NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 3A

ON CAMPUS
Political activist
holds lecture on
* LGBT issues
As part of the lecture series Sexu-
alities without Borders: Transnation-
al and Transhistorical Explorations
in LGBT Studies, author and political
activist Sarah Schulman will speak
tonight from 4 to 5 p.m. in room 2239
of Lane Hall.
Schulman has contributed to
numerous social movements, includ-
ing Abortion Rights and the Lesbian
Avengers, and is a notable presence
in progressive publications such as
the Village Voice.
Her lecture is titled The Twist:Famil-
 ial Homophobia and its Consequences.
Prof speaks on
his experiences
with African art
Professor and collector Dan Mato
will share his experiences of lifetime
involvement with African art tonight
from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Oster-
man Common Room of the Rackham
Building.
The presentation, sponsored in part
with the Museum Studies Program
Lecture Series, will focus on Mato's
encounters with various artists and on
the development of literature on the
visual culture of Africa.
Committees hold
 funding workshop
The Budget Priorities Committee,
Community Service Commission,
and Budget Allocations Commit-
tee will be holding a joint fund-
ing workshop tonight at 8 p.m. in
the Michigan Student Assembly's
chambers on the third floor of the
Michigan Union.
Students are invited to attend the
event to learn how their student group
can apply for funding.
CRIME
NOTES
Vandal kicks in
laboratory' door-in
"FXB building
A laboratory door in the Francis-
Xavier Bagnoud Building was kicked
in, and a lock on the door was broken.
The Department of Public Safety said.
There are currently no suspects.
Man reported for
asking for money
at the Union
A caller reported to DPS that a man
at the Michigan Union was trespassing
on Tuesday afternoon. The man was
asking passersby for money for bus fare.
The man had also been at the Union
asking for money the previous week.

THIS DAY
In Daily History
MSA approves of
new anti-hazing
regulations
Jan. 20, 1982 - The Michigan Stu-
dent Assembly approved of two new
anti-hazing policies, one of which
would force student organizations to
lose MSA recognition if the student
group were caught hazing any pro-
spective members.
The other policy that was approved
would force campus organizations to draw
up their own sanctions against hazing.
But before the policies could be
implemented they would first have to
be considered by the Senate Advisory
Committee on University Affairs. If
approved, the University Board of
Regents would make the final deci-
sion on the new policies.
The new policies come as a result
of more than a year's work by frater-
nity and sorority representatives.
Some MSA members also consid-
ered formulating stronger policies

Four men suspected of
terrorist ties arrested

WASHINGTON (AP) -
Authorities have arrested four
people, including one in Michigan,
accused of having ties to suspected
terrorists and blocked 12 more from
entering the United States in the
first two weeks of this year, accord-
ing to government documents.
Daily reports from the Home-
land Security Operations Center
do not contain classified informa-
tion. But they are not distributed
publicly and generally intended to
remain secret.
They offer a glimpse into what
national security officials are doing
to prevent an attack, detailing
arrests, criminal incidents and law
enforcement tips.
A counterterrorism official con-
firmed yesterday that the docu-
ments made available online this
week were legitimate.
The publication - at http://
cryptome.org - initially led to an
investigation of a possible security
breach, but apparently their Internet
posting resulted from an unsecured
link on the Energy Department's
Web site that has since been cor-
rected, the official said.
Three arrests came last week
in Michigan, New York and Loui-
siana, and suspects were either

held in connection with terrorism
investigations or placed in deporta-
tion proceedings, according to the
documents. The fourth came Jan. 6
at Los Angeles International Air-
port. The documents named those
charged as:
Fadi Hussein Nasser, a Leba-
nese national, who carried a driv-
er's license bearing an address that
authorities said was possibly linked
to Hezbollah and "another subject
with possible terrorist ties, as well
as narcotics smuggling." He was
arrested Jan. 12 during a traffic
stop near Marysville, Mich., and
put in removal proceedings.
Murtada Ali Barakat, who is
being held without bail in New York
in connection with an investigation
conducted by the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement/Joint Terror-
ism Task Force and the New York
City Police Department. Barakat was
charged Jan. 12 with marriage fraud
and false statements. His arrest was
part of an investigation into "Moslem
Baidoun," who was named in a 20-
count indictment issued Dec. 13 with
13 other suspects.
Pakistani national Fazal U.
Khan, described as the subject of
a "national security investigation,"
who was arrested Jan. 13 in Lake

Charles, La. In October, Khan was
arrested by the FBI as the result
of a Joint Terrorism task Force
"national security investigation,"
and pleaded guilty on Jan. 6 of
making false statements. He was
placed in removal proceedings.
Hussam Ahmad Khalil, a Jor-
dan national, arrested Jan. 6 at the
Los Angeles airport for allegedly
violating state trademark regulations
regarding impure oil. Authorities
suspect he sends up to $40,000 to the
Middle East each month and believe
he is a member of Hamas. He is also
suspected of wire fraud, trademark
violations, harboring illegal aliens,
narcotic smuggling and visa fraud.
The documents do not provide
conclusive evidence of terror-
ist activity, said national security
experts. They described the docu-
ments as part of the government's
attempts to share information about
possible leads with law enforcement
agencies across the country.
"When you put something in
this channel, it's 'Leave- no stone
unturned, put everything in there,
no matter how remotely irrelevant
it is,' " said Roger Cressey, a for-
mer White House counterterrorism
official during the Clinton and first
Bush administrations.

