The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 18, 1998 - 3
LOCAL/S TATE
FUJGHER
City seeks money for fire protection
ormer director
ccused of
s fying records
,former administrator at Edison
unity College in Florida was
arged this past Thursday with falsify-
grades, creating courses and produc-
fake degrees for himself, the
roriicle of Higher Education reported.
Rogald Jones, the college's former
ctor of computing services, was
ard, with 47 counts of tampering
th official records. If convicted, he
uldb sent to prison for up to 17 years.
Acopring to the charges, Jones fal-
grades 12 times from 1991 to
and granted himself two associate
grees. He also raised the grades of
son and two other students.
Jones resigned in June 1996 when a
tjne audit produced several suspi-
> transcripts. A two-year investiga-
n by state attorneys and Edison offi-
Is found eight academic degrees that
v been revoked and nine altered
.nicripts that have been corrected.
tes turned himself in to authorities
week No students were involved in
scheme, prosecutors said.
acial assault
ngers students
The president of the student govern-
pt at North Carolina's Guilford
lIege was attacked last Wednesday,
used by the assailant of taking posi-
I support of black students, the
icle of Higher Education report-
Monday.
Mply Martin was knocked uncon-
ious from behind. The attacker
erred her blouse and wrote a racial
ithet across her chest.
Anonymous letters criticizing
artip's .decision to appoint two black
dents to the student senate had been
culating throughout campus during
cek prior to the attack. The letters
denounced her endorsement of a
oposal for the college to create a full
ne director of African American
airs.
raternities' new
r9gram may
dcrease GPAs
e Interfraternity Council at the
trsity of Kentucky passed a schol-
ship-program last semester that gives
udents incentive to increase their
ade point averages, the Kentucky
ernel reported yesterday.
The program limits social functions
ir any chapter whose collective grade-
inft average is below the all-male
ierage at the University of Kentucky.
Twelve out of 17 fraternities showed
crease in overall GPAs between
) a and 1997, but only five surpassed
e national average. Several fraterni-
as missed the all-male average by
ie-hundredth of a point.
tudent guilty of
ending hate mail
A former student of the University of
afifprpia at Irvine was convicted of
iolatipg the civil rights of Asian
Wriean students and staff last week,
te Chronicle of Higher Education
:ported this past Thursday.
The student was found guilty of
teWing with students' rights to
:te a-public university after he sent
oiimous e-mail messages to 60
dia -Americans on campus in
epern er 1996, threatening he would
make-it (his) life career to find and kill
"Asian personally. The message
d Asians for all campus crimes
nd for his academic failure.
The verdict was the first successful
-deral prosecution of a hate crime on
ie -tmrnet. Although the conviction
arfies"a sentence of up to one year in
il, because the student has already
een in custody for a year, he may be
entenced to time served.
This was his second trial because his
irst trial resulted in a dead-locked jury.
&Compiled by Daily Staf Reporter
t istine M Paik from the Chronicle
of Higher Education and the
University Wire.
Ann Arbor asks the state for
$1 million to pay for fire
protection of state buildings
By Peter Meyers
Daily Staff Reporter
In return for keeping the University from burn-
ing down, the City of Ann Arbor has asked that the
state government pay the city an additional Si mil-
lion annually.
In 1978, the state passed Public Act 289, which
guaranteed that the state would reimburse cities for
covering the cost of fire protection for state build-
ings located within their cities. Fire departments
are local entities and are supported by local prop-
erty taxes, but state property is not taxed.
Since the bill passed 10 years ago, the state has
not allocated the funds called for in Public Act
289, and the cities have been making up the differ-
ence - especially cities that host large state uni-
versities.
Last night. the Ann Arbor City Council
passed a resolution urging the state to fund the
act in full. Paraphrasing the city's message to
the state, Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon said,
"You have facilities located in our municipali-
ties. We are required to protect them, but you
don't pay taxes."
The amount of funds each city receives is deter-
mined by an equation that takes numerous vari-
ables into account, including the local fire depart-
ment's budget, the size and type of the city's state
facilities and their location within the city.
