4p The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, January 4, 2007 - 3A * The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, January 4, 2007 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS BAGHDAD 4 Five security contractors taken captive in Iraq Four Americans and an Austrian abducted in November in southern Iraq spoke briefly and appeared uninjured in a video believed to have been recorded nearly two weeks ago and delivered yesterday to The Associated Press. The men - security contractors for the Crescent Security Group based in Kuwait - appeared sepa- rately on the edited video. Three of them said they were being treated well. They were kidnapped Nov. 16 9 when suspected militiamen in Iraqi police uniforms ambushed a convoy of trucks being escorted by Cres- cent Security on a highway near the southern border city of Safwan. It was unclear whether the kid- nappers were holding the contrac- tors to put political pressure on American-led occupation forces and the U.S.-backed Iraqi govern- ment or were seeking a ransom. U.S.-led forces have conducted raids in an effort to rescue the men. WASHINGTON Negroponte resigns post as director of intelligence National Intelligence Director John Negroponte will resign to become deputy secretary of state, a government official said yesterday night. Negroponte took over in 2005 as the nation's first intelligence chief, responsible for overseeing all 16 U.S. spy agencies. He will return to his roots as a career diplomat to become the No. 2 to Secretary of State Con- doleezza Rice, the official said. Negroponte is stepping down as President Bush develops a new strategy for the war in Iraq. The official said that the tim- ing of Negroponte's departure was uncertain but that it was expected soon. The official spoke on condi- tion of anonymity because there has been no announcement of the move. TACOMA, Wash. Teenage boy killed in school shooting A teenage boy was shot to death yesterdayinahigh schoolhallwayass classes were about to resume after winter break. Police arrested a fel- low student found wandering near- by,butwere still tryingto determine a motive. ThePierceCountymedical exam- iner's office identified the dead boy as Samnang Kok, 17. The arrested student was Doug- las Chanthabouly, 18. According to Pierce County Jail booking records, he was booked for investigation of first-degree murder shortly before 1 p.m. No one else was hurt in the 7:30 a.m. shooting. BOST(ON 1 " TOP TEN HIGHEST-PAID U salaries s UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES 1. Robert Kelch ExecutiveVPfor Medical Affairs modest increases: $656,910 Chrysler falls out of top for 2006 Faculty pay up average of 4.1 per- cent, administrators 3.1 By GABE NELSON Daily StaffReporter Although a few administrators saw sizable raises this year, sala- ries for most of the University's top brass grew less than those of the average faculty member over the last year. According to the University sal- ary record, released by the Univer- sity's human resources office last week, the average University fac- ulty member received a 4.1 percent raise over the last year. The average administrator received a 3.1-percent raise over the last year. The average aca- demic dean saw a pay hike of 3.9 percent. None of the University's 19 academic deans got more than 4.3 percent, but three University administrators saw raises of more than 40 percent this year. Douglas Strong, director and CEO of the University's Hospitals and Health Systems, received a 40.4 percent raise, bringing his 2006-2007 salary to $490,000. It bumped him from fifth to third on the list of the University's highest- paid employees. Timothy Slottow, the Universi- ty's chief financial officer, makes 45.4 percent more than he did last year. That makes him the fourth highest-paid University employ- ee. And Erik Lundberg, the Univer- sity's chief investment officer, saw a 46.3 percent pay raise. Now mak- ing $426,500, Lundberg is fifth on the list of highest-paid employees. University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said Slottow's raise was an attempt to keep him at the Uni- versity. He might otherwise have been lured away by a more lucra- tive offer from a private university or company, she said. Otherwise, it was a largely con- servative year for pay increases. Other than Slottow, the only Uni- versity executive officer to earn a significant raise was University Vice President and Secretary Sally Churchill, whose pay jumped by 20.6 percent. Non-academic employees of the University averaged raises of just 3 percent over last year - the lowest pay increase among all groups of University employees. 