Daily Helmsman
The
Thursday, March 3, 2011
East Carolina Loots Memphis
Vol. 78 No. 089
Independent Student Newspaper of The University of Memphis
Harvard University economics professor Ed Glaeser will speak this morning at The University of Memphis Holiday Inn. Glaeser is the keynote speaker at local nonprofit Leadership Memphis’ annual community leadership luncheon, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. today. Glaeser will share his ideas on urban development as detailed in his new book “Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener and Happier.” Leadership Memphis marketing coordinator Ken Hall said Glaeser’s premise is to “strive for density in more urban areas.” “When people move to areas like Germantown and Cordova, there is less interaction going on,” he said. “Cities tend to attract smart people, so many smart people interacting in one place creates a lot of synergy amongst one another.” Hall added that a city’s ideal economy is based on the people’s interactions and relationships with one another. Glaeser, the Fred & Eleanor Glimp professor of cconomics at Harvard, has been hailed as a national authority on urban development. Tickets are no longer available for the luncheon.
— by Melissa Wray, News Reporter
Student Profile
Zeenan Pathan, president of the Muslim Student Association at The University of Memphis, said people are afraid of Sharia law because they don’t know what it means. “It’s basically the system of law and regulations that Muslims believe God sent down to us so that we can live our life,” the sophomore psychology major said. “It has rules and particular guidelines for life.” Pathan said the extrem-
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ist portions of Sharia Law are not practiced by most Muslims in the United States. “It’s not something an individual can undertake. It has to be done in an Islamic State. It’s a community system,” he said. “(Muslims) don’t want that. We’ve been given a l l these freedoms here in America. Why would we do that? It makes no sense.” Muslims in this country generally do not consider MCT Sharia the supreme law of
see
Sharia, page 7
rock and roll all night and part of every day BY CHRIS DANIELS News Reporter
ils
on
Zohayr Shirazee, lead guitar player for hardcore punk rock band Adaje, will wield his Gibson SG on Saturday at the Abbey.
W
Harvard econ prof speaks at U of M
Proposed legislation in the Tennessee legislature would outlaw practicing portions of the Islamic religion, called Sharia law. State senator Bill Ketron and state representative Judd Matheny introduced the bill in the Senate and House, respectively, of the Tennessee General Assembly. The legislation would allow for the peaceful practice of the religion but would make supporting Sharia law a felony punishable by fines, up to 15 years in jail, or both. The bill claims Sharia law requires its followers to support the overthrowing of state and U.S. governments. “The knowing adherence to Sharia and to foreign Sharia authorities constitutes a conspiracy to further the legal, political and military doctrine and system which embraces the law of jihad,” the bill reads.
n
— by Hannah C. Owenga, News Reporter
BY ERICA HORTON News Reporter
Br ia
University of Memphis Student Health Services and Planned Parenthood of Greater Memphis will provide free oral HIV screenings today in Brister Hall from noon to 3 p.m. Joan Carr, director of community affairs at Greater Memphis Planned Parenthood, said HIV testing is extremely important. “We know of many, many people in the Memphis area who are HIV positive who live normal, healthy lives because they are on viral suppressive treatments that keep the HIV virus in check,” Carr said. “The sooner HIV-positive individuals begin treatment, the better their chances are for living a long life and healthy life.” Several employees and volunteers from Planned Parenthood will be on hand to help with the day’s services. Tests will be performed orally, using the OraQuick rapid HIV antibody test, and students will receive their results after 20 minutes. Those tested will receive counseling about practicing safer sex, and educational pamphlets about HIV and other STDs will also be available, Carr said. “We want everyone to know their HIV status so they can better protect themselves and their partners,” she said.
see page 8
State legislators seek ban on certain Islamic practices, laws
by
News Briefs Planned Parenthood to administer free oral HIV screenings
Pirates send Tigers down the plank in lackluster 68-57 C-USA road finale
University of Memphis sophomore Zohayr Shirazee said he doesn’t consider himself musically inclined, even though he’s the front man of a local band that has released five albums. “It’s been primarily guitar, but I’ve messed around on piano,” he said of his musical endeavors. “Yeah, I’m an axe-man.”
