NEWS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 3 . ON CAMPUS Prof discusses ways to prevent hearing loss Lidia Lee, an associate professor in the Department of Special Education at Eastern Michigan University, will discuss hearing loss tonight at Britton Recital Hall in the E.V. Moore build- ing at 7:30 p.m. She will cover topics associated with preventing hearing loss, including exposure to loud music at rock concerts, listening to headphones, and general exposure to loud noise on a daily basis. Sponsored by the Audio Engineering Society Student Section, the event is geared toward students studying music or those who work regu- larly with sound. Lecture delves into black-Indian cultural ties Afro-American and African Studies Prof. Tiya Miles will give a presenta- tion tonight in the Ambatana Lounge in South Quad Residence Hall on the current issues facing people of black- Indian heritage. The event is spon- sored by Multi- Ethnic Student Affairs and will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. with a discussion afterward regarding black and Native American relations on campus. LGBT office hosts performance on male body image The office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender Affairs is sponsoring a documentary-based performance tonight at 7:30 in the Rackham Amphitheater on the fourth floor of the Rackham Gradu- ate School. The performance is called MuscleBound and deals with storylines relating to male body image including eating disorders, steroid use and gym obsession. The performance is free. CRIME NOTES Computer mouse stolen from Bursley The Department of Public Safety reported on Monday that a computer mouse was stolen from a computing site in Bursley Residence Hall in the preceding 48 hours. There are no suspects. UM vs OSU game ticket stolen A caller reported to DPS that her Michigan versus Ohio State Univer- sity football game ticket was' stolen from her room on Monday. There are no suspects. THIS DAY In Daily History Students protest 'U' security deputization Nov. 16, 1990 - About 400 stu- dents, angered at the proposed deputi- zation and arming of campus security officers, stormed the Fleming Admin- istration Building and forced their way inside. Organized by the Michi- gan Student Assembly Student Rights Commission and the Students for a Safer Campus, students ran into the building and chanted, while other stu- dents remained outside the exits. As other campus security began to arrive on the scene, the struggle began to dissipate, though more than 20 student protesters still remained at a sit-in. Ann Arbor police - several in riot gear - made their way in, but resolved the conflict peaceably. Later, several SSC representa- tives detailed their demands of the University, including the immedi- ate cessation of all plans to arm campus security, the creation of a body to decide policy on student life with student involvement and a committee to supervise the training of campus officers. When asked to neontiat hehind clned donrs awav Prosecutor says no charges in Cox case Gorcyca: Insufficient evidence to charge Fieger with an attempt to blackmail Cox PONTIAC (AP) - No charges will be brought in an alleged plot to blackmail Michigan's attorney general for having an extramarital affair, closing a chapter in the state's most bizarre political story in recent years. Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca said yesterday he did not have sufficient evidence to prove that attorney Geoffrey Fieger - through lawyer Lee O'Brien - threatened to expose Mike Cox's affair. Gorcyca said a conspiracy probably did take place, and he plans to submit the matter to the Attorney Grievance Commission. "Neither Mr. Fieger or Mr. O'Brien should claim victory, act virtuous or gloat," Gorcyca said. "Far from it. In my opinion - and based upon my review of the fact - the evidence soundly con- vinces me that a severe and reprehensible ethical violation or violations were committed by both Mr. Fieger and Mr. O'Brien." Cox admitted cheating on his wife last week and accused a Fieger associate of trying to expose the indiscretion unless he stopped investigating Fieger for possible campaign finance violations. The attorney general said he respected Gorcyca's decision. "It was his call to make," Cox told The Asso- ciated Press. "He's 100 percent confident these guys worked together to stop an ongoing inves- tigation using threats. ... Regular folks under- stand that proof beyond a reasonable doubt is not always reachable. That doesn't mean something never happened." Fieger immediately called for Cox's resignation, saying his allegations were "evil and malicious" and adding there was never a "scintilla" of evi- dence that he committed a crime. "You have brought scorn and disrespect upon your office," Fieger said. "For the welfare of the state of Michigan you must resign." Cox, a Republican, said he