One hundred eleven years fedorlfreedm NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 764-557 w ww. mlchlgin dall y. com Friday January 25, 2002 VoCXI N.65An ror@ician000,heMchgn al 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