The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com
Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
SAN FRANCISCO
Apple unveils new
iPod-phone hybrid,
changes name
Apple Computer CEO Steve
Jobs announced yesterday the
iPod maker's long-awaited leap
into the mobile phone business
and renamed the company to
just "Apple Inc.," reflecting its
increased focus on consumer
electronics.
The iPhone, which will start at
$499 when it launches in June, is
controlled by touch, plays music,
surfs the Internet and runs the
Macintosh computer operating
system. Jobs said it will "rein-
vent" wireless communications
and "leapfrog" past the current
generation of smart phones.
WASHINGTON
House passes new
anti-terrorism
legislation
Anti-terror legislation sailed
through the House yesterday,
the first in a string of measures
designed to fulfill campaign prom-
ises made by Democrats last fall.
Patterned on recommendations
of the commission that inves-
tigated the Sept. 11 attacks, the
far-reaching measure includes
commitments for inspection of all
cargo carried aboard passenger
aircraft and on ships bound for the
United States.
The vote was a bipartisan 299-
128, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi
took the rostrum to announce the
passage of the first legislation to
clear under the new Democratic
majority.
CARACAS, Venezuela
Chavez calls for
nationalization of
key industries
As Venezuela embarked on
another six years under Hugo
Chavez, the president announced
plans to nationalize power and
telecom companies and make other
bold changes that will concentrate
more power in his hands.
Chavez, who will be sworn in
today for a third term that runs
until 2013, also said he wanted a
constitutional amendment to strip
the Central Bank of its autonomy
and would soon ask the National
Assembly, solidly controlled by his
allies, to give him greater powers to
legislate by presidential decree.
"We're moving toward a social-
ist republic of Venezuela, and
that requires a deep reform of our
national constitution," Chavez said
inatelevisedaddressafterswearing
in his new Cabinet. "We're heading
toward socialism, and nothing and
no one can prevent it."
HELOTES, Texas
Massive mulch fire
sparks confusion in
small Texas town
The enormous mountain of
branches and wood chips at a recy-
cling operation in this small Hill
Country town had drawn a few
grumbles from neighbors before, but
when it caught fire on Christmas,
the sparks really began to fly.
Mayor Jon Allan wanted the
county or state to extinguish it. The
countylookedtothe propertyowner.
And no one was immediately sure
how to deal with all the potential
health problems and environmental
worries that might happen when the
burningpile thatlooks like avolcano
was doused.
The pile of mulch, which has been
sitting in an open field for more than
a decade, is about 400 feet long, 225
feet wide and 70 feet tall in the mid-
dle of a lot edged with trees.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
HUMOR RAG
From page 1A
next to copies of The Wall Street
Journal and BusinessWeek. Gedi-
man said this could have under-
mined what he called the Business
School's professional tone.
Gediman said the Business
School will not restrict distribution
of the newspaper in the future. He
said the administrators had made
a mistake in their treatment of the
matter and have apologized to the
Every Three Weekly.
This was not the first time that
a free speech debate arose at the
Business -School. In October, staff
received complaints about adver-
tisements for the strip club Dja
Vu in University football programs.
According to the leaked e-mails,
the staff removed the football pro-
grams from public display.
SCHOLARSHIP
From page IA
working in nonprofit (legal aid)
organizations - all with a focus on
legal aid and legal development in
China."
Chen is currently in Beijing on
a Fulbright Scholarship, studying
Chinese society and working at
legal aid centers.
She was one of five students
nominated by the University for
the Rhodes and Marshall schol-
arships this year and was the
only University student who won
either award. This was the second
time the University has nominat-
ed Chen for the Rhodes andMar-
shall scholarships.
Gretchen Weir, assistant vice
provost for academic affairs, one of
Chen's mentors, said Chen's hands-
on approach to issues set her apart.
"Lyric's experience outside
of the classroom proves that her
interests in social justice, policy
and law are not merely academic,"
Weir said.
Chen said she will use her
Marshall Scholarship to attend
Oxford University, where she
will study political science and
work toward a masters degree
with a focus on comparative poli-
tics. Her focus will be on the Chi-
nese political system and its legal
development.
HOUSING
From page IA
company. She said the ordinance
created a rush in early December
and added a sense of urgency to
sign leases then.
