Weather
Today: Partly cloudy High 60. Low 34.Oe hundred nine years ofeitot al reedom
Tomorrow: Showers. High 65.n ude ieyaso dtr 'lreo
Thursday
October 7, 1999
Mayma'41550
Rivalry puts MSU,
police on alert
By Jewel Gopwanl
Daily Staff Reporter
Emotions can be pretty powerful. Mix
that with alcohol, a large crowd and a bitter
rivalry and what may result is a night
Michigan State University students, admin-
istrators and police officials don't want to
remember.
Three riots during the past two years have
tainted MSU's reputation. One occurred last
March just as MSU lost to Duke in the
NCAA Final Four Basketball tournament,
resulting in more than $.5 million in damage.
Another riot began after Michigan State
defeated Western Michigan in its first home
football game of the 1998 season and the
first riot, in May 1997, erupted from a
protest against an alcohol ban at Munn
Field, a popular site for student tailgates.
But this weekend's game between
Michigan and MSU could test the lessons
learned these pastA
few years. . x VS.
Admitting to the
importance ofN
tomorrow's game,
Capt. Tony
Kleibecker of the
Michigan State
Police expects emo-
tions to run high,
but not high enough
to rival incidents in The Show
MSU's past.O
Kleibecker said the Oct. 9 Spar
department's regular plan will be in effect for
Saturday. This includes patrols at Spartan
Stadium, parking areas, pre-game and post-
game tailgating areas as well as directing traf-
fic.
M-jchi
Tailgating patrols,
Kleibecker said, will
be done in teams of
officers.
0 In addition to MSU
police, East Lansing,
State and Ingham
County police officers
will be patrolling the
city Saturday.
"Traditionally we
do staff heavily at
home football games,"
said Capt. Louis
East Lansing Police
dent that occurs during the course of the
events." he said.
But Terry Denbow, spokesperson for
MSU. said the sold-out crowds at Spartan
Stadium's last three games have come and
gone without incident,
MSU Associate Vice President for
Student Affairs and Services Elba Santiago
said she expects good behavior from stu-
dents at MSU. "We've learned from past
experiences," she said.
Katie Collias, a junior at MSU, is plan-
ning on tailgating Saturday: Collias
explained that she hopes riots will not fol-
low for the sake of MSU's name.
"I just hope that people are smart before
they do stupid things and they think about
the reputation of our school." Collias said.
See MSU, Page 8A
down '99
tan Stadium
Muhn of the
Department.
"We are prepared to respond to any inci-
ALLISON CANTER/Daily
Munn Field was a popular student tailgate location near
Spartan Stadium on the Michigan State University campus
in East Lansing until its use was banned in 1997.
Phone
company
merger to
affect 'U'
By Michael B. Simon
For the Daily
From multinational corporations to
University residence halls; the Federal
Communications Commission to cell-
phone-toting students, everyone is
feeling the impact of the largest cor-
porate acquisition ever.
In a jolting joint statement on
Monday, telecommunications giants
MCI WorldCom and Sprint
announced that their boards of
directors had unilaterally approved
a merger agreement to form one
new company - WorldCom.
The merger, still pending federal
regulatory approval, would cost
MCI WorldCom - currently the
nation's second largest telecommu-
nications company - about $129
billion.
In comparison, the largest acqui-
sition to date, between Vodafone
and Airtouch Communications orf
June 30, cost only $74.4 billion.
The University is likely to be
*impacted by the merger as it uses
MCI Worldcom as a primary
provider of long distance services.
Ypsi murders
fuel gun bills
By Yael Kohen
Daily Staff Reporter
Gun-related attacks and the debate
over what the government should do to
prevent them have leapt into the nation-
al spotlight like never before, as shoot-
ings took the lives of many people in
incidents from Los Angeles to
Colorado to Atlanta during the last cou-
ple of months.
Sunday, a shootout in Ypsilanti
Township resulted in the death of 17-
year-old Ernest Earl Lemons and 9-
year-old Cullen Leman Ethington, the
Washtenaw County Office of the
Sheriff reported.
This act of violence is only one
among several that have caught the
attention of lawmakers on both the
national and state levels.
In Michigan, the impact of Sunday's
shooting has served as a catalyst to state
legislators in their fight for greater gun
control.
A package of gun control legislation
bills, introduced last month by Rep.
Laura Baird (D-Okemos), aims to
increase firearm restrictions, she said.
The set of bills contain several provi-
sions for gun control - including the
mandatory sale of trigger locks when
purchasing guns, prohibition against
the transferring of guns to minors and
the creation of gun-free zones in areas
where large numbers of people congre-
gate.
The bills also would make adults
responsible for their children's use of
guns and allow local governments to
make their own gun ordinances, which
the state currently does not allow.
House Speaker Charles Perricone
(R-Kalamazoo Twp.) will not give the
package a hearing date or a chance to
be voted on, Baird said, adding that
hopefully last weekend's incident will
demonstrate to the House speaker the
importance of having such legisla-
tion.
John Truscott, spokesperson for Gov.
John Engler, said that although repre-
sentatives are trying to bring the issue
to the House floor he doesn't think any-
thing new will come of it.
"I don't see much happening in that
area" during this session, Truscott said.
Although a new set of bills may not
pass through the House, Engler does
support more uniformity among gun
boards across counties and stronger
enforcement of existing laws, Truscott
said.
"Our point is that there is gun vio-
lence all around us," Baird Said, adding
that currently the primary goal is to
force Perricone to allow a hearing on
the House floor.
