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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 - 3A
w s Wednesday, October 8, 2008 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
McCain, Obama
clash on cause,
cure for econ crisis
Barack Obama and John
McCain clashed repeatedly over
the causes and cures for the
worst economic crisis in 80 years
yesterday night in a debate in
which Republican McCain called
for sweeping action by the gov-
ernment to directly shield many
homeowners from mortgage fore-
closure.
"It's my proposal. It's not Sen.
Obama's proposal, it's not Presi-
dent Bush's proposal," McCain
said in the debate that he hoped
could revive his fortunes in a
presidential race trending toward
his rival.
In one pointed confrontation
on foreign policy, Obama bluntly
challenged McCain's steadiness.
"This is a guy who sang bomb,
bomb, bomb Iran, who called for
the annihilation of North Korea -
that I don't think is an example of
speaking softly."
That came after McCain
accused him of foolishly threat-
ening to invade Pakistan and
said, "I'm not going to telegraph
my punches, which is what Sen.
Obama did."
The debate was the second of
three between the two major party
rivals, and the only one to feature
a format in which voters seated a
few feet away posed questions to
the candidates.
DETROIT
UAW to launch
$3M ad campaign
against McCain
United Auto Workers President
Ron Gettelfinger said yesterday
that the union was launching an
advertising campaign attacking
Republican presidential candidate
John McCain in "strategically
placed" states.
Gettelfinger said the $3 million
television, radio and Internet ad
campaign began Tuesday in four
industrial states: Michigan, Indi-
ana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. They
feature UAW members and offer
a message that working families
can't afford McCain.
Gettelfinger, who played the
TV ads for reporters yesterday
at UAW headquarters in Detroit,
said they feature "workers talking
to workers about issues" that con-
cern them, such as health care and
policies that have cost millions of
U.S. manufacturing jobs.
WASHINGTON
AIG's role in market
crisis probed
Less than a week after the fed-
eral government had to bail out
American International Group
Inc., the company sent execu-
tives on a $440,000 retreat to a
posh California resort, lawmakers
investigating the company's melt-
down said yesterday.
The tab included $23,380
worth of spa treatments for
AIG employees at the coastal St.
Regis resort south of Los Ange-
les even as the company tapped
into an $85 billion loan from the
government it needed to stave off
bankruptcy.
BANGKOK, Thailand
Thai police fire tear
gas against crowd;
118 hurt
Thai riot police clashed yester-
day with thousands of protesters
who barricaded Parliament and
vowed to block the government
from exiting the building. A depu-
ty prime minister resigned to take
responsibility for the chaos.
More than 100 people were
wounded, including two protest-
ers who had parts of their legs
blown off by what police said were
exploding tear gas canisters.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
4178
Number of American service
members who have died in the
war in Iraq, according to The
Associated Press. There were no
deaths identified yesterday.
Consultant calls for holistic
approach to sustainability
MSA discusses voting
procedures for students
By ELAINE LAFAY
Daily StaffReporter
When Carol Sanford, abusiness
consultant, declaredthat"sustain-
ability is a problem," more than a
few people raised their eyebrows
at the Erb Institute's speaker
series yesterday night.
"It's actually making things
worse," she said with a grin. "Any-
body mad, yet?"
Sanford spoke to a group of
about 30 Rackham and Business
School students, saying the prob-
lem with businesses going green
isn't in the idea, but in the imple-
mentation. She said businesses
approach sustainability piece-by-
piece rather than stepping back
and looking at the problems as a
whole, taking traditional business
practices into account.
"Finding out what that essence
is allows you to be creative and
STEM CELLS
From Page 1A
the potential benefits of embry-
onic stem cell research, but avoids
takinga stance on the ballot ques-
tion - even though he has been a
staunch supporter of the measure
when he's off the clock.
Morrison is a member of the
board of Michigan Citizens for
Stem Cell Research and Cures.
