The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, February 17, 2011--- 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, February 17, 2011 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING, Mich.
Gov. Snyder names
new director of
Michigan DELEG
Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed
the managing partner of a Detroit
law firm the new director of the
Michigan Department of Energy,
Labor and Economic Growth.
The Republican governor said
in a statement yesterday that Ste-
ven Hilfinger of the Detroit office
of Foley & Lardner LLP will begin
serving Feb. 28 and replaces Andy
Levin. The statement says Hil-
finger is an expert in corporate
acquisitions, restructurings and
regulatory affairs.
Like Snyder, Hilfinger is a certi-
fied public accountant and lawyer.
He received his bachelor's degree
in 1984 from University of Michi-
gan and law degree from North-
western University in 1987.
Snyder thanked Levin, appoint-
ed by former Democratic Gov.
Jennifer Granholm, for his service
and says he played an important
role during the transition.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
GOP seeks to cut
funds for consumer
protection agency
The House Republican budget-
cuttingbillwould shrink spending
for the Obama administration's
newly created agency designed
to protect consumers who have
mortgages, credit cards or use
other financial services.
The legislation would limit
spending for the Consumer Finan-
cial Protection Bureau to $80 mil-
lion. The agency was created by
the financial overhaul law that
President Barack Obama and the
Democratic-run Congress enact-
ed in July.
Nearly all Republicans opposed
the legislation. Now that they con-
trol the House, the GOP is propos-
ing cuts in the budgets of agencies
that would carry out the new
financial regulatorylaw.
Without the Republican cuis
the consumer protection agency
was on track to receive $134 mil-
lion this year. Obama has request-
ed $329 million for the agency for
next year.
DENVER, Colo.
Rescued lions from
Bolivia arrive at
wildlife sanctuary
Twenty-five lions, most of them
rescued from Bolivian circuses,
arrived in Colorado on yesterday
to start their new lives at a wildlife
sanctuary.
The 14 males and 11 females
landed at Denver International
Airport around 4:30 p.m. The jet-
liner pulled into a maintenance
hangar and police officers armed
with assault rifles stood by as a
precaution.
The animals were rescued from
deplorable conditions after a law
was passed last year in Bolivia pro-
hibiting all performances involv-
ing animals, Animal Defenders
International said. Most of the
lions were dehydrated and suf-
fered from eye and foot infections
when rescued, the group has said.
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia
* 129 people fleeing
Myanmar found
starving in boat
Indonesian marine police say
they have picked up 129 starving,
dehydrated people whose boat
engine broke down while they
were fleeing Myanmar.
Police Col. Muhammad Zaini
says fishermen discovered the
rickety, 45-foot (14-meter) boat
off the coast of westernmost Aceh
province and towed it to shore
earlyyesterday.
He says the passengers - all
males belonging to the ethnic
Rohingya minority - had run
out of food and water and were
severely dehydrated and weak.
One man-told investigators they
were fleeing violence and pressure
by Myanmar's government.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
ROTC
From Page 1A
of the bill by Obama, Defense
Secretary Robert Gates and Con-
gress, the U.S. military is begin-
ning to educate military members
about the LGBT community and
foster tolerance in the pre-repeal
phase, according to the Depart-
ment of Defense website.
Jan Malaikal, chair of the
Army Officer Education program
at the University, said she could
not comment on the current pol-
icy for treatment of LGBT ROTC
members due to the changing
nature of the law.
LSA sophomore Adam
Kouroupas, who is in the Uni-
versity's ROTC program, said he
hasn't noticed many changes in
the ROTC Air Force branch in
anticipation of the law.
"It hasn't come up, and I think
that's a good sign," Kouroupas
said. "Everyone here is smart
enough to realize that times
aren't like they used to be, and
things are changing."
Kouroupas also said he
thinks the University's ROTC
would accept any members who
revealed their sexual identity.
"Our captains always tell us
that diversity in the military is
the best thing for it," Kouroupas
said. "I think (if someone came
out) it would be fine. People are
afraid of the stereotype...We've
been getting up at 5 a.m. together
for the past couple of years now.
We've gotten pretty close, so I
don't think that would change
anything."
Ariana Bostian-Kentes, the
University's Spectrum Center
programming coordinator, said
she thinks little will change
within military operations if
DADT is certified.
"I think that the day that it's
actually repealed is going to be a
non-event," Bostian-Kentes said.
"I don't think that there's going
to be any sort of mass comings-
out. I think the only thing that
will really change is that they'll
have one more class on some sort
of diversity training."
Bostian-Kentes said her for-
mer partner was a member of the
U.S. military. In her experience,
Bostian-Kentes said many ser-
vicemen and servicewomen have
already disclosed their sexual-
ity to close co-workers and even
larger groups of people within
the service.
"(This) is not something that's
new and radical," Bostian-Kentes
said. "A lot of people knew about
me. I attended two military balls
as her date, and we did not catch a
lot of flack for it. The bottom line
was that she did her job well, and
that's what mattered."
David Halperin, a W. H. Auden
Distinguished University Prof. of
the history and theory of sexual-
ity, said when he was teaching
at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology in the 1980s, he
learned of a gay student who was
kicked out of ROTC for reveal-
ing his sexual orientation after
enrolling in the program.
"The ban on non-heterosex-
uals serving openly in the U.S.
military is one of the last instanc-
es of formally institutionalized
homophobia at the federal level,"
Halperin said. "There has never
been any coherent reason provid-
ed for kicking non-heterosexual
people out of the military or pre-
venting them from serving."
