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NEWS BRIEFS
KABUL, Afghanistan
Coalition retakes
town from Taliban
Hundreds of Taliban fighters
fled in trucks and motorbikes yes-
terday as Afghan and international
troops fought their way into the
only important town controlled by
the hard-line Islamic movement.
Afghan officers reported some
militants, possibly al-Qaida, were
still resisting in the center of Musa
Qala, and said the attacking force
controlled the southern town but
was moving slowly toward the
center because streets were booby-
trapped with improvised bombs.
A Taliban spokesman confirmed
the insurgents retreated from Musa
Qala, which the militants had held
since February, and Afghanistan's
president said the successful attack
was aided by some local Taliban
leaders switching allegiance to his
government.
Visiting British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown predicted develop-
ments in Musa Qala would have
positive long-term results, and the
success boosted hopes the Afghan
government can expand into a key
opium producing area where it now
wields little influence.
BAGHDAD
Several killed in
hospital attack
Mortar shells slammed into an
Interior Ministry prison yester-
day, killing at least five inmates and
wounding 25, the U.S. military and
Iraqi officials said. Separately, a
fire broke out at one of Iraq's main
refineries, but the U.S. said it was an
industrial accident - not an attack,
as Iraqi officials insisted.
Police and hospital officials said
seven inmates were killed and 23
wounded when the mortar rounds
hit a prison made up of several
cellblocks, each containing pris-
oners accused of terrorism-related
crimes or civil offenses. The U.S.
military said five inmates died and
25 were injured.
Police said American troops
sealed off the area around the main
Interior Ministry compound on the
east bank of the Tigris River in cen-
tral Baghdad. The rounds struck
about 200 yards from the main
ministry building.
WASHINGTON
Court gives judges
more leeway in
drug sentencing
Federal judges have broad lee-
way to impose shorter prison
terms for crack cocaine and other
crimes, the Supreme Court said
yesterday in a pair of cases that
bolster arguments for reducing
differences in sentences between
crack and powder cocaine.
The court, by 7-2 votes in both
cases, upheld more lenient sen-
tences imposed by judges who
rejected federal sentencing guide-
lines as too harsh.
The decision was announced
ahead of a vote scheduled for to-
morrow by the U.S. Sentencing
Commission, which sets the guide-
lines, that could cut prison time for
as many as 19,500 federal inmates
convicted of crack crimes.
TRENTON, NJ.
N.J. moves closer
to abolishing the
death penalty
The state Senate approved legisla-
tion yesterday that would make New
Jersey the first state to abolish the
death penalty since 1976, when the
U.S. Supreme Court allowed states
to impose the sentence.
The measure to replace the death
sentence with life without parole
would spare the life of a sex offender
whose crimes sparked Megan's Law.
With the support of the Democrat-
controlled Assembly and the Demo-
cratic governor,the bill is expected to
be signed into law within a month.
New Jersey has eight men on
death row and hasn't executed any-
one since 1963. It reinstated the
death penalty in 1982.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
3,887
Number of American service mem-
bers who have died in the war in
Iraq, according to The Associated
Press. There were no dead service
members identified yesterday.
ARB
From Page 1
ternities.
"It's been a student trend,"
Plakle said. "For a long time,
fraternities would come and
climb trees and cut them
down."
Arboretum Director Bob
Grese said that after one theft
in the 1980s, arboretum staff
used simple detective work
and found the tree in a frater-
nity house near campus.
"They left a trail of nee-
dles," Grese said.
Thefraternitymembershad
left a section of the tree trunk
in their garbage. An arbore-
tum staff member matched
this section of the trunk to the
stump left behind.
The arboretum sued the
fraternity and won, and each
member involved in the theft
served a number of communi-
ty service hours, Grese said.
A new fir tree will cost
about $2,000 and may take
more 15 years to grow to the
height of the tree damaged
last week.
"These trees are the living
history of the arboretum,"
Plakke said. "Just like all liv-
ing things they're unique and
irreplaceable in their own
way."
Yesterday morning, arbo-
retum staffers sat in the office
and discussed what to do with
the rest of the felled fir while
"White Christmas" played
quietly in the background.
Staff member Patricia Beals
had an idea.
"We could cut the branches
and salvage them for a swag
to hang over the front door,"
she said.
