The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Friday, September 5, 2008 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, September 5, 2008 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
NASSAU, Bahamas
Hanna, Ike advance
along the Atlantic
Tropical Storm Hanna roared
along the edge of the Bahamas on
yesterday ahead of a possible hur-
ricane hit on the Carolinasleaving
behind at least 61 dead in Haiti.
Hurricane Ike, a still-more-
dangerous Category 4 storm, was
advancing from the east.
Hanna was forecast to pass east
of the Atlantic archipelago before
striking along the coast of North
or South Carolina by Saturday, but
the U.S. National Hurricane Cen-
ter in Miami said Hanna's sprawl-
ing bands of outer winds are likely
to hit far sooner. Tropical storm
force winds extended outward as
far as 315 miles from the center.
Haitian authorities on Thursday
blamed Hanna for 61 deaths, most
due to flooding.
TBILISI, Georgia
Cheney rips Russia,
supports Georgia
joining NATO
Demonstrating Washington's
support for war-ravaged Georgia,
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
condemned Russia for what he
called an "illegitimate, unilateral
attempt" to redraw this U.S. ally's
borders by force.
Speaking during a closely
watched trip to this South Cauca-
sus nation, Cheney said the United
States was "fully committed" to
Georgian efforts to join NATO.
"Georgia will be in our alli-
ance," Cheneytold reporters while
standing alongside Georgian Pres-
ident Mikhail Saakashvili.
. One of the U.S. administration's
most hawkish figures and a long-
time critic of Russia, Cheney was
visiting Georgia and two other ex-
Soviet republics - Azerbaijan and
Ukraine - that are nervous about
Moscow's intentions.
BAGHDAD
Abu Ghraib prison
converted to
museum
ThenaotoriQus Abu Ghraib
prison is getting a facelift: work to
reopen the facility and construct
a museum documenting Saddam
Hussein's crimes, but not the abus-
es committed there by U.S. guards.
The sprawling complex, which
has not held prisoners since 2006,
will be refurbished with the goal of
taking new inmates in about ayear,
the government said Thursday.
Also, a section of the 280-acre
site just west of Baghdad will be
converted into the museum featur-
ing execution chamber exhibits
and other displays of torture tools
used by Saddam's regime - includ-
ing an iron chain used to tie pris-
oners together.
But Iraq's predominantly Shiite
government has no plans to docu-
ment the U.S. military abuse scan-
dal that erupted in 2004.
NEW YORK
Dow drops more
than 300 points
Wall Street tumbled Thursday,
sending the Dow Jones industri-
als down more than 340 points on
moredisappointingeconomitnews:
Sluggish back-to-school sales and a
jump in unemployment claims.
The stock markethas been high-
ly volatile lately, reflecting inves-
tors' heightening anxiety about the
overall state of the economy. They
were further unsettled Thursday
when many of the nation's retailers
said shoppers curtailed spending
last month due to higher gas and
food prices.
Meanwhile, the Labor Depart-
ment said new applications for
unemployment insurance rose by
15,000 last week from the previous
week. Furthermore, if the job mar-
ket keeps deteriorating, it is tough
for Wall Street to see a rebound in
sight for the economy's biggest cul-
prit: the tumblinghousingmarket.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
U.S. DEAT HS
4,15
Number ofAmerican service mem-
bers who have died in the war in
Iraq, according to The Associated
Press. The following deaths were
identified yesterday:
Army Pfc. Patrick W. May, 22,
Jamestown, N.Y.
MeCain tells
nation he'll
bring change
RUDE MECHANICAL PROTEST
In acceptance
speech, Republican
nominee promises
government reform
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - John
McCain, a POW turned political
rebel, vowed Thursday night to
vanquish the "constant partisan
rancor" that grips Washington
as he launched his fall campaign
for the White House. "Change is
coming," he promised the roaring
Republican National Convention
and a prime-time television audi-
ence.
"Fight with me. Fight with me.
Fight with me. Fight for what's
right for our country," he said in a
convention crescendo.
To repeated cheers from his del-
egates, McCain made only passing
reference to an unpopular George
W. Bush and criticized fellow
Republicans as well as Democratic
rival Barack Obama in reachingout
to independents and swing voters
who will pick the next president.
"We were elected to change
Washington, and we let Wash-
ington change us," he said of the
Republicans who controlled Con-
gress for a dozen years before they
were voted out of office in 2006.
As for Obama, he said, "I will
keep taxes low and cut them where
I can. My opponent will raise them.
