LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 13, 1999 - 3
*RIME "na
Student robbed
at knife-point
struck on head
A student was robbed at knife point
Thursday on Ingalls Mall, according to
Department of Public Safety reports.
The woman was approached near the
Mdern Languages Building around 2
a.Iw by an unidentified man, DPS
.rqports state.
The alleged attacker produced a
knife and brandished it at the victim,
scratching her and taking her money.
The subject also struck the female
student on the head, causing her to
ass out for an unknown length of
time.
The assailant had left the area by
the time the victim regained con-
sciousness.
After she became conscious, the vic-
tim returned home before reporting the
attack, according to DPS reports.
the victim told DPS officers the
man did not sexually assault her. As
*tated in a report, the victim was reluc-
tant to answer any further questions
'*out the attacker's description and
injuries she sustained.
The incident is under investiga-
ti9l.
Subjects arrested
at carport on gun
related charge
. the Ann Arbor Police Department
arrested two subjects and impounded
their vehicle at the Church Street car-
prt Saturday on several charges,
including one that involved a gun.
AAPD requested assistance from DPS
at. the carport for the man with a gun.
No initial description of the sub-
jepts was available, but DPS officers
,Were dispatched and later received a
Aiecription of a male wearing blue
'eans and a New York Yankees jack-
et.
AAPD advised DPS that it had
found the firearm and that the incident
was under its jurisdiction.
OPS gave AAPD officers the assis-
tance they had requested on level
three of the carport. AAPD filed a
report and DPS filed an "assist other
agency."
ubjects steal
parking signs
:Three unknown subjects entered the
lackentrance of a building on the 1000
1l6ckof Palmer Street on Sunday. They
, were carrying parking lot signs with
-the posts still attached, according to
,iAPS reports.
a. It is unknown what direction the group
iwentonce inside the building, and offi-
*ers were unable to locate the two men or
the woman, DPS reports state.
:.-DPS officers located the stolen
'sigs and tried contacting parking
.maintenance via radio but received no
response.
--The officers took the signs into DPS
possession.
r A report was filed.
Baby saved trying
,*o cross road
A 1-year-old child attempted to cross
a street alone at 1000 Cedar Bend on
:f1rsday before being rescued by an
Flhamed man, DPS reports state.
The good samaritan was going to
ring the unattended child to DPS
headquarters, but a women from the
apartment complex across the street
claimed the child.
The incident was reported to child
rtective services.
:Man discovered
1ondling himself
n bathroom
A male subject was standing nude in
the second-floor Mason Hall men's
W6throom fondling himself Saturday,
according to DPS reports.
"The subject was masturbating while
siading in an open door stall in the
bathroom.
-He was described as being between
20 to 30 years old, heavy set and about
six "feet tall.
-bPS was dispatched, but the subject
had left the scene before the officers
camne.
aA report was filed.
-- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
* Avram S. Turkel.
MSU Board of Trustees OKs riot policy
By Melissa Burden
The State News
EAST LANSING (U-WIRE) - The MSU
Board of Trustees voted 5-1 Friday to institute a
temporary riot policy, effective immediately, that
gives MSU the power to suspend rioting students.
The board tabled a general off-campus conduct
policy at its meeting, but will continue to discuss
that possibility.
The policy on riot behavior will become perma-
nent April 30, 2001, unless the Academic
Governance system proposes another policy to the
board by that time. It does not apply to students
charged in the March 27-28 riot.
Trustees Robert Weiss and Joel Ferguson were
not present for the vote on the temporary policy.
The policy defines a riot as "five or more persons,
acting in concert, who engage in violent conduct and
thereby intentionally or recklessly cause or create a
serious risk of causing public terror or alarm."
Temporary policy d fin viot
alowsseso of viltr
Conduct that violates the policy includes:
setting fires.
throwing bottles.
destroying or defacing property.
failing to disperse when directed by police.
theft or looting.
N disrupting police or safety officials.
The policy applies to actions on campus, in
local government jurisdictions, on other college
campuses and in local jurisdictions adjacent to
those campuses.
