12 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 3, 1996 LOCAL/STATE City attorney starts work with lawsuit pending By Will Weissert Daily Staff Reporter New Ann Arbor City Attorney Abigail Elias started work Monday, even though a lawsuit seeking to in- validate her contract with the city is still pending. District Court Judge John Collins said in a hearing Monday that he wanted to review the case further be- fore ruling on the suit. Attorney Tho- If she mas Wieder and University Law reluctant third-year stu- dent Jon Polish here that filed a suit in early January good si claiming the con- tract the Ann Ar- bor City Council Attorney s offered Elias vio- lated the city charter because it al- lowed Elias at least one year to move to Ann Arbor from Detroit. Elias originally declined the posi- tion stating she did not want to force her husband to commute from Ann Arbor to Detroit and that the move would complicate the couple's then- pending adoption of a 3-year-old girl from China. To accommodate Elias' needs, the council waived the residency re- quirement. Elias then agreed to the contract and began the job Monday after commenting from her Detroit home. Weider said the two would con- tinue to pursue the suit, despite the fact that Elias has taken over city attorney duties. "We realize that she's started the job and that the suit is still going on - but that's something that couldn't be helped," Wieder said. "It's not like we waited around - these processes just take a lot of time." During the hearing Wieder main- tained that other top city officials live in Ann Arbor and that Elias should also be required to live within city limits. Weider said her reluctance to move to Ann Arbor was disappointing. "If TI 3u she's that reluctant to move here that is not a good sign," he said. Bruce Wallace, the attorney repre- senting the city, told thejudge the city council had the authority to waive the residency rights. Both Wallace and Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon have said throughout the case that if the contract is declared invalid, the city will name Elias to a special tempo- rary city position Atat until a new con- tract can be to move drafted. Wieder said is not a hiring Elias under another title was p inappropriate. "If the judge homas Wieder decides her con- ling Ann Arbor tract is invalid, the other side keeps saying they will hire her a spe- cial counsel to the city," he said. "We don't think that is appropriate - the job she will be doing is nothing like the position of special counsel." At the end of the hearing, Collins said he would postpone his ruling until he looked at a similar suit in Ypsilanti and pending state legisla- tion that would ban residency require- ments. Wieder said he didn't think further research would affect the judge's de- cision. "Those two other cases prob- ably won't have any bearing on the case," he said. Both Wieder and Polish denied that the suit was being insensitive to Elias' family concerns. "I'm not being insensitive to women's rights," Polish said after fil- ing suit. "I'm sticking up for the rights of the voters." Weider said the suit had nothing to do with Elias personally - only her contract with the city. "This has nothing to do with Elias or her qualifications, and I realize that this will be inconvenient for her if the judge sides with us," he said. "But she waited this long and still hasn't moved here and that's not our fault." KRISTEN SCHAEFER/Daily Dennis Hayashi, a senior official in the Clinton administration, spoke about minority issues last night at the Law School. iv RtdireCtor encourges student aCtvm iSn1n pulC pOcy- 'U' student, sentenced to for By Carissa Van Heest Daily Staff Reporter Thirty-four-year-old Rackham stu- dent Kei Chi Chang is in jail today, serving part of a one-year suspended jail term that began Monday. District Court Judge David Swartz also sentenced Chang to two years pro- bation after Chang pled guilty Friday to aggravated stalkingofan Eastern Michi- gan University student. 6 "He is serving the first 30 days injail right now," said Ypsilanti attorney Scott Keillor. The victim, an 18-year-old EMU stu- dent, accused Chang of stalking her for 14 months, during which he made ha- rassing telephone calls and followed her around campus at night. "The victim was very pleased with the sentence," said Sgt. Colleen New ton of the EMU Department of Public Safety. Newton said she is also pleased. "We were asking for more time in jail, but we are happy that the judge went outside of the probation depart- ment recommendation and gave him two years (ofprobation) instead ofone," Newton said. "I am happy he will see some jail time." Keillor said last night that Chang has not contacted the victim or visited EMU '4 campus since the incidents ended. "He is not going to have problems with