The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, October 29, 2007 - 5A Argentina poised to elect first female leader President's wife Kirchner's victory marred by voting irregularities By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO The New York Times BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the wife of Argentina's president, Nestor Kirchner, appeared poised late yesterday to become the first woman to be elected president of the country and part of a new political dynasty in the South American country. Mrs. Kirchner, 54, the center- left Peronist party candidate and a senator, was leading in early offi- cial results over Roberto Lavagna, a former finance minister, and Elisa Carrio, a center-left nOn- gresswoman. If Kirchner wins 45 percent of the vote, she will avoid a runoff. The election was marred when rival candidates accused her party of "systemic theft" of ballots and other voting irregularities. If she is elected as expected, Kirchner would become the sec- ond woman to be elected leader of a South American nation in two years, after Michelle Bachelet, who became Chile's president last year. In a victory speech late Sun- day, Kirchner said she felt a "double responsibility, not just for all Argentines, but an immense responsibility for my gender." In her speech she also paid homage to her husband's accomplishments. Mr. Kirchner, who sat behind her, stood up as supporters chanted "Nestor, Nestor," and raised his wife's arm. More than anything, Kirchner's victory would serve as a referen- dum on the four years under her husband, who steered Argentina out of its worst economic crisis in 2001, when the country defaulted on some $80 billion in loans from multilateral lending groups like the International Monetary Fund. Argentina's economy is poised this year to recorda sixth straight year of growth averaging about 8 percent. It is riding a wave of higher prices for some of its prin- cipal exports - soybeans, corn and meat - and has increased its reserves and lowered unemploy- ment and inflation. While voters appeared to favor a continuation of Nestor Kirch- ner's policies, the next president faces the challenge of taming dou- ble-digit inflation and a looming energy crisis. Despite his approval ratings of more than 60 percent, Kirchner decided in July not to run for re- election, in what many analysts believe is a strategy to rotate the couple through the Pink House, the presidential palace here, for the next 12 years. Argentine elec- tion law allows a former president to run again after waiting four years on the sidelines. Cristina Kirchner grew up in La Plata, a city once known as "Eva Peron City," the birthplace of the beloved wife and powerful first lady of Gen. Juan Domingo Peron. She was born seven months after Eva Peron, who was known by mil- lions as Evita, died of cancer. Kirchner is the daughter of Eduardo Fernandez, a second- generation Argentine from a Spanish family, who ran a fleet of municipal buses in La Plata, and of Ofelia Wilhelm, a strong-willed woman who supported the Per- onists, according to Olga Wornut, the author of "Reina Cristina," a study of the first lady. The Kirchners met in law school in La Plata, where they were stu- dent activists involved in the Per- onist movement. They later moved to Mr. Kirchner's home province of Santa Cruz, in Patagonia, where she was elected a senator before her husband began his own politi- cal career. Early in her political career, Kirchner was nicknamed "Queen Cristina" by other politicians, a reference to her controlled person- ality. Facing a fractured opposition in the current election, she cam- paigned lightly, spending much of the past two months traveling in Europe and the United States try- ing to woo foreign investors and making clear that, if elected, she would seek to improve Argetina's standing abroad. Argentina under Nestor Kirch- ner has embraced the notion of regional integration and has ben- efited from a stronger relationship with Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, who agreed to refinance $5 billion of Argentina's debt. Despite her apparent victory, several rival candidates Sunday reported voter irregularities in some Peronist strongholds. "Each time a citizen went to vote, the voting authority at the table said there aren't ballots for your party," Patricia Blrich, the campaign chief for Carrio,hsaid incan inter- view. "They said, 'OK, you still have to vote. Vote for a blank slate, but you have to vote."' Bullrich singled out La Matan- za, an industrial town on the out- skirts of Buenos Aires, but also said that ballot theft had occurred throughout the province of Bue- nos Aires. Argentine political analysts called the charges exaggerated. Many of the irregularities likely resulted from the disorganiza- tion of political parties, said Julio Burdman, an analyst here. "In this election, the organization of the opposition parties was as weak as never before." Buffalo News Publisher Stan Lipsey, a former Michigan Daily and Michiganensian.photographer, gave $3 million to overhaul the Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building on Maynard Street. The building hadn't undergone major renovations since it was completed in 1932. 