The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com

Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - 3

* The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, October14, 2008 - 3

NEWS BRIEFS
* NEWYORK
Markets soar as
government
pledges bank aid
Wall Street stormed back from
last week's devastating losses yes-
terday, sending the Dow Jones
industrials soaring a nearly incon-
ceivable 936 points after major
governments' plans to support the
global banking system reassured
distraught investors. All the major
indexes rose more than 11 percent.
The market was expected to
rebound after eight days of pre-
cipitous losses that took the Dow
down nearly 2,400 points, but few
expected this kind of advance,
which saw the Dow by far outstrip
its previous record one-day point
gain, 499.19, set during the wan-
ing days of the dot-com boom. The
Standard & Poor's 500 index also
set a record for a one-day point
gains.
There were cheers and applause
on the floor of the New York Stock
Exchange at the closing bell, and
trading was so active that prices
were still being computed several
minutes after the closing bell, lon-
ger than it would take on a quieter
day.
DETROIT
GM to close
stamping plant
near Grand Rapids
General Motors Corp.'s efforts
to hoard cash and outlast a pro-
longed economic slump claimed
the jobs of more than 2,700 work-
ers yesterday as the automaker an-
nounced the demise of factories in
Michigan and Wisconsin.
GM said it would shutter a met-
al stamping factory in the Grand
Rapids suburb of Wyoming by the
end of next year, and it also sped
up the closure of its Janesville,
Wis., sport utility vehicle plant,
with most of that facility shutter-
ing Dec.23.
"I am sick about what's hap-
pened here," said Greg Golem-
biewski, president of the Unit-
ed Auto Workers local at the
Wyoming factory, who thought
the plant was safe because of its
safety and productivity awards.
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA.
McCain offers
tougher criticism of
Bush economics
Republican John McCain deliv-
ered his toughest criticism so
far of President Bush's economic
policies as he unveiled a new cam-
paign stump speech that promised
an energetic fight to reverse his
slide in the polls.
The presidential hopeful also
was set to unveil new economic
proposals of his own today aimed
at helping middle-class taxpay-
ers weather the effects of the U.S.
financial meltdown.
"Tomorrow, John McCain

-will address the ongoing finan-
cial and economic crisis, with a
special emphasis on those most
badly hurt: workers, homeown-
ers, savers and seniors," campaign
spokesman Tucker Bounds said.
LOS ANGELES
* Wildfires force
frantic evacuations
near LA, 2 die
Two huge wildfires driven by
strong Santa Ana winds burned
into neighborhoods near Los
Angeles yesterday, forcing frantic
evacuations on smoke- and traf-
fic-choked highways, destroying
homes and causing at least two
deaths.
Around sunset, residents were
warned to stay on alert during
the night and winds more than 60
mph were forecast.
More than 1,000 firefighters
and nine water-dropping aircraft
battled the 4,700-acre Marek Fire
at the northeast end of the San
Fernando Valley, and the 5,000-
acre Sesnon Fire at the west end.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
U.S. DEATHS
Number of American service
members who have died in the
war in Iraq, according to The
Associated Press. There were no
deaths identified yesterday.

VOTING
From Page 1
office, which handles elections.
Murphy said officials must
go back as far as Jan. 1, 2006
to remove "rejected" markings
from registrations tied to unde-
liverable voter cards, unless
there was another legitimate
reason for spiking them.
Given the unprecedented
amount of resources Barack
Obama's campaign poured into
voter registration efforts, the
decision will likely help the Dem-
ocratic presidential nominee.
The University's chapter of
College Democrats registered
about 4,000 new voters on cam-
pus before the Oct. 6 deadline.
While the total number of
registered voters in Ann Arbor
hasn't been determined, Ann
Arbor City Clerk Jacqueline
Beaudry said in an interview
last month that she expects the
number of registered voters in
Ann Arbor to be much higher
than in previous election cycles.
Nathaniel Eli Coats Styer,
chair of the University's chap-
ter of College Democrats, said
the decision would help Obama
win the state's 17 electoral votes
because it will keep newly regis-
STEM CELLS
From Page 1
was expressing her personal
opinion and not an official Uni-
versity position, said she is "very
much in favor of Proposal 2"
because she believes "passion-
ately in the promise of embry-
onic stem cells." She called the
proposal both "pro-life" and
"life-affirming," adding that all
the research would be "carefully
regulated" and "highly ethical."
"What we're talking about is
giving people the opportunity
to donate unused embryos that
are going to be destroyed any-
way, so it's not that ... something
else would happen to these that
would create life," she said. "To
me, that's a very, very important
distinction."
She said the proposal could
make the state and University
less competitive because 46 other
states allow the type of stem cell
research included in Prop. 2.
"I think it's going to be a huge
economic disadvantage for us
if our scientists' hands are tied
or if new companies couldn't
develop," she said. "All people in
life sciences believe that stem cell
research from embryonic all the
way through adult, in its every
facet, is going to be one of the
great stories of the 21st century."
Coleman, who spent 19 years
as a member of thebiochemistry
faculty at the University of Ken-
tucky, compared the possibility
of advances in embryonic stem
cell research in the next century
to the medical advancements
reached from breakthroughs in
recombinant DNA in the last cen-
tury. She galled those "the great
story of the 20th century."
Recombinant DNA is the pro-
cess by which two or more differ-
ent strands of DNA are combined
to create a new strand of DNA.
Scientists have used this process
to amplify or isolate certain genes
to create new vaccines or new
treatments for various diseases.

