The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, October 30, 2006 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
ABUJA, Nigeria
98 believed dead in
Nigerian plane crash
A Nigerian airliner with 104
people on board slammed into the
ground moments after takeoff yes-
terday and aviation authorities said
six people survived with the rest
feared dead.
It was the third deadly crash of a
passenger plane in less than a year
in this West African nation known
for its troubled air industry.
The Boeing 737 crashed one
minute after taking off from Abuja
airport, said Sam Adurogboye, an
Aviation Ministry spokesman. Pres-
ident Olusegun Obasanjo ordered
an immediate investigation into the
cause of the crash, his spokeswom-
an Remi Oyo said.
Among those killed was the man
regarded as the spiritual leader
of Nigeria's Muslims and the sul-
tan of Sokoto state, Muhammadu
Maccido. He headed the National
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs
in Nigeria. The panel determines
when Muslim fasts should begin and
end, and decides policy for Nigeria's
overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims.
Maccido's body was immediately
flownto Sokoto, where thousands of
people were at the airport to receive
it. He was buried yesterday accord-
ingto Islamic custom, and the Soko-
to state government declared six
days of mourning.
KINSHASA, Congo
Ex-rebel, incumbent
face off in tense
Congolese elections
A runoff election between a pres-
ident and a powerful rebel warlord
climaxed a four-year postwar tran-
sition for Congo yesterday, with vot-
ers holding onto hope they will soon
see the end of a decades-old cycle of
war and despotism that has shad-
owed the heart of Africa.
The voting was largely peace-
ful, but there was no guarantee the
violence was over. Forces loyal to
35-year-old President Joseph Kabila
and 44-year-old Jean-Pierre Bemba
- a former rebel leader who is now
a vice president in a power-sharing
government - battled with tanks
and heavy weapons in the run-up,
and at least two deaths were report-
ed yesterday. Kabila and Bemba
have pledged to accept the results of
the vote, which were not expected
for weeks.
NEW YORK
Wind knocks out
power in Northeast
Thousands of homes and busi-
nesses had no electricity yesterday
from Maryland to Maine asa storm
system blasted the region with
winds gusting to more than 50 mph,
knocking over trees and a construc-
tion crane. The storm was blamed
for at least two deaths.
Gusts of 70 mph were possible
yesterday in northern New York
state, the National Weather Service
said.
A falling tree killed a motorcy-
clist in Massachusetts, police said.
In New Hampshire, one man was
missing after falling off a cruise
ship on Lake Winnipesaukee dur-
ing the storm late Saturday, and one
man drowned when his kayak over-
turned on a rain-swollen river, state
officials said.
HAVANA, Cuba
Cuban TV shows
Castro mocking
rumors of his death
The ailing Fidel Castro appeared
on Cuban state television for the
first time in more than a month
Saturday, looking thin and tired
but walking around and ridiculing
recent rumors of his death.
The 80-year-old Cuban leader,
who temporarily ceded power to
his brother Raul in July following
intestinal surgery, had not been
seen since mid-September when
photographs of him receiving world
leaders at a summit in Havana were
released.
BAD TO THE BONE
St. Louis, Detroit most
dangerous cities in report
Suburbs Troy,
Sterling Heights
are among safest
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Just days
after the St. Louis Cardinals and
Detroit Tigers met in the World
Series, their hometowns find
themselves atop a list no one
wants to lead: the most dangerous
cities in the United States.
St. Louis ranked first, Detroit
second and Flint, Mich., third in
the annual ranking of the nation's
most dangerous cities, compiled
by Morgan Quitno Press.
Among the nation's safest cities
are the Detroit suburbs of Troy at
No. 5 and Sterling Heights at No.
16, the press said.
St. Louis has long been in the
upper tiers of Morgan Quitno
Press's annual rankings of the
nation's safest and most danger-
ous cities.
Violent crime surged nearly
20 percent there this year, when
the rate of such crimes rose much
faster in the Midwest than in the
rest of nation, according to FBI
figures released in June.
The rankings, being released
today, came as the city was still
celebrating Friday's World Series
victory at the new Busch Stadium.
St. Louis has been spending mil-
lions of dollars on urban renewal
even as the crime rate climbs.
Messages were left yesterday
for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay
seeking comment.
A spokesman for Detroit Mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick said the fed-
eral government's emphasis on
homeland security has depleted
funding for local crime preven-
tion programs.
"Since George W. Bush took
office, Detroit has had a 90 per-
cent reduction in fedefal funding
for crime prevention," Matt Allen
said yesterday evening. "We're
doing more with less. We're doing
the best we can ... however, lack-
ing significant funding to bring
more officers back to the depart-
ment, there's very little more that
the police department can do.
"What Mayor Kilpatrick has
said is, yes, we do need adequate
homeland security, but not at the
expense of hometown security,"
Allen said.
Scott Morgan, president of
Morgan Quitno Press, a private
research and publishing compa-
ny specializing in state and city
reference books, said he was not
surprised to see St. Louis top the
list, since it has been among the 10
most dangerous cities for years.
