2A -The Michigan Daily - Monday, December 13, 1999 NATION/WORLD STUDENTS Continued from Page 1A thing about computers," he said. Some students said they are leav- ing it up to their family members to worry about the craze. "I'm not worried, but my mom has bottled water and food saved up," said LSA sophomore Jenna Williams. Taking the matters into their own hands, a few students are relying on themselves to be Y2K ready. "I'm saving bank statements and credit card bills, and I am traveling overseas so I made sure my flights are away from the (Dec. 31 to Jan. 1) area just in case of luggage or reservation losses," LSA senior Stephen Tan said. Some University students have altered their New Year's plans to avoid potential problems. "Usually we travel over Christmas, but not this year because of Y2K," LSA sophomore Anisha Amin said. Some individuals are interested in staying away from heavily populated areas. "I am from New York City, and the only thing I am going to do is get out of the city. I am not concerned about anything blowing up, but everyone else is and there are lots of people in the city," LSA senior Amanda Miller said. Aside from the minor precautions students are taking, sonic of them are too busy to think about it. "We have to worry about finals," Bousson said. MINORITY Continued from Page 1A University's Interfraternity Council or Panhellenic Association have mem- berships of about 60 to 70 students. The sorority Delta Sigma Theta, the largest organization in BGA, has about 23 members, Collins said. "It's ridiculous for us to live in a mansion," Collins said. Chris Kulka, IFC office manager, said fraternities and sororities that have recently sought houses have rented from those Greek organiza- tions that have temporarily lost their charters. Sigma Chi fraternity recently rented the former Phi Delta Theta home on Washtenaw Avenue during renovations to its own build- ing. Instead of holding social activities in residential buildings, members of the many minority Greek associations hold their social activities at the Michigan Union and at local night clubs. Collins said his fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma, holds its events at the Union, where in addition to rental fees, it must pay for the presence of Department of Public Safety Officers. Damaris Madrigal, vice president of the Latina sorority Delta Tau Lambda said the money behind orga- nizations in the IFC and Panhellenic Association allows them to maintain their homes. "The white Greek sys- tem was probably the first to start and is the most elite system as far as money, membership and alumni giv- ing back to the college campuses," she said. Madrigal added that Delta Tau Lambda is not interested in purchas- ing a house. "We'd rather use the money to give back whatever we can to the surrounding communities," she said. ACROSS THE NATION /' Secret mediation facilitates agreement WASHINGTON - The scheduled resumption of Syrian-Israeli peace talks in Washington on Wednesday follows months of secret U.S. mediation that already has brought the two sides closer to an agreement than at any time in half a century of conflict and confrontation, administration officials said yesterday. After private diplomatic exchanges that included more than a dozen phone calls between President Clinton and Syrian President Hafez Assad since August, both sides will enter the talks with a clear understanding of the other's require- ments on issues relating to territory, timing, security and the nature of diplomat- ic, cultural and trade relations, the officials said. They added, moreover, that American mediators have in recent months nar- rowed the gaps on some of those issues, enhancing the prospects for a peace set- tlement whose basic requirements - the return of the Golan Heights in exchange for Syrian security guarantees and promises of normal relations with Israel - were widely known even before the two countries broke off talks near- ly four years ago. That the talks will be opened by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Charaa - rather than ambassadors or military chiefs of staff- has contributed to a sense here that Middle East diplomacy has reached what Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called "an amazing moment." Don,'t Panic!! If you think yu're pregnant... call us-we listen, we care. PROBLEM PREGNANCY HELP 975-4357 Any time, any day, 24 hours. Fully confidential. Serving Students since 1970. DRIVING RECYCLE THE DAILY continued from Page IA SAVE A TREE. I V W WO 0 W, ®.0 M' Apply now at the aw Library *1 *non-Law Students *Law Students *S.I. Students Sas F Apply in person: Room S-180 in the Law Library's under- Dor op*en ground addition, 8-noon and B IN D1-5 Monday through Friday. 