The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, April 2, 2012 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, April 2, 2012 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
PIERSON TOWNSHIP, Mich.
Boy's body found
after boat sinks
Authorities have recovered
the body of a 16-year-old boy
who was fishing with two people
when their boat started sinking.
The Montcalm County sher-
iff's office says the body of Dal-
ton Gustinis was found Saturday
in Little Whitefish Lake in Mont-
calm County, 25 miles northeast
of Grand Rapids. He was last
seen Thursday night.
Two other boys got to shore
and survived. The victim likely
swam in a different direction and
drowned. Gustinis was a student
at Tri County High School.
SAN FRANSCISCO
Poor weather
puts Coast Guard
rescue on hold
U.S. Coast Guard crews
were waiting for the weather
to improve before sending a
helicopter to take three sailors
injured in a storm from a yacht
about 400 miles off the Califor-
nia coast, a Coast Guard spokes-
man said yesterday.
The Coast Guard cutter Ber-
tholf with a helicopter on board
was within range of the yacht,
but could not send a rescue crew
to the stricken vessel because of
the weather conditions, Coast
* Guard Petty Officer Caleb
Critchfield said early yesterday
afternoon.
Critchfield could not provide
an estimate when the helicopter
would be able to launch.
ALLENTOWN, Pa.
Man can't enter
U.S. to attend son's
funeral service
A Mexican national said he
has been barred from entering
the United States to bury his
10-year-old son, a U.S. citizen
who died Tuesday in a house fire
in northeastern Pennsylvania
that killed three other people.
Attorneys for Fidelmar "Fidel"
Merlos-Lopez are trying to win
humanitarian parole so he can
attend the funeral, but say U.S.
Customs and Border Protection
has rebuffed their efforts.
Damien Lopez died in a
Shenandoah row house along
with his cousin, aunt and
7-month-old half-brother. The
funeral is set for today, with
burial tomorrow,
"I told the customs officer that
all I want is a permit to see my
boy for one last time. They treat
me as if I am a criminal," Lopez,
34, a bus driver, said in an inter-
view Saturday.
Lopez has been waiting at the
U.S.-Mexico border near Laredo,
Texas, since the fire.
0
LONDON
U.K. to potentially
monitor citizens'
e-mail messages
Every e-mail to your child.
Every status update for your
friends. Every message to your
mistress.
The U.K. government is pre-
paring proposals for a nationwide
electronic surveillance network
that could potentially keep track
of every message sent by any Brit
to anyone at any time, an indus-
try official briefed on the govern-
ment's moves said yesterday.
Plans for a massive government
database of the country's phone
and e-mail traffic were abandoned
in 2008 following a public outcry.
But James Blessing of the Inter-
net Service Providers' Association
said the government appears to be
"reintroducing it on a slightly dif-
ferent format."
Britain's Home Office declined
comment, saying an announce-
ment would have to be made to
Parliament first - possibly as
soon as next month.
There was no indication of
exactly how such a system would
work or to what degree of judi-
cial oversight would be involved,
if any.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Suu Kyi perserveres in
Myanmar historic vote
Activist and former
prisoner elected to
parliament
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -
She struggled for afree Myanmar
for a quarter-century, much of it
spent locked away under house
arrest. Now, the Nobel Peace
Prize laureate whose nonviolent
campaign for democracy at home
transformed her into a global
icon is on the verge of ascending
to public office for the first time.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 66, was
elected to parliament yesterday
in a historic victory buffeted by
the jubilant cheers of support-
ers who hope her triumph will
mark a major turning point in
a nation still emerging from a
ruthless era of military rule.
If confirmed, the election
win will also mark an aston-
ishing reversal of fortune for a
woman who became one of the
world's most prominent pris-
oners of conscience. When she
was finally released in late 2010,
just after a vote her party boy-
cotted that was deemed neither
free nor fair, few could have
imagined she would make the
leap from democracy advocate
to elected official in less than
17 months, opening the way for
a potential presidential run in
2015.
But Myanmar has changed
dramatically over that time. The
junta finally ceded power last
year, and although many of its
leaders merely swapped their
military uniforms for civilian
suits, they went on to stun even
their staunchest critics by releas-
ing political prisoners, signing
cease-fires with rebels, relaxing
press censorship and opening
a direct dialogue with Suu Kyi
- who they tried to silence for
decades.
As results came in yesterday
night from the poll watchers
of Suu Kyi's party, spokesman
and campaign manager Nyan
Win projected the opposition
would secure most of the vote,
winning 40 of 45 parliamentary
seats at stake. Those included
four in the capital, Naypyitaw,
considered a stronghold of the
ruling party whose leaders
helped build it. The opposition
had contested 44 seats.
Yesterday's by-election was
called to fill vacant seats in
Myanmar's 664-member bicam-
eral assembly, and the military-
backed government had little to
lose by holding it. The last vote
had already been engineered
in their favor - the army was
allotted 25 percent of the seats,
and the ruling party won most
of the rest.
