The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
NEWS BRIEFS
LAFAYETTE, Tenn.
Twisters kill at
least 54 people
across the South
At least 54 people were killed
and hundreds injured Tuesday and
yesterday by dozens of tornadoes
that plowed across Mississippi,
Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky
and Alabama. It was the nation's
deadliest barrage of twisters in
almost 23 years.
President Bush gave assurances
his administration stood ready to
help. TeamsfromtheFederalEmer-
gency Management Agency were
sent to the region and activated an
emergency center in Georgia.
"Prayers can help and so can the
government," Bush said. "I do want
the people in those states to know
the American people are standing
with them."
BAGHDAD
Senate votes down
$40 bil.-addition to
stimulus bill
Senate Republicans blocked a
move by Democrats on Wednes-
day to add more than $40 billion
in checks for the elderly, disabled
veterans and the unemployed to
a bill to stimulate the economy.
The 58-41 vote fell just short of
the 60 required to break a GOP
filibuster and bringthe Senate
version of the stimulus bill closer
to a final vote. The Senate measure
was backed by Democrats and a
handful of Republicans but was
strongly opposed by GOP lead-
ers and President Bush, who
objected to the costly add-ons.
* The vote left the $205 billion
Senate stimulus bill in limbo.
Republican leaders objected to
add-ons such as a $14.5 billion
unemployment extension for those
whose benefits have run out, $1 bil-
lion in heating aid for the poor and
tax breaks for renewable energy
producers and coal companies.
WASHINGTON
Clinton lends
$5 million to
own campaign
Hillary Rodham Clinton loaned
* her campaign $5 million late last
month as Barack Obama outraised
and outspent her in the Democratic
presidential race.
Clinton told reporters at her cam-
paign headquarters in Arlington,
Va., that she made the loan, adding,
"I believe the campaign would have
a great month fundraising in Janu-
ary. We intended to be competitive
and we were."
Obama, riding a wave of fund-
raising both from large donors and
small Internet contributors, col-
lected a stunning $32 million in
January. Clinton campaign chair-
man Terry McAuliffe said the
Clinton campaign raised only $13.5
million for the month. The $5 mil-
lion was in addition to that amount,
Wolfson said.
DERA ISMAlL KHAN, Pakistan
Taliban militants
in Pakistan declare
cease-fire
Taliban militants declared a
cease-fire yesterday in fighting with
Pakistani forces, and the government
said it was preparing for peace talks
with al-Qaida-linked extremists in
the lawless tribal area near the bor-
der with Afghanistan.
Any deal that allows armed Islam-
ic extremists to operate on Paki-
stani soil would run counter to U.S.
demands for the government to crack
down on militants.
A spokesman for Tehrik-e-Tal-
iban Pakistan, a militant umbrella
group, said the new cease-fire would
include not only the tribal belt along
the Afghan border but also the restive
Swatregionto the eastwhere the army
has also battled pro-Taliban fighters.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
3,949
Number of American service
members who have died inthe war
in Iraq, according to The Associ-
ated Press. The following death
was identified yesterday:
Army Sgt. Rafael Alicearivera,
30, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Military con
lockup for de
Separate, top secret
cells exist for
certain detainees
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL
BASE, Cuba (AP) - Somewhere
amid the cactus-studded hills on
this sprawling Navy base, separate
from the cells where hundreds of
men suspected of links to al-Qaida
and the Taliban have been locked
up for years, is a place even more
closely guarded - a jailhouse so
protected that its very location is
top secret.
For the first time, the top com-
mander of detention operations at
Guantanamo has confirmed the
existence of the mysterious Camp
7. In an interview with The Asso-
ciated Press, Rear Adm. Mark
Buzby also provided a few details
about the maximum-security
lockup.
Guantanamo commanders said
Camp 7 is for key alleged al-Qaida
members, who must be kept apart
from other prisoners to prevent
them from retaliating against
tong-term detainees who have
talked to interrogators. They also
want the location kept secret for
fear of terrorist attack.
Many operations have been
classified since the detention cen-
ter opened in January 2002 in the
wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the
World Trade Center and the Pen-
tagon. Morethanfouryearspassed
before the military released even
the names of detainees held on
this 45-square-mile base in south-
east Cuba - and it did so only after
BXTHous
firms secret
)tainees
the AP filed a Freedom of Infor-
mation Act request.
