The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, February 19, 2010 - 3

NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING
Granholm allows
other workers to
join health plan
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has
signed an executive order clearing
the way for university, public school
and local government employees to
join the health care coverage plan
offered to state employees.
The Democratic governor said
Wednesday in a release that the
move could offer those -groups a
way to save on insurance.
All of the state's, health care
plans would be open to participa-
tion, including a PPO, health main-
tenance organization, prescription
drug coverage and dental and
vision care.
The administration has negoti-
ated contracts with several state
employee unions that require
employees hired after April 1 to pay
a larger share of their health care
costs. The policy will reduce state
costs for newly hired state employ-
ee by 21 percent.
TONAWANDA, NY
GM investing
$425M in NY plant
for Ecotec engine
General Motors Co. yesterday
unveiled one of its most substan-
tial manufacturing investments
since emerging from bankruptcy
production, committing nearly a
half billion dollars to production
of the next generation of its Ecotec
engine.
Most of that - about $425 mil-
lion - will go to the Tonawanda
engine plant near Buffalo, which
will make 370,000 of the four-cyl-
inder engines per year and add 470
jobs.
GM's Defiance, Ohio, block pro-
duction plant will get $59 million in
upgrades and gain 80 jobs. An addi-
tional 17 jobs will be created in Bay
City, Mich., where a connecting rod
will be produced following a $10.5
million investment, company offi-
cials said.
MEXICO CITY
Son of top drug
suspect sent to
U.S. from Mexico
A man accused of being an
influential, second-generation
member of the Sinaloa drug car-
tel was extradited from Mexico
to the United States yesterday on
charges he helped move tons of
cocaine from Colombia to Califor-
nia, New York and Chicago.
Vicente Zambada Niebla was
turned over to U.S. authorities at
the international bridge connect-
ing Matamoros to Brownsville,
Texas, Mexico's attorney gener-
al's office announced.
Zambada's father, Ismael "El
Mayo" Zambada, controls the
cartel along with Mexico's most
wanted drug lord, Joaquin "El
Chapo" Guzman, according to law
enforcement officials.

The younger Zambada assumed
major new powers in the Sinaloa
cartel in 2008, with control over
logistics and the authority to
order assassinations, authorities
say.
SYDNEY
Australia threatens
Japan over whaling
program
Australia's prime minister today
set a November deadline for Japan
to stop its research whaling pro-
gram that kills hundreds of whales
a year in Antarctic waters, or else
face legal action.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said
Australiawould prefer to use diplo-
matic means to persuade Japan to
end its hunt.
"If that fails, then we will initi-
ate court action before the com-
mencement of the whaling season
in November 2010," he told the
Seven Network. "That's the bot-
tom line and we're very clear
to the Japanese, that's what we
intend to do."
Australia, a staunch anti-
V whaling nation, has threatened
international legal action against
Japan before. Two years ago, it
sent a ship to Antarctic waters
to follow the Japanese whaling
fleet and collect videos and pho-
tographs it said might be used
as evidence in an international
forum. So far, the threats have not
been followed up.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports

