NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 3, 2006 - 3

ON CAMPUS
Prof to lecture on
Rwanda tribunal
The Government and Humanity Lec-
ture Series will host Richard Wilson, an
anthropology professor from the Uni-
versity of Connecticut, at 4 p.m. today
in room 418 of West Hall. Wilson will
discuss race, ethnicity and genocide.
Orchestra and
band to play at
Hill Auditorium
The School of Music will hold a free
concert today at 8 p.m. in Hill Audito-
rium. Both the University Symphony
Band and Symphony Orchestra will
perform. The program will feature the
music of award-winning composer John
Corigliano.
Dancers to
perform to music
by 'U' composers
The Dance Department of the
School of Music will present an eve-
ning of modern dance set to music by
University composers today at 8 p.m.
in the Power Center. Reserved seating
is available for $16 to $22, or $9 with
a student ID.
CRIME
NOTES
Loose dogs run
wild in Arb
Several dogs were running loose
near the river in Nichols Arboretum on
Wednesday at 5:13 p m, the Department
of Public Safety reported.
Subject escapes
from juvenile
detention center
A subject escaped from Arbor
Heights Center, a correctional institu-
tion on Washington Heights, at about
6:22 p.m. Wednesday, DPS reported .
The suspect was apprehended before
police arrived.
Furniture stolen
from Taubman
Medical Library
Sometime in the last week, two chairs
and a couch were stolen from a waiting
area in Taubman Medical Library, DPS
reported. There are no suspects.
Unknown liquid
drips from vehicle
At about noon on Tuesday, an
unknown substance was found dripping

on the driver's side door of a vehicle
while it was parked in the parking struc-
ture on Fletcher Street, DPS reported.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Student march
causes $3,800
in damages
Feb. 3, 1970 - Saturday's Militant
March led by Students for a Democratic
Society has resulted in an estimated
$1,200 damage to North Hall, the ROTC
building, and more than $2,600 worth of
damage to smashed plate-glass windows
to two local banks.
The march was in response to last
weekend's "anti-repression" teach-in.
University President Robben Flem-
ming and two other University officials
will announce their response to the North
Hall incidents and other related events,
which are all part of a continuing "anti-
imperialism" guerilla campaign against
corporations and the military by SDS.
No demonstrators have been arrested
for last weekend's vandalism or other
recent actions by SDS.
Police Chief Walter Krasney said yes-
terday if demonstrators can be identified,

State treasurer
resigns post

EJay Rising leaves
State gov't for Detroit
Medical Center
LANSING (AP) - State Treasur-
er Jay Rising said yesterday he will
resign to become vice president and
chief financial officer for the Detroit
Medical Center hospital system.
Rising, who joined Gov. Jenni-
fer Granholm's cabinet in January
2003, said it was an honor to serve
the state. He will leave his job at the
end of this month.
"I am proud of all we have accom-
plished and know I leave the depart-
ment in capable hands," Rising said
in a statement.
Rising oversaw the collection,
investment and disbursement of
state money.
Rising said he was approached
by Detroit Medical Center officials
late last year and asked to consider
a management position. The center
has several hospitals and institutes,
2,000 licensed beds and is the teach-
ing and clinical research site for the
Wayne State University School of
Medicine.
"I have truly enjoyed my second
go 'round here at Treasury," said
Rising, who was a deputy state
treasurer between 1983 and 1991.
"While this was not an easy decision
to make, DMC offered an opportu-
nity I couldn't pass up."
Granholm is considering potential
replacements for Rising.
"Jay Rising was among my first
appointees, and Iam indebted to him
for the many talents he brought to
the administration," Granholm said

in a statement. "His advice and hard
work on educational, economic and
financial matters has beenappreci-
ated more than he will ever know."
Rising said that under his watch
the treasury department streamlined
tax processing and most recently
implemented a $1 billion investment
fund aimed at diversifying Michi-
gan's economy.
He also was heavily involved in
Granholm's plan to restructure the
state's main business tax last year,
proposing to drop it from 1.9 percent
to 1.2 percent, the lowest rate in the
tax's 30-year history. The "revenue-
neutral" plan would have lowered
taxes for 72,000 businesses and
raised them for 22,000 businesses,
according to Granholm.
The Republican-controlled Legisla-
ture rejected the plan, however, because
it would raise taxes on insurers.
Republican leaders said Rising
will be missed.
"Jay Rising is one of the most hon-
orable, intelligent and trustworthy
individuals I have ever had the oppor-
tunity to work with in state govern-
ment," said Senate Majority Leader
Ken Sikkema (R-Wyoming). "I have
always found Jay to be forthright in
his discussions with me and sincere
in his desire to do the right thing."
House Speaker Craig DeRoche
(R-Novi) said: "With all the econom-
ic struggles Michigan is facing right
now, this is tough time to lose some-
one of the caliber and with the knowl-
edge and experience of Jay Rising."
Before returning to state gov-
ernment, Rising practiced with the
Michigan law firm of Miller, Can-
field, Paddock and Stone.

