2A - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 N ew sThe Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 4 MONDAY: In Other Ivory Towers TUESDAY: THURSDAY: FRIDAY: Campus Characters Explained _Before You Were Here Photos of the Week 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com GARY GRACA ELAINA BUGLI Editor in Chief Business Manager 734-647-3336 734-764-0 8 graca@michigandaily.com bugli@michigandailyeom 4 wI| DNS WORt JAMMING TO A JIG Casting your vote on campus Following a barrage of e-mails from the Michigan Student Assem- bly, during the last two weeks encouraging students to vote, the virtual voting booth for elections opened at midnight last night. Only a few students, however, know exactly how the process for MSA elections actually works. Student General Counsel Michael Benson said students vote for can- didates running within their own school or college. "If you're a student in LSA, you can vote for MSA representatives, your LSA studentgovernment repre- sentatives, as well as the executives for both LSA student government and MSA," Benson said. MSA elections are conducted through a system of weighted vot- ing, where candidates win based on the number of points they receive. Students' first choice candidate receives three points, their second choice two points, and their third choice one point. The MSA Constitution states that there should be one representative for every 850 students. Half the MSA representatives are elected in November, and the other half in March, when executive positions are filled. Benson said the results of the election will. be available immedi- ately after the voting ends at 11:59 p.m. tomorrow, but that the results won't be official until Sunday at 6 p.m. The election board consists of both MSA members and nonmem- bers. After the board meets, 12 hours are allotted for appeals. The board will meet on Friday. The new representatives, new vice president and president are for- mally seated during an MSA meet- ing on the Tuesday following the election, as long as no issues are raised concerning the validity elec- tion. "If there are issues, then it would go the Central Student Judiciary. They can delay the seating of repre- sentatives," Benson said. This happened after last fall's election, when there was a contro- versy concerning graduate students who voted for both Rackham rep- resentatives and their own school's representatives. Seatingwasdelayed a week while the votes were prop- erly allocated. In the end, the real- location did not change the results. "For exactly this reason, the information on every student's vote is stored. The MSA Election Board does not have access to this informa- tion unless results are questioned," Benson said.. - ELIN BERGMAN CONTACT INFORMATION NewsroomC News Tips Corrections Letters tothe Editor Photography Department ArtsSection Editorial Page Sports Section Display Sales tiassified Sales, Online Sales Finance Officehours:Sun.-Thurs.1a.m.-2a.m. 734-763-2459 news@michigandaily.com corrections@michigandaily.com tothedaily@michigandaily.com photo@michigandaily.com arts@michigandaily.com display@xichigandaityon classifiied@michigandaity.omn onlineadsgmichigandaily.com finance@michigandailyxcom LSA sophomores Seth Buchsbaum, Alistair Hayden, and Richard Boehnke play the cello, violin and guitar, respectively, to promote St. Patrick's Day spirit in the Diag. CRIME NOTES CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES $8 fundraiser Camcorder lifted Conference on Discussion on jar stolen from from Angell Hall college campus women and the Mott's Hospital auditorium depression economy WHERE: Mott's Children's Hospital WHEN: Monday at about 8:30 p.m. WHAT: A fundraiser jar was stolen from a nurse's station on the fifth floor of the hospi- tal, University Police reported. There are no suspects. WHERE: Angell Hall, Audi- torium C WHEN: Monday at about 3:30 p.m. WHAT: A Panasonic GS-180 camcorder valued at $450 was stolen from Angell Hall, University Police reported. Police have no suspects. The event is under investigation. Thief swipes $54 in soda from Flood in Social Lorch Hall Work building WHAT: Keynote presenta- tions, poster sessions, panel discussions and discussions dealing with depression on college campuses WHO: University Depression Center WHEN: Today at12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. WHERE:. Rackham Graduate School Medical school information fair WHAT: An information ses- sion for first and second year students on undergraduate preparations and co-curric- ular activities for medical school. WHO: The Career Center WHEN: Today from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. WHERE: Michigan Union WHAT: A discussion on race and gender bias in economics education. WHO: Institute for Research on Women and Gender WHEN: Today from 4 to 5:30 