Weather Wednesday March 19, 2003 ©2003 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan * Vol. CXIII, No. 113 One-hundred-twelve years of editorialfreedom TODAY: Light rain will fail through- out the day, with thundfr in the early evening and wind from the south- east HI 9 Tomorrow: www.michigandaily.com Saddam mocks, rejects Bush ultimatum The Associated Press In an edgy prelude to war, Saddam Hussein mocked an American ultimatum yesterday to surrender power, and the Bush administration claimed public support from 30 nations for its international coalition supporting Iraq's disar- mament. The streets of Baghdad captured the moment - panic buying by residents bracing for a fear- some U.S.-led attack, side by side with a gov- ernment-prompted, mass demonstration in support of Saddam. "This war, in short, is tantamount to geno- cide," charged Mohammed Al-Douri, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations, in one of a string of insults the Iraqi high command hurled at Bush. It was a daylong act of defiance in the face of an invasion force of more than 250,000 troops ringing Iraq, a nation of more than 23 million that Saddam has ruled brutally for near- ly a quarter century. One day after President Bush set his deadline of 8 p.m. EST today, troops in the Kuwaiti desert loaded their ammunition and combat gear into fighting vehicles, ready to invade on short notice. "I think I'd probably have a better chance of being elected pope than we have of Mr. Sad- dam Hussein leaving the country," Capt. Thomas Parker said aboard the USS Kitty Hawk - an aircraft carrier preparing to take on a supply of 1,000-pound, satellite-guided bombs from a nearby munitions ship. "So this is probably going to follow to its logical conclusion." As the hours dwindled toward Bush's dead- line, the White House worked to keep Saddam guessing. Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer would not rule out a U.S. attack before Bush's 48-hour clock ran out. "Saddam Hussein has to figure out what this means," he said. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush was leaving the door open in case Saddam makes a pre-emptive attack or U.S. intelligence warns that one is likely. Underscoring what Bush said on Monday night, Fleischer said U.S. troops would enter Iraq, either as an invading force or as part of an unmolested effort to locate weapons of mass destruction. Turkey's government, meanwhile, said it would ask parliament to grant the U.S. Air Force the right to use Turkish airspace in an Iraq war and that a separate motion allow- ing in U.S. troops could be considered at a later date. Last month, the Turkish parlia- ment rebuffed a resolution to let in tens of thousands of American soldiers, opening a northern front against Iraq. At the same time the administration prepared for an invasion, it announced a series of steps at home to protect against terrorist attacks. "We know that our interests have been attacked abroad. And we should prepare for potential attacks, either here or abroad at this time," said Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. The plan, dubbed "Operation Liberty Shield," heightens security at the nation's bor- ders, airports, seaports and railways, at nuclear See IRAQ, Page 7 Diplomats urge renewed focus on Korea By Lydia K. Leung Daily Staff Reporter A day after President Bush delivered an ultimatum to Iraq, three veteran diplomats addressed the situation in North Korea - another member of the "axis of evil" - in a forum discus- sion at the Business School yesterday. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Korean Ambassador to the United States Yang Sung Chul and former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Donald Gregg, spoke at the forum, titled "Korea: Issues and Prospects." The event filled Hale Auditorium with hundreds of students, professors and others concerned with the diplomatic conflict. "We have the Iraq crisis going on now, and we may go into war by the end of the week," said Albright, a distinguished scholar at the William Davidson Institute of the Business School. "But I think there is an even greater crisis, and that is the relationship that we have with North Korea." Albright said she believes the incredibly strong U.S. military will have no problems in delivering a victory over Iraq. Con- cerns should focus on the problems that will lie ahead in the war's aftermath, she said. Although there are many differences between Iraq and North Korea, Albright said "these two crises unfortunately have become linked and I think they need to be looked at, to some extent, together." President Bush linked Iraq and North Korea ih last January's State of the Union address. But Gregg said labeling Iraq, Iran and North Korea "the axis of evil" was a "terrible mistake" that put three heterogeneous countries together in the same cat- egory. In October, North Korea's potential for threatening the world's safety became apparent when it resumed the nuclear weapon program that it agreed to stop in 1994. The crisis intensified in January when the country announced its imme- See KOREA, Page 3 IraqiAmerican FS students divided over need for war By Emily Kraack Daily Staff Reporter For many students, Iraq is synony- mous with Saddam Hussein or victim- ized citizens. But for some students, Iraq means family and heritage. Iraqi-American students on campus hold a host of opinions regarding war between Iraq and the United States, but many agree that something should be done to change the situation in Iraq. LSA sophomore Areej El-Jawahri, an Iraqi American, said she thinks there is broad consensus among Iraqi students regarding Saddam Hussein's rule. "Personally, I think a lot of Iraqi students support a regime change in Iraq," she said. "We're worried about Saddam Hussein really hurting his own people and people in the region" LSA senior Paul Gabrail, who moved to the United States from Iraq a few months after he was born, echoed El-Jawahri's sentiments. He said that 2,000 Iraqi children die each month from lack of basic medical care like antibiotics. "It's hurting the Iraqi peo- ple the longer we stay with (Saddam)," Gabrail said. While.