Friday April 4, 2003 b2003 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 125 One-hundred-twelve years ofeditorialfreedom Rain will bgnflig ithearly h morning and Hg: 6 continu into theenLW;33 evening. Tomorrow: 41124 www.michigandailycom r 'A vice Is closing on the regime' Coalition forces on edges of Iraqi cap ital, take ai port The Associated Press Army forces launched a nighttime attack on Saddam International Air- port just outside Baghdad yesterday and fought running battles with Iraqis along the city's southern fringes. "A vise is closing on the regime," Presi- dent Bush told cheering Marines stateside. Some front-line units went on heightened alert against the threat of chemical weapons, ordered to wear rubber boots and suits despite temper- atures that soared into the '90s. There was fierce fighting in Kut, to the south of Baghdad, where desper- ate Iraqis armed with rifles charged tanks in a suicide raid. "We mowed down" the attackers, said Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy. Despite declarations that further tough fighting lies ahead, the nation's top military official indicated there may not be an all-out battle for Bagh- dad. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggested isolating members of the old regime in the capital - cut off from the rest of the country - while an "interim administration" is put in place to begin work on a postwar government. A meeting to organize an interim See WAR, Page 2 Congress approves $80B for war WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress voted overwhelmingly yesterday to give President Bush about $80 billion for initial costs of the invasion of Iraq and other anti-terrorism efforts after thwarting conservatives trying to lash out at Turkey and other nations for hin- dering the U.S. war effort. Senators approved their measure 93- 0 and the House adopted a similar bill by 414-12, underscoring lawmakers' resolve to back U.S. forces in the field. The votes put the two chambers on track to send Bush a final package by his deadline of April 11, which would be uncommonly swift for a Congress that received his request for $74.7 bil- lion only a week ago. Though lawmakers reined in Bush's request to control most of the funds and added aid for airlines and other items, the vote gave him a welcome victory on Capitol Hill, a week after the Senate voted to cut in half his plan for new tax cuts. "It's imperative that we complete this bill ... and get the bill on the presi- dent's desk," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). The lopsided votes masked partisan disputes that raged in both chambers over the measures' funds for security at home. Both bills contained more than $4 billion for securing potential terror- ist targets on America's shores, which Democrats said fell billions short. "As we support men and women in uniform in Iraq, it's hard to understand how we can underfund the needs of our men and women in uniform in the front lines of home- land defense in America," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D- Calif.), told reporters. See WAR BUDGET, Page 3 AP PHOTO/San Antonio Express-News, Bahram Mark Sobhani Third Infantry Divison ground forces secure a gated area at Saddam International Airport outside of Baghdad early this morning. Possible 'U' SARS case a false alarm Astute academic By Soojung Chang Daily Staff Reporter A possible Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome case under examination at the University Hospital was deter- mined yesterday to have been a false scare. University of Michi- Criteria gan Health System 0 Fever ab spokeswoman Kara degrees. Gavin said the case did not meet the definition of N Symptom the mysterious respirato- illness, like ry disease outlined by the shortness o Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention - a N Travel to list of symptoms and suspected travel history that charac- of SARS or terize a suspected case. with a susr According to the CDC, case. a total of 2,223 suspected and/or probable SARS cases have been reported to the World Health Organiza- tion from 16 countries. The reported cases include 78 deaths, or 3.5 percent of the total cases. Gavin said cases that meet all of the criteria in the definition are called "suspect," because there is no blood ADC exe test for SARS that can give a definitive answer. "All SARS cases are considered suspect cases until the CDC can exactly identify what exactly SARS is," said Geralyn Lasher, a spokes- woman for the Michigan Department of Community Health. for SARS Epidemiology Prof. ove 100.5 Arnold Monto said although scientists do not have enough data at ns of respiratory this time, many believe a cough and/or the cause of SARS is of breath. probably a coronavirus - the cause of the com- oan area with mon cold. transmission "The current theory is close contact that it might have jumped pected SARS species and it may be a coronavirus of birds," Monto said, who has per- formed research on corona viruses. Monto said because it is a new dis- ease, there is no immunity in the popu- lation. "I think people need to behave cautiously," Monto said. "We've not seen something like this in a while," he added. See SARS, Page 3 . scusses -m-uV isoiay Christopher Hayward is one of two University students being honored with the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. Hayward plans to pursue a career in astrophysics. Inside: More on the winners. Page 3. Students: Campus storeS overprced, but necessary House OKs billto keep scholarship funding Daily Staff Reporter Contrary to Gov. Jennifer Granholm's wishes, Republicans in the state House of Representatives