The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
WASHINGTON
Bush to Dems:
Aides won't testify
under oath
President Bush warned Demo-
crats yesterday to accept his offer to
allow top aides to testify about the
firings of federal prosecutors only
privately and not under oath, or risk
a constitutional showdown from
which he would not back down.
"We will not go along with a par-
tisan fishing expedition aimed at
honorable public servants," Bush
said in a statement from the White
House. "I proposed a reasonable
way to avoid an impasse."
He added: "There's no indica-
tion ... that anybody did anything
improper."
Democrats' response to Bush's
offer was swift and firm. "Testi-
mony should be on the record and
under oath. That's the formula for
true accountability," said Patrick
Leahy, chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
Bush gave his embattled attorney
general, Alberto Gonzales, a boost
during an early morning call to his
longtime friend and ended the day
with a public statement repeating
it. "He's got support with me," the
president said.
VIENNA
Russia recalls
experts from Iran
Russia is bringing home its tech-
nicians and engineers from Iran's
unfinished nuclear reactor site at a
time of growing international pres-
sure on Tehran to curb its atomic
ambitions, U.S. and European rep-
resentatives said yesterday.
Although both Russia and Iran
officially say their differences are
financial, the dispute has a strong
political component that the West
hopes could result in Moscow lin-
ingup closerbehind U.S.-led efforts
to slap harsher U.N. sanctions on
Tehran for refusing to freeze ura-
nium enrichment.
The representatives - a Euro-
pean diplomat and a U.S. official
- said a large number of Russian
technicians, engineers and other
specialists were flown to Moscow
- within the last week, around the
time senior Russian and Iranian
officials tried but failed to resolve
differences over the nuclear reactor
outside the southern city of Bush-
ehrs.
DETROIT
GM bringing back
* luxury Buick
sedans
General Motors Corp. said yes-
terday it is bringing back its "Super"
line of Buicks, about five decades
after the premium models last were
sold, as it makes broader efforts to
reinvigorate the 104-year-old brand
in the U.S. and grow in China.
Buick General Manager Steve
Shannon said the automaker soon
will unveil the "Super" line, last
used in 1958. For now, he said, it will
include versions of the LaCrosse
and Lucerne sedans.
"These vehicles will elevate in
terms of design, power and perfor-
mance," Shannon said during a pre-
sentation to the Automotive Press
Association in Detroit.
The line comes amid a push of
newvehicles, includingthe Enclave
luxury crossover sport utility vehi-
tle in North America and the Park
Avenue sedan in China, that Shan-
non says will help better define
the brand - reflecting a focus on
design, comfortable and quiet inte-
riors, and quality.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
A A
3,215
Number of American service
members who have died in the War
in Iraq, according to the Depart-
ment of Defense. The following
were identified yesterday:
Army Sgt. John E. Allen, 25, of
Palmdale, Calif.
Army Sgt. Ed Santini, 25, of Toa
Baja, Puerto Rico.
Army Pfc. William N. Davis, 26,
of Adrian, Mich.
Army Pfc. John F. Landry Jr.,
20, of Lowell, Mass.
Army Spc. Marieo Guerrero,
30, of Fort Worth, Texas
Army Sgt. Ryan P. Green, 24, of
Woodlands, Texas
Army Sgt. 1st Class John S. Ste-
phens, 41, of San Antonio, Texas
Army Sgt. Nimo W. Tauala, 29,
of Honolulu t~
Gore returns to
Capitol today
Public Health Prof. Daniel Eisenberger speaks at a conference on depression on college campuses at Rackham Hall yesterday
DEPRESSION
From page 1A
uational. Wait time depends on the
time of year, the student's specific
needs and staffing levels.
When a student walks in to get
treatment, he or she fills out a con-
sent form. On that form, the student
can decide to get crisis treatment
that day. Hays said there is always
staff available for crisis interven-
tion when the facility is open.
Thisyear, CAPS received addition-
al funding to hire staff that helped
TEXTBOOKS
From page IA
the cost of textbooks.
Making textbooks affordable is
a priority for the Michigan Student
Assembly, said Eric Li, chairof MSA's
Budget Priorities Committee.
"Our long-term goal is to reduce
or eliminate sales tax on textbooks
in Michigan," he said. "In light of
the fact that our government is not
that strong financially, however,
that might not be a feasible solution
at this time."
In January, MSA hosted a forum
to discuss textbook prices. But thus
far, no substantial progress has
been made on lowering prices.
At the forum, Lester Monts,
senior vice provost for academic
.affairs, acknowledged the financial
strain high textbook costs place on
students.
"The provost's office recognizes
the problem and continues to work
on it," Monts said. "We know the
cost of education continues to rise,
and if we can lessen other costs,
then we will."
