1 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
NEWS BRIEFS
ONE SHINING MOMENT
CARACAS, Venezuela
* Chavez begins
third term, invokes
Christ, Castro
Invoking Christ and Castro as his
socialist models, President Hugo
Chavez began his third term yester-
day by declaring that socialism, not
capitalism, is the only way forward
for Venezuela and the world.
His first stop: Nicaragua, where
leftist ally Daniel Ortega was
returning to power with his own
inauguration hours later. Chavez
can now count on remaining presi-
dent until 2013 - or later if he
gets his way with a constitutional
amendment allowing him to run
again.
At the apex of a resurgent Latin
American left, Chavez has been
emboldened to make more radical
changes at home after winning re-
election with 63 percent of the vote,
his widest margin ever.
MANAGUA, Nicaragua
Ortega, a former
revolutionary,
sworn into office
Former revolutionary Daniel
Ortega took office yesterday in a
ceremony expected to be attended
by more than a dozen world leaders,
including many Latin American
leftists celebrating their latest ally
in the region.
Ortega has promised a delicate
balance between taking a moderate
economic and social stance while
cultivating close relationships with
U.S. opponents such as Venezuelan
Hugo Chavez and the communist
Cuban government. Ortega was
once one of the most bitter foes of
Washington, which secretlybacked
a rebel insurgency aimed at top-
pling him.
Chavez was arriving just hours
after he was sworn in for another
six-year term in his own country,
echoing Cuban communist leader
Fidel Castro in taking his oath:
"Socialism or death!"
WASHINGTON
Report: 744,000
homeless in 2005
There were 744,000 homeless
people in the United States in 2005,
according to the first national esti-
mate in a decade.
A little more than half were liv-
ing in shelters, and nearly a quarter
were chronically homeless, accord-
ing to the report yesterday by the
National Alliance to End Home-
lessness, an advocacy group.
A majority of the homeless were
single adults, but about 41 percent
were in families, the report said.
The group compiled data col-
lected by the Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development from
service providers throughout the
country.Ittis the firstnational study
on the number of homeless people
since 1996. Thatstudycameupwith
a wide range for America's home-
less population: between 444,000
and 842,000.
NEW YORK
Conn. Senator
announces '08
White House bid
Democratic Sen. Christopher
Dodd, a veteran lawmaker who
entered Congressinthe post-Water-
gate class of 1974, will announce his
bid for the presidency, Democratic
officials said yesterday.
Dodd, 62, will make the formal
announcement in an interview
this morning on the "Imus in the
Morning" radio show - a curious
bit of timing since he'll be forced
to compete with heavy coverage of
President Bush's speech on the Iraq
war.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 3A
Troops deploy
to Iraqd for
i the third time
Rackham student Meng Hou walks through the Omenn Atrium of the Biomedical Science Research Building yesterday after-
noon. The building, finished in February 2006, features a five-story atrium and a small coffee shop on the first floor.
""Somali pltca:Strikes
killed al-Qaida leader
3rd Infantry becomes
first Army division
sent for third tour
FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP)
- They've done it twice already in
four years, but the third time isn't
any easier - Sgt. Michael Konvicka
picks up his rifle to go to war while
his wife takes up her knitting nee-
dles and crochets blankets to help
pass the time while he's away.
"Every time I come back from
Iraq, I tell my wife, 'I'm done
honey, stick a fork in me,"' said
Konvicka, 36, of Flint, Mich. "I'm
not really looking forward to it.
But I've got 10 years in the Army,
and I'm not about to throw that
away."
Just hours before President Bush
was to lay out his plan to beef-up
U.S. forces in Iraq by 21,500, sol-
diers of the Army's 3rd Infantry
Division said goodbye to their fami-
lies yesterday as they deployed on
their third tour since the division
helped lead the 2003 charge to
Baghdad..
The 3rd Infantry, which has
about 19,000 troops, is the first
Army division to be tapped for a
third deployment to the war. Barely
a year has passed since its soldiers
returned from their last yearlong
rotation.
"It's another year I have to
endure, and it's not easy," said
Konvicka's wife, Sharon, resting
her head on her husband's shoul-
der as they sat outside hours before
his flight while soldiers piled duffel
bags and rucksacks into trucks for
shipping to Iraq.