U. of Alabama
tenure process
faces criticism,

DANIELA JRUJILL/THE DAILY TEXAN/AP
Smoke rises from a building containing nearly 200 Internal Revenue Service employees in Austin, Texas after it was hit by a
small aircraft yesterday.
Man crashes. plane
into, IRS building
Man angry at IRS of black smoke rose over the city, the worst of the damage on the
and terrified workers rushed to second and third floors.
carried out suicide get out. The entire outside of the sec-
The Pentagon scrambledtwoF-16 nd floor was gone on the side
through crash fighter jets from Houston to patrol of the building where the plane
the skies over the burning building hit. Support beams were bent
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A before it became clear that it was inward. Venetian blinds dangled
software engineer furious with the act of a lone pilot, and President from blown-out windows, and
the Internal Revenue Service Barack Obama was briefed. large sections of the exterior
launched a suicide attack on the "It felt like a bomb blew off," were blackened with soot. It was
agency yesterday by crashing his said Peggy Walker, an IRS revenue not immediately clear if any tax
small plane into an office build- officer who was sitting at her desk. records were destroyed.
ing containing nearly 200 IRS "The ceiling caved in and win- Andrew Jacobson, an IRS rev-
employees, setting off a raging dows blew in. We got up and ran." enue officer who was on the see-
fire that sent workers running for Stack was presumed dead. and floor when the plane hit with
their lives. Emergency crews have found a a "big whoomp" and then a second
At least one person in the build- body in the building last night, but explosion, said about six people
ing was missing. Police Chief Art Acevedo declined couldn't use the stairwell because
The FBI tentatively identified to say whether it was the pilot. At of smoke and debris. He found a
the pilot as Joseph A. Stack, 53. least 13 people'were injured, with metal bar to break a window so
Law enforcement officials, speak- two reported in critical condition. the group could crawl out onto a
ing on condition of anonymity About 190 IRS employees work in concrete ledge, where they were
because the investigation was still 'the building. rescued by firefighters. His bloody
going on, said that before taking Gerry Cullen was eating break- hands were bandaged.
off, Stack apparently set fire to his fast at a restaurant acrossthe street Austin Police Chief Art Aceve-
house and posted a long anti-gov- when the plane struck the building do said "heroic actions" by federal
ernment screed on the Web. It was and "vanished in a fireball." employees may explain why the
dated yesterday and signed "Joe Matt Farney, who was in the death toll was so low.
Stack (1956-2010)." parking lot of a nearby Home The FBI was investigating. The
In it, the author cited run-ins Depot, said he saw a low-flying National Transportation Safety
he had with the IRS and ranted plane near some apartments just Board sent an investigator as well.
about the tax agency, government before it crashed. "I figured he was Rep. Michael McCaul, a Repub-
bailouts and corporate America's going to buzz the apartments or he lican from Austin on the Home-
"thugs and plunderers." was showing off," Farney said. "It land Security Committee, said the
"I have had all I can stand," he was insane. It didn't look like he panel will take up the issue of how
wrote, adding: "I choose not to keep was out of control or anything." to better protect buildings from
looking over my shoulder at 'big Sitting at her desk in another attacks with planes.
brother' while hestrips my carcass." building a half-mile from the In the long, rambling, self-
The pilot took off in a four-seat, crash, Michelle Santibanez felt described "rant" that Stack appar-
single engineer Piper PA-28 from the vibrations and ran to the ently posted on the Internet, he
an airport in Georgetown, about windows, where she and her co- began: "If you're reading this,
30 miles from Austin, without fil- workers witnessed a scene that you're no doubt asking yourself,
ing a flight plan. He flew low over reminded them of 9/11. 'Why did this have to happen?"'
the Austin skyline before plowing "It was the same kind of scenar- He recounted his financial
into the side of the hulking, seven- io, with window panels falling out reverses,' his difficulty finding
story, black-glass building just and desks falling out and paper- work in Austin, and at least two
before 10 a.m. with a thunderous work flying," said Santibanez, an clashes with the IRS, one of them
explosion that instantly stirred accountant. after he filed no return because, he
memories of Sept. 1l. The building, in a heavily con- said, he had no income, the other
Flames shot from the building, gested section of Austin, was still after he failed to report his wife'
windows exploded, a huge pillar smoldering six hours later, with Sheryl's income.

Woman accused of
killing colleagues
was denied tenure
While the circumstances behind
the deadly shooting at the Univer-
sity of Alabama-Huntsville remain
unclear, the Harvard-trained neu-
robiologist accused in the rampage
was upset about being denied ten-
ure - the academic world's highly
coveted form of job security.
The profile of Amy Bishop that
is emerging suggests deep-seated
emotional problems and'a history
of violence. But her vocal displea-
sure about being rejected in the
period leading up to the attack has
cast a spotlight on the increasingly
pressure-packed quest for tenure at
American colleges.
Within the academic world,
there's little debate that the trials
of tenure have grown more intense
in recent years - largely because
there are fewer opportunities to
gain an academic foothold, greater
expectations for scholarly output
and an economic climate that is
anythingbut rosy.
"You remember it almost like a
death in the family," said John Tis-
dale, a journalism professor who
was denied tenure at Baylor Uni-
versity in 2002 for reasons that he
said were never fully explained.
"I know this happens to people
every day, so I don't want to sound

melodramatic ... It's so traumatic.
Your life is turned upside down.
Obviously it's a professional set-
back, but it's personal, too."
Decades ago, schools were
hiring, and tenure was almost
automatic. Now, cost-conscious
colleges and universities are turn-
ing to part-time and adjunct faculty
who will never get a shot at tenure.
Some live like academic nomads,
drifting from position to position
with marginal payorbenefits.
Professors lucky enough to land
tenure-track positions must endure
rigorous scrutiny and, at times, an
ambiguous process deciding their
fate. Those who wash out wear the
scarletletter of academia.Although
some fail to regain their footing,
others go on to success in the class-
room or thebusiness world.
Tisdale joined Baylor University
as adviser to the student newspaper
in 1987 and earned his master's and
Ph.D. while working full time. He
was put on the tenure track in 1996.
Although his reviews were good
and nothingseemed out ofthe ordi-
nary, Tisdale lost his bid for tenure.
The former newspaper report-
er and copy editor appealed the
decision, but he also started a job
search almost immediately. While
he could have stayed at Baylor
another year, he accepted a posi-.
tion at Texas Christian University
and is now a tenured professor and
associate director of the journalism
school.

