The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 9, 2002 - 7
-Qaida fighter blows up in failed escape attempt

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- A
wounded al-Qaida fighter blew himself up
during an escape attempt yesterday after leap-
ing from the second story of a hospital where
he and six armed comrades have been.holed
up for a month.
The escape attempt underscored the diffi-
culty of capturing hard-core members of
Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. It came
as Afghan officials considered a reported sur-
render offer from several top Taliban figures,
including their former defense and justice
ministers.
There were conflicting reports on the status

of the negotiations. Commander Sadozai, a
high-ranking security official in Kandahar,
said Gov. GuI Agha and others were meeting
late yesterday to decide how to handle former
Taliban officials if they give themselves up.
By other accounts, officials of the interim
government have already granted ex-Taliban
ministers a general amnesty, allowing them to
go free unless they are accused of a specific
crime. In Kabul, Intelligence Ministry offi-
cials and U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad
said last night they could not confirm anyone
had surrendered.
At the Pentagon, Gen. Richard Myers said

U.S. officials were checking into the reported
surrender offer. "Obviously individuals of that
stature in the Taliban leadership are of great
interest to the United States, and we would
expect them to be turned over," said Myers,
the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The U.S. military targeted pockets of Tal-
iban and al-Qaida resistance yesterday as
commanders shifted their focus from an all-
out search for bin Laden to punishing air and
ground attacks against the remnants of those
who supported him.
Myers said U.S. forces operating in the
Khost region of eastern Afghanistan had cap-

tured two senior al-Qaida figures. The two,
whom Myers did not identify, were taken to
the Marine base at Kandahar airport for inter-
rogation, along with cell phones and laptops
found with them. They were captured along
with 12 other al-Qaida fighters, who were
handed over to the Afghan government.
U.S. warplanes launched new strikes
against a huge cave complex near the place
where the al-Qaida members were captured.
"We have found this complex to be very, very
extensive. It covers a large area," Myers said.
In the southern city of Kandahar, a group of
al-Qaida fighters, some injured in earlier

fighting, have been sequestered in a ward with
smuggled-in weapons refusing to submit to
the city's new rulers. They have said they will
blow themselves up if anyone tries to remove
them.
One fighter, identified by hospital guards as
Mohammad Rasool, jumped from a second-
story window at Mir Wais Hospital early
Tuesday but was quickly surrounded by sol-
diers, said Mohammed Shafiq, a local com-
mander.
"He stopped, looked around, saw that he
was surrounded and took a grenade and blew
himself up," Shafiq said.

A nation in upheaval: Bush's first year ends

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON - Few presidents have
faced such a radical shift in circumstances so
soon after taking office as George W. Bush.
Elected while the nation was luxuriating in
peace and prosperity, Bush has been forced to
grapple with recession and a devastating for-
eign attack on the U.S. mainland.
As a candidate, Bush focused on domestic
issues -- cutting taxes, reforming education,
bolstering religious charities. Now he spends
most of his time prosecuting a distant war and
trying to fortify the nation's internal security.
Even in foreign policy, he has pivoted from
emphasizing reductions in U.S. obligations
abroad to assembling a U.S.-led coalition
against terrorism.
In all these respects, Bush is presiding over
what amounts to an inverted presidency. His
first year ends with him in a very strong politi-
cal position -- far stronger than seemed possi-
ble when he won his bitterly disputed victory
after losing the popular vote just over a year
ago, but arriving at it by a route utterly different
from the one he set out upon.
Much like Bill Clinton before him, Bush
came to Washington, D.C., promising to
reshape the debate on domestic issues and pro-
vide his party a more centrist image. But, as the
stalemate over economic stimulus legislation
last month underscored, his presidency has
tended to reinforce, rather than realign, the tra-
ditional domestic divisions between the two
political parties, particularly over the role of
government.
Since the attacks, though, Bush has soared in
public esteem for his performance in the arena
where his experience was thinnest: the manage-
ment of national security and foreign affairs.

