The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 3A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
PELLSTON, Mich.
Snowfall increases,
temperatures set to
drop below zero
Another round of frigid air is
making its way into Michigan,
with temperatures expected to
drop to double-digits below zero
in parts of the Lower Peninsula
and up to a foot of snow forecast
for some lakeshore areas.
The National Weather Service
has issued a hazardous weather
warning for much of Michigan,
predicting brisk winds and tem-
peratures as low as minus 11 in
the central Lower Peninsula early
Tuesday.
Ahead of the cold front, tem-
peratures reached the mid-30s
Monday afternoon in parts of
southern Michigan. Kalamazoo
and Lambertville reported 36
degrees at 1 p.m.
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
Legislators push to
regulate chemical
storage facilities
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray
Tomblin and U.S. Sen. Joe Man-
chin on Monday proposed tighter
regulations for chemical storage
facilities after a spill contaminat-
ed the water supply for 300,000
people.
Tomblin, the Democratic gov-
ernor, urged passage of a chemical
storage regulatory program. The
bill aims to address shortcomings
that allowed 7,500 gallons of coal-
cleaning chemicals to seep into
the Elk River on Jan. 9. Freedom
Industries, whichowned the plant
that leaked the chemicals, filed for
Chapter 11bankruptcy Friday.
Freedom Industries' safety
flaws, including a last-resort con-
tainment wall filled with cracks,
went largely undetected, because
as a facility that neither manu-
factured chemicals, produced
emissions, or stored chemicals
underground, it was not subject to
environmental regulations, state
Department of Environmental
Protection officials have said. The
chemical that spilled also wasn't
deemed hazardous enough for
additional regulation.
WASHINGTON
As states legalize,
Obama says pot is
better than alcohol
President Barack Obama said
he doesn't think marijuana is
more dangerous than alcohol,
"in terms of its impact on the
individual consumer."
"As has been well document-
ed, I smoked pot as a kid, and I
view it as a bad habit and a vice,
not very different from the ciga-
rettes that I smoked as a young
person up through a big chunk
of my adult life. I don't think it
is more dangerous than alcohol,"
the president said an interview
with "The New Yorker" maga-
zine.
TEHRAN, Iran
U. S., Europe to lift
sanctions on Iran
in nuclear deal
Iran unplugged banks of cen-
trifuges involved in its most sen-
sitive uranium enrichment work
on Monday, prompting the Unit-
ed States and European Union to
partially lift economic sanctions
as a landmark deal aimed at eas-
ing concerns over Iran's nuclear
program went into effect.
The mutual actions - curb-
ing atomic work in exchange for
some sanctions relief - start a
six-month clock for Tehran and
the world powers to negotiate
a final accord that the Obama
administration and its Europe-
an allies say will be intended to
ensure Iran cannot build a nucle-
ar weapon.
In the meantime, the interim
deal puts limits on Iran's program
- though it continues low levels
of uranium enrichment. Tehran
denies its nuclear program is
intended to produce a bomb.
-Compiled from
Daily wire reports
Orchestra features
science community
University alum Zafar Razzacki, a keynote speaker at the 12th annual South Asian Awareness Network Conference,
addressed 144 participants of the SAAN conference this weekend.
Conference explores the
gravi tyof social justice
An
la
c
w
Be
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Awar
annm
ence,
Capt
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gan L
Bu
Ahuj,
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encoi
the f
chan
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or d
"The
by et
nual event drew graphical location, ability and
so on. Our culture shapes the
rgest crowd in choices we make along with
the way, and how we perceive
AAN history the world and each other."
Ahuja added that he would
rth 440 people consider this year's confer-
ence "the best yet."
By ANNA GRAFF Guest speakers and enter-
Daily StaffReporter tainers for this year's con-
ference included Sedika
ginning Friday and con- Mojadidi, an Afghan-Ameri-
ng through Saturday can documentary filmmaker;
ing, the South Asian Bilal Qureshi, a multimedia
eness Network held its journalist and reporter for
al social justice confer- National Public Radio's "All
entitled "Panorama: Things Considered"; Gautam
uring change through the Raghavan, an adviser in The
of culture" at The Michi- White House Office of Public
League. Engagement and Hasan Min-
siness senior Gaurav haj, a comedian, actor, host
a, co-conference chair, and writer based in Los Ange-
the conference's theme les. Speakers participated in
mpassed taking one of facilitating two keynote pre-
irst steps towards social sentations and three work-
ge and understanding shops on their specific fields
rent communities' cul- throughout the course of the
weekend.
ulture has no one set type LSA sophomore Nayeem
lefinition," Ahuja said. Huq, who attended the event,
re are cultures defined said she was inspired by the
hnicity, race, gender, geo- host of speakers and lecturers.
"This year's conference has
been the best by far," Huq said.
