rAb tit! Weather ronight: Mostly cloudy. A .40 ercent chance of showers. romorrow: Mostly cloudy with 3 50% chance of showers. i One hundredfive years of editorilfreedom Friday September 6, 1996 ,., . u . , : 4. : , ,, . . .,; 0 urncane ran atters Carolinas MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) - Closing in with I 15 mph winds, Hurricane Fran began battering the Carolinas yesterday, bending trees and blowing rain sideways as thou- sands of people scrambled for storm supplies or the road out of town. More than a half-million tourists and rdents were ordered to evacuate the coast in North and South Carolina as Fran drew near, leaving a string of deserted beach towns. Fran was expected to come ashore near Calabash, N.C., just north of the South Carolina state line, about 9 p.m., the National Hurricane Center said. "Believe you me, we wanted to get out of there," said Audrey Landers, who her townhouse a block from the an with her neighbors and their chil- dren. They took shelter at a high school in Conway, 15 miles inland. At 5 p.m., the storm was about 80 miles south-southeast of the South Carolina-North Carolina line, heading north-northwest at 16 mph. Gusts up to 100 mph were reported along the North Carolina coast south of Wilmington. urricane warnings were posted fr th Edisto Beach, S.C., to the Virginia line. People living as far inland as West Virginia were warned to expect tropical storm-force winds and 5 to 10 inches of rain. By mid-afternoon, waves crashed 10 Feet high along the Myrtle Beach shore. The usually bustling Ocean Boulevard was deserted and driving was all but impossible with sheets of blownhorizontal by gusts reach- 5 mph. R See HURRICANE, Page 5 i 'U' stays ranked at 24th in report Business School slides into top spot By Jeff Eldridge Daily Staff Reporter The University of Michigan is holding steady at No. 24 in a prestigious ranking of undergraduate institutions, after falling in the last years from its peak at the No. 18 spot. This is the second year the University of Michigan is rated 24th in the annual rankings released by U.S. News & World Report in its Sept. 16 issue. But the undergraduate program at the School of Business climbed two points this year to capture the No. I spot, tying with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. "The quality of our undergraduate programs is exceptional," said Provost J. Bernard Machen. "The reason we rank only in the top 25 and not higher is the variables used in the rankings." U.S. News weighs factors like student selectivi- ty, academic reputation, alum donations and facul- ty-student ratios in assessing the quality of the nation's undergraduate programs. For the first time in seven years, Harvard University gave up its claim to the No. 1 spot, slid- ing to three and giving way to Yale University and Princeton University in the No. I and 2 ranks, respectively. Only three public universities - the University of Virginia, the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - were slotted in the magazine's top 25. The University of Michigan is the second-high- est ranked public university in the survey, falling three spots below the University of Virginia. "We have been very concerned about the fact that there are so few public universities on the U.S. News top 25 list," said Lisa Baker, associate vice president for University relations. Machen said the scarcity of public universities on the list is indicative of the magazine's polling flaws, not of institutional problems. But Al Sanoff the managing editor of U.S. News Americi's Best Colleges Guide, said the poll results are accurate. "I think it is as thorough as it can be" Sanoff said. "Over the years, we have developed what we consider a sophisticated methodology." Sanoff said few public colleges make the list because of decreased government funding and the large lectures that dominate the curriculum. Michigan ranked I Ith in the country in acade mic reputation - far; the University of Virginia and Georgetown - but 32nd in student selectivity and 134th in alum donations. Prof. Thomas Dunn, who chairs the faculty-com- posed Senate A d v i s o r y Committee oil University Affairs, said Michigan's scope and atmos- phere contrast with smaller, private institutions. "You've got to remember that Michigan is a very freewheeling place in some respects," D ahead of schools includingi. Top 25 Universities U.S. News & World Report 1. Yale University 2. Princeton University 3. Harvard University 4. Stanford University 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology U.. 9. Northwestern 17. University of Notre Dame 21. University of Virginia 24. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor 25. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill )unn said. "There's such a JENNIFER BRADLEYSWlFT Dayv Taking a snooze LSA first-year student Jahan Assadi waits in line with more than 100 others yeterday to buy a limited number of parking passes. Assadi arrived at 2:30 p.m. to claim his place; others had been camped out at 8:00 a.m. large choice that sometimes (students) wonder if they've had the best out of it." Dunn said that polls have limitations, but also have significance to faculty. "I think faculty are aware of them, and would very much like our institution to be higher," Dunn said. Business Dean B. Joseph White said in a state- ment that the commitment of faculty and students See RANKINGS, Page 7 State pols ready for convention hoopla, speeches Xv From Staff and Wire Reports The weeks of politicking and accep- tance speeches are rolling into Michigan today, as Democrats and gublicans hobnob in Detroit and 1. using to