2A - Thursday, January 20, 2011
The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com
2A - Thursday, January 20, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
MONDAY: TUESDAY:
In Other Ivory Towers Questions on Campus
WEDNESDAY:
Professor Profiles
FRIDAY:
Photos of the Week
Perfecting penmanship
Stemming from their
interest in Islamic studies,
LSA juniors Anthony Chase
and Lena Abuelroos are aim-
ing to give other students on
campus an opportunity to
learn the history and writing
of Arabic calligraphy.
Chase and Abuelroos
founded the Arabic Cal-
ligraphy Club last fall after
realizing that many students
on campus, like themselves,
were interested in learning
how to write Arabic calligra-
phy, Chase said.
"Both of us have been
interested in learning cal-
ligraphy for a long time,"
Chase said. "You're kind of
exposed to it a lot just study-
ing Arabic, but we never
really learn how to do it or
just how the art form was
developed."
Mohammed El Khoja,
a local calligrapher from
Libya who wrote calligraphy
for newspapers in his home
country, will start to teach
the club's members how to
write the most widely used
Arabic script as well as dis-
cuss the history of Arabic
calligraphy at their next
meeting.
"Right now we're just try-
ing to learn the basics, and
after we have that down, we
then want to branch off and
maybe explore other forms
of text," Abuelroos said.
Though El Khoja didn't
formally study calligraphy
in school, Chase and Abuel-
roos said he has previously
worked with many students
in Ann Arbor.
As the club's membership
grows, Abuelroos said she
and Chase will continue to
try to expand the opportu-
nities available to students
interested in studying Ara-
bic calligraphy. Later this
semestertheclub'smembers
are planning to visit the Uni-
versity's Special Collections
Library and see old calligra-
phy texts, which are studied
by the University's Islamic
Studies faculty members.
Since its founding, the
club has. attracted a diverse
group of students and has
drawn about 35 people to its
first meeting.
"We have individuals
from all over," Abuelroos
said. "A couple of our mem-
bers have no exposure to
Arabic whatsoever, and
they're attending. It's open
to everyone."
- EMILYKEMPA
LSA freshman Leah Dalhy works out in the Intramural Sports Building on one of t
new exercise machines on Tuesday, Jan.18, 2011. The i M Building now has a new
fleet of workout equipment, including treadmills and elliptical trainers.
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01
01
CRIME NOTES
Nurse is shaken Woman battles
but not stirred bus, loses
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
Talk on culture CAPS workshop
WHERE: Cardiovascular
Center
WHEN: Tuesday at about
10:50 a.m.
WHAT: A female visitor
grabbed a male nurse and
shook him, University Police
reported. The woman was
arrested and released pending
warrant authorization.
Staffer spills
water on laptop
WHERE: Duderstadt Building
WHEN: Tuesday at about 4:20
p.m.
WHAT: A staff member using
a University laptop reported
that she accidentally spilled
water on it, University Police
reported. The estimated cost
of the repair is $600.
WHERE: Zina Pitcher
WHEN: Tuesday at about 6:15
a.m.
WHAT: A female pedestrian
was hit by a University bus
and taken to the emergency
room by ambulance, University
Police reported. The woman
sustained minor injuries.
Gym bag goes
for a run
WHERE: Central Campus
Recreation Building
WHEN: Tuesday at about
12:25 a.m.
WHAT: A student reported
that his gym bag was stolen
during the last 10 minutes he
was at the gym, University
Police Reported. There are no
sects.e
dferences
WHAT: Northwood Apart-
ments resident Katlego
Moilwa will talk about the
differences between life
in Ann Arbor and Johan-
nesburg, South Africa.
WHO: Global Learn-
ing Series
WHEN: Today at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Northwood
Community Center
Engineering in
Africa lecture
WHAT: Electrcal engi-
neer Moses Kizza Musaazi
will speak about sanitation
and waste disposal inno-
vations that have posi-
tively impacted Africa.
WHO: College of
Engineering
WHEN: Today at 4p.m.
WHERE: Gerald Ford
Library
WHAT: A seminar to discuss
ways to boost self-esteem.
WHO: Counseling and
Psychological Services
WHEN: Today at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan Union
CORRECTIONS
* An article in yes-
terday's paper titled
"Business hub Venture
Accelerator unveiled"
incorrectlyidentified
Meghan Cuddihy.