5 Pulitzer winners got start on Maynard t. BUILDING From page lA tions Jim Reische and Daily Editor in Chief Karl Stampfl also spoke at the ceremony. Power, Daily editorial director in 1960 and a University regent from 1987 to 1998, said the Daily was one of the most formative times in his life, one that would also inspire him to pursue a career in journalism. "Our work (at the Daily) honed our skills as much or more than any course we ever took," Power said. "It was through the Daily that we entered the life of the engaged mind." As a Daily editorial writer, Power wrote a column calling for the cre- ation of a national youth volunteer organization. The piece made it into the hands of President Kenne- dy and inspired the creation of the Peace Corps a year later. In a keynote speech at a ban- quet after the building dedication, Ann Marie Lipinski, Daily co-edi- tor in chief from 1977 to 1978 and now editor of the Chicago Tribune, said her first memory of the Daily was then-editor and future Pulit- zer Prize-winner Daniel Biddle instructing reporters while stand- ing atop the long composing coun- ters that were a centerpiece of the Daily's old newsroom. Lipinski, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988, said working at the Daily taught her the value of learn- ing by doing. Lipinski, Biddle and Lipsey are among the five Pulitzer Prize win- ners who got their start in journal- ism at 420 Maynard St. Although the building at 420 Maynard St. has seen extensive renovations, many alumni still found things to remind them of their years there. Roma Connable said the stained glass windows and tiled walls brought her back to her time work- ing as the Daily's editorial director in 1951. "It's just amazing how they've preserved all the original features," Connable said. For many, the dedication cer- emony and ensuing reunion was an opportunity for alumni to swap memories from their time working in the building. George Quick, Gargoyle editor in chief from 1937 to 1938 - and the oldest alum at the dedication - said Life magazine described the Gargoyle as the university arts magazine "with the most beautiful girls." Al Connable, Daily city editor in 1953, recounted the time when the FBI conducted an official search of the Daily's archives after it pub- lished an editorial that criticized the McCarthy-eraSmithAct,which banned discussion of overthrowing the U.S. government and was used to persecute many alleged commu- nists during the 1940s and 1950s. Worried by stress, schools add relaxation to curriculum SFootbaths not likely on cam-pus ROOM From page 1A prayer and reflection. No officials from the Univer- sity were willing to respond to whether the University would sponsor a room - without calling it a prayer room - that met those specifications. Several schools - including Boston University, the Univer- sity of Wisconsin at Madison and Eastern Michigan Univer- sity -- have installed footbaths. Additionally, the University of Michigan at Dearborn is final- izing plans to install footbaths at its student center. Footbaths are oversized, low-to-the-ground sinks most frequently used by Muslims before prayer. Tradi- tionally, Muslims are required to wash before religious ceremonies like the daily prayers that occur five times each day. The University's Dearborn campus plans to spend about $25,000 to install two footbaths in two bathrooms. The announce- At high-powered high schools, attempts to reduce pressure on high-powered students By SARA RIMER The New York Times NEEDHAM, Mass. - It was 6:30 p.m. The lights were still on at Needham High School, here in the affluent Boston suburbs. Paul Richards, the principal, was meeting with the students, teachers and parents who serve on the "stress reduction committee." On the agenda: finding the right time to bring in experts to train students in relaxation tech- niques. Do not try to have them teach relaxation in study hall, said Olivia Boyd, a senior. Students, she said, will not want to interrupt their work. It had already been established that students were too busy before or after school for the training. Josh Goldman, captain of varsity tennis, pres- ident of the Spanish club and a member of the student council, was not able to squeeze in the meeting at all. Richards noted Josh's absence wryly. "Josh is a perfect example," he said. "He's got a hundred things going on." It is all part of the high-powered culture that Richards is trying to change, even a little. But cultural change does not come smoothly. ,When he stopped publishing the honor roll in the local newspaper last winter, a move aimed at some parents who had turned the lists into a public accounting, Rush Limbaugh accused him of politically correct coddling of students, and Jay Leno mocked the school-on national televi- sion. Richards received hate mail from all over the country. But he is undeterred. "It's not that I'm trying to turn the culture upside down," Richards said. "It's very impor- tant to protect the part of the culture that leads to all the achievement. It's more about bringing the culture to a healthier place." The new stress reduction committee is start- ing to formulate recommendations, like the relaxation consultants. It is surveying students about the causes of the unhealthy stress. This term, Richards is talkingup the yoga classes that are required of all seniors. He has asked teach- ers to schedule some homework-free weekends and holidays. The homework breaks have not worked out exactly as Richards had planned. "The irony," he said, "is that students tell us they appreciate the time because it allows them to catch up on other schoolwork." Richards is just one principal in the vanguard of a movement to push back against an ethos of super achievement at affluent suburban high schools amid the extreme competition over college admissions. He has joined like-minded administrators