Shirazee is a member of the three-piece hardcore punk rock band Adaje, which will play at the Abbey at 6 p.m. Saturday. Shirazee began playing guitar eight years ago with his younger brother Sameer, Adaje’s drummer. The two siblings started their band four years ago and said their sound has a complex background and is constantly evolving. Shirazee, whose heritage is Indian and Pakistani, said he lis-
tened to Indian techno while he was a kid, but as he got older, he went through different musical phases. Around age 12, he said he listened to alternative rock bands like Breaking Benjamin and Saliva and then discovered pop-punk bands such as Blink182 and New Found Glory. “I had a little pop-punk band for a while called ‘Commercial Free’ — those were some good days,” he said. “We got complaints left and right from neighbors ‘cause we were playing in the garage.” He said the influence for the creation of Adaje came from progressive punk band the Fall of Troy. “They just proceeded to blow my mind,” he said. “They put on a great show. The amount of talent that band has still surprises me.” U of M junior sports and exercise science major Wesley Williams was Adaje’s first bass player but left the band after he became too busy with school and work to focus on the band. “The sound that we made was a unique sound and something that most people weren’t going after,” he said. “(Adaje) had a more fuel-full, grungy, powerful, fast feel.” Shirazee said that while the band’s second bass player was on board, they
see
Rock, page 5
2 • Thursday, March 3, 2011
The
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1. Raines dispels candidacy speculation by John Martin
2. Miss Tennessee could be at U of M
by Chris Daniels
3. Author explains nuts and bolts of DNA 4. Dearth of devotion
by John Martin
DOMINO’S PIZZA Across 1 Orates 7 Hourly wage, e.g. 15 Refuses to 16 Astronomy measurements 17 Engrave 18 Sea cows 19 Brief needlework? 20 Megan’s “Will & Grace” role 21 Label for some Glenn Frey hits 22 Physicist with a law 23 Acting teacher Hagen 25 “It __ far, far better thing ...”: Dickens 26 Wages 27 Get 28 Noodles, say 30 The Simpsons, e.g. 32 Wedding dance 34 Fabled mattress lump 35 Mal de __ 36 One of six in this puzzle 42 Some tech sch. grads 43 Top ten item 44 Sign 45 Pricey 48 Pole symbol 50 Wall St. exec’s degree 51 Collar 52 “Aladdin” monkey 54 Frat letter 55 Food scrap 56 Geneva-based workers’ gp. 57 Babe and Baby 59 Gijón goose egg 61 Orchard grower 63 An iamb’s second half gets it 65 Noteworthy 66 Mount McKinley’s home 67 Relax 68 Word with health or illness Down 1 __-fi 2 Temple of the gods 3 Being filmed
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4 Platoon, for one 5 Anybody’s guess 6 Chateau __ Michelle winery 7 The Tide 8 Hank who voices many 30-Across 9 Cosecant reciprocals 10 Arises 11 Groove 12 At the original speed, in music 13 Jail, in slang 14 Tests that are hard to guess on 20 Deejay Casey 22 Dept. of Labor agency 24 Spanish appetizers 29 Speed: Pref. 31 Meeting time qualifier 33 One-time Time critic James 35 Sacred choral piece
37 Comeback 38 Solemn acts 39 Bold 40 Big 12 school soon to be in the Big Ten 41 No-see-um, say 45 Hard-to-see shooter 46 “Thy Neighbor’s Wife” author 47 WWII torpedo launchers 48 Some learners 49 It’s beneath the crust 53 Siam neighbor 58 Actress Lamarr 60 Sweater style named for Irish islands 62 Like some mil. officers 63 Yosemite __ 64 ESPN reporter Paolantonio
S u d o k u
Complete the grid so that each row, column and 3—by—3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.
