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One hundred eight years ofeditorzal freedom
Friday
January 15, 1999
Phi Delts plead not guilty at arraignment
By Nick Bunkley
Daily Staff Reporter
Lawyers for 10 Phi Delta Theta fra-
t ity members arraigned yesterday
f alcohol-related misdemeanors
argued outside the courtroom that
their clients' actions at an Oct. 15
party have no relationship with
Courtney Cantor's death - the first
public comments from the side of the
defendants.
"I think that there's a very good pos-
sibility they may be held as scapegoats
or examples,' said Royal Oak attorney
ddis, who represents a majority of
t fraternity members. "I find that
very unfair to them."
The 10 defendants stood mute on the
charges and pleaded not guilty at the
Washtenaw County Courthouse yester-
day morning.
Earlier, the students, along with
attorneys, family members and other
fraternity brothers, solemnly filed
into Ann Arbor City Hall just after
8:30 a.m.
"They surrendered with their attor-
neys," AAPD Lt. Jim Tieman said.
"They were officially arrested, booked
and taken to the courthouse." He added
that the events occurred exactly as
police had expected.
The fraternity members emerged
from City Hall less than two hours later
with their lawyers and walked one
block along Huron Street to the court-
house.
Presiding over Courtroom 9,
Magistrate James Sexsmith set pre-trial
hearing dates for the men during a 25-
minute proceeding.
Sexsmith released all 10 on personal
recognizance and granted those who are
not Michigan residents permission to
leave the state. Personal recognizance
means they do not need to post bond for
release.
All the fraternity members
charged refused to comment and
quickly left the building after exiting
the courtroom.
Joe Simon, a lawyer representing
LSA sophomore Adam Feldheim, said
he believes prosecutors looked for easy
targets in the case involving the Cantor
death.
"This country ... tries to rectify per-
sonal tragedy by finding blame," Simon
said, "and I'm not comfortable with
that."
Cantor, an LSA first-year student,
died early Oct. 16 following a fall from
her sixth-floor Mary Markley
Residence Hall window shortly after
leaving a party at Phi Delta Theta.
Witnesses told police they saw Cantor
drinking at the party.
Medical examiners determined her
blood-alcohol level to be 0.059 per-
cent, below the 0.10 percent level of
legal intoxication. Toxicology
reports on Cantor also showed the
presence of an alcohol-enhancing
drug known as "liquid ecstasy" or
"lemons" in her blood.
A witness named in the final
Department of Public Safety report
said she "heard some of the people
were using 'lemons' that night," but
See PHI DELT, Page 7
Phi Delta Theta
member Jordan
Schmidt fills out
a form yesterday
at the
Washtenaw
County 15th
district court.
The 10 members
of the Phi Delt
fraternity faced
with various
alcohol-related
charges pleaded
not guilty.
NATHAN RUFFER/Do y
CODE SNOW
Suspended
BroAdm d oks
spakes out
*Parking structures
to offer free space
'M' football player
suspended from 'U'
By Jennifer Yachnin
Daily Staff Reporter
"It's time somebody knows my side
of the story," Michigan offensive lineman
Jason Brooks said last night as he spoke
for the first time about incidents that tar-
nished his reputation during the past year.
Brooks received a letter last night
informing him he has been suspended
from the University, Brooks told The
Michigan Daily late last night.
The hand-delivered letter from the
Office of the Vice President for Student
Affairs states that Brooks was placed on
"emergency suspension" for physically
stalking or harming another person and
stealing or destroying private or
University property, Brooks said.
Vice President for Student Affairs
Maureen Hartford said she would "nei-
ther confirm nor deny" the letter received
by Brooks or the suspension itself.
Under the Student Code of Conduct,
the University's internal discipline sys-
tem, the University can issue emergency
suspension if a student poses an immedi-
ate danger to any member of the
University community. According to
Hartford, the University issues only a
"handful" of emergency suspensions
each year.
Brooks said Michigan football team
fullback Ray Jackson had not received
letters of suspension as of last night that
he was aware of.
Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr
suspended Brooks and fullback Ray
Jackson on Wednesday for violating
team rules.
The suspensions came in the wake of
Brooks' and Jackson's alleged involve-
ment in a fight at the Sigma Chi fraterni-
ty at 548 S. State St. early last Friday
morning. Fraternity members have told
By Michael Grass
Daily Staff Reporter
University parking structures
will be open to the public free of
* charge starting tonight so residents
can move their cars from area
streets that are scheduled to be
cleared of snow by the city of Ann
Arbor.
