The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 3A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS EAST LANSING, Mich. MSU leads U.S. funded study of children's health Researchers are recruiting preg- nant Wayne County women for part of a $75 million federal study of the causes of autism, cerebral palsy, asthma and other diseases. Michigan State University is heading an alliance of Michigan universities and health providers. The National Institutes of health is funding the work. The study looks at how genetics and environment affect children's health. It will track 100,000 chil- dren from womb to adulthood. Michigan State epidemiologist Nigel Paneth heads the project and says the National Children's study is starting in 30 counties nation- wide after years of preparation. It will follow 1,000 women per coun- ty. Research in Michigan later will expand to Genesee, Grand Tra- verse, Lenawee and Macomb coun- ties. Iran faces criticism on enrichment An Afghan man with a gunshot wound is carried toa waiting helicopter to be evacuated by a U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus heli- copter crew in Marjah, Afghanistan on Monday. Taliban leader's arrest SAN FRANCISCO blow t insurgents Calif. race-based1r a o O n~ n .admissions law challenged anew The law that bars the Universi- ty of California from considering race in student admissions vio- lates the civil rights of black, Lati- no and Native American students who are underrepresented at the state's most prestigious campuses and blocked from seeking redress through the school's governing board, a class-action lawsuit filed yesterday alleges. " The federal court suit was brought by the Michigan-based, pro-affirmative action group By Any Means Necessary. It chal- lenges the constitutionality of Proposition 209, a ballot measure approved by California voters in 1996 that prohibited racial or gender preferences in public con- tracting, education and employ- ment. A federal appeals court and the California Supreme Court have rebuffed earlier efforts to over- turn the 13-year-old law. RIO DE JANEIRO Heat wilting Rio Carnival street festivities The hottest temperatures in five decades were melting Car- nival revelry yesterday after five days of dancing, drinking and smooching. "I never thought I would say this, but it is too hot to party," said 20-year-old Thiago Cerveny, standing on a corner with his girl- friend in Ipanema and debating whether to hit a big street party on the last full day of festivities. Rio's summer has seen record highs of up to 110 F (44 C). Couple that with the seaside city's suffo- cating humidity and the chances that partiers will fall ill increases. It was 106 F (41 C) yesterday. Dr. Luis Fernando Correa took to the Globo television network to warn those still partying to "drink a lot - but nothing alco- holic." Taking the booze out of what Brazilians call the world's big- gest bash is certainly a chal- lenge. Health officials say more than 1,400 revelers have been treated since Saturday, the majority for heat-related illness. WASHINGTON Military court to review Abu Ghraib conviction The U.S. military's highest court says it will review the con- viction of an Army reservist who prosecutors said was the ring- leader of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Former Cpl. Charles Graner Jr. was sentenced in 2005 to 10 years in prison for his role in the scandal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for * the Armed Forces in Washing- ton said yesterday it will consider whether the trial judge erred by refusing to let jurors see memos approving "enhanced interroga- tion tactics" for detainees. Graner, of Uniontown, Pa., was accused of stacking naked prison- ers in a human pyramid and order- ing them to masturbate while other soldiers took photographs. - Compiled from Daily wire reports Second in command Baradar captured in Pakistan ISLAMABAD (AP) - The cap- ture of the Afghan Taliban's No. 2 commander by a joint CIA and Pakistani team dealt a fresh blow to insurgents under heavy U.S. attack and raised hopes that Pak- istani security forces are ready to deny Afghan militant leaders a safe haven. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar's arrest in the Pakistani port city of Karachi may also push other insurgent leaders thought to be sheltering on this side of the bor- der toward talks with the Afghan government - a development increasingly seen as key to end- ing the eight-year war. Baradar, in his late 40s, was the second in command behind Taliban founder Mullah Moham- mad Omar and was said to be in charge of the day-to-day running of the organization's leadership, council, which is believed based in Pakistan. He was a founding member of the Taliban and is the most important figure of the hardline Islamist movement to be arrested in the war. Baradar, who also functioned as the link between Mullah Omar and field commanders, has been in detention for more than 10 days and was talking to interro- gators, two Pakistani intelligence officials said yesterday. One said several other suspects were also captured in the raid. He said Bara- dar had provided "useful informa- tion" to them and that Pakistan had shared it with their U.S. coun- terparts. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensi- tivity of the information. The White- House declined to confirm Baradar's capture. Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters the fight against extremists involves sensitive intelligence matters and he believes it's best to collect that information without talking about it. President Barack Obama's administration has vowed to kill or seize Taliban and al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan and Paki- stan. The arrest comes as relent- less CIA missile strikes against militant targets in the border tribal region have killed several commanders. Obama has ordered 30,000 extra troops to southern Afghan- istan. On Saturday, thousands of them began a major attack on the town of Marjah in the southern province of Helmand, one of the regions that Baradar is believed to control. Former members of the Tal- iban regime in Afghanistan and security experts said the arrest would hurt the Taliban but was far from a decisive blow. They said Baradar would likely be quickly replaced and that local commanders had a lot of auton- omy from the leaders based in Pakistan. Nevertheless, the capture is likely to cause short-term disrup- tion, since Baradar was the day- to-day commander of the Taliban and his successor would not have the same prestige. "It's a great tactical success that the coalition forces should be pleased with, but by no means is it the beginning of the end," said Will Hartley, an analyst at Jane's Terrorism and Insurgen- cy Center in London. "This will have a noted effect on the short- term ability of the Taliban to- operate the way it was. However, it has proved itself a resilient organization." Ahmadinejad disregards worries, continues expInsion VIENNA (AP) - Russia, the U.S. andFrancehave urged Iranto stop enriching uranium to higher levels and suggested the project reinforces suspicions that Tehran is seeking to make nuclear weap- ons. The joint statement, made public yesterday, reflects unified Russian and Western opposition to Iran's increased enrichment. Shrugging off international concerns, Iranian President Mah- moud Ahmadinejad announced the country was moving ahead to expand its enrichment capaci- ties by installing more advanced machinery at its main enrichment facility. Ahmadinejad told reporters in Tehran yesterday the new centri- fuges are not yet operational but are five times more efficient than the model now in use at its under- ground Natanz enrichment plant. Officials at the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said they had no comment. The latest IAEA report on Iran in November said that as of early October no advanced centrifuges had been installed at the plant, although some were being tested in a separate area of the facility. Because enrichment can pro- duce both nuclear weapons as well as reactor fuel, Iran is under three sets of U.N. Security Coun- cil sanctions for refusing to stop its program. Its determination to expand such activities had been criticized worldwide even before an announcement earlier this month that Tehran would enrich to a higher level. The confidential letter critical of the higher-enrichment plan was shared yesterday with The Asso- ciated Press. Dated Feb. 12, it was addressed to IAEA chief Yukiya Amano and signed by senior U.S., Russian and French envoys. Moscow in the past has often put the brakes on Western attempts to penalize Tehran for defying U.N. Security Council demands that it freeze its enrich- ment program, which can pro- duce both nuclear fuel and the fissile core of warheads. But while Russia has recently signaled more support for new U.N. sanctions, China - a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council that depends on Iran for much of its energy needs - remains opposed. The letter questioned the ratio- nale of Tehran's assertion that it had started the higher enrich- ment project to provide fuel to a research reactor providing medi- cal isotopes for cancer patients. "If Iran goes ahead with this escalation, it would raise fresh concerns about Iran's nuclear intentions, in light of the fact that Iran cannot produced the needed nuclear fuel in time" to refuel the research reactor, said the letter. Iran's decision to enrich to the 20-percent level is "wholly unjustified, contrary to U.N. Security Council resolutions and represent(s) a further step toward a capability to produce highly enriched uranium," said the letter to IAEA chief Amano. The 20-percent mark rep- resents the threshold between low-enriched and high-enriched uranium. Although warhead material must be enriched to a level of 90 percent or more, just getting its present low-enriched stockpile to the 20 percent mark would be a major step for Iran's nuclear pro- gram. While enriching to 20 per- cent would take about one year, using up to 2,000 centrifuges af Tehran's underground Natanz facility, any next step - moving from 20 to 90 percent - would take only half a year and between 500-1,000 centrifuges. Since its clandestine enrich- ment program became known eight years ago, Iran has insisted it is meant only to generate nucle- ar fuel. But its secrecy and refusal to cooperate with an IAEA probe of allegations that it experiment- ed with aspects of a weapons- program had increased concerns even before Ahmadinejad's Feb.7' announcement that Iran wilt raise the enrichment bar. Ford lays off 900 workers Mustang sales dropped 27-percent in 2009 DETROIT (AP) - Ford Motor Co. said yesterday that it plans to cut 900 workers at the Michigan plant that makes the Mustang, which saw sales drop sharply last year, but most will get positions. at other facilities. Ford will reduce shifts from two to one in July at the AutoAl- liance International plant in Flat Rock, Mich. The plant, which is jointly owned with Mazda Motor Corp., also makes the Mazda6 midsize sedan. The plant employs nearly 2,300 people. Most of the layoffs will be hourly manufacturing workers, but some salaried positions also will be cut, Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said. A majority of workers will be offered positions at other plants, she said. Evans said there was signifi- cant down time at the plant last year. By speeding up the line and eliminating down time, Evans said Ford can build the same num- ber of vehicles with one shift. Demand for both vehicles fell last year, but Ford is hoping it will pick up again as the economy improves and it introduces the more powerful 2011 Mustang this spring. Mustang sales fell 27 percent last year, in part because of competition from the Chevro- let Camaro, which went on sale in the spring and came within 5,000 cars of outselling the Mus- tang. The Camaro hasn't outsold the Mustang since 1985. Mazda6 sales were down 34 percent. Most of the Flat Rock workers are expected to get jobs at other plants. Ford said last month it will hire 1,200 workers at its Chicago Assembly Plant to build the new Ford Explorer. Explorer production will start at the end of this year. Ford also recently announced a plan to create 1,000 jobs in Michigan to make elec- tric car batteries. Evans said the company also needs workers