Surrounded by an unusually seasoned team, he
has become a steadying and reassuring figure,
powerfully expressing the nation's outrage over
Sept. II and channeling it into a fiercely effi-
cient military campaign in Afghanistan. As
much as his domestic agenda had divided the
country and Congress before the attacks, his
wartime leadership has unified them.
"The circumstances make the person, and
there's a general sense that the president has
stepped up, with an incredibly good team, in
this situation after Sept. 11," says former Com-
merce Secretary Bill Daley, the campaign chair-
man for Al Gore, Bush's rival in the 2000
presidential election. "I think you have to give
him a solid A ... at handling what is the defin-
ing piece of his presidency."
The tension between the unifying effect of
the war and the centrifugal pull of domestic dis-
putes will shape the coming months, and per-
haps the remainder of Bush's term. Terrorism's
challenge will provide Bush continuing oppor-
tunities to transcend traditional politics and
unite the country in his role as commander in
chief.
But domestic issues, submerged since Sept.
11, also seem certain to resurface this year, and
disputes over health care, energy, the environ-
ment and, above all, the return of federal budget
deficits could reopen the divisions that sur-
rounded Bush during his presidency's first
months.
"The bipartisanship and consensus in Wash-
ington that occurred after Sept. 11 never really
took hold very firmly," says Rutgers University
political scientist Ross K. Baker. "It's really like
the Christmas truce in 1914 during World War
I. The two sides came out of their trenches and
sang carols, then went back and shot at each
other. That's probably what we can expect for

AP PHOTO
President George Bush addresses a crowd at Parkrose High School in Portland, Ore. Saturday. He
vowed he won't allow his tax cuts to be rolled back.

(this) year."
Until Sept. I1, the defining political charac-
teristic of Bush's term had been polarization.
Polls showed the country sharply divided along
partisan and ideological lines over Bush's agen-
da, his performance and even his qualifications
for the job. Burdened by the sagging economy,
Bush's overall approval rating by late summer

had dipped to about 50 percent.
The Sept. I1 attacks, and Bush's response,
blew all that away. In the latest Gallup Poll, his
job approval rating stood at 86 percent, the
highest for a president concluding his first year.
On questions surrounding the war, he's inspir-
ing confidence even among most who doubted
him.

TEXTBOOKS
Continued from Page 1
thing or a better margin, but it is basical-
ly determined by the publisher," said
Bob Curre, a store manager at Shaman
Drum Bookshop.
But while the publishers control the
price of the books, professors have the
ability to require students to purchase
books they have written and profit from
the sale of their books, Beres said.
In an effort to save money, many stu-
dents buy their books used or sell their
old books back to the bookstores.
"If a book is being used for a class we
buy it back at 50 percent," said Curre.
"Then we actually sell tem at 75 per-
cent; it's pretty much standard across the
country."
But if the bookstore currently has
enough copies of a book being used
during the next semester, they will no
longer buy the book for 50 percent.
"At times when we have bought
enough books from students to fill a
professor's order, we can no longer pay
50 percent of the selling price for that
title," said information published by
Barnes & Noble.
When a book is no longer used for a
class, its buy-back price is much less
and depends on the demand for the
book, Curre said.
"We buy them back for a wholesale
company ... These are places that make
their money in dealing with used
books," said Curre. "It depends on what
their needs are, but it is roughly 10 per-
cent."
Even if a book was used just once or
is still in the original plastic wrap, it is
still sold as a used book. In addition,
many bookstores do not allow students
to return their books for full price after
the drop-add deadline because book-
stores are under a deadline to return
unsold books, Curre said. .
This semester, Shaman Drum on
South State Street has extended the
deadline for returning books past the
traditional drop-add deadline so stu-
dents have more of an opportunity to get
their money back for unused books,
Curre added.
There are several services that offer
students an alternative to the high prices
of books at the bookstores. They include
the Michigan Student Assembly's
Online Book Exchange, Student Book
Exchange, the University Reserves
Library and the University Coursetools
website where professors can put read-
ings online.
TUITION
Continued from Page 1
sonably priced. %
While Schwarz, Courant and
University Vice President for Gov-
ernment Relations Cynthia
Wilbanks all said the University
raises tuition substantially when the
state appropriation doesn't meet
their costs, Posthumus spokesman
Eastman said:
"In the 1990s we set aside substan-
tial amount of monies to get us
through an economic downturn. There
are any number of solutions that any
institution can make ... it could
include any host of measures. But
that's why we have and elect good
regents and trustees."