208: f. Fr rtret 96-* 5 AA/EOE Tau. Beta PI Michigan Gamma Tau Beta Pi, the National Engineering Honor Society, was founded to mark in a fitting manner those who have conferred honor upon their Alma Mater by distinguished scholarship and exemplary character as students in engineering, or by their attainments as alumni in the field of engineering, and to foster a spirit of liberal culture in engineering colleges. We, the officers and faculty advisors of the Michigan Gamma Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, wish to congratulate the following people who have achieved our high standards and have successfully completed the initiation rituals, thereby becoming active members of Tau Beta Pi: The Ann Arbor Police Department does not currently record race data. AAPD Sgt. Michael Logghe said a com- mittee has been researching whether the AAPD should take a closer look at its officers' traffic stops. ' "It's really a national debate," Logghe said. "Surely it's an issue (in Ann Arbor). I don't know if it's a huge one" MSP Lt. Ellis Stafford, assistant com- mander of the Ypsilanti post, acknowl- edged that troopers may be reluctant to stop minority drivers if they know racial statistics are being monitored. "It might make some. officers say, 'I've stopped three cars and they were all black males. Id better start stopping some white males,"' Stafford said. "But I think it will be minimal." "We always just say to go out and do your job" he added. "The numbers will take care of themselves." Yungfer doesn't expect to immediate- ly see indications that state police have been deliberately engaging in racial pro- filing. Last year, troopers made 900,000 traffic stops on Michigan highways. "We have a high degree of integrity" Yungfer said. "Basically we're looking for red flags." Stafford said dispelling the fears about police integrity is worth the extra time and effort troopers must commit to the issue. "I don't consider maybe a pen stroke or a 1n'tor a '2'at thebottom ofthe (daily logs) a problem," Stafford said. "What I think may be a problem is guessing the race of some people. We're not going to be allowed to ask what the driver's race is" Yungfer said asking for drivers' eth- nicities would be offensive to many peo- ple. "We're trying to get an officer's per- ception of what the person's race is," he added. Stafford said logging data on drivers could show some troopers that they may be subconsciously drawn to minority dri- vers, though they have not done so inten- tionally. "Every officer is different," he said. "Those life experiences do influence the actions those officers may take. We just want to bring those subconscious efforts to the forefront" In November, the campus chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Mixed Initiatives sponsored a forum at the Michigan Union titled "Driving While Black:' The ACLU compiled a special report this spring called "Skin Color as Evidence: The 'Crime' of Driving While Black" and set up a toll-free hotline to report racial profiling cases. BANKS Continued from Page IA To restore public faith in the banking systems, the government established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. "The federal government insures individual deposits up to $100,000," Carson said. "This way, if any individ- ual bank went broke, people would get their money back." The government system may have succeeded as many people are not con- cerned about losing their money. "I'm not taking any money out because I'm not really worried about it," LSA senior Luke Klipp said. "I think the Y2K thing is blown out of