Solutions on page 8
The University of Memphis
Thursday, March 3, 2011 • 3
Faculty Profile
BY CHRIS DANIELS News Reporter Love, hate, anger and laughter — those are just four words in the English language that would have no meaning without lexicographers. James Blythe, a history professor at The University of Memphis, worked part time as a lexicographer, someone who authors or edits dictionaries, during his graduate years at Cornell University in the early ‘80s. “The reason I applied for the job was because I’m interested in words, and it sounded like an interesting job to do,” he said. Working for a company called Wordsmyth, he helped create a new college-sized dictionary that would be used by the international company Brother in one of its word processing machines. Ten writers and five editors worked together for four years to compile that dictionary. “For some reason, they thought it was cheaper to write a new dictionary than license an existing one,” Blythe said. “So it wasn’t a huge dictionary, but it was a substantial one.” Blythe said lexicographers generally have mathematical minds and can think logically and analytically, breaking down
subjects into their fundamental came to work. the word meant. components. Although Blythe said he put “The person with the diction“Some people are more intui- a lot of time and hard work ary writes down the real (definitive thinkers, and that’s not very into each word, his definitions tion) and collects all of them and good for writing dictionaries,” were often refined during the reads them off,” he said. “And he said. “You have to really think editorial process and sometimes you get one point if you vote about the word and think about never saw print. for the right definition, and you all the ways it’s been used and When asked what his favorite get one point if anyone votes for try to divide yours.” those into reaJohn Bensko, sonable catEnglish proecause of the nature of the egories for the fessor at The kind of thinking lexicography definitions.” U of M, said Words that his knowledge takes, I have a feeling a lot of sounded more of lexicograi n t e r e s t i n g companies are looking for a cer- phy pertains and “weirder” to tain type of person rather than a Johnson,Samuel words were who actually easier created one of particular qualification.” for Blythe to the first English — James Blythe define, but he dictionaries. History professor said one of his Bensko said formajor issues mulating a dicwas trying to figure out words word was, Blythe stopped and tionary an important step for all that have several meanings. thought for a moment. languages and a historical mark“The harder words to do are “A favorite word of all words,” ing point for any culture. the more common ones because he said, pausing. “I don’t know “Dictionaries capture a core they have many different sens- if this is really my favorite word, sense of what a language is,” es,” he said. “A word like ‘run’ but it’s a nice word and it sounds he said. could mean to move your legs good — ‘crepuscular.’ It means From a writer’s standpoint, fast, or it could mean to take a lot pertaining to twilight.” Bensko said, the Oxford English of tricks in a card game. It could Before his lexicography expe- Dictionary helps its users dismean you operate something.” rience, Blythe spent time play- cover the origin of a word and Blythe said he and his cowork- ing a “dictionary game” with allows readers and writers alike ers underwent intense training his friends. Players took turns see how a word has change over on how to write definitions for picking unfamiliar words out time, which he believes “gives a dictionary and were assigned of a dictionary, then all would you a deeper sense of the word.” words to define each day they write out what they imagined Bensko, who described him-
“B
Wednesday, 3/16
Wednesday Night Live: Music of Timbre 8 p.m. • UC River Room
self as a poet, said poetry relies heavily on the connotations of words. A word’s connotation provides an understanding about the cultural connection of the word, whereas denotation gives a literal meaning. Earl Ingram, junior English major, said he had never heard of lexicography or considered the people behind the words in a dictionary. When he learned about the job lexicographers perform, he said had a new appreciation for them. Ingram said he uses a dictionary fairly often, and while he’s writing, he keeps the website dictionary.com open, frequently looking up word meanings, but lexicography isn’t the field for him. “I mean, that is a lot of reading to do — with absolutely zero plot,” he said. Blythe said lexicographers typically require advanced degrees in humanities or linguistics, but he thinks talent is the most essential factor in lexicography. “Because of the nature of the kind of thinking it takes, I have a feeling a lot of companies are looking for a certain type of person rather than a particular qualification,” he said. “You do really have to be a unique kind of person.”
