The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - 3 NEWS BRIEFS JABAR, Afghanistan Coalition airstrike hits house, kills 9 from one family A coalition airstrike destroyed a mud-brick home after a rocket attack on a U.S. base, killing nine people from four generations of an Afghanfamilyincludinga6-month- old, officials and relatives said yes- terday - one of the latest in a string of civilian deaths that threaten to undermine the government. It was the third report in two days of U.S. forces killing civil- ians. The airstrike took place late Sunday in Kapisa province north of the capital, some 12 hours after U.S. Marines opened fire on civil- ian cars and pedestrians following a suicide bombing in eastern Nan- gahar province. In the other incident, an Ameri- can convoy in the southern city of Kandahar - where suicide attacks have become commonplace over the past year - opened fire yes- terday on a vehicle that drove too close, killing the driver, said Noor Ahmad, a Kandahar police officer who said he witnessed the shoot- ing. A NATO spokesman said he did not have any information. PETOSKEY, Mich. Man confesses to killing and dismembering wife A man accused in the killing and dismemberment of his wife has described to police the details sur- rounding her death, a sheriff said yesterday. O Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel,speaking at a morningnews conference in Mount Clemens, said Stephen Grant has been cooperat- ing with investigators, telling them in detail how Tara Lynn Grant was killed and dismembered and where her remains were taken. Stephen Grant was recovering at a northern Michigan hospital yes- terday, a day after he was captured byauthoritieswhotracked himafter he fled his suburban Detroit home. When doctors clear Grant for release from the hospital, Hackel said Grant would be transported to the Macomb County Jail and later would face arraignment on charges related to his wife's death and muti- lation. BAGHDAD After lull, violence returns to Baghdad A suicide car bomber turned a venerable book market into a deadly inferno and gunmen targeted Shi- ite pilgrims yesterday as suspected Sunni insurgents brought major bloodshed back into the lap of their main Shiite rivals. At least 38 people died in the blast and seven pilgrims were killed. The violence - after a relative three-day lull in Baghdad - was seen as another salvo in the Sunni extremist campaign to provoke a sectarian civil war that could tear apart the Shiite-led government and erase Washington's plans for Iraq. The Shiite Mahdi Army militia has so far resisted full-scale retali- ation through a combination of self-interest and intense govern- ment pressure. But the militia's leader, the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is now being cornered in new ways that have put him on the defensive. VIENNA Iran puts nuclear program on hold Iran seems to have at least temporarily halted the uranium- enrichment program at the heart of its standoff with the U.N. Security Council, the head of the Interna- tional Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday. The pause could represent an attempt to de-escalate Iran's con- flict with the Security Council, which is deliberating a new set of harsher sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Iran has enriched small quan- tities of uranium to the low level suitable for nuclear fuel genera- tion. The U.S. and its allies fear that Iran could build nuclear weapons with larger amounts of more highly enriched uranium. Walter Reed commanders admit fault in soldier care LET THEM MAKE CAKE Army brass says they didn't know about problems WASHINGTON (AP) - Flayed by lawmakers' criticism, Army leaders said yesterday they accept responsibility for substandard conditions at the service's flagship Walter Reed Army Medical Center but also said they hadn't known about most of the problems. Democrats and Republicans alike suggested the failings go far beyond the one hospital for wound- ed soldiers in Washington, and they demanded action. Military leaders - and Vice President Dick Cheney - promised they'd get it. "We can't fail one of these sol- diers or their families, not one. And we did," said Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who was in charge of Walter Reed from August 2006 until he was fired last week. He added, "We did not fully recognize the frustrating bureaucratic and administrative processes some of these soldiers go through. We should have, and in this I failed." Weightman's comments were echoed by other top Army officials at an emotional House hearing held at the hospital itself as Con- gress began digging into the con- troversy. In a session that mixed contri- tion and clashes, lawmakers said dilapidated housing and excessive red tape were problems beyond Walter Reed, underscoring how recent revelations about the hos- pital have become a metaphor for broader concerns about the gov- ernment's treatment of soldiers returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I'm afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg, that when we got out into the field we may find more of this," said Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcom- mittee