plans to run for re- election next year. Fieger, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1998 and became famous for defending assisted suicide advocate "Neither Mr. Fieger or Mr. O'Brien should claim victory, act virtuous or gloat." -David Gorcyca Oakland County Prosecutor Jack Kevorkian, has been highly critical of Cox and last month announced he wants to run against him for attorney general. Elbert Hatchett, O'Brien's attorney, criticized Gorcyca for his "editorial commentary" about Fieger and his client. "You either prosecute the case or you don't," Hatchett said. "You don't get on television and make excuses that involve disparaging the character of people in the investigation and then walk away without charges. It's very irre- sponsible." Cox is investigating Fieger's role in a $457,000 television ad campaign that urged viewers to vote against Justice Stephen Mark- man in last year's state Supreme Court elec- tion. Fieger did not file papers acknowledging he paid for the anti-Markman ads until seven months after the election, and county clerks say the disclosure should have been made much earlier. Cox said O'Brien contacted his office on Oct. 14 and relayed Fieger's threats to expose his affair. O'Brien subsequently met with a Cox staff mem- ber and Fieger at a Morton's steakhouse in South- field, Gorcyca said. "While no definitive statements or legally admis- sible extortion threats were stated at the meeting, I am 100 percent confident there was a meeting of the minds and each was very cognizant of the quid pro quo agreements being discussed," Gorcyca said during a news conference at his office. GM bankruptcy fears continue to rise on Wall Street Cost of buying insurance protection for company soars NEW YORK (AP) - An increas- ing number of investors are betting that General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, may be forced to seek bank- ruptcy protection within the next six to 12 months as it struggles to overcome slumping sales and the high cost of health care benefits for workers and retirees. Concerns about the automaker's future are showing up in the credit default swaps market, where investors effectively buy insurance protection against defaults. Holders of GM debt who want to arrange a hedge against the risk that they won't be repaid are find- ing that the cost of buying the protection has risen dramatically in recent days. "The markets are telling you that more traders are starting to see a greater risk that a default scenario could hap- pen sooner in time than later," said John Tierney, a credit strategist at Deutsche Bank Securities- in New York. "You cannot deny there is a pattern here." GM' spokesman Jerry Dubrowski responded by saying the automaker has "ho plans 'to declare bankruptcy," and he noted that GM has about $19 bil- lion in cash on hand. Beyond that, he declined to discuss recent pricing trends for credit default swaps. "Typically we don't comment on stock prices or bond prices," he said. "We don't think it is appropriate to do that." At issue is-the nearly $31 billion in debt related to GM's automak- ing operations that ratings agencies already have downgraded to junk status, or below investment grade. Dubrowski said GM's total debt, including debt sold by its General Motors Acceptance Corp. unit, now stands at $276 billion. Credit default swaps for GM are now trading at what is known as an "upfront" basis, meaning a bond- holder seeking protection against a default has to pay more money up front because the Wall Street firms arranging the hedges have to pay more to protect themselves. Michiko Whetten, a quantitative cred- it analyst at Nomura Securities Interna- tional Inc., said GM debt had previously never traded on an upfront basis. But now that it is, it puts GM in an unenviable cat- egory with Delphi Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc. - other companies whose debt traded on an upfront basis ahead of their petitioning for bankruptcy. Auto parts maker Delphi, once owned by GM declared bankruptcy in October, and Delta, the nation's third largest car- rier, went bankrupt in September. GM lost nearly $4 billion in the first nine months of this year. The Detroit-based company has been hammered by high labor costs and rising prices for raw materials like steel. And while it recently reached agreement with the United Auto Workers union to temper the rise in health costs, GM still has been losing U.S. market share due to competi- tion from healthier foreign rivals and weakened demand for sport utility vehicles, its longtime cash cows. Wall Street's credit default swaps traders now view GM as a company so risky that a holder now must pay as much as $12 per year for every $100 of the automaker's five-year corporate debt if they want to hedge against a default, up from $8 to $9 just several weeks ago. In addition, credit default swaps traders are now demanding