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Show Monday, Nov. 9, 2009 Page 2 World&Nation Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com ClarifyCorrect The policy of The Utah Statesman is to correct any error made as soon as possible. If you find something you would like clarified or find unfair, please contact the editor at statesmaneditor@aggiemail.usu.edu Celebs&People WILMINGTON, Ohio (AP) – Television cooking star Rachael Ray is boosting the local food supply for a struggling Ohio town. Ray brought a Wilmington soup kitchen new appliances, shelves and furniture. RaY Ray’s show also promised to supply food for the kitchen for the next year. The soup kitchen is getting as many customers in a day as it did in a week a year ago. NewsBriefs Competency in Smart case SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Defense attorneys for the man charged in the 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart say a psychiatrist’s report deeming him competent for trial is advocacy, not an objective evaluation of facts. In U.S. District Court filings released late Thursday, defense attorneys criticize Dr. Michael Welner, saying he relied only on data or evaluations that supported his own opinions. Welner, who was paid $400,000 by federal prosecutors, concluded Brian David Mitchell suffers from multiple mental disorders but is competent for trial. LateNiteHumor Monday, Nov. 2, 2009 – Top 10 Thoughts That Go Through Your Mind When Running The New York City Marathon. 10. ”Wow, Staten Island is even more beautiful that I imagined.” 9. ”Cool! MapQuest found a route that’s only five miles.” 8. ”Am I experiencing a runner’s high, or is it the bus fumes?” 7. ”Is that the finish line or crime scene tape?” 6. ”Why can I run 26 miles in less time than it takes to play a World Series game?” 5. ”Car!” 4. ”Cramp!” 3. ”Who’s that little boy waving at me? Oh, it’s Mayor Bloomberg.” 2. ”I forgot to bring exact change for the Verrazano Bridge!” 1. ”I really hope that was Gatorade.” House passes health care bill on close vote WASHINGTON (AP) – In a victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous. The 220-215 vote cleared the way for the Senate to begin a long-delayed debate on the issue that has come to overshadow all others in Congress. A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi likened the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later – and Obama issued a statement saying, “I look forward to signing it into law by the end of the year.” “It provides coverage for 96 percent of Americans. It offers everyone, regardless of health or income, the peace of mind that comes from knowing they will have access to affordable health care when they need it,” said Rep. John Dingell, the 83-year-old Michigan lawmaker who has introduced national health insurance in every Congress since succeeding his father in 1955. In the run-up to a final vote, conservatives from the two political parties joined forces to impose tough new restrictions on abortion coverage in insurance policies to be sold to many individuals and small groups. They prevailed on a roll call of 240-194. Ironically, that only solidified support for the legislation, clearing the way for conservative Democrats to vote for it. The legislation would require most Americans to carry insurance and provide federal subsidies to those who otherwise could not afford it. Large companies would have to offer coverage to their employees. Both consumers and companies would be slapped with penalties if they defied the government’s mandates. Insurance industry practices such as denying coverage on the basis of preexisting medical conditions would be banned, and insurers would no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender or medical history. In a further slap, the industry would lose its exemption from federal antitrust restrictions on price fixing and market allocation. At its core, the measure would create a federally regulated marketplace where consumers could shop for coverage. In the bill’s most controversial provision, the government would sell insurance, although the Congressional Budget Office forecasts that premiums for it would be more expensive than for policies sold by private firms. A cheer went up from the Democratic side of the House when the bill gained 218 votes, a majority. Moments later, Democrats counted down the final seconds of the voting period in unison, and let loose an even louder roar when Pelosi grabbed the gavel and declared, “the bill is passed.” The bill drew the votes of 219 Democrats and Rep. Joseph Cao, a first-term Republican who holds an overwhelmingly Democratic seat in New Orleans. Opposed were 176 Republicans and 39 Democrats. From the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada issued a statement saying, “We realize the strong will for reform that exists, and we are energized that we stand closer than ever to reforming our broken health insurance system.” In his written statement, Obama praised the House’s action and said, “now the United State Senate must follow suit and pass its version of the legislation. I am absolutely confident it will.” Nearly unanimous in their opposition, minority Republicans cataloged SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, center, is joined by (L-R) House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, Saturday, Nov. 7 in Washington after the passage in the house of the health care reform bill. at the U.S. Capitol, Saturday, Nov. 