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