that held the session. "My question is, where have you been?" Rep. John Tierney, (D-Mass.), chairman of the panel, asked Army Undersecretary Peter Geren, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker and Vice Chief Gen. Richard Cody. In one exchange, Schoomaker told Tierney, "I've got a daughter and a son-in-law that are on the way to combat. This is not some- thing about people who don't care." "Nobody said anything about people not caring, so we'll put that red herring aside and, if I can, calm you down and get you back to the issue here," Tierney answered. Addressing war veterans on yes- terday, Cheney promised that the problems at Walter Reed would be fixed. "There will be no excuses - only action," Cheney told a gathering of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "And the federal bureaucracy will not slow that action down." Separately, as the Bush admin- istration tried to contain politi- cal damage from the controversy, Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson said his office would hire 100 new patient advocates, speed benefit claims and improve medical screenings for veterans at its facilities. i ROSS From page 1 By 5 p.m. the Ross Center had become a hubbub of activity. Study lounges were full of students work- ing individually or in groups as the televisions behind them were scrolling academic announce- ments. There were people behind the desk as students signed in and out, although they didn't stop anyone from walking past. The computer lab was almost full, and students met with tutors in some smaller rooms. Students flooded in and out of the building. The building has been popular with athletes who spend most of their time on South Campus. When LSA junior Mike Woods, a member of the cross-country and track teams, was a freshman, he had to study in Angell Hall to ful- fill the study time required of each student-athlete, an experience he likened to high school detention. "Now it's like we have our own library," he said. Club athletes are allowed to use the center too, but not as frequently as varsity athletes. "Those that have requested are allowed to use the building until 6 p.m.," Acho said, but she said that after 7 p.m. the building is often already full of varsity athletes. Most club athletes didn't know about the option. Aaron Swick, president of the men's soccer club, said he never tried to use the facility and wasn't aware that it was available to non- varsity athletes. He said he would use it if he had access. Softball club president Julianne Wilke agreed. A lot of club athletes would be interested if they knew that they could use the center, she said. Acho said non-student-athletes are able to take classes offered at the center and are always able to visit the center with student-ath- letes. Achosaidthatusage ismonitored through sign-in logs for athletes and visitors located on the front desk near the entrance of the build- ing. Still, some students haven't had trouble using the building. Engineering sophomore Chris- tine Kurdys, who lives across the street from the Ross Center, said that she and her housemates some- times go to the building to use the printers or the computers. "They don't give us a hard time if we run in there once in awhile," she said. "It's nice not to have to go all the way to Central Campus." Kurdys said that she usually ANGELAtCESERE/Daily goes to the center in the morning Courtney Clark, executive chef at Cake Nouveau, decorates a birthday cake for a if she needs to print something, but University student at her Fourth Avenue store yesterday afternoon. A graduate of sometimes goes at night to work on the French Pastry School in Chicago, Clark won the jazz and award theme competi- homework. tions in a cake making at the Food Network Challenge last September. The competi- Tutors from various academic tion is scheduled to air April Sand 15 on the Food Network. support services like the Sweet- land Writing Center and the Sci- ence Learning Center work in the center too. Acho said these programs are open to all students. There are also learning coor- dinators assigned to each athletic team in order to provide extra tutoring when it's needed. SchoolofEducation student Eryn Lessard, who works as a learning coordinator with the men's basket- ball team, said the Ross Center is key to the academic success of stu- dent-athletes. "I myself can not begin to imag- ine what it's like to be a student and have a full-time job," she said. "That's what this is for them - they work really hard." Write for the Daily. E-mail news@michigandaily com Research Study Earn up to $20 Male participants needed for research Study about how people make business decisions. No business experience is required. Just two, 1-hour sessions. Details and Sign Up at www.si.umich.edu/orgstudy j 8,910 Number of people who par- ticipated in a record-setting snow angel session in Bismarck, N.D. to break the Guinness World Record of most snow angels made at once, The Associated Press reported. The former record of 3,784 was set by students at Michigan Tech- nological University in Houghton. North Dakota reclaims the record after it was originally set there in 2002.