I will cut government spending. He
will increase it."
McCain's wife, Cindy, and ticket-
mate Sarah Palin and her husband
joined him on stage as tens of thou-
sands red, white and blue balloons
cascaded from high above the con-
vention floor.
Unlike Obama's speech a week
ago, McCain offered no soaring
oratory until his speech-ending
summons to fight for the country's
future.
But his own measured style left
his crowd cheering, and as is his
habit in campaign stops around
the country, he stepped off the
stage to plunge into the crowd
after his speech.
McCain's appearance was the
climax of the final night of the
party convention, coming after
delegates made Palin the first
female vice presidential nominee
in Republican history.
"She stands up for what's right
and she doesn't let anyone tell
her to sit down," McCain said of
the woman who has faced intense
scrutiny in the week since she was
picked.
"And let me offer an advance
warning to the old, big-spending,
do-nothing, me-first, country-sec-
ond Washington crowd: Change is
coming," McCain declared.
He and Palin were departing
their convention city immediately
after the Arizona senator's accep-
tance speech, bound for Wisconsin
and an early start on the final weeks
of the White House campaign.
McCain, at 72biddingtobecome
the oldest first-term president,
drew a roar from the convention
crowd when he walked out onto the
stage lighted by a single spotlight.
He was introduced by a video that
dwelt heavily on his time spent as
a prisoner of war in Vietnam and
as a member of Congress, hailed
for a "faithful unyielding love for
America, country first."
"USA, USA, USA," chanted the
crowd in the hall.
McCain faced a delicate assign-
ment as he formally accepted his
party's presidential nomination:
presenting his credentials as a
reformer willing to take on his
own party and stressing his inde-
pendence from an unpopular Pres-
ident Bush - all without breaking
faith with his Republican base.
He set about it methodically.
"After we've won, we're going
to reach out our hand to any will-
ing patriot, make this government
start working for you again," he
said, and he pledged to invite Dem-
ocrats and independents to serve in
his administration.
He mentioned Bush only in pass-
ing, as the leader who led the coun-
try through the days afier the terror
attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
And there was plenty for con-
servative Republicans to cheer -
from his pledge to free the country
from the grip of its dependence
on foreign oil, to a vow to have
schools answer to parents and
students rather than "unions and
entrenched bureaucrats."
A man who has clashed repeat-
edly with Republicans in Congress,
he said proudly, "I've been called a
maverick. Sometimes it's meant as a
compliment and sometimes it's not.
What it really means is I under-
stand who I work for.
"I don't work for a party. I don't
work for a special interest. I don't
work for myself. I work for you."
Thousands of red, white and blue
balloons nestled in netting above
the convention floor, to be released
on cue for the traditional celebra-
tory convention finale.
GivenMcCain'spoliticalmission,
it was left to other Republicans to
deliver much of the criticism aimed
at Obama.
In the race for the White House,
"It's not about building a record,
it's about having one," said former
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge. "It's
not about talking pretty, it's about
talkingstraight."
McCain invoked the five years
he spent in a North Vietnamese
prison. "I fell in love with my
country when I was a prisoner in
someone else's," he said. "I was
never the same again. I wasn't
my own man anymore. I was my
country's."
The last night of the McCain-
Palin convention also marked the
end of an intensive stretch of poli-
tics with the potential to reshape
the race for the White House.
Democrats held their own conven-
tion last week in Denver, nominat-
ing Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden as
running mate for Obama, whose
own acceptance speech drew an
estimated 84,000 partisans to an
outdoor football stadium.
CLIF REEDER/Daily
The "activist marching band" "Rude Mechanical Orchestra" plays on the corner of State Street and North University Avenue. The
band of about 20 people from Brooklyn, N.Y. stopped in Ann Arbor on their way back from protesting at the Republican National
Convention on their "No More War" tour.
Army suicides hitting record rate
Suicide rate could
surpass that of
civilian population
WASHINGTON (AP) - Soldier
suicides this year could surpass the
record rate of last year, Army offi-
cials said yesterday, urging military
leaders at all levels to redouble pre-
vention efforts for a force strained
by two wars.
As of the end of August, there
were 62 confirmed suicides among
active duty soldiers and Guard and
Reserve troops called to active duty,
officials said. Another 31 deaths
appear to be suicides but are still
'being investigated.
If all are confirmed, that means
that the number for 2008 could
eclipse the 115 of last year - and
the rate per 100,000 could surpass
that of the civilian population, Col.
