9'
LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 19, 1998 - 3A
Incidents
reflect
alcohol
jro blems
ALCOHOL
Continued from Page 1A
infrequently. We're careful not to overre-
act to this unusual incident."
But the unusual circumstances sur-
rounding many accidents involving
alcohol mean the cases themselves are
unusual, Vice President for Student
Affairs Maureen Hartford said.
Cantor's death "was an odd incident,
t it could have happened to a lot of
students in a bunch of different ways,"
Hartford said. "We had a lot of students
out drinking that night."
While Howard survived, others were
not so fortunate. Rutgers University stu-
dent Jason Greco died Oct. 11, three
days after falling down a flight of stairs
at Theta Chi fraternity house in New
Brunswick, N.J., The Daily Targum
ported.
Greco had spent the night drinking
alcohol in a local bar and reportedly was
intoxicated.
In a statement released last Tuesday,
Rutgers President Francis Lawrence
called the death "a tragic loss to his fam-
ily and to the entire Rutgers community.
"It is wrong by every sense of right
that we possess ... when we see death
come to a college campus," Lawrence
wrote. "Such a thing simply should not
*ppen."
The consequences of accidents
involving alcohol can be exacting for
fraternities.
Last month, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon
fraternity at Louisiana State University
pled no contest to 86 criminal charges in
connection with the death of LSU stu-
dent' Benjamin Wynne, the LSU
Reveille reported.
Wynne died Aug. 26, 1997 of acute
cohol poisoning. Tests later showed
Wynne's blood-alcohol level to be .588
and revealed traces of drugs in his sys-
tem.
At Syracuse University in New York,
the local chapter of Sigma Chi fraterni-
ty was suspended after a student became
dangerously intoxicated Sept. 24 when
he was given a bid for the organization
and taken out drinking with fraternity
brothers.
Hartford expressed concern that
many students will not learn from the
death of Cantor.
"There were a lot of people in pain
today" Hartford said yesterday. "My
concern is that people won't connect
that grief when they go out drinking the
next time."
- The Associated Press contributed to
this report.
Markley windows examined
By Michael Grass
Daily Staff Reporter
With the death of LSA first-year stu-
dent Courtney Cantor under investigation,
the safety of Mary Markley Residence
Hall windows have come into question.
"I don't believe that there has ever been
a report of anyone falling out,' before
Cantor's death, said Alan Levy, director of
Housing Public Affairs.
One leading theory of how Cantor's
death occurred involves her falling off
her loft ladder and out the open window,
said Beth Hall, spokesperson for the
Department of Public Safety.
Cantor's body was found around 5:45
a.m. on a loading dock below her win-
dow. She attended a fraternity party ear-
lier Thursday night and reportedly had
been drinking alcohol.
Cantor's window, along with most of
those in Markley, were installed in 1993,
Levy said. Each window casing consists
of six glazed glass panels, with the bot-
tom center opening out, awning style.
Arms on each side of the bottom center
casing "lock the window at 12 inches,"
Levy said.
The 12-inch opening design allows a
person to fit through in the event of a fire
or other emergency if the corridor could
not be used as a point of exit, Levy said.
But residents said some of the win-
dows do not work as they were designed.
In LSA first-year student Jeff
Herman's room in Markley, the window's
latch is broken and the window opens out
two feet. "I'm surprised that there haven't
been any previous incidents," said
Herman, an LSA first-year student.
"When the windows were designed in
1992 and '93, there was considerable
study into safety features," Levy said.
Facilities workers and University
architects checked Cantor's room Friday.
"There will be a very thorough investi-
gation of Miss Cantor's death ... and the
windows will be part of that," Levy said.
Some Markley residents said they are
confused about how Cantor could have
fallen from her window. Some said the
12 inches seems too small of a gap to fall
through.
"Looking at it, it is hard to imagine
someone falling out from there," said
LSA first-year student Lorraine Dorrow.