more of that money up front from investors looking to pro- tect their GM holdings. These losses may not actually occur, but the pricing moves in the swaps mar- ket are a good indication of how Wall Street traders and investors are judging the risk of a GM default. Schools push for tougher graduation requirements State public education chief recommends high school students take more math and science LANSING (AP) - In a big wave of possible reform for Michi- gan high schools, the state's schools chief yesterday recommended students be required to take more math, science and other classes to graduate. The changes proposed by Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan will be reviewed by the State Board of Educa- tion next month. Any mandatory changes to the state's graduation requirements would have to be approved by state lawmakers. Tougher statewide requirements are needed to improve Michi- gan's academic image and economy, Flanagan said. A better-edu- cated work force could help attract jobs to the state, he said. "Our kids will be left in the global dust if we're not careful," Flanagan said at a Board of Education meeting. "This is urgent." Local school districts now are free to decide their own graduation requirements. Michigan's lone statewide mandate, a single civics class, is one of the least stringent in the nation and in some ways makes Michigan a "laughingstock" in academic circles, Flanagan said. His proposal - which would include 16 credits and other ele- ments _ would make Michigan's standards among the toughest in the nation, according to the Michigan Department of Education. Flanagan wants students to be required to take four credits of math - including algebra - and three credits of science to gradu- ate. He also wants to require four credits of English or language arts, three credits of social science, one credit of health or physi- cal education and one credit of fine arts. Completion of an online course also would be required. The schedule still would allow the typical high school student plenty of room for elective classes, including career and technical education programs. Elective classes would have to be linked to be so-called "21st Century Skills" such as foreign languages or economics, Flanagan said. Students also would be required to take the Michigan Merit Exam - a standardized test now under development - in the spring of their junior year. The requirements would start with the graduating class of 2010, which is next year's freshmen class. "If anyone perceives this as a radical plan, you're wrong ... it's the right thing to do," said Mark Thomas, principal at Northview High School near Grand Rapids and a member of the task force that helped shape the recommendations. Flanagan said he expects exemptions to the requirements would be rare - students would be required to take the state curriculum into the third year of high school. With parental per- mission, a student could modify the plan to pursue other options in their senior year. Gov. Jennifer Granholm and business leaders are among those calling for some form of mandatory graduation requirements. A Michigan Department of Education survey done earlier this year found that requirements vary widely from district to district The survey showed that many districts currently require four years of English, three years of math, three years of social stud- ies and two years of science. It also indicated that about one-third of responding high schools specifically require algebra, which the business community has said is unacceptably low. The question of whether the state should set academic require- ments for school districts, or leave them to local officials, will be an issue for state lawmakers. Flanagan and other supporters have emphasized that there is plenty of room for local decisions in his plan - including what order the required classes come in and what sort of electives would be offered. WAGE Continued from page 1 Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality organized and led the coalition's kickoff. SOLE chairman Ryan Bates said the purpose of the evening was to educate students about the problems ansociated with the current mini- because America believes in progres- sive economic issues," Bates said. Libby Benton, president of the College Democrats, said her orga- nization supports the initiative, add- ing that Michigan voters will most likely pass the initiative if it makes the ballot. "There's a great feeling that all the local Democrats are completely Authorities announce security plans for Detroit Super Bow l DETROIT (AP) - Law enforce- ment officers from more than 100 local, state and federal agencies are Rear Adm. Robert J. Papp, com- technological resources to the security mander of the U.S. Coast Guard's 9th efforts, which will be spearheaded by District and federal homeland security the Detroit Police Department.