The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, October 4, 2010 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, October 4, 2010 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
NEW YORK
NYC mosque's
imam and wife get
death threats
The wife of an imam planning
an Islamic community center and
mosque near ground zero said
yesterday that she and her hus-
band have received death threats.
"For the record, my life is under
threat," Daisy Khan said during a
town hall debate on Islam broad-
cast on ABC's "This Week" news
program.
Khan, who's married to Imam
Feisal Abdul Rauf, said her hus-
band's life also is under threat
but, "We do not walk around with
bodyguards because we love this
country."
Chief police spokesman Paul
Browne confirmed that Khan had
told authorities about the tele-
phone threats she'd received.
"There were telephone threats
made," Browne said, adding the
police department was investi-
gating.
Rauf would be a spiritual lead-
er of a 16-story Islamic center and
mosque planned for lower Man-
hattan two blocks north of where
Islamic extremists destroyed the
World Trade Center on Sept. 11,
2001.
GUATEMALA CITY
U.S. drug suspect
captured by police
in Guatemala
Guatemalan police captured a
suspected drug trafficker wanted
in the United States for cocaine
smuggling and seized nearly $2
million in cash that his brother was
carrying in two bags, authorities
said yesterday.
Mauro Ramirez Barrios, alias
"The Purple One," was arrested
Saturday in the southern town of
San Bernardino after a four-day
search, President Alvaro Colom
told reporters.
His capture came more than two
weeks after he escaped police dur-
ing a shooting at a shopping mall in
Guatemala City. Two police offi-
cers and a civilian were killed.
ALLENTOWN, Pa.
Pa. men face 2nd
trial in immigrant
beating death
One night two summers ago,
an illegal immigrant from Mex-
ico brawled with a gang of white
teens from Shenandoah, an old
mining town in the coal fields of
northeastern Pennsylvania.
The fight's outcome is not in
dispute: 25-year-old Luis Ramirez
wound up dead. The question for a
jury is did two forner high school
football stars commit a federal
hate crime.
Brandon Piekarsky and Der-
rick Donchak are charged in
connection with the attack - a
case brought by the U.S. Justice
Department's civil rights division
after an all-white jury acquitted
the defendants of state charges
last year.
Jury selection begins today at
the courthouse in Scranton.
A guilty verdict in the high-
profile trial could send Piekarsky,
now 11, and Donchak, now 20, to
prison for life, as well as soothe
the anger felt by Ramirez's sup-
porters after the May 2009 ver-
dict in Schuylkill County Court.
Piekarsky was cleared of third-
degree murder and ethnic intimi-
dation; Donchak beat aggravated
assault and ethnic intimidation
charges. Both were convicted of
simple assault.
LANSING
Fire Prevention
Week encourages
safety measures
Michigan officials are encour-
aging people to have several func-
tioning smoke alarms in their
homes.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has
proclaimed yesterday as the start
of Fire Prevention Week, which
runs through Saturday. The state
is joining the National Fire Pro-
tection Association and others in
recognizing the week.
This year's campaign is titled:
"Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can
Live With." It's working to moti-
vate people to actively determine
whether they have proper smoke
alarm protection throughout
their homes.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports.
CONVENTION
From Page 1A
Michigan State University trustee
and former state House minor-
ity leader, said a constitutional
convention would only create a
partisan battle and voters would
probably reject the.new constitu-
tion.
"It would be very divisive.
We're going to revive every hot-
button issue all over again,"
Byrum said. "There is no fatal
flaw that needs to be fixed."
Michigan has rewritten its
constitution three times - in
1850, 1908 and 1963. Under the
current constitution, the state
must include a proposal on the
election ballot every 16 years that
gives voters the option to elect
delegates to revise the state con-
stitution. Voters rejected the pro-
posal in 1978 and 1994.
According to a report on Pro-
posal 1 by Julie Cassidy and Joe
Carrasco, both analysts for the
non-partisan Michigan Senate
Fiscal Agency, partisan elections
to choose the 148 delegates for a
constitutional convention would
need to be held within six months.
