The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS WASHINGTON White House considered firing all U.S. attorneys The chief White House lawyer floated the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys at the start of President Bush's second term, but the Justice Department objected and eventual- ly recommended the eight dismiss- als that have generated a political firestorm two years later. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Monday that then-White House Counsel Har- riet Miers raised with an aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales the prospect of asking all chief fed- eral district prosecutors to resign in 2004 as a logical way to start a new term with a new slate of U.S. attorneys. Democrats in Congress have charged that the eight dismissals announced last December were politically motivated. FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. Tenn. soldier on trial for murder of Iraqi prisoners A squad leader never ordered his soldiers to shoot three Iraqi detain- ees, but he did help cover up the slayings, a defense attorney said in opening statements of the soldier's murder trialyesterday. Staff Sgt. Ray Girouard is the last and most senior soldier from the 101st Airborne Division to face trial for the killings during a May 9 raid on a suspected insurgent camp out- side of Samarra, Iraq. Military prosecutors say Gir- ouard, 24, had told his soldiers to cut the detainees free and then kill them as they tried to run. Two other soldiers charged with murder - Spc. William B. Hunsak- er and Pfc. Corey Clagett - pleaded guilty, cooperated with prosecutors and were sentenced to 18 years in military prison. Both men said dur- ing their court hearings that Gir- ouard ordered the killings. GENEVA U.N. panel urges sanctions on Sudan A U.N. human rights team criti- cized the international community Mondayfor failingto halt atrocities in Darfur, saying in a sharply word- ed report that the United Nations must act now to protect civilians from a violence campaign orches- trated by Sudan's government. The panel,headed by Nobel peace laureate Jody Williams, departed from the usual diplomatic niceties of U.N. reports to accuse major na- tions of letting Sudan obstruct ef- forts to quell ethnic fighting that has killed 200,000 people and dis- placed 2.5 million in four years. The report urged quick U.N. Se- curity Council intervention, the im- position of sanctions and criminal prosecutions of those responsible for atrocities and other abuses. LUCKNOW, India Bus plunge kills 18 people at wedding A bus carrying a wedding party plunged into a gorge in mountain- ous northern India, killing at least 18 people and injuring another 27, a government official said yesterday. The bus rolled down a 600-feet deep gorge and fell into the fast flowing Mandakini River late Mon- day night, said Amit Chandola, a spokesman for the government of the state of Uttarakhand. "Initial inquiry suggests that the driver, along with many other members of the marriage party, was in an inebriated state," he said. It was not immediately known whether the bride and groom were among the dead. - Compiled from Daily wire reports 17,000 Dollars the Motion Picture Association of America spent to train two dogs to sniff DVDs, The Associated Press reported. The dogs, two black Labradors, are on loan to Malaysian officials. Although the dogs cannot tell the difference between pirated and legal optical disks, authori- ties hope they will help reduce the smuggling of pirated DVDs in Malaysia. PODCASTS From page IA to them all the time. "I stayed up till 4 a.m. listening to the podcasts," he said. "I drank a whole two-liter of pop listening to nine podcasts." Lynn Johnson, the director of dental informatics at the School of Dentistry, has led podcastingefforts at the dentistry school beginning in early 2005. Today, the school has more than 993 podcasts, 10 percent of which include video. Johnson said that when the project began, she didn't expect it to grow so quickly. Originally the school planned to only record the audio of lectures, but soon branched out into video podcasts as well. Along with sound recordings of lectures for students, the dental school records informational videos for patients. The school also shows patients videos about treatments. Johnson said that by letting patients watch a video, the school can stan- dardize the information given to patients about potential treatments. It also saves time for staff members who no longer need to do these pre- sentations in person. Videos of procedures also allow students to review treatments they may have learned about months ear- lier but never preformed, Johnson said. There is a collection of videos that cover both course-specific and general dentistry topics. "We are building an archive of videos that cuts across the whole curriculum," Johnson said. Based on the work at the dental school and numerous requests from student groups and professors, the