LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 13, 1996 -3 Doctors propose ballot issue on assisted suicide North Campus om puters vandgazed Computers on North Campus were issing various functions and screens Wednesday. The Department of Public Safety reported that several unknown persons entered the North Campus computing center sometime between Tuesday 'tening and Wednesday morning. The individuals "erased 20 bookmarks off the Netscape computer," according to 1)PS reports. Other computers in the facility were *so tampered with. DPS officials stat- ed that only authorized individuals with a key should be allowed to access the center. Students taken to emergency room Several female students were trans- 4orted to. the emergency room of the edical Center in separate incidents Wednesday. One female student experienced "shortness of breath and numbness in ier arms and legs at the Martha Cook R"sidence Hall on South University Avenue. The student reported that she felt "her shunt is blocked." On East University Avenue, a female student was seen lying on the restroom floor of the fourth floor of est Hall. The student requested an ambulance. She was conscious and breathing, but she was unable to stand due to an unknown medical problem, according to reports from DPS. in the inner circle of Stone Drive, a fimale student was on a basketball "ckurt with a possible broken leg. DPS officials were unable to report the cause of her accident. 9 The Huron Valley Ambulance trans- ~-ported all three female students in dif- ferent cases to the University Medical Center for treatment. Car theft may be a joyride A male student reported that his frMend "may have taken his vehicle." A~he car, a l985 Buick Park Avenue, as parked in the Baits I lot at Thyme House. The student said he last saw his car at I a.m. The vehicle was later returned to the lot, and DPS reported that there was no damage to the vehicle. Candy stolen from roken machine A candy machine in Couzens Hall 'vas broken by an unknown party Wednesday. The machine was appar- eritly "wide open, and people are help- eidg themselves to foodstuffs," accord- ing to DPS reports. The unlocked machine was located in the game room on the first floor of ftihe hall. 4Far window, stereo broken A car outside Mary Markley sidence Hall was vandalized. The. er reported, that "his vehicle win- ow was smashed out." ,A stereo and other items were van- lzed, DPS reported. eaby dropped outside Frieze Building An infant was dropped outside the Frieze Building and was rushed to the Medical Center for head injuries. The female caller and her baby were walking along the south side of the *uilding when she dropped the baby, according to DPS reports. - Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Anupama Reddv By Anupama Reddy Daily Staff Reporter The right to die may be an issue local voters will see on the ballot soon if two Ann Arbor doctors have their way. Drs. Edward Pierce and Ronald Bishop outlined their plan to make physi- cian-assisted suicide legal in Michigan at Casa Dominick's on Monroe Street yes- terday evening. Both are University Medical School graduates. "We are trying to assemble a group together to get a petition drive going and have (physician-assisted suicide) on the ballot by 1998," said Bishop, a retired University Medical School professor. Bishop and Pierce founded the group Merian's Friends, named in tribute of the 19th patient to die with the assis- tance of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a Michigan pathologist who has helped more than 35 people end their lives. The two doctors said it was the expe- rience of their mutual friend Merian Frederick, who had Lou Gehrig's dis- ease, and not Kevorkian's cases that sol- dified their views about physician- assisted suicide. Pierce, a former Ann Arbor mayor and state senator, outlined the requirements to their proposal. He said in order to die with physician assistance, a terminally ill patient must have two doctors validate a life expectancy of six months, a psychia- trist confirm mental competance and wait a minimum of seven days. "We should be able to say yes or no on when we want to end our lives. We should do it without being messy," Pierce said. "One of my patients had a husband who had severe urinary tract infection. He got frustrated and went to the garage and shot himself in the head," Pierce said. "All she had ldft to do was clean up his brains." Bishop said he got involved when he heard about the case of the first patient Kevorkian assisted. He said he was impressed by the dignity surrounding her