The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, October 3, 2008 - 3A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, October 3, 2008 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS WASHINGTON Bush: 'People are watching' House vote on bailout President Bush argued yester- day that the crisis in the financial markets "has gone way beyond New York and Wall Street" and implored Congress to get the $700 billion relief bill to his desk. A day before the House was set to vote for a second time on the package, Bush sought to increase pressure on the lawmakers who voted 'no' on Monday. The House's defeat of the bill shocked Wall Street and Washington, and resulted in a sweetened measure that the Senate approved handily on Wednesday night. "This is an issue that is affect- ing hardworking people," he said. "They are worried abouttheir sav- ings; they're worried about their jobs; they're worried about their houses; they're worried about their small businesses. "The House of.Representatives must listen to these voices and get this bill passed so we can get about the business of restoring confidence," Bush added. LANSING State Senate approves Michigan business tax cut As promised, Senate Republi- cans on Thursday voted to more quicklyphase out a22 percentsur- charge that was added to Michi- gan's business tax to help resolve last year's budget crisis. The move delighted the busi- ness community and garnered some Democratic votes, too. The unresolved question: How to off- set the loss of hundreds of mil- lions of dollars in tax revenue for state government? The legislation passed 26-12 and was sent across the Capitol to the Democratic-led House. A spokeswoman for Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she would be open to Michigan Busi- ness Tax adjustments if they were "pared with reforms that can save the state money." HOUGHTON, Mich. Mich. Tech alum gives school its largest gift ever A business executive who grad- uated from Michigan Tech Uni- versity is giving $10 million to his alma mater. Dave House's gift will be the largest the university in Hough- ton has ever received. It was announced yesterday during the university's board of control meet- ing. House earned a degree in elec- trical engineering from Michigan Tech. He is the retired president of Nortel Networks, the former CEO of Bay Networks and a long- time Intel executive. He presently is chairman of Brocade Communi- cation System of San Jose, Calif. TORONTO Canadian health officials looking for potential TB cases Ontario public health officials said Thursday that they are look- ing for 27 people who could have been exposed to tuberculosis dur- ing a Greyhound bus trip from Toronto to Windsor, Ontario in late August. Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, said in a statement that a passenger on the bus had infectious tuberculo- sis and may have passed it on by coughing while in close contact with others. "The risk is low but we want to make sure everyone who was potentially exposed is properly notified and evaluated as needed," Williams said. - Compiled from Daily mire reports U.S. DEATHS 4,176 Number of American service members who have died in the war in Iraq, according to The Associated Press. There were no deaths identified yesterday. Mets owner to see fruits of gift Recipients of scholarships will be honored today By TREVOR CALERO Daily StaffReporter After donating $5 million to the University last February for need-based scholarships, Univer- sityalums Judy and Fred Wilpon will soon get to meet the 15 stu- dents who will initially benefit from their gift. The Wilpons' donation, which created the first class of Irene and Morris B. Kessler Presiden- tial Scholars in honor of Judy's parents, was matched through University President Mary Sue Coleman's Donor Challenge, bringing the total to $10 million. According to the gift agree- ment for the Kessler Scholar- ship, first priority will be given to "undergraduates who experience an adverse change in their finan- cial circumstances after enroll- ment in the College of LSA." Tomorrow afternoon, the Kes- sler Scholars will be introduced at a receptionheldby LSA before a din- ner at the Presidential Residence. The Kessler Scholars program is expected to expand in the next few years to provide for more than 75 students, which would make it LSA's the largest scholar- ship program. Fred Wilpon, chairman and chief executive officer of the New York Mets and co-founder and chairman of the Board of Sterling Equities, said he wanted to give back to the University because he himself was a schol- arship recipient. Wilpon received a scholarship to play baseball at the University before a rotator cuff injury ended his athletic career. But due to the hard work of Ray Fisher, the Michigan baseball coach at the time, Wilpon was able to stay at the University by a scholarship made available to him. The scholarship fund was cre- ated to help students who "are very qualified academically" but who can't afford to attend the University, he said. "The main reason is to help preserving students who qualify for Michigan either to stay at Michigan or to attend," he said. "We wanted to help those stu- dents go to Michigan and have the Michigan experience, and use the tools they learn at Michigan to impact the world." Wilpon said he's excited to finally meet the students who benefit from his and his wife's scholarship fund. "This is something special," he said. "This is the bottom line of where you change lives and where people have an opportunity that they wouldn't otherwise have." In a press release from the Uni- versity, a student who was award- ed the scholarship was quoted saying, "Because this scholarship truly has made such a dramatic impact on the direction of my academic and professional life, I have been inspired through the Wilpons' generosity to make giv- ing back to students like myself a prime goal." In February 2007, the Uni- versity announced that Wilpon also donated $5 million to the University to build a sport injury prevention center, and another $4 million to the renovations of baseball and softball complex that now bears his name. APPHOTO Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Democratic vice president candidane Joe Biden respond to questions from moderator Gwen