The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - 3A

NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
GM official:
Auto prices could
rise in the U.S.
U.S. automobile prices could
rise significantly in the near future
because of industry restructuring
and rising raw material and regula-
tory costs, General Motors Corp.'s
chief financial officer said yesterday.
Fritz Henderson said the indus-
try has less manufacturing capacity
than in the past and therefore less
pressure to sell vehicles cheaply just
to move inventory.
It also faces higher raw materials
costs, rising technology costs and
increased costs from fuel economy
and other government regulations,
he said.
While the U.S. market still is com-
petitive, "you could potentially see a
significant change from what we've
seen in the last eight or 10 years,"
Henderson said during a speech to
the Automotive Press Association in
Detroit.
WASHINGTON
Economic stimulus
bill passes in House
The House, seizing a rare mo-
ment of bipartisanship to respond
to the economy's slump, over-
whelmingly passed a $146 billion
aid package yesterday that would
speed rebates of $600-$1,200 to
most taxpayers.
The plan, approved 385-35 after
little debate, would send at least
some rebate to anyone with atleast
$3,000 in income, with more going
to families with children and Irss
going to wealthier taxpayers.
It faced a murky future in the
Senate, though, where Democrats
and some Republicans backed a
larger package that adds billions
of dollars for senior citizens and
the unemployed, and shrinks the
rebate to $500 for individuals and
$1,000 for couples.
WASHINGTON
Troops may stay
in Iraq longer
than expected
The Bush administration is
sending strong signals that U.S.
troop reductions in Iraq will slow
or stop altogether this summer, a
move that would jeopardize hopes
of relieving strain on the Army and
Marine Corps and revive debate
over an open-ended U.S. commit-
ment in Iraq.
The indications of a likely slow-
down reflect concern by U.S. com-
manders that the improvement in
security in Iraq since June - to a
degree few had predicted when
President Bush ordered five more
Army brigades to Iraq a year ago -
is tenuous and could be reversed if
the extra troops come out too soon.
One of those extra brigades left
in December and the other four
are due to come out by July, leav-
ing15 brigades, orroughly130,000
to 135,000 troops - the same num-
ber as before Bush sent the rein-
forcements.

ANN ARBOR
Ann Arbor man on
trial for 1983 rape
Thanks to advances in DNA test-
ing, an imprisoned sex offender is
on trial in Ann Arbor in the May
23,1983, rape-slaying of an Eastern
Michigan University student.
Forty-nine-year-old Jimmy E.
Green is accused of attacking and
stabbing 26-year-old Laura Mc-
Bride, a nutrition student and Air
Force veteran who was walking to
class.
Twenty years later, investiga-
tors recovered DNA, and prosecu-
tors say it matches Green's. Public
defender Gina Jacobs says finding
Green's DNA doesn't prove his
guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Green's already serving life for a
1995 rape.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Number of American service mem-
bers who have died in the war in
Iraq, according to The Associated
Press. The following service mem-
bers were identified yesterday:
Maj. Alan G Rogers, 40, Hamtpon,
Fla.
Sgt. Mikeal W. Miller, 22, Albany,
Ore.

McCain wins Florida primary

Romney finishes
second, Giuliani


likely to drop out
MIAMI (AP) - Sen. John
McCain won a breakthrough tri-
umph in the Florida primary last
night, seizing the upper hand
in the Republican presidential
race ahead of next week's coast-
to-coast contests and lining up a
quick endorsement from soon-to-
be dropout Rudy Giuliani.
"It shows one thing: I'm the
conservative leader who can
unite the party," McCain told The
Associated Press after easing past
former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
Romney for his first-ever triumph
in a primary open only to Repub-
licans.
"We have a ways to go, but
STATE
From Page 1A
Michigan high school students
with up to $4,000 in scholarships
from the state to attend a public
college in the state if they state
expectations on the Michigan
Merit Exam.
In order to prepare students to
succeed at post-secondary schools,
Granholm said the budget she will
introduce later this year will boost
investment in K-12 education and
will call for an education system
focused on career and workforce
preparation.
The budget will establish a
"21st Century Schools Fund"
which could create up to 100
small, specialized "early college
high schools" with demanding,
career-focused curriculum, Gra-
nholm said. After five years of
study, students at these schools
will graduate with both a high
school diploma and a two-year col-
lege degree. Six early college high
schools were created in Michigan
in the past year.
Citing "extremely limited
opportunities" for high school
drop outs, Granholm asked legisla-
tors to support a bill sponsored by
Sen. Liz Brater, a Democrat from
Ann Arbor which would raise the
minimum drop out age from 16 to
18.
Brater said the change is neces-
sary because people without a high
school diploma will only earn half
as much income as a high school
graduate.
According to a study released by
National Center for Educational
Statistics last December, 3.9 per-
cent of Michigan high school stu-
dents dropped out of school during
the 2004-2005 school year.
The current requirement is out-
dated and tells students that they
don't need a high school diploma,
Brater said.
"That's not a good message,"
Brater said. "It says, oh, it's OK
to leave when you're 16 and you
haven't finished."
In addition to preparing young
residents for the workforce, Brater
added that Granholm's proposals
for retraining former manufactur-
ing employees in new fields would
be critical to reviving the state's
economy.
"It's essential that we give
workers opportunity to retrain
for the realities of the 21st century
economy," Brater said. "Manufac-
turing jobs are leaving the state
and we need to give workers the
opportunityto prepare for the jobs
that we do have here, which are
more of the high-tech, life scienc-

