The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 3 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 3 NEWS BRIEFS PONTIAC 15 and 22 year-old charged in murder of 2 women. A 15-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man are jailed on murder charges in the shoot- ing deaths of two Detroit-area women in their home. The Oakland County Sheriff's Department said in a release yes- terday that the teen is believed to be the "actual shooter" in the slayings of 58-year-old Luann Robinson and 52-year-old Loret- ta Fournier. Their bodies were found Friday night on the floor of their home in Pontiac, Aorth of Detroit. DETROIT Archbisop: 53 Mich parishes to close or reorganize Fifty-three Roman Catholic parishes in southeastern Michi- gan will undergo mergers, reorga- nizations or closure over the next five years in the face of population shifts, changes in the worship habits of Catholics and a short- age of priests, Archbishop Allen Vigneron said yesterday. Vigneron described the wide- ranging restructuring of the Arch- diocese of Detroit at an afternoon news conference releasing results of the latest phase of an intense, monthslong study called "Togeth- er in Faith." It involved 1,500 lay people as well as clergy. TEHRAN Iran may extend oil embargo beyond France, Britain Tehran is considering extend- ing an oil embargo on France and Britain to other European coun- tries, a semiofficial Iranian news agency reported yesterday. The head of Iran's state oil company Ahmad Qalehbani was quoted by Mehr as saying that the country would stop selling crude to nations who take action against Tehran. "If the hostile acts of some other European countries con- tinue, oil exports to these coun- tries will be cut," he said. Iran announced the cut-offs to France and Britain on Sunday, a pre-emptive retaliation for an EU embargo over Tehran's con- troversial nuclear program that is scheduled to go into effect in July. Since the embargo was announced last month, Iranian officials have said that Tehran should enact its own sanctions immediately, before European countries lined up alternative suppliers. The news sent oil prices to a nine-month high, reaching $105 per barrel in Asia on Monday. PARIS Former IMF chief questioned about prostitution ring Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be questioned today by French police investi- gating a suspected hotel prosti- tution ring. Police in the northern French city of Lille are probing a sus- pected prostitution ring in France and neighboring Belgium that has implicated police and other officials. Police have questioned prosti- tutes who said they had sex with Strauss-Kahn during 2010 and 2011 at a luxury hotel in Paris, a restaurant in the French capi- tal and also in Washington DC. Strauss-Kahn lived in the U.S. capital while he was head of the International Monetary Fund before resigning his IMF posi- tion in May. Two men with ties to Strauss- Kahn have been put under pre- liminary investigation in France on charges including organizing a prostitution ring and misuse of corporate funds. -Compiled from APPLICATIONS From Page 1 1964, when the University had half the number of students it currently has, he said. Hanlon said he was glad the University had a voice in the state budgetary allocation process. "We did have input, and Sm grateful for that," he said. Hanlon added that he is proud of the efforts made by the Uni- versity over the last several years to cut costs as state and federal allocations have continually decreased amid the challenging economic climate in the state. "(All of this) has been achieved by the hard work and sacrifice of those all over the University," he said. Despite the increase in state funding, Hanlon said the Uni- versity would continue its efforts to curb costs, but cautioned that some costs were uncontrollable and more sacrifices would be made. "We have done our best to protect academic enterprise ... (but) the low hanging fruit are gone at this point," Hanlon said. Specifically, the University is trying to cut costs by being more efficient with efforts such as funding cuts for low-performing departments and fewer classes in fields that are not as popu- lar, Hanlon said. However, he emphasized that the University would keep a focus on maintain- ing a high quality of education, despite the budget cuts. He added that an increase in tuition was inevitable, despite the University's ongoing attempts to prevent further costs to students. MEMBERS DRAFT RESOLUTION SUPPORTING EXTERNAL INVESTIGATION SACUA members also drafted a resolution in support of the University's Board of Regents, following the recent vote by the regents for an external inves- tigation of the University of Michigan Health System for delaying to report that former medical resident Stephen Jen- son was allegedly in possession of child pornography. "(SACUA) supports all fact- finding external investigations that seek to identify factors that led to the incident, its initial investigation, as well as the delay in reporting," the statement read. Last Tuesday, an affidavit was filed by the U.S. Secret Ser- vice in regard to Jenson, report- ing that 97 photos and four videos were found on a flash drive reportedly owned by Jen- son that depict suspected child pornography. Prosecutors in Washtenaw County last week announced that they would be dropping charges at the state level, fol- lowing the announcement that Jenson would now be facing ROMNEY From Page 1 the 2008 auto industry bail- outs and with one week until Republican voters