NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 8, 2004 - 3

_T___Report criticizes handling of Haddad case

Five years ago...
University President Lee Bollinger
said he will begin discussions about the
future of Michigan Stadium's "halo,"
the bright yellow ring and blue lettering
running around the top of the stadium.,
which many people considered an eye-
sore.
"It looks too much like Legos," said
LSA sophomore Drew Wesley. "The
colors are not Michigan colors. The let-
ters are just cheesy."
Bollinger said he believes public
input should be gathered before any
changes are made to University build-
ings. He added that the redesign of the
halo would be done in combination with
renovations to the stadium's press box.
Ten years ago...
The Michigan League was held up
by an armed robber at I a.m. According
to the Department of Public Safety, the
robber confronted the security guard on
duty and thrust a handgun into his face.
The assailant then took the guard to
the clerks' offices, where he stole $68
from a staffer's purse and ordered the
vault to be emptied.
Both the security guard and one of
the clerks managed to set off an alarm,
but the robber escaped.
Sept. 6, 1984
After numerous rallies and protests,
the University passed a policy ban-
ning discrimination against gays on the
entire campus.
For two years gays at the University
maintained that such a policy would
buffer them from some of the harass-
ment they experience every day.
"The thing about being gay is that you
don't have to say anything," said Naomi
Braine, an RC senior and member of the
Queers' Action Committee. "But not
being able to come (out of the closet) is
oppressive."
Jim Toy, a worker in the University's
Human Sexuality Office, said the pol-
icy statement is important because it
tells gays that the University supports
! them.
Sept. 4, 1980
The University hiked tuition by 13
percent, one of the biggest increases in
school history, in reaction to the U.S.
economic recession.
At the same time, faculty and staff
. salaries were increased by 9 percent.
"If we don't raise it, I don't know
where we're going to get the money,"
said University Regent Robert Neder-
lander (D-Birmingham).
Other regents, however, were not
convinced that the University had elimi-
nated all other alternatives. "The cost-
cutting measures they're talking about
should have been decided before the
amount of any tuition increases," said
Regent Gerald Dunn (D-Lansing).
University students applied for
0 financial aid in record numbers, and
applications for loans or grants were
expected to exceed the previous year's
total of 29,7,80 by about 7,000, accord-
ing to Office of Financial Aid Director
Harvey Grotrian.
"At the rate we're going, the (Guaran-
teed Student Loan) could amount to $45
million. That's up $20 million from last
year," he said.
Sept. 11, 1962

Several changes were made to the
University's fraternity system, including
a new plan for fall rush.
The new program divided the cam-
pus into five geographical regions, and
rushees were required to visit one house
in each area, as well as at least eight
houses overall.
Fall rush had been declining in recent
years, as more men decided to hold off
on pledging fraternities until the spring
in order to gain a better knowledge of
the Greek system.
Fraternities also faced pressure from
the Student Government Council to
drop discriminatory selection practices
for members. The Council had already
recommended in the spring to withdraw
recognition from Sigma Nu, whose
national constitution banned blacks
from becoming members.
Sept. 17, 1956
In its first year of existence, the Stu-
dent Government Council passed new
campus driving regulations, lowering
the age for student drivers from 26 to 21
years of age. The University Regents also
s voted in sunnort of the new regulations,

By RossoRGoldensohn
Daily Staff Reporter
When former Ann Arbor resident Rabih Had-
dad was deported to his native Lebanon in July
2003 on expired visa charges, many community
members rallied behind him over what they saw
as disregard for civil liberties by law enforcement.
They criticized treatment of Haddad while in cus-
tody, and said that his expulsion was a product not
of his immigration status, but of authorities' sus-
picions about ties between terrorists and charities
he founded.
In a report on terrorist financing released last
month, the staff of the 9/11 commission criticized
the government's handling of the investigation of
the charity, Global Relief Foundation. While the
staff's report upholds the government's finding
that Global Relief had terrorist "ties," it empha-
sized that it was in no way guilty of concrete
financial support of terrorism.
"There is a difference between troubling 'links'
to terrorists and compelling evidence of support-

ing terrorists," the report stated.
Furthermore, it found "substantial" threats to
civil liberties in law enforcement's investigation
of the charity.
"They subjected GRF to the most intense scru-
tiny you can imagine," Roger Simmons, lead
counsel for Global Relief, said in a written state-
ment. "Not a single employee was ever charged
with anything related to the charity."
Simmons praised the report, saying: "I think it
took a lot of guts on their part." But he added that
the damage is not undone, asking: "How do you get
your reputation back after being treated like this?"
Nazih Hassan, former president of the Muslim
Community Association of Ann Arbor and a friend
of Haddad, said he felt that the report exonerated
Global Relief. But he added that the organization
is now bankrupt and the community has suffered.
"They're stigmatized by this scary word - ter-
rorism - and nothing happens. Anyone who is
an activist and is Muslim is living in this strange
Orwellian time. ... A lot of people genuinely think
it could happen to any of us."

