LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, March 16, 1999 - 3
CRIME
U' employee
steals laptop
computer
* A University employee was arrested
,Thursday on a warrant for larceny
charges stemming from an incident at
*,he Clinical Facilities Office Building
on Catherine Street, according to
Department of Pblic Safety reports.
Ar investigating officer determined
that the thief was a housekeeping
employee and had allegedly stolen a
laptop computer worth about $1,000.
The subject had removed the laptop
from the building and sold it to a pawn
*shop, DPS reports state.
DPS obtained a felony warrant for
the suspect's arrest, and the suspect was
taken into custody.
The computer was recovered and the
employee was detained at the
Washtenaw County Jail pending
arraignment.
Operator receives
*prank phone calls
Several residents of Mary Markley
Residence Hall called a University
operator asking for the phone number
af Markley Housing officers Saturday,
according to DPS reports.
The operator told the caller no direct
line was available for the security offi-
cers, and the caller declined a transfer.
ra The operator received several addi-
tional calls and when a caller was
informed again that there was no direct
line, he said, "That's OK. We have some-
body here with a gun;' and hung up.
The operator contacted DPS officers
to inform them of the call, DPS reports
Mtate. DPS traced the call to Markley.
Officers made contact with seven
,ubjects in the room who said they had
no knowledge of the incident.
All of the subjects were in the same
room and possessed alcoholic beverages.
DPS reports state the subjects were 18
and 19 years old and all received tickets
for minor in possession charges.
Bride's purse
stolen at wedding
A bride's purse and credit card were
stolen during her wedding reception at
the Michigan Union on Saturday,
according to DPS reports.
The Union manager told DPS offi-
*cials the bride's backpack had been
sorted through and a credit card was
missing.
Another woman's purse, which
included several credit cards, also was
stolen, DPS reports state. Around the
time of the first larceny report, another
caller reported that a cell phone had been
stolen from the lower level of the Union.
Officers were dispatched, and multi-
ple incident reports were filed.
Monkey scratch
causes concern
An employee at the Medical Science
Unit I on Catherine Street requested to
talk to a veterinarian Saturday after
being scratched by a Rhesus monkey
two weeks ago, DPS reports state.
The scratching had gone unreported,
,(at the employee wanted to confer with
a veterinarian about any possible prob-
lemsor dangers that could result from
the scratching.
DPS contacted a veterinarian.
-r: No report was filed.
ight breaks out
-n Union eatery
A fight broke out in the underground
eating area of the Michigan Union on
Sunday, according to DPS reports.
At the time of the call to DPS, the
subjects were separated, but continued
. argue verbally.
DPS officers conducted a warrant
check on both subjects. A 19-year-old
male came up negative on the check,
but a 38-year-old male's check came
back with two outstanding warrants.
One of the man's warrants was for uri-
'nating in public in Ypsilanti. The other
was for retail fraud in Battle Creek.
The Ypsilanti Police Department con-
4firmed the warrant but did not pick up
the suspect, according to DPS reports.
Officials filed a report in regards to
the fight. Neither individual pressed
(harges.
- Conpiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Avranm S. iirkel.
Lecturer rally planned on EMU campus
By Nika Schulte
Daily Staff Reporter
While negotiations for the University's
Graduate Employees Organization members have
resulted in a tentative agreement, the quest for
union status and improved job benefits is just
beginning for hundreds of Eastern Michigan
University employees.
Today at noon, members of Eastern Michigan
University Lecturers Organizing Congress are
scheduled to stage a rally at Welch Hall on the
EMU campus to protest administrators' prevention
of lecturer unionization.
Lecturers are non-tenure track faculty members
who are hired by the university to teach.
EMULOC member Mary Jean Banic said the pri-
mary goal of the protest is to show that the universi-
ty's more than 400 lecturers deserve recognition.
"There are a lot of lecturers on this campus that
make a large contribution to the quality of life on
campus," said Banic, an English lecturer. "While
we love what we do, we do feel underappreciated."
During the past year, EMULOC has petitioned
the Michigan Employment Relations Commission
to grant a union election. While the verdict is not
expected for several months, EMUJLOC members
said they will continue to fight in the interim.
"The point of the rally is we don't want to sit and
wait for the legal proceeding to occur" said Jon
Curtiss, a union organizer and former GEO member.
"We can't depend on MERC to make the right
decision," Curtiss added, explaining that the com-
mission denied the 1997 request for unionization.
EMULOC members chose the time and location
of today's rally to coincide with Eastern
Michigan's regular Board of Trustees meeting,
held inside Welch Hall. In addition to protesters
outside the building, EMI OC members plan to
attend the meeting to present a petition signed by
the university's lecturers demanding administra-
tors recognize EMULOC as a union and negotiate
wages, job security and departmental input.
University lecturers also plan to share with the
board what chemistry lecturer Julie Frentrup calls
"horror stories" Frentrup said many lecturers, includ-
ing herself, must take on additional jobs to compen-
sate for low wages. Although she said many lecturers
make up for lost wages by teaching classes at more
than one campus, she edits textbooks, writes software
for Prentice Hall and is a professional musician.
"I have been offered jobs outside my area of
study for higher salaries than I'm making for the
one I was formally trained in." said Frentrup, who
has worked at the university for 15 years.
Support for lecturers is not limited to EMU-
LOC. Eastern Michigan's chapter of the American
Association of University Professors has endorsed
the demands of the group.
Student Body President Adrianne Marsh said
although the student government has not made any
formal endorsement, many students are sympa-
thetic to lecturers needs.
EMULOC is also receiving support from the
University. GEO Chief Negotiator Eric Odier-Fink
said some GEO members plan to attend the rally.
