Wyeather Tuesday September 9,2003 @2003 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIVI, No. 6 One-hundred-twelve years ofeditoralfreedom TODAY: Partly cloudy dur- ing the day and mostly clear at night. Ha: 80 LOW: 60 Tomorrow 78150 wwwmichigandailycom ------------ - ------ Legislators tackle Iraq war costs, policies WASHINGTON (AP) - Republi- cans an4 Democrats predicted yes- terday that Congress will approve the $87 billion President Bush wants for Iraq and Afghanistan, but many said they would demand more details on administration policy in both countries. With relentless American casual- ties, a paucity of allied support and a realization that the administration underestimated the operation's price tag, lawmakers seemi emboldened to play a stronger role in shaping the measure than they did when they quickly approved an initial $79 bil- lion package in April. Democrats juxtaposed the propos- al with Bush's opposition to added funds for American schools and other domestic programs. They also voiced doubt that even $87 billion - nearly triple the Homeland Secu- rity Department's total budget - would be enough. "Already facing a nearly half-tril- lion-dollar deficit, American tax- payers deserve to know how this spending will affect our ability to address the unmet needs in our own country," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif). "This may not be Vietnam, but boy it sure smells like it," Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said on the Senate floor. "And every time I see these bills coming down for the money, it's costing like Vietnam, too." Other Democrats, such as Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, were preparing to demand that as a condition for the money, Bush would have to tell Congress his assessment of the size the U.S. mili- tary commitment to Iraq and sched- ules for removing American forces. An amendment seeking such con- ditions seemed unlikely to pass the Senate. But a debate over it could give Democrats an opportunity to spend timecriticizing Bush's Iraq policy a year before the presidential election. Democrats were not alone in seeking answers. Republican Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee said, "It's a huge number, and Congress needs to step up to its constitutional responsibility to vet the request and put as many ques- tions to the president as we can." Wamp said he wanted ways to measure progress in rebuilding Iraq and would push for U.S. investment there to be partly repaid by revenue raised by Iraq's oil industry. The entire proposal would be paid for out of federal deficits already expected to shatter previous records. In a briefing for reporters, senior administration officials said they expected $50 billion to $60 billion of their plan to be spent next year - which would bring the pro- jected 2004 deficit to $525 billion to $535 billion. In that same briefing, one official acknowledged that "the level of decay and underinvestment in the Iraqi infrastructure was worse than ... almost anyone on the outside anticipated" earlier this year. Republican leaders, hoping to lay See IRAQ, Page 3 DPS Safety Tips Look assertive, be aware of your surroundings. Avoid secluded, dark or isolated areas. Walk with a friend or co- worker whenever possible, and especially at night. Have your keys in your hand before you reach your residence or vehicle. Look for an emergency blue phone to call DPS if you feel threatened on campus. Call the DPS Confidential Tip Line if you have information about a crime: 1-800-863-1355. Two suspects sought: By Maria Sprow Daily Staff Reporter The Department of Public Safety is currently searching for two people suspected of a recent unarmed robbery in the Church Street parking struc- ture. According to DPS reports, the robbery occurred Saturday at approximately 2:30 a.m. A victim using the carport was approached by two men who then verbally demanded that the victim "give (them) what you got," reports state. The victim complied and was not injured. The sus- pects escaped the scene on foot. DPS Lt. Jesse Lewit could not say how much was stolen in the incident. He also could not comment on the victim's gender or whether he or she is a student at the University. No weapon was used or seen during the incident, which is currently under investigation. Saturday's incident marks the first DPS-issued crime alert of the academic year. Traditionally, crime alerts are used to notify the public when a detailed description of the perpetrators has been compiled in the hopes that anyone witnessing part of the crime will notify the department. They are not issued when the suspect has been arrested or when the suspect's description would not aid in his or her capture. The alert describes the first of the two suspects as being a 22- or 23-year-old black male with braids in robbery standing 5-feet-11 to six feet. At the time of the inci- dent, he was wearing a baseball hat with a skullcap underneath, a multi-colored cotton jacket, blue jeans and Timberland boots. The second suspect was described as a black male standing 5-feet-8 to 5-feet- 9 with a bald head, large eyes and facial hair on his chin. He was wearing black baggy jeans. In addition to Saturday's incident, the carport was the location of two armed robberies in July 2002 and one attempted robbery last September. And during one weekend last February, six cars were vandalized, including four with punctured tires and one with