The Herald-Palladium from Benton Harbor, Michigan • 24

8C Thursday, December 21 2000 The Herald-Palladium Bentpn Harbor-St. Joseph MICHIGAN State es to Bush. sena re -n in 7 lot of people think they've licked three "istamps and now it's time for the gravy train. That's not the way it Michigan Republican Chairman Rusty Hills By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN Associated Press Writer LANSING Hundreds of letters from Republicans seeking jobs in the administration jf President-elect George W. Bush are pouring into state GOP headquarters.

Some applicants are looking for specific positions. Others simply want a chance to head to Washington and work for a Republican president. "We've had a ton of requests for the western district and eastern district attorneys, marshals, spokesmen for different departments. It really spans the gamut," said Michigan Republican Chairman Rusty Hills. Gov.

John Engler already has gone to bat for U.S. Sen. Spence Abraham, asking Vice Presi-dent-elect Dick Cheney to consider Abraham for a major appointment, possibly as secretary of transportation. The freshman senator lost to JDemocratic U.S. Rep.

Debbie Stabcnow in November. "I would bet, with as close as John and Spence are, that John is using all his political capital for Spence," said John Gizzi, 'associate political editor of the conservative magazine Human Events in Washington, D.C. Michigan hopefuls Michigan residents mentioned as possible Bush administration appointees: U.S. Sen. Spence Abraham for transportation secretary Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Russell Harding for Environmental Protection Agency director John Truscottj spokesman for Gov.

John Engler, for press secretary or deputy press secretary of some federal department U.S. District Judge David McKeaguefor a spot on 6th District Court of Appeals a State Sen. John Schwarz, a practicing physician, for surgeon general or an ambassador's post a Businesswoman Mara Letica for an ambassador's post State Sen. Phil Hoffman for a job in Michigan as a U.S. marshal Jim Brandell, the governor's head of external affairs, for press secretary or deputy press secretary of some department State Sen.

Glenn Steil, a major Bush donor Retired businessman Chuck Yob, who ran unsuccessfully against U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak geon who helped run John Met ain's successful GOP primary campaign in Michigan, ould make a good surgeon general or ambassador. Shields said. Flie senator "lias a marv elous foreign affairs background" Shields said.

"I le served at the embassy Jakarta, (Indonesia). I le worked for the I A. He's got a medical background. If he wanted he could fit a number of places." Hills said' he's been passing along 10b requests and resumes to the governor, which are comtng in "from all: sorts -of folks." "A lot of people think they've licked three stamps and now it's time for the-gravy train. I hat's not the uav.it works." he said.

I hose most likelv- get posts maior party, activists, people who 'have contributed or raised large amounts of money tor a party or candidate or who plaved a prominent role in the campaign. In Michigan Republican that includes people such as ASC Inc. ou ner 1 leinz Prechter. state Steil of Grand Rapids and Ron Weiser. who was finance chairman of Bush Michigan campaign.

All-raised at least -SI 00.000 tor Bush and mav be in line tor ambassadorships -or other posts, it they're interested. close to Bush, even though Democrat Al (Jure won Michigan in the general election. I he governor certainly has the ear of the 'administration: I le should be able to help them fill slots it people want to go to Washington," said lorn Shields of Marketing Resource roup. a I ansing-based consulting group. Among Michigan residents, state environmental quality director Russell Harding has been mentioned as a possible Lnv ironmental Protection Agency director, although New Jersey dov.

hristie Iodd hitman is considered likely to get the )ob. "US. District Judge I)a id Mckeague. based i Lansing, could be appointed to one of sev eral vacancies the U.S. 6ih District Court Appeals in Cincinnati.

State Sen. Phil Hoffman of Morton has applied -to become a Ij.S. marshal in Michigan. State Sen. John Scliwarz.

a Battle reek sur Lngler wouldn't sav who lie pi. ins to recommend. I Jut he's nlrcadv- consulting Michigan's congressional delegation aiul has spoken with L.S I red I pion. R-St. Joseph, about getting Jsielp vnh the screening process.

"We'll have a committee ol 'distinguished-advisers who will participate in some the screening and then conic up with a list of -names to submit to the White House." lngler said. Until recently. Lngler has been -vv ulelv mentioned as a likely Hush appointee. Ile.savv.hed rather stay on as governor and serve as chairman of the National Governors' Association from August 2001 to Julv Hut even without going to Washington. Engler is expected to play a major role in suggesting possible players a Bush administration.

He was one of Bush's staunches! allies during the presidential contest and remains V- '1 v'i U-M's admissions policy on jtrial again More than 1,400 guns exchanged for groceries By DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press Writer I.I i mi; I I IT A trr "fc i LANSING Kent and Ingham counties collected around 1,400 guns last-month in a buyback program that let people trade their guns for Meijer gift certificates. Attorney General Jennifer Granholm's office said Wednesday. for three days, sheriffs in Ingham and Kent counties distributed S50 Meier gift certificates to anyone who brought in a working gun. Ingham County collected 34o guns and Kent County collected 1,079 guns, (iranholm spokeswoman Gchna Gent said. "In both places, we consider it really an overwhelming success," Gent said.

