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NEWS: 76-DAILY
CLASSIFIED: 764-557
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Friday
January 25, 2002
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Engler
narrows
focus in
address,
By Loul MeizilbSh
Daily Staff Reporter
The agenda Gov. John Engler
announced Wednesday night in his final
State of the State Address was a dramat-
ically less aggressive plan than the one
he kicked off almost a year ago in 2001,
the theme of which was "The Next
Michigan."
The focus of the 2001 speech was
primarily attracting economic develop-
ment to the state. Like he often does,
Engler said Michigan should continue
cutting taxes and keeping regulations
loose enough so businesses would find
the state an attractive place to locate.
Improving education was also a topic.
But he also made some other propos-
als, among them:
Setting up a system of gubernatori-
al appointment for justices of the
Supreme Court and for appointment of
a minority of the members of the gov-
erning boards of the state's three largest
universities, including the University of
Michigan;
Creating the two departments of
History, Arts and the Libraries as well
as Information Technology;
Creating a "cybercourt" to special-
ize in and expedite the resolution of
cases involving high technology.
"The quest is on. The New Economy
is transforming the old, and a new
Michigan is emerging - the Next
Michigan," he said.
The Republican governor was criti-
cized at that time by-legislative Democ-
rats for ignoring bread and butter issues.
"Before we go to the next we need to
deal with the now," then-House Minori-
ty Leader Kwame Kilpatrick said.
But since then, the focus in Lansing
has shifted away from some of the "non-
essentials," and the message from,
Engler's speech Wednesday night, his
last State of the State address, was this:
the "now" has changed and the "next" is
unknown.
Engler's final address focused on two
things and two things only: security and
economic development.
On the issue of protection against
terrorism, he urged the Legislature to
See ENGLER, Page 7
inside: Candidates say costs of higher
education will be a top priority. Page 3.
Fortune teller
Haddad's wife
gives testimony
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
Salma Al-Rushaid, the wife of arrested local
Muslim leader Rabih Haddad, received a small vic-
tory yesterday, when she testified regarding the
detrimental effects of her husband's incarceration
on her family to members of the House Judiciary
Committee in Washington.
Haddad is being detained on a visa violation.
He was taken into custody on Dec. 14 and is
currently being held in Chicago's Metropolitan
Correctional Center. He is expected to testify
before a grand jury about the charges brought
against him. Haddad may also be questioned
about the Global Relief Foundation, an Islamic
charity organization that he co-founded 10 years
ago. The charity is suspected by the government
of having connections to terrorist activities.
In her testimony, Al-Rushaid talked about the
void created in her family's life and the effects
that her husband's detainment has had on herself
and her three children, who now rarely see their
father.
"The story of Rabih Haddad kind of brings
life to these cold statistics and dry policy
issues," said Jason Erb, a lobbyist with the
Council of Islam-Ameripan Relations.
Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) was among the
members of Congress present at Al-Rushaid's
testimony. Conyers has been one of the Haddad
family's strongest supporters since his arrest,
and invited Al-Rushaid to testify yesterday. He
LESLIE WARD/Daily said that he believed her testimony could give a
RC freshman John Trummer tells RC French Prof. Marion Rochelle her future with his tarot cards true account of the type of treatment that the
during the French coffee hour in East Quad yesterday afternoon. government has inflicted on her family and
many others like her since Sept. 11, a member
RHA ban on smokng fa1is
"This is like Alice in
Wonderland. First the
sentence, then maybe a
trial."'
- Ashraf Nubani
Lawyer for Rabih Haddad
of his staff who wished to remain anonymous
said.
"The Administration and Attorney General
have taken a series of constitutionally dubious
actions that place the Executive branch in the
untenable role of legislator, prosecutor, judge,
and jury," Conyers said in a written statement.
Other panel topics included airport security
and racial profiling, both topics that have
emerged since Sept. 11. Al-Rushaid, however,
was the main focus of the informal hearing
because it put many of the other issues into per-
spective, Erb said.
"It had a great impact on them on bringing it
home to them and that this is about human
beings and lives," he said.
Before Al-Rushaid testified, Haddad's attor-
ney, Ashraf Nubani, read a statement to the
committee. He spoke about his confusion of the
case due to the secrecy of the government and
the lack of evidence provided.
"It seems that government is concocting a
case as it moves along. This is like Alice in
Wonderland. First the sentence, then maybe a
trial," Nubani said.
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
The Residence Hall Association came
one vote short of passing a resolution last
night in favor of making all residence halls
smoke-free within the next two years.
The resolution was written by Kinesiolo-
gy freshman and West Quad resident Pete
Woiwode after University Housing officials
asked RHA members to gather information
from students living in residence halls and
submit an opinion for or against a smoking
ban. It cited health and safety risks along
with destruction to University property as
its top reasons for wanting to ban smoking.
To date, nine out of 11 schools in the Big
Ten have banned smoking from their resi-
dence halls.
The resolution, first submitted to RHA at
yesterday's meeting, stated that support of
smoking and smokers by the University
"considerably reduces our right to claim
academic and intellectual excellence, for
smoking is in direct conflict with any ratio-
nal or progressive thought."
The resolution included an amendment to
reinforce existing policies which do not
permit students to smoke next to exterior
doorways and the removal or transportation
of ashtrays from doorways.