passed a bill seeking to maintain the Michigan Merit Award scholarships at the expense of $60 million to the state's General Fund. The -scholarships would be in danger of being cut from $2,500 per person to $500 under Granholm's proposal. The measure proposed diverting $60 million in tobacco settlement money from Granholm's $162.5 million Med- icaid expansion plan, replacing the missing Medicaid funding with money from the depleted General Fund. The vote was split almost entirely down party lines, with only one Democrat voting with the Republican majority. The governor is openly opposed to the change in her budget proposal and said that the measure now shifts the responsibility for balancing the budget to Republican shoulders. "The budget's now out of balance. The Republicans are going to have to show us where they're going to get the $60 million," Granholm spokeswoman Mary Detloff said. But House Appropriations Commit- tee Chairman Marc Shulman (R-West Bloomfield) said finding alternative sources of funding will not pose a problem. "Basically we found some money in the General Fund to fund one of the top priorities we had in this budget," Shulman said. "The Democrats maybe don't view the Merit Award as one of their top priorities." Shulman added that the Republican plan preserves all of Granholm's health care proposals, including prescription drugs and community health care pro- grams for low-income residents. Rep. Chris Kolb (D-Ann Arbor) said the awards were not a partisan issue, but added that Democratic criticism of the proposal stems from the procedural steps the Republicans took to pass it. "People should not look at this as we either do or do not support Merit. The Merit scholarships are not going to be a partisan issue," Kolb said. "There was a virtual agreement on the budget and 12 hours or so before the vote, the Republicans decided to withdraw the tobacco settlement money without any real discussion. It's just not fiscally responsible to do it this way." See SCHOLARSHIP. Page 2 implications of war By Taaha Haq For the Daily "This was an avoidable war and cer- tainly an unjustified war, creating more problems than it is solving," said Hus- sain Ibish, referring to America's poli- cies on the war. Speaking to a packed crowd in Hutchins Hall, Ibish, commu- nications director of the American- Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, spoke about the role of the Iraq war on American foreign policy. Referring to policy makers in the United States, Ibish said that the "neo- conservatives have hijacked American foreign policy." Ibish also said it was naive for Arabs and Muslims to dismiss the American political agenda as a Jewish plot, see- ing that the main actors in the neo-con- See ADC, Page 2 By Ryan Vicko For the Daily School is expensive. Housing is expensive. Books are expensive. But does food also have to be expensive? Some students believe there exists a culture of overcharging in the Uni- versity area which exploits their situ- ation as four-year visitors, and one place they feel charges too much is the grocery store. The Blue Apple, in Bursley Resi- dence Hall on North Campus, charges $5.69 for a box of cereal, $3.19 for a box of Pop Tarts and $4.29 for.a package of two bars of soap. LSA senior and Blue Apple employee Nakia Frazier said prices keep rising. She said the price on items the owner knows people will buy is inflated, whereas deals can be found on obscure products that are rarely sold. Mary Sabin,.School of Music sophomore, said the Blue Apple is mainly used as an alternative to the meal plan. If you miss a meal, you can use $4.55 at the Blue Apple, she said, but added that it's not a good alternative. Apart from unreasonable prices she said, "There's not a large "That's the sacrifice you make for not going to dinner (in the residence halls). I'm glad we have it." - Kavin Chung LSA freshman selection ... it's mostly junk food." On the other hand, some students are just happy the store is there, and they use it for emergency situations only. Speaking of the high prices, LSA freshman Kavin Chung said, "That's the sacrifice you make for not going to dinner. I'm glad that we have it." Winter is the season when students have the most trouble getting gro- See PRICES, Page 7 A prepares for Hash Bash events By Maria Sprow Daily Staff Reporter In the midst of a war abroad, some are attempting to put an end to a different type of war here at home, a battle that has been going on since Richard Nixon's presiden- cy - the war on drugs. Call them stoners, pot heads, marijuana aficionados, hippies, or liberal political activists - in any case, they'll be turning out in full force this weekend for the 32nd Ann Arbor Hash Bash. "We do get a much larger crowd than any other event or rally on campus. We get many more people than the anti-war rallies, we get many more people than the affirma- tive action rallies," said long-time organizer Adam Brook. "Why? Because people love weed. They show up for weed." Like previous years, the main event takes place at noon tomorrow on the Diag, following an 11 a.m. rally and march in front of the Fed- eral Building on Liberty Street. The event will be followed by a Hash Bash after party on Monroe Street, near Dominick's Restaurant. The Department of Public Safety and the Ann Arbor Police Depart- ment plan to increase patrols tomor- row for the events. AAPD Sgt. Ed Stuck said there will be 15 extra officers on duty, while DPS Sgt. Melissa Overton said DPS will also be significantly increasing its force, which will patrolling the Diag and See HASH BASH. Page 7 Ann Arbor resident Ed Frazier arrested by DPS in the diag at last year's Hash Raeh_