The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, September 27, 2012 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, September 27, 2012 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
City Council balks
at state offer to
take over Belle Isle
Covered in green and sur-
rounded by the slow, flowing
waters of the Detroit River, the
975-acre Belle Isle is perhaps
Michigan's best-known park not
run by the state.
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and
Gov. Rick Snyder want to change
that, but their plan to turn Belle
Isle into Michigan's 102nd state
park has met resistance from
some officials with the cash-
strapped city.
City Council members chas-
tised the Michigan Department
of Natural Resources officials
this week for not bringing enough
details to the negotiating table
about the proposed lease, which
would start at 30 years but could
span as long as 90.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.
Akin, McCaskill
both court Mo.
P Republican voters
His spot on the ballot now
guaranteed,MissouriSenatecan-
didate Todd Akin began rebuild-
ing support Wednesday among
fellow Republicans who shunned
him after a remark about "legiti-
mate rape" while Democratic
Sen. Claire McCaskill honed an
election strategy that will use
Akin's own words to portray him
as an extremist.
Akin won a pair of high-pro-
file Republican endorsements
Wednesday from former presi-
dential candidate Rick Santorum
and tea party favorite Sen. Jim
DeMint. Perhaps just as impor-
tantly, the National Republican .
Senatorial Committee - which
had pulled millions of dollars of
planned advertising after Akin's
remark - said Wednesday that
it hopes Akin wins and cracked
open the possibility of again get-
ting involved in the Missouri
campaign.
GENEVA
Group claims there
1 is an earlier copy of
the Mona Lisa
A Zurich-based foundation
says it will prove to the world
Thursday that Leonardo Da.
Vinci painted an earlier ver-
sion of the Mona Lisa - a claim
doubted by at least one expert
on the multifaceted Renaissance
artist.
The Mona Lisa Foundation,
which has been working with
the anonymous owners of the
"Isleworth Mona Lisa," says
that after 35 years of research,
experts believe it predates the
famed 16th-century masterpiece
by some 11 or 12 years based on
regression tests, mathematical
comparisons and historical and
archival records.
UNITED NATIONS
Egypt's Morsi
assumes major
role in Mideast
Egypt's new President
Mohammed Morsi assigned
himself the heavyweight's role
in the Middle East on Wednes-
day, declaring in his first speech
to the United Nations that the
civil war raging in Syria is the
"tragedy of the age" and must be
brought to an end.
In a wide-ranging address
that touched on all major issues
confronting the region, Morsi
also decried Israeli settlement-
building on territory Palestin-
ians claim for a future state and
condemned a film produced in
the United States that denigrates
Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
He urged all U.N. member
nations to join in an effort to end
what he called "the catastrophe
in Syria" that pits the regime of
Bashar Assad against opposition
forces trying to end 40 years of
dictatorship. More than 30,000
people have been killed in the
18-month conflict.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
They're back: NFL,
referees tentatively
agree to new deal
A poster with an image of Cesar Chavez and the motto "Si se puede (Yes we can") is seen at an orientation seminar for illegal immigrants, to
determine if they qualify for temporary work permits, at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rightsof Los Angeles, in Los Angeles.
Court fastT tracks some
green card applications
Refs will be back
this weekend; offer
includes annual
pay increases
NEWYORK (AP)- The NFL
and the referees' union reached
a tentative contract agreement
at midnight Thursday, ending
an impasse that began in June
when the league locked out the
officials and used replacements
instead.
"Our officials will be back
on the field starting tomorrow
night" for the Cleveland-Bal-
timore game, Commissioner
Roger Goodell said. "We appre-
ciate the commitment of the
NFLRA in working through
the issues to reach this impor-
tant agreement."
With Goodell at the table,
the sides concluded two days
of talks with the announce-
ment of a tentative 8-year deal,
which must be ratified by 51
percent of the union's 121 mem-
bers. They plan to vote Friday.
"Our Board of Directors has
unanimously approved taking
this proposed CBA to the mem-
bership for a ratification vote,"
said Scott Green, president of
the NFLRA. "We are glad to
be getting back on the field for
this week's games."
The replacements worked
the first three weeks of games,
triggering a wave of frustra-
tion that threatened to disrupt
the rest of the season. After
a missed call cost the Green
Bay Packers a win on a chaotic
final play at Seattle on Monday
night, the two sides really got
serious.
The union was seeking
improved salaries, retirement
benefits and other logistical
issues for the part-time offi-
cials. The NFL has proposed
a pension freeze and a higher
401(k) match, and it wants
to hire 21 more officials to
improve the quality of officiat-
ing. The union has fought that,
fearing it could lead to a loss
of jobs for some of the current
officials, as well as a reduction
in overall compensation.
The NFL claimed its offers
have included annual pay
increases that could earn an
experienced official more than
$200,000 annually by .2018.
The NFLRA has disputed the
value of the proposal, insisting
it means an overall reduction
in compensation.
