The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, October 11, 2010 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, Octoher 11, 2010 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING, Mich.
Poll: Snyder keeps
big lead in gov. race
Republican Rick Snyder retains
a wide lead over Democrat Virg
Bernero in the Michigan gover-
nor's race, according to a new poll
released yesterday.
Lansing-based EPIC-MRA says
49 percent of 600 likely Michigan
voters back Snyder and 29 per-
cent back Bernero, with 18 percent
undecided. Four percent prefer one
of three minor party candidates in
the race. A September EPIC-MRA
poll had Snyder ahead 53 percent to
29 percent.
The two telephone polls were
commissioned by the Detroit Free
Press and TV stations WXYZ,
WJRT, WOOD and WILX. The
most recent one surveyed 600 like-
ly voters statewide Oct. 3-7 and had
a margin of sampling error of plus
or minus 4 percentage points.
The polls show Bernero's state-
wide name recognition increased
from 81 percent to 89 percent in the
past month. Snyder's name is rec-
ognized by 92 percent.
PHILADELPHIA
Obama urges crowd
to show him the
energy of 08
President Barack Obama tried
to recapture some of the big-stage
excitement of his 2008 campaign
yesterday, imploring voters not to
reward what he called Republican
cynicism and incompetence by sit-
ting out the Nov. 2 elections.
The president delivered one
of his most stinging indictments
yet of the GOP record to several
thousand people under blue skies
in Philadelphia's Germantown
neighborhood.
Obama acknowledged that many
Americans are frustrated, espe-
cially about the economy. He said
Republicans have decided "to ride
that frustration and anger" with-
out providing solutions. And he
said congressional Republicans
deliberately opposed his adminis-
tration and the Democratic major-
ity on almost every issue, in hopes
that stalemate would depress Dem-
ocratic turnout in the midterm
elections.
"If I said there were fish in the
sea, they said 'no,"' the president
said. "Theyfigured 'if Ohama-fails,
then we win."'
BELGRADE, Serbia
0 Serb. police clash
with protesters
Serbian riot police fought run-
ning battles yesterday with thou-
sands of far-right supporters who
hurled Molotov cocktails and
stun grenades to try to disrupt
a gay pride march in downtown
Belgrade. More than 140 people
were hurt and more than 200 were
arrested, officials said.
Thousands of police officers
sealed off the streets in the capi-
tal where the march took place,
repeatedly clashing at several
locations with rioters who tried to
burst through security cordons.
Several parked cars were set on
fire or damaged, shop windows
were broken, garbage contain-
ers were overturned and streets
signs destroyed. Several shops
were looted before police restored
peace late afternoon.
The anti-gay rioters also fired
shots and threw Molotov cocktails
at the headquarters of the ruling
pro-Western Democratic Party,
setting the building's garage on
fire. The state TV building and
the headquarters of other politi-
cal parties were also attacked,
with many windows shattered by
stones.
BEIJING
Wife allowed to
meet imprisoned
Nobel winner
An imprisoned Chinese dis-
sident who won this year's Nobel
Peace Prize was allowed to meet
yesterday with his wife and told
her in tears that he was dedicat-
ing the award to victims of a 1989
military crackdown on pro-democ-
racy protesters, his wife and a close
friend said.
Liu Xia, the wife of democracy
campaigner Liu Xiaobo, said in a
Twitter message that his jailers
had informed him a day earlier of
his prize.
"Brothers, I have returned," Liu
wrote. "Seen Xiaobo, the prison
told him the news about his award
on the night of the 9th."
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports.
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Distinguished alumni help commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the political science department
By SARAH ALSADEN
For theDaily
The University's Department of
Political Science turned 100 years
old this year and to celebrate, the
department held panel presenta-
tions with renowned alumni - in
a variety of fields - who gradu-
ated with political science degrees
from the University.
In addition to celebrating the
department's 100th anniversary,
the events aimed to show current
political science majors the ver-
satility of their degree, accord-
ing to department officials. The
department also used the event to
celebrate its prestige and success
throughout its history.
Centennial celebrations began
Thursday with a screening at the
Michigan Theater of "Freedom's
Fury" - a documentary written
and directed by Colin Gray, a Uni-
versity alum and political science
major.
Gray was also the keynote
speaker for panel presentations
on Friday morning in the Michi-
gan Union Ballroom. Michigan Lt.
