-- LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 10, 2001 -

Woman assaulted
on East University
A woman was assaulted early Sunday
morning while walking with two other
women on East University Avenue,
.partment of Public Safety reports
tate. Four or five men were witnessed
-elling obscene comments out of a car
window which was following the
women. Reports state that following a
verbal confrontation, one of the men got
out of the car and pushed a women to
the ground. The suspect then got back in
the car and the vehicle fled before
authorities arrived on the scene. DPS
did not report having any suspects in the
incident..
lief flees with
stolen books
A male subject was seen fleeing the
Shapiro Undergraduate Library with
two books, DPS reports state. [he sub-
ject hid the books in a backpack and
then fled onto the Diag in an unknown
direction. DPS did not report having
suspects in the incident.
Subjects caught
crawling into
window of MLB
DPS reports state that three sujects
were discovered in the Modern Lan-
guages Building Saturday morning
after a witness saw one of the subjects
crawling through a window on the
lhington Street side o' he building
and notified DPS.
Soup burns after
Baits resident
leaves for class
A fire alarm was activated and
smoke was present Saturday afternoon
a resident's room at the Vera Baits
I'onger House, DPS reports state.
When officers made contact with the
resident she told them she had left
soup cooking and then went to class.
Reports state there was no damage to
the room other than the burnt soup.
Elevator mechanic
assaulted with
Vecrackers
Unknown individuals assaulted a
mechanic working on an elevator at
Couzens Residence Hall on Saturday
afternoon, DPS reports state. The sub-
jects pelted the mechanic with firecrack-
ers by throwing them through an open
slot on the floor above the one on which
the mechanic was working. Reports
state the mechanic was unable to identi-
f e perpetrators.
Convertible top
lashed in lot
DPS reports state the roof of a con-
vertible parked in the Thompson Street
parking structure was slashed Saturday
evening. Reports state that personal
items were stolen from the vehicle.
DPS did not report having any sus-
pects in the incident.
OS officer pulls
muscle in arrest
A DPS officer sustained a strained

muscle injury while making an arrest
at Hash Bash Saturday night, reports
state. The suspect was charged with
resisting arrest.
Aock damaged
.Union, suspect
floes scene
DPS reports state an individuai
damaged a clock in the Michigan
Union early Sunday morning and then
threatened Union staff members when
approached about the clock. The sus-
pect fled out of the building in an
unknown direction,
afy substance
found at Markley
DPS officers found a green leafy
substance in a room at Mary Markley
Residence Hall early Monday morn-
ing, reports state. Reports state that the
substance was possibly marijuana.
-Compiled by g7aily Staff Reporter
Kristen Beaumont.

'U'

attempting to deal with new technology

By Whitney Elliott
Daily Staff Reporter
The Senate Advisory Committee on Univer-
sity Affairs spoke with the President's Informa-
tion Revolution Commission yesterday
afternoon about the IRC's year long investiga-
tion into the University's future use of informa-
tion technology.
The IRC will report to University President Lee
Bollinger within the next two weeks on informa-
tion technology infrastructure, teaching in the
information age, research the University must do
on information technology and distance educa-
tion.
"There's an information revolution out there
that we're trying to respond to. The revolution in
my mind has altered the world and we have to fig-
ure out what to do with it," said Engineering Dean
Steven Director, the IRC's co-chair.

Director declined to speak specifically on the
recommendations before they have been made to
Bollinger, but said, "We feel that in some areas
we've gotten behind. There are going to be some
specific recommendations."
IRC co-chair John King spoke about the down-
side of the digitalization of some primary sources
found in the University library system. He said
digitalized documents lose valuable information
such as century-old notes made in margins, which
cannot be scanned.
"It wouldn't be practical," King said.
King also talked about the University's involve-
inent in distance learning programs such as
wwwfathom.com, a website that allows students
to take classes via the Internet.
"There's, in a sense, been a movement of mobi-
lization," King said of long-distance learning. But
he emphasized that at the early stages of Internet
teaching, "the University needs to stay in the state

of investing and learning."
SACUA chair and Architecture Prof. Moji
Navvab expressed concern, and said he knew of
"faculty that won't even touch the keyboard."
"You're always going to have the people who
aren't going to want to change. This University
should be a major player in these kinds of things,"
King said.
SACUA member and Nursing Prof. SeonAe
Yeo said in her expenence at the Nursing School,
technology has been difficult to incorporate into
the learning process because it is hard to keep up
with new technology.
"When we try to use the cutting-edge technolo-
gy, we have to struggle. Some students and facul-
ty need to spend more time learning to use tne
tools rather than teaching with the tools. I wonder
sometimes if its worth so much time learning how
to use technology,"Yeo said.
King said people will have to keep learning to

keep up with technology.
"That's going to keep happening while technol-
ogy keeps getting better. You don't have to keep
learning how to drive. It's a frozen technology," he
said.
Navvab also asked how much information and
technology will be present in student life.
"So far the University has not gone down the
road of requiring students to own their own com
puters. We're going to have to do a lot of expens.
ments (with respect to student living) and then
we're going to have to assess those," Director
said.
King said the information technology investiga-
tion determined students and faculty at the Uni-
versity want to keep advancing into the
technological future.
"The University of Michigan is going to spend
more money on this. This is where the faculty and
students want to go," he said.


