LOCAL/S TATE
The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 4, 2000 - 3
tRIM
Residence Hall move-in week shortened
Trespasser found
at Angell Hall,
Iott's hospital
A 21-year-old Yspilanti man was
found trespassing at Angell Hall
early Tuesday morning, Department
of Public Safety reports state.
Later the same morning the man
was again found trespassing at
Mott's Children's Hospital.
When hospital security contacted
the man, he told them he was bring-
ing a patient to the emergency
om, but there was no one regis-
tered under the name he gave.
DPS officers arrested the subject
for trespassing, a misdemeanor.
The subject has since been
released.
Patient disrupts
waiting room
University Hospital staff requested
*sistance with a disorderly patient in
the East Medical Center on Tuesday
afternoon, DPS reports state.
The patient waitingsatethe main
triage desk was "being too loud and
demanding to be seen." According
to DPS reports, when both officers
and hospital staff advised the
patient that she must remain in the
waiting room or exit the building,
she returned to the waiting room.
calper attempts
to sell tickets for
basketball game
A 40-year-old subject was cited
for attempting to sell tickets for the
Michigan-Michigan State basket-
ball- game outside Crisler Arena on
Tuesday evening, DPS reports state.
'Officers confiscated the tickets
and cited the subject for soliciting
without a permit.
Man assaulted in
attempt to stop
fight near library
A man was assaulted outside of
the Shapiro Undergraduate Library
rly Wednesday morning, DPS
IPorts state.
The man said his assailant had
been giving his brother "a hard
time" and when he tried to inter-
veng, he was hit in the face.
The suspect left the scene in a
yellow cab, which was believed to
be headed to Mary Markley Resi-
dence Hall.
According to DPS reports, offi-
*rs were sent to Markley to await
the cab and suspect, both of which
never appeared.
Man sells tickets
Without permit
'PS officers issued a warning
Tuesday evening to a man selling
tickets on Hoover Street without a
permit, DPS reports state.
Although officers ran a warrant
*eck on the 35-year-old subject,
results indicated there were no out-
standing warrants. The subject was
issued a verbal warning and
reinoved from University property.
Purse stolen from
CCRB lockerroom
A purse was stolen from the
men's lockerroom of the Central
ampus Recreation Building on
Tuesday afternoon, DPS reports state.
The purse was later located by
officers searching other rooms, but
was found missing S20 cash., DPS
did not report having any suspects
in the incident.
Boy harrases child
at school bus stop
boy was reported harassing
another child at the Stone Road bus
stop Tuesday morning, DPS reports
state. The mother of the boy being
harassed stated that the other child
is usually in his home with other
children during the day rather than
going to school.
Officers filed a report which they
reported will be passed on to
propriate authorities.
Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Caitlin Nish.
By Charles Chen
Daily Staff Reporter
Students planning on living in University resi-
dence halls for the 2000-2001 academic year will
be able to move in beginning Wednesday, Aug.
30, shortening Move-In Week by one day from
previous years.
Christian Garcia, an assistant director for the
Office of New Student Programs, said ONSP and
University Housing made the change in response
to feedback from students.'
Garcia said students expressed concern that
"the period between move-in and the start of
classes was too long."
While the move-in date has been pushed
ahead, the staggered move-in program will still
take place, with freshmen moving in Aug. 30
and 31 and returning students on Sept. 1.
Housing Public Affairs and Marketing
Adviser Dana Fair said the staggered move-in
program began in 1995 to alleviate the prob-
lem the previous year when "all students
came on the same day during a nasty rain
"A student may move in to their residence hall
early only under an extraordinary situation."
- Dana Fair
Housing Public Affairs and Marketing Adviser
storm."
University Housing has been trying to accom-
modate students by spreading out the move-in
among residence halls to several days.
"We didn't want for two halls next to each
other to be having move-in on the same day," Fair
said. "It lessens the traffic in the streets and is a
better opportunity for students to move in
because of less worry."
Students said they have found the move-in pro-
gram to be helpful in their arrival at their resi-
dence halls.
LSA freshman Hillary Oosse said, "The good
thing about moving in was the parking. They
cleared off the streets pretty well."
As Housing works to improve the three-day
move-in process, they are also making accommo-
dations for students who must arrive on campus
before their scheduled move-in date.
