Arbor Anecdotes: Shakespeare,:
God and the Hot Dog Man
NEWS, PAGE 2.
TEAM IN Daily endorses regent hopefuls:
M N uWhat Brown can't do for you
AMAKER, IZZO COME OUT AGAINST PROP 2 SPORTS, PAGE 8 OPINION, PAGE5
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Ann Arbor, Michigar
www.michigandaily.com
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Captured A2
soldier was
wed to Iraqi
STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY 2006
Army rules forbid
marriage to citizens
of country where
U.S. is fighting
(AP) - A U.S. soldier kid-
napped last week in Baghdad
was married to an Iraqi college
student and was with his wife
and her family when hooded
gunmen dragged him out of
a house, bound his hands and
threw him in the back seat of a
white Mercedes, a woman who
identified herself as his mother-
in-law said today.
The family of the soldier,
whose name is Ahmed Kousay
Altaie, lives in Ann Arbor.
Latifah Isfieh Nasser said
several of the soldier's in-laws
put up a futile struggle to stop
the abduction by men believed
to be Mahdi Army militia fight-
ers.
U.S. military regulations
forbid soldiers from marry-
ing citizens of a country where
American forces are engaged in
combat. There was no immedi-
ate comment from the military
about the account of the sol-
dier's abduction.
The U.S. military has said
the soldier, a linguist of Iraqi
descent, was visiting family in
the central Baghdad's Karadah
district when he was abducted.
His kidnappers used his cell
phone to contact his family, it
said.
A massive search for him by
U.S. and Iraqi forces has been
under way since the Oct. 23
abduction.
Altaie's mother-in-law told
The Associated Press in the
family's Karadah home that
her daughter, 26-year-old phys-
ics student Israa Abdul-Satar,
met the soldier a year ago. The
couple were married in August
and spent their honeymoon in
Egypt.
She showed an AP reporter
photographs of the couple in
Cairo, one of them dated Aug. 14.
A photograph of the couple
showing the soldier in a gray
suit and Abdul-Satar in a red
dress was on the wall of the
living room in the two-room
apartment, where the newly-
wed couple stayed when the
soldier came to visit. The apart-
ment was in a neglected, three-
story building on a quiet street.
Nasser, 48, said she has 10
children, several of whom wit-
nessed the abduction. The wife
of the U.S. soldier and two of her
siblings - a sister and a brother
- were later taken by American
troops to the heavily fortified
Green Zone where they were
being kept for their safety. The
zone is a large area in central
Baghdad that houses the U.S.
Embassy, offices of the Iraqi
government and parliament, as
well as hundreds of American
troops.
"She is so upset that she keeps
threatening to take her own
life when we speak on the tele-
phone every day," Nasser said of
Altaie's wife, who is in her final
year at Baghdad's al-Mustansa-
riyah University.
She said they did not know
exactly what Altaie's did for a
living at the beginning, but that
he later told his in-laws that he
was a translator with the U.S.
military in Iraq.
"We asked him many times
not to come to visit us often.
The day he was kidnapped, my
husband told him not to visit too
frequently because he was wor-
ried about him."
She said Altaie was at the
apartment once every two or
three months when he and
her daughter were engaged.
He always came at night, she
recalled.
According to Nasser, the
abduction of Altaie was preced-
ed by an incident on the same
day when a neighbor she iden-
tified as Abu Rami put a gun
to the soldier's head as he was
making his way on a motorbike
to the nearby home of Nasser's
brother, where his wife was vis-
iting.
Abu Rami later said he was
suspicious of Altaie because he
had not seen him before in the
neighborhood.
"Ahmed was frightened and
his wife was crying," Nasser
said. "Fifteen minutes later, a
car came and stopped outside
my brother's house and four
armed men jumped out. They
wore black pants, black shirts
and white masks. They dragged
Ahmed out and slapped hand-
cuffs on him before they bun-
dled him into the back seat of
the car.
See SOLDIER, page 7
University President Mary Sue Coleman delivers the annual state of the University address to the Senate Assembly yesterday afternoon in the Senate Ampitheatre. She
announced a program for the University to match donations to need-based scholarships.
Colemn-an lays out
vision for 'U' in2017
New initiatives
include fund to
match need-based
aid donations
By KELLY FRASER
Daily StaffReporter
University President Mary
Sue Coleman is thinking ahead.
Far ahead.
During her annual State of
the University address yes-
terday afternoon in Rackham
Ampitheatre, Coleman said she
is readying the University for
its 200th birthday in 2017.
She asked the Senate Assem-
bly and other faculty in atten-
dance to consider how their
efforts will position the Uni-
versity for its bicentennial.
During her address, Cole-
man outlined several new ini-
tiatives. .
Mostnotably,sheannounced
the two-part President's Chal-
lenge Fund, which will be paid
for with Coleman's discre-
tionary spending. In the first
part, Coleman will match all
donations to need-based schol-
arships dollar-for-dollar. Sec-
ondly, the fund will be used to
create more endowed profes-
sorships.
If all goes right, the plan will
strengthen the quality of fac-
ulty and direct more donations
toward need-based aid.
Coleman said she does not
want lower-and middle-class
students to be discouraged
from applying because of rising
tuition prices.
"It's on the top of the minds
of our donors," Coleman said.
Earlier this month, Coleman
began matching donations for
need-based scholarships at the
Ann Arbor campus. Donors
give either directly to a specific
school or through the Office of
Financial Aid.
