LOCAL/S TATE
The Mich n Da - Wednesday, November 3, 1999 - 3
IGHER
EDUCATION L
U. Colorado
students riot at
Halloween party
0 block party held at the
University of Colorado on Saturday
night erupted in a riot when numer-
ous party-goers flooded into the
streets following the event.
The confusion began at 11:30 p.m.
when about 500 people spilled onto
10th and Pleasant streets after Boulder
police officers asked Sigma Nu frater-
nity to shut its party down. Rioters,
many in Halloween costumes, started
Sfires and overturned two vans.
olice attempting to calm the crowd
down when individuals began throwing
rocks and bottles. Police officers
blocked the street off and were able to
tame the fires and the rioters by about
4 a.m.
U. Minnesota
offers free patch
0he University of Minnesota's
) nt on Health Service has more
than 12,000 free nicotine patches to
distribute to the university's esti-
mated 14,000 smokers.
McNeil Consumer Products, a
subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson
donated the shipments. The patches
are being distributed faster than
many have predicted.
The most recent shipment, con-
taining 146 boxes, has so far lasted
* ut six months, while the prior
to shipments each lasted less than
a month.
Prank costume
malfunctions,
injures student
In order to promote a party at the
Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity house,
IT sophomore dressed as the
Grim Reaper in a lecture room last
week. A theatrical device, which
was meant to send out sparks and
smoke, faltered and exploded in the
student's hand, sending him to
Massachusetts General Hospital.
MIT police canceled classes and
found a similar device in the build-
ing's lobby.
After the faltered promotional
r mpt, students were asked to
n ate the house due to building
code violations caused by the haunt-
ed tunnel fraternity members built
in the basement.
The party, known as "Skuffle," -
which is an annual event benefiting
the Leukemia Society- was can-
celed.
Residents of Phi Kappa Sigma
house are currently housed in other
iKernity houses and will be
awed to return when the viola-
tions are corrected.
Authorities seek
missing student
Yale University and New Haven
police are searching for senior
Gregory Norris, who has been miss-
ing since Sunday.
I e was last seen by his friends
day evening. And his parents
called New Haven police Sunday
when they discovered that he was
missing.
Norris made a frantic call to his
parents, who live in Omaha, Neb.
Sunday at around 4:30 p.m. Norris'
parents were unable to answer his
phone call and Norris could only
say his name before he was discon-
*ted.
Bookstores sue
online company.
The National Association of College
Stores is suing VarsityBooks.com
alleging the online textbook company
has mislead customers with lofty
promises of discounts. The NACS con-
sists of more than 3,000 college book
stores.
rhe suit, filed in the federal court
o Washington D.C. claims
VarsityBooks.com has failed to fol-
low through with many of its adver-
tised discounts.
- Compiled from U-WIRE reports by
Daily Staff Reporter Jewel Gopwani.
Bill would create collegiate license plates
By Nick Bunkley
Daily StaffReporter
Wolverine fans may soon be able to
trade in those standard blue-and-white
Michigan license plates next year and
show their maize-and-blue pride with a
plate bearing the University's logo.
A Senate bill to create license plates
for each of the state's 15 public universi-
ties is quickly making its way through.
the Legislature and is headed to thee
House floor after being reported out of
the House Transportation Committee
last night. The bill received unanimous
approval from the Senate last week.
If the proposal is signed into law, uni-
versity logo plates would be available to
Michigan motorists for an extra $25.
The money would go directly to the uni-
versity whose logo appears on each
inoity
plate purchased.
"Basically, people can show their col-
ors, show their pride and the schools
will benefit because (motorists) have to
make a $25 donation," said Sen. Bill
Bullard (R-Highland), a University
alum who introduced the bill.
University Vice President for
Government Relations Cynthia
Wilbanks said it's unclear how much
money the University could receive
from the program.
"It's fair to say that with our number
of alumni in the state and friends of
alumni, there would probably be a fairly
good response," Wilbanks said.