University's Course Tools website now also includes an iTunesU link. There, professors who request it can upload audio or video recordings of their lectures for students. The podcasts that professors upload include purely sound files, sound files annotated with Power- poiltt slides, and full-fledged vid- eos, Leasia said. Leasia said that the response to the system has been very positive and that the pnly limits to expand- ing the program are computer pro- cessing power and disk space. Despite their availability, Engi- neering freshman Danny Byrd said he never took advantage of the pod- casts offered in his organic chemis- try class last semester. Because he went to class and took notes, Byrd never thoughtlike he needed to sup- plement class with the podcasts.' When he missed class, Byrd talked to his professor because he thought that would give him a bet- ter understanding of the material than listening to an audio file. PROTEST From page IA Maricruz Lopez, a spokeswoman for the militant pro-affirmative action group By Any Means Neces- sary, said the demonstration could be the largest student rally at the University in two decades if all goes according to plan. The groups within the coali- tion, which typically advocate for separate issues, came together in an attempt to make the University administration more responsible for its actions, Kearney said. "We want the University to be run like a reputlic, not a corpora- tion," Kearney said. University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham said administrators are always open to hear concerns. "The University has avery strong freedom of speech and expression policy," Cunningham said. "It has demonstrated over the years that it is interested in and encourages stu- dent input." The rally is part of Week of the People, a set of protests and events sponsored by local activist groups. Week of the People is also sponsor- ing a protest march on.Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of the Iraq War. DEREK BLUMKE/Daily LSA sophomore Oren Brandvain (left) jousts with LSA sophomore Ali Thabet on the Diag yesterday during an Environmental Issues Commission event. INTERNSHIP From page IA company, said University students aren't any lazier or unconnected that students at other colleges, though. "They are aware of what's available at the career center," Lochtefeld said. "They are aware of ways to get their own internships, but they specifically want some- thing that we have." He said half of University of Dreams's customers are Midwest- ern college students looking for a big-city internship. The program allows students to pick between internships in New York, Chicago, London, San Francisco, Los Ange- les and Barcelona. "They really want to experience that city life," Lochtefeld said. The company does offer several other perks. It has connections at hundreds of prominent businesses like MTV, Time and Merrill Lynch. The pro- gram helps students meet their potential employers - while many other applicants apply online and disappear into what Lochtefeld calls "the black hole." It also supplies housing and meals for students. Hoag said the Career Center can help students with internships find housing even if they don't partici- pate in a University program. She also said the Career Center has all the same contacts that internship consultants do. "Our students tend to be fairly resourceful, but we're happyto help them," Hoagsaid. School of Business sophomore Jen Pollack said she has conducted her search for finance and invest- ment banking internships without much help from the Ross School of Business. Pollack said she wouldn't use a company like University of Dreams because she wouldn't want to spend money for an internship. Pollack said she went to the University's Career Center for help with her resume and cover letter but researched internships on her own. Although she hasn't yet been offered a position, Pollack said she's not worried about getting an internship. She said she'll take a volunteer position if she doesn't receive ajob offer. "If I don't get paid, that's one thing," Pollack said. "But I don't wantto pay to get one." The Un IVers ity of Mich iga n IDo You or Souw- oa Yo uaei Crohn's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis? j Abut Haw so, we need Your help. Many students on and off campus manage a full time student life and their Crohn's / Colitis. We need STUDENTS to share their experiences and ideas, as well as to en- gage even more STUDENTS. Be a part of someone's life or make a difference in your own on Thursday, MARCH 15th at the * next group meeting. Organized by Dr. Ellen Zimmerman, Director of the University of Michigan's BD Program Date: Thursday, MARCH 15th, 2007 Time: 7-9 P.M. Location: MASON HALL RN 3401 Email Alex: aaubrey @umich.e du Or Just Show Up! Free Food will be Provided for All!!! Nothing to do over the summer? Write for The Michigan Daily. E-mail news@ michigandaily.com. -i NP41VCK311T Vr ruLmumm " 1 CA1 1 I '