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 L.------------------------------ -FUNI -Flexible I """n" Campus""" OBAMA FULL COLOR T-SHIRTS CORRECTION The Kaplan listing and map in the Student Handbook should have read 1214 South University, Ann Arbor, 48104. The Michigan Daily apologizes for any trouble this may have caused Kaplan or its customers. Signed, Michigan Daily Display REC Please contact Nicole Green at 764-0515 or SPORTS nmgreen@umich.edu for more information S-L$8ea X.$9.ea. SEND CHECK OR CALL WITH CCARD ADRIANS SCREENPRINT 10m2 POeTIAC TRA ANN A!BORMI 4806 7H-,>9-13367 1 !