Coming Up
Friday, 3/18 Friday Film Series 7 p.m. UC Theatre
4 • Thursday, March 3, 2011
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Shenanigans
BY REBEKAH MONSON Sun Sentinel It’s not easy being Green Mann. The uniform — a head-to-toe, form-fitting green spandex bodysuit — exposes every nook and cranny of one’s physique. It takes hours to choreograph the routines, learn dance moves and execute flips. And every now and then, someone still doesn’t get the joke. “Yeah, I’ve had a beer or two thrown on me, but I’ve also had a few pretty girls kiss me on the cheek when I’m in the suit,” said Michael Buonaiuto, a 20-year-old Florida Atlantic University student whose green-suited, dancing character is a campus sensation, said. “I’m basically an unofficial mascot of FAU.” In less than six months, Buonaiuto’s Green Mann has earned more than 4,000 Facebook friends, more than 3,000 YouTube views and countless high-fives and smiles from his classmates. One fan even made T-shirts: “Long Live Green Mann.” “I think he’s awesome,” said Shannon Ouellette, a 19-year-old FAU student who danced with Green Mann Wednesday afternoon in FAU’s campus breezeway,
said.”He’s friends with everyone. It’s like the one commonality on campus.” Buonaiuto got the idea for Green Mann from a friend at the University of Central Florida, who saw the suit on the cable comedy show “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.” “He had the idea that we should all get different-colored suits and run around causing malarkey, tomfoolery and chicanery on campus,” Buonaiuto said. “So when I came back to Boca, I decided to do it at FAU. It was kind of an experiment to see how many friends I could make without talking.” A few of Green Mann’s stunts have run afoul of campus police, said Keith Totten, FAU deputy police chief, said. He was caught dancing in a restricted electrical tunnel and interrupting a class, and was referred to the dean of students, Totten said. “Since he’s had his meeting with the dean of students, everything has been fine, though,” Totten said. “He does have quite a following, and we don’t want to take that away from him.” Privacy laws protect student records, but Green Mann has been
a mostly positive force on campus, Dean of Students Corey King said. “He adds a very positive synergy to our campus environment and our students,” King said. “The students love him, and he promotes positive activity and positive involvement.” In November, the campus radio station and hundreds of students showed up for Green Mann’s unveiling ceremony, in which Buonaiuto stripped away multiple colored suits, landed a well-timed “That’s what she said” joke and announced that Green Mann was going regional. Buonaiuto is performing weekly in Florida at Hillsboro Pier in Deerfield Beach, Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach and Mizner Park in Boca Raton, posing for photos with tourists, passing out business cards and trying to catch the eyes of business owners. “My dad told me, ‘Hey, Mike, I’m 50 years old answering phones. I don’t want you doing this for the rest of your life,’” Buonaiuto said. “I love being Green Mann, and my dream would be to do this and get paid for it.” But a few fans questioned whether using Green Mann as an advertising vehicle meant that
MCT
Spandex suit, dance moves launch Green Mann to campus celebrity
Florida Atlantic University student Michael Buonaiuto, also known as Green Mann, dances with fellow students Shannon Ouellette, left, and Blaze Powers, at the school. their beloved campus celebrity was selling out. “Selling out has a very pejorative connotation. Green Mann has so much potential that I think it would behoove me to try to make it as a business,” he said. “It’s not selling out. It’s just taking the next step.”
And, if the business idea doesn’t take off? “I enjoy being Green Mann, and I would do it every day if I could. If it doesn’t pan out, I’ll still be trying to find ways to make people smile and have fun at FAU,” he said. “I fit in the suit, and the suit fits my personality.”
The Writing On The Wall Project
BRICK PAINTING SESSIONS Come Paint Bricks to Contribute to the Writing On The Wall Project
MASS BRICK PAINTING
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March 21 - 23 • 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Rose Theatre Lobby
March 14 - 29 UC Operating Hours
Sign up in UC 210 or UC 211 for a time slot, starting March 1
UC 227A, inside the Involvement Zone
(When your organization signs up for a time slot, SAC needs to know how many people will be painting cinder blockers so enough supplies will be made ready.)