Gov. John Cherry, United Auto-
workers President Bob King and
Michigan Court of Appeals Judge
Kurtis T. Wilder also spoke at the
event.
During his lecture, Gray, who
is an independent filmmaker, dis-
cussed the benefits to his career
from his degree. He said his politi-
cal science degree influenced his
filmmaking and inspired him to
pursue an unconventional career
after he graduated from the Uni-
versity.
"I was starting to see how doc-
umentary filming is one of those
many jobs where there could be a
potentially unusual application of
a polisci degree," Gray said.
He added that political scien-
tists are trained to "seek out mul-
tiple perspectives" and identify
the causes of issues - a technique
Gray said he uses in the filmmak-
ing process.
ANNA SCHULTE/Daily
Political science department officials and other event attendees celebrate the department's1tOOth anniversary on Friday.
"(Filmmakers) seek out mul-
tiple people to interview and then
we weave that information into a
compelling narrative or story," he
said.
Public 'Policy junior Ajooni
Sethi, who attended the event,
said she enjoyed listening to Gray
and learning about issues like
social justice even though she is
not majoring in political science.
"I think it's great that (it was)
all-encompassing," Sethi said.
"What (Gray) was speaking about
wasn't just for political science
majors."
More than100 students, faculty
and alumni gathered to hear the
panelists speak. Stephen Snyder, a
recent graduate who came back to
the University for the celebration,
said he thought it was interesting
that Gray took a "different path"
with his political science degree.
"As a student you hear that if
you want to be successful in a cer-
tain field, you have to do x, y and
z," Snyder said. "You have to fol-
low a blueprint, but (Gray) went
so far outside the box, and he's
making a profound social impact
through his work by doing it in
such an unconventional way."
Planning for the centennial
celebration began last year, and
topics were chosen based on the
careers of the panelists, according
to Jenna Bednar, associate profes-
sor of political science and mem-
ber of the centennial planning
committee.
Bednar said the planning com-
mittee chose a variety of accom-
plished alumni to speak at the
event.
"Our goal was to find speakers
that represent the many different
things that people can do with a
political science degree," Bednar
said. "Many of our students go
into law but not all, and we wanted
people to see the variety of occu-
pations or career paths they could
follow with a political science
degree."
Bednar also said the celebra-
tion is meant to showcase how the
department has maintained its
strong academic standing for the
past 100 years.
"We're unrivalled ... the politi-
cal science department has a his-
tory of being number one, number
two, number three (in rankings)
and again we're right there," Bed-
nar said. "Even though the depart-
ment has changed so much over
the years, we have changed in a
way that has kept us strong."
Charles Shipan, chair of the
political science department,
,said students with political sci-
ence degrees pursue a variety of
careers. Some have become active
in local politics, but others have
pursued careers outside of the
political arena like business and
law, he said.
"I think there are other people
who major in political science and
find it a fascinating topic of study
who are then just going to simply
use the skills they've gotten like
the ability to ask questions, think
deeply about an issue and the abil-
ity to think about evidence and
will take it in a completely differ-
ent direction," he said.
Death row inmate seeks DNA analysis
Convicted murderer
says new tests will
prove innocence
LIVINGSTON, Texas (AP) - An
ex-con sent to Texas' death row for
three murders and spared from
execution earlier this year by the
U.S. Supreme Court is set to take
his case before the high court,
which may decide whether his
attorneys cantest items for DNA he
claims could prove his innocence.
Hank Skinner was convicted
of pummeling his girlfriend with
a pickax handle and stabbing her
two sons on New Year's Eve in 1993
in their Texas Panhandle home.
DNA evidence at his trial showed
blood on his clothing from that
night was his and from at least two
of the victims.
The Supreme Court will hear
arguments Wednesday on whether
prison inmates may use a federal
civil rights law to get DNA test-
ing that was not performed before
their conviction. Prosecutors in
Skinner's case have refused to
make some evidence available for
DNA testing, including knives
from the scene and a jacket next to
one of the bodies.
The arguments come seven
months after the Supreme Court
spared Skinner just an hour before
he was to go to the death chamber.
Justices said then they wanted to
postpone his execution until they
decided whether to review his
case.
"The relief Mr. Skinner seeks
is simple and limited: the oppor-
tunity to obtain access to physical
evidence for the purpose of con-
ducting DNA testing," Rob Owen,
a University of Texas law professor
and Skinner's lead attorney, said in
a brief to the high court.