EMULOC is a group "fighting for a union con-
tract," he said. "It my responsibility as someone who
just got one to get over there and offer support."
t Tassle hassle
ame ows students to
learn more about history
By Callie Scott and
Emina Sendijarevic
Daily Staff Reporters
Richard Robinson, who received his
MBA from the University's School of
Business Administration in 1989, has
found a way to present history from
what he describes as an all-inclusive
standpoint.
The University alum has created a
game that enables middle and high
school students to learn more about
minority and women's history.
Robinson's game, "America's
History: Multicultural Contributions
to America" is the product of five
years of research. The two-part trivia
game explores little-known facts
regarding Africans, Asians and
Latino/as, as well as the history of
women and other minorities, in
America from the colonial period to
contemporary times.
The solo project, Robinson said,
was brought about by the need to
acknowledge the unsung heroines and
heroes who have made a difference in
American history. le said the fact
that many text books don't include
this information is an injustice to stu-
dents.
The game is an "excellent supple-
The game is an "excellent supplement
to any social studies program."
Creator of
ment to any social studies program,"
Robinson said.
While the game is not designed for
college students, its use in early educa-
tion can give students an advantage
when they reach the university level,
said Beth Hackett, a women's studies
professor. Hackett said she sees
Robinson's game as a step in the right
direction.
"We don't know enough history, peri-
od," Hackett said, claiming that most of
the history that is taught addresses
white male property owners and their
wars.
She described college students'
knowledge of women's history as mini-
mal.
"It has been my impression that men
of color and women have had a hard
time making their way into the (prima-
ry education) curriculum," Hackett
said.
The game may not be the answer to
-.Richard Robinson
minority and women's history game
complete minority history, Hackett
said, but it definitely gets students inter
ested in finding out more about the
past.
The game made its way to the Anri
Arbor Public schools Friday, thanks to a
donation from the Thona Corporation
of Ann Arbor.
It has also been distributed to other.
local school districts, including Detroit,
Chelsea and Dexter. In addition, the
game has reached schools in Ohio and
Delaware.
Blanche Pringle, Achievement
Initiative Liaison for Ann Arbor Publk-
Schools, had an opportunity to witles-
a group of ninth grade students give the-
game a trial run. Pringle said she found
the students to be "extremely recep-
tive," adding that "they got very mucicti
engrossed in the game."
Robinson said feedback like this has
made the hard work worthwhile. "It is .
dream come true," he said.
JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily
SNRE senior Lindsey Burleson picks out her graduation cap and gown
yesterday at Urich's Bookstore.
Appeal not likelyt
delay murder trial
- 'W-
DETROIT (AP) - A last-minute
appeal filed by Jack Kevorkian likely
will not delay the start of his trial on a
first-degree murder charge, area
lawyers said.
Kevorkian filed the emergency
appeal Friday with the Michigan Court
of Appeals, asking for a dismissal of a
first-degree murder count. The appeal
came just hours after prosecutors
dropped the assisted suicide charge
against him in the Sept. 17 death of
Thomas Youk.
Youk, of Oakland County's
Waterford Township, was suffering
from Lou Gehrig's disease. His death
was videotaped and later shown on
CBS'"60 Minutes."
The appeal, which Kevorkian attorney
David Gorosh said his client wrote and
filed himself, also asks the appellate
court to delay the trial, scheduled to
begin March 22.
"I would be surprised if the trial is
delayed," Larry Dubin, a University of
Detroit Mercy law professor, told the
Detroit Free Press.
"It seems to me likely that the
Michigan Court of Appeals would rather
hear Dr. Kevorkian's constitutional argu-
ments as part of an appeal if he is con-
victed."
The Oakland County prosecutor's
office filed its response yesterday.
DRUG
Continued from Page 1.
resolution to the House that would
make GHB a Schedule I substance in
every state, putting it on par with drugs
like LSD and marijuana.
Stupak last Wednesday introduced
the Date Rape Prevention Act of 1999,
which would designate GHIB as a
Schedule III drug, but attach penalties
equal to a Schedule I classification.
Patti Engel, vice president of Orphan
Medical, Inc. in Minnetonka, Minn.,
told the committee a Schedule I or II
designation would pose a problem for
her company.
Several years ago, the Food and Drug
Administration asked Orphan Medical
to develop a treatment for a symptom of
narcolepsy known as cataplexy, said
Engel, who also testified. Sufferers of
cataplexy lose muscle control when
they experience emotions, and a medi-
cine derived from GHB helps them to
function more normally, she added.
But if GHB is made a Schedule I or
II drug, it could not be used to treat the
disease -- an undesirable solution to a
situation Engel called "very unfortu-
nate and very confusing."
"Narcoleptic patients should not go
without the medium they need to live a
normal life" Engel said. "We need to
punish the criminals who use it and still
make it available for medical use.
"We need to quickly schedule GHl B
in a way that does what we all want,"
Engel added.
Terrance Woodworth, deputy direc-
tor of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, told the committee that
in 1990, GHB was declared unsafe and
illicit except for treating narcolepsy.
"Doctors do not prescribe it, pharma-
cists do not sell it and patients do not use
it;' Woodworth said, adding that
teenagers are the primary users of GHB.
Woodworth added that 32 fatalities
have been linked to GHB use since
1995, many times combined with the
multiplying effects of alcohol.
Adatsi said GHB was originally used
by body-builders and available at health
stores. Once people started abusing the
drug, it was pulled off shelves, he said.
But Engel said GHB is still easily
obtainable via the Internet.
"For as little as $35, you can order a
kit to make GHB at home," Engel said.
-{ GROUPS
Environment," Sponsored by The
Jewish Environmental Awareness
Project. Hillel. 7:30 p.m.
SE~RVICES
i
. Fl I CA CivoAnnf f%-nvnrnn%&nt Rfiaa+ind
E