The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Tuesday, February 12, 2013 - 3

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, February 12, 2013 - 3

NEWS BRIEFS
DETROIT
Feds wrap up case
against former
Detroit mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick turned
Detroit's City Hall into a "pri-
vate profit machine" by rigging
contracts, demanding bribes and
even stealing money meant for
the needy, a prosecutor said dur-
ing closing arguments Monday
in the former mayor's corruption
trial.
Kilpatrick spent $840,000
more than he earned as Detroit's
mayor from 2002 until 2008,
Assistant U.S. Attorney R.
Michael Bullotta told jurors as
he summed up evidence present-
ed by the government over the
past five months.
As Bullotta spoke, jurors saw
images of checks document-
ing the alleged corruption as
well as damaging text mes-
sages between Kilpatrick and a
co-defendant, Bobby Ferguson,
whose construction company
landed contracts worth mil-
lions during the Kilpatrick years.
SACRAMENTO
Inmate lawsuits
cost California
" $200 million
Gov. Jerry Brown has begun
aggressively challenging federal
court oversight of California's
prison system by highlighting
what he says is a costly conflict
of interest: The private law firms
representing inmates and the
judges' own hand-picked author-
ities benefit financially by keep-
ing the cases alive.
How much are they making?
A tally by The Associated
Press, compiled from three
state agencies, shows California
taxpayers have spent $182 mil-
lion for inmates' attorneys and
court-appointed authorities over
the past 15 years. The payments
cover a dozen lawsuits filed over
the treatment of state prisoners,
parolees and incarcerated juve-
niles, some of which have been
settled.
HARTFORD
Northeast drivers
struggle with icy
" roads after Nemo
The workweek opened with
a white-knuckle ride Monday in
the snow-clobbered Northeast as
drivers encountered unplowed
streets, two-lane roads reduced to
a single channel and snowbanks
so high it was impossible seess
around corners.
Schools remained closed across
much of New England and New
York, more than 130,000 homes
and businesses were still waiting
for the electricity to come back on
after the epic storm swept through
on Fridayand Saturday with i to 3

feet of snow that entombed cars
and sealed up driveways.
* The storm was blamed for at
least15 deaths inthe U.S. and Can-
ada, and officials warned of a new
danger as rain and higher temper-
atures setin: roof collapses.
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
Adventurers
re-enact antarctic
survival story
It's been lauded as one of the
greatest survival stories of all-
time.
Nearly 100 years later, a group
of British and Australian adven-
turers have discovered why.
They re-enacted Ernest Shack-
leton's journey to save his crew
when their ship got stuck and
sank in Antarctica's icy waters.
Tim Jarvis and Barry "Baz"
Gray reached an old whaling
station on remote South Geor-
gia island Monday, 19 days after
leaving Elephant Island. Just as
Shackleton did in 1916, Jarvis
and his team sailed 800 nautical
miles (1,300 kilometers) across
the Southern Ocean in a small
lifeboat and then climbed over
crevasse-filled mountains in
South Georgia.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports

Riccarao De Luca/A
Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a mass for priests and nuns in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Feb. 2.
Pope's bombshell sends'
troubled church scrambling

Benedict XVI
resigns due to his
Parkinson's disease
VATICAN CITY (AP) - With
a few words in Latin, Pope
Benedict XVI did what no pope
has done in more than half a
millennium, stunning the world
by announcing his resignation
Monday and leaving the already
troubled Catholic Church to
replace the leader of its 1 billion
followersby Easter.
Not even his closest associates
had advance word of the news, a
bombshell that he dropped dur-
ing a routine meeting of Vatican
cardinals. And with no clear
favorites to succeed him, anoth-
er surprise likely awaits when
the cardinals elect Benedict's
successor next month.
"Without doubt this is a his-
toric moment," said Cardinal
Christoph Schoenborn, a prote-
ge and former theology student
of Benedict's who is considered
a papal contender. "Right now,
1.2 billion Catholics the world
over are holdingtheir breath."
The Feb. 28 resignation
allows for a fast-track con-
clave to elect a new pope, since
the traditional nine days of
mourning that would follow
a pope's death doesn't have to
be observed. It also gives the
85-year-old Benedict great sway
over the choice of his successor.
Though he willnot himselfvote,
he has hand-picked the bulk of
the College of Cardinals - the
princes of the church who will
elect his successor - to guaran-
tee his conservative legacy and
ensure an orthodox future for
the church.
The resignation may mean
that age will become less of a fac-
tor when electing a new pope,
since candidates may no longer
feel compelled to stay for life.
"For the century to come, I
think that none of Benedict's
successors will feel morally
obliged to remain until their
death," said Paris Cardinal
Andre Vingt-Trois.
Benedict said as recently as
2010 that a pontiff should resign

