1£.. Unt Tonight: Snow showers, low around 17*. tomorrow: More snow showers, high around 220. One hundred six years ofeditoriafreedom Friday January 10, 1997 Plane crash near etro kills 29 Markicy PA ~urio Mayk rani Yachnin DE)iy Staff Reporters :Aati Sharangpani's last term at the University and her hopes for a job at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, where she iteviewed before her return flight, ended in the fatal crash of Comair flight 3272 yesterday. Sharangpani, an LSA senior from Holland, Mich., was a resident adviser in the Butler House of Mary Markley Residence Hall. The sign on her door wishes residents " Icome back for one last semester." dents huddled together across campus last night to share warm thoughts after the chilling news that they had lost a friend. "She was the kindest person you could ever meet," F said Swapneel Ekbote, a friend of Sharangpani and a 1996 University graduate. Sharangpani had never been so happy and full of anticipation as she was before her recruiting trip to Cincinnati, said a friend who drove her to the airport arangpani two days ago. When she called the same friend yesterday, Sharangpani knew she had gotten the job, her friend said. "She called me from the (Cincinnati) airport," the friend said. "She said something about that she might not come back (tonight) because the weather was bad." Sharangpani's energy and dynamic personality were con- tagious, she said. "She really taught me how to be a good friend." kends stressed that Sharangpani's kindness and openness 't limited to a small group of confidantes. She reached out into the community - and she touched people's lives. "She did a lot of community service stuff. She helped organize a benefit concert for some of the people who worked in Mrkley and passed away last year, said Amy Smith, a Law second-year student and resident director at Markley. "She has that, like .. that ... everyone liked her;' said Ekbote, who met Sharangpani three years ago when they both lived in Mosher-Jordan. Ithough friends searched for the words to describe their d, they remembered that "Artie" always knew what to say. She could "speak well" with groups of friends and strangers, said Diganta Saha. Saha's relationship with Sharangpani grew from just an acquaintance several years ago to a friend who occasionally accompanied him on sailing trips with the U-M Sailing Club. "She was a friend of a friend, and then became a friend," he said. "She always reached out to everyone," said Chad Bailey, an LSA senior and resident director at Markley. , See STUDENT, Page 3 Rose meets with Clinton on loans By Jeffrey Kseff 1I Staff Reporter Representing students receiving financial aid nationwide, Michigan Student Assembly President Fiona Rose spoke to Prosjdent Clinton in the Oval Office yesterday in support of direct federal student loans. Rose was selected along with six other college students by the Department of Education to meet with Clinton and Secretary of Education Richard Riley. "It was incredible," Rose said. "It was a wonderful experi- ence to meet the president." In addition to meeting with the president, Rose was chosen to be the group's spokesperson. "We talked about student loans and the Hope Scholarship Program," Rose said. Rose said she and Clinton share the same views on financial aid. "He really is offering students a number of options,' Rose said. Associate Vice President for Government Relations Thomas Butts said Rose's performance as spokesper- qW son was well received by the Department of Education. "I talked with some of the department heads and they were very pleased," Butts said. "Fiona did an excellent job. She was asked to introduce the president with a few minutes' notice.' In addition to discussing student loans, Rose encouraged Clinton's daughter Chelsea to attend the University. She also dies on Comair flight from Cincinnati By Jodi S. Cohen Daily Staff Reporter x'.. ' .n A Comair commuter plane crashed yesterday afternoon just 25 miles outside of snow-blanketed Ann Arbor, killing all 29 on board. LSA senior Arita Sharangpani and at least four Detroit res- idents were among those killed. Comair officials released the names of 20 victims last night and they plan to announce the remaining names this morning. Comair flight 3272 was 18 miles from the Detroit Metropolitan Airport when it went down just before 4 p.m. into an open field near a farmhouse in Raisinville Township. "I saw the plane doing barrel rolls and it went straight down. There was a fireball and some smoke after it hit the ground," Theodore Rath, a 69-year-old farmer, said last night, Rath said he stood about 800 feet from the low-flying plane when it took a nosedive into four inches of snow. "The way it came down, there was no way anybody could survive,"said Rath, who said he heard a "terrible noise" as he walked outside to get his newspaper. Officials confirmed last night that all 26 passengers and three crew members died when the twin-engine Embraer 120, on its way to the Detroit airport from Cincinnati, crashed into the field. Federal Aviation Administration officials said yesterday the pilot of Flight 3272 did not indicate any problems as the plane approached Detroit. The 30-seat propeller plane went down at 3:50 p.m., Don Zachart, an FAA spokesperson, said in a state- ment. AP PHOTO As press and rescue workers gathered at the crash site, ugh the Monroe County Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield said that investi- ester- gation efforts would continue today. com- "We expect no activity on the scene until tomorrow morn- ing,' Crutchfield said at 9 p.m. last night, as snow continued to tly fall on the site. "It will be protected with coverings until then." Its way Crutchfield said a temporary morgue had been established Nhen It at the site and an FAA investigator had arrived last night. - Detroit airport spokesperson Barbara Hogan said flight 3272 was due to arrive at 4:15 p.m. 