The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, November 9, 2007 - 3
NEWS BRIEFS
WASHINGTON
House passes
Defense budget
without war funds
The House yesterday approved
a big boost in the Pentagon's non-
war budget for President Bush's
signature, even as a spending bill
containing far smaller increases
for health and education programs
headed toward a certain veto.
The confluence of the votes
reflected Bush's dominant posi-
tion in the year-end budget battle
pitting the White House against
Democrats controlling Congress.
The $471 billion defense budget
- awarding the Pentagon with
a 9 percent, $40 billion budget
increase - passed the House by a
400-15 vote. A Senate vote could
quickly follow.
At the same time, House Demo-
crats had little hope of winning a
veto-proof margin on the health,
education and job training bill, a
top party priority.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
Musharraf agrees
to hold February
elections
President Gen. Pervez Mush-
arraf yielded to pressure from the
United States yesterday and said
Pakistan will hold parliamen-
tary elections by mid-February,
just a month later than originally
planned.
But the military leader showed
no sign of letting up on his politi-
cal foes, reportedly arresting more
than 800 supporters of opposition
leader Benazir Bhutto before dawn
in an effort to head off a major anti-
government demonstration set for
Friday.
The White House hailed its
ally's election pledge, but Bhutto
denounced his announcement as
"vague" and demanded Musharraf
give up his second post as army
chief within a week.
TOKYO
Gates: Japan and
neighbors must
counter N. Korea
Defense Secretary Robert
Gates warned today that Japan
and its neighbors must do more
to confront security problems in
Asia, calling it one of the "last
places on earth with the poten-
tial for a nuclear confrontation."
It will take more than one or
two countries to overcome the
threats from North Korea and
nuclear proliferation, Gates said
in a speech at Sophia University
that stressed the United States'
continued commitment to Asia
yet cautioned that other allies
must step up.
"Japan has the opportunity
- and an obligation - to take on
a role that reflects its political,
economic and military capacity,"
Gates said. "We hope and expect
Japan to accept more global
security responsibilities in the
years ahead."
SAN FRANCISCO
Ship strikes bridge,
spills 58,000
gallons of oil
} An oil spill fouled miles of frag-
ile coastline yesterday, sending
environmentalists scrambling to
save tarred marine life and leav-
ing local officials questioning the
Coast Guard's response to the ship
collision that triggered the slick.
About 58,000 gallons of oil
spilled from a South Korea-bound
container ship when it struck a
tower supporting the San Fran-
cisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in dense
fog Wednesday. The accident did
not damage the span, but the ves-
sel's hull was gashed, officials said.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
U..CA SUA LT IES
3,860
Number of American service mem-
bers who have died in the war in
Iraq, according to The Associated
Press. There were three new casu-
alties identified yesterday.
Army Capt. Benjamin D. Tiff-
ner, 31, West Virginia
Army Sgt. Lui Tumanuvao, 29,
Fagaalu, American Samoa
Svejnar could
get opposition
support
PROF From page_1
range widely from one end of the
political spectrum to the other.
"He would need to get the sup-
port of all of the very disparate
parties from the far left to the far
right behind him," she said.
The Czech president serves
more of a ceremonial role than
the president in the United
States, serving as an internation-
al statesman and appointing the
Prime Minister, judges and bank
officials.
Despite living and working
in the United States, Svejnar
has remained involved with the
Czech government and returns
everyseveralweeks to advise offi-
cials. He participated in discus-
sions with members of the Czech
press about economic matters,
which has made him a relatively
well-known public figure.
Svejnar has taken criticism for
notlivinginthe country,although
he maintained Czech citizenship
after leaving Czechoslovakia in
1970 to avoid the economic insta-
bility of the former communist
government.
A graduate of Cornell Univer-
sity and Princeton University,
Svejnar holds degrees in econom-
ics and industrial and labor rela-
tions. His research has focused
on economic growth in Eastern
Europe and the impact of govern-
ment policy on the performance
of independent companies.
After Czechoslovakia's com-
munist government fellin the non-
violent Velvet Revolution of 1989,
Svejnar began advising the Czech
government on the transition from
a centrally planned economy to a
free-market economy.
At that point, then-President
Vaclav Havel asked Svejnar to
serve as his economic advisor.
Svejnar met with Havel once a
month to discuss economic poli-
cy, later serving as an adviser to
Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla
and ministers of the economy
PONG
From page 1
"Every single bar has this
and does this that I know of,"
he said.
A pair of University of Michi-
gan alumni won the World
Series of Beer Pong in Las Vegas
in January of 2006.
The bar was scheduled to
hold a satellite tournament for
the World Series of Beer Pong
on Dec. 1. Winners of that tour-
nament would win an entry in
the national competition.
The popularity of beer pong
has grown in recent years. A
few companies have even begun
selling beer pong accessories
like racks to keep the cups in
place.
Still Wozniak said he hasn't
noticed an increase in the num-
ber of bars being cited for spon-
soring drinking games.
Nick Velissaris, one of the
alumni who won the national
beer pong tournament and an
organizer of games at Touch-
down's, compared the game to
other traditional bar games like
darts or pool.
"It is done in a bar and peo-
ple can drink if they want," he
said in an e-mail interview.
"Just like you can go to a pool
hall and drink if you want. If
you do not want to drink and
play pool or darts, you can still
play the game."
Students at Touchdown Cafe
last night said they disagreed
with the decision.
"I think it's a ridiculous law
because people are going to
drink whether there are games
involved or not," said LSA fresh-
man Laura Campion. "They're
at a bar."
- Karey Quarton and Gabe
Nelson contributed to this report.
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and finance.
One of Svejnar's primary goals
would be the early adoption of the
euro. The Czech Republic joined
the European Union in 2004 but
has not decided to adoptthe euro,
instead sticking with its native
currency, the koruna.
Michael Kraus, a professor of
political science at Middlebury
College and a long-time friend
of Svejnar's, said that as presi-
dent of the Czech Republic, Sve-
jnar would aim to revitalize the
Czech economy.
"As president of the Czech
Republic, his main goal would be
to enlist a team of people and to
mobilize a consensus on return-
ing the Czech Republic to being
a leader of liberal democracy
and economic power in Central
Europe," Kraus said.
Slavic Languages Prof. Jin-
drich Toman, who teaches
courses in Czech literature, sup-
ported Svejnar, saying he would
be more capable of helping the
country effectively integrate into
the European Union. Toman also
said the country needs to reform
its health and pension systems.
"Professor Svejnar would not
be in charge of bringing these
reforms - no president is -but
he can work with the parties to
affect change," he said.
If elected, Svejnar would take a
leave of absence from the Univer-
sity to live in the Czech Republic
and would return to his research
and teaching after serving as
president.
The president can serve up to
two five-year terms.
Kraus said the decision wheth-
er to seek the post will be a tough
one for Svejnar to make. In addi-
tion to teaching business, eco-
nomics and public policy, Svejnar
is the director of the University's
International Policy Center.
"He's in an excellent position
at the University of Michigan
that would not be easy for him to
part with," Kraus said.
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