kick off the state's conven- tion weekend. M i c h i g a n Democrats are opening the gener- al election cam- paign in a mood that matches their traditional party ~ theme song: *ppy Days Are Here Again." "People are really pumped Engler up," said state party Chairman Mark Brewer. In one sense, Democrats have found the enemy and it is House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), whose policies give Democrats the chance to run against cutting Medicare and other V ular programs. ansing pollster Ed Sarpolus of EPIC/MRA said things are going so well for Democrats in Michigan that Clinton is even leading in Macomb County iouble digits. Vh i l e Lei Democrats are touting their lead in the polls, Republicans will be highlighting Ronna Romney, who is challenging Democrat incumbent Sen. Spencer Abraham, (R-Mich.). Abraham's wife, Jane, delivered the cou- ple's third child yesterday, making an live appearance by the senator unlikely. The conventions will also impact students, as both parties also must nominate two people each for the Michigan Supreme Court, State Board of Education, and the governing boards of Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. Despite their plans to follow in the footsteps of the made-for-TV national convention, state Republicans are not likely to head home without controversy. Gov. John Engler and party leaders would like to oust University of Michigan Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor), who is up for re-election after 24 years on the board. So fat, no candi- dates have surfaced to take his place. And though abortion-rights activist Judy Frey of Grand Rapids seems set for the GOP's other University of Michigan slot, state party Chair Betsy DeVos said either or both candidacies may be contested on the floor. At the state level, the Democrat agenda includes regaining control of the House, where they trail Republicans 55-54, with one vacancy. The Republicans, of course, will be hoping to expand that lead, as well as the majorities it holds in the state Senate and House and on the State Board of Education. "Regaining the state House is as important as any of the races we have to be concerned about - the president, Carl Levin, members of Congress. Those are all priorities," Brewer said. EPIC/MRA pollster Ed Sarpolus said projecting an optimistic attitude is Three convicted of bombing conspiracy The Washington Post . NEW YORK - Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the alleged terrorist master- mind accused of scripting the World Trade Center bombing, and two co- defendants were convicted here yester- day of a high-tech conspiracy to bomb 12 U.S. jumbo jets and 4,000 passen- gers out of the sky over the Pacific Ocean - a plot the government described as "one of the most hideous crimes anyone ever conceived." After a three-month trial that opened a window onto the modern age of inter- national terrorism, a federal jury in Manhattan convicted Yousef, Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah on all seven counts related to the foiled bombing plot, which was to- unfold over a two-day period in January 1995. Yousef was also convicted of bomb- ing a Philippine Airlines jet in 1994, killing one passenger, as a dress rehearsal for the larger conspiracy, and Shah was convicted of attempting to escape from prison here. All three defendants stared ahead, showing no emotion, as the jury fore- man reported the verdicts and as a court clerk re-read them, intoning "guilty," again and again. The jury of five women and seven men, kept: anonymous for security reasons, was escorted home by court personnel and did not comment. Lawyers for all three defendants said they would appeal the verdicts. Yousef's convictions carry three mandatory life sentences plus up to 100 years in prison and $2.25 million in fines. He is to stand trial next year on charges of orchestrating and helping to carry out the 1993 Trade Center bomb- ing. MARGARET MYERS/Daily Junior Seran Kim signs up first-year student Ryann McKay (foreground) and Erin Lumpkins (background) for AT&T's Universal Card. Croedit pdlrs targez~t campus By Brian Campbell Daily Staff Reporter Between student mailboxes, campus bookstores, billboards outside class- rooms, and business tables strewn about the Union basement, there is hardly a place at the University that isn't cluttered with credit card brochures. The plethora of credit card advertis- ing is now an annual event and enticing to many University students - particu- larly first-year students. a First-year student Caren Kang signed up for a Citibank VISA card in the and there are Citibank brochures in the textbooks - it gets annoying after a while," he said. A spokesperson for On Campus Marketing at the Citibank table outside the Union bookstore this week said many parents were directly involved in students' decisions to apply for credit cards. "It was interesting to note that nearly all of the kids were brought by their parents. I think that says a lot about what we're doing," she said. She also said that there were fewer applications being filled out than in previous years, expressed relief at the convenience of using a credit card. "It helps out with certain purchases as a substitute for a check, or when you just don't have the money. It can get dangerous, though. I've accumulated a few bills, but it's nice if you can pay them off slowly," he said. But several credit card users don't have that opportunity to pay their debts slowly because they can't pay them at all. According to National Credit Counseling Services (NCCS), a non- profit organization founded in 1992 to provide counseling and debt manage- i i