The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, March 31, 2011 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
EAST LANSING, Mich.
MSU to work with
Commerce Dept.
to increase exports
A new partnership between a
Michigan State University cen-
ter and a federal agency aims to
boost exports from the state.
The East Lansing-based
school on Monday announced
that its International Business
Center would be working with
the Commerce Department's
U.S. Commercial Service.
The school says it's a unique
partnership in Michigan for
fostering economic develop-
ment.
The International Business
Center will conduct market
research and analysis for com-
panies interested in becoming
exporters. The U.S. Commercial
Service will provide internation-
al networking and support.
DETROIT
Mich. strengthens
human trafficking
law enforcement
Amendments intended to
strengthen the existing human
trafficking law take effect on Fri-
day in Michigan, where experts
say the form of modern-day slav-
ery occurs more often than most
people realize.
The new measures include
longer prison terms for involun-
tary servitude, involving a minor
in a sex act and obtaining labor
or services by force, fraud or
coercion.
Bridgette Carr, who directs
the University of Michigan Law
School's Human Trafficking
Clinic, said the practice is hap-
pening all over the state, and
tougher enforcement is needed
to deal with the growing prob-
lem.
OLYMPIA, Wash.
Washington votes
to recognize same-
sex partnerships
t
The state Legislature has
approved a measure that would
make Washington the fourth in
the country to recognize out-of-
state domestic partnerships.
On a 28-19 vote, the Wash-
ington Senate cleared the last
hurdle for the bill, which now
heads to Gov. Chris Gregoire for
a signature.
Under the measure, gay mar-
riages performed elsewhere
would be recognized as domes-
tic partnerships in Washington,
as would domestic partnerships
performed in other states.
Currently, five states, the Dis-
trict of Columbia and Canada
allow same-sex marriages. With
Gregoire's signature, Washing-
ton would become the fourth
state to approve a similar bill,
following Rhode Island, New
York and Maryland.
VIENNA, Austria
Austria to plans
to restore former
concentration camp
Austrian authorities present-
ed plans yesterday to restore and
revamp the former Mauthausen
contentration camp, calling it an
important contribution to pre-
venting the resurgence of Nazi
sentiment.
The Nazis shot, gassed, beat
or worked to death about half
the 200,000 inmates in the main
camp or its affiliates around
the villages of Mauthausen and
Gusen, located near the city of
Linz. It is now a site for com-
memorating Holocaust victims
and learning about the horrors of
history. About 200,000 people -
including many students - visit
Mauthausen each year.
Projects include an exhib-
it about mass extermination,
expanding educational programs
and the creation of a new space
specifically for the remembrance
of those who died, the Interior
Ministry said.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
E-MAILS
From Page 1A
day. According to the article,
the requests ask for all e-mails
from employees working at the
universities' centers on labor
research. Also requested were
e-mails that contain the words
"Madison," "Wisconsin," "Scott
Walker" - Wisconsin's governor
- or "Maddow" - in reference to
MSNBC talk show host Rachel
Maddow, who has reported on
the recent controversy affecting
Wisconsin labor unions.
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald said the FOIA request
submitted to the University of
Michigan on Monday asked for
e-mails from the University's
Labor Studies Center.
According to the Talking
Points Memo article, a second
request was submitted to the
Douglas A. Fraser Center for
Workplace Issues at Wayne State
University last Friday. A third
FOIA request was sent to Michi-
gan State University's School of
Human Resources and Labor
Relations, the article states.
The records request was filed
by Ken Braun, managing editor
of Michigan Capitol Confidential
- the daily news wire service of
the Mackinac Center.
The FOIA requests to follow
the Wisconsin state Republican
Party's request for the e-mails
of University of Wisconsin Prof.
William Cronon, who publicly
criticized the state's Republican
governor.
The request was intended to
find evidence that Cronon had
violated a Wisconsin law bar-
ring state employees from using
state-funded resources, like
their work e-mail, for partisan
political purposes, according to
a March 25 article in The Chron-
icle of Higher Education.
In several public statements,
the American Association
of University Professors and
American Historical Associa-
tion opposed the effort to obtain
Cronon's e-mails.
Roland Zullo, a researcher
at the University of Michigan's
Institute for Research on Labor,
Employment, and the Economy,
said the effort in Wisconsin
appears to be an attempt to go
after a professor who spoke neg-
atively about Walker.
"It seems as if what is hap-
pening here in Michigan is bor-
rowed from what is happening in
Wisconsin," Zullo said. "Itseems
to be the case, but we don't know
yet for sure."
