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NEWS BRIEFS
WASHINGTON
Obama defends
earmarks, signing
statement position
President Barack Obama, sound-
ing weary of criticism over federal
earmarks, defended Congress' pet
projects yesterday as he signed an
"imperfect" $410 billion measure
with thousands of examples. But
he said the spending does need
tighter restraint and listed guide-
lines to do it.
Obama, accused of hypocrisy by
Republicans for embracing billions
of dollars of earmarks in the legis-
lation, said they can be useful and
noted that he has promised to curb,
not eliminate them.
On another potentially contro-
versial matter, the president also
issued a "signing statement" with
the bill, saying several of its pro-
visions raised constitutional con-
cerns and would be taken merely
as suggestions. He has criticized
President George W. Bush for often
using such statements to claim the
right to ignore portions of new
laws, and on Monday he said his
administration wouldn't fbllow
those issued by Bush unless autho-
rized by the new attorney general.
White House officials have
accused Bush of using the state-
ments to get around Congress in
pursuing anti-terror tactics.
LANSING
150 sex offenders
arrested in sweep
across the state
Michigan State Police say 150
people who were not complying
with conditions of the state's sex
offender registry law have been
arrested.
Police said yesterday they
requested 405 additional arrest
warrants as part of a coordinated
statewide sweep.
The effort involved more than 70
law enforcement agencies working
together in early February.
Police say more than 2,500 sex
offenders have been arrested for
noncompliance in similar opera-
tions since late 2005.
Sex offenders are supposed to
verify their addresses with law
enforcement agencies at least once
a year. Some felony offenders must
report more often.
BEIJING
Record drop in
Chinese exports,
but auto sales up
The record decline in China's
exports accelerated in February,
but Asia's bleak picture was tem-
pered by other news yesterday of
a jump in Chinese auto sales and
a smaller-than-expected drop in
Japanese machinery orders.
Most Asian stock markets
surged after Wall Street staged a
massive rally on news that Citi-
group is turning a profit, a wel-
come respite after weeks of gloom
- although many analysts predict
the market rebound will be short-
lived.
Chinese trade figures highlight-
ed again the region's dependence
on Western consumers. Exports in
February plunged 25.7 percent from
a year earlier, according to customs
data - the sharpest decline report-
ed by the government since it began
keeping records in the 1990s. That
adds pressure on Beijing to move
quickly to carry out a multibillion-
dollar stimulus package aimed at
pumping up the world's third-larg-
est economy.
RESIDENCY
From Page1A
after a somewhat complicated and
lengthy process. However, the
deadline for students filing a resi-
dency classification application
comes after the deadline for pay-
ing tuition.
Criticisms of the residency poli-
cy have arisen amid suggestions by
University officials in early Febru-
ary that they are open to accept-
ing more transfer students who
are facing economic hardship and
can no longer afford out-of-state
tuition. The complexity of the
application process, compounded
by the invitation for more trans-
fer applications, raises questions
about how effectively the Univer-
sity will be able to handle such an
influx.
Joseph, who was classified as
in-state at the University's Dear-
born campus, avoided paying out-
of-state tuition after going through
the complicated process of submit-
ting driver's licenses, passports
and W-2 tax forms to the Residen-
cy Classification Office.
Lester Monts,seniorvice provost
for academic affairs and member
of the Residency Appeal Commit-
tee of the Residency Classification
Office, said that from the summer
of 2007 through the summer of
2008, the Residency Classifica-
tion Office approved 1,833 applica-
tions out of the 2,623 submitted, or
almost 70 percent of applications.
And many of the applicants, just
like Joseph, are Michigan resi-
dents who have transferred to the
University after initially attending
an out-of-state school.
Students like LSA junior Nithya
Ravindran, a Michigan resident
and transfer student from Emory
University, also had.to go through
the process of residency classifica-
tion.
Ravindran said she made the
decision to return home and
SUMMER JOBS
From Page 1A
increasing in the summer.
"Trends haven'tchanged because
of the economy," Woodside said.
"Right about now in the summer we
are startingto hire again. We always
hire more people in the summer."
Despite the attitudes of some
small business owners around Ann
Arbor, unemployment rates in the
city and county are rising.
Bruce Weaver, economic ana-
lyst for the Michigan Department
of Energy, Labor and Economic
Growth, said unemployment rates
in Washtenaw County are gradu-
ally risinghbut were below the state
of Michigan's unemployment aver-
age in December.
Weaver said the unemployment
'rate was 6.9 percent in December of
last year, which was "much higher
than it was in the early part of'08."
According to Weaver, summer
unemployment rates for 16 to 19 year-
olds are usually around 20 percent.