AIRRIDE
From Page 1A
While the buses will stop
more frequently at the two off-
campus stops than they will at
the Central Campus Transporta-
tion Center, AATA officials said
they expect University students
to take advantage of the service.
AATA board chairman Jesse
Bernstein said the service could
be a "perfect opportunity" for
students' parents to shuttle
between Ann Arbor and the air-
port, adding that AirRide came
to fruition partly from the Uni-
versity's encouragement of the
plan to service their faculty and
staff.
"They're very supportive,
because they want to get their
people to the airport back and
forth cheaply and efficiently,"
Bernstein said. "They've been
very cooperative."
A variety of political fig-
ures were also present at the
announcement, including U.S.
Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.),
state Reps. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann
Arbor) and Rick Olson (R-York
Township) and Ann Arbor
Mayor John Hieftje.
Dingell said the cooperation
between the parties involved in
AirRide is a contrast from the
polarized climate in Washing-
ton, D.C.
"This is just one example
of how this community works
together," Dingell said. "I wish,
perhaps, as I come back from
Washington, I could come and
say that Congress is doing as
well."
Olson added that AirRide is
an important addition to the
city, noting that it serves as ful-
filling a"missinglink."
"(In) every other city in this
county, when you want to get to
downtown or wherever, there
are alternate ways of getting
there," Olson said. "Ann Arbor
doesn't have that other than a
cab, and that's a costly way, and
it's also not an energy efficient
way. Ann Arbor and Detroit -
it's an anomaly when it comes
to major cities in the United
States."
Kirk Steudle, director of the
state's department of trans-
portation and an attendee of
Friday's announcement, also
praised the service for its fulfill-
ment of Republican Gov. Sny-
der's transportation message
this fall.
In an interview in September,
AATA spokeswoman Mary Sta-
siak said the proposed service
was not intended to compete
with AirBus, an airport shuttle
sponsored by the Central Stu-
dent Government that runs
during breaks for University
students.
"(AirBus) service plays a very,
very important role when there
are a tremendous amountof pas-
sengers traveling between the
airport and Ann Arbor at really
high-peak periods, and we don't
see ourselves replacing that at
all," Stasiak said. "In fact, we
would encourage people to use
that service."
SAM
From Page1A
attending.
Earlier in the week, Helsel
said 150 people from LSSU were
planning to attend the confer-
ence, but changed their minds
upon hearing the weather report.
Regardless, Helsel said he was
pleased with the students who
did come.
"I still think that it was a good
event," Helsel said. "I think that
the people that were here were
really enthused."
The weather also deterred
University students from mak-
ing the trip to Lansing, and only
a handful of students attended.
LSA junior Sean Walser, chair
of the Central Student Govern-
ment's External Relations Com-
mission, helped plan this year's
rally and said CSG had planned
on taking a bus until student
support waned as a result of the
weather forecast.
"A lot of people were look-
ing at the weather this week
and realizing that was going to
be cold and rainy," Walser said.
"We didn't want to spend the
money on it if it wasn't going to
be used."
LSA junior Aditya Sathi, vice
speaker of CSG, was among Uni-
versity students in attendance at
the rally, and discussed medical
amnesty and the important of
student advocacy.
In particular, Sathi addressed
House Bill 4393, which would
amend a previous law to effec-
tively implement medical
amnesty on a state-wide level.
The bill easily passed the Michi-
gan House of Representatives,
but has yet to be voted on by the
senate.
"We have the opportunity to
save lives here, and why, why is
it that the state senate has not
voted on thisbill yet?" Sathi said.
"Why is it that it hasn't gone on
to the governor's desk?"
Another speaker at the event
was David Knezek, president
of the University of Michigan-
Dearborn Student Govern-
ment. Knezek is graduating this
semester and running for state
representative as a Democrat.
"For me, higher education
personally is the biggest issue
and I think it ties in very inti-
mately to the economy and
Michigan's well-being," Knezek
said.
Eli Karttunen, treasurer of
the Undergraduate Student
Government at Michigan Tech-
nological University, said he
drove 10 hours from Michigan
Tech in Houghton, Michigan to
Lansing to stand out in the blus-
tery weather.
"It's so important to be here
and to actually show state leg-
islators that students matter,"
Karttunen said. "It is 30 to 40
degrees out here, it's raining, it's
cold - it's awesome though."
While attendance may have
been lower than expected for
the SAM rally, Gage said the
organization has been grow-
ing, noting that the University's
recent affiliation with SAM has
been mutually beneficial.
"That not only helps us as an
association get stronger, but it
helps U of M elevate their stu-
dent voices to the state-wide
level," Gage said. "It's definitely
a great partnership that I hope
only gets stronger."
Car bombs in
Thailand kill 14
Muslim insurgents
suspected as cause
attacks
HAT YAI, Thailand (AP)
- Suspected Muslim insur-
gents staged the most deadly
coordinated attacks in years in
Thailand's restive south,.kill-
ing 14 people and injuring 340
with car bombs that targeted
Saturday shoppers and a high-
rise hotel frequented by foreign
tourists.
