NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 10, 2006 - 3
ON CAMPUS
College Democrats
to hold Ann Arbor
party meeting
The College Democrats will host a
meeting of the Ann Arbor Democratic
Party tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon in
the Vandenberg Room of the Michigan
League. Issues on the agenda include
downtown development planning. Stu-
dents are encouraged to attend.
Europa Forum
to take place in
Michigan Union
The Europa Forum, an interna-
tional business conference, will host
several lectures today on leadership
and working with European business.
Speakers include representatives from
DaimlerChrysler and DeBeers Group
France, as well as other corporate exec-
utives, politicians, journalists and aca-
demics. The conference starts at 9:30
a.m. and continues through 2:30 p.m.
Int'l Center to host
workshop on safe
European travel
The International Center will present
tips on how to travel Europe safely and
cheaply today from 3 to 4 p.m. Discus-
sion topics include how to secure a pass-
port and visas, how to find the cheapest
flights and lodging and tips on how to
deal with embassies. The presentation is
free and will take place in Room 9 of
the International Center.
CRIME
NOTES
Cash stolen from
unlocked drawer
in hospital
Thieves stole $110 in cash from the
University Hospital sometime between 5
p.m.'IMesday night and 9 a.m. Wednes-
day morning, the Department of Public
Safety reported. The cash was located
in an office in an unlocked desk drawer.
There are no suspects.
Drunk minor
passes out,
receives MIP
A minor was arrested for posses-
sion of alcohol after passing out in
the carport on 525 Church Street
yesterday at about 3 a.m, DPS said.
The person was transported to the
emergency room.
Racquetball player
taken to hospital
An ambulance transported a rac-
quetball player with an injured ankle
from the Intramural Sports Building
to the University Hospital at about
5:30 p.m. Wednesday, DPS said.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
SPY magazine
prints Madonna's
'U' transcript
March 10, 1993'- Madonna's aca-
demic record at the University has
been "touched for the very first time."
The March issue of SPY magazine, a
publication that combines swimsuit mod-
els and the latest news on spy technology,
published the singer's official transcript
as part of an article. This is the first time
Madonna's scores from the University
have been made public.
Both Madonna's publicists' office and
the University Registrar's office say that
that a copy of the singer's transcript has
not been ordered in the last two years.
This leaves lingering questions
about how SPY magazine obtained
this transcript, raising suspicions
about the security of grade records
within the Registrar's office.
The famous former student, who
had an "A-minus" average, attended
the School of Music from 1976 to
ACLU asks judge to
halt domestic spying
Group says wiretap
program complicates
lawyers' defense efforts
DETROIT (AP) - The American
Civil Liberties Union yesterday presented
a federal judge with declarations from four
individuals - two criminal defense law-
yers, an advocate for democratic reform in
the Middle East and a journalist - who
say President Bush's domestic eavesdrop-
ping program has hindered their ability to
do their jobs.
The ACLU asked U.S. District
Judge Anna Diggs Taylor to imme-
diately halt the National Security
Agency's warrantless surveillance.
The Center for Constitutional Rights
filed a similar motion yesterday in its
lawsuit in federal court in New York.
Both groups filed lawsuits against
the program in January, arguing that
it violates Americans' rights to free
speech and to privacy.
"The Program is causing concrete
and specific injury to plaintiffs and
others," the ACLU said in its motion
asking the judge to declare the pro-
gram illegal and issue an immediate
injunction against it.
"The Program is disrupting the
ability of the plaintiffs to talk with
sources, locate witnesses, conduct
scholarship, engage in advocacy, and
engage in other activity protected by
the First Amendment."
The NSA said it does not com-
ment on pending litigation. A Jus-
"I'm much more cautious about telephone
calls and e-mails. I guess I really adhere to
the rule now of 'don't say anything."'
- William Swor
Detroit lawyer
tice Department spokesman had no
immediate comment.
Bush has said the wiretapping is legal
and necessary. He says a congressional
resolution passed after the Sept. 11 attacks
that authorized him to use force in the
fight against terrorism allowed him to
order the program.
Detroit lawyer William Swor said in a
declaration filed with the ACLU's motion
that his practice has been harmed because
of the wiretapping. Several of Swor's cli-
ents have been accused of terrorist connec-
tions, including Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi,
one of four defendants in the nation's first
post-Sept. 11 terrorism case, which fell
apart after the government acknowledged
prosecutorial misconduct.
Swor said he believed that because
of the nature of his cases, some of his
communications with his clients' fam-
ilies and associates in the Middle East
are intercepted by the NSA. Since the
program came to light, Swor said, he
has changed his practices.
"I'm much more cautious about
telephone calls and e-mails," Swor
told The Associated Press yesterday.
"I guess I really adhere to the rule
now of 'don't say anything."'
Conversations with witnesses and
experts even in the United States are also
strained in the new atmosphere, Swor
said, adding that it's a familiar feeling.
"Years ago we used to assume the
FBI was listening when it involved
people from the anti-war move-
ment," he said.
New Mexico attorney Nancy Holland-
er, who represents Mohammedou Ould
Salahi, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay,
and the Holy Land Foundation for Relief
and Development, a Texas-based Islamic
charity accused of providing support to
the militant group Hamas, said in a court
filing that she too had stopped relying on
e-mail and phone communications and
will have to make more trips abroad.
Two other plaintiffs, Larry Diamond,
an expert on democratic development at
Stanford University's Hoover Institution
and a former political adviser to the U.S.
occupation authority in Iraq, and Tara
McKelvey, a senior editor at The Ameri-
can Prospect, said in declarations that fear
of surveillance had interfered with their
ability to do research and communicate
with sources.
UAW: No deal
yet with Delphi
Supplier says it will ask
judge to cancel lcontracts
if no deal by Mar. 31
DETROIT (AP) - General
Motors Corp. shares rose yesterday
on word the automaker was close
to a deal with Delphi Corp. and the
United Auto Workers to help Del-
phi's hourly workers, but the UAW
cast some doubt by hotly denying an
agreement is imminent.
GM shares rose 92 cents, or 4.5
percent, to close at $21.34 on the
New York Stock Exchange.
"(Delphi) is one of the chief things
that was holding GM up and caus-
ing fears of bankruptcy," Burnham
Securities analyst David Healy said.
"On Broad and Wall there's a collec-
tive sigh of relief."
But the UAW said unspecified
media reports indicating the parties
were close to an agreement are false
and are a disservice to its members.
"There are many, many signifi-
cant issues to be resolved. Overall,
the situation has changed very little
since our last meeting," the union
said in a statement.
The UAW confirmed it will hold a
meeting Wednesday for union lead-
ers from Delphi facilities, but said
the meeting is routine and intended
to update members on "these com-
plicated and difficult discussions."
"The suggestion that we have an
outline of an agreement to review
with you is, unfortunately, just not
true," the UAW said.
Healy said he suspects the UAW is
bluffing in order to keep some heat
on GM and Delphi.
"They always negotiate in the
press," he said.
But David Cole, chairman of the
Center for Automotive Research in
Ann Arbor and the son of a former
GM president, said he would be sur-
prised if the parties could reach an
agreement this quickly because the
negotiations are so complex.
"Buyouts are done on a plant-by-
plant basis," Cole said. "It's doable
but complicated."
GM spokeswoman Katie McBride
said the automaker wouldn't com-
ment on the discussions or the timing
of a resolution. Delphi spokesman
Lindsey Williams said the talks are
progressing but wouldn't comment
further.
Delphi, GM's former parts divi-
sion, filed for bankruptcy protection
Oct. 8. The Troy-based supplier has
asked the UAW and other unions
to agree to pay cuts of more than
60 percent for its 34,000 union-
ized hourly workers, but the unions
have refused. GM has stepped into
the fray because it relies heavily on
Delphi for parts and says it could
be contractually liable for up to $12
billion in benefits promised to Del-
phi workers.
Delphi is threatening to ask a
bankruptcy court judge to cancel
its labor contracts on March 31 if it
hasn't reached a deal to cut its labor
costs. If the judge cancels Delphi's
contracts, the UAW has said it will
strike. Another Delphi union, the
International Union of Electronic
Workers-Communications Workers
of America, already has voted to
authorize a strike.
The UAW and GM said yester-
day that the parties are discussing a
program that would provide Delphi
employees with retirement incen-
tives.
State Republicans vote. to
repeal mains bsiness t ax
Granholm criticizes The tax, already set to expire in sponsible and utterly ridicui
lan for not replacin $1.9 2009, is reviled by Republicans and governor said in a statement.
a *gbusinesses who call it a job killer. But House Speaker Craig1
lion in lost revenue Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Oakland County Exec
lous,' the
DeRoche
cutive L.
LANSING (AP) - Republicans in
the state House voted yesterday to repeal
Michigan's main business tax two years
earlier than planned in a move they say
is aimed at boosting the economy.
A divided House committee sent the
legislation to the full House, which is
expected to vote on it next week. Under
the bill, the tax would be repealed at the
end of 2007.
agrees the Single Business Tax is a
bad tax, but she criticized lawmakers
yesterday for not proposing a way to
replace $1.9 billion in lost revenue.
SBT taxes bring in nearly a quarter
of the state's general fund - the state's
main checkbook - which covers every-
thing from universities to prisons and,
most state departments.
"Eliminating the SBT without a plan'
to replace lost revenue is fiscally irre-
" V 1d .1.
Brooks Patterson said delaying the tax's
expiration isn't acceptable.
"We can't wait. I don't think it is
an overstatement at all to say we are
at a crisis in Michigan," Patterson
said, citing the state's above-average
unemployment rate and other eco-
nomic indicators.
Republican members of the House
Tax Policy Committee voted for the bill,
while Democrats opposed it.
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