- . -- Monday April 7,2003 ©2003 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 126 One-hundred-twelve years ofeditorialfreedom t hroughout ° he day and continuing H~3 4 hrough the LOW; 29 earlv evening. Tomaaaorrow.: 40/25 www.michigandailycom U.S. begins 2nd wave of raids into Baghdad Kurdish soldiers hit by U.S. friendly fire, report 18 deaths and 45 injuries The Associated Press American forces rolled through the streets of Baghdad in armored vehicles yesterday, as mis- siles screamed through the skies and the crack- le of heavy machine gun fire grew more intense. In the second day of incursions into the capital, U.S. troops were conducting "what we U.S., U.N. argue over post-war * contracts By Lydia K. Leung Daily Staff Reporter would call armored raids right now," Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview yesterday with CNN. Chip- ping away at the vestiges of Saddam Hussein's power, U.S. forces encircled Baghdad yesterday and began flying into the capital's airport. British forces in the south made their deepest push into Iraq's second largest city. Earlier, a hulking U.S. C-130 transport plane landed at the Baghdad international airport, carrying unknown cargo but weighted with symbolism and tactical importance. The arrival presaged a major resupply effort by air for U.S. troops, dependent until now on a tenuous line stretching 350 miles to Kuwait. U.S. officials declared Baghdad cut off from the rest of Iraq. "We do control the highways in and out of the city and do have the capability to interdict, to stop, to attack Iraqi military forces that might try to either escape or to engage our forces," said Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Marines closing in on Baghdad from the south were told to take off their protective suits yesterday for the first time in 20 days, a sign of easing fears of possible use of chemical or bio- logical weapons. Intense fighting took a growing toll on com- batants and civilians. Injured Russian diplo- mats and a convoy of America's Kurdish comrades in arms were among unintended vic- tims caught in crossfire and friendly fire yester- day. Kurds said 18 of their own died in the mistaken U.S. air strike. Assorted prizes fell into allied hands, some after hard fighting, but U.S. forces had yet to confront Baghdad's last-ditch defenders on a large scale. "They are extremely weakened, but that does not mean they're finished," Pace said of the Republican Guard. Southeast of Baghdad, Marines seized one of Saddam's palaces, poked through remnants of a Republican Guard headquarters and searched a suspected terrorist training camp, finding the shell of a passenger jet believed to be used for hijacking practice. U.S. forces consolidated positions around Baghdad and declared they controlled all high- ways in and out - a day after raiding the capi- See IRAQ, Page 2A Students advised to leave countries affected by SARS With the war in Iraq in its third week and coalition troops encircling Baghdad, it is still questionable when the war will end. But discussions on the prospects for post-war Iraq have already begun and are igniting fierce debates all over the globe. The dispute started when one of the first contracts for rebuilding Iraq was awarded to Halliburton Co. - a compa- ny that Vice President Dick Cheney once headed - and the U.S. Agency for International Development announced that only American firms could bid for the current open contracts. In response, the United Nations and other countries strongly expressed their disagreement with the arrangement. "The argument they have given for that is that these contracts are for some additional work that would prevent a lot of the normal bureaucratic delays if they limit these big contracts to American firms," political science Prof Kenneth Lieberthal said. "There is some logic to that, but politically it looks terrible." Countries are divided over the ques- tion of who should take up the major role in the rebuilding process. At a NATO meeting in Brussels Thursday, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the coalition countries should be the domi- nant force in rebuilding Iraq after the war. But on the other side, France, Ger- many and Russia jointly said the U.N. should command the reconstruction after a meeting in Paris on Friday. "It is really uncertain. No one knows the answer now," political science Prof. Mark Tessler said. "I think most people think it should be the international com- munity, like the United Nations,*to take the lead." See POSTWAR, Page 7A By Soojung Chang Daily Staff Reporter LSA junior Joey Fung had planned to go to Beijing this summer to do research for her honors senior thesis in psychology. But following an advisory to the Uni- versity community warning against trav- el to areas affected by Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreaks, Fung decided to cancel her plans. Provost Paul Courant and Interim Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs Lazar Greenfield sent the e-mail Friday advising students and faculty cur- rently abroad in affected countries to leave immediately. "Faculty, staff, and students travel- ing independently in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Viet- nam are urged to leave these countries promptly, and those planning inde- pendent travel to these high-risk areas are urged to defer their plans," Courant and Greenfield said. In addition, the advisory noted that the University is canceling or postpon- ing study abroad and other group activi- ties to those regions. Fung said she was undecided before about whether or not to go to Beijing. She had been planning to work at a uni- versity there with a researcher who col- laborates with one of her professors. "The professor I'm working with here contacted me and said it's proba- bly not a good idea to go to Beijing now," she said. Fung said many students she knows have also changed their summer plans. "I know people who planned to go back to Hong Kong just to find a job or spend summer vacation there who just plan to stay here instead," she said. Students have also become con- cerned about travel to Toronto, the only area outside of Asia that has experienced a significant outbreak. The