LSA sophomore Amanda Adel-
son said she enjoyed the extra time
to scout properties.
"I like the later (leasing period),"
she said. "Last year we definitely
felt rushed."
Several students said they used
the extra time to research proper-
ties on the Internet before going to
the fair.
But student reliance on the Web
created a problem for some smaller
rental companies. The University
prohibited landlords from advertis-
ing on its off-campus housing web-
site until after the Dec. 1 deadline
had passed.
Because of this, David Copi, who
owns Copi Properties, said his com-
pany couldn't reach its rental base.
Carle Svitil, an assistant in the
University's off-campus housing
office, said his office didn't allow
the advertisements because it
doesn't have enough staff to sort
through the posting requests and
determine whether the postings
violated the new ordinance.
Previously, the housing office
did not allow advertising until after
the housing fair, which was held in
October. It was pushed back this
year because of the measure.
The office made a uniform deci-
sion to prohibit all advertising until
December, regardless of whether or
not the landlord has a signed wavi-
er for the property from the current
renter, which would put it on the
market legally.
Copi said he was upset because
he obtained waivers from tenants
for some of his properties.
"The new ordinance has been
a disservice to students and land-
lords," he said. "It just limits the
choice of students."
Other rental companies said
leasing is goingsmoothly.
"Ourhousingmarketisfine,"said
Doug Turner of Migraine Acres.
Turner relies mostly on word-of-
mouth endorsements from current
tenants, he said.
On Monday, Turner said he
only had one house left and that
he already has prospective tenants
on waiting lists for the 2008-2009
school year.
But University Towers, the 19-
story apartment complex on South
Forest Avenue, is struggling to fill
its vacancies for next year.
According Denise Jackson, who
coordinates leasing for the com-
plex, only half of the complex is
leased for next year. She said that
at this time last year, the building
was full.
"It's kind of like at a standstill
right now," she said. "We're not
happy."
Jackson said that fewer renters
have renewed their leases than in
past years.
Two current University Towers
tenants, Business school sopho-
more Rupal Patel and LSA sopho-
more Avanti Jangalapalli, said the
complex's rate hike discouraged
them from renewing their lease.
"For the price and space that
they give us, it's too expensive,"
Patel said.
Jackson, though, wasn't sure
why renters weren't coming back
to the building. She said rents rise
every year without causing a dras-
tic drop in renters.
Helicopters launch new attacks
on al-Qaida suspects in Somalia
Pentagon may be
targeting mastermind
of 1998 embassy
bombings
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -
Attackhelicopters strafed suspect-
ed al-Qaida fighters in southern
Somalia yesterday, witnesses said,
following two days of airstrikes by
U.S. forces - the first U.S. offen-
sives in the African country since
18 American soldiers were killed
here in 1993.
In Washington, a U.S.intelligence
official said American forces killed
five to 10 people in an attack on one
target in southern Somalia believed
to be associated with al-Qaida. The
official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because of the opera-
tion's sensitivity, said a small num-
ber of others present, perhaps four
or five, were wounded.
A Somali lawmaker said 31 civil-
ians, including a newlywed couple,
died in yesterday's assault by two
helicopters near Afmadow, a town
in a forested area close to the
Kenyan border. The report could
not be independently verified.
A Somali Defense Ministry offi-
cial described the helicopters as
American, but witnesses told The
Associated Press they could not
make out identification markings
on the craft. Washington officials
had no comment on the helicopter
strike.
The U.S. is hunting down Islamic
extremists, said the Somali defense
official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity because he was not
authorized to talk to reporters.
Earlier, Somalia's president said
that the U.S. was pursuing sus-
pects in the 1998 bombings of two
U.S. embassies in East Africa, and
that the effort has his support.
Somali troops and their Ethiopi-
an allies were attacked in the capi-
tal late yesterday by gunmen riding
in two pickup trucks who fired two
rocket propelled grenades, wit-
nesses said.
The rocket attack was followed
by several minutes of rifle fire.
One Somali soldier was killed and
two other soldiers and a bystander
were wounded, said minibus driv-
er Harun Ahmed, who took the
injured to a hospital.