2. Mary Sue Coleman University President $516,501 3. Douglas Strong Director and CEO, University Hospitals and Health Systems $490,000 4. Timothy Slottow University CFO $437,750 5. Erik Lundberg Chief Investment Officer $426,500 6. Robert Dolan Dean, Ross School of Business $405,000 7. Bill Martin Athletic Director $355,770 8. Zelda Geyer-Sylvia M-CARE CEO $349,818 9. Lloyd Carr Head Football Coach $347,619 10. Teresa Sullivan Provost $340,000 Toyota now has more market share than DaimlerChrysler DETROIT (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. continued to gobble up mar- ket share in 2006, passing Daim- lerChrysler AG as the No. 3 U.S. auto seller for the first time during a full calendar year. In sales figures announced yes- terday, Toyota, which includes the Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands, ended the year with 15.4 percent of the U.S. automotive market compared to DaimlerChrysler's 13.3 percent, according to Auto- data Inc. Toyota's market share rose more than 2 percent, up from 13.3 percent at the end of last year. The company had its best year ever in 2006, with sales up 12.9 percent for the year at more than 2.5 million vehicles. Industry analysts say the Japa- nese automaker benefited from its reputation for quality and fuel effi- ciency as gasoline prices sent con- sumers fleeing to cars from trucks and sport utility vehicles during much of the year. Industrywide, U.S. sales dropped 2.6 percent for the year to about 16.5 million from just under 17 million in 2005, Autodata said. Ford Motor Co. was able to hold off Toyota and keep its title of No. 2 for 2006 and for the month of December. Ford ended the year with 16.4 percent of the U.S. market, and ithas forecast a14 to 15 percent mar- ket share for the next several years. That means Ford almost certainly will be passed by Toyota as No. 2 sometime next year. "They've got a lot of momentum going into 2007, and we don't see the momentum slowing anytime soon," said Joe Barker, senior manager of global sales forecasting for CSM Worldwide, an automotive forecast- ing firm in Northville. Ford repeatedly has said it is not focused on keeping market share, but rather wants to sell cars at a profit. The company lost $7 billion during the first three quarters of the year and is in the midst of a major restructuring plan to shrink its fac- tory capacity to match lower con- sumer demand. Ford sales dropped nearly 13 per- cent in December compared with December oflast year, and they were off 8 percentforthe year atabout2.9 million vehicles. Ford attributed the decline to a drop in truck and sport utility vehicle sales and the end of production for the Taurus sedan. DaimlerChrysler, including the Chrysler Group and Mercedes- Benz, saw a 1 percent U.S. sales decline last month due largely to a dip in Mercedes sales. Chrysler's sales rose 1 percent, but Mercedes sales dropped 10 percent in Decem- ber when compared with the same month of 2005. For the full year, DaimlerChrys- ler's sales were down 5 percent to more than 2.39 million compared with 2005. Chrysler was off 7 per- cent while Mercedes was up 11 per- cent. Ford sold a total of 231,900 light vehicles in December, with Toyota just below the Dearborn-based auto- maker at 228,322. But Toyota's sales for the month continued to increase, up more than 12 percent compared with December of last year. General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, reported Decem- ber sales fell 13 percent, and its sales for the year dropped 8.7 percent compared to last year. Its market share was 24.3 percent for the year, with just over 4 million vehicles sold. Jesse Toprak, chief economist for Edmunds.com, a research website for car buyers, said that of the major automakers, only Honda and Toyota saw increased market share. Dems pledge action on ethics, Iraq on eve of taking Congress Bush cautions against 'political' legislation WASHINGTON (AP) - Con- gressional Democrats stepped hungrily to the brink of power yes- terday, promisingimmediate action to limit the influence of lobbyists and constant prodding of the Bush administration to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. President Bush pushed back against the political opposition as he contemplated divided govern- ment for his final two years in the White House. He said he would soon propose a five-year plan to balance the budget, and he chal- lenged Democrats to avoid pass- ing "bills that are simply political" statements. "There is nothing political about finding a policy to end the war in Iraq, raising the minimum wage, achieving energy independence or helping kids afford college," shot back Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, due to become majority leader at the stroke of noon on today. "In fact, politics has prevented prog- ress on these issues for too many years." Hussein execution guards Even as they prepared to take control of Congress, Democrats received a brusque reminder that they face pressure from the politi- cal left as well as resistance from Republicans. At one point during the day, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a member of the Democratic leadership, was addressing reporters when he was loudly interrupted by Cindy Shee- han and other anti-war activists. "De-escalate, investigate, troops home now!" they shouted, while he smiled gamely. