NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 16, 2006 - 3A

ON CAMPUS
CNN's Gupta to
host town hall
meeting on obesity
CNN's senior medical correspon-
dent, Sanjay Gupta, will be on cam-
pus today to lead a town hall meeting
on health and obesity. Gupta is tour-
ing the country to educate people
about America's growing problem
with obesity. The event will be held
at the Gerald Ford Library on North
Campus and will begin at 4 p.m.
Lecture to address
correlation between
race and health
Richard Cooper, chair of the
Department of Epidemiology and
Preventive Medicine at Loyola Uni-
versity's Stritch School of Medicine,
will deliver a lecture today titled
"Cardiovascular Disease in the His-
panic Migration: Modeling Race and
Class Effects Across Borders." Coo-
per has written several articles on
race and how it relates to health. The
lecture will begin today at 4:30 p.m.
and will be held in room 259 of the
Galleria at 1214 S. University St.
Peace Corps to
hold informational
meeting
The Peace Corps will put on an
hour-long presentation today to
inform students about the organi-
zation's various programs. A Peace
Corps representative and several vol-
unteers will answer questions. The
event will begin at 6 p.m. in Room 9
of the International Center.
CRIME
NOTES
Gift certificates
stolen from purse
Two gift certificates were taken
from a student's purse in the Vanden-
burg House on North Campus Tues-
day, the Department of Public Safety
reported. Nothing else was stolen.
Thief swipes
patient's Vicodin
Someone stole a bottle of Vicodin
from a University Hospital patient
Tuesday at about 11:30 p.m., DPS
reported. It had been left unattended
for a short period of time.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Playboy to tap
'U' women for

special issue
March 16, 1977 - Several Mich-
igan women will soon receive their
15 minutes of fame - but not in the
way you'd expect.
"Nine out of 10 girls in the Big Ten
are beautiful, and the tenth one goes
to Michigan," as the saying goes.
Playboy photographer David
Chan may dispel that stereotype.
Chan has been scouring the Diag
and local bars on campus for poten-
tial recruits. The women he selects
could be chosen to feature in Play-
boy's "Playmates of the Big Ten"
fall edition.
Several women interested in the
project met Chan in person at his
Campus Inn suite last night. They
were asked to provide personal
information including their names,
addresses, phone numbers and "per-
tinent measurements." In addition,
they were also told to indicate their
willingness to pose clothed, semi-
nude or nude upon request.
A barrage of phone calls from
other interested women regularly
interrupted the sessions. "Quite a
few mamas are calling up," Chan
quipped.
Some women said they had no
reservations about the raunchy
photo shoots.
"I'm not too uptight about it,"

Budget proposal
would give more
money to schools

New Republican higher
education plan would have
little effect on 'U'
LANSING (AP) - Eleven state
universities would see a funding
increase of less than 2 percent this
fall while four others would get
more under a Republican proposal
approved Wednesday by a Senate
panel.
The legislation - covering uni-
versities in the budget year that
starts Oct. 1 - differs from a plan
proposed last month by Democratic
Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
The governor's proposal would
give a straight 2-percent budget
increase to the state's three main
research universities: the University
of Michigan, Michigan State and
Wayne State. The twelve remaining
schools would get varying increases,
ranging from 1.55 percent to 3.86
percent.
The Senate GOP's budget bill,
however, would give 11 universities
a 1.8-percent increase. Grand Valley
(7 percent), Oakland (4.2 percent)
and Saginaw Valley (6.1 percent)
would see much higher raises, while
Central Michigan would get a 2.2-