Col. Shino Mo'lin Nur, a Somali
military commander, told the AP
by telephone late yesterday that
at least one U.S. AC-130 gunship
attacked a suspected al-Qaida
training camp Sunday on a remote
island at the southern tip of Soma-
lia next to Kenya.
Somali officials said they had
reports of many deaths.
On Monday, witnesses and Nur
said, more U.S. airstrikes were
launched against Islamic extrem-
ists in Hayi, 30 miles from Afmad-
ow. Nur said attacks continued
yesterday.
"Nobody can exactly explain
what is going on inside these for-
ested areas," the Somali command-
er said. "However, we are receiving
reports that most of the Islamist
fighters have died and the rest
would be captured soon."
In Washington yesterday,
Defense Department spokesman
Bryan Whitman spoke of one strike
in southern Somalia, but would not
confirm any of the details or say
whether any al-Qaida militants
were killed.
The assault was based on intel-
ligence "that led us to believe we
had principal al-Qaida leaders in an
area where we could identify them
and take action against them,"
Whitman said.
Somali Islamic extremists are
accused of sheltering suspects in
the 1998 embassy bombings. Ameri-
can officials also want to ensure the
militants no longer pose a threat to
Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional
government.
The aircraft carrier USS Dwight
D. Eisenhower has arrived off
Somalia's coast and launched intel-
ligence-gathering missions over
Somalia, the U.S. military said.
Three other U.S. warships were
conducting anti-terror operations.
U.S. warships have been seek-
ing to capture al-Qaida members
thought to be fleeing Somalia by
sea after Ethiopia's military invad-
ed Dec. 24 in support of the interim
Somali government. The offensive
drove the Islamic militia out of
much of southern Somalia, includ-
ing the capital Mogadishu, and
toward the Kenyan border.
President Abdullahi Yusuf, head
ofthe U.N.-backed transitional gov-
ernment, told journalists in Moga-
dishu that the U.S. "has a right to
bombard terrorist suspects who
attacked its embassies in Kenya
and Tanzania."
Other Somalis in the capital said
the attacks would increase anti-
American sentiment in their large-
ly Muslim country. Many Somalis
are already upset bythe presence of
troops from neighboring Ethiopia,
which has a large Christian popu-
lation.
The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi,
Kenya, on yesterday reissued a ter-
ror warning to Americans living in
or visitingthe Horn of Africa.
It was the first overt military
action by the U.S. in Somalia since
it led a U.N. force tliat intervened
in the 1990s in an effort to fight
famine. The mission led to clashes
between U.N. forces and Somali
warlords, including the battle,
chronicled in the book and movie
"Black Hawk Down," that killed 18
U.S. soldiers.
Mohamed Mahmud Burale told
the AP by telephone that at least
four civilians were killed Mon-
day evening in Hayi, including his
young son. His report could not be
independently verified.
Government spokesman Abdi-
rahman Dinari said it was not
known how many people were
killed, "but we understand there
were a lot of casualties. Most were
Islamic fighters."
Another attack by an AC-130
gunship reportedly occurred
Monday afternoon on Badmad-
ow island, in a group of six rocky
islands known as Ras Kamboni - a
suspected terrorist training base.
Thickets provide dense cover
and the only road to the area is vir-
tually impassable, locals said.
The U.S. military's main target
on the island was thought to be
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who
allegedly planned the 1998 attacks
on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania that killed 225 people.
Leaders of Somalia's Islamic
movement have vowed from their
hideouts to launch an Iraq-style
guerrilla war, and al-Qaida chief
Osama bin Laden's deputy has
called on militants to carryout sui-
cide attacks on Ethiopian troops.
In an interview published yest-
eday in the French newspaper Le
Monde, Ethiopian Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi said that suspected
terrorists from Canada, Britain,
Pakistan and elsewhere were
among those captured or killed
during recent military operations.
Somalia has not had an effective
central government since warlords
toppled dictator Mohamed Siad
Barre in1991. The warlords turned
on each other, creating chaos in
the nation of 7 million people.
European Union foreign policy
chief Javier Solana said he told
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-
moon that a U.N. peacekeeping
force may be needed to guarantee
security and stability in Somalia.
U.S.: 50
militants
dead in
Baghdad
BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S. jets
screamed low over the capital and
helicopter gunships swooped in to
pound a central Baghdad battle-
ground yesterday, supporting Iraqi
and American troops in a daylong
fight that officials said killed 50
insurgents in a militant Sunni Arab
stronghold.
