The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com vWS Wednesday, April 2,2008 - 3A Is Wednesday, April 2,2008 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS TOYOTA From Page 1A WASHINGTON Congress questions ac top oil companies on fo th soaring profits St Top executives of the five big- a gest U.S. oil companies were hi pressed yesterday to explain the soaring fuel prices amid huge th industry profits and why they in weren't investing more to develop is renewable energy source such as h wind and solar. The executives, peppered with th questions from skeptical lawmak- in ers, said they understood that high ac energy costs are hurting consum- a ers, but deflected blame, arguing M that their profits - $123 billion st last year - wer& in line with other industries. "On April Fool's Day, the big- gest joke of all is being played on AmericanfamiliesbyBigOil," Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said as F his committee began hearing from the oil company executives. m WASHINGTON thi Dem leaders debate th B how to end Iraq War e Democratic leaders returned o from their spring break this week fa to declare that Iraq is in turmoil e and that they will continue to try to force President Bush to end the w war. o1 But facing another uphill battle, vi party members are undecided on d whether to try to cut off money or fr take a softer approach that is more e- likely to succeed. w They will have to decide soon. Congress has approved only $86.7 C billion of the Bush administra- sa tion's $196.4 billion request for war se spending this budget year, which began Oct. 1. Most of the money is required by the military, which says it is about $102.5 billion short And will run out this spring. I By early May, the House is expected to consider spending leg- - islation addressing the military's needs, with the Senate following suit. Pe li DETROIT th n Carmakers report e id dropitnsales tr across the board tt da Automakers began 2008 expect- le ing the worst year for U.S. auto it sales in a decade. So far, they're tic getting what they anticipated. d Sales dropped by double digits th in March, even for usual stalwarts to like Toyota. And with fragile con- sumer confidence, falling home pi values, tightening credit and high c energy prices, it may be some time b before auto sales recover. a General Motors and Chrysler both reported a 19 percent drop in cl U.S. sales on Tuesday. Ford's sales fell 14 percent and Toyota was down 10 percent compared with last March. Nissan fell 4 percent and Honda reported a 3 percent drop. GM remained upbeat, saying de- mand is building up and the federal economic stimulus package could help boost sales in the second half of the year. HAVANA, Cuba Castro rolls out reforms in Cuba Shoppers snapped up DVD players, motorbikes and pressure cookers yesterday as a slew of con- sumer products went on sale to all Cuban citizens for the first time. Possibly more significantly, Cuba announced it will lend unproduc- tive state land to private farmers to boost agricultural production. Combined with other reforms announced in recent days, the measures suggested that substan- tial changes are being driven by new President Raul Castro, who vowed when he took over from h brother Fidel to remove some of the more irksome limitations on the daily lives of Cubans. "They should have done this a long time ago," one man said as he left a store with a red and silver electric motorbike that cost $814. -Compiled from Daily wire reports U,,S. DEATHS 4,0 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. ess moves with the University, cording to Flynn. "This is definitely good news r the University," he said citing ie University's strong Japanese udies and Economics depart- ents. "My guess is there will be lot of opportunities opening up ere over the next decade." Gov. Jennifer Granholm said he acquisition of the research stitute is a sign that the state rebounding from its economic ardships. "Toyota's decision to establish ie Toyota Research Institute Ann Arbor to direct research tivities for North America is nother piece of good news for ichigan," she said in a written atement. University President Mary SBESTOS rom Page 1A essages were a "lame" joke. Burns declined comment for is story. The follow-up message said hat nothing was wrong with ursley, "At least not anything the -mail said," the message read. Logan said that "the identity f the sender of both e-mails is lse" and that Burns didn't send ther message. Because the first two e-mails vere sent within an hour of each ther, most residents didn't fall ctim to the joke. Bursley resi- ent Brianna Iddings, an LSA eshman, said she could tell the -mails sent from Burns's address veren't genuine. "It didn't seem like something arolyn would write," Iddings id. "The e-mails she usually ends out seem more formal." . Burnseventuallysentamessage Sue Coleman echoed Granholm's belief, saying the deal would