The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
WALLA WALLA, Wash.
Nearly 50 inmates
involved in Wash.
prison fight
A Washington state penitentia-
ry spokeswoman says guards used
pepper spray to break up a fight
involving nearly 50 inmates at the
Walla Walla prison.
Spokeswoman Shari Hall said
yesterday that an initial fight
between two inmates broke out
Tuesday evening in a commons
area of one of the prison's close-
custody living units. She says
guards resolved that fight but a
second fight involving multiple
inmates broke out within min-
utes.
The Walla Walla Union-Bulle-
tin reports that several prisoners
were injured but none required
transport to a hospital. Hall says
no significant staff injuries were
reported.
Nearly 50 inmates have been
placed in segregation. Hall says
units in one complex also are on
lockdown as staffers investigate
the fight.
MONROVA, Calif.
Suspect in Calif.
bank bomb threat
arrested by police
Monrovia police say a man
who barricaded himself in a bank
entrance and claimed to have a
bomb has surrendered in the Los
Angeles foothill suburb.
.City spokesman Dick Singer
says the man walked out and gave
himself up yesterday afternoon.
WNo bomb was found.
Officials say hundreds of peo-
ple were evacuated from Citi-
zens Business Bank and nearby
buildings after the man shoved
a note under the closed door at
around 10 a.m. claiming he had
a bomb.
SEOUL South Korea
North Korea
detains American
a ~hMa border
North Korea said today that it
has detained an American man
for trespassing on its border with
China, the second arrest of a U.S.
citizen reported by the commu-
nist regime in the past several
weeks.
The man was detained Mon-
day and is now under investiga-
tion, the North's official Korean
Central News Agency said in a
brief dispatch. He was not identi-
fied by name and the report pro-
vided no further details.
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing
said Thursday that it did not
know of the case.
North Korea said late last
month that it was holding anoth-
er U.S. citizen for "illegally enter-
ing" the country through the
North Korea-China border.
The North did not identify
the man detained in Decem-
ber but is widely believed to
be Robert Park, an American
missionary who South Korean
activists say crossed into the
country over a frozen river sev-
eral days earlier to raise the issue
of human rights in the North.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.
Deadly fish virus
found in Lakes
Superior, Michigan
A fatal fish virus has been
detected in Lake Superior for the
first time, meaning it has spread
to all the Great Lakes, researchers
said yesterday.
Cornell University scientists
said they recently detected viral
hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS,
while testing fish in the largest of
the Great Lakes.
VHS has been identified in 28
freshwater fish species within
the Great Lakes watershed since
2005, including popular sport and
commercial varieties such as wall-
eye, muskellunge and whitefish.
Although not dangerous for
humans, the virus has caused
large fish kills in Lakes Ontario,
Erie and Huron. It also has turned
up in Lake Michigan.
Even so, officials in Michigan
and Wisconsin said yesterday
there was no evidence of a wide-
spread outbreak in Lake Superior.
They said the Cornell findings
would not lead to any immedi-
ate changes in boating or fishing
regulations.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
PRES. OBAMA: 'I DON'T QUIT'
In State of the
Union, Obama vows
to seize the reins of
his presidency
WASHINGTON (AP) - Declar-
ing "I don't quit,"' President Barack
Obama fought to recharge his
embattled presidency with a State
of the Union vow to get jobless mil-
lions back to work and to stand
on the side of Americans angry at
Wall Street greed and Washington
bickering. Defiant despite stinging
setbacks, he said he would fight on
for ambitious overhauls of health-
care, energy and education.
"Change has not come fast
enough," Obama acknowledged
yesterday night before a politician-
packed House chamber and a TV
audience of millions. "As hard as it
maybe, as uncomfortable and con-
tentious as the debates may be, it's
time to get serious about fixing the
problems that are hampering our
growth."
Obamalookedto changethe con-
versation from how his presidency
is stalling - over the messy health
care debate, a limping economy
and the missteps that led to Christ-
mas Day's barely averted terrorist
disaster - to how he is seizing the
reins. He spoke to a nation gloomy
over double-digit unemployment
and federal deficits soaring to a
record $1.4 trillion, and to fellow
Democrats dispirited about the
fallen standing of a president they
hoped would carry them through
this fall's midterm elections.
With State of the Union messag-
es traditionally delivered at the end
of January, Obama had one of the
presidency's biggest platforms just
a week after Republicans scored an
upset takeover of a Senate seat in
Massachusetts, prompting hand-
wringing over his leadership. With
the turnover erasing Democrats' S
enate supermajority needed to
pass most legislation, it also put a
cloud over health care and the rest
of Obama's agenda.
A chief demand was for law-
makers to press forward with his
prized health care overhaul, which
is in severe danger in Congress.
"Do not walk away from reform,"
he implored. "Not now. Not when
we are so close."
Republicans applauded the pres-
ident when he entered the cham-
ber, and even craned their necks
and welcomed Michelle Obama
when she took her seat. But the
warm feelings of bipartisanship
disappeared early.
Democrats jumped to their feet
and roared when Obama said he.
wanted to impose anew fee on banks,
while Republicans sat stone-faced.
Democrats stood and applauded
when Obama mentioned the eco-
nomic stimulus package passed last
February. Republicans just stared.
On national security, Obama
proclaimed some success, saying
that "far more" al-Qaida terror-
ists were killed under his watch
last year in the U.S.-led global fight
than in 2008.
President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address in the House chambers at the U.S. Capitol Building last night.