head to the polls, he is still in second. Michigan, which has 30 del- egates to the GOP convention, is regarded by many observers to be a fulcrum in a Republican nomination race that began with a close contest between the two candidates in the Iowa caucuses last month. Vincent Hutchings, an assis- tant professor of political sci- ence, said if Romney loses Michigan, it could compromise 'his national support and boost Santorum asa viable Republican alternative. Last week, Romney's chances for winning the state got a boost when Republican Gov. Rick Sny- der formally endorsed him at a campaign event in Farmington Hills, Mich. LSA senior Brian Koziara, external vice chair of the Univer- sity's chapter of College Republi- cans, said that similar to Snyder, the organization supports Rom- ney for his vast understanding of the state's economy and the automobile industry, particular- ly since Romney's father, George Romney, was formerly president of American Motors. "There's a lot of people who say, 'Oh, (Romney's) not really a Michigander. He was only born here and spent his childhood here,"' Koziara said. "I think that he can identify with the auto industry, and he can iden- tify with so many people here in the state." Much of the support from the College Republicans stems from the belief that Romney would ultimately be more likely to defeat President Barack Obama in November than Santorum, Koziara said. He added that a majority of the organization's familiar- ity with Romney stems from the members' southeast Michigan roots, a region where the Rom- ney family has been especially visible and popular because of their grasp on the auto industry. "The people of Michigan know Mitt Romney better," Koziara said. "He's the native son, if you will, and I think a lot of people will be relying on that. At the end of the day, Romney is a known quantity here." Still, Hutchings said it's "easy to overstate" the advan- REGENTS From Page 1 Richardville's (R-Monroe) introduction of Senate Bill 971 last week, which includes a pro- vision that ensures that GSRAs cannot be classified as pub- lic employees and thus denies them collective bargaining rights. Today, Engineering Prof. Fawwaz Ulaby and Melinda Day, a member of SAGU, are testifying in support of the bill tage Romney's upbringing in the state might offer him in the polls. He added that Michigan voters will still fill out their bal- lots based on the issues, and the perception that Romney is not a true conservative will harm him more than the home state advan- tage will help him. "He's got name recognition, so people know him and they know in many instances that he's from the state," he said. "But unfortunately, what people know about him, or at least what they think they know, they don't like." Last week, Romney authored an editorial in The Detroit News defending his preference for managed bankruptcy in the bail- out and slamming Obama's poli- cies in aiding the auto industry. The piece earned considerable backlash from Democratic law- makers statewide and in Con- gress, but Hutchings said it is unlikely that.the position will hurt Romney much in the pri- mary. "People who are likely to vote against Romney aren't necessar- ily doing so because of his stance on the bailout," Hutchings said. "They're doing it because of the perception that he's not a true conservative." The latest Public Policy Poll- ing survey of Michigan Republi- cans found that Romney is still trailing Santorum by 4 percent, with 37 percent of respondents supporting Santorum and 33 percent supporting Romney. That deficit is down from the 15-percent gap seen in last week's Public Policy Polling sur- vey. In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Tom Jen- sen, director of Public Policy Polling, said Romney's strategy in Michigan has focused less on attacking the competition than he has in other states. "(Romney has) really increased his own positive image with the voters in Michi- gan," Jensen said. "That's dif- ferent than what he did in Florida, where he really gained a lot of momentum by just totally attacking the heck out of Newt Gingrich." In 2008, Romney defeated Arizona Sen. John McCain in the Michigan Republican pri- mary election by a vote of 39 percent to 30 percent. Romney earned 30 percent of the stu- dent vote, but finished second to McCain among voters in 15 pre- cincts near campus. before the Senate committee, according to Raiman. Ulaby received attention last month for starting a peti- tion addressed to the regents, opposing the unionization efforts of the GSRAs. In addition to today's emer- gency meeting, GSRAs are also gearing up for presentations before Administrative Law Judge Julia Stern. Parties opposed to unioniza- tion, such as SAGU and Attor- ney General Bill Schuette, were granted permission to call wit- nesses and present evidence In preparation for the upcom- ing primary, the city has issued about 2,000 absentee ballots, City Clerk Jacqueline Beaudry said. Beaudry said she expected turnout for the primaries this year to be "low to moderate," based on her expectation that most Ann Arbor residents will vote Democrat or choose not to vote in primary elections at all. "You just see less people vote in the primaries," she said. "More people are interested in the final election. That's when we'll see the huge turnout both in person and in absentee ballot requests." In a separate conference call yesterday, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette discussed their support for Romney. McDonnell arrived in Michigan last night to