News & Notes: Bush says Iraqis receive weapons from Iranians

President George W. Bush said Wednesday that he is certain the Iranian government is supplying deadly weapons used by fighters in Iraq against U.S. troops, even if he can't prove that the orders came from top Iranian leaders, according to an Associated Press story. More importantly, Bush said in his first news conference of the year that there is a need to protect American forces against new weapons and technology, including sophisticated new roadside bombs. "I'm going to do something about it," said Bush. U.S. officials have made statements saying that Iran is behind attacks against troops in Iraq, an assertion that has been denied by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Bush spoke as the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives debated a measure opposing his decision to send some 21,500 additional troops to Iraq.

ON CAMPUS BC faculty named president of Wheeling Jesuit University The Rev. Julio Giulietti, S.J., Boston College's director of the Center of Ignatian Spirituality, has been named president of Wheeling Jesuit University, according to the announcement that Wheeling's board of directors released on Friday. Giulietti will be replacing the Rev. Joseph Hacala, S.J., who, in September, resigned due to medical complications. Aside from his Center of Ignatian Spirituality involvement, Giulietti's service at BC over the course of eight years included teaching in the theology department and helping to design the interdisciplinary faith, peace, and justice minor. Giulietti will be assuming his new position as the eighth president of Wheeling in mid-August.

With history, BC geologist predicts planet's future weather A group of scientists, led by Boston College geology professor Amy Frappier, have recently made the discovery that cave formations can help settle the ongoing debate regarding whether hurricanes are strengthening in intensity due to global warming. Frappier says the number and intensity of hurricanes in particular regions will tell researchers something about the links between climate and storms. The research involves looking at previous weather patterns to help determine what the future has in store for our planet. "We have only a relatively short recorded history, but we can take a look back at old clues and try to use them to see what's coming," said Frappier in a Boston College Chronicle article.

UNIVERSITIES College papers defend writing on sensitive material as satire College publications across the nation, including The Recorder at Central Connecticut State University, The Daily Princetonian at Princeton University, and Dartmouth Review at Dartmouth College have all recently issued apologies after receiving criticism from college administrations and communities after publishing content "in bad taste," according to a U-Wire article. The students, however, have also been defending their pieces as satire. The most recent incident was last week when The Recorder's opinions editor, John Petroski, wrote an op-ed piece entitled, "Rape Only Hurts If You Fight It." Despite his defense of the piece, he made a statement saying that he should have used a less "touchy" subject and apologized to anyone whom he offended.

Study shows that nearly half of American women are single A student at the University of Minnesota, Trent Alexander, conducted a study based of 18 years and older that showed that 48 percent of American women are spouseless. This study, however, included widows, divorced women, single mothers, and women of lower incomes living alone all as spouseless individuals. Alan Booth, professor of sociology, human development, and demography at the University of Minnesota, said the main reason for the high number of women living without spouses is not a desire to avoid marriage, but to delay it. "The average age for marriage used to be in the late teens or in the early 20s," said Booth. "Today, people are waiting until age 25 or even later, into their 30s."

LOCAL BC retreat house in Vermont burns down in raging fire The Mello Retreat Center, which is located in Whitingham, Vt. and used by a number of members from the Boston College community, burned down early last Monday morning. The fire blazed so intensely that local firefighters had to call in help from numerous adjacent towns to put it out. According to Whitingham fire chief Stanley Janovsky, the fire started in the living room of the house, but the cause has yet to be found. The house, which belonged to David and Terrie Dumane and their three children, was used for retreat programs at BC such as Salt and Light.

NATIONAL Justice Kennedy says judges are dropping out Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy told Congress on Wednesday that first-rate federal judges are leaving because of inadequate pay, a problem that hurts morale and threatens to undermine judicial independence, according to the Associated Press. Earnings at private law firms have outpaced judges' pay for many years, and Kennedy said judges now find better compensation at the leading law schools, as well. Kennedy worries that new judges are less qualified than the judges they are replacing. The pay for the different judges vary substantially. Federal district court judges are paid $165,200 annually; appeals court judges make $175,100; associate justices of the Supreme Court earn $203,000; the chief justice makes $212,100.

UNDER REPORTED In Japan, new beer made from milk, "Bilk," does a body good A liquor shop owner in Japan's largest dairy farming region has begun to use surplus milk to create "Bilk" - beer brewed from milk. "We came up with the idea after hearing about surplus milk," said Chitoshi Nakahara, head of the Nakahara liquor shop on the northernmost island of Hokkaido. Consumption of milk in Japan has been in decline, and Hokkaido disposed of nearly 900 tons of milk last March due to overproduction, according to the Japan Dairy Association. Bilk is formulated from 30 percent milk and contains hops. According to Nakahara, the production process of Bilk does not differ much from that of regular beer.