LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 7, 1998 - 3A .Wrestler's death evokes grief, spurs training reforms By Jordan Field and Katie Plona Daily Staff Reporters The death of Michigan wrestler and Kinesiology junior Jefferey Reese has prompted a nationwide reassessment of wrestling, as well as deep shock and sadness ithin the University community. Reese died Dec. 9, when he collapsed after a strenuous workout at Crisler Arena. Reese had been trying to cut the final pounds that would put him into the 150 weight class for a meet against Michigan State the following day. He had been trying to cut a total of 17 pounds in only a few days. Wrestling teammate and childhood friend Brian Aparo, a Kinesiology senior, said one of the most difficult things to accept about Reese's ' eath was that he died for the team. "His body just stopped. He had to make a weight class and he was so close," Aparo said. "He wanted to redeem himself from the last match" against Michigan State. Reese's death put a spotlight on legal and ethical issues surrounding the University's wrestling program. Wrestling is widely recog- nized for its extreme training methods. An autopsy report issued Dec. 15 by Washtenaw County Medical Examiner Bader Cassin states that Reese died from kidney failure and heart malfunction caused by excessive exer- cising and dehydration. According to Department of Public Safety investigation documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, assistant wrestling coach Joe McFarland was with Reese when he collapsed. The report states that Reese had been working out in a rubber suit with "sweats" over the nylon suit, and that Reese had been "riding an exercise bike and using the sauna." Since his death, University officials have said they plan to ban the use of rubber suits. During a check of the workout area logged in the DPS report, nothing out of the ordinary was noted except excessive heat: The thermostat on the wall in the wrestling room was checked at 10:11 p.m., and the temperature was at least 92 degrees. Reese stayed behind with McFarland after his teammates weighed in at the end of wrestling practice, which lasted for about one hour, wrestling coach Dale Bahr said in the DPS report. Bahr took the team out to dinner while Reese continued his attempts to lose weight. The practice began at 3:30 p.m. and Reese became "woozy" around S p.m. In the weeks since Reese's death, several speculations have been made. including that all of Reese's workout was done in the sauna. But the DPS report states that "McFarland said that Reese was going in and. out of it and was not work- ing out exclusively in it." In addition to the spec- ulation surrounding Reese's exercise routine the night he died, ques- tions have been raised Reese about his possible use of a dietary supplement called creatine and whether McFarland's call for help was delayed. But the autopsy report and the DPS investigation have since proven both accusa- tions false. Although the autopsy report states that very high levels of creatine were found in Reese's body within two hours after his death, this substance can be produced naturally by the body. Cassin could not be reached for com- ment yesterday. But Debra Wright, the admin- istrative coordinator for the Medical Examiner's Office, said the level of natural creatine found in Reese's body was normal considering the amount of exercise he had done. "Creatine is a substance that is found nat- urally in the body," Wright said. "With this type of death, where fluid and food intake is reduced and exercise is so increased, the level of creatine found in his body was very normal for the body to have produced natu- rally." Addressing the questions of whether McFarland waited too long to call 911, Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Mackie said there was no proof of delay and no legal action will be taken. "Putting it all together, it's obvious that there could be no undue delay," Mackie said. "There's no evidence to the contrary. There's no criminal- ity that we found." Mackie made his ruling after reviewing sever- al reports, including the DPS report and the chief medical examiner's report, which ruled Reese's death an accident. Questions still remain about whether Reese had enough time to lose the desired amount Jefferey Reese. . Age: 21 * School/year: Kinesiology/junior 8 Hometown: Wellsburg, N.Y. Reese had sophomore eligibity and was named "Most Improved Wrestler" for the 1996-97 season 3 Reese received an 83-percent scholarship to wrestle at the University of weight. DPS reports state that Bahr asked Reese to wrestle in the 150 weight class on Dec. 4, before the team 1eIct for a tournament in Las Vegas. In the report, Bahr said Reese stayed in Ann Arbor to lose the weight for the Dec. 10 meet. Bahr also said in the report that Reese