Some Ann Arbor businesses will
be hiring less between the months
of April and June, compared to
last year at this time, according to
a survey conducted by Manpower
Inc. for The Ann Arbor News.
On Tuesday, the News reported
thesurveyshowed14percentofarea
businesses are planning to "hire at a
slower place" duringthe summer.
attend the University of Michigan,
in part, because of the cost.
"Emory's a private institution
so I was paying like $50,000 a year
without any financial aid, so that
was definitely one of the factors,"
Ravindran said. "My parents said
we're not paying so much for you
to go (to Emory) when you can go
(to the University of Michigan),
and it's just as good."
According to David Potter, chair
of the Senate Advisory Committee
on University Affairs, the current
process of applying for residency
classification can be an extremely
tedious one for students.
While Potter could not speak on
behalf of SACUA, as it has not yet
reviewed the process of residency
classification for these transfer
students, he said it's one that needs
to be simplified.
"We just want to streamline
that process to cut down the has-
sle for people who are classified
as residents that are going to be
rescinded as soon as people look at
them," Potter said. "It is a pain in
the neck for students to find that
it has been reclassified. We know
that it's goingto be overturned,but
there's still a process."
Potter said the Student Rela-
tions Advisory Committee brought
the residency classification pro-
cess problems to his attention sev-
eral months ago. As a result, Potter
said SACUA will hopefully review
and further discuss the residency
classification process at its April 6
meeting.
Regent S. Martin Taylor
(D-Grosse Pointe Farms) said that
while the process hasn't been fully
reviewed by the Board of Regents,
the system of residency classifica-
tion for these transfer students
needs to be addressed.
"Well I'm certainly going to try
and see if we can simplify it," Tay-
lor said. "Although the issue of res-
idency domicile has always been a
very complex issue, I'm certainly
looking at it."
State Street clothing retailer
Bivouac - a store featuring upscale
outdoor and casual wear - is one
of the businesses anticipating hir-
ing fewer people during the sum-
mer because of the economy.
Ed Davidson, owner of Bivouac,
said that the store has been see-
ing fewer customers and employee
hours have been scaled back as a
consequence.
"It's because of the economy,"
Davidson said. "People are not
shopping as much. We aren't as
busy, so we are cutting back on
the number of people we have in a
given week."
other businesses will not be
hiring during the summer, but for
other reasons.
DavidRoot, general manager at
South University Avenue favorite
The Brown Jug, said the restau-
rant-bar is not looking for new
hires, largely because its current
employees plan to stick around.
"Honestly, the way the econo-
my is isn't really affecting hiring,"
Root said. "The reason we won't
be hiring this summer has noth-
ing to do with the economy, we
just aren't hiring because 85 per-
cent of our staff have been here
for two years, and there is no need
for new positions being filled."
Those staying in Ann Arbor to
find a summer job do not seem
too worried about hiring trends.
Most students, during this time,
Monts said the process of resi-
dency classification for these
transfer students is a necessary
one to make sure students qualify
for in-state tuition.
Monts said the "system in place
is fair and equitable to all students,"
and that residency classification
for these transfer students isn't
something that can be confirmed
simply by viewing the admissions
application because each case is
different.
Although several students who
wenthroughthis processsaidthey
were not aware they would have to
apply for residency classification,
Monts said all University appli-
cants are notified about applying
for residency classification when
they apply for admission.
He said this gives students more
than enough time to file the resi-
dency application form, which can
be processed up to a year prior to
enrollment in order to receive a
timely decision.
"The University takes very seri-
ously its commitment to residents
of the state of Michigan," Monts
said. "And the residency guide-
lines and process have been put
in place to insure that residency
status and all of its benefits are
afforded only to students who are
truly residents."
The review of the residency
classification process has come
during a time when the University
is expecting a slight increase in the
number of transfer students for the
upcoming fall term, Monts said.
In a meeting with SACUA on
March 2, University President
Mary Sue Coleman said the pro-
cess of residency classification is
a complex issue that needs to be
fully understood by the committee
before it seeks to have anything
revised.
Taylor said he would be meet-
ing with a number of people at the
end of the month to get input on
reviewing and discussing the resi-
dency classification process.
already have a summer job lined
up or are currently working and
plan to keep their current jobs..
LSA junior Kyle Morrison said the
lackofjob opportunitieswould prob-
ably not hurt his ability to find a job.
"There is a job I have been doing
over the summer that I usually can
just go back to," Morrison said.
"I think that there is going to be
more people applying for intern-
ships because of the economy, but
I don't feel like that will affect my
summer job."
Ross SchOol of Business sopho-
more Michael Hopps said he hashad
a harder time with his job search.
