The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, January 11, 2010 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, January 11, 2010 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Ford unveils 2012
Focus, designed as
its first 'world car'
Ford Motor Co. is unveiling the
2012 Focus, a small sedan that is the
company's first truly global car.
The new Focus, due in European
and North American showrooms
early next year, was designed and
engineered to be sold worldwide
using almost all the same parts,
unlike past versions. It'll be sold in
Asia, the Americas, and Europe.
The aim is to keep costs down
and make money on small cars, a
segment that used to be a loser. The
Focus also shows that gas mileage
is a prime motivator now for more
frugal car buyers, and that small-
car owners still want performance,
quality and a lot of features. Pricing
will be announced closer to the date
it arrives in showrooms.
Ford unveils the new four- and
five-door Focuses on Monday at
the Detroit auto show. The cars
are equipped with a new two-liter
four-cylinder engine and six-speed
automatic transmission. The com-
pany wouldn't reveal gas mileage,
but said it will be significantly bet-
ter than the current North Ameri-
can Focus, which gets up to 35 mpg
on the highway.
EUREKA, Calif.
N. California avoids
major damage in
6.5 magnitude
earthquake
Residents of a Northern Cali-
fornia county gingerly cleaned up
Sunday after the area dodged a
catastrophe, escaping a 6.5 magni-
tude earthquake with little more
than bumps, cuts and broke glass.
Eureka's Bayshore Mall had
entrances blocked off as engineers
surveyed for damage. Area bridges
suffered some bent rails, and local
stores reported messy aisles where
bottles and jars flew from shelves
and shattered, authorities said.
But the Saturday afternoon
temblor - centered in the Pacific
about 22 miles west of Ferndale
- caused no major injuries, only
limited structural damage and
just a few hours where thousands
of residents were without power.
"I think we can attribute some
of this to being prepared," said
Phil Smith-Hanes, Humboldt
County spokesman. "Folks in this
area are used to living in earth-
quake country."
BAGHDAD
Iraqi in Blackwater
case turns down
compensation deal
An Iraqi injured by the U.S. pri-
vate security firm once known as
Blackwater said Sunday he would
not accept a compensation deal
for injuries he suffered after com-
pany employees opened fire in a
crowded Baghdad square because
the amount of money offered is
too low.
Mahdi Abdul-Kadir was speak-
ing about a civil lawsuit that is
separate from the criminal case
brought against the company,
whose dismissal has become a
lightening rod for Iraqi resent-
nient over the behavior of private
security companies and prompted
Iraqi politicians to denounce the
U.S. justice system.
Abdul-Kadir said Blackwater's
offer of compensation to those
who had been injured or had fam-
ily members killed was too low.
MANILA, Philippines
Philippine police
arrest 18 after gun
ban goes into effect
About 50,000 Philippine
policemen began enforcing a five-
month ban on carrying guns in
public Sunday in hopes of avoid-
ing bloodshed in the buildup to
May elections, arresting 18 vio-
lators at checkpoints across the
country.
The Philippines is a lively
democracy and elections are often
marred by violence and fraud. In
the 2007 local and congressional
elections, 108 people were killed
in election-related violence,
including 15 candidates, national
police spokesman Chief Supt.
Leonardo Espina said Sunday.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Southern Pakistan hit by wave
of politically-charged killings
Violence apparently
an attempt to
destabilize country's
ruling coalition
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -
Dozens of people have been killed
in Pakistan's largest city including
four found Sunday - three of them
headless - in a wave of targeted
attacks amongrival political groups
that some sayis aimed at destabiliz-
ingthe country's ruling coalition.
Political violence is common
inKarachi, but the shootings and
decapitations since Jan. 1 have
terrorized parts of this teeming
southern metropolis, prompting
the government to send in para-
military forces to restore order.
The political infighting comes
at a time when the government is
facing a raging Taliban-led insur-
gency that has spread to Karachi
and killed more than 600 people
across the country in the past
three months. The growingunrest
in the financial capital threatens
to spark further instability.
