0 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, April 5, 2010 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich.
LSSU, MSU open
preferred medical
school admissions
Lake Superior State University
and Michigan State University have
announced an early medical school
acceptance program for certain
undergraduates.
The program provides assured
admission next year for one junior
undergraduate at the Sault Ste.
Marie campus into the College
of Human Medicine at Michigan
State.
The program gives preference
to students who express interest
in a high-need medical specialty or
location.
Similar programs operate
between Michigan State and the
University of Michigan-Flint and
Northern Michigan, Michigan
Technological and Grand Valley
State universities.
WASHINGTON
D.C. church draws
Obamas for Easter
President Barack Obama and his
family marked the Easter holiday
by attending a music-filled service
at a historically black Methodist
church in southeast Washington.
A boisterous crowd of more than
1,000 people welcomed the Obamas
yesterday at the Allen Chapel AME
Church. Joining him at the service
were his wife, Michelle, daughters
Sasha and Malia, and his mother-
in-law, Marian Robinson. Also
attending were the mayor of Wash-
ington, Adrian Fenty, and his wife.
"Mr. President, you have no idea
how much your presence has meant
to us today," Allen Chapel's senior
pastor, the Rev. Michael Bell, said
after his sermon.
Southeast Washington was
rocked last week by a drive-by
shooting that left four dead and five
others wounded. The area is also
beset by high unemployment and
poverty.
Bell said it was providence that
the president would attend service
at Allen Chapel so shortly after
the shootings. It was heartening
to know than southeast Wahing-
ton has not been forgotten, he said,
adding that Obama's presence at
the rh was "bringing healing
and hope into this community right
now."
XIANGNING, China
Nine rescued after
179 hours in mine
Nine miners were pulled to safety
early today after spending more than
a week trapped in a flooded coal mine
in northern China, a rescue that had
seemed beyond hope for days before
crews heard someone tapping from
deep underground.
The first survivor was brought to
the surface at 40 minutes past mid-
night Monday, 179 hours after the
Wangjialing mine filled with water.
A crowd of rescue workers, miners
and security workers outside the
entrance of the mine shaft clapped
as the miners were carried out.
The nine men were among 153
trapped since March 28 when
workers broke a wall into a water-
filled abandoned shaft. China Cen-
tral Television said more miners
could still be alive, but did not give
any details.
BANGKOK
Thai protesters
pledge to leave
malls and hotels
Thailand's capital, unnerved
by nearly four weeks of turmoil,
braced for renewed anti-govern-
ment demonstrations today as
protesters announced they would
shift to a new location after par-
alyzing Bangkok's commercial
heart over the weekend.
The weekend protests forced
the closure of at least six upscale
shopping malls and tough secu-
rity measures at nearby five-star
hotels, with economic losses esti-
mated at up to 500 million baht
($15 million) a day.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vej-
jajiva has repeatedly refused
demands of the so-called Red
Shirts that he immediately dis-
solve Parliament and call new
elections, despite protracted pro-
tests in the capital and unsuccess-
ful negotiations last week.
The protesters, mostly farm-
ers from impoverished provincial
areas, have vowed not to let up
their pressure until Abhisit's gov-
ernment steps down.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
HASH BASH
From Page 1A
idealplace to educate people about
marijuana laws and related incar-
ceration rates - which the group
believes are unreasonably high.
"The incarceration rate is astro-
nomical, especially in the state of1
Michigan," she said. "We feel that
these drug laws disproportionate-
ly affect minorities."
Sue Ferris, founder of Michigan
Medical Marijuana Magazine,
attended this year's Hash Bash.
Ferris said the rally provides a
neutral setting for people to ask
DP DAY
From Page IA
valued projects, Thanedar said
demolishing abandoned homes
- a major part of the volunteer
day - is important because those
empty buildings often attract;
drug users and gangs.
