The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Friday, December 3, 2010 - 3

NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Design students
develop coats for
Detroit homeless
An industrial-design major at
the College for Creative Studies
in Detroit, Veronika Scott spent
all her cash from summer jobs
and then some - donated by fam-
ily and friends - to design and
sew three coats, actually, each an
improved version of the last.
She calls it the Element
S(urvival) coat. She is sure it will
save lives in Detroit, and some-
day across the nation and world.
As fanciful as that sounds, some
people have bought into it.
College for Creative Stud-
ies Dean Imre Molnar, a former
design director for Patagonia,
the outdoor clothing company in
Ventura, Calif., took one look at
Scott's design in November, and
"this stopped me dead," he said.
"This is extraordinary. If this
garment is successful in Detroit,
it's going to work across the
country and around the world
for homeless people, to say noth-
ing of the relief industry. Wher-
ever you have an earthquake, the
Red Cross could distribute these
things across the world," he said.
ANNISTON, Ala.
KKK snowman
enrages neighbors
A white separatist drew com-
plaints from neighbors and a visit
fromlaw enforcement officers after
building a snowman shaped like a
member of the Ku Klux Klan on his
front lawn.
Kootenai County sheriff's depu-
ties told Mark Eliseuson Wednes-
day that he could be charged
with a crime because the 10-foot-
tall snowman was holding what
appeared to be a noose. Deputies
were called by neighbors who were
appalled by the pointy-headed
snowman with two dark eyes.
Hayden for decades earned
notoriety for being near the for-
mer rural compound of the Aryan
Nations.
Eliseuson could have been
charged with creating a public
nuisance. Idaho law defines such a
nuisance as anything "offensive to
the senses" or that interferes with
the comfort of an entire neighbor-
hood. Eliseuson removed the noose
and toppled the snowman after he
talked with officers.
ANCHORAGE
Alaska sees rapid
climate change
Alaska wildlife officials have
released a report acknowledging
that scientific and traditional evi-
dence increasingly shows climate
change at unprecedented rates
throughout the Arctic.
The report released this week
marks a departure for the state,
which is suing to overturn the
federal listing of polar bears as
a threatened species because of
declining sea ice habitat.
The report, called "Climate
Change Strategy," says warming

temperatures could affect Alaska's
bodies of water, leading to changes
in sport fishing and subsistence
opportunities.
A Department of Fish and Game
official, Doug Vincent-Lang, says
the agency has stayed out of the
climate change debate but thought
it was time to take stock of the
effects.
MEXICO CITY
U.S. Cable: Mexico
concerned about
drug cartel power
A leaked U.S. State Department
cable says Mexican authorities
worried in 2009 that they could
lose parts of the country to drug
traffickers.
An October 2009 cable from the
U.S. Embassy in Mexico City says
Undersecretary for the Interior
Geronimo Gutierrez Fernandez
"expressed a real concern with
'losing' certain regions."
Gutierrez said the situation was
hurting Mexico's reputation at
home and abroad and that if Presi-
dent Felipe Calderon didn't have
"tangible successes" in his war
against cartels, "it will be difficult
to sustain the confrontation into
the next administration."
The document was posted
online yesterday by the newspaper
El Pais of Spain as a growing list
of sensitive U.S. government mes-
sages were released by WikiLeaks.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports.

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Sec. of Security
urges action on
DREAM Act

DEREK GEE/The Buffalo News
Jimmy Salomon, of Cheektowaga, waits outside his car on the New York State Thruway in West Seneca, N.Y., where was
stuck for several hours yesterday. The storm buried parts of Buffalo and its suburbs under 2 feet of snow.
Highway jam leaves
hundreds rstrande.d

On conference call,
Napolitano says bill
is now cost-neutral
By KAITLIN WILLIAMS
Daily StaffReporter
United States Secretary
of Homeland Security Janet
Napolitano urged legislators to
take action on the latest version
of the Development, Relief and
Education for Alien Minors Act,
known as the DREAM Act, in a
conference call with journalists
yesterday.
The DREAM Act, first intro-
duced in Aug. 2001, would grant
temporary, six-year residency
to aliens who entered the coun-
try before the age of 16, lived in
the U.S. for five years before the
bill's enactment, are U.S. high
school graduates, and serve in
the military or attend college for
two years. Democratic Majority
Leader Harry Reid and Majority
Whip Dick Durbin filed the lat-
est version of the DREAM Act on
Tuesday.
"I think it's important to point
out that the DREAM Act fits into
a larger strategy of immigration
enforcement and would actually
complement the Department
of Homeland Security's efforts
to prioritize our enforcement
resources on removing danger-
ous criminal aliens from the
country," Napolitano said.
Newchangesto the actinclude
barring illegal immigrants from
qualifying for in-state college