"It happened all in my life-
time - it was a miracle," she
said. "And there will be the same
kind of miracles (with stem cell
research) and we can't envision
them today. That's why this is so
important."
Coleman's husband, Kenneth,
has donated $5,000 to Cure
Michigan, an organization that
supports Prop. 2. Their son and
daughter-in-law have also made
contributions of $5,000 each.
In Monday's interview, Cole-
man said she had personally
donated in support of Prop. 2, but
a review of several online donor
databases, including the Secre-
tary of State's website for cam-
paign finance disclosures, did not
show her in the donor rolls.
UniversityspokeswomanKelly
Cunningham said, "We should
take her at her word for it," when
asked about Coleman's absence
from the donor rolls last night.
Coleman said she doesn't usually
endorse candidates or proposals,
but considered the stem cell pro-
posal a particularly important
issue. She said the ballot initia-
tive transcends partisan politics.
"I work across the political
spectrum and in fact the stem cell
issue isn't a partisan issue," she
said, citingthe fact that both pres-
idential candidates support stem
cell research. "You know, for me,
this'isn't about partisanship, this
is about being able to do the best
science with the best tools."
Leading up to the vote in
November, the University would
continue an ongoing educational
effort so voters can "understand
what embryonic stem cell is and
what it isn't," Coleman said.

tered voters - many of who are
students who support Obama -
on the voter rolls.
"This is huge for students,"
Styer said. "It strikes down any
Republican attempt to purge the
voter rolls. Both of these things
are things that impact students
and low-income families."
Styer said he's received
reports from representatives of
Barack Obama's campaign that a
large number of new Ann Arbor
registrants were taken off the
voter list after their voter idm-
tification cards were returned as
undeliverable.
Styer said that there are many
reasons a voter identification
card returned from a residence
hall address as undeliverable.
If a person's room number isn't
included on the card, Styer said
the front desk clerk might have
it returned to the post office.
Brady Smith, chair of the
University's chapter of College
Republicans said he thought
the decision means more people
could fraudulently cast ballots.
"It's a complex problem," Smith
said. "It looks like you really elim-
inated one of the best ways we
have of identifying multiple votes
and really voter fraud."

E-MAIL -
From Page 1
and September.
RoundCube is an open source,
meaningthat itis the coding is pub-
licly available at no cost. Universi-
ties, in particular, are interested in
using open source because it is less
expensive and open to customiza-
tion, Levy said.
Levy said ITCS has received
about 200 e-mails with feedback
from University students and staff,
most of them positive.
"Users will see over time some
continuing enhancements that
will make the interface even more
functional," Levy said.
Most said Maize had an edge on
the Blue system.
LSA junior Sarah Barjum, who
uses the new system as her pri-
mary e-mail, said, "There are still
some flaws that it has, but it's bet-
ter than the old one."
Some students said they liked
the client's new appearance.
"It does look a lot better," LSA
freshman Travis Washington said.
"It's way more improved."
Levy said ITCS encourages
feedback on the new Maize sys-
tem. Any suggestions or comments
for ITCS regardingthe newsystem
can be sent to webmail.umich.edu.

DEBATE
From Page 1
byPresidentBushjusttwoweeks ago,
we hadno, absolutelynolawsinplace
that prevented anybody from taking
large amounts of water, withdraw-
ing it fromthe greatlakes and using it
for their own purpose," Warren said.
"Now we -have in place a standard
that protects Michigan's Great Lakes
fromwaterwithdrawals."
In addition -to the 53rd District
State House race, CitiTV 19 also
broadcasted the 52nd District race
between Republican candidate Eric
Lielbriedis, Libertarian John Boyle
and registered write-in candidate

Tom Partridge. Incumbent Pam
Byrnes (D-Chelsea) wasn't present
for the debate. Byrnes has held public
office since 2004.
Washtenaw County Sheriff Can-
didates Jerry Clayton (Democrat)
and Dwayne Taylor (Republican),
and 15th District Court Judge Can-
didates Christopher Easthope and
Eric Gutenberg debated after both
District State House debates.
The series continues tomor-
row with debates between Ann
Arbor Mayoral Candidates Mayor
John Hieftje (Democrat) and LSA
Junior Eric Plourde (Libertarian),
and City Council Ward 5 Candi-
dates John Floyd (Republican) and
Carsten Hohnke (Democrat).

nw-u,

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