The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

Monday, March 12, 2007 - 3A

NEWS BRIEFS
BOGOTA, Colombia
Bush visits
Colombia to offer
renewed support
President Bush said yesterday
that 4,700 additional troops he is
sending to Iraq above an increase
announced in January are slated
for support roles only, and urged
Congress to approve funding
for the war "without any strings
attached."
Two months ago, after an exten-
sive review, Bush ordered 21,500
additional American soldiers to
Iraq to help calm Baghdad and the
troubled Anbar Province.
"Those combat troops are going
to need, you know, some support,
and that's what the American
people are seeing in terms of Iraq
- the support troops necessary to
help the reinforcements do their
job," Bush said at a news confer-
ence here with Colombian Presi-
dent Alvaro Uribe.
PARIS
Chirac announces
he will not seek
third term
Jacques Chirac, admired and
scorned during12 years as president
of France, leaves a legacy as mixed
and ambiguous as the man himself.
As widely expected, the French
leader announced yesterday that he
will not seek a third term in presi-
dential elections in six weeks. In a
televised address, Chirac said he
would find new ways to serve his
country after leaving office: "Serving
France, and serving peace, is what I
have committed my whole life to."
Though he did not say as much,
the announcement was an implicit
acknowledgment that low popu-
larity, age - he is 74 - and Nicolas
Sarkozy, his conservative colleague-
cum-rival as hugely ambitious as
Chirac once was, have finally over-
taken him.
BAGHDAD
Shiite pilgrims face
bloodshed again
A suicide car bomber barreled
into a flatbed truck packed with
Shiite pilgrims yesterday, touch-
ing off a giant fireball that left
charred bodies strewn through a
Wtreet in the heart of Baghdad. At
least 32 people were killed.
The ambush-style attack
showed suspected Sunni insur-
gests again taking aim at the mil-
ions of worshippers who traveled
tQ the holy city of Karbala and are
otaw heading home.
It also displayed the limitations
tof the U.S.-led crackdown seek-
iog to restore order in the capital,
where bombers still strike with
4eadly efficiency against mostly
Silite targets in an apparent bid to
ignite an full-scale civil war.
ANAHEIM, Calif.
Fire scorches 500

acres of hillside in
California
A fast-moving brush fire
scorched 500 acres of parched
hillside and crept into backyards
~yesterday, forcing authorities to
"evacuate more than 200 homes,
Orange County fire officials said.
At least one home in Anaheim's
Hidden Canyon neighborhood
was on fire and many others were
threatened, Anaheim city spokes-
' ran John J. Nicoletti said.
"This is a very dangerous fire-
fight," said Orange County Fire
Authority Chief Ed Fleming. "The
terrain is quite rugged, with homes
on top of ridges, and the fire picks
up speed as it head up the hill."
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports

AMAKER
From page IA
Michigan. He stole Daniel Horton
from the state of Texas and con-
vinced Dion Harris - the nation's
second-best shooting guard not
named LeBron James in 2003
- to pick Michigan over Michigan
State and Louisville, among oth-
ers.
But despite these and other
highly rated recruits, Amaker's
teams have fallen short of the
NCAA Tournament every year.
And it's because under him,
unexceptional is accepted.
That's apparent in everything
that has become Michigan bas-
ketball, from the plays the Wol-
verines run to their unimpressive
conference records and missed
tournaments.
People complain about the
bland Michigan offense. I don't
have a huge problem with the
motion offense as a basic set, it's
something that can work well if
the players execute. ButI do take
issue with the set plays Michigan
runs, or the lack thereof.
Most teams run set plays for
their best players to get the ball in
scoring positions when the ball is
out of bounds under their oppo-
nents' basket. Especially after
timeouts. Indiana pounds it in to
D.J. White or finds a 3-pointer for
Roderick Wilmont. Ohio State sets
up a Greg Oden post play. Michi-
gan State gets the ball to Drew
Neitzel anywhere.
Michigan? It used to have that
alley-oop to Brent Petway coming
down the middle of the lane. Then
teams figured it out. So now the
team lobs the ball to half court,
where somebody catches it and
starts running the motion offense
again. Sometimes Harris curls
around a screen at the 3-point
line, but he never gets the ball.
This isn't the worst thing in
the world. The half-court lob is
almost always a safe pass, and it
provides an easy outlet for the
inbounder. But it's not a great
play, not one that gets Harris or
Courtney Sims a good look at the
basket. And Michigan ran nothing
else throughout the final games of
the regular season and in the Big
Ten Tournament.
Let's move to bigger things, like
player development.
Harris arrived at Michigan
as Amaker's best recruit. He
was Michigan's Mr. Basketball,
as polished as they come offen-
sively.
But plagued by inconsistency
in his senior season, Harris gar-
nered only a spot on the All-Big
Ten third team. For Amaker's best
recruit, a player prognosticators
foresaw leading Michigan to the
NCAA Tournament, that's disap-