Just Stop By! (For individuals or small groups)
The University of Memphis
Thursday, March 3, 2011 • 5
Entertainment
Rock
Sheen ‘insane,’ threatened violence, estranged wife says in restraining order
The public unraveling of Charlie Sheen, having run through seemingly every other forum in Los Angeles, has rolled into Superior Court. A judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday, stripping the troubled — a term that appears increasingly inadequate — television star of contact with his two youngest children and barring him from coming within 100 yards of his estranged wife. The action by Judge Hank Goldberg came after Sheen’s estranged wife, Brooke Mueller, filed a declaration chock-full of accusations against Sheen that might have dropped jaws a month ago but now seemed merely a confirmation of the bizarre and menacing personality on display in his nonstop media appearances. “I am very concerned that (Sheen) is currently insane,” Mueller wrote in the declaration, which included numerous claims of criminal conduct such as allegations the actor discussed using child-support money to “knock off” enemies and that he threatened to stab her in the eye with a pen knife. Los Angeles police said they
were not investigating the accusations and considered the matter one for family court. Police were summoned Tuesday night to Sheen’s home when his twin toddler sons were handed over to Mueller. A hearing is set for March 22. Lawyers for Mueller and Sheen did not immediately return calls for comment. Sheen told reporters at an impromptu predawn news conference outside his home Wednesday that the restraining order “came out of the bleachers” and addressed his 2-year-old sons, Bob and Max, saying, “You are in my heart and I love you.” Among Mueller’s allegations about Sheen: He threatened to kill her repeatedly, including Sunday night when he told her, “I will cut your head off, put it in a box and send it to your mom!” Called his manager, Mark Berg, a “stoopid jew pig” and talked about killing him. Told airplane passengers during a recent trip to the Bahamas that he hated actress Denise Richards, his former wife, and was going to have her head shaved. Told Mueller during a rant in the Bahamas, “I’m untouchable! I’m Charlie Sheen! I’m more
The West Memphis 3 Cold-blooded murderers or innocent young men?
Hear the facts & you decide! A panel discussion featuring Mara Leveritt, author of Devil’s Knot, a book about the case, and Lorrie Davis, wife of incarcerated Damien Echols
Thursday, March 24 7 p.m. • UC Theatre Sponsored by U of M Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists, and Student Event Allocation
famous than Obama!” Mueller and Sheen separated after a domestic violence incident in Aspen, Colo., in 2009, but she and their children moved back into the actor’s home a few months ago, a decision Mueller described as “a big mistake” in her declaration. According to the filing, Sheen
shares the home with a porn star and a girlfriend. “I made a big mistake,” wrote Mueller, who like Sheen has struggled with addiction. She acknowledged she “fell off the wagon” last week “in conjunction with (Sheen’s) girlfriend.” She said she was too afraid to return to her Los Angeles home.
MCT
BY RICHARD WINTON Los Angeles Times
from page 1 wrote faster, more technical songs and developed their progressive punk sound. Adaje’s current bassist is Mark Brake, and the band’s new material is “straight punk rock,” influenced by underground ‘90s music. “It’s just the way it’s gone,” Shirazee said. “We didn’t wake up one day and (say), ‘Oh well, let’s just play punk’ — it’s just the way it happened. We’ve always written music with complete honesty in regard to how we are.” He said Adaje’s recent lyrical messages have sought to spread a positive message. “Everybody’s got teen angst, but now (our songs) have been about people who take life for granted,” he said. “You don’t need to be just sitting around your house or apartment at 21 years old. You should be out enjoying yourself.” Adaje has released five albums, with their most recent album a full-length, 12-track record called “Drone Empire,” which the Shirazee brothers recorded at their parent’s house. Shirazee said the name “Adaje” doesn’t mean anything. It’s a mispronunciation of attaché, a type of guitar case or briefcase. Williams, who said there are no hard feelings between him and the current lineup, said he still listens to Adaje and its new songs. He described Shirazee’s guitar playing as “off the wall” and “all over the place” at times. “He has this particular feel he likes to get across … it’s just a feeling. It is his own,” Williams said. “He messed with his amps and (pedals) and made sure it was the sound he wanted, and it made everybody happy.” Shirazee’s brother Sameer, 16, said that he and Zohayr both picked up guitar about eight years ago, but when he got a drum set, the two began jamming together. “Lately it’s been kind of different because we’ve changed so much, and we’re touring now, and that’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s just a bunch of things you wouldn’t expect when you’re this young.” Shirazee said he hasn’t used The U of M to gain exposure for Adaje because he has been so busy but has been recognized on campus as the lead singer and guitarist for Adaje. “There’s this guy in my English class who, back in 2009 when we opvened for the Fall of Troy, bought one of our CDs and even asked for an autograph,” he said. He said after four years of writing music and playing live shows, it’s still the best feeling he can get. “Whenever people see me play, they are completely flabbergasted. They’re just like, ‘I could never see you doing that,’” he said. “I like that reaction. It’s just about letting people know about your creative instincts. When people see you play, it’s you.”