Detainees have been held in
Camp Echo and Camps 1, 2, 3, 4,
5 and 6. Journalists cleared by the
military have been allowed to tour
some of these lockups, where 260
men are held, but aren't allowed to
speak to detainees. Some lawmak-
ers and other VIPs have passed
through, and the International
Red Cross has access, but doesn't
divulge details of visits with pris-
oners.
Camp 7, where 15 "high-value
detainees" are held, is so secret
that its very existence was not
publicly known until it was men-
tioned in December by attorneys
for Majid Khan, a former Balti-
more resident who allegedly plot-
ted to bomb gas stations in the
United States. Previously, many
observers believed the 15 were
being held in Camps 5 or 6, which
are maximum-security facilities.
"Under the gag order ... we are
prohibited from saying anything
more about their camp," lawyer
Gitanjali Gutierrez, who met with
Khan in October, said Tuesday.
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CONTRACT
From Page 1A
cost the University $24 million -
or a little less than 2 percent of the
University's $1.35 billion general
fund budget.
GEO has also asked for expanded
dental, vision, mental health and
physical therapy coverage for its
members.
The union is asking for 100 per-
cent of health care premium costs
for low-fraction GSIs - who offi-
cially teach less than 20 hours a
week - to be covered by the Uni-
versity.
Cunningham said the Univer-
sity's bargaining team wouldn't
address GEO's health care propos-
als until an agreement has been
reached with the union regarding
salary increases.
"A number of the proposals from
GEO involve increased costs," Cun-
ningham said. "Until the Univer-
sity negotiation team is closer with
respect to the salary proposals, we
can't make any commitments about
where any additional resources, if
there are any, would go or can go."
But Woods said the Universi-
ty's counterproposals so far have
treated GEO's proposals "like they
weren't real needs."
"It's about time to get the Uni-
versity to realize that we aren't
asking for too much," Woods said.
"All we're asking for is what gradu-
ate students need to be the healthy,
productive students and employees
and teachers that we are."
Although both sides said they
hope to reach a compromise before
the current contract expires on
March 1, Woods said there's a pos-
sibility that GEO could extend its
contract into March in order to
continue negotiations without the
Thursday, February 7, 2008 - 3A
GSIs going on strike.
"It's up to our members if we
want to decide to extend our con-
tract into March," she said. "We
want to settle a contract as soon as
possible."
Cunningham said it's not unprec-
edented for contract negotiations
between the University and GEO
to extend beyond the existing con-
tract's expiration date.
"It's true that in the last three or
four negotiations, it went over by a
week or two so that we could get all
the matters resolved," she said. "It's
not unusual for it to go over a little
bit. But it's definitely in everyone's
interest to get the new contract in
place as quickly as possible."
The University's graduate union
is comprised of approximately
1,700 members and was founded
in 1970, making it one of the old-
est graduate student unions in the
United States.
WANT TO JOIN THE
DAILY?
E-mail herring@michigandaily.com
I
THESE PEOPLE SHARE SOMETHING IN COMMON.
GEORGE OLAH + SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON + PROR. WILLIAM BOLCOM 4 RENEE FLEMING +
DAVE BRUBECK + RITA DOVE + JOHN GRISHAM + PROvOsTTERESA SULLIVAN
They are all members of Phi Kappa Phi...
and U-M students will be invited to join this prestigious group!
I H EH0N 'RS( I ETY0
PHI KAPPA PHi
Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest, largest, and
most selective honor society for all academic disciplines. The University of Michigan's chapter
was founded in 1926 and there are chapters on more than 300 campuses in the United States,
Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Each year approximately 30,000 members are initiated and
immediately become eligible to compete for both national and chapter scholarships.
Invitations are being sent this week to the top 10% of seniors, graduate students and
professional students, as well as the top 7.5% of juniors at the University of Michigan.
Don't miss your opportunity to compete for scholarships by 3:00 p.m. on February 15!
www.umphikappaphi.umich.edu
Search for jobs with a Michigan connection, network with
friendly alumni and meet other students through inCircle,
our social networking site for Wolverines. Check it out-it's
just like a Michigan version of Facebook or MySpace!
Not only is it uniquely Michigan, but it's free-brought to
you by the Alumni Association.
Visit www.umalumni.com for more information.
ALUMNIASSOCIATION
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Uniting the Leaders and Best
4