LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 7, 2000 -3
Several stalkers
target female
victim
Several subjects followed a woman
from her listed residence on Maynard
Street to the Varsity Tennis Center on
State Street on Dec. 29, Department of
Public Safety reports state.
The woman reported an ongoing
stalking problem with these subjects.
DPS advised the woman to call the Ann
Arbor Police Department to report the
stalking.
Student receives
harrassing e-mail
A male student received a harassing
email message which hie reported to
DPS on Monday.
The student returned the message
requesting the e-mail harassment to
stop. DPS reports state the caller has
not received any additional threatening
e-mail messages.
Arboretum gate
0 lock heisted
A Nichols Arboretum worker found
that a lock was missing from the
Nichols Drive gate to Nichols
Arboretum, DPS reports state.
The lock was stolen sometime before
7 a.m. on Monday.
Woman breaks
window for purse
A woman broke a window to her
office in the Art and Architecture
Building on Dec. 29 to retrieve a purse
she left inside, DPS reports state.
The woman left her purse in the
office and was then locked out of the
building. DPS directed the woman to
contact maintenance for window repair.
Purse stolen from
* Kellogg Center
A woman reported that her purse
was stolen sometime between 8 a.m.
and 3 p.m. on Dec. 27 from the Kellogg
Eye Center, according to DPS reports.
The woman said she did not report
the theft immediately because she
checked home first before reporting it
stolen. The caller's drivers license,
check book, credit card and $1.50 were
among the items in the black leather
purse. DPS reports state there are no
suspects or witnesses.
Subjects solicit
in West Hall Arch
Two men were begging for money in
the West Hall arch and were "pushy"
according to DPS reports.
After being dispatched to the scene,
DPS discovered the two men were try-
ing to stay out of the cold.
Parking structure
gates broken
A parking gate was destroyed at the
parking structure on East Medical
Center Drive early Saturday morning,
DPS reports state. The gate was appar-
ently rammed with a car.
On Wednesday, another parking gate
at the same structure broke and fell
onto a car, DPS reports state.
Towel catches
fire in East Qaud
A resident of East Quad Residence
Hall was forced to put out a fire in her
room Wednesday afternoon, DPS
reports state.
The small blaze began when a towel
caught fire. No damage was reported,
Arbor Heights
resident missing
A female resident of Arbor Heights
Correctional facility has been truant
since Sunday evening when she was
expected to return to Arbor Heights,
DPS reports state. The suspect did not
return after visiting family.
Man attempts
larceny at UGLi
A woman at the Shapiro
Undergraduate Library was the target of
an attempted larceny Tuesday, DPS
reports state.
The woman was returning to the coat
that she had left on the third floor when
she observed a male suspect with his
hands in the coat's pockets. The suspect
left when he saw her,
-Compiled by Daily Staff Reporters
David Enders and Caitlin Nish.a
Bioinformatics program gets $4 million
By Shabnam Daneshvar
Daily Staff Reporter
The University Medical School will receive
$4 million during the next four years from the
Washington D.C.-based Hugh Howard
Medical Institution to support biomedical
research.
Forty-one schools received financial allotments
from the institution, but only three of them, includ-
ing the University, the University of California at
Los Angeles and Yale University, received the top
award amount of $4 million.
The Medical School will use the funds to sup-
port its new program in bioinformatics, one of the
new areas of focus for the University's upcoming
Life Sciences Initiative.
Joseph Perpich, vice president for Grants
and Special Programs of HHMI, said the
University presented an "extremely superb and
compelling proposal in terms of bioinformat-
ics" compared to the other 140 schools that
applied, he said.
"Michigan had one of the best proposals. They
addressed the shortage of training within the
(Human) Genome Project and can definitely play
a role in the future of bioinformatics for the 21st
Century," he said.
To University officials including Michael
Savageau, chair of the Medical School's depart-
ment of microbiology and immunology and the
director of the bioinformatics program, the grant
has been no less than "God sent"
"The grant will enable us to hire four new
junior faculty members, renovate the research
space" and set up several pilot programs
between biological and computational scien-
tists, he said.
The interaction between technology and bio-
medicine will then enable the University to study
further and advance their research in endeavors
like the Human Genome Project.
Advances like the Project have allowed sci-
entists to scrutinize individual cells and learn
more about the genome, piece by piece. But
very little is known of the overall interaction
between individual parts and patterns in bio-
logical sequences.
"HHMI funding will help us obtain the comput-
er technology and expertise we need to develop the
next generation of bioinoformatics tools," said
Medical School Dean Allen Lichter.