"We have found four bodies of
LEOa
From Page 1A t
faculty salary funds that would s
not. LEO claimed such activi- t
ties constituted a breach of the t
University's agreement with s
the union. t
The University denied r
wrongdoing, though it eventu-
ally settled with LEO and gave a
lecturers a pay raise. Accord- t
ing to a June 12, 2009 settle- a
ment agreement signed by Jeff
Frumkin, senior director of s
academic human resources, L
LEO agreed to withdraw itsd
grievance in exchange for a 1.5
percent increase to the 2007- a
2008 full time salary rate. Aa
settlement signed by Ronald I
Dick, associate director of aca-v
demic human resources, said a
lecturers saw an additional a
two-percent pay raise effective t
Sept. 1, 2009.n
The four funds used to pro- i
vide pay raises to faculty mem-
bers - known as the A, B, C a
and D funds - each have spe- s
cifically designated purposes. t
The A fund is used to provide a
merit increases - the most v
common pay raise - for faculty f
members. The B fund pays for
pay raises that result from fac- t
ulty promotions and retention ,
battles with other institutions. t
The C and D funds are used i
for correcting pay inequity, a
rewarding faculty for special
achievements and other spe- t
cial circumstances, as deter- t
mined by a school's dean.
While the University is
obligated to give proportional
raises to lecturers as given to
faculty through the A and B
fund, language in the Univer-
sity's agreement with LEO
exempts the University from
providing proportional raises
to lecturers that are given to
faculty through the C and D
funds. The D fund is also com-
monly known as the Super C
fund.
According to figures
released to the Daily after a
FOIA request was filed, the
amount of money allocated to
the C and D funds fell dramati-
cally from last year's levels. In
fact, while the D fund saw a
94-percent drop, the C fund
was cut by 100 percent - elim-
inating the fund this year.
Meanwhile, the A and B fund
saw significant increases as a
fraction of the overall money
spent on faculty pay raises,
with the A fund increasing
from 38 percent of the money
spent on faculty raises in fiscal
year 2009 to 67 percent in fis-
cal year 2010. The B fund rose
from 21 percent of the overall
amount committed in fiscal
year 2009 to 30 percent in fis-
cal year 2010.
Adjunct Associate Business
Prof. Joe Walls, who serves as
the press liaison for LEO, said
he believes the shift in funds
occurred in response to the
grievance LEO filed last year.
Walls said the shift falls in
line with the numbers LEO
officials were hoping to see
when they originally filed the
grievance.
"I'd say that sounds more
like what we would expect,"
he said "The B fund is for pro-
motion and retention and the
A fund is the normal quote on
quote raises so we would hope
to see more money in there."
He said the shifts in funds
indicated that the grievances
our partyworkers today," said Fais-
al Sabzwari, a provincial lawmaker
from the Muttahida Qaumi Move-
ment, the strongest political party
in Karachi and one dominated by
the minority Mohajir ethnic group.
"Three of them were headless,
and we found the heads later on,"
Sabzwari told The Associated
Press on Sunday.
Sabzwari blamed members of
the ruling Pakistan People's Party
for fueling the violence, saying
much of it was being carried out by
thugs from Lyari Town, a poor area
of Karachi and a PPP stronghold.
"They are the Lyari gang
members and criminals who
are killing our workers, and
there are some elements within
the ruling party who patronize
them," he said.
QaimAli Shah, the chiefminister
ofSindh province, where Karachi is
the capital,andamemberoftherul-
ing party, seemed to.make similar
allegations against the MQM. He
did not name the group directly but
said "a political party" was behind
the killings of its workers.
"Targeted killings are a con-
spiracy against the provincial
government, and sacrifices of PPP
had some basis, adding that the
organization won their grievance
his summer.
"We did win the grievance and
omeone somewhere believed
hat it was legitimate otherwise
hat wouldn't have happened," he
aid. "It seems they've changed
heir policies based on that
esult."
However University spokes-
man Rick Fitzgerald said the dras-
ic cuts to the C and D fund were
not an admittance of guilt by the
University. Instead, Fitzgerald
aid the shift was evidence of'the
University's fiscal prudence in the
down economy.
"The reason is that there is less
money overall available," Fitzger-
ald said. "We've been aggressively
holding down costs. The pro-
vost, before the budget process,
encouraged the units to keep sal-
ary increases to certain levels and
his is a recognition of doing the
most good with limited resources
n LSA."
Because less money was avail-
able for pay increases, Fitzgerald
aid LSA administrators wanted
to allocate more money to the A
and B funds, since more faculty
would be eligible to receive the
funds.
"It's a commitment to make
:he limited resources available
for salary increases available to
he greatest number of faculty
n LSA," Fitzgerald said. "That's
really the only driving factor."