if he got too old or infirm to do
the job, but it was a tremendous
surprise when he said in Latin
that his "strength of mind and
body" had diminished and that
he couldn't carry on. He said he
would resign effective 8 p.m.
local time on Feb.28.
"All the cardinals remained
shocked and were looking at
each other," said Monsignor
Oscar Sanchez of Mexico, who
was in the room at the time of
the announcement.
As a top aide, Benedict
watched from up close as Pope
John Paul II suffered publicly
from the Parkinson's disease
that enfeebled him in the final
years of his papacy. Clearly
Benedict wanted to avoid the
same fate as his advancing age
took its toll, though the Vatican
insisted the announcement was
not prompted by any specific
malady.
The Vatican said Benedict
would live in a congregation for
cloistered nuns inside the Vati-
can, although he will be free to
go in and out. Much of this is
unchartered territory. The Vati-
can's chief spokesman, the Rev.
Federico Lombardi, said he isn't
even sure of Benedict's title -
perhaps "pope emeritus."
Since becoming pope in 2005,
Benedict has charted a very con-
servative course for the church,
trying to reawaken Christianity
in Europe where it had fallen
by the wayside and return the
church to its traditional roots,
which he felt had been betrayed
by a botched interpretation of
the modernizing reforms of the
Second Vatican Council.
His efforts though, were
overshadowed by a worldwide
clerical sex abuse scandal, com-
munication gaffes that outraged
Jews and Muslims alike and,
more recently, a scandal over
leaked documents by his own
butler. Many of his stated pri-
orities as pope also fell short:
He failed to establish relations
with China, heal the schism
and reunite with the Orthodox

There are several papal-con-
tenders in the wings, but no
obvious front-runner - the
same situation as when Bene-
dict was elected after the death
of John Paul. As in recent elec-
tions, some push is expected for
the election of a Third World
pope, with several names
emerging from Asia, Africa and
Latin America, home to about
40 percent of the world's Catho-
lics.
The Vatican stressed that
no specific medical condition
prompted Benedict's decision,
saying he remains fully lucid
and took his decision indepen-
dently.
"Any interference or inter-
vention is alien to his style,"
Lombardi said.
The pope has clearly slowed
down significantly in recent
years, cutting back his foreign
travel and limiting his audienc-
es. He now goes to and from the
altar in St. Peter's Basilica on a
moving platform to spare him
the long walk down the aisle.
Occasionally he uses a cane.
As early as 2010, Benedict
began to look worn out: He had
lost weight and didn't seem
fully engaged when visiting
bishops briefed him on their
dioceses. But as tired as he
often seemed, he would also
bounce back, enduring searing
heat in Benin to bless a child
and gamely hanging on when
a freak storm forced him to cut
short a speech during a youth
festival in Madrid in 2011.
His 89-year-old brother,
Georg Ratzinger, said doctors
recently advised the pope not
to take any more trans-Atlantic
trips.
"His age is weighing on him,"
Ratzinger told the dpa news
agency in Germany. "At this age,
my brother wants more rest."
"He has looked veryvery run
down," agreed U.S. Cardinal
Edwin O'Brien, who was pres-
ent for Monday's announce-
ment, speaking to Sirius XM's
"The Catholic Channel.

NETWORKING
From Page 1
power of the U of M network, and
Wolverines helping Wolverines,"
Turner said. "And LinkedIn is the
perfect platform for making that
happen."
The strong alumni presence
on LinkedIn has been extremely
beneficial to students' profession-
al endeavors, Turner added.
"Certainly, students whom I've
worked with in the past have gone
on to do fantastic things, and a
lot of them can attribute it to the
groundwork that they've laid
with LinkedIn," Turner said.
LSA junior Lauryn Hong said
she attended the event to learn
COURT
From Page 1
groups," Robinson said. "I think
one would have to agree that
judges serve only the law and to
have all this unaccountable influ-
ence in our judicial campaigns is
certainly corrosive of the trust
and confidence and the impartial-
ity of the judiciary."
Many of the panelists said the
negativity of issue advertise-
ments also calls for concern.
Sarosi argued that issue ads
don't focus on the relevant char-
acteristics of the candidates.
"The problem with these ads
- that I've seen throughout this
election - is it doesn't really tell
you the quality of the individual
that's going to sit on Court," Saro-
si said. "It doesn't go to their judi-
cial skills; it doesn't go to their
respect for the rule of law. There's
always these insinuations about
who they are that may or may not
have anything to do with their
BIKE-SHARE
From Page 1
aspects are still beingnegotiated.
The original plan was to have
the program up and running for
next fall semester but funding
issues may delay the launch.
"Bringing three entities of the
city together on elements like
funding is a challenge," Dolen
said. "Right now we're in this sit-
uation of havingto figure out how
to work with local partners to
come up with funding for grants."
The CEC has taken the lead on
the project, securing a $700,000
grant from the Southeast Michi-
gan Council of Governments.
Dolen said the University also
plans to support operating funds
in the first three years of the pro-
gram.
In September, the Univer-
sity began the first phase of bike
transit, introducing a bike rental
program run through Outdoor
Adventures - which is part of the
University's Recreational Sports

