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Off-campus Entre Plus to debut in February as Mcard
By JAMES NASH
Daily Staff Reporter
Goodbye, Entree Plus. Hello, Mcard.
As part of an overhaul of the University's
debit card, the University on Friday chris-
tened the new Mcard to succeed the popular
decade-old Entree Plus program.
Mcard is expected to debut in late Febru-
ary as a pilot program open to about 500
students. Officials hope Mcard will be in the
hands of all University students on the Ann
Arbor campus by the beginning of the fall
term.
Mcard will extend the University's bank-
ing system off campus -heeding requests
from off-campus merchants that they be al-
lowed to participate in the program.
The University and First of America signed
an agreement in December under which the
bank administers the program off campus.
While the bank will recover an undeter-
mined percentage from each purchase, many
merchants interviewed promised not to raise
prices to compensate.
"If anything, this will help (lower) prices
because it will be more competitive," asserted
Steve Schindler, store manager of Michigan
Book & Supply. "I guarantee we will not raise
prices because of it."
But Associate Vice President for Business
Operations Bob Russell, who is heading the
transition to Mcard, said merchants may be
dissatisfied with the final rate.
"Whatever we come up with is not going
to be low enough for the merchants - it's
going to be difficult to resolve," he predicted.
Mcard will replace current student identi-
fication cards and include two magnetic
stripes: one linking the card directly to a
savings account at First of America and gen-
erally used for larger purchases, and the other
a separate account - similar to a copy card at
the libraries -for smaller purchases. Exist-
ing identification cards will be re-encoded to
take advantage of the new program.
To ensure security, students will have to
enter a four-digit personal identification code
at the point of purchase.
Students would not have to open an ac-
count at First of America, Russell said.
University and First of America officials
expect to approve a logo for Mcard early this
week. The card is modeled after Florida State
University's debit card, the FSUCard.
It has not been decided whether the card
could be used for alcohol and tobacco pur-
chases.
Following delays in negotiations between
the University and First of America, both
sides said late last week the pilot program
should be launched within a month. About
1,000 students - half selected at random and
half selected because they use Entrde Plus -
will receive letters after spring break asking
whether they wish to participate in the pilot
program, Russell said.
University and bank officials anticipate
about 500 will participate. About 20 to 30
businesses also will be named later this week
for the pilot program, he said.
President
*t review
record in
ad ress
From Staff and Wire Reports
WASHINGTON - When Presi-
dent Clinton delivers his State of the
Union Address before the new Re-
publican Congress tomorrow night,
he faces a daunting and perhaps im-
possible ,mission: to convince mil-
lions of Americans that he is not the
man they think he is.
After two years in office, White
House aides say, Clinton wants to
"reintroduce" himself to voters - to
show them he is still the centrist "new
Democrat" they supported in 1992,
not the tax-and-spend liberal they re-
jected in 1994.
"We have an opportunity here to
restart a conversation with the Ameri-
can people ... about what this presi-
dent wants to do," White House
spokesman Mike McCurry said. "We
think it's important to do that."
Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Arbor)
said Clinton must speak directly to
the American people. "I think he needs
to get across ... that he actually un-
derstands what people are dealing with
on a day-to-day basis and to focus on
jobs, good wages and issues that af-
fect people directly," Rivers said in a
telephone interview from her Ann
Arbor home last night.
The problem, aides say, is that too
many voters have concluded that he is
an old-style liberal, and too few are
willing to give him credit for the $255
billion in spending cuts he has made
- not to mention (as the White House
frequently does) a sustained economic
recovery and 5.6 million new jobs.
Rivers said that the Clinton ad-
ministration has had trouble articulat-
ing its successes. "Unfortunately, his
administration has done a poor job in
communicating the victories he's
had," she said.
Polls confirm this diagnosis: A
Washington Post/ABC News poll
earlier this month found that 48 per-
cent of the public consider Clinton a
"tax-and-spend" Democrat, and only
45 percent see him as a budget-cut-
ting "new Democrat."
