The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam

Monday, February 21, 2011 - 3A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, February 21, 2011 - 3A

NEWS BRIEFS
WEST PONT, N.Y.
West Point cadets
rescued from
mountain ledge
A daring New York Police
Department helicopter rescue in
darkness and dangerous winds
safely delivered two West Point
cadets yesterday from an 18-inch-
wide mountain ledge where they
were stranded 500 feet above
ground for nearly eight hours.
"It was the most dangerous
thing I've ever done in the police
department," said Officer Steve
Browning, who has flown helicop-
ter missions for the NYPD for the
past 14 years and in the U.S. Army
. for 14 years before that.
Browning, of Shirley, credited
the rest of his crew with heroics
in plucking the 20-year-old men
from a nearly vertical rock forma-
tion at West Point, located about
50 miles north of New York City
on the Hudson River.
PHILADELPHIA
Catholic leader
placed on leave for
endangering kids
A former top Roman Catholic
Church official has been placed
on administrative leave following
charges of endangering children
in connection with sexual abuse
by priests.
Parishioners at St. Joseph par-
ish in Downingtown, in suburban
Philadelphia, were informed at
weekend Masses that Cardinal
Justin Rigali had placed Monsi-
gnor William Lynn on leave as of
Friday, the Archdiocese of Phila-
delphia said in a statement yester-
day. Monsignor Joseph McLoone,
pastor of St. Catherine Drexel par-
ish in Chester, has been named
parochial administrator pro-tem
in St. Joseph, where Lynn has
been pastor, the statement said.
Lynn, secretary of the clergy
and a top official in the arch-
diocese-from 1992 to 20Q4, was ..
accused ri r this month in a
scathing grand jury report of hav-
ing endangered children-by put-
ting two known pedophiles in
posts where they had contact with
S youngsters.
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast
Military opens
fire on protesters
Witnesses say security forces
fired on protesters for the second
consecutive day in Ivory Coast's
biggest city, following a call for an
"Egypt-style" uprising to depose
sitting president Laurent Gbagbo.
The witnesses say military
police encircled a group of sup-
porters of Alassane Ouattara in
the Abobo district of Abidjan yes-
terday afternoon, before opening
fire. There were reports of several
injured, though their numbers
could not be independently veri-
fied.
An African Union delegation
is due to arrive today to attempt

to find a resolution to the crisis.
Gbagbo is refusing to cede power
even though results certified by
the United Nations showed Ouat-
tara had won the Nov.28 election.
GUATEMALA CITY
Soccer president
threatened for poor
team performance
The president of a soccer team
whose second-in-command
was killed two days ago has also
received threats apparently relat-
ed to the club's poor performance,
Guatemalan police said yesterday.
Carmelino Hidalgo, a spokes-
woman for police in the northern
province of Huehuetenango, said
Xinabajul club president Mauro
Rodriguez reported receiving
threats - as did vice president
Carlos Noe Gomez, who was
ambushed and shot to death by
two men Friday as he left a team
meeting.
Xinabajul had been at the bot-
tom of the Guatemalan league, but
beat leader Heredia 1-0 on Satur-
day to climb out of the basement.
Rodriguez did not attend the
match.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports

Libyan leader's son
warns of civil war

STEVEAPPS/AP
Supporters of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker demonstrate during a rally Saturday outside the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Protests over anti-union
b oi s
D111 COnt1Bnue 11 W ls~onsin

Demonstrations
continue for
sixth day
CAIRO (AP) - After anti-gov-
ernment unrest spread to the Lib-
yan capital and protesters seized
military bases and weapons yes-
terday, Moammar Gadhafi's son
went on state television to pro-
claim that his father remained in
charge with the army's backing
and would "fight until the last
man, the last woman, the last bul-
let."
Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, in the
regime's first comments on the six
days of demonstrations, warned
the protesters that they risked
igniting a civil war in which Lib-
ya's oil wealth "willbe burned."
The speech followed a fierce
crackdown by security forces
who fired on thousands of dem-
onstrators and funeral marchers
in the eastern city of Benghazi
in a bloody cycle of violence that
killed 60 people yesterday alone,
according to a doctor in one city
hospital. Since the six days of
unrest began, more than 200 peo-
ple have been killed, according to
medical officials, human rights
groups and exiled dissidents.
Lybia's response has been the
harshest of any Arab country that
has been wracked by the protests
that toppled long-serving lead-
ers in neighboring Tunisia and
Egypt. But Gadhafi's son said his
father would prevail.

