0
8 - Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Amtrak to implement new safety measures
Clinton, Obama make
final Wisc. efforts
Company's security
policies went mostly
unchanged
since 9/11
WASHINGTON (AP) - Amtrak
will start randomly screening pas-
sengers' carry-on bags this week in
a new security push that includes
officers with automatic weapons
and bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling
platforms and trains.
The initiative, to be announced
by the railroad today, is a sig-
nificant shift for Amtrak. Unlike
the airlines, it has had relatively
little visible increase in security
CENTER
From Page 1
the majority of the University's
work on Africa is done in sub-Saha-
ran Africa, and that the focus of the
center would likely reflect that.
The University's Center for Middle
Eastern and North African Studies
already coordinates programs in
North African countries.
Kevin Gaines, the director of
CAAS, said the center would prob-
ably focus first on coordinating
current research endeavors, and
since the 2001 terrorist attacks, a
distinction that has enabled it to
attract passengers eager to avoid
airport hassles.
Amtrak officials insist their new
procedures won't hold up the flow
of passengers.
"On-time performance is a key
element of Amtrak service. We are
fully mindful of that. This is not
about train delays," Bill Rooney,
the railroad's vice president for
security strategy and special oper-
ations, told The Associated Press.
Nor will the moves require pas-
sengers to arrive at stations far in
advance, officials said. Passengers
who are selected randomly for the
screening will be delayed no more
than a couple of minutes, Amtrak
then launch new programs once it
has a larger staff. Gaines said staff
salaries and other expenses will be
fundedthroughtheProvost's Office
until external funding sources are
found.
Askew's first task will be to find
a new director for the center. The
center's officials will also organize
a large conference for its inaugura-
tion. She said the conference would
likely be held in winter 2009 and
that smaller seminars and lecture
series might also be held in the near
future.
Along with holding conferences
chief executive Alex Kummant
said.
"We're very conscious of the
fact that you're in an environment
where commuters have minutes to
go from train to train," he said.
Concern about Amtrak security
has been mounting since the 2004
bombings of commuter trains in
Madrid that killed 191 people.
Trains also have been bombed in
London, where 52 people were
killed in a series of blasts in 2005,
most of them on subway trains,
and in Mumbai, India, where 200
people were killed in2006 on com-
muter trains. Russia also has had
several bombings on subway, com-
muter and long-distance trains.
The new procedures draw
and bringing speakers to the Uni-
versity, the center would facilitate
faculty exchange between the Uni-
versity and African institutions,
Askew said. She said that CAAS
has brought more than 40 faculty
members from South African uni-
versities to Ann Arbor through the
Charles Moody Exchange Scholars
Program, which was established in
1996. She said the center's goal isto
increase that number and attract
professors from other African
countries.
On Friday, Coleman and 12 other
University faculty members will
heavily on measures being used
in the New York City subways,
Rooney said. That model has been
upheld in court challenges, he
noted.
Amtrak plans to roll out the new
"mobile security teams" first on
the Northeast Corridor between.
Washington and Boston, the rail-
road's most heavily used route,
before expanding them to the rest
of the country.
The teams will show up unan-
nounced at stations and set up bag-
gage screening areas in front of
boarding gates. Officers will ran-
domly pull people out of line and
wipe their bags with a special swab
that is then put through a machine
that detects explosives.
travel to South Africa and Ghana
for two weeks to build relation-
ships with universities there. Dur-
ing that time, Coleman will meet
with leaders of Universities in an
effort to develop faculty exchange
programs with them.
Askew said professors at Afri-
can institutions usually don't have
the same resources that are pro-
vided at American institutions.
"By bringingthemhere,we'rehelp-
ing them gain some of that access,
which they can then take back and
share with students and colleagues
there," she said.,
Badger state sets up
major contests in
Qhio, Texas
By JOHN M. BRODER
and JEFF ZELENY
The New York Times
WAUSAU, Wis. - Sens. Hillary
Rodham Clinton, 0-N.Y, and Barack
Obama, D-Ill., intensified their pop-
ulist appeals yesterday, responding
to widespread economic anxiety
and pushing the Democratic Party
further from the business-friendly
posture once championed by Bill
Clinton.
