NEWS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 3 ON CAMPUS Prof to discuss how to increase career satisfaction Prof. Kristie Keeton, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, will present ways to increase career satisfaction and decrease work-related stress across medical fields. The lecture will begin today at 3:30 p.m. in room 2239 of Lane Hall. Amir Sulaiman to perform spoken- word poetry Black Muslim spoken-word artist Amir Sulaiman, who was featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and has toured with Mos Def and Talib Kweli, will perform today at 8 p.m. in Angell Hall Auditorium B. The event is free and is sponsored by the Muslim Stu- dents' Association. CRIME NOTES Car springs leak in parking lot A vehicle in a parking lot on Ingalls Street was leaking gasoline Monday at about 10 a.m., the Department of Public Safety reported. Workers with the Department of Occupational Safe- ty and Environmental Health cleaned up the spill. Vehicle struck in hospital lot A white Ford Tempo was struck by another vehicle on Monday in the hospital parking lot on West Medical Center Drive, DPS report- ed. The accident was a hit and run, police said. Pipe explodes, floods basement A pipe froze and burst in the stair- well of the Biomedical Research Building on Zina Pitcher Drive Mon- day at about 10:20 p.m., DPS report- ed. The pipe partially flooded the stairwell and some of the lower level of the building. Load of laundry disappears from S South Quad A load of laundry was stolen from South Quadrangle Residence Hall Mon- day between sometime 12:30 and 1 Prof sa s U.S. lags be ind in war on poverty By Katerina Georgiev Daily Staff Reporter The United States is falling behind other countries in the war on pover- ty, according to Public Policy Prof. Sheldon Danziger. Danziger delivered a lecture called "America's Persisting Pover- ty: What Research Says About How to Reduce It" yesterday afternoon in the Rackham Amphitheater. Danziger said poverty persists because when the economy is flour- ishing it does not deliver prosperity to everyone. He criticized the idea that poverty is exacerbated by too much government aid or the failure of government anti-poverty programs. Danziger expressed admiration for the anti-poverty policies implement- ed in the United Kingdom after Tony Blair's 1999 call to end child pov- erty. Specifically, he pointed to the Work For Those Who Can, Security For Those Who Cannot and Services and Policies For Young Children social programs, noting that these and others cost less than 1 percent of the British GDP and resulted in sig- nificantly decreased poverty rates in the United Kingdom. He also showed a graph to indi- cate that while the British minimum wage has increased about 40 percent since 1999, the U.S. national mini- mum wage has not changed. "(The British anti-poverty poli- cies have) resulted in a dramatic reduction in child poverty," he said. "The last time I checked, the U.K. hasn't collapsed since the govern- ment became more concerned about the well-being of the poor." When asked how other aspects of the British anti-poverty system could be made to function in the U.S., Danziger qualified his point. "I'm not arguing we should have a whole European social safety net because that wouldn't apply (in the United States)" he said. Danziger then proposed a modest anti-poverty initiative he designed to cut the U.S. poverty rate in half. Danziger's suggested program includes expanding the earned income tax credit for single people and childless couples, subsidizing health care for those not covered by Medicare and Medicaid, and provid- ing transitional jobs of last resort for people no longer entitled to cash welfare who want to work but cannot find jobs. He said these jobs could be offered by nonprofit or commu- nity-based organizations. Danziger also voiced strong sup- port for a higher minimum wage. "(Other) economies have not col- lapsed after the minimum wage was raised," he said. Danziger said American society's lack of trust in the government to handle tax dollars and develop worthwhile social programs has affected the war on poverty. "Americans have never put as much stock in their government as people in other countries (have put in theirs)," he said. "People think government is wasteful and inefficient." "(Americans) are less willing to provide tax money, less likely to trust the government to do anything, less likely to believe the government can be successful, and (therefore) they are less likely to feel respon- sible for the poor," he said. Danziger concluded that in the United States there is a shifting atti- tude towards greater tolerance for higher levels of poverty. "Most (Americans) feel they are not going to be poor, so they don't feel the need for programs," he said. "When a person's elderly parents are sick and Medicaid pays for their hos- pital bills, that's when he says, 'That's a good government program'." University President Mary Sue Coleman gave opening remarks for the lecture. "This is the most complicated of topics presented by the most enlight- ened of minds," she said. Controversy over Detroit Zoo closure heats up Detroit City Council members rejected an agreement to relinquish control of the zoo's daily operations DETROIT (AP) - A fight over the threatened closure of the Detroit Zoo turned into a racially charged war of words yesterday between Detroit City Council members and Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. But even as they turned the heat up on the rhetoric, council members who had rejected an agreement to relinquish the city's control of the zoo's daily operations said they were hopeful a deal could be reached to keep the beloved institution open. At a news conference at which six council members defended their no votes, several of them lashed out at Patterson, whose county includes dozens of Detroit suburbs, for saying the council members themselves belong in a zoo. "We will not be divided by the racist comments of L. Brooks Patter- son," council member Monica Conyers said. Though the zoo belongs to Detroit, it is located