To help solve any potential
problems, Bostian-Kentes said
she is planning to offer the Spec-
trum Center's resources to the
ROTC program and the signifi-
cant others of any ROTC mem-
bers.
"Military partners are even
more invisible than LGBT active
duty service members," Bostian-
Kentes said. "I'm looking ahead
and seeing that there is room for
programming around that."
Halperin added that the repeal
would also affect the scholarship
guidelines of ROTC programs on
all college campuses if the pro-
gram is open to gay or lesbian
members.
"People who want to take
advantage of ROTC scholarships
to finance their college education
will be able to do so regardless
of their sexual orientation," Hal-
perin said. "There will no longer
be a certain kind of inequality
written into law."
BORDERS
From Page 1A
Borders will continue to allow
customers to use gift cards and
its Borders Rewards program,
according to the press release.
John Pottow, a professor at
the University's Law School, said
Chapter 11 bankruptcy involves a
reorganization of the debts of a
company.
"You get a protection from all
your creditors so they can't sue
you for not paying your debts,"
Pottow said. "You get to hide for
about a year or so."
Edwards will be able to con-
tinue to run the company, Pot-
tow said, but on behalf of Borders
Group's creditors rather than its
shareholders.
The money the company
has borrowed from GE Capital
should help Borders with financ-
ing while executives accomplish
their reorganization plan, Pot-
tow said. He added that the reor-
ganization plan is like a "haircut
on debt," in which Borders agrees
to pay its creditors a fraction of
what they owe.
"Bankruptcy is not good," Pot-
tow said. "Some people are going
to lose their jobs."
Keith Taylor, coordinator for
the University's Undergraduate
Creative Writing Program, was
an employee at Borders from 1981
to 1989. He worked at the first
store brothers Tom and Louis
Borders opened on State Street
in 1971.
Taylor said the initial Borders
store was a unique concept and
was very popular.
"The whole idea of a book
superstore was brand new," Tay-
lor said. "In the early ages, Bor-
ders was one of the first ones."
Taylor said he left Borders
because he felt uncomfortable
with the company's corporate
atmosphere. He said he thinks
that starting in 1985, the book-
store began to make poor busi-
ness choices which ultimately led
to the company's downfall.
"They ruined themselves,"
Taylor said. "They made all the
wrong decisions."
Taylor said he feels no sym-
pathy for the store because of its
financial troubles.
"It's a junk store now," Taylor
said. "It doesn't deserve to live."
He added that he's concerned
about the financial security of the
book industry in general.
"The book business has
changed entirely," Taylor said.
"The music business disappeared
almost overnight; it's taking the
book business a lot longer."
LSA senior Aneka Kaul said
she is upset that Borders and
other bookstores are having fis-
cal issues since more people are
buying books online. Kaul, who
grew up in Ann Arbor, added that
the Arborland Borders store has
sentimental value to her.
"I've been going there since I
was little," she said.
SUSTAINABILITY
From Page 1A
letter.
Rackham student Devi Glick,
who studies in the School of
Natural Resources and Envi-
ronment and isa member of SSI,
said she hopes the letter will
encourage Coleman to further
her commitment to sustainabil-
ity.
"Coleman is always saying
that she wants to hear what the
students want, she wants to see
students work for something,"
Glick said. "She's not going to
go out and initiate it if there
isn't demonstrative student sup-
port."
The letter doesn't make new
propositions, Glick said, but
instead pushes for the Univer-
sity to take stronger stances on
current sustainability opera-
tions throughout campus.
"We took the goals that are
already being discussed, and
this letter basically encourages
them to be aggressive and bold
with whatever they want these
goals to be," Glick said. "The
value added in this letter wasn't
something new, it was us say-
ing, 'Don't just do what you're
on track to do, but do something
that really shows leadership."'
Glick said the organization
has been successful so far in
generating support for sus-
tainability efforts on campus.
She credited the SSI's involve-
ment with the yearlong Cam-
pus Sustainability Integrated
Assessment project, which is a
combined effort between the
SSI, the Office of Campus Sus-
tainability and the Graham
Sustainability Institute to eval-
uate sustainability on campus.
At the end of the semester, the
partnership plans to present a
recommendation reportto Cole-
man on how to improve the Uni-
versity's sustainability efforts.
Glick said the SSI is hoping
the letter will benefit from the
"momentum" and "involve-
ment" generated by the Inte-
grated Assessment project.
Glick said the group's letter
isn't meant to be critical of Uni-
versity administrators, but
it is intended to further the
University's commitment to
sustainability.
"The tone of it is complete-
ly positive because (Coleman)
responds to positiveness and
student encouragements, so
we're not going to write a let-
ter that's negative or critical
because that's not the correct
venue, and that's not how we
see it," Glick said.
Glick said Coleman's sup-
port is vital to foster the
growth of a more sustainable
campus.
"A lot of the changes that are
needed are operational things
at the University," she said.
"Those aren't things that a club
would raise money for. Those
are things that the University
has to provide the money to do."
The organization's letter will
demonstrate to Coleman that
students are passionate about
sustainability efforts, Alexan-
der said.
"I think what President Cole-
man is looking for is a well-
rounded look at sustainability,
so that it's not just the faculty
or the operating people on cam-
pus, but that it's also the stu-
dents that are involved," he said.
"So I think this letter will be
very effective in showing thai
we've had this broad coopera-
tion between the major groups
on campus."
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