p The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Monday, March 17, 2008 - 3A r 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-