LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 14, 1998 - 3
CRIMELO
AAPD officers
Investigate
sexual assault
The Ann Arbor Police Department
.cilled the Department of Public
Safety on Wednesday morning to
request assistance in locating a possi-
ble witness a sexual assault, DPS
reports state.
The assault allegedly occurred on the
corner of South University Avenue and
State Street. AAPD and DPS units were
unsuccessful at locating the witness.
AAPD Sgt. Mike Logey said he has no
further information about the assault.
He could not report the details sur-
rounding the incident and did not say
whether the witness or suspect has been
located.
Student arrested
for marijuana
possession
DPS received a call on Saturday
reporting a South Quad Residence Hall
resident was using marijuana.
When the suspect saw DPS offi-
cers arrive at the scene, he fled
down the stairs toward the back of
the building. The suspect was appre-
hended on the Monroe Street side of
the residence hall. He was arrested
and charged with possession of mar-
ijuana.
After officers apprehended the
suspect, the caller told the 911 oper-
ator that an irate man was threaten-
ing to hit him inside a South Quad
room. The operator could hear the
potential assailant swearing in the
background.
Officers returned to the scene to take
an assault report. Reports do not state
whether charges were filed.
Library staff foils
theft attempt
A Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library
employee called DPS to report an
attempted larceny, reports state.
The employee said the library staff
were sent to meet with the suspect, a
*University graduate student, after an
alarm went off at the door. The student
was caught exiting the library with sev-
eral pages torn out of two different
journals. The caller said the suspect
admitted she took the papers without
permission.
The suspect apologized for the
theft and library employees told
DPS they did not wish to press
charges.
Pop tart catches
fire in E. Quad
DPS received a call on Friday to
report there was a fire in an East Quad
'Residence Hall room. The caller told
the 911 operator that a pop tart was
burning in his toaster oven.
The caller said a lot of smoke was
*resent in the room and the smoke
detector had sounded. Police reporting
to the scene said the fire was extin-
ggJshed and the smoke was cleared.
Reports do not indicate whether the
om or the toaster sustained perma-
, eht damage.
;No police reports was filed.
*Man dies on
South Forest St.
A DPS officer found a homeless per-
sop unconscious on Friday on the 500
_ block of South Forest Street, reports
state.
The officer said the person was not
breathing and had no pulse. The 911
operator notified Huron Valley
,Ambulance and the medical examin-
Der. HVA said the man was dead on
arrival.
--The medical examiner said the
death -was from natural causes.
Reports do not state the man's iden-
tity or whether he has any surviving
family members.
-- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Jason Stoffer
Archer announces Detroit's '98-'99 budget
DETROIT (AP) - Mayor Dennis Archer pro-
posed a "tight as a drum" budget yesterday that
included a surplus of just under $1 million and an
upgrade of the city's antiquated computer system.
Archer's 1998-99 proposed budget is $2.461 bil-
lion, or $102 million more than the current budget
- a 4 percent increase from 1997-98 levels.
"Given the challenges that we faced this year,
beginning with the devastating impact of the tor-
nadoes that hit our city just two days into this fis-
cal year, this is remarkable feat indeed," Archer
told the City Council.
"This is clear evidence that we have made great
strides in establishing fiscal discipline and respect
for our budget constraints."
Archer said that while the $911,000 surplus is
good news, it means extra care has to be taken for
the rest of the current fiscal year.
To put the "tightness of this number in perspec-
tive," Archer said a Detroit family with an income
of $30,000, each week on the day before payday,
would have a total of 25 cents.
The 1995-96 budget included about $18.5 mil-
lion in surplus funds. But amounts have been
shrinking since then. Last year's surplus was $1
million, said Ed Hannan, city budget director.
Under the budget proposal, Archer said he
added only where the city must meet contractual
obligations, such as the computer upgrade, where
additional non-general funding is available.
Archer presented his plan to the council after an
Easter weekend that included golf, mass and some
relaxation. The relaxed weekend came after Archer
spent a week doing some intense lobbying for the
City Council to approve three casino site agree-
ments reached with developers. The council
approved the agreements and the proposals now go
to the state Gaming Control Board.
Yesterday's budget included "not one red cent"
for casino development, Archer said. Possible
additional revenues from casinos also would be an
extra that was not yet included on the budget as
revenue, he said.
Maryann Mahaffey, president pro tem of the
council, approved of the budget plan, saying it
looked good on paper.
"Well, it certainly is a positive one. The devil
will be in the details," she said.
Mahaffey said that while the plan included step-
ping up equipment replacement in the fire depart-
ment, she was disappointed it made no mention of
adding another police precinct.
Archer's plan calls for the absorption of 60
police officers which will no longer be funded by
grant funds.
"While this produces a strain on a bare-bones
budget, we must not back away from our commit-
ment to maintain a safe city," he said,
The budget includes $37 million for special
technology efforts, such as dealing with the year
2000 and computerizing departments and facilitat-
ing links with other departments. He said nearly all
agencies wil! be receiving some upgrades or
improvements in the technology area.
Giving it a whirl
House panel recommends
bills to curb school violence
A 13-bill package would spend $15
billion to crack down on violence in
state public schools.
LANSING (AP) - Everyone from parents to prosecutors
have a role to play in combating school violence, according
to a report released yesterday.