campaign on Romney's behalf. Though Romney's campaign is quickly gaining momentum, the primary will not be easily won, Schuette said. "(Romney) is running a tough, nitty-gritty campaign, and I think Michigan likes that," Schuette said. Romney has shownhe isncapa- ble of handling financial issues, McDonnell said. He added that Romney's ability to balance the budget without raising taxes while serving as governor of Massachusetts is an indicator of his potential for success. McDonnell announced his endorsement of Romney on Jan. 20, the day before the South Car- olina primary. McDonnell said Romney's experience working in the pri- vate sector will serve as a great advantage in dealing with national fiscal issues, empha- sizing the 100,000 jobs Rom- ney created while working with other business leaders during his time at Bain Capital, a pri- vate investment firm. He also said family values are important for Republican vot- ers in Michigan, which Romney effectively demonstrates. "(Romney) is concerned about kitchen table, bread and butter issues, and that has overwhelm- ingly been (his) focus," McDon- nell said. Schuette saidRomney's recent surge will continue to help him as the primary approaches. "(Romney) is scrappy - he's sharp on all the issues, and I like his position. He's goingto be the comeback kid," Schuette said. before Stern, who will'hear tes- timony today through Friday. GEO and the University had the opportunity to provide evidence and testimony and cross-examine witnesses at the hearing before the administra- tive judge that took place ear- lier this month. In May, the regents voted to give GSRAs collective bar- gaining rights in a 6-2 vote.. University President Mary Sue Coleman expressed disapprov- al with the regents' decision at the time and added that Uni- versity Provost Philip Hanlon HOUSING From Page 1 this fall. The University announced in December that it would give housing priority to those who have lived in the residence halls. for two or fewer terms rather than to upperclassmen. The policy change forced many upperclass- men to look for alternative hous- ing options. University Housing spokesman Peter Logan said all the rooms were filled by mid-day on Feb. 10, the last day of open housing sign up. In response to the fewer avail- able residence halls due to renova- tions, Logan said housing options were changed to better accommo- date undergraduates who wanted to live on campus. This year, Northwood III apartments house students par- ticipating in the First Year Expe- rience program and upper level undergraduates, but next year the First Year Experience program will include all of the buildings in Northwood III and house only freshmen. To accommodate the change, Northwood I and II will be available for upper-level under- graduates next fall, with gradu- ate student housing available in Northwood IV and V apartments. Student Affairs Director Michael Zabriskie, who oversees the housing sign up process, said when all the housing spots were filled, students who were not able to signup were notified via e-mail. "We sent an e-mail out to the students to let them know what was happening so that way they weren't logging on without hav- ing some sort of notification about it," Zabriskie said. "We had been keeping a close eye on the avail- able spaces when itcgot to be a very small number." The e-mail provided students with alternative housing options, as well as offered a sign-up wait- list for students still interested in living on campus so they can be notified if room openings arise, Logan said. Though 180 students were unable to sign up for on-campus housing, Logan said the housing office hasn't received many com- plaints. "We have not been over- whelmed by a large number of concerned students or parents, but there have been several," Logan said. "And we've been try- ing to help them each on an indi- vidual basis." LSA freshman Jonathan Lesnau said though he willlive off- campus next year, he feels bad for those who didn'treceivethe hous- ing plans they wanted because of the now-limited options. "I know I'd be pretty upset," Lesnau said. "I think especially for freshmen right now who are living on North (Campus) and really wanted to maybe get, like, West Quad or North Quad - that'd be pretty disappointing." University Housing also. held an Off-Campus Housing Fair on Feb. 14 for students unwilling to wait for on-campus housing. The fair provided students with the opportunity to meet and talk to landlords with available proper- ties in the area. The University has held simi- lar fairs in the past, but this event wasthe firstintwoyears.Housing officials decided to bring the fair back due to the on-campus hous- ingshortage. Coleen Kendall, manager of Fuller Apartments at 800 Fuller St., said she talked to about 50 students about leasing rooms in her building, but noted that was a low number comparedto previous University housing fairs. "Well, normally here you wouldn't even be able to count (the students)," Kendall said. "But I don't think they let people know soon enough. It was kind of a last minute thing." Logan said the event wasn't promoted heavily because it was organized quickly. "We probably could have puta bit more promotion into it," Logan said. "This one came together ... pretty quickly. So something we need to continue in the future is better promotion." Logan added it would be ben- eficial for University Housing to continue hosting off-campus housing fairs inthe future, but did WANT TO JOIN NEWS? 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