The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 27, 1995 - 5 WIT asitronomer discusses comet's crash into Jupiter By LISA MICHALSKI For the Daily Whenthefirstof2l pieces ofrockthatmade up comet emaker-Levy 9 crashed into the surface of Jupiter in Ju y, it exploded with the force of a 200,000 megaton Hydrogen bombcreating a fireball that billowedup2,000 miles, researchers say. Using the now in-focus Hubble Space Telescope, scientists managed to record the event. An MIT astrono- mer will be displaying pictures from the collision in a lecture today. Heidi Hammel, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will deliver a presentation called "The Wtacular Swan Song of Shoemaker-Levy 9." The talk, ored by the University's Space Physics Research Laboratory, is scheduled for 3 p.m. in the Boeing Audito- rium of the Bagnold Aerospace Building on North Campus. Hammel will focus on the comet crash and its effect on Jupiter's atmosphere. The leader of the team of scientists observing the event with the Hubble telescope, Hammel was in charge of the visible wavelength images of the explosions resulting from the crash. Last summer's collision was the only time anyone has seen a comet crash into a planet, said John Clarke, a 4Warch scientist at the University's Space Physics Re- search Lab. "Since Galileo invented the telescope no one has seen anything like this happen," he said. Clarke added that undergraduates and non-science majors would be able to understand Hammel's presenta- tion. "She's not a-real technical speaker." Researchers discovered Shoemaker-Levy 9 orbiting Jupiter in May 1993 and continued to watch as it pen- etrated Jupiter's atmosphere. Light reflecting from the dust surrounding the frag- tswas the only reason the comet was initially spotted, Wrke said. "People are now speculating that there are dozens of these things orbiting Jupiter." University Astronomy Prof. Gordon MacAlpine said, "The Hubble Space Telescope has many potential, im- portant uses, ranging from studying solar system objects like Jupiter to investigating quasars, which are the most distant observable objects in the universe." He said one ofthe most exciting recent developments of the Hubble telescope has been the ability to view faint, a arently young galaxies in the process of forming and racting with each other. "These distant objects are seen now as they actually existed at a much earlier time in the universe," he said. "Astronomers hope HST will ultimately provide us with information necessary for a better understanding of the age, geometrical characteristics, origin, and future fate of our Universe," MacAlpine said. A SLICE OF THE CITY Student pleads ty to pulling false alarm By FRANK C. LEE Daily Staff Reporter A University student pleaded guilty Wednes- day to a misdemeanor charge of pulling a false fire alarm in a residence hall. Thomas Law, who is on probation, had his lease terminated by the University's Housing Division. Law admitted to pulling a South Quad fire alarm in November. The incident was alcohol related. Law could not be reached for comment yester- day. "When we're able to attach individual respon- sibility, it's considered a very serious event," said Alan Levy, Housing Public Affairs and Informa- tion director. "It's outrageous to put other people at risk, let alone the inconvenience. It's re4lly an outrageous activity for college students to be engaged in - alcohol related or not." False fire alarms are to be expected in resi- dence halls, but over the years South Quad has had more than its share. "Over the years we've had some real success in decreasing overall false fire alarms," Levy said. "It remains too prominent in South Quad. This is almost all alcohol related. We've taken a variety of security steps. The number is down but still uncomfortably high." This case is unusual because the perpetrator was identified. Law was singled out as the one who pulled the alarm thanks to new key card readers installed at various residence halls that admit residents through building doors without using a key. "We checked the fire alarm that was pulled that night," Levy said. "It was near a side entrance to South Quad. Our electronic. card-access door readers produced computer records that were able to be checked. "They indicated that he had come in that en- trance and was the only on to come in ri ht at that time," Levy said. "He ultimately acknowledged he was responsible." Law was in trouble with the University before he pulled the fire alarm and was on the verge of being evicted. Levy said the fire alarm incident was the last straw and eviction proceedings were made immediate. "We terminated his lease be fore we were a ware he pulled the alarm for multip le violations of the community living standard under our residence halls' rules and regulations," Levy said. "We understand the irritation of the residents who are affected and try to take it as serimus as we can," he