Whatever doesn't end up
adorning the doors of arbo-
retum offices, though, will
likely find a less festive end:
the wood chipper.
LAW SCHOOL
From Page 1
attached to University proj-
ects to increase the way they
did when Law School reno-
vation talks took place a few
years ago.
"In this case, there were
a number of considerable
changes made in the Law
School," Brown said.
For instance, Renzo Piano
began planning schematics
before current Law School
Dean Evan Caminker was
appointed.
Neither Caminker nor
Rebecca Eisenberg, who
leads the Law School's
Building Committee, could
be reached for comment yes-
terday.
If the proposal is approved
Thursday, regents would
have to approve the design
of the additions. The third
step in the process would
require regents to approve
a construction schedule
- a process that could take
months.
Several students said the
proposed additions would be
vast improvements compared
to what's available now.
First-year Law student
Stephanie Song said there are
only two places - the snack
lounge and the Lawyer's Club
that students can hold con-
versations freely in the Law
School.
"There's a problem of stu-
dentgroupsnothavingenough
space," said Lisa Helem, a sec-
ond-year law student.
If the project is built, it
would replace 89 surface
parking spots near Monroe
Street.
- Elizabeth Lai
contributed to this report.
Winter Term
Apply now at the
Law Library-
eNon-Law Students
*Law Students
*S.I. Students
Minimum pay is $9.00
per hour!
Apply at the hiring table
outside room
S-180 in the Law Library's
underground addition.
AA/EOE
NORTH CAMPUS
From Page 1
Some consider North Campus
an unattractive place. Munson,
one of the contest's backers, said
the contest's goal is make North
Campus more appealing to all of
the University, not just engineers.
"We have hopes of creating a
destination of North Campus," he
said. "We don't have very many
focal points up on North."
The only real rule for submis-
CANS
From Page 1
unsheltered homeless individuals
in the county.
The charity decided to help the
homeless by collecting empty cans
from events throughout campus
- including Greek parties - and
donatingthe money from redeemed
cans to the Washtenaw County
Homeless Shelter.
Leland said the first can collec-
tion took place Friday night at an
Alpha Epsilon Pi party.
"We set up garbage cans before
the party to collect the cans and
then we picked them up and
brought them to Kroger," Leland
said. "We made $100 and 100 per-
sions is it should be something that
would make people want to go to
North Campus. Munson said the
winning project might not even be
something he had in mind, like an
art installation or sculpture.
"A vision I have for this thing
may not be the winning one,"
Munson said.
It can really be anything,
even something that doesn't last
through the seasons, said Douglas
Kelbough, dean of the School of
Music, Theatre and Dance.
Architecture Prof. Steven
cent of that money is being donated
to the homeless shelter."
Ari Parritz, president of Alpha
Epsilon Pi, said his fraternity was
more than willing to get involved
in the effort.
"Alpha Epsilon Pi was founded
on community involvement," Par-
ritz said, who mentioned that one
of his fraternity's members is also
in the charity. "We jumped at the
opportunity."
The charity has also set up gar-
bage bags at the Sigma Alpha Mu
fraternity house for the brothers to
dispose of any beverage containers
they use.
"By starting at one or two frater-
nities, we hope that the other Greek
houses will follow," Leland said.
Leland said the program takes
Mankouche said he likes this
aspect in particular.
"I like the fact that though
they're encouraging more tempo-
ral things, that things that aren't
necessarily permanently there,"
Mankouche said.
Not all entrants have a specific
concept in mind. Art and Design
senior Ronen Goldstein said his
team plans on incorporating the
outdoor surroundings into their
design.
"We have a long list of ideas," he
said. "We went online and looked
a reality of campus life and turns
it into a way to help those in need.
She said that collecting cans from
big events is one of the most effi-
cient ways to generate funds for
charity.
"We wanted to use what's avail-
able," she said. "And the fact is,
there's beer and other cans and
there is money there that can go to
the community."
The organizers of Alternative
Spring Break have also used can
redemption drives to fund aspects
of their organization. Emily Paku-
la, a member of the ASB Leadership
Team, said there have been many
similar drives and that they have
always been successful. "Every can
drive brings in money," she said.
"And every dime counts."
Tuesday, December 11200
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Whatever he ieos s wi
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help.
"It is pretty exciting becas
North Campus is pretty desolti
Trump said. "It's a good ide.
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