The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, February 11, 2008 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS BAGHDAD. Defense Secretary Gates says he sees progress in Iraq Hard choices face Iraq's politi- cal leaders on how to stabilize the country despite promising new signs of progress toward reconcili- ation, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday. "They seem to have become energized over the last few weeks," Gates said. The Pentagon chief told reporters who traveled with him from a conference in Germa- ny that he wants to "see what the prospects are for further success in the next couple of months." In an interview on the trip to Iraq, Gates cited the recent pas- sage of an amnesty law as an example of political progress. He said he would ask Iraqi leaders to assess the prospects for other important steps such as passing a law that would spell out power- sharing between the provinces and the national government. BAGHDAD Army sniper gets 10 years for planting evidence on civilian A U.S. Army sniper convicted of killing an unarmed Iraqi civil- ian and planting evidence on his body was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison. Sgt. Evan Vela faced a possible life sentence. Earlier Sunday, ju- rors found him guilty of murder without premeditation in the May 11 killing of an Iraqi man south of Baghdad. Vela was also sentenced to for- feit all pay and allowances, and will receive a dishonorable discharge. His case is automatically referred to a military appeals court. WASHINGTON Bush: McCain must work harder for conservative vote John McCain is a "true conserva- tive,"President Bush says, although the likely Republican presidential nominee may have to work harder to convince other conservatives that he is one of their own. McCain "is very strong on national defense," Bush said in an interview taped for airing on "Fox News Sunday." "He is tough fiscal- ly. He believes the tax cuts ought to be permanent. He is pro-life. His principles are sound and solid as far as I'm concerned." But when asked about criticism of McCain by conservative com- mentators Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, the president said, "I think that if John is the nominee, he has got some convincing to do to convince people that he is a solid conservative and I'll be glad to help him if he is the nominee." DETROIT Report: Health care projects aiding state's economy Efforts by Michigan health care systems to build new hospitals and renovate old ones are providing a boost to the state's construction industry, which has been hit by a downturn in the housing market. Thirteen of the largest projects are pumping at least $2.2 billion into their communities, the Detroit Free Press reported yesterday. And for patients, the projects are offering things like improved technology and more private rooms. "The current construction boom in health care preserves and maintains the existing workforce," said David Reese, senior vice president of Skan- ska AB, a Stockholm, Sweden-based company with a Michigan headquar- ters in Southfield. At their peak, health care build- ing projects may involve as many as 300 workers at a construction site, in addition the several dozen or more the construction company employs, according to industry leaders. * - Compiled from Daily wire reports Number of American service mem- bers who have died in the war in Iraq, according to The Associated Press. There were no deaths identi- fied yesterday. DIAG From Page 1A whether they were willing to take acutinthenumber oftickets avail- able to students to keep the event on campus. Students surveyed favored keep- ingcommencementoncampuseven ifit meant they wouldn't receive the eight tickets they would've received at Eastern Michigan. But after the University's Com- mencement Advisory Committee ruled out the Big House as a viable optionmore thanaweek ago,citing safety concerns and the possibility that the stadiumwouldn't be ready for first game of the upcoming football season, studentswerepre- sented with Elbel Field or the Diag as their finaltwo venue options. Graduates will receive six tick- ets each for the ceremony, which takes place on April 26. There will still be a graduate procession as part of the ceremony, which willbegin at McDivitt-White Plaza between West Hall and East Hall. Shuttles to and fromthe event willalsobeavailablefromlocations throughoutAnnArbor. LSA senior Justin Benson, vice president of LSA Student Govern- ment and a member of the Com- mencement Advisory Committee, said the committee's recommenda- tion to have commencementcon the Diag was primarily based on the results ofthelateststudentsurvey. "Because the survey gave stu- dents the opportunity tovoicetheir opinions, we made a decision that whatever the majority was on the survey would be the committee's recommendation,"Bensonsaid. LSA senior Eric Portenga said the most encouraging aspect of the entire commencement situ- ation was the amount of student inputthe University incorporated into each of its decisions regard- ing the ceremony's venue. The detailed rationale provided by University officials in support of each decision was something Portenga said he appreciated - especially when it came to decid- ing between the final two choices of Elbel Field and the Diag. "I'm extremely happy they looked into every aspect for both of the final locations - number of tickets available, how visible the stage will be," Portenga said. "I'm very glad the administration put that together so we were able to put ourselves atthose locations and see what atmosphere looked like." Students can submit sug- gestions to the commencement planning committee via the University's commencement website until Friday. There will also be another student forum on Wednesday at 7 p.m. inthe Angell Hall Auditorium B to discuss the announcement. LECTURE From Page 1A precedent set by unequal treatment in the past. He spoke before about 30 students in the Wedge Room of West Quad and spoke in commemo- ration of