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 WANT TO JOIN DAILY NEWS? E-mail berman@ michigandaily .com 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. Today's Career Tip: In an interview, be specific about the value that you can provide. This can go a long way if you have limited experience. Text "UMStudents" to 41411 to win great prizes and get daily career tips. ALUMNIASSOCIATION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Tuesday, April 6th 6:30V p.m. International Center, Rm 9 Congrats Michigan! ATop Peace Corps College. 800.424.8580 1www.peacecorps.gov Life is calling. How far will you go? 4he MCAT 105 hours live instruction 5 expert instructors 4,300 pages of material Satisfaction Guarantee! LSAT 84 Hour Hyperlearning 28 Hour Accelerated N-i APRIL 5,2010 AT 7:30PM Tickets available at Ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster FOs outlet including Michigan UnionTicket Office and Macy's.