added. "The fact that we terminate someone's lease when we can prove it is an indication that we don't fool around. The most severe penalty available to us is lease termina- tion." Levy said, however, his office did not pursue the matter any differently than from other re- ported, false fire alarms. "Unfortunately in the vast majority of false fire alarms, we're never able to identify a person," Levy said. "We've treated false fire alarms almost universally consistent when we know who the individual was." JUDITH PERKINS/Daily An Architecture graduate student displays her model of Ann Arbor. Language requirement confounds LSA students By AMBER DONELL For the Daily For some students, the LSA language requirement is both enlightening and disappointing. Students are increas- ingly becoming frustrated with the language requirements. "I just finished my last semester of Spanish, and I can barely speak Spanish to a two-year-old," said LSA junior Mandy Schmitt. LSA students are required to complete, or test out of four terms in a single foreign language for graduation. Yet many wonder why they need to "parle frangais" to graduate "I feel like I am wasting so much money; this is my third semester taking Spanish 103," said one LSA sophomore. Prof. Robert Kyes, chairman of the German depart- ment, said students are not learning proficiency because students take language classes pass/fail. "Students use this option to bracket a course that they're not going to give any time to." Philip Gorman, administrative associate of the LSA curriculum committee, said the committee suggests that students no longer be given the option of taking their fourth-term language requirement pass/fail. The proposal is being considered, but it has not been officially endorsed. With nations becoming increasingly interdependent, English is simply not going to be enough. "Instead of questioning the language requirement, we should be gaining knowledge of which languages provide work options in a globalized economy," said LSA senior Randall Crowder. There are, however, students who feel English is enough for the career they are pursuing. By not having the pass/ fail option, many feel the language requirement will only hinder students who are not interested in languages. "I'm struggling to pass Spanish. The last thing I need is to mess up my GPA for law school," said LSA sophomore Nakia Powell. Some students said they take intensive language classes offered by the Residential College because they feel that there, people are serious about becoming proficient. "The best element of learning a language is community. It takes away all the frustration," said Sylvie Carduner, head of the Residential College French prograi. 'The writer's duty is to help man endure' Alcohol-related crash leaves teen in critical condition William Faulkner delivered the fol- lowingaddress upon receiving the Nobel Prize in 1950. Following are excerpts: Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sus- tained by now that we can even bear ighere is only the question: When will I be blown up? Because of this, the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which can make good writing be- cause only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat. He must learn them again. He must teach himself that the basest of all things i obe afraid; and teaching himself ,forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop foranything butthe old verities and truths of the heart, the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed - love and honor and pity and pride and compas- sion and sacrifice. Until he does so, he labors under a curse. He writes not of love but of lust, of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of vic- *es without hope, and worst of all, without pity or compassion. His griefs grieve on no universal bones, leaving no scars. He writes not of the heart but of the glands. Until he relearns these things, he will write as though he stood among and watched the end of man. I decline to accept the end of man. Iteasy enough to say thatman is immor- tal simply because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worth- less rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be on more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will pre- vail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inex- haustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The writer's duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by remind- ing him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the the pillars to help him endure and prevail. One teenager remains in critical condition and two others await dis- missal from University Hospitals in the wake of a near-fatal car accident that police blame on alcohol. Police charged the 16-year-old driver of a 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix with operating his car under the in- fluence after it slammed into a parked Subaru on the 1000 block of Newport Road just after 1 a.m. yes- terday. The front seat passenger, an 18- year-old Ann Arbor resident, was rushed to University Hospitals' Emer- gency Room with two broken legs and serious head injuries. The two passengers in the back seat were treated for minor injuries. Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD) reports allege the car was travelling between 90 and 100 miles per hour before it skidded around a parked car on Newport early yester- day. Then out of control, the car ap- parently slid into another parked car farther down the road. The driver, who was released to his parents yesterday morning, alleg- edly was drinking prior to the inci- dent. Patient claims sexual assault A social worker atUniversity Hos- pitals reported the possibility of an ongoing sexual assault that may have occurred at the Walter Reuther Hos- pital in Westland. The victim, who is a geriatric schizophrenic and an inpatient at the from a resident director's office in fear of returning to his room. Mother reports knife threat The mother of a nine-year-old called DPS from Northwood yIear- ier this week in order to report that Westland hospi- tal, apparently had bruises and discoloration of the anus. The so- cial worker called the Department of Public Safety Monday to file the PoticeQ Beat was threatened her daughter had been threatened with a knife at a babysitter's resi- dence. According to DPS reports, the nine-year-old girl with an Exacto-knife and proceeded to make off with both kitchen and laundry room cabinets that had been installed. Police found tracks in the snow that lead to nearby Dhu Varren Road, where suspects allegedly loaded the items onto "a large truck, because the items were too large for a pick- up truck," reports say. There was no damage to the house or surrounding property and labor costs to replace the cabinets has been estimated at $500. Scheel said that this type of theft is not uncommon. "This happens rather often," Scheel said yesterday. "People go in and take appliances and materials like copper from unfinished homes and construction sites, entering from unlocked doors or windows." Police are following leads in- volving a recently contracted roof- ing company that is involved with the construction of the Omlesaad home. - Complied by Daily Staff Re- porter Josh White. report, and an investigation is pend- ing. Student fears stalker A resident of East Quadrangle Residence Hall called the Depart- ment of Public Safety (DPS) in re- sponse to a person who had been stalking him. The resident, a University student, said that a man who has been stalking him for some period of time tried to enter his room Monday with a key he had obtained. The student called DPS by a seven-year-old. No injuries were sustained in the assault and the case was forwarded to a juvenile officer for review. Thieves take cabinets In what Staff Sgt. Phil Scheel of AAPD described as "a daily occur- rence," thieves stole items from a local construction site. According to police reports, sus- pects entered an unoccupied and unfinished home on the 2900 block of Omlesaad by unbolting screens I A w 75 Chinese Christian Fellowship, 994-1064, School of Natural Resources, Room 1046, 7:30 p.m. Q "Dynamical Models of Small, Normal, and Obliquely Con- vergent Orogens," sponsored by Department of Geological Sciences, Scott Turner Lecture Series, Chemistry Building, Room 1640, 4p.m. "Kryvorivnya: Portrait of a Village," slide lecture, photos from Ukraine, Modern Lan- guages Building, 3rd Floor Con- ference Room, 4 p.m. [ "Locution and Location: The of Novel Thermally-Reversible Photocrosslinkable Polymers," materials seminarjointwithmac- romolecular science, sponsored by Department of Chemistry, Chemistry Building, Room 1706, 12 noon Q Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do Club, men and women, beginners wel- come, 994-3620, CCRB, Room 2275, 6-7 p.m. U Taekwondo Club, beginners and other new members welcome, 747-6889, CCRB, Room 2275, 7-8:30 p.m. U "The Spectacular Swan Song of Shoemaker- Levy 9," sponsored by Space Physics Research Labo- ratory, North Campus, Baghold tian Reformed Church, 1717 Broadway, 7:15 p.m. Sunday Q Alpha Phi Omega, initiation and chapter meeting, 663-6004, Michigan Union, Kuenzel Room, pledges 2:15 p.m., actives 2:30 p.m. Q Ballroom Dance Club, 663- 9213, CCRB, Main Dance Room, 7 p.m. Q ECB Peer Tutorial, 747-4526, Angell Hall Computing Site 1- 5 p.m. and 7-11 p.m., UGLi, second floor, 1-5 p.m. Q Northwalk, 763-WALK, Bursley Hall, Room 2329, 8- 11:30 p.m. Farewell to our marvellous staff from your editors, James R. Cho, Mona J. Qureshi, DavidJ. Shepardson and Karen J. Talaski. And good luck to our new editors - Jonathan Berndt, Lisa Dines, Andrew Taylor and Scot Woods. Oh, and that Nate guy too. Financial Aid Applicants: The deadline for applications for Spring/Summer 1995 Financial Aid is: TuesdayJanuar 31 r;. ~The 'Offjice of ' i t