The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Monday, September 29,2000"'- 3A

NEWS BRIEFS
WASHINGTON
Congress tentatively
agrees on bailout
plan
Congressional negotiators and
the Bush administration's top Trea-
sury officials go to work yesterday
on settling the final details of a his-
toric $700 billion Wall Street bail-
out aimed at keeping credit flowing
and saving the nation's shaky econ-
omy from collapsing into a crip-
pling recession.
"We've made great progress. We
have to get it committed to paper so
that we can formally agree," House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, told
reporters in announcing the tentative
deal shortly after midnight Sunday.
Congressional leaders hope to
have a House vote on the measure
today, with a vote in the Senate
cominglater.
BAGHDAD
Ambassador calls
for patience in Iraq
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker
on Sunday accused Iran of trying
to interfere with a new security
pact between Iraq and the United
States, and said Americans need
to view Iraq with "a sense of stra-
tegic patience" because the stakes
in the region are so high.
The 37-year veteran diplomat,
interviewed by The Associated
Press at his embassy in Baghdad,
is in the middle of tough negotia-
tions with Iraqi officials to define
the basis for a continuing Ameri-
can military presence in the coun-
try beyond the end of this year.
The talks hit an impasse recent-
ly and are taking place against a
backdrop of increasing calls in
the United States for a U.S. with-
drawal and declining interest in
the war itself from many members
of the American public.
MACHIAS, Maine
Hurricane reaches
coast of Maine
Fishermenmovedboatstoshelter
from a rare burst of tropical weath-
er along Maine's rugged Down East
coast yesterday as Hurricane Kyle
plowed past on its way to Canada,
threatening a glancing blow equiv-
alent to a classic nor'easter storm
without the snow.
A hurricane watch for Maine
was discontinued yesterday but a
tropical storm warning remained
in effect from Stonington, at the
mouth of Penobacot Bay, to East-
port on the Canadian border, the
National Hurricane Center said.
The Canadian Hurricane Centre
issued a hurricane warning for
parts of southwestern Nova Sco-
tia, with tropical storm warnings
for parts of New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia.
The Category 1 storm's track
was expected to bring its center
ashore in New Brunswick just
west of Saint John late yesterday
or early today, but by then it is ex-
pected to have less than hurricane

strength, said Peter Bowyer of the
Canadian center in Dartmouth,
Nova Scotia.
MOGADISHU; Somalia
U.S. destroyer
guards cargo ship
from pirates
A heavily armed U.S. destroyer
wasstationedoffthe coastofSomalia
yesterday, making sure that pirates
there don't -remove tanks, ammuni-
tion and other heavy weapons from a
hijacked Ukrainian cargo ship.
A man claiming to be a spokes-
man for the pirates says they want
$35 million to free the cargo ship
Faina and warned of dire conse-
quences if any military action was
taken to try to free the ship.
Pirates seized the Ukrainian-op-
erated ship Thursday as it traveled to
Kenya with a load of 33 Russian-built
T-72 tanks and a substantial quan-
tity of ammunition and spare parts
ordered by the Kenyan government.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
4174
Number of American service
members who have died in the
war in Iraq, according to The
Associated Press. There were no
deaths identified yesterday.

Iraqi Christians
protest end of quotas

Bombings related to
decision killed
32, wounded 100
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's prime
minister sought safeguards yester-
day for small religious communities
in this mainly Muslim country as
Christians protested parliament's
decision to stop setting aside seats
for minorities on provincial coun-
cils.
InBaghdad, aseries of explosions
struck mostly Shiite areas, killing
at least 32 people and wounding
nearly 100, police said. The attacks
appeared aimed at reviving sectar-
ian tensions that once threatened to
plunge the nation into civil war.
Parliament last week approved
a new law mandating elections in
most of Iraq's 18 provinces. But the
law removed a system that reserved
a few legislative seats for Christians
and other religious minorities.
Lawmakers cited a lack of census
data to determine what the quotas
should be. But many Christians saw
the move as an effort to marginal-
ize their community.
"I think that some political
groups are pushing the remaining
Christians to leave Iraq," worship-
per Afram Razzaq-Allah said after
services at a Catholic church in
Baghdad. "They want us to feel that
we are no longer Iraqis."
In a letter sent to parliament
Sunday, Prime Minister Nouri al-
Maliki appealed to the legislators