Putting down roots
['.r

$1 billion lawsuit


filed over death of
woman at RiteAid

SOUTHFIELD (AP) - While
autopsy results have yet to reveal why a
woman died after a struggle with Rite
Aid security guards, attorney Geoffrey
Fieger said yesterday he has filed a bil-
lion-dollar lawsuit against the drug-
store chain.
Alwanda Gail Person-Jackson died
Friday at the store after police say she
tried to leave with $200 worth of mer-
chandise, then struggled with security
guards and store personnel.
After she was dragged inside and
handcuffed with plastic restraints, Per-
son-Jackson broke free, police told The
Detroit News for a story yesterday. A
witness said a worker then sat on Per-
son-Jackson until she went limp.
The Wayne County medical examin-
er performed an autopsy on the woman
Saturday but could not immediately
determine the cause of death, said
Eunice Howard, director of administra-
tion for the medical examiner. Dr.
Leigh Hlavaty is waiting for "a broad
spectrum of tests" that could take six to
eight weeks to complete before deter-
mining the cause of death, Howard
said.
Detroit Police are waiting for the
medical examiner's report, said Investi-
gator Barbara Simon. No charges have
been filed.
Meanwhile, Fieger announced he has
filed charges against Rite Aid Corp.
"Someone at Rite Aid decided they

would be judge, jury and executioner
of any customer they suspected'of
shoplifting," Fieger said yesterday at a
news conference with Jackson's fami-
ly. "Someone in a corporate board
room at Rite Aid decided that their
merchandise is more valuable thin
human life."
Rite Aid Corp. spokeswoman Saiah
Datz said she could not comment on
the case until the company can review
the lawsuit. The company is doing its
own investigation, she said.
Jackson's family said they just want
justice.
"I'm very hurt right now. That's the
only mother I had. That's my one moth-
er," said her 20-year-old daughter,
Sherita Person, before breaking into
tears.
"She was a good mother. She had a
few emotional problem, but she was a
good person, a giving person. All I
want is justice," said Jackson's hIus-
band, Michael Jackson.
Fieger noted that this is the third
time in less than a year that a suspected
shoplifter has died following struggles
with security guards.
"What kind of people have we
become? We tolerate this behavior.
These are executions," said Fieger, who
also has filed suits over the deaths of
two Detroit-area men who died after
scuffles with security guards in the past
year.

JOYCE LEEjady
LSA senior Tom Charron helps to plant his class' senior tree on the Diag yesterday. Seniors voted on where they wanted
the tree to be planted. The tree sits on the Diag in front of the E.H. Kraus Natural Science Building.

Court refuses to
block concealed
weapons petition

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war'T

Petition drive could put
concealed weapon bill on
ballot in 2002
LANSING, (AP) - In a victory
for gun rights opponents, the Michi-
gan Court of Appeals refused a
request from gun rights advocates to
block a concealed weapons petition.
In a decision released yesterday,
the appeals court said it wouldn't
consider the lawsuit filed by the
National Rifle Association, the
Michigan United Conservation
Clubs and others until the Board of
State Canvassers finishes counting
petition signatures filed by the anti-
concealed weapons group called
People Who Care About Kids.
The lawsuit sought to block
counting of nearly 260,000 signa-
tures delivered by People Who Care
About Kids to the state elections
bureau on March 23.
The petition seeks to force a
statewide referendum on the issue.
For a referendum to reach the bal-
lot, the state must certify 151,356
signatures within 60 days.
"They said the lawsuit was pre-
mature," said Peter Ellsworth, an
attorney for the gun rights advo-
cates. "This merely postpones the

inevitable. This issue will have to be
addressed by the courts."
Ellsworth said his clients are
deciding whether to appeal the deci-
sion immediately to the Michigan
Supreme Court or to wait until the
signatures are counted before filing
a new lawsuit.
A call to the attorney general's
office was not immediately returned
yesterday evening.
Ellsworth filed his lawsuit the
same day that the petition was
turned in.
The concealed weapons law,
scheduled to go into effect on July
I, requires county gun boards to
issue concealed weapons permits to
anyone over 21 who has no history
of felonies or mental illness.
Right now, gun boards issue per-
mits only if permit-seekers can
prove a need to carry a concealed
weapon.
If the referendum-seekers are suc-
cessful, they could prevent the law
from going into effect unless
statewide voters approve the mea-
sure in November 2002.
But gun rights advocates are trying
to halt the referendum effort, saying
the concealed weapons law doesn't
qualify for a referendum because it
contains a spending measure.

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