0 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - 3 TOOTING HIS HORN NEWS BRIEFS CAIRO, Egypt * Al-Qaida leader mocks Bush's Iraq plan in new tape Al-Qaida's deputy leader mocked President Bush's plan to send 21,000 more troops to Iraq, challenging him to send "the entire army" and vowing insur- gents will defeat them, according to a new videotape released yes- terday by a U.S. group that tracks al-Qaida messages. The Washington-based SITE Institute said it had intercepted the video from Ayman al-Zawahri, which had not yet been posted on Islamic militant Web sites, where his messages are usually posted. SITE did not elaborate on how it received the message. Al-Zawahri saidthe U.S. strategy for Iraq, outlined by Bush in a Jan. 9 speech, was doomed to fail. ATLANTA Flyers now need passports to travel to Mexico, Canada Americans flying to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean made sure to bring their passports yes- terday because of a new rule going into effect Today that requires them to show one to get back into the country. Only about a quarter of U.S. citizens hold valid passports, and most Americans are accustomed to traveling to neighboring countries with just a driver's license or birth certificate, which have long been sufficient to get through airport customs on the trip home. The new regulations requiring passports were adopted by Con- gress in 2004 to secure the borders against terrorists. Starting Today, Canadian, Mexi- can and Bermudan air travelers, as well as U.S. citizens flying home from those countries or the Carib- bean, must display their passports to enter the United States. EL DORADO, ARK. Oil company creates $50 million college fund In one of the most generous pro- grams of its kind anywhere in the country, an oil company announced yesterday it is putting up $50 mil- lion for college scholarships for nearly all high school graduates in its working-class hometown over the next 20 years. "I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get everything paid for with all the loans I'd have to get," said Scott Zimmerebner, an El Dorado High School senior. He plans to attend the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, "now that it's all paid for." Murphy Oil Co. said it wants to increase the number of students who attend college and perhaps attract new businesses to El Dora-. do, with the scholarships a selling point. It said it also hopes the pro- gram will help create better jobs here for students to come back to after graduating from college. VIENNA, Austria * Scientists predict ice-less future for the Alps by 2050 Glaciers will all but disappear from the Alps by 2050, scientists warned yesterday, basing their bleak outlook on mounting evi- dence of slow but steady melting of the continental ice sheets. In western Austria's Alpine province of Tyrol, glaciers have been shrinking by about 3 percent a year, said Roland Psenner of the University of Innsbruck's Institute for Ecology. - Compiled from Daily wire reports 1 million Dollars a homeless man, Roger Greenlee, was sued for by an upscale New York City antique shop owner, Reuters reported. According to the owner Greenlee's anti-social behavior is ruining his business. On top of his recent legal trou- bles, Greenlee was also presumed to be dead by his ex-wife until she learned of his predicament on "Live with Regis and Kelly." 1 e in Iraqi market bombing in Shiite town Weekend death toll reaches 27 for American soldiers BAGHDAD (AP) - Twin bomb- ings yesterday tore through stalls of vendors selling second-hand clothes and DVDs in a busy Bagh- dad market catering to Shiite Mus- lims during a religious festival. A market also was attacked north of the capital, and police said as many as 100 people died in the renewed campaignblamed on Sunni Muslim insurgents. The U.S. military also reported the deaths Sunday of two Marines, raising the two-day death toll to 27 in a particularly bloody week- end for American forces in Iraq. A roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier and wounded four others yesterday in northern Iraq, it said. Yesterday's first blast, a parked car bomb, hit shortly after noon in the Bab al-Sharqi market between Tayaran and Tahrir squares - one of the busiest parts of Baghdad. Seconds later, a suicide car bomber drove into the crowd. Police estimated that each car was loaded with nearly 220 pounds of explosives. Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili said at least 78 people were killed and 156 were wounded, making it the deadliest attack in two months. Figures provided by police and hospital officials showed that as many as 88 people were killed. The explosions left body parts strewn on the bloodstained pave- ment as black smoke rose into the sky. Police sealed off the area as ambulances rushed to the scene. Survivors were taken to nearby al-Kindi Hospital where emergency personnel worked feverishly over the bloodied and badly wounded. Bodies coveredinblue and white cloth littered the outdoor court- yard at the hospital. Family mem- bers and friends were at the side of the dead, screaming in grief and crying out oaths. A suicide bomber killed at least 63 people in the same area last month. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, denounced the attack. "We condemn this crime and we promise that the security forces will pursue all those involved in this crime and bring them to jus- tice," he said in a statement. Hours later, a bomb followed by a mortar attack struck a market in the predominantly Shiite town of Khalis, 50 miles north of Bagh- dad, killing at least 12 people and wounding 29, police said. ThetwinbombinginBaghdadwas the single deadliest attack against civilians in Iraq since Nov. 23, when suspected al-Qaida in Iraq fighters attacked Baghdad's Sadr City Shiite slum with a series of car bombs and mortars that struck in quick succes- sion, killing at least 215 people. In other violence, gunmen killed a teacher as she was on her way to work at a girls' school in the main- ly Sunni area of Khadra in western Baghdad, police said, adding that the teacher's driver was wounded in the drive-by shooting. Two mortar shells also landed on a primary school in the Sunni strongholdneighborhood ofDorain southern Baghdad, killing a woman waiting for her child and wounding eight Students, police said. Police also said that a cell phone company employee and a Sunni tribal chieftain were killed in sepa- rate shootings in Baghdad, while the bullet-riddled bodies of three men were found elsewhere in the capital. An oil technician also was shot to death in the northern city of Mosul, police said. The two U.S. Marines were killed Sunday in separate attacks in the Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, the military said. The deaths came a day after 25 U.S. troops were killed Saturday in the third-deadliest day since the war started in March 2003 - eclipsed only by the one- day toll of 37 U.S. fatalities on Jan. 26, 2005, and 28on the third day of the U.S. invasion. The heaviest tolls Saturday came from a Black Hawk helicop- ter crash in which 12 U.S. soldiers were killed northeast of Baghdad as well as an attack on a provincial government building in the Shiite holy city of Karbala that left five U.S. troops dead. The U.S. military has not ruled out hostile fire. Col. David Suther- land, the commander of U.S. forces in the strife-ridden Iraqi province of Diyala, said the crash was still under investigation. The violence underscores the challenges faced by U.S. and Iraqi forces as they seek to rein in Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias that have made the capital and sur- rounding areas a battleground. Meanwhile, two government officials said Sunday that al-Maliki dropped his protection of an anti- American cleric's militia after being convinced by U.S. intelligence that the group was infiltrated by death squads. SHAY SPANIOLA/Daily Josh Mizruchi plays his trumpet outside of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library yes- terday. Mizrucki plays outside the UGLi regularly. t, s s: s c PFIZER From page 1 conference, Coleman said the Uni- versity would have to work with local leaders, economic develop- ment groups and small startups to replace the lost internship oppor- tunities. "Having an internship in a small- er company might be as good as or a better experience for a student as having one in a big company like Pfizer," Coleman said. She emphasized that it's impor- tant for the University to work with the city, state and industry to move on. "We need to make sure we are doing everything we can to turn this crisis into something that is positive for the community," Cole- man said. At the press conference, Hieftje spoke candidly about what the loss of Pfizer, the world's largest phar- maceutical company, would mean for Ann Arbor. He said that the disappearance of the city's largest taxpayer would have an impact on property tax levels in the city and would hurt the city's schools. Still, he cautioned against despair. "This is certainly a blow to the city, but it is not one from which we cannot recover," he said. Pfizer paid $13 million to the city's coffers in 2006, more than 4 percent of Ann Arbor's property tax receipts. While the University is the larg- est landowner in the city, it does not pay property taxes because it is a public institution. Pfizer was also one of the larg- est charitable givers in the city, supporting the United Way, youth programming and the University Musical Society. "Pfizer was the largest non-Uni- versity employer in the city and had recently invested heavily in upgrad- ing and expanding its sprawling Ann Arbor research labs, which abuts the eastern edge of North Campus. But despite Pfizer's massive physical presence in Ann Arbor, Granholm said the firm's real assets were the skilled employees who worked there. She said she was determined to keep those skilled employees in Michigan. At about 1 p.m. yesterday, nine Pfizer employees gathered at Ash- ley's Pub on State Street to discuss the news over lunch and a drink. Pfizer instructed employees not to speak with reporters, and none of the group gathered at Ashley's would comment. "We are going to have a whole stick-around-Ann-Arbor campaign for those employees, because we want them to stay," Granholm said. The loss of Pfizer was particu- larly painful for Granholm because biomedical research was one of the fields that she was hoping to foster as a way to diversify the state's econ- t omy as the once-dominant automo-v tive industry continues to struggle. c With a low unemployment rated and the promise of new industries r like Google moving into the area, Ann Arbor had been one of the few i economic bright spots in the strug- r glingstate. But the loss of thousands of high- a tech jobs yesterday cast doubt on' the city's economic future. "We are in the same boat as b the rest of the state of Michigan,"p Hieftje said at last night's City f Council meeting.p Granholm said Pfizer's decisiond was part of a global restructur- o ing and had nothing to do with the a local labor pool, the state's taxes orp the state's business climate. "There is nothing Michigan could have done to prevent this from happening," she said. Pfizer officials announced the closure of the Ann Arbor plant yes- terday morning as part of a larger restructuring. The firm, which has not introduced any blockbuster drugs since Viagra in 1998, is los- ing market share to generic drugs. Many of its patents are set to expire over the next five years. It aims to shed 10 percent of its global workforce by 2008. In addi- tion to the Ann Arbor facility, Pfiz- er will