One hundred eleven years of editorialfreedom 74 v till NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 764-0557 www~mkchigandally.com Friday October 19, 2001 C 4 s i - " S 0 C S 11 By Elizabeth Kassab Daily Staff Reporter FLINT - Former Business School Dean B. Joseph White is expected to be named interim president of the Uni- versity this morning at a special for- mal meeting of the Board of Regents. University Regent David Brandon said White has been approached about serving as interim president and has agreed to take the position if it is offered to him. White stepped down from the top of the Business School this sum- mer after serving two five-year terms. "The reality is a decision can be White made and won't be made until there is a public meeting," Brandon said after yesterday's monthly regents meeting. Today's meeting at 9:30 a.m. is the first special public meeting the regents have held since University President Lee Bollinger announced earlier this month he will become Columbia Uni- versity's chief executive in July. By state law, the regents can only appoint someone to an interim or per- manent position at a public meeting. "Tomorrow will be an important day if in fact an interim is named," Brandon said yesterday. Once an interim president is announced, the regents can focus their attention on the search for a permanent successor for Bollinger. Brandon said the date of Bollinger's resignation has not been set, and the decision may ultimately be determined Inside: The University's new interim president has a history of leadership on campus. Page 10. by Bollinger and the interim president. Bollinger is expected to leave no later than December. "I think that is something that shouldn't be discussed and decided by those two individuals," Brandon said. "I think a logical time would be the end of the semester," he said, empha- sizing that no date had been officially determined. The regents met with some of the University's deans yesterday morning, one of several private meetings they have held since Bollinger announced his impending departure. Brandon said the discussion yesterday focused on the structure of the search for Bollinger's successor. The regents made no public announcement about White's expected appointment during their monthly meeting yesterday afternoon at the University's Flint campus. Michigan Student Assembly Presi- dent Matt Nolan and Michael Chap- man, president of the student government council in Flint, both asked the regents to consider making students an integral part of the search process. Chapman requested that the regents include faculty and staff on the Flint and Dearborn campuses. Other than those two references to the presidential search, the regents went about business as usual. Chief Investment Officer Erik Lund- berg made a presentation on the Uni- versity's investment status after the last fiscal year, which ended July 30. See REGENTS, Page 7 DAVID KATZ/Daily The University Board of Regents met yesterday with outgoing University President Lee Bollinger in Flint. The regents are expected to announce today that former Business School Dean B. Joseph White will serve as interim president until the position is permanently filled. 2 more anthrax cases surface i N.J., at CBS 4 WASHINGTON (AP) - A postal worker in New Jersey and a CBS employee who opens Dan Rather's mail were added yesterday to the troubling roster of Americans infected with anthrax, bringing the number of confirmed cases nationwide to six since Oct. 4. As many as three more people reported telltale skin lesions that may signify additional cases. Federal investigators pressed for evidence at research labs and universities that may have access to anthrax and questioned pharmacies to see if anyone tried to buy large amounts of antibiotics before the nationwide anthrax scare. Authorities offered $1 million for information leading to the arrest of those who sent the deadly spores. "Once again we call upon the public to assist us in this fight against terrorism," FBI Director Robert Mueller said in a joint announcement with Postmaster General Jack Pot- ter. One scenario being explored is whether someone living in the United States might have worked with a foreign country or an overseas domestic terrorist group with enhanced biochemical capabilities, officials said. "We think it may be ill-advised to think about the situa- tion in terms of an either/or matrix," Attorney General John Ashcroft said. He also raised the possibility that the anthrax attacks could be the work of more than one home- grown terrorist. "It might well be that we have opportunists in the United States or terrorists in the United States who are acting in ways that are unrelated," said Ashcroft. With two of the anthrax letters postmarked in Trenton, N.J., investigators fanned out across the state looking for evidence, including whether anyone sought large doses of antibiotics that protect against anthrax infection before the current cases occurred. They also checked sites where the sophisticated equipment or anthrax expertise might be found. Authorities 'questioned at least one pharmacist in Tren- ton about whether anyone bought 60 to 120 tablets of the antibiotic Cipro, used for treating anthrax, before Sept. 18 - the postmark date of an anthrax-laced letter sent to NBC anchor Tom Brokaw from the same city. "Anyone trying to buy that many would stick out like a sore thumb," said pharmacist John Berkenkopf, who told investigators no customers had tried to buy such a quantity of pills. Cipro is usually prescribed for a week to 14 days, which is about 10 or 20 pills, for common infections. The regi- See RESEARCH, Page 7 Attacks kill five Afghan civilians KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - American jets bombarded the center of the Afghan capital yesterday, and resi- dents said a strike that hit homes killed at least five civilians - including a 16-year-old girl and four in one family who lived near a Taliban tank unit. In southern Afghanistan, the Taliban headquarters of Kandahar came under attack dozens of times, residents said. And planes struck a small town out- side the southern city where the Tal- iban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had preached two days before. With the air campaign in its 12th day came the first report that the bombing had killed a prominent figure in Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida net- work. A London-based Islamic group said an Egyptian who was a veteran al- Qaida fighter died in a U.S. strike on Sunday. Alongside missiles and bombs, U.S. forces have been bombarding Afghanistan with radio broadcasts and leaflets urging surrender. Defense Minister Donald H. Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon that those operations had borne some fruit, with some Taliban defecting to the opposition. Strikes on the capital appeared tar- geted against a Taliban tank unit and other military installations near the city center yesterday. However, one bomb devastated two homes in the Quilazaman Khan neighborhood, killing the four family members, according to neighbors. A 16-year-old girl was also killed when another bomb exploded in the Microryan housing complex about a half mile away, residents said. Late AP PHOTO An FBI agent walks while wearing his biohazard gear at the American Media Inc. building in Boca Raton, Fla., yesterday. FBI inundated with false powder reports ByJacquelyn Nixon Daily StaffReporter Innumerable reports received by the Detroit division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, none of which have led to posi- tive identification of anthrax, have spread law enforcement capabilities thin in the past two weeks. Although the public is more aware than ever of the threat of biological weapons, FBI special agent Dawn Clenney said Americans need to use more discretