LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 1, 2003 - 3

CAMPUS
Sleep under the
stars for hunger
cleanup
The Hunger Cleanup Coalition will
hold a hunger sleepout on the Diag
Thursday. Participants will gather in
room 126 of East Quad Residence Hall
at 8 p.m. to watch "Listen," a documen-
tary dealing with Ann Arbor homeless-
ness. Participants will then spend the
night on the Diag. Anyone interested
should contact Hunger Cleanup Coali-
tion at hungercleanup@umich.edu.
'U' Choir, Orpheus
Singers team up
for concert
The University Choir and Orpheus
Singers will perform at the First Con-
gregational Church today at 8 p.m.
University Choir selections will
include works by Britten, Rautavarra
and Whitacre, while the Orpheus
Singers will perform Handel's "Utrecht
Te Deum."
Speech focuses
on heart disease
in women
Pediatrics and ambulatory care Prof.
Michael Cabana will give a speech on
women and heart disease in 2239 Lane
Hall today at 4 p.m. His speech is part
of a series on women's health. Cabana
will discuss why heart disease manage-
ment and prevention measures have not
reduced the risk of heart disease in
women.
Drive will collect
goods for Ronald
McDonald House
A collection drive for the Ronald
McDonald House will begin today and
run through Friday in the Copper Cafe
and School of Public Health Building
II. Boxes will be available for suggest-
ed donations, including canned food,
Kleenex, toilet paper, laundry deter-
gent and Ziploc bags.
Show encourages
spirit of magic in
Ann Arbor
heAn Arbor MagicClub will give
a preview of their Ann Arbor Magic Day
Showin the main lobby of the Universi-
ty HospitalThursday at 12:10 p.m.
Lecture plans to
explore role of
the blind in Japan
Research Fellow Kojiro Hirose from
the National Museum of Ethnology in
Osaka, Japan will give a lecture titled,
"Reconsidering Japanese Religious
History: The Aum Incident and Blind
Culture in Modern Japan," in room
1636 of the International Institute
Thursday at noon. His speech will
focus on the life of Ashara Shoko, a
blind man who tried to use yoga to
attain nirvana. Hirose will discuss
blind culture in Japan and the role of
the disabled in Japanese history.
Prof examines
Israel, Palestinian
film casting
Near Eastern studies Prof. Carol

Bardenstein will give a speech titled,
"Who's Who? Cross-casting and Pass-
ing in Palestinian and Israeli Cinema,"
in 3050 Frieze Building today at 4 p.m.
Human rights of
children to be
discussed
Social medicine Prof. Felton Earls,
from Harvard Medical School, will
speak at the Fifth Annual Distin-
guished Lecture .on Public Health and
Human Rights in the School of Public
Health Building I Auditorium Thurs-
day at 4 p.m. His speech is titled,
"Human Rights and the Global Well-,
Being of Children."
Christian Science
lecture to focus
on spirituality
Christine Driessen, a Christian Sci-
ence lecturer, will give a speech titled,
"Finding Certainty in Uncertain Times:
A Spiritual Perspective," in the Van-
denburg Room of the Michigan
League today at 8 p.m.
History of books to
0 be analyzed

Republicans defend MEAP scholarships

By Dan Trudeau
Daily Staff Reporter

Michigan Republicans are condemning
Jennifer Granholm's proposal to cut the Mic
Merit Scholarship program to help balance the
budget.
Granholm proposed a $60 million cut to thi
gram during her budget presentation in I\
reducing the size of individual scholarships
$2,500 to $500 - a measure that House Red
cans are calling unacceptable.
In response to the governor's sugg(
cuts, Republican Reps. Leon Drolet of
ton Township, Jack Brandenburg of Har
Township, David Farhat of Muskego:
Dave Robertson of Grand Blanc have
posed a bill to maintain the program's
Ann Arbor
adjusts cit y
budget to
state cuts
By Soojung Chang
Daily Staff Reporter

