The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Atty. General calls
for Kilpatrick to
step down
Michigan Attorney General
Mike Cox said yesterday that
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
should resign because he's a liar
and a race-baiter "on par with
David Duke and George Wallace"
and no longer fit for office.
Cox told WJR-AM that he was
shocked by the black leader's tele-
vised use of the N-word and his
appeal for support while attacking
opponents as racist.
"I thought his statements were
reprehensible," said Cox, who
is white. "It was race-baiting on
par with David Duke and George
Wallace - all to save his political
career."
Cox told the station the mayor's
words "not only hurt Detroit, but
they hurt the whole region. And as
long as the mayor is there, he will
be a drag on the whole region, not
just Detroit."
Kilpatrick's statements came at
the end of Tuesday's annual State
of the City address.
Mayoral spokesman James Can-
ning said Kilpatrick won't step
down.
NEW YORK
As scandal unfolds,
Gov. Spitzer quits
In a startlingly swift fall from
grace, Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned
yesterday after getting caught in a
call-girl scandal that made a mock-
ery of his straight-arrow image
and left him facing the prospect of
criminal charges and perhaps dis-
barment.
"I cannot allow my private fail-
ings to disrupt the people's work,"
Spitzer said, his weary-looking
wife, Silda, standing at his side,
again, as the corruption-fighting
politician once known as Mr. Clean
answered for his actions for the
second time in three days.
He made the announcement
without securing a plea bargain
with federal prosecutors, though
a law enforcement official said the
former governor was still believed
to be negotiating one.
Spitzer will be succeeded on
Monday by Lt. Gov. David Paterson,
a fellow Democrat who becomes
New York's first black governor and
the nation's first legally blind chief
executive.
ROME
Official: Olympics
offer redemption
The Beijing Olympics in August
offer China the chance to improve
its human rights record, Hong
Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen said
yesterday.
The United States, other nations
and advocacy groups have tried to
use the attention and prestige as-
sociated with the Olympics to le-
verage internal change and diplo-
matic cooperation from China.
"It's agood opportunity for Chi-
na to show that it has improved its
regard for human rights," Zen said
in an interview with Italy's RAI
state TV.
WASHINGTON
Slaughterhouse
exec. admits fault
The head of the Southern
California slaughterhouse that
produced 143 million pounds
of recalled beef acknowledged
Wednesday that cows too sick to
stand at his plant were apparently
forced into the nation's food supply
in violation of federal rules.
Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.
President Steve Mendell made the
admission after a congressional
panel forced him to watch grue-
some undercover video of abuses
at his slaughterhouse. Mendell
watched red-facedandgrim, some-
times resting his head on his hand,
as cows were dragged by chains,
sprayed in the nostrils with water,
shocked and harshly prodded with
forklifts to get them into the box
where they would be slaughtered.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
3,987
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.
TROLLEYS
From Page 1A
tion Authority approved a survey of
the city to prove a need for the sys-
tem earlier this month.
Hieftje and Hewitt plan to
explore financing the system with
federal funding. The proposed sys-
tem is eligible for "Small Starts," a
federal program that offers grants
of up to $250 million for transit
projects like trolley cars.
If the city can prove that it needs
the streetcar system, the federal
government would cover about 80
SVEJNAR
From Page 1A
"The team actually looked at
me and said, 'The way you look, no
way!"'Svejnar said. "Igot a Europe-
an haircut. I got Europeanglasses."
Abhishek Gopalka, a graduate
student in the Ross School of Busi-
ness, said college students often
consider politics as "intimidating"
but Svejnar alleviated that concern
during his talk.
Svejnar had a similar effect on
the Czech people, many of whom
quickly accepted his message.
"It was such a show," Svejnar
said, adding that he didn't need to
take out any television advertise-
ments because he "was turning
down television interviews."
Though he described the cam-
paign as an "intense but wonderful
experience," Svejnar said it was too
soon to speculate about another run.
In an interview after the lecture,
Svejnar he would keep his options
open.
"The way I look at it is, I'll con-
tinue to contribute as an indepen-
dent analyst," he said. "If that leads
to candidacy in five years, great. If
not, I won't feel bad about it."
percent of its cost, Hewitt said.
