The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, January 5, 2011 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
. DALLAS
Texas man declared
innocent after 30
years in prison
A Texas man declared innocent
yesterday after 30 years in prison
had at least two chances to make
parole and be set free - if only he
would admit he was a sex offender.
But Cornelius Dupree Jr. refused
to do so, doggedly maintaining his
innocence in a 1979 rape and rob-
bery, in the process serving more
time for a crime he didn't commit
than any other Texas inmate exon-
erated by DNA evidence.
"Whatever your truth is, you
have to stick with it," Dupree, 51,
said yesterday, minutes after a Dal-
las judge overturned his conviction.
Nationally, only two others
exonerated by DNA evidence spent
more time in prison, according to
the Innocence Project, a New York
legal center that specializes in
wrongful conviction cases and rep-
resented Dupree. James Bain was
wrongly imprisoned for 35 years in
Florida, and Lawrence McKinney
spent more than 31 years in a Ten-
nessee prison.
SAN FRANCISCO
New law labels
interns 'highly
qualified teachers'
Civil rights advocates are blast-
ing new federal legislation that
allows states to classify teaching
interns as "highly qualified" teach-
ers and regularly assign them to
schools with mostly poor, minority
students.
The measure, which remains in
effect until the end of the 2012-13
school year, was signed Dec. 22 by
President Barack Obama as part of
an unrelated federal spending bill.
The legislation nullifies a Sept.
27 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, which ruled that
California illegally classified thou-
sands of teachers in training as
"highly qualified" inviolation of the
federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Under that law, all students are
supposed to be taught by "high-
ly qualified" teachers who have
earned state teaching credentials,
but a 2004 Bush administration
policy allowed states to give that
status to interns working toward
certification.
WASHINGTON
On her last day as
speaker, Pelosi says
she has 'no regrets'
Democrat Nancy Pelosi said she
had no regrets on her last day as
House speaker yesterday, a reign
that lasted four years and is end-
ing after the November elections.
Pelosi said yesterday she looks
forward to leading a loyal but tena-
cious opposition in the House. She
started by calling Republicans hyp-
ocrites for trying to repeal Presi-
dent Barack Obama's health care
overhaul, saying it would add to the
federal budget deficit.
Republicans won the House
majority in the November elec-
tions and John Boehner of Ohio
will be sworn in as the new speak-
er today. Pelosi - the first female
speaker - will be demoted to
minority leader.
BRISBANE, Australia
Australian city
receives emergency
food, supplies after
devastating flood
A military flight rushed Monday
to restock an Australian city before
it was cut off by floodwaters that
have turned a huge swath of the
Outback into a lake, while police
confirmed two more deaths in the
crisis.
Drenching rain that started
before Christmas has flooded an
area the size of France and Ger-
many combined in northeastern
Queensland state. Rivers are over-
flowing and at least 22 towns and
cities in the farming region are
inundated.
In the coastal city of Rockhamp-
ton, waters from the still-swelling
Fitzroy River closed the airport
and cut the main highway to the
state capital of Brisbane. Scores of
families abandoned their homes for
relief centers on high ground.
By Monday night, floodwaters
had inundated the last route into
the city, Queensland Premier Anna
Bligh said.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
U.S. not invited to see
Iranian nuclear sites
AS
State Dept. jokingly
calls event 'magical
mystery tour'
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran
said yesterday it had invited the
European Union and some other
world powers - but apparently
not chief critic the United States
- to tour nuclear sites before the
next round of international talks
in late January on its disputed
nuclear program.
The Associated Press reported
the invitation to tour the facilities
on Monday, citing a letter from a
senior Iranian envoy that suggest-
ed Jan. 15-16 for the visit. A diplo-
mat familiar with the letter said
Iran invited Russia, China, Egypt,
the group of nonaligned nations
at the U.N.'s International Atom-
ic Energy Agency, Cuba, Arab
League members at the IAEA, and
Hungary, which currently holds
the rotating EU presidency.
Iran's economy appears to be
struggling under the weight of
four rounds of international sanc-
tions over its nuclear program,
which the West suspects is aimed
at producing weapons though
Tehran denies that. Iran returned
last month to nuclear talks with
the so-called 5+1 countries - the
United States, Britain, France,
Russia and China, plus Germany
- which hold sway over the sanc-
tions. And the invitation to visit
nuclear sites may also be a sign
that Tehran is looking for ways to
ease its financial pain.
The State Department mocked
Iran's offer, calling it a "magical
mystery tour." Spokesman P.J.
Crowley said the offer is no sub-
stitute for Iran fully cooperating
with the U.N. nuclear watchdog to
prove that its nuclear program is
strictly for peaceful purposes and
not to build a bomb.
Asked by reporters how the
U.S. felt about being excluded
from Iran's invitation, Crowley
responded sarcastically by saying:
"We're just crushed." While he
did not urge others to decline the
invitation, he did say there is no
reason for any country to attend.
Iranian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Ramin Mehman-
parast confirmed the invitation
yesterday, saying it went to "the
EU, the nonaligned movement
and representatives from 5+1
countries." He said Iran would
name the countries later and
added that the invitation was
a sign of Iran's "good will" and
greater transparency about its
nuclear program.
Mehmanparast did not give a
firm date, but said the tour would
take place before the January
round of nuclear talks.
An Iranian official speak-
ing from a European capital said
facilities to be visited include the
uranium enrichment facility at
Natanz and the Arak site where
Tehran is building a plutonium-
producing heavy water reactor.
Both facilities are considered
suspect by the West because they
could be used to make the fissile
core of nuclear warheads; Teh-
ran's refusal to shut them down
has triggered U.N. Security Coun-
cil sanctions.
The new round of negotiations
is meant to explore whether there
is common ground for more sub-
stantive talks on Iran's nuclear
program.
Israel focuses on clean e nergy
As country moves
away from oil,
"Clean-tech" sector
on the rise
JERUSALEM (AP) - After a
successful run of high-tech and
computer-related innovation,
Israel is focusing its ambitions on
the next big thing - preparing the
world for life without coal and oil.
Israel is driving to become a
world leader in alternative energy,
with the government throwing
its support to encourage cutting-
edge technologies. The number
of private entrepreneurs entering
the so-called "clean-tech" sector
has swelled dramatically.
Already, a number of firms are
moving to roll out new ideas. Per-
haps the country's best known
clean-tech company - Project
Better Place - aims next year to
activate a network of charging sta-
tionsforelectric cars across Israel,
which would be one of the most
extensive such grids in the world.
Others are still in early stages.
On a 10-meter (yard) stretch of
a north Israel highway, the firm
Innowattech tested out its system
of tile-like generators, which are
installed under roads and convert
the wgight and motion of passing
vehicles into electricity. It is now
looking to expand, claiming that a
kilometer-long (0.6-mile) lane of
its generators could power more
than 200 households.
Alex Klein, an analyst at
Emerging Energy Research, a
Cambridge, Mass., research firm,
said Israel - a country of fewer
than 8 million people - has in a
way benefited from its small size,
forcing it to develop products for
export.
"Given that it has a small mar-
ketlocally, its role will continue to
be innovating new next-genera-
tion technology. Pound for pound
it is a pretty keyincubator of tech-
nologies," he said.
Israel already has a formidable
track record. Bolstered in large
part by veterans of shadowy high-
tech military units, the country
helped develop such innovations
as instant messaging, Internet
telephony and wireless computer
chips.
The government is now push-
ing for that entrepreneurial drive
to be directed into environmen-
tally clean technologies, not only
as an economic opportunity butas
a necessity for an arid, resource-
poor nation.
*