from 44 other high schools and middle schools - most in the San Francisco Bay area, but some scattered in Texas, Indiana, New York and Massachusetts - known as SOS, for Stressed Out Students. The group -was formed four years ago by Denise Pope, a lecturer at the Stanford School of Education, who said she had become alarmed by the unhealthy competitiveness she encoun- tered at a Bay Area high school, where she was researching her Ph.D. dissertation. That study became her book, "Doing Schoolr How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materi- alistic and Miseducated Students" (Yale Univer- sity Press, 2001). High schools in other Boston suburbs - Wellesley, Lexington, Wayland - have taken steps similar to Needham's, organizing stress reduction committees and yoga classes. Some high schools are requiringstudents to meet with teachers, and get parental permission, before enrolling in Advanced Placement classes. Some schools are experimenting with later start times so students can get more sleep. Pope advises schools to end the tradition of student newspapers publishing the end-of- the-year lists of seniors and their colleges. "We found that there are kids who are lying," she said, because they are embarrassed to say they are going to a state school. Back at Needham, there is some grumbling that measures like homework-free holidays could erode academic rigor. "You run out of time," said Max Hekler, an English teacher. "You can't teach 'The Odyssey.' Somethinghas to go." Needham began intense self-examination a couple years ago, after four of its young people - one in college, two in high school and one in middle school - committed suicide. While school officials emphasized that the suicides were not related to stress, the deaths heightened concerns about how Needham's students were responding to school pressure. Even before the suicides, Needham school officials had responded to youth surveys indi- cating troubling rates of alcohol and drug use and depiession -- rates like those at other afflu- ent high schools - by establishing an initiative, starting in elementary school, to help students develop better emotional and social skills. "Today kids' lives are just so programmed and so protected and so separated from anything that is difficult for them that they don't learn how to handle problems when they're young," said George Johnson, the director of student development for Needham public schools. Richards, 36, arrivedhere threeyears ago from Nantucket,where, as principal ofthe island's high school, he had to pushstudents to aim higher. For all the academic advantages of Needham High School, what struck him, he said, was the cost to all this achieving and performing. Many students were so stressed out about grades and test scores - and so busy building resumes to get into the small number of brand- name colleges they equated with success - that, he said, they could not fully engage with school. "A lot of these kids," he said, "are being held hostage to the culture." Richards, who is pursuing his doctorate at Boston College, made himself an expert in research on stress. In his office one recent morning, he grabbed a marker and drew the Yerkes-Dodson curve on a flip chart to illustrate scientific findings that while a certain amount of stress is necessary for learning and growth, too much interferes. He said he was also concerned with wide- spread cheating, mostly by students copying homework and failing to fully cite sources. Cheating, experts say, is a problem at high schools nationwide. Richards said he wanted to create a school where students could cope better with the inevi- table setbacks -- where, he said, "they don't fall apart if they get a B-minus." At assemblies he encourages students to think about choosing classes that are challenging but manageable, rather than trying to rack up the highest number of advanced placement courses. He talksto students and parents about aiming for colleges that are the right fit - whether Harvard or the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Richards earned his master's in education at Harvard, and his undergraduate at UMass. Richards acknowledges that his efforts are a work in progress. Still, some are skeptical. "The stress reduction - I'm still waiting," said Harris Feldman, a senior, as he watched his classmates gathering in the wrestling room for yoga class. Harris had arrived from English class, where his teacher, David Smokler, had begun a new unit on writing the college essay by trying to reassure his students that the name of the school did not matter. "When you graduate from college, no one is going to care where you went," Smokler said. "If they do care, you don't want to work for that boss." ment of the plans caused an out- cry from many, who said the university was catering to a vocal minority. Officials said the footbaths don't violate the Constitution because anyone can use them. Terry Gallagher, director of public relations for the Universi- ty's Dearborn campus, said that according to the Cooperative Institutional Research Program's Freshmen Survey, 10 to11 percent of the undergraduate student population identify as Islamic. At the University's Ann Arbor campus, only 2.3 percent of undergraduate students identi- fied as Islamic, according to the same survey. The CIRP Freshmen Survey is a self-reported, one-time survey. Bhatti said installing footbaths is not the top priority for the Mus- lim Students' Association. "Footbaths are something we want, but we also would really like a prayer room," Bhatti said.