-El-Jawahri and Gabrail said they support a war against Saddam, other Iraqi-Americans on campus in favor of regime change were against an American-led attack. University alum Hiba Ghalib said she does not believe all other means have been exhausted yet. "I am not in any way supporting Saddam Hussein's tyranny. But at the same time I don't believe that war is the way to deal with the situation," she said. "I just don't see the justification at this point" She said that her family in America feels the need to take a low-key stance and not be too vocal against the war because they are worried about being labelled anti-American. "When I take active stances for or against anything in the government, my parents are real- ly wary," she said. LSA freshman Sayf Al-Katib said he thinks Saddam should be removed because of the harm he does to the country, but he does not support war. "Under the current situation in Iraq I don't feel that there is the opportunity for the country to prosper under Sad- dam's leadership, under the current economic sanctions," he said. "Now whether or not a war is the solution - I don't have the answer to that but I feel that there are other alternatives to war." He said he worried that war would lead to strained relations See STUDENTS, Page 7 Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks about the significance of the North Korean nuclear crisis last night at the Business School's Hale Auditorium. U, seeks to prevent medical errors .. _,. -i Death at Duke University Medical Center increases nation's watchfulness By Erin Saylor Daily Staff Reporter The death of 17-year-old Jesica Santillan after she mistakenly received incompatible organs during transplant surgery at Duke-Uni- versity Medical Center has heightened con- cerns among medical providers and patients about medical errors. "All of us have been saddened and alarmed by the recent event that occurred at the Duke University Medical Center. The only positive outcome I can see from this tragedy is that it serves as a trigger for other transplant pro- grams to re-evaluate their policies and proce- dures," Darrell Campbell, University of Michigan Hospitals chief of clinical affairs and a chair on the Patient Safety Committee, said in a written statement. "Human error will always be with us, but it is our responsibility as a health system to put enough fail-safe mechanisms in place that errors are detected and remedied before serious harm is done." But many health officials say that this is an old problem that isjust now getting the atten- tion it deserves. In November 1999, the Insti- tute of Medicine reported that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die each year as the result of medical errors in hospitals, making it the eighth-leading cause of death - placing it higher than motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer or AIDS. "Most of the country became much more sensitive to the possibility of error after the report was released," said Robert Winfield, director of University Health Service. "Whether the numbers are accurate or not, it shows that there is a substantial problem." Aside from the physical risks, medical errors also carry a high financial cost. The IOM report estimated that medical errors cost the nation around $37.6 billion each year and that about $17 billion of those costs are asso- ciated to preventable mistakes. Most medical errors have had less to do with neglect on the part of the medical providers and more with failures within the health system itself, Winfield said. He said he See ERRORS, Page 7 DSt endi Cofrdia r PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS MAKE FINAL PUSH Y..7, 'y Galardi Clifton War on the horizon Plaintiffs' brief only presents part of the story, 'U' lawyers say Perry Scott By Andrew Kaplan Daily Staff Reporter By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter Lawyers prosecuting the University for its use of race in admissions have cited enrollment statistics and created elaborate grids attempting to prove the Law School uses admissions quo- tas, but University Lead Counsel Marvin Krislov said the grids do not capture the comprehensive nature of the Law School's policy. The Washington-based law firm Center for Individual Rights, repre- senting the plaintiffs in lawsuits against the Law School and LSA's admissions policies, employed a stat- istician to create grids placing appli- cants into cells based on their grade point averages and LSAT scores. Krislov said the grids, which show blacks and Hispanics in certain cells were admitted at much higher rates the same LSAT scores and GPAs, are "only part of a picture of a human being." He said the University looks at every applicant individually, con- sidering many other factors such as references, essays, and strength of Dis $ipg curriculum. ~. tIebriefs "It doesn't + represent the }art twotin a farr ro 4 ie After three weeks of flyering, chalking and haunting the Diag in costumes, candidates in today's student government elections are mak- ing their final campaign push before the Inter- net polls close tomorrow at midnight. Students can vote online at vote.wwwumich.edu. Spearheading the race for seats on the Michi- gan Student Assembly are Students First presi- dential candidate Angela Galardi, University Party presidential candidate Jon Clifton and Defend Affirmative Action Party presidential candidate Kate Stenvig. While the presidential nominees have diversi- fied their platforms with regard to campus improvements, they also advocate divergent views on what the assembly's role should be in the debate over University admissions policies and war with Iraq. Pledging her commitment to students, Galar- di, currently MSA Budget Priorities Committee chair, said her goals as president include bring- ing career counseling to North Campus and fol- lowing through with recent Students First projects - such as creating a new bus route on Central Campus, expanding Entree Plus, mak- ing Spring Break a week later in the Winter Term and renovating the University's Recre- ational Sports facilities. Winter 2O e ecIon S "Most of the work that's being done on the assembly to do things that students are con- cerned with has been done by Students First," she said. "I think anyone who wants to be on student government is concerned about the stu- dents. However, I think the difference between (Students First) and (other parties) is that we way we do admissions," Krislov said. "The grids only plot two num- bers - LSATs and grades - want to repre- sent all stu- dents." But Clifton, who is vice chair of the Budget Priori- ties Committee, said his agenda best captures students' interests because he refuses to address broad issues before surveying his constituents. "There's a huge amount of time spent on those resolutions, and that's not the accurate representation," he said, referring to recent assembly resolutions supporting race-conscious admissions and diplomatic relations with Iraq. "I support a student-wide survey about what the student body is actually thinking." Although Stenvig said she supports campus improvements - particularly those preventing tuition hikes andreforming financial aid - she added that defending University admissions policies, opposing war with Iraq and combating See MSA, Page 3 and we look at a lot more than that" The University's legal brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court argues CIR's evidence fails to explain why the Law School accepted 85 white and Asian American applicants from 1995 to 2000 with lower test scores An F-14A Tomcat prepares to land aboard an aircraft carrier yesterday in the Persian Gulf. I i ,I ,