Without federal support, Hieftje
said the system could cost the city
"tens of millions of dollars."
Hewitt estimated that the sys-
tem could be completed in about
five years if the city decides to fund
the entire project, or up to seven
years if the city decides to apply for
the government funding.
If trolley cars come to the city,
Ann Arbor's existing bus system
would not be eliminated, but sig-
nificantly reduced, Hewitt said.
Hewitt has been working with
representatives of the city and
the University to develop a pro-
MAYOR
From Page 1A
beginning of his mayoral term. He
said he might take a lighter course-
load during the start of his term if
he wins.
"It would only be a few months
where I'd be taking classes and ful-
filling my duties as mayor," Plourde
said.
While he has not yet request-
ed a nominating petition from
Ann Arbor City Clerk Jacqueline
Beaudry, Plourde has until May 13
to file a petition with a minimum of
250 signatures.
Beaudry said no candidates have
completed petitions yet, but that
two prospective candidates - four-
term incumbent mayor John Hieftje
and Tom Wall - have begun the
process. Both Hieftje and Wall are
Democrats.
After he started the College
Libertarians group on campus,
Plourde sought the help of the
Washtenaw County branch of the
Libertarian Party to plan events
on campus. Atla meeting last year,
he was caught off-guard when he
was approached by the chair of
the county's party chapter, Tom
posal for the streetcar system. So
far discussed routes include rails
between "major activity" areas like
downtown, Briarwood Mall and
the University's Central, North and
Medical campuses.
Hewitt said one goal of the proj-
ect would be efficiency, cutting a
ride to the mall that would have
taken 30 minutes by bus to 10 min-
utes by trolley.
The potential trolley car system
was pitched as part of an initiative
called Model for Mobility launched
by Hieftje in June of 2006, which
aims to relieve transit problems
like parking, traffic and pollution.
Bagwell, and asked to run on the
Libertarian ticket.
"I thought he was joking, but
he wasn't," Plourde said. "He was
like, 'We're going to start looking
at candidates for the next elec-
tion. It'd be kinda cool if you ran
for mayor.'"
Plourde said he decided that run-
ning for mayor would be a good
opportunity to "bring to light the
issues that I'm interested in."
Plourde said he considered him-
self a "hardcore Democrat" as a
high school student, but recently
became more fiscally conservative.
He said he hopes to draw more
attention to the Libertarian idea
of limited government, citing the
"government's overarching role in
people's lives" as his inspiration
for running.
Plourde will likely be campaign-
ing against Hieftje, who was skep-
Hieftje said about 70,000 people
drive to Ann Arbor for work every
day, traveling an average of26 miles
each way.
Hewitt said city traffic would be
reduced ifmany ofthese commuters
chose to use existing railroad lines
running from Detroit and Howell
and then travel by trolley from the
edge of the city to downtown.
Although trolley car systems are
more common in larger cities like
San Francisco, New Orleans and
Portland, Ore. Hewitt said trolley
cars would not be frivolous for Ann
Arbor, which has a population of
about 115,000.
tical of Plourde's ability to gain
support of community members.
Hieftje said Plourde should do more
work for the city before running for
its highest office.
"I would recommend for stu-
dents who want to become involved
in local politics to try to get some
experience, and there's ways to do
that," Hieftje said, suggesting that
students work on projects with the
city's planning commission.
Hieftje lauded the student's
ambition, though.
"I look forward to meeting him
on the campaign trail this fall," he
said.
Plourde said he decided to run for
mayor because it provided the best
opportunity to showcase his Liber-
tarian platform.
"The position of mayor is a more
high-profile position, so I think I'll
reach a broader audience," he said.
Thursday, March 13, 2008 - 3A
"Every metropolitan area that's
growing has mass transit," Hewitt
said. "And if you don't have mass
transit, you're just not going to be
attractive to the next generation of
workers."
LSA freshman Kevin Zhang said
he doesn't hate the bus system, but
he has been frustrated by conges-
tion in the city during peak hours.
"After like seven, and on week-
ends, it sucks," he said. "A lot."
Kristen Lee, an LSA freshman,
said that the trolleys would fit Ann
Arbor's character.
"I think it'd be pretty cool," she
said.
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