The initiative will match
one-time contributions up to
$1 million but does not have a
total dollar limit, said Judith
Malcolm, director of commu-
nications and donor relations.
"It's a way a double your
donation," Malcolm said.
The initiative will run until
December of next year, when
Coleman will decide whether
or not to renew the program.
The initiative is expected to
create up to 20 endowed pro-
fessorships, Coleman said.
Most endowed professor-
ships cost a minimum of $2
million over a period of several
years, Malcolm said. Once $1
million is raised,the University
can begin fillingthe position.
The University will use
the fund to match the first
$500,000 donated toward
an endowed professorship,
effectively beginning the pro-
fessorship. That's effectively,
a 25-percent discount for a
named professorship, Coleman
joked.
Coleman has committed up
to $10 million from the fund to
matching the endowment con-
tributions.
The University has already
filled three professorships
under the program, Malcolm
said.
Coleman also announced
the creation of the President's
See COLEMAN, page 7
University President Mary Sue Coleman spoke about her
vision for the University in 2017.
COLEMAN ON ...
Alumni who say they want to improve Michigan Stadium but
really don't it to change:
"And theysay, 'Bytheway, dont touch it"'
University of California at Berkeley's recentbudget cuts:
"I don't wantustogetintoothat spiral.'
Possible increases in state funding to the University:
"I have not seen any indicationfromthe state that theywill step up
to the plate."
Regent hopefuls swear off partisanship
Stadium is only
issue that inspires
much dispute
By GABE NELSON
Daily Staff Reporter
Candidates running for the
University Board of Regents
often say the position isn't
about politics.
At a debate yesterday,
major-party candidates run-
ning for the two open seats
in the Nov. 7 election tried to
drive that point home.
Republican Susan Brown
and Democrats Kathy White
and Julia Darlow appeared
along with Green Party can-
didate Edward Morin and
Libertarian nominee James
Hudler. Republican David
Brandon participated by
phone.
Charles Smith, chair of the
Senate Advisory Committee
on University Affairs, moder-
ated the debate.
The Republicans and Dem-
ocrats rarely disagreed during
the debate, except while dis-
cussing the upcoming renova-
tions to Michigan Stadium.
In May, the regents voted
5 to 3 in favor of a renovation
MEMORABLE QUOTES
FROM THE DEBATE
"I'd like to he engaged with
the students. I'd like to follow
a professor, shadow a profes-
sor around for a day. 1'd even
go stay all night in the dorms
with a student."
- Republican candidate Susan
Brown, when asked what role
regentsshould playat the Uni-
versity.
"Yes."
- Republican candidate David
Brandon's entire answer when
asked if he supports the renovation
of Michigan Stadium to include
luxury boxes. Candidates were
given one minute to answernques-
tions during the debate.
"No."
- Green Party candidate Edward
Morin's answerto the same ques-
tion, immediately after Brandon's
answer.
"Can you repeat the question
please? I was daydreaming."
- Morin, aftertclaiming he had
already been asked a question.
CRIME
Bank robbed
nerstudent
neighborhood
Two men held tAfter taking the cash,
the men fled the buildirig
u National Cit on foot. Police said they
think the men were picked
on Packard up by a vehicle on nearby
F din Rnnd
t,
hr
Y
University Board of Regents candidates at a forum yesterday afternoon in Rackham Ampitheatre. They
talked about Michigan Stadium renovations and the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, among other topics.
plan that would add suites to
Michigan Stadium. Brandon
voted for the proposal and
White against it. If the regents
don't approve a final designby
the time the newly elected
members take office, and two
suite opponents win seats
on the board, the balance of
power could change.
Brandon and Brown said
they support the inclusion of
luxury boxes in the renova-
tions, while White said she
remains opposed to the pro-
posal.
"I've not yet been convinced
that the luxury boxes are best
for Michigan," said White, an
incumbent.
Darlow refused to give a
"yes or no answer" and said
she would need to review all
the relevant information after
taking office.
Aside from that, the major-
party candidates didn't spar
over any issues.
Before the candidates gave
their closing statements,
Smith asked them to explain
what set them apart from the
rest.
"Considering the general
consensus of ideas that has
See REGENTS, page 7
By ASHLEA SURLES
Daily StaffReporter
The National City Bank
on Packard Street near a
student neighborhood was
robbed Saturday morning,
Ann Arbor police said.
Shortly after 9 a.m., two
men wearing white sur-
gical masks and hooded
sweatshirts walked into
the popular student bank
and began yelling "Get on
the floor!" and "Give me
all your money!"
According to Sgt. Mat-
thew Lige of the Ann
Arbor Police Department,
the men leapt over the
counter and grabbed an
undisclosed amount of
money.
reraon loa .
There were three peo-
ple in the bank at the time
of the robbery. No one was
hurt and police said the
witnesses didn't see any
weapons.
The suspects have not
been apprehended and the
AAPD is working with the
FBI on the investigation.
Both suspects are
between the ages of 18 and
24 and are about 5 feet 10
inches tall. One suspect
was wearing a gray hood-
ed sweatshirt and possibly
gray sweatpants, and the
other was wearing a blue
hooded sweatshirt.
Anyone with informa-
tion about the men or their
whereabouts can call the
AAPD's anonymous tip
line at 734-996-3199.
TODAY'S H1:53
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Ballot roadmap: Your guide to the initiatives and
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Vol. 00011, No. 39 NWS
2006TheMichigan Daily S U D O K U..
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