The battle raged on Haifa Street
about 11/2 miles north of the heav-
ily fortified Green Zone - home to
the U.S. Embassy and other facili-
ties - on the eve of President Bush's
expected announcement that he
would send 20,000 more soldiers to
Iraq despite growing opposition on
Capitol Hill.
It was the second major confron-
tation on Haifa Street in the four
days since Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki announced a new
drive to rid Baghdad of sectarian
fighters.
The U.S. military said about
1,000 Iraqi and U.S. soldiers car-
ried out "targeted raids to capture
multiple targets, disrupt insurgent
activity and restore Iraqi Secu-
rity Forces control of North Haifa
Street."
"This area has been subject
to insurgent activity which has
repeatedly disrupted Iraqi Security
Force operations in central Bagh-
dad," said a statement quoting Lt.
Col. Scott Bleichwehl, spokesman
for Multi-National Division Bagh-
dad.
He said the U.S. jets buzzing the
city did not conduct any airstrikes,
but "attack helicopters were used
to engage targets in support of the
ground forces."
Bleichwehl said no American or
Iraqi soldiers were killed. He did
not address the number of militants
killed, while the Iraqi Defense
Ministry reported 50 deaths among
insurgents.
Elsewhere yesterday, Iraqi police
reported finding 52 bodies dumped
in three cities, 41 of them in Bagh-
dad, all apparent victims of sectar-
ian reprisal killings.
At a Saturday ceremony marking
the 85th anniversary of the found-
ing of the Iraqi army, al-Maliki
again vowed to strike at the Shiite
Muslim and Sunni Arab extremists
behind the sectarian warfare that
has bloodied the country over the
past year.4
.
Islamic group
calls for federal
investigation of
vandalism
DETROIT (AP) - An Islamic Mouhib Ayas, president of the
coalition representing south- Islamic Shura Council, said the
east Michigan Sunni groups and incidents appear to be a reaction
centers said yesterday that the to events in the Middle East, par-
vandalism of Shiite mosques and ticularly in Iraq and the execution
businesses over the weekend could of Saddam Hussein. Iraq's Shiite-
be hate crimes and called on the controlled government ordered
federal government to investigate. Saddam hanged before sunrise on
Late Saturday night or early Rid al-Hadha, or the Islamic Feast
Sunday, vandals broke windows of of the Sacrifice.
two mosques and five businesses Ayas said a lot of people felt pro-
along Warren Avenue owned by yoked by the timing of the execu-
Iraqi Shiites, the second largest lion late last month and viewed it
Islamic sect after the Sunnis. more an act of revenge than carry-
The owner of arestaurant whose log out justice, but he condemned
windows were broken said he had the vandalism as an unfortunate
received threatening phone calls act of a few individuals.
before the vandalism that referred "They definitely do not reflect
to his Shiite creed, according to the the feeling, position of the majori-
Islamic Shura Council of Michi- ty of Sunnis in Michigan," he said.
gan, based in the Detroit suburb of Ayas said he and others plan a
Bloomfield Hills. meeting this week between area
Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Ste- Sunni and Shiite leaders to ease
phens Bell said the department is tensions.
investigating the vandalism and Osama Siblani, a spokesman for
could not confirm if the incidents the Arab American and Chaldean
were hate crimes. She said police Council of Metropolitan Detroit
will review security tapes to try to and publisher of the Arab Ameni-
identify the vandals. can News in the neighboring sub-
The FBI said in a statement urb of Dearborn, said he does not
yesterday that it has talked to the know the motivation for the van-
Council on American-Islamic dalism. But he said it could be a
Relations and leaders of other reaction to celebrations on Dear-
community groups. If the Detroit born's streets Dec. 29 by Iraqi Shi-
police find information that links ites following Saddam Hussein's
the vandalism to federal civil- execution. The celebrations were
rights violations, the FBI would close to the buildings that were
"pursue it accordingly." vandalized.
4
8.2 billion
Number of dollars that
American consumers will
lose this year on unre-
deemed, expired and lost
gift cards, according to an
estimate by the Tower-
Group, a retail trade organi-
zation.