"It's always an inspiration
to hear the shared stories of
how speakers have impacted
cultural perspectives within
their communities."
In addition to 12 speakers,
Panorama had a staff of 22
members in charge of plan-
ning the event, 34 facilitators,
17 flex members, four social
justice team members and
nearly 50 mentors and men-
tees. Conference attendance
this year - a reported 440
attendees - was nearly double
that of the previous record of
250.
Business senior Yash Bhuta-
da, co-conference chair, said
the organization has focused
on growing over the past year,
garnering its largest recorded
conference attendance.
"We continue to be excit-
ed by everything the orga-
nization the stands for,"
Bhutada said. "This year
we focused a lot on visible
growth and have had the larg-
est SAAN Conference ever."
Musicians range
from students to
professionals
By NEALA BERKOWSKI
For the Daily
On a blustery Sunday after-
noon, more than300 students and
faculty attended the free, semi-
annual Life Sciences Orchestra
concert in Hill Auditorium.
LSO is one of the organizations
included in the University's Gifts
of Art program, which brings a
host of art and music programs
to the University of Michigan
Health System, according to
Elaine Sims, the director of the
University's Gifts of Art.
Representing the science and
medical communities at the Uni-
versity, the 71 members of the
group range from undergraduate
students to professors and doc-
tors in the medical field.
The orchestra serves as an out-
let for the high-stress jobs and
intense studies of its members,
said LSO co-founder Kara Gavin,
who is also lead public relations
representative for the University
Health System. She also plays the
French horn and is a member of
the Executive Committee of the
LSO.
David Brown, associate pro-
fessor of otolaryngology and a
founding member of the LSO,
echoed Gavin's sentiments.
"It is a creative outlet for the
people playing in it, but it's also
an opportunity for others to hear
a performance by their friends,
family members and their col-
leagues, and to showcase their
talents," Brown said.
With a theme based on water,
the concert included perfor-
mances of Felix Mendelssohn's
"Calm Sea and Prosperous Voy-
age" Op. 27, Johannes Brahms'
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op.
73 and Claude Debussy's "La
Mer," all performed under Music
Director Adrian Slywotzky.
"I looked at the recent of his-
tory of the LSO and tried to
explore more composers that the
orchestra hadn't played in the
past few years so that the players
could have a little bit of variety,"
Slywotzky said. "Since we have
a long season ... it's important
to find music that will keep us
engaged for that many hours."
In a lecture before the concert,
Slywotzky presented historical
information about the music and
composers that were featured in
the concert. He also prompted
the audience to listen for various
aspects of the compositions.
Gifts of Art is notfundedbythe
University, and therefore relies
on donations from its members
and friends and family.
For the first time in the con-
cert's 14-year history, an indi-
vidual donation underwrote
the performance. The donation
came from Lester Monts, senior
vice provost for academic affairs
and professor of musicology.
Monts announced earlier this
year that he will step down from
his administrative position after
holding it for 20 years. He will
shift his focus to his faculty posi-
tion and research starting in July.
"For me, I'm always a little
nervous until the second piece
but I thought it (the concert) was
lovely," Sims said. "Every year it
gets better."
In preparation for the concert,
the LSO practiced almost every
Sunday beginning in September.
The group will continue practic-
ing for their next free and public
concert on April 27.
Brown said LSO formed when
he decided to expand his "doc-
tor's quintet" into something
larger so that others could also
contribute.
"I met with Elaine Sims and
Kara Gavin and a few others in
August of 2000," he said. "We
scurried and had auditions (for
the LSO) that September and
that's when the orchestra start-
ed."
In the beginning, the orches-
tra was going to be for leisurely
activity, to get together and play
music, according to Surgery Prof.
Robert Bartlett, a founding mem-
ber of the group.
"After the first couple of weeks
we said, 'Alright, we have to play
at some point,"' he said.
All LSO members and aspiring
members have to audition yearly
for a chance to perform with the
group. The process involves play-
ing an intricate piece of music for
the music director and one mem-
ber of the executive committee.
"There is that strange connec-
tion between medicine, music
and science, and so there are just
so many people who are ... just
thrilled to be able to have music
back in their lives because of the
LSO," Sims said.
LSA sophomore D'Arcy Cook
said she has been playing with
the LSO since she auditioned her
freshman year.
"When I was in high school
my French horn teacher helped
me explore possible ways to
keep playing French horn even
though I didn't want to be a
music major," Cook said. "There
was campus orchestra and
everything but one of the orches-
tras that's good for the science
people is LSO, so that was one
of the three or so orchestras that
was an option for me."
Islamic milants threaten
Sochi Winter Olympic games
Russia has deployed
100,000 police,
soldiers and other
forces for security
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's
counter-terrorism agency says
it's studying a video posted by
an Islamic militant group that
asserted responsibility for
suicide bombings that killed
34 people last month and is
threatening to strike the Win-
ter Olympics in Sochi.