Accordingly, aides said, the core
of Clinton's third State of the Union
speech will be a review of what he
considers his unnoticed achievements,
along with a renewed pledge to cut
the federal budget deficit - and per-
haps (but still undecided) a list of new
spending cuts to come.
While Rivers said she does not
know the specific issues Clinton will
discuss in his address, she said the
president ought to stress concern for
the middle class, tuition tax cut pro-
posals and unveil elements for his
plans for the middle class.
At the same time, the president is
See CLINTON, Page 2
Arab bombers kill
19 Israeli soldiers
Israel seals West Bank and
Gaza Strip to Palestinians; Despite bombing,
peace talks to continue dm nc m'i n ui
Los Angeles Times
JERUSALEM - Two suicide bombers, be-
lieved to be members of a militant Islamic
group, detonated powerful explosives yester-
day near a bus stop crowded with Israeli soldiers
returning from weekend furloughs, killing 19
people and wounding more than 60.
The bombs exploded at about 9:30 a.m. as
the young soldiers gathered for roll call and
transport back to their bases in northern Israel
and the occupied West Bank, flattening a snack
bar and throwing dozens of troopers into the air
and across the road.
"The snack bar was blown apart by the first
explosion," said Oleg Feinberg, who had been
waiting for a bus at the busy Beit Lid junction
near the coastal town of Netanya about 20 miles
north of Tel Aviv. "Soldiers ran to help the
wounded, and then in another two minutes there
was a second explosion, even bigger. These
bombs were meant to kill and injure as many
people as possible."
Prime Minister Yitzhak 'Rabin denounced
the attack, the latest in a series of suicide bomb-
ings by Muslim radicals in the heart of Israel, as
a murderous atrocity with "the dual goal of
killing Israelis and halting the peace process."
The leader of Islamic Jihad, which opposes
the 1993 agreement on Palestinian self-rule as a
sellout by the Palestine Liberation Organiza-
tion, said in Damascus, Syria, that two of his
members had carried out the attack. Fathi
Shukaki said the bombing was in retaliation for
the killing earlier this month of three Palestinian
policemen by Israeli soldiers and the assassina-
tion of a leading Islamic Jihad activist in the
Gaza Strip.
"We confirm our ability to penetrate all the
enemy's false security lines and reach the heart
of the enemy," said Shukaki, Islamic Jihad's
secretary general. "We say to the enemy that
See BOMBING, Page 2
foster dialogue
By THEKLA FISCHER
For the Daily
Cooperation between groups on oppos-
ing sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict may
come as a surprise to some, but two student
groups, the University's Progressive Zion-
ist Caucus (PZC) and the Palestinian Soli-
darity Committee (PSC), are working to
dispel common misconceptions.
"The mission is to raise awareness of the
real situation; making people aware of the
occupation, working to alter American
policy," said Khytam Dawood, a PSC mem-
ber and University alum.
Asked whether yesterday's suicide
bombing that killed 19 Israeli soldiers and
the resulting closure of the occupied territo-
ries would thwart further collaboration,
Dawood said, "There has been violence go-
ing on for 26 years. Both sides condemn
violence from either side."
However, she said, "It was wrong that
the entire Palestinian people should be
punished for the actions of a few radi-
cals."
The platforms of the two organizations
overlap on several points. The groups agree
that Israeli occupation should cease, Pales-
tinian statehood should be established along-
side Israel and recognition of the right to
self-determination should be mutual.
The two groups have co-sponsored mov-
ies, speakers, teach-ins and open-forum dis-
cussions.
Liaison to the PSC and former chair of
the PZC, Shari Robinson, said those events
were integral to promoting mutual under-
See STUDENTS, Page 2
DUGUILAS KANR/D AiLaily
Snowed in at Crisler
Michigan State guard Eric Snow slams down two of his six points in the Spartans' 73-71 victory
over Michigan yesterday at Crisler Arena. See SPORTSMonday for complete coverage.