The preliminary designs allows for
each license plate to have room for six
letters, with the school logo in the upper
left-hand corner.
A design for the University's logo to
appear on the plate has not been final-
ized, though the traditional maize block
'M' would be a logical choice, Wilbanks
said. The University is working to
ensure that the plates conform with
proper trademark procedures, she
added.
The legislation is one of a series of
bills that also will create six more spe-
cialty plates to raise money for the
Children's Trust Fund, the Vietnam
Veterans' Memorial, water quality, light-
house preservation, wildlife habitats and
farm heritage.
According to the proposal, Bullard
said, if fewer than 500 of the six non-uni-
versity plates are sold within the first two
years of the program,,other charities will
be chosen to replace the unpopular ones.
Secretary of State Candice Miler
unveiled the plan to create specialty
plates earlier this year.
"We've basically studied what other
states have done with specialty license
plates," Miller spokesperson Elizabeth
Boyd said.
Miller is hopeful the program will be
successful, given the popularity of
Michigan State University and the
University of ichigan paraphernalia.
but exactly how many plates wil I be sold
remains to be seen, Boyd said,
"Our experience with fundrasing
plates is somewhat limited," Boyd said
Numerous other states, inc lud ing
Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, offer col-
legiate license plates. In 1990,
Wisconsin implemented a program that
gives $20 per plate to universities. The
-marTow drive
seeks donors
By David Jenkins
Daily Staff Reporter
Campus organizations donated time yesterday to
raise awareness about the lack of minority volun-
teers available for bone marrow donation.
Members of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and the
Minority Marrow Donor Coalition focused their
efforts on encouraging minority and bi-racial stu-
dents to explore their options as donors for bone
marrow transplants.
"Up until a couple years ago if you were mul-
tiracial and had a life threatening disease which
required a bone marrow transplant, you probably
couldn't get one because of a lack of donors," said
MMDC President Jermaine Stephens.
Kappa Alpha Psi members joined American Red
Cross volunteers and MMDC members to cam-
paign in the Michigan Union yesterday encourag-
ing students to sign up for consideration as bone
marrow donators.
The prospects of finding an appropriate minori-
ty donor in recent years hasn't improved greatly,
but many more minorities are registered, Stevens
said.
Kappa Alpha Psi President Mike Muse, an
Engineering senior, was on hand with other frater-
nity members to make sure the donor drive ran
smoothly.
He said the fraternity worked to inform campus
minority groups of the drive and the importance of
minority donors, and also passed out fliers to pub-
licize the event.
"One of our objectives is to bring social aware-
state currently has 5,734 university
plates registered, with 4,600 of those
bearing the University of Wisconsin at
Madison logo.
.l believe that it has not been as suc-
cessful as they thought it would be," said
Philip Thomas, supervisor of the
Wisconsin Department of
Transportation's Specialty Plates and
Parking Citation Unit.
Wilbanks said the proposal is expect-
ed to pass with little opposition since it
was originally introduced by the
Department of State.
"There have been legislative propos-
als to permit this for a number of years,"
she said, but those died due to opposi-
tion from law enforcement agencies
concerned about making the plates rec-
ognizable.
State rep.
proposes
changes to
all S
LANSING (AP) - State Rep
Valde Garcia yesterday suggested
changes to state House terms, say-
ing two-year terms force lawmakers
to spend less time in the Legislature
and more time campaigning for re-
election.
Under Garcia's plan, representa-
tives would be elected to a two-year
term. If re-elected, they could serve
a four-year term. If re-elected once
more, they would serve another two-
year term before leaving the House
under updated term limits that
would let House members serve
eight years instead of six.
Garcia (R-St. Johns) said the plan
would give lawmakers more time to
figure out the Legislature and accom-
plish their goals. Right now, they are
limited to three two-year terms.
House Speaker Chuck Perricone
(R-Kalamazoo Township) also lent
his support to the plan.
"I suppose it makes sense, as
much sense as any other proposal.