Thomas Venable, a statistics lec-
turer, saidhe is mindful of students'
tight budgets. He said he uploaded
all the required readings for one
of his classes online so students
wouldn'thave to purchase books or
course packs.
"That class was interesting in
that we've not taught that before
and there are no books called 'top-
ics in statistics,' so the cost to each
student was $0," Venable said.
ARSON
From page IA
remain anonymous because she
feared more harassment, said her
housemates told her that the men
banged violently on the front win-
dow of their house for 30 to 40 min-
utes before lighting the car on fire.
Five out of the eight University
juniors who live in the house awoke
when they heard the banging. They
gathered at the front of the house
and were frightened someone was
tryingto break into their house, the
car owner said.
She said no one in the house
called police until they saw the car
fire blazing across the street from
their window.
Drazewski andCockerill,whoare
friends with some of the car owner's
housemates, tried to get the women
to come outside to see the fire, but
they didn't respond to the men's
knocking, Drazewski said.
The car owner was at her boy-
friend's apartment when the inci-
dent occurred and came to the
house after her housemates called
her about the fire, she said.
She said when she returned there
were police and fire fighters at the
scene and the fire was put out, but
her car was wrecked beyond repair.
"The car was so mangled it was
actually slanted forward," she said.
"The tires were completely melt-
ed, the hood flapped like a piece
of plastic and the dashboard was
melted."
The fire had burned through the
hood and into the engine compart-
ment. Fire fighters had to force
open the hood to put out the flames,
Monroe said.
The car owner said she thought
the incident wasn't a personal
attack on her or her housemates.
She told police they couldn't think
of anyone who would do that to
them, she said.
The Michigan Arson Preven-
tion Committee offers a reward up
$5,000 for tips leadingto the arrest
and conviction of arson suspects.
decrease students'waitingtime.
Only 10 percent of students who
seek treatment are referred to a
psychiatrist; most students go to a
psychologist.
In fall of 2005, Daniel Eisenberg,
an assistant professor in the Uni-
versity's School of Public Health,
led a pilot research program on
University students that examined
the accessibility of psychological
aid and the type of person who
sought it.
The pilot study, titled "Healthy
Minds: A New National Study of
Student Mental Health," randomly
selected 5,021 University students,
including a roughly equal amount
of undergraduate and graduate stu-
dents.
The study analyzed mental
health measures like depression,
anxiety, suicidal thoughts, self-
injury and eating disorders. Fifteen
percent of Michiganundergraduate
students scored high in depression
and anxiety, and 2.5 percent had
suicidal thoughts.
Studentslivingwiththeirparents
and students with a low-income
background were found tobe most
likelyto have suicidal thoughts.
By MARK LEIBOVICH
and PATRICK HEALY
The New York Times
WASHINGTON - The last time
Al Gore appeared publicly inside
the U.S. Capitol, he was certify-
ing the Electoral College victory of
George W. Bush. He returns today,
a heartbreak-loser-turned Oscar-
boasting, Nobel-hopeful, globetrot-
ting multimillionaire pop culture
eminence.
For Gore, who calls himself a
"recovering politician," return-
ing to Capitol Hill is akin to a
recovering alcoholic returning to
a neighborhood bar. He will, in
all likelihood, deliver his favorite
refrain about how "political will
is a renewable resource" and how
combating global warming is the
"greatest challenge in the history of
mankind." He will confront one of
his fervent detractors, Sen. James
M. Inhofe, (R-Okla.) who derides
Gore as an alarmist.
He will also embrace old friends,
pose (or not) for cell phone pho-
tos and greet the legion of climate
change disciples who swear by the
"Goracle" as a contemporary sage.
And, of course, he will volley
questions about whether he plans
to run for president in 2008, some-
thing he has said noto a million-or-
so times, if never quite definitively.
On Tuesday at a Washington hotel,
where Gore addressed a group
of institutional investors, he was
urged on accordingly.
"Run, Al, run," one attendee
shouted after the former vice presi-
dent as he barreled through the
hallway, a greeting that has become
as familiar as "hello."
Almost everywhere he goes these
days, Gore is met with the accus-
tomed fuss of a statesman. His hair
is slickedback in a way that accentu-
ates the new girth of his face. At the
hotel, Gore's perma-smile folded his
narrow eyes into slits as he milled
his way into a ballroom. Afterward,
he accepted his accustomed stand-
ing ovation, slipped out a back door,
and into the back of a Lincoln Town
Car, looking almost presidential.
In a brief phone interview on
last night, Gore said he was eager to
appear before the House and Sen-
ate, even though he has turned down
invitations in the past. There is, he
said, "an unwritten tradition' that
former presidents and vice presi-
dents testify only rarely before Con-
gress. He accepted this time in light
of the Democratic takeover of the
House and Senate and what he calls
"a new determination to deal with
this issue," meaningclimate change.
"Mother nature is a powerful
witness and has been sending some
pretty powerful messages that peo-
ple are hearing," Gore said.
And he repeated that he "has no
plans" to run for president.
Not that that will stop anyone
from speculating, or hoping. While
Gore has said he has no intention of
runningforpresident, "I don'tthink
he's shut the door on it either," said
Laurie David, the producer of "An
Inconvenient Truth," the Oscar-
winning documentary on global
warming starring Gore, "although
that might just be wishful thinking
on my part."
The prospect of another Gore
campaign provides grist for critics
to impugn his motives. "He feels
that global warming is his ticket to
the White House," said Inhofe, the
ranking Republican on the Senate
Committee on the Environment
and Public Works.
Gore is quick to betray exas-
peration over the constant specula-
tion about his political future. But
friends also say part of him clearly
enjoys it, if for no other reason than
it draws attention to his climate
change crusade.
Since appearing at the Acad-
emy Awards last month, Gore has
crisscrossed the Atlantic (twice)
on a blitz of speaking engagements,
some of which earned him six fig-
ures. In May, he will tout his new-
est book, "The Assault on Reason,"
billed in promotional copy as "a
visionary analysis of how the poli-
tics of fear, secrecy, cronyism and
blind faith has combined with the
degradation of the public sphere to
create an environment dangerously
hostile to reason."
Hassan Nemazee, a Gore fund-
raiser in 2000 and a friend of Gore
and his wife, Tipper, was host of
a dinner with them last fall, and
recalled that Gore expressed his
disdain for the "tomfoolery of poli-
tics" - the endless fundraising, the
repetitive glad-handing, the sniping
among operatives.
FILM FESTIVAL
From page 1A
"It was in horrible, horrible
taste," Taub said. "Why would you
show somebody with such a dis-
ability and so vulnerable?"
But the amendment introduced
by Taub after the hearings never
became law. .
Nelson said the Ann Arbor Film
Festival's board of directors felt
like they were being targeted by
the Mackinac Center and conser-
vatives in the state legislature as a
way to attack all public arts fund-
ing in Michigan. Confronted with
Taub's amendment, the Ann Arbor
Film Festival's board voted to stop
accepting state grants.
"We decided not to fight back,"
Nelson said. "And our strategy kept
us from being used as a pawn in an
election year."
After the festival's announce-
ment, the debate over arts funding
lost steam and Taub's amendment
was taken out of the bill went it
went to the state Senate.
But the Ann Arbor Film Festival's
commitment to laying low lasted
only lasted until after the election
was over. -
Michael Steinberg, the legal
director for the ACLU of Michigan,
said representatives from the Ann
Arbor Film Festival approached
the ACLU for help with proposed
obscenity legislation several
months ago.
After some consultation, the
Ann Arbor Film Festival and the
ACLU of Michigan decided to
challenge the state's 1996 obscen-
ity laws and hoped to make a big
splash by announcing the chal-.
lenge on opening night of the fes-
tival.
Nelson said the festival orga-
nizers felt the need to stand up to
restrictions the state was putting
on arts funding.
"You know, it's that pesky First
Amendment thing," he said.
LaFaive said he had expected the
ACLU of Michigan to file some kind
of legal challenge. He also said he is
not concerned with obscenity per
se, he just wants the state to stop
funding arts because the nature of
art is subjective.
"I was not surprised by the well-
timed lawsuit," he said. "But even
if the arts festival was showing
nothing but the Sound of Music, we
would still be opposed to the state
giving them money."
Nelson dismissed the idea that
art shouldn't be publicly funded
because the nature of art is subjec-
tive.
"Every public expenditure is
subjective," he said. "So why should
the arts be subject to a higher level
of consensus?"
organizers of the Ann Arbor
Film Festival and the ACLU of
Michigan seem to be trying to get
as much mileage out of the funding
controversy as possible. The theme
of this year's festival was censor-
ship and chocolate bars stamped
with the word "censorship" along
with a DVD of controversial films
from last years festival called
"Banned in Michigan" were on sale
at the festival.
Dr. David Fivenson
Clinical Study: Toenail Fungus
Do you have ugly thickened toenails? You may have a toenail
fungus infection. Dr. Fivenson is conducting a 52-week clinical
research study for healthy volunteers ages 16-75 years old with
toenail fungus infection. Qualified participants will receive study
related procedures and will receive compensation for time and
travel. If you or someone you know would like more information, or
would like to sedhaula a scraanina viiit tnleaca ll 734999-090
university unions-
almostas good as
[we let you get up at noon.]
M University
@@Unions
1 K