According to Mackinac Cen-
ter spokesman Michael Jahr,
Michigan Capitol Confidential
has used the FOIA apolitically,
with several recent stories gen-
erated from or assisted by FOIA
requests.
"The center has used Free-
dom of Information requests
extremely effectively for a num-
ber of years both for research
and analysis and investiga-
tive reporting," Jahr said in an
interview with The Michigan
Daily.
Based on this history, he said
he was surprised people reacted
to the requests without inquir-
ing about the reasons behind it.
Jahr said he didn't anticipate
any public reaction before a
story had been written and was
unsure why other media sources
reported solely on the request for
information.
"I've worked at a number of
media outlets over the years,"
he said. "And it does seem to be
unprecedented - the reactions
and the response."
Jahr refused to comment on
the content or reasoning behind
the FOIA request.
"I won't be able to speak to
the specifics of it until we have
the information and hopefully a
story to go with it," he said.
Fitzgerald said he also thinks
the media coverage is strange.
"I'm as perplexed as any-
one as to why there's so much
media attention being made to a
requestfor information," he said.
"That's unusual. Most of these
things don't happen in the media
spotlight. We don't know what
the record search will show, if
anything, at this point."
Zullo said the tactic of asking
for information from faculty at
a higher education institution is
somewhat baffling to him.
"It is an interesting sort of
political phenomenon for a think
tank to ask for this sort of infor-
mation from faculty at a univer-
sity," he said.
Zullo said there is a level of
discomfort for faculty members
with information being request-
ed in this manner.
"The real risk here is that
e-mail is given out and basically
cherry picked for statements
that will attempt to embarrass
or discredit a faculty member,"
he said.
Zullo added that the work
University faculty members par-
take in is in support of workers'
rights and collective bargaining.
"It's certainly possible to take
some of the messages, pluck
things out of context and have
them used against us in some
way," he said. "And that, I guess,
would be the biggest concern."
Fitzgerald said the recent
request will undergo the same
process as the hundreds of other
requests received by the Univer-
sity each year.
Campus fraternities,
sororities raise about
$75,000 for charities
during Greek Week
Bo Schembechler, tor. This year's charities, which
will each receive one-sixth of
Jalen Rose funds the money raised, include the
Peace Neighborhood Center,
among charities to Detroit Action Commonwealth,
donations The St. Baldrick's Founda-
receive dtion, The Jalen Rose Charitable
Fund, Ele's Place and the Bo
By CLAIRE HALL Schembechler Heart of a Cham-
Daily StaffReporter pion Research Fund.
T-shirt and ticket sales as
The University's Greek com- well as corporate sponsorships
munity is set to donate about with companies like Domino's
$75,000 to six charities after Pizza and Kaplan account for
Greek Life members partici- most of the revenue generated
pated in a variety of fundraising during Greek Week, Metzger
efforts during this year's Greek said.
Week. "I would say (this year's
Greek Week - a 10-day event Greek Week) was more success-
in which teams of fraternities ful than other years," Metzger
and sororities compete to earn said. "We definitely aren't the
points and raise money - culmi- highest grossing in terms of
nated last night at the Sing and money raised, but we've defi-
Variety 2011 competition at Hill nitely done more in the area of
Auditorium, where the winning community service."
teams were announced. Greek Week teams amassed
Sing and Variety 2011 - an more than 825 hours of commu-
event in which teams performed nity service during the course
various musical and dance of the semester, according to
arrangements in their efforts to Metzger. In a blood drive dur-
capture the competition's final ing the week, he said 264 units
points - was the deciding factor of blood were collected, with
for the winning teams this year, Greek community members
according to LSA senior Monica donating about 80 percent of
Stoney, a co-director of Greek those units.
Week. In addition to raising money
Team Treasure Island - for charity, the teams also vol-
made up of Alpha Gamma Delta, unteered their time by cooking
Pi Kappa Phi and Pi Lambda Phi dinner for families at the Ron-
- took first place in the Greek ald McDonald House, going ice
Week points competition. Team skating with underprivileged
Planet Hollywood that includ- youth and organizing a canned
ed Zeta Tau Alpha, Alpha Tau food drive.
Omega and Phi Gamma Delta "Every year we have success
and Team New York New York raising money, but when we can
that consisted of Delta Delta measure success in other ways,
Delta, Chi Psi, Pi Kappa Alpha it feels like Greek Week is more
and Tau Kappa Epsilon came in meaningful," Metzger said.
second and third places, respec- He added that Greek Week
tively. isn't just about winning points
Team Excalibur won the or raising money, but also about
"Sing" portion of the event, bringing the University's Greek
while Team New York New York community together.
won the "Variety" category. Kinesiology sophomore Amy
The judges included Mary Beth Marks, a member of Chi Omega
Seiler, the University's director sorority, echoed Metzger's sen-
of Greek Life, and Darius Mor- timents, saying she finds Greek
ris, a point guard on the Michi- Week to be a great way to unite
gan men's basketball team. University community members
The proceeds from Greek for a good cause.