According to this formula, Ann Arbor should be
receiving about $1.5 million annually, Sheldon
said. Last year, Ann Arbor was paid $603,000
under Public Act 289.
"If the state were fully funding this formula, we
would be receiving an extra $1 million," Sheldon
said.
Before the act was passed, the University and
the city maintained a less formal relationship of
reimbursement where some of the costs of fire
protection were allocated directly from the
University, Sheldon said. But since the act's pas-
sage, the University has relied exclusively on the
state for its funding.
"We are totally supportive of the legislature in
living up to its obligation," said Jim Kosteva, the
University's director of community relations. "It's
long overdue."
Kosteva said the University no longer pays
directly for any services the city provides, includ-
ing fire protection, but repays the city in other
ways. The fire station near North Campus is a
University-owned building that the city uses rent-
free, Kosteva said.
Ann Arbor Fire Department Fire Marshall
Scott Rayburn said that even if the act was
fully funded, the city would not be getting back
as much as it has spent on fire protection for
the University in any year since the act was
passed.
"Our annual budget is about S7.2 million;'
Rayburn said. "About half of our calls are on the
University."
Councilmember Jane Lumm (R-2nd Ward) also
brought up the issue of equity, saying that the
unpaid protection was a burden that most
Michigan cities did not have.
"Full funding is the way to level the playing
field and bring equity to the state," Lumm
said.
With the exception of Lansing's representatives.
officials from cities where other state universities
reside support the full funding, Sheldon said.
.ansing has always received supplemental funding
from Michigan State University. she said.
The fire department has made some special
expenditures to accommodate the University's
presence, Rayburn said.
"We have a nuclear reactor," Rayburn said,
referring to the operational nuclear reactor on
North Campus. Fire fighters have since been
trained in radiological monitoring - something
that is rarely necessary in a community of this size,
Rayburn said.
'because of the toxic and volatile chemicals used
in labs -n campus, the AAFD also has an unusual-
ly large amount of equipment for dealing with haz-
ardous materials, Rayburn said.
Students learn about
hazards of date rape drug
ALLISON CANTER/Daily
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass reads a selection from his collection
of poems last night at the Rackham Amphitheatre.
orm'ier U.S. poet
laureate visits
By Melanie Sampson
D~aily Staff' Reporter
Students asked questions and
learned about the increasing preva-
lence of the drug Rohypnol last
night during a presentation hosted
by the Sexual Assault Prevention
Awareness Center at South Quad
Residence Hall.
Commonly known as "roofies" or
the "date rape drug," Rohypnol is
colorless, odorless and tasteless. It
is often slipped into drinks and caus-
es users to feel disoriented. Waking
up after using rohypnol. a user will
not have any recollection of the inci-;
dents that took place the night
before.
University Health Service repre-
sentatives and a SAPAC counselor
presented information about the
effects of the drug, legislation to
curb its use and precautions that can1
be taken to avoid becoming a victim
of the drug.s
The ingestion of Rohypnol often
is not realized until it is too late.
Victims may have a feeling similar
to a hangover that lasts much longer1
than normal.
LSA junior Christina Lee said thei
issue is relevant because the drug
often is used during spring break.
"We thought this would be a good
time to draw people to learn about+
this," Lee said.
Students who attended the session
had the upcoming break in mind as1
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"1 definitely think it's an up-and-
coming problem, People aren't a
aware of it as they probably
should be.
- Jennifer Fitzgerald
Nursing senior
well.
"I'm going to Mexico next week
and I decided I needed to learn
about all the precautions I need for a
safe trip," said Arthi Rao, an LSA
sophomore.
SAPAC peer educator Ruchi
Mishra emphasized that the presen-
tation was not a prevention work-
shop, but an educational presenta-
tion.
"Sexual assault cannot be prevent-
ed by women." said Mishra, an LSA
sophomore.
While the drug mainly has been
found in Florida and Texas, near the
borders of Mexico where it enters
illegally, SAPAC has received
reports of the drug's presence on
campus.