boost the state's economy. "Toyota's research will help our economy grow while also tackling some of the great challenges of our time includ- ing energy and the environ- ment," she said in a written statement. Economics Prof. Alan Dear- dorff,who studies global econom- ics, said the deal will mean more to the Michigan economy than the Japanese automaker for now, citing the $21 billion investment Toyota currently has in North America. "It is certainly good for South- east Michigan, although it is not itself a large investment (for Toy- ota)," he said. "It is encouraging, though, more as asignal that Toy- ota sees the value of automotive expertise that is concentrated in this region." to residents aroond 11 a.m. yester- day, explaining that the earlier e-mails were simply a prank and that "there was nothing to worry about." In her message to the resi- dents, she said the prank might have been the result of avirus. Logan said that while the e- mails may seem harmless, "the prank represents a potential com- promise of e-mail protocols and security and perhaps, University policy."Hesaidthe HousingInfor- mation Technology Office had been asked to investigatethe iden- tity of the sender so that appropri- ate actions-could be taken. LSA freshman Jonathan Hur- witz said he was confused after he read the first e-mail. "I wouldn't expect somebody with such a position in the dorm to play such an immature joke," Hurwitz said. - Daily Staff Reporter Philip Guichelaar contributed to this report. Pentagon exposes old memo approving torture WASHINGTON (AP) - The entagon yesterday made pub- c a now-defunct legal memo hat approved the use of harsh iterrogation techniques against rror suspects, saying that Pres- ent Bush's wartime authority umps any international ban on rture. TheJusticeDepartmentmemo, ated March 14, 2003, outlines gal justification for military terrogators to use harsh tac-' cs against al-Qaida and Taliban etainees overseas - so long as ey did not specifically intend to* irture their captors. - Even so, the memo noted, the resident's wartime power as ommander in chief would not e limited by the U.N. treaties gainst torture. "Our previous opinions make ear that customary' interna- tional law is not federal law and that the president is free to over- ride it at his discretion," said the memo written by John Yoo, who was then deputy assistant attor- ney general for the Office of Legal Counsel. The memo also offered a defense in case any interrogator was charged with violating U.S. or international laws. "Finally, even if the crimi- nal prohibitions outlined above applied, and an interrogation method might violate those prohibitions, necessity or self- defense could provide justifica- tions for any criminal liability," the memo concluded. The memo was rescinded in December 2003, a mere nine months after Yoo sent it to the Pentagon's top lawyer, William J. Haynes. Rosalie Ginsberg Awards for Community Service and Social Action April I I th, 4PM Pendleton Room, Michigan Union Greek Awards Night Office of Greek Life April 10th, 7PM Michigan Union Ballroom Sponsored by Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council, Panhellenic Association, Gamma Sigma Alpha, and Order of Omega. MESA/Trotter Multicultural Center Year-end Community Festival A festival atmosphere celebrating all UM graduates Saturday,April I 2th Trotter Multicultural Center 1443 Washtenaw Avenue Free and open to the entire campus community. Lavender Graduation Office of LG BT Affairs April 24th, 4:30PM Pendleton Room, Michigan Union The Program on Interg roup Relations Patricia Gurin Certificate of Merit Ceremony April 24th, 2-4PM Vandenberg Room, Michigan League This year's winners-of-the Michigan Leadership Awards April 3rd, 4:00PM Pendleton Room, Michigan Union The Office of Student Activities & Leadership Advisor of theYear Chris Haughee Outstanding New Member Chris Armstrong Voni Deeds Alexandra Luck MingmingYang YuxingYun Outstanding Student Leader Zeeshaan Bhatti Derek Blumke Adam Gleicher Alanna Holt Preetha lyengar Jessica jolly Mei Ling Liu James Logan Liang Zhang Justin Zumsteg Student Legacy Shaun Patel Tapestry Natalie Hecht jenniferYim Yeoman Service Kim Cheung Anthony Heaphy Josna Padiyar Krista Rumsey Outstanding Student Organization Best Buddies Hispanic and Latino Business Students Association Relay For Life Ross Net Impact Students for Organ Donation Students Taking Action against Neurological Disorders Program of theYear Conference on the Holocaust - Survivors'Luncheon Detroit Project - Detroit Project Day 2007 IASA - Mizrana - Fusing Worlds Together SHPE - Multi-Cultural Holiday Celebration South Quad, Couzens Hall, Michigan Community Scholars Program, Chinese Students Association, and YouthHope - TicketTo China Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority,Inc. - Seven Deadly Sins Week Get free MCAT Verbal Edge! 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