State sees increase in unemployment

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Mich-
igan's unemployment rate rose to 7.3
percent in December, its highest rate of
the year, as the state lost 15,000 payroll
jobs compared to November.
State officials were quick to point out
yesterday that the state's annual employ-
ment rate of 6.8 percent for 2004 was
lower than 2003's rate of 7.3 percent, the
first time the annual average jobless rate
had declined since 2000.
But Michigan's monthly unem-
ployment rate remains high above
December's national rate of 5.4 per-
cent. Michigan has had one of the worst
unemployment rates among the states
over the past year, ranking third-highest
in November, when its unemployment
rate was 7.0 percent.
Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for Demo-
cratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said
the gap between the state and national

unemployment rate has traditionally
been even larger over the past three
decades than it is now in years when the
state's economy lags the nation's.
But she added that Granholm recog-
nizes the importance of adding jobs, and
will address how she plans to diversify
the state's economy in her Feb. 8 State
of the State address. Granholm late next
week may also release details of how
she wants to change the state's business
tax structure.
"The governor is committed to
improving the job climate in Michigan.
That is why she is poised to unveil her
business tax restructuring plan, which
is designed to help attract job providers
to the state, including manufacturers,"
Boyd said.
Since December 2003, Michigan
has lost 47,000 payroll jobs, or 1.1 per-
cent of its total payroll jobs, according

to the Michigan Department of Labor
& Economic Growth. Manufacturing
accounted for 17,000 of those lost jobs,
while trade, transportation and utilities
accounted for 13,000.
Manufacturing staged something of
a comeback in December, adding 4,000
jobs as workers returned from short-
term layoffs. The state lost 9,000 pro-
fessional and business services jobs in
December, while education and health
services lost 4,000 jobs and construc-
tion lost 3,000.
Michigan State University econom-
ics professor Charles Ballard cautioned
that monthly unemployment swings
shouldn't be given too much attention.
He thinks it's likely the state's jobless
numbers will begin to recede in 2005.
"It is still true that if the U.S. econo-
my has a good year in 2005, Michigan's
economy will probably slowly improve,"

It is still true that if the U.S. economy has a
good year in 2005, Michigan's economy will
probably slowly improve."
- Charles Ballard
Michigan State University economics professor

Ballard said.
He added, however, that Michigan is
going to continue to lag until its work-
ers get better educated and the state
becomes less reliant on manufacturing.
"We rank 39th among the 50 states in
terms of percentage of our adult popula-
tion that has a college degree, and we're
No. 10 among the 10 biggest states," he
said. "We're not creating the kinds of
workers that are going to provide the

highest-value jobs in the economy of the
next quarter century."
After showing steady gains early in
2004, total payroll jobs generally have
headed downward since May, with only
two months showing gains, according to
state figures. The only two sectors hav-
ing more jobs than they did a year ago
were professional and business services,
which added 2,000 jobs, and other ser-
vices, which added 1,000.

Dow agrees to
begin cleanup

.-.~ ~ ~. . . .>., '- ...~ *

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Dow
Chemical Co. and the state have
agreed to work toward the cleanup
of dioxin contamination in the Mid-
land and Tittabawasse River areas,
state environmental officials said
yesterday.
The framework agreement requires
Midland-based Dow to begin reduc-
ing residents' exposure to dioxin by
removing or covering up contaminated
soil. It's considered a first step toward
a long-term cleanup in the area.
"This really is a blueprint, a roadmap,
to move the process forward," said Ste-
phen Chester, director of the Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality.
"It is not a comprehensive agreement,
and it was not intended to be a compre-
hensive agreement."
Soil in areas with the greatest risk
of dioxin exposure, including several
spots in Midland and along the Tit-
tabawassee River, will be the primary

focus. Other research and work will
be done along parts of the Saginaw
River and Saginaw Bay.
Dow could do a variety of things
to reduce dioxin exposure, including
covering exposed soils and cleaning
houses in high priority areas. The
company said it will provide money
or pay for a contractor to help prop-
erty owners remove mud and dirt left
by floods.
Efforts to reduce dioxin exposure
in high priority areas will begin by
the end of 2005 and continue until
Dow begins a state-approved final
cleanup plan.
Work in lower-priority areas along
the Tittabawassee River is expected to
begin in January 2006.
Dow expects to begin contacting
property owners to lay out their options
in the coming weeks, said Susan Car-
rington, Dow's director for the Michi-
gan dioxin initiative.

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