Others find the theory involving
Cantor falling from her loft ladder
implausible. "If her loft is anything like
my loft, then absolutely not," Herman
said. But if she was situated on the inte-
rior window sill. "she could have easily
fallen out,' Markley residents often sit
on the interior window sills, which mea-
sure 14 inches.
South-facing rooms in Markley have
exterior ledges above and below the win-
dow to block direct sunlight. But Cantor's
room, which faces north, does not.
In a September notice, residents were
warned not to sit on the south-facing
exterior ledges because they were
designed only to block sunlight, not to
support the weight of a person.
Levy said he was not aware of any
previous incidents involving Markley
residents sitting on exterior ledges or on
the interior window sill.
SARA SCHENCK/Daily
The windows in Mary Markley Residence Hall open 12 Inches to allow a person to
fit through in the event of an emergency.
Family, friends remember Cantor as a best friend to a lot of people'
CANTOR
Continued from Page IA
of his daughter Saturday.
He said just a few weeks ago his
daughter told him she was intimidated
by the competitive atmosphere at the
University, but said "I can do this."
Cantor's ability to balance numerous
extracurricular activities, maintain
good grades and still have fun often
mystified some of her friends.
"She knew how to budget her time
and no one could understand how she
did it," said Jennifer Raznick, a high
school friend and first-year student at
Emory University.
Cantor "lit up a room" when she
entered it, Parker said. "She was very
beautiful and always caught people's
eye.
An honor student at Andover High
School, Cantor was an active member
of the debate, tennis and forensics
teams. National Honor Society and
school newspaper staff.
She worked hard during high school
so she could be accepted at the
University and be with her sister, LSA
senior Jaime Cantor.
"It was very important for her to go
to Michigan," George Cantor said.
"She was elated last year when she
found out she was accepted."
As a resident of the Markley, Cantor
was a part of the 21st Century Living-
Learning Program. Just more than a
week ago, she accepted her bid to Chi
Omega. "She really wanted it," the
father said.
A sign reading "Chi Omega
Welcomes Courtney" still hung from
Cantor's door in Markley's Blagdon
Hall on Friday morning. "The halls
have been dead, there has been no
laughter," said LSA first-year student
Lorraine Dorrow.
DPS spokesperson Elizabeth Hall
said DPS is unsure whether alcohol
played a role in the death. While inves-
tigators said there is no indication of
foul play or suicide, they have not yet
ruled anything out.
"We will do everything we can to
come to a logical conclusion," Hall
said, adding that she expects autopsy
Kettering University (formerly
General Motors Institute) in Flint was
suspended last year when it was caught
serving alcohol.
If the national organization deter-
mines the chapter violated the alcohol-
free policy, "appropriate action will be
taken," Obenchain said. "The fraterni-
ty takes that very seriously."
The campus' Phi Delta Theta chap-
ter declined comment. All Phi Delta
Theta chapters are scheduled to adopt.
an alcohol-free policy by July 1, 2000.
The Interfraternity Council and the
Panhellenic Association canceled all
reports will
this week.
In regard
Cantor
said his
daughter
was just
"shaking
o u t
restraints"
as a new
student but
be completed sometime
to the drinking, George
"We will do everything
we can to come to a
logical conclusion"
- Elizabeth Hall
social events this
past weekend.
The Chabad
House, a Jewish
student center,
held a vigil for
Cantor on Friday
night. Rabbi
Alter Goldstein
said the vigil was
initiated by stu-
dents.
knew bet- Department of PublicS
ter than to
do insensi-
ble things.
"We talked about drinking," George
Cantor said. "I told her if she was
going to drink to behave sensibly and
in my viewpoint she behaved sensibly.
"She went home (to her residence
hall), where she should have been
safe," George Cantor said. "It never
should have come to this."
A representative from the national
organization of the Phi Delta Theta fra-
ternity came to campus this weekend to
investigate the death, said Howard
Obenchain, a spokesperson for the
national chapter. The University's chap-
ter is alcohol-free, he said.
