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One hundred four years of editorial freedom
-'U'may decriminalize 10 offenses, increase parking fines
By RONNIE GLASSBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
Ten University criminal offenses -
cluding disorderly conduct alcohol pc
sion or consumption on campus - c
become civil offenses under a proposed cl
to a regents' ordinance. At the same tin
Jniversity would double the cost for
parking violations.
The proposal needs the approval c
University Board of Regents, which will
take action on the item at its December
ing.
The changes would make crimin
Reward for
rapist info
increased
to $100,000
By FRANK C. LEE
Daily Staff Reporter
The reward offered for informa-
tion leading to the identification and
arrest of Ann Arbor's serial rapist has
just been raised to $100,000.
Because of the efforts of a local
businessman, Ron Weiser, chief ex-
ecutive officer of McKinley Associ-
ates, $63,200 has been added this past
week to the initial $36,800 reward.
"Our company added another
30,000 to the $20,000 we've given
initially," Weiser said. "Another com-
pany gave $25,000 anonymously.
Great Lakes Bancorp gave $8,000
and The Ann Arbor News kicked an-
other $200 to make it $100,006 even."
The Ann Arbor area task force is
investigating tips about the serial rap-
ist who is believed to have raped three
women, and raped and killed a fourth.
e is also suspected in six other at-
tempted rapes.
The most recent victim was a 41-
year-old Ann Arbor woman who was
beaten and raped near the city's Com-
munity High School on Oct. 13.
Police investigators have released
little about their efforts since the at-
tack. The task force, however, is ap-
preciative of the money pledged by
Weiser and others to hasten the cap-
ure of the rapist.
A motivating factor behind
Weiser's Involvement was Shawn
Moore - a 13-year-old who was kid-
napped and killed in 1985. Weiser
then pledged a $20,000 reward, which
See REWARD, Page 2
A SAPAC counselor gives
advise to friends, family of
exual assault survivors. Page 3.
fenses such as alcohol possession or con-
sumption on campus, littering, sales and so-
licitation, disorderly conduct and skateboard
riding on campus civil offenses.
Besides making many offenses civil, the
change also would double the fee for most
University parking violations. The penalty
for an expired meter paid within 14 days
would increase from $3 to $10.
As criminal offenses, these infractions are
punishable by imprisonment of no less than
10 days and no more than 60 days, or by a fine
of not more than $50, or both. As civil of-
fenses, the infractions would be punishable
by a fine of not more than $50.
"It will be easier to prove the crimes as
civil crimes than as a criminal misdemeanor,"
said Joseph Burke, chief assistant prosecutor
for Washtenaw County. "I think (DPS) will
write as many tickets, the difference is they
will not be subjected to jail time."
University spokeswoman Lisa Baker said
the proposal follows a yearlong review of the
ordinance, which was enacted in September
1991. The ordinance was based on an obscure
1905 Michigan statute.
"The recommended revisions are based
on our own experiments with the criminal
justice system. We've really had time to see
how the ordinance works and we can make
adjustments now," Baker said.
As a civil offense, a person would only
appear before a judge if they contested the
ticket - just like a parking violation. "Any
criminal misdemeanor would have to appear
before a judge," Burke said.
The criminal misdemeanor offenses re-
main on a person's criminal record for at least
five years. After a second misdemeanor, the
offense cannot be removed from the record.
"Civil infraction is just like a speeding ticket.
There is no criminal record," Burke said.
Regent Laurence Deitch (D-Bloomfield
Hills) said he will support the changes to the
ordinance.
"These offenses are not considered crimi-
nal offenses in almost any Michigan commu-
nity and the more we do to decriminalize
behavior the better off I think we'll be,"
Deitch said. "The offenses in question are
very minor and it just seems to be a more
rational way to deal with them is to give a slap
on the wrist rather than a misdemeanor con-
viction."
Prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges
See OFFENSES, Page 2
White House
gunman faces
felony charges
U.S. Rep. Bob Carr, running for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat, talks to reporters after a debate in Southfield.
Abraham a Carr
on taxes in final debate
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Colo-
rado man with a criminal past will be
arraigned today on felony property
damage and firearms violations fol-
lowing his frightening White House
shooting spree. The possibility of ad-
ditional charges, including attempted
assassination, was left open.
Yesterday, the day after the unset-
tling attack, yellow police tape
stretched across the White House lawn
and FBI agents armed with laser equip-
ment conducted an inch-by-inch
search for bullets around the pock-
marked mansion.
The gunman, 26-year-old Fran-
cisco Martin Duran, remained silent
at D.C.'s central cellblock, his mo-
tives a mystery, his demeanor de-
scribed by the Secret Service as "com-
pletely flat." Duran was released from
a military prison in September 1993
after serving 2 1/2 years for felony
assault, the Army reported.
Described as unshaken by the tu-
mult, President Clinton rested up dur-
ing the day after his grueling Middle
East tour and held to his plan to attend
an evening gala at Ford's Theatre,
where President Lincoln was felled
by an assassin's bullet 129 years ago.
