The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 7, 1992 - Page 3
supreme
Court says
-gov't 'sting'
was illegal
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
Supreme Court yesterday limited
some undercover "sting" operations
when it ruled that a Nebraska farmer
was entrapped by postal agents who
coaxed him for two years to buy
mail-order child pornography.
By a 5-4 vote, the justices said
the farmer lacked predisposition to
commit a crime and only purchased
the contraband material after the pro-
longed solicitation of the
government.
The ruling is a defeat for law en-
forcement officials and a surprise
from an increasingly conservative
*court.
The court's four dissenters said
the decision is a major departure that
could hobble investigators. The ma-
jority said the ruling represents no
change from standards that have let
the government conduct sweeping
undercover investigations into polit-
ical corruption, drug dealing and
fencing of stolen goods.
"There are good guidelines here
that will protect some people who
need protection," said Paul Marcus,
a law professor at the College of
William & Mary. "You can't pursue
someone so relentlessly."
Assistant Attorney General
Robert S. Mueller III said the court's
decision was "generally limited" to
the particulars of the Nebraska case.
The case stems from the investi-
gation of Keith Jacobson, 61, of
Newman Grove, Neb.
Police found Jacobson's name on
a San Diego, Calif., pornography
bookstore's mailing list in 1984. He
had ordered two nudist magazines
from the store that were legal to
purchase.
Postal inspectors continuously
solicited Jacobson through the mail
to buy illegal pornography.
Investigators said he voluntarily re-
sponded to mailed questionnaires
asking him about his interests in
sexually explicit material.
In other action, the court:
UAgreed to decide in case from
New Jersey whether newspapers and
other businesses can treat paying
customers as depreciable assets
worth millions in tax write-offs.
-Said it will decide in a District
of Columbia case whether states
may require all employers with
health plans for active employees to
provide the same benefits to em-
ployees eligible for workers'
compensation.
ELet stand a ruling in a Virginia
case that limits the power of federal
prosecutors to seek longer prison
terms for some defendants sentenced
after plea bargains.
S. Quad begins
hallway patrols
for fake alarms
PAUL TAYLOR/Dai y
Grazin' in the springtime
A horse grazes under a sunny sky on a horse farm west of Ann Arbor yesterday.
Ra4ckamr students win seats on
government with no opposition
by Mona Qureshi
Daily Staff Reporter
Within the first three days in
April, students living in the South
Quadrangle residence hall left their
beds twice in a losing battle against
the residence hall's fire alarm prob-
lem.
Students have been evacuated for
17 fire alarms this year - 12 of
which were false alarms, said South
Quad Building Director Mary Lou
Antieau.
To fight this problem, Antieau
said she and other South Quad staff
are requesting residents to volunteer
to patrol the corridors of the resi-
dence hall from midnight to 6 a.m.
Antieau said that because of the
recurrence of false fire alarms, she
feared that residents will become
apathetic and not evacuate the
building if a real fire occurred.
"There's nothing funny about set-
ting up a situation like a false fire
alarm in a high-rise building. It's
become that 'boy that cries wolf
syndrome, where students don't
want to leave the building during
alanms and hide in closets instead,"
Antieau said.
She said most people who have
been caught pulling fire alarms have
been under the influence of alcohol.
"I don't know the motive, but some
people think it is funny. I hope we
can catch some people. We've had
some responses to the volunteer re-
quest," she said.
But students living at South Quad
said they are not sure if the staff's
request for volunteers would stop
the false alarms or is even appropri-
ate.
"What's the point of me staying
up all night without even being
paid? If I stay up all night, it's to
study. I don't have time," Engineer-
ing first-year student Tim Hachenski
said.
He added it would be difficult to
catch a person that pulls alarms be-
cause they are located so close to
doors that the person can pull them
and leave the building.
"The dorm's liable if the people
don't leave during alarms. They
'I don't know the
motive, but some
people think it is
funny. I hope we can
catch some people.
We've had some
responses to the
volunteer request.'
- Mary Lou Antieau
S. Quad Building Director
should use the money that's for a
future lawsuit for cameras," said
LSA first-year student Michelle
Dobkin.
