Weather Monday ©2003 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 131 One-hundred-twelve years ofeditorialfreedom T IODAY: Mostly sunny dur- ing the day with winds from the 1 southwest at 17 miles per hour. 51 Tomorrow: 73/±; wwwmichigandally.com 1111111111 Congress approves $80 billion war budget The Associated Press Congress voted Saturday to allocate nearly $80 billion toward paying for the war in Iraq. The bill also includes money for the broader war on terror, homeland security, foreign aid and the airline industry. President Bush is expected to sign the bill soon. The majority of the money - nearly $63 billion - is earmarked for the war against Iraq. Domestic security agencies are set to receive $3.9 billion while the airline industry is scheduled to get $2.9 billion. President Bush said the bill provides "the resources necessary to win the war and help secure enduring freedom and democracy for the Iraqi people." House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R- Ill.) echoed Bush's sentiments. "In the end, we had a job to do to help our troops, and we did that job well," Hastert said. "My vote is a vote to support our brave troops and to ensure they have all they need while they diligently perform their duties in times of great danger," U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) said in a written statement. "My vote should not be misread, however, as endorsing President Bush's reckless diplomacy, his disdain for the U.N. and his decision to start this war," Conyers added. The bill was delayed because of sena- tors' proposed amendments - many of which were seen as pork barrel legisla- tion. The early stages of the bill includ- ed money for costs related to the Providence, R.I. nightclub fire and a provision on Ginseng labeling. "Unfortunately in this town we have people who will take advantage of even a war situation," House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) said. - Daily Staff Reporter Michael Gurovitsch contributed to this report. U.S. moves into Tikrit foliowing rescue of POWs 0 Search for evidence of Saddam's death continues U.S. forces met sporadic resistance Sunday in their move on Tikrit, birth- place of Saddam Hussein, after spirit- ing to safety seven missing American soldiers unexpectedly released by a leaderless band of Iraqi troops. Marines assembled on Tikrit's out- skirts and sent units in and out of the city, drawing occasional small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, not the intense battle that once seemed likely there. Even so, U.S. forces did not try to occupy Tikrit right away, Pentagon officials said. The city is the last center of Sad- dam loyalists known to the allies, who are already turning their atten- tion to the task of scouring towns they skipped in the race to.Baghdad. "We have simply bypassed villages and towns and so forth," said Gen. Tommy Franks, the war commander. "And now we will go to each and every one of them, and be sure that we don't have some last, small stronghold in that country" Three weeks after Iraqis seized them and put them on TV, the seven ex-POWs were escorted to a Marine unit on the road to Tikrit by a group of Iraqi soldiers who had given up the fight and been abandoned by their leaders. The seven walked - some ran - into a transport plane that flew them to Kuwait for checkups, treatment for those who needed it, and briefings. The sight of their loved ones, bedrag- gled in their pajama-like POW garb, electrified families and communities back home. U.S. officials, trying to determine whether the vanished Iraqi president is dead, said forensics experts had samples of Saddam's DNA and would try to find a match from bod- ies recovered in the bomb and missile attacks most likely to have killed him. And on the war's other deep puz- zle, the location of any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, U.S. forces reported they held a variety of Iraqi officials, including a half brother of Saddam, who might have useful information. Other figures from the Saddam era have certainly escaped into Syria on Iraq's western border, Defense Secre- tary Donald Rumsfeld said. President Bush warned that must not continue. "They just need to cooperate," he said. Syria's deputy ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, denied his country was taking in Iraqis and said it was America's job to monitor Iraq's western border. Franks said he expects to visit U.S.-occupied Baghdad within a week, although not in the style of a conquering commander. He said he would travel "with a very small staff for the purpose of seeing my people" in a low-key meeting. He said Iraqis were coming for- ward in great numbers to tell sol- diers where to find Saddam loyalists, arms caches and leads on chemical, biological and nuclear- weapons programs. One example of cooperation stood out above all others yesterday - the delivery of the seven POWs into U.S. hands. Capt. David Romley said Marines were met by Iraqi soldiers north of Samarra who approached the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance See WAR, Page 2A Former POW Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson, center, is escorted by U.S. soldiers to a waiting transport plane yesterday-. Johnson was with the 507th Maintenance Company that was ambushed March 23rd in the Iraqi city of Nasirlyah. POWsfozrnd unkarmed~famiik's rq'e The Associated Press Their long weeks of waiting over, their prayers finally answered, fam- ilies of seven captured U.S. soldiers laughed and cried with unbridled joy Sunday as they celebrated word that their loved ones had been released in Iraq. "Greatest day of my life," Ronald Young Sr. beamed as he and his wife, Kaye, watched a choppy CNN video of their son, helicopter pilot Ronald Jr., running to an