p.m. WHERE: Lane Hall, Room .2239 CORRECTIONS * An article in yesterday's edition of the Daily (Faculty puhfor morepro"ection), incorrectly attributed the author ofthe article. It was- written by Kyle Swanson. * A photo caption in yes- terday's edition of the Daily (MSA candidates talk plat- forms) misspelled the name of Abhishek Mahanti. * Please report any error in the Daily to correc- tions@michigandaily.com. A spring breaker in Orlan- do, Florida survived a 6-foot-tall fall off a build- ing, the Click Orlando reported. Police said the man had no inju- ries and was showing off to his friends by standing near a chair at the end of the balcony. Michigan Law School alum Jordan Harbinger foundedTheArtofCharm, a social coaching program with 24 million podcast listeners. FOR MORE, SEE THE STATEMENT. 3In Latvia, a new restau- rant has opened with a hospital theme, New. com.au reported. The restau- rant serves food resembling body parts and then custom- ers eat the food with tweezers and scalpels. Mixed drinks are served in test tubes, according to the article. EDITORIAL STAFF CourtneyRatkowiak ManagingEditor ratkowiak@michigandaily.com JacobSmilovitz Managing News Editor smilovitz@michigandaily.com SNIOR NEWS EDITORS: Jillian Berman, Trevor Calero, Caitlin Schneider, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS: Matt Aaronson, Benjamin S. 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AdditionalcopiesmaybepickedupatvthecDalystoffiefor$2.Subscriptionsforfallandwineterm (septemberthroughAprl)via U.S.mailare$200.Year-round subscriptions(Fall,Winter,Springand Summer issues)are225.Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Dailyisa member of The AssociatedPressandTheAssociatedCollegiatePress. 0 WHERE: Lorch Hall WHEN: Monday at about 9:15 a.m. WHAT: Several cases of soda were stolen from a storage room in Lorch Hall, Univer- sity Police reported. The inci- dent is under investigation. WHERE: School of Social Work building WHEN: Monday at about 3:45 p.m. WHAT: Two Dell com- puter monitors and a laser jet printer suffered $900 worth of damage, University Police reported. On Africa trip, pope says condoms aren't necessary Catholic leader says a moral attitude toward sex will fight the HIV epidemic YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI said condoms are not the answer to the AIDS epi- demic in Africa and can make the problem worse, setting off criticism yesterday as he began a weeklong trip to the continent where some 22 million people are living with HIV. Benedict's first statement on an issue that has divided even Catholic clergy working with AIDS patients came hours before he arrived in Cameroon's capital - greeted by thousands of flag-waving faithful who stood shoulder-to-shoulder in red dirt fields and jammed down- town streets for a glimpse of the pontiff's motorcade. In his four years as pope, Bene- dict had never directly addressed condom use, although his position The late Cardinal Alfonso Lopez is not new. His predecessor, Pope Trujillo made headlines in 2003 John PaulII, often said that sexual for saying that condoms may help abstinence - not condoms - was spread AIDS through a false sense the best way to prevent the spread of security, claiming they weren't of the disease. effective in blocking transmission Benedict also said the Roman of the virus. The cardinal, who died Catholic Church was at the fore- last year, headed the Vatican's Pon- front of the battle against AIDS. tifical Council for the Family. "You can't resolve it with the Three-quarters of all AIDS distribution of condoms," the pope deaths worldwide in 2007 were in told reporters aboard the Alitalia sub-Saharan Africa, where some plane heading to Yaounde. "On the 22 million people are infected with contrary, it increases the problem." HIV - accounting for two-thirds The pope said a responsible of the world's infections, according and moral attitude toward sex to UNAIDS. would help fight the disease, as he Rebecca Hodes with the Treat- answered questions submitted in ment Action Campaign in South advance by reporters traveling on Africa said if the pope is serious the plane. His response, was pre- about preventing HIV infections, sumably also prepared in advance. he should focus on promotingwide The Catholic Church rejects the , access to condoms and spreading use of condoms as part of its overall information on how to use them. teaching against artificial contracep- "Instead, his opposition to con- tion. Senior Vatican officials have doms conveys that religious dogma advocated fidelity in marriage and is more important to him than abstinence frompremaritalsexaskey the lives of Africans," said Hodes, weapons in the fight against AIDS. head of policy, communication and research for the group. Hodes said the pope was right that condoms are not the sole solu- I tion to Africa's