The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
ANKARA, Turkey
Pope condemns
religious violence
Pope Benedict XVI urged lead-
ers of all religions yesterday to
"utterly refuse" to support any
form of violence in the name of
faith, while Turkey's top Muslim
cleric complained to the pontiff
of growing "Islamophobia" in the
world.
As he began his first visit to
a Muslim country - a trip that
drew extraordinary security but
few onlookers - Benedict sought
a careful balance as he extended
friendship and brotherhood to
Muslims, hoping to end the out-
cry from many Muslims over his
remarks linking Islam to violence.
He expressed support for
Turkey's efforts to join the Euro-
pean Union, moving away from
opposition he voiced when he was
a cardinal.
But the German pope also ham-
mered away at key points of his
18-month papacy, telling diplo-
mats that leaders of all religions
must "utterly refuse to sanction
recourse to violence as a legitimate
expression of faith."
He avoided mention of any spe-
cific religion, even as he decried
terrorism and the "disturbing con-
flicts across the Middle East."
PRAMALLAH, West Bank
Rice, Abbas to meet
in West Bank
Secretary of State Condoleez-
za Rice put Washington's heft
behind new Mideast peace over-
tures yesterday, scheduling an
unexpected meeting with Pales-
tinian President Mahmoud Abbas
this week.
The meeting - the second
between Rice and Abbas in two
months - was announced a day
after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert called on the Palestinians
to return to peace talks, saying his
country would be willing to leave
most of the WestBank in exchange
for a "real peace."
Israel and the Palestinians also
agreed Saturday on a cease-fire to
end five months of fighting in the
Gaza Strip, and Rice's visit was
seen as a further push to use the
momentum to start new peace
talks.
Rice,whois accompanyingPres-
ident Bush on a trip to neighboring
Jordan, will meet Abbas tomorrow
in the West Bank town of Jericho,
said Saeb Erekat, a top Abbas aide.
Sean McCormack, a State Depart-
ment spokesman, raised the pos-
sibility that she would also meet
with an Israeli official.
PENSACOLA, Fla.
Eight boot camp
workers charged
with manslaughter
Seven former juvenile boot
camp guards and a nurse have
been charged with aggravated
manslaughter in the death of a
boy whose rough handling by the
guards was videotaped, a special
prosecutor said yesterday.
Martin Lee Anderson, 14, col-
lapsed on the exercise yard at the
Bay County sheriff's camp in Pan-
ama City on Jan. 5. Guards said he
was uncooperative and refused to
continue participating in exercises
that were part of the camp's intake
processes.
Anderson died early the next
morning in Pensacola.
If convicted, the former guards
and the nurse who watched the
altercation could face up to 30
years in prison.
Waylon Graham, the attorney
for Lt. Charles Helms, the officer
who held the highest rank among
those charged, said he had expect-
ed the charges. He said his client
would surrender by the end of
day.
'U'ARTDEMYSTIFIED
While walking
through Ingalls Mall,
have you ever stopped ,
to look at the fountain
depicting cherubim clinging
to a merman blowing a conch shell?
What about the rippling obelisk on
South Campus? The wavy mounds
of earth on North Campus?
Satisfy your curiosity. Visit
http://www.plantext.bf.umich.
edu/planner/sculpture to find
the titles and descriptions of
sculptures on campus.
The site provides an interactive
map where you can peruse cam-
pus art. Most entries contain the
artist's name, the title of the piece,
the date it was commissioned and a
detailed explanation of the action.
WAITING TO GO
Bush: Wait
until 'mission
is complete'
Bush vows to stay
course in Iraq, asks for
help in Afghanistan
RIGA, Latvia (AP) - Under
intense pressure to change course,
President Bush yesterday rejected
suggestions Iraq has fallen into
civil war and vowed not to pull
U.S. troops out "until the mission
is complete."
At the opening of a NATO sum-
mit, Bush also urged allies to
increase their forces in Afghani-
stan to confront a strengthening
Taliban insurgency.