WAR
Continued from Page 1
naissance system, he said. "I'm just
saying there was a large piece of it that
was in caves and underground and that
the structure was more extensive, I
think, than we had forecast it to be."
Myers reported two new airstrikes
late Monday on a suspected terrorist
compound near the camp. An F-14
fighter jet dropped two precision-guided
bombs on one building, and two hours
later, an F-18 jet dropped tvwo more
guided boinbs on a bunker, he said.
Myers released a video of the first

strike, which showed several vehicles
near the building as well as an uniden-
tified individual outside it.
'"These were not friendly forces, and
we had evidence that the compound
was active with al-Qaida," the general
said.
Meanwhile, in southern
Afghanistan, a spokesman for Kan-
dahar governor Gul Agha raised U.S.
concerns by reporting the surrender
of three ministers of the vanquished
Taliban regime but adding that the
men -- including two on the U.S.
most-wanted list -- would not be
detained.

HILGER
Continued from Page 1
going."
"Rebecca was the most heart-warming person I met
in my life," said Buchalski. a member of Rebecca
Hilger's sorority, Gamma Phi Beta. "She met everyone
with anopen heart."
Buchalski said Hilger was a diligent student who
made her assignments a top priority, but she also was
fun and uplifting, especially when one of her friends
was in a bad mood.
Susan Montgomery, an undergraduate adviser for
chemical engineering, said Hilger had a passion for
biology and planned to develop a career combining
public health with engineering. Montgomery, who

helped develop Hilger's class schedule, said she
received a letter of introduction before meeting her, in
which she wrote, "I want to help people and see my
results directly."
Montgomery added that although Hilger's freshman
year was difficult, she learned a lot and was proud of
her success at the University.
In addition to her schoolwork, Hilger was an active
member of Women in Science and Engineering and
also served as Gamma Phi Beta's vice president of
member education, planning social events.and creating
camaraderie among members, Buchalski said.
Hilger also developed a complete spiritual life
through her involvement in St. Mary's Student Parish
and Young Life, a Christian youth group, her father
said.

EARLY DECISION
Continued from Page 1
doing so for their own benefit - not that of stu-
dents.
"The whole process of early decision has started
to take on a life of its own in the smaller schools
who are competing against each other," Spencer
said. "They are trying to identify and compete for
that blue chip academic student, that kid with the
four-point, the 1600. ... Other schools won't be
able to compete for those students."
Spencer added that some schools have problems
getting enough students to commit using a regular
admissions policy. Students that apply to multiple
universities cannot be counted on, and early deci-
sion prohibits students from applying to more than
one institution.
"It helps guarantee that some students will arrive
in the fall because of the binding nature of the early
decision process," he said.
Beside the reduced uncertainty over how many
the michigan daily
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students will commit, the Harvard study also con-
cluded that early decision admissions gives institu-
tions "a convincing sign of enthusiasm."
Dick Tobin, the director of college counseling at
Greenhills, a privateschool for 6th to 12th graders
in Ann Arbor, said early decision admissions can
do exactly what the policy was designed to do by
allowing a student relax and focus on other things
if they are admitted --or the exact opposite.
"In general, it can be stressful for a lot of
kids, it probably would be more stressful for
our kids if more of them were applying using"
early decision policies, he said. "If you're
rejected or if you deferred, then all the ques-
tion marks are still there."
In the study, Harvard Profs. Christopher Avery,
Andrew Fairbanks and Richard Zeckhauser found
"a greater proportion of applicants is applying and
getting accepted earlier ... (and) colleges set lower
standards for early than regular applicants."
Use of early decision admissions also helps raise
a school's U.S. News and World Report ranking,

