Ninety-five Years of Editorial Freedom E Ltta a ti Spring Foggy and breezy with a'chance of rain. High in the mid 40's. Vol. XCV, No. 119 Copyright 1985, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan-- Friday, February 22, 1985 Fifteen Cents Ten Pages m a Greeks make big come back Membership can only go up. significant is rush-it's been up every year. What's really going up, up, -Maggie Michaels Panhellenic Association president crease over rush in fall 1983. Fraternities have been experiencing similar increases. Nine hundred ninety men attended the first set of parties during rush, Walter said and this year's pledge class saw a large increase. "We're looking for 500 pledges - this time last year we had 369 pledges," Walter said. Currently 480 men have pledged. OPINIONS on why fraternities and' sororities are enjoying a surge of popularity vary. According to Michaels, the increase "may be related to conservatism." Another possible explanation, off- ered by an alumna who asked not to be identified, lies in the atmosphere of the University itself. "Students find (the University) a very, very large place. The school and the job market are very competitive and they need a release See GREEK, Page 2 all University women belong to sororities. Harry Walter, an LSA senior and president of the Interfraternity Council, said that 21.6 percent of all un- dergraduate men here are fraternity members. Since 1972, sororities on campus have more than quadrupled their member- ship. Michaels estimated that sorority membership in that year totaled 400 women. Following last term's rush figures and the addition of another sorority, Sigma Kappa, last October, that figure is now up to 1,796 women. "Membership can only go up," Michaels said. "What's really significant is rush - it's.been going up, up, up every year." Michaels men- tioned that 1,054 women registered for rush last term, which is a 15 percent in- Testimony may flaw arson hearing 'U' lawyers still confident By JERRY MARKON Attorneys for an ex-University law student ac- cused of setting his law quad room on fire said yesterday they weakened the testimony of a key prosecution witness. James Picozzi, a former law student, is accused of deliberately setting his law quad room afire on March 8, 1983. He suffered burns over 10 percent of the left side of his body, and broke his back when he jumped out of a third floor window due to the blaze's intense heat. THE UNIVERSITY had allegedly been relying ona the testimony of Brian Meyers, a local gas station attendant, who told police he sold gasoline - the ac- cererant used in the fire - to a man missing two fingers several hours before the 4 a.m. blaze. Picozzi, who did not own a car, is missing two fingers on his right hand because of a previous in- jury. But Ann Arbor Police Detective David Jachalke, the investigating officer in the case, admitted on the stand yesterday that a police Sgt. may have prod- ded Meyers when obtaining his statement. BECAUSE THE Sgt. specifically asked Meyers if he "noticed anyone buying gasoline with missing fingers," instead of obtaining the statement in an un-biased manner, Jachalke said, "it was discredited by the department, and was not weighted heavily against Picozzi." ".I didn't feel it was a valid identification based on how (the Sgt.) obtained it - it appeared to be tain- ted by information Meyers learned from a source other than recall," Jachalke said. According to Alan Silber, Picozzi's principal counsel: "Meyer's testimony was critical. His is the only testimony that links Picozzi to the gas that set the fire." It seems to me that we destroyed Brian Meyer's creditibility through Jachalke," Silber said at an- interview during a break in the proceedings. Josiah Thompson, the investigator for Picozzi's legal team, agreed that "the day went blisterlingly well." "The only significant piece of evidence offered against Picozzi was Meyer's testimony," he said, "but that's been taken out of the case. . . it is no longer believed by any reasonable man." UNIVERSITY attorney Peter Davis, however, dismissed the weakening of Meyer's testimony as having "nothing to do with the case." "I don't think Meyers is even a key witness," he said. "The physical evidence from the fire will See LAW, Page 3 LAST MAY'S demonstrators were demanding that the University's guidelines banning classified research that's results would be to destroy or incapacitate human life, be ex- tended to non-classified research. They wanted to put a stop to Haddad's research on microdes which can be used in See PSN, Page 3 Daily Photo by SCOTT LTUCHY A PSN demonstrator stands outside a campus engineering lab yesterday in protest of arrested PSN members. a Students rent more movies By JIM GRANT Students bored with the fare at local movie theatres can now see the film of their choice by renting it on a videocassette. Though not a new idea, renting movies has only recently started to catch on around campus. "WE HAVE had movies since September," said Michael Heitjan, a Campus Corner employee. Rentals during the middle of the week are relatively slow, but by the weekend they pick up considerably, he said. See HOME, Page 3 fniq Security debate arises after two bomb threats I U. By STEVEN E. HERZ If a telephone caller threatens to blow up a building do officials react accor- ding to standard procedure? Or do they make a spur of the moment decision? This question was debated in two separate bomb threat incidents in the last week. OFFICIALS decided not to evacuate the two campus buildings when bomb threats were phoned in by anonymous callers over the past week. University Hospitals received a threat last Friday, West Quad received a bomb threat early Wednesday morning. But was the decision correct? "Our department policy is to always recommend evacuation," said Ann Ar- bor Police Sgt. Jan Suomala. In reference to the West Quad in- cident, Suomala replied: "It would be impossible to check a building like that for a bomb." ACCORDING TO standard operating procedures, all resident advisors are supposed to notify their residents of a bomb threat, and allow individual residents to decide whether or not to evacuate. A random sampling of West Quad residents, however, disclosed that only a fraction of them were notifed of the threat. Officials say time was a key factor in notifying students. THE CALLER said that the alleged bomb would be detonated 20 minutes from the time of his call-2:03 a.m. By the time housing security officers had made a decision not to evacuate, the RAs were notifed, only minutes remained for the students to be infor- med of the threat. "It's very difficult to inform 150 people in five minutes," said Marc Wernick, an Adams House RA. Franco Fazzalari, an RA in Michigan House said, "By the time I could notify all of my residents the police had left. I had good reason to believe the threat was over." Fazzalari acknowledged potential flaw in the policy. "I have to deal with the panic... and a false panic and be a bigger detriment," he said. THE SITUATION in the hospital was dealt with under different guidelines. Arthur Howison, hospital security director, said, "Nobody was evacuated, I can't evacuate a hospital. We've got people hoooked up to intravenous machines, life support systems... it's See BOMB, Page 3 r ~n i i r N L , s 00 pI I I ToDAY RandR T hnnnr nf sprina hreak this will he the last issue of school graduate, can refute that accusation. When asked by a member of the audience at a high school football dinner how serious a student he had been at college, according to Sports Illustrated, he replied: "When I approach the com- plex question of academics, I find it difficult to desensitize myself to the derogatory implications that non-educated people have on me; the affected class. Through research I have found that most academic institutions fabricate fic- titious additions, luring adolescent, students, causing them to capitulate to the system, detrimental to their advan- East German territory Tuesday. The dog landed between an old and new section of the barrier built by communist authorities to stop escapes to the West. The dog immediately began to yap andhowl, prompting residents in nearby apar- tments to alert West Berlin police. French military police were called in, and they used a megaphone to call the East German border guards, asking them to help rescue the animal. But the megaphone brought no response. So Western police sent a telex to the East German guards, who then acknowledged the dog's plight. During the night. East VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE - MARCH 1 In order to vote in the April 1 city election, voters must be registered by Friday March 1. For most students this means registering before leaving town for Spring Break. On the April 1 ballot will be the elections for Ann Arbor Mayor and City Council and a proposal to force landlords to increase weatherization of some rental units: Contact the hi i i +