On the eve of his visit to Jor-
dan for meetings with Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Bush
portrayed the battles in both
Afghanistan and Iraq as cen-
tral fronts in a war "against the
extremists who desire safe havens
and are willing to kill innocents
anywhere to achieve their objec-
tives."
The stakes in Iraq are huge for
Bush. His war policies were repu-
diated in U.S. midterm elections
that handed control of Congress to
Democrats.
A bipartisan blue-ribbon panel
is about to issue a report proposing
changes in the administration's
approach in Iraq. And al-Mali-
ki's government itself sometimes
seems to be at cross purposes with
Washington.
Bush set the stage for the Jor-
dan talks with a speech at the
NATO summit here and at an ear-
lier news conference in neighbor-
ing Estonia. The president said he
was flexible and eager to hear al-
Maliki's ideas on how to ease the
violence.
"There's one thing I'm not going
to do, I'm not going to pull our
troops off the battlefield before
the mission is complete," Bush
declared in his speech. There are
about 140,000 U.S. forces in Iraq.
Earlier, speaking with reporters
in Tallinn during a joint news con-
ference with Estonia's president,
Bush would not debate whether
Iraq had fallen into civil war and
blamed the increasing bloodshed
on a pattern of sectarian violence
that he said was set in motion last
winter by al-Qaida followers.
"I'm going to bring this subject
up, of course, with Prime Minister
Maliki," Bush said. "My questions
to him will be: What do you need
to do to succeed? What is your
strategy in dealing with the sec-
tarian violence?"
PETER SCHOTTENFELS /Daily
Two students wait at a bus stop outside the C.C. Little Science Building yesterday.
Michigan lawmakers hear
debate about medical pot
Bill would allow those
with debilitating
illness to toke up
LANSING (AP) - A proposal
to allow the use of marijuana
for medical reasons in Michigan
received a rare legislative hearing
yesterday.
The bill, sponsored by Demo-
cratic Rep. LaMar Lemmons III
of Detroit, would block prosecu-
tion of patients with "debilitating
medical conditions" who grow
or use marijuana for treatment
purposes. Eleven states and sev-
eral cities - including Detroit and
Ann Arbor - have adopted simi-
lar measures in the past decade,
usually through ballot proposals
approved by voters.
Supporters of statewide legal-
ization may have to go the same
route. The bill discussed yester-
day is not likely to pass before the
legislative session concludes at the
end of the year.
The Marijuana Policy Project,
a national advocacy group, says a
petition drive in Michigan is pos-
sible at some point.
The legislation discussed yes-
terday in the House Government
Operations Committee would
protect people who use marijuana
to treat cancer, glaucoma, AIDS
or other conditions. The patient
would need a signed certification
from a doctor to allow the mari-
juana use.
The main benefits, patients say,
are pain relief, anti-inflammation
and relief from nausea.
"I'm a living subject. I'm the
proof," said IrvinRosenfeld, aFlor-
ida stockbroker and a member of a
federal program that allows himto
use marijuana legally. "I'm a pro-
ductive member ofsociety because
I have the right medicine."
Benjamin Jones of the National
Council on Alcoholism and Drug
Dependence said he is against
the bill. He said marijuana should
have to go through the same fed-
eral testing procedures as other
drugs before it could be approved
for medical use.
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Attacks cast sea lions in new light
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Tour-
ists flock to Fisherman's Wharf for
the seafood and the stunning views
of San Francisco Bay, but for many
visitors, the real stars are the dozens
of playful, whiskered sea lions that
lounge by the water's edge, gulping
down fish.
Now a series of sea-lion attacks
on people in recent months has led
experts to warn that the animals are
not as cute and cuddly as they seem.
"People should understand these
animals are out there not to attack
people or humans. But they're out
there to survive for themselves,"
said Jim Oswald, a spokesman for
the Marine Mammal Center across
the Golden Gate Bridge from San
Francisco.
In the most frightening of the
recent episodes, a rogue sea lion bit
14 swimmers this month and chased
10 more out of the water at San
Francisco's Aquatic Par. At least one
victim suffered puncture wounds.
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