The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 3A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 3A NEWS BRIEFS DETROIT Mich. police have many obstacles in shooting spree Clues appear to be few: slugs and bullet fragments embedded in cars, metal casings on roadways, a simple black and white sketch of the shooter and vague descrip- tions of the car he drove. Investigators searching for a man responsible for shooting at two dozen vehicles along free- way corridors in four counties are up against anonymity and a 100-mile-long crime scene that slices through suburbia, shopping malls and Michigan farm pas- tures. Fear has prompted some to drive along side streets rather than heavily used thoroughfares. In Wixom - where 10 of the 24 shootings have been reported - police planned special Halloween patrolstoprotecttrick-or-treaters. From Oakland County, northwest of Detroit, to Shiawassee County, northeast of Lansing, authorities are stopping cars resembling the shooter's. HUNTSVILLE, Texas Louisiana ex-con executed for 2003 Texas killing Donnie Lee Roberts, convicted in his girlfriend's 2003 slaying in Texas, was executed Wednesday for fatally shooting the woman and taking items from her home to sell or trade to support his drug habit. Roberts, 41, became the 12th inmate to be put to death this year in the nation's most active capital punishment state. He was given a lethal injection for the killing of Vicki Bowen at her East Texas home. "I'm really sorry. I never meant to cause you all so much pain," Roberts said to Bowen's father, who was seated in a chair close to the glass surrounding the death chamber. "I hope you can go on with your life. "I lovedyour daughter. Ihope to God he lets me see her in Heaven so I can apologize to her and see her and tell her." Roberts took several deep breaths a the lethal drug began taking effect, then began snoring briefly. He was pronounced dead 23 minutes later - at 6:39 p.m. CDT. LONDON Town to burn Lance Armstrong in effigy His career is in ruins and now an effigy of Lance Armstrong is about to go up in smoke. The disgraced American cyclist has been chosen as the latest celeb- rity to be burned 'in effigy dur- ing an English town's nationally famous Bonfire Night celebrations. Edenbridge in southeast Eng- land has built a 30-foot (9-meter) model of Armstrong, who was stripped recently of his seven Tour de France titles for doping offens- es. The effigy, to be burnt Saturday, sports a sign saying "For sale, rac- ingbike, no longer required." PARIS Israeli, French leaders push for Iranian sanctions Israeli Prime Minister Ben- jamin Netanyahu won pledges Wednesday from France's presi- dent to push harder for new sanc- tions against Iran to keep it from developing nuclear weapons - but no sympathy for any possible Israeli militarystrike againstIran. In a visit to Paris, Netanyahu praised French pressure on Iran and called for "even tougher sanc- tions" than the ones currently in place. "The sanctions are taking a bite out of Iran's economy ... unfortu- nately they have not stopped the Iranian program," he said. -Compiled from Daily wire reports '+ , Y f ~ f - Greece'outlines new austerity plan Painful cuts and tax Healthcare spending will be trimmed by a further 4455 mil- FRANK FRANKLIN II/ Anthony Rivera, right, hands out bottled water to residents of Rockaway Beach while they wait in line for pampers, socks aFdgoe roie l The Legacy Center, after hurricane Sandy Wednesday, Oct.31, 2012, inthe Queens borough of New York. New Yorkers searc for food,water and power Residents try to find basic necessities after Sandy NEW YORK (AP) - The people gathered around the side of a building on Third Avenue looked like refugees huddled around a campfire. But instead of crackling flames, their warmth came from more advanced technology: a power strip that had been offered to charge cellphones. It was a sign of just how des- perate for electricity some New Yorkers have become since Superstorm Sandy darkened parts of the city. Among the crowd was Pat- rick Dugan; who resorted to using a pay phone Wednesday as he trekked uptown from his powerless apartment, seeking electricity. "How much does a pay phone cost?" asked Steve Breslawski, who had been watching his phone charge up for nearly an hour. "It's still 25 cents for local, 75 cents for long distance," Dugan' explained. Most people scraped by with resilience and good humor in the storm's aftermath, navigat- ing a city without stoplights or subways. Many residents in dark downtown neighborhoods headed north to stay with friends. Others stayed home with canned goods and candle- light. In an urban landscape of shuttered bodegas and board- ed-up restaurants, they roamed in search of food, power and a hot shower. The demarcation line of elec- tricity was clearly drawn on certain streets, with buildings alight on one side and dark on the other. Life was remarkably normal uptown, albeit slower and quieter without public transportation. But downtown was a different matter entirely. Street corners were chaotic below the