Press secretary Dee Dee Myers
said Clinton would proceed with busi-
ness as usual, confident that the Se-
cret Service can protect him and his
family, but she added, "Generally,
the number of weapons on the streets
of this country is disconcerting to the
president."
Duran, scheduled to be formally
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By KELLY FEENEY
Daily Staff Reporter
SOUTHFIELD--In the racZe for Michigan's
open U.S. Senate seat, Democrat Bob Carr and
Republican Spence Abraham went head-to-
head on crime, taxes and negative ads in their
final televised debate last night.
With Carr and Abraham nearly dead even in
polls and with only eight days left before the
election, both candidates opened fire last night
- sometimes at the same moment - in a last
effort to sway undecided voters to their side.
Both parties are targeting this election. Re-
publicans say they need this seat to take back
the U.S. Senate for the first time since 1986,
while Democrats are working to retain the seat
being vacated by Democrat Donald Riegle.
Carr and Abraham split over gun restric-
tions: Abraham, who favors focusing on repeat
offenders, thinks the assault ban would not
deter crime.
"The problem isn't the gun. It's the per-
son," Abraham said, adding that an individual's
right to own guns should not be restricted
because of criminals.
Carr, a NRA member, voted for the assault
ban and the crime bill, and said he feels that the
measure balances owner rights while also help-
ing law enforcement.
On taxes, Carr said he would not make a
pledge to cut taxes. "I think that's irrespon-
See DEBATE, Page 2
S a
Senat
1st Ward offers voters variety
U' student runs against
City Council incumbent
Editors' note: This is the first in a
Ike -part series profiling the candi- ,
dates in the upcoming City Council
election.
By JOSHUA GINSBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
Residents in Ann Arbor's 1st
Ward, which has the highest percent-
age of University students among the Y
city's five wards, find two candidates Hanna-Davie
-a University student and a current
"'ity Council member - focusing on
a wide array of issues.
With the election for City Council
less than eight days away, indepen-
dent candidate Andrew Wright pre-
pares to challenge Democratic
Councilmember Tobi Hanna-Davies.
Wright, an LSA sophomore and a,
representative on the Michigan Stu-
ent Assembly, is running primarily
n a University and city relations plat- Wright
form. Hanna-Davies, however, is fo-
cusing on housing and environmental
issues.
"The record shows what my pri- million fund
orities are," Hanna-Davies said. She publicans refs
i h-e inntl-ment in makina cuer Hanna-na
0- Ne Ana lysis
City Council races
eclipsed by mayor
By JAMES M. NASH
Daily Staff Reporter
AP PHOTO
Police tape marks a White House
Press Room window yesterday
afternoon after bullets were fired
into the West Wing on Saturday.
arraigned before a U.S. Magistrate
today, was charged early yesterday
with willfully damaging federal prop-
erty and possessing a firearm as a
convicted felon. The first charge car-
ries a maximum penalty of 10 years
imprisonment and a $10,000 fine, the
latter 10 years and $5,000.
The Secret Service held out the
possibility that additional charges
could be filed.
"I would not eliminate assassina-
tion statutes," said Special Agent Carl
See GUNMAN, Page 7
Archbishop
Maida named
as cardinal
From Staff and Wire Reports
DETROIT - Archbishop Adam
J. Maida was named one of 30 new
cardinals by Pope John Paul II, yes-
terday, one of only two Americans to
be selected for el-
evation.
Cardinals are
chosen by the
pope to serve as
his principal assis-
tants and advisers : t,
in the central ad-
ministration of
church affairs.
Collectively, they
form the College Maida
of Cardinals and
participate in papal elections.
Maida will be officially elevated
Nov. 26 during a ceremony at St.
Peter's Basilica in Rome.
At a news conference yesterday at
Sacred Heart Major Seminary in De-
troit, Maida said his elevation is an
honor for the Archdiocese of Detroit
as much as himself.
"I am fully aware that this honor is
actually a recognition of the impor-
es
With newcomers cluttering the ballot and Ann
Arbor's first November city election since 1963, next
week's election could be a watershed in local politics.
Or maybe not.
Although five of the 10 City Council posts - plus
the mayor's seat - are up for grabs, the election
probably will not shift the political balance on council.
That is, unless the mayor's office changes hands.
Republican Ingrid Sheldon has held the city's top
elected post for nearly two years, where she has
followed a politically moderate course. David Stead
wants her job, and promises to lead the city in a more
"progressive" direction.
No matter who wins the mayor's office, Democrats
will likely retain a majority on the City Council, and
therefore have effective control of city politics. Even
Sheldon has been loathe to second-guess the Demo-
cratic majority, as evidenced by her infrequent use of
See COUNCIL, Page 2
balance "which the Re-
use to touch."
vine h2 s lso helned to
tion and decrease tension between
students and Ann Arbor residents over
such issues as the Rock. noise viola-
W , - ;4 ..4a y - I Fm.