In light of these reports. SAPAC is
trying to educate the University
community about the dangers of the
drug.
"I don't think there's been enough
publicity about it," said Lee, a mem-
ber of SAPAC.
"It's slowly getting out. We just
want to do more," she said.
Other students came to the event
just to learn more about the drug.
"I don't really know too much
about this topic. I wanted more
information," said Nursing senior
Jennifer Fitzgerald.
UHS peer educator Deepak
Ambekar said people can prevent
themselves from becoming victims
of the drug by being aware of "how
much (they) can drink and how
(thev) feel."
Rao said she is concerned about
the increasing use of the drug.
"I think it's an increasing problem
in society. It's sad. it's scary," said
Rao.
Fitzgerald said the problem is
very relevant to students.
"I definitely think it's an up-and-
coming problem," Fitzgerald said.
People aren't as aware of it as they
probably should be."
By Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud
Daily Staff Reporter
Award-winning poet and former
U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass read
poems from his collected works last
night before a packed house at
Rackham Amphitheatre.
"It's really a great pleasure to be
here, partly because my Infamily is
here," said a smiling [lass. "1 also
love Ann Arbor and the University
of Michigan. I think Berkeley and
Ann Arbor are crucial institutions
because they're public universities."
Hass' poems are characterized by
their descriptive and informal style.
The works of Hass show his fascina-
tion with nature and his unique abil-
ity to find humor in any situation.
linda iregerson, director of the
University's MFA program in cre-
ative writing, introduced Hass and
said "he brought unprecedented dig-
nity and grace" to the position of
U.S. Poet Laureate.
"We brought him here because
he is a moral and intellectual
leader of a very great stature in
America," Gregerson said. "He's
here because he's deeply involved
in many issues affecting public
universities."
The youngest member of Hass'
family, his grandson Finn, interject-
ed loudly a few times during his
grandfather's appearance.
Hass' arrival was eagerly antici-
pated by many University stu-
dents.
"I came because I enjoy good
poetry in general and I've heard
some of Robert Hass' poetry before
and it's quite good,"said Music first-
year student Rebecca Biber. "I've
been to a number of readings this
year and I thing this one will proba-
bly be the best yet."
Many of Hass' poems were
humorous and elicited laughter from
audience members. One particularly
irreverent poem dealt with bodily
ejections, a subject not frequently
approached by poets.
Students who attended the reading
said Hass' poetry was intriguing.
"I find his poetry very insightful,"
said LSA sophomore Elana Levine.
"ie takes ideas we wouldn't neces-
sarily think about and expresses
them in an interesting manner."
Another of Hass' poems dealt
with a raccoon and its response to a
philosophical discussion about ratio-
nalism. Blending the love of nature
and learning, the poem struck a
chord with the audience.
High school teacher Richard
Bowdy came all the way from
Bloomfield Hills with about a dozen
students to hear Hass read.
"This is the second time we've
come," Bowdy said. "Last time he
came, it was so wonderful. We drove
through the rain and wind just to see
him.
The Michigan Theater will hold
a public lecture by Hass tomor-
row at noon. This Friday, the poet
will be available to meet with
fans at the Ann Arbor Public
Library. Hass' visit was spon-
sored by the University's English
Department and Borders Books
and Music.
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' Torrection: The National Eating Disorders Screening Program will take place Thursday, Feb. 26 at the University
sychological Clinic from 6:30-8:30 p.m. There will be another screening program from 3-6 p.m. in the Wolverine room of
ce Union. This was incorrectly reported in Monday's Daily.
IIIE QALEN LAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
GROUP MEETINGS
' American Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee, 213-1710, Michigan
EVENTS
J "Parsha and Pizza," Sponsored by
. Hillel, Hillel, 1429 Hill St., 6-7:15
offices, 3075 Clark Rd., Suite
203, Ypsilanti, 6-9 p.m.
J Northwalk, 763-WALK, Bursley
Lobby, 8 p.m.- 1:30 a.m.
J Psycho lov Peer Advising Office,
. ..