at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich., which is sched- uled to begin producing the new Ford Focus later this year. Ford currently has around 600 workers on indefinite layoff nationwide. Those workers and the ones to be laid off at Flat Rock will have the first opportunity to take jobs at facilities that are hiring. The company has been trying to thin the ranks of hourly 'workers, most recently offering buyout packages to all 41,000 U.S. hourly workers in December. Alabama prof.'s story begins wth- Suburban homeless: rising tide of women,, families Bishop believed to have shot brother in 1986 HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - When a young woman in Massa- chusetts killed her brother with a shotgun blast in 1986, authorities waited more than a week to ques- tion family members and the death was ultimately ruled an accident. Now, a quarter-century later, Amy Bishop is accused in another shooting - an attack that killed three fellow biology professors at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. In the days 'since Friday's shooting, revelations about Amy Bishop's past have raised ques- tions about whether much of the violence could have been prevent- ed. In the latest twist, police said Tuesday that Bishop had also been charged with assaulting a woman in 2002 during a tirade over a child's booster seat at a restaurant. The story started more than two decades ago when police were called to the Braintree, Mass., home Bishop shared with her parents. Authorities found her 18-year-old brother, Seth, dead of a shotgun wound to the chest. Bishop's father later told police he and his daughter had a dis- agreement and she went to her room. She said she had wanted to learn to load a shotgun her parents had bought after a recent break-in. Bishop said she accidentally fired the gun in her bedroom as she tried to unload it, then went down- stairs to ask her brother to help, accordingto a police report. She said the gun went off again as Seth, a Northeastern University freshman and a virtuoso violinist, walked across the kitchen. She told police she thought she had ruined the kitchen, but did not realize she had hit her brother. She said she ran away and thought she dropped the gun, which went off a third time. She did not remember anything else until she was takeri to a police station. But police and witnesses say she fled with the gun to a car deal- ership, where she pointed it at employees and demanded a get- away car. She told them her hus- band was going to come after her and she needed to flee. She was caught but never charged; Police said it took 11 days before they could interview family members' because they were so distraught When they finally did, authorities decided to let her go, declaring the wholethinganaccident. John Polio, who headed the Braintree police force at the time, at first defended the handling of the case. The 87-year-old said Tuesday that he recently read a 1987 report on the investigation written by a state trooper. At the time, he had not seen the docu- ment. But now, he says, "I would- have wanted a lot more questions answered." The Norfolk County district. attorney at the time was Williant Delahunt, now a Democratic con- gressman from Massachusettsp He was traveling in the Middle East and did not reply to repeate' requests for comment. The current district attorney, WilliamKeating, said yesterday tha. newly found police reports show" there was probable cause to arrest Bishop in 1986 on charges of assault' with a dangerous weapon, carrying a dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of ammunition. But, Keatingsaid, the reports do not contradict accounts that the- shooting was an accident. Bishop and her husband, James Anderson, graduated from North- eastern in 1988 with biology degrees. In 1993, Bishop earned. a doctorate in genetics from Harm yard. Rural and suburban homelessness at 32 percent in 2009 ROOSEVELT, N.Y. (AP) - Homelessness in rural and subur- ban America is straining shelters this winter as the economy found- ers and joblessness hovers near double digits - a "perfect storm of foreclosures, unemployment and a shortage of affordable housing," in one official's eyes. "We are seeing many families that never before sought government help,"saidGregBlass, commissioner of Social Services in Suffolk County on eastern LongIsland. "We see a spiral in food stamps, heating assistance applications; Medicaid is skyrocketing," Blass added. "It is truly reaching a stage of being alarming.", The federal government is again counting the nation's homeless and, by many accounts, the sub- urban numbers continue to rise, especially for families, women, children, Latinos and men seeking help for the first time. Some have to be turned away. "Yes, there has definitely been an increased number of turnaways this year," said Jennifer Hill, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness in suburban Cook County, Illinois. "We're see- ing increases in shelter use along the lines of 30 percent or more." The U.S. Department of Hous- ing and Urban Development's annual survey last year found homelessness remained steady at about 1.6 million people, but the percentage of rural or subur- ban homelessness rose from 23 percent to 32 percent. The 2009 HUD report, which reflected the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2008, also found the number of sheltered homeless families grew from about 473,000 to 517,000. Greta Guarton, executive direc- tor of the Nassau-Suffolk Coali- tion for the Homeless on Long Island, led a recent group of about 40 volunteers to scour vacant lots and industrial parks for this year's HUD survey; results are expected in several months. "One of the things that we've noticed is a lot more unsheltered, mostly men who claim this is the first time they've been homeless, who indicate that it's due to a loss of wages or loss of job, because of the economy," Guarton said. Stephanie Hawkins, who lost her manager's job when a shel- ter for drug addicts and alcohol- ics closed last summer, is now among about a dozen or more "guests" living in a different kind of Long Island shelter - this one for women who have nowhere else to go.