. An article in yes-
terday's paper titled
"Campus speaker calls
for peacefull two-state
solution in Middle
East" incorrectly stated
the number of people
at the event. There
were 90 people.
" Please report any
errorinthe Dailyto
corrections@michi-
gandaily.com.
According to a survey done
by AOL News, only 49 per-
cent of elected officials
could name all three branches
of government. In addition,
only 57 percent of elected offi-
cials know what the Electoral
College does.
Dining hall chefs in
some University resi-
dence halls cook meals
for nearly 5,000 students each
day. Despite having to make
massive quantities of food, the
chefs strive to make their dish-
es as creative as possible.
>> FOR MORE, SEETHEB-SIDE,INSIDE
3 A study published in
Chemical Research in
Toxicology found that
polycyclic aromatic hydrocar-
bons, a chemical linked with
cancer, appears in the body
minutes after smoking a ciga-
rette, the BBC reported.
0I
Supreme Court rules NASA
background checks are OK
Investigations of
gov.'t job applicants
to continue
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
Supreme Court yesterday refused
to stop federal investigations
into the private lives of people
who want to work at government
installations - even those who
don't have security clearances and
don't work on secret projects.
The high court turned away
challenges to background checks
of low-risk employees at NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasa-
dena, Calif., despite claims from
those federal contractors that the
investigations were unconstitu-
tional because they invaded their
privacy.
"We reject the argument that
the government, when it requests
job-related personal information
in an employment background
check, has a constitutional burden
to demonstrate that its questions
are 'necessary' or the least restric-
tive means of furthering its inter-
ests," Justice Samuel Alito said.
Employees said the agency was
invading their privacy by requir-
ing investigations that looked into
their medical records and asked
friends about their finances and
sex lives. If the workers didn't
agree to the checks and fill out
questionnaires on Standard Form
85 (SF-85) and Form 42, they were
to be fired.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory
is NASA's premier robotics lab,
famous for sending unmanned
spacecraft to Mars and the outer
solar system. Unlike other NASA
research centers, it's run by the
California Institute of Technol-
ogy. Lab scientists, engineers and
staff are Caltech employees, but
the campus and its buildings are
owned by NASA.
A federal judge originally
refused to stop NASA's back-
ground checks while the lawsuit
made its way through the courts.
He was overturned by the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in San
Francisco.
Alito wrote, in a unanimous
judgment for the Supreme Court,
that the justices were not ruling on
whether there was a constitution-
al right to "informational privacy."
"We hold, however, that whatev-
er the scope of this interest, it does
not prevent the government from
asking reasonable questions of the
sort included on SF-85 and Form
42 in an employment background
investigation that is subject to the
Privacy Act's safeguards against
public disclosure," Alito said.
The lead plaintiff in the case,
Robert Nelson, a senior research
scientist at NASA JPL, said he was
disappointed with the Supreme
Court's decision, addingthat it will
dissuade some qualified potential
employees from working at JPL.
9;
Haiti's former dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier, center, gestures to supporters on the balcony of his hotel roonm in Port-
au-Prince, Haiti yesterday.
Ex-dictator Haiti returns'
with pants to stay in country
New bacteria threatens citrus
crop, believed to be incurable
Hundreds of
researchers met to
brainstorm ways to
combat disease
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) - While
Florida farmers have lost some of
their crop to cold weather for the
second year ina row, they saya fast-
spreading, incurable bacteria pres-
ents a greater threat to their trees
and the citrus industry.
Citrus greening has destroyed
groves in the U.S., Brazil, Asia and
Africa. Detected in Florida in 2005,
it leaves fruit sour, malformed and
unusable. Eventually, itkillsthetree.
"Citrus is our signature crop,"
said Florida Agriculture Commis-
sioner Adam Putnam. "The sheer
economic impact it has on our state
- it doesn't matter whether you live
in a condo tower on Miami Beach
or you live in Zolfo Springs, Flori-
da, this impacts you as a Floridian
because the demise of the Florida
citrus industry would have envi-
ronmental, economic and social
impacts."
The disease has been particu-
larly devastating because it takes
years for citrus trees to reach peak
production, and the disease targets
young trees, making it difficult for
growers to replace those that have
been lost.
