The Michigan Daily - michigandailyxom
Friday, November 6, 2009 - 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, November 6, 2009 - 7A
Senate rejects
legal bid aimed at
Sept. 11 terrorists
GOP pushed effort to
bar Sept.11 terrorists
from prosecution in
federal courts
WASHINGTON (AP) -The Dem-
ocratic-controlled Senate yesterday
turned back a GOP-led effort to bar
Sept. 11 terrorists from being pros-
ecuted in civilian federal courts.
Instead, senators voted 54-45 to
support a request by Defense Secre-
tary Robert Gates and Attorney Gen-
eral Eric Holder to have the option of
prosecuting Sept.11terrorists such as
accused mastermind Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed in either federal courts
or by military commission.
The vote capped an impas-
sioned - and substantive - Senate
debate between those who believe
the Sept. 11 terrorists simply don't
belong in civilian courtrooms and
those who say deciding where to
prosecute them should be left to the
best judgment of the Pentagon and
the Justice Department.
Opponents noted that the gov-
ernment prosecuted 195 terrorists
in civilian courts since the terror-
ist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with a
91 percent conviction and that only
three terrorists have been tried
before military tribunals.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., led
the drive to require those accused
of plotting the attacks to be tried in
military courts. He said it's wrong
to treat the assaults asa criminal act
instead of an act of war and that Sept.
11 terrorists don't deserve the same
constitutional rights as U.S. citizens.
Supporters of Graham said tri-
als have disclosed intelligence that
proved useful to al-Qaida. The trial of
Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind sheik
convicted of plotting in the 1990s
to blow up New York landmarks,
revealed a list of co-conspirators that
made itsway to Osama bin Laden.
"What happened in the blind
sheik trial?" Graham said. "Because
it was a civilian court built around
tryingcommon criminals, the court
didn't have the protections military
commissions will have to protect
this nation's secrets and classified
inrformation."
Democratic opponents of the idea
said U.S. courts have processed far
more terrorists than military ones
and that the decision of where to
prosecute the terrorists is bestmade
by the Pentagon and Justice depart-
ments working in collaboration.
MIA MARINO/Daily
Friends and family gather at the Ross School of Business yesterday to celebrate the life of Robert Koonce, a beloved academic advisor who died suddenly on Sunday.
Mesko: Koonce changed my life'
From Page 1A
student Zoltan Mesko, the punter
for the Michigan football team,
said that Koonce "changed his life"
and that he simply "owed him too
much."
"He was one of the first people
who took my goal of getting into
the Business School seriously," he
said. "He actually believed in me
and had the vision for me to gradu-
ate from Ross."
Others who spoke at the event
shared similar sentiments.
Business senior Isaiah Mont-
gomery, who serves as vice
president 'for the Black Busi-
ness Undergraduate Society, said
he "relied on Rob for support,
good advice and a great sense of
humor."
Karen Bird, accounting lecturer
at the Business School, said Koonce
wasa"manonamission"whowould
do anything for his students.
"The door would be built, he
would go through, turn around
and invite everyone to come in
and take advantage of all the
opportunities on the other side,"
she said.
To close the celebration, Bob
Dolan, dean of the Business
School, announced that the Rob-
ert Koonce-endowed scholarship
would be established at the Uni-
versity so "we can remember Rob
in the community."
At a reception held afterward,
guests remembered the vivacious
and fun-lovingKoonce. His friends
shared that he was an avid football
fan, extremely proud of his garden
and Koi pond, and loved to bar-
beque. Many people who attended
the event wrote notes and signed
their names in a memory book to
be presented to his wife.
Koonce's neighbor, Jacqueline
Scott, said Koonce "loved people"
and "everybody knew Robert."
"I had no idea that Robert had
touched so many lives until I was
in there today and I listened to the
students and I listened to his col-
leagues speak about him," she said.
"It brought tears to my eyes."
Moore said Koonce was always
making him think, walking into
his office with new ideas for the
University.
"It wasn't his job, he made it his
job. He just cared," Moore said.
Eddie Hall, a student in the Mas-
ter of Accounting program and an
MREACH program coordinator,
said Koonce was a truly unforget-
table person.
"Rob's presence will never be
replaced, but his legacy will live on
in all of us," he said.
Moore said Koonce would be
remembered by his defining quali-
ties, especially his tough love.
"If you want to honor his mem-
ory, you will remember this, you
will remember him kicking your
behind when you needed it, saying
something nice, and then kicking
your behind again," Moore said.
"Eventually you came to realize he
was right and he only did it because
he cared. So honor his memory
and fulfill the unlimited potential
... this is why Rob was here, this
is what we have to do to keep him
alive inus today."
CITY COUNCIL
From Pagel1A
told the Daily on this summer. Now
that the proposal has passed, con-
struction could begin as early as
next year.
