The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, A pril 11, 2008 - 3 NEWS BRIEFS WASHINGTON Bush tohalt Iraq troop withdrawals President Bush yesterday ordered an indefinite halt in U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq after July, embracing the key recommen- dations of his top war commander. Bush said Gen. David Petraeus will "have all the time he needs" to con- sider when more American forces could return home. Bush's decisions virtually guar- antee a major U.S. presence in Iraq throughout his term in office in January, when a new president takes office. In another major decision, the president announced he will seek to relieve the heavy strain on the Army by reducing the length of combat tours in Iraq and Afghani- stan to 12 months, down from the current level of 15 months. He said the change would take effect on Aug. 1, and would not affect U.S. forces already deployed on the front lines. ROANOKE, Va. Family members of Va. Techvictims agree to $11M settlement Most families of victims of the mass shootings at Virginia Tech have agreed to an $11 million state settlement that will compensate families who lost loved ones, pay survivors' medical costs and avoid a court battle over whether anyone besides the gunman was to blame. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said yes- terday a "substantial majority" of families of victims of the Virginia Tech shootings agreed to the set- tlement. Peter Grenier and Douglas Fier- berg, who represent 21 families, said the settlement was worth more than $11 million, but neither they nor the governor would dis- cuss its terms until final papers are drawn in a few days. DETROIT Obama's former pastor to speak at NAACP dinner The embattled former minister of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has been selected as the keynote speaker for the Detroit branch of the NAACP's 53rd Annu- al Fight for Freedom Fund dinner. The civil rights organization said yesterday the Rev. Jeremiah Wright will speak April 27 at the event - which is slated to seat 10,000 - whose past speakers have included Obama, Sen. Hillary Clin- ton and former President Bill Clin- ton. Wright has been criticized for inflammatory remarks about ev- erything from race relations to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He re- cently retired from Chicago's Trin- ity United Church of Christ. Obama has denounced the most inflammatory of Wright's com- ments, but says he shouldn't be judged solely on a handful of re- marks. SEATTLE Dalai Lama begins visit to America The Dalai Lama arrived in the United States yesterday for the first time since the recent tur- moil in Tibet, serenaded by felow Tibetans as he prepared to anchor an ambitious conference on com- passion. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader came here a day after dem- onstrators disrupted the Olympic torch run in San Francisco in a. protest of China's treatment of his people. The Dalai Lama will be attending a five-day conference that begins Friday. With the Dalai Lama in town, some community leaders said they expected counter-demonstrations from pro-China groups." The Dalai Lama is slated to visit the University April 20. - Compiled from Daily wire reports 4029 Number of American service mem- bers who have died in the war in Iraq, according to The Associated Press. There were no deaths were identified yesterday. Meal plan to replace Entree Plus, make credits semester-based Students to send satellite into orbit; NASA funding $20,000 in research MEAL PLAN From Page 1 Block plan $1,805 and the unlim- ited plan $2,045. University Housing spokesman Peter Logan said meal prices will stay constant despite the changes to the plans. Logan said inflation and fixed costs like dining hall staff wages and operational costs are the main fac- tors that determine the price of meal plans. Students often neglect to take these costs into account when evalu- ating meal rates, he said. The University spent more than a year developing the new plans, he said. During that time, Residential Dining Services hired a profession- al consultant, spoke with various student focus groups on campus and consulted with the Residence Halls Association, which acts as the student government of Univer- sity residence halls. Dining services issued a survey last year to students living in resi- dence halls and off-campus loca- tions to evaluate their opinions of the University's residential dining services. After looking at the results, offi- cials found that "students said that the meal plans were too complicat- ed with too many rules," Lee said. LSAfreshman CassandraYaple, vice president of public relations for RHA, said her organization played a large role in devising the meal plan changes. "If we hadn't given the presen- tations we gave or talked to the board, some of the changes would not have been made," she said. "We gave them suggestions and feedback to improve plans that were different from the original resolutions." Yaple said that while the new system might seem confusing at first, students will ultimatelyben- efit from the new plan. "People are confused because it's so different," she said. "Some are happy because Block plans offer more flexibility and con- venience, but the new divisions between Dining Dollars and Blue Bucks can be frustrating." SATELLITE From Page 1 hardware purchased in local retail stores that has never been tested in space. And instead of ordering circuit- ry and computer chips from space products manufacturers, the team will shop at local electronics stores. For example, the camera on the satellite is one commonly used for security systems in homes and busi- nesses. "It's not the normal way of taking pictures in space," Dontchev said. To reduce costs, the University's Amateur Radio Club will share its radio communication equipment with M-Cubed so the group can communicate with the satellite while it's in space. Gmerek said using cheaper, unspecialized parts has presented some challenges. "It'll be risky, but it's worth the trouble," he said. "We cansavethou- sands and thousands of dollars." Through a simplified design, the project's total cost is estimated at about $120,000, he said. The project is the first of its kind for the University, Dontchev said. The M-Cubed team is one of about 60 student groups designing satellites for the CubeSat Project, a California Polytechnic State Uni- versity program which does space- based university research. CPSU will cover the $40,000 launch expenses. The National Aeronautics and Space Administra- tion will also pick up a good chunk of the tab in the form of two research grants - one for $20,000 and a sec- ond of a value yet to be announced. Gmerek said outside funding would cover most of the expenses to build the satellite. Rackham student Kartik Gho- rakavi, one of the chief engineers of the project, said the team would run tests on the parts it plans to use in the satellite to make sure they will be functional in space. Tests will imitate the conditions the satellite will experience, like intense radiation from the sun, vac- uum pressure and harsh tempera- ture extremes. "There are some glues and plas- tics that don't hold together in a space environment because it's a vacuum," Ghorakavi said. "So we test them all in a vacuum container, and we'll fluctuate temperatures and try to ensure they'll function in space." But even with tests and safety precautions, success isn't guaran- teed. The satellite's communication system could fail or hardware could malfunction, Gmerek said. A rocket launch failure - which can some- times end in explosion - could halt the mission before it begins. Once its battery life runs out and S3FL presses the "kill switch," Gmerek said, the satellite will con- tinue to make its way around the planet for about 24 more years, when it would incinerate into Earth's atmosphere. "We have a lot of momentum," Dontchev said, adding that the group has a lot of work to do before the launch. "This is really a perfect, flawless, has-to-work sort of deal." FRESHMAN, SOPHOMORES, . AND JUNIORS... 4a- l KQ Cornell University EIle Mic1igan Bai1 ONLINE is HIRING Account Executives for 2008-2009! We are searching for friendly, dedicated, and hardworking students who have an interest in advertising and sales. Working for The Michigan Daily's Online Advertising Department will help you to: " Expand your resume " Impress future employers with your knowledge and experience " Improve your networking connections " Further develop your communication and business skills " Make money!!! 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