4 OPINION Page 4 Sunday, January 8, 1984 The Michigan DoilyJ U 1 Another arrest in the Faber case A CONFESSION by Ricardo Hart's girl- friend led to his arrest Friday morning in connection with the November 22 murder of Nancy Faber. Machelle Pearson told a state police trooper last month that her boyfriend gave her a gun and forced her to trick Faber in- to giving her a ride home from a grocery store parking lot., The taped confession was played in court on Wednesday, and Hart was there to hear the en- tire tape. He had been questioned by police before, but it was not until Friday that state, county, and city officials could get a warrant and arrest him at his parents' Superior Town- ship home. Police also impounded the 1974 Maverick Hart allegedly used to follow Faber's car during the robbery. They had impounded it on- ce before and released it, as they had done with Hart. Pearson first went to police in December claiming to have information about the mur- der, but she changed her story several days later and confessed. Hart was arraigned Friday afternoon and told the judge his parents would get him a lawyer. He was sent back to Washtenaw Coun- ty Jail until his January 18 preliminary hearing, and police officials said at that hearing they would explain the complex in- vestigation that eventually led to Hart's arrest. Meanwhile, a second murder case was brought to 15th District Court. Robert Lee Williams and Lester Joiner Jr. were arraigned for the murder of 19-year-old Brian Canter, whose body was discovered floating in the Huron River on Dec. 8. Police Chief William Corbett later identified Williams and Joiner as street people. Preliminary hearings for the two accused in Canter's death stretched from Wednesday to Friday. Judge S. J. Elden is ex- pected to make a decision on whether or not to send the case to Circuit Court Tuesday. The Big Chill University students were practicing some risky business when they rambunctiously Pearson after her testimony rotated their thermostats before vacation. The sudden impact of the record cold weather and chilly interiors on pipes burst into a Christmas story even Big Brother could not have predic- ted. While we were away, thinking, "It's a won- derful life," Ann Arbor landlords, University maintenance crews, and private heating and plumbing contractors were displaying un- common valor in cleaning up water damage that left dorm rooms demolished, fraternities floundered, and offices inoperable. "We've been working around the clock," one frenzied plumber said., One housing administrator estimates the cost to the University could be as high as $500,000. And, like one student who is now living in a dorm lounge until his room can be repaired said, "It's a pain." University buildings which suffered the wor- st water damage from broken pipes were the School of Public Health, East Engineering, the Institute for Social Research, and the Dana building. In these buildings, like the dorms, the ther- mostats were not turned down, but the central fan system was shut off, reducing the amount of air circulated, said Russell Reister, director of the University's plant operations. About 100 dorm rooms were affected with Couzens and Bursley hardest hit. David Foulke, a University housing adminiistrator, said most was minimal water damage to floors and carpeting. But such was not the case in John Schroeder's Markley room. "My whole room got trashed," Schroeder, an LSA freshman, said. "I lost a stereo, a television, an Atari (home computer game) and a lot of little things, like carpeting," he lamented. Three inches of water stand in some rooms at Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, the kitchen was flooded .out at Delta Kappa Epsilon, and a member of Phi Delta Theta reported "swim- ming pools in the basement." Students have been directed to their own private insurance companies for reimbur- sement for the loss of personal property, but Foulke has pledged University assistance for students who either have no insurance, or whose policies don't cover what one dorm director called "an act of God." Coming attractions include potential tenant- landlord disputes over repairs and, of course, utility bills which have been forcasted at 25 to 30 percent higher than last year's. Are jaywalkers next? You couldn't call it a big secret. Ticket scalpers stand in front of the Michigan Union steps on most fall days, loudly buying and selling tickets so people can watch 250-pound young men wearing ugly helmets run over and through another group of oversized men. It's against the law, but so is jaywalking, and that's about as much attention as Ann Arbor Police devoted to it. But all that changed in November, when police cracked down on Ann Arbor's ticket en- trepreneurs just before the Ohio State game. Three men charged with scalping in November face a preliminary hearing Jan. 17. Mark Gorge, a student who owns E-Z Ticket Sales didn't understand what all the fuss was about. When police asked him for tickets Nov. 17, a few. days before the game, he tried to give them away. "I give (police officers) tickets all the time," Gorge said. Later in the day, under- cover officers put up over $200 for four tickets. Another student, John Houghton, was at least as brazen. He advertised tickets in the Daily and the Ann Arbor News, and then allegedly sold four tickets to police for $60 apiece (the face value was $13 apiece). Roy Shelef didn't drive such a hard bargain, according to police, selling four tickets for $180 in the parking lot of the Big Ten Party Store. Some of the scalpers said police quit looking the other way because of an article that ap- peared in the Ann Arbor News just prior to the 4 }"4 4 Daily Photo by DAVID FRANKEL Broken pipes provide a testament to the power of the Christmas break cold spell. The