Week will go to six charities "It's just a nice way to bring
that were chosen by the steering every member of the Greek
committee, according to Engi- community together to give
neering senior Patrick Metzger, to charities that are really in
the other Greek Week co-direc- need," Marks said.
Follow the Daily on Twitter:
@MICHIGANDAILY
@MICH DAILYSPORTS
@MICHDAILYARTS
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi speaks to supporters after crossing the border from Libya into Eqypt by land due to an
embargo on arms and flights in Marsa Matruh, Egypt.
Uganda becomes first nation
to ofer a home for Gadhafi
Action justified
by Libya granting
refuge to Ugandans
in 1970s
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The
list of countries where Moammar
Gadhafi might spend a comfort-
able life in exile is a lot shorter
today than it would have been
in years past because of global
monetary sanctions and possible
trial at the International Crimi-
nal Court.
Uganda's deposed dictator,
Idi Amin, found refuge first in
Libya and eventually in Saudi
Arabia in 1980, living in his own
villa with female companion-
ship, food and drink.
That kind of good life may not
be likely for Gadhafi.
In a twist of fate, Uganda said
yesterday it would accept Libya's
leader, the first country to public-
ly volunteer to give him a home.
Of course, Gadhafi may never
leave Libya unless overbear-
ing military power forces him
to, although world leaders are
hoping the strongman will go,
and there are indications that
his aides are seeking an exit for
a man who has held power for
more than 40 years.
The Uganda president's
spokesman justified the offer of
refuge, saying that Ugandans
were given asylum in neighbor-
ing countries during the rule of
Amin, who killed tens of thou-
sands of his countrymen in the
1970s.
"So we have soft spots for asy-
lum seekers. Gadhafi would be
allowed to live here if he chooses
to do so," spokesman Tamale
Mirundi told The Associated
Press.
Other countries on a list of
potential landing points are
the African nations of Chad,
Mali, Niger, Eritrea and Sudan,
althoughthe first three are mem-
bers of the ICC and would, in the-
ory, be obliged to arrest Gadhafi
if he is charged.
Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez, who has a long friend-
ship with Gadhafi and has called
for mediation in the conflict,
said yesterday that he has spo-
ken with Gadhafi recently and
that the Libyan leader has no
plans to seek refuge in another
country.
"He has said on different occa-
sions that he isn't going to leave
Libya," Chavez said at a news
conference in Uruguay, where
he was asked whether Venezu-
ela would welcome Gadhafi as an
exile. "I think Gadhafi is doing
what he has to do, no? Resisting
against an imperial attack."
Besides Venezuela, Cuba and
Nicaragua have been openly sup-
portive of Gadhafi, said Mark
Palmer, a former U.S. ambas-
sador and an expert on dicta-
tors. Because the Libyan leader
has a large ego, he is more likely
to accept going to one of those
countries than a smaller African
nation like Eritrea.
Saudi Arabia is an outside pos-
sibility, as is Belarus, which is
led by Europe's last dictator and
was accused of sending weapons
to Gadhafi until an international
arms embargo kicked in.
Some experts cast doubt on
whether Gadhafi would ever
leave Libya.
"I don't think Gadhafi's going
to go anywhere," said Adam
Habib, a political scientist at the
University of Johannesburg in
South Africa. "I think he's happy
to die there."
Italy has been pushing for the
African Union to come up with a
possible place for exile, but Brah-
an Khellaf - the special assistant
to AU commissioner for peace
and security Ramtane Lamamra
- said yesterday that the topic of
Gadhafi's exile has not been dis-
cussed "at all."
Palmer, like many analysts,
said he doesn't believe Gadhafi
will leave Libya voluntarily and
instead must face heavy military
pressure and be given a guaran-
tee he won't end up before the
International Criminal Court,
which opened in 2002.
"He obviously believes he is
Libya, and his family is deeply
entrenched in the power struc-
ture and the wealth of the coun-
try. So I'm sure his family is also
saying 'Don't go, don't go,"' said
Palmer, the author of "Breaking
the Real Axis of Evil: How to
Oust the World's Last Dictators
by 2025."
Palmer said that while Gad-
hafi "richly deserves" to face the
ICC, an international guarantee
that he won't face the court is
a small price to pay to let Libya
proceed in peace.
--.50
A
a
t