Gray County District Attorney
Lynn Switzer has refused to sur-
render the items and lower courts
agreed with her, saying Texas law
already gave Skinner "plenty of
opportunity" to show additional
testing could prove his innocence.
Skinner, a former convicted car
thief and parole violator, was try-
ing to "game the system," Switzer
said.
Prosecutors have said there's
no evidence to conclusively prove
Skinner wasn't the killer and that
ample evidence exists to show he is
guilty. They also contend new DNA
testing "would not affirmatively
prove anything."
"They're fixing to kill me for
something I didn't do," Skinner,
48, said last December from a tiny
visiting cage outside death row as
his execution date neared.
To head off the scheduled March
execution, his legal team renewed
its appeals seeking release of evi-
dence for new DNA testing.
Since the Supreme Court jus-
tices agreed to look at the case, the
high court ruled in a DNA-related
case from Alaska that convicts
have no constitutional right to test
genetic evidence to try to show
their innocence. The court said it
would not second-guess states or
force them routinely to look again
at criminal convictions.
Attorneys for Switzer, citing
that case, argued in court briefs
that Skinner's lawyers hoped to
get federal district courts involved
in "second-guessing the decisions
of state courts" under state DNA
statutes. They also noted his trial
lawyer chose not to test items Skin-
ner now wants access to, and that
using the civil rights law was an
improper attempt to circumvent
other appeals already refused.
Fed. govt to try detainee
without its star witness
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U.S. not appealing
NY decision to
ban witness
NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S.
government announced yesterday
it would prosecute the first Guan-
tanamo Bay detainee to face a civil-
ian trial without its star witness
because appealing a judge's ruling
excluding him could cause signifi-
cant delay and inconvenience other
witnesses and victims.
Besides, the government said in
a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis
A. Kaplan, there was enough evi-
dence without the star witness to
convict Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani
of conspiring in1998 to blow up two
U.S. embassies in Africa, killing 224
people, including a dozen Ameri-
cans.
The decision by the government
not to appeal clears the way for
the trial to resume Tuesday, when
openingstatements are expected to
begin after a jury is chosen from a
pool of about 65 potential jurors in
Manhattan.
Inthe letter,Assistant U.S. Attor-
ney Michael Farbiarz said the gov-
ernment disagreed with the judge's
decision and would have appealed
it under different circumstances.
But he said many trial witnesses
had planned to come to New York
based on the long-scheduled date
of the trial and some might even be
unwilling or unable to return if the
trial faced a significant delay.
He said many victims have
already arrived in New York after a
long wait to see Ghailani face trial
after having traveled significant
distances.
"Anappeal at thisjjuncture would
obviously cause a delay - a delay of
uncertain, and perhaps significant,
length," the letter said. "Weighing
all of the circumstances, the gov-
ernment does not wish to delay the
trial in order to take an appeal."
The judge had handed the gov-
ernment a significant setback days
earlier when he ruled that the star
witness, Hussein Abebe, a former
cab driver from Tanzania, could not
testify that Ghailani bought explo-
sives from him. The judge said the
government learned about Abebe
when Ghailani underwent a coer-
cive interrogation at a secret CIA-
run camp overseas.
"The court has not reached this
conclusion lightly," the judge wrote
in his decision. "It is acutely aware
of the perilous nature of the world
in which we live. But the Consti-
tution is the rock upon which our
nation rests. We must follow it not
when it is convenient, but when fear
and danger beckon in a different
direction."
During that hearing, defense
lawyer Peter Quijano tried to show
that Abebe felt coerced to testify
because he feared law enforcement,
but Abebe insisted that was not so.
Another lawyer for Ghailani,
Steve Zissou, said the government's
decision not to appeal was "a signif-
icant victory for the Constitution."
"As we saw duringlhis testimony,
Mr. Abebe was hardly a credible
witness," Zissou said.
Ghailani has been accusedby the
government of being a bomb maker,
document forger and aide to Osama
bin Laden. He has pleaded not
guilty and has denied knowingthat
TNT and oxygen tanks he delivered
would be used to make a bomb.
There was little controversy
when Ghailani was brought to
New York for trial in 2009, but
the subject of where totry detain-
ees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
became heated after Attorney
General Eric Holder announced
last November that professed
Sept. 11 attacks mastermind Kha-
lid Sheikh Mohammed and four
others would be tried blocks from
where the World Trade Center
stood. Holder later said he was
reconsidering the decision.