Ifill of PBS during the vice presidential debate last night in St. Louis. Veep candidates face off Underdog Palin stands ground against Biden in debate ST. LOUIS (AP) - Under intense scrutiny, Republican vice presiden- tial candidate Sarah Palin stood her ground last night against a vastly more experienced Joe Biden, debat- ing the economy, energy and global warming, then challenging him on Iraq, "especially with your son in the National Guard." The Alaska governor also noted that Biden had once said Demo- cratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wasn't ready to be commander in chief, "and I know again that you opposed the move that he made to try to cut off fund- ing for the troops and I respect you for that." Bidenrespondedthat JohnMcCa- in, too, had voted against funding, and said the Republican presidential candidate had been "dead wrong on the fundamental issues relating to the conduct of the war." The clash over Iraq was the most personal, and pointed, of the only vice presidential debate of the cam- paign, one in which Palin repeated- ly cast herself as a non-Washington politician and part of a "team of mavericks" ready to bring change to a country demanding it. "Maverick he is not onthe impor- tant, critical issues," Biden shot back, referring to McCain, And he said Obama was the true candidate of change. Palin, governor of her state for less thantwo years, faced enormous challenges as she walked onto the debate stage atWashington Univer- sity. After five weeks as McCain's ticket-mate, her poll ratings have begun dropping as even some con- servatives question her readiness for high public office. Her solo campaign events are few, and she has drawn ridicule for some of her answers in the few interviews she has granted --: including her claim that Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her an insight into foreign policy. From the opening moments of the debate, Democrat Biden sought to make McCain out as a straight- ahead successor to an unpopular President Bush. "He voted four out of five times for George Bush's bud- get, which put us ahalf-trillion dol- lars in debt and over $4 trillion in debt since he got here," Biden said of McCain. In return, Palin accused Biden of reciting the past rather than looking to the future. "Americans are cravin' that straight talk" that McCain offers, she said midway in the 90-minute debate. With one month until the elec- tion, polls show Obama with a small but perceptible lead, and Republican officials said earlier in the day that McCain had decided to pull out of Michigan, concedingthe state to the Democrats. At the same time, his own aides said the cam- paign may soon begin to advertise in Indiana - a state that has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1968. After intense preparation - including two days at McCain's home in Sedona, Ariz., Palin made only one obvious stumble, when she twice referred to the top U.S. com- mander in Afghanistan as "Gen. McClellan." His name is David McKiernan. As is her custom on the cam- paign trail; she spoke in familiar terms, saying "betcha" rather than "bet you" and "gonna" rather than "going to." She also spoke to the home folks. "Here's a shout-out" to third graders at Gladys Wood Elemen- tary School in Alaska. She said they would all receive extra credit for watchingthe debate. "Can I call you Joe?" she asked Biden as they shook hands before taking their places behind identical lecterns. Suicide bomber kills 24 in Shiite mosques BAGHDAD (AP) - Suicide bombers struck two Shiite mosques in Baghdad on yester- day, killing at least 24 people and wounding dozens during cel- ebrations marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. To the north, suspected Shi- ite militiamen gunned down six members of a Sunni family, including women and children, police reported. Those attacks occurred four days after a series of explosions killed 32 people and wounded nearly 100 in Shiite areas of Bagh- dad, raising fears that al-Qaida in Iraq is trying to provoke Sunni- Shiite reprisal killings now that the last of the American "surge" troops have left the country. In the deadliest attack, a suicide car bomber detonated his explo- sives about 20yards from a mosque in Zafaraniyah in southeastern' Baghdad. The blast killed 14 peo- ple, including three Iraqi soldiers, and wounded 28, police said. The death toll would likelier have been higher, but Iraqi sol- diers prevented the attacker from driving closer to the mosque, police said. "Pools of blood and the smell of burned flesh were everywhere and I sawaman ofabout70bleed- ing and lying on the ground," said Ammar Hashim, 25, whose brother was also wounded by broken glass in his shop. In the other attack in the capital, a suicide bomber who appeared to be in his late teens detonated his explosive belt as worshippers were leaving the Rasoul mosque in the eastern New Baghdad district. Ten people died and 24 were wounded, police and officials at al-Kindi and Ibn al-Nasif hos- pitals said. The dead included a guard who blocked the attack- er from entering the' mosque, police said. The Iraqi army said 17 people were killed in the two blasts. Let Cleary Help You Find the Career You've Been Looking For! 2008 Career, Fair II N LATE FRI-SAT 11lam412 521 E. Liberty (next to Michigan Theater) (734) 997-710 All job seekers are invited! Many employers attending. Livingston Campus workshops include The Job Search, 'Resume Writing, and Interviewing Techniques. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 4:00-7:00 PM Livingston Campus, Johnson Center 3750 Cleary Drive, Howell, Michigan 48843 Featuring Martin Yate, professional development counselor, motivational speaker and New York Times best-selling author of "Knock 'em Dead, The Ultimate Job Seeker's Guide." (Presentation will be video conferenced to Washtenaw Campus.) WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 4:00-7:00 PM Washtenaw Campus 3601 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105 No advance registration required for job seekers. Visit www.cleary.edu/career_services.html for more information and a list of attending employers. L CLEARY UNIVERSITY A Lifetime Investment... Immediate Returns 3750 Cleary Drive, Howell 3601 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor CU122-3