7 in Washington. AP photo their objections across hours of debate on the 1,990-page, $1.2 trillion legislation. United in opposition, minority Republicans cataloged their objections across hours of debate on the 1,990-page, $1.2 trillion legislation. “We are going to have a complete government takeover of our health care system faster than you can say, ‘this is making me sick,’” jabbed Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., adding that Democrats were intent on passing “a jobs-killing, tax-hiking, deficit-exploding” bill. But with little doubt about the outcome, the rhetoric lacked the fire of last summer’s town hall meetings, when some critics accused Democrats of plotting “death panels” to hasten the demise of senior citizens. Utah girl’s pierced nose: US-Indian culture clash SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – To 12-year-old Suzannah Pabla, piercing her nose was a way to connect with her roots in India. To Suzannah’s school, it was a dress-code violation worthy of a suspension. To other Indians, the incident was emblematic of how it can still be difficult for the American melting pot to absorb certain aspects of their cultural and religious traditions. Suzannah was briefly suspended last month from her public school in Bountiful, Utah, for violating a body-piercing ban. School officials – who noted that nose piercing is an Indian cultural choice, not a religious requirement – compromised and said she could wear a clear, unobtrusive stud in her nose, and Suzannah returned to her seventh-grade class. “I wanted to feel more closer to my family in India because I really love my family,” said Suzannah, who was born in Bountiful. Her father was born in India as a member of the Sikh religion. “I just thought it would be OK to let her embrace her heritage and her culture,” said Suzannah’s mother, Shirley Pabla, a Mormon born in nearby Salt Lake City. “I didn’t know it would be such a big deal.” It shouldn’t have been, said Suzannah’s father, Amardeep Singh, a Sikh who was raised in the United States and works as an English professor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. “It’s true that the nose ring is mainly a cultural thing for most Indians,” Singh said. “Even if it is just culture, culture matters. And her right to express or explore it seems to me at least as important as her right to express her religious identity.” Singh said people frequently ask him why he wears a turban. “Sometimes it can be a burden to explain that,” he said. “Most people presume I’m an immigrant, a foreigner,” he continued. “As a child of immigrants, you often don’t feel fully American. The presumption is that you are somehow foreign to a core American identity. You always feel a little bit of an outsider, even in your own country.” About 2.6 million people of Indian ancestry live in the United States, including immigrants and natives, according to a 2007 U.S. Census estimate. The Indian population increased rapidly after a 1965 change to immigration law, which ended preferences given to specific European nations. Sandhya Nankani, who moved to the United States from India at age 12, said religion and culture in India are tightly intertwined, but their expression varies widely in different regions of that country, “so you can’t make a blanket statement about what Indian culture is, or religion or tradition.” Each morning, after Nankani bathes her 2-monthold daughter, she makes a small ash mark called the “vibhuti” on the baby’s forehead, which for her signifies the “third eye” in her Hindu religion. “Sometimes people ask what is on her forehead,” said Nankani, a writer and editor who lives in Manhattan. “I will probably not send her with the vibuthi to the playground soon. I don’t want her to be the center of attention in a way that makes her feel like she doesn’t belong.” Like Singh, Nankani is frequently asked questions about her culture and religion – are Hindus really polytheistic? (Yes, but all the Hindu gods are really one.) Does she eat meat? (No.) Does she celebrate Thanksgiving? (Yes – she’s an American citizen.) “I’ve been to multiple dinners where the entire two hours is us being asked all these questions,” she said. “It can get difficult ... it does feel like a load sometimes.” But Abhi Tripathi, an aerospace engineer in Houston and co-founder of the Indian blog www. sepiamutiny.com, said he gets fewer questions than he used to. “I feel like the general level of knowledge of Indian culture has started to gradually rise,” said Tripathi, who was born in California to Indian immigrants. Schandra Singh, an artist born in New York to an Indian father and Austrian mother, says her experiences are in some ways unusual because she does not appear to be Indian. Sometimes when she walks unnoticed past an Indian family on the street, she thinks they would acknowledge her if her features looked different. “It’s weird, because it’s sort of like living in a shell,” Singh said. But differences – like Savannah’s pierced nose – are part of what make the world interesting, she said. “Are we all trying to look alike? Is that what makes a better student, a better school?” Singh asked. “Or a better country?” “Those young people who invest in their ethnic backgrounds,” she said, “seem to actually do more with their lives than less.” 65¢ per Day! 65¢ per Day! 65¢ per Day! & Half Change yourPrice Body,Enrollment! Change Your Life! Limited Time Offer! Change your Body, Change Your Life! 880 South Main 753-4653 |