B-SCHOOL? B.S.
ONE STUDENT PUTS ROSS IN ITS PLACE. THE STATEMENT
FROM THE DAILY: OTHER PROP 2 COMES BACK FOLK ROCKER JOSH RITTER TO
TO HAUNT MICHIGAN PLAY THE ARK
OPINION, PAGE 4A ARTS, PAGE SA
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Anr ArborMich rga
www.michigandaily.com
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
FRI
'U' alums,
professors take
part in war
By EMILY ANGELL
Daily StaffReporter
Then-LSA sophomore Adri-
an Mejia spent the final weeks of
December 2003 like most other
students: preparing for exams.
A few days before Christmas,
he took his last test. tie packed
up his dorm room in West Quad
and left Ann Arbor.
The similarities between
Mejia and most students end
there.
Mejia did not go home for
Christmas he went to Iraq.
Mejia is one of many Uni-
versity students, professors and
STATE OF THE STATE
Fifth in an occasional series about the
University's connection to the Iraq war
OM A2TO IRAQ
alums involved in the war.
He had been in the Univer-
sity's Reserve Officer Training
Corps program, and decided to
enlist in the Army before gradu-
ating.
After his deployment in 2003,
he was stationed at Abu Ghraib,
the prison where numerous
Iraqi detainees were abused and
humiliated by American forces
in 2004.
"After all the scandal broke
out, it was very surreal to be
on the front lines of all that
happened because of it," he
said in an e-mail interview
from Iraq.
Now Mejia is on his second
tour of duty as a military police
officer. He spends most of his
days training Iraqi police. Other
days are spent on patrol and
enforcing curfew at night. Ste
still finds times to send e-mails
from an Internet caf6 and watch
movies with his fellow soldiers,
he said.
Mejia hopes to return in
November to finish his degree
in economics.
"The best part of coming
out here is going home," Mejia
said. "I remember how it felt
the first time, and I can't wait
to come home for good this
time."
Still, Mejia said the United
States should not withdraw its
troops.
"We need to finish this
job," he said. "No matter how
unethical, immoral or unjust
people believe this war has
been, American lives, heroes,
have been lost, and quitting
now will mean that all those
lives were tlst in vain.
GRADUATION, THEN
GUNFIRE
As a freshman at the Uni-
versity, Cpl. David Cain
wanted to serve his country.
So in Sept. 2002 he joined
the Marine Corps, but did not
deploy until after his gradua-
tion last year.
For the past seven months,
he has been stationed in
Iraq, fighting a war he never
believed in until he got there.
Over the duration of his
tour, his views changed.
"I have seen the young
children and all the good that
we are doing here," he said in
an e-mail interview from the
war-torn country. "I feel that
for us to give those children a
chance to live in freedom, we
have to continue to fight the
See IRAQ, page 7A
Gov. Jennifer Granholm gives the State of the State address at the state capitol building in Lansing last night.
Granhoim:
M0ichigan must
create a culture
of learning'
"You have to be really dedicated to be out in this weather. I'm a
little bit closer to the door today. When people come out you get a
little burst of heat."
- LSA junior Chris Byrd while a smoking a cigarette outside Angell Hall
Gov vows not to
cut education
funding midyear
By ALESE BAGDOL
Daily StaffReporter
--- __ ------ ,_
Gov. Jennifer Granholm
emphasized education's vital
role in strengthening Michi-
gan's economy in her State of
the State address last night.
Granholm said improving
education is key to the state's
chances of recovery from its
current economic doldrums.
"Economists and experts
across the country agree that
education is the single most
effective strategy for stoking
a states economic growth,"
she said. "That means we
all must create a culture of
learning that is unprecedent-
ed in Michigan's history."
But despite the impor-
tance Granholm placed on
education in the speech, she
did not outline any increases
in education spending this
year.
Rather, the governor
pledged to not "slash school
funding in the middle of the
year."
In 2005, the state cut edu-
cation funding in the middle
of the fiscal year to deal with
an unexpectedly large bud-
get deficit. To make up for
the cuts, the University had
to increase tuition by 12.3
percent for in-state students
and 6 percent for out-of-state
students.
University spokeswom-
an Kelly Cunningham said
yesterday she wasn't sure
whether tuition increases
will be necessary this year.
Administrators will have a
clearer picture of the Univer-
sity's financial outlook when
Granholm releases her 2008
budget on Thursday.
Granholm also pledged
to increase education fund-
ing next year if universi-
ties pledged to keep tuition
affordable.
In past State of the State
addresses, Granholm asked
universities to keep tuition in
check. From 2004 to 2006,
the state cut funding to the
University by over $77 mil-
lion. These cuts forced the
University to dramatically
cut spending and increase
tuition.
Cunningham praised Gra-
nholm for placing such ahigh
value on education. .