Although the group is not a part
of Cure Michigan - the ballot ini-
tiative campaign - the group has
donated $70,000 to the effort.
other people with close ties to
the University have shown strong
support for the ballot initiative,
which is labeled Proposal 2. Ken-
nethColeman,husbandofUniver-
sity President Mary Sue Coleman,
has donated $5,000. Theirsonand
daughter in law have also made
contributions of $5,000 each.
Cure Michigan's leading donor
is a trust controlled by A. Alfred
Taubman-the namesake of the
regenerative in a way you can never
be if you'retrying to figure out how
to be competitive," she said.
She said it takes years of look-
ing for the "essence of a place" to
understand the effects a business
will have on its environment.
Sanford said human minds are
trained to "work in pieces" from
birth, taking problems individu-
ally one after the other. But with
sustainability, she said, problems
are so interconnected that they
have to be assessed by using a
common thread.
"We spend a lot of time devel-
oping the capacity to see your-
self, see your effects, to see what
you're producing, to see the effect
you're having on the communities
around you."
She cited Loreto Bay, Mexico, a
struggling city on the coast of the
SeaofCortez,asanexample.When
local businesses began dying, it
Taubman College of Architec-
ture and Urban Planning - that
has contributed $1,065,000 to the
campaign. Regent Olivia May-
nard (D-Goodrich) also donated
$1,000. Regent S. Martin Taylor
(D-Grosse Pointe Farms)is a Cure
Michigan board member.
The University has also played
host to a number of events about
the benefits that could come from
embryonic stem cellresearch. The
most recent of those, sponsored
by the A. Alfred Taubman Medi-
cal Research Institute, was held
Tuesday. Another, called "The
Promise of Embryonic Stem Cell
Research" was held last month.
The University used a similar
approach when another Proposal
2 was on the ballot in 2006. That
measure prohibited the Univer-
sity form using race- and gender-
based affirmative action in hiring
and admissions. Many University
officials opposed that initiative.
In 2006, Mary Sue Coleman and
Kenneth Coleman each donated
$5,500 to One United Michigan, a
took a developer's realization that
the nearby sea houses some of the
oldest turtles in the world and
that the city's fauna could be used
to promote eco-tourism and new
industry for the city.
Rackham student Arthur Peter-
son,whohelped organizethe event,
said he thought Sanford brought an
exciting new perspective to green
businesses and management.
"It's looking not just at indi-
vidual issues, but at the larger pic-
ture," he said. "It's good to have
someone that keeps pushing us in
that direction."
Other students, like Rackham
student Sara Shapiro, criticized
the lecture, calling Sanford's
approach "oversimplified."
"For a small company, this
could work. But a large company?
I don't see it," she said. "Ideally,
it's amazing. I just don't know
how practical it is."
group that campaigned againstthe
affirmative action ban. Maynard,
admissions director Ted Spencer
and other high-level administra-
tors also gave large contributions
to the effort to fight the proposal.
But the University could only
provide "educational" informa-
tion about the effects of a ban. At
a diversity summit a month before
the 2006 election, Coleman gave a'
speech in which she outlined the
harmful effects passage of the ban
would have on diversity at the Uni-
versity of Michigan. But she avoid-
ed explicitly telling people how
they should vote on Proposal 2.
Cynthia Wilbanks, the Univer-
sity's vice president for govern-
ment relations, said parallels can
be drawn between the outreach
efforts.
"In both cases our principle
goal was to educate on the topic
that was being presented for the
public to consider one way or
the other," she said. "Fundamen-
tally it's the same, It is education
around an issue."
Assembly also
discussed divisive
601 Forest project
By MATT AARONSON
Daily Staff Reporter
With less than a month until
Election Day, the guest speaker
at last night's Michigan Student
Assembly meeting was Andrew
Selbst, a Law School student repre-
senting the National Campaign for
Fair Elections. He explained some
commonly misunderstood details
of voting procedures.
Selbst said students who have
previously voted in a presidential
election in Ann Arbor or those
registered to vote in person at the
office of the Board of Elections or
Department of Motor Vehicles,
only need a photo ID at the polls.
Accepted forms include a driver's
license, an MCard or a state-issued
ID card.