6 • Thursday, March 3, 2011
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World
Another top politician in Pakistan slain over blasphemy law BY SAEED SHAH McClatchy Newspapers
Pakistan’s religious minorities minister, the only Christian in the country’s cabinet, was assassinated Wednesday by suspected Islamic militants, the second high-profile killing this year as Pakistan faces a surge of extremism. Shahbaz Bhatti was traveling to work in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, when his car was ambushed by gunmen who sprayed the vehicles with bullets, officials and reports said. Bhatti had campaigned for reform of the country’s draconian blasphemy law, which is used to victimize Christians and other minorities. Leaflets left at the scene of the killing threatened the same fate for anyone else who wanted to change the blasphemy law. The Pakistani Taliban reportedly claimed responsibility.
In January, Salman Taseer, cism of the blasphemy law with the PPP. In 2007, extremists assasanother prominent politician blasphemy itself, an interpretation sinated the party’s leader, Benazir who’d opposed the blasphemy regarded as perverse by the few Bhutto. “Bhatti’s murder is the bitter law, was gunned down by his moderate religious scholars who fruit of appeaseown bodyguard ment of extremafter he called and militant for the law to be hatti’s murder is the bitter ist groups both amended. Many Pakistanis cel- fruit of appeasement of extrem- prior to and after killing of ebrated the killist and militant groups both prior the Punjab Governor ing, showing how public opin- to and after the killing of Punjab Salman Taseer on Jan. 4,” said Ali ion in a key U.S. Governor Salman Taseer on Dayan Hasan, a ally had veered Pakistan-based dangerously into January 4.” senior researchextremism. — Ali Dayan Hasan er for Human Taseer, the Senior researcher, Human Rights Watch governor of Rights Watch, the international Punjab province, advocacy group. “An urgent and had taken up the case of a Christian dare to speak on the issue. In the wake of Taseer’s killing, meaningful policy shift on the women who’d been sentenced to death by the courts last year for Pakistan’s embattled government, appeasement of extremists that supposed blasphemy, though the led by the secular Pakistan Peoples is supported by the military, the evidence against her appeared to Party, retreated from all discussion judiciary and the political class be concocted. of amending the law, even though needs to replace the political cowMany in Pakistan equate criti- Taseer was a senior member of ardice and institutional myopia
“B
that encourages such continued appeasement despite its unrelenting bloody consequences.” Pakistan is also convulsed in a frenzy of anti-Americanism, which the religious extremists are exploiting, after an American, Raymond Davis, shot and killed two Pakistanis he claimed were trying to rob him. Davis, a contractor working for the CIA, remains in jail in Lahore, amid an angry diplomatic standoff between the two countries, with Washington insisting he has diplomatic immunity. Farah Ispahani, a member of parliament and spokesman for the Pakistani president, said that Bhatti was “a gentle man but had a strong sense of justice” who stood up for Pakistan’s minority communities at every turn. The three assassinations suffered in recent years by the PPP showed that it was not bowing to extremists, she said.
The University of Memphis
Thursday, March 3, 2011 • 7
World
In Guantanamo Bay, war criminals read Bush’s memoir and watch TV
MCT
BY CAROL ROSENBERG McClatchy Newspapers
A soldier from the detainee library hands a book to a detainee in Camp Five on Feb. 16. Joint Task Force Guantanamo provides safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees, including those convicted by military commission and those ordered released by a court.
