The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
ST. PAUL
Bush: John McCain
'ready to lead this
nation'
President Bush, relegated to
a minor role at the Republican
National Convention, praised John
McCain yesterday night as "ready
to lead this nation," a courageous
candidate who supported the war
in Iraq despite risks to his cam-
paign for the White House.
Bush's brief cameo - his speech
lasted less than eight minutes
- was highly unusual for a two-
term president addressing his own
party's convention as he prepared
to leave office. His aides suggested
the sequence of events flowed nat-
urally from his decision to travel to
Louisiana today to see the damage
caused by Hurricane Gustav.
PHILADELPHIA
McCain defends
VP choice, vetting
process
Republican John McCain said
Tuesday he's satisfied that Sarah
Palin's background was properly
checked out before the Alaska gov-
ernor joined the Republican ticket.
He predicted that public excite-
ment about her candidacy will
increase after her address to the
GOP convention on Wednesday.
Asked about whether Palin's
background was thoroughly
checked out before he selected
her, McCain told reporters in
Philadelphia: "The vetting process
was completely thorough and I'm
grateful for the results."
Questions about the thorough-
ness of the review of Palin came
up after news surfaced that her
unmarried teenage daughter, Bris-
tol, is pregnant, and that the Alas-
ka governor has retained a private
attorney to represent her in an
investigation into the firing of the
state public safety commissioner.
NEW YORK
Oil prices sink to
five-month low
Oil prices plunged to the lowest
level in five months yesterday, fall-
ing to within sight of $100 a barrel
on signs that Hurricane Gustav
only grazed U.S. energy infrastruc-
ture in the Gulf of Mexico.
Light, sweet crude for Octo-
ber delivery fell $5.75 to settle at
$109.71 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange, after earlier
dropping as low as $105.46. It was
the lowest trading level since April
4, just before oil began an unprec-
edented march above $147 per bar-
rel
Virtually all oil and natural gas
production remained shut down in
the Gulf of Mexico as energy com-
panies began assessing damage to
offshore platforms, rigs and pipe-
lines, according to the U.S. Miner-
als Management Service. It was too
soon to say when output might re-
sume, though some oil companies
were preparing to redeploy evacu-
ated personnel as early as today.
Without serious damage, oil and
natural gas facilities could start up
again in a day or two, while coastal
refineries could take two to four
days to resume production, depend-
ing up their size. In 2005, Hurri-
canes Katrina and Rita knocked out
the region's offshore energy infra-
structure for several weeks.
KINSHASA, Congo
Plane carrying
17 crashes near
Rwanda
A humanitarian aid flight carry-
ing 17 people crashed while trying
to land during a storm in remote
eastern Congo, and all aboard were
feared dead yesterday.
U.N. helicopters found the crash
site - about nine miles from the
plane's destination near the Rwan-
da border - but rugged terrain and
fog prevented peacekeepers from
landing yesterday to learn the fate
of those on board, officials said.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
S 4i52
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.
Courts rule Kilpatrick must
face removal hearing today
POSTER BOYS
Detroit mayor loses
appeals to postpone
state hearing
DETROIT (AP) - Mayor Kwame
Kilpatrick's chances of avoiding a
state hearingthat could cost him his
jobdiminishedbythehouryesterday
as a judge and an appeals court ruled
againstscrappingthe proceedings.
The mayor claims he can't get
a fair shake from Gov. Jennifer
Granholm, a fellow Democrat
who isto convene a removal hear-
ing this morning. His lawyers also
attacked the law on the removal
process but lost twice in court
yesterday.
The Detroit City Council asked
Granholm to determine whether
Kilpatrick misled members when
he settled lawsuits with former
police officers for $8.4 million; text
messages that contradict the may-
or's sworn denials of an extramari-
tal affair were supposed to be kept
secret as part of the deal.
Separately, Kilpatrick is charged
with 10 felonies, including perjury
and assault, and he would lose a
powerfulbargaining chip with pros-
ecutors if he is removed from office.