close two plants and four research facilities in the United States, Japan and France. TEACHING From page 1 University alum Maggie Weston aught English to Baltimore high chool students capable of a fifth or ixth grade writing level. Weston said her most fulfilling moment was helping a senior, in the, chool's special education program writing at a second grade level, omplete a 10-page research paper. "(The student) had a really hard ime in my class," Weston said. "He wrote the 10-page paper. We had a elebration for him because he had done it. You could tell that he was really proud of himself." Weston also tried help students dentify with the material by using rap songs to teach poetry. Despite these triumphs, Bratt nd Weston had to learn to deal with the struggles along the way. Weston frequently found herself buying basic school supplies like printer paper, rulers and markers or the classroom out of her own pocket. She also faced a 60 percent daily attendance rate. By the end if the year, she was able to raise ittendance to 75 percent by calling parents and using incentives like certificates for good attendance and "scholar of the week" awards. For Bratt, lack of student motiva- tion was a formidable force. "One of the biggest challenges I faced was literally getting my stu- dents to believe that they could achieve," Bratt said in an e-mail interview. "I think when they real- ized that they weren't going to run me out of the classroom and that I wasn't going to change my tune about their ability to learn, they started to come around." Bratt said that though it was one of the most difficult experiences in her life, it was well worth it. "My kids grew two grade levels in one year," she said. "To see that it's actually possible to close the achievement gap was inspiring." The message that closing the achievement gap is possible is one that Kopp said she plans to deliver to college campuses across the country. "Years and years of effort have led to a situation where we are actually onthebrinkofmakingdramatic pro- cess of closing the achievement gap," Kopp said. "I hope that the college seniors who are out there and who want to make our country better will think about immersing themselves in the center of that revolution." WRITE FOR THE DAILY. E-MAIL NEWS@MICH IGAN DAILY.COM Republican dissent grows in Congress as deployment for 21,500 troops nears 1 11 X ~ Lawmakers call for monthly war updates from White House WASHINGTON (AP) - Con- gressional Republicans pushed back yesterday against President Bush's decision to deploy addi- tional troops in Iraq, some voicing opposition while others called for the administration and Iraqi gov- ernment to be held accountable. In the Senate, three GOP law- makers joined one Democrat in unveiling nonbinding legislation expressing disagreement with Bush's plan and urging him to "con- sider all options and alternatives" to the planned increase of 21,500 troops. In the House, members of the leadership drafted a series of what theycalled "strategicbenchmarks," and said the White House should submit monthly reports to Con- gress measuring progress toward meeting them. The developments occurred on the eve of Bush's State of the Union address, and as Democrats pointed toward votes in the House and Senate in the next few weeks declaring that the troop increase was "not in the national interest of the United States." Republicans have struggled to respond in the two weeks since Bush outlined his new strategy in a speech. Though aware that the war played a role in the GOP defeat'in last fall's elections, most have been unwilling to abandon a president of their own party. Both the Senate legislation and the action taken by the House Republicanleaders were softer than the legislation that majority Demo- crats intend to place for a vote. But they also represented a more force- ful response to the long and deadly war than the GOP offered while it held the majority in Congress. Sen. John Warner of Virginia, former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Norm Coleman of Minnesota in producing the legislation express- ing disagreement with Bush's plan. "I personally, speaking for myself, have great concern about the American G.I. being thrust into that situation, the origins of which sometimes go back over a thousand years," Warner said. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, the Senate's most conservative Demo- crat, joined the Republicans. In the House, Rep. John Boeh- ner of Ohio, the party's leader, said that he supports Bush's plan and that his backing is not condi- tional on the president agreeing to meet the standards that law- makers laid out. He said he had told the presi- dent "that the support is still strong among Republicans but there are a lot of our members who are skeptical that the plan will work" because of doubts that the Iraqi government will follow through on its commitments. - Boehner also released a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urging her to appoint a special committee of equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats to oversee the "implementation and progress of the president's new strategy for success in Iraq." As the majority party, Demo- crats generally are entitled to more seats on House committees than Republicans, and it is unlike- ly Pelosi would agree to a different arrangement to monitor the war. The House Republicans' sug- gested "strategic benchmarks" apply largely to the Iraqi gov- ernment, which has pledged additional troops to quell sectar- ian fighting and to restrain Shiite militia. Republicans want the gov- ernment to be measured on its cooperation with U.S. forces, its ability to purge its security forces of insurgents and their sympathiz- ers and also on its ability to assure that Shiite, Sunni, Kurd and other groups are treated equally.