"We are not Tunisia and
Egypt," the younger Gadhafi said.
"Moammar Gadhafi, our leader, is
leading the battle in Tripoli, and
we are withhim."
"The armed forces are with
him. Tens of thousands are head-
ing here to be with him. We will
fight until the last man, the last
woman, the last bullet," he said
in a rambling and sometimes con-
fused speech of nearly 40 min-
utes.
The younger Gadhafi, who
is the regime's face of reform,
conceded that the army made
some mistakes during the pro-
tests because the troops were not
trained to deal with demonstra-
tors, but he added that the num-
ber of dead had been exaggerated,
giving a death toll of 84.
Western countries have
expressed concern at the rising
violence against demonstrators in
Libya. British Foreign Secretary
William Hague said he spoke to
Seif al-Islam Gadhafi by phone
and told him that the country
must embark on "dialogue and
implement reforms," the Foreign
Office said.
In the speech, the younger
Gadhafi offered to put forward
reforms within days that he
described as a "historic national
initiative" and said the regime
was willing to remove some
restrictions and begin discussions
for a constitution. He offered to
change a number of laws, includ-
ing those covering the media and
the penal code.

Democratic law
makers left state to
prevent quorum
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wis-
consin Republicans yesterday
upped the pressure on Demo-
crats who fled to Illinois to
return home and vote on an anti-
union bill, with the governor
calling them obstructionists and
a GOP lawmaker threatening to
convene without them.
Gov. Scott Walker said the 14
minority Democrats who left
Madison on Thursday were fail-
ing to do their jobs by "hiding
out" in another state. And Senate
Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald
said his chamber would meet
Tuesday to act on non-spending
bills and confirm some of the
governor's appointees even if
the Democrats don't show up -
a scenario .that ..shuldoutrage,
their constituents.
Senate Democrats acknowl-
edged that the 19 Republicans
could pass any item that doesn't
spend state money in their
absence. The budget-repair bill
they have been blocking requires
a quorum of 20 senators to pass,
while other measures require
only a simple majority of the
chamber's 33 members.
Nonetheless, Democrats said

they were standing firm in their
opposition to the budget-repair
bill, which would take away the
right of most public employees
to collectively bargain for their
benefits and working conditions.
Hundreds of protesters filled the
Capitol for a sixth straight day,
noisily calling on Walker to drop
the plan they consider an assault
on workers' rights.
Mary Bell, the president of
Wisconsin's powerful teach-
ers' union, called on teachers to
returnto work as scheduled today
rather than continue absences to
protest that have shut down pub-
lic schools across the state. The
Madison district said it would
still cancel today's classes.
Bell said unions agreed to cuts
in health care and retirement
benefits that could reduce take-
home pay for many workers by
about 8 percent, and it was time
for the Republican governor to
compromise.
In an interview from Madi-
son with Fox News yesterday
morning, Walker said he did not
believe union leaders were really
interested in giving up their ben-
efits and cities, school districts
and counties will need weakened
unions to cut spending for years
tocome. Walkersaidhewouldnot
compromise and predicted Wis-
consin would pave the way for
other states to follow suit, much

like it did with welfare reform
and school vouchers in thet1990s.
"We're willing to take this as
long as it takes because in the
end we're doing the right thing,"
Walker said.
The sweeping measure led
to massive protests that started
Tuesday and have gained steam,
with an estimated 68,000 peo-
ple turning out Saturday inside
and around the Capitol. Most
opposed the bill, but the day
marked the first time that a sig-
nificant contingent of Walker
supporters showed up to coun-
ter-protest.
Yesterday's crowd was much
smaller, as snow and freezing
rain moved the protest inside the
Capitol. But the crowd swelled
throughout the day, and protest-
ers chanted for hours in opposi-
tion to the bill. Another large
protest was expected Monday,
when many state workers are
beingfurloughed.to save money..
Mariah Clark, an emergency,
medical technician at Univer-
sity of Wisconsin hospital and
a volunteer firefighter, said she
stands to lose $250 per month
from her income with the ben-
efits concessions. Standing on
a bench holding a sign reading
"EMT. Firefighter. Not the pub-
lic enemy," she said the pay cut
would hurt but that's not why
she was protesting.

