LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 21, 1998 - 3

0CRIME
Student accused
of sending
harassing e-mail
The father of a female Michigan
State University student called the
department of Public Safety on Friday
to report that his daughter has been
receiving harassing e-mail from a
I Iniversity of Michigan student living
on North Campus.
The e-mails allegedly included death
threats and statements such as "If I see
you in the hallway I'll push you down."
:The father said the MSU campus police
would not do anything about the
alleged threats.
DPS officers told the father they
Wwould call his daughter and speak to
her. DPS contacted the MSU campus
police and faxed them a copy of the
DPS report. MSU police said they
would contact the victim.
Man trips out in
Graduate Library
A Graduate Library employee called
ijPS on Friday to report that a man was
yelling in the circulation desk area and
disturbing staff and students, reports state.
The employee said the man was
screaming that he took lethal doses of
L SD and was going to die. DPS offi-
cers took the man into custody for dis-
orderly conduct. Ile was taken to the
University Hospitals Psychiatric
Emergency Room for evaluation.
Women struck by
apple in West
Quad courtyard
A woman called DPS on Sunday to
1 report that she was hit in the arm with
an apple while walking through the
north entrance of the West Quad
"Residence Hall courtyard.
Reports do not indicate whether the
apple was thrown from a window or
Wi'rom ground level. Police filed a report
but have no suspects in the incident.
In an incident earlier on Sunday,
;brother woman reported that unknown
subjects threw water out of a West Quad
window, striking her as she walked out-
side the building. Housing security offi-
ers located the perpetrators but the vic-
tim did not wish to file a report.
DPS reports do not state whether the
incidents were related. Neither victim
equired medical attention.
Arson attempts
on arena sign fail
DPS received a call early Sunday
rMorning reporting that the sign in front
of Cliff Keen Arena was on fire, DPS
reports state. The Ann Arbor Fire
)epartment reported to the scene and
Wextinguished the fire.
Slightly more than an hour later,
DPS received another call stating the
sign had caught fire again. AAPD
extinguished the fire once again.
DPS suspects both fires were caused
by a single arsonist. Ihey have no sus-
pects in the incident.
Gang graffiti
apotted on Diag
Gang graffiti was found on the Diag
near the West Engineering Arch late

Thursday night, DPS reports state.
DPS officers said the graffiti, which
was written in chalk, appeared to be
"trip oriented." The chalkings included
the word "WESTSIDE," a six pointed
star, the initials "BK" and a pitchfork
ointing upwards. Police officers took
ictures of the chalkings and asked
U Iniversity groundskeepers to remove
the possible gang graffiti.
DPS reports do not indicate whether
they have any suspects in the incident.
Police notified
about love note
A woman called DIS on Sunday to
report that she received a letter from a
an named "John" saying how much
he liked her.
She told the police that she thought
the letter was inappropriate and found
the man's name and phone number in
the student directory.
Police filed no report regarding the
incident.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Jason StoJer:

I

Cit budget calls
for 7 percent
increase in funds

JOHN KRAFT/Daily
Interna! medicine Prof. William Ensminger receives a ceremonial gavel from outgoing SACUA chair and physiology
Prof. Louis D'Alecy. Ensminger now chairs the faculty's governing body.
SACUA changes leaders

By William Nash
Daily Staff Reporter
After two years of serving on the
Senate Advisory Committee on
University Affairs and one year as
its chair, Louis D'Alecy gave up his
gavel yesterday to new chair
William Ensminger.
Although D'Alecy, a professor of
physiology, rarely used the gavel him-
self, the ceremonial gesture signified
an end to an eventful year as chair.
D'Alecy gave a one-word
description of the job: consuming.
"the idea of it being a half-time
appointment grossly underestimates
the amount of time that could be
invested," D'Alecy said.
But besides taking on a major
commitment, D'Alecy said, his ternt
has been rewarding.

"It was exciting when the princi-
ples of governance were distributed to
all three campuses," D'Alecy said.
"Also, the re-consideration ofM-Care
steerage, and the near closure of the
.grievance policy were notable."
Former SACUA chair Thomas
Dunn, a chemistry professor,
described D'Alecy as "tough" and
"straight forward."
"I think he built the relationships
with the administration in a positive
way," Dunn said.
D'Alecy read the 1995 statement
he prepared as a SACUA candidate
in front of the Senate Assembly, the
faculty's governing body, yesterday.
In it, he described the University's
responsibility to be an academic
institution and not a corporate
"money-maker."

Ernsminger, a professor of phar-
macology, will officially take the
SACUA reigns on May 1 and will
delve into many of the issues
I'Alecy has been discussing.
"I think my primary responsibili-
ty is to bring closure to a lot of
issues which Louis has brought
close to fruition," Ensminger said.
Although D'Alecy said another
SACUA term is probably not in his
future, he does plan to stay involved
in faculty governance.
"I'm probably going to be
involved in the AAUP (the
American Association of,
University Professors) and I'm
still serving in the medical
school," D'Alecy said. "I feel
that being involved is part of
one's professional responsibility."

