Alleged shanty vandals
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 10, 1986 - Page 3
may be prosecuted
By MELISSA BIRKS
Members of the Free South Africa Coordinating
Committee (FSACC), the group which built the
shanty on the Diag, is considering bringing charges
against two University students arrested for attacking
the structure.
A Department of Public Safety officer detained the
two students early Saturday morning while they' were
allegedly knocking down the shanty.
According to Bob Pifer, assistant director of public
safety, patrolman Vern Baisden saw three men toppling
the structure at around 3 a.m. One escaped before
kBaisden could apprehend the group, but the other two,
both 23 years old, were detained.
Under Michigan law, a person cannot be charged
with malicious destruction unless the plaintiff can
prove monetary loss from the damage.
ACCORDING TO Det. Michael Schubring of
the Ann Arbor Police Department, FSACC has not
produced the documentation, including receipts for
lumber, to show monetary loss. "If they can't produce
the paperwork, they (the students) won't be charged. If
they produce the proper paperwork, then we'll go
ahead," Schubring said.
History graduate student Barbara Ransby, a leader of
FSACC, said the group has already filed a police report
for damages, and is currently trying to collect
documentation to press charges.-
Since tme shanty was built March 21 for a two-week
national protest against apartheid, four people have
been caught destroying it, according to Pifer. Only
three of them have been charged with disorderly
conduct, for which the maximum penalty is 90 days in
jail and a $100 fine.
FSACC has had difficulty prosecuting alleged
shanty vandals. Last summer, members complained
that Washtenaw County Prosecutor William Delhey
initially failed to charge a University student with
destroying the shanty. Francis Reagan, an LSA senior,
was apprehended by University security guards in May
for tearing three boards off the structure.
The county prosecutor's office dropped the case
because FSACC didn't have proper receipts to prove
monetary loss, but the case was re-opened under a city
ordinance prohibiting malicious destruction of
property. Reagan was sentenced to 72 hours of
community service and $180 in court costs for
vandalizing the structure.
Ransby charged that those who attack the shanty are
being racist whether they think of it that way or not.
"You don't attack symbols not knowing what it stands
for. They chose to attack the shanty and not a garbage
can."
West Quad residents
(Continued from Page 1)
Assistant Director of Housing
Facilities George Sanfacon
acknowledged that maintenance has
had problems keeping up with
Service requests. "The backlog of
calls has hit 7,100 (for Central
Campus dorms), and our staffing
has not changed," he said.
According to Sanfacon,
maintenance has received 20 percent
more service requests this term than
t did last year.
He said the backlog of
complaints may be attributed to
students expecting too much from
the housing division. Because
students spend so much for tuition
and room and board, they now
expect a higher standard of quality
in housing.
"Also," Sanfacon said, "there's
the possibility that we didn't do our
jobs very well over the summer."
Student have complained about
numerous other problems in
Rumsey House. Said Rumsey
Resident Director David Homyak,
"When I call FIX-IT and say 'Hi,
I'm David Homyak. I live at...',
they always say, 'Yeah, we know
where you live.' That tells you
how many times I call."
H OMY AK outlined a list of
maintenance-related problems which
has plagued Rumsey residents: A
television set was stolen due to
faulty brackets which were
supposed to prevent theft; a first
floor washroom has only one
working urinal; an "EXIT" sign
required by law is missing; five fire
alarm glasses are broken (out of a
total of eight in the house); and
several shower faucets are leaking.
"Some of the people here have
been getting results," Homyak said.
"But some things haven't been
taken care of since the beginning of
the year, some which are pretty
major."
At one point, some fourth floor
complain
Rumsey residents were so frustrated
with FIX-IT's lack of service that
they replaced burned-out light bulbs
in a overhead hallway lamp.
Some students are planning to
speak to a representative of Student
Legal Services to evaluate their
legal rights. .
Other houses in West Quad and
Barbour-Newberry are suffering
from maintenance problems as
well, students say. Plans are being
made in West Quad's Wenley
House to organize a group called
Students Concerned about
University Maintenance
(S.C.U.M.).
THEY PLAN to write letters
and petitions to West Quad
Building Director Alan Levy and
the Residence Halls Association to
help bring about an improvement
in fixing and cleaning washrooms
and showers on a reqular basis.
