NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 3

ON CAMPUS
Congressman to
present lecture on
Patriot Act
U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Dear-
born) will be speaking with political
science Prof. Larry Greene's class
about the Patriot Act, domestic spying
and the separation of powers within the
government. Any interested students
are invited to attend. The lecture will
begin at 1:30 p.m. today in the Modern
Language Building.
AirBus to provide
students with
transportion
AirBus - a transportation system
to and from the Detroit Metro Airport,
- will be making trips to the airport
on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Tick-
ets for airBus can be purchased at the
Michigan Union Ticket Office for $7
any time prior to the day of traveling.
AirBus is sponsored by the Michigan
Student Assembly.
Panel will discuss
merits of social
activism
A panel discussion tonight will dis-
cuss activism and will focus on the ways
individuals create and foster change in
everyday life. The event will begin at
7 p.m. today in the Kuenzel Room of
the Michigan Union. The discussion is
sponsored by MVision, a student orga-
nization that promotes interaction and
understanding between different com-
munities on campus.
CRIME
NOTES
Fire erupts at
residence
A structure fire was reported Sun-
day at a residence at 2624 Packard
St., the Department of Public Safety
reported.
DPS gives
trespasser warning
A man was found trespassing at the
University Hospital on Sunday and was
escorted out of the building and given a
trespass warning, DPS Reported.
Student injured
playing basketball
A male student was injured while
playing basketball at the Central
Campus Recreation Building Sunday
and was transported to the Universi-
ty Hospital for treatment, according
to DPS.
THIS DAY

In Daily History
President joins
Worker Rights
Consortium
Feb. 21, 2000 - University President
Lee Bollinger agreed to join the Worker
Rights Consortium on a conditional basis
Friday, causing members of Students
Organizing for Labor and Economic
Equality to leave LSA Dean Shirley Neu-
man's office.
Members of the anti-sweatshop
movement said they are looking at the
agreement with wary optimism. Mem-
bers said they are curious to see how the
University will define the conditions of
its membership.
The WRC is a policy developed
by students to enforce labor codes of
conduct in the production of colle-
giate apparel. SOLE has been pres-
suring the University to join WRC
since October.
The University joins Indiana Univer-
sity and the University of Wisconsin at
Madison in the WRC. Bollinger struck an
agreement with Indiana University Presi-
dent Myles Brand and Wisconsin Chan-
cellor David Ward.
The three universities agreed to join

Bush travels to Detroit in
search of oil alternatives

President Bush
toured the United Solar
Ovonics plant
AUBURN HILLS (AP) - President
Bush traveled to suburban Detroit yes-
terday for a firsthand look at technology
that would help meet his stated goal of
reducing America's dependence on for-
eign oil.
Bush toured the United Solar
Ovonics plant in Auburn Hills, which
makes electricity-generating solar
panels, after' visiting a Milwaukee
company researching next-generation
batteries for electric-gasoline hybrid
vehicles.
The parent company of United Solar
Oronics also works on hydrogen fuel
cells to power autos.
"Roof makers will one day be able to
make a solar roof that protects you from
the elements and at the same time pow-
ers your house," Bush said. "The vision
is this - that technology will become
so efficient that you'll become a little
power generator in your home, and if
you don't use the energy you generate,

you'll be able to feed it back into the
electricity grid."
Gov. Jennifer Granholm praised
Bush for recognizing United Solar's
development of renewable-energy
technology but said she also reminded
him of the importance of the century-
old automotive industry to the state.
"I briefly, briefly got a moment to greet
him and say thank you for highlighting
this great Michigan company, which is an
example of a wonderful future for Michi-
gan," the Democratic governor said in a
teleconference with reporters.
"Obviously, we want to be the alterna-
tive energy capital of America, ... (but)
I also said to him not to forget about our
great automotive industry.
"He said, 'I can't make your auto-
makers profitable.' I said, 'Yes, but
don't forget about fair trade policies'
And then he was moving on. So it
was very brief."
Michigan has been hit hard by a slug-
gish economy, in part of because of the
auto industry's woes. The state's Decem-
ber unemployment rate, 6.7 percent, was
one of the highest in the nation.
Detroit-based General Motors Corp.

lost $5.6 billion in North America last
year, while Dearborn-based Ford Motor
Co. lost $1.6 billion. DaimlerChrysler
AG's Chrysler Group, also based in
Auburn Hills, reported a $1.8 billion
profit for 2005.
Granholm said she would repeat
her call for tough enforcement of
trade policies during this weekend's
National Governors Association
meeting in Washington. Democrats
and Republicans alike, she said,
are "demanding we tear down the
(trade) walls with other countries
and make sure our products have no
barriers to entry."
Both Democrats and Republicans
in the state Legislature, meanwhile,
have introduced a flurry of bills aimed
at energy conservation or reducing
dependence on imported oil. Some of
the proposed legislation seeks to boost
Michigan's economy in the process.
Granholm raised awareness of the
issue in last month's State of the State
address. She said Michigan, home of
the automobile, had a "patriotic duty to
be the state that ends our nation's depen-
'dence on foreign oil."

won= m NOREE W M
AP PHOTO
President George Bush arrives at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Har-
rison Township yesterday.
President outlines
eer proposals

