The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, February 11, 2013 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
LANSING
Michigan GOP
considers firearms
for school teachers
Some Republican lawmak-
ers who feel turning Michigan
schools into gun-free zones has
made them soft targets for school
shootings are introducing mea-
sures aimed at allowing guns in
schools.
House Speaker Jase Bolger of
Marshall is among the Republi-
cans who believe allowing Michi-
gan teachers to carry concealed
firearms could help save innocent
lives. Bolger, a gun owner with
a concealed pistol license, ques-
tioned whether making schools
gun-free zones has done more
harm thangood.
"It's reasonable to wonder, are
people choosing gun-free zones
to go carry out these massacres
because they know they won't be
stopped?" Bolger asked. "I don't
think it's a coincidence that such
monsters that are carrying these
out are going to gun-free zones to
do their massacre."
LOS ANGELES
Three people
killed in Calif.
helicopter crash
Three people have been killed
in a pre-dawn helicopter crash
in a rural area of northern Los
Angeles County while filming for
a reality TV show.
Los Angeles County Fire dis-
patcher Robert Diaz said the
crash occurred about 3:40 a.m.
Sunday at the Polsa Rosa Ranch in
Action. The ranch has been used
as a film location.
Diaz said everyone on board
died. The three people aboard the
helicopter have not been identi-
fied.
Philip Sokoloski, a spokesman
for FilmL.A., which processes
filming permits for location
shootings. in the Los Angeles.
region, said a production com-
pany had been approved to use a
helicopter for a reality TV show.
The shoot was scheduled to go
from Saturday afternoon into Sat-
urday night.
The circumstances surround-
Sing the crash are still unknown,
Federal Aviation Administration
spokesman Allen Kenitzer said.
ST. LOUIS
Corn shortage
idles 20 ethanol
plants nationwide
The persistent drought is tak-
ing a toll on producers of ethanol,
with corn becoming so scarce
that nearly two dozen ethanol
plants have been forced to halt
production.
The Renewable Fuels Asso-
ciation, an ethanol industry trade
group, provided data to The Asso-
ciated Press showing that 20 of
the nation's 211 ethanol plants
have ceased production over the
past year, including five in Janu-
ary. Most remain open, with
workers spending time perform-
ing maintenance-type tasks. But
ethanol production won't likely
resume until after 2013 corn is
harvested in late August or Sep-
tember.
JOHANNESBURG
South African
police arrest
Congo rebel leader
Police in South Africa said Sun-
day they arrested the "ringleader"
of a group of 19 Congolese rebels
who now face charges of allegedly
plotting a war to unseat Congo-
lese Fresident Joseph Kabila.The
leader, who police declined to
identify before his arraignment
this week in a Pretoria court, was
arrested Friday in Cape Town, said
Capt. Paul Ramaloko, a spokes-
man for South African Police
Service. Ramaloko said the man
didn't fight his arrest, though he
declined to offer any other details.
"He cooperated with us," the
captain said. .
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Law school
clinic hosts
lecture
Jennifer Renz and her dog Gus run down East Third street in the South Boston neighborhood of Boston early Sunday.
Northeastern states begin to
recover fro-m winter storm
Storm brings up to
three feet of snow,
leaves 14 dead
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) -
Travel eased and life slowly
returned to normal for most
New Englanders after a massive
blizzard, but many remained
without power in cold and
darkened homes and a forecast
of rain brought a new worry:
Weight piling up dangerously
on roofs already burdened by
heavy snow.
The storm that slammed into
the region with up to 3 feet of
snow was blamed for at least
14 deaths in the Northeast and
Canada, and brought some of
the highest accumulations ever
recorded. Still, coastal areas
were largely spared catastroph-
ic damage despite being lashed
by strong waves and hurricane-
force wind gusts at the height of
the storm.
Hundreds of people, their
homes without heat or electric-
ity, were forced to take refuge
in emergency shelters set up in
schools or other places.
"For all the complaining
everyone does, people really
came through," said Rich Din-
smore, 65, of Newport, R.I.,
who was staying at a Red Cross
shelter set up in a middle school
in Middletown after the power
went out in his home on Friday.
Dinsmore,whohasemphyse-
ma, was first brought by ambu-
lance to a hospital after the
medical equipment he relies on
failed when the power went out
and he had difficulty breathing.
"The police, the fire depart-
ment, the state, the Red Cross,
the volunteers, it really worked
well," said the retired radio
broadcaster and Army veteran.
Utility crews, some brought
in from as far away as Georgia,
Oklahoma and Quebec, raced
to restore power to more than
300,000 customers - down
from 650,000 in eight states
at the height of the storm. In
hardest-hit Massachusetts,
where some 234,000 custom-
ers remained without power on
Sunday, officials said some of
the outages might linger until
Tuesday.
Driving bans were lifted
and flights resumed at major
airports in the region that had
closed during the storm, though
many flights were still canceled
Sunday.
The Boston-area public
transportation system, which
shut down on Friday after-
noon, partially resumed sub-
way service and some bus
routes on Sunday. Beverly
Scott, general manager of the
Massachusetts Bay Transpor-
tation Authority, said full ser-
.vice was expected on Monday
- albeit with delays.
"Give yourself more time
and expect that it is going
to take us more time," Scott
advised riders.
Boston public schools were
among many in the region that
had already decided to cancel
classes on Monday.
Boston recorded 24.9 inches
of snow, making it the fifth-
largest storm in the city since
records were kept. The' city
was appealing to the state and
private contractors for more
front-end loaders and other
heavy equipment to clear snow
piles that were clogging resi-
dential streets.