tuition and preventing them
from sponsoring family mem-
bers for legalization. to previous
versions of the bill, immigrants
would also be eligible for certain
forms of federal aid, like food
stamps.
The DREAM Act was an
amendment to the Defense
Authorization Act, which failed
to pass the U.S. Senate in Sep-
tember.
On the call, Napolitano said
the latest version of the bill is
cost-neutral, appeasing oppo-
nents who contend that the mea-
sure would cost taxpayers too
much money.
"The cost argument doesn't
hold water," she said on the call.
In addition to the practical
benefits of the bill, Napolitano
said getting the act passed is
important because it doesn't
make sense to punish those who
entered the country illegally as
children by no fault of their own.
"What makes sense is to allow
these young people a way to
adjust their immigration status
that is firm but fair," she said.
Napolitano also said the act
"sets the right priorities for our
country" by strengthening the
nation's workforce and military,
since more people would be able
to contribute to the economy
after earning the temporary
legal status.
However, Napolitano said the
DREAM Act "is not a substitute
for comprehensive immigration
reform," which she, as along
with President Barack Obama,
supports.

Drivers stranded for
up to 14 hours on
3-mile-long strip
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Hun-
dreds of cold and hungry motorists
spent hours yesterday stranded on
a western New York highway after
an accident caused a backup and
the idling trucks and cars got stuck
in heavy snow.
A Lake Erie-fed storm that began
Wednesday and continued through
Thursday buried parts of Buffalo
and some suburbs under more than
2 feet of snow. Downtown Buf-
falo was largely spared. Dozens of
schools canceled classes.
Police closed Interstate 90 about
3 a.m. yesterday after a truck jack-
knifed the previous evening and
vehicles became backed up and
buried in blowing snow, State
Trooper Daniel Golinski said. Driv-
ers also were stranded on a 3-mile
stretch of Interstate 190.
Though parts of I-90, better
known as the New York Thruway,
were reopenedby midday, an11-mile
stretch remained closed as dark-
ness fell. Traffic, mostly big rigs,
was backed up for about two miles
in the eastbound lanes and a mile
headed west after sunset. Authori-
ties expected it would take several
more hours to clear the mess.
Jack Geiselman, who was
stranded for 14 hours in 32-degree
weather, took it all in stride.
"Itend nottobe aranter-and-rav-
er about things and the point is, it's
nothingIhave anycontrol over," the
60-year-old semi-retired civil engi-
neer said. "I guess the way I look at it

is, it's over. Iguessstuffhappens. It's
not the end of the world."
Geiselman was traveling in a
Honda Civic from Keene, N.Y.,
to Cleveland with his black lab
Boomer to help his daughter gether
house ready for a baby due between
Christmas and New Year. He had
with him a sleeping bag and plenty
of warm clothing and gas. He said
state troopers came by with coffee
and food for people in cars.
Emergency crews on ATVs
passed out water and protein bars,
and buses picked up motorists and
delivered them to a shelter at a
senior citizen center.
State Police had no reports of
medical emergencies, although one
older motorist who uses oxygen was
among the stranded and was taken
to safety, said Capt. Michael Nigrelli.
Not to be discouraged, two truck
drivers who left their tandems
idling in the morning tramped
through the snow for about half a
mile to pick up a breakfast sand-
wich and coffee off the highway.
They seemed almost cheerful
despite the hit on their livelihood.
"The wheels are not moving and
we're making nothing," said Don
Lanphere, 51, a trucker for 32 years
who was hauling dog food. "The
only guys making money are the
plow operators."
"I had the radio on listening,"
said Curt Doverspike, 40, a trucker
from Jamestown. "They said we
should begetting out soon. Nothing
ever happened so we just went to
bed, woke up this morning. We're
just kind of used to it."
He said regular travelers were
venting their frustrations but the
truck drivers were calmer.