"What LSA did with the funds
his year really has no bearing on
he LEO increase because of the
workers won'tgo unrewarded," he
told reporters Saturday.
Although both parties are
members of the ruling coalition,
they have a tense relationship
and a history of conflict that dates
back to the arrival of Mohajir
immigrants from India after Paki-
stan gained independence in 1947.
Native Sindhis, who mostly sup-
port the ruling party, resented the
Mohajirs' attempts tosecure well-
paying government jobs.
Pakistan's Interior Ministry said
Sunday that 41 people have died in
targeted killings in Karachi since
the beginning of the year, includ-
ing 10 MQM workers, 10 from a
breakaway faction -called Haqiqi,
and 16 members of a committee set
up by the ruling party in Lyari to
control violence in the area.
The five others were from a
handful of political and religious
groups, said the ministry's Crisis
Management Cell.
Karachi Police Chief Wasim
Ahmed provided different figures
and tried to play down the crisis.
He said 50 people had been killed in
Karachi during the first nine days
of the year, but only 20 deaths were
politically or ethnically motivated.
way they made that change and
how fiscal year '10 was handled
when they settled that grievance
last year," he said.
Fitzgerald explained that by
moving more money to the A and
B funds, more faculty would be
eligible for larger pay increases.
"It's the A Fund that pays for the
faculty pay raises - for the annual
raises available to virtually all the
faculty members of course based
on their annual unit level evalua-
tion process," he said.
He added that the change in
the B fund can vary from year to
year based on the number of pro-
motions and faculty retention
battles.
"The B fund is really promotion
and retention dollars," Fitzgerald
said. "That will vary from year
to year because (administrators)
know who is up for promotion
and to respond to specific reten-
tion situations that they know
about."
Asked whether this yer's shift
of funds to the A and B fund would
set a precedent for future years,
Fitzgerald said he coldn't predict
the future.
"I think that'll be ayear-to-year
decision for the leadership in LSA
as they evaluate just like in any
budgeting process," Fitzgerald
said. "It's a matter of setting pri-
orities and that's an annual pro-
cess that every unit on campus
will have to go through."
- Managing News Editor Jillian
Berman and Editor in Chief Jacob
Smilovitz contributed to this report.
Nigerian terror
suspect pleads
not guilty
FBI says suspect attempted strike against the United
States by an al-Qaida affiliate and.
tried to destroy faults his administration for not.
preventing it despite intelligence
Detroit-bound flight reports
A grand jury this week indicted-
on Christmas Day Abdulmutallab on six charges. The
most serious - attempting to use
DETROIT (AP) - Wearing a a weapon of mass destruction -
T-shirt, khaki-style pants and a could land him in prison for life if
chain at his ankles, a somber-look- convicted.
ing Nigerian man accused of trying He replied "yes" when asked Fri
to blow upa U.S. airliner on Christ- day ifhe understood thecharges and,
mas said he understood the charges said he had taken "some pain pills"
against him, triggering the defense after the judge inquired whether he
of a criminal case that could lead to had used any drugs or alcohol in the,
life in prison. past 24 hors. He is being held at,
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's federal prison in Milan, Mich., and
arraignment in federal court Fri- had been treated at a hospital for
day took fewer than five minutes burns.
and a not guilty plea was entered U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark,
on his behalf. The 23-year-old said Randon entered a notlguilty plea for
little, telling the judge simply that Abdulmutallab. It's a routine pracT
he understood the six-count indict- tice in federal court for the defen-
ment he faces and the maximum dant to allow the judge to enter a
penalty. plea.
Abdulmutallab's first court The defense team did not chal
appearance came exactly two weeks' lenge the government's request to,
after an Amsterdam-to-Detroit keep Abdulmutallab in pre-trial
flight in which passengers rushed custody. After the hearing, one of
to his seat and put out flames that his attor neys declined to talk about'
could have caused a disaster. The the case.
FBI says Abdulmutallab tried to "It's just too soon in the process
destroy Northwest Airlines Flight to make any comment," Leroy Soles
253, which was carrying nearly 300 said at a nearby coffee shop. The.
people, by injecting chemicals into date of the next hearing was not
a package of explosives concealed in set.
his underwear. A Detroit-area native who sat six
The alleged attack has shaken up rows in front of Abdulmutallab on
airport security worldwide. Presi- the plane watched the arraignment
dent Barack Obama considers it an from the courtroom gallery.
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