Speaking about the current state of the economy, Obama said "the worst oftthe storm has passed."
Hoping to salve growing disap-
pointment in .a key constituency,
Obama said he would work with
Congress "this year" to repeal the
ban on gays and lesbians serving
openly in the military. But in a con-.
cession to concern about the move
among Republicans and on his own
party's right flank, Obama neither
made a commitment to suspend the
practice in the interim nor issued a
firm deadline for action.
The president devoted about
two-thirds of his speech to the
economic worries foremost on
Americans' minds as reces-
sion persists. "The devastation
remains," he said.
Obama emphasized his ideas,
some new but mostly old and
explained anew, for restoring job
growth, taming budget deficits
and changing a Washington so
polarized that "every day is Elec-
tion Day." These concerns are at
the roots of voter emotions that
once drove supporters to Obama
but now are turning on him as he
governs.
Declaring that "I know the anx-
ieties" of Americans' struggling
to pay the bills while big banks
get bailouts and bonuses, Obama
prodded Congress to enact a sec-
ond stimulus package "without
delay," specifying it should con-
tain a range of measures to help
small businesses and funding for
infrastructure projects.
Defense lawyers
rest case in trial
for gay marriage
John, Elizabeth Edwards file for
divorce after 30-year marriage
Judge may reach
final decision in
March or April
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The
first federal case to decide if the
U.S. Constitution prevents states
from stopping same-sex weddings
came to an anti-climatic break
yesterday after a judge heard
nearly 12 days of -wide-ranging
testimony on the meaning of mar-
riage, the nature of sexual orien-
tation, and the role of religion in
shaping attitudes about both.
Attorneys for sponsors of Cali-
fornia's Proposition 8 tentatively
rested their case after introducing
materials from the 2008 election
campaign.
They called just two expert
witnesses, including David Blan-
kenhorn, president of the New
York-based Institute for Ameri-
can Values, who capped the his-
toric proceedings by saying the
rights of same-sex couples should
come second to preserving the
cherished social institution of
marriage.
Chief U.S. District Judge
Vaughn R. Walker heard the
case without a jury and said he
will take time to review the evi-
dence before allowing closing
arguments, probably in March
orApril He has-no deadlinefor
reaching a decision.
After testimony ended, Walk-
er came down from the bench
and shook hands with both legal
teams.
"I just want to take a moment to
congratulate you (on) what a good
job you've both done," he said,
calling ita fascinating case.
His eventual verdict is likely to
be appealed to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
Throughout the trial, lawyers
for the two gay couples who filed
the lawsuit seeking to overturn
the ballot measure tried to show
the U.S. Supreme Court has rec-
ognized marriage as a funda-
mental right and that there is no
lawful reason to deny it to gays.
They also argued that Proposi-
tion 8, which passed with 52 per-
cent of the vote, was a product of
anti-gay prejudice rooted in reli-
gion and psychological theories
about homosexuality that have
long since been discredited.
Former presidential
candidate fathered
child during affair
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Eliza-
beth Edwards has separated from
husband John Edwards, the for-
mer presidential candidate who
lied about cheating on his cancer-
stricken wife and the child he
,fathered during his affair.
The disclosure yesterday came
as a longtime aide to the two-time
candidate promotes a tell-all book
that provides an unflattering por-
trait of the couple and the tumul-
tuous relationship they tried to
maintain after he first acknowl-
edged the liaison.
Elizabeth Edwards, 60,
declined to comment through a
friend, Andrea Purse, who con-
firmed the separation. However,
Elizabeth's sister told The Asso-
ciated Press that she remains
strong.
"She's doing as well as you could
expect," Nancy Anania said. "I'm
really proud of her that, somehow,
she's got strength that you rarely
see in a person."
A week earlier, John Edwards
finally confirmed that he fathered
a child, now alm s 2 years-old,
with his mistress, Rielle Hunter.
He issued a brief statement yester-
day, expressing care for his wife of
more than three decades and the
mother of four of his children.
"It is an extraordinarily sad
moment, but I love my children
more than anything and still care
deeply about Elizabeth," he said.
Purse did not reveal how long
the couple has been apart. North
Carolina law typically requires
couples to be separated for a year
before divorcing.
. It's another wrenching twist
for a couple that had previously
weathered the death of a 16-year-
old son and Elizabeth's ongoing
battle with incurable cancer.
They were law school sweet-
hearts who got married just days
after they took the bar exam
together-in the summer of 1977.
Though John Edwards, 56, later
went on to make millions as a trial
lawyer, the couple had humble.
beginnings: He had to borrows
money from her parents for a one-
night honeymoon. She always,
wore her $11 wedding ring. For,
years they spent their anniversa-
ries going to Wendy's, just as they
did on their first one.
Pre- llter s
PCICTt( 7
Fellowship Opportunities
The Center for Ethics in Public Life is pleased to announce its Fellowship Programs
for the 2010-11 academic year. Fellowships are available for University of Michigan
Doctoral candidates, Pre-candidates, and Undergraduates.
The Dissertation Fellowship Program provides summer support for doctoral students who
have achieved candidacy and who are writing dissertations that engage ethics in public life.
The Pre-Candidate Fellowship Program provides summer support for pre-candidate
doctoral students who plan to incorporate ethics in their dissertations.
The Undergraduate Fellowship Program provides support for undergraduates to develop,
explore, and pursue research or activities related to ethics in public life for the
UM community.
Fellows will receive a stipend of $4,000. Applications are due February 22, 2010.
For further details and application materials, please visit www.ethics.umich.edu.
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