Starting tomorrow, a snow emer-
gency will go into effect, forcing dri-
vers to move their cars to off-street
parking.
"I would encourage students to
take advantage" of the free
*University parking, Ann Arbor
Mayor Ingrid Sheldon said yester-
day.
The restrictions will be in effect
until at least Jan. 21, excluding the
Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday
Monday, or "once your side of the
street is cleared," said Bill Wheeler,
city director of public services.
During the snow emergency, on
even days of the months, cars cannot
be parked on the side of the street
with even addresses. On odd days,
cars cannot be parked on the odd
side of the street.
Any cars violating the parking
restrictions will be towed and ticket-
ed. Many campus areas are affected
because they are in older parts of the
city where streets are narrower and
residents are often forced to park in
the street due to lack of off-street
parking.
The excessive snowfall since the
beginning of the year has clogged
many local streets.
Parking lanes that have been
snowed in have forced residents to
park in the vehicular lanes, often
reducing two-way traffic to one,
Wheeler explained.
Many University students who
park their cars in the street have been
forced to dig their car out time and
time again, each time a street is
plowed.
"Basically we have to get out and
push whenever we have to go some-
where," Engineering junior Tom
Gentz said.
"We need everyone's help for this
effort," Sheldon said.
® Starting tomorrow, city crews
will concentrate their plowing efforts
on campus neighborhoods east of
State Street, mainly north of-Huron
See SNOW, Page 2
Michigan offensive lineman Jason
Brooks holds the letter that was hand-
delivered to his home last night.
The Michigan Daily they saw Brooks
throw a television from the window and
steal a laptop computer and PlayStation
from the fraternity.
Brooks had no comment on the
alleged thefts.
But the fight, which is under investi-
gation by the Ann Arbor Police
Department, was racially provoked by
the fraternity members, Brooks said.
"The frat boys ran out of the house
saying 'Where's that big nigger at?','
Brooks told The Michigan Daily late last
night in his first public statements on the
incident.
The fraternity members, who appar-
ently had been drinking, then attacked
the football players in front of the Sigma
Chi house, Brooks said.
"I was on the ground like a turtle
shell getting kicked," Brooks said. "I
See BROOKS, Page 7
impeachment trial
DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily
Top: LSA senior Violet Chow walks down South Division Avenue yesterday
while it is closed for snow removal. Above: Bulldozers clear the avenue.
Bo's son sues father, U' over souvenir seats
t ETROIT (AP) - Former Michigan football
h Bo Schembechler's son has sued his father, the
University, its police and officials, alleging they tried
to thwart his efforts to turn discarded stadium bleach-
ers into souvenirs.
Matthew Schembechler's suit - filed in U.S.
District Court - alleges breach of contract and
defamation in his attempts to raise money for a foun-
Bo Schembechler, who retired as Michigan's foot-
ball coach in 1989, said he was aware his son had run-
ins with the school but knew no specifics. Regardless,
the elder Schembechler said he finds his son's suit baf-
fling.
"Are you kidding me?" he told the Detroit Free
Press for a story today. "I have no knowledge of what
he's trying to do here"
Schembechler said, the University awarded him a con-
tract to clear old bleachers from Michigan Stadium
over several years for free. So far, he has removed
about 34,000 seats.
The seats were installed when the stadium was built
in 1927. In the 1950s, the University capped the red-
wood and cedar with fiberglass. After removing the
seats and fiberglass from them, Matthew
WASHINGTON (AP) Before a
jury of 100 silent senators, House pros-
ecutors yesterday demanded President
Clinton's removal from office, charging
he had "piled perjury upon perjury"
and obstructed justice. Senate
Republican leaders suggested Clinton
might be invited to testify at his
impeachment trial.
"I think he should be invited, or at
least I don't have a problem with him
being invited," GOP Whip Don Nickles
told reporters at the conclusion of the
have been thrashed out for more than a
century, the first presidential impeach-
ment trial in 131 years trial unfolded in
an atmosphere of uncommon gravity.
"Failure to bring President Clinton to
account ... will cause a cancer to be pre-
sent in our society for generations'
asserted Wisconsin Republican James
Sensenbrenner, standing in the well of
the chamber to address the senators and
a nationwide television audience count-
ed in the millions.
The nation's 42nd president was in
the White Hous~e nrenaina for next
I