Had the resolution been passed, the resi-
dence halls it could have affected are Vera
Baits, Bursley, Cambridge, Couzens, East
Quad, West Quad, Fletcher, Alice Lloyd,
Mary Markley, Oxford Housing and South
Quad.
Betsy Barbour, Mosher Jordan, Helen
Newberry, Stockwell and Martha Cook res-
idence halls are already designated as
smoke-free.
Though a majority of the present RHA
members voted for the ban, a two-thirds
majority was needed. In the final vote, 11
members were for the ban, 4 were opposed
and 2 abstained. Twelve votes in favor of
the resolution were needed for it to pass.-
Some students against the resolution said
they felt banning. smoking in the residence
halls infringed upon student's individual
rights.
"I am completely, 100 percent, against
(the resolution)," said Fletcher resident
Jeff Souva, an LSA freshman, during the
debate. "I feel that the University of
Michigan has a long history of personal
rights. U of M should support personal
rights like it has in the past. I feel that we
are totally infringing upon their rights in
See RHA, Page 7
LESU WAHU/Daily
Luis Fgueroa, left, and Lucas Lopatin, both LSA freshmen
living in one of East Quad's smoking rooms are worried
about the possible ban on smoking in residence halls.
Bus driver surrenders; students OK
LANDOVER HILLS, Md. (AP) - A school
bus driver with a loaded rifle took 13 children
on a more than 100-mile odyssey yesterday that
ended when he turned himself in to an off-duty
police officer working security at a discount
store.
None of the children were hurt, much to the
relief of their parents, who spent six terrifying
hours awaiting word after the bus vanished on
the way to a school northwest of Philadelphia.
Authorities said driver Otto Nuss told the offi-
cer that he had a gun and had brought the chil-
dren from Pennsylvania to the outskirts of the
nation's capital against their will..
"He said he wanted to show them Washington
D.C.," FBI spokesman Peter Gulotta said.
Nuss faces federal kidnapping charges. A
court appearance was scheduled for today.
The bus picked up the students, ages seven
through 15, at a high school in Oley, Pa., at
about 7:30 a.m. for the six-mile trip to the Berks
Christian School in Birdsboro, Pa. The bus never
showed up and school officials could not raise
Nuss on the vehicle's two-way radio.
After a frantic search by residents, a police
helicopter and cruisers in rainy, foggy weather,
the bus and the youngsters were found 115 miles
away, parked outside a Family Dollar store in
Landover Hills, just a few miles from Washing-
ton.
"They made a different turn, and next they
know, these children ended up here in Prince
George's County," Gulotta said.
Nuss walked into the store and approached
off-duty Officer Milton Chabla, telling him he
had left a gun on the bus, police said.
Nuss told Chabla he had taken the children
against their will and wanted to turn himself in.
"He wanted the kids to be OK and let their par-
ents know they were OK," said Chabla, who was
wearing his police uniform at the store.The gun
was a semiautomatic rifle loaded with five
rounds.
Gulotta said it was found behind the driver's
seat, covered by a coat.
The children's parents were put on a bus with
ministers and counselors and reunited with the
children in at a Maryland police station. The
group said a prayer and ate pizza before begin-
ning the return trip home.
The children hugged and shook hands with
police officers as they departed.
"They all appear to be in good spirits," Gulot-
ta said of the children. "They are fine."
American Taliban fighter arraigned
Mo Nashida laughs during his speech promoting student activism held at the
Michigan League last night.
*Oppression leads to
activis-m for 2 -men
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Shorn
of his long hair and beard, John Walker
Lindh quietly faced his government's
charges yesterday that he conspired to
kill fellow Americans in Afghanistan.
"Yes, I do, thank you," he answered
when asked at his first court appearance
if he grasped the accusations that he
conspired to kill Americans abroad and
aided terrorist groups.
His lawyers, in a signal of the defense
they will pursue, strongly criticized the
FBI's questioning of the 20-year-old
shortly after his capture in Afghanistan.
Lindh "asked for a lawyer, repeatedly
asked for a lawyer," from Dec. 2 on, his
lead attorney, James Brosnahan, said
outside the courthouse.
The government countered that Lindh
ing - and to join the Taliban and sup-
port Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror-
ist organization.
"John Walker chose to join terrorists
who wanted to kill Americans, and he
chose to waive his right to an attorney,
both orally and in writing, before he was
questioned by the FBI;" Attorney Gen-
eral John Ashcroft said at a news con-
ference.
"Mr. Walker will be held responsible
in the courtroom for his choices," the
attorney general said.
With his parents watching from the
second row in a federal courtroom,
Lindh stood erect facing the judge when
he was addressed. He wore a green
jumpsuit with the word "prisoner" on
the back, and spoke three times.
By Jordan Schrader
and Annie Gleason
Daily Staff Reporters
Internment in a U.S. concentration
camp for Japanese-Americans at the
age of six shaped Mo Nashida's life
and insoired him to make a difference
racism that he experienced every year
on the anniversary of the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor, especially dur-
ing his freshman year at Yale Universi-
ty when he was pelted with water
balloons by fellow students chanting,
"Bomb Pearl Harbor."
The two men spoke about their expe-
With his head shaven and his stare fixed straight ahead, American Tailban fighter