pointing. And it's not just Harris.
Sims fell far short of reaching his
potential, and fifth-year senior
Lester Abram just finished the
worst season of his career.
None had bad careers here.
But none exceeded, or even real-
ized, expectations. A coach's job
is to get the most out of his play-
ers, to continuously put them in
positions to succeed. And while
those players were far from a
detriment to the program, none
became what everyone thought
they could.
Michigan's so-so seasons are
another example of the sub-par
results standard under Amaker.
Everyone expected the Wol-
verines to make the NCAA
Tournament each of the last two
years. As Amaker's heralded first
and second recruiting classes
became upperclassmen, the team
should've contended for the Big
Ten title. Instead, it finished both
regular seasons 8-8 in conference
play. A collapse down the stretch
last year kept them from the
party, while this year's team never
broke inside the bubble through-
out the Big Ten season.
8-8 isn't bad. It's passable.
But for the University of
Michigan, it shouldn't be OK. This
shouldn't be a program crossing
its fingers on Selection Sunday,
it's one that should be hoping for a
five seed rather than a six.
Some people will say that
Amaker had to deal with NCAA
sanctions and postseason eligibil-
ity. But so did Thad Matta, and
his team is the best in the country
after just three seasons, while
Amaker has had six.
Some will say that the poor
facilities make it difficult for
Amaker to get the recruits that
can take the Wolverines danc-
ing. But he's had good recruits
(Horton and Harris come to
mind). Maybe they aren't capable
of winninga championship, but
they should have made the team
a contender in the Big Ten and
certainly should have obtained a
single at-large bid to the NCAA
Tournament in the past six years.
Some will say that in order to
make sure we keep next year's
highly rated recruit Alex Legion,
Amaker should be given some
more time.
But he's already proven that he
won't get the most out of these
kinds of players.
He'll have them running
mediocre plays while becoming
average players during a run-of-
the-mill season.
And for Michigan, the purport-
ed "champions of the west," that
doesn't sound like the best leader.
- Bromwich can be reached
at dabromwi umich.edu.

PIIN MASTERS

Break dancers from all over the country gathered at the Michigan League on Saturday night for a dance competition that attract-
ed more than 150 participants.

ASBESTOS
From page IA
will have asbestos," Brown said.
"That's a matter of fact. Everyone
knows it. There's no cover-up."
Brown said maintenance staff
are removing parts of the ceiling to
prepare for construction over the
summer.
"It has nothing to do with any
asbestos issues," she said.
The location of the asbestos in
Markley posed a minimal threat to
students, said Public Health Prof.
David Garabrant, an asbestos spe-
cialist.
"The issue i' not whether
there's asbestos in the ceiling
tiles," Garabrant said. "The issue is
whether anyone is breathing asbes-
tos in, and that's typically not the
case with a ceiling tile."
Brown said the asbestos in the
ceiling tiles wasn't a direct threat to
students because only asbestos dust
is harmful.
"If ceiling tiles are left alone and
untouched, there is no potential
harm," Brown said.
Johnson said he isn't that wor-
ried about the health risks. Rath-
er, he's concerned that residents
didn't know about the asbestos
until now.
"It's not going to kill us or
anything," Johnson said. "The
main thing that bothers most of
us is that they originally denied
it."

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lumn

Get ready for life after Michigan with Real Life 101.
This annual series of free, entertaining seminars is designed just for U-M students
and will help you get ready for some of the big issues you face as you get ready to
graduate. These fun and informative seminars will get you thinking and get you ready!
Tuesday, March 13, 6-7:30 p.m.
Insurance 101 "What You Don't Know Can Hurt You"
Health insurance, life insurance, auto insurance, renters insurance, home
owners insurance, flood insurance....what does it all mean and what
does it have to do with you? In this lively session, facilitated by the
professionals at Liberty Mutual, get the lowdown you need.
Monday, March 19, 6-7:30 p.m.
Investing 101 "Best Practices for Beginning Investing"
Who doesn't want to retire at 40? While we can't make any promises, we
can provide you with sound advice on ways you can invest your earnings
as you start out in your professional life. This "must see" session will be
led by our friends at LaSalle Bank.
Tuesday, March 27, 6-7:30 p.m.
Money Management 101 "Getting the Most Out of What You've Got"
Money may not buy happiness, but it sure can make life easier. In this
information-crammed session, learn how you can make the most of your
limited resources while avoiding the pitfalls that doom a lot of new grads.
These FREE sessions are at the Alumni Center and include FREE
pizza and pop. Plus, one student at each session will win
a $50 Visa gift card.
LaSalle Bank ALUMNIASSOCIATION
ABN AMRO UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

i

'50
Age of Osama bin Laden, whose
birthdaywasonSaturday,according
to some analysts. Followers filled
radical Islamic websites with trib-
utes to the terrorist leader. Accord-
ling to The Associated Press, bin
aden's exact birth date i unclear.
It is known for certain, however,
that he was born in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia in 1957. Bin Laden has not
served as the public face of al-Qaeda
in recent years, leaving that task to
his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

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