Wives wept and wrapped their
arms around husbands with rifles
slung over their shoulders. About
400 troops of the 2nd Battalion,
7th Infantry Regiment departing
yesterday are among 4,000 sol-
diers of the division's 1st Brigade
Combat Team deploying this
month.
"I hope it's the last one," said
Staff Sgt. Harold Hensel, 30, of
Little Valley, N.Y., hugging his
pregnant wife, who is due in May,
before leaving for his second com-
bat tour. "I was hoping the first
one was the last one. But duty
calls."
The 3rd Infantry's three remain-
ing combat brigades are scheduled
to deploy later this year, including
the 3rd Brigade at Fort Benning,
Ga., where Bush planned a visit
today.
Sgt. Brad Weston, 23, said he
could see pros and cons to the
president's plan to increase troop
levels in Iraq while he's deployed
there.
"The benefit is you do get more
time where you're not having to
be out patrolling," said Weston of
South Bend, Ind., who's deploying
on his third tour. "The negative
thing is there's more violence when
there're new people there vho don't
know the area well."
Attacks draw criticism
from African Union,
E.U, U.N.
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP)
- Ethiopia's prime minister said
yesterday the U.S. military targeted
20 high-level members of an Islam-
ic movement linked to al-Qaida in
an airstrike this week in southern
Somalia, attacking quickly before
the Islamists could escape.
The chief of staff for the Somali
president claimed that a senior al-
Qaida figure was killed in Monday's
airstrike, although U.S. officials did
not confirm it.
The air assault has been criti-
cized internationally, with the
African Union, European Union
and United Nations among those
expressing concern. But British
Prime Minister Tony Blair told
lawmakers it was right to stand up
to extremists who were using vio-
lence to "get their way" in Somalia.
Somali lawmaker Abdulrashid
Hidig said the United States
launched a new airstrike yester-
day around Ras Kamboni, a rugged
coastal area a few miles from the
Kenyan border where Monday's
attack took place. He cited the
Somali military as the source of the
information.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi told reporters in his coun-
try's capital, Addis Ababa, that eight
suspected terrorists were killed in
Monday's airstrike, five were wound-
ed and taken into custody by Ethio-
pian forces, and sev on escaped.w
Meles said most of the victims
were Somali, but the identities
would not be confirmed until DNA
testing is completed.
House votes to up
minimum wage
Measure would hike
hourly pay from
$5.15 to $7.25
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
Democratic-controlled House
voted yesterday to increase the
federal minimum wage to $7.25 an
hour, bringing America's lowest-
paid workers a crucial step closer
to their first raise in a decade.
The vote was 315-116 in favor of
the bill.
"You should not be relegated to
poverty if you work hard and play
by the rules," said House Major-
ity Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Mary-
land).
The bill was the second mea-
sure passed since Democrats took
control of the House, ending more
than a decade of Republican rule.
The measure, which now goes to
the Senate, would raise the federal
wage floor by $2.10 from its cur-
rent $5.15 an hour in three steps
over 26 months.
The last increase was in 1997,
when President Clinton success-
fully prodded the GOP-controlled
Congress to enact the increase.
Republicans declined to approve
another raise for the six years in
which they held majorities in the
House and Senate and President
Bush was in the White House.
Organized labor and other sup-
porters pitched the bill as badly
needed assistance for the working
poor.
Business groups and other crit-
ics said it could lead to higher
prices for goods and services,
force small companies to pink-slip
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existing workers or hire tewer new I
ones, and crimp profits.
The White House issued a state-
ment saying it opposed the bill
because it "fails to provide relief to
small businesses."
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800-2Review I PrincetonReview.com
Corner of S. University and S. Forest
""My Voyage to the
International Space Station"
A Presentation by Greg Olsen
Thursday, January 11, 4 PM
Biomedical Science Research
Building (BSRB) Auditorium
Corner of Ann Street and
Zina Pitcher Place
rs Free and Open to the Public
Olsen was the third private citizen to orbit
the earth on the International Space Station.
r F He launched from Russia on Oct. 1, 2005
and returned to Earth on Oct. 10, 2005.
Sponsored by the University of Michigan Office of the
Vice President for Research. 734-764-1185
7
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Pounds of marijuana found
by police in Hutchinson, Kan.,
under the bed of a 23-year old
man. Police found the pot after
they received a tip from the
man's mother, The Hutchin-
son News reported. The man
was convicted yesterday of
possession of marijuana with
the intent to sell.
9 4
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