Friday, March 17, 2006 News 3 U.S., Iraq launch largest air attack since beginning of war Opinion 4 Andrew Bielak wants real news Sports 8 Cagers find gold against Miners i One-hundred-sixteen years ofeditorialfreedom NNW , as maymmalkangs, www.mzc/zgandaiy com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVI, No. 93 @2006 The Michigan Daily I debati What: The Michigan Daily and WOLV-TV are sponsoring a televised presidential debate for next week's Michigan Stu- dent Assembly elections. When: Sunday at 7 p.m; peri- odically broadcast Tuesday and Wednesday on Channel 70 in the dorms and at mid- night Monday and Tuesday on Channel 22. Where: Angell Hall Aud. D. Video will be online at www. wolv.org/debate. Reporter to, serve as grad Some students complain that commencement speaker does not have big name for fifth straight year By Ashlea Surles Daily Staff Reporter Christiane Amanpour may be prom- inent in the journalism world, but to many graduating seniors, she repre- sents the fifth straight year of relatively low-profile commencement speakers. University President Mary Sue Cole- man said yesterday that Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspon- dent, will likely give the main address and receive an honorary degree at this spring's undergraduate commence- ment on April 29. The University Board of Regents is expected to vote today to confirm the choice. Gary Krenz, special counsel to the president, said "there is no ques- tion that she will be the commence- ment speaker." Amanpour, a graduate of Rhode Island University, has won nine Emmy awards and gained worldwide rec- ognition for her coverage of major events in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iran, Kuwait and Somalia. She is also well-known for her advocacy of a free press. "Christiane Amanpour plays an important role in communicating and explaining the global challenges of our time, and I am pleased she will share her observations with our graduates," See SPEAKER, page 7 Media workers. face, charges Three former employees could face heavy fines, jail times for alleged embezzlement By Drew Philp Daily Staff Reporter The Washtenaw County prosecutor's office arraigned three of Michigan Public Media's former employees yesterday on felony charg- es of embezzlement. Michigan Public Media is owned and oper- ated by the University. Former deputy director Michael Coleman is being charged with one felony count for allegedly embezzling company funds. The charge, which specifies the amount embezzled to be between $1,000 and $20,000, could land Coleman a sentence of one to five years in prison in addition to a possible fine of $10,000 or three times th amount embezzled. The prosecutor's office also charged former development director Justin Ebright and for- mer account executive Jeremy Nordquist with one count of felony embezzlement each. Ebright and Nordquist have also been charged with conspiracy to embezzle, a charge which carries a sentence of five years in prison and a $20,000 fine or three times the amount of the embezzlement, whichever is greater. All three men have been released on bond. A preliminary examination of Coleman will take place on March 29. Ebright and Nor- dquist will be examined on April 12. Their arrests stem from a criminal investi- gation the Department of Public Safety began in November. Donovan Reynolds, former director of Michigan Public Media, sparked the investi- gation by notifying DPS of suspicious activ- ity related to "on-air messages on behalf of businesses and organizations," according to a statement released by the media organiza- tion. Reynolds resigned from his position March 1. He is not suspected of wrongdoing, Uni- versity spokeswoman Julie Peterson said. Steve Schram, a former executive at Infin- ity Broadcasting's Detroit affiliates, was named as Reynolds replacement Wednesday. Schram has 30 years of experience in broad- cast media. Timothy Slottow, the University's chief financial officer, said an audit the University launched on Michigan Public Media's financ- es because of Reynolds's concerns. The audit discovered that the radio station incurred more than $50,000 in losses related to bonuses, purchasing cards and in-kind See MEDIA, page 7 RODRIGO GAYA/Daily CNN correspondent Sanjay Gupta addresses students at the Ford library yesterday. He talked about his campaign to slim down the United States. Gupta to America: CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta urges students to attack obesity on campus By Mariem Qamruzzaman Daily Staff Reporter Sanjay Gupta, CNN's renowned medical cor- respondent, spoke last night about what he says is the largest health threat in America: fat. Gupta's speech was the second stop on his "Fit Nation" tour, a seven-city campaign to encour- age students to implement health programs in their communities. "We believe college campuses are the places where the very best changes take place in our society," he told a crowd of several hundred in the Gerald R. Ford Library. Gupta, a University alum, began his program by talking about the grave dangers of obesity. "Obesity may overtake smoking as the lead- ing cause of preventable death in the U.S.;' he said. At the beginning of the program, everyone in the audience was given a placard with "true" written in block letters on one side and "false" on the other. As Gupta made statements about obe- sity, the audience lifted up their placards. The majority of students believed that most people preferred dieting to exercising in order to lose weight. Yet 61 percent of adults preferred exercise, Gupta said. They were also mistaken about the proportion of University students who get enough exercise each week, which is 60 per- cent. Although these statistics may seem positive, there are still serious problems with obesity in America, Gupta said. "Something President Clinton told me is that the kids that are being born right now have a greater chance of having shorter lifespans than their parents because of the issue of obesity," Gupta said in an interview. After Gupta's speech, students divided into four groups to discuss possible ways to reduce obesity at the University. Some students offered solutions based on their academic studies. Kinesiology junior Heather Neary said she has recently completed research on the vend- ing machines in the Central Campus Recreation Building. According to Neary, most of the vending machines on campus carry primarily junk food. She said there are 9,000 different food options in vending machines, but only 20 of them are fruits or vegetables. Kinesiology junior Tim Martin posed a dif- ferent solution to the audience after the group discussions. "One of the things we talked about was having the dorms have more competitive activities, like exercising more and using intramural sports to We're fat 1986-90: Sanjay Gupta studied at University as an undergraduate 1993: Completed a medical degree at the University 2001: Hired by CNN 2003: Embedded with a Navy medical unit in Iraq, performed five emergency surgical opera- tions while reporting 2006: Launched Fit Nation cam- paign get fit," he said. Kenneth Warner, dean of the School of Public Health, said he especially liked Martin's idea. "There are lots of examples of improvements in health behavior that result from competition and incentives," Warner said. He said the competition to get more active could be between dorms, fraternities and sorori- ties or between different Big Ten schools. Currently, there are several programs at the See GUPTA, page 7 LIFE ON THE EDGE 'U' delays North Quad approval CFO Tim Slottow pulls North Quad proposal from today's Regents meeting By Gabe Nelson Daily Staff Reporter Alluding to unspecified problems with North Quad's design, the University administrators said yesterday they have decided not to present the building's sche- matic designs to the University Board of Regents at its meeting this morning. "Based on consultation with the (University) president and other proj- ect stakeholders, I have decided that we need to do more work on the North Quad design before bringing it to the regents for approval," said Timothy Slottow, the University's chief financial officer, in a statement released to The Michigan Daily yesterday afternoon. University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said she didn't know the reasons behind the delay or what administrators hope to improve about North Quad's design. Slot- tow could not be reached for comment. At each monthly regents meeting, Slottow presents proposals related to finance and property. When the agenda for today's meeting was released earlier this week, it said Slottow would submit the North Quad designs to the regents for their approval. " Last night, most faculty and adminis- trators involved in North Quad's planning had no idea that Slottow had cancelled the announcement. Those who did, like Housing Director Carole Henry, had only recently learned of the decision and did not know why Slottow chose to remove the proposal from the agenda. Information Prof. Paul Edwards said See NORTH QUAD, page 7 LSA-SG candidates face off Upstart Michigan Progressive Party challenges Students 4 Michigan's foothold Benson for vice president - next Tueseday and Wednesday.' While there's' no telling who is in the lead, Slott minors for LSA students. "One of the hallmarks of a liberal arts education is the ability to obtain mt I