Eddie Stephens, deputy director of
human resources policy, said at a
Pentagon news conference.
"Army leaders are fully aware
that repeated deployments have led
to increased distress and anxiety
for both soldiers and their families,"
Army Secretary Pete Geren said.
"The Army is committed to
ensuring that all soldiers and their
families receive the behavioral.
health care they need," he said in a
statement distributed at the press
conference on National Suicide
Prevention Week starting Sunday.
"Installations and units across
the Army have been directed to
redouble their efforts in awareness
and prevention training and soldier
care and support services," Ste-
phens said.
To try to stem the continually
growing number of suicides, the
Army already has been increasing
the number of staff psychiatrists
and other mental health staff as
well as chaplains and bolstering
programs both at home and at
the battlefronts. Officials also are
about to issue a new interactive
video for troops and will be add-
ing a new program on resilience
to basic training starting in Janu-
ary, said Brig. Gen. Rhonda L.
Cornum, an assistant Army sur-
geon general.
"There are no simple problems
and there are no simple solutions,"
Cornum said. "There is no program
that has been shown to be truly
effective at preventing suicides ...
Success willbe the sum of a number
of smaller steps."
As officials have said before, Cor-
num said the main factors in soldier
suicides continues to be problems
with their personal relationships,
legal and financial issues, work
problems and the repeated deploy-
ments and longer tour lengths
prompted by an Afghan war enter-
ing its eighth year and Iraq cam-
paign in its sixth.
Of the confirmed deaths so far
this year, three soldiers were in
the Army Reserves and four in the
Army National Guard.
If the overall numbers continue
through December as they have
been, Stephens said, they would
eclipse the 115 of 2007, 102 in 2006,
87 in 2005 and 67 in 2004.
The rate per 100,000 soldiers
also has been rising and could be
surpassed. It was 18.1 per 100,000
last year - the highest since the
Army started keeping record in
1980. That compared to a rate of 17.5
in 2006 and 9.8 in 2002 - the first
full year after the start of the war in
Afghanistan.
The rate for 2008 has not been
calculated, officials said, but if the
trend holds, it would surpass the
demographically adjusted rate of
19.5 per 100,00 for the civilian pop'
ulation, Stephens said.
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention said the suicide
rate for U.S. society overall was
about 11 per 100,000 in 2004, the
latest year for which the agency
has figures. But the Army says that
when civilian rates are adjusted
to cover the same age and gender_
mix that exists in the Army - a
younger and largely male popula-
tion - the civilian rate is more like
19.5 per 100,000.
TheArmyhas comeunderunprec-
edented stress as the main force in
the two largely ground wars.
The University of Michigan Thirteenth Annual
ENERGiY FEST
Promoting energy conservation, renewable
energy, and a sustainable environment
Tuesday, September 9
Central Campus Diag:
11:00 to 2:00
Live Music with Justine Blazer
from 12-1
Thursday, September 11
North Campus Portico Plaza:
11:00 to 2:00
Exhibits! Door Prizes! . "s t
Sponsored by max
Plant Operations and the 8
Center for Sustainable Systems
wwwcss.snre.umich.edu
wwwenergymancgement. umich.edu
If you've been thinking about international Peace Corps
service after graduation, NOW is the best time to apply!
Contact University of Michigan's Peace Corps representatives:
Ashley Thompson and Jacquelyn Bradford
International Center, Room 10
Phone: 734.647.2182, Email: peace.corps@umich.edu
Office Hours: Monday 1 -5 p.m., Tuesday 3 -5 p.m.,
Wednesday 3 - 5 p.m., Thursday 1 - 3 p.m., and by appointment
Attend an Information Session to learn more:
Tues., Sept. 16 at 7:00 p.m., Michigan Union, Kuenzel Room
Wed., Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m., International Center, Room 9
Mon., Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m., International Center, Room 9
Fri., Nov. 7 at 3:00 p.m., International Center, Room 9
Tues., Dec. 2 at 7:00 p.m., International Center, Room 9
PEACE CORPS ACCEPTS APPLICANTS WITH VARIOUS
DEGREES & SKILLS, BUT ESPECIALLY NEEDS APPLICANTS IN:
" Agriculture, Animal Science and Forestry
' Environmental Education and Natural Resources
- Education and English Teaching
- Math and Science
- Health Education, Public Health, Dietetics/Nutrition
" Business Development and Public Administration
- Computer Science and IT
" French Language
www.peacecorps.gov
800.424.8580