Hillary Clinton, speaking on the
eve of the Wisconsin primary but
looking forward to primaries in
Ohio and Texas on March 4, issued
a 12-page compendium of her eco-
nomic policies that emphasizes pro-
grams aiding families stressed by
high oil prices, home foreclosures,
costly student loans and soaring
health care premiums.
In public appearances here and in
her economic booklet, she took aim
at hedge fund managers, oil compa-
ny profits, drug company subsidies
and trade agreements that she says
encourage companies to export jobs.
Freshmen and Sophomores, are you looking for a summer internship?
Would you like to take a step towards bolstering your resume?
Do you wan to work with the coolest people on campus?
The Michigan Daily Business Staff Department is a
student run group that sells all the ads in the Daily.
We are looking for dedicated and motivated people
to continue the legacy that has been going on for over
118 years.
Simply send e-mail to dailydisplay@gmail.com,
call (734) 764-0554, or stop in at the Daily building
(420 Maynard) to pick up an application!
T H E OR 1 0 N A L
512 E. William (734) 663-3379
LIMITED TIME OFFER
For Our Friends at The U
CUSTOMER APPRECIATION
Lunch Buffet
M-F 11-2pm
$2 OFF our Lunch Buffet
With Beverage Included
Just Present Your U of M 4.D.
Offer Expires: 2/29/2008
Earl of Sandwich
307 S. State St. 734-213-6762
Clinton told an audience that the
Wisconsin primary and subsequent
contests were "a chance for all of you
here to help take our country back."
"We need tax breaks for the mid-
dle class, not for the wealthy and the
well-connected," she said yesterday
morning at St. Norbert College in De
Pere, Wis. "We're going to rein in
the special interests and get the $55
billion in giveaways and subsidies
they've gotten under Republicans
back into your pockets."
Clinton referred to the "two
oilmen in the White House" and
repeated her call for a windfall-prof-
its tax on the oil industry to finance
a $50 billion program to develop
alternate energy sources and create
"green jobs."
Campaigning in Ohio before fly-
ing to Wisconsin for an election-eve
rally, Obama said the wealthy had
"made out like bandits" under the
Bush administration and called for
an end to tax breaks for companies
that move jobs overseas.
"In the last year alone," Obama
said, "93 plants have closed in this
state. And yet, year after year, poli-
ticians in Washington sign trade
agreements that are riddled with
perks for big corporations but have
absolutely no protections for Ameri-
can workers."
GROUP
From Page 1
the resident halls. He said that
would be a more direct, personal
experience for freshmen than
being flagged down in the Diag.
For upperclassmen, Kendall
said, the group wants to compile
student mailing lists and send
them instructions on how to apply
for voter registration.
Voice Your Vote has also asked
the University to add voter regis-
tration drop boxes in every LSA
building. Currently, campus has
only one dropbox, located on the
third floor of the Michigan Union.
Fishman said the group is
in talks with administrators in
Angell Hall and the libraries to
install them there as well. Secu-
rity concerns have held up the
process.
She said the group is still work-
ing on ways to insure the boxes
won't be stolen and students' per-
sonalinformation won't be threat-
ened. Fishman said they also want
the University's gateway website
to provide students with informa-
tion on how to register to vote.
Trelawny Boynton, an associ-
ate director in residence educa-
tion, said she supports working
with Voice Your Vote to help it
gain more access to residence
halls. Bynton said she plans to
meet with Fishman and Kendall
soonto work on their plans.
Jim Kosteva, director of the
University's community relations
in the Office of Government Rela-
tions, said he thinks that many of
the groups ideasuwill be feasible.
He said the next step will
be examine any security issues
before coming up with a timeline
for implementation.
Fishman said she and Kend-
all are hopeful that most of these
changes will be made before the
presidential election in Novem-
ber.
"We've really been working
hard to try and make that hap-
pen," Fishman said.
T M E 0 R I G I N A L
512 E. William (734) 663-3379
WEEKDAY
HAPPY HOUR
at bar only
4
FREE
Breakfast Sandwich
With the purchase of a beverage
Sandwich Combo:
$7.9
Includes sandwich,
side & fountain beverage
Pleasepresentilsiscoupon. Expires53108.
-A-R U - --
0
6