I ngham County Sheri IT Gene Wriggelsworth said the buyjbuck program surpassed his expectations. "I thought if we got a dozen, I'd be thrilled. But we had lines out the door," he Said. "Some people brought in runs that were pretty nasty looking, but we also had some brand new ones, still in the box." Wriggelsworth said about half the guns' he collected ere handguns and the rest were long guns. All of the guns will be melted down after the sheriff's department makes sure they aren't stolen or involved in an ongoing criminal investigation.

Wriggelsworth praised Meijer for its financial back-nig and said he'd like to hold a similar buyback around this time next year. Grand Rapids-based Meijer donated $100,000 for the project, which was organized by Granholm's office and the sheriffs in Kent, Ingham and Wayne counties. Wayne County is planning to hold its gun buyback program soon. John Zimmerman, director of community relations for Meijer. said response to the program was overwhelmingly positive.

But he said some people called the company to complain that Meijer was trying to take guns away. "The idea behind this is not to take away people's guns. It's not to stop people from having guns," he said. "We're saying, 'If you do have a gun that you don't want, here is one way to dispose of This is something you can't just throw in the garbage can if you don't want it any more." Viewer made other efforts to highlight gun safety this year, including a campaign promoting trigger locks, Zimmerman said. Meijer is the top retailer in the state for hunting licenses and sells ammunition and hunting supplies, Zimmerman said.

The store also sells BB guns, but plans to stop selling them soon, Zimmerman said. "We certainly aren't anti-gun. What we are is pro-home safety," he said. Zimmerman said Meijer is considering holding a similar buyback next year. Rod Collins spokesman for the Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners, has said he supports the buyback program as long as sheriffs make an effort to determine whether any guns were stolen.

Stolen guns should be returned to their owners, Collins said, Sheriffs have said they will attempt to return stolen firearms. AP photo PUPPY LOVE: Fran Appolonia and her future Leader Dog for the Blind, Bentley, greet an excited Alexander and Nicholas Williams on a shopping trip in Jackson recently. Bentley must learn how to be well mannered in public. 'Foster parent' prepares puppy to lead blind DETROIT (AP) In a split court Ijfuling, the University of Michigan has IJtvithstood a vigorous legal assault over ijts consideration of race in undergradu-Ifcte admissions. IS Now comes the next class-action Ibout the combatants the same and the Issues not much different.

The stakes are just as high. A short time after a colleague upheld -the school's existing use of affirmative action in undergraduate admissions, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman iext month will hear arguments over similar race matters, this time over who gets into the university's law school. In a closejy watched 3-year-old case -that may be headed for the Supreme Court, the university argues its law school admissions policy iif place since 1992 considers an applicant's race fimong several factors. Unlike the undergraduate school, there's no questioned point system, only an admissions' dean's discretion.

To the university, educational bene-fits flow from a racially, ethnically i diverse student body, and there's a Icompelling state interest in creating notably so in molding well-' rounded lawyers. "One of the essential skills for 'lawyers is to understand issues from multiple perspectives, the ability to really get inside the shoes of another person. And there's no better way to do that than' through a diverse student jbody" said Elizabeth Barry, deputy general counsel at Michigan. I "Diversity has unique applications to law school setting." Not so, argues the Center for Individual Rights, the conservative Wash-Itngton-based law firm that brought 'down affirmative action at the University of Texas law school in 1996 and looks to do the same at Michigan's. "The issue here is the purpose in which it (race) is being used to get a racial mix of students, and that's what we're saying is unconstitutional," violating the 14th Amendment's equal-! protection clause, said Terence Pell, the center's CEO.

Pressing the case on behalf of a 'white student denied admission, Pell's center accuses Michigan's law school jof minority-leaning double standards in deciding who gets in. On Friday, each side will ask Fried-'man to rule in its favor without a trial, with the university insisting its law school's admissions policies are on Jfirm legal footing, the center countering they're illegal. Jt is not immediately clear how 'quickly Friedman might rule in the lease set for trial for Jan. 16; in the I undergraduate case, U.S. District Judge i.Patrick Duggan took 27 days to issue an opinion.

In it, Duggan ruled against the school's 1995-1998 undergraduate admissions policy but upheld standards in place since 1999, dealing a blow to Center for Individual Rights' chal-! lenge pressed on behalf of two white students denied admission to the undergraduate school Duggan found that the old under-'graduate policy represented an imper-'missible, quota-like use of race in (reserving spots for underrepresented minorities, something he ruled the existing policy does not do. I Pell said it has not yet been decided whether his center would appeal Dug-Jgan's ruling to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In the law school case, Pell's center argues in court papers that the premise Infthf imivwsitv's Hiversitv instifirjitinn everywhere," she said. Besides the usual trips around town, Bentley also goes to the hospital and nursing homes with the therapy dogs.

I le's even visited the zoo is scheduled to visit Detroit Metropolitan Airport with other leader dogs to this winter. Appolonia meets once a month with Bethany Chenow ith of Jackson, the head puppy raiser in the area, for an evaluation of Bentley After a year, Bentley goes through a rigorous training program required for leader dogs. About 60 percent make it through. Those that fail are returned to their raisers or go to other selected homes. "I'll be sad when he goes," Appolonia said.