more about online networking.
"I think that we have a really
good sense of networkcthat many of
us don't really know about," Hong
said. "So just coming to events like
this really helps gain more per-
spective in how we can be using
that and how we can be engaging
more with that community."
LSA senior Abra Guo added
that she also wants to further
educate herself on how to engage
recruiters and alumni.
"Being able to connect with
people, (and) connect with an
alumni base is important," Guo
said. "I want to find out more on
how I can use (Linkedn) to the
best of my ability and take advan-
tage of it."
role on the Court"
Sarosi personally experi-
enced the anxieties of facing
issue advertising while working
on McCormack's state Supreme
Court campaign.Inthelastweeks
of the election, the conservative
Judicial Crisis Network launched
a million-dollar attack campaign
against McCormack. The com-
mercial criticized McCormack's
role in the defense of an alleged
terrorism case involving Guan-
tanamo detainee Wahldof Abdul
Mokit.
"I just don't agree that they're
helpful to the conversation and
they're certainly not helpful to
the collegiality that one needs
when one gets to the Court and
has to work with six other jus-
tices," Sarosi said.
In response to the negative
ads, former Justice Kelly said a
possibility would be creating an
organization separate from the
government and partisan politics
that would review issue ads, simi-
lar to media outlets like Politifact,
office. With the Blue Bikes pro-
gram, students and faculty have
the opportunity to rent bikes by
day, week or semester.
During the fall semester,
Blue Bikes rented out 100 bikes,
according to Rec Sports.
"We believe it is a great first
semester for the program," said
Dan Marshall, an assistant cam-
pus recreation director.
The new bike-sharing plan
targets students as well as Ann
Arbor residents. It ultimately
aims to have' multiple pick-up
and drop-off locations for bikes
around Ann Arbor and campus.
Jim Kosteva, the University's
director of community rela-
tions, said the bike-sharing pro-
gram would help transportation
options for residents in the com-
munity.
"We support and encourage
transport connections to busi-
ness and the downtown com-
munity ... this program is one
means through which that can be
accomplished."

Church, or recon-W--th
cile with a group of W nderingwastudentsandaculty the
thinkabout the popes resignation? Check
breakaway, tradi- outThe Wire blogfor that and more vw ire
tionalist Catholics.

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CELL
From Page 1
kind of skin color, hair color or
eye color - who you are."
During cell replication, each
new cell receives a copy of all
the genetic information stored
in the parent cell's DNA.
When a parent cells under-
goes cell division, it forms two
genetically identical daughter
cells. By studying stem cells
from , fruit flies, the lab has
discovered slight differences
between these daughter cells.
Yamashita said figuring out
why cells adapt to different
characteristics even though
their DNA contents are indis-
tinguishable has been a "funda-
mental mystery in biology."
Yamashita's lab has theo-
rized that the different cell
expressions are due, in part, to
epigenetic markers on the cell's
DNA. These epigenetic mark-
ers can best be understood as
"bookmarks" placed into the
cell's "instruction book," which
is the DNA molecule, Yamashita
said. Different markers exist for
skin, blood and other aspects of,
the body.

"Somehow (cells) distin-
guish (which bookmark to use)
and segregate them into two,"
Yamashita said. "This is the first
direct evidence that cells are
capable of distinguishing two
sane-DNA molecules."
Using these "bookmarks,"
human cells only express some
of the genetic traits found in
DNA. For example, skin cells
do not develop the same neu-
rotransmitters found in the
brain, but instead express the
pigment melanin, which creates
skin color.
The genetic bookmarks are
formed by a chemical process
known as methylation. This
process attaches a chemical
group to the outside of the DNA
molecule at a specific location,
which usually suppresses the
gene in that area.
"How much of the DNA is
methylated - where it is meth-
ylated - affects where cells
actually transcribe the genes
- which genes to activate,"
Yamashita said. "Cells somehow
can distinguish which DNA
copy is more methylated or less
methylated."
Despite the currently accu-
mulated knowledge of cell divi-

sion, Yamashita said more work
must be done to determine the
exact mechanisms by which
these genetic processes take
place.
"Our discovery only tells us
cells can distinguish two DNA
(molecules) that look the same,
but are probably different,"
Yamashita said. "We want to
know ... exactly how they are
different."
"This might answer this most
fundamental question in biol-
ogy - how we multicellular
organisms, made of a hundred
trillion cells, came from a single
cell," Yamashita said. "If you
understand this, the implication
is huge."
These consequences include
possible medical advancements.
She added that his team hopes
to use the long-lasting grant
to get some concrete answers
about cell division within two
years.
"The fundamental under-
standing is always the basis of
medical research," Yamashita
said. "If we contribute anything
to the knowledge of funda-
mental biology ... we can come
up with ideas of how to cure
(genetic diseases)."