Thomas Partridge, a self-
described "Washtenaw County
Democrat," spoke to the council
during the meeting's public hear-
ings.
Partridge discussed the impor-
tance of public transportation for
many area residents, and asked
the council to require CVS to
provide public transportation for
potential customers, especially
those with disabilities or other
disadvantages.
"People with lower incomes
spend an inordinate amount of
income on general merchandise in
CVS stores," Partridge said. "It's
only fair to require the necessary
funding, development and atten-
tion to this vital issue."
Obama promises Native Americans a place
in the White House, on president's agenda
Pres. spoke before
the largest gathering
of tribal leaders in
U.S. history
WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi-
dent Barack Obama assured Amer-
ican Indians yesterday that they
have a place in his White House
and on his agenda, telling tribal
leaders their marginalized com-
munity deserves more from its
government.
"I get it. I'm on your side,"
Obama told the largest gathering
of tribal leaders in U.S. history.
Obama devoted part of his own
time yesterday and even more ofhis
MENTAL HEALTH
From Page 1A
problems is less clear," Eisenberg
said of the study. "It mostly has
to do with increased likelihood of
seeking help but there may also
be some true increase in mental
health issues in the overall student
population."
Eisenberg said that even though
students appear to be more likely
to seek help when they need it,
there are still students withmental
health problems who are not seek-
ing help.
"It's important to keep both the
trend in mind but also the level
that we're still at," he said.
Another article published in the
July 2007 issue of Medical Care
reported that somewhere between
37 and 84 percent of students at the
University of Michigan who had
positive screens for depression or
anxiety weren't receiving services.
GRANTS
From Page 1A
- when fat collects on the walls of
arteries - in rheumatoid arthri-
tis patients. He plans on using the
grant money to investigate wheth-
er a particular gene that is known
to be associated with rheumatoid
arthritis, is also responsible for
causing arthrosclerosis.
"We've shown that that interac-
tion can indeed explain the asso-
ciation of the genetic marker with
the disease and explain the asso-
ciation with the severity of the dis-
administration's attention toward
renewing relations with American
Indians. He opened a conference
that drew leaders from 386 tribal
nations - the first meeting of its
kind in 15 years - and he ordered
every Cabinet agency to take more
steps toward more cooperation.
The president returned to the
event at the Interior Department
late in the day for closing remarks,
as scheduled, but he altered his
message to address a deadly shoot-
ingrampageattheFort Hood Army
base in Texas. He said his adminis-
tration would get answers to every
question about the incident.
Obama's outreach to tribal lead-
ers amounted to a campaign prom-
ise kept from a president who got
significant support from Native
The findings came from a ran-
dom sampling of 2,785 students.
"Even in an environment with
universal access to free short-term
psychotherapy and basic health
services, most students with
apparent mental disorders did not
receive treatment," the article stat-
ed. "Initiatives to improve access
to mental health care for students
have the potential to produce sub-
stantial benefits in terms of mental
health and related outcomes."
Eisenberg said that while many
students aren't seeking help for
mental health issues, the stigma
associated with mental health dis-
orders is shrinking.
"Today's college students have
less stereotypical attitudes than
students 10 or 20 years ago," he
said. "I think that has to do with
the fact that a lot more students are
receiving services and treatment
before even coming to college so
students know more about it."
Eisenberg's findings are part of
ease," Holoshitz said.
Dr. Matthew Soellner, assistant
professor of medical chemistry in
the College of Pharmacy, received
$1.2 million to create molecules
that impede enzyme activity that
is responsible for the progression
of cancer in patients. These mol-
ecules are aimed at ridding cancer
patients of drug-resistant enzymes
that cause their treatment to be
much more toxic.
EUREKA awarded $1 million to
Dr. H.V. Jagadish, professor of elec-
trical engineering and computersci-
ence. Jagadish plans touse biological
knowledge, obtained through litera-
Americans on his way to the White
House.
It comes as American Indians
remain entrenched in a class-
action lawsuit against the federal
government, claiming the govern-
ment has long swindled them out
of land royalties.
Obama said he didn't blame
tribal leaders for skepticism about
another politician offering hopeful
words. But he said he has no inter-
est in going through the motions of
just holding a summit with them.
The president seemed to con-
nect best when he told his audience
that he was like them: an "outsid-
er" who grew up without a father,
moved around a lot, and under-
stood what it was like to struggle
and be ignored.
an ongoing study at the University
called the Healthy Minds Study,
which aims to understand stigma
barriers along with other topics,
like mental health issues and help-
seeking behavior, according to the
study's website.
HMS was first launched at the
University as a pilot study in 2005
and was later brought to 13 other
universities in 2007 and now fea-
tures 16 schools and counting.
Eisenberg, the study's princi-
ple investigator, said there is a lot
of data available about students
receiving help for mental health
issues, but the information on
those who aren't seeking help is
limited.