Bahraini protesters ask
to talk with gov't leaders

Seven killed since
protests began
last week
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP)
- Bahrain's opposition wants
the nation's rulers to guaran-
tee they will back up their con-
ciliatory words with actions, a
Shiite leader said yesterday as
he and other activists weighed
the regime's offer for talks after
nearly a week of protests and
deadly clashes that have divided
the Gulf nation.
The streets in the tiny but
strategically important island
kingdom were calmer as efforts
shifted toward political hag-
gling over demands the mon-
archy give up its near-absolute
control over key policies and
positions.
But bitterness and tensions
still run deep after seesaw battles.

that saw riot police opening fire
on protesters trying to reclaim
landmark Pearl Square and then
pulling back to allow them to
occupy it. At least seven people
-aveheen killed and.hundreds
injured since the Arab wave for
change reached the Gulf last
Monday. The protesters were
preparing to spend another night
in the square by late Sunday.
Bahrain holds particular
importance to Washington as
the host of the U.S. Navy's Fifth
Fleet, which is the main U.S.
military counterweight to Iran's
efforts to expand its armed forc-
es and reach into the Gulf. Bah-
rain's ruling Sunni dynasty has
strong backing from other Gulf
Arab leaders, who fear that Shi-
ite powerhouse Iran could gain
further footholds through the
uprising led by Bahrain's Shiite
majority. The Shiite majority has
often complains of discrimina-
tion by the Sunni rulers.

Texas proposes bill allowing guns
to be carried on college campuses

Similar bills have
been introduced in
about a dozen
other states
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Texas
is preparing to give college stu-
dents and professors the right to
carry guns on campus, adding
momentum to a national cam-
paign to openthis partofsociety
to firearms.
More than half the members
of the Texas House have signed
on as co-authors of a measure
directing universities to allow
concealed handguns. The Sen-
ate passed a similar bill in 2009
and is expected to do so again.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry,
who sometimes packs a pistol
when he jogs, has said he's in
favor of the idea.
Texas has become a prime
battleground for the issue
because of its gun culture and
its size, with 38 public univer-
sities and more than 500,000
students. It would become the
second state, following Utah,
to pass such a broad-based law.
Colorado gives colleges the
option and several have allowed
handguns.
Supporters of the legisla-
tion argue that gun* violence
on campuses, such as the mass
shootings at Virginia Tech in
2007 and Northern Illinois in
2008, show that the best defense
against a gunman is students
who can shoot back.
"It's strictly a matter of self-
defense," said state Sen. Jeff
Wentworth, R-San Antonio. "I

don't ever want to see repeated
on a Texas college campus what
happened at Virginia Tech,
where some deranged, suicidal
madman goes into a building
and is able to pick off totally
defenseless kids like sitting
ducks."
Until the Virginia Tech inci-
dent, the worst college shoot-
ing in U.S. history occurred at
the University of Texas, when
sniper Charles Whitman went
to the top of the administra-
tion tower in 1966 and killed 16
people and wounded dozens.
Last September, a University of
Texas student fired several shots
from an assault rifle before kill-
ing himself.
Similar firearms measures
have been proposed in about a
dozen other states, but all face
strong opposition, especially
from college leaders. In Okla-
homa, all 25 public college and
university presidents declared
their opposition to a concealed
carry proposal.
"There is no scenario where
allowing concealed weapons on
college campuses will do any-
thing other than create a more
dangerous environment for stu-
dents, faculty, staff and visitors,"
Oklahoma Chancellor of Higher
Education Glen Johnson said in
January.
University of Texas President
William Powers has opposed
concealed handguns on campus,
saying the mix of students, guns
and campus parties is too vola-
tile.
Guns occupy a special place in
Texas culture. Politicians often
tout owning a gun as essential to
being Texan. Concealed hand-

gun license holders are allowed
to skip the metal detectors that
scan Capitol visitors for guns,
knives and other contraband.
Guns on campus bills have
been rejected in 23 states since
2007, but gun control activists
acknowledge it will be diffi-
cult to stop the Texas bill from
passing this year. "Things do
look bleak," said Colin Goddard,
assistant director of federal leg-
islation for the Brady Campaign
Against Gun Violence, who
was in Austin recently to lobby
against the Texas bills.
Goddard was a student at
Virginia Tech when he was shot
four times in his French class.
Student Seung-Hui Cho killed
32 people, including 10 in God-
dard's classroom, before shoot-
ing himself. Goddard dismisses
the idea that another student
with a gun could have stopped
the killer.
"People tell me that if they
would have been there, they
would have shot that guy. That
offends me," Goddard said.
"People want to be the hero,
I understand that. They play
video games and they think they
understand the reality. It's noth-
ing like that."
But Derek Titus, a senior at
Texas A&M who has a state
license to carry a concealed
handgun, said someone with
a gun that day could have
improved the chances of sur-
vival.
"Gun-free zones are shooting
galleries for the mass murder-
ers," Titus said. "We do not feel
that we must rely on the police
or security forces to defend our
lives."



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