The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, January 6, 2011- 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, January 6, 2011 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.
Great Lakes Asian
Carp DNA research
r proven effective
Scientists whose genetics-based
research became a.lightning rod
in the debate over protecting the
Great Lakes from Asian carp have
made their case in a newly pub-
lished article that says at least
some of the dreaded invaders have
gotten beyond an electric barrier
meant to block their path to Lake
Michigan.
Still, the researchers argue that
so-called "environmental DNA," or
"eDNA," has proven a more effec-
tive means of detecting Asian carp
than conventional methods such as
electroshocking and netting. They
predict it will become a valuable
tool in efforts to prevent exotic spe-
cies invasions and preserve species
that are threatened or endangered.
"There can no longer be any
question about the validity of the
eDNA work and its reliability,"
David Lodge, a University of Notre
* Dame biologist and the project
leader, said in an interview Tues-
day. "This research has with flying
colors passed the most rigorous
peer review possible."
OMAHA, Neb.
Student opens fire
on school officials
before killing self
A student opened fire at an
Omaha high school yesterday-
wounding two adults including
the principal and causing students
to rush to a school kitchen to take
cover, authorities said.
Later, the suspect, identified as
17-year-old Robert Butler, Jr., was
found dead in car about a mile away
from the school after shooting
himself, Omaha police chief Alex
Hayes said.
It was not immediately clear
why Butler, a son of an Omaha
police detective, shot Millard High
School Principal Curtis Case and
Vice Principal Vicki Kasper.
Case was in stable condition and
Kasper was in critical condition
at an area hospital, the chief told
reporters.
A 16-year-old student at the
school told The Associated Press
she was just beginning lunch when
a school administrator came into
the cafeteria.
"He was like yelling, 'Get in the
kitchen! Get in the kitchen!' He was
waving his arms. You knew some-
thing was wrong and it wasn't a
drill," said Laura Olson, who is the
daughter of an AP reporter.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
Mysterious plane
crash barely misses
* residential house
Federal authorities say one per-
son was killed when a small plane
crashed in a Birmingham neigh-
borhood.
Federal Aviation Administration
spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen
said the Beech BE-58 went down
while it was approaching a runway
at the Birmingham International
Airport. She said authorities have
not yet determined why it crashed
and wasn't sure if anyone on the
ground was hurt.
Firefighters and police officers
swarmed the scene. WBMA-TV
reported the plane crashed about
50 yards from a house.
* JUBA, Sudan
Sudanese officials
expect large voter
turnout for election
Nearly 4 million people in
Southern Sudan are registered to
vote in a referendum to be held
Jan. 9, the top election official said
Monday.
The electoral body is "100 per-
cent prepared" for the vote and it
will be held on time, said Justice
Chan Reec Madut. Some observ-
ers had worried that South Sudan's
poor infrastructure and political
issues might delay the polls.
Most people expect the oil-
rich, mainly Christian south will
vote for independence from the
mainly Muslim north. The two
sides fought a bloody civil war that
stretched over two decades. Sun-
day's vote is the culmination of a
* peace deal that ended the conflict
in 2005.
"Our people are ready to walk
for six hours, eight hours, in order
to reach their polling centers," he
said.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
A Jordanian man lights a candle before a prayer ceremony for the victims who died after a New Year's Day church bombing
that killed 21 people at the Coptic Orthodox Church in Amman, Jordan.
Coptic churches far
r s
mTore suicide attaCks
Extremist Islamic
websites encourage
attacks on Coptic
churches in Egypt
CAIRO (AP) - Egyptian Chris-
tians say they fear a repeat attack
against their community on Cop-
tic Christmas Eve today despite
authorities planning heavy secu-
rity following a New Year's suicide
bombing of a church in Alexandria
that killed 21.
In response to the threats
against the Christians by extrem-
ists, Egyptian activists have called
on Muslims toform humanshields
in front of the churches on Christ-
mas Eve as gesture of solidarity
with country's Coptic Christian
minority, which makes up 10 per-
cent of Egypt's 80 million people.
The bombing of the church, the
worst act of sectarian violence in
the country in a decade, touched
off days of demonstrations and
riots by the Christians blaming
the government for encouraging
discrimination and prejudice and
not doing enough to protect them.
Some Christians have even said
they will skip today's Christmas
Eve services for fear that there
will be more attacks.
"I had a fight with my mother.
She kept saying no churches this
year. I wanted to go but my par-
ents are afraid something might
happen again," said Karim Moni-
er, a 19-year-old student living in
the middle-class neighborhood
of Hadayak Helwan in southern
Cairo.
Egyptian authorities have
beefed up security around many
churches all over country, with
explosives experts on hand.
Armored vehicles will be sta-
tioned in main squares in case of
emergency.
The Interior Ministry yester-
day released to the. public a com-
posite photo of what is said was
the one remaining victim out of
the 21 dead who has not yet been
identified. The ministry asked for
anyone who recognized the face to
report the identity to authorities,
apparently aiming to determine
whether he could be the bomber.
Police said the face in the photo
had been pieced together from
remains, and parts of the image
appeared digitally manipulated to
fill in gaps.