ing. The bill intends to withdraw $35.5 mil-
lion in funding from the state-funded Michi-
gan Economic Development Corp., which
offers tax cuts and abatements to select cor-
porations that operate in Michigan.
Brandenburg called the MEDC a form of "cor-
porate welfare," and said the debate over the Merit
Scholarships could currently be the most serious
point of dissent between the governor and legisla-
tive Republicans.
"Between 1995 and 2001, 546,000 new jobs
were created in Michigan. Only 7,100 of them can
be attributed to the MEDC," Brandenburg said.
"That $2,500 means a lot to a lot of people, espe-
cially students who are putting themselves through
school."
Granholm defended her stance on Merit scholar-
ships as well as on the MEDC and has said that her

budget proposals reflect the concerns and priorities
of the people of Michigan.
The governor "wants to expand educational
opportunity while also expanding economic
opportunity so that there will be jobs for stu-
dents once they graduate," Granholm spokes-
woman Elizabeth Boyd said.
"We certainly expected debate over the budg-
et. The governor believes a $500 scholarship is
more appropriate, though if they have proposals,
she is definitely willing to listen."
Drolet believes the MEDC ineffectively
uses scarce state funding for academic schol-
arships and other programs and has accused
the governor of misinterpreting the priorities
of the state's citizens.
"This is an issue of priorities," Drolet said
in a written statement. "The governor wants

to cut 80 percent of the merit award scholar-
ships while proposing lesser cuts in grants
and tax breaks for government-preferred
businesses. I don't think this reflects the pri-
orities of Michigan citizens."
The scholarships have been a hotbed of
political debate from the outset. Created by
former Gov. John Engler in 1999 from money
received in state settlements with tobacco
companies, the scholarship program has been
criticized by Michigan Democrats as an inap-
propriate output for the money. But despite
the long debate, Brandenburg said that the
current Republican grievances are not a fun-
damentally partisan issue.
"Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat,
you like that $2,500 scholarship for your kids,"
Brandenburg said.

Get on the bus

Res Hall computers
stolen over weekend

Students who pay parking tickets
late may soon notice an increased
late fee as a result of a new budget
proposed for the city of Ann Arbor.
In addition to cuts in funding to
the University, the state is also
decreasing its funding to the city of
Ann Arbor. The Ann Arbor City
Council met last week to discuss the
budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Mayor John Hieftje said the city
is losing a total of $1.2 million
from the state for the next fiscal
year. This includes decreases in
state revenue sharing, part of the
state revenue sharing program,
which distributes a portion of state
earnings from sales tax to local
governments.
"This is very significant to us,"
Hieftje said. "Not only did we lose
state revenue but we also lost much
of our funding that we received
from the state."
Hieftje said the cuts to funding
include $450,000 in fire protection
money for the University that the
state provided before.
"We're in a strong enough financial
position that we'll be able to absorb
that into our budget and still be bal-
anced for the next year," he said.
"This is only possible because we
started two years ago to reduce the
size of our workforce with a very
successful early retirement pro-
gram," he added.
City Administrator Roger Fraser
proposed a budget plan to the City
Council last week, in which he laid
out a plan for a balanced budget
without layoffs.
Fraser said that in addition to cuts
in state funding, the city will be
affected by increased costs, especially
in health care insurance for employ-
ees.
The city had originally consid-
ered making across-the-board cuts
of 5 or 10 percent. But Fraser said
such a plan would have required
making layoffs.
"What we are doing is finding some
other ways of increasing revenues.,..
That includes increasing fees' "he said.
Fraser said this includes increases in
late fees for parking violation, which
he is recommending to be raised to
$25. He also said the city would adjust
about 10 other fees by 2.5 percent,
which will bring in a total of about
$250,000 in increased revenue.
A formal budget presentation will
take place on April 21 and will be
voted on in May.
Albanian
feuds fuel
shootings
DETROIT (AP) - For members of
Michigan's Albanian community, the
fatal shooting of a man as he attended
church in Rochester Hills touched a
nerve, brought back memories better
off forgotten, believed to have been
left back home.
"It was a shock to all of us," said
Luigi Gjokaj, a 42-year-old resident
of Macomb County who was seated a
few rows up from the victim, Gjek
Sufaj, when a man, harboring a years-
old grudge, opened fire in St. Paul's
Albanian Catholic Church just as the
priest was preparing to distribute
communion during the Sunday Mass.
"We were supposed to leave these
feuds behind. We left them in Albania
a long time ago," said Gjokaj. Michi-
gan is home to the second-largest
Albanian community in the United