"The economy already has,
affected my plans for the summer,"
said Hopps. "I was interviewed for
two internships, and they were
already cutting back on the num-
ber of applicants."
ARCADE ECONOMICS
From Page1A
tectural beauty.
Despite the turnover problems
in the corridor, some stores - like
Maison-Edwards Tobacconist,
which has been around since 1963
- have managed to succeed in the
Arcade's unique storefronts.
Tom Haywood, director of the
State Street Area Association, said
that with its distinct blend of bou-
tique and one-of-a-kindshops, there
are bound to be some failures.
"It's been historically a place for
unique shops," he said. "Sometimes
they work, sometimes they don't."
Haywood said the current turn-
over rate is simply a result of the
ebb and flow of business paired
with the Arcade's unusual busi-
ness opportunities.
"Businesses (in Nickels Arcade)
will tend to have a higher turnover
rate than other areas because of the
intimacy of the shops," he said. "But
any turnover you're experiencing
nowwouldn'tbemuchhigherthanit
has been in the past 20 years or so."
Haywood also mentioned that
the storefronts in-set location from
the streetworks to their detriment.
Despite the possibility that busi-
ness could be a bit more difficult,
there is no lack of shop owners eager
JOURNALISM
From Page 1A
during the Mumbai attacks and
live stream of the Inauguration on
cell phones. She said news sites like
the Huffington Post and the Daily
Beast, once aggregators from other
news sources, now hire their own
reporters to cover the news.
"(Journalism) is taking differ-
ent forms. It is going through rapid
change and evolution," Warner said.
Warner said other examples of
the future of journalism are found
in websites like Scoop44.com, a site
created by Harvard and Princeton
students that focuses on politics the
way they wantto see it covered.
Anotherexample, Spot.us, isasite
that covers stories usingcommunity
funding. In this model, people pay
for a portion of the stories they want
to see instead of the media outlet
relying solely on advertisers.
On the website, journalists pitch
stories theywouldliketowrite, and
if the community responds posi-
tively to it - by donating money to
Thursday, March12, 2009 - 3A
to take their chances with a spot in
the Arcade. Jim Saborio, owner of
CometCoffee, anewcafesetto open
for the first time in Nickels Arcade
this Saturday, will join the ranks of
some fellow business owners who
have grown up in Ann Arbor and
want to continue the long tradition
ofunique businesses in the gallery.
"Nickels Arcade has always been
this kind of magical place," he said.
"It's a meeting place between town
and campus."
Saboriosaidthatwhileheisfamil-
iar with the high turnover of shops
in the Arcade, whether or not a busi-
ness succeeds is hard to predict.
"The thing about businesses is
that you never know why they go
out of business," he said. "It's just
really hard to gauge."
Gwen Kassa, who took over
ownership of the University Flower
Shop last month, said she believes in
the tradition of the Arcade's stores
that provide the community with
local, intimate settings.
"The Flower Shop has been a
constant in Nickels Arcade for some
years and has many loyal custom-
ers," she said. "I wanted the oppor-
tunity to work with those same
loyal customers."
Kassa said that because of her
store's close proximity to cam-
pus, she "loves the energy of being
around the students."
the website for that specific story
- the journalist will then write it.
Alissa Ng, an LSA senior said
she enjoyed Warner's concept of an
ever-evolvingtype of journalism.
"I liked it when she said jour-
nalism is living and breathing,"
Ng said. "People think that news-
papers are what journalism is all
about, but that's not reallytrue."
She added: "I thought newspa-
pers were the only real journalism
around because I could see it and
hold it."
Susan Douglas, professor and
chair of Communications studies,
said she was happy to hear what
Warner said, not just for her own
studies but for the future of her
students.
"I think she actually laid out a
somewhathopeful prognosis about
the future of journalism, which I
think is great because a lot of our
students are interested in becom-
ing journalists." she said. "We
don't want to get to rosy eyed but
I think she did a great job of laying
out an alternative optimistic per-
spective."
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CAPE CANAVERAL
Gas leak postpones
Discovery launch
NASA postponed the launch of
space shuttle Discovery just hours 5
before it was to head to the inter-
national space station Wednesday 9
because of a hydrogen gas leak that
could have been catastrophic at
liftoff.
The leakwas ina differentpartof
the system that already has caused 2 3
a vexing one-month delay.
Shuttle managers put off the 5 6 2
launch until Monday but left open
the possibility that the repair work
might allow for an attempt Sunday.
The latest delay means Dis-
covery's two-week flight must be 7 6 2 9
shortened and some spacewalks cut
out of the mission. That's because
Discovery needs to be gone from
the space station before a Russian
Soyuz rocket blasts off March 26 3 4 5
with a fresh station crew.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
a 4
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