frigid tem- peratures wreaked havoc on many of Ann Arbor's assorted buildings, including dorms, frater nities, and sororities. arrests, but police refused to comment. No one is saying if this is the beginning of the end of Ann Arbor's favorite free enterprise system. Not in our backyard It's a fairly typical story. A community recognizes the need to provide a certain social service - a halfway house for convicts, a home for the mentally retarded, a low-income housing project - but when it comes time to find a location for the project, the neighbors closest to the spot cry, "Not in my backyard." Well, Ann Arbor is about to open a shelter for the city's indigent community, and the church which borders the shelter's proposed site is saying just that: "Not in our backyard." In part, members of St. Nicholas Greek Or- thodox Church are complaining that they weren't consulted before the city's commission studying the problem of the homeless decided on a Fourth Avenue location that butts up against the church's property. But even if they had been asked, and the commission proposed the same site, the church would still be upset. It's a particularly troublesome situation for the church, which has supported aid for the homeless in a community that hasn't always extended its hand to street people. But the church has some very real safety concerns. St. Nicholas is used as a community center for its members, and therefore must keep its doors open for long hours all week. It's frequented by many children who come alone to Sunday school and other events. While it's unfair to generalize that all street people are a threat to others, there is no question that a certain degree of roudiness, drunkennessf and even violence marks a portion of them. If nothing else, parents have reasonable concerns that their children might be asked for the change in their pockets - an unfortunate intrusion even if the person poses no threat whatsoever. The Week in Review was compiled by Daily staff writers Neil Chase, Sharon Silbar, and Jim Sparks and Daily editor Barry Witt. I Oppnf 'Im= - ,-J"=-iB ...,.... .. .. met ?ssl,+ =. ~ °. . ,. .k.¢5a..i r"., is r^$s , .Js;i..l?},..x Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan LaB an Y4oh 4 Vol. XCIV-No. 81 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinionof the Daily's Editorial Board Poisoning the recovery DESPITE RECENT good economic news, no one should be lulled into a false sense of security. It's true that the unemployment and inflation rates have stabilized nicely, but there remains a dark shadow looming on the horizon - the immense federal budget deficit. Much of the welcome news is a long time coming. Unemployment fell to 8.2 percent in December, down from last December's 10.7 percent. The yearly drop marked the largest post-recession employment gain since 1950. Since Ronald Reagan has been president, he has seen many of the traditional economic indicators turn for the better. But his continued exor- bitant deficit spending - something he campaigned against vigorously in 1980 - bodes ill for the nation's economic future. Reagan had best take note. A huge federal deficit could have a profound negative effect on the current recovery. Extravagant deficits could destroy the positive economic gains already seen. With the Reagan ad- f O '. i. CK ' ' mc60V R. ministration apparently about to propose a 1985 budget $186 in the red, the nation's economic institutions almost certainly will be affected. A strategy is needed, a stragey that could start with decreased defense spending and the examination of tax programs aimed at increasing gover- nment revenues. Increased military spending and tax cuts don't make for a balanced budget. Voters and public opinion polls aren't giving Reagan this bit of bad news. The average citizen does not worry about the deficit - he or she worries about working to pay the bills. Reagan is getting the word on the menacing deficits from economists - including his own chief economist, Martin Feldstein - who are worried about the long-term effects of the deficit. That unemployment continues to drop is good news, but the situation is fragile. The huge federal deficits could poison an increasingly healthy recovery. I 014 YOUR MARK...GET SET..'- LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Daily doesn'tpreach responsibility 4 i 141 NUCLM ARMS RAGw~~E IS Me Two ME~N 1TANtAI4&N A POOL OF C7ASOlIlN .E \~ ff ER\ ONE -Yq\4&To ET Iko Is- ft .9 / l lNR To the Daily: I recently read an editorial ("Getting along with Geac," Daily, December 1) which infor- med people that no one in the library system, including Geac, the library computer system, knew which books were overdue nor who charged the books out. It's bad enough- that you misrepresented the truth of the matter, but the editorial went on to nractieally recommend that systems) out of the books. Or better yet, why not suggest to your readers that they go to the Nat. Sci. Library, and just take them. (They don't have any detection system whatsoever!). Here's an even better idea: why not tell your readers who are unwilling to actually pay for your paper that they can pick up copies absolutely free if they simply go into the mail room to get them. (Where's the mail room? they may ask, why there's even a map of the building at the bottom of the stairs!). You could even give them specific times as to when no one will be around. Here's the best idea yet. Tell your readers that they should learn to practice a little respon- sibility when they act. Wait! bet- ter still, practice it your collec- tive selves. Anyone can be a journalist - you seem to go out of your way to prove that - but on ly a few can practice "respon- sible journalism." - John W. Merline December 8 4 . . . . . . . . . . ................................. .... I I