Another dormitory's windows
can be opened from the outside and
cannot be locked, which presents a
security problem. Some of the
residents of the dorm called FIX-IT
before Thankgiving break, but
nothing was done, so a resident
advisor took the initiative.
FIX-IT told the resident advisor
that they would put the problem on
their list and that they understood
the concern, but that there was no
guarantees.
"It's really frustrating," said the
LSA junior.
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MSA members seek to
condemn Isi
(Continued from Page 1)
The petition specifically
condemned the recent slayings of
two Bir Zeit University students in
the West Bank as "the most recent
Israeli action aimed at paralyzing
-Palestinian institutions of higher
learning."
Assembly member Mojahid
David, a Rackham representative
who also authored the petition, said
it does not "deal with any particular
race or people," but with the
killings of students and the alleged
lack of Israeli interest in human
rights.
In other MSA business, the
assembly passed a resolution
reaffirming its past stance on
raeli actions
military research. The assembly
remains opposed to a report which
urges the removal of a rule
prohibiting classified research that
could lead to the destruction of
human life or the incapacitation of
human beings.
The assembly also passed a
resolution condemning an editorial
cartoon that ran in The Daily on
Monday entitled "Back-to-School
Shopping in Detroit." Many people
have complained about the cartoon,
The resolution said the assembly
is "appalled at The Daily's
irresponsible and unprofessional
behavior, and demands that the
Daily refrain from promoting racist
propaganda in the future."
What was the
original name
of the
UNIVERSITY
OF
MICHIGAN
when it was
originally
located in
DETROIT
from 1817 to 1840?
Sponsored by:
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Paper Moon (Peter Bogdanovich,
1973), Hill St., 8:00 p.m.,
Ryan and Tatum O'Neil are a small-
time con team cruising through
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deeply affecting piece, highlighted by
Bogdanovich's nostalgia-steeped dir-
ection and Tatum's Oscar-winning
performance.
Rock 'N' Roll High School
(Allan Arkush, 1979), Alt Act,
DBL/7:30 p.m., MLB 3.
A rabid Ramone-head rebels against
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Johnnie, Dee Dee and the gang to
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We're the Ramones!"
Fast Times At Ridgemont
High (Amy Heckerling,1982), Alt
Act, DBL/9:15 p.m., MLB 3.
Overrated teen sex comedy, partially
redeemed by Sean Penn's stoner.
Don't Look Back (D. A.
Pennebaker, 1967), MTF, 7:45
p.m., Mich.
Though technically little more than a
grainy home movie, this account of
Bob Dylan's last tour as a solo folkie
is amazingly riveting and hilarious.
An entertaining and valuable work of
art
Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks,
1974), MED, 7:30 & 9:10 p.m.,
Nat Sci.
Mel never did top his classic debut,
The Producers, but this flick is about
as close as he got. A small town in
the old West reacts rather poorly to
it's first black sheriff.
The "Prologue: In the Heavens"
from Boito's opera Mefistophele will
be the central work on tonight's
program.
Mission Impossible - 10 p.m.,
Nectarine Ballroom.
Join the "Last Day Student Bash"
with drink specials and a $2 cover.
Speakers
David Tilman - "Experimental
Studies of Terrestrial Succession,"
Dept. of Biology, 4 p.m., Room
2111 Nat. Science.
Linda Galini - 'The Cherobyl
Accident and the IAEA's Response,"
Cntr. for Russian and East European
Studies, 4 p.m., Lec. Room 1,
MLB.
Susan Harter - "The Effects of
Educational Transition on Children's
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Room, School of Education' Build -
ing.
Sidney Bolkosky - "Listening
for the Silence: Interviews with
Holocaust Survivors," Program in
Judiac Studies, 3050 Frieze Bldg.
Meetings
U-M Cross Country Ski Club
- 7 p.m., 447 Mason Hall.
Free South Africa
Coordinating Committee -
6:30 p.m., 111 West Engineering.
U-M Commission for Women
- noon, 2nd floor, 350S. Thayer.
Furthermore
Safewalk - Will end on Dec. 10,
and will resume on Jan 11.
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