NWA exec testifies
in bankruptcy court

State senators seek changes
to prescription drug plan

Levin and Stabenow
say state seniors too
confused by new
expensive drug plan
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sens. Carl
Levin and Debbie Stabenow, concerned
that a new prescription drug plan has
caused massive confusion, said yester-
day they would seek a series of changes
to the program.
Levin (D-Mich) said the legislation
would try to reform the new Medicare pre-
scription drug benefit, which started Jan. 1
and has been criticized by some seniors and
pharmacists as being confusing and costly.
"They're angry, they're upset and
they're confused by all of the complica-
tions in this program," Levin said. About
860,000 people in Michigan are using the
Ford
worker
kl'oled at
plant
N Incident at industrial
plant in Sterling Heights
under investigation,
company says
STERLING HEIGHTS (AP) - A
Ford Motor Co. worker died yester-
day in an industrial accident at the
company's Sterling Axle plant, a
company spokeswoman said.
Bill Neill, 61, was a 40-year Ford
employee and worked as a mill-
wright at the suburban Detroit facil-
ity, plant manager John Mantey said
in a statement.
"The safety of our employees is
our top priority. It is a sad day for us
at the Sterling plant," Mantey said.
Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie
Gattari said the incident is being
investigated by Ford and the Michi-
gan Occupational Safety and Health
Administration. She had no further
-1_ _ , * _ _ _. X _ 1 J - 1 P Ii

new program.
Under the new system, about 42 mil-
lion senior citizens and disabled across the
nation can enroll in private plans run by
insurers and pharmaceutical benefit com-
panies. The government subsidizes the
drug coverage, with additional subsidies
provided for the poor.
Because of the problems, the Bush
administration has asked private insurers
to provide older people with an additional
60-day supply of their medicine in emer-
gency cases.
Mark McClellan, head of the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said
at a Senate hearing yesterday that the
program is working for most people and
competition among the private plans is
driving down costs.
The administration said premiums would
average about $25 a month, compared with

the $37 projected when the program was
approved.
But Levin and Stabenow said many
changes are needed. Their bill would try to
restore a discount program for low-income
seniors and waive co-payments for former
Medicaid recipients who have been moved
into the program and been forced to pay an
increase in co-pays.
"These aren't just issues of bureaucracy
and inconvenience - when it comes to
seniors getting the medicine they need it
can be a matter of life and death;" said Sta-
benow (D-Mich).
The legislation would also bar insur-
ers from removing medications from their
plan's list of covered drugs until the begin-
ning of each year and remove language
that prevents the Department of Health and
Human Services from using its bargaining
power to negotiate bulk discount pricing.

Airline seeks to
replace 30 percent of
flight attendants
NEW YORK (AP) - Northwest
Airlines wants to replace 30 percent
of flight attendants on its international
flights with non-U.S. flight attendants,
roughly 800 people, to cut costs so
that it can emerge from bankruptcy, a
company executive testified in a New
York bankruptcy court yesterday.
Northwest, which filed for Chapter
11 bankruptcy protection in September,
seeks to save $14 billion in wage and
benefit costs. Yesterday was the seventh
day of hearings devoted to the airline's
request to toss out collective bargaining
agreements with the unions.
"Outsourcing would be a misno-
mer'" said Michael Becker, North-
west's senior vice president of human
resources and labor relations, in
response to a cross-examination by
Thomas Ciantra, attorney for the
pilots union. Becker was referring to
the carrier's plans to replace U.S. flight
attendants with foreign workers.
Becker also testified that the foreign

flight attendants would not be part of
the U.S.-based Professional Flight
Attendants Association. Becker said
Northwest would save $20.2 million
by hiring non-U.S. flight attendants.
Northwest employs 8,952 flight
attendants. Company spokesman Bill
Mellon later told The Associated Press
that the non-U.S. flight attendants
could, in theory, be represented by a
trade group akin to a U.S. union.
The carrier had maintained that
it needed to hire foreign workers as
flight attendants because of their
language and culture skills to bet-
ter serve international flights such
as one between Narita, Japan, and
Honolulu where 90 percent to 95
percent of its passengers are Japa-
nese nationals.
An official with the flight atten-
dants union questioned the carrier's
plans for its international flights.
"We (Northwest flight atten-
dants) have been going across the
Pacific for 70 years and offering
excellent service," Karen Schultz,
spokeswoman for the PFAA, told
The Associated Press after Beck-
er's testimony.

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