Morgan said the study looks
at crime only within St. Louis
city limits, with a population of
about 330,000. It doesn't take
into account the suburbs in St.
Louis County, which has roughly
980,000 residents.
The safest city in 2005 was
Brick, N.J., population about
78,000, followed by Amherst,
N.Y., and Mission Viejo, Calif.
Cities areranked based onmore
than just their crime rate, Mor-
gan said. Individual crimes such
as rape or burglary are measured
separately, compared to national
averages and then compiled to
give a city its ranking. Crimes are
weighted based on their danger to
people.
ROBOMIGIS/Osy
A woman and her dog dress as bikers in matching leather during the Howl-n-
ween enent on theDiag yesterday. The enent was sponsored by the-Canine
Social Club, which is trying to get a leash-free dog park in the Ann Arbor area.
Gallaudet board votes to
i moc in n m in c-irPm irAunt
Democrats pick up Weeks of protest at
speed, GOP hopes to school for the deaf
convince board
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House Democrats
emphasize GOP's
role in Iraq War
WASHINGTON (AP) - Repub-
licans yesterday said a major voter
turnout effort would help them
stay in power after the Nov. 7 elec-
tions, while Democrats claimed
momentum as they seekto tap into
voter unhappiness over Iraq.
Both sides agreed that the war
in Iraq was a leading, if not cen-
tral, issue in the contests to decide
control of the House and Senate.
"This election is becoming
more and more a referendum on
George Bush, his failed policies
both overseas and at home with
a rubber stamp Congress," said
Sen. Charles Schumer of New
York, head of the Senate Demo-
cratic campaign committee.
His Republican counterpart,
Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North
Carolina, said Iraq and the
broader fight against terror-
ism were important issues, but
"President Bush's name is not on
the ballot." Democrats, she said,
were trying "to make it a nation-
al referendum."
Schumer and Dole were among
the politicians and party leaders
who sparred on the yesterday
talk shows just nine days before
the elections.
Democrats need a gain of 15
seats to win control of the 435-
member House and six seats to
claim the 100-member Senate.
With approval slumping for
both the war and the president,
recent polls show Democrats have
their best chance to reclaim the
House since the GOP swept them
from power in 1994, and a shot at
capturing the Senate as well.
As the candidates entered
their final full week of campaign-
ing, House Democrats worked to
emphasize the GOP role in the
Iraq war. The party's campaign
committee said it would air tele-
vision commercials criticizing
Republicans for supporting the
war in about a dozen competitive
races in the coming days.
"Despite a war gone wrong
and no plan for victory, politi-
cians like (Rep.) Rob Simmons
keep voting to stay the course
again and again," says one com-
mercial, airing in Connecticut.
Democrats have increased
the number of races where they
are advertising in recent days, a
sign of confidence as the election
approaches.
vVQW
Hanna Play Doctor?
00-2Review I PrincetonReview.com
Corner of S. University and S. Forest
board of trustees of the nation's
premier school for the deaf voted
yesterday to revoke the appoint-
ment of the incoming president,
who had been the subject of weeks
of protests that at times shut down
the campus.
The vote at Gallaudet University
came after a daylong closed-door
meeting that followed protests by
students and faculty members, the
board said. Jane Fernandes, the
former provost, had been selected
in May to take office in January.
"Although undoubtedly there
will be some members of the com-
munity who have differing views
on the meaning of this decision, we
believe that it is a necessity at this
point," the board said in a written
statement.
In astatement posted on the uni-
versity's website, Fernandes said
she heard the board's decision with
"deep regret."
"I love Gallaudet University, and
I believe I could have made a sig-
nificant contribution to its future,"
she said. "I hope that the Gallaudet
community can heal the wounds
that have been created."
Protesters had said that Fer-
nandes, 50, was a divisive and
ineffective leader as provost and
that she was not the best person
to address problems with diver-
sity, declining enrollments and low
graduation rates.
They said the board ignored sur-
veys by students and faculty mem-
bers during the presidential search
that called her "unacceptable." The
faculty voted this month, 82 per-
cent to 18 percent, for Fernandes to
resign or be removed.
The demonstrators took over
academic and administrative build-
ings this month, blocked campus
entrances and forced the cancella-
tion of classes. More than 100 pro-
testers were arrested.
Fernandes, who has been deaf
since birth, had refused to resign,
saying it would hurt the university
to allow protests to determine the
school's leadership. She has said
that some people do not consider
her "deaf enough" to be president
because she didn't learn to use
American Sign Language until she
was in her 20s and relied on lip-
reading through much of her edu-
cation.
She said she had become a light-
ning rod for those frustrated about
changes in deaf culture.
"Gallaudet has been, is and
always will be the center, the core
of the culture of American Sign
Language," she said in a recent
interview with The Associated
Press. "That will always be the
core of who we are."
Gain real world
FRESHMEN! * BUILD YOUR
SOPHOMOR ES!
JUNIRS! RES M R1
Come by and pick up an application at the
Student Publications Building TODAY!!
Student Publications Building /
413 E. Huron
Applications Due: November 14, 2006
Call 734-764-0554 for more information
4