The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, September 17, 2010 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING
State community
colleges could
expand programs
Community colleges would be
allowed to offer a few types of
bachelor's degrees under legisla-
tion approved by the Michigan
House.
The main bill in the package
passed the Democratic-led House
by a 55-49 vote yesterday. It now
advances to the Republican-led
Senate.
The bill would allow the com-
munity colleges, which tradition-
ally offer two-year degrees, to
offer four-year bachelor's degrees
for nursing, culinary arts, cement
technology and maritime technol-
ogy.
The bills cause some competitive
concern among representatives of
* four-year universities. They would
prefer that community colleges
stick to two-year degrees and pre-
paring students to transfer to four-
year schools.
RIVERSIDE, Calif.
Group seeks halt to
'don't ask, don't tell'
A gay rights organization that
won a federal court ruling declar-
ing the military's ban on openly
gay troops unconstitutional wants
the judge to immediately stop the
policy from being used to discharge
military personnel.
Lawyers for the Log Cabin
Republicans say their proposal filed
yesterday in the Riverside, Calif.,
court asks Judge Virginia A. Phil-
lips to impose a worldwide injunc-
tion on the "don't ask, don't tell"
policy.
She ruled last week that the
policy violates the due-process and
free-speech rights of gays and les-
bians.
Phillips asked the group for input
on drafting an injunction.
The government has a week to
respond. Department of Justice
attorneys said they would object to
an injunction and the issue should
be decided by Congress.
NEW YORK
Key witness
in jeopardy for
detainee's NYC trial
A judge yesterday said he might
not decide for weeks whether the
;harsh interrogation of the first
Guantanamo detainee to be tried
- tn civilian courts means the gov-
ernment's biggest witness can't
"testify at his trial on charges
stemming from the deadly bomb-
lngs of two U.S. embassies in
Africa.
U.S. District Judge Lewis A.
Kaplan's decision not to rush a
ruling in the case against Ahmed
Khalfan Ghailani after a three-day
hearingin Manhattan left prosecu-
tors scrambling to configure their
case with and without the testi-
mony of Hussein Abebe, who said
he sold Ghailani explosives.
The judge said he might not rule
until after opening statements,
scheduled for Oct. 4.
It was the kind of legal hurdle
that was anticipated when it was
decided to bring some Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, detainees to U.S. civil-
ian courts with evidence that was
sometimes collected for the pur-
pose of preventing future terror-
ism rather than buildinga criminal
case.
WASHINGTON D.C.
* Senate panel
recommends nuclear
treatywith Russia
A major arms control treaty
with Russia drew support from
three Republicans on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee yes-
terday, a sign that one of President
Barack Obama's top foreign policy
goals might have the bipartisan
support required for ratification.
The committee approved the
New START treaty in a 14-4 vote.
Whether the full Senate would
consider the treaty this year, with
midterm elections looming in
November, remained unclear.
Obama and Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev signed the
treaty in April. It would shrink
the limit on strategic warheads to
1,550 for each country, down about
a third from the current ceiling
of 2,200. It also would imple-
9 ment changes in current proce-
dures that allow both countries to
inspect each other's arsenals and
verify compliance.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports.
Key to peace talk
progress: Israel's
settlements
Israel pressured
to halt settlement
construction
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Two
days of Mideast peace talks
appear to have brought Israel
and the Palestinians closer to a
deal that would allow those talks
to continue, but even if the nego-
tiations move forward far more
difficult issues lay ahead.
Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak suggested a compro-
mise over Israel's plan to lift its
partial ban on construction on
the West Bank later this month,
while Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday
he sees no alternative to con-
tinuing negotiations in search of
peace with Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Hill-
ary Clinton, speakingin Amman,
said she is convinced that Netan-
yahu and Abbas are trying to
seek common ground.
"They are committed and they
have begun to grapple with the
hard but necessary questions,"
she said, shortly before leaving
for the U.S. "I am convinced that
this is the time and these are the
leaders to achieve the result we
all seek."
Abbas' comments came as
Israel was coming under increas-
ing pressure to extend its curb
on Jewish settlement construc-
tion, and aides to the Palestinian
leader suggested there might be
movement toward a compromise
on that issue.
Abbas had said previously that
the talks could not survive if the
Israeli building restrictions were
lifted as planned.
"We all know there is no alter-
native to peace through negotia-
tions, so we have no alternative
other than to continue these
efforts," Abbas said yesterday,
speaking through an inter-
preter in Ramallah, where the
headquarters of the Palestinian
National Authority is located.
It was unclear from Abbas'
remarks whether he was signal-
ing that the Palestinians would
remain committed to the talks
even if Israel does not extend the
limits on building.
Egypt's leader said in a radio
interview that he urged Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netan-
yahu to extend the restrictions
for three more months to give
peacemaking a chance.