Earlier this year, legislation was
passed to decrease limitations on carry-
ing concealed weapons. "There was a
huge, a tremendous, backlash when
those bills were approved last year,"
said Rep. Ruth Ann Jamnick (D-
Ypsilanti Twp.), whose district includes
the site of Sunday's shootings.
An Ypsilanti survey conducted in the
spring found that "the overall opinion
in the district was ... to support more
gun control," Jamnick said.
Baird said that while it is impossible
to gauge House support for this pack-
age of bills without a hearing, enough
representatives probably would vote to
enact some gun safety provisions.
- The Associated Press contributed to
this report.
Phone tag
Telephone
service in
University
residence halls
could
change,
pending
a $129 --
bilion *
merger
between
Sprint and MCI
Wordcom.
No one from
IT-Com, the
division of the
University's
I n format i on
Technology
division respon-
sible for campus
telephone sys-
tems, was
unavailable for
comment.
Sprint's PCS
division is the
largest provider
DANNY K A LID2iy
LSA sophomore Rory Michaels passes through the center of the Diag yesterday as Michael Woroniecki and his family
hold a sign promoting their religious views.
DI-AG DIVI .NITrY
M pu
-miistrsjaviZS ush religious views
of mobile communications services
in the country, and on the University
campus as well.
MCI WorldCom and Sprint execu-
tives claim that the merged compa-
ny will be of great benefit to con-
sumers because each of the existing
colorations are already leaders in
the development of new technolo-
gies.
Additionally, William Esrey, chair
and chief executive officer of
Sprint, said in a written statement
that the combined resources of the
two companies is expected to lead to
better competitive services for con-
sumers.
But the FCC and Justice
Department anti-trust officials, both
of whom need to approve the deal,
may disagree.
"American consumers are enjoy-
ing the lowest londg-distance rates in
the history and the lowest Internet
rates in the world for one reason:
competition," said FCC Chair
William Kennard in a speech just
moments before the MCI
Worldcom/Sprint deal was officially
announced a news conference in
New York.
He continued that "competition
has produced a price war in the long
distance market. This merger
appears to be a surrender. How good
can this be for consumers?"
By Robert Gold
Daily Staff Reporter
Students on campus don't have to look far for religious
information - they can head to the Diag and get it for free
nearly any day of the week.
Students walking through the Diag yesterday, for instance,
were exposed to a variety of spiritual information and views.
The large, flowing white banner greeted all who passed.
"All that matters: You are going to hell."
Michael Woroniecki, who brought the sign, came to
campus with his family to profess his views on reli-
gion. He, his wife and their six children travel across
the country, living out of a bus, to share their beliefs
about religion.
While Woroniecki and his children walked around
Fair]2)ti a ca r is:
ben ith
minister Glenn Smith.
Diag with material
available for any stu-
dent interested in the
Jewish faith.
Curious students
could also walk up to
a stand for pamphlets
on Catholicism and
to talk to outreach
All-Star re,-opens
with fresh ,image
with signs that condemned organized religion, Rabbi
Alter Goldstein sat on the southeastern edge of the
Varying in message, technique and purpose, people
with numerous spiritual views are prevalent on campus.
See RELIGION, Page 2A
Phi' Gamma4
Delta to resume
GrL'eek activities
By Yael Kohen
Daily Staff Reporter
Night club forced to
shut down after Sept. 13
late-night brawl
By Dave Enders
Daily Staff Reporter
After being closed for nearly three
weeks, the All-Star Cafe reopened its
doors Friday.
The club's owners have made some
changes to the establishment - located
at 1321 South University Ave. -to bring
it up to Ann Arbor city building code.
The All-Star now serves food, has
changed its musical lineup and is under
new management.
"The city made us bring things up to
standard," said Shannon McFall, the
club's new manager.
The City of Ann Arbor's building
department forced the club to shut its
doors after a late-night brawl Sept. 13.
An over-capacity crowd of more than
400 people poured into the street during
the incident, which allegedly began after
a club patron threw glass at rappers per-
forming on the club's lower level. All-
Star staff called Ann Arbor police to the
scene, who used mace to subdue the
rrn, Un
Arbor) Fire Department. They noticed
some things that they thought were prob-
lems and they notified our department."
"We wanted a better seating setup,
Pickel said. He explained that while the
All-Star is zoned as a restaurant, it used
more of a nightclub-style setup, which
included no food and a greater emphasis
on dancing than on seating.
"We just wanted to make sure (the
owner) was operating correctly under the
building code," Pickel said.
McFall said the fight broke out at a
college icebreaker party that had been
advertised on the radio unbeknownst to
club management, accounting for the
surprisingly large crowd. He also said
most of the problems were caused by
non-students.
McFall added that the club voluntarily
closed for three days after the city
allowed them to re-open.
"We wanted to change the format. The
format of the club was not conducive to a
collegiate environment," he said.
"This place was closed unjustifiably
because the city wanted to make sure that
this wasn't going to escalate into an
everyday thing," McFall said. He said he
is not worried that negative stigma sur-
rou ndin~ ithe incident miight hurtf the club.
Mpus chapter of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity has
international headquarters to reevaluate the suspen-
was instated last week.
meantime, FIJI members will be permlitted to
as a fraternity while board members review the
on.
is chapter officials sent a letter to the interna-
'fices stating that they have been following the
ulated guidelines, said Interfraternity Council
t Rohith Reddy, an LSA senior, who is also a
nber.
e letter is not an official appeal, he added.
ternational organization wants "to see. if we're mov-
DANNY KALucK/ Daily
Members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity sit outside their
house located at 800 Oxford Rd. yesterday.
in social functions and accept pledges, Kallon said.
The fraternity is "operating as if we never had the suspen-
sion in the first place," Kallon said