AIDS epidemic, but added they are one of the very few proven measures to prevent HIV infections. Even some priests and nuns working with those infected with the AIDS virus question the church's opposition to condoms amid the pandemic ravaging Afri- ca. Ordinary Africans doas well. Domesti cztrafts "Talking about the nonuse of -iS i condoms is out of place. We need condoms to protect ourselves against diseases and AIDS," teach- The BEST Place To Watch ger Narcisse Takou said in Yaounde. College HOOPS t T Stanley Obale Okpu, a civil ser- Mcla March Madness Package! vant working in the ministry of Catch Any Crime, urban development in Cameroon, We'll Carry Them ALL! said: "What the pope says is an ideal for the Catholic church. But he needs to look at the realities on the ground. One should be aware of these realities. In the case of Cam- eroon - and Africa as a whole - condoms are very necessary ... You need condoms to prevent AIDS and birth control." BUFFALO WILD WIN A crowd of photographers and cameras flashed as the 81-year-old O H' T B pontiff stepped off the plane into the steaming 88-degree heat, with humidity levels measuring a wilt- ing 90 percent. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, second from right, meet with small business owners and community lenders and members of Congress on Monday in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Oba-ma plans lending boost for smallbsns owners in fees WA: ing to4 py Rep Street Obama are tal making availab small b Oba tary T day pl packag small-1 an inc some S tion lo dent's intervi confid( funda: upbeat mocke "Th in the worke capital nology who ha cil of E Oba resident's plan embraced the role of "confidence- builder in chief," as one business cludes reduced leader asked him to become. One week after his budget director and better loan declared "fundamentally, the economy is weak," Obama's eco- guarantees nomic advisers offered up a buoy- ant assessment. SHINGTON (AP) - Seek- Larry Summers, the director counter a chorus of unhap- of the National Economic Coun- sublicans and nervous Wall cil and an Obama adviser, quoted investors, President Barack the president: "It's never as good a and his economic team as people say it is when they say king a cheerier tone while it's good and it's never as bad as g billions in federal loans people say it is when they say it's tle to the nation's struggling bad." usinesses. Dealing with a severe reces- ma and Treasury Secre- sion, Obama has turned to a imothy Geithner on Mon- public face that emphasizes the anned to announce a broad potential for recovery instead of ye that includes reduced its limits. business lending fees and To that end, the government rease on the guarantee to plans to take aggressive steps to Small Business Administra- boost bank liquidity with more ans. A day earlier, the presi- than $10 billion aimed at unfreez- advisers said in television ing the secondary credit market, iews that they remained according to officials briefed on ent in the nation's economic the plan who demanded anonym- mentals, at times adopting ity to avoid pre-empting the presi- rhetoric the president once dent's announcement. d. Administration officials con- e fundamentals are sound firmed they would unveil details sense that the American Monday. rs are sound, we have a good "We know that small business- stock, we have good tech- es are the engine of growth in ," said Christina Romer, the economy, and we absolutely eads the White House Coun- want to do things to help them," conomic Advisers. Romer said Sunday morning, ma, for his part, has speaking broadly on the outline of the plan. "There are already a lot of things to help them in the recovery package, and some of what will be coming out are the things that were in the recovery package: increasing the SBA loan guarantees, lowering fees." The move comes as Repub- licans have sought to build on some bipartisan misgivings over Obama's ambitious spending blue- print. In particular, Republicans say Obama's budget proposal to raise taxes, starting in 2011, on individuals earning more than $200,000 and on households earning more than $250,000 will hurt small businesses, which face higher dividend taxes and limits on itemized deductions. "We've got to do something to help these small-business people. We know that they're the job cre- ators in this economy," the House Republicans' No. 2 official, Rep. Eric Cantor, said Sunday. "And the problem... I think we're seeing out of the Obama administration is a lack of focus on how to get things going again." The new measures taking effect Monday focus on opening up small-business lending, seen as critical to cities' growth. While the SBA typically guarantees $20 billion in loans annually, new lending this year is on track to fall below $10 billion, according to the administration.