that anymore," Keillor said. Chang was arrested in January for harassing the EMU student by phone, at which time the campus police obtained. a warrant to search his apartment be- fore arresting him Jan. 20. When the University's Department of Public Safety searched Chang's apart- ment, officers found 560 works from the University's libraries, said DPS spokesperson Elizabeth Hall. Chang has since been accused ofsteal- ing more than $100,000 in books and artworkfrom University libraries. Many of the works are Asian erotica, Hall said. Upon DPS' discovery of the books, Chang told The Michigan Daily he had legitimately checked out many of them and himself owned some others. "The big case now will be with U- and the books," Newton said. Session I-- june3+4 S Summer at senl--j8s-gu sg9 "S mall classes taught by Brandeis faculty Brandes Competitive tuition Brnd isCouresfor h igh ool, r gadfate ad tuets University - ayacss fromt.12051" " *free Parking; Liberal Arts Save over $500 on sunmer classes, by enrolling before April30. Judaic Stes Information, catalog and application: PremdnerPronrsm - Office ha rMiWko Rabb School of Summer, Special, and Continuing Studies "nershpPrgrm n Brands University, MS 084 La, Me dcne and Health P.O. Box 9110 int siWalthbm.wMA 02254-91 10 Inesie "(617) 736-3424 Language Institute FAX: (617) 736.3420 Spanish Immersion E-mailsumamerschool rogram logos.cc.brandeis.edu r THE PRINCETON REVIEW LSAT What Makes Us So Good? By Katie Wang Daily Staff Reporter Dennis Hayashi, the highest-ranking Asian Pacific American member of the Clinton administration, spoke yester- day at the University Law School about social issues confronting minorities. With immigration and affirmative action policies coming under fire na- tionally and locally, Hayashi,the direc- tor for the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Ser- vices, encouraged students of color to become actively involved in public policy. "I feel very strongly that there is a lack of minority representation in public policy," Hayashi said. "There are a lot of people in public policy who are in some respect not in tune with the issues." Hayashi said he is committed to "strong and aggressive enforcement of civil rights laws." "Previous appointees (to the Office forCivil Rights) were white males who had little interest in enforcing the civil rights laws," he said. Hayashi specificaily addressed immi- gration policies and affirmative action programs. He said current debate in Wash- ington, D.C.,aboutdenyingbenefits, such PASSOVER Continued from Page 1 program because "holidays are really important to me and I didn't know what else to do." "(The local families) take the place of your own family." RC first-year student Dan Stahl also will be spending his first Passover away from home. "I'm sure it'll seem like something is missing because it's a major holiday," he said. But he wanted the opportunity to participate in a seder. "I definitely wanted to have a seder to go to both nights," he said. Chabad House, an orthodox Jewish cultural and religious center, also offers an alternative for students who cannot spend the seder with family. The house is hosting two seder din- ners and expects about 100 students to attend. "It's a home away from home," said Rabbi Aharon Goldstein. He said Chabad House wants to provide for the needs of students who are away from home. While the deadline has passed to par- ticipate in Hillel's program, Chabad House willhbe hosting seder dinners at 8 p.m. tonight and tomorrow. as food stamps and Aid For Dependent Children, to permanent residents is a big concern for Asian Americans. "Legislators are talking about the costs of the benefits, not how they af- fect the immigrants," he said. "Every- thing in Washington carries a price tag - we're not talking about Asian Pa- cific Americans and the effects of the benefits, we're talking about money." Hayashi said that because the potential impact of any changes in immigration policies would weigh heavily on Asian Pacific Americans, it is crucial for the Asian Pacific American community to exert political influence in Washington. "There is a lack of political clout of Asian Americans in Washington," he said. "(Therefore) it seems like nothing to terminate benefits to Asian Pacific Americans." Hayashi was appointed director of the Office forCivi I Rights in June 1993. As the director of OCR, he is respon- sible for ensuring programs and activi- ties that receive funds from the Depart- ment of Health and Human Services are in compliance with all civil rights laws. Hayashi has also examined affirma- tive action policies to see what adjust- ments, if any, need to be made. Bill would hack computer crime Hayashi said the idea of limiting af- firmative action to African Americans was considered but rejected because "affirmative action not only is designed to prevent and mediate discrimination, it was also designed as a tool to prevent discrimination." H ayashi ended his speech urging stu- dents to come to Washington to make their views known. "I think it's really a failure on part of students to not become politically en- gaged in something that concerns them," he said. LSA first-year student Christina Lee said Hayashi's speech "really motivated me to get more involved." "I think the reason why we never get involved is because we're 'not moti- vated and because in high school we never learn about Asian American is- sues," Lee said. Kim Nakahara, a graduate student in the School ofPublic Policy, said she was pleased that Hayashi encouraged more student involvement in public policy. "Hearing him try to solicit input from us is a very encouraging sign that there are people out there (in the federal gov- ernment) who want to hear what we want to say," Nakahara said. LANSING (AP) - Hackers using their computers to steal private infor- mation or break into confidential areas would face harsh new penalties under legislation unveiled yesterday. House Republicans hope their eight- bill package will crack down on com- puter crime and telecommunications fraud in Michigan. The bills would cre- ate some new crimes, increase penal- ties on some existing ones and provide other tools intended to make prosecut- ing computer criminals easier. The bills are aimed at anyone who commits a crime using a computer - such as hackers trying to use others' credit cards and telecomniunicatioiis employees selling phone numbers to drug dealers. "It comes down to preserving your personal identity, and we're hearing more and more about that being sto- len," said Rep. Chuck Perricone (R- Kalamazoo Township), the sponsor of one the main bills. Kirk Tabbey, a Jackson County as- sistant prosecutor, said the legislation would give law enforcement specific charges with which to go after crimi- nals, rather than leaving them search- ing through federal and state law for an applicable charge. Another important provision of the package would allow law enforcement to seize computers or any telecommu- nications equipment used in the crime as well as any financial gains, said Tabbey, also on the Michigan Com- puter Crime Task Force. The legislation is likely to be used as a national model for other states, Tabbey said. The American Legislative Ex- change Council set up a panel on com- puter crime to develop such a model after hearing a presentation on the Michigan bills, he said. Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, praised the lawmakers' effort. "That kind of protection of pri- vacy is clearly to It CV5 be applauded," to resei Simion said. Though thebills p do not appear to attempt to limit - C free speech in R-Kalan cyberspace, Simon said the ACLU will examine them closely to be certain. The ACLU is leading a constitutional challenge by 19 groups to an anti-inde- cency provision in a new, sweeping fed- eral telecommunications law. The groups argue the federal law would violate pri- vacy rights and strangle free speech on the Internet and other computer networks. The Michigan legislation, to be in- troduced April 16, contains two main bills. Perricone's bill would address computer "trespassing" by making it a crime to gain access to someone else's computer program or system without specificpermission. It also would stiffet penalties for unauthorized access to databases and computer programs. "It's really breaking and entering and invading the privacy of people's homes," said Rep. Jim Ryan (R- Redford). "Just like violent crimes, people can suffer from this, by losing money and feeling violated. We really don't know how far-reaching it is." The other main piece of the package nos down rving your identity." huck Perricone mazoo Township targets telecom- munications fraud which thelawmak- ers said costs long- distance compa- nies in the country $500 million a year. Crimes would include telecom- # Small classes + Personal attention # Only real LSATs are used # Experienced teachers Courses begin May 6! Ask about our MEGA course... munications employees selling phone numbers or service; obtaining servic under a false name; cloning cellula phones; and avoiding phone charges. The bills also would prohibit using computer bulletin boards to publish or trade stolen phone and credit card num- bers, child pornography and obscene material. Another measure would al- low prosecution either where the crime was access was gained or fraud com- mitted, or where the computer which was used in the crime was located. B RA Get A Piece Of The Peace... 0 Political Science ' Women's Studies 0 African American Studies 0 Culture and language 4 Internships 0 Geography/Biology Seminar ...Come See For Yourself (r Spend this summer inIsrael m 11 I