LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, January 13, 1998 - 3


909
Mugging occurs
on Hill area
ootbidge
A man approached a female early
Friday morning on the bridge between
the Hill residence halls and Central
Campus and told her to hand over her
t oney, according to Department of
Public Safety reports. The victim com-
plied and then turned around and
walked away, as the man had instruct-
ed.
DPS spokesperson Elizabeth Hall
'aid the suspect is 19 or 20 years old,
'8" and 150 pounds with a dark com-
plexion and clean shaven face.
While Hall said there is no indication
the mugging is part of a trend, she
urged individuals walking on campus
to take additional precautions.
Stolen banner
,seen at rally
*"At Sunday night's football pep
rally at Crisler Arena, staff members
called DPS after spotting a banner in
section 56 that was reported stolen in
1996.
°DPS officers identified three 20-
year-old females seen with the banner
and questioned them at the scene. The
subjects were released but a report was
filed.
gtudent cited for
alcohol possesion
A male resident of Mary Markley
Residence Hall was cited with a minor
violation for possession of alcohol after
le called DPS early Sunday morning to
report that he was locked out of his
room.
DPS reports indicate that the officers
sent to help the student unlock his door
ound alcohol in his possession. The
student was charged with a minor vio-
lation and the incident was reported to
the residence hall staff.
Man wanders
from 'U' Hospitals
University Hospitals staff called
DPS on Saturday afternoon to report
*at a man left the emergency room and
was roaming around the hospital. The
barefoot subject was highly intoxicated
and had a shaved head, DPS reports
state.
A DPS officer located the man and
returned him to the emergency room.
Woman assaulted
#n Haven Hall
A female University employee
working in or around a bathroom in
Haven Hall on Friday evening was
assaulted after asking a man not to
enter the bathroom, according to DPS
reports. After hearing the employee's
request, the man pushed her and spit
on the wall.
DPS has not located any suspects in
connection with the incident. DPS
ports describe him as a 6'3" male
Gearing a red hat with a blue bill, a
leather jacket, blue jeans, boots and a
leather backpack.

Thieves steal
Pizza House car
A 1989 Ford Probe with a Pizza
House sign attached to the roof was
len at about 4 a.m. yesterday morn-
g in front of Pizza House on Church
Street, according to Ann Arbor Police
Department reports. The vehicle was
taken by an unknown suspect after the
motor was left running in the parking
lot.
"This happens frequently with pizza
delivery vehicles and is often a prank.
Usually we don't find the suspect," said
AAPD Sgt. Larry Jerue.
The car was found later that morning
loccupied and with a flat tire at the
intersection of Washtenaw and Geddes
avenues.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Jason Stoffer

Digital age poses preservation problems

By William Nash
-aily Sta- rporr
School of Information Prof. Margaret Hedstrom
makes her television debut tonight on PBS. She's
not the lead in the movie of the week, but she is a
leading educator in a field not yet in the limelight
digital preservation.
lledstrom, the soon-to-be author of a digital
preservation book, is seen briefly on the docu-
mentary, "Into the Future: On the Preservation
of Knowledge in the Electronic Age," which
will air tonight at 10 p.m. on Channel 56 in
Detroit.
Hedstom said she believes publicity, such as the
documentary, is important in shedding light on the
growing problem of protecting and retrieving
information.
"People don't notice the problem of preserving
information until they try to get a document and it
is irretrievable," Hedstrom said.
A file can be lost many different ways. If the
data is stored on magnetic tape, its shelf life is a
maximum of 30 years.
Another way information is lost is when

"People don't notice the problem of preserving
information until they try to get a document and
it is irretrievable."
- Margaret Hedstrom
School of Information professor

program upgrades render old files inaccessi-
ble.
"It's when people upgrade from Windows '95 to
whatever comes next," said Hedstrom, citing a
possible way large amounts of information could
instantly be wiped out.
Mark Handel, one of Hedstrom's former stu-
dents, said he has had experiences with this lack of
backwards compatibility.
"Although the tape for the original database
was available, there was no way to read the tape
anymore, and no way to know how the data was
arranged on the tape. In the end, I had to re-key
the data by hand from a print-out made around

1980" said Handel, an information graduate
student who works at the University's Digital
Library.
The latest source of headaches for IHedstrom
and others in her field is the World Wide Web.
With the seemingly infinite amount of information
posted. there is no clear way to make sure it is all
preserved properly.
"The main problem is how to maintain
online information across time - this requires
a major institutional commitment of bodies
and equipment," said Michael Nolte, senior
research associate at the Institute for Social
Research.

There is no clear solution to the problem.
but researchers are cxploring many possibdi-
ties.
The cheapest way to save all data is to print it
out.
This method is also the least desirable because
the computer version has many more options,
such as creating links and changing original doc-
uments.
The second way to preserve information is to
save all the data on disk or CD. While this method
is more expensive, it preserves the computer ver-
sion of the document.
"With CD, there is the possibility to save both
the document and the program it was created on
- such as a Web page and Netscape," Hedstrorm
said.
The best way not to lose a document is to pre-
vent and plan, said Hedstrom. By making sure
everything can easily change from one format to
another, data should be retrievable.
"The most important thing is to store informa-
tion in lowest common denominator' format,
Nolte said.

Shocking debut

Thieves have a
profitable break

By Jason Stoffer
Daily Staff Reporter
Students aren't the only ones who
look forward to winter break. As stu-
dents pack their bags, lock their doors
and head home for the holidays. thieves
often seize the opportunity to break into
vacant residences.
In the two-week period following
Christmas, Ann Arbor Police
Department reports indicate 15 break-
ins took place in off-campus neighbor-
hoods populated by students. AAPD
Sgt. Larry Jerue said many of the thefts
occurred in the Hill Street vicinity.
Jerue said the value of items taken
during vacations tends to be higher than
when University classes are in session.
"Break-and-entering victims during
the school year are often students who
have compact discs or small items of
jewelry stolen at parties or by guests."
Jerue said. "Primary targets over vaca-
tion are computers, stereos, electronics,
TVs and other big ticket items.
"Thieves are more at ease during
winter and summer breaks because
there are less people on campus," Jerue
said. "The problem is the student break
schedule is well known."
Engineering junior Derek Mecklir
and LSA junior Lee Chang, who live on
Oakland Street, had their computers
stolen during winter break. Mecklir said
the thief entered through the window of
their apartment balcony and stole two
computers and two printers.

"Everything was locked. but our win-
dow was faulty," Mecklir said. t
Jerue said that while police have ndt
apprehended a suspect for the Oakland
theft, he has not ruled out the possibili-
ty that the same person is responsible
for many of the break-ins.
"Generally, for people breaking intp
homes, it's not their first time nor thei
last," Jerue said. "All it takes is someone
to walk around, knock on doors, find no
one home and make their way in."
Jerue urged students to take electron
ics home or to find a group of people to
split the cost of renting space in a stdr-
age facility.
Jerry McGlothlin, manager of Arn
Arbor's Fort Knox Storage, said many
students rent storage space during
breaks to protect their valuables.
"You can rent a 5-by-Il0- space for
S45 per month or there are smaller stor-
age spaces available for S 19 per month,
McGlothlin said. "In the two years I've
been here, we haven't had any thefts."
I fill area resident Jim Johnston said it
is important for all students to be vety
aware that thefts occur more frequently
when school is not in session.
"I think any smart thief would know a
time to go in would be when people are
away from school," Johnston said. "What
I've done in the past is take out renter's
insurance, and if something was really
important, I took it home with me."
- Daily Staff Reporter Heather
Wiggin contributed to this report.

AP PHOTO
Nancy Liberman-Cline, the Detroit Shock's first head coach and general manager, poses next to the team's logo at the
North American International Auto Show in Detroit yesterday. The Shock is the area's new WNBA team.
Student roups t entice
nyew -me-mbers at Winterfest

Recruitment fair fails
to draw crowds compara-
ble to fall counterpart
By Christine M. Paik
Daily Staff'Reporter
Brightly colored balloons adorned
the entranceway of the Michigan
Union Ballroom yesterday, making up
for the dark indoor location of
Winterfest '98.
Organized by Student Activities and
Leadership, Winterfest '98 was held
yesterday afternoon as a cold-weather
equivalent to Festifall, which is held
annually on the Diag in early autumn.
More than 130 student groups set up
tables with pamphlets and posters in
hopes of recruiting members for their
organizations.
Both students hosting and visiting
tables at the event said they were disap-
pointed in the relatively low turnout at
this year's Winterfest, which drew only
about 600 interested students.
LSA sophomore Cheryl Lim, who
was recruiting for the Intervarsity
Christian Fellowship, said that
although many students had visited
her table and shown interest in join-
ing, Winterfest was not as successful
as Festifall.
"I think Festifall was probably better
because there was more traffic," Lim
said. "People just walked through the
Diag and saw what was going on."
In addition to location differences,
Lim speculated that lack of publicity
also played a big part in the number of
students who attended.
"(Winterfest) wasn't as well publi-
cized ... (there weren't) very many ban-

ners in the Diag," Lim said. "I wouldn't
have known about Winterfest if I wasn't
involved."
LSA first-year student Ashley
Harrison said she was disappointed
with Winterfest. She said she had
expected an experience like the one
she had at Festifall, but instead found
a smaller and more somber crowd.
"In the beginning of school, there are
posters, signs, and all the (resident
advisers) tell you about (Festifall),
Harrison said. "Winterfest just isn't as
publicized and having it inside makes it
kind of stuffy."
Jackie Simpson, assistant director in
the Student Activities and Leadership
office, explained the reasoning behind
the smaller number of students involved
in Winterfest.
"By virtue of the fact that Festifall is
held outside and Winterfest is held
inside, this automatically cuts down on
the number of participants," said
Simpson, who helped organize
Winterfest '98. "But besides that differ-
ence, I think (the event) was successful."
Organizers said they were satisfied
with Winterfest's turnout.
"We pretty much had a full house,"
Simpson said. "Judging from the raffle
tickets, I would say about 600 students
participated in this year's Winterfest,
which I think is a pretty good turnout."
Despite Winterfest's low marks by
students in comparison to Festifall, stu-
dents at the event expressed their inter-
est in this kind of fair.
"Especially when you have a busy
schedule, it's so much easier to visit
every organization at once than to go to
each one separately," said LSA first-
year student Madhu Battu. "Both

"Not a lot of
people know
about (Winterfest)
because it's not in
the middle of
campus."_
- Patty Aquino
LSA first-year student
Festifall and Winterfest have been help-
ful in that way."
Alpha Kappa Delta Phi representative
Patty Aquino said Winterfest '98 helped
to recruit members for her sorority.
"Not a lot of people know about
(Winterfest) because it's not in the
middle of campus," said Aquino, an
LSA first-year student. "But, we get
quite a few members through these
types of fairs, and I think they help us
out a lot."



What's happening in Ann Arbor today

GROUP MEETINGS
J Alanza, 995-6732, Michigan Union,
.Pond Room, 7:30 p.m.
J Cletoaniacs and Shoolifters

EVENTS
J "Crossing Over: Images of
V.-n-canda. n.n..n. .,rnna An

203, Ypsilanti, 6-9 p.m.
J Northwalk, 763-WALK, Bursley
Lobby, 8 p.m.- 1:30 a.m.
J Psychology Peer Advising Office,
647-3711, East Hall, Room 1346,

I .

I