The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, October 4, 2011- 3 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - 3 * NEWS BRIEFS EAST LANSING, Mich. MSU gets $3.6M to boost pre-teens' physical activity The National Institutes of Health is giving $3.6 million to Michigan State University to expand a nursing researcher's pilot program to help middle school girls increase their physi- cal activity. The program that has been " in operation in Lansing now expands to Detroit, Flint, Jack- son, Kalamazoo and Muskegon. It's particularly aimed at girls from minority groups who live in urban, low-income areas. The five-year program is called Girls on the Move, and is headed by Lorraine Robbins. The university says the pro- gram "focuses on individual and Web-based counseling sessions with school nurses and an after- school physical activity club." Robbins says fewer than 4 per- cent of middle school girls now meet physical activity recommen- dations. DETROIT U.S. auto sales up in September on truck purchases U.S. buyers shrugged off eco- nomic worries and snapped up SUVs and pickups last month, surprising the auto industry and raising hopes that a bumpy year will end on a high note. Big trucks typically sell when the housing market and con- struction industry are strong, gas prices are low and consumer confidence is high. None of those was true in September. The econ- omy remains weak, confidence is shaky and a gallon of gas prices cost nearly $1 per more than in September 2010. But other factors boosted truck sales. Small- businesses -must eventually-replace aging fleets of work trucks, and auto companies offered some good deals to clear out 2011 model trucks. They also stepped up their marketing. And consumers are learning to live with economic uncertainty. PORTLAND, Ore. Oregon bus driver kicks crying baby, woman off of bus Oregon's largest transit agency says it's investigating a complaint that a driver kicked a woman and her crying baby off a bus in sub- urban Portland, saying, "I can't drive with that noise." Mary Fetsch, a TriMet spokeswoman, says drivers are not supposed to eject passengers from "vulnerable populations," including women transporting children. A bus passenger, Jennifer Chapman, says the baby wasn't that loud and all the other pas- sengers got off the bus in protest. 4 The incident allegedly took place on a bus in Hillsboro on Thursday night. Fetsch says she's unsure whether the bus was equipped with a video camera. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Government to pay for students to go to school in Haiti Haiti's President Michel Martelly says the government is boosting student enrollment this year by putting more than 700,000 youths into classrooms. The leader says that his National Fund for Education is paying tuition for 142,000 stu- dents who will go to school for the first time. Registration fees for other students will be picked up by a $1.25 million donation from the foundation of former U.S. Presi- dent Bill Clinton, who is also the U.N. special envoy to Haiti. The program is also supported by Haiti-bound phone calls and * wire transfers. Former 'U' student arrested for SAT cheating scandal LAPRESSE/AP Amanda Knox cries following the verdict that overturns her conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court, Italy, yesterday. Italian appeals court frees Amanda Kno Er Sai it A f facing the S! Act prose the S from Long with nal in busin stude mean( Fiv hoff b take t for th hoff t other; Th lic Af on th that E versit sopho spent Michi Acc in the direct Litera Eshag Mark list at mory sophomore fraternity rush 2010 e-mail list. Jeremy Gurwitch, president of m Eshaghoff was the University's chapter of AEPi, declined to comment on the situ- n LSA last year ation, and said none of the frater- nity members knew Eshaghoff By STEVE ZOSKI well. For the Daily Eshaghoff's attorney Matin Emouna said Eshaghoff would ormer University student is plead notguilty. criminal charges for taking In a statement to The New AT for other students. York Times, Henry Grishman, cording to Nassau County superintendent of Jericho Public cutors, Sam Eshaghoff took Schools in Jericho, N.Y., said it is AT for six other students likely that this is not the first time his former high school in cheating on standardized tests has Island, N.Y. He is charged occurred. scheming to defraud, crimi- "As the competition between npersonation and falsifying kids for scholarships and college ess records. The six other entrance has increased, the like- nts are charged with misde- lihood of kids looking for ways to ors. beat the system - to cheat - has e of the students paid Eshag- increased," Grishman told The etween $1,500 and $2,500 to New York Times. he college placement exam Tom Ewing, a spokesman for em, prosecutors said. Eshag- Educational Testing Service - ook the test for one of the the company that administers the students for free. SAT - told the times that the test- e University's Office of Pub- ing company can't alert colleges fairs declined to comment when students cheat because of e situation, but confirmed privacy laws. Instead, the com- Eshaghoff attended the Uni- pany simply informs the students y. Eshaghoff, currently a and the schools that the scores more at Emory University, have been withdrawn. one year at the University of Each year, out of the 2.5 million gan before transferring. SAT exams administered, about cording to Eshaghoff's entry 1,000 SAT scores are withdrawn. University's MCommunity Ninety-nine percent ofwithdraw- ory, he was in the College of als are because of cheating, Ewing ture, Science, and the Arts. told the Times. An fr PE Aman terday first t Italiai the y convi and st roomt Kn after, lawye aroun defen' Italiar was c old M «W da's young told rt house years comm The acquit lecito ordert evider erican student over the main DNA evidence linking the two to the crime. reed after four While the court won't release its reasons for clearing the two years in jail for weeks, the discrediting of the DNA evidence was believed to RUGIA, Italy (AP) - have been the fatal blow to the Ida Knox left prison yes- prosecution's case in the absence y, a free woman for the of a clear motive. ime in four years, after an The jury had two options to n appeals court threw out acquit: determining there wasn't oung American's murder enough evidence to uphold the ction in the sexual assault conviction or that the pair sim- :abbing death of her British ply didn't commit the crime. mate. The jury determined the lat- ox, 24, collapsed in tears ter, clearing Knox and Sollecito the verdict was read, her completely. rs draping their arms Even if prosecutors appeal d her in support. Her co- the acquittal to Italy's highest dant and former boyfriend, court, nothing in Italian law n Raffaele Sollecito, also would prevent her from return- Aeared of killing 21-year- ing home to Seattle. An Italian eredith Kercher in 2007. lawmaker who has championed e're thankful that Amari her case, Rocco Girlanda, said nightmare is over," her she was due to fly out Tuesday- er sister, Deanna Knox, from Rome. eporters outside the court- About 90 minutes after the "She suffered for four verdict was handed down a black for a crime she did not Mercedes carrying Knox was it." seen leavingthe prison. e eight-member jury The jury upheld Knox's con- ted both Knox and Sol- viction on a charge of slander of murder after a court- for accusing bar owner Diya ed review of the DNA "Patrick" Lumumba of carry- nce cast serious doubts ing out the killing. But he set the sentence at three years, meaning for time served. Knox has been in prison since Nov. 6, 2007, five days after the murder. The Kercher family looked on grimly and a bit dazed as the verdict was read out by the judge after 11 hours of deliberations. Outside the courthouse, some of the hundreds of observers shout- ed, "Shame! Shame!" "We respectthe decision of the judges but we do not understand how the decision of the first trial could be so radically overturned," the Kerchers said in a statement. "We still trust the Italian justice system and hope that the truth will eventually emerge." The victim's sister, Stephanie Kercher, who was in Perugia with her mother and brother for the verdict, lamented that Mere- dith "has been nearly forgotten." Inside the frescoed court- room, Knox's parents, who have regularly traveled from their home in Seattle to Perugia to visit her over the past four years, hugged their lawyers and cried with joy. Knox herself was so overwhelmed with tears that two guards tugged on her arms to escort her out of the court- room. hoff was listed on the Mary ley Residence Hall e-mail nd on the Alpha Epsilon Pi - The Associated Press contributed to this report. Markets sink as Greek deficit fears continue to build Libya's post-Gadhafi leaders name new cabinet members Dow drops 2.4 percent, Euro hits a 9-month low NEW YORK (AP) - The latest setback in Greece's financial crisis sent major stock market indexes to lows for the year yesterday and put the Standard and Poor's 500 index on the verge of a bear mar- ket. The euro fell to a 9-month low againstthe dollar, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note sank as investors piled money into lower- risk investments. The slump came on the first day of trading for the fourth quarter and followed the weakest quar- ter the market has had since the financial crisis. Stocks opened lower, turned briefly higher in late morning trading, then slid throughout the afternoon. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 258 points. European markets slumped after Greece said it won't be able to reduce its budget deficits as much as it had agreed to as part of a deal to receive more emergency loans. Markets have responded ner- vously to headlines out of Europe for weeks, fearful that if Greece defaulted on its debt there mightbe another lockup in the global finan- cial system, similar to the one trig- gered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. "The market is continuing to trade based on what is happen- ing in Europe, and that is going to overshadow everything else," said Quincy Krosby, market strat- egist at Prudential Financial. "The math (for the Greek bailout) didn't add up a year ago, and the math doesn't add up today," Krosby said. Decision took six weeks amid political friction BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) - Libya's transitional leaders named a new Cabinet yester- day and vowed to step down after the country is secured, a move designed to show the North African nation is moving on even though fighting per- sists and Moammar Gadhafi remains at large. The announcement was made jointly by the head of the National Transitional Coun- cil, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, and de facto Prime Minister Mah- moud Jibril in a news con- ference following weeks of political infighting and delays over the formation of a new government. In the end, the Cabinet line- up did not contain many chang- es, prompting many Libyans to, question why it took so long, coming about six weeks after revolutionary forces seized! the capital, Tripoli, and forced Gadhafi into hiding. Jibril, who graduated from and taught strategic planning at the University of Pittsburgh for several years, remains in his position but also takes over as foreign minister, meaning his current deputy and Foreign Minister Ali al-Issawi is out. Ali al-Tarhouni, a U.S.-edu- cated economist, will continue acting as oil minister until the National Oil Company is ready to take over. The new leaders said they would remain in place until the country is secured and lib- eration is declared, then a new transitional government would be formed within a month. "We have signed a pledge to the Libyan people that we will not be part of the future government not in any way," Abdul-Jalil said to applause. The pledge was intended to reassure the public they will not suffer under another dictator- ship. Revolutionary forces are still battling loyalists of Gadhafi on two major fronts as well as pock- ets deep in the southern desert. But Jibril said he had asked that liberation be declared after Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte is captured because that would ensure that all sea, land and air entry ports are secure. He acknowledged fighting would continue in Bani Walid, where the terrain and the har- boring of suspected high-levt el -regime figures - possibly including Gadhafi's son Seif al- Islam - has led to a weekslong standoff. But he said it was important to declare victory and begin rebuilding the coun- try. "Bani Walid doesn't have any international exits," Jibril said. "And it is very important to begin and speed up the tran- sitional process and begin the democratic stage." The NTC has promised to hold elections eight months after the end of fighting. A new minister for Libyans killed and wounded was also named. He is Abdel-Rahman al- Keissah, described as a lawyer who was wounded in the fight- ing. Hamza Abu Fas will replace Sheik Salem al-Sheiki as the minister of religious affairs. When asked if members of the Cabinet might remain in their posts after liberation, Jibril said that would be up to the future leadership and would depend on their performance. "We ask Libyans to under- stand that this is a sensitive and critical stage," Abdul-Jalil told reporters in the eastern city of Benghazi, which was the birth- place of the revolution. NATO, meanwhile, expressed concern about the possibil- ity that thousands of portable surface-to-air missiles left over from Gadhafi's regime are miss- ing in Libya. NATO airstrikes played a key role in the rebellion that ousted Gadhafi. for more information call 734/615-6449 The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts presents a public lecture and reception -Compiled from Daily wire reports A 4