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 I. LIVE IN JAPAN 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 £ U E B University of Michigan Mens Glee Club Jerry Blackstone, Director 132nd Annual Spring Concert -- I a~ ~ al df~