Mubarak said he told Netan-
yahu the delay could give the
two sides time to draft their
future borders. After those lines
are agreed, Mubarak reasoned,
Israel can build within its future
ASTRONAUT
From Page 1A
to 20 recipients nationwide this
year, is the largest offered for
science and engineering under-
graduate students based solely
on merit.
After receiving the scholar-
ship, Montague thanked his
professors and the ASF for the
award. He said he was overjoyed
that Worden had come to person-
ally deliver the grant.
"I know math isn't necessarily
the most excitingfield, especially
compared to a space launch from
earth," he said. "ButI'll try to live
up to your expectations in what-
ever way that Ican."
In an interview after the pre-
sentation, Montague, who says
he plans to enter academia, said
he will most likely use the schol-
arship money to help pay for
graduate school.
After the scholarship pre-
sentation, Worden detailed his
experiences aboard Apollo 15,
in which he logged nearly 300
days in space, and showed photo-
graphs from the flight.
Thirty-nine years ago, at age
39, Worden traveled aboard
Apollo 15 with David Scott and
James B. Irwin - also both Uni-
versity alumni.
"We are all Michigan gradu-
ates and that's the thing we are
most proud of," he said. "Those
of you who watch the football
games on television instead of
going to the Big House will see us
at all of the games."
Worden also told the audience
about the preparation for the
flight, which involved simula-
tions of the launch. After detail-
ing the morning of the launch, he
played the 9:34 a.m. launch tape,
allowing audience members to
borders and the Palestinians
within theirs.
In comments to Israel's Chan-
nel 10 before she left the region,
Clinton said for the first time
that the U.S. would back a lim-
ited extension of the partial con-
struction moratorium, calling
the idea "extremely useful."
"I don't think a limited exten-
sion would undermine the pro-
cess going forward if there were
a decision agreed to by both par-
ties," she said.
Netanyahu's office said yes-
terday that Israel doesn't plan to
extend the current limits, which
are due to expire in late September.
But Israeli officials said they
hoped to reach a compromise
well before the current restric-
tions expire on Sept. 26 in hopes
of avoiding a major crisis. The
officials spoke on condition of
anonymity because no formal
decisions have been made.
Aides to Abbas said no deal
had been reached on the settle-
ment issue, but said they accept
Mubarak's proposal and expect
that a compromise will be found.
Previously, the Palestinians
have said they would walk out
on the talks if any construction
resumes.
The aides spoke on condition
of anonymity because they were
discussing a sensitive diplomatic
matter.
Michele Dunne, a Mideast
.expert at the Carnegie Endow-
ment for International Peace,
said Thursday the talks appear to
have edged the process forward,
although bigger challenges lay
ahead.
The discussions in Egypt's
Sharm el-Sheikh and Jerusalem
"got the talks rolling toward
a possible compromise on the
settlements moratorium issue,
which probably will be reached
over the next week or so," she
said. "But once again the parties
are spending weeks dealing with
a short-term issue to avert a cri-
sis rather than getting down to
the larger problems."
Yesterday, Clinton and Abbas
met at the Palestinian Author-
ity's West Bank headquarters.
Abbas thanked the Obama
administration for its efforts to
broker the current talks, the first
in two years. "I know that this
time is difficult and the circum-
stances are difficult, but tlieAmer-
icans are exerting active efforts to
achieve this peace," he said.
Later, Clinton traveled to
Amman for lunch with Jordan's
King Abdullah, whose country
already has a peace treaty with
Israel and is a strong support-
er of efforts to work out a deal
between Israel and the Palestin-
ians.
listen firsthand to the experi-
ence.
Worden said he wouldn't have
been able to reach the moon
without his University educa-
tion.
"You don't need an education
to drive a car or a plane," he said.
"But you need one for space-
crafts. We don't just fly machines
so it takes alot of time and effort
and a good education."
After the presentation, Wor-
den said in an interview that he
didn't always know he wanted
to be an astronaut. He said he
originally planned to be a test
pilot and applied to the astro-
naut program essentially on a
whim.
"I just tried to do what I could
to get as far as I could in my own
profession," he said. "And what I
found was that if you work hard
in your field, and if you do well,
lots of doors will open."
Worden said that what he
remembered most during his
time at the University was the
intense level of coursework.
"Friday night to Sunday after-
noon it was study, study, study,"
he said. "I spent every weekend
studying because I always had so
much catching up to do."
Worden offered a few words of
advice for students.
"It sounds trite but it's the
truth that you get what you
deserve out of life," he said.
"The harder you work to achieve
something, the better off you're
going to be once you get there."
A strong education is the most
important part of securing a suc-
cessful future, he added.
"Don't be satisfied with a lazy
education," he said. "Go outthere
and get it."
- Jeff Waraniak
contributed to this report.