Security experts say the
Russians are right in taking
the threat seriously.
The video was posted online
Sunday by a militant group in
Dagestan, a predominantly
Muslim republic in Russia's
volatile North Caucasus. The
Olympic host city of Sochi
lies only 500 kilometers (300
miles) west of Dagestan.
Two Russian-speaking men
featured in the video are iden-
tified as members of Ansar al-
Sunna, the name of a Jihadist
group operating in Iraq. It was
unclear whether the men in
the video had received fund-
ingor training from that group
or only adopted its name.
There was no confirmation
the two men were the sui-
cide bombers who struck the
southern Russian city of Vol-
gograd last month as the video
claims. Scores of people were
also injured by the bombings
of a train station and a bus.
Russia's National Anti-Ter-
rorism Committee said Mon-
day it was studying the video
and would have no immediate
comment. The video couldn't
be viewed in Russia, where
Internet providers cut access
to it under a law that bans the
"dissemination of extremist
materials."
In Washington, a Penta-
gon spokesman Monday said
the U.S. has offered support
to the Russian government as
it conducts security prepara-
tions for the Winter Olympics.
Rear Adm. John Kirby said the
U.S. will offer air and naval
support, including two Navy
ships in the Black Sea, to be
available if requested "for all
manner of contingencies," in
consultation with the Russian
government.
The video was released by
the Vilayat Dagestan, one of
the units that make up the so-
called Caucasus Emirate, an
umbrella group for the rebels
seeking to establish an inde-
pendent Islamic state in the
North Caucasus.
Doku Umarov, a Chechen
warlord wholeadsthe Emirate,
had ordered a halt to attacks
on civilian targets in 2012. But
he rescinded that order in July,
urging his followers to strike
the Sochi Olympics, which he
denounced as "satanic dances
on the bones of our ancestors."
The games run from Feb. 7-23.
The Kremlin-backed leader
of Chechnya claimed last week
that Umarov was dead, but the
claim couldn't be verified. The
Vilayat Dagestan statement
said the Volgograd attacks
were carried out in part
because of Umarov's order, but
it didn't specifically say he had
ordered them.
Dagestan has become the
center of an Islamic insur-
gency that has engulfed Rus-
sia's North Caucasus after two
separatist wars in Chechnya.
Militants seeking to create an
independent state governed
by Islamic Shariah law in the
Caucasus launch daily attacks
on police and other authorities
there. One of the two ethnic
Chechen brothers accused of
staging the Boston Marathon
bombings spent six months in
Dagestan in 2012.
Andrei Soldatov, an inde-
pendent Moscow-based secu-
rity analyst, said the video
threat need to be taken seri-
ously.
"They have capabilities to
strike beyond the North Cau-
casus, which they demonstrat-
ed in Volgograd," he said. "It's
extremely difficult to stop a
'lone wolf' suicide bombing
attack."
Georgy Mirsky, a respected
Russian expert on the Middle
East, said the video reflected
the increasingly close ties
between Jihadists in the Cau-
casus and elsewhere. Russia's
war against Caucasus mili-
tants has made it an enemy
on par with the United States
and Israel for militant Islamic
groups in the Middle East, he
wrote on his blog.
Russia has responded to the
Islamic threat by introducing
some of the most sweeping
security measures ever seen at
an international sports event.
Some 100,000 police, army
and other security forces have
been deployed, according to
analysts, and tight restrictions
have been placed on access to
the Sochi area.
Anyone attending the Win-
ter Olympics has to buy a tick-
et online from the organizers
and obtain a spectator pass
that requires providing pass-
port details.
Authorities have already
barred access to all cars reg-
istered outside of Sochi and
Russian police have gone
house-to-house methodically
screening all city residents.
Soldatov argued, however,
that Russia's massive secu-
rity presence at the Olympics
could also have an adverse
effect.
"When you put so many
troops on the ground, you
might get some problems with
the coordination of all these
people," he said.
Soldatov noted that the omi-
nous threat of a "present" for
the visitors to the Games con-
tained in the video is loosely
phrased and could herald an
attack outside tightly guarded
Olympic facilities.
"They never tried to specify
the place where they might
strike, that's why everybody
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
Want to be a part of a new and exciting
project? MiC is a designated space for
and by the University's students of color,
where they can voice their opinions and
share perspectives and experiences that
may be overshadowed by dominant
narratives on campus. We're looking
to build a team of passionate, creative
contributors to share their stories and
thoughts.
If interested, please e-mail
michiganincolor@umich.edu
to request an application!
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peacecorps.gov/openings
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Campus Office:734.647.2182 or peace.corps@umich.edu
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