Extremist Islamic websites
affiliated with al-Qaida have
been circulating lists of Coptic
Churches in Egypt and Europe -
including the one attacked on New
Year's - along with instructions
on how to attack them.
"Blow up the churches while
they are celebrating Christmas or
any other time when the churches
are packed," the statement read.
Coptic websites have been
worriedly circulating the lists of
churches as a warning to their
members and several European
government have announced they
will be increasing security at their
own Coptic sites.
Mohammed Moussaoui, head
of France's main Muslim group,
said it will send a delegation to
attend a Coptic Christian Christ-
mas service in France on Friday.
The threats have sparked a
backlash in Egypt, where there
have long been sectarian tensions,
and numerous groups are pushing
for Muslims to guard the churches
as human shields.
Prominent young Egyptian
actor Khaled Aboul Naga called
on Muslims in his blog not to
"stand still while Coptic Egyp-
tians feel unsafe in their worship-
ping places," and urged people
to head to any nearby church to
attend Christmas Eve prayers.
New U.S. Census formula
measures rise in poverty
Census figures:
1 in 6 Americans
live in poverty
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
number of poor people in the U.S.
is millions higher than previously
known, with 1 in 6 Americans
- many of them 65 and older -
struggling in poverty due to ris-
ing medical care and other costs,
according to preliminary census
figures released yesterday.
At the same time, government
aid programs such as tax credits
and food stamps kept many people
out of poverty, helping to ensure
the poverty rate did not balloon
even higher during the reces-
sin in 2009, President Barack
Obama's first year in office.
Under a new revised census
formula, overall poverty in 2009
stood at 15.7 percent, or 47.8 mil-
lion people. That's compared to
the official 2009 rate of 14.3 per-
cent, or 43.6 million, that was
reported by the Census Bureau
last September.
Across all demographic groups,
Americans 65 and older sustained
the largest increases in poverty
under the revised formula - near-
ly doubling to 16.1 percent. As a
whole, working-age adults 18-64
also saw increases in poverty,
as well as whites and Hispanics.
Children, blacks and unmarried
couples were less likely to be con-
sidered poor under the new mea-
sure.
Due to new adjustments for
geographical variations in costs
of living, people residing in the
suburbs, the Northeast and West
were the regions mostly likely to
have poor people - nearly 1in 5in
the West.
The new measure will not
replace the official poverty rate
but will be published alongside
the traditional figure this fall as a
"supplement" for federal agencies
and state governments to deter-
mine anti-poverty policies. Econ-
omists have long criticized the
official poverty measure as inad-
equate because it only includes
pretax cash income and does not
account for medical, transporta-
tion and work expenses.
"Under the new measure, we
can clearly see the effects of
our government policies," said
Kathleen Short, a Census Bureau
research economist who calcu-
lated the revised poverty num-
bers. "When you're accounting for
in-kind benefits and tax credits,
you're bringing many people in
extreme poverty off the very bot-
tom."
Short's analysis, published yes-
terday as part of a series of cen-
sus working papers on poverty,
shows that out-of-pocket medical
expenses had a significant impact
in affecting the number of poor
- without those costs, poverty
would have dropped from 15.7
percent to 12.4 percent.
The numbers cited for 2009 are
preliminary, but census officials
say they offer a good representa-
tive look at the state of U.S. pov-
erty and where the numbers are
headed when new 2010 figures are
released this fall.
Southern Chileans evacuate
in anticipation of earthquake
Citizens flee from
7.1 earthquake, no
damage reported
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - A
magnitude-7.1 earthquake shook
southern Chile on Sunday, prompt-
ing tens of thousands to flee the
coast for higher ground amid fears
it could generate a tsunami like the
one that ravaged the area last year.
There were no reports of deaths
or damage, and Vicente Nunez,
head of the National Emergency
Office, said no tsunami alert was
issued.
"There has been no harm to
people, no harm to property,"
Nunez said. "We will continue
monitoring."
The Pacific Tsunami Warn-
ing Center in Hawaii also said a
destructive Pacific Ocean-wide
tsunami was not expected.
Some cell-phone communica-
tions and electrical power were
knocked out in the Araucania
region where the quake was cen-
tered, 370 miles (595 kilometers)
south-southwest of the capital,
Santiago.
The U.S. Geological Survey
said the epicenter was about 45.
miles (70 kilometers) away from
the provincial capital of Temuco,
which has a population of about
250,000.
The quake struck at a depth
of about 11 miles (17 kilometers),
according to the USGS, and there
was at least one aftershock of 5.0
magnitude.
When the first temblor struck,
people in several coastal cities
quickly moved away from the
ocean, abandoning some shop-
ping centers entirely.
Inthe communities ofLaArau-
cania, Puerto Saavedra, Tolten
and Teodoro Smith, an estimated
50,000 people voluntarily evacu-
ated to higher ground, according
to Nunez.
Residents of the region have
fresh memories of the magni-
tude-8.8 quake and resulting
tsunami on Feb. 27, 2010, that
killed at least 521 people and left
200,000 homeless.
Sergio Barrientos, director of
the seismology office at the Uni-
versity of Chile, said Sunday's
temblor was itself an aftershock
of last year's mega-quake.