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ORAL HISTORY
From Page 1
tant tool in the construction of
community identity and in the
maintenance of community con-
nections," Valk said. "I think by
collecting and listening to the
stories that communities tell
about their past, we can learn
important lessons about power
and justice that might offer paths
to offer new possibilities for the
future."
The goal of the project is to
expand the current communi-
ty efforts of Fox Point citizens
while connecting Brown Uni-
versity to the neighborhood in a
beneficial and progressive way,
Valk said.
"Oral history interviews are
at the foundation of this proj-
ect, but we're really trying to go
beyond the interview and think
about ways to use memories and
history as the basis for building
new and possibly positive con-
nections between the people of
Providence," she said.
Valk outlined the history of
Fox Point in her lecture, and
described how the neighbor-
hood originated as a working-
class, immigrant town that went
through many changes after
the center of the city's shipping
industry was moved to a differ-
ent location.
The shift altered the character
of Fox Point from an industrial
city to a more historical center,
which lead to increased property
values, displacing many immi-
grants who were unable to pay
the increasing realty prices, she
said.

Valk said she found that as the
town continued to change and
develop, many of its early inhab-
itants developed a strong senti-
mental attachment to the old Fox
Point, and were eager to remem-
ber its past.
"The fear of invisibility among
the fellow Fox Pointers has cre-
ated a sense of wanting to rally
around memory," she said.
One of the biggest changes in
the area that affected the com-
munity of Fox, Point was the
establishment and development
of Brown University, Valk said.
Valk said the Fox Point
residents' sentiments toward
Brown University was a mix
of resentment and admiration.
They felt inadequate living next
to a prestigious university that
the majority of Fox Point citi-
zens couldn't afford to attend,
though many were grateful for
the job opportunities it provid-
ed them throughout the years,
she said.
Assistant History Prof.
Michelle McClellan, also spoke
about her current work on oral
history projects. She said that
work like Valk's can be applied
to communities near the Univer-
sity, and even within the town of
Ann Arbor.
"Ann Arbor, dominated in
many ways by the University of
Michigan, is often celebrated
as a hip, college town that just
happens to be located in Michi-
gan, boasting more in common
with University communities all
around the country than with
it's immediate surroundings
and becoming remote from both
the city of Detroit and the rural
parts of the state," McClellan

said.
McClellan added that by inte-
grating the University into the
greater Ann Arbor community,
students will be able to forge a
better understanding of the Uni-
versity's historical context.
"Collaboration can lead to
better scholarship," McClellan
said. "It can be messy, it can be
difficult, it can require challeng-
ing acts of translation. But the
results are richer, more mean-
ingful, and I think, well worth
it."
McClellan said she hopes that
eventually the University will
make it a priority for incoming
students to learn about the his-
tory of Ann Arbor in order gain a
better understanding of the Uni-
versity's ties to the community.
"I don't know how realistic
this is or not, but maybe just as
successive generations of stu-
dents everywhere embrace the
mascot and the traditions of
their University, maybe they too
could absorb local and regional
history as part of the college
experience if it is presented to
them as part of the integrated
package that I believe that it is,"
McClellan said.
Larissa Larsen, an assistant
professor of urban planning,
closed the program by speaking
about how learning from the past
helps the University grow for-
ward as both a community and
an institution of higher educa-
tion.
"I really think it helps us sort
of understand why these things
were important and how we got
to where we are so we can under-
stand where we are going," Lars-
en said.

If you're a high performing undergraduate with a
passion for sustainability, then check out the Graham
Institute's new Sustainability Scholars Program.
Each year, this competitive program will accept only
25 students, who will then pursue a 10-credit series of
interdisciplinary courses focused on sustainability
(including a place-based course).
After successful completion of the program, you'll
receive an exclusive Sustainability Scholars Certificate
from the Graham Institute. Upon graduation, you'll
also receive a special notation on your transcript
acknowledging this scholastic accomplishment.
So, go ahead. Start making your mark for a better
world. Check out the details and online application at
www.graham.umich, and apply by March 25, 2010!
GRAHAM
, sonINSTITUTE