The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS WASHINGTON D.C. Obama rebukes Afghanistan plans President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghani- stan war options presented by his national security team, pushing instead for revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administra- tion official said yesterday. That pushfollows strongreserva- tions about a possible troop buildup expressed by the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, according to a second top adminis- tration official. In strongly worded classified cables to Washington, Eikenberry said he had misgivings about sending in new troops while there are still so many questions about the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Obamaisstillclose to announcing his revamped war strategy - most likely shortly after he returns from a trip to Asia that ends on Nov. 19. But the president raised ques- tions at a war council meeting Wednesday that could alter the dynamic of both how many addi- tional troops are sent to Afghani- stan and what the timeline would be for their presence in the war zone, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Obama's thinking. YPSILANTI, Mich. EMUto offer in-state tuition to veterans Eastern Michigan University says it will start letting military veterans from outside the state pay the lower in-state tuition rates. The tuition break is available to veterans with at least one year of service who receive honorable or medical discharges. The Ypsilanti school says the break applies to 24 credit hours per year. Last year, Eastern Michigan began offeringin-state tuition rates to active duty members of the U.S. military. Universityveterans services Direc- tor Shaftone Dunklin says the pro- gram recognizes that members of the armed forces defend the entire coun- try and not just individual states. The university's trustees approved the EMU Vet Connect Award at their October meeting. 0 SEOUL, South Korea Navel clash outcry North Korea warned South Korea today that it could face con- sequences over a naval clash that occurred between the rival coun- =tries off their west coast earlier this week. The North's government-run Minju Joson newspaper said in a commentary that South Korea would face "costly consequences" if it continues to assume a confronta- tional posture against the North. The commentary, carried by the officialKoreanCentralNewsAgency, did not specify what consequences the South would face if it continues to provoke tension and blame the North for the maritime incident. It said the clash stemmed from a plot by the South to disrupt direct talks that are planned between Pyongyang and Washington by inspiring anti-North Korea senti- N'ment among American officials. WASHINGTON D.C. Doctors saythey had -prior concerns about ' $4Fort Hood shooter A group of doctors overseeing Nidal Malik Hasan's medical train- ing discussed concerns about his overly zealous religious views and strange behavior months before the Army major was accused of a shoot- ing rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that left 13 dead and 29 wounded. Doctors and staff overseeing Hasan's training viewed him at times as belligerent, defensive and argumentative in his frequent discussions of his Muslim faith, a military official familiar with sev- eral group discussions about Hasan said. The official was not autho- rized to speak publicly about the meetings and spoke on condition of anonymity. Hasan was characterized in meetings as a mediocre student and lazy worker, a matter of concern amongthe doctors and staff at Wal- ter Reed Army Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, a military medical school in Bethesda, Md., the official said. - Compiled from Daily wire reports GM looks to Regal and Cruze for profits Buick Regal and Chevrolet Cruze expected to be GM's top sellers in 2011 DETROIT (AP) - Two General Motors cars due in showrooms next year must be hits to help the auto- maker turn around sales and pay back its big debt to U.S. taxpayers. The Buick Regal midsize sedan and Chevrolet Cruze compact, both sold in key segments of the U.S. car market, face stiff competition and other obstacles to success. GM was to roll out the Regal on Thursday in Los Angeles, and it's counting on the sleek-looking sedan to claw out a new market for the once-stodgy Buick, now the official brand of bingo night at the senior center. Buick has been absent from the tough midsize market since 2004, while the Cruze was recently put on hold because GM wasn't happy with how it drove. Executives have high hopes that the Regal, much of it designed by GM's Opel engineers in Rues- selsheim, Germany, can help bring younger buyers to Buick, crucial to the brand's long-term growth. Cur- rently the median age of a Buick customer is around 68, but GM is targeting new models for those in their 40s and 50s, said Craig Bierley, Buick's product marketing director. "Clearly having a midsize entry is absolutely critical for us,"Bierley said. Buick sales so far this year are down 33 percent compared with last year, worse than the overall U.S. market, which is off 25 percent. Midsize cars like