Thanedar has been involved
with DP since he was a fresh-
man. Now executive director1
of the group, Thanedar worked
with other DP members to plan
DP Day throughout the year. He
said Detroit residents appreciate
the work the students do on DP
Day.
"What is amazing is that the
people of Detroit see students
working on Saturday mornings
and people who live there come
out and help them," Thanedar
said. "The people you meet in the
TERM LIMITS
From Page 1A
introduce term limits in an effort
to bring new people and ideas to
government.
The amendment followed a
trend which began with the 1947
establishment of a two-term limit
on the United States presidency.
Since then, controversy over
the effectiveness of term limits
has ensued. Several attempts to
lengthen or remove the limits in
the Michigan legislature entirely
have been made but none have
gained enough momentum to be
implemented.
Communication Studies Prof.
Michael Traugott said term limits
were introduced because the
public believed they were rea-
sonable checks on legislators'
power.
However, Traugott said vot-
ers today have different views
on term limits, adding that the
conflict is between "popular
attitudes about too much gov-
ernment influence in our daily
lives" and "a public policy-
making perspective that says
that length of service builds
expertise."
Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thomp-
son, a public policy professor
at Wayne State University,
researches the effects of term
limits on the Michigan state
legislature. Though some of her
research shows that shorter
term limits can be an effective
way to increase the number of
bills passed in a given congres-
sional cycle, she said the bills
tend to be "somewhat ill-con-
ceived legislation or somewhat
trivial legislation."
Sarbaugh-Thompson said
legislation passed simply for
the purpose of increasing pro-
ductivity has created propos-
als for the naming of a "state
cookie" and "state amphibian"
but has failed to address more
important matters, like the
structural budget deficit under
which the state operates.
Sarbaugh-Thompson said
though she acknowledges that
getting rid of term limits is not
politically realistic, she would
be in favor of eliminating them
altogether. She said a good fix
for now is simply to lengthen
the term limits, which would
allow state legislators to devel-
op legislative skills.
John Chamberlin, a profes-
sor at the Ford School of Public
Policy, agreed that increasing
the term limits is the best
approach for now. To further
shorten term limits, he said,
would be detrimental.
"If you had them shorter
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questions.
"We have a lot of senior citizens
who are interested, but (usually)
afraid to ask about it," Ferris said.
"They'll come and buy the maga-
zine instead,"
Ypsilanti resident Katie Man-
sfield said Hash Bash is "the
most wonderful time of the year"
because it fosters an atmosphere
free of judgment.
"You can talk to different
people and mix in ways that you
would not be able to mix in other
social situations," Mansfield said.
Mansfield also said she thinks
the social atmosphere is a lot
calmer and less controversial than
city are truly amazing."
Public Policy junior Jenya
Abramovich was a site leader at
this year's DP Day. Abramov-
ich's group helped a family clean
an empty lot in preparation for
turning it into an urban gar-
den. Abramovich said while her
group was removing trash, some
of the neighbors began picking
up trash from their own lawns.
"We inspired others on the
block to clean up their street,"
Abramovich said. "This kind of
work is very satisfying because
I know that even after we leave
Detroit, the community is going
to continue those efforts because
they are invested in this effort to
bring progress to the neighbor-
hood."
Though DP day is the most
visible part of the the program,
Thanedar said DP is part of a
larger mission to benefit the city
than Michigan does at this point,
it would really be an amateur
hour in the legislature," Cham-
berlin said. "Nobody would have
experience running committees,
subcommittees, putting together
party caucuses and all."
Though Michigan has shorter
term limits than most states in the
country, other states also impose
term limits on their legislators.
According to Sarbaugh-Thomp-
son, 21 states initially instituted
term limits, though five of those
states have since repealed them.
Sarbaugh-Thompson said in
order to change term limits, either
the Michigan legislature has to
propose a bill and send it to Michi-
gan citizens or citizens have to
vote on a ballot initiative. Because
other public events and ultimately
allows people to reconsider their
opinions about marijuana users.
