The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Obama requests
funding for Great
Lakes restoration
At a time when many govern-
ment programs are fighting for
survival, there's one place the
money is still flowing for now: the
Great Lakes.
In the past two years, Congress
has pumped $775 million into the
Great Lakes Restoration Initia-
tive, a plan to deal with prob-
lems scientists say could turn the
world's largest freshwater system
into an ecological wasteland:
industrial pollution, invasive
species, an unraveling food web,
watersheds fouled by massive
algae blooms, disappearing wild-
life habitat.
President Barack ' Obama
requested an additional $350
million in his 2012 budget, but
nothing is certain with lawmak-
ers deeply divided over spending.
The future is even murkier, wor-
rying supporters who say big cash
infusions will be needed for many
years to heal the ailing freshwa-
ter seas and the streams that feed
them.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
Workers protest
Alabama illegal
immigration law
Poultry plants that employ
thousands are planning to close
or scale back operations because
of a work stoppage being pro-
moted by Hispanic residents and
their supporters to protest Ala-
bama's tough new law against
illegal immigration.
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. and
Alatrade Foods each planned to
shutter one plant in north Ala-
bama today because of the pro-
test, and Tyson Foods said it was
limiting production at two plants
because of a potential shortage of
workers.
Margaret McDonald, a spokes-
woman for the Colorado-based
Pilgrim's Pride, said Hispanic
workers at its plant in Boaz told
managers they didn't want to
work so they could "stand in soli-
darity" with their community.
NEW YORK, N.Y.
Former Soviet
military officer
faces weapons trial
A jury has been selected to
hear the arms sale trial of a Soviet
military officer known as the
Merchant of Death.
Opening statements in the trial
of Viktor Bout (boot) were sched-
uled to start this morning. The
jury was chosen yesterday. Pro-
spective jurors were questioned
to make sure they would not be
bothered by a trial that discussed
weapons bought and sold around
the world.
The 44-year-old Bout has
pleaded not guilty to charges.that
carry a potential life sentence.
He was arrested in 2008 in Thai-
land after a sting operation by the
Drug Enforcement Administra-
tion. He was extradited to the
United States late last year over
the objections of the Russian gov-
ernment.
BOGOTA, Colombia
Colombia won't
commit to vote on
Palestinian state
President Juan Manuel Santos
has reiterated during a visit by the
Palestinian leader that Colombia
will only recognize a Palestinian
state that has been established
through negotiations with Israel.
Colombia's has a vote on the
U.N. Security -Council, which is
considering the Palestinian bid
for statehood. Santos hasn't said
whether Colombia will abstain
or vote "no." The U.S. has threat-
ened toveto the statehood appeal.
Palestinian President Mah-
moud Abbas said in. a joint
appearance with Santos yester-
day that there is no contradiction
between negotiations and the
Security Council bid.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
MSA
From Page 1A
that GSRAs are students, not
employees, at the regents' meet-
ing in May, and 18 University
deans wrote a letter to Univer-
sity Provost Philip Hanlon in
June sharing the same senti-
ment.
At last night's meeting, Mont-
gomery said GSRAs are reach-
ing out across the University
community to garner support
on the issue because many of
the research assistants are in
favor of a union formation but
are lacking the freedom to orga-
nize one. In August, MERC
ruled that GSRAs at the Uni-
versity cannot unionize due to
a 1981 state law prohibiting the
action.
Montgomery said there are
countless reports of intimida-
tion by supervisors, who have
told GSRAs not to unionize,
which she thinks is unaccept-
able behavior.
While the assembly dis-
cussed this issue in the past,
MSA President DeAndree Wat-
son said the official introduc-
tion of a resolution would come
on Oct. 25 when the assembly
will take a stance.
MSA TALKS POTENTIAL
CHANGES TO MEETING
PROCEDURES
The assembly also discussed
a resolution that would amend
the current operating proce-
dures at meetings and define
public speakers' rights.
The resolution was comment-
ed on during the community
concerns portion of the meeting
by Mozhgan Savabieassfahan,
who did post-doctoral research
at the University. Savabieass-
fahan voiced her disapproval
of the resolution because she
said it could prohibit freedom
of expression. She said she
believes people should be able
to say whatever they feel in the
public comment section of the
meeting, regardless if it is dis-
agreeable to some students.
