LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 19, 2004-- 5A
Dow plan
for dioxin
cleanup
submitted
SAGINAW (AP) - Dow Chemical
Co. has submitted a revised plan to
deal with dioxin contamination down-
stream from its Midland plant on the
Tittabawassee River floodplain, where
high levels of the toxic byproducts
have been found.
The plan submitted Tuesday met the
state Department of Environmental
Quality's deadline, The Saginaw News
reported. Regulators hope it will cap a
contamination problem that has prompt-
ed litigation by residents along the river.
The plan provides a blueprint for
cleaning up the floodplain. It outlines a
wild game study, soil sampling in sev-
eral Midland neighborhoods and the
removal of contaminated agricultural
land from production.
The new plan, which comes two
months after the state told Midland-
based Dow to refine its original proposal,
details an effort that would build com-
munity information centers, cover parks
with new soil or wood chips to reduce
dioxin exposure and map the floodplain.
With a final draft in hand, state regu-
lators could approve the plan or adopt
it with changes.
Last month, the state Department of
Community Health said it would investi-
gate dioxin levels in people who live on
the Tittabawassee River floodplain.
Dioxins are highly toxic byproducts of
manufacturing and incineration systems
and may cause cancer, birth defects and
other health problems in humans.
More than 300 plaintiffs are suing
Dow Chemical over contamination
along the Tittabawassee River. The
lawsuit seeks damages for lost property
value and seeks establishment of a
medical monitoring trust fund to pay
for residents' dioxin poisoning testing
and treatment, if necessary.
DEAN
Continued from Page 1A
"I was a little surprised first when
he said he would drop out after Wis-
consin and then when he retracted
that," she added.
Raghavan said that she expected most
Dean supporters at the University to
swing toward Kerry's campaign follow-
ing the former governor's withdrawal.
Like Dean, Raghavan said she will
support any Democratic candidate that
appears to have the ability to defeat
President Bush in the November presi-
dential elections.
The former governor's campaign has
left its footprint on the Democratic
contest, despite his early withdrawal.
Dean set a party record last year for
most funds raised in the third quarter
of the fiscal year, having earned $15
million during that time period.
Online fundraising, one of Dean's
principle campaign tools, has also
popularized the Internet as a medium
through which to generate large
finances by collecting small donations
from individuals. For example, on
Feb. 5 alone the campaign raised more
than $474,000 through online dona-
tions of about $50 each, according to
Dean's website. This personalized
campaign approach, coupled with cer-
tain socially liberal policies - such as
repealing all of the Bush tax cuts -
constituted Dean's effort to differenti-
ate himself from the other candidates
and redirect the party faithful from
some of the Clinton administration's
policies.
Finally, Dean's exit from the race
also increases the distance between
the frontrunners and the runners-up,
isolating Kerry and Edwards as the
two viable candidates for the nomi-
nation. Kerry and Edwards have won
74 percent of the representatives
between them, while the Rev. Al
Sharpton and Rep. Dennis Kucinich
of Ohio have a combined 5 percent
of the delegates.
Fake and bake
Kerry helped most by
Michigan Internet votes
LANSING (AP) - Internet voting drew more older voters
than expected and helped Democratic presidential candidate
John Kerry more than Howard Dean, Michigan Democratic
Executive Chairman Mark Brewer said yesterday.
"The bulk of the early voting was for Dean," Brewer said.
But two-thirds of the 46,543 people who voted over the Inter-
net held onto their ballots until the Feb. 7 Democratic caucuses
or just a few days before, so early voting didn't turn out to be
much of an advantage for the former Vermont governor.
The average age of Internet voters participating in the
caucuses was 48.5 years. Although roughly 6,000 Internet
voters were 30 or younger, many more voters were in their
late 40s or in their 50s, party statistics show.
Kerry originally objected to letting Michigan use Internet
voting in its Democratic presidential caucuses, arguing
along with most of the other presidential candidates -
except Dean and Wesley Clark - that it would disenfran-
chise low-income and minority voters.
Michigan was the first state to have such an extensive
Internet voting period, lasting nearly five weeks, and the
only one to use Internet voting this year.
In the end, the Massachusetts senator got 22,999 of his
84,214 votes through electronic voting and 49 percent of the
Internet ballots cast, while Dean got 8,944 votes of the
26,994 he collected, or 19 percent of the Internet votes. U.S.
Sen. John Edwards, who came in third, got 15 percent.
Many observers had expected Dean to dominate the Inter-
net voting since many of his supporters were younger voters
or affluent, college-educated voters familiar with the Internet.
Michigan State University political science professor
David Rohde said that "if Dean had been more competitive,
then the number of younger voters may have been at least
marginally higher."
But Dean already was reeling from Kerry's successes in
the early contests by the time Michigan held its caucuses,
and Kerry easily walked away with the race. Dean suspend-
ed his campaign Wednesday after failing to win any of the
17 primaries or caucuses held so far.
Brewer said 28 percent of Michigan voters used the Inter-
net, while 14 percent voted by mail and 58 percent voted in
person at caucus sites. Problems arose when six caucus sites
in Detroit and possibly others elsewhere around the state
were closed or moved, and some people who applied for
Internet or mail-in ballots never received them.
But Brewer said he thinks the overall process worked well.
"I liked the mix of voting options," he said. "We're not
aware of any security or integrity problems. ... Having a
quarter of the vote come in over the Internet was good."
Mark Grebner of Practical Political Consulting in
East Lansing also said he found no security problems
with the mix of caucuses and Internet and mail-in
votes. But the Democrat said other snafus kept some
people from voting.
He criticized party officials for sending out ballots by
bulk mail the first two weeks of January, noting that 10 per-
cent of all bulk mail never arrives.
"It appears not all the ballots were mailed promptly, or at
least they didn't arrive promptly," he said.
MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily
LSA sophomore Katie Krater wipes down a bed at Campus Tan
yesterday. Lines took over an hour due to the spring break rush.
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