NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 10, 2006 - 3
ON CAMPUS
* Speaker to lecture
on gender and
prescription drugs
Sean McCabe, a representative
from the University's Substance
Abuse Research Center, will be
speaking today from noon to 1:30
p.m. on the topic of gender differ-
ences in illicit and prescription drug
use. The lecture will be held in room
2239 of Lane Hall.
Poster sale
begins today at
Michigan Union
University Unions Arts and Pro-
grams is sponsoring a poster sale
beginning today on the ground floor
of the Michigan Union from 10 a.m.
to 7 p.m. The sale will run through
Jan. 13 and will feature over 1,500
different posters.
FOKUS MLK film
screenings to be
shown during Jan
The film "Music is My Life, Poli-
tics My Mistress" will be shown
tonight as the first of four movies
screened as part of the FOKUS MLK
Film Series, co-sponosred by Uni-
versity Unions Arts and Programs.
The screening will take place in
the Hussey room of the Michigan
League at 7:30 p.m. Other films to
be shown throughout the month of
January include "Born Into Brothels:
Calcutta's Red Light Kids," "Inno-
cent Voices" and "Paper Clips."
CRIME
NOTES
Assault victim
treated at
emergency room
The Department of Public Safety
reported that a victim of an assault
was treated Sunday at the University
Hospital emergency room. Accord-
ing to DPS, the assault occurred off
campus.
Student cited
for MIP taken to
emergency room
A student was cited for minor in
possession of alcohol Sunday at West
Quadrangle Residence Hall, accord-
ing to DPS. The student was taken to
the University Hospital emergency
room.
Cable stolen from
Tap Room in Union
A caller reported to DPS Satur-
day that a cable had been stolen
from the Tap Room at the Michigan
Union.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
* 'U' fears losing
graduate students
to Vietnam draft
Jan. 10, 1969 - While the Univer-
sity has not yet lost many students to
the Selective Service, many faculty
members fear they will begin to see
the effects of the draft this semester.
Enrollment figures have not been
finalized, but there is some indica-
tion that the University has lost more
than 300 graduate students already.
One such indication came the week
before Christmas when graduate
deans and counselors found them-
selves flooded with phone calls from
students who received induction
notices and were seeking advice.
"Judging by the volume of phone
calls there must be a marked increase
in the number of students receiving
induction notices" Assistant Gradu-
ate School Dean Bvron Groesbeck
Lawmakers
poised to slash
business tax
Granholm not in
favor of tax relief if it
means making more
budget cuts
LANSING (AP) - Republican
lawmakers are poised to pass legis-
lation slicing state taxes in half for
32,000 small businesses by month's
end, a move aimed at expanding tax
relief beyond the state's struggling
manufacturing sector.
House Speaker Craig DeRoche of
Novi and Senate Majority Leader Ken
Sikkema of Wyoming will announce
the legislation today, along with a plan to
tuck leftover money from the most recent
budget year into savings.
But Democratic Gov. Jennifer Gra-
nholm may oppose the tax cut. She has
said more tax relief isn't possible unless
supporters find a way to pay for it with-
out cutting more from the budget.
Under the GOP plan, small businesses
that pay an alternative tax to the state's
main business tax would see their rate
drop immediately from 2 percent to 1
percent, according to details of the pro-
posal provided yesterday to The Associ-
ated Press. The cut would save 32,000
businesses an average of $938 annually
while costing the state budget about $30
million a year.
The first year of lost tax revenue
would be covered by the recent state
funding surplus. But Granholm is
concerned because it appears Repub-
licans don't plan to offset the cut
with new revenue in future years,
spokeswoman Liz Boyd said.
"If the tax cuts are ongoing, the
way to pay for them has to be ongo-
ing as well," she said.
Sikkema spokesman Ari Adler
countered: "We are insisting on put-
ting economic recovery first and the
state budget second."
The GOP's proposal comes after
a $600 million tax relief law took
effect Jan. 1 primarily targeting
automakers, suppliers and manu-
facturers. The personal property tax
credit applies to everything from
equipment to computers, but manu-
facturers shoulder the lion's share of
the tax.
DeRoche spokesman Matt Resch
said Michigan has more small busi-
nesses than it does large manufactur-
ers and that small businesses are vital
to the state's economic recovery.
"You can't just sit back and say, 'We
passed something for manufacturers,
let's cross our fingers and hopefully
our job is done,"' Resch said.
Proposing to reduce the alternate
small business tax rate is nothing new.
Granholm suggested cutting it
from 2 percent to 1.2 percent as
part of a broader business tax cut
package unveiled nearly a year ago.
But Republicans opposed the plan
because it also would have raised the
premiums tax on the insurance indus-
try to make up for lost revenue.
In December, the Legislature sent
Granholm a bill to drop the alter-
nate rate by a tenth of a percentage
point. That died when a larger tax
deal between the governor and GOP
leaders unraveled. Now, GOP law-
makers are proposing dropping the
rate by a percentage point.
Keith Carey, a Lansing lobbyist
for the National Federation of Inde-
pendent Business, welcomed the
newest plan.
"I wouldn't describe it as a
momentous piece of tax relief," he
said. "But it's very important. It's
broad-based tax relief for small
business. It doesn't pick winners and
losers."