The resolution was presented
in response to concerns that
some of the speakers' comments
may be offensive to some of the
representatives. Watson cited
prior meetings in which.issues
addressed made attendees vis-
ibly upset.
He added that implementing
a policy would ensure the "pro-
fessionalism of the student gov-
ernment."
ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES
REPRESENTATIVES'
ATTENDANCE
Following these discus-
sions, Speaker of the Assem-
bly Matthew Eral noted that
many representatives are close
to exceeding their 12 allotted
absences. Eral said representa-
tives are elected by the student
population and that failing to
carry out their duties is a dis-
service to the community.
"Try to remember that you
are elected," Eral said. "This
isn't just joining a student org.
You're serving the students who
elected you."
SEED SAXON/AP
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, left, and Russlynn Ali, assistant secretary for civil rights, sit at a board meeting
of the Los Angeles Unified School District in downtown Los Angeles yesterday.
L.A. school di strict fals
to pro vide equal education
Nation's second-
largest district will
overhaul English-
learning program
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A
19-month civil rights investiga-
tion of the Los Angeles Unified
School District found that the
district failed to provide anequal
education to English-learners
and black students, resulting in
wide academic disparities, the
U.S. Department of Education
announced yesterday.
The district, the nation's
second-largest, agreed to rem-
edy the disparities through a
variety of measures, including a
complete overhaul of its English-
learningprogram and improving
resources such as computers and
library books to schools with
predominantly black student
bodies.
U.S. Education Secretary
Arne Duncan, who unveiled the
agreement at a news conference
at LAUSD headquarters, said it
would help ensure that every
student in the nation's second
largest school district would
receive the same academic
opportunities "regardless of race
or national origin."
Noting that these issues are
"incredibly complex and politi-
cally charged," Duncan said he
was encouraged by the district's
sense of urgency and willingness
to voluntarily remedy the dis-
parities without an order.
"Though we still have a long
way to go before we see that
English learner students and
African-American students are
consistently getting what they
need to perform up to their
fullest potential, I'm confident
today's agreement will help
address the causes of concern
that prompted our review," he
said.
Duncan stopped short of say-
ing that students' civil rights
were violated and did not reveal
detailed results of the inves-
tigation, just the terms of the
agreement. But the Education
Department said in a statement
that it will monitor the district's
compliance with the agreement
until educational codes are met.
The agreement was the result
of a "compliance review" by the
Education Department's Office
of Civil Rights, which was con-
cerned about wide achievement
gaps between the district's low-
est performing student groups
and other students.
Only 5 percent of high school
English language learners
ranked as proficient in either
English or math; for black stu-
dents, 32 percent ranked as pro-
ficient in English and 9 percent
in math, according to the dis-
trict's 2009-10 report card.
The overall district average
was 37 percent proficient in Eng-
lish and 17 percent in math.
LAUSD Superintendent John
Deasy said the district did not
dispute that disparities exist and
worked to hammer out a solu-
tion with federal officials. The
district will be studying how to
fund the measures as plans for
specific areas are developed.
The district's English-lan-
guage learning program has
long been criticized for allowing
non-native speakers to remain
in English-learning programs
for years, sometimes through-
out their school careers, never
meeting the criteria to move into
mainstream classes.
Israel approves
prisoner-swap
deal with Hamas
Terror group will
return Israeli
soldier for 1,000
Palestinians
JERUSALEM (AP) - In a
much-anticipated prisoner
exchange that could have broad
implications, Israel and Hamas
announced yesterday that an
Israeli soldier abducted to Gaza
five years ago would be swapped
for about 1,000 Palestinians
held by Israel and accused of
militant activity.
Israel's government approved
the deal early today follow-
ing a three-hour debate after
both Israeli Prime Minis-
ter Benjamin Netanyahu and
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal
announced the agreement in
televised comments.
Netanyahu said the cap-
tured soldier, Sgt. Gilad Schalit,
would return home within days.
Mashaal, portraying the agree-
ment as a victory, said the Pales-
tinian prisoners would be freed
in two stages over two months.
Hamas and Israel are bitter
enemies. Hamas has sent doz-
ens of suicide bombers into Isra-
el, killing hundreds, and Israel
blockaded Gaza after Hamas
seized power there in 2007, car-
rying out a large-scale invasion
in 2009 to try to stop daily rock-
et attacks on Israel. More than
1,500 Gaza Palestinians have
been killed in Israeli raids and
airstrikes since the soldier was
captured.