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Requirements: • Sophomore status by Fall 2011 • 2.5 or higher cumulative GPA • Two letters of recommendation
and for
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Requirements: • Full-time undergraduate classified as a junior or senior, or • Graduating senior who will be attending graduate school @ U of M • 2.75 or higher cumulative GPA
Applications for both may be picked up at: The Alumni Center (Normal & Spottswood) or
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One Sudanese prisoner is filling his hours until release reading “Decision Points,” George W. Bush’s memoir on why he quit alcohol, ran for president and approved waterboarding war-on-terror captives. Another is being homeschooled every other week inside a cell, learning the astronomy, math, grammar, Shakespeare, even elocution, he never got as a child of al-Qaida. These are the war criminals of Guantanamo Bay. They are four convicts — captured as a cook, a kid, a small-arms trainer and a videographer — kept out of sight of visitors in a segregated cellblock of a SuperMaxstyle, 100-cell, $17 million penitentiary. Because each man was sentenced for war crimes by a U.S. military jury, three after guilty pleas in exchange for short sentences, theirs is what the Pentagon calls “punitive confinement.” They are “prisoners” set apart from the other 168 captives at what former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called “one of the finest prison systems in the world.” Yet, military defense lawyers say the convict cellblock at Camp 5 is especially austere and that their clients are doing hard time reminiscent of Guantanamo’s early years when interrogators isolated captives of interest. Each man spends 12 or more hours a day locked behind a steel door inside a 12-by-8-foot cell equipped with a bed, a sink and a toilet. They get up to eight hours off the cellblock in an open-air recreation yard, a huge cage surrounded by chain-linked fencing. If recreation time coincides with one of Islam’s fivetimes-daily calls to prayer, the convicts can pray together. If it coincides with meal time, they can eat together. Once locked in their cells, they can shout to each other through the slots in their steel prison doors troops use to deliver meals and library books. TV time is spent alone, each man shackled by an ankle to the floor of an interrogation room, always under the watch of a special guard force implementing a Pentagon policy for “punitive post-conviction confinement.” That policy is still in flux, says a spokeswoman, Army Lt. Col. Tanya Bradsher, so the Defense Department won’t let the public see it. At 50, Ibrahim Qosi of Sudan is the eldest. Early in his captivity here, Bush-era prosecutors portrayed him as al-Qaida’s payroll master. By the time he pleaded guilty to supporting terror last summer, his crime was working as a cook for bachelor irregulars in Afghanistan and occasionally driving for Osama bin Laden and others in al-Qaida.
Now up for release from the cellblock in July 2012, he’s passing time with a copy of Bush’s best-selling memoir. His Navy defender couldn’t find an Arabic translation, so Qosi’s learning about the man who waged the global war on terror with the help of an ArabicEnglish dictionary. In a failed bid for clemency, Qosi’s attorney, Navy Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier, wrote in January that, after years in communal custody, living in a POWstyle setting, his post-sentencing conditions are “grueling” and “reminiscent for him of the eight difficult months he spent in complete isolation when first arriving at Guantanamo.” But a senior guard who works at the prison said it’s far from isolation. “They do get to commune together,” said Army Command Sgt. Major Daniel Borrero, whose 525 Battalion pulled guards from the blocks interning U.S. criminal soldiers at Fort Leavenworth to work at Guantanamo. “It’s a prison, ma’am,” Borrero said. “I make the assumption they don’t want to be here.” The cellblock’s youngest is confessed teen terrorist Omar Khadr, 24, and he’s on the fasttrack to freedom. He pleaded guilty to war crimes last year in exchange for a promise to repatriate him before his 26th birthday. A military jury sentenced him to 40 more years in prison for hurling a grenade that killed an American commando in a July 2002 gun battle in wartime Afghanistan. But once back in Canada, Khadr’s parole is all but certain because he was captured as a juvenile, 15 at the time of the crime. At his sentencing hearing, a government-paid psychiatrist said Khadr spent his years here “marinating in a radical Islamic community” — memorizing verses of the Quran in the company of captives who got to eat, pray, watch satellite TV and shoot hoops in groups as a reward for good behavior. Now Khadr’s cut off from that group, as a war criminal segregated in circumstances his Army lawyer, Lt. Col. Jon Jackson, says are “horrific and stupid and don’t make any sense.”
Sharia from page 1 the land, he said. “We have the (U.S.) Constitution, and we want to respect that,” he said. Pathan said the bill does threaten some parts of Sharia that Muslims in the U.S. do practice, such as ablution, washing certain parts of the body before prayer. “It would mean Muslims in Tennessee would be at risk of being sent to jail if we were caught doing ablution in the bathroom or praying,” he said. “One of the main pillars of our faith is to pray five times a day. If the bill is passed, I won’t be able to pray.” Joseph Hayden, associate professor of journalism, said states have the right to pass whatever they want, but that doesn’t mean such laws would be constitutional. “According to our First Amendment, ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,’” he said. “That’s a low threshold, so a bill actually abridging this religion would be struck down by the (Supreme) Court.” Hayden said Sharia law is complicated and entails such details as dietary restrictions and hygienic practices. “No American law could tell a Kosher Jew he must eat shellfish or force a Catholic to abandon fasting during Lent. In our country, you’re free to restrict yourself all you want,” he said. “There’s always been a xenophobic element in U.S. history — people afraid of anyone who’s different. Lawmakers fearful of the influx of Catholics used the exact same language for more than two centuries to smear people they thought were ‘spies, dupes and minions of the papacy.’” Jeanne Hanna, president of U of M’s chapter of human rights organization Amnesty International, said she thinks there is widespread misunderstanding about Sharia law, and people might be taking advantage of that. She said when people don’t understand something, it’s easy to discriminate against it accidentally, and when people are afraid, “they do things they wouldn’t normally do.” “I think people should be more open and willing to learn about different cultures and dispositions,” the sophomore anthropology major said. “If people did understand the faiths of different people better, I think situations like these could be avoided.”