es, advanced manufacturing type
jobs that require more specialized
skills."
Senate Majority Leader Mike
Bishop (R-Rochester) said in a
written statement posted on his
website after the speech that
Republicans are looking forward
to working with the governor on
her proposed agenda.
"We call on the governor to rec-
ognize the challenges facing our
state, and provide a specificrplan on
how we can work together to turn
this state around," Bishop said.
"This is also a good opportunity
for the governor to show restraint
and good judgment and not call for
new programs that the state and
its residents cannot afford."
Granholm said bipartisanship
work on her aggressive agenda
would bring the state out of eco-
nomic turmoil.
"We have laid the right founda-
tion to emerge from this period
of economic restructuring as a
more prosperous state," Granholm
said. "There are important, strong
planks on that foundation: the
most rigorous education standards
ever, college scholarships for every
child, the biggest diversification
strategy in history, a major busi-
ness tax rewrite, solving the fiscal
crisis, training for every adult who
needs it."
-The Associated Press
contributed to the report.
4

we're getting close" to the nomi-
nation, he said later in an appear-
ance before cheering supporters.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clin-
ton was the Democratic winner
in a primary held in defiance of
national rules that drew no cam-
paigning and awarded no del-
egates.
The victory was worth 57
Republican National Convention
delegates for McCain, a winner-
take-all haul that catapulted him
ahead of Romney in that catego-
ry.
Romney, who has spent mil-
lions of dollars of his personal for-
tune to run for the White House,
vowed to stay in the race.
"At a time like this, America
needs a president in the White
House who has actually had a job
in the real economy," the former
businessman told supporters in

St. Petersburg.
Giuliani, the former New York
mayor, ran third.
It was his best showing of the
campaign, but not nearly good
enough for the one-time front-
runner who decided to make his
last stand in a state that is home to
tens of thousands of transplanted
New Yorkers.
Several officials familiar with
events said Giuliani intended to
endorse McCain on Wednesday
in California.
In remarks to supporters in
Orlando, Giuliani referred to his
candidacy repeatedly in the past
tense - as though it were over.
"We'll stay involved and
together we'll make sure that
we'll do everything we can to
hand our nation off to the next
generation better than it was
before," he said.

After scandal, Kilpatrick
names new chief of staff

Republican presidential candidate John McCain won the Florida primary last night,
edging Mitt Romney. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is expected to
endorse McCain following a disappointing third-place finish in the primary.
MSA votes against
sending Prop. 2 message

Decision was made
less than a day after
Beatty resignation
DETROIT (AP) - Detroit
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick named
a new chief of staff yesterday, a
day after the woman who previ-
ously held the post resigned amid
allegations that she and the mayor
lied under oath about an affair.
Kandia Milton, who has served
as deputy chief of staff and liai-
son to Detroit's City Council, was
appointed to Christine Beatty's
job, Kilpatrick announced in a
written statement released yes-
terday.
The mayor's office also said Kil-
patrick planned to address the city
for the first time since the scandal
broke.
Kilpatrick is set to speak tonight
from his church, Greater Emman-
uel Institutional Church of God in
Christ.
Kilpatrick met yesterday morn-
ing with several city department

heads at the mayor's official resi-
dence.
Afterward, Deputy Mayor
Anthony Adams snickered when
asked whether Kilpatrick would
resign.
"He's the mayor. He's in charge
of what's going on here," Adams
said. "He's ready to speak to the
people. He's anxious to speak to
the people.
"He has to be cautious about
whathe says. He'sveryupbeat, and
the people need to know that."
The WayneCountyprosecutor's
office has launched an investiga-
tion into the perjury allegations.
Meanwhile, a judge ruled that
The Detroit News can join the
Detroit Free Press in a lawsuit
against the city to try to get to the
bottom of whether a secret settle-
ment exists in a whistle-blower
lawsuit against the city.
The City Council also decided
Tuesday to wait until three other
council members return to Detroit
to discuss starting its own inves-
tigation into the matter, council-
woman Sheila Cockrel said.

VOTE From Page 1A
Schwedt, who voted for the reso-
lution, said it was important for
MSA to remain neutral on the
issue of affirmative action.
"As a Democrat and as a minor-
ity I feel uncomfortable taking a
stance on this issue because I feel
that we should be an unbiased
group," she said.
LSA junior Maricruz Lopez,
co-chair of the Defend Affirma-
tive Action Party, spoke on behalf
of the resolution. She said the
decision showed MSA represen-
tatives were afraid to represent
their constituents and work in
favor of the interests of students.
After the meeting ended, some
MSA representatives and sup-
porters of the resolution stuck
around to discuss the issue.
During a conversation with
Lopez and Mulholland, Benson
said he might reconsider his pre-
vious objections to the e-mail.
Benson didn't commit to changing
his vote, but said it was possible
that the issue could be revisited at

next week's MSA meeting.
If a representative who previ-
ously voted against the resolution
states a desire to change sides or
abstain from the vote, the assem-
bly will revisit the issue.
Lopez and Mulholland said
they plan to send informational e-
mails to as many student groups
as possible, but wanted MSA be
associated with the process so
students would take the hearings
seriously.
Supporters of the resolution
were optimistic about a different
outcome at next week's meeting.
Mulholland said she was disap-
pointed that some people voted
down the resolution because the
text of the e-mail was unavail-
able.
"People on MSA often use tech-
nical procedure to kill someone's
item when they can't win a verbal
argument about the actual issue,"
she said.
Sutha K Kanagasingam
contributed to this report.


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