according to the study. Early decision policies can
raise selectivity and yield ratings, two of the factors
U.S. News uses in its ratings.
The study states that "one obvious way for a col-
lege to improve its performance in terms of selec-
tivity and yield is to accept more early applicants.
By increasing the number of early admits, a college
can reduce the total number of applicants it must
accept to fill the incoming class."
The high number of accepted early decision
applicants means that fewer spaces are left open for
students applying before the regular application
deadline. Those students usually come from less
privileged and public schools versus expensive, pri-
vate high schools.
Tobin said about one forth of Greenhills students
apply using early decision or early action admis-
sions, although he said he does not recommend
that most students do so. Boshoven said only 10
percent of Community High School seniors apply
using early decision.
"I'm like a lot of counselors. I worry about

early decision - I worry about it rushing stu-
dents into making premature decisions without
having the chance for them to figure out what
they really want." Tobin said. Early decision
"tends to sort of highlight college admissions
as a strategy. It undermines the importance of
thinking carefully about what place you want
to be at ... where you want to get to and if it
makes sense to you personally."
Although the majority of the highest-ranked
colleges use early decision admissions, includ-
ing Harvard, Yale, the University of Pennsylva-
nia and the University of Virginia, Spencer
said the policy is not needed - nor wanted -
at the University.
"The larger schools in Michigan have felt, right-
ly so, that students need as much time as we can
grant them to make their decisions," he said. "It is
not one that is binding, and so a student can look at
other schools and other universities so they can
make sure that the University of Michigan is the
best fit."


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ROUNDUP
Continued from Page 1
time since 1994. Michigan's constitution now limits the
governor, secretary of state, attorney general and members
of the Senate to two four-year terms.
"We think we're going to have a strong top of the ticket
with (U.S. Sen.) Carl Levin and whoever our gubernatorial
candidate is," said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark
Brewer.
More than two-thirds of the 38 Senate members are
forced to retire from the Legislature or seek another office
because of term limits. Some are making risky political
moves they probably would not be making had the term
limits proposal never been ratified, such as Sen. John
Schwarz (R-Battle Creek). Although considered a long
shot, Schwarz is challenging Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus for
the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Sen. Dale
Shugars of Portage is reportedly considering a GOP con-
gressional primary fight in western Michigan against
incumbent Rep. Fred Upton of St. Joseph.
With this first election following legislative and congres-
sional redistricting and the resulting shifts in the boundaries
of many districts, officials from both parties are also expect-
ing more primaries than usual.
With primaries expected in several races, Brewer said his
work is more difficult. The parties usually stay out of prima-
i., feshtr a - - nn - fi nolm-m- v o . ndin--3- . unt-i;it;is

"There are people in our (Republican) caucus who have
not given us a definite answer whether they're running for a
Senate seat or a House seat," said Rep. Gene DeRossett of
Manchester, chair of the House GOP's 2002 campaign com-
mittee.
DeRossett expects his party to retain control of the 110-
seat House, in which it has held a majority for two terms.
His party could increase their 57 seat hold by as many as
five seats.
"I think we just have a great number of people who have
stepped forward (to run) and in most situations there is
more than one candidate and some may think too many can-
didates," he said.
Congressional redistricting is also having a dramatic
effect on Michigan's congressional delegation in which
Republicans would stand to gain several seats. Democrats
currently hold nine of Michigan's 16 seats in the U.S. House,
but their adversaries are hoping to grab some of those.
The state is losing one seat after the 2000 Census showed
Michigan not gaining population as fast as some other
states.
The GOP, which controlled the redistricting process, was
able to force four Democratic members of Congress into
primary fights. In a new district comprising parts of Wayne
and Washtenaw counties, 24-term Rep. John Dingell of
Dearborn will likely face Ann Arbor's Rep. Lynn Rivers. In
a new district comprising most of the thumb area, Reps.
lnp.c Riavm rn dmate Ki;1Ae will face off in a Demmcratic

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