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By FRANK C. LEE
Daily Staff Reporter
Police have linked Ervin Dewain
Mitchell Jr. to four rapes that occurred
in the Ann Arbor area during the past
2 1/2 years using DNA tests, accord-
ing to published reports.
Using blood samples taken from
Mitchell when he was a suspect in a
1992 rape in Inkster, Mich., police
matched his DNA with four of the
sexual assaults attributed to the Ann
Arbor serial rapist, according to a
report in yesterday's Ann ArborNews.
Mitchell, 33, has not been charged
with the sexual assaults. Police are
awaiting the results from more recent
DNA tests that could arrive as early as
today or tomorrow, said Ann Arbor
Police spokesman Sgt. Phil Scheel.
"We hope to get a preliminary re-
port by this time next week," Scheel
said Friday. "We're hopeful, obviously.
Anyone that we happen to have in
custody, we'd like to think is our man."
Mitchell was linked to the Ann
Arbor rapes after being arrested Christ-
to serialrapes
mas Day. Police said the attack matched
the pattern of the serial rapist.
This development has police opti-
mistic that Mitchell, who is currently
being held on $50,000 bond awaiting
trial on assault and robbery charges,
is responsible for a series of rapes
dating back to February 1992.
Police remain tight-lipped about
Mitchell's criminal record, not want-
ing to jeopardize the prosecutors' case
because the Inkster DNA tests may not
be admissible since they were collected
by another police department.
The recent DNA blood samples
from Mitchell were taken following a
Christmas Eve attack on a 34-year-old
Ann Arbor woman in the 1800 block of
Dexter Avenue. Police hope to use
these tests to conclusively link him to
the Ann Arbor rapes.
Mitchell was not charged in the
Inkster case due to insufficient physical
evidence at that crime scene to compare
with DNA samples taken from Mitchell.
The Michigan State Police Crime
Lab , which conducted the DNA tests,
JONA THAN LURIE/Da
"U' solar car unveiled
The new University solar car, "Solar Vision," was displayed at Cobo Hall in
Detroit at the North American Auto Show. See story, Page 3.
kept DNA results from Mitchell's blood
samples in the Inkster case on file.
DNA tests on the 1992 sample
resulted in a match to four of five
See DNA, Page 2
JNewt who? Students less interested
But 'U' students care more about politics than most, study says
By KELLY FEENEY
Daily Staff Reporter
The number of first-year college stud,
across the nation who say they are intere
in politics declined to its lowest level it
ears, according to a study released yester
In a nationwide survey conducted by
Higher Education Research Institute at
University of California at Los Angeles,
thanonethird ofstudents indicated that"k(
ing up with political affairs" is important
Researchers polled 237,777 college
dents on a variety of topics ranging f
politics to drinking and only 31.9 percer
ourt to
review U.S.
race policies
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON-Beginning this
week, the Supreme Court will under-
e its greatest review since the late
980s of government programs in-
tended to redress racism.
It is hard to overstate how much the
court has changed in the past half-
decade, or the potential this term for a
repudiation of government policies giv-
ing special advantage to racial minori-
ties in schools, contracting programs
and voting districts.
"There is a real possibility that
where's a working five-vote majority
for dramatic change," said Carter G.
Phillips, a Washington lawyer who is
among those representing the Kansas
City, Mo. school system's effort to be
liberated from federal-court supervi-
sion of the district's desegregation ef-
forts.
* INSIDE
students indicated an interest in politics.
In 1990, 42.4 percent of first-year students
said they were interested in politics.
Organizers of the survey say the decline in
student interest in politics suggests that students
in the 1994 entering class are moreindifferent to
politics than any other class previously sur-
veyed in the 29-year history of the poll.
University students surveyed indicated a
slightly higher interest in politics than the
national average. Of the 4,600 University stu-
dents surveyed at summer orientation, 46.2
percent of incoming first-year students said
they are interested in and value politics.
In 1993, 52.3 percent of University stu-
dents expressed interest in politics.
Christy Jarret, an LSA first-year student,
said she is "not terribly" interested in politics.
"Out of a scale of 10, I'd probably say 6 or
7." she said.
Eric Dey, directorof student affairs research
atthe Universitysaid inapress release that even
though political interest has declined nationally,
students who attend selective institutions are
more apt to be interested in politics.
"In the current survey, 53.2 percent of
students entering highly selective private
See STUDY, Page 2
Political Feelings
Incoming college students are less interested in politics than
ever before, according to a national survey.
University, 1994:48.3'
Nation,1994: 31
The students also gravitated to the middle of the political road.
Liberal .. . . . . . . . . . Conservative
University
IF 34.8%l045.4% L19.8%
Nation
33.3% 46.3% J A 20.4
JONATHAN BERNOT/Daily
'U' students
express relief,
still cautious
By SPENCER DICKINSON
Daily Staff Reporter
As police await DNA evidence
that could link Erwin Dewain Mitchell
Jr. with a series of rapes over the past
2 1/2 years, University students are
guardedly optimistic that the Ann
Arbor serial rapist may finally have
been caught.
"I sure hope it's him," said Matt
Bursky, a first-year Kinesiology stu-
dent. "It may cut down on the fear
factor."