"It proves that all the stereo-
types about stoners are not true,"
she said. "We may not be the
most energetic group, but that's
OK because nobody is fighting or
arguing."
LSA freshman Alex Zick said
regardless of people's differing
opinions about Hash Bash, the
event draws crowds that boost
business for Ann Arbor restau-
rants.
"You can't deny it's good for
local business," Zick said. "Jimmy
John's was packed."
of Detroit.
Throughout the school year,
about 150 University students
travel to Detroit each week to
provide tutoring and mentoring
services for underprivileged stu-
dents in 20 Detroit schools. The
DP also provides GED training,
programs that teach English as
a second language and resume
building workshops to help
young adults in the work force.
Thanedar said DP partici-
pants who volunteer weekly in
Detroit schools are able to learn
about the city as a whole, adding
that the educational experience
is just as important as the actual
cleaning of the city.
"I really hope everyone who
volunteered would consider
Detroit not just as a place that
needs help but a vibrant place of
life that is worth investing in,"
Thanedar said.
a change in term limits would
amend the state constitution, citi-
zens would have to vote for the
change, Sarbaugh-Thompson said.
Despite the negative effects
term limits have had on the leg-
islature, Chamberlin pointed out
that other states with term limits
have had worse experiences. He
cited the New York state legis-
lature, which has more to worry
about than term limits.
"I don't think that the Michi-
gan legislature is deeply corrupt;
they're just not very competent at
this point," Chamberlin said. "You
could have legislatures that aren't
very competent and they're cor-
rupt, and New York's got those. I
think their problems are worse
than ours."
White House
takes credit
for reversing
poor economy
Despite new jobs
data, Obama admin.
braces Americans
for slow recovery
WASHINGTON (AP) - Buoyed
by good news on the jobs front, the
White House claimed credit Sun-
day for reversing the downward
economic spiral while bracing
out-of-work Americans for a slow
recovery.
The Obama administration also
eased away from confrontation
with China over its artificially
low currency. The U.S. wants to
encourage Beijing's help on nucle-
ar proliferation and new penal-
ties against Iran for its perceived
attempts to build a bomb.
Given the depth and length of
the recession, the White House
wants to cool expectations of a
rapid economic recovery before
the November elections that will
determine whether Democrats
retain control of the House and
Senate.
The administration's line is that
there's steady, if slow, progress in
repairing the economic ruin Presi-
dent Barack Obama repeatedly
blames on his predecessor, Repub-
lican George W. Bush.
The economy added about
162,000 jobs in March, the most
in nearly three years. A large per-
centage of the gains were tem-
porary census workers hired by
the federal government, and the
unemployment rate held firm at
9.7 percent. The additional 123,000
private-sector jobs were the most
since May 2007.
The economy is growing again,
but at a pace unlikely to quickly
replace the 8.4 million jobs erased
in the recession that began in late
2007. More than 11 million people
are drawing unemployment insur-
ance benefits.
"We've got a long way to go,"
said Lawrence Summers, director
of the National Economic Council.
"We've inherited a terrible situa-
tion, the most pressing economic
problems since the Great Depres-
sion in our country."
Christina Romer, head of the
White House Council of Econom-
ic Advisers, said consumers still
face "a lot of head winds" from the
financial crisis. For example, debt
and credit difficulties are hamper-
ing stronger job growth.
They were echoing the words
of Treasury Secretary Timothy
Geithner, who said last week the
administration was "very wor-
ried" about returning to a more
normal jobless rate of around 5
percent.
Summers said Obama was pre-
occupied with creating jobs. "The
trend has turned, but to get back to
the surface, we've got a long way to
go," Summers said.
As Obama moves on with his
legislative agenda after victory
on health care, Summers said he
believed Congress would pass new
oversight rules for the financial
industry. The Wall Street melt-
down was largely blamed for the
recession and the near collapse of
the global financial system.
"I expect that reform is going to
pass," Summers said. Obama wants
it on his desk within two weeks.
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