The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, November 3, 2009 - 3 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, November 3, 2009 - 3 NEWS BRIEFS DENVER, Colo. Man threatens abortion doctor Federal prosecutors say state- ments from a Washington man accused of threatening a Colorado abortion doctor's family should be admitted in court. Donald Hertz of Spokane has said authorities didn't read him his constitutional rights before ques- tioning him and that his statements aren't admissible. He is accused of calling the Boulder Abortion Clinic in June and threatening to kill Dr. Warren Hern's family. Hertz faces charges of making an interstate threat and of violating a law protecting access to reproductive health services. Prosecutors said in a federal court filing yesterday that authori- ties didn't have to read Hertz his rights because he wasn't in custody when he allegedly told investigators he called the clinic. CHICAGO Half of American kids will receive food stamps Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say. The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and it bolsters other recent evidence on the pervasiveness of youngsters at economic risk. It suggests that almost everyone knows a family who has received food stamps, or will in the future, said lead author Mark Rank, a sociologist at Wash- ington University in St. Louis. "Your neighbor may be using some of these programs but it's not the kind of thing people want to talk about," Rank said. The analysis was released yes- terday in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adoles-. cent Medicine. The authors say it's a medical issue pediatricians need to be aware of because children on food stamps are at risk for malnutrition and other ills linked with poverty. WASHINGTON D.C. GOP's troubles may continue For Republicans, an election win of any size today would be a bless- ing. But victories in Virginia, New Jersey or elsewhere won't erase enormous obstacles the party faces heading into a 2010 midterm elec- tion year when control of Congress and statehouses from coast to coast will be up for grabs. It's been a tough few years for the GOP. The party lost control of Congress in 2006 and then lost the White House in 2008 with three traditional Republican states - Indiana, North Carolina and Vir- ginia - abandoning the party. So even if political winds start blowing harder behind them and even if they can capitalize on Demo- cratic missteps, Republicans still will have a long way to go over the next year because of their party's own fundamental problems - divi- sions over the path forward, the lack of a national leader and a shrinking base in a changing nation. MARRAKECH, MOROCCO Clinton curbs praise of Israeli policy In the face of Arab criticism of the administration's recalibrated Mideast peace tack, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton moderated her praise yesterday for Israel's offer to restrain building set- tlements in Palestinian areas. While Israel was moving in the right direction in its offer to restrict but not stop the settlements, Clinton said, its offer "falls far short" of U.S. expectations. Clinton said her earlier praise of Israel's offer, during a stop in Jeru- salem, had been intended as "posi- tive reinforcement." But they drew widespread criticism from Persian Gulf ministers who interpreted it as a softening of the U.S. position on settlements, which stand in the way of aresumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. In a sign of U.S. eagerness to calm Arab concerns about the U.S.position on settlements, Cylinton is extend- ing her trip by one day to fly to Cairo to meet with President Hosni Muba- rak tomorrow, her staff announced. She had been scheduled to return to Washington today. - Compiled from Daily wire reports Debate on paying for Mich. public schools begins Schools could face consolidation to cut costs, save money LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Fif- teen years ago, Michigan changed the way it pays for public education, switching from local property taxes to a mix of sales and property taxes, lottery revenue and other money. Now, with cuts ofnearly $300 per student looming and some districts looking at losing as much as $600 per student, think tanks, business groups and education advocates are calling for looking again at the way Michigan pays for public schools. "The reduction in school rev- enues is really a product of the economy tanking," says former state Rep. Lynn Jondahl, who was the Democratic House Taxa- tion Committee chairman when Proposal A passed. He's now working with the group, A Bet- ter Michigan Future, to get the state's finances on a more stable footing. "We're in deep trouble a year from now without the stimulus money," he says. Schools are scrambling to absorb cuts being imposed on them this month. Total cuts in the public education budget total $292 per student. That's not even counting the $52 million Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed for wealthier school districts that get as much as $4,000more per pupil than schools getting the lowest per-pupil grants. Those include more than two dozen in southeast Michigan and others - such as East Lansing, Saugatuck and Detour - scattered around the state. Those school districts are looking at decreases of as much as $600 per student. Lawmakers could erase some of the cuts school districts face. They have until Nov. 21 to come up with more revenue that would erase the $127-per-student cut Granholm imposed last week because she says the school aid budget isn't bal- anced - a statement Senate Repub- licans dispute. Lawmakers also could override Granholm's veto of the $52 million for the wealthier districts by then, although that's a tougher task since it takes a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate. The cuts would have