Maia Dedrick, a PowerVote volunteer, stands on the corner of Hill Street and State Street before Saturdays football game,
recruiting passersby on their way to the game. Power Vote works to promote awareness about clean energy by asking voters
to pledge to research their candidate's energy policies before going to the polls on Nov. 4.
Group pushes for clean
energy as election priority

and the electoral commission to
restore the quota system.
"The minorities should be fairly
represented in the provincial coun-
cils and their rights should be guar-
anteed," al-Maliki wrote.
Hundreds of Christians staged
street protests after Sunday church
services in and around Mosul, a
northern city where many of the
country's Christians live. Some
said the removal of the quotas is an
attempt to force them to leave Iraq.
"This is an unjust decision and
it affects our rights as Christians,"
Matti Galia, a local politician, said
at a rally in Mosul. "We are original
citizens in this country. The politi-
cians' goal was to divide the Iraqi
people and create more struggles.
Indirectly, they are telling us to
leave Iraq."
Iraq's Christians have been tar-
geted by Muslim militants since
the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, with
priests, churches' and Christian-
owned businesses attacked. The
violence has led many Christians to
flee the country.
Sectarian violence has receded
since U.S. troop reinforcements
were sent in last year. However,
U.S. commanders have warned that
extremist groups such as al-Qaida
in Iraq are still trying to rekindle
sectarian warfare toundermine the
U.S.-backed Iraqi government.
The string of explosions in the
capital Sunday began near sundown
as Muslimswerepreparingfor Iftar,
the meal that breaks the daily fast
during the holy month of Ramadan.
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Power Vote asks
students to research
energy policies
By ELAINE LAFAY
Daily StaffReporter
A group of students added a
new color to their maize T-shirts
at the Michigan football game on
Saturday: green.
The students wore green stick-
ers to advertise Power Vote, a
national effort to make climate
change a priority in the upcoming
elections.
Power Vote, headed by the
Energy Action Coalition, a non-
partisan alliance of 48 youth-
based groups across the nation,
hopes to garner one million
pledges nationwide by Election
Day. The University's chapter has
set a goal of 5,000 pledges.
School of Music senior Maia
Dedrick, a Power Vote campus
organizer, said the initiative
caters to voters across the politi-
cal spectrum.
"It means just doing some
research on your candidate," said
Dedrick. "Even ifyouhave already
chosen a candidate, you can still
put these issues first."
Power Vote volunteers started

rallyingstudents on campus earli-
er this month. They have recruit-
ed students in the Diag, made
presentations in classrooms, vis-
ited dorms and gone to candidate
rallies. '
Volunteers set a goal for 1,000
new pledges last week. They tried
several new campaign tactics,
like campaigning during tailgate
parties before Saturday's football
game, but fell short, signing up
about 400 pledges.
School of Music senior Andrew
Munn, aPower Vote campus orga-
nizer, said the goal was set inten-
tionally high.
"Four hundred pledges in one
week is not something I'm disap-
pointed with," he said.
While those who sign pledges
are under no obligation to do any-
thing beyond making green ener-
gy a priority when researching
the candidates, those who choose
to volunteer will continue work-
ing long after Election Day.
"We're going to hold the win-
ning candidate accountable in
working 'towards clean energy,"
said Munn. "One of the great
parts of being in a democracy is
the ability to go and lobby your
representatives."
Many in Michigan, which
holds the highest unemployment
rate in the country, hope efforts to

develop clean energy technology
will help turn around the state's
struggling economy. Munn said
Michigan should take advantage
of its potential for wind and solar
power to move toward cleaner
energy and create new jobs.
"The work that needs to be done
for clean energy needs to be done
by people who need the work,"
he said. "It's an especially good
opportunity for jobs that have
been lost in the auto industry."
Rackham student Brett Levy,
a Power Vote volunteer, said the
success of the organization will
depend on the dedication of the
people who sign up.
"Every time' I get a pledge
signed, I'm talking to somebody
for between thirty seconds and
five minutes about energy issues,"
he said. "But I can't give them a
deep understanding of the poli-
cies or climatic challenges we're
facing now and in the future."
LSA sophomore Lucy Cross
said she pledged to support Power
Vote because the idea of bipar-
tisan environmental support
appeals to her.
"It's not supporting any rivalry
between the two parties," she
said. "Instead, it's saying that no
matter what political belief you
have, the environment should be
a priority."