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8 • Thursday, March 3, 2011
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Sports In Brief
Aaarrgh!
Pirates’ offensive embargo sinks embattled Tigers
courtesy of U of M Media Relations
BY JOHN MARTIN Sports Editor
Jordan Smith (pictured) and David Henry were defeated by twin brothers Chris and Marcel Thielmann of Ole Miss. They lost 8-5 in doubles play, as the Tigers fell 4-0 to the Rebels.
Rebels buck Tigers BY SCOTT HALL Sports Reporter The University of Memphis men’s tennis team fell to the Ole Miss Rebels, 4-0, Tuesday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in Oxford, Miss. Memphis doubles tandem Joe Salisbury and David O’Hare were defeated 8-1 by Tucker Vorster and Jonas Lutjen of Ole Miss (5-2). Memphis’ Jordan Smith and David Henry were also defeated 8-5 by Ole Miss twin tandem Chris and Marcel Thiemann. The Tigers (8-3, 1-1 C-USA) struggled in singles play. Henry lost in straight sets to
Lutjen of Ole Miss 6-4, 6-0. The Tigers also suffered in two other singles matches, with Salisbury falling to M. Thielmann 6-0, 6-2, and John Taylor losing to Johan Backstrom 6-1, 6-2. The latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls were released during the match. The Tigers fell to No. 61, while Ole Miss fell from No. 18 to No. 31. The Tigers will begin a weeklong road trip next week. They will face Conference USA foes Southern Methodist University on March 6, Rice University on March 8 and Tulane University on March 10, as well as Radford University on March 11.
C
The NCAA Tournament chatter, or at least the kind that involves The University of Memphis men’s basketball team, can stop now. On an emotional Senior Night at East Carolina, the Tigers were effectively thrust from the tournament bubble, 68-57. It’s their third loss in four games. The score was tied, 28-28, at halftime. With 8:34 left in the game, the Tigers trailed by a point, 47-46. The Pirates proceeded to ice the game on a 13-0 run that made it 60-47 with just over three minutes left. Senior ECU guard Jontae Sherrod scored a career-high 28 points. Senior Jamar Abrams finished with 11 points, including two 3-pointers in the Pirates’ game-deciding second-half run. It was the Pirates’ first ever win against the Tigers, who have now been held under 60 points in three of their last four
games. The Tigers shot 39 percent from the floor and were 4-of-17 (25 percent) from three-point range. Freshman guard Antonio Barton scored 15 points for The U of M and was the only Tiger in double figures. Freshman forward Tarik Black had 9 points and five rebounds. Junior forward Wesley Witherspoon did not play. U of M coach Josh Pastner said on the post-game radio show that he didn’t play Witherspoon “based on the flow and feel of
USA Today recognizes UM softball BY SCOTT HALL Sports Reporter The University of Memphis softball team has earned two votes in the USA Today/ NFCA Top 25 poll for the first time in the program’s six seasons. U of M joins 25thranked Houston as one of only two schools recognized
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from Conference USA. “This is a huge step for the softball program,” coach Windy Thees said. “Ever since we started to build the program from scratch over the past six years, this is where we’ve always wanted to be. It’s all part of the process of being great.” The Tigers have already
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the game.” The Tigers (21-9, 9-6 Conference USA) are now out of contention for the C-USA regular season title, as firstplace UAB won on the road at Southern Miss and clinched a share of the regular season championship. Entering the game, the Tigers were one of the “Last Four In” in ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi’s “Bracketology.” With the loss, the Tigers are now certainly on the outside looking in unless they win the C-USA tournament.
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