proportion." PI Continued from Page 1A No further information has been made available about the condition of the injured pledge at the request of his family. The Pi member said it is hypocritical for the pledges who spoke against Pi to continue in the Greek system. "These pledges who so emphatically Internet sales could be subject to taxes WASHINGTON - So, you're sit- ting home in your pajamas ordering Christmas presents over the Internet and feeling smug. You've avoided the mall parking lot. And, even better, escaped the state sales tax. Savor the moment. Tax-free e-shop- ping might not last much longer. States are determined to retain and even expand their taxing authority over Internet sales, even as promises to ban or eliminate the levies on the myriad forms of c-commerce are emerging as an issue in the 2000 pres- idential race. And if the controversy, which cross- es party and ideological lines to pit the old economy against the new economy, ends in stalemate, odds are the state tax collector will win. "We're not giving up our sales tax," vows Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer. Getting rid of the tax "sounds like good politics, but you have to think of what the impact would AROUND THE WORLD Panama to gain full control of canal PANAMA CITY, Panama - With their partnership approaching its 100- year anniversary, Panama and the United States are officially going their separate ways. Panama gets to keep the real estate; the United States gets the memories. The transfer of the Panama Canal into Panamanian hands on Dec. 31 ends the U.S. military presence in this narrow waist of the American continent, where the waterway joins the Atlantic and the Pacific. The ceremony marking the transfer is planned for tomorrow. Panama will regain all 363,000 acres of lush tropical land the United States has used since the early century as mili- tary bases or part of the Panama Canal basin - as well as the canal itself. The end of the partnership, although planned for 20 years since President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian strong- man Gen. Omar Torrijos signed the Canal Treaties, nevertheless came in a rush as the United States hurried to close all its installations here. Panama became an independent coun- try in 1903 under the wing of the United States, which encouraged its leaders to separate from Colombia. Shortly there- after, Panama signed an agreement with the United States for the construction of the Panama Canal, which was inaugurat- Croats mourn death of first president ZAGREB, Croatia - Workers put* the finishing touches yesterday on Franjo Tudjman's massive black granite tombstone as Croats mourne~d the mant best remembered for steering his coun- try to independence from Yugoslavia. Tudjman, Croatia's first president, died Friday in a Zagreb clinic after a six- week battle with what was described as an abdominal illness. The 77-year-old leader had been rumored to be suffering from stomach cancer since 1996. -- Compiled from wire reports. be both on government services and local retailers." Politicians from both parties are call- ing for a ban on taxing Internet trans- actions, contending that this new form of commerce ought to be allowed to develop freely without the burdens and disincentives of taxations. Death row appeals process unimproved WASHINGTON - Convicted killers executed in 1998 spent just 90 days less on death row than those put to death in 1997, despite efforts by state legisla- tures, Congress and the Supreme Court to hasten the appeals process, a federal study shows. The 68 inmates executed in 1998 were on death row an average of 10 years and 10 months - three months less than that of the 74 inmates executed in 1997, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report released yesterday. Pro-death penalty forces continue working to shorten the time before execution. Eyad I. Abu-Isa Kacy N. Beitel Ryan L. Bergeron Andrea C. Box Carolyn A. Brooks Matthew G. Brown Donald S. Davis James P. Donaldson Gayatri Eadara Michael A. Eickholt Michelle E. Fowler Kimberly K. Gaffey Shawn M. Hansen Galen Clark Haynes Jean Hung Shawn E. Hunter Elizabeth Jubera Nihar V. Kanodia Karmen