10 - Tuesday, October 9, 2007 Compromise likely on wiretap bill The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com BROWSING A ROUTTTOTTE Bill would extend NSA powers By ERIC LICHTBLAU and CARL HULSE The New York Times WASHINGTON - Two months after vowing to roll back broad new wiretapping powers won by the Bush administration, congres- sional Democrats appear ready to makeconcessionsthatcould extend some of the key powers granted to the National Security Agency. Bush administration officials say they are confident they will win approval of the broadened wiretapping authority that they secured temporarily in August as Congress rushed toward recess, and some Democratic officials admit that they may not come up with the votes to rein in the administration. As the debate over the NSA's wiretapping powers begins anew this week, the emerging legislation reflects the political reality con- fronting the Democrats. While they are willing to oppose the White House on therconduct of the war in Iraq, they remain nervous that they will be labeled as soft on ter- rorism if they insist on strict curbs on intelligence-gathering. A Democratic bill to be proposed today in the House would main- tain for several years the type of broad, blanket authority for NSA wiretapping that the administra- tion secured in August for just six months. But in an acknowledg- ment of civil liberties concerns, the measure would also require a more active role by the special foreign intelligence court that oversees the NSA's interception of foreign-based communications. A competing proposal in the Sen- ate, still being drafted, may be even closer in line with the administration's demands,withthepossibilityofinclud- ing retroactive immunity for telecom- munications companies that took part in the NSA's once-secret program to wiretap without court warrants. No one is willing to predict with certainty how the issue will play out. But some congressional offi- cials and others monitoring the debate over the legislation said that the final result may not be much different than it was two months ago, despite Democrats' insistence that they would not let stand the August extension of the NSA's powers. "Many members continue to fear that if they don't support whatever the president asks for, they'll be perceived assoftonterrorism,"said William Banks, a professor spe- cializing in terrorism and national security law at Syracuse Univer- sity who has written extensively on federal wiretapping law. The August bill, known as the Protect America Act, was approved by Congress inthe finalhours before itssummerrecessafterheatedwarn- ings from the administration that legal loopholes in wiretapping cov- erage had left the country vulner- able to another terrorist attack. The legislation significantly reduced the role of the foreign intelligence court and broadened the NSA's ability to listen in on foreign-based commu- nications without a court warrant. "We want the statute made per- manent,"Dean Boyd, a spokes- man for the Justice Department, said Monday. "We view this as a healthy debate. We also view it as an opportunity to inform Con- gress and the' public that we can use these authorities responsibly. We're goingto go forward and look at any proposals that come forth, but we'll look at them very care- fully to make sure they don't have any consequences that hamper our abilities to protect the country." House Democrats overwhelm- ingly opposed the interim legisla- tion in August and believed at the time they had been forced into a corner by the administration. As Congress takes up the new legislation, a senior Democratic aide said House leaders are work- ing hard to make sure the adminis- tration does not succeed in pushing through a bill that would make per- manent all the powers it secured in August for the NSA. "That's what we're trying to avoid," the aide said. "We have that concern too." Washtenaw Community College student Gretchell Herman looks at her jewelry purchases outside Ana Banana, a small vintage boutique located above Espresso Royale Cafe on South University yesterday. Ana Banana will be moving toa new location in Nickels Arcade in early November. College applicants resort to thank-you notes Prospective freshman look for an extra edge in the admissions game By KAREN W. ARENSON The New York Times Call it a testament to how carefully stu- dents court college admissions offices these days: Thank-you notes have become the new frontier. Take the one that came with M&Ms to match Lehigh, University's school colors of brown and white, and with the applicant's name inscribed on the candy. She thanked officials for her inter- view, adding, "Keep me on the tip of your tongue when reviewing applications." Some