Rape si
By FRANK C. LEE
Daily Staff Reporter
Ervin D. Mitchell Jr., who has
been linked to three rapes and a rape-
homicide in Ann Arbor by DNA tests,
may have left additional incriminat-
ing evidence behind.
Police believe Mitchell pawned a
necklace that may belong to the fifth
and last known rape victim at an
Ypsilanti pawn shop. Documents ob-
tained by The Michigan Daily from
Dave's Diamonds and Gold indicate
a gold rope necklace and charm were
sold to them by Mitchell on Dec. 10.
A 42-year-old Ann Arbor woman,
who was raped near Community High
School on Oct. 13, reported that her
necklace had been stolen.
Police did not recover any body
fluids from that assault, leading them
to suspect a condom was used during
aspect pawned victim's jewelry
the attack. The necklace, however,
may be the link police are looking for
to connect Mitchell to the last in a
series of rape spanning a 2 1/2-year
period.
Ann Arbor Police Detective Michael
Schubring - a member of the task
force - listed the necklace in a search
warrant as one of the items police were
searching for at four of Mitchell's pre-
viously known addresses.
Police searched the premises of
Mitchell's girlfriend on Carolina Av-
enue and his friend's apartment on
Broadway in Ann Arbor, as well as
Mitchell'smother's house and his aunt's
house in Inkster, Mich., on Jan. 10.
Michigan State Police Sgt. David
Minzey of the Violent Crimes Unit,
who crafted the behavioral profile of
the serial rapist released to Ann Arbor
citizens, said Mitchell fits the profile.
Minzey said he believes serial rap-
ists often retain mementos of their
crimes so that they can relive the act as
part of their violent sexual fantasies.
Mitchell, 33, is behind bars at the
Washtenaw County Jail, awaiting a
Feb. 27 trial for a Dec. 24 assault and
robbery attempt - a failed purse-
snatching. In accordance with a Dec.
26 search warrant, samples of
Mitchell's blood were drawn. Pre-
liminary tests of those samples indi-
cate that Mitchell is the serial rapist.
Scientists at the Michigan State
Police Crime Laboratory have com-
pleted two DNA probes of Mitchell's
blood. The statistical chances that
another Black individual possessing
the same DNA profile is one in 17,000
said the technicians.
Ann Arbor Police detectives also
have photographs of a muddy shoe
print in a May 7 rape-homicide and
shoe prints around the Oct. 13 crime
scene. They are comparing them to a
pair of black "army" boots and a pair
of tennis shoes seized in January.
Prosecutors are awaiting test re-
sults from more DNA comparisons
before issuing warrants against
Mitchell for sexual assault. On Thurs-
day, Judge Donald Shelton refused to
reduce Mitchell's $50,000 bond.
Police are still searching for a black
Toshiba VCR, a tan cigarette case and
credit cards that were taken from other
rape victims.
Mitchell's attorney, Assistant
Washtenaw County Public Defender
David Lankford, said he will ask
Shelton to move the purse-snatching
trial out of Washtenaw County over
concerns of pre-trial publicity, The
Ann Arbor News reported.
Mitchell
Kennedy matriarch, 104,
dies at Hyannis Port home
Rallies mark Roe's 22nd
INSIDE
ARTS 5
Wayne State University's
production of "Nunsense" stirs
up laughs, horror in the
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - As thou-
sands of anti-abortion demonstrators
flooded into Washington for a mas-
sive protest march today to mark the
anniversarv of the Sunreme Court's
has always been peaceful, and main-
stream anti-abortion leaders are urg-
ing peaceful activities.
But abortion-rights advocates are
taking extra security precautions at
abortion clinics here and around the
s
anniversary
clinics has become so intense that a
severe shortage of doctors willing to
perform abortions has begun to limit
access for women in many regions of
the nation.
Under mounting pressure to take
HYANNIS PORT, Mass. (AP) -
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, matriarch
nf the Kennedy clan. whose faith and
She once described her life as a
series of "agonies and ecstasies."
The exhilaration of nolitical suc-