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, in line to become the nation's first female House speaker, spent much of her day at ceremonial events. She attended a Catholic Mass in remem- brance of the children ofDarfur and Katrina, then atea in her honor. That left it to her lieutenants to outline plans for the Democrats' initial stretch in the majority. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the incoming majority leader, said the first six bills and a series of stiffer ethics rules would be passed within two weeks. The firststep, he said, would take place by early evening today, and consist of several measures crafted in response to the scandals that weakened Republicans in last fall's elections. In addition to expanding restric- tions on privately financed trips enjoyed by lawmakers, House Democrats said they will prohibit travel on corporate jets and require greater disclosure of earmarks, the pet projects inserted into legisla- tion at the behest of individual law- makers. The rules do not prohibit law- makers from taking trips financed by foundations that seek to influ- ence public opinion. Those trips will require pre-approval from the ethics committee. Current rules ban congressional travel paid forbylobbyistsor foreign governments, and violations of the existing restrictions played heavily, in the scandal involvingRepublican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Democrats appeared to back- track from their campaign-sea- son pledge in at least one area. They were sharply critical last year of Republicans for keeping a roll call vote open for hours so leaders could find enough votes to pass Medicare legislation. But rather than ban the practice, the proposed new rule declares that a vote "shall not be held open for the sole purpose of reversing the outcome." I Registration now open! Beginning & Advanced Taekwondo Taught by Grand Master Hwa Chong rn self-defense and Olympic- style fighting Improve conditioning and flexibility Register online at www.umich.edu/-umove Taekwondo 1- 5- 6 PM Tue, Thu CCRB- Rm#: 2275 Taekwondo -6- 7 /PM Tue. Thu CCRB- Rm#: 2275 Also see www.umich.edu/-umtkdfor more information un iversity un ions- almost as good as [we got what you need.] aM University SUnions iI -! Romney files forms arrested for presidential run Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Rom- ney said yesterday he's taking the first step in a 2008 presidential bid, joining an increasingly crowded field of Republican hopefuls. Romney's confirmation of his plans comes after a 10-day period of contemplation during a family vacation in Utah and follows sever- al years in which he acknowledged he was considering a White House run but hadn't made a final decision about pursuing the presidency. If elected, Romney would be the nation's first Mormon president. - Compiled from Daily wire reports They alledgedly allowed video that shows dead dictator www.theark.org Janury26 FRIDAY 6:30PM JAKE MARTHA WAINWRIHT RUFUS WAINWRIGHT GANDALF MURPHY AND THE SLAMBOVIAN CIRCUS OF DREADS EMBER SWIFT IILIsH EMCEE: JEFF DANIELS January 27 SATURDAY 6:30PM RFD BOYS BILL STAIS TERRI HENDRIX&LLOYD MAINES IOUNTAIN, HURT DAISY MAY PAL THOREMCEE: JEFF DANILS JO MPRINE I BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi authori- ties reported the arrests yester- day of two guards and an official who supervised Saddam Hussein's hanging and said the guard force was infiltrated by outsiders who taunted the former leader and shot the video showing his body dan- To play: gling at the end of a rope. The unauthorized video, which anC ignited protests by Saddam's fel- low Sunni Arabs in various Iraqi cities, threatens to turn the ousted dictator into a martyr. Saddam was shown never bowing his head as lae faced death, and asking the hecklers D if they were acting in a manly way. The Bush administration sent conflicting signals yesterday about the taunting and baiting that accompanied the execution, with the White House declining to join criticism of the procedure and the State Department and U.S. military publicly raising questions about it. Saddam, who was convicted for the killings of 148 Shiites, was dig- nified and courteous to his Ameri- can jailers up to the moment he wast handed over to the Iraqis outside the execution chamber, a U.S. mili- tary spokesman said. He "was courteous, as he always had been, to his U.S. military police guards," Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell said. "He spoke very well to our military police, as he always had. Complete the grid so that e) I I 5 6 9 000 The age of a toilet recently discovered at one of the world's most important archaeological sites on 9 the banks of the Dead Sea. 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