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5,000 fiock to
Diag to support
marijuana use
By JAMES M. NASH
and MICHELLE LEE THOMPSON
DAILY STAFF REPORTERS
Some 5,000 people - clean-cut
University students, straggly hippie
holdouts and even the occasional mari-
| juana opponent-flocked to the Diag
Saturday to push for marijuana legal-
ization during the 23rd annual Hash
Bash.
A lineup of speakers including
some of the nation's best-known marl-
juana advocates took "pot-shots" at
President Clinton, University officials
and legislation aimed at cracking
m down on marijuana use.
The pungent scent of marijuana
4 ..-drifted through the crowd as police
U arrested 69 people, primarily for man-
m juana use. Several arrests were for
n Ezs &indecent exposure and weapons pos-
session.
Political rhetoric filled the air al
EVAN PETRIE/Daily most as thickly as the smoke from
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) spokesperson Adam Brook addresses a crowd at the 23rd annual Hash Bash Saturday. hundreds of lit reefers. "Smoking pot,"
said Adam Brook, the first speaker at
the microphone, "is not what this rally
is all about. It's about education --
the whole range of education."
Not everyone cared about what
the speakers had to say. Many stu-
dents came simply to hang out.
"We just came for the atmosphere
and to visit our friends," said Scott
Sniderman, a first-year student from
Indiana University. Sniderman was
among hundreds of students from other
schools who made the pot pilgrimage to
see friends at the University.
Organizers of the event, including
the newly formed University chapter
of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws
(NORML), had other goals in mind.
They distributed 30,000 petitions
through the crowd for a state constitu-
tional amendment to legalize mari-
juana that would appear on the Nov. 8
ballot.
See BASH, Page 3
Crickets take South Quad by storm in April Fool's prank
By APRIL WOOD
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
Faster than a speeding Nite Owl, more
annoying than a late-night fire alarm and able
to leap under doors in a single bound.
Crickets.
Residents of the seventh floor of South
Quad Were awakened by the presence of the
unexpected little visitors near 4 a.m. Friday.
Hundreds - maybe thousands - of crick-
ets.
The April Fool's Day prank has caused
significant distress throughout the floor since
he insects hide in cluttered areas and can
remain unnoticed for days. Residents are still
fending off the critters in their rooms and
bathrooms.
"They were everywhere. Every time we
thought we got them, there were more," LSA
first-year student Lidia Szabo said.
One resident of the 600 hallway, which
was the primarily affected area on the floor,
said he saw four men at one end of the hall as
he was entering the other end. Three of the
men ran to another hall when he walked in, but
one stayed and dumped more crickets onto the
floor before disappearing.
Residents of the hall chalked up the inci-
dent to an April 1 prank, but some were not
impressed by the trick. "I'm hoping it was just
an April Fool's joke," said LSA sophomore
Mary Coles. "I hate bugs, so I just sat up in my
loft."
"I thought it was a good April Fool's joke,
as compared to pulling a fire alarm," said LSA
first-year student Marie Belanger, a resident
of an adjacent hallway.
Another resident said the incident both-
ered him.
"I didn't think it was funny at all," said
LSA first-year student Jeff Fixler, a resident
of the targeted hallway.
Building facilities staff and residence hall
security responded promptly - within 15
minutes of reports of the incident. Extermina-
tors were notified and arrived quickly to as-
sess the situation.
"It was taken care of very quickly and very
efficiently," said Huber house Resident Di-
rector Nicole Laughlin.
The majority of the crickets were removed
Friday morning, but many found places to
hide and continued to pester residents through
the weekend.
Traps were laid out in the hallway and
rooms to catch any insects that escaped the
initial removal, although it will take a consid-
erable amount of time before the hall is com-
pletely cleared of the crickets.
"I think there's a lot of them under my
roommate's bed," LSA junior John Burton
said .
Ethem Palaj, resident advisor for the 600
and 700 hallways, said pranks like this one
disturb residents and also cost the University
money in exterminator fees .
That morning, friends of Palaj were watch-
ing a movie while he was asleep. After think-
ing nothing of hearing voices in the hall,
Palaj's friends saw little things marching in
from under the door.
Upon opening the door and seeing the bug
jamboree, they called residence hall security.
Palaj said he thought the prank was inap-
propriate.
"It's just sad because if that was meant to
be a joke it was done in poor taste," Palaj said.
"At the time it seemed fine, but if the crickets
weren't caught so quickly it could have caused
damage."
MSA lobbies city for improved
A DIAG PRAYER
lighting al(
By JAMES M. NASH
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
Members of the Michigan Student
Assembly are lobbying the City Coun-
cil for better lighting along
Washtenaw Avenue, but an upgrade
is months away unless the University
agrees to bear much of the costs.
The student government's liaison
to the city, LSA Rep. Andrew Wright,
&as asked the council to pledge to hire
an independent engineer to assess
lighting along Washtenaw Avenue.
The thoroughfare is frequently
traveled by students. It also is the site
of numerous sexual assaults and other
crimes, which MSA members at-
tribute in part to the lack of lighting.
The assembly dropped its earlier
request for the city to replace the
existing orange mercury lights with
white lights and add new ones. In a
March 14 letter to council members,
Wright called that proposal "prema-
ong Washtenaw Ave.
ture" and suggested instead that the
city hire an outside consultant.
University and city officials met
last week to discuss funding options
for better lighting. Mayor Ingrid B.
Sheldon called the discussion "very
open and encouraging."
But she and others acknowledged
that no agreement is at hand.
While the city is ultimately re-
sponsible for off-campus lighting,
council members and Wright have
suggested that the University help
defray the costs of new street lights.
The University isn't saying no, but a
spokesperson said the issue of fund-
ing has not been addressed in detail.
"All the discussions we've had
have been very preliminary," said Lisa
Baker, the University's director of
public affairs. "It's too early to say
what kind of arrangement, if any, we
will work out."
The issue of off-campus lighting
first surfaced in 1986-87, when the
Campuswide Security Task Force rec-
ommended additional lighting.
"The University has been trying
to address issues from that report,"
Sheldon said, "but the wheels of gov-
ernment sometimes turn very slowly."
University officials have been re-
ceptive to the city's request for fund-
ing, Sheldon said. The mayor added
that the city may seek a subsidy from
Detroit Edison, the city's principal
electrical utility.
City officials have not estimated
the cost of a lighting upgrade.
Wright said he is pushing the issue
now because city staff are outlining
their budget priorities for next year.
"The safety and security of all
citizens in the community must out-
weigh other budgetary concerns," he
told the council. "Also, the assembly
in no way expects the city to bear the
majority of this cost."
Serbs deny
EVAN t IMiW8ly
Engineering junior Spur Sulzby and Ann Arbor resident David Hagen participate in a Good Friday rally on the Diag.
reports of terror; fighting continues
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