"A student may move in to their residence hall
early only under an extraordinary situation," Fair
said. "We want to accommodate students if there
is no way for someone to move in during the
week."
University Housing is also offering an early
arrival program, in which both male and female
students may stay in Betsy Barbour Residence
Hall from Aug. 20 to 24. The program is mainly
for international students who need to arrive
before their scheduled date, but is open to other
students as well.
"International students have a special situation
because they're coming from another country,"
Senior Housing Adviser Doug White said.
The extra time allows for students to attend
orientation programs and workshops on adjusting
to U.S. life and look for off-campus housing if
necessary, without having to worry about travel
arrangement conflicts, White said.
International Student Move-in for residence
halls is scheduled for Aug. 24.
Returning students living both on- and off-
campus who are interested in providing assis-
tance with move-in may join the "300 Students &
A. Cart Committee," formerly known as the Wel-
coming Committee.
Participants will assist during the move-in
program by "welcoming arriving students and
helping their moving process by unloading
vehicles and moving stuff to rooms," Fair
explained.
Applications to participate on the committee
are currently available at residence hall front
desks and are due by Monday.
Oopsy daisy
Dance Marathon to keep
students dancing all night
By Elizabeth Kassab
Daily Staff Reporter
An estimated 250 people are expected to exchange their
snow boots for dancing shoes tomorrow morning for the third
annual Dance Marathon.
The student-organized philanthropy event, which has stu-
dents on their feet for more than 30 hours, will raise money
for the pediatric rehabilitation center at William Beaumont
Hospital in Royal Oak. This year proceeds will also go to
Ann Arbor's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
Dance Marathon Executive Director Brian Ackerman said
the children and their families are invited to come see the
dancers and speak to them.
"When you see a child who has been through difficult con-
ditions and see how well they've improved, it's amazing. It
keeps your mind off of how much your feet hurt,'said Acker-
man, who has been working with Dance Marathon since its
first year at the University.
The event began at the University in 1998 with 73 dancers
raising nearly 835,000, Ackerman said. Last year's 250 partic-
ipants raked in almost S90,000, but Ackerman would not esti-
mate how much money is expected from this year's event.
"We're just trying to make the best marathon ... a good
event to help the kids and do well for the hospitals,"he said.
The dancers raise money through donations from sponsors
Stabenowt
such as friends, family, and various campus organizations.
"It's a campuswide event," entertainment committee mem-
ber Najia Sheik said. "Everyone from athletes to profs are
there." Sheikh will also serve as a moraler at the event to
keep the dancers on their feet for all 30 hours.
Moraler Julie Shah, an Engineering junior, said the job of a
moraler is to "keep them pumped" by offering a word of
encouragement and an occasional massage. Games, enter-
tainment, and refreshments will be provided for the dancers.
Ackerman said it's taken a year and a central planning
committee of 22 students to coordinate the event. An addi-
tional 80 students assisted with the mechanics of the
marathon from recruiting local bands to play at the event to
collecting donations from campus organizations, he said.
"It's a lot of stress, but it's worth it when they bring the kids
in. Everyone comes together," Sheikh said.
While the event only started a few years ago at the Uni-
versity, Penn State students have been holding marathons
for more than 25 years. Similar events are held at more than
a dozen other universities, including Indiana, Florida State,
Bowling Green, and Northwestern.
The event begins at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Indoor Track
and Field Building and lasts until 4 p.m. Sunday. Moralers
are still needed for the event. Students interested in participat-
ing as moralers can attend a meeting today at 4 p.m. in the
Michigan Union.
Aes sen1orS to
KIMITSU YOGACHIOaiy
Ann Arbor resident Greta Hulleberg helps her 3-year-old daughter Kris back
on her feet after falling at the Burns Park ice skating rink yesterday.
Nucleari plant clears
Canada to buy medicine
0
inspection
BRIDGMAN (AP) - The nuclear
plant that was shut down and fined
$500,000 for safety violations has
cleared an important regulatory hurdle
necessary to resume operations later
this year.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion this week closed the Confirmato-
ry Action Letter it issued against the
D.C. Cook Nuclear Plant in 1997, an
action which essentially means the
plant has fixed the problems that
resulted in the shutdown.
