The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
NEWS
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
WASHINGTON
Senate narrowly
approves timetable
for ending Iraq war
Defying a veto threat, the Demo-
cratic-controlled Senate narrowly
signaled support yesterday for the
withdrawal of U.S. combat troops
from Iraq by next March.
Republican attempts to scuttle
the non-binding timeline failed on
a vote of 50-48, largely along party
lines. The roll call marked the Sen-
ate's most forceful challenge to date
of the administration's handling of
a war that has claimed the lives of
more than 3,200 U.S. troops.
Three months after Democrats
took power in Congress, Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid said
the moment was at hand to "send a
message to President Bush that the
time has come to find a new way
forward in this intractable war."
WASHINGTON
Surgeon general:
Troops in Iraq may
face moral crisis
The Army's new acting sur-
geon general said yesterday she is
concerned about long-term morale
because the military lacks money
to hire enough nurses and mental
health specialists to treat thou-
sands of troops coming home from
Iraq and Afghanistan.
"When the original plans were
made, we did not take into consid-
eration we could be in a long war,"
said Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock. She
became surgeon general earlier this
month after Kevin Kiley was forced
to resign in a scandal over poor
treatment of war-wounded at Wal-
ter Reed Army Medical Center.
BAGHDAD
Truck bombs kill at
least 63 in Baghdad
Two truck bombs shattered mar-
kets in Tal Afar yesterday, killing
at least 63 people and wounding
dozens in the second assault in four
days on a predominantly Shiite
Muslim city hit by a resurgence in
violence a year after it was held up
as a symbol of U.S. success.
After the bombings, suspected
Sunni insurgents tried to ambush
ambulances carrying the injured
out of the northwestern city but
were driven off by police gunfire,
Iraqi authorities said.
The carnage was the worst
bloodshed in a day of attacks across
Iraq.
A major Sunni Arab insurgent
group reported its military leader
was slain outside Baghdad, an as-
sault likely to deepen an increas-
ingly bloody rift between al-Qaida
in Iraq and opponents of the terror
group in Sunni communities west
of the capital.
UMM NASER, Gaza Strip
Flood of sewage
kills five in Gaza
A huge sewage reservoir in the
northern Gaza Strip collapsed yes-
terday, killing five people in a froth-
ing cascade of waste and mud that
swamped a village and highlighted
the desperateneedtoupgradeGaza's
overburdened infrastructure.
Rescue crews and Hamas gun-
men rushed to the area to search
for people feared buried under the
sewage and mud. Dressed in wet-
suits, they paddled boats through
the layer of foam floating on the
green and brown rivers of waste.
Others waded up to their hips into
the sewage.
Yesterday morning, an earth
embankment around one of the
seven basins collapsed, sending
a wall of sewage crashing into
the neighboring village of Umm
Naser.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
GOP
From page IA
him," Japinga said. "He has to unite
both sides of the College Republi-
cans, and I am willing to help him
with this."
Zatkoff has made headlines
before.
In September, Zatkoff, then a
student at Oakland University, was
admitted to the hospital after a fist-
fight at a party.
The attack triggered specula-
tion and political finger point-
ing. The blog College Republican
Truth Caucus posted pictures of a
swollen-eyed Zatkoff along with
the headline "Hate Crime: College
Republican Allegedly Beaten by
Liberal Thugs."
But police reported that Zatkoff's
black eye was a result of a fightwith
a high school friend.
Zatkoff said he hopes to create
a stronger network of conservative
student groups at the University. He
said he would like to appoint LSA
sophomore Andrew Boyd, co-chair
of the University's chapter of Young
Americans for Freedom, to be the
executive director of the Michigan
Federation of College Republicans.
Zatkoff, who is a member of YAF,
participated in a confrontation
between pro-affirmative action
group By Any Means Necessary
and YAF this fall. He claimed that
a BAMN member punched him in
the chin during the protest.
"I hope YAF and the College
Republicans can start to work more
closely together," Zatkoff said.
Boyd said he anticipates more
Democratic activism to oppose what
he perceives as a strengthened con-
servativevoice oncampus.
"We'll butt heads a bit more,"
Boyd said. "The liberals are really
going to have to be on their toes if
they want to keep up with us."
College Democrats Chair Sam
Harper said that campus Repub-
licans might be louder next year,
but he said students are more likely
to agree with College Democrats'
stances on issues like Proposal 2,
the environment and the Iraq War.
Zatkoff said he plans to run for
the chairmanship of the federation
again next spring so he can remain
in the position until the presiden-
tial election ends. After the 2008
election, he said he isn't sure what
he wants to do next.
"Maybe I'll even run for presi-
dent myself," Zatkoff said. "The
opportunities are endless."
HERE COMES THE SUN
I
IMPROV
From page 1A
hurt and disappointed by this," Izzo
said.
Hartman has been involved with
the Inferno since it was founded
in 2004, first as a performer with
Witt's End and later as a permanent
cast member performing four or
five nights a week.