In the northern Gaza-town of
Jebaliya, thousands of Hamas
supporters flocked the streets,
led by masked militants. Cars
with loudspeakers played.praise
for Hamas. Thousands of other
Gazans rushed to their border
with Egypt, clutching Palestin-
ian and Egyptian flags, tossing
flowers and cheering.
Gaza's Hamas prime minis-
ter, Ismail Haniyeh, smiled as
he threw candy to celebrating
backers.
U.S. mission launched to
find oil on sunken tanker
Divers search for
vessel to prevent
crude oil leak
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The
SS Montebello was just a few
miles off California's Central
Coast on a December morn-
ing in 1941 when a young look-
out spotted the dark outline of
a Japanese submarine headed
straight for the oil tanker haul-
ing 3 million gallons of crude.
Richard Quincy saw a small
spark in the dawn's early light,
followed by an explosion as a
torpedo rocked the ship and
showered the bridge in water.
"It started going down right
away," Quincy, now 92, told The
Associated Press. "We couldn't
figure out why it wasn't burn-
ing. That was the scary part
until they started shooting at us
and then it got scarier."
Quincy is the last remaining
survivor of the largely forgot-
ten attack two weeks after Pearl
Harbor that could still have sig-
nificant environmental implica-
tions. The ecological disaster
following last year's Gulf of
Mexico spill drove officials to
find out how much oil remains
in the hold of the 440-foot ship
to determine how to prevent the
crude from leaking and marring
the celebrated California coast-
line.
"If 3 million gallons of oil
made its way to the beaches in
front of Hearst Castle it would
be a disaster for the area," said
Andrew Hughan, a spokes-
man with California's Fish and
Game Department.
Divers along with a remotely
operated underwater vehicle
will begin their assessment
today and take samples, a pro-
cess that is expected to take as
many as 12 days. Officials have
video and photos from previous
dives, but this is the first time
technological advancements
will allow them to recover oil
samples from the tanks.
While it's possible the
oil leaked out over the past
decades, officials say crude like-
ly remains in the hull. By this
point, the oil is so old it likely
has the consistency of peanut
butter, said U.S. Coast Guard
spokesman Adam Eggers.
"No one knows what 70-year-
old oil does," he said. "It's 40
degrees down there. Is it going
to rise to the surface, warm up
and liquefy or it is going to be a
rock?"
The Montebello set out from
Port San Luis, Calif., on Dec.
22, 1941, bound for a refinery in
Canada with fresh crude.
Quincy said it was the sec-
ond such trip they had taken
and had been warned that Jap-
anese submarines were in the
area. The torpedo hit the ship's
bow, which cracked off when
the Montebello hit the ocean
floor.
Quincy had just pointed
out the sub when the torpedo
exploded. Mariners jolted from
their sleep scrambled in the
winter cold to get in lifeboats.
"It was cloudy and a little
misty and there. was a wind
blowing," Quincy said. "It was
pretty miserable. Particularly
for some of them who didn't
have anything but their under-
wear on."
All 38 aboard were rescued
after rowing away from the hail
of bullets.
"I was real scared," Quincy
said. "We thought it might catch
fire because we were carrying a
volatile product."
The Montebello, meanwhile,
has been sitting upright ever
since 900 feet below the surface
about six miles off Cambria.
Murky pictures from previous
dives show a ship partially cov
ered in a thick coat of barnacles,
starfish and marine debris.
Few knew about the Monte-
bello's fate even immediately
after it sank. Fearing a mass
panic that the Japanese had
gotten so close to shore, the
government confiscated news-
paper reports about the sinking
at the time and did not publicly
disclose the event even into the
Cold War, said Eggers.
In fact, Japanese submarines
operated along the U.S. West
Coast, although they did not
sink the large numbers of ships
that German U-boats claimed
along the East Coast and Gulf of
Mexico. In addition to the Mon-
tebello, two other tankers were
sunk on the coast off Oregon
and Crescent City, Calif.
Among other famous World
War II attacks in the American
theater, submarines shelled a
Califorhia oil field and an Ore-
gon military installation, and
a float plane dropped incendi-
ary bombs in the woods near
Brookings, Ore. Japan also
launched thousands of bomb-
laden balloons across the Pacif-
ic in a largely failed attempt to
set American forests ablaze.
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