"We are aiming to educate the next genera-
tion of scholars in this field also. That is a
major focus," Savageau said. The research also
will strive to "take a global view at the expres-
sion of the entire organism" as opposed to
looking at pieces of the puzzle or individual
cells, he added.
Previous grants from the University Health
System and the Ann Arbor Warner Lambert-Parke
Davis organization already have helped fund reno-
vations on a 5,000-square foot area in the Medical
School and five research laboratories for the bioin-
formatics faculty.
The initiative also offers graduate educa-
tion, including seminars and interdisciplinary
doctorate's and master's degree programs are
underway.
"We are hoping to be a leader in this and the
grant from HHMI gives us a jump in developing
the program,"over other universities also pursuing
the field, Savageau said.
Back to the drawing board
Off-campus housing fair to
aid in A2 apartment crunch
By Tiffany Maggard
Daily Staff Reporter
Students who pursue off-campus
housing must rely on links from a variety
of different, often unrelated, sources to
find vacant dwellings, especially after the
academic year is well under way.
University Housing will offer last-
minute house seekers an efficient
means of uncovering available housing
for the 2000-01 academic year Monday
when it will host the 13th annual Off-
Campus Housing Fair from 2p.m. to 5
p.m. in the Michigan League Ballroom.
The housing fair is an opportunity for
students to find housing and avoid
exhaustive hours searching the Web,
calling rental companies and hunting
down listings posted on restroom walls.
In years past, the event has attracted
nearly 700 students.
A total of 37 landlords, vendors and
housing organizations will be present at
the fair to showcase housing vacancies
and schedule appointments with stu-
dents to see available locations.
"It's a centralized opportunity for stu-
dents to meet with landlords all in one
place at one time instead of getting
caught up in phone tag and e-mails," said
University Housing Adviser Amy Starr,
who is helping to organize the event.
Starr added that students will have
the opportunity to speak directly to
rental company owners rather than
through secretaries.
The Ann Arbor Tenants Union also
will be present to assist students in their
problems with landlords and manage-
ment companies when issues including
lack of privacy and on-going mainte-
nance problems arise.
The Ann Arbor Area Apartment
Association will assist students in find-
ing custom living quarters.
Students looking for more unique
living situations such as sharing a home
with a local family, can find opportuni-
ties with Homeshare.
With so many tangible resources that
the fair provides, Starr said that "there
is a level of expertise that's hard to cap-
ture than if you're going from place to
place" in search of housing.
But despite all of the available
resources, fair-goers should expect some
limitations. Local rental companies agree
that the best time to seek out homes for
four to seven people is early in the fall.
"Students are now looking before
exams and before the snow starts
falling," said Jani Platz at Prime
Student Housing. "In general, I think
that students are just getting smarter -
planning ahead."
CMB Management employee Mandy
Brown agrees that many larger listings
have already been taken, but is confi-
dent that it is not too late for students to
find places to live.
"It's not at all too late to find housing
for fall. But we're getting to the point
where we have mostly 2-bedroom
(apartments) left. But we have 18 build-
ings with available listings," she said.
Companies like .CMB and Prime
have found the housing fair a successful
means of filling up their vacancies in
the past and said that it is a good alter-
native to less personal means of com-
municating with potential tenants.
"I think that (the Housing Fair) isbet-
ter. Not only do we talk to the students
in person, but we can show them pic-
tures of our listings," Brown said.
LSA juniors Katie Hardwick and
LeAnn Winkler agree the Housing Fair is
a good alternative to the normal battle to
find affordable housing on campus.
"I think it would be easier to talk to
landlords in person instead of leaving
message after message at rental compa-
nies," Hardwick said.
Hardwick and Winkler contemplated
a protest against the difficulty of find-
ing suitable housing on campus.
"We thought about camping out on the
president's lawn and in the Law Quad to
make a statement, Winkler said.
JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily
United Students Against Sweatshops organizer Eric Brakken makes a sign
for the national group's protest planned for today at 2 p.m. USAS intends to
march on the Fleming Administration Building to urge the University to sign
the Worker Rights Consortium.
Mi~chgtSa ls
hbd to host debate
Dow Coning asks for appeal
LANSING (AP) - Michigan State
University lost its bid yesterday to once
again host a presidential debate.
But Michigan's importance in the
presidential race could mean voters will
get a chance to see more in-state
debates after Monday's GOP face-off in
Grand Rapids.
