The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, February 9, 2009 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
CONCORD, N.H.
*Recession sending
more students to
community colleges
College freshman Elizabeth
Hebert's choice of a four-year
school suddenly got too expensive.
George Haseltine already has a
business degree, but he concluded
after several layoffs that he needed
more training to get work.
So, in the middle of this school
year, both landed at New Hamp-
shire Technical Institute, which
like other community colleges
across the country has suddenly
grown a lot more crowded.
Thetwo-year schools are report-
ing unprecedented enrollment
increases this semester, driven by
students from traditional colleges
seeking more bang for their buck
and by laid-off older workers.
But community colleges aren't
exactlycheeringinthis down econ-
omy: Tuition doesn't come close to
covering costs, and the state funds
used to make up the difference are
dryingup.
Final figures aren't in for this
semester, but a national group rep-
resenting community colleges says
the average increase from spring-
to-spring is dramatic, and similar
to what New Hampshire is report-
ing at its seven schools - a range of
4 percent to 19 percent.
CHICAGO
Drugmakers spend
millions to boost
"murky" illness
Two drugmakers spent hun-
dreds of millions of dollars last
year to raise awareness of a murky
illness, helping boost sales of pills
recently approved as treatments
and drowning out unresolved ques-
tions - including whether it's a real
disease at all.
Key components of the indus-
try-funded buzz over the pain-
and-fatigue ailment fibromyalgia
are grants - more than $6 million
donated by drugmakers Eli Lilly
and Pfizer in the first three quar-
ters of 2008 - to nonprofit groups
for medical conferences and edu-
cational campaigns, an Associated
Press analysis found.
That's more than they gave for
more accepted ailments such as
diabetes aF- lsheimer'sA-ong0
grants tied to specific diseases,
fibromyalgia ranked third for each
company, behind only cancer and
AIDS, for Pfizer and cancer and
depression for Lilly.
Fibromyalga draws skepticism
for several reasons. The cause is
unknown. There are no tests to con-
firm a diagnosis. Many patients also
fit the criteria for chronic fatigue
syndrome and other pain ailments.
SAN'A, Yemen
Yemen releases 170
al-Qaida suspects
Yemen released 170 men it had
arrested on suspicion of having ties
to al-Qaida, security officials said
yesterday, two weeks after the ter-
ror group announced that Yemen
had become the base of its activities
for the whole Arabian peninsula.
The announcement also comes
as government forces say they are
poised to sweep through the noi-th-
ern city of Marib to combat an
entrenched al-Qaida presence that
includes both Yemenis and Saudis.
The officials who announced
the release spoke on condition of
anonymity because they are not
allowed to speak to the press.
The men were freed Friday and
Saturday after signing pledges not
to engage in terrorism - a strat-
egy the Yemeni government has
often used with those suspected of
fighting in militant causes abroad.
HEALESVILLE, Australia
Australia's worst
fire disaster kills 76
Police say the death toll from
wildfires in Australia has risen to
76, making it the country's worst
fire disaster.
Authorities said the toll would
climb further as they reached fur-
ther into a huge zone of southern
Victoria state that was devastated
by scores of blazes during intense
heat and strong winds on Satur-
day.
Officials said they had gon-
firmed some 700 homes had been
destroyed in the fires that in some
cases have razed entire towns.
Victoria police spokeswoman
Rebecca Fraser said the latest
death toll is 76.
- Compiled from
Daily wipe reports
Colleges could receive
billion-dollar boost
Stimulus plan
could dramatically
increase aid for
students, states
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - The
stimulus plan emerging in Wash-
ington could offer an unprece-
dented, multibillion-dollar boost
in financial help for college stu-
dents trying to pursue a degree
while they ride out the recession.
It could also hand out billions
to the states to kick-start idled
campus construction projects
and help prevent tuition increases
at a time when families can least
afford them.
But cuts of $40 billion for state
and local governments in the
Senate version were a big disap-
pointment for college leaders.
House-Senate negotiations will
determine whether education aid
to the states is relatively modest
or massive - and how much gets
directed to high-need institutions
for building projects, versus elite
universities that would benefit if
the final package spends more of
the money on scientific research.