Toyota's Camry, the perennial sales leader, are attractive to young families and baby boomers who are downsizing their vehicles. They typically can haul five people and have decent trunk space. Also, several entries get well over 30 mpg on the high- way, making them the default buy for those who need space but are concerned about the return of $4 per gallon gasoline. So far this year, the midsize seg- ment is the biggest part of the U.S. car market, making up 47 percent of sales. Camry dominates the seg- ment with 294,000 sales. GM has no margin for error with the Regal or any other new vehicle, said David Koehler, a clinical mar- keting professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Their success in the future is riding on these new launches," he said. The new Regal, due in show- rooms in the second quarter of next year, is aimed at those who want a car that's fun to drive yet is practi- cal. The Regal has three ride set- tings (normal sport and touring) and is smart enough to tailor the car to the way people drive, Bierley said. The Regal is designed to compete with the sporty Acura TSX made by the Honda luxury brand, and the Volvo S60. Pricing wasn't announced, but it will be between the mainstream midsize Chevrolet Malibu at $21,325 and the $27,835 base price of a larg- er new Buick, the LaCrosse, aimed at luxury buyers. The flabby old Regal, discontin- ued five years ago in partbecause it couldn't compete with the Camry and Honda's Accord, bears little resemblance to the new one, which Bierley said is equipped only with four-cylinder engines to boost fuel economy. At first the car will have only one engine choice, a 2.4-liter, 182 horsepower powerplant that gets around 30 mpg on the freeway. By next summer, a 220-horsepower CARLOS OSORIO/AP The 2011 Buick Regal sedan will be rolled out during an event in Lost Angeles. Gen- eral Motors officials are counting on its new design to open a new rarket for Buick. 2-liter turbocharged four with power comparable to a V-6 also will be available. Stephanie Brinley, an analyst with the AutoPacific marketing and consulting firm, predicts that GM will sell about 40,000 Regals in its first full year, not a huge number but enough to bring critical profits to GM. Last year, Acura sold almost exactly 40,000 TSX models. "It doesn't really matter how many they sell of the Regal. It mat- ters if it's profitable," she said. Reid considers payroll tax hike on wealthy If adopted, Senate majority leader's proposal would fund health care reform WASHINGTON (AP) - Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering a plan for higher payroll taxes on the upper-income earners to help finance health care legislation he intends to introduce in the Senate in the next several days, numerous Democratic officials said yesterday. These officials said one of the options Reid has had under review would raise the payroll tax that goes to Medicare, but only on income above $250,000 a year. Cur- rent law sets the tax at 1.45 percent of income, an amount matched by employers. It was not known how large an increase Reid, D-Nev., was con- sidering, or whether it would also apply to a company's portion of the tax. President Barack Obama has said he will not raise taxes on wage earners making less than $250,000. The officials spoke only on condi- tion of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to disclose details of private deliberations. Reid's spokesman, Jim Manley, declined comment and said the majority leader has made no final decisions and is awaiting detailed information from the Congressio- nal Budget Office aboutthe cost and coverage implications of the pro- posals he has drafted. Reid sent his proposals to the CBO more than two weeks ago and recently took the first step on the Senate floor to begin a debate on health care as early as next week. The House passed its version of the legislation late last week on a near party line vote of 220-215, a victory for Obama as well as his allies in Congress. In general, the House-passed measure and the one Reid is expected to propose are designed to expand coverage to tens of millions of uninsured, eliminate insurance industry practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-exist- ing medical conditions, and slow the overall rate of growth in health care spending nationally. Reid has been merging bills cleared earlier by two separate committees but has a virtual free hand in the bill he crafts. On one contentious issue, he has already said his measure will include an option for consumers to purchase health care from the gov- ernment asa way to create competi- tion with private companies. States could drop out of the system. The House bill is significantly more generous in providing subsi- dies to help lower-income individu- als and families afford coverage, and Reid is under pressure to find additional financing. Addition- ally, a Senate Finance Committee- approved proposal to tax very high-cost insurance policies has drawn criticism from organized labor, which wants it either modi- fied or dropped altogether. The House-passed legislation includes a surtax of 5.4 percent on income above $500,000 