percent increase.
Senate Appropriations Higher
Education Chairman Mike Goschka
said even with a 7-percent increase
for Grand Valley, the school's $3,371
per-student funding average falls
well below other universities. Wayne
State averages $8,603 per student
this year.
"Grand Valley with this increase is
still in the basement," the Brant Repub-
lican said. "I wish we could do more.:
But Democrats said they favored
Granholm's proposed formula
because it recognizes the importance
of research.
The GOP-controlled Senate
Appropriations Higher Education
Subcommittee also voted 3-2 along
party lines to restore scholarships
for students at private colleges. Gra-
nholm wants to merge the Michigan
Tuition Grant Program with a com-
petitive scholarship program for stu-
dents attending public universities,
gradually phasing out private aid.
The overall higher education
budget is $30 million higher than
Granholm's proposal. Goschka said
he has found extra money, but he
refused to provide specifics until
Senate panels approve other depart-
mental budgets.

27 charged in child
pornography ring

New bill
ban protests at
military funerals

Thirteen people in nine
states indicted, including
one in Michigan
CHICAGO (AP) - Participants in
an international Internet chat room
transmitted live visuals of child
molestation and traded thousands of
pictures of child pornography, federal
authorities said yesterday in announc-
ing charges against 27 people.
U.S. and international authorities
have charged 27 people who took
part in the Kiddypics & Kiddyvids
chat room. The youngest child seen
in pictures or video was less than 18
months old, Attorney General Alber-
to Gonzales said in announcing the
results of the 10-month investigation.
The defendants include Brian
Annoreno of Chicago, who pros-
ecutors say molested an infant and

transmitted it live to a viewer in the
Canadian city of Edmonton.
"The behavior in the chat room
and the images sent around the world
... are the worst imaginable form of
child pornography," Gonzales said at
a news conference in Chicago.
Investigators identified seven children
who were molested on the streaming
video, Gonzales said. Four molesters are
among those charged, prosecutors said.
Thirteen people have been indicted in
nine states on charges that include pos-
session, receipt, distribution and manu-
facture of child pornography. The states
are: Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois,
Michigan, Nevada, New York, North
Carolina and Tennessee.
The other 14 have been charged
in Australia, Canada and Britain.
One person remains at large. The
investigation began with an arrest in
Edmonton last May.

U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, a unit of the Homeland
Security Department, led the U.S.
investigation.
Undercover agents gained entry to
the chat room and identified the 27
people, initially through their screen
names, officials said.
DHS Assistant Secretary Julie Myers
said investigators told her this case was
among the worst they've seen. "It's hard
to find cases more heinous than those
that involve child molestation," Myers
said.
Gonzales has made crimes against
children and online pornography top
priorities for the Justice Department.
Also yesterday, the Justice Depart-
ment said it has quadrupled prosecu-
tions of human trafficking crimes when
comparing the first five years of the Bush
administration with the last five years of
the Clinton administration.

Violation of law would
be a felony punishable
with a $5,000 fine and up
to two years in prison
LANSING (AP) - The expected
wave of legislation aimed at banning
protests at military funerals in Mich-
igan has begun.
State Rep. Judy Emmons (R-Sheri-
dan) said yesterday that she has intro-
duced a bill that would ban intentional
loud noises, threatening gestures and
other intentional disruptions within
500 feet of a funeral ceremony. Rep.
John Gleason (D-Flushing) said he
has joined Emmons in the effort.
Other state lawmakers have said they
plan similar legislation.
Similar bills have been passed or
considered in several other states. U.S.

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) plans
a bill on the subject in Congress.
Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka,
Kan., has outraged mourning commu-
nities across the nation by showing up
at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq.
On Saturday, a half-dozen protesters
picketed the funeral of Army Sgt. Josh-
ua Youmans in Flushing.
The protesters carried signs that
read "God Hates You" and "Thank
God for Dead Soldiers" outside a
church. Members of Westboro Baptist
Church say soldiers are being struck
down by God for defending a nation
that tolerates homosexuality.
The protesters were met by hun-
dreds of people carrying signs
defending the military and honoring
the soldier as a hero.
Emmons' bill would make a viola-
tion a felony punishable with a $5,000
fine and up to two years in irison.


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