"They still have additional work to
do, but certainly this is an important
step," NRC spokesman Jan Strasma
said. "There will be at least one more
meeting with the company and we'll be
doing a final restart readiness inspec-
tion, probably sometime next month."
David Lochbaum of the Union of
Concerned Scientists, a watchdog
group that had opposed an earlier
Cook restart, said he is satisfied with
the NRC's findings, and has no plans
to challenge them.
American Electric Power hopes to
restart the Unit 2 reactor in April. The'
Unit 1 reactor is scheduled to restart on
Sept. 1. Both will undergo a separate
set of NRC inspections before then.
The plant's reactors have been shut
down for repairs and safety checks
since September 1997, when federal
officials found fibrous material used
for pipe insulation and other purposes
could get loose and block drains need-
ed to pump water to the reactor to cool
it if it overheated.
NRC officials also found problems
with the plant's ice system that is used
to help cool the reactor core in an
emergency. Inspectors found some ice
toreopen
was missing, some baskets holding it
were broken and that debris could clog
drains needed to recirculate the water
after it melted.
The plant was fined S500,000 in
1998 for 37 safety violations.
The plant prepared a comprehensive
plan to fix the problems. The NRC
used the plan to develop a check list of
those items necessary for safe opera-
tion.
Cook had made earlier attempts to
win approval for a restart in 1998 and
1999. But those efforts were delayed
after plant and federal officials said
they were unsure its safety systems
could properly contain a nuclear acci-
dent.
In this week's letter, dated Feb. 2,
NRC administrator J.E. Dyer said that
inspectors visited the plant late last
year and the agency is satisfied the
safety concerns "have been adequately
resolved."
Cook officials welcomed the news,
although the reactors still must pass
other tests before they get the green
light.
The Unit 2 reactor still has about
eight weeks of work to be completed,
including reloading ice into the ice
condenser.
Unit 1, which is scheduled to restart
Sept. 1, is undergoing a $165 million
steam generator replacement. The total
startup costs are expected to be $382
million.
"The end is clearly in sight now, and
we must continue to safely and delib-
erately proceed down the path to
restart the units," AEP Senior Vice
President Bob Powers said in a press
release.
DETROIT (AP) - U.S. Rep. Deb-
bie Stabenow (D-Lansing) bused 15
senior citizens to Canada yesterday to
prove they could buy their prescription
drugs for less money than they could
in the United States.
Stabenow says it's time to reform
Medicare to include the cost of med-
ications because costly prescriptions
are forcing some senior citizens to go
without their medicines. About 35
percent of seniors do not have insur-
ance to cover medications, she said.
"What we need to be doing is mak-
ing sure that we're modernizing
Medicare to cover the way health care
is provided to them," she said.
Her group saved more than $800
by buying the medicine in Canada, a
53 percent difference from what they
would have paid in the United States.
Alice Tirakian said she spends
almost $2,000 a year on medications
and saved almost $450 for a month's
worth of prescriptions.
Stabenow cautioned that this is not
something anyone could do. A Cana-
dian physician was required to write
the prescriptions.
Dr. Thomas Bernard met them at
the pharmacy after having received the
prescriptions beforehand.
"If Medicare were operating as an
insurance cover for seniors, they
would negotiate a discount for
seniors,"she said.
A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Spencer
Abraham said he supports providing
help to seniors below the-poverty line
and middle-income seniors that are
having a hard time paying for their
medications. Stabenow is challenging
Abraham for his seat in November.
"The Medicare system needs to be
reformed," Abraham spokesman Joe
Davis said. "We think a bipartisan
effort to reform Medicare is the best
way to go."
Canada's prices for medicines are
lower because the government negoti-
ates a discount with the drug compa-
nies, Stabenow said.
Stabenow said drug companies have
driven up the prices of drugs through
marketing and advertising directly to
the consumer. The companies also are
blaming the increase on research and
development when they are already
allowed a tax break, she said.
Jeff Trewhitt; spokesman for the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manu-
facturers of America, agreed that the
resolution to the problem is for Con-
gress to expand drug coverage under
an improved Medicare program.
However, he said their member
companies, who are about two-thirds
of the research based industry, esti-
mated spending $24 billion on
research and develop last year, and
only $8.3 billion for promotion and
marketing.
"The cost of research and develop-
ment has surged six fold over the last
15 years," Trewhitt said.
I
THE CALENDAR I