weighed 170 pounds on Saturday, Dec. (0 giving him just four days to lose about 20 pounds. Both Bahr and McFarland declined to com- ment. - Read the Daily tomorrow and FrkAiay i r mor coverage about the reaction to / Reese r death, ncludig pr/f//s o /'/o /asklrcc f// mal' change wrcst//ngrm7nms natonz:dt /. I Fraternit house fire leaves 39 homeless No one was injured when flames damaged the Delta Tau Delta fraternity house By Reilly Brennan Daily Staff Reporter While most University students will be scrambling to local bookstores in search of new textbooks and coursepacks this week, 39 members of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity will be looking for a new place to live for the semester. The home suffered major fire damage on Dec. 28. The incident completely destroyed two rooms and damaged others. Despite major fire-related setbacks, the frater- nity will continue its winter rush proceedings and hold its normal events. Since the house was vacant for winter break, no one was injured during the fire. Ann Arbor Fire Department Battalion Chief Ed Knieper responded to a witness' call, and when he arrived at the house, which is located on Geddes Avenue, he said the damage couldn't be seen from the street. "At first look we didn't see anything," Knieper said. "The hardest part was just finding the fire, which was between floors." The cause of the fire was due to old electrical wiring, which dates back to the house's concep- tion in 1924. "It was by no means caused by negligence," said Delta Tau Delta Treasurer and SNRE junior Alex Keros. "Everyone was out of the house for the break. The wiring was just too old." Keros said the tight-knit group is in high spirits despite the extensive damage to their 74-year-old house, which is now uninhabitable. "Nobody in our house is really that worried about our current status," Keros said. "We're real- ly just a bunch of close friends and we're dealing with it." Burns urges grads to embrace the past while moving ahead EMILY NATHAN/Daily Movers take the surviving furniture from the Delta Tau Delta fraternity house and load it into vans yesterday. The house was damaged in a fire on Dec. 28. By Mike Spahn Daily taff Reporter Cheers, screams and even some barking rang out at Crisler Arena on Dec. 14 - but the basketball team's game against Duke had been over for a day. Instead, these cheers celebrat- ed University students receiving their degrees at winter commence- ment. More than 2,000 students from each of the University's undergradu- ate schools, as well as many post- graduate students, received degrees at the ceremony. . LSA graduate Joi Davis said the day was very important for her. "I feel grown up. I've carried on the tradition of my family," said Davis, referring to the fact that about 10 rela- tives also have graduated from the University. Speaking to the crowd were LSA graduate Amy Kay Kimble, Provost Nancy Cantor and President Lee Bollinger. Bollinger quoted from the Robert Hayden poem "Those Winter Sundays," telling graduates to follow their dreams and not forget the University. "These ceremonies mean a lot to everyone," Bollinger said. "Of course they mean the most to the students, but they are also important to their parents, friends and facul- ty.", Giving the keynote address was documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. Burns, who grew up in Ann Arbor, also received an honorary degree from the University. He spoke about the importance of history in the graduates' lives, saying that he believes "your future lies behind you." "If you don't know where you've been, how can you possibly know where you're going?" Burns said. Burns tried to avoid giving out generic advice, instead asking the graduates to "give up addictions" and "try brushing your teeth with your other hand." Burns said giving the speech was an "unbelievably great honor" considering that he "formed here." Bollinger, who called himself a "great admirer of Burns," said the film- maker gave a "tremendous speech." Davis said she also enjoyed Burns' speech, saying she was able to relate to it. "I thought the speech was really rele- vant to what we are going through,' Davis said Also given honorary degrees were Gwendolyn Calvert Baker and Richard Smalley. Baker received three degrees from the University and also helped form the University's affirmative action poli- cy. Smalley, who taught for some time at the University, won a Nobh Prize for his work in chemistry. The day before the ceremony, Burns lectured to a packed theater at the Michigan League about ways his films have influenced his view of the American identity. Burns discussed many of the experiences he has had filming his movies, which include "The Civil War" "Baseball" and his most recent documentary on Lewis and Clark. Burns stressed the ambivalence many Americans