p The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, March 17, 2008 - 3A
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The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, March 17, 2008 - 3A
NEWSBRIEFS
NEW YORK
JPMorgan Chase to
aquire Bear Stearns
JPMorgan Chase said Sunday
it will acquire rival Bear Stearns
in a deal valued at $236.2 million,
a stunning collapse for one of the
world's largest and most venerable
investment banks.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. said
the $2 a share, all-stock deal has
received the required approvals
from the federal government and
the Federal Reserve. Bear Stearns
shares close Friday at $30 a share.
The Fed will provide special
financing to JPMorgan Chase for
the deal, JPMorgan Chase said.
The central bank has agreed to
fund up to $30 billion of Bear Stea-
rns'less liquid assets.
WASHINGTON
Federal Reserve
implements steps to
avoid credit crisis
The Federal Reserve announced
a series of new steps yesterday to
help provide relief to a spread-
ing credit crisis that threatens to
plunge the economy into recession.
The central bank approved a cut
to its lending rate to financial insti-
tutions to 3.25 percent from 3.50
percent, effective immediately, and
created another lending facility
for big investment banks to secure
short-term loans.
The steps are "designed to bol-
ster market liquidity and promote
orderly market functioning," the
Fed said in a statement. "Liquid
well-functioning markets are
essential for the promotion of eco-
nomic growth."
BEIJING
Dalai Lama calls for
China investigation
FIRE
From Page 1A
Gas and electric lines had recently
been installed in the house, said
dChris Koulouras, the owner of
the building. Temporary electri-
cal lines had also been run to the
building for construction, he said.
After 12 hours, firefighters were
still dousing small hotspots on the
house.
By 4 p.m., the fire was com-
pletely extinguished and excava-
tion crews were removing debris.
Concerned the fire might spread to
adjacentstructures,police evacuat-
edthe residentslivinginthehouses
directlyoneachsideofthebuilding.
While the tone was lighthearted
for some students watching as
they excitedly took out their cell
phones to take pictures, others
took the situation more seriously.
"That's my house - Where am I
going to live?" LSA junior Steven
Hakim said as he watched the
building crumble. He had signed a
lease to live in a third-story apart-
ment unit in the building this fall.
Hakim and all other futuretenants
will be released from their con-
tracts and get full refunds, Kou-
louras said. While he said he's not
sure how construction will pro-
ceed until the extent of the dam-
age is determined, Koulouras said
he plans to meet with contractors
this week.
"It was gut wrenching for me,"
Koulouras said. "It was devastating
to see the loss of the property. We're
gratefulthatno one was injured, and
grateful to the city firefighters."
As a plume of thick smoke
poured through the crowd, offi-
cers ushered onlookers farther
from the scene.
At about 4 a.m., some students
began passing around bottles of
Budweiser, toasting as bursts of
ash erupted from the building.
LSA senior Albert Ortiz, one
of the onlookers, was on his
way home from Rick's, a bar
on Church Street, when he
stopped to watch the house burn.
"Stuff like this never happens,"
Ortiz said. "It's awesome!"
Ortiz later added, "If people were
hurt, then I'd feel bad."
As smoke burst out the front
doors of the house and win-
dows shattered, one student
shouted "Dude, this is no joke,"
while another yelled "GEICO!"
Architecture junior Keely Pou-
pore, who lives in the house next to
the burning building, said she was
frustrated by some of the people
watching the house burn down.
"There were a lot of drunk peo-
ple whowerecheeringandwe were
terrified that our house was going
to catch on fire"Poupore said. "We
were freaking out and everywhere
around us, people were very non-
chalant about it.'
Because the nearly-finished
building was designed to collapse in-
ward in case of a fire, it didn't set the
neighboring buildings aflame.Pou-
pore's housemate, LSA junior Jenna
Keefe, said she didn't realize the se-
verity of the situation when she was
wokenup to leave the house.
"I thought we were just going to
see the fire, and then going back in,"
Keefe said. "I walked downstairs in
shorts and a T-shirt, and the po-
lice officer was like, 'You might
want to throw something else on."'
Keefe changed into sweats, but
didn't bring anything else with her
- a decision she later regretted. It
wasn't until 11a.m. that she and her
housemates were allowed back in
their house to retrieve cell phones,
school work and laptops. They
couldn't return to their house until
5 p.m. the next evening.
DANCE MARATHON
From Page IA
throughout the year to allow
children and family to interact
with dancers.
"We see something great, and
we want to do it better. We fig-
ure out a way to make it work,
and then we can take the energy
and manpower to do it." Ortberg
said.
After the countdown to the
end of the event, dancers took a
much-needed sit. Whenthe total
amount of money raised was
finally announced, dancers shot
back up to their feet, cheering
and applauding thunderously. A
total of $428,109.79 was raised
this year - an increase of almost
$75,000 from last year's event.
Dance Marathon has raised a
total of $2.4 million over the past
11 years.
LSA senior Steve Crompton,
the event's external director
said he would like to see the
program expand to more hospi-
tals in the future, specifically in
the Detroit and Flint areas. The
Dance Marathon's Operations
Organizational Team is evaluat-
ing the most effective way to do
it, he said.
Art and Design senior Ellen
Creal, who participated in the
marathon as a dancer, said she
had been looking forward to the
event since November, when she
first started raising money.
Summer primary re-do
would sit state delegates
From DEMOCRATS, Page 1A
Democratic candidates agreed
not to campaign in Michigan. All
the top Democratic contenders
besides Hillary Clinton subse-
quently removed their names from
the ballot.