MSU officials can temporarily suspend students
who violate the policy.
MSU President Peter McPherson said the riot
policy is needed immediately "because the campus
did not have the adequate authority to deal with a
situation like the 27th of March.
"I think this is a very focused policy that tells
students we are serious about this," he said.
Crowds of up to 10,000 people filled campus
and East Lansing streets March 27-28, setting
fires and causing at least $160,000 in damages.
At least four students have been suspended for
their alleged involvement in the March 27-28 riot
and the disturbance following MSU's loss to
Kentucky. Two of those students were suspended
for alleged off-campus crimes.
Those suspensions for off-campus crimes were
allowed by a university policy that allows MSU offi-
cials to temporarily suspend students who they
believe present a "clear and present" danger to
"health or safety of persons or property."
In 1996, MSU considered an off-campus code of
conduct that would have allowed the university to
take action against students for violent behavior,
arson, possession of firearms or explosives and
criminal sexual conduct. The code was never voted
on by the trustees.
Trustee Bob Traxler proposed the board only
approve the riot policy so faculty members and
students could join the discussion on other off-
campus codes.
Traxler urged the board to "adopt a policy that
makes it clear that participating in a riot ... consti-
tutes a violation of university policy and is subject
to disciplinary action."
Art cubed I
Kevorkian may spend life in
jail for murder conviction
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - Jack Kevorkian's nine years out-
side the boundaries of conventional medicine during his assist-
ed-suicide crusade may end with him sentenced today to the
confines of a prison cell.
Kevorkian was convicted last month of second-degree
murder for giving a lethal injection to a man with Lou
Gehrig's disease and putting it on videotape to goad pros-
ecutors into charging him.
Prosecutors will ask a judge to send the retired pathologist
to prison for a minimum of 10 to 25 years. The maximum
sentence is life.
Kevorkian's lawyers will tell Judge Jessica Cooper
that the case shouldn't be treated as any other murder
and doesn't require sending a 70-year-old man to prison.
The judge can go outside the state's sentencing guidelines
for a "compelling" reason and let Kevorkian off with proba-
tion.
Kevorkian was found guilty March 26 in the death of 52-
year-old Thomas Youk. Kevorkian taped Youk's death on
Sept. 17 and gave the video to CBS' "60 Minutes," which
aired the footage.
Kevorkian's previous trials, all on assisted-suicide
charges, had resulted in three acquittals and one mistrial,
He has admitted helping 130 people commit suicide; this
was the first time he stood trial for murder.
In his "60 Minutes" interview, Kevorkian threatened d
hunger strike if sent to prison - a claim he has not repeated.
If he does start a hunger strike, prison policy calls for forced
feeding.
Assisted-suicide advocates have said they were dismayed
at Kevorkian's conviction.
But Ed Pierce, who led a failed effort to legalize assisted
suicide in Michigan last year, said Kevorkian's tactics iw
recent years have not helped the cause.
"I think on the whole he's been a pioneer in bringing
the issue to our attention. But I don't think he can go on,
like he's been doing in the past," Pierce said yesterday;
adding that Kevorkian has been known to help people
who weren't terminally ill, something most assisted-su.
cide advocates oppose.
Host defends show in lawsuit
JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily
Members of Art Matters adorned various campus landmarks with clothing and
other objects yesterday, including the Cube, which had ropes thrown over it,
in support of the group's display running this week.
Computer netork
exceeds set bde
PONTIAC (AP) - Jenny Jones tes-
tified in a $50 million lawsuit yesterday
that she treats those who appear on her
talk show with respect and didn't try to
humiliate a man who killed a fellow
guest after a segment on secret gay
crushes.
"I treat the guests on the show the
same way I would expect to be treated
if I appeared on the show - with
respect," she said.
Scott Amedure's family is wing "The
Jenny Jones Show," its producer and
distributor for Amedure's slaying by
Jonathan Schmitz. Schmitz shot
Amedure three days after the taping of
a 1995 episode that never aired.