He also said that even without
a photo ID, a voter has the option
to sign an affidavit swearing that
they are who they say they are and
vote normally.
For students who registered by
mail or with someone on the street,
Selbst said, "it gets a little trickier."
These students will also need to
prove residency at the address for
which they have registered. Selbst
recommended using a voter regis-
tration card, driver's license, bank
statement or utility bill, as long as
it displays the student's current
Ann Arbor address.
Selbst warned against wearing
or carrying materials promoting
any candidate within 100 feet of
the polling location. Officials will
ask voters to remove such articles
before entering.
"No McCain T-shirts, Obama
stickers. No mentioning of Sarah
Palin on SNL," he said.
The National Campaign for Fair
Elections has a hotline for vot-
ers who encounter problems on or
before Election Day. The number
for the hotline is 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
MSA members also touched on a
controversial proposed apartment
complex during last night's meet-
ing.
MSA Vice President Arvind
Sohoni and Student General Coun-
sel Michael Benson introduced a
new resolution proposal regarding
the planned construction of the
complex, planned for the corner of
South Forest Street and South Uni-
versity Avenue.
The move is in response to the
developer's submission of a scaled-
down proposal to the Ann Arbor
City Council Monday.
If approved by the Assembly
next Tuesday, the resolution would
express MSA's approval of the new
plans. Last Tuesday, the Assembly
was scheduled to vote on a resolu-
tion condemning the construction
but because of the Jewish holiday
Rosh Hashanah, MSA did nothave
the necessary number of members
present to hold a vote.
Sohoni said he changed his posi-
tion on the construction because
of the developers' compromise to
scale the building down from 25
stories to 14 and to build on only
half of the purchased property.
"I think that the City Council
and the developer handled this
really well," he said. "It alleviates
a lot of our concerns, making it
smaller and more compact."
- Stephanie Berliant
contributed to this report.
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MARIJUANA
From Page 1A
approvedbythe MichiganDepart-
ment of Community Health.
Patients would be allowed to
possess two and a half ounces of
usable marijuana and 12 marijua-
na plants.
Each patient would first have
to obtain their doctor's approval,
register with the Department of
Community Health and be issued
an identification card to prove
their eligibility for the program.
Those opposed to the proposal,
including Michigan Gov. Jennifer
Granholm,aDemocrat,andRepub-
lican Attorney General Mike Cox
argue that it fails to deliver a clear
way for patients to obtain marijua-
na and would also increase crime
rates. Supporters dispute those
points, saying it will give the state's
illest citizens protection from the
threat of arrest, prosecution and
jail ifcthey use medical marijuana.
Dianne Byrum, a spokeswoman
for the Coalition for Compassion-
ate Care, said that there is a "grow-
ing body of medical evidence" that
indicates that there is "medical
value in marijuana for treatment
of some diseases and illnesses."
Recent polls have shown sup-
port for the proposal. A Detroit
Free Press-Local 4 poll, conduct-
ed last month, found Michigan
voters favored the measure by a
66- to 25-percent margin, with
9 percent undecided. A Detroit
News-WXYZ Action News poll,
also taken last month, found 59
percent of voters support the pro-
posal, with 37 percent opposed to
it and 4 percent undecided.
After the proposalwentunchal-
lenged for more than a year, a
coalition of medical, law-enforce-
ment and anti-drug organiza-
tions called Citizens Protecting
Michigan Kids formed last week.
It's headed by Michigan Court of
Appeals Judge Bill Schuette.
"Proposal lisso loosely crafted
and so loosely written, the unin-
tended consequences of passage
SOLAR CAR
From Page lA
we can get our car done early and
test it a lot before the race," Hecht-
man said.
The team is now designing
the Infiniuum for the upcom-
ing race in Australia. Durbin said
the team is trying to find ways to
improve the power losses of the
previous car. Continuum, the last
car, could charge while driving if
it stayed under 50 miles per hour.
The car could go a maximum of 87
miles per hour, but going that fast
of Proposals are so grave, thatcthe
only vote for the citizens of Mich-
igan in November is no,"Schuette
said yesterday in an interview.
