LOCAL/STATE Tuesday, November 9, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 3 Sub ect victim of robery outside Martha Cook *A female subject was the victim of a strong-armed robbery in front of Martha Cook Residence Hall on Sunday morning, Department of Public Safety reports state. A male suspect reportedly wres- tled the victim to the ground and demanded her wallet. No weapon was seen or implied, and the suspect was last seen fleeing on foot down South University &enue. He was described as wear- g a brown ski mask, blue hooded sweatshirt and black gloves. Man smashes parking meters A male subject was seen breaking parking meters Saturday afternoon on Madison Street, DPS reports state. DPS discovered the man, who was ~ng a tire iron to smash the meters. ~S then notified the Ann Arbor Police Department because the meters are owned by the city. DPS ejects fans, hands out MIPs at football game DPS reported ejecting more than 40 people from Michigan Stadium ,*Saturday during the football game against Northwestern. DPS ejected 26 people for having open intoxicants in the stadium and I1 for throwing projectiles such as marshmallows. DPS also cited five subjects for Minor In Possession charges and arrested one person for outstanding charges. Nichols Arboretum trash catches fire A small trash fire occurred in Nichols Arboretum yesterday morn- ing. The fire was extinguished and the area cleaned up, and no one was cited in the incident, DPS reports state. Football tickets Molen from room A male subject's Michigan foot- ball tickets were stolen from his room in West Quad Residence Hall on Friday afternoon, DPS reports state, DPS did not report having any suspects in the incident. Victim taken to bspital for bites A biting victim was transported from Arbor Heights to the University Hospital's emergency room on Friday afternoon, DPS reports state. The victim was attempting to restrain an unidentified subject. when the incident occurred. The vic- tim's skin was not punctured. DPS officials are investigating the inci- dent. hairs stolen from Bursley computing center Chairs were stolen Friday afternoon from, a computing site in Bursley Residence Hall on North Campus, DPS reports state. DPS officers could not locate the person who made the com- lint and did not report any suspects in the theft. Man masturbates in CCRB sauna A man was seen masturbating in the main sauna at the Central Campus Recreation Building on Friday evening, DPS reports state. DPS did not report charging the sus- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter David Enders. SACUA demands parking solutions By Jeremy W. Peters Daily Staff Reporter In an attempt to remedy what members of the faculty's governing body said should be consid- ered a potential crisis, they passed a motion yes- terday to petition administrators for a response within 30 days regarding campus parking issues. The Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs Chair and Social Work Prof. Sherri Kossoudji will send a letter to associate Vice President for Facilities and Operations Hank Baier and Chief Financial Officer Robert Kasdin demanding they address growing park- ing needs. Citing the fact that more people drive to cam- pus in the winter months, SACUA Vice Chair and biology Prof. Lewis Kleinsmith.said, "We anticipate a crisis within the next couple of months because of the weather and we would like to provide a short-term remedy." "They know we have a terrible problem," he continued, "but they are interested in the long-term solution. I'm interested in how we're going to get through the winter." Kossoudji said she also sees a problem on the horizon. "We have a short-term problem that is verging on the acute and it needs to be resolved because winter is coming," she said. Patrick Cunningham, director of Parking and Transportation Services, said he was reluctant to comment, not having seen the SACUA proposal. But he did say that he would cooperate with the committee as much as he could. "We'd like to respond to them and we will see what we can do to accommodate their requests!' Cunningham said. Kleinsmith suggested that the lack of ade- quate parking was possibly connected to the University's Parking Services overselling the number of passes per available space by nearly 50 percent. For the permit year ending Aug. 31, 12,378 Blue Passes were sold for only 8,875 spots in the University's Blue Lots and 1,007 Gold Passes were sold for only 722 spots in the Gold Lots, according to Parking Services data. "Generally, almost all parking is o ersoi T some degree because w e know that on any given day, not all those who hold passes ill park," Cunningham said in defense of the University's practice. He added that in the past, the ratio of permits sold to parking spots has been 1.3 to 1. "There's just too few parking spaces ... I want to know why they are overselling' said sociology Prof. and LSA SACUA representative Don Deskins. Kleinsmith said he agrees. "After 10 o'clock in the morning, there's not a spot on Central Campus and I'm concerned for professors who need to give exams at a certain time but are late because they can't find a parking place" he said. Cunningham said that past parking studies have shown that the University could use an extra 1,000 parking spaces. "My goal as director is to create at least another 1,000 spots," he said. Cunningham acknowledged that