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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