have toward their his- tory and their country. "We have an extraordinary country, Burns said. "Our birthright is to use it not to abuse it." Burns quoted one phrase from the journals of Lewis and Clark repeatedly throughout the lecture, a phrase that he applied to the graduation as well. He said it summed up the feelings of many Americans as they passed important times in their lives. "We proceeded on," he said. "The important thing is that winter rush will go on," Keros said. "We will still hold events as usual." The blaze initially started next to the kitchen in the pantry. Keros said from there, the flames prob- ably went right up to the second floor. "Two of the rooms are completely gone," Keros said. "Other rooms have damage but mostly things need to be cleaned thoroughly. Things like stereos aren't damaged permanently but could corrode if they're not cleaned." Presently, a large number of the students are staying at the Clarion Hotel, a service that is paid for by each student's personal insurance policy. Delta Tau Delta Housing President B.J. Kroppe said those students who do not have a policy with appropriate coverage will most likely have to cover hotel costs themselves. "They will have to pay out-of-pocket if they don't have coverage for it," Knoppe said. "But we plan to have everyone moved into housing of some sort by next week." Possible destinations for the students are sub- lets in houses or apartments or other fraternity houses with extra space, the latter being the most probable. Keros said as many as five different fraterni- ties have offered housing to Delta Lau Delta members. "The other houses have been very helpful and the Greek system overall has been great and offered a lot of support." Keros said. At this point the house is expected to be gutted and repaired to meet Ann Arbor's housing code standards. Keros said this will provide a chance to do some much-needed repairs on the aging build- ing. "It's a little bit of a blessing in disguise," Keros said. "Our guys will be closer because of this and in the end, we'll probably have a better house too." Fraternity brothers expect to move back into their house next fall. The house will be livable at that point, but most repairs will continue into the fall term, Keros said. I Student dies from Dennison fall By Stephanie Hepburn d Jason Stoffer ily Staff Reporters A 21-year-old male University student died after falling from an upper-level window of the Dennison Building on Dec. 16. The incident appears to have been a suicide, University officials said. The student was from Korea. Department of Public Safety spokesperson Elizabeth Hall said the name of the student will not be released to the pub- lic at the request of the victim's family. "We believe (the student) was alone, but there were two or three witnesses,' a University official said. "There is suspi- cion it was a suicide, but we have no further details." While Asian international students often face additional academic and social pressures, University officials believe these were not primary factors in the student's apparent sui- cide, said International Center Director Zahir Ahmed. The alleged suicide was the culmination of a long history of reported personal problems, Ahmed said. "The student had had problems tracing back to his own country," Ahmed said. "He had been getting (therapy) there.' Korean Student Association Treasurer Ji Yung Park said the student was struggling with mental illness. "He was suffering rom depression, mental problems ... ," Park said. At 2:42 p.m. on Dec. 16, DPS received a phone call that a man had fallen from Dennison. As police and ambulances arrived, students and staff gathered around the bridge area between C.C. Little and Dennison, where the student lay on the ground. LSA first-year student Anish Shah said when he went to take a final exam at 3 p.m., technicians already were cover- ing the body with a white cloth. "Everyone assumed that he jumped," Shah said. "It's scary to think that a student committed suicide. People are so stressed about finals." Hall said preliminary findings indicate that the victim fell from a window on the ninth or 10th floor. "The victim was dead upon arrival at the scene," Hall said. "Efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. We are investi- gating the incident and don't want to speculate on what hap- pened." University Provost Nancy Cantor arrived at the scene fol- lowing the iTicident to begin overseeing the response by DPS and medical examiners. A professor, who wished to remain anonymous, said he watched emergency personnel administer CPR and oxygen at the scene. "Emergency Medical Technicians worked on the man for a good five minutes while I was there," the professor said. But, "they were unable to revive him." 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