death. "Here's a woman in the early stages of Alzheimer's, who was competent," Bishop said. "She talked about it with her family, and so she came to Dr. Kevorkian. "She could have gone to a tall build- ing and jumped off or bought a handgun and done it that way, but this was more humane," Bishop said. Both Pierce and Bishop said they want to campaign against the negative stigma attached to physician-assisted suicide by bringing it to the people and passing it into law. An elderly couple in the audience said they agreed and hopes it happens soon. "We ourselves will probably be need- ing the darn thing in 15 years or so," said Ann Arbor resident Vito Abate. "It's not an abstract matter" Abate is 87 years old, and his wife, Esther, is 77 years old. I MARK FRIEDMAN/Dijy Ronald Bishop, co-founder of Merian's Friends, outlines his plan for the legalization of physician-aided suicide in Michigan. The talk was sponsored by the Libertarianr party at Dominicks last night. Faculty se flor seme:sterI 0 SACUA looking to strengthen relations with community By Katie Wang Daily Staff Reporter Faculty members outlined their goals and discussed new initiatives for the school year at a luncheon in the Michigan Union yesterday. Thomas Dunn, chair of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, said strengthening relations between faculty and members of the University community is one of SACUA's main goals for the year. "(We're) looking to strengthen the way in which faculty can give advice to executive officers and deans," Dunn said. "We're also seeking to strengthen ties between the executive committee and the Senate Assembly." Dunn also said the interim presiden- cy of Homer Neal would mean a lot of issues would be re-opened for discus- sion. "I think faculty in this interim period will be listened to far more by the inter- im president than in the past," he said. Dunn stressed strong listening skills and a rational mind as two important attributes the next president should have. "We're looking for a president who listens, absorbs what faculty and stu- dents are thinking, and can formulate it into a plan," Dunn said. Some of the new initiatives proposed by faculty committees include a forum on financial aid. sponsored by the bud get study committee. Elizabeth Duel. chair of the budget study committee, said she recognized the importance of financial aid after meetin-z with a group of students last year. "Most (students) brought horror sto ries about trying to bridge financial aid and costs of tuition," Duell said. "W thought maybe what we should dh is have a forum where students can con- sider what their costs and benefits are. "We've increased costs, but have thy benefits increased proportionally?" she asked. Fiona Rose, Michigan Student Assembly president, applauded the committee's efforts. "This is a great way for students to voice their financial concerns to people at the top:' Rose said. "I think this lun' cheon is the beginning of a fruitful and productive work year between students and SACUA." The student relations committee; an advisory committee to Vice Presidert for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford, also drew up a list of concerns to focus on this fall ,including the quality of stu' dent lifb, the possibility of holding f- ternity and sorority rush only in the sec- ond semester, and the relationship between MSA and the student body. JENNIFER BRADLEY-SWIFT/Daily Lights, camera, cars Glenda Powell (left), Jessica Roberts and Steve Arthur act as graduates yesterday in the Law Quad for a General Motor's advertising campaign encouraging students to buy GM cars. oseCutor aCkoedges police mis aen targeted house raid BIG BAY, Mich. (AP) - Clayton Root says he was terrified when a group of armed men, some wearing ski masks and hoods, barged into his mobile home. He fought them and ended up with a broken hand and cuts. The men were police officers, con- ducting what a prosecutor later acknowledged was a botched drug raid. "I was fighting for my life," Root said Wednesday. "I thought it was teen- agers who had come to kill us." The officers were with the Michigan State Police, Marquette Police Department and UPSET, an Upper Peninsula anti-drug squad. They had obtained a search warrant, said Peter Plummer, chief assistant prosecutor for Marquette County. It list- ed no street address but described the property to be raided. The description was based on incorrect information from a source Plummer declined to identify. The Root dwelling at Big Bay was similar to the one that was supposed to be raided, Plummer