Black History Month. According to figures presented by Underwood, blacks are 30 per- cent more likely to die of heart attacks, 40 percent more likely to die of strokes and twice as likely as whites to die of breast cancer. They trail whites in health cover- age, vaccinations, prenatal care and exercise rates. The 10 lead- ing causes of death among blacks include homicide and HIV, nei- ther of which appear in the top 10 causes for whites. But these differences aren't caused by race and genetics alone, Underwood said. He said physicians in predomi- nantly black areas are less likely to be certified, hinderingtheir ability to provide high-quality care. He presented a 2002 study of that showed that race alone couldn't explain the survival dis- crepancies seen globally. Under- wood said the inequalities are a direct result of the history of slav- ery in the United States. "Based upon American history, I'm not surprised by what we see," he said. Underwood referred to a 1932 study of black syphilis victims who were given toxic salves of mercury and arsenic. And as recently as 1961, black females were given hysterec- tomies without consent, he said. School of Nursing junior Bayy- inah Muhammad, Alpha Kappa Alpha's standards board co-chair, said she's seen racial disparities in care during her clinical practices for nursing school. She said she thought the information would "help communities help them- selves." School of Nursing junior Schar- nice Ward agreed. "The U of M Health System is not diverse," she said. "It's expensive, and most minorities do not have an opportunity to take advantage of it." - James Dalong Lu and David R. Kinzer contributed to this report. WIRELESS From Page 1A Once completed, a weak sig- nal of 84 kbps would be beamed throughout the county and made available free to the public. The project is designed for exte- rior use only, as the signal is not meant to penetrate commercial or residential buildings. For $35 a month, residents could extend the service to their homes or upgrade to a faster 500 kbps signal. Currently, only about 30 of Washtenaw County's 720 square miles are covered by the signal. Included in the pilot program are covers portions of the west side of the Diag, State Street, several blocks of downtown Ann Arbor and a 28-square-mile sec- tion of Manchester in southwest of the county. Several other counties, includ- ing Oakland and Livingston coun- ties, have similar programs in the works. Last week, the city of Ypsilanti launched its own free wireless program with the help of a pri- vate donation. Andy Palms, the University's director of Information Technol- ogy Communications, said the University has no plans to partner with the project to increase wire- less coverage on campus. Palms said that because all wireless signals share the same broadcasting spectrum, occa- sionally Washtenaw Wireless or University transmitters interfere with each other. For that reason, Palms said, the University has worked with Washtenaw Wire- less to solve technical difficulties between the University's wireless networks and the program's net- work. Palms said the University is beginning its own discussions about providing outdoor wireless signal on campus. He said the deci- sion of whether to implement such a program would depend on stu- dent demand for outdoor wireless. Some schoolshave already added outdoor access,like the Law School, which added a wireless network to cover the Law Quad, have already added outdoor access. Palms said students tend to want more coverage in campus buildings rather than outdoor wireless access. Ross School of Business junior Maciej Kowalski agreed. "It would be better to have wireless in the dorms rather a signal outside," he said. Many students said outdoor Internet access, either through Washtenaw Wireless or the Uni- versity would be more of conve- nience than a necessity. "It would be better to find a hotspot for a stronger signal than a weak one outside," said LSA freshman Julie Bateman. Still, LSA sophomore John Witt said working outdoors might be more trouble than it's worth. . "It wouldn't affect me much," he said. "Batteries don't last long outside. There are no sockets out- side to plug into." Poll finds most Americans think country is in recession Economy grew by 2.2 percent in 2007 WASHINGTON (AP) - Sixty- one percent of the public believes the economy is now suffering through its first recession since 2001, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. The fallout from a depressed housing market and a credit crunch nearly caused the economy to stall in the final three months of last year. Some experts, like the majority of people questioned in the poll, say the economy actually may be shrinking now. The worry is that consumers and businesses will hunker down further and pull back spending, sending the economy into a tailspin. "Absolutely, we're in a reces- sion," said Hilda Sanchez, 44, of Waterford, Calif. Squeezed by high energy and food bills, "we can't afford the things that we normally buy," she said. "We are cuttingcorners in our spending. For our groceries, we are buying a lot of generic and we are eating out less." For many, the meltdown in the housing and mortgage markets has proved especially disturbing. Record numbers of people were forced from their homes, unable to afford the monthly loan payments. People watched their single big gest asset fall in value, a reason to tighten the belt. "Obviously the housing market is creating deep concern. And one of the real problems could be that if people, as a result of their value of their homes going down, kind of pull in their horns," President Bush said in a television interview aired yesterday. RANDOLPH COURT APARTMENTS N zI E2 Bedroom Apartment Homes Ground Floor Ranch Style! Private Entrance! Patio! Spacious Kitchen! Air Conditioning! Laundry Facilities! 24-Hour Emergency Maintenance! Pets Welcome! And much, much more! Call today to reserve your new address! 734"97P=2828 Equal Housing Opportunity s* StudentUniverse.com I A