60 percent of U.S.
crude oil comes from
foreign sources
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Saying the;
nation is on the verge of technological
breakthroughs that would "startle" most
Americans, President Bush outlined hisi
energy proposals yesterday to help weanI
the country off of foreign oil.
Less than half the crude oil used by
refineries is produced in the United
States, while 60 percent comes from
foreign nations, Bush said during the1
first stop on a two-day trip to talk
about energy.1
Some of these foreign suppliers have,
"unstable" governments that have funda-i
mental differences with America, he said.
"It creates a national security issue and
we're held hostage for energy by foreign
nations that may not like us," Bush said.
Bush is focusing on energy at a time
when Americans are paying high powerl
bills to heat their homes this winter andI
have only recently seen a decrease in
gasoline prices.
One of Bush's proposals would expandl
research into smaller, longer-lasting bat-i
teries for electric-gas hybrid cars, includ-i
ing plug-ins. He highlighted that initiativei
with a visit yesterday to the battery center,
at Milwaukee-based auto-parts supplierj
Johnson Controls Inc.1
During his trip, Bush is also focus-
ing on a proposal to increase invest-
ment in development of clean electric
power sources, and proposals to speed1
the development of biofuels such as
"cellulosic" ethanol made from wood
chips or sawgrass.
Energy conservation groups and

environmentalists say they're pleased
that the president, a former oil man in
Texas, is stressing alternative sources
of energy, but they contend his propos-
als don't go far enough. They say the
administration must consider greater
fuel-efficiency standards for cars, and
some economists believe it's best to
increase the gas tax to force consumers
to change their driving habits.
During his visit to Johnson Controls'
new hybrid battery laboratory, Bush
checked out two Ford Escapes - one
with a nickel-metal hybrid battery, the
kind that powers most hybrid-electric
vehicles, and one with a lithium-ion bat-
tery, which Johnson Controls believes
are the wave of the future. The lithium-
ion battery was about half the size of the
older-model battery. In 2004, Johnson
Controls received a government contract
to develop the lithium-ion batteries.
Today, Bush plans to visit the Ener-
gy Department's National Renewable
Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.,
to talk about speeding the develop-
ment of biofuels.
The lab, with a looming $28 mil-
lion budget shortfall, had announced
it was cutting its staff by 32 people,
including eight researchers. But dur-
ing he weekend, in advance of Bush's
visit, Energy Secretary Samuel Bod-
man directed the transfer of $5 mil-
lion to the private contractor that runs
the lab, so the jobs can be saved.
The department "has been
informed that the NREL lab direc-
tor will use these funds to immedi-
ately restore all of the jobs that were
cut earlier this month due to budget
shortfalls," the department said in a
statement yesterday.
Great Pay,
Flexible Hours.
Ca/ now to apply.
800-2Review PrincetonReview.com

A group of hourly and salaried workers from Delphi Energy & Chassis Saginaw Operation, hold
hands and pray silently together outside the plant during one of their early afternoon breaks on Fri
day, Feb. 17.
House Republicans introduce
bills to aid state agriCulture

The bills would
allow farms to enter an
established program to
prevent pollution
LANSING (AP) - House Repub-
licans have introduced bills they
say will help Michigan's agriculture
business by cutting red tape and
offering farmers incentives to meet
pollution-control standards.
But environmentalists say the bills
could lead to less regulation of large
livestock feeding operations, putting
lakes and rivers at risk for higher
levels of animal waste runoff.
The six-bill package is sched-
uled for a hearing today in the state
House Agriculture Committee.
The legislation is supported by the
Michigan Farm Bureau, accord-
ing to a House Republican Policy
Office analysis.
"This legislation is vital to the
continued growth and development
of Michigan farm jobs as we work
to reach the goals and objectives of
rebuilding the economy and enhanc-
ing business and industry in this great
state," Rep. John Proos, (R-St. Joseph)

and one of the legislation's sponsors,
said in a statement.
The bills would allow farms to
enter an already-established volun-
tary pollution prevention program
developed by an industry partner-
ship along with state regulators.
The program would be verified by
the state Department of Agriculture,
but farms would not be required to
participate.
A farm that is verified through the
process - called the Michigan Agri-
cultural Environmental Assurance
Program - would get some incentives.
A livestock farm that has not polluted a
Michigan waterway with animal waste
would not be required to have a dis-
charge permit and would be regulated
by the state Department of Agricul-
ture instead of the state Department of
Environmental Quality.
Anne Woiwode, state director of
the Sierra Club, worries the bills
could weaken rules designed to pre-
vent pollution.
"It would give them something no
other potential major polluter has - a
voluntary compliance program versus
a permit," Woiwode said.
Administration of a pollution clean-
up fund would move from the DEQ to

the agriculture department. The DEQ
would be required to produce a booklet
containing all the environmental regu-
lations that could apply to a farm, giv-
ing those in the industry a one-source
guide to the information.
Environmentalists also are worried
about a provision they say could dis-
courage people from filing pollution
complaints against farms. The legis-
lation would require people making
complaints against farms to submit
their names. A person who makes
multiple unverified claims against a
farm could be. held responsible for
investigation costs in some cases.
But the Michigan Farm Bureau
says the package of bills would give
the state's agriculture industry some
consistency in environmental regu-
lations. Constantly changing regula-
tions threaten the industry's future,
the Farm Bureau says.
Agriculture is one of the state's
largest industries.
"Under the current regulatory cli-
mate, producers are constantly chasing
a moving target," Scott Piggott, man-
ager of the Farm Bureau's agricultural
ecology department, said in a statement.
"Michigan farmers are seeking clear
direction and consistent regulation."

Pr!ieton
view

Young boy volunteers at cancer center

Boy with autoimmune disorder
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have organized donations, it's hard to keep up with the
demand."

11,

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