The other options remaining for
a statewide contest include hold-
ing a statewide caucus, a mail-in
caucus or primary and splitting the
delegates evenly between Clinton
and Barack Obama, who currently
leads the race.
Granholm has said the state
won't fund another election, mean-
ing a primary would need to be paid
for by the Democratic Party and
private donors.
"The focus of the committee on
the possibility of a state-run, pri-
vately funded primary is a good
first step toward resolving the issue
of seating a Michigan delegation at
the Democratic National Conven-
tion," said Mark Brewer, chair of
the Michigan Democratic Party, in
a statement.
The primary would to cost
between $8 million and $12 mil-
lion. It must still be approved by
the DNC, the Clinton and Obama
campaigns, Granholm and the state
legislature.
Although he said he thinks the
primary plan will ultimately pass,
Political Science Prof. Michael
Traugott said the biggest obstacle
would be getting the approval of
the state legislature, which has a
Republican majority in the House
of Representatives and a Demo-
cratic majority in the Senate.
"I don't think the Republicans
have a strong interest in help-
ing out the Democrats," Traugott
said.
Traugott said he thinks a state-
run primary is the best option for
seating the delegates.
"It'd be much better than having
the party run it," he said. "Elec-
tions are a job that should be han-
dled by professionals and not by
amateurs."
According to DNC rules, a new
election must be held before June
10 for the delegates to be seated.
The state legislature has until
Thursday to approve the proposed
primary before they leave for their
spring break.
In an interview on Saturday, Din-
gell said she hopes Michigan's situ-
ation will ultimately help change
the nominating system.
"We're preparing to do a floor
fight because we think the principle
is right, we've got to win this elec-
tion in November," she said. "We
will pull together."
The Dalai Lama called yester-
day for an international investi-
gation into China's crackdown Fiet fares From Detroit to Recent fares Fran Detroitla
against protesters in Tibet, which
he said is facing a "cultural geno- Chicago $111 London $421
cide" and where his exiled govern-
ment said 80 people were killed in
the violence. New York $150 Frankfurt 4
The demonstrations were the N Y
fiercest challenge to Beijing's rule
in the region in nearly two de- .oS Angeles $276 Paris $497
cades, leading to sympathy pro-
tests elsewhere and embarrass-
ing China ahead of the Olympic
Games.
Along with 80 killed, some 72
people were injured in the pro-
tests, said Thubten Samphel, a
spokesman for the exiles. He said
the figures were confirmed by
multiple sources inside Tibet who * StudentUniverse.com
had counted corpses. China's state
media said 10 people died.
BAGHDAD
McCain visits Iraq
Sen. John McCain, the likelyRe-
publican presidential nominee, ar-
rived in Baghdad onyesterday for a I(KAsPgArNin NO
visitwith Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic
and military officials.
The trip by McCain, who has TEST PREP AND8t 2 n 2
linked his political future to U.S. ADMISSIONS
military success in the nearly N A n s s n
five-year-old war, coincided with
the 20th anniversary of a horrific C an resrv..y..r.s.... .
chemical weapons attack in north-
ern Iraq.
McCain met with Deputy
Prime Minister Barham Saleh and
planned to meet with Gen. David
Petraeus, the top U.S. commander
in Iraq, according to the U.S. Em-
bassy. Further details of McCain's
visit, which had been anticipated,
were not being released for secu-
rity reasons, the embassy said.
Before leavingthe United States,
McCain, one of the foremost pro- To play: Complete the grid so that every row, column
ponents of the March 2003 U.S.-led and every 3x3 box contains the-digits I to 9.
invasion, said the trip to the Middle
East and Europe was for fact-find-
ing purposes, not a campaign photo There is no guessing or math involved,
opportunity. just use logic to solve. Good Luck and enjoy!
- Compiled from Difficulty: Hard
Daily wire reports
5 2 8
U .D A S6 2 8 7 1
3,988 8 12 41
Number of American service mem-
bers who have died in the war in
Iraq, according to The Associated I
Press. The following deaths were
identified yesterday:
Army Sgt. 1st. Class Shawn M.
Suzch, 32, Hilltown, Pa. 4 1 5
Army Staff Sgt. Ernesto G.
Cimarrusti, 25, Douglas, Ariz. 9 3 5 8
Army Staff Sgt. David D. Julian,
31, Evanston, Wyo. 8 5 6
Army Cpl. Robert T. McDavid, 29,
Starkville, Miss. Szl C o
Army Cpl. Scott A. McIntosh, 26,
Houston, Texas.
I
Take a bite out of the Big Apple and have a taste of your dream
career in the city that never sleeps. We're taking
all the excitement of the Michigan Apprentice
program on the road to New York City. Four
Lucky Michigan students wilL have the
opportunity of a lifetime, spending
a day shadowing high-
profite alumni.
If you're a junior or senior you could be one of the lucky four
selected for an all-expenses-paid one-day internship in New York
with one of these Michigan success stories:
Marketing: Lisa Weiss, '92, senior marketing manager for Elite
Traveler
Law: Samantha Mahoney , '91, New York commercial
litigation attorney
Finance: Todd Rosenbluth, '97, WaLL Street equity analyst at
Standard and Poor's
Journalism: BiLL Schmidt, '67, and Richard Berke, '80, assistant
managing editors at The New York Times
The application deadline is Wednesday, March 26.
Get details on how to apply at
www.umalumni.com/students.
0
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
I-