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 A two-year investiga- n by state attorneys and Edison offi- Is found eight academic degrees that v been revoked and nine altered .nicripts that have been corrected.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 NEWS? WANT TO WRITE?. CALL THE DAILY AT 7634459R OR STHOP BY MLAY D YNArD ST. I "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. -, k pp, 747 ER WEEK! *isNWV NHV1ACA4V. RGObM I73( S Wt,. PER PERS~ONr IMMON OUSAD I" 4W4(, lR4ITO AYALA#JVY. SOME M)ThtmONI APPL. ONE PARKING PAS PER ROOM. DAMAGE MPO;M MAY APPLY.) TMllU~fU4 BREAK, 1T* OiAInIM OM ON PANAMA (Ml 4 ~ - 7 .i ' 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, . ..