The Phi Delta Theta chapter at
Safety spokesperson
George Cantor said that although "it
can't get much worse than this"
because he and his wife have many
friends and a "very concerned clergy"
his family "will get through this."
The Cantors established a scholar-
ship fund for student travel to Israel in
honor of their daughter. Donations can
be sent to:
Courtney Lisa Cantor Scholarship
Fund for Student Travel to Israel
c/o Temple Israel
5725 Walnut Lake Road
West Bloomfield, MI 48323
- Daily Staff Reporters Mike Grass
and Sarah Lewis contributed to this
report.
lTD addresses 'worst-case
scenario in Y2K problem
By Erin Holmes
Daily Staff Reporter
When the clock strikes midnight on
,ew Years Day 2000, students can thank
9 Outer Banks of the Carolinas for the
Information Technology Division's han-
dling of the Y2K problem's "worst-case"
scenario.
ITD Executive Director Jos6-Marie
Griffiths was on vacation near the
pounding surf when she realized the
University may have overlooked some-
'thing in its plans to deal with the prob-
rem of computer systems in the year
*0.
"I was watching the waves crash, and
I realized that we've been so focused that
all the focus has been on the computers,
and we haven't thought of the rest of the
issue ... the broader spectrum,"Griffiths
said.
That's when she made some phone
calls back to Ann Arbor addressing the
"worst-case" scenario of the Y2K prob-
lem - no power, water or communica-
tion on the University's campus.
"This would be a true disaster,"
G riffiths said at the University's Board
of Regents meeting Friday. "We cannot
run this campus without power. Of
course, the ultimate contingency would
be threat of loss of life'."
Griffiths said the chance of this hap-
pening as a result ofthe Y2K problem -
a situation arising when 'computer sys-
tem date fields turn over to "00" because
ey are programmed to recognize only
o-digit dates -is uncertain.
"We cannot run this campus without
'F
power
- Jose-Marie Griffiths
ITD Executive Director
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"We need to prepare for the worst
case, but then maybe reality won't take
us there' Griffiths said.
If there is a worst-case scenario,
Griffiths said, holiday break in 1999
could be interesting.
The problem would occur Jan. 1, a
Saturday, and students are expected back
on campus the following Monday.
Tentative plans for dealing with the
situation include condensing all students
who remain on campus during the break
into one residence hall.
Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor)
presented the possibility of starting the
semester at a different time in order to
ensure students would not arrive back on
campus in the midst of severe problems.
Regent S. Martin Taylor (D-Grosse
Ille) said he thinks it is appropriate to
address all the possibilities that could
result when New Year's Day 2000
arrives.
Griffiths is "talking about the worst-
case scenario, and I think she's absolute-
ly right. In all likelihood, there is a possi-
bility something will happen, so we need
to have a plan for the worst case," Taylor
said.
The University is slightly ahead,
Griffiths said, of other academic institu-
tions in planning for what could be done
should there be power and water short-
ages.
ITD prepared a set of worst-case sce-
narios ranging from failure in power
supply to failures in laboratory instru-
mentation. For each situation, Griffiths
said, ITD is working to define both pre-
ventative and crisis actions. A complete
disaster recovery plan is scheduled to be
completed by June 30, 1999.
University President Lee Bollinger
joked that plans for 1999 may have to
include the Athletic Department to
decrease the possibility of having swarms
of students celebrating on campus.
"The football program will be told no
Rose Bowl that year," Bollinger joked.
ITD submitted a plan, Griffiths said,
to the Compuware Year 2000 Factory to
validate the University's Y2K remedia-
tion methodology.
Chief Financial Officer Robert
Kasdin said ITD is doing a good job of
keeping the University updated on its
progress in the Y2K problem.
"I don't want anyone ... thinking
we're confident that we don't have any
problems," Kasdin said.
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