By Peter Meyers
Daily Staff Reporter
Funding for the installation of video
cameras in police cars highlighted City
Administrator Neil Berlin's S179 million
budget proposal to the Ann Arbor City
Council yesterday.
The annual budget is 7 percent
larger than that of last year. The 300-
page proposal includes figures for
how the city should pay for utilities
provision, fire protection, policing,
zoning regulation, city planning and
garbage collection.
Also within the proposal are assess-
ments by city officials of how well the
city is providing its services and where
improvement and increased funding
- is necessary.
Berlin said that, overall, Ann Arbor is
very well run compared to similar com-
munities. Particularly, the city is provid-
ing a high level of service to its cus-
tomers with very few employees and has
been excelling in its level of customer
service.
"In many ways, we really do deserve
an 'A' for what we're doing," Berlin said.
But the city could be improved, Berlin
said, pointing mainly to the city's public
transit, he said.
"We might more efficiently use our
public resources to use transit in the com-
munity," Berlin said. Specifically, he said
the city should look into bus pass pro-
grams like the one used in Boulder, Colo.
where downtown employees are given
free bus passes.
This type of program has been sug-
gested already by Public Policy students
who presented a study of downtown
parking to the council earlier this year.
It has since been advocated by many

downtown merchants, who see it as a
partial solution to the parking shortage.
"The issue of costs, city costs of
increasing downtown parking, has been
an issue'" Berlin said.
The budget calls for a repeat of this
year's citywide survey that asked citi-
zens how city funds should be spent
and where improvements can be
made.
It also calls for the city to spend
$5,000 to be evaluated by the
International City-County
Management Association, in which
Ann Arbor will be compared to cities
of similar size across the nation for
the efficiency and effectiveness of its
governance.
The proposed budget also makes
preparations for the distant future by
enlarging the city's pension fund in
anticipation of mass retirements as
the city's baby boom employees begin
to retire.
If council follows the program, the
balance of the city's pension fund should
be $9.8 million by June 1999, Berlin
said.
The budget plan also calls for the city
to develop a sustainability plan.
Sustainability refers to the city's ability to
make and follow long-term plans that
address issues of maintaining neighbor-
hoods, local economies and local envi-
ronmental balance.
"The hope is that the city could main-
tain a plan in this area that could be
linked with the plan ofthe University and
the development plan of Washtenaw
County," Berlin said, referring to the
University's Master Plan, which outlines
future growth of the University in the
future.

House set to examine bill on
education appropriations


By Mike Spahn
Daily Staff reporter
For two months, members of the House Appropriations
Committee have watched as a higher education funding pro-
posal was made by the governor. After the proposal, universi-
ty officials lobbied for a larger appropriation and the Senate
increased the proposal by $30 million.
And now two months of sitting on the sidelines, the Ilouse
Appropriation Committee is ready to get in the game.
The Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher
Education will begin four weeks of hearings on funding
for colleges and universities in Lansing tomorrow.
Last month, the Senate passed a proposal that would
increase the funding for each university by three percent -
twice the increase proposed by Gov. John Engler in February.
Under this proposal, the University will receive
$323,975,481 from the state, an approximate increase of $9
million from the 1997-98 fiscal year.
Hank Prince, associate director of the House Fiscal
Agency. said the subcommittee will take testimony for the
next four weeks and then probably will take an additional
week to consider its recommendation to the full committee.
I le said the House and Senate have set June 12 as their tar-
get date for the completion of all budget bills.
"I think it will be completed very close to that date," Prince
said. "I don't envision any problems."
IUJniversity officials from several of the state's public
universities expressed concern from the outset about the
funding proposal, saying it could cause program cuts and
tuition increases.
Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chair
Morris Hood (D Detroit), who also chairs the main
Appropriations Committee, said the proposal was "totally

"We have always said ...
they have to tell us where
they're going to cut."
- John Truscott
Engler spokesperson
inadequate" when he first heard about the 1.5-percent Engler
proposal in February. 1 l' said the proposal will be looked at
and there will probably be some movement.
Kelly Chesney, a spokesperson for the Department of
Management and Budget, which prepared Engler's proposal,
said her office is carefully observing the appropriations
process. She said she thinks Engler's original plan was fair
based upon the increases universities have received over the
past five years.
Each university has received an increase greater than 20
percent over the past five years, while the total rate of infla-
tion has been close to 15 percent over the same time period,
Chesney said.
Engler spokesperson John Truscott said after the
Senate proposed extra money for the schools last month
that legislators must be wary of giving out money they
don't necessarily have.
"We have always said that if they're going to add more
money in one place, they have to tell us where they're going
to cut," Truscott said.
Associate Vice President for Government Relations
Cynthia Wilbanks said she is pleased with the process to this
point and she looks forward to the House discussion.

China dissident to leave Detroit

DETROIT (AP) - -Prominent
Chinese dissident Wang Dan is in good
health with minor asthma and not a
tumor as family members had feared,
doctors said yesterday.
Results of an MRI were negative,
Thomas Royer, chief medical officer at
Ilenry Ford Hospital said at a news con-
ference. Royer said Wang was diag-
nosed with minor asthma and also was
fitted with contact lenses to relieve
headaches likely caused by blurred
vision.
"It's hard for us to know exactly
what was related to his prior confine-
ment," Royer said.
Wang for months had suffered from a

throat infection and headaches his family
thought may have been a brain tumor.
Wang will be released from Henry
Ford Hospital on today. Ile will fly to
New York City where he will speak
publicly this week at the New York
Academy of Science.
"I'm free now but 1 do not feel
relaxed. China is in my heart. I hope I can
go back to my country soon," Wang said
in a statement read by Xiao Qiang, exec-
utive director of Human Rights in China.
Wang, a leader of the 1989
Tiananmen Square protests who has
spent more than 6 years in Chinese pris-
ons, arrived in the US on Sunday after
being released from a Chinese prison

over the weekend.
"Wang Dan is very excited and
eager to start his new life in exile," Xiao
said. "Wang Dan is a modest methodi-
cal and determined person. He wants to
continue to contribute for China's
democracy."
He is the second major Chinese dis-
sident to be released in six months. Wei
Jingsheng, the most prominent Chinese
government critic, was sent to the US in
November. The latest release comes just
two months before President Clinton's
planned visit to Beijing.
The official Xinhua News Agency
said Wang was released on medical
parole but offered no details.

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