"But if he can help someone that's what he is raised about 10 area residents who care for the dogs during the first year of their lives. Seventy percent of the dogs arc Labrador retrievers. 20 percent German shepherds and 10 percent golden retrievers, Appolonia said. In addition to basic obedience training, the puppy raisers have several goals: properly socializing the puppies, getting them accustomed to interacting-with strangers and making sure they're well behaved in public. Iramcrs also familiarize the puppies with as many places as possible public transportation, stores, restaurants, malls, post offices, banks, theaters, schools, Bentley wears a blue blanket with a I eaderDogPuppy tag and goes almost everywhere with Appolonia.

"He wonderful, and he's welcome most By MARCIA BUTTERFIELD The Jackson Citizen Patriot- JACKSON, Mich. (AP) Fran Appolonia, known in her neighborhood as "the dog lady," is doing something she loves and: helping people at the same time. "I think it's really important to pay back the rent for the space God has given you on earth," Appolonia says. "We should all try to help one another." She's worked with therapy dogs for four years and her latest endeavor is raising a puppy for Leader Dogs the Blind. Bentley, a golden retriever, is her first.

13ut, she expects to continue as a foster parent lor puppies that are -bred for use in the program. The dogs are bred and owned by Leader Dogs for the Blind. Appolonia is one ol Lottery officials plan to drop Lotto Kevorkian attorneys try to get him out of prison year, then fell by $35 million in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 the first year-to-year decline in a decade. Lotto sales dropped even more sharply, falling 3H percent from 1998-99 levels to an all-time low of I 07 million this past fiscal year.

The steady drop in revenues "is a phenomenon you see in every state," Gilmer said. "It's the nature of the beast folks want something and different." Lotto's best year was I988jLwhen sales totaled $529 million. But that was before the Big Game, online gambling, casinos in Detroit and the steady growth of casinos run by Michigan Indian "tribes. Revenues from state casino taxes have more than offset the decline in Michigan Lottery income, the News said. Lotto's Miccessor, Michigan Millions, is similar to the Big Game in that players pick six numbers between 1 through 51 and a seventh "wild ball." Lotto players choose six digits from I through 49.

As with Lotto, players win the Michigan Millions jackpot by matching all six regular numbers. But the odds of winning it are 1 in 18 million, instead of Lotto's 1 in 14 million, because of the two added numbers. The "wild ball" affects only seer ondary prizes; for example, matching five numbers plus the wild ball will pay $20,000. The new game's longer odds will mean fewer, but bigger, jackpots. Gilmer said that's what players want, but one of them wasn't so sure.

"The payoffs are going to be a lot lower than the ones they have now," 'said Carolyn. Radke, 33, of Sterling Heights. "There are going to be smaller prizes and I think they are going to be significantly lower. I won't rush to play. I think you are going to hear a lot ofgripes." LANSING (AP) Lotto will be replaced in February by a new game that Michigan lottery officials say will offer bigger jackpots and more chances to win.

The 16-year-old game's revenues have slipped in recent months because players are becoming tired of it, and possibly because of competition from Detroit's three casinos. Lottery Commissioner Don Gilmer said. Lotto sales also have lagged because more players are trying to land bigger jackpots in the Big Game multistatc lottery, or win instant payoffs from scratch-off tickets, he said. "There were some weeks the Lotto didn't even bring in enough money to cover the jackpots," Gilmer told The Detroit News for a Thursday story. "We definitely see some softness in our Metro Detroit region.

We're trying to analyze that." Michigan Lottery revenues peaked at $1.7 billion in the 1998-99 fiscal of a stroke. Kevorkian was sentenced last year to 1 0 to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder He was convicted in the 1998 death of a terminally ill man whose death he videotaped. Portions of the tape were aired oh CBS' "60 Minutes." Attorneys have Filed motions before Oakland County Circuit Judge Jessica Cooper, the Michigan Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court. Last week, Kevorkian slipped on ice outside his cell in the state prison at the Charles Egeler Correctional Facility at Jackson, Morganroth told the Detroit Free Press and The Oakland Press for stories Thursday. "He's kept in a 6-foot-by-10-foot cell, he's in excruciating pain, and he's afraid to leave his cell because of the ice, so he is existing on crackers," Morganroth said.

DETROIT (AP) Jack Kevorkian attorney plans to file a federal lawsuit requesting the court release the assisted-suicide crusader from prison while his murder conviction is appealccl his attorney said. Five times his attorneys have asked the court to release him and five 'times the court has said no. Defense lawyer Mayer Morganroth said he plans to file a lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, arguing that Kevorkian, 73, poses no threat to the public and that the matters of his appeal have strong merit. Morganroth said Kevorkian's rights were violated by a Dec.

12 Michigan Supreme Court decision that refused to overturn lower court rulings keeping him in jail. ie contends, that Kevorkian should be freed on bond because chronic high blood pressure puts him at risk Ithat skin color is an effective proxy for viewpoints and experiences "is a nox-jjous form of stereotyping" i..