"The governor has issued
a clarion call to reshape how
Michigan does business,"
Cunningham said. "Central
to that is the investment in
education. We look forward
to working with her and the
legislature in the months
ahead."
The governor also pro-
posed working with cities
to emulate the Kalamazoo
Promise - a scholarship
funded by anonymous donors
that provides free tuition at
any state university to grad-
uates of Kalamazoo public
schools.
Cunninghamsaid that sort
of aid is crucial to expanding
access to the University.
Granholm also called on
legislators to pass legisla-
tion requiring all children
to attend kindergarten and
to increase the age at which
students are eligible to drop
out of school from age 16 to
18.
Philip Kearney, a profes-
sor emeritus of education,
said he thinks the future suc-
See GRANHOLM, page 7A
Pedestrians and traffic move past McKinley Town Centre on the corner of Division and East Liberty streets last night. Most Ann Arbor residents
didn't need a reminder of the frigid temperatures.
After balmy December, it's
payback time on campus
C A-MPUS CRIME
On frat row, thief
meets his match
I
in
Th
Arbo
10 de
De
some
crean
to the
ice cr
"P
and
Mey'
stude
emperatures ice cream scooper. "It won't
melt now, so you can put your
predicted to mittens on and you don'thave
to worry about it dripping on
ch into 20s for your hands."
Highs about 20 degrees
weekend aren't predicted until Friday.
Meyer said business is
By DREW PHILP slower during the winter, but
Daily StaffReporter still steady.
"We still have die-hards,"
ermometers in Ann he said. "It's never too cold
r made it up as high as for ice cream."
grees yesterday. Even with the blistering
espite the cold, though, cold,fBenand Jerry'ssold three
people still wanted ice ice creamcakes yesterday. One
m. And there's an upside cake went to LSA sophomore
e frigid temperatures for Ashley Thomas, who bought it
ream eaters. for a friend's birthday.
eople still buy ice cream "I thought it would be
walk outside," said Ben cute," she said.
er, a School of Dentistry When asked if her friend
ent and Ben and Jerry's would like the cake despite
the temperature of the ice
cream being warmer than
the temperature outside,
Thomas said, "She better."
The cold may not be affect-
ing only the ice cream busi-
ness. Tobacco use may also
be decreasing in the bitter
chills of winter.
Forced to choose between
nicotine and the allure of
indoor heating, many have
decided to curb their crav-
ings until temperatures rise.
"You have to be really
dedicated to be out in this
weather," LSA junior Chris
Byrd said in between Camel
Light puffs outside of Angell
Hall. "I'm a little bit closer to
the door today. When people
come out you get a little burst
of heat."
While many smokers may
have curbed their habit to
stay warm, joggers are a dif-
ferent story.
Ann Arbor resident Jason
Crosby, 28, is training for a
marathon. He was jogging on
State Street last night.
He said he likes the cold.
"Ifyou havethe appropriate
clothing, it's pretty comfort-
able," he said. "The workout
facilities at the University are
crowded and stuffy. it's bet-
ter to be outside."
Ann Arbor public schools
closed the past two days
because of the harsh condi-
tions.Accordingtothe Detroit
Free Press, 400 schools in
Macomb, Oakland and Wayne
counties also closed because
of the cold.
Police say man Street was secure.
On Thursday night, he
in custody could learned his lesson.
Upon returning to his
be behind rash of room after, he found the wal-
let gone.
robberies As Tignanelli and sev-
eral of his fraternity broth-
By JESSICAVOSGERCHIAN ers searched for the missing
Daily StaffReporter wallet, they saw a middle-
aged man in shabby pants
LSA sophomore Andrew and a down coat pass by in
Tignanelli never thought the hall.
twice about leaving his When he was questioned,
wallet on his desk. it never the man claimed to be look-
occurred to him to lock his ing for the bathroom.
room door if he wanted to Tignanelli and his house-
leave for a few minutes, mates quickly grew suspi-
because assumed his second cious. They accused the
floor room in the Beta Theta intruder of stealing Tig-
Pi fraternity house on State nanelli's wallet, and when
the man refused to prove he
didn't have it, they stripped
off his coat.
In his coat pocket, they
found Tignanelli's wallet,
but not his money.
Tignanelli and his house-
mates pinned the man down
and pulled the man's own
wallet from his pants.
In the man's wallet they
found what Tignanelli said
was the $182 that was miss-
ing from his own wallet.
Tignanelli's housemates
called the Ann Arbor Police
Department after they found
the missing wallet.
Police arrived within min-
utes.
See CRIME, page 7A
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2007 The MichiganDaly U .
michigandaily.com OPINION.
,2 A ARTS-A........................ 5A
3A SPORTS- ....................... 8 A
..4A THE STATEMENT-.................1B