general vicinity of 30th Street as people tried in vain to catch taxis. Without traffic lights or police officers to maintain some semblance of order, most intersections were treacherous for pedestrians. As a fire hydrant spouted water on West 16th Street, 9-year-old Shiyin Ge and her brother, 12-year-old Shiyuan Ge, stood in line to fill up buck- ets of water. But unlike the adults,-the two kids held plastic Halloween candy pails painted with grinning jack-o-lanterns. "There's no water in our house," said Shiyin Ge, who had planned to dress up as a lady- bug for Halloween. She did not know if she would get to trick- or-treat at all this year. Rachel Booth sat outside of the Tribeca Treats bakery sell- ing bags of colorful Halloween cookies, brownies and cake pops decorated to look like eye- balls. The bakery, still without lights, was also selling a few treats indoors. "We wanted to bring a little bit of Halloween to people," she said. In ghostlike lower Manhat- tan, Nancy Yates picked up canned chicken noodle soup at a bodega that was lit by flashlight and candlelight on Wednesday morning. Although her building was mostly dark, the superintendent had set up power strips on every floor in single outlets linked to a gen- erator. "The freezer's gone," Yates said. "I'm worried about the coming days. I'm alone." Herneighbor, NormaFontane, has been running an extension cord from the hall to her apart- ment to read by lamplight. "We've all been in the build- inga longtime," she said. "We're kind of looking out for one another.", Nick Maenhout lives on West 37th Street, about six blocks above the blackout zone and can see the darkened section of Manhattan from his win- dows. He was stocking up on orange juice and chicken at a nearby supermarket to help feed friends who are crashing at his apartment. "In case people come over and want something to eat, there'll be something in the fridge," he said. increases implented as debt load rises ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greece's government on Wednesday outlined the new austerity measures it intends to take over the next two years, a series of painful spending cuts and tax hikes that its inter- national bailout creditors, are demanding in exchange for res- cue loans. The country's finance min- ister also submitted a revised draft budget for 2013, with fig- ures predictingthe debt load will increase sharply as the recession deepens into a sixth straight year. Unions responded by announcing a 48-hour general strike for next week, when the new measures are expected to be voted on in Parliament. The 413.5 billion ($17.5 bil- lion) worth of cutbacks for 2013- 14 include a two-year increase in the retirement age, from the current average of 65, salary and pension cuts and another round of tax increases, including rais- ing taxes for the interest on bank deposits from10 to 15 percent. The vast majority of the mea- sures, about 49.2 billion, are to be taken next year. They include a 4.6 billion cut in pensions and a 41.17 billion cut from salaries. REGENT From Page 1A sity's $7.8-billion endowment can't be accessed, Bernstein suggested implementing a pro- gram that would automatically allocate 5 percent of the Uni- versity's funds to finance finan- cial aid. He also said he thinks 10 percent of any growth in the endowment should go toward this fund, Conversely, Ryder Diggs said the regents and University lead- ership must lobby more strongly for state appropriations. "I think there are ways to make U of M just as financially attractive as other institutions around the country," Ryder Diggs said. "I do think that the regents and the administra- tion ... could have a leadership role in trying to encourage the Legislature to continue to pay appropriations (to the) Univer- sity." Ryder Diggs, who graduated from the University's Medical School before starting a private general, cosmetic and laser dermatology practice in Grosse Pointe Farms, emphasized the importance of encourag- lion. Parliamentary approval of the measures is essential if Greece is to receive the next installment of its bailout loans - this time a hefty 431 billion. Without the funds, the country has said it will run out of money on Nov.16. Greece's three governing par- ties have spent' months nego- tiating these measures with international debt inspectors, who have yet to formally approve them. The talks have severely strained ties in the already uneasy coalition of conserva- tives, socialists and a small left- wing party. With just days to go before an expected Parliamentary vote on the measures, the Democratic Left has insisted it cannot back them. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has warned that the country will face financial chaos if they are not passed. Finance ministers from the other 16 countries that use the euro said after a telephone con- ference Wednesday that they hope to decide on Nov.12 wheth- er to give Greece its next bailout installment, provided the coun- try agrees to the reforms. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, however, warned it was unlikely for that deadline to be met since the Ger- man Parliament would have to vote on the issue. ing donors to give directly to a tuition fund that would help fund grants instead of loans. Both candidates suggested the University should also con- tinue to lower operating costs. The University eliminated $235 million from the general fund budget between 2003 and 2012, and by 2017 the Universi- ty plans to reduce or reallocate costs by $120 million. Bernstein advocated for a plan that would offer more classes during spring and sum- mer months to better utilize space at the University. He would also like to reduce costs per credit during less popular .times to takes classes. With University President Mary Sue Coleman's contract expiring in 2014, Ryder Diggs and Bernstein also emphasized that one of the most important roles of the regents in the com- ing years will to be to select the University's next leader. "Electing'the leadership of the University I think would probably be the number one" challenge, Ryder Digg said. "Because that encompasses everything else and the leader- ship will then make a decision about" Syrian regime intensifies attacks, United Nations-backed truce fails Thrkey distances itself from calls for a no-fly zone BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian war- planes fired missiles at oppo- sition strongholds around Damascus and in the north on Wednesday as Turkey, a key backer of the anti-regime rebels, appeared to distance itself from an earlier call to impose a no-fly zone. The Syrian regime has inten- sified airstrikes in recent days following the failure of a U.N.- backed holiday truce over a four- day holiday that never took hold. Activists said at least 110 people were killed nationwide in air- strikes, artillery shelling and fighting Wednesday. Wednesday's casualties pushed the death toll since the conflict began in March 2011 to more than 36,000, accord- ing to Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Much of the violence took place in rebellious suburbs of the capital Damascus and in the northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo. The Observatory said government jets carried out mul- tiple strikes in the eastern Ghou- ta district, a rebel stronghold close to the capital. Airstrikes also hit the rebel- held city of Maaret al-Numan, according to Observatory, which gathers reports from a network of activists on the ground. The city straddles a key supply route from Damascus to Aleppo and has become a main front in the civil war. In the past weeks, the regime has intensified airstrikes on rebel positions and strongholds, particularly Maaret al-Numan, a city of 180,000 people that fell to rebel forces on Oct. 10. A for- mer resident of the city said more than 70 homes have been leveled as a result of air bombardments this week alone. "The Syrian air force doesn't leave the skies. When the war- plane goes, the helicopter comes," the resident who iden- tified himself as Ahmad told The Associated Press in a phone interview. He spoke from a near- by village and would only give his first name for fear of reprisals from the regime. Most of the city's inhabitants have fled due to heavy fighting, Ahmad said. "Everyone has fled, you can't live here anymore," Ahmad said, adding that rebel groups, includ- ing the al-Qaida inspired Jabhat al-Nusra, had flocked to the area to defend it. A bomb hidden in a garbage bag exploded in an area near Damascus that is home to a Shiite Muslim shrine, killing 11 people and wounding 39, state-run news agency SANA said. The blast was in a suburb of the capital hous- ing the golden-domed shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, the Prophet Muhammad's granddaughter, which is popular with Iranian worshippers and tourists. SANA also reported a car bomb explosion in the Damascus suburb of Moaddamiya and said it said caused several casualties. By late Wednesday, the Obser- vatory had reported more than 130 casualties nationwide, more than 40 of them government sol- diers. The U.N. refugee agency, meanwhile, said it delivered badly needed humanitarian aid to internally displaced Syrians in the northern cities of Aleppo and Idlib, as well as in Homs in the center of the country and Has- sakeh and Raqqa in the north- east. Speaking in Jordan, UNHCR's regional spokesman Ron Redmond said cooking materials, blankets, mattress- es, and sanitary supplies were delivered to almost 3,000 Syr- ians who fled the fighting in the past weeks and have been left homeless. The international community remains at a loss about how to stop the war in Syria. The U.S. and other Western and Arab nations have called on Assad to step down, while China and Russia have stood by the regime and blocked moves to censure Syria at the U.N. Security Coun- cil. Iran also backs the regime. Internationally sanctioned cease-fires have failed and world powers appear to have stepped away from previous talk of imposing a no-fly zone or set- ting up a safe area in the coun- try's north for civilians fleeing the violence.