A first batch of explosives
planted inside a parked pickup
truck ripped through an area of
restaurants and shops in a busy
area of Yala city, a main com-
mercial hub of Thailand's res-
tive southern provinces, said
district police chief Col. Krit-
sada Kaewchandee.
About 20 minutes later, just
as onlookers gathered at the
blast site, a second car bomb
exploded, causing the major-
ity of casualties. Eleven people
were killed and 110 wounded by
the blasts.
More than 5,000 people
have been killed in Thailand's
three southernmost provinces
- Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala
- since an Islamist insurgency
flared in January 2004.
"This is the worst attack
in the past few years," said
Col. Pramote Promin, deputy
spokesman of a regional secu-
rity agency. "The suspected
insurgents were targeting peo-
ple's lives. They (chose) a bus-
tling commercial area, so they
wanted to harm people."
A blast also occurred Satur-
day at a high-rise hotel in the
city of Hat Yai, in the nearby
province of Songkhla. Officials
had initially attributed that
blast to a gas leak, saying it was
unrelated to the attacks blamed
on insurgents. But after inspect-
ing the hotel's underground
parking lot, authorities found a
severely damaged sedan and a
hole created by the explosion's
impact.
STEM CELL -
From Page1A
budget, but we don't have docu-
ments that specifically provide
those kinds of data because the
research, as you know, is done in
a variety of settings all across the
campus," Wilbanks said. "The
data isn't collected that in that
form."
Wilbanks also said that the
committee's request was uncon-
stitutional, noting that state law
promotes research of stem cells
in the state.
"(In order) to ensure that
physicians can conduct the
most promising forms of medi-
cal research in this state, Article
1, Section 27 of the state Consti-
tution - a provision passed by
popular vote in 2008 - states,
'any research permitted under
federal law on human embryos
may be conducted in Michi-
gan,"' Wilbanks said.
Wilbanks added that since
the University's research com-
plies with federal law and the
limitations and requirements
set out in the constitutional
amendment, the state cannot
obstruct it by asking for its data.
"Our belief is that there is a
clash with what the constitu-
tional amendment requires the
University to do when perform-
ing this research, and what this
specific language (in the state's
higher education budget) has
asked," Wilbanks said.
Neither Fitzgerald, Wil-
banks, nor University Spokes-
woman Kelly Cunningham, the
University's director of public
affairs, were able to estimate
how much of the University's
state appropriation is at stake
in the budget disagreement.
The University is one of two
institutions, along with Michi-
gan State University, in the
state being scrutinized under
the provision in the fiscal year
2012 state higher education
budget.
Though Republican Gov.
Rick Snyder's budget proposal
would raise state higher educa-
tion funding 3.1 percent from
last year's budget, Coleman
and University Provost Philip
Hanlon have been critical of the
proposal's institution of perfor-
mance-based funding.
Coleman told the Senate
Advisory Committee on Uni-
versity Affairs at its meeting
last week that the performance
metrics could have "unintended
consequences" for the Univer-
sity in ignoring its strong gradu-
ate programs and research.
"We've been proposing
alternatives with every breath
we have," Coleman said at the
meeting.
State Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-
Ann Arbor) said the recom-
mendation by the House was
a realization that the aims of
the performance metric system
may potentially harm Univer-
sity research programs. Irwin
said even the threat of stripping
the University of funding could
damage the University's abil-
ity to attract and retain world-
class researchers.
"We have, in Michigan, this
tremendous jewel which is
the University of Michigan,
where life-saving research and
cutting-edge research hap-
pens," Irwin said. "And here,
we have, in Lansing, this group
of legislators who are trying to
(involve) their religious stances
in their roles as legislators and
make Michigan's government
more closely adhere to their
interpretation of what the Bible
says. That's damaging the Uni-
versity."
Despite the threat of funding
cuts, Wilbanks and Fitzgerald
said the University would not
immediately send in the data
requested by the state Legisla-
ture.
Wilbanks stressed that the
committee's recommenda-
tion still needs to pass in the
full House and Senate, and be
signed by Snyder before the
threat materializes into a loss of
aid, adding that the bill would
likely be changed before Snyder
signs the final budget.
Fitzgerald added that the
University would stand firm in
its protection of research inita-
tives.
"At this point, we've sub-
mitted our response, and our
response will stand," he said.
MCAT'CourSes
*HHE'"
S U 2o (
The Department of Communication Studies
The Howard R. Marsh Center
present a lecture by
STEPHEN BLOOM
2011-2012 Howard R. Marsh Visiting Professor of Journalism
CAN WE WEAN AMERICA
FROM THE KARDASHIANS?
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Reception 4:30 pm - Lecture 5:00 pm
The Vandenberg Room in the Michigan League
911 North University Avenue
Ann Arbor, Mj 48109-1265
For directions, please see
http://uunions.umich.edu/leage/maps/directions/
Contact the Department of Communication Studies
(734.764.0423) for more information.
4 At