University has advised students to defer travel to the area. Rosalyn Williams, a Business School junior at Ryerson University in Toronto, said her school has also advised students not to travel. "I haven't really been wor- ried about (SARS) but there's a lot of people going around with masks on their faces," she added. Ryerson has also banned nursing stu- dents from meeting together because of a student in the program who had treat- See SARS, Page 2A AP PHOTO -Soldiers with the 3-59 Task Force honor fallen comrade Sgt. First Class Wilbert Davis, 40, of Tampa, Fla., during a memorial service held on the tarmac of Bighdad International Airport. Davis died during operations to secure the airport. Conyers rallies anti-war crowd By Dan Trudeau Daily Staff Reporter DETROIT - Several hundred dissatisfied protesters marched through downtown Saturday to voice their dissent against the war on Iraq and the Bush administration's domestic policies. The crowd, though considerably smaller than the 5,000 people organ- izers expected, was vocally defiant - waving signs, shouting chants, and in some cases, dressing up as "cheerleaders for peace" as they made their way from Tiger Stadium to Hart Plaza on the city's riverfront. U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D- Detroit) and his staff organized the four-hour event, in which the con- gressman was one of several speak- ers at the culminating rally in Hart Plaza. Conyers has been staunchly anti-war and anti-Bush over the past months and was harsh in his criti- cism of the administration as he addressed the crowd. "The war is not only unnecessary, it is immoral," Conyers said. "We need to indicate to our leaders, alleged and actual, that the majority of people in this country is still See RALLY, Page 7A Annual Pow Wow venerates Mother Earth through art By Min Kyung Yoon Daily Staff Reporter Attracting thousands of people over the weekend, the 31st Ann Arbor Pow Wow, "Dance for Mother Earth," saw one the of largest gatherings of Native Americans in the United States. Held at the Crisler Arena over the course of three days, the Pow Wow annually features many dancers, singers and artists. "At the Pow Wow, we hope to create a greater awareness of Native people," said LSA junior Nickole Fox, secretary of the Native American Student Association. "Adding to the diversity of the campus is also a goal. Native students are so few here on campus, it helps to have a big event like this so that we can be more visible both in the eyes of the University and in the eyes of other students" First organized in 1971 by the local Native American community, the event has grown in popularity and size throughout the years. The modern Pow Wow is based on the basic values to Native Americans throughout North See POW WOW, Page 3A A DPS officer asks Jointmann about his smoking cranium near the Diag during Hash Bash on Saturday. Inside: Hash Bashers brave the cold to rally for marijuana legalization. Page 3A 'U' won't renew its Contracts w plans to set By Carmen Johnson Daily Staff Reporter SETH LOWER/Daily The Ann Arbor Pow Wow brought thousands of people to Crisler Arena over the weekend to celebrate Native American traditions. March unemployment rate remains stagnant In an attempt to pressure Morgan Services Inc. to change the way it treats its workers, the University will not renew its long-term contracts with Morgan, according to a letter it sent to out to the company Friday. Morgan - a company that allegedly manages its workers unfairly - pro- vides laundry services for several University departments. The letter states that the University will not approve any long-term con- tract renewals until a taskforce makes recommendations for a new purchas- ing policy that fits with the mission and values of the University. The task- force will be formed by the end of the term, University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said. Once guidelines have been estab- lished, the University will decide whether Morgan complies with them [th Morgan, new policy its contracts, according to the letter, sent out by interim Chief Financial Officer Timothy Slottow. Members of Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality - who have been meeting with Universi- ty officials since October in hopes of ending the contract with Morgan - said they consider the letter a victory. But they added that the University only refused to approve long-term contracts. "Because the University may extend short-term contracts as necessary, this letter will only have a temporary impact on the labor dispute. We are uncomfortable with the University's ability to call any contract short-term," SOLE member Jenny Lee said. But Coleman stated in a letter to SOLE members that terminating the contract is "the wrong course of action at this time (for several reasons). These include the lack of institutional guidelines that address purchasing By Lydia K. Leung Daily StaffReporter The US. Labor Department announced Friday that 108,000 jobs were cut from the nation's payroll last month, but the U.S. unemployment rate stood unchanged at 5.8 percent as many frustrated former job seekers are no longer looking for work. The data indicates that the job market has its bleakest outlook since World War II, as March was than created. Although the economy still managed to grow by a bit last year, the labor market has produced no great news in recent months. The fresh report is adding wor- ries to the slow-growing economy and experts have started to question whether the growth will continue. Business School Prof. Nejat Seyhun said the Federal Reserve might consider cutting interest rates again in May to stimulate investment and spending if the situa- tion has not improved by then. ployment rate is rising," Seyhun said. "That means they're getting more outputs with less inputs. But it certainly is not good news to people who are looking for jobs." Seyhun said although the economy is more efficient than before, job creation is crucial to economic growth as income fuels consumer spending. Job cuts took ,lace in various sectors, which include retail, service industries and government sectors. Econ- omists are not expecting a rebound to take place soon I L