A 13-bill package aimed at protecting students who
want to learn while getting tougher with students who
don't was outlined in the report. The bills summarize
much of what a House education subcommittee heard dur-
ing nine public hearings it held statewide on school vio-
lence earlier this year.
The bills encourage things such as having school dis-
tricts draw up codes of conduct and policies for dealing
with violence. They also put money into alternative edu-
cation programs for troubled youths expelled from their
local schools.
Starting the alternative program would cost roughly $15
million a year. Other funding mentioned in the plan includes
$75 million for an intervention and prevention program for
juvenile violence and crime and $1.25 million for after-
school, non-athletic programs.
House Education Committee Chair Sharon Gire (D-
Clinton Township) said adding more alternative programs
across the state could reduce the need for more prison space
in the future.
"It's a lot cheaper to fund this program than a boot camp,
jail or prison," she said.
Some observers say the bills aren't needed, since school
districts and their boards can and are doing much of what the
bills would require.
But Marc Cory, legislative liaison for Lansing Public
Schools, said the package broadens the resources
beyond school gates for solving violence and behavior
problems.
"It assists in dealing with problems as a community," Cory
said. "Bringing together all community resources to solve
problems is how we build communities."
The bipartisan bills also include measures, already passed
by the Senate, that would expel students who assault teachers.
Some bills in the package are to be taken up by the House
Education Committee next week.
The House package allows local school boards to deter-
mine punishment levels for violations of conduct codes: ;
"This legislation responds to the leading conceins
expressed by parents and educators," said House Education
Subcommittee on Violence in the Schools Chair Mirk
Schauer, (D-Battle Creek).
"It preserves local control, stresses violence prevention
and coordinates resources to manage the problem."
Rep. James McNutt (R-Midland) said the bills require that
each district have a protocol so everyone knows which behav-
iors lead to expulsion and that schools will have zero toler-
ance on violence, drugs, weapons and gangs.
"I think it's maybe a strength," McNutt said of the option-
al standards. "It provides for flexibility depending n
resources each district has."
Macomb County Prosecutor Carl Marlinga lent his support
to the package and particularly to a bill that lets prosecutors
seek enhanced penalties against anyone convicted of a felony
on school grounds.
"It won't result in additional incarceration time, but will
serve as a bloody pulpit to let wrongdoers know to take their
business elsewhere," he said.
ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Daily
Alex Baum, age 4, tries his might at spinning around the Cube yesterday
in Regents Plaza.
Report:Michigan
chldre c;n li.ve lo nger
LANSING (AP) - While
more of Michigan's infants and children
are living through their early years, they
face a greater threat from lead poisoning
and inadequate prenatal care.
Those are two of the conclusions
from the "Kids Count in Michigan"
report for 1997-98, a broad collection
of data on Michigan's counties that
found many signs of decline in chil-
dren's well-being.
State officials objected to some of
the report's conclusions, noting that
some of the data in the report was ques-
tionable, some too old to be accurate,
and that newer number give a better
impression.
The report found that 38,600 chil-
dren were likely suffering from unde-
tected lead poisoning due to lead
paint in older homes, which can cause
developmental and learning problems
without ever producing obvious
symptoms.
A recent federal study found that
only New York had more children
exposed to hazardous levels of lead
than Michigan.
"Right now, we're using kids as
canaries," said Jane Zehnder-Merrell,
project director for the league. "What
we want to do is try to remove lead
from housing or other areas where
kids are, because once lead poisoning
shows up, the kids are already dam-
aged."
A spokesperson for the Department
of Community Health said that since
1997, the state has strengthened its lead
testing requirements, and has started a
program in 11 counties to help prevent
lead poisoning.
"For about 40 or 50 years, we were
putting lead into the environment with-
out realizing what the consequences
would be," said spokesperson Geralyn
Lasher. "All that lead is not going to be
removed immediately. It's going to be a
long process."
The Kids Count report also found
that between 1994 and 1996, an aver-
age of 11,000 mothers a year, or 9 per-
cent, did not get proper health care for
their unborn children. From 1986 to
1988, 5 percent of mothers didn't get
enough care.
"This rise in the rate of inadequate
prenatal care is troubling because it
suggests a serious disassociation from
the health system for a significant
number of the state's mothers," the
report said.
Compounding both problems was a
finding that roughly 100,000 children
who live in families that earn less than
150 percent of the poverty level go
without health insurance - even
though all would qualify for Medicaid.
Positive signs included sizable drops
in infant mortality and child deaths,
fewer substantiated reports of child
abuse or neglect and an increase in
immunizations.
But Dr. David Johnson, the chief
medical officer for the Michigan
Department of Community Health, said
he had questions about how Kids Count
presented its numbers.
"The best measure you have of
(young children's) health is infant mor-
tality rate," he said. "Over the last cou-
ple of decades those numbers have
come down and come down dramatical-
ly. Before focusing on prenatal care,
you want to focus on mortality."
He also noted that according to
department records, 75.5 percent of
mothers had adequate prenatal care,
compared to 72 percent in 1990. And
the department believes only 23,000
children who qualify for Medicaid are
not enrolled.
"My dog ate it" stopped working
somewhere around seventh grade.
With Kinko's nearby, you have no more excuses. We're open 24
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1iL'
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