The group also includes sev-
eral medical and law enforcement
organizations such as the Michigan
StateMedicalSociety,theProsecut-
ing Attorneys Association and the
Michigan Sheriff's Association.
Byrum said medical mari-
juana laws in other states have
not interfered with the ability of
police officers to do their jobs.
"In other states (medical mari-
juana laws) have been imple-
mented without fanfare, the sky
has not fallen in and they have not
been problematic in terms of law
enforcement being able to carry
out and enforce the drug laws of
those particular states," she said.
In Michigan, five cities, includ-
ing Ann Arbor, have passed medi-
cal marijuana laws. The others
are Detroit, Ferndale, Flint and
Traverse City.
One of the major points of con-
tention is just how patients would
obtain marijuana in Michigan.
The law allows patients to grow it
themselves, but patients who don't
want to grow it, would have to
find a "caregiver" - someone over
21 without a felony conviction to
grow the marijuana for them.
The proposal contains no pro-
visions that allow patients to pur-
chase marijuana.
"How they would obtain their
marijuana is silent in this law
because the reality is they are
obtaining it now," Byrum said.
She said behind-the-counter
pharmaceutical options would
not be viable "because of federal,
political regulatory issues."
California, the first state to
legalize medical marijuana, has
seen a proliferation of"pot shops,"
where patients can purchase
marijuana. But lately these co-
ops have seen violence and crime.
Last week, a security guard at a
Los Angeles pot clinic was shot
dead in an attempted robbery.
"There's nothing in this statute
that would restrict, nothing that
drained the battery too much, he
said.
Hechtman said the designs for
the next car will draw from past
innovations and will also add new
features.
"I hope for new inventions and
developments (and) to have the
most technologically advanced
car," he said.
New to last year's design was
a student-designed concentra-
tion system in which a camera
followed the brightest part of the
sun and would adjust a panel of
mirrors accordingly. The mirrors
concentrated the sun's energy to
would prohibit and nothing that
would prevent these pot shops and
pot clubs and smoking co-ops that
have erupted in California from
comingtoMichigan,"Schuettesaid.
Byrum called Michigan's law
"significantly" different from
California's law.
"You cannot compare the two
because California does not have
the safeguards that the Michigan
law puts in place," she said.
While public opinion may cur-
rently be in favor of it, some of
Michigan's most prominent poli-
ticians have voiced their opposi-
tion to the proposal.
Most prominent among them
has been Granholm, who has
repeatedly said she's against of
the proposed law because, she
argues, it leaves the door open to
the legalization of marijuana.
Matt Frendewey, a spokesman
for Cox, said the attorney general
opposes Proposal 1 because there
are "other forms of medication on
the market right now" that are
"available and legal in Michigan."
Oakland County Sheriff
Michael Bouchard, an outspo-
ken opponent of the proposal,
called the proposed law "a nose
under the tent to legalize a drug."
He said the proposal could also
increase crime rates.
LSA junior Chris Chiles, execu-
tive director of the University
chapter of Students for Sensible
Drug Policy, said that argument
wascontradictorytothe reasonhe
supports the drug policy reform.
"One of the main reasons I
am for ending the drug war is to
reduce the crime that is associ-
ated with the black market," said
Chiles, who supports the propos-
al. "If anything, it could decrease
because there is less involvement
in the black market"
Although SSDPhasnotyettaken
a side on the issue, Chiles said he
expects the group to endorse the
proposal at its next meeting.
Both the editorial boards of the
Detroit News and Detroit Free
Press, which are often at odds,
have endorsed the proposal.
help power the car. The invention
is patent pending, Durbin said.
The team will face a disadvan-
tage heading into the World race
in Australia, which allowsapro and
semi-pro clubs. Hechtman said all
members of the University's solar
car team take classes, givingthem
less time to work on the car. To
make up for it, he said, the team
works 12 to 16 hours a day, seven
days a week, during the summer.
While the University's solar
car team has snagged first place
in the North American race five
times now, itchas yet to place high-
er than third in the world race.
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