been even worse if the state didn't have $450 million in federal stimulus money to draw on for schools. The federal dollars saved schools from another $280-per-student decrease this school year. Students move through the entrance of Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis during a class change Wednesday. Community college plan. migh not be enough Strong economic reports lift hopes Community college enrollment soars during recession INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Arthur Call commutes three hours roundtrip to his anatomy class at community college because similar courses on campuses closer to his Indianapolis home are packed thissemester. "Classes around the state were just full," says Call, a full-time stu- dent who takes the rest of his classes in Indianapolis. "Thank God it's only Tuesdays. I just have to drive there once a week." President Barack Obama wants to invest some $12 billion in community colleges with the aim of seeing an additional 5 million students gradu- ate by 2020. This goal comes while many schools are already bursting at the seams with droves of displaced workers hit by the recession compet- ing with traditional students seeking an education bargain. "All community colleges are not prepared to take on those poten- tially large numbers of students," said Debra Bragg, a professor and director of the Forum on the Future of Public Education at the University of Illinois. The Obama administration notes that 5 million more community col- lege graduates doesn't necessarily mean there will be that many more students - schools could increase graduation rates to reach the goal. And the administration says money from the 10-year initiative to rebuild aging facilities and establish online classes would help schools handle the extrastudents. Bragg says the schools' ability to deal with more students largely comes downto cash. Much of the money for the nation's 1,200 community colleges comes from local and state sources. That funding has been hard to come by during the economic downturn, even as enrollment booms. In California, community colleges are struggling to cope with $840 million in budget cuts while enrollment is expected to climb. Obama's 10-year initiative would provide a welcome infusion of cash, but some fear it would not sustain community college programs. "They will be constrained by funding," says Bragg. "It could be potentially extremely. challenging if there's not increased funding at the federal, state and local level to make that happen." The conundrum comes at a time of intense growth for the more than century-old community college sys- tem, which already educates more than half the nation's undergradu- ates. And more young Americans than ever are going to college, particularly community college. A record high of about 11.5 million Americans age 18 to 24, or nearly 40 percent, attended college in October 2008, according to a study of Census data recently released by the Pew Research Center. Almost all of the increase of 300,000 students over the previous year came at two-year schools. About 12 percent of18-to24-year- olds were enrolled in community col- leges last year,up from10.9 percent in 2007. Enrollment numbers are not yet available for the fall 2009 semes- ter, but the American Association of Community Colleges estimates enrollment is up at least 10 percent over 2008. Some schoolshave report- ed increases of 25 to 30percent. Michael Hansen, president of the Michigan Community College Association, says classes in popular fields such as nursing require low student-to-faculty ratios and expen- sive equipment. He is concerned it will be difficult to meet new demand without yet more funding. Manufacturing, home building show signs for recovery NEW YORK (AP) - Hopes for the fledgling economic recovery got a boost yesterday from better- than-expected news on manufac- turing, construction and contracts to buy homes. U.S. manufacturing activity grew in October at the fastest pace in more than three years, accord- ing to a private group's measure. It was driven by government spend- ing, businesses' need to rebuild their inventories and higher demand from overseas. The Commerce Department said construction spending rose in September on the strength of home building. The report sup- ported optimism that the ail- ing housing sector is starting to revive. And the number of signed con- tracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for the eighth straight month in September, according to the National Association of Real- tors. Still, President Barack Obama said the public and private sec- tors must find more ways to cre- ate jobs to continue the recovery. In remarks at the start of a White House meeting with economic advisers, Obama credited his stim- ulus package for recent upticks in economic numbers, including the manufacturing boost reported yesterday. The president said there's still "a long wayto go," especially when it comes to job creation. "We are still seeing production levels that are significantly below peak levels and most distressing is the fact that job growth continues to lag," Obama said. The trio of positive reports about areas of the economy that could help power a recovery helped drive Wall Street higher earlier in the day before a retreat in financial stocks pulled the broader market lower. The Dow Jones industrials added about 25 points in afternoon trading, while broader indexes dipped. Still, with jobs scarce, lend- ing tight and consumers wary of spending, it's unclear whether the strength can be sustained as government stimulus programs wind down. For example, the contracts to buy homes rose as buyers scrambled to take advan- tage of a tax credit for first-time owners that expires at the end of this month. Congress is moving to extend the credit until April 30. 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