"There's traffic jams, accidents
all the time," Doverspike said.
"You just get used to it. I guess it's
easier for us than those in the cars
because they get frustrated. We
have a bed. If we get bored, we lay
down and go to bed."
Nigrelli said the combination
of fast-falling snow and the large
number of commercial vehicles
- many of which had to be towed
out after the snow piled up around
them - made re-opening the road
slow-going.
"Unfortunately, that's not some-
thing that can be undone very
quickly," he said.
Some truckers left the road to
find refuge at truck stops, parking
lots and city streets, but most kept
their rigs parked on the highway,
especially the tandem drivers.
Matt Welling was hauling a dou-
ble tractor-trailer full of groceries
when traffic came to a standstill.
He spent the night "sitting back,
playing a little Solitaire on the com-
puter, taking a nap," the Wegmans
driver said after more than eight
hours stuck on the road.
"I'm pretty chilly, hungry. A nice
cup of coffee would do pretty well
right now," he said by cell phone.
Driving restrictions were in
place in southern Buffalo and sub-
urban Cheektowaga, Depew, Lan-
caster and West Seneca, where
bands of snow hung stubbornly
overhead.
A snow warning was in effect
until late yesterday night, with sev-
eral more inches possible before
the storm was expected to drift
south, meteorologists said. Addi-
tional snow was in today's forecast,
though in lesser amounts.

S. Korean president
criticized as weak

Comments come in
wake of attack by
North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -
South Koreans called President Lee
Myung-bak "The Bulldozer" when
he plowed into office nearly three
years ago with vows to stop cod-
dling North Korea with uncondi-
tional aid.
These days, however, the nick-
name has started to ring hollow.
It originally denoted toughness
and resolve, stemming from Lee's
days as an aggressive construction
CEO. But North Korea's brazen
artillery attack on a South Korean
island last week and a response
slammed as weak are raising ques-
tions about Lee's readiness - and
even willingness - to stand up to
the North.
In the face of criticism, Lee
replaced his defense minister and
moved to boost troops on front-
line islands. He has also promised
tough consequences for any future
aggression and expressed his out-
rage over the "ruthlessness of the
North Korean regime."
He has issued similar pledges
before, and the North Korean
shelling on Nov. 23 that killed
four South Koreans and destroyed
parts of Yeonpyeong Island has
prompted questions over what
critics say is a failed policy toward
the North.
The Dong-a Ilbo newspaper
said in an editorial that after Seoul
blamed North Korea for sinking a
South Korean warship in March,
Lee "promised a 'manifold retalia-

tion' in the event of another provo-
cation and a strike on North Korea's
missile base if necessary."
"But his warnings have prov-
en hollow," the newspaper said.
"Many wonder ifPresident Lee was
resolute in deciding on retaliation"
for the island attack.
The government faced more
headaches yesterday, when oppo-
sition lawmakers expressed out-
rage over South Korean spy chief
Won Sei-hoon's surprise acknowl-
edgment of an intelligence break-
down.
Won told lawmakers in a pri-
vate briefing that the South had
intercepted North Korean mili-
tary communications in August
that indicated Pyongyang was
preparing to attack Yeonpyeong
and other front-line islands. Won
didn't expect that attack to be on
civilian areas and considered it
a "routine threat," according to
the office of lawmaker Choi Jae-
sung, who attended the closed
session.
South Korea's main opposition
Liberal Democratic Party said the
government had failed to deal with
the North's artillery barrage, even
though it had intelligence on an
impending attack.
"Our intelligence system didn't
work," Jun Byung-hun, the party's
chief policymaker, said in a state-
ment.
The National Intelligence Ser-
vice yesterday declined to com-
ment.
Lee, who turns 69 this month,
has been criticized for leading a
military whose response to the
Yeonpyeong attack was seen as
too slow and too weak: the North