no surface space exists for parking at ground lexel and parking structures are expensive. For now though, Cunningham said that he would like people to consider using alternate forms of transportation. "We want to encourage people to park in remote lots and take buses. We believe that our bus system is one of the best in the country and people should take advantage of it,' he said. Faculty members are not the only ones affected by the lack of spaces on campus. LSA senior Matt Schultz said when he drove to class last year, he often found himself irritated because he could not find a space. "I was late for class many times because I could not find a parking spot. Sometimes I would drive to the top ol two structures before finding a place to park." he said. Schultz though, said he did not park in University lots because 3lue Passes are not avail- able to students. In fact, none of the passes issued this year were given to students, according to Parking Services Data. Developer's plans vetoed due to city's zoning laws Strummin' a tune Ann Arbor officials have rejected proposals to build residential units at historical site By Tiffany Maggard Daily Staff Reporter Personal style could be the one thing stopping long-time Ann Arbor develop- er John Stegeman from seeing his latest dreams become more than just blue- prints. Stegeman has been developing since the 1960s. He is responsible for many Ann Arbor residential units, including recent projects such as The Amsterdamer on South University Avenue and The Barrister on Monroe Street. But a few of Stegeman's most recent plans haven't won the approval of the Ann Arbor City Planning Committee. One of these proposals was a multi-family residential unit that Stegeman wishes to build on the cor- ner of Wastenaw Avenue and Hill Street. City Planner Wendy Rampson said that the City Planning Committee has turned down Stegeman's proposal because it "did not meet the standards of public benefit." Such standards differ from situa- tion to situation. Public benefit may refer to anything from single-family verses multi-family housing units to keeping a historical building updat- ed. "It could be you're protecting an aes- thetic resource," Rampson said. "In which case, some creativity from the developer is required." Stegeman said he does not wish to comment on any of his plans until they are proposed to the city officially. Stegeman purchased the Wastenaw- Hill site from the University and then demolished the existing University Tudor-style building that was located on the property. The property, zoned for a single- or two-person dwelling, could not hold the six-condo residence Stegeman proposed, Rampson said. Rampson said Stegeman plans for an apartment building that he called "Dean's Crescent" on the corner Observatory Street and Geddes Road included making the existing building denser than it is already. The city does- n't want the building denser because the city's master plan for that area restricts increasing density. Rampson said Stegeman's plan for "Dean's Crescent" will be presented to the city counsel next month. Stegeman faced more heat from the city when he began the demoli- tion process of a building in early October without a permit from the city's historic preservation commit- tee. He purchased the site on the corner of Forest and Hill streets that included the former residence of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity after the building was damaged by a fire in 1994. The building is zoned a historical site, but Stegeman requested permis- sion in January 1999 from the Historical Preservation Committee to destroy the building. "One provision of the historical ordinance says that you cannot destroy a building in a certain district without approval," said Building Department Director Larry Pickel, "The law is there to make sure prop- erties are preserved - to preserve what's there." The committee approved the demo- lition. But Pickel said Stegeman was to pick up his demolition permit only after he received a plan from a city forester as to what trees needed to be preserved. On Oct. 4, Picket said a resident who lives near Stegeman's property noticed that trees on Stegeman's property were being cut down - a first step in the demolition process. But it was only two days later, after the trees were cut down, that one of Stegeman's contractors went to the Historic Preservation Committee with a plan for the destruction of trees. At this time, the demolition permit was issued. Since then Stegeman has continued the demolition process by destroying the building. Rampson said that Stegeman has not yet proposed any plans for the Hill/Forest site, but that he has met with the Department of Downtown Authority to request help in financing the construction of a parking lot for a 15-story apartment building on the southeast corner of William and Thompson streets. "If you propose an idea in Ann Arbor without parking, no one is going to be really interested in it" said city assistant planner, Alexis Marcarello. Rampson said that Stegeman is prob- ably waiting to hear from the DDA before he brings his plan before the city planning committee. JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily Dan McCarthy, Ann Arbor resident, plays an F-style mandolin on the corner of State Street and North University Avenue yesterday. Big Three gin-ve -less softmno political prties Groups criticize Abraham for blocking judicial nominations LANSING '(AP) - Lansing-area pastors and labor activists accused U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham and other Republicans yesterday of blocking President Clinton's federal judge nominations, including many women and minority judges. For more than three years, the Senate Judiciary Committee has refused to consider Clinton's nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Helene White for a vacancy on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Abraham (R-Mich.) is part of the reason for that delay. When a judge is nominated, senators from the judge's home state must turn in "blue slips" telling the Senate Judiciary Committee to proceed with the nomination process. U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) has turned in a slip for White, but Abraham hasn't. Abraham's spokesperson Joe Davis said the senator won't tell the committee to proceed because he has some disagreements with the White House about White's nomination. "He has serious problems with the way the process was con- ducted, and the (Clinton) administration has said they agree with that. It's not reflected on her personally,' Davis said. Davis wouldn't elaborate on the reasons for the argument, saying Abraham is still trying to work out an agreement with the White House. But Marilyn Coulter, civil rights chair of United Auto Workers Local 602, said there can be no excuse good enough for the delay. "If people are capable of doing the job and they are nominated, how dare (the senators) make them wait so long," she said. "If it takes them three years to make up their minds, maybe they're not sitting where they need to be," she said. Columbus Clayton, a pastor at New Mount Cavalry Baptist Church, said Abraham eventually will be held accountable for stalling the nomination. "In the upcoming elections, we will remember how you voted and how you stood," he said. Democrats have long contended that Republicans use stalling tactics to keep Clinton nominees off the federal bench, and that minority and women nominees have fared the worst. According to a recent report by the bipartisan Constitution Project, the Senate during the 1997-98 ses- sion took an average 186 days either to accept or reject white nominees, but 246 days for minorities. Moreover, the rejection rate was 14 percent for the 92 white, and 35 percent for the 31 minority nominees. In response, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the Judiciary Committee chair responsible for moving judge nomina- tions through the Senate, has pointed out that 45 percent of the judicial nominees reported to the Senate floor this year have been women or minorities. DETROIT (AP) - Some automak- ers have stopped making so-called "soft money" donations to political parties, campaign records show. In 1997, General Motors Corp. stopped making such contributions because it said there was no way to know how they were being spent. Now, Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG have followed suit. Soft money describes contribu- tions made for general party activi- ties, such as get-out-the-vote cam- paigns and party membership drives. There are no limits on such contribu- tions. "It's really difficult to keep track of where those funds end up," GM's Washington spokesperson Bill Noack said. "We didn't feel it was appropriate to make those kinds of contributions ... I think we're doing the right thing." The reduced giving so far has not hurt relations with lawmakers, said- GM's chief lobbyist in Washington, Andrew Card. "We have to work harder than a lot of our competitors to have some of our public policy concerns heard," Card told Booth Newspapers in a story yesterday. "But I can tell you candidly, it has not presented any impediments to my ability to do my job." The two major parties expect to raise more than $500 million in soft money by next November's election, double the amount raised in past campaigns. Proponents say soft money strengthens the political parties, while critics say it gives the appearance of buying access to lawmakers. What's happening in Ann Arbor today "' GROUP MEETINGS t Reform Chavurah Meeting, Hillel, 7:30 p.m. EVENTS J "Blood Battle between U-M and .1&1 L. -- -- .k- A l unkn O Sponsored by Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, Memorial Christian Church, 730 Tappan, 7:30 p.m. U "Poetry Reading by Larissa Szporluk," Sponsored by Department of English and the Office of the Provost, Rackham Amphitheater, 5 p.m. Ql "Rash Hodes~h Service," Sponsored Buildings" lecture by Steve Strong, Sponsored byTaub man College, North Campus Chrysler Center, 6:30-7:30 p.m. SERVICES Q Campus Information Centers, 764- INFO, info@umich.edu, and SKIP CLASS? STAY UP LATE? LIKE TO WRITE ? IGNORE HOMEWORK Everything A Psychology Concentrator Needs to Know About Applying to Graduate School Wednesday, November 10, 1999 7:00-9:00 PM 4th Floor Terrace, East Hall There will be refreshments. Anyone interested in Psychology and/or Mental Health Professions is encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity. The Psychology Peer Advisors are located in 1044 East a and have walk-in hours from 11:OOAM-4:OOPM Mon-Fri. They help students with questions regarding the Psychology and Biopsychology concentrations and can help declare students in either concentration. Special Egg Donor Needed i