"We're trying to understand
more about this," he said. "We're
consistently seeing when you look
at students who appear to have
severe mental health problems the
majority are not receiving services
so we're trying to figure out why
not, what the barriers might be,
ture and databases, to analyze vari-
ous experiments that could enhance
understanding of many diseases,
including diabetes.
EUREKA awarded 56 grants to
researchers across the nation. The
program also handed out an addi-
tional $10.6 million from the Amer-
ican Recovery and Reinvestment
Act to 10 projects. Jeremy Berg,
director of the National Institute of
General Medical Sciences, said in
an interview that there were hun-
dreds of applicants who applied but
did not receive funding.
Berg added that researchers get-
ting EUREKA grants are involved
"You will not be forgotten as
long as I'm in this White House,"
Obama said to a sustained ovation.
Whether that promise results
in action over the next few years
will be the test. In a question-and-
answer session, audience members
pressed Obama for government
help on a litany of matters, from
more respect for sovereignty rights
to environmental cleanup to con-
cerns about offshore drilling.
One leader pleaded with Obama
to find a way to make the federal
commitment lasting, so thatit would
not be at the whim of White House
elections. In the process, the speak-
er predicted Obama would win re-
election, which apparently stuck
with the president as he pledged to
enforce the laws of the land.
etc."
Cepla, who is also a board
member of Finding Voice, a group
on campus that uses art to raise
awareness about mental health
issues, said that though there are
many students with mental health
issues on campus, there is still a
stigma associated with them.
Cepla cited an incident during
Festifall at the beginning of the
semester when a student looking
at a picture of a girl with anorex-
ia said the subject of the draw-
ing should just "eat the damn
cookie."
"When we put on art shows at
the Depression on College Campus
Conference with a lot of teachers
and faculty and researchers there's
very little judgment and everyone
is willing to help out. But at Festi-
fall, for example, very few people
came to talk to us," she said. "I've
witnessed people come over and
look around to see who was watch-
ing them before they came over."
in a variety of innovative projects.
"The research supported by
EUREKA could provide us with
new concepts, tools and approach-
es that have a profound impact on
our understanding of biology," he
wrote in a statement. "From fun-
damental life processes to human
diseases and behavior."
Examplesofgrantrecipientsfrom
outside the University of Michigan
includeDr. Carl Johnson, ofVander-
bilt University, who is studying the
circadian clocks of yeast and single-
celled bacteria to better understand
the sleep cycles of many organisms,
including humans.
SED
Students from Renmin University of China perform at the event yesterday.
CONFUCIUS
From Page 1A
than just the language and culture
resources that characterize many
of the other institutes.
Ken Fischer, president of the
University Musical Society, said
that the music and arts focus mim-
ics similar efforts on campus.
"One of the really special
things about this is that being
the only Confucius Institute that
focuses on Chinese arts and cul-
ture meshes with the interests of
organizations like mine all over
the United States that are per-
forming arts centers at major uni-
versities," Fischer said. "Now that
the University of Michigan has
been identified by the Chinese
government as the place they're
going to be willing to invest in, it
is going to be a real opportunity
for the University."
Though there has been a recent
acceleration in the University's
partnership with China, the rela-
tionship dates back to the 1880s.
"Our relationship with China
goes back so far, to President
(James) Angell," Coleman said.
"There's always been a good rela-
tionship but clearly over the last
decade many other opportunities
have presented themselves."
Lester Monts, senior vice pro-
vost for academic affairs, said he
hopes the Confucius Institute will
help with the growth and further
traveling opportunities for stu-
dents and student groups to get
more immersed in Chinese music
and art culture.
"On the China task force we
made a proposal to create a Con-
fucius Institute that would include
a humanities, music and arts com-
ponent," he said. "We want to start
one of these kinds of orchestras
here and the best way to do that is
to have students from China come
here and have some kind of insti-
tute where theyteach us abouttheir
instruments and music"
In addition to music, the insti-
tute also worked closely with the
University of Michigan Museum of
Art to make it a place to showcase
Chinese art.
"We areso proudtobehostingthe
event," said Interim UMMA Direc-
tor Kathryn Huss. "(The) Museum
of Art has been workingthe past two
years with the Confucius Institute.
We have five Asian galleries that
are dedicated to Asian art and one
for Chinese art. I also know we are
goingto be looking at other facilities
to showcase the art as well."
Following the speeches and
luncheon, Martin Powers, profes-
sor of Chinese arts and cultures,
spoke about the current relation-
ship between China and the Unit-
ed States. He said the creation of
the Confucius Institute, with its
emphasis on art, will help to create
an appreciation for the differences
of the two cultures.
The event was private and the
attendees included all members of
the China task force, people affili-
ated with the museum, leaders at
Renmin University and major Uni-
versity donors who showed interest
in China.
The day's celebrations concluded
with a concert of Chinese music
held at Rackham Auditorium last
night.