fired 170 rounds compared with 80
returnedby South Korea.
Satellite photos showed only
about 10 South Korean rounds
landed near North Korea's army
barracks along the west coast,
according to the office of lawmaker
Kwon Young-se, who said he saw
the images provided Thursday by
the National Intelligence Service.
There is also disappointment
with the South's perceived lack of
preparedness despite warnings the
North might stir up trouble amid an
internal power transfer from Kim
Jong Il to his son.
"After all the skirmishes and
provocations, the country should
have had a contingency plan - a
rudimentary strategy of supple-
menting military power with naval
and air forces" in the front-line
island area, Song Ho-keun, a pro-
fessor at Seoul National University,
wrote in the JoongAng Ilbo news-
paper.
To ease tensions, China, which is
North Korea's only major ally, has
pressed for an emergency meet-
ing of the six nations who previ-
ously negotiated over Pyongyang's
nuclear program: the two Koreas,
China, Russia, Japan and the Unit-
ed States.
After walking away from the six-
nation talks in April 2009, North
Korea has shown it is eager to
restart them to gain much-needed
fuel oil and aid in exchange for
nuclear disarmament. But Wash-
ington, Tokyo and Seoul are wary
of talking with the North, and their
top diplomats planned to meet in
Washington on Monday to plot a
strategy on dealing with the coun-
try.

Man sought in
L.A. publicist's
death kills self
Hollywood publicist suspect in the case and had been
under surveillance for some time.
shot multiple times Chasen, 64, was shot multiple
times as she drove home from a
after leaving Oscar party after attendingthe premiere
of the movie "Burlesque," whose
film Upremil8ee soundtrack she was promotingfor
an Oscar nomination.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A man The attack stunned Hollywood,
wanted for questioning in the where Chasen was well-known
slaying of a Hollywood publicist after promoting the Oscar-win-
killed himself in the lobby of a ning film "Driving Miss Daisy"
dreary Los Angeles hotel as police and other major movies and stars
closed in with a search warrant since the 1970s. It came in the
- the latest mysterious turn in a midst of award season, her busiest
case that began on a posh stretch time of year, when she helped stu-
of Beverly Hills. dios mount expensive promotion
The death deepened the mys- campaigns for films.
tery into the slaying of Ronni Police haven't released a possi-
Chasen, who was shot in her lux- ble motive in her slaying, and they
ury Mercedes as she drove home remained tightlipped about prog-
from the premiere of an Oscar ress in the investigation. The sui-
contender last month. cide Wednesday was first reported
Residents and witnesses told by the Los Angeles Times.
various stories aboutthe man. One Residents of the Harvey Apart-
resident said he bragged about ments knew the man as "Harold"
the killing and was waiting for a but differed on his last name.
$10,000 payment, but a man who Resident Terri Gilpin, 46, said
worked in a nearby music studio Thursday that she had heard him
was skeptical of a connection to bragging about the killing and
Chasen's death. talking about how he was going to
Witnesses said the man be paid $10,000 and was waiting
appeared to shoot himself in on the money.
the head Wednesday, splatter- She said he told her, "You know
ing blood across the lobby of the that lady on TV, that publicist, I
Harvey Apartments, a residential did it, I did it."
hotel where people rent rooms by Asked why she didn't call
the month. The building is in a police, Gilpin said she and her
stretch of warehouses and small husband didn't believe him. Gil-
businesses next to a dive bar pin said the man always seemed
called Gold Diggers Entertain- paranoid, would ask if police were
ment. looking for him, and "had a screw
Resident Anmmicka Sanders loose."
said Thursday when police let her Gilpin said she once called
back in the building Wednesday police on him because he wan-
night, she saw blood all over the dered into her apartment.
stairwell and a body covered by a On Wednesday, she said she
white sheet. was taking a nap when she heard
The dead man was identi- a single shot fired.
fied but his name was not being "I thought it was backfire, but
released because the next-of-kin I was kind of half-asleep, in a
had not been notified, Los Ange- drowsy state of mind," she said.
les County coroner's spokesman "It was kind of likea pop."
Craig Harvey said Thursday. He Sammy Zamorano, who works
was a black male in his 40s and his in a nearby music studio and was
last known place of residence had in the apartment building within
not been established, Harvey said. a minute of the suicide, said the
Beverly Hills police Chief body was slumped against a wall
David Snowden told The Associ- with arms on either side. He said
ated Press in an e-mail that the he did not see a gun.
man "was a person of interest Zamorano said the man spent
only" in Chasen's death in Beverly hours each day hanging around
Hills. Police spokesman Tony Lee outside the building, always had
emphasized at a news conference a bicycle and usually wore gloves.
that the murder investigation was "To me he was mental, crimi-
not over. nal, but not so sophisticated. He
The Los Angeles Times, citing had very bad vibes. To me, this
four unnamed sources, reported guy is not too honest. He looked a
Thursday that the man was a little disturbed," Zamorano said.