One delegate would be chosen for
each senatorial and representa-
tive district in the state.
The report states that delegates
would have the power to change
the current constitution in any
way - including revising the doc-
ument, submitting amendments
or making no changes at all. The
revisions would then need to be
voted on by Michigan residents.
The Senate Fiscal Agency
report estimates that the con-
vention and election costs could
exceed $45 million. Byrum said
this price tag is too high for the
state at this time, while George
countered that the cost could be
recouped within one year by hav-
ing the state legislature meet part
time.
The Impact 2010 panelists in
favor of a constitutional conven-
tion saw it as a way to cut the size
of Michigan's state government.
Shrinking the size of the state
legislature, eliminating one of
the houses or making the Senate
and House meet part time would
save the state money, the officials
explained.
"The problems stem from the
size and inefficiencies of govern-
ment," George said.
The two panelists opposed to
the proposal said rewriting the
constitution is too risky, adding
that there hasn't been enough
preparation to ensure fairness in
the election process.
Robert LaBrant, senior vice
president of political affairs and
general counsel for the Michi-
gan Chamber of Commerce, said
previous constitutional conven-
tions lacked preparation and that
voters are not ready to decide on
a convention this year. "I think
this is premature to ask voters of
the state of Michigan to vote for a
ConCon when there has been no
effort to prepare," LaBrant said.
One of the dtbate's contentious
issues was whether a constitu-
tional convention would hurt the
state's economy. Byrum said a
convention would "hit the pause
button on Michigan economi-
cally" because businesses would
be less likely to invest in the state
if the future tax codes and other
rules are unclear.
"We are going to fall behind
economically," she said. "Other
states in the region are going to
get those investments."
But George said the current
structure of the government
already dissuades outside invest-
ment, and a constitutional revi-
sion is needed to draw businesses
to Michigan.
"It's not hitting the pause but-
ton; it's hitting the move-forward
button," he said.
Those against a new consti-
tutional convention argued that
special interest groups would
have too much control over the
convention because only motivat-
ed voters would go to the polls at
the primary election in February.
John Logie, former mayor of
Grand Rapids who is in favor of
Proposal 1, said the quick turn-
around between the November
and February elections wouldn't
allow enough time for outside
special interest groups to mobi-
lize a large campaign.
"This is going to be a very
grassroots-oriented thing," Logie
said.
He added that the constitu-
tional convention would be "too
big" to allow special interests to
take over.
"You don't have anything to
be afraid of if you put 148 people
together for the single task of
forming a new constitution," he
said. "There will e some crazies,
but they will be overruled."
According to a Detroit News
poll released in August, 46 per-
cent of polled voters were in favor
of Proposal 1, 32 percent were
against it and 22 percent were
undecided.
According to LeBrant, both
Michigan gubernatorial can-
didates Virg Bernero and Rick
Snyder are opposed to a consti-
tutional convention. He also said
former Michigan governors Jim
Blanchard, a Democrat, and John
Engler, a Republican, have spoken
out against calling a convention.
LeBrant said a constitutional
convention would be a three-year
process that would not accom-
plish any results, adding that it's
not the Michigan Constitution
that is "holding this state back."
George was optimistic about
the possibilities a constitutional
convention would offer the state.
"It's time for Michiganders to
look at the big picture and look at
this as an opportunity," he said.
"I trust, and we should trust, the
citizens of Michigan to do the
right thing."
But Byrum said the process
would be too expensive, too polit-
ically divisive and too risky for
the state at this time.
"At the end of the day, I main-
tain it will go down in flames,"
she said.
Elected
us
Res pecte..d
byus
EpctRespect
Student Steering
Committee
joins the undersigned student
organizations in support of our
elected Michigan Student Assembly President,
Chris Armstrong.
Together, we can build the respectful and inclusive
environment necessary for each member of our community to thrive.
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