in Oakland County in the city of Royal Oak. Gail Warden, chairman of the Detroit Zoological Society, estimated about 35 percent to 40 percent of zoo visitors were from the city, while the rest are from the suburbs and beyond. , Detroit's population is more than 80 percent black, as are eight of the nine city council members and all seven who voted against the zoo agreement. Patterson, who is white and frequently spars with Detroit's leadership, told The Associated Press yesterday he did not believe his comment on the council was racist. He said council member Barbara-Rose Collins was the one who made inap- "This is not plantation. folks are ni owned by' folks anym bara-Rose Collins." Collins said after the news conference yesterday that she regretted her remarks. a Issues involving Detroit and the suburbs often take on racial overtones, and city leaders are wary of Black any initiatives that would seem to take power away from them. The city has long opposed attempts Ot by suburban leaders to gain some control over the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, which the white. suburbs accuse of overcharging them. And a seven- year state takeover of Detroit Public Schools pro- iore. voked widespread outrage in the city and was ended at the ballot box. a-Rose Collins The plan to save the zoo, which the cash-strapped ouncil Member city says it can no longer afford to subsidize, would have transferred operations not to suburban commu- nities, but to the Detroit Zoological Society. Officials had asked the City Council to approve the agreement by Sunday, when an offer for $4 million in state aid contingent upon the transfer expired. propriate comments when she suggested suburban- - Barb ites who complained about the council's vote on the Detroit City ( zoo were racist. "This is not a plantation" Collins told The Detroit News. "Black folks are not owned by white folks anymore." Patterson shot back: "I would rather own a '48 Buick than own Bar- iar, Ca a.m., DPS reported. no suspects. DPS currently has Debate over gun law intensifies THIS DAY In Daily History Stink bombs permeate campus Feb. 22, 1970 - Four incidents of "stink-bombing" occurred yesterday in the Michigan Union, South Quad Residence Hall and the Shapiro Under- graduate Library. No suspects have been identified. The stink bombs contained butyric acid, an organic solution that produc- es an unpleasant, long-lasting smell that quickly spreads over large areas. Butyric acid may be "deleterious to health when breathed in or exposed to the skin," Chemistry Prof. Danial Longone said. The first stink bomb was found yes- terday morning in the third floor of the Union, where it entered the air circula- tion system and spread throughout the building. A second stink bomb appeared short- ly afterward in an elevator in South Quad, where residents reported a strong, unpleasant odor. At about 1 p.m., an someone splashed butyric acid on the third floor of the UGLi. A third-floor librarian said: "We saw an individual leaving, and then a smell came. He was carrying a paper bag." The bills would extend self- defense rights to places outside of the home LANSING. (AP) - The debate over Michigan's gun laws intensified yesterday as a legislative committee heard testi- mony on a bill supporters say would give law-abiding people more self-defense rights in certain situations. Gun control groups say 'the bills are reckless and could create a public safety hazard by fostering a shoot-first, ask- questions-later mentality. The bills would establish a presumption of reasonable fear of death or injury when a law-abiding person uses force in certain circumstances. A threatened person would have no duty to retreat and would be able to meet force with force in situations such as a home invasion or, in certain situa- tions, a carjacking. While some self-defense rights already exist in the home, the legislation would extend them to other places if the per- son was not breaking the law and had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, supporters told the Senate Judiciary Committee. The protections could be invoked under cer- tain circumstances if the person using defensive force was attacked in a place he or she had the right to be. "What we want to do is see violence decrease," said Sen. Alan Cropsey, a DeWitt Republican who chairs the judicia- ry committee and sponsors the legislation. "We want to see people be able to protect themselves." A person would be able to use deadly force if he or she believed it was needed to prevent death, serious injury or what are called "forcible felonies." A person would be able to use force - but not deadly force - if they felt force was necessary to stop a person from trespassing, to stop a theft, or to stop certain other property crimes. A person who uses force as permitted in the legislation would get criminal and civil immunity, which could protect them against costly legal defenses. Opponents say the legislation is vague and potentially could apply to all sorts of situations - including disputes on the street or as a way to escape prosecution in gang-related violence. They say current Michigan law already allows jus- tifiable self-defense. "We thought our Legislature was here to prevent crimes - not allow them," Shikha Hamilton, a Michigan leader of the Million Mom March antigun violence group, said before yesterday's hearing. "This is an outrageous bill" Florida has passed a similar law, with a few other states - including Michigan - determining whether to follow suit. - I Voters seek more education funding Voters could decide if schools should get funding increases equal to inflation LANSING (AP) - Voters are one step days to act on the proposal. If lawmakers don't pass the plan, it would go to voters in November. The Legislature so far has not acted on the proposal, but K-16 Coalition leader Tom White said discussions continue. talks. All have been the subject of leg- islative debate in recent months, and some lawmakers have said they would not address funding reforms unless the discussion is linked to improved per- formance of schools.