The state constitution gives
the governor the power to remove
elected officials for misconduct,
but Kilpatrick claims Granholm
showed her bias against him as she
tried to broker a settlement in his
criminal case in May.
After hearing arguments Fri-
day, Wayne County Circuit Judge
Robert Ziolkowski returned
to court Tuesday and said he
wouldn't interfere with the hear-
ing.
"Holding a public office is not
a public right and not subject to
due process rights," the judge said,
rejecting a claim that Kilpatrick's
right to "just and fair treatment"
would be violated.
Kilpatrick's attorney James
Thomas appealed, saying outside
court, "The way this is set up, the
governor has free rein to be the
judge, jury and executioner."
A three-judge panel of the Mich-
igan Court of Appeals scheduled a
hearing yesterday afternoon, but
Thomas was late for it, entering
the courtroom as a lawyer for Gra-
nholm was making his argument.
Thomas blamed traffic.
"So you haven't got a cell
phone?" Judge Michael Talbot
snapped.
It was just the start of the pan-
el's rough treatment as Thomas
tried to raise questions about fair-
ness and the standard of evidence
used at a removal hearing. He said
he doesn't know what it means for
Granholm to determine whether
evidence is "sufficient" to evict
Kilpatrick.
"I suggest you do the best you
can," Talbot said.
John Wernet, Granholm's dep-
uty legal counsel, said Kilpatrick's
appeal was an "11th-hour action"
aimed at getting courts to "med-
dle" with the governor's powers.
Before the appeals court ruled,
Granholm had asked the Michi-
gan Supreme Court to step in and
settle the issue. She said "judi-
cial interference" is not good for
Detroit.
"If a breach of the public trust
has indeed occurred, as has been
alleged by the Detroit City Council
in the removal request before me,
Detroit residents have a right to a
timely resolution of the matter,"
the governor said in a filing with
the Supreme Court.
The state Supreme Court gave
no sign by yesterday evening that it
would take up the case. After argu-
ments before the appellate court
but before the panel ruled, Thomas
said he thought there was only a
"remote" possibility that the high
court would take the case.
The City Council says that when
it approved the $8.4 million settle-
ment, it didn't know the deal covered
up sexually charged text messages
between the 38-year-old mayor and
his top aide, Christine Beatty.
Those text messages are key in
criminal charges, including per-
jury, against Kilpatrick and Beatty,
both of whom testified in the police
officers' lawsuit that they had not
had an affair. In a separate case,
Kilpatrick is charged with assault
in a confrontation with investiga-
tors who were attemptingto serve a
subpoenaon a friend ofthe mayor in
connection with the perjury case.
ROBMIGRIN/Daily
Students browsed through posters at the annual poster sale in the basement of the
Michigan Union yesterday. The sale, sponsered by the University Unions Arts and
Programs, runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day until Friday.
Thai state of emergency fuels 1,000 students boycott Chicago schools
protesters, demonstrations
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -
Thailand's embattled leader strug-
gled to keep the peace and his grip
on power after declaring a state of
emergencythat was openly flouted
by thousands of anti-government
protesters in the capital.
Protesters today sat on the lawn
and throughout the vast open area
aroundthe sprawlinggrounds ofthe
prime minister's office, known as
Government House. They listened
to speakers denounced Prime Min-
ister Samak Sundaravej and vowed
to stay put until he resigned.
"The state of emergency has
ended up drawing a bigger crowd
rather than scaring protesters
away," said Sirinan Yodkongkha, a
45-year-old businesswoman.
While Samak sought Tuesday
to tamp down newly violent unrest
pitting pro- and anti-government
protesters, he also was hit by an
electoral commission finding that
PALIN
From Page 1A
ly young and this is a hard thing to
deal with when you're so young.'
Peticolas also said she wasn't
surprised at the media scrutiny of
the Palin family considering the
spotlight they're now in, but in-
sisted that far too much has been
made of the announcement.