H,-,,U

Chinese astronauts return to
Earth after first spacewalk

BEIJING (AP) - Three Chi-
nese astronauts emerged from
their capsule yesterday after a
milestone mission to carry out the
country's first spacewalk, showing
off China's technological know-
how and cementing its status as a
space power and future competi-
tor to the United States.
A senior space official said the
mission - China's most ambitious
yet - took the country one step
closer in its plan to build a space
station and then to land a man on
the moon.
Wang Zhaoyao, deputy. direc-
tor of manned space flight, said
the program is looking to launch a
new orbiting vehicle and set up a
simple space lab by 2011. There are
also hopes of sending unmanned
and manned space vehicles to per-
form docking activities with the
target vehicle.
By 2020, China wants to launch
a manned mission to experiment
with technologies that will enable
astronauts to take care of space-
craft'for longer periods of time,
Wang told reporters at a brief-
ing in Beijing after a parachute
brought the astronauts' capsule
back to ground.

"After we have successfully
completed these three steps, we
will go to even more remote areas,"
Wangsaid. "We believe that as long
as we can make further progress
on the road of science and technol-
ogy, China will achieve the target
of putting a manned spacecraft on
the moon in the near future."
The United States is the only
country to have accomplished
that feat, putting its first astronaut
team on the moon in 1969. But its
last human landing was in 1972,
and it has since concentrated on
unmanned probes.
China's communist leaders,
riding a wave of pride and patrio-
tism after hosting the Olympics,
face few of the public doubts or,
budgetary pressures that have
constrained space programs else-
where. Saturday's spacewalk was
watched by cheering crowds on
huge outdoor TV screens.
State broadcaster CCTV showed
the astronauts' return Sunday
after their Shenzhou 7 ship's re-
entry vehicle burst through the
Earth's atmosphere to make a
landing under clear skies in the
grasslands of China's northern
Inner Mongolia region.

The vessel touched ground
at 5:37 p.m. after floating down
gently while attached to a giant
red-and-white -striped parachute,
marking the end of the 68-hour'
endeavor.
"It was a glorious mission, full
of challenges with a successful
end," said mission commander
Zhai Zhigang, a 41-year-old fighter
pilot. "We feel proud of the moth-
erland."
Zhai, Liu Boning and Jing
Haipeng stayed inside the capsule'
after landing for about 46 minutes
t adapt to Earth's gravity before
slowly crawling out the narrow
entrance.
outside, the trio cheerily waved
to cameras- and reporters from
Chinese state media before sitting
down in blue fold-out chairs. They
saluted as they were presented
with bouquets of flowers.
Premier Wen Jiabao applauded
at mission control in Beijing and
shook hands with staff.
"This mission's success is a
milestone; a stride-' forward,"
Wen said. "I would like to extend
my congratulations to the heroic
astronauts who successfully com-
pleted this mission."

The Fr. Gabriel Rich a ed Lectures
Calling us to examine -urrent issues in light of our faith
Thursday, October 2, 2008
4:00 pm - Room 100
Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library
Speaker: Rev. JohnJ. Cecero, S.J., Ph.D.
Associatc Professor of Psychology
Fordhiam Untvcrsity
Co-Sponsored by:
CenterforEthics in Plic Life and Sc. Mary StudentParish

Olmert laments evil wind of extremism'

YITZHAR, West Bank (AP) - A
new dynamic has emerged in the
West Bank: Jewish settlers block
roads, burn tires or set fire to Pales-
tinian fields when troops try to dis-
mantle unauthorized settlements.
Activists call the tactic "price
tag." They hope the havoc will
deter Israeli security forces from
removing any of the dozens of
squatter camps, or outposts, dot-
ting West Bank hills.
Coupled with recent settler
reprisal raids on Palestinian vil-
lages and a pipe bomb attack that
wounded a prominent settler crit-
ic, the outpost battle has revived
debate about the dangers posed by
ultra-nationalists.

Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert warned Sunday that an
"evil wind of extremism" is threat-
ening Israel's democracy. Without
naming any specific group, he
complained that extremists are
undermining "the ability of those
in charge in Israel to make deci-
sions."
DespiteSunday'sforcefulwords,
Olmert and his predecessors failed
to live up to a2003 promise to the
U.S. to take down dozens of out-
posts. Critics of the government
also say Israeli police and military
often ignore settler violence.
"The radical extremists in the
right-wing camp understand that
the government isajust too afraid to

confront them," said Yariv Oppen-
heimer, leader of the settlement
watchdog group Peace Now.
The nearly 300,000 West Bank
settlers are a heterogeneous
group. They range from subur-
banites in settlements near Israel,
who moved f6 the West Bank for
cheaper housing, to ideologues
and radical "hilltop youth" who
believe Israel must keep the ter-
ritory for religious and security
reasons.
The ideological settlers feel
betrayed by Israel's 2005 pullout
from Gaza, including the evacua-
tion of some 8,500 settlers, and are
determined to prevent a repeat in
the West Bank.

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