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Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - 3

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, October 8, 2013 - 3

NEWS BRIEFS
MOUNT CLEMENS, MICH.
Woman uses sauce
to aid in robbery
A 53-year-old woman accused
of using cans of spaghetti sauce
to simulate a bomb when she
robbed a bank has pleaded guilty.
Police say 53-year-old parole
absconder Ophelia A. Neal
robbed a Fifth Third Bank
branch in Macomb County's
Clinton Township on April 6. It's
about 15 miles north-northeast
of Detroit.
Neal pleaded guilty Monday in
Oakland County Circuit Court in
Mount Clemens to bank robbery
and explosives charges. Judge
Jennifer Faunce is scheduled to
sentence her Nov. 19.
Police say Neal told bank
employees she had a bomb in her
cloth bag and demanded money.
They say she took an undisclosed
amount of money and escaped in
a car with a man at the wheel.
NEW YORK
Medical research
team wins Nobel
Two Americans and a German-
American won the Nobel Prize in
medicine Monday for illuminat-
ing how tiny bubbles inside cells
shuttle key substances around like
a vast and highly efficient fleet of
vans, delivering the right cargo to
the right place at the right time.
Scientists believe the research
could someday lead to new medi-
cines for epilepsy, diabetes and
other conditions.
The work has already helped
doctors diagnose a severe form of
epilepsy and immune deficiency
diseases in children. It has also
aided research into the brain and
many neurological diseases, and
opened the door for biotech com-
panies to make yeast pump out
large quantities of useful proteins
like insulin.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
National debt
default becomes
possibility
A possible national default
loomed closer on Monday as the
partial government shutdown
lingered, rattling markets in the
U.S. and overseas. A gridlocked
Congress betrayed little or no
urgency toward resolving either
of the threats.
Stocks got a case of the jit-
ters on Wall Street, and halfway
around the world China stressed
the importance for the interna-
tional economy of raising the
U.S. debt limit.
"Safeguarding the debt is of
vital importance to the economy
of the U.S. and the world," Vice
Finance Minister Zhu Guang-
yao said, according to the offi-
cial Xinhua News Agency. China
holds $1277 trillion in U.S.
Treasury bonds, second only to
Japan.

GROSSETTO, Italy
Crew called up

CSG
From Page 1
saw the talks as an opportu-
nity to join the two events and
organizations.
Gaurav Ahuja, co-president
of SAAN, said he hopes the
student government's reputa-
tion will aid SAAN in secur-
ing a greater variety of guest
speakers for their annual con-

ference.
Over the next month,
SAAN and CSG will pilot a
program with the Residence
Hall Association that will
introduce University fresh-
men to the importance of
social justice on campus. The
program will likely begin in
Baits II Residence Hall and
Couzens Residence Hall by
the first week of November,
Ahuja said.

INVENTIONS single success, but U-M is rec-
INVENTIONS1ognized as one of the top 10
From Page 1 places for the success that we've
had in all of these aspects."
and make a difference. A press release Monday also
"Looking back over the last reported 108 new licenses,
six to ten years, there are a num- nine new startup ventures, 128
ber of successes," Nisbet said. U.S. patents and an increase in
"Start-ups have done extremely licensing revenues from $13.8
well ... I wouldn't point to one million to $14.4 million.
" "
Israeli legislators
visit West Bank

COUNCIL
From Page 1
monies, I'm still tryingto be care-
ful ... even though $55,000 is actu-
ally very small, this is going to
open up the door for a lot of other
safety projects."
Councilmember Mike Anglin
(D-Ward 5) echoed Kunselman's
concerns, claiming that the reso-
lution should be postponed due to
a lack of research into city areas
that truly need traffic calming.
Ann Arbor resident Zoltan
Jung argued in favor of the traf-
fic-calming resolution and noted
that his street is dangerous due to
speeding and lack of adherence to
traffic laws.
Sidewalk ordinance
The Council also listened to
and unanimously approved the
first reading of an ordinance to
change the definition of what is
considered a sidewalk.
The new definition would be

made to include "any concrete or
bituminous walkway" created for
the use of bicycles, pedestrians
or any "non-motorized" vehicle.
This would affect 33 of the 61
cross-lot walks, which are side-
walks or walkways between two
or more parcels of land.
Under the new definition, the
ordinance also states that the
maintenance of all sidewalks
outside of the Downtown Devel-
opment Authority's jurisdiction
would be the responsibility of the
owner of the adjacent properties.
However, owners of properties
that border the cross-lot walks
and already pay property taxes to
the city, are exempt from respon-
sibility.
This exemption came after the
ordinance was sent back for revi-
sion Monday night's meeting. For
the most part, this exempts the
majority of abutting property
owners from responsibility.
However, some property own-
ers will still be liable for main-
taining their cross-lot walks.
The ordinance included the

option for the city to enter into
an agreement with the DDA to
upkeep the sidewalks within the
DDA's territory through June
2017. Otherwise, the city could
treat these sidewalks as side-
walks outside the DDA territory
and make it the responsibility
of property owners, who are not
exempt, to upkeep the sidewalks.
Briere said one of the notewor-
thy changes regards winter dam-
age.
"This ordinance change
doesn't just refine the defini-
tion of sidewalks; it also accepts
those properties adjacent to
those sidewalks are not respon-
sible for (winter damage)," Briere
said. "Four houses divvying up
one sidewalk deciding who has
to (maintain it) would be a prob-
lem."
Renters - including students
- could see a hike in payment
equal to the cost of maintaining
these pathways if certain proper-
ty owners do become responsible
for maintaining these walkways
as a result of the legislation.