Students are big winners. Both
the House and Senate bills call for
the largest-ever funding increase
for Pell Grants, the government's
chief college aid program for low-
income students.
It will take much of the pro-
posed $15.6 billion increase in the
House version (slightly less in the
Senate) just to erase the existing
funding shortfall and meet the
surging demand as the economy
sours and more students enroll.
But the package would also
increase next year's maximum
award by up to $500, to $5,350,
starting July 1. That's the biggest
increase in history and would cover
three-quarters of the cost of the
average public four-year college.
Most Pell recipients come
from families earning less than
$40,000. And supporters note the
new Pell dollars would be spent
almost immediately - students
can't save them - while also pay-
ing off down the road.
"Long-term, if we want a better
economy, we need more people
going to college," Education Arne
Duncan fold The Associated Press
last week.
College leaders meeting in
Washington this week for the
American Council on Education's
annual meeting will be grate-
ful for the student aid boost. But
they'll be closely watching how
Congress bridges the huge gaps
between how much the House and
Senate versions propose spending
to bail out state budgets and pre-
vent drastic education cuts.
The House bills calls for $79 bil-
lion to prevent cuts to local school
districts and public higher educa-
tion. But it's not yet clear how the
money might be divided between
K-12 and higher education, and a
portion could go to things besides
education. The Senate version
calls for $39 billion.
Meanwhile, colleges are hop-
ing Congress will agree restarting
idled building projects is an effi-
cient short- and long-term invest-
ment. As they lose revenues from
state support, endowments and
tuition, hundreds of projects are
on hold nationwide, from a library
extension at Fresno State to new
dorms at Washington University in
St. Louis and a biology lab at Yale.
The California State University
system alone has halted 130 proj-
ects,whichitvalues at$850million
and says account for 13,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, the system may have
to cut 10,000 enrollment slots.
The House bill has $6 billion
for such projects, while the Sen-
ate has none.
"We're readyto go, there'sgreat
jobs involved, and we're educat-
ing kids who wouldn't have other
opportunities if we weren't there,"
Chuck Middleton, president of
Roosevelt University in down-
town Chicago, said Sunday. His
university has a $135 million new
building with classrooms, labs,
dorms and offices on hold after
financing dried up. Construction
could be under way in six months,
he says, providing 600 jobs for two
years while helping Roosevelt's
diverse student body.
Also helping students, the
House and Senate both call for
expanding the Hope tuition tax
credit from $1,800 to $2,500 and
making it partly refundable.
Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger IIl, center, has his picture taken with actors Kelli
O'Hara, left, and Paulo Szot as Sullenberger and his family tour backstage after
seeing the musical "South Pacific"'at Lincoln Center in New York on Saturday.
Hero pilot describes
'sicken ing'feelingf
when birds hit plane
Capt. Chesley 'Sully'
Sullenberger talked
about the ordeal on
CBS's '60 Minutes'
NEW YORK (AP) - The pilot
who ditched his jetliner in the
Hudson River and saved the lives
of everyone on board said he had a
"sickening" feeling when a flock of
birds disabled both engines with
violent thuds, crippling the plane
at 3,000 feet over the nation's most
populous city.
Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullen-
berger said in an interview with
CBS',"60 Minutes" that the sound
of the geese hitting the plane and
the smell of burning poultry enter-
ing the cabin was "shocking."
"Oh, you could hear them," he
said. "Loud thumps. It felt like the
airplane being pelted by heavy rain
or hail. It sounded like the worst
thufidetstoirt I'd ever heo dgro, re
ing up in Texas."
The interview with Sullenberg-
er and the other four crew mem-
bers was broadcast Sunday, their
first since US Airways Flight 1549
landed in the frigid water Jan. 15.
Sullenberger took control of
the plane from his first officer and
glided it to safety, but said that in
the aftermath of the emergency
landing, he lay awake at night
second-guessing his performance,
even though all 155 people aboard
survived.
He said he initially had trou-
ble forgiving himself because he
thought he could have done some-
thing different in that "critical
situation."
"The first few nights were the
worst," Sullenberger said. "When
the 'what ifs' started."