"It's going to be like a huge hole
- I have almost revolved the past
two years of my life around that
place," Hartman said. "If that place
hadn't come alongI would be doing
something completely different
with my life."
Hartman practiced improv in
middle school but entered college
PLAYERS
From page 1A
to trial.
"At this point, I'm open to any
resolution," said Roumel, who prac-
tices law in the Ann Arbor area.
"I'm fine going to trial. If (the pros-
ecution) has a fair offer, I'll have to
consider it with Chris."
Butler sat in the courtroom until
his case was called at 1:50 p.m.
His Detroit-based attorney,
James L. Galen, Jr., immediately
asked for an adjournment and
hinted at a specific date and time.
Peering over her glasses, Mattson
told him to slow down as she set the
time and date.
Butler also faces charges of being
a minor in possession of alcohol and
illegal substances.
The conditions for Butler's
release remained the same as those
set during his arraignment. He isn't
allowed to contact the defendants,
including Richards, or the plaintiff.
Richards's time before Mattson
lasted a little longer.
Mattson called his case at 2:20
p.m.
Roumel asked the judge for a
pre-trial adjournment until the
same date and time as Butler's, but
he focused most of his attention on
changingthe bond conditions.
Roumel told the judge he under-
stood the reasons for Richards not
having contact with the plaintiff,
thinking that he would become a
classical trumpet player. But when
a friend in Bursley Hall dragged
him to auditions, he made the cast.
He was hooked.
Hartman is moving to Chicago to
pursue improv and actingthis fall.
The Inferno also changed the
life of cast member Chris DiAnge-
lo, who moved to Ann Arbor to be
closer to the club. He also met his
girlfriend, a fellow cast member, at
the Inferno.
In July, the Inferno held the first
Michigan Imnrov and Lau vh Fes-
held was a 24-hour fundraiser for
victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami.
DiAngelo performed for 29 hours at
the fundraiser.
"This is a really cool form ofcom-
edy and art that doesn't have to rel-
egated to basements and off-nights
at comedy clubs," Izzo said. "It can
stand on its own."
For now, though, the future
of improv in Ann Arbor remains
unclear. Members of Chi Omega sorority perform a Beatles Medley with theirNGreek Week
Izzo said he would eventually partners, fraternities Alpha Epsilon Pi and Pi Lamda Phi, during Variety, the final
like to establish another club in event of Greek Week at Hill Auditorium last night.
An Arborbutwants to wait for the
tival. The festival sold out every right time and place.
night for a week and drew improv "The improv scene was here
troupes from as far as Georgia and before we got here," he said. "And
North Carolina. the scene will continue with us not
The first festival that the club being here."
but he saw no reason why Richards
couldn't converse with his fellow (Swrn ers (E,, er
defendants. Relay for Life Singing for a Cure
Mattson then asked for the pros- -C
ecutor's opinion. The prosecutor Dnisacted br
said that since Butler's bond condi- Donations accepted for
tions had not changed, she would Relay for Life
prefer Richards's not change either. Tkirsdacj Maraa 2e * TONIGHT 0S
The judge agreed.
After the hearing, Roumel said First Congregational Church Sundance Grand Jury Prize nominee
that denying contact between the On 608 . W IIsae St- FLANNEL PAJAMAS
defendants allows the prosecution to 6:0pm 0PrConcert Tak
ensure Butler and Richards don't con- Eric Steels controversial documentary
spire together to influence the case. 7:00pr - (ON (E T' THE BRIDGE
Roumel said there is more to the Featuring School o Music students 9:30
case than the police report indi- Duo Borealis, * Offer only applies to Theater sponsored films.
cates. He maintained that there are and American Cancer Society.
two sides to the story. Come enjoy great music 603 E. LIBERTY ST. * DOWNTOWN ANN ARBOR
During the discussion of bond andlend your support to the FOR SHOWTIMES CALL (734) 668-TIME
and release conditions, Richards ongoing fight against cancer . OR VISIT US ON THE WEB WWW.MICHTHEATER.ORG
also had to address a count of ille-
gally entering a campus building in
May. He failed to appear in court on
the charge.
Richards claimed he had never N
seen the order to appear. The judge
didn't make an issue of the absence,
speculating that it got lost in the
mail or sent to the wrong address.
Roumel said that for five days
at the beginning of May, Richards
stayed in a friend's room in West
Quad. Neither Richards nor the ORTSW E R
friend had permission to live in the
room, and Richards received a $248
fine for a late stay in the dorms.
Roumeldoesn'tbelievetheillegal
entry charges will stand. According
to Roumel, Richards's mother paid
the late fee on May 22 of last year.
FALLEN AMERICANS
3,229
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:
Sgt. Jason W. Swiger, 24, of
South Portland, Maine.
Cpl. Jason Nunez, 22, of Naran-
jito, Puerto Rico.
Pfc. Orlando E.Gonzalez, 21, of
New Freedom, Pa.
Pfc. Anthony J. White, 21, of
Columbia, S.C.
1 ' '
a'z{