two broken windows. Lewit acknowledged that the parking structure suf- See ROBBERY, Page 3 Fun and games Students: Academic visa reforms necessary By Carmen Johnson Daily Staff Reporter In a few days LSA sophomore Taaha Haq will wake up early and head to Detroit to get his mug shot taken - again. Part of Haq's academic visa requirement is to regularly register and be photographed at the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigrant Ser- vices, previously called Immigra- tion and Nationalization Service. But at least Haq, a Pakistan native, is able to study at the Uni- versity. While many prospective students from other countries face difficul- ties and inconveniences when acquiring and maintaining visas, other students are flatly denied entry into the country. Now a national petition originat- ing at Yale University is calling on the federal government to reform academic visa programs to make them less stringent. Organizers are also pushing uni- versities nationwide to publicly advocate the need for academic visa reforms. Petition organizer and Yale Uni- versity graduate student Qin Qin said international students are vic- tims of the efforts to tighten home- land security after the Sept. 11 attacks. "Especially at a large institution like the University of Michigan, there are so many international stu- dents so the universities need to be supportive of all their students and ask the federal government to make reforms," Qin said. Haq faces special registration every time he leaves or enters the country - a new requirement since Sept. 11. "A lot of students I know from Pakistan decided to study in Canada or Great Britain because getting visas isn't as stressful in those countries," he added. With more than 4,000 interna- tional undergraduate and graduate See VISAS, Page 3 BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily Kindergarten students (left to right) Max Kupperman, Jack Kelly and Yong-Ho Cho take a break from soccer practice last night In Burns Park. Their team is composed of players from Angell and Burns Park elementary schools. With school just starting and fall only a couple weeks away, the team is trying to get in a few more games and scrimmages before the weather cools down. Senator works to prevent dumping of foreign waste 3 2.5 2 By Sara Eber Daily Staff Reporter To prevent the nearly 180 truckloads of Canadian waste from entering Michigan each day, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) has issued a web-based petition drive protesting the trash's importation. "People were letting me know that they are concerned about losing landfill capacity and about the negative impact of these shipments on the environment and our state's recycling effort" Stabenow said in a written state- ment yesterday. "They are also concerned about traffic hazards and noise, and about the potential threat to homeland security posed by 180 huge difficult-to-inspect truckloads of trash coming across the border each day." Michigan is the third largest trash importer in the nation, ranking behind Virginia and Pennsylvania. While the majority of imported trash comes from Canada, Michigan also receives waste from all neighboring states and as far as New York. Michigan has become "the dumping ground of the Midwest," according to Mike Garfield, director of the Ecology Center, a grassroots environmental organization serving southeast Michigan. He said Michigan earned this title in response to its landfill surplus and inexpen- sive dumping charges - Michigan charges $10 per ton of trash, whereas states like New York charge as much as $40. Garfield said the landfills pose an inherent environ- mental threat, adding that the state's greatest challenge is reducing the number of landfills in Michigan. "The core issue is landfill space and finding alterna- tive (waste management) methods," he said. "This is not a U.S. versus Canada issue." National Resource and Environment senior Kelly See TRASH, Page 3 H' . C O 1.5 1 .5 0G44e0 .9 L.A. Times correspondent: U.S. must be 'tolerant' of Iraq future By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter Iran may be best known in the United' States as one of the countries President Bush included in his "Axis of Evil." But Los Angeles Times Global Affairs Corre- spondent Robin Wright said the seeds of democratic revolution in the Islamic world might start from Iranians, who are unhap- py with their government's authoritarian rule. "Some of the most energetic and dynamic ideas are coming from thinkers in Iran, who hate the ruling regime," "Creating a democracy (in Iraq is a decades-long process, and the United States is not going to be able to create a full democracy in one year. - Robin Wright Global affairs correspondent The Los Angeles Times optimism that the people of Islamic nations can lead their own democratic rev- olutions is based on progressive Islamic philosophers' ideas, a large number of dis- content youth and the spread of diverse ideas due to globalization. But democracy's success in spreading through the Islamic world also depends on the United States refraining from impos- ing its ideas on Islamic nations such as Iraq, she said. The Arab world will watch Iraq's process of drafting a constitution and only grant it legitimacy if it believes the ideas drafted were important to the Iraqis, she said. "flretine a de~moracv (in Iraqis a~ I____________ a. -~~att tzit + tk . I extremists are n lthe fringeoi f a far