'ALYSAWOOUaily
Students file onto several Washington-bound buses outside
the Michigan Union last night.
Michigan reps ask for
homeland securit base

Residence hall
computing sites report
increasing number of
equipment theft
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
The Department of Public Safety is
searching for a suspect, or suspects, in
a rash of thefts from residence hall
computing labs that occurred this
weekend.
ResComp employees from Mosher-
Jordan, South Quad and Alice Lloyd
residence halls all reported missing
equipment when they returned to work
on Sunday. In each of the cases, the
equipment was believed to be taken
sometime between Friday night and
Sunday afternoon, DPS Lt. Robert
Neumann said.
As of last night, DPS had no sus-
pects for any of the thefts, he said,
adding that an investigation may take
several weeks.
Four keyboards and four micro-
phones, with a total value of $472,
are missing from the Mosher-Jordan
computing lab, while six zip drives,
valued at $780, were stolen from
the South Quad lab, Neumann said.
In addition, a stolen keyboard and
mouse, valued at $120, were discov-
ered damaged in Alice Lloyd Sun-
day night.

In at least one of the incidents, Uni-
versity property, including cut securi-
ty cables, was damaged in order for
the perpetrator to take the stolen
items. The value of the damaged prop-
erty is unknown, Neumann said.
Neumann said there were no signs
of forced entry at any of the com-
puting sites, leading police to sus-
pect that the person or persons
entered the computing labs with
their own Mcard or through other
students using the labs.
"It is possible that the person was
able to swipe in with a card, and it
could be that someone let them in,"
Neumann said. "The department
would ask that people not let other
people into secure labs and buildings,
for everyone's safety"
Neumann said there are other signs
the incidentsawere connected aside
from the apparent lack of forced entry,
but he would not elaborate as the case
is under investigation.
He also would not elaborate on
whether video tape taken from the
security cameras recently installed in
several of the residence halls, includ-
ing South Quad, may lead to a sus-
pect. He called the security cameras
"one avenue for investigation that
could be followed."
ResComp Director Jeff Wright
could not be reached to comment last
night on whether ResComp will take
any action to prevent future thefts.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Michi-
gan's 15 U.S. representatives and
two U.S. senators are asking Home-
land Security Secretary Tom Ridge
to put his department's Midwestern
headquarters at Selfridge Air
National Guard Base.
In a letter sent to Ridge late last
week, Michigan's delegation said
Selfridge, in Macomb County's
Harrison Township north of Detroit,
is a prime location because of the
,egion's1massive industrial'capacity
and its busy border crossings.
The base has easy access to the
Great Lakes through Lake St. Clair,
and has space for the buildings the
government would need, the letter
said.
"Selfridge is currently playing a

key role in the homeland security
efforts of state and local govern-
ment and the transition to an
expanded role can be accomplished
quickly and with a lower degree of
cost than other installations," dele-
gation members said in the letter.
President Bush has called for
regional homeland security centers
in his 2004 budget proposal, but it
is not clear how those sites will be
selected.
A spokesperson from the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security didn't
immediately return a message seek-
ing comment Monday.
U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, whose
district includes Selfridge, said she
was pleased that the entire delega-
tion signed the letter.

Correction:
Spot an error? We want to hear about it!
To report a correction, e-mail corrections@michigandaily.com.


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