Replacement refs aren't new
to the NFL. They worked the
first week of games in 2001
before a deal was reached. But
those officials came from the
highest level of college foot-
ball; the current replacements
do not. Their ability to call
fast-moving NFL games drew
mounting criticism through
Week 3, climaxing last week-
end, when ESPN analyst Jon
Gruden called their, work
"tragic and comical."
Those comments came dur-
ing Monday Night Football,
with Seattle beating Green Bay
14-12 on a desperation pass into
the end zone on the final play.
Packers safety M.D. Jennings
had both hands on the ball in
the end zone, and when he fell
to the ground in a scrum, both
Jennings and Seahawks receiv-
er Golden Tate had their arms
on the ball.
The closest official to the
play, at the back of the end
zone, signaled for the clock to
stop, while another official at
the sideline ran in and then sig-
naled touchdown.
Priority given to
applicants who
have recently
turned 21
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -
A federal appeals court ruled
Wednesday that immigration
officials must give priority sta-
tus to thousands of green card
applicants who lost their place
in line for U.S. residency when
they turned 21.
A narrowly divided 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals said
the United States Citizen and
Immigration Services wrongly
determined the applicants were
no longer eligible for special
visas as children of green card
holders after they turned 21.
The immigration service
said those children who "aged
out" during the process lost
their place in line, even if the
parents' application took years
to process.
Under U.S. immigration law,
children 21 and older cannot
immigrate under their parents'
applications for green cards.
The court ruled 6-5 court
otherwise, saying the appli-
cants may keep their "priority
date" established when their
parents filed for a derivative
visa for their children.
The ruling held that Con-
gress meant to aid these appli-
cants with the 2002 passage of
the Child Status Protection Act.
The act meant to preserve the
original date of application of a
minor who turned 21 during the
pendency of the parents' appli-
cation, the court ruled.
"We conclude that the plain
language of the CSPA unam-
biguously grants automatic
conversion and priority date
retention to aged-out deriva-
tive beneficiaries," Judge Mary
Murguia wrote for the majority.
The court ruled that immi-
gration officials were wrongly
forcingmanyofthese applicants
to file new applications for resi-
dency, putting their application
at the bottom of the pile. The
new ruling requires immigra-
tion officials to consider the
original application date while
processing the application for
residency.
The opinion reversed a trial
court judge, who tossed out
a class-action 'lawsuit filed
by legal U.S. residents whose
children were removed from
residency consideration under
their application when they
turned 21.
"Tens of thousands of chil-
dren living in the U.S. or abroad
who have 'aged out' of the green
card process would reclaim
their place in line based on this
decision," said Carl Shuster-
man, one of the lawyers repre-
senting the applicants.
The federal government
could ask the U.S. Supreme
Court to review the matter.
A U.S. Department of Jus-
tice spokesperson couldn't be
reached after hours in Wash-
ington D.C.
Judge Milan Smith wrote
a dissenting opinion. Smith
called the 2002 law ambigu-
ous and said it's unclear what
Congress meant with its pas-
sage. Further, he said the new
class of applicants now eligible
for priority consideration will
likely bump other, more clear
applications of other seeking
residency further down the
line.
Report: Armerican
confidence in the
economy increasing
UC agrees to pay $1 million to settle
pepper-spray lawsuit after Occupy
Each protester to
receive $30,000 in
settlement
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -
The University of California
has agreed to pay $1 million to
settle a lawsuit filed by dem-
onstrators who were pepper-
sprayed during an Occupy
protest at UC Davis last fall,
according to a preliminary set-
tlement filed Wednesday.
The Nov. 18; 2011, incident
prompted national outrage,
angry campus protests and
calls for the resignation of
Chancellor Linda Katehi after
online videos shot by witnesses
went viral.
Images of a police officer
casually spraying orange pep-
per-spray in the faces of non-
violent protesters became a
rallying symbol for the Occupy
Wall Street movement. The
demonstrators had been pro-
testing steep tuition hikes and
police brutality.
Under the proposed settle-
ment, UC would pay $30,000
to each of 21 plaintiffs named in
the complaint and an additional
$250,000 for their attorneys to
split.
Katehi, who has publicly
apologized for the incident,
would be required to issue a
formal written apology to each
of the plaintiffs, who are cur-
rent students or recent alumni.
If the $1 million settlement
is approved, total costs asso-
ciated with the incident could
exceed $2 million, according
to the Sacramento Bee news-
paper. Those expenses come
as UC faces the prospect of
deep budget tuts if Gov. Jerry
Brown's tax initiative fails in
November.
UC and plaintiffs repre-
sented by the American Civil
Liberties Union filed the pre-
liminary settlement in U.S.
District Court in Sacramento.
The agreement, which was
approved by the UC Board of
Regents in mid-September, is
subject to the approval of a fed-
eral judge, and parties have the
right to appeal.