"I'd be surprised if they get a
person to volunteer," said LSA
sophomore Jennifer Cowles. "I don't
see how you could physically stop a
person. I would try to intervene, but
how can you restrain the person?"
Nevertheless, student concerns
remain. "I think it's wrong that one
person has the power to wake up
1,400 people and put them out into
the snow. Since the alarms recur so
often - two in the last week alone
- students don't know when to be-
lieve an alarm is for real, and that is
a problem," Engineering first-year
student Chad McCloud said.
by Karen Pier
Daily Graduate Schools Reporter
Everybody on the ballot was a
winner in last week's Rackham Stu-
dent Government (RSG) election.
Eight Rackham students on the
ballot were elected without opposi-
tion, and one won in an unopposed
write-in campaign.
The only competition is deciding
which one of several write-in candi-
dates will fill another vacant seat,
said RSG President Mark Buchan,
who was re-elected last week. .
A former representative, Karen
Ann De Gannes, won the vice presi-
dency as an unopposed candidate,
RSG announced yesterday.
All graduate students voted for
president and vice president, as well
as for representatives in their divi-
sion: Division I, health and biologi-
cal sciences, Division II, physical
sciences and engineering, Division
III, social sciences and education,
and Division IV, humanities and
arts.
Former vice president Nancy
Goldfarb won a representative's seat
in Division IV.
Marcus Huber was the only can-
didate running in Division II which
has three full-term seats open.
Rackham first-year student Leib
Kaminsky, who represents Division
I on RSG, became involved with
undergraduate government when he
was studying at the University of
Pennsylvania.
He said he wants to change the
way students vote in future RSG
elections. "Voting should be done on
MTS," he said, adding that the cur-
rent paper method is "very ineffi-
cient."
RSG Representative Corey Dol-
gon won a second full term to repre-
sent Division IV.
LSA faculty debates course distribution requirements
by David Wartowski
Daily Faculty Reporter
Although they came to no concrete proposals or
conclusions, LSA faculty members openly expressed
dissatisfaction with college distribution require-
ments at a faculty meeting yesterday.
No formal resolutions were introduced, but stu-
dents might still see changes in the distribution
requirements.
LSA Dean Edie Goldenberg said two commit-
tees - the Curriculum Committee and the Central
Committee on the Undergraduate Experience
(CCUE) - have been meeting to discuss the possi-
bility of changing distribution requirements to
include courses of quantitative reasoning and more
specifically outlining requirements within the three
distributions.
As of yet, neither committee has sent a proposal
to the faculty. Currently, the majority of LSA stu-
dents follow the Pattern I distribution pattern, which
requires each student to take a total of 30 credit
hours distributed between social sciences, humani-
ties, and natural sciences, and a total of at least 9
hours within each department.
Anthropology department Chair Richard Ford, a
member of the CCUE, said the committee consid-
ered requirements of quantitative reasoning and
creative writing, but there are not enough funds to
offer a course of creative expression to every LSA
student.
Ford also said distribution requirements, such as
the two-year language requirement, prevent a stu-
dent from exploring "the rich catalogue we offer."
English Prof. Robert Weisbuch, using such ad-
jectives as "cynical," "off-handed," and "extremely
mechanical" to describe present distribution re-
quirements, said creating a distribution pattern that
"sings to the heart beautifully" would be difficult,
but that present requirements need to be changed.
"They don't encourage intellectual relating
among departments," he said. The LSA distribution
is more like "a shopping mall" where students only
take glimpses at different disciplines, Weisbuch
added.
English Prof. James Winn said the University
needs to hire a larger body of junior faculty and to
raise tenure requirements to keep academic stan-
dards high.
Winn also said the University needs to inprove
undergraduate admission standards to include cre-
ative ability, not just a "formula score."
Biology Prof. Michael Martin said require-
ments sometimes restrict students' schedule choices
by forcing them to take a "worthless class," when
they would rather explore another discipline.Martin
cited his own undergraduate experience when he
was forced senior year to take a "worthless" 100-
level course in lieu of a 400-level German literature
course he said he wanted to take.
Martin agreed changes would be difficult, but
saw problems with the requirements."I don't think
our present requirements are great. They're OK.