students buy college stationery for their notes as if to signal they already belong on campus. The flying pigs that adorned a thank- you to Guilford College in North Carolina were certainly eye-catching, as was the smiley face at the end of the note.There are even thank- you notes that are less than thankful, like the one from a young man whoannounced he had visited Lehigh under parental duress and begged to be rejected. "He said, 'My parents don't know I'm sending this letter,"' said J. Leon Washington, the dean of admissions and financial aid. Washington said that he was seeing more thank-you notes than ever, and that Lehigh had received 50 or 60 in just one day last week. The notes are directed not just to admissions officers, but also to college tour guides and alumni who are often the ones most likely to be conducting college interviews these days. Woody O'Cain, the admissions director at Furman University in South Carolina, said he received thousands each year. "I laugh and tell people that's the kind of stuff that replaces the zeros on my paycheck," O'Cain said. "I realize a lot them are strategic. A guidance counselor says be sute to write a thank-you note because they want it to be added to the file. But there are plenty that are very heartfelt." Still, Mary Fitzgerald Hull, a college adviser at a public high school in Maryland, seemed to strike a nerve amongcollege admissions officers longing for authenticity when she asked recent- ly for sample thank-you notes on a Web site for admissions professionals. Hull said one of her students disagreed with her mother on what was appropriate. "Can you imagine your daughter going to her counselor and saying, 'My mom and I can't agree on what should go into a thank-you note?"' Dan Rosenfield, an admissions official at the Univer- sity of Louisiana at Lafayette, said in an inter- view. "To be concerned about, 'Am I going to say the wrong thing?"' Rosenfield continued, "Or 'Am I going to write a thank-you note that hurts me?' It just gets crazy." Miss Manners, Judith Martin, who writes a syndicated etiquette column that runs in more than 200 newspapers, says she, for one, does ndt think thanks are needed for a campus visit: "I would never, ever say, 'Don't write a thank-you note under any circumstances.' I don't want to discourage them. But it is not really a situation that is mandatory." 4 CORN ELL J ERIMAINE an international hair company is seeking 3rd or 4th yaar IT student to devel op and revise our oompany web site Please contact us at (313) 575-5551 GOT NEWS TIP? E-mail news@michigandaily.com or call the newsroom at 734-763-2459. IF YOU SPEAK A FOREIGN LANGUAGE, SETE THE WORLD. If you speak a foreign language or are currently learning one, we have countless opportunities awaiting you in Air Force ROTC. " Tuition assistance " Officer commission * Monthly living allowance " See the world. Our current language needs include Chinese, Persian, Hindi, Indonesian and countless others. Call 1-866-4AF-ROTC or visit AFROTC.COM. Funding hike possible for schools Under new budget, lower-funded districts could see 1 percent increase LANSING (AP) - Lower-fund- ed school districts in Michigan will get extra state aid to help bridge the funding gap among K- 12 public schools under the budget deal reached last week. House Education Chairman Tim Melton (0-Pontiac) said yes- terday that legislative leaders and Gov. Jennifer Granholm agreed to designate at least $20 million in so-called equity payments to lower-funded districts this school year. It remained unclear Monday howmuch more each districtcould receive because the funding for- mula has yet to be determined. But Melton -said three-fourths of the state's 774 districts could benefit. He was enthusiastic about another part of the deal: writing into law a provision aimed at nar- rowing the gap between higher- and lower-funded districts every year Last school year, districts got a minimum of $7,085 per student or more than $12,000 a student. The disparity originates from an older school finance system - since changed - in which districts with higher property values got more in funding. Those richer dis- tricts still getmore money, though maybe not as much as they would have. Gradually erasing the funding gap is "paramount," Melton said. He cited a street dividing the Pon- tiac and Bloomfield Hills districts where students on one side of the road go to schools with $5,000 more in per-pupil funding than students across the street. "It's a grave disparity," Melton said. One problem, however, is that K-12 schools will get 1 percent more in state funding under the agreement to raise taxes and cut spending. Granholm had initially backed a 2.5 percent inflationary increase. A 6 6 0 0