The settlement also calls
for UC to set aside $100,000
to pay other individuals who
can prove they were arrested
or pepper-sprayed. The univer-
sity would give the ACLU up to
$20,000 for its work reviewing
free speech and protest policies
at UC Davis.
"It was felt that the proposed
settlement was in the best
interest of the university," said
UC spokesman Steve Montiel.
UC officials believe the cost
of going to trial would be more
expensive than the cost of set-
tling the lawsuit, Montiel said.
Plaintiff Fatima Sbeih, who
recently graduated with an
international studies degree,
said she suffered panic attacks
and nightmares after she was
pepper-sprayed on the UC
Davis Quad.
"I want to make sure that
nothing like this happens
again," Sbeih said in a state-
ment. "The university still
needs to work to rebuild stu-
dents' trust and this settlement
is a step in the right direction."
A task force report released
in April blamed the incident on
poor communication and plan-
ning throughout the campus
chain of command, from the
chancellor to the pepper-spray-
ing officers, and concluded the
situation could have been pre-
vented.
"The settlement should be a
wake-up call for other univer-
sities and police departments,"
said Michael Risher, staff attor-
ney with the ACLU of Northern
California. "If the First Amend-
ment means anything, it's that
you should be able to demon-
strate without being afraid of
police violence."
Last week, Yolo County pros-
ecutors said the UC Davis offi-
cers who fired the pepper-spray
won't face criminal charges
because there is not enough
evidence to prove the use of
force was illegal.
John Pike, the campus police
lieutenant shown in the notori-
ous videos, was fired in July.
Annette Spicuzza, who oversaw
the campus police department
during the pepper-spray inci-
dent, resigned in April.
Documents obtained by the
Sacramento Bee through a Pub-
lic Records Act request indicate
UC has already spent more than
$1 million on expenses associ-
ated with the incident, includ-
ing:
- $320,000 for a law firm
for work on a UC review of how
campuses should respond to
protests.
- $88,686 for salaries and
other fees to UC Berkeley offi-
cials whoworked onthatreview.
- $119,714 for a firm to pro-
vide "real time crisis manage-
men support for UC Davis."
- $445,879 for a consulting
firm that investigated the inci-
dent for an independent task
force.
- $230,256 for an internal
affairs investigation into the
actions of one of the pepper-
spraying officers.
Hiring
expectations,
home values drive
rise
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Americans are more confi-
dent in the economy than they
have been in seven months, an
encouraging sign for President
Barack Obama with six weeks
left in the presidential race.
A new survey of consumer
confidence rose Tuesday to its
highest level since February on
expectations that hiring will
soon pick up. And a separate
report showed home values ris4
ing steadily, signaling sustained
improvement in housing.
"This is like an opinion poll
on the economy without the
political parties attached," said
John Ryding, chief economist
at RDQ Economics, a consult-
ing firm. The confidence survey
"says people are feeling better.
If so, they are less likely to vote
for change."
The Conference Board's
index of consumer confidence
shot up in September. The jump
surprised many economists
because the most recent hir-
ing and retail sales figures have
been sluggish.
The increased confidence
could help explain recent polls
that show Obama with a widen-
ing lead over Mitt Romney in
some battleground states.
The consumer confidence
index is closely watched
because consumer spending
drives nearly 70 percent of
economic activity. The index
jumped from 61.3 for August to
70.3 for September. It remains
well below 90, the level that
is thought to signify a healthy
economy.
Among those feeling more
optimistic about the economy
is Darlene Johnson of Silver
Spring, Md., who works for the
National Institutes of Health.
The value of Johnson's 401(k)
account has risen. Home sales
in her neighborhood have
ticked up, too, and are com-
manding higher prices.
"I feel like things are stabi-
lizing," she said. "I don't feel
as uneasy as I did a few months
ago."
But Johnson, who voted for
Obama in 2008, remains unde-
cided on which candidate to
back. And she's still a bit ner-
vous about the future.
"It will depend on how my
pockets are looking," she says.
"Everyday circumstances will
drive my decision on how I am
going to vote."
Economists point to some
key reasons why consumers
have grown more confident.
Stocks are up: The Standard
& Poor's 500 stock index has
surged nearly 15 percent this
year. Gas prices have leveled off
after rising for several months.
And the broad increase in home
prices is likely giving would-be
buyers more confidence. When
prices rise, buyers don't worry
so much that a home might lose
value after they bought it.
National home prices rose 1.2
percent in July compared with
a year ago, according to the
Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller
index released Tuesday. That
was the second straight month
in which year-over-year home
prices have increased.
Some economists question
whether the higher level of con-
fidence is sustainable. They've
seen the index spike briefly
before since the Great Reces-
sion ended more than three
years ago. Some say confidence
could be affected by negative
campaign ads that focus on the
economy.
But others note that even a
weak economy doesn't feel so
bad to many consumers once it
begins to make steady improve-
ment.
"The economy is perceived
in relative rather than absolute
terms," noted St. Louis Univer-
sity political scientist and poll-
ster Ken Warren.