One hundred eleven years of editorialfreedom ti NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 7640557 www michigandaiy. com Wednesday October 24, 2001 a e $ i D t s 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 ; ,; s '. k ,E,. ., r ,' ', ''. " _ , 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 - I a, h . F.. .A ... . 0.' .w, .h .. r}y. s 'I ..,:. .. wY .