"I understand it's newsworthy,
but at the same time I think the
media has extended far too much,"
she said. "I guess it's just trying to
make something of nothing."
Benito Segovia, a 26-year-old
Texan wearing a cream-colored
cowboy hat, said he wasn't at all
surprised at the media's coverage,
saying that last week's Democrat-
ic National Convention and this
week's RNC are both "heat weeks"
for information on the two vice
presidential hopefuls.
"We're horny for information
about Biden and Palin and it's a big
deal now" Segovia said. "But at the
end of the day nobody is going to
care. It's going to be the presidents
that decide the election."
Michael Wooley, a 17-year-old
from Cincinnati attendingthe con-
vention with the Junior Statesmen
Foundation, said he thought the
media barrage had in fact already
could disband his party and bar
him from politics.
Samak said he had no choice
but to impose emergency rule in
Bangkok after a week of politi-
cal tensions exploded into over-
night rioting and street fighting
between the largely prosperous
urban protesters and government
supporters, mainly from the coun-
try's impoverished rural majority.
The fighting left one person dead
and dozens injured.
His decree gives the military
the right to restore order, allows
authorities to suspend civil lib-
erties, bans public gatherings of
more than five people and bars the
media from reporting news that
"causes panic."
Samak and the army chief, Gen.
Anupong Paochinda, both said
authorities viewed emergency rule
as a last resort and stressed they
wanted to avoid violence.
blown over by Tuesday night.
"I guess it's something you kind
of had to report, but at the same
time, the fact that the news cycle is
so fast now means that it's pressed
out of the public pretty fast,"
Wooley said.
Young Republicans also didn't
foresee her daughter's pregnancy
interfering with Sarah Palin's "re-
sponsibilities as John McCain's
running mate.
"I don't think it will affect her
at all during the convention," said
Victoria Rudd, a 17-year-old Miami
native. "If anything, people might
turn more to her now."
The ebullient Segovia echoed
Rudd's sentiments, quickly saying
that "I personally don't think her
daughter getting knocked up at 17
has any bearing on her ability to do
her job."
In fact, Segovia went so far asto
suggestthatSarah Palinshould use
the media frenzy surrounding her
daughter's pregnancy to increase
her visibility on the national level.
"Strategically, I think she needs
to use this heat week for her and
get on as many programs as she can,
just because she is so charismatic
and likeable," he said. "If she can,
like, get on Letterman's show, and
then connect with people based on
her likability, I think it would be a
good move on her part.'
Students bused to
better-funded
districts protested
inequality
NORTHFIELD, Ill - More
than 1,000 Chicago public school
students skipped the first day
of classes yesterday to protest
unequal education funding, a boy-
cott organizers said would con-
tinue through the week with help
from retired teachers who will
turn office lobbies into impromptu
classrooms.
The students took church buses
30 miles north to the wealthy
suburb of Northfield, where they
filled out applications to enroll in
the better-funded New Trier dis-
trict. The move was largely sym-
bolic because students must pay
tuition to attend a school outside
their home district.
The turnout fell short of the
thousands organizers expected,
and was a tiny fraction of the
more than 400,000 students who
attend Chicago public schools, but
protesters and their parents said
they're willing to keep the boycott
going as long as it takes to per-
suade state officials to give their
district more money.
"It's on us kids," said 14-year-
old Tracey Stansberry, a student at
Corliss High School. "If we don't,
we'll be on the bottom."
Gillie Beal said she will keep her
12-year-old grandson involved in
the protest as long as it takes. "You
must stand for something or you'll
fall for anything," she said.
Chicago Public Schools spokes-
man MikeVaughn said he did not
know how many students boycot-
ted the country's third-largest dis-
trict yesterday; attendance figures
would not be available for a.couple
of days. Although district officials
agree the system is underfunded,
he said, they consider it a mis-
take for the children to miss any
school.
"We want our kids to start the
school year strong, and that means
the first week of school," he said.
Intramural Official&sI
Clinics Start TON IG H T @ 7PM
Intramural Sports Building
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