told The Mining Journal of Marquette. He said police halted the search "after they realized they went to the wrong place." Plummer described the mistake as "unfortunate." He declined to discuss what happened in detail. Root, 61, who draws a disability pension from a back injury, said the attack happened shortly after midnight Tuesday - about 90 minutes after he retired for the night. Also in the mobile home were his wife, Marie, and her sister, Olive Farrell, who lives in Canada. They were awakened by barking dogs, then heavy pounding at the door. "We didn't know what it was," Root "1They kept a 61-year-old man handcuffed, sitting in his underwear, bleeding into his eyes for a half-hour after they knew they were in the wrong place." - Mark Stevens for alleged victim Clayton Root Attorney said. "The door burst open and I saw the outline of a gun." Plummer says the police identified themselves before entering, and that the raid was led by a uniformed officer. Root says he saw no uniformed officer at the head of the group and insists the police did not identify themselves. He said he grabbed one officer's gun and was pushed down the hallway by several men, one of whom cursed him and yelled, "I'll kill you" Root said he stopped struggling and returned the gun after lie was pushed into a bedroom and saw that some of the men were wearing police uniforms. He said he was shoved against a win- dow, which broke, and that police beat him with a flashlight while ordering his wife to lie face down on the bathroom floor. "I'm still shaking," said Marie Root, a housekeeper at the Huron Mountain Club. "We didn't know who these peo- ple were. They never touched me, (but) they told me not to move." Clayton Root was treated at Marquette General Hospital for his injuries. He retained attorney Mark Stevens of Marquette, who said he was preparing a lawsuit against the three agencies. "I am disgusted by what's happened here," Stevens said. "They terrorized these people. They kept a 61-year-old man handcuffed, sitting in his under- wear, bleeding into his eyes for a half- hour after they knew they were in the wrong place." Marquette Police Chief Sal Sarvello said two of his officers were present at the raid but declined further comment. Lt. Joseph VanOosterhout, comman- der of the state police post in Negaunee, referred a caller to Plummer. DRUG Continued from Page 1 have been slipped the drug, it was con- firmed that three were men, The Daily Collegian reported. It is not known whether any of these 10 were sexually assaulted. Rambeau said Penn State officials first saw the drug last year after spring break and suspect that it may have trav- eled to Pennsylvania from Florida. "We're surprised that it has come here to our quiet town," Rambeau said. "I'm sure that a much more urban cam- pus like the University of Michigan would have seen it by now." DPS spokesperson Elizabeth Hall said there have been no reports of Rohypnol use at the University. "We've been fortunate here at U-M and have no reported cases of the drug's use," Hall said. "However, we do feel it is important that people know it'sout there" Wright said that SAPAC has incor- porated information about Rohypnul into its education curriculum. "I don't want to say that it's not here, but it's just that we haven't seen any ( it with our sexual assault survivors' Wright said. "If it's here, we typical;. would be the first to know about it" Engineering junior Don Gualdoqi said lie first heard about Rohypnol laat winter in media reports. "Because I'm a male, I wasn't tqo concerned about it." Gualdoni said. 'I think it is extremely important that tite University gets the information' ot about this. It could be a huge detriineut to the campus if it shows up. DPS Capt. James Smiley said in-it statement that students can avoid the drug by making sure.they open thr own drinks. "The most important thing you ca do to protect yourself is to maintai control over what you're drinking," Smiley said. "Never allow someone to hand you an open beverage." 1 ~ - ..* TMT IALLY AL V_ What's happening in Ann Arbor today * Best Prices FRIDAY J "Abrupt right step in the San e Andreas Faults and ongoing nor- mal faulting in the 1906 epicen- tral region," Mary Lou Zoback, 2408, 4 p.m. J "Meeting the Candidates fo the Socialist Equality Party," Jerry White, candidate for president; Jim Hartnett, candidate for Congress, sponsored by Socialist 1r,, o e a mrty ftrioh n inicnn Kiwanis Building, 200 South First St., 9 a.m.-12 noon SUNDAY GJ "Gargoyle Magazine Mass Meeting," * Largest Men's & Women S Selection on Campus i i