They work."
'
'
THE LIST
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
Meetings
Ann Arbor Committee to defend
Abortion and Reproductive rights
(AACDARR) weekly mtg, Michigan
Union, Tap rm. 6:30 p.m.
MSA Weekly meeting 3909 Michigan
Union, 7:30 p.m.
Social Group for bisexual Women,
9:30 p.m. call 763-4186 for location
and more information
Student Education Peer Program,
STEPP 4th floor Union, 8:30 p.m.
SADD general meeting, 2nd Prescott
Lounge East Quad, 9:00 p.m.
JASA Board Meeting, Nikki lounge,
Mo-Jo, 9-11 p.m.
"Spark Forum," MLB Rm B122,
7:00-8:00 p.m.
;Asian American Student
Association, weekly meeting, Nikki
lounge, Mo-Jo, 7:30 p.m.
Time and Relative Dimensions in
Ann Arbor, 2439 Mason Hall 7 p.m.
University Cancer-
Information/Discussion Session,
Michigan Union-Anderson Room,
6:30 p.m.
Recycle UM 4th floor Union,
Recycke-UM offices weekly meeting,
6:30 p.m.
Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law, Michigan
Union - Kuenzel Rm, 7:30 p.m..
Undergrad Psych Society, Mass
Meeting, Dr. Jerry Miller, 7:30 p.m.
Anthropology Club, meeting
Dominick's, 7 p.m.
Sneakers
"The Global and Regional Impact of
the Gulf War," 9a.m.-5 p.m. Kuenzel
Rm, Mich Union
Furthermore
"Amazin' Blue," 2105 Michigan
Union, 6 p.m.
"Search for a New Path to Nuclear
Fusion: Cluster Ion Impact," 1640
Chem, 2:00 p.m.
"Terrible Laughter: Gillray, Nast,
and Trial by Caricature." Draper
Hill, Apr 8, 3:30 p.m.
"A Power Pla y," Alice Lloyd, 10:00
p.m. in the Blue Carpet Lounge
Safewalk, night-time safety walking
service. Sun-Thurs 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m.,
Fri-Sat 8 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Stop by 102
UGLi or call 936-1000. Also, extended
hours: Sun-Thurs 1-3 a.m. Stop by
Angell Hall Computing Center or call
763-4246
Northwalk, North Campus night-time
team walking service. Sun-Thurs 8
p.m.-1:30 a.m. Stop by 2333 Bursley or
call 763-WALK.
Stress . and Time Management,
Consultations with peer counselors
available, 3100 Michigan Union, 11-1
p.m.
Undergraduate Psychology
Department, Undergraduate psychol-
ogy advising, walk-in or appointment,
K-108 West Quad, 9 a.m-4 p.m.
Kaffeestunde, weekly German coffee
and conversation, 3rd floor Commons
Rm., MLB, all welcome, 4:30-6 p.m.
U~!£U U -- yE 11. . -
Sci-fi writer
Isaac Asimov
dies at age 72
NEW YORK (AP) - Isaac
Asimov, whose nearly 500 books
ranged from science fiction fore-
telling an era in which humans and
benign robots spread across the
galaxy to science fact, histories and
humor, died yesterday at age 72. A
He died of heart and kidney fail-
ure at New York University
Hospital, said his brother, Stanley
Asimov, a vice president of
Newsday.
Asimov was one of the mot
widely-read popularizers of science
fact, as well as a prolific writer on
subjects that amused or interested
him, including literature, humot,
opera and light. He was also an
associate professor of biochemi$try
at the Boston University Schoot of
Medicine.
U UU lIAN I t:M/UaHy
Roll out the barrel
Roger Reese loads kegs into the delivery truck for delivery to fraternities in time for yesterday's basketball game.
WRITEFOR HEDILY
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International Education
Services invites applications
for a one-year assignment in
Japan teaching English to
Japanese business people from
major corporations and
government offices. Minimum
academic requirement is a
Bachelors degree; some
G 159C
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University of Michigan
Mens Glee Club
Jerry Blackstone, Director
132nd Annual Spring Concert
-- I a~ ~ al df~