"It's probably is one ofthe biggest
negative impacts in Florida today,
short of the housing collapse," said
Louis Schacht, a Vero Beach farmer
whose family has grown oranges for
60 years.
Trees don't pass the bacteria to
each other. Instead, greening - also
known as yellow dragon disease,
HIB or, in Chinese, Huanglongbing
- is spread by insects. There is no
cure.
Hundreds of researchers from
more than a dozen countries con-
verged on Orlando last week to talk
about the disease and hear the lat-
est research. They found hope in
one announcement: A University of
Florida-led group of international
scientistshas assembled thegenome
sequences for two citrus variet-
ies - sweet orange and Clementine
mandarin - in an effort to deter-
mine why trees are so susceptible to
greening. Eventually, they hope to
engineer varieties that aren't.
"There is nothing we have today
that is effective against the bacte-
ria," said Dan Gunter, chief operat-
ing officer of the Citrus Research
and Development Foundation Inc.,
which funds research on greening
and other citrus issues.
Two percent to 3 percent of Flor-
ida's citrus trees die in a typical year
because of things like cold weather,
bugs or old age. But since greening
emerged, 4 percent to 5 percent have
been lost each year, experts said.
Since most of Florida's oranges
become juice, while California
mainly grows those found in lunch
boxes, greening could eventually
affect consumers at the breakfast
table.
Lawyer argues
Duvalier's right to
participate in politics
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)
- Haitian authorities want Jean-
Claude Duvalier to leave the coun-
try, but the once-feared dictator
will not go and could even choose
to get involved in politics, one of
his lawyers said yesterday.
Defense attorney Reynold
Georges told reporters that it is
Duvalier's right to remain in Haiti,
but that he is free to travel. He
stressed that Haiti's government
has not ordered Duvalier to return
to France following his surprise
return on Sunday.
"He is free to do whatever he
wants, go wherever he wants,"
Georges said of the once-feared
strongman, known as "Baby Doc."
"It is his right to live in his coun-
try ... He is going to stay. It is his
country."
Georges said a Haitian judge
who met with the 59-year-old for-
mer leader, who apparently does
not have a valid Haitian passport,
asked him when he planned to
leave. "They wanthim to leave," he
insisted.
Georges portrayed the former
leader as an esteemed ex-president
iB
who might choose to help a small
Duvalierist political party during
his time in Haiti, though he gave
no details on what the help might
involve.
Duvalier, who assumed power
in 1971 at age 19 following the
death of his notorious father,
Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier,
faces accusations of corruption
and embezzlement for allegedly
pilfering the treasury before his
1986 ouster. He returned to Haiti
on Sunday evening after being
exiled for nearly 25 years.
Alice Blanchet, a special advis-
er to Prime Minister Jean-Max
Bellerive, refused to speculate
about Duvalier's plans to stay in
a country struggling through a
dire political crisis following the
problematic Nov. 28 first-round
presidential election, as well as a
cholera epidemic and a troubled
recovery from the last year's dev-
astating earthquake.
"Let justice do its job, run its
course. He is a citizen and no one
is above the law," she said in a
Wednesday e-mail, adding that
Duvalier "remains available to the
prosecutor" while he is in Haiti.
On Thursday, Duvalier stayed
at the upscale Hotel Karibe in
the hills above downtown Port-
au-Prince and spoke publicly only
through his lawyers. Duvalier and
4t
his longtime companion Vero-
nique Roy were seen eating break-
fast on his balcony.
Outside, on the rutted streets
of Port-au-Prince, there were no
signs of widespread support for
Duvalier. When he was led to a
courthouse on Tuesday, support-
ers staged demonstrations on
his behalf but they were tiny by
Haiti standards. More than half
the nation's people are too young
to have lived through his govern-
ment.
Most Haitians who remember
the Duvalier years hoped he had
left for good, closing an era of
terror and repression that began
under "Papa Doc." Human rights
groups say tens of thousands of
people were killed during the
29-year father-and-son dictator-
ship, while many others were
maimed or forced into exile.
Haitian authorities moved
toward trying Duvalier for alleged
corruption and embezzlement
committed during his brutal
15-year rule by opening an inves-
tigation on Tuesday, but specifics
about the probe were scarce.
Duvalier defense attorney
Gervais Charles said a judge of
instruction will decide whether
there is enough evidence to go to
trial. It's a process that can take up
to three months.