The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, January 26, 2009 -- 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
NEW YORK
Gillibrand promises
common ground
Senator-designate Kirsten Gilli-
brand pledged yesterday to combat
gunviolencewhile protectinghunt-
ers' rights, saying "there's enor-
mous space for common ground"
on issues that she differs from fel-
low New York Democrats.
Gillibrand met yesterday with
Gov. David Paterson, senior Sen.
Charles Schumer and Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham Clinton,
whose vacant Senate seat Gillibrand
was appointed to fill Friday.
Marissa Shorenstein, a spokes-
woman for Paterson, said the gov-
ernor's office delivered paperwork
in Washington yesterday formaliz-
ing Gillibrand's appointment to the
Senate.
Gillibrand, a second-term con-
gresswoman who worked on the
former first lady's 2000 Senate
campaign, said Clinton "has always
been a mentor of mine and someone
I've always admired."
Paterson appointed Gillibrand
after the presumed front-runner,
Caroline Kennedy, withdrew from
contention over personal reasons.
JERUSALEM
Israel defends
soldiers against war
crime charges
Special legal teams will defend
Israeli soldiers against potential
war crimes charges stemming from
civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip,
the prime minister said yesterday,
promising the country would fully
back those who fought in the three-
week offensive.
The move reflected growing con-
cerns by Israel that officers could
be subject to international prosecu-
tion, despite the army's claims that
Hamas militants caused the civil-
ian casualties by staging attacks
from residential areas.
"The state of Israel will fully
back those who acted on its behalf,"
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.
"The soldiers and commanders
who were sent on missions in Gaza
must know that they are safe from
various tribunals."
Speaking at the weekly Cabinet
meeting, Olmert said Israel's jus-
tice minister would lead a team of
senior officials to coordinate the
legal defense of anyone involved in
the offensive.
"That decision is not going to
prevent all these organizations and
countries to pursue their efforts
through legal means," Palestinian
Foreign Minister Riad Malki said
at talks with European Union for-
eign ministers in Brussels.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.
Blagojevich refuses
participation in
impeachment trial
If there's such a thing as a "nor-
mal" impeachment trial, the one
that starts today in Illinois doesn't
qualify.
The defendant, Gov. Rod
Blagojevich, won't participate.
He'll be talking to Whoopi Gold-
berg and Larry King instead of
facing the state Senate. And while
the Democrat acknowledges his
conviction is certain, he refuses to
Presign.
Blagojevich (pronounced blah-
GOY'-uh-vich) complains that the
trial rules are unfair, but he and
his lawyers didn't try to influence
the rules as they were written or
afterward.
After weeks of near-silence,
Blagojevich has begun an ener-
getic public relations campaign,
comparing himself to the hero of a
Frank Capra movie and a cowboy
being lynched for a crime he didn't
commit.
SAGINAW, Mich.
Saginaw gunfire
detection system
to debut soon
Saginaw's police chief says crews
plan to install a gunfire detection
system within 90 days.
Chief Gerald H. Cliff tells The
Saginaw News that engineers have
been working on the project in Sag-
inaw for about two weeks.
The city received a U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice grant of about
$280,000 to buy the system from
Mountain View, Calif.-based
ShotSpotter Inc.
The system determines the time
and origin of gunshot-like sounds
using microphones on structures
or telephone poles.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Ayers to discuss
his anti-war past
President Barack Obama speaks to reporters during a meeting about the economy Friday with Congressional leaders,
including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi of California.
Democrats war'n: stimulus
not a quick economic fix
Two-thirds of
$825B package to
go to new spending
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
White House warned yesterday
that the country could face a long
and painful financial recovery,
even with major government inter-
vention to stimulate the economy
and save financial institutions.
"We're off and running, but it's
going to get worse before it gets
better," said Vice President Joe
Biden, taking the lead on a theme
echoed by other Democratic offi-
cials on the Sunday talk shows.
At the end of the Obama admin-
istration's first week, the party
G.G. BROWN
From Page 1A
ect was $3.1 million, funded by the
College of Engineering.
Munson said the current proj-
ect would benefit both students
and faculty, with not only new
research facilities but also new
educational tools, including the
construction of new classrooms.
"We're certainly looking at
transforming at least a part of the
G.G. Brown building," Munson
said. "New classrooms that are far
more student friendly. It's not all
about the research side. We also
want to make a building that's at-
tractive for students, including
more space for team projects."
In the capital outlay project pro-
cess, which has been in place for
several decades, state universities
in Michigan can submit proposals
to the state each year to get fund-
ing for major educational projects,
said Cynthia Wilbanks, vice presi-
dent for government relations.
Wilbanks said that in the past,
it was required that the university
submitting the request provides
25 percent of the funding for the
project, with the state funding the
in power at both ends of Penn-
sylvania Avenue sought to lower
expectations for a quick fix despite
legislation expected to pass by next
month that would pump billions of
dollars into the economy. Demo-
crats also opened the door for even
more government aid to struggling
banks beyond the $700 billion bail-
out already in the pipeline.
Congress has given President
Barack Obama permission to
spend the second $350 billion of a
Wall Street bailout package even
though lawmakers have criticized
the Bush administration for the
way it spent the first half. House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
said she is open to additional gov-
ernment rescue money for banks
and financial institutions. But she
other 75 percent. But given the
current economic downturn, pro-
portions for project funding have
changed.
"In more recent years, because
of the constrained budget environ-
ment, those rates have been differ-
ent," Wilbanks said. -Therr'a a lit-
tle more flexibility and negotiation
of what the support might be."
Wilbarakssaidthe Universitysub-
raits a top proposai for a construc-
tion or renovation project as part of
the capital outlay request each year.
The state then decides which proj-
ects it can fund and which projects
will be placed on a list for possible
funding at a later time.
The G.G. Brown renovation and
addition proposal was submitted
to the state as part of the Univer-
sity's capital outlay request for
the 2009 fiscal year. The cost of
the project was then estimated at
$133 million dollars but was not
approved by the state.
Wilbanks said there have been
a number of smaller renovation
projects to the University's edu-
cational and research facilities in
the past decade, including Mason
and Angell Halls, which have been
funded through the capital outlay
program. But the University has
said taxpayers must get an own-
ership stake in return.
Biden said Obama's choice for
Treasury secretary, Timothy Gei-
thner, will recommend whether
more money is needed for the
banks. Geithner could be con-
firmed by the Senate as early as
today.
Congress is working on an $825
billion economic recovery package
that dedicates about two-thirds to
new government spending and the
rest to tax cuts. Separate propos-
als making their way through the
House and Senate would combine
tax cuts for individuals and busi-
nesses, help for cash-strapped state
governments, aid for the poor and
unemployed, and direct spending
by the federal government.
not received "major capital outlay
support" for over a decade.
"According to the state's budget
office, we are an old campus," Wil-
banks said. "In part, we've been
able to maintain that long and
usefaul life because we've received
fn ( , :r_1r1 he state
From Page 1A
campaign, Ayers became the sub-
ject of much political attention as
Republicans tried to make the case
that President Barack Obama's con-
nection to Ayers, which involved
them serving on an education board
together, made him a poor choice
for president. In early October, Re-
publican vice presidential-nominee
Sarah Palin said, "Our opponent
though, is someone who sees Amer-
ica it seems as being so imperfect
that he's palling around with ter-
rorists who would target their own
country?"- an indirect reference
to Ayers's time as a leader of the
Weather Underground.
Tom Hallock, associate publisher
and director of marketing, sales and
subsidiary rights for Beacon Press,
said he expects Ayers to talk about
his book, his role in last year's presi-
dential campaign and the recent
events in national politics.
"The right wing launched a
multi-million dollar campaign, so
Bill was kind of unwillingly thrust
into the 2008 campaign," Hallock
said. "That's what gave us all the
publicity for the new paperback
edition."
"He will talk about the book,
what it's like to be manipulated by
the right in that way," Hallock add-
ed. "He and his audience will want
to talk about the current shift in
American politics and progressive
approaches to politics under the
Obama administration."
Melissa Levine, University Li-
brary exhibits and outreach librar-
ian, said the events of the 2008
presidential election echoed the
political affairs of 1968, a time in
which Ayers was at the forefront of
social and political activism.
"Ayers had a significant role in
national events in 1968 and again
in 2008," Levine said. "It's im-
portant for students today to re-
alize how the recent presidential
election is proximately related to,
events in 1968."
Levine said despite Ayers's con-
troversial history as a member of
Students for a Democratic Society
and the Weather Underground, his
upcomig rt c is an educational
event in which students will get a
glimpse into a divisive time in the
nation's past.
"What makes Ayers controver-
sial today is the violence associated
with his viewpoint," Levine said.
"It is worthwhile for us to hear di-
rectly from the source - from Ayers
himself - what it was he was doing
in the '60s and early '70s, why he
adopted the militant position that
he did and how he regards those
positions and actions a generation
later.'
Many people on campus, includ-
ing students and faculty, support
Ayers's right to speak at the Univer-
sity.
"We completely support his free-
dom to speak on this campus," said
Nathaniel Eli Coats Styer, chair of
the University's chapter of College
Democrats. "He's a notable figure in
history."
Others on campus, including
Brady Smith, chair of the Universi-
ty's chapter of College Republicans,
disagreed with Ayers' upcoming
presentation.
"Shaman Drum is certainly en-
titled to invite him to speak," Smith
said. "I think what's more troubling
is the University's willingness to
collaborate on it."
Smith said that Ayers's history
as a "violent activist" makes him a
questionable figure to address the
University.
"What's very disappointing to
me is that the University would
invite someone who's unrepentant
for his violent actions against the
U.S., to use its space to promote his
demagography and his violence and
illegal course of action," said Smith,
who compared Ayers's speech to
Columbia University inviting Irani-
an President Mahmoud Ahmadine-
jad to speak in 2007.
Vincent Hutchings, associate
professor of political science, said
he believes Ayers is trying to restore
his public persona and defend his
point of view by addressing mem-
bers of the University community.
"The effort of the speaking tour
is to rehabilitate his image because
of the negative comments that were
expressed about him during the
presidential campaign," Hutchings
said. "He's seeking ultimately to tell
his side of the story."
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
WHAT DO
tHODES/MARSHALL/MITCHELL
SCHOLARS
DO AFTER THEIR STUDIES
Well, this guy became
'.president.
What will you do?
Anything you want.
You've written your own game
plan so far in life. Why not take
it one step further and become
a Rhodes, Marshall, or Mitchell
Scholar?
the United States of America, 1992-2000
Come to a Rhodes/Marshall/Mitchell Orientation Session:
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 . 5:00-6:00pm
Koessler Room, Michigan League
Thursday, January 29, 2009 . 5:00-6:00pm
Pierpont Commons Center Room
Thursday, February 5, 2009 . 5:00-6:00pm
Kuenzel Room, Michigan Union
To learn more, please contact the Provost's Council on Student Honors at
734-763-8123 or visit the website at
www.provost.umich.edu/scholars/