He said he no longer regrets his
actions that day, calling his deci-
sion to land in the river "the only
viable alternative" to attempting
a return to LaGuardia Airport or
landing at Teterboro Airport in
New Jersey.
"The only level, smoot' place
sufficiently large to land ai airlin-
er was the river," he said, recalling
that the plane had no thrust and
was "descending rapidly."
Sullenberger, a former Air Force
fighter pilot who has flown com-
mercial planes for nearly three
decades, said he knew he had to
touch down with the wins level
and the nose slightly up, ad "at a
descent rate that was survis ible."
"Did you, at any point, tray?"
CBS' Katie Couric asked.
"I would imagine someb dy in
back was taking care of that 'r me
while Iwas flyingthe airplan ,"he
said.
The flight attendants sai they
didn't know they were land ig in
the water until it happened,
"When I got out of my s at d
saw that water, it was tie must
shocked I've ever been in my life,"
flightattendantDoreenWelshsaid,
addingthat her emotions "had gone
through, within seconds, accept-
ing death and seeinglife."
She said she then "went crazy"
and started yelling and pushing
people to get them out because the
impact tore a hole in the plane's
tail and water poured into the
cabin.
"And as I was getting up, I
thought I might actually live,"
Welsh said. "'Cause a second ago, I
thought I was gone."
Sullenberger landed the plane
near two ferry terminals, and res-
cue boats appeared within minutes
to take the 150 passengers and five
crew members to safety.
President Barack obama meets with business leaders to discuss the economy in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in
Washington, yesterday.
Obama faces tough week ahead
President seeks to
unite a Congress
divided over the
stimulus package
WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi-
dent Barack Obama plunges into a
difficult test of his leadership this
week, struggling to get a divided
Congress to agree on his economic
recovery package while pitching a
new plan to ease loans to consum-
ers and businesses.
The Senate's $827 billion stim-
ulus legislation seems assured
narrow passage by Tuesday.
Harder work for obama and the
Democrats comes in the days
ahead, when the House and Sen-
ate attempt to reconcile differ-
ences in their two versions.
Obama and Democratic Party
leaders had hoped to have a bill
ready for the president's signature
by Feb. 16 - a goal that appears
increasingly unlikely.
At the Treasury Department,
Secretary Timothy Geithner
delayed the unveiling of a new
bailout framework for financial
institutions from Monday to Tues-
day. Geithner is considering steps
to broaden the use of a new lend-
ing facility at the Federal Reserve,
provide government guarantees
to help banks deal with their trou-
bled assets, and continue direct
infusion of capital into banks
in exchange for securities and
tougher accountability rules.
For Obama, the economy has
become a two-front engagement,
with one effort aimed at creat-
ing or saving jobs and the other
at unfreezing the credit markets.
Amid the urgency created by
nearly 600,000 new unemployed
workers last month and new bank
failures, Obama's economic pre-
scriptions are coming under criti-
cal scrutiny by both Congress and
the American public.
The House and Senate bills are
about $7 billion apart in cost and
overlap in numerous ways. But the
Senate bill has a greater emphasis
on tax cuts, while the House bill
devotes more money to states,
local governments and schools.
Lawrence Summers, Obama's
top economic adviser, signaled
the struggle ahead as he made the
rounds of Sunday morning, talk
shows. "There are crucial areas,
support for higher education, that
are things that are in the House
bill that are very, very important
to the president," he said on ABC.
.Rep. BarneyFrankofMassachu-
setts, the Democratic chairman of
theHouse Financial ServicesCom-
mittee, warned that reductions in
state spending in the Senate bill
would hurt local communities.
"To get any Republicans at all,
you had to adopt a cut that's going
to mean policemen and firemen
are going to be laid off," he said.
"Aid to the states is to prevent
this budget crunch from laying off
public employees. "
Sen. John Ensign of Nevada,
a member of the Senate Republi-
can leadership, dismissed Frank's
complaint as "fear-mongering."
The Senate bill is finely tuned.
With only two or three Republi-
cans on board, it is guaranteed,
at most, 61 votes; the bill needs 60
votes to advance and avoid proce-
dural hurdles. Any change in the
balance struck by the Senate bill
could doom it.
t
r
INTERNSHIP OPPORTI
I ww sr mo
A