N. Lappo Ho-Yin Law Andrew S. Lee Peter H. Leung Phongphaeth Pengvanich Mahesh K. Reddy Sylvie L. Reoma Matthew E. Rudnick Christopher T. Lim Belal S. Sabki Andrea M. Budzynski Chad S. Gallinat Tufan C. Karalar Christine Y. Cha Bradford R. Graham Eric A. Karl MI H. Chang Christopher S. Grimmer Jason T. Kline Ryan D. Majkrzak Jonathan A. Malen Adam J. Martin Tracy L. Matson Onur Mutlu Matthew R. Neagle Daniel J. Ott Avi Shertok Jennifer E. Shin Ciara Stella Ryan C. Sun Chee Fore John V. Vitovsky Erin R. West Michele D. Zambito Jennifer A. Zieg Melissa P. Chen Yowjie Chien Vito A. Ciaravino Jennifer A. Gruits Ashley M. Halleran Sara M. Hammerschmidt Irene E. Kokkinos Nir Yitzhak Krakauer Jennifer E. Krause The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $100. Winter term (January through April) is $105, yearlong (September through April) is $180. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of the Associated Press and the Associated collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 734): News 76-DAILY; Arts 763-0379; Sports 647-3336; Opinion 764-0552; Circulation 764-0558; Classified advertising 764-0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 764-0550. E-mail letters to the editor to daily.etters@umich.edu. World Wide Web: http://www.michigandaily.com. * ,J -. , L .CI * 3 .. , ..U-- P . 0 1 NEWS Jennifer Yachnin, Managing Editor EDITORS: Nikita Easley, Katie Plona, Mike Spahn, Jaimie Winkler, STAFF: Lindsey Alpert. Jeannie Baumann, Risa Berrin, Marta Brill, Nick Bunkley, Charles Chen, Anna Clark, Adam Brian Cohen, Shabnam Daneshvar, Sana Danish, Dave Enders, Jen Fish, Anand Gridharadas, Robert Gold, Jewel Gopwani, Michael Grass, Krsta Gullo, David Jenkins, Elizabeth Kassab, Jodie Kaufman, Jody Simone Kay, Yael Kohen, Lisa Koivu, Karolyn Kokko. Dan Krauth, Hanna LoPatin, Tiffany Maggard, Kevin Magnuson, Caitlin Nish, Kelly O'Connor, Jeremy W. Peters. Asma Rafeeq, Nika Schulte, Jennifer Sterling, Shoman Terrelonge-Stone, Nicole Tuttle, Jon Zemke. CALENDAR:Adam Zuwerink. EDITORIAL Jeffrey Kosseff, David Wallace, Editors ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Emily Achenbaum, Nick Woomer. EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Ryan DePietro. STAFF: Ryan Blay, Chip Cullen, Peter Cunniffe, Seth Fisher, Lea Frost, Jenna Greditor. Scott Hunter, Kyle Goodridge, Molly Kennedy, Cortney Konner, Thomas Kuljurgis, Mike Lopez, Branden Sanz, Killy Scheer. Jack Schillaci, Jim Secreto, Jeb Singer, Jennifer Strausz, Katie Tibaldi, Josh Wickerham, Paul Wong. SPORTS Rick Freeman, Managing Editor EDITORS: TJ. Berka, Chris Duprey, Josh Kleinbaum, Andy Latack. STAFF: Emily Achenbaum, Matthew Barbas, Rohit Bhave. David Den Herder, Sam Duwe. Dan Dingerson, Jason Emeott, Sarah Ensor, Mark Francescutti. Geoff Gagnon. Brian Galvin, Raphael Goodstein, Arun Gopal, Chris Grandstaff, David Horn, Michael Kern. Dena Krischer, Ryan C. Moloney. David Mosse. Stephanie Offen, Jeff Phillips, Kevin Rosenfield, David Roth, Tracy Sandler, Jon Schwartz. Benjamin Singer. Nita Srivastava, Uina Subramanian, Jacob Wheeler, Dan Williams, Jon Zemke. ARTS Christopher Cousino, Aaron Rich, Editors WEEKEND. ETC. EDITORS: Toyin Akinmusuru, Jeff Druchniak, Nicole Pearl SUB-EDITORS: Gabe Fajuri (Music) Jenni Glenn (Fine/Performing Arts), Caitlin Hall (TV/Niw Media), Gina Hamadey (Books). Ed Sholinsky (Film) STAFF: Gautam Baksi, Matthew Barrett, Nick Broughten. Jason Birchmeier, Alisa Claeys, Lloyd Dobler, Cortney Dueweke, Nick Falzone, Laura Flyer, Ben Goldstein, Jewel Gopwani, Anika Kohon, Chis Kula, Joshua Pederson, Erin Podo!sky, David Reamer, Aaron Rich, Adlin Rosli. Neshe Sarkozy, Chris Tkaczyk, Ted Watts, John Uhl, Curtis Zimmermann. PHOTO Louis Brown, Dana Unnane, Editors ASSOCIATE EDITOR: David Rochkind ARTS EDITOR: Jessica Johnson STAFF: Allison Canter, Sam Hollenshead, Dhani Jones. Danny Kalick, David Katz, Emily Linn, Marjorie Marshall, Jeremy Menchik, Joanna Paine, Sara Schenk, Michelle Sweinis, Alex Wolk, Kimitsu Yogachi. ONLINE Satadru Pramanik, Managing Editor EDITORS: Toyin Akinmusuru, Rachel Berger, Paul Wong STAFF: Amy Ament,'Angela Cummings, Dana Goldberg, James Schiff, Peter Zhou. r F r I I r I i