Political consultant Tom Shields said
the six Republican presidential candi-
dates might agree to a second Michigan
debate before the state's Feb. 22 GOP
presidential primary.
All six have agreed to participate in
Monday evening's debate at Calvin
College, which follows a GOP debate at
the University of New Hampshire last
night and one today in Columbia, S.C.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see anoth-
er debate in Michigan before the prima-
ry, maybe in the Detroit media market.
Even in a Republican primary, you still
have 50 percent of the vote there," said
Shields, of Marketing Resource Group
in Lansing.
Democratic officials said they'd wel-
come a debate in Michigan between
Vice President Al Gore and former U.S.
Sen. Bill Bradley before the state's
March II presidential caucuses. But
they're not expecting to host one.
"We'd like to, but there is such a
small window between Iowa and New
Hampshire and our caucus," said state
Democratic spokesperson Dennis
Denno.
Michigan State University had hoped
to be one of three sites chosen by the
nonpartisan Commission on
Presidential Debates to host a fall
debate between the Democratic and
Republican presidential candidates.
The commission announced
Thursday that this year's debates will
take place at the John F. Kennedy
Library and University of
Massachusetts in Boston on Oct. 3,
Wake Forest University in Winston-
Salem, N.C., on Oct. 1 i and
Washington University in St. Louis on
Oct. 17.
A vice-presidential debate will be
held on Oct. 5 at Centre College in
Danville, Ky.
In 1992, the East Lansing university
hosted the last of three debates between
Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ross
Perot. Washington University also host-
ed a debate in 1992, and Michigan State
had hoped to copy the St. Louis
school's success at getting a return
engagement.
But Michigan State's bid didn't make
the final cut.
Although presidential candidates in
both parties are now focused on Iowa
and New Hampshire, they recognize
Michigan could play a huge role if chal-
lengers pull off early upsets and
Michigan becomes a last stand for
some candidates, said David Rohde,
Michigan State political science profes-
sor.
"The way that George Bush's nomi-
nation could unravel, if it's going to
unravel ... (is to) lose in New
Hampshire and lose again in
Delaware," Rohde said.
If that happens and U.S. Sen. John
McCain does well in South Carolina
and his home state of Arizona, he could
conceivably win Michigan, possibly
derailing Bush for good.
Bush still holds a sizable lead over
McCain in recent Michigan polls. But
the Texas governor earlier this week
agreed to handle another commitment
by phone so he could take part in
Monday's debate.
Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, Alan
Keyes, Orrin Hatch and McCain also
will participate. McCain plans to hold a
town hall meeting Monday afternoon at
Hope College in Holland before the
debate, while Forbes will stop in the
Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming on
Monday morning to call for more
school choice.
DETROIT (AP) - Dow Corning Corp. and lawyers
for women who sued the company over silicone breast
implants appealed yesterday for a federal judge to over-
turn a ruling they said could unravel the complicated set-
tlement plan.
The appeal asks U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood to
throw out federal Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Spector's Dec. 21
ruling letting women who voted against the $3.2 billion set-
tlement to sue Dow Corning's corporate parents.
The settlement had barred further lawsuits against Dow
Chemical and Corning Corp. over silicone implants. That
clause is among keys to the settlement, part of a $4.5 billion
bankruptcy reorganization plan for Dow Corning. ,
Dow Corning and the Tort Claimants Committee - repre-
senting thousands of women.with silicone implants the com-
pany once made - had called Spector's ruling confusing and
a potential catalyst of more litigation.
The company and the claimants committee has called the
"third-party release" clause "fundamental" to the settlement
plan overwhelmingly approved after years of contentious
negotiations.
"Without the third-party release, there is no closure of
breast implant litigation against our shareholders or Dow
Corning," Gary Anderson, Dow Corning's chair and chief
executive, said in a statement yesterday.
To him, the settlement plan as filed "provides a fair and
equitable way for women with breast implants to have their
day in court."
"Both the TCC and Dow Corning are committed to resole
ing this last remaining issue so that we can rapidly implemem
the (settlement plan) and begin processing and payment (9
claims as soon as possible," said Ralph Knowles of the
claimants committee.
Spector ruled last month he lacked the power to relea@
Dow Chemical and Corning, and that the plan didn't appea
designed to grant such a release anyway. Dow Corning dis
puted both points.
Spector's opinion also said women who voted to approve
the settlement would be barred from suing the companies. Itz
unclear how many women his opinion might affect; 112,774
women voted on the plan last year, with 94 percent approv-
ng.
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