aircraft that whisked the rescued prisoners of war out of danger after 22 days in captivity. "I'm just so happy that I could kiss the world!" added the elder Young. "When I saw him, it was like some- body had won the World Series. Everybody was jumping around and hollering." Kaye Young laughed with glee at images of her grinning, 26-year-old son as neighbors delivered food and flowers to their home in Lithia Springs, Ga. An American flag hung on the front door and yellow ribbons were tied to trees outside. "Ron has this smile that was ear-to- ear, we could just see it," said his mother. "He looks thin. But he looks good. I always thought he would come home." At other homes of POW families, friends and relatives also crowded in, shook hands and hugged one another. Outside, others waved American flags and blasted car horns. "I feel that my heart wants to burst out of my chest," Maria De La Cruz Hernandez said in Spanish after learning her son, Edgar, was free. "I'm going to have a heart attack here See POW, Page 2A * AMU lobbyists advocate state tuition caps By Dan Trudeau Daily Staff Reporter The sky is officially the limit when talk- ing about possible tuition increases for next year at the University. Recent finan- cial constraints due to decreased state funding have placed the University in a tight situation with regard to its budget next year, and students and families fear the missing dollars will be filled in by big tuition hikes over the summer. Tradition of NakI Mile labeled wit negative reputat By Maria Sprow Daily Staff Reporter Currently, there are no legal limitations on the amount that state universities in Michigan can raise tuition between semes- ters, which is something that lobbyists at the Association of Michigan Universities are trying to change. "If the UM Regents say that they prom- ise to not raise tuition beyond a certain level, there's really nothing holding them to their promise," AMU spokeswoman Sarah Neitzke said. "Tomorrow they could decide that they need to renege on their promise and go ahead and raise tuition anyway. If the state puts a tuition cap on the universities, then the boards have no choice but to obey the cap." University officials have not been will- ing to speculate on the exact size of the upcoming increases, but other Michigan universities, such as Michigan Tech and Oakland University, have predicted hikes between 18 and 20 percent. See TUITION CAPS, Page 3A So fresh and so clean SETH LOWER/I University students and members of the Ann Arbor Coalition Against Rape march to end sexualized violence as part of the Take Back the Night march and rally Friday night. Marchers urge wo-men to speak out against violence By Kyle Brouwer Daily Staff Reporter As the sun set behind the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, University students and resi- dents of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti stayed out on the Diag Friday evening to watch and participate in the 24th annual Take Back the Night rally. The event, sponsored by the Ann Arbor Coalition Against Rape and University Women Against Rape, began with a series of speeches from survivors of sexualized vio- lence and members of the Washtenaw County Sexual Assault Crisis Center. The speakers aimed to raise awareness of the severity of sexual assault through first- hand accounts and descriptions of the impact the violence has on victims. From the steps of the Graduate Library, Diane Moore spoke to the crowd about her experience with sexual violence. "People who are sexually abused don't really want to live," she said. "It takes this piece of your soul of your soul and it feels like you'll never get it back." - Michelle Johnson Survivor of sexualized violence almost a year ago. "It takes this piece of your soul and it feels like you'll never get it back," she said. Johnson's first-hand account prompted a wave of sympathy noticeable in the faces of the attendants, Art and Design sophomore Laura Dolan said. "I looked around and there wasn't a dry eye," she added. Upon conclusion of the speeches, rally attendees proceeded to march through Central Campus streets and back to the Diag. The Department of Public Safety estimated that between 75 and 100 people attended the It's the end of the school year. Spring is in the air, and all thoughts are turning toward Wednesday when - if tradition has anything to say about it - students, especially outgoing seniors, will turn to the streets, shed some clothing and make a celebratory run for it. Some will run to say their goodbyes to the University and their undergraduate years here. Others will run to celebrate the passing of another year and the coming of another summer. Others will run just to run. Whatever the reason, the Naked Mile has been a pop- ular campus tradition ever since 12 members of the University's men's and women's rowing team and varsi- ty men's track team made the first streak down South University Avenue in 1986. But after years of decreased participation sparked by national media attention, increased police enforcement and a University-sponsored ad campaign encouraging students not to run the Mile, many students wonder if the Naked Mile will ever be what it once was - a local student tradition, by the students and for the stu- dents. "Tradition is important at Michigan ... it was a way for seniors to celebrate, to do something crazy and say they did it," Kinesiology sophomore Lindsay Kokoczka said."I hope it will be back, but I'm not sure it will," she added. For many students, the Naked Mile took a sour turn during the last two years. In 2000, the teams credited with starting the tradi- tion boycotted the event, declaring they no longer want- ed to be participate in the Mile. II Prot stina the University's ties with Moraan Services Inc.. SOLE i