for indi- viduals and $1 million for couples, a proposal that has drawn little if any backing in the Senate. The House's passage of a health care bill was marked by last-min- ute controversy over abortion, the result of far-reaching restrictions that foes of the procedure suc- ceeded in inserting into the mea- sure. Nogovernment-run insurance plan could cover abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or if the life of the mother were in danger. Nor could any health plan provide abor- tion coverage except for those three exceptions if any of its customers received federal subsidies. Obama has called for changes to ease the restrictions, and it was not knownwhattheimpactoftheHouse- passedbillwouldhaveonthe Senate. University of Michigan's Largest H Selecton ofREALTY Selecton of Unitis Aaiiihiiir immediaie Occupaicy Off Cam pus Now Leasing for 2010-2011 Houses up to 14 bedrooms o u s616 Chrch St.734 995-9200 www.archrealtyco.com H,-,, President Barack Obama participated in a traditional Veteran's Day ceremony in front of the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arling- ton National Cemetery before visiting a section of the cemetery for fallen soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, Obama honors veterans at Arlington cemetery Following tradition, President Obama leads ceremony at Tomb of the Unkowns ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - On a cold, rain-soaked Veterans Day, President Barack Obama walked slowly through the white, stone markers at the section of Arlington National Cemetery reserved for troops killed in Iraq and Afghani- stan, the two wars he oversees as commander in chief. Obama led the nation yesterday in observingVeterans Day with atradi- tionalwreath-layingceremonyatthe Tomb of the Unknowns at Arling- ton before an unannounced visit to the section reserved for those who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We gather here mindful that the generation serving today already deserves a place alongside previous generations for the cour- age they have shown and the sacri- fices that they have made," Obama said in a brief speech following the wreath-laying. Obama pledged he would do right by all veterans and families, saying: "America will not let you down." The president spoke one day after honoring the victims of a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. He said he was struck by the determination of the soldiers there, a quality that unites generations of American servicemen. "To allof them - to our veterans, to the fallen and to their families - there is no tribute, no commemora- tion, no praise that can truly match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice," he said. ThenationobservedVeteransDay from remembrances at the nation's capital to a New York City parade to ceremonies in towns and cities across the nation and overseas. At Camp Eggers in Kabul,ssoldiers observed a moment of silence for the more than 800 U.S. service members have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since the 2001 inva- sion to oust the Taliban regime. The Navajo Code Talkers were special guests at the New York parade's opening ceremony, where a wreath was laid at the World War I Eternal Light Monu- ment in Madison Square Park. As young Marines during World War II, the Code Talkers used secret Navajo language-encrypted mili- tary terms that the Japanese were never able to crack. As the Code Talkers were intro- duced, the crowd - which includ- ed World War It veteran and actor Tony Curtis - let out a loud cheer. Boston College dedicated a 70-foot-long granite wall bearing the names of 209 alumni who lost their lives while serving in a war zone. Bells tolled in three sets of 11 from the college's historic Gasson Tower, symbolizing the exact time that an armistice was declared in World War I. Harvard unveiled a plaque on campus to honor the uni- versity's alumni who have received the Medal of Honor. The university has 16 winners. Hundreds of Minnesota military veterans and family members filled a community center gymnasium in the suburbs of St. Paul to hear words of thanks from state political leaders. The ceremony drew vet- erans ranging from young enlisted soldiers to retired generals. "The title of veteran deserves great respect in America," Minne- sota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said. "Vet- eran stands for a life dedication to our nation's greatest cause - the cause of freedom." Among the deadin the Fort Hood shooting rampage was Pfc. Kham Xiongof St. Paul. He was mentioned in several speeches Wednesday and singled out for recognition during the invocation. An American Red Cross event in Washington kicked off the start of a program called Holiday Mail for Heroes, which lets the public send holiday greeting cards that aren't addressed to a particular service member. PRESENTS 'PNATAION' vIe-rOR(A's scKar THURSDAY, Nov.12 7:30-9PM @ Necto I Tickets: $5 First60toarveglatagoodieba aifyoulikewhat useealtheshowhere il be a rafleforsome of the n w othing! ALL PROCEEDS GO TO Stay afterwards for the after party in the Red Room! Spefia haiiks toMednaNeco Dormnos. and Above Ground'