Delegation promotes
peace talks during
rare visitto region
RAMALLAH, West Bank
(AP) - A delegation of Israeli
lawmakers paid a rare visit
to the West Bank on Monday
to meet Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas and give an
emotional boost to fledgling
peace talks that have faced
deep skepticism on both sides.
Visiting the same compound
where Israeli troops once laid
siege on late Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat, the 10 Israeli
lawmakers pledged support for
the talks that resumed in July
after years of stalemate and
mutual suspicion.
They insisted they were not
in Ramallah in place of official
negotiations, whose content
has remained secret, but rather
to give them a "tailwind" of
support and stress the urgency
of their mission.
"We don't want to believe
that this is the last chance (for
peace) but it may be the last
chance," said Labor Party law-
maker Hilik Bar, who heads the
parliamentary caucus for the
resolution of the Arab-Israeli
conflict. "There is a clear major-
ity for peace among the Israeli
and Palestinian parliaments
and people. We are here to back
the leadership. It is ridiculous
that we won't make peace."
Bar said his caucus was the
largest in parliament with some
40 members across the politi-
cal spectrum. Its aim was to
bridge the "huge gap of under-
standing" between Israelis
and Palestinians and provide a
grassroots support network for
leaders to make peace.
But of the 10 lawmakers who
journeyed to Ramallah, nine
were from the opposition Labor
Party. The other came from
chief negotiator Tzipi Livni's
centrist Hatnuah Party. Several
from the ultra-Orthodox Shas
party withdrew following the
death of their spiritual leader,
Rabbi OvadiaYosef.
A previous delegation of Pal-
estinian lawmakers visited the
Israeli parliament in August, as

part of a similar outreach effort
from the other side.
While previous rounds of
peace talks, particularly in the
1990s, generated widespread
hope and optimism, the current
round has created little excite-
ment. After so many years of
failure and bouts of violence,
neither side seems to be opti-
mistic that the latest talks,
expected to last nine months,
will be successful.
The Palestinians seek the
West Bank, east Jerusalem and
Gaza Strip, territories captured
by Israel in 1967, for their state.
Israeli peace advocates say the
establishment of a Palestinian
state is the only way to preserve
Israel's character as a democra-
cy with a Jewish majority. The
alternative, they say, is a single
state in which Arabs, with their
higher birthrate, will one day
outnumber Jews.
"I think nine months are
enough to reach an agreement
because we have discussed the
issues in previous talks," Abbas
told his guests. "We don't want
blood. We want peace, not
blood."
The visit came days after
a 9-year-old Israeli girl was
shot by a Palestinian gunman
in the West Bank settlement
of Psagot, adjacent to Ramal-
lah. Bar said the attack spurred
some lawmakers to urge the
cancellation of the meeting.
But he said he resisted the calls,
saying that would only serve
the interests of extremists.
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has embraced the
idea of a Palestinian state, but
has also embraced tough posi-
tions in recent speeches.
In a speech Sunday, Netan-
yahu said there will never be
peace until Palestinians recog-
nize Israel as the homeland for
the Jews. The Palestinians have
rejected this demand, saying it
wouldundercutthe fate of refu-
gees who dream of returning to
lost properties in what is now
Israel.
Last week, Netanyahu made
just a passing reference to the
peace talks in a speech to the
U.N., devoting almost the entire
address to Iran's nuclear pro-
gram.

SACUA
From Page 1
Other possible changes could
include eligibility require-
ments, waiting periods for new
employees and contributions
based on years of service. Any
changes that are implemented
won't be in effect until 2015.

A faculty-led committee has
been formed to help reduce the
retirement plan's costs, according
to the memo. The committee will
include Economics. prof. Mat-
thew Shapiro chairs that com-
mittee.
According to the memo, the
University intends to save at least
$5 million a year in its general
fund, at least $8.5 million for the

University of Michigan Hospitals
and Health Centers and $8.7 mil-
lion in other non-general fund
sources. The committee's report
is expected to be complete at the
end of the year, and changes will
take place in 2015.
A University-wide online sur-
vey later this month will gauge
employee opinion on the pro-
posed changes.

BUSES mileage and lower emissions. buses, according to the release.
From Page 1 Since their 2012 introduction, When other buses are due for
the hybrid buses have already replacement, Parking and Trans-
led to a reduction of greenhouse portation Services will continue
40-foot roof-mounted battery gas emissions by 25 percent, the replacement of older vehicles
system that allows for better fuel compared to the diesel-powered with alternative energy buses.
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in cruise ship
scandal
A, crew member of the ship-
wrecked CostaConcordiatestified
Monday that the nautical charts
aboard the doomed ship were
perfectly adequate to navigate the
liner along its planned route, dis-
puting claims by the captain on
trial for the deaths of 32 people.
First Deck Officer Giovanni
Iaccarino was the first witness
called by the prosecution in the
case against Capt. Francesco
Schettino, who is accused of man-
slaughter, causing a shipwreck
and abandoning the ship before
everyone was off. He faces up to
20 years in prison if convicted.
Schettino is accused of tak-
ing the Concordia off its planned
route on Jan. 13.2012 and bringing
it closer to the island of Giglio for
so-called "tourist navigation" - a
publicity-generating maneuver to
give passengers a close-up view of
the Tuscan island.
After the grounding, the ship
listed, drifted and eventually cap-
sized off Giglio's port.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports

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