Haddad was taken into custody in December
2001 by Immigration and Naturalization Services
for overstaying a student visa that expired in 1998,
and his foundation was proclaimed a Specially

Designated Global Terrorist
by the U.S. Department of the
Treasury, which then froze the
group's assets in 2002.
Upon Haddad's deportation,
Michael Garcia, then-Acting
Assistant Secretary for Immi-
gration and Customs Enforce-
ment, said: "The removal of
individuals like Mr. Haddad
highlights the importance of
enforcing immigration laws in
our ongoing efforts to secure
the homeland."

"How do y
your reput
back after
treated uk(

The report illuminates that Global Relief was
under investigation for terrorist activity well before
the attacks and details the FBI's original plan to
seize its offices in Kosovo. It finds law enforce-
ment's concern "understand-
ou get able'" citing "demonstrable
jihadist and terrorist ties" and
ation the outflow of funds over-
seas through the charity. The
foundation dispersed funds to
e this?" what it claims are anti-poverty
programs in countries such as
Afghanistan and Kosovo in
Roger Simmons 2001.
ansel for Global But the commission staffers's
lief Foundation report reminded the govern-
ment that it has not yet secured
a single terrorist-related con-
viction and called the blocking of Global Relief
funds "hard to justify." The investigation yielded
no criminal case against it and, according to the
report, "little compelling evidence" of financial
support to Al-Qaida.

-R
Lead cou
Re]

The report also stated that prosecution of Global
Relief would never have been possible before the
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and that traditional law
enforcement methods are not suitable for terrorism
prevention.

Analysts

:

Fed. deficit to

hit record $422B this year

WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal
deficit will swell to a record $422 billion
this election year but will fall short of
even more dire forecasts, Congress' top
budget analysts projected yesterday in
a report that became instant fodder for
both political parties.
The nonpartisan Congressional
Budget Office said the shortfall would
shrink to $348 billion next year - still
the third worst ever in dollar terms. Last
year's $375 billion gap was the previous
record.
The projections reverberated on
the campaign trail, where Democrats
immediately criticized President Bush
for what will be the fourth consecutive
year in which the budget's bottom line
has worsened.
They linked the figure to the 900,000
net job loss since Bush took office and
the recent announcement that Medi-
care's premiums will rise by 17 percent
next year.
A $422 billion deficit would be the
biggest dollar amount in history, though
the shortfalls of World War II were larg-
er when the figures are adjusted to even
out the impact of inflation.

"This is absolutely an unsustainable
course for the country," said Sen. Kent
Conrad of North Dakota, the Senate
Budget Committee' top Democrat.
But Republicans noted that the fore-
cast was better than the $477 billion
deficit congressional analysts predicted
in March and the $445 billion gap the
White House expected in July. Coupled
with other recent data, they said, the new
numbers were evidence of an improving
economy.
The improvement is "a sign of the
economic growth that is a result of Pres-
ident Bush's leadership on tax relief,"
said Tim Adams, policy director for the
Bush campaign.
Such a deficit would equal 3.6 percent
of the U.S. economy, well below the 6
percent peak reached under President
Reagan. Many economists consider that
ratio to be the most important measure
of the deficit's economic impact.
"Our policies are working to create
a stronger economy, more jobs and a
lower deficit," said House Budget Com-
mittee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa.
The $422 billion deficit forecast
should prove largely accurate because

the government's budget year has less
than four weeks left, running through
Sept. 30. It does not include money
Bush wants to help Florida recover
from recent hurricanes - $2 billion he
requested Monday and another proposal
expected soon.
The government is expected to spend
nearly $2.3 trillion this year, which
means it will borrow about one of every
five dollars it spends.
The congressional report envisions
shortfalls gradually easing to $65 bil-
lion by 2014 for a 10-year total of nearly
$2.3 trillion.
But the analysts noted that their fore-
cast, meant as a neutral measuring stick,
assumed no changes in taxes or spend-
ing for the next decade.
That left them ignoring expensive
steps that would worsen deficits. The
report said preventing Bush's tax cuts
from expiring - as Bush has asked Con-
gress to do - would add $2.2 trillion
to the shortfalls through 2014, includ-
ing the government's added borrowing
costs. Easing the alternative minimum
tax's impact on middle-income earners
would cost another $435 billion.

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?Rsrson Read in Aen Arp sis hisp finto t annual a uhwim ws iAn editorial on Page 4A of yesterday's Daily should have said the Department of Public Safety filed 66 minor in
Ann Arbor Parks and Re reation ysterday.......................... psession tickets during welcome week.
r~n rlxrPare aa R cr t~on<<4~t ravIPlease report any errors in the Daily to corrections~michigandaiy.com.

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