'port An eerie quietness surrounded the airport yesterday er evening as news of the crash spread. Security perimeters at a rel- were set outside the airline's gate and only passengers with Comair tickets were allowed through. One woman, who believed that her husband may have been on flight 3272, ran to the gate screaming and crying. "I want to see if my husband is on this flight," the young See CRASH, Page 2 Above: Rescue workers sift throi remains of Comair flight 3272 yc day afternoon after the twinprop muter plane crashed in a field in Raisinville Township, Mich., shor before 4 p.m. The flight was on I to Detroit Metropolitan Airport K went- down, killing all 29 aboard Left: People at Detroit Metro Air yesterday hugged each other aft learning from airport officials the ative may have been aboard the flight. Small town rocked in aftermath of airline disaster By Jenni Yachnin Daily Staff Reporter p RAISINVILLE TOWNSHIP - A yellow farmhouse stands 250 yards from the field where Comair flight 3272 crashed here yesterday. "We are right in one of the approach lanes; said Don Helser, a resident of Grape, Mich., who lives adjacent to the crash site. "In this day and age it was just a matter of time. The plane just had a disaster and failed." The flight crashed in a field with medium-sized trees, and last night the lights of rescue teams were visible among the branches. Residents say the plane probably crashed into the park located behind a local Baptist church. "If it had,-been 100 feet further it would have been in the (Raisinville) River;" said one local resident. A street of residential homes and the Raisinville Township Hall are only a short distance from the site, as close as 100 yards. Residents who saw the smoke rising soon after the plane had crashed could see the site by looking out their windows. "I can walk over there in 10 minutes," said Erin Fleming, a Grape resident. The snow continued to fall in the near- by small town of Ida, Mich., last night as both state and local police continued to block off area roads. Residents stood in their garages to avoid the cold wind as they stared into the trees. "In Raisinville Township ... (there are) probably about 5,000 people in the township," said LSA junior Jill Brunt, who lives 20 miles from Ida. "(There are) probably about 10 to 15 homes per square mile out there?' Residents commented that television coverage showed the baseball backstops on the shots showing the plane's debris. "A lot of (the residents) will find it to be pretty unbelievable;" Brunt said. Several residents who live across from the crash site heard the plane go down moments before they saw smoke. See SITE, Page 2 Comair flight 3272 B Comair flight 3272, with 26 passengers and 3 crew mem- bers, crashed at about 4 p.m. yesterday in Raisinville Township, Mich., 25 miles from Ann Arbor. Comair identified 20 of the 29 who died in the crash. 1,The plane, an (EM2) Embraer Brasilla 120, operates with twin turbopropeller engines and has a maximum passenger capacity of 30. With a range of 800 miles, the Brasilia can fly at 32,000 ft. with a cruising speed of 345 mph. Yesterday's flight was a commuter trip from Cincinnati to Detroit Metro Airport. Abdul Haq, a local physician, prays yesterday at the Ann Arbor Islamic Center. The prayer was part of a ceremony com- memorating the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, Islam's most important holiday. Ramadan requires Muslims to refrain from eating. Northwestern Web page causes free- speech.stir By Chris Metinko Daily Staff Reporter Should universities censor what gets put on their Web pages? The University of Michigan has always had a clear stance on this issue. "We do not censor" said Laurie Burns, associate director at the Information Technology Division. What material gets put on the University's page is "based on University policies," Burns said. "The University values free speech and that is the dominant principle when evaluating material," Burns said. "If there is no violation of policies or laws, free-speech principles are applied" It is this free-speech policy that has students and faculty up in arms at Northwestern University. The debate centers around Northwestern University Engineering Prof. Arthur Butz. Northwestern is let- ting the professor use the university- owned Web server to spread his own view of history to millions. Butz claims that the Holocaust never JOSH BIGGS/Daily Area Muslims prepare for Ramadan By Stephanie Powell Daily Staff Reporter Today marks the beginning of Ramadan, a month in which Muslim University students decorations of lights and Eid prayers. Asif Harsolia, president of the Muslim Student Association, said that the MSA will sponsor several activities during this holy month. also send Eid cards to Muslim students inform- ing them of functions, and letters to faculty dis- cussing awareness of the religious holiday. "It is a time to get the true spirit of Ramadan," ,I .I