Michigan State Assembly Rep.
Andrew Wright expressed relief at
the prospect that the rapist may be
behind bars, but cautioned that even if
See STUDENTS, Page 2
'U' might
lose $256K
on Caflif.
Investment
By CATHY BOGUSLASKI
Daily Staff Reporter
The University could lose up to
$256,000 following last month's Or-
ange County bankruptcy on invest-
ments made with a Pittsburgh bank.
But a payment made Friday by the
California county may indicate that
the University will lose no money.
And University officials contend the
bank may have violated guidelines
governingits investment.
The University did not directly
invest in Orange County bonds, but in
a trust, fund administered by Mellon
Bank of Pittsburgh. Mellon bought
$25 million of Orange County bonds
with money from the University and
other institutional investors.
University Chief Financial Officer
Fas W. Womack said he didnot
expect that the University would lose
any money. "We expect Mellon Bank
and Orange County to make a full
return on our investment.'
But Mellon spokeswoman Tilda
Walsh said the bank cannot guarantee
the University's investment.
"We are not a guarantor," Walsh
said. "That is beyond our role or obli-
gation to investors. We have a re-
sponsibility to use our best business
sense to provide an appropriate return
on an investment, but we don't guar-
antee investments."
Walsh added that the notes were
given the highest possible credit rat-
ings by both Standard & Poor's and
See INVESTMENT, Page 2
Court Tackles Racism
The Supreme Court will hear'
cases involving affirmative
action --programs intended to
redress past wrongs against
minorities - as it opens its
first session of the year.
Justices will review government
policies that give special
advantages to minorities,
including:
redrawing of congressional
voting districts to increase
minorities' chances of electing
one of their own;
* conditions for school
desegregation; and,
0 contracting programs.
Since 1990, the high court has
seen the retirements of William J.
Brennan Jr., the strategist of the
liberal Warren Court era; Thurgood
Marshall, who as a young lawyer
challenged segregation and van-
quished the "separate-but-equal doc-
trine;" and Harry A. Blackmun, a
steadfast liberal on individual rights
and social causes.
See COURT, Page 2
In new tactic, Russia unleashes
rocket attacks on Chechen capital
GROZNY, Russia (AP) - Trying
new tactics in their assault on
Chechnya's capital, Russian forces
yesterday unleashed systematic rocket
and mortar fire pounding the city with
up to a dozen shells a minute.
They were trying to scatter
Chechen fighters defending the presi-
dential palace and prepare the way for
Russian ground troops to move in.
But -the strategy seemed only par-
tially successful against outgunned
but spirited defenders, who have been
able to sneak around to counterattack
from behind.
"We have no problem destroying
any armored vehicles they send into
the city," said 29-year-old fighter
Lyomo Sayatov, taking a rest in a
bomb shelter. "We have enough am-
munition to fight to the end!"
. Under the constant drumming of
explosions, small truckloads of rebels
raced toward central Grozny carrying
rebels who shouted, "Allah Akbar"
- God is Great. Every 10 minutes or
so, a truck would return with the
wounded.
The past two days of fighting evi-
dently had taken their toll on the hardy
Chechen fighters - there was no
singing and dancing as before and
there were few smiles. But the fight-
ers insisted nothing could pry them
from Grozny.
Yesterday was the ninth day of the
Russian ground attack on Grozny,
capital of the breakaway southern re-
public. Several thousand people have
been killed and wounded since Rus-
sian troops went into Chechnya on
Dec. 11, and the Red Cross estimates
350,000 people are refugees.
The vicious pounding continued
two days after President Boris Yeltsin
demanded to know why the city was
being bombed despite his orders to
See GROZNY, Page 2
U.S. says Yeltsin
'weakened' by
Chechnya crisis
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - U.S.
policymakers have concluded that
Russian President Boris Yeltsin's
backing of the brutal military as-
sault on Chechnya has seriously
weakened his presidency, but they
have not begun major planning for a
post-Yeltsin era in Moscow, accord-
ing to senior administration offi-
cials.
The specter of Yeltsin's possible
political downfall - either by being
ousted from office or marginalized in
important deliberations about Russia's
future - caught Washington largely
See YELTSIN, Page 2
MSA tackles textbook prices, student
representation in first months of '95
By AMY KLEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
In the eyes of Michigan Student
Assembly representatives, 1995 will
be a year of wrapping up old business
and finalizing longtime plans. Three
issues are approaching resolution as
MSA reconvenes tomorrow night for
the first time in the new year.
For years, students have complained
about soaring textbook prices and low
Michigan Book and Supply and
Ulrich's," Christie said.
In addition, Christie has proposed
that introductory courses reuse old edi-
tions of textbooks rather than reorder
new editions each year.
"If introductory courses like Calcu-
lus 115 and chemistry agree to stick
with the same textbooks, then there
will be a lot more used books available
to students," Christie said.
buy-back rolls around this spring,"
Christie said.
M
Student Representative
The next few months will also be a
decisive period in MSA's fight for a
student representative on the Univer-
sity Board of Regents. MSA President
Julie Neenan would like to see a com-
promise by February.
"I don't think they can push this off
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