Amedure's family alleges the show
tricked a mentally troubled Schmitz
into appearing on an episode, then
humiliated him by letting Amedure
reveal his crush on Schmitz. Schmitz
has said he is heterosexual.
On the witness stand yesterday,
Jones bristled at claims by Amedure
family attorney Geoffrey Fieger that
she ridiculed Schmitz before a studio
audience in pursuit of ratings and ad
revenue.
"It's not my intent to embarrass the
guests," Jones testified, appearing
more confident and assertive than
when she took the stand during
Schmitz's 1996 murder trial. She is not
being sued.
As for the show's revenue and ratings,
Jones testified: "That's not what I'm
thinking about when I'm taping the
show"
She said Schmitz "didn't seem to be
embarrassed to me" after hearing
Amedure describe his sexual fantasy
involving Schmitz.
When asked whether she would find
such fantasies offensive, she countered
that "it could be exciting."
Earlier yesterday, a counselor who
treats former talk show guests testified
"The Jenny Jones Show" refused his
services for a prescreening before
Schmitz and Amedure appeared.
Schmitz was known to have been,
depressed and had attempted suicide
four times since 1989.
IBM still working on
statewide system that
would make legislation
easier to publish online
LANSING (AP) - The plan was to
develop a computer network that would
make it easier for lawmakers to write,
track and print legislation, then put the
bills that become law on the Internet for
public access.
IBM Corp. was to complete the pro-
ject within one year for $3.6 million.
That was March 1996, and $5.2 million
as been spent on the system and it's
still not complete, the Detroit Free
Press reported yesterday.
Although state law is on the Internet,
legislator's and their staffs still use an
old, unconnected system with almost as
much manual labor as before.
"We knew two years ago it wouldn't
work," said Steve Willis, a computer
technician who worked on the project
and is now retired from state govern-
ment. "The product couldn't function
as it was originally intended."
House and Senate leaders quietly
canceled IBM's contract in February.
"We had recommendations it wasn't
working," said Sen. Dan DeGrow (R-
Port Huron). "IBM felt they couldn't
deliver what they promised. They said
we changed. some conditions. Both
sides agreed the simplest way was to
just walk away from it."
Mark Nelson, a spokesperson for
IBM Global Government Industry in
Maryland, said the project accomr-
plished some goals, such as the
Internet function, and created a ,basis
for the Legislature to finish the elec-
tronic document network it hired IBM
to design.
"Once they realized how much addi-
tional work was required to satisfy the
original goal, they decided to stop the
project. We mutually agreed to termi-
nate the project; Nelson said. "It's not
a question of a failed project"
Nelson said it was not uncommon for
such a large computer project to bog
down.
"Often, until you really start doing
the work, you don't know exactly
what's going to be involved," he said.
"It helps to have a clear understanding
from the beginning what you want to
accomplish and how you want to get
there."
The system, called the Legislative
Session Integration System, is one of a
list of troubled taxpayer-funded com-
puter projects during the 1990s.
In 1996, an audit discovered little to
show for $103 million spent on a com-
puter system to help track child support
payments. The audit reported poor
management and overspending, and
the work resulted in a system that
still doesn't work as intended, the
Free Press reported.
A computer system for the Family
Independence Agency to track welfare
cases went on-line last August - three
years after the target date.
Dianne Odrobina, Legislative
Council administrator, said she will
meet with House and Senate leaders to
decide how to finish the LSIS net-
work. She said she will consider using
in-house staff, who she said have
become knowledgeable about the pro-
ject.
"The complexity with these projects,
the experience of people in these areas
are such that there are difficulties, and
you have to work through them,' she
said.
i
1N AN CMPN_ S 1 TKEfYAR
atsTO PRbOVE YOU CAN _"LEAD*** 1:. :; II
:: , ; - ^," v Ce "°. aa 'a 'FE- -' n ... a'cF'v,
, "yv " z x " .: 'f" ,_. ip V: :
a
4
t ^
AIiL2 AR I
What's happening in Ann Arbor today