of
a small concentration of spores at an
off-site mail processing center. "We're
working hard at finding out who's
doing this," President Bush said as
bioterrorism claimed fresh victims
along the East Coast.
Bush said the executive mansion was
safe - and twice said "I don't have
anthrax" - despite the discovery of
spores on a machine at the mail site a
few miles from the White House.
Spokesman Ari Fleischer said all
employees at the site as well as mail-
room workers in the White House itself
were being "swabbed and tested."
The startling disclosure capped a
rapidly unfolding series of events in
which officials announced additional
confirmed and suspected cases of
inhalation anthrax, Congress returned
to work, and the administration
pledged a more aggressive testing and
treatment program if additional tainted
letters are discovered.
Before the current outbreak, "We
had had no cases of inhalation anthrax
in a mail sorting facility," said Jeffrey
Koplan, head of the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention. "There
was no reason to think this was a possi-
bility."
For his part, Health and Human Ser-
vices Secretary Tommy Thompson
pushed Bayer Corp. to lower its price
for Cipro, a front-line anti-anthrax
drug, to less than $1 per pill. Bayer'
announced an "agreement in principle"
with the government over the price.
Outside the White House, House
Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt said
"weapons-grade material" was respon-
sible for spreading infections. And
overseas, the State Department issued a
worldwide alert warning U.S. citizens
to be mindful of the risk of anthrax or
'other biological or chemical agents.
Six weeks after terrorists killed thou-
sands in Washington and New York,
administration officials drew a rhetori-
cal connection to the outbreak of
anthrax. The FBI released the text of
three anthrax-tainted letters - each of
them dated Sept. I1, the date that
hijackers flew planes into the World
Trade Center in Nei York and the Pen-
tagon.
Bush believes the spread of anthrax
"is another example of how this is a
two-front war: that there are people
who would seek to do evil to this coun-
try; that there are people who mean us
harm," Fleischer said. "And they have
mailed letters, obviously, to high
impact places - the news media, to
Majority Leader (Tom) Daschle, per-
haps, in this case, to the White House."
The administration has been buffet-
ed by criticism for waiting several days
after the discovery of the letter
addressed to Daschle before ordering
testing at Brentwood, the central postal
facility for the nation's capital. Without
acknowledging any shortcomings, sev-
eral officials pointed to changes in their
outlook.
"We're g'oing to err on the side of
caution in making sure people are pro-
tected," said Thompson.
"When a case of anthrax does
emerge we will immediately move in at
any and all postal facilities that might
have handled that piece of mail," he
said. He spoke as the U.S. Postal Ser-
vice offered antibiotics as a precaution
to 7,000 employees of six Manhattan
post offices that may have been in the
See ANTHRAX, Page 7
,I
AP PHOTO
TOP: The Justice Department yesterday released copies of the three letters that contained anthrax which were sent to the
editor of the New York Post, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw. Full story, Page 2.
ABOVE: A hazardous materials worker is sprayed down yesterday on Capitol Hill.
Cuts in higher eld budget
could raise winter tuitin
Engler considers ways to make up or
$462.5 million state budget sAo all
By Louie Meizlish
Daily Staff Reporter
Gov. John Engler is considering cuts in
higher education funding that could mean
tuition at Michigan's public universities and
community colleges will be raised for the
winter 2002 semester.
The state's 15 public universities received a
funding increase of between 1.5 percent and
1.7 percent this year. With a 1.5 percent
increase for fiscal year 2002, the University
of Michigan raised tuition 6.5 percent.
Now, it seems that 1.5 percent may be
retracted and another tuition increase might
be on the way.
Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for the
Office of the State Budget, said "all funding
across state government will be up for consid-
eration" for cuts but would not say whether
higher education funding will be cut. With the
latest projections, a $462.5 million budget
shortfall will have to be made up somehow,
and it appears appropriations cuts will at least
play a part in eliminating the shortfall.
Michigan's constitution requires the gover-
nor to stabilize the budget if revenue falls
short of appropriations.
Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek), chair
of the appropriations subcommittee that over-
sees higher education funding, said universi-
ties could lose as much as much as 5 percent
is possible.
"It is possible, certainly, that higher educa-
tion will be cut," Schwarz said.
University Vice President for Government
Relations Cynthia Wilbanks did not rule out
the possibility of an additional tuition
increase but said the University is waiting for
the process to play itself out before proposing
any changes.
"Everything at this moment is pure specu-
lation," Wilbanks said.
Measures that Schwarz said he supports
which could reduce a possible cut in funding
are stalled. A bill to repeal the tuition tax
credit, which was passed by the Senate and
supported by the presidents and student gov-
ernment leaders of all 15 state universities, is
currently stalled in the House of Representa-
tives.
It also appears that a proposal to remove
money from the MEAP Merit Scholarship
Trust for higher education funding lacks the
momentum needed for passage.
When State Treasurer Doug Roberts, along
with the directors of the House and Senate
fiscal agencies, held a special Consensus
Revenue Estimating Conference yesterday,
the three agreed on an estimate that projects
2001 state revenue to be 7.7 percent less than
in 2000. Fiscal year 2002 revenue is projected
to decline 10 percent from 2000.
Jay Wortley, a senior economist with the
Senate Fiscal Agency, said an economic
downturn was expected but that the economy
has taken afurther dip due to the Sept. 11 ter-
rorist attacks. State revenue projections are
based on the strength of the economy.
Wortley said he believes Michigan is cur-
rently experiencing a recession, but he also
See BUDGET, Page 7
Mother recounts
gay son s murder
Leavin' in the rain
7 7.Te s _S r'
LA~UIE R 5COr LL/LDily
Kallmah Johnson, a poet and activist, closes SAPAC's
Speak-Out ceremony last night.
Survivors of
seXual assault
'speakout'
By Kelly Trahan
Daily Staff Reporter
Survivors of sexual assault shared their "trauma,
tragedy and triumphs" last night at the 15th annual Speak-
Out.
The Speak-Out, which was hosted by the Sexual
Assault Prevention and Awareness Center at the Michi-
gan Union, is one of many events designed to recognize
October as dating and domestic violence awareness
month.
Alicia Rinaldi, SAPAC training and education coordina-
tor said the Speak-Out was important for both survivors of
sexual assault and other community members.
"The purpose tonight is twofold," Rinaldi said. "This is
both a forum for survivors to speak out in a safe environ-
ment, to be supported and to share their stories and an
opportunity for members of our community to bear wit-
ness to the trauma, tragedy and triumphs of survivors."
"Bearing witness is our responsibility as a community
because it is the only way for us to understand sexual
violence and try to stop it," Rinaldi said.
Many of the survivors chose to speak in an attempt to
help others who are facing the aftermath of sexual
assault.
"I have been to two Speak-Outs and to Take Back the
Night and I have never spoken. But I just wanted to share
tonight because I have drawn strength from so many oth-
ers who have spoken and I want to offer the same
strength," said Katherine, a rape survivor who wanted to
By Rachel Green
Daily Staff Reporter
Judy Shepard was living in Saudi
Arabia with her husband in October
1998 when she received a phone call
telling her to fly home to Wyoming
immediately. Her son, Matthew, had
been the victim
of a hate crime
because he was
homosexual.
Matthew, a
student at the
University of
Wyoming, died
five days after
being beaten
with the butt of a
pistol, chained to Judy Shepard
a fence outside Laramie, Wyo., and
changes after the attack, Shepard
and her husband, Dennis, arrived at
Matthew's hospital room to find him
barely still alive.
"I could barely recognize him, but
then I looked at his eyes, and I knew
they were my son's," Judy Shepard
said during a speech at Eastern
Michigan University last night.
"The twinkle of life wasn't there
anymore."
About 400 people attended Shep-
ard's lecture, in which she spoke
about the tragic loss of her son and
the importance of tolerance and
diversity in the United States.
Ypsilanti Mayor Cheryl Farmer
introduced Shepard and recounted
several hate crimes based on sexual
preference that have not received
the attention she thinks they
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