On eastern Long Island,
which was slammed with as
much as 30 inches of snow,
hundreds of snowplows and
other heavy equipment were
sent in Sunday to clear ice- and
drift-covered highways where
hundreds of people and cars
were abandoned during the
height of the storm.
Staff attorney
dispells myths
about global crime,
By STEPHANIE DILWORTH
Daily StaffReporter
University alum Elizabeth
Campbell, a staff attorney at
the University of Michigan
Law School's Human Traffick-
ing Clinic, presented a speech
on human trafficking Friday to
educate the community on the
effects of the all-too-prevalent
crime.
The Human Trafficking Clin-
ic, started in 2009, is the only
legal clinic solely dedicated to
human trafficking in the United
States. It provides comprehen-
sive legal representation to vic-
tims of labor and sex trafficking.
In her speech, Campbell dis-
pelled myths about human traf-
ficking. For instance, contrary
to common knowledge, human
trafficking doesn't need to
involve movement, coercion can
be either physical or psychologi-
cal and labor trafficking is much
more common than sex traffick-
ing.
Through force, fraud and
especially coercion, individu-
als are exploited for commer-
cial benefit, but not necessarily
money, Campbell said.
"Human trafficking is a form
of modern day slavery. It is a
crime entirely based on exploi-
tation," Campbell said. "U.S.
citizens can be, and in fact are,
victims of trafficking here in the
United States."
Campbell expressed concern
that Congress has not reautho-
rized the Trafficking Victims
Protection Act, which protects
undocumented immigrants who
may be trafficking victims.
The reality that human traf-
ficking is closer to home than
expected was highlighted by
LSA junior Khushi Desai. She
explained that several cases
have been discovered in the Ann
Arbor area.
"A former U of M janitor
is currently in jail for human
trafficking and forced labor
charges because he tried to pass
off four immigrants as his own
children," she continued. "He
forced them to do housework
and physically abused them,
even threatened them if they
tried to leave."
The Global Scholars Program,
a living learning community in
North Quad, chose a human traf-
ficking theme for the program's
monthly lectures this semes-
ter. After drug dealing, human
trafficking is the second largest
criminal industry in the world
and the fastest growing.
Jennifer Yim, the founder and
director of GSP, said the com-
munity's goal is to help students
understand international issues
better.
"(GSP) brings together inter-
national and U.S. students to
engage in social justice educa-
tion on aglobal level," Yim said.
LSA junior Nora Dagher said
she's glad GSP exists so that stu-
dents can have an open dialogue
about human trafficking.
"Human rights is definitely
something that I'm really pas-
sionate about," said Dagher.
"We want to impact the commu-
nity in any way we can and talk
about issues that people don't
really talk about in mainstream
media."
Neighborhoods languish through
Detroit's continued fiscal problems
Detroit residents
still questioning
city's progress
DETROIT (AP) - Four years
ago Toni McIlwain's Ravendale
neighborhood on Detroit's east
side was splattered with doz-
ens of vacant and burned out
houses and lots strewn with
trash and blanketed in waist-
high weeds.
Things have changed - for
the worse, according to McIl-
wain who believes Ravendale
and other poor areas of Detroit
haven't received enough atten-
tion as first-term Mayor Dave
Bing struggles to put out fiscal
fires elsewhere.
"I can understand some of
Bing's plans," said McIlwain,
chief executive of a nonprofit
that operates a community
center and education and drug
prevention programs. "But
even those that are left behind
have to feel that their dignity is
served."
As Bing prepares to deliv-
er his fourth State of the
City address on Wednesday,
some things clearly have not
improved. The crime rate is
amongthe highestin the nation,
people continue to move out,
the tax base still is falling and
the budget deficit of just under
$300 million nearly mirrors
what Bing inherited in 2009.
A state-appointed review
team has until Saturday to
deliver its verdict on the state of
Detroit's finances. If the team
determines there is a finan-
cial emergency, Republican
Gov. Rick Snyder could begin
the process of placing Detroit
under an emergency manager
and state oversight.
Even that doesn't guarantee
relief for residents, said John
Mogk, a Wayne State Univer-
sity law professor who spe-
cializes in land use and urban
development issues.
"The role of an emergency
manager is to balance the books
to bring the fiscal house in
order," Mogk said "It's a whole
separate issue to what's going
onin the neighborhoods. I think
any mayor who would have
taken office at the time Mayor
Bing did would essentially have
experienced the same kind of
decline in the neighborhoods."
Mogk said Detroit's median
household - income is about
$25,000 a year - about half
the national median income.
Unemployment far surpasses
the national average. Most city
residents can't afford improve-
ments to their homes or support
small retail.
"Detroit's economy has not
seen an uptick," Mogk said.
"The way you begin to restruc-
ture the economy and invest-
ment base in the city takes a
considerable amount of time."
The job is massive and Bing
could be running out of time.
His term ends after 2013 and he
has yetto announce whether he
will seek another four years in
office.
He and other candidates
have until May 14 to file peti-
tions to run for mayor. Detroit
Medical Center chief execu-
tive Mike Duggan and Wayne
County Sheriff Benny Napo-
leon are among a number of
people considering a run for
Bing's job.
"The mayor has had to make
some tough decisions that have
not pleased some folks in the
neighborhoods, and more will
have to be made to avoid an
emergency manager," Mogk
said. "Those negative situa-
tions usually result in a part
of the population looking for
alternative candidates."
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