Michigan Republican aims to become whip
Former FBI agent enters race forI
house majority position trailing Rep.
Eric Cantor (R. Va.) by 140 votes
DETROIT (AP) - Rep. Mike Rogers, a former FBI agent who oncec
investigated organized crime, said yesterday he will try to become thee
third-ranking member of the U.S. House and work to restore public con-N
fidence in a Congress grappling with political corruption.7
Rogers, seeking to become the House majority whip, cited the Repub-
lican party's support for tax cuts, personal responsibility and extending-
democracy abroad during its control of Congress.
"Unfortunately, many of those achievements are obscured today as
our constituents turn on the news and hear of political corruption
and scandal, and government growing at unsustainable rates,"
Rogers (R-Brighton) wrote in a letter seeking support from
GOP colleagues.
"I am afraid we have lost our way in the day-to-day adminis-
tration of this government," he wrote.
Rogers is likely to face an uphill climb. A spokesman for Rep.
Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said yesterday that he had locked up 140i
votes to become the majority whip. With 231 Republican mem-s
bers of Congress, a candidate for the leadership position wouldc
need 116 votes.r
Rogers acknowledged he was entering the race "at a signifi-c
cant disadvantage."
"My candidacy is not predicated on a 'sure thing.' To be clear,i
Dems aim to curl
Canadas trash diur
I am not running against anyone. I am running to give our mem-
bers a choice for change," he wrote. Rogers's office declined
comment on Cantor's suggestions that he had enough votes.
Reps. Roy Blunt (R-MO.) and John Boehner (R-Ohio) are try-
ing to succeed Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who announced
during the weekend that he would not try to regain his lead-
ership post. DeLay temporarily vacated the position after he
was indicted on campaign finance charges in his home state of
Texas.
DeLay and others in Congress have been linked to lobby-
"I am afraid we have lost our way
in the day-to-day administration
of this government"
- Rep. Mike Rogers
(R-Brighton)
ist Jack Abramoff, who recently pleaded guilty to federal con-
spiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud charges in a congressional
corruption scandal. The probe has led Republicans to push for
new leadership and raised concerns that it could damage their
campaigns in next fall's elections.
Cantor has been serving as a deputy whip under Blunt. Add-
ing to the competition, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) said he would
run for the office of majority whip if Blunt wins the race for
majority leader, the No. 2 spot behind House Speaker Dennis
Hastert (R-Ill.)
Rep. Dave Camp (R-Midland) was supporting Cantor because
the two have worked closely together in Congress, Camp spokes-
man Sage Eastman said.
Nate Bailey, a spokesman for the state GOP, said Rogers
could become Michigan's first Republican to serve in the House
leadership since former President Gerald Ford, who was House
minority leader. Former Rep. David Bonior (D-Mount Clemens)
served as majority and minority whip in the House.
Rogers said he would seek "bold change," including the cre-
ation of an independent commission regulating lobbyists' activ-
ities and preventing senior congressional aides from quickly
turning around to work for firms that lobby Congress.
First elected to Congress in 2000, Rogers served from 1995
through 2000 in the Michigan Senate, where he was majority
floor leader. Prior to politics, Rogers worked in Chicago as an
FBI field agent, investigating public corruption in its organized
crime unit.
The congressman told colleagues that "much to my wife's
chagrin, I chose to tackle the toughest assignments, all of which
centered around public corruption and organized crime in Chi-
cago."
"I learned a lot about people during my service in the FBI,
and those lessons dictate that we must always challenge our-
selves to hold people in the public trust accountable," he wrote.
U U
qm
Democrats say more
than 400 Canadian
garbage trucks enter state
from Canada each day
LANSING (AP) - State House
Democrats want to get voters
involved in the fight to keep Cana-
dian trash out of Michigan.
Today, Democrats will announce
plans to put a proposal on the
November ballot that would raise
fees to dump trash and put a morato-
rium on new landfills in the state.
The new mea-
sures could deter "Raising th
Canada and other
states from bring- dumpingC
ing their garbage .
to Michigan, sup- act as a di
porters say. to dum p
"Trash comes to P
Michigan because citizens of
it's cheap," Rep.
Kathleen Law (D-
Gibralter) said in a - R
statement. "Rais-
ing the dumping
charge will act as
a disincentive to dump on the citi-
zens of Michigan."
The proposal is unlikely to win
The Democratic proposal would
raise the state dumping charge from
21 cents a ton - the lowest state
rate in the Great Lakes region - to
$7.50 a ton, which would be the most
expensive, according to informa-
tion supplied by House Democrats.
The increased fee would raise an
estimated $170 million a year. The
money would be sent back to local
governments.
New landfills would be banned
until 2010.
A simple majority of lawmak-
ers in both the House and Senate
,; .
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1 ..
ti .
I
I
I
1e
charge will
sincentive
n the
f Michigan."
ep. Kathleen Law
(D-Gibralter)
would have to
approve putting
the issue on the
ballot before vot-
ers would get a
chance to weigh
in on the issue.
Democrats
say they want
to go to voters
because Republi-
cans have stalled
their efforts to cut
down on Canadian
trash.
'
Bills that would raise the dump-
ing charge and ban new landfills
have not moved in the Legislature.