I've always said the terms are too
short," said Perricone, who added
that he would like to see four-year
House terms and six-year Senate
terms instead of the current two-
and four-year terms.
ALLISON CANTER/Daily
.SA senior Cameron Diggs gives blood to register for the Minority Marrow Donor Coalition yesterday in the
Union. The program seeks minority students to place their names on the donor bank list.
ness to the community about minority issues and
we realized that the number of donors with a
minority background was as small as 16 percent of
the total number of donors," Muse said.
The goal for the day, Muse said, was to sign up
200 people for blood donations and addition to the
donor bank of names for marrow donation.
Volunteers for the blood tests were waived the
$45 sign-up fee, which was paid for by the Red
Cross. The fee covers testing and lab costs of the
blood sample.
Stevens said a common misconception about the
drive is that donors give bone marrow at the sign-
up, but only a teaspoon's worth of blood is neces-
sary from each person so that they can be placed
in the donor bank.
After being added to the donor bank, the donors
can be called upon to give approximately 5 percent
of their bone marrow if the need should ever arise.
Bone marrow donors are called upon when a
patient with matching blood type needs a trans-
plant.
The donor bank is usually us'd as a second
option after family members have been ruled out
as donors.
Although the drive focused on nnority donors,
Muse said everyone was encouraged to volunteer
for the donor bank.
Hindu students to
celebrate Diwa1
By Krista Gullo
For the Daily
To celebrate Diwali, a Hindu holi-
day that means "festival of light,"
many Hindu students at the
University will string lights on their
homes and leave interior lights on at
all times.
Diwali "is one of the main festivals
in India" said Aarti Dua, an LSA
junior and treasurer of the Hindu
Students Council. The festival marks
the third day in five days of celebra-
tion comprising the Hindu new year.
Nipa Kinariwala, a Nursing senior,
said Diwali is surrounded by excite-
ment equivalent to Christmas in the
Christian calendar.
The Diwali's prehistoric origins
are rooted in two legends celebrat-
ing "gods defeating demon-kings"
Kinariwala said. The first legend
celebrates the victory of Krishna
over the demon-king Nara Kaasura.
In the second legend, citizens cele-
brated with light when the god
Rama defeated the demon-king
Ravana. Kinariwala noted that
Diwali is "celebrating the victory of,
good over evil."
Diwali, one of the most important
days in the Hindu calendar, is marked
by prayers given by a Pujari -
Hindu priest- a traditional Indian
meal and decorative lights.
People often buy new clothes for
the occasion because it signifies a
new beginning and the presentation to
God requires the proper attire, said
Kiran Sajja, HSC administrator and
LSA senior.
Charu Negandhi, an Engineering
sophomore and core member of HSC,
said traditionally igniting fireworks
and the settling of finances from the
past year mark Diwali.
The traditional meal, called a
Presad because it is blessed during
the Pujari's prayer, consists of rice;
dal, a curry dish; choley, ground
beans; pur, similar to pita; and subji,
a mixed vegetable dish. The Indian
communities of St. Joseph, Mich. and
Battle Creek plan to donate food.
HSC also has solicited cooking help
from local Indian grocery stores and
restaurants such as Raji Rana and the
Manali Caf6.
Negandhi said the Blue Lounge at
Stockwell Residence Hall will also be
decorated with dupata, long thing col-
orful fabric and religious symbols
such as an Ohm, consisting of lights
vailed with fabric.
Sajja stressed that the Diwali
prayer and meal are provided by the
HSC primarily to "provide a service
for Hindu students on campus
whether it's the religious, cultural or
social aspects, and secondarily it per-
forms the service of educating the
University and Ann Arbor communi-
ties."
The Diwali prayer and meal are
not only a chance for Hindu stu-
dents to come and pray, it's open to
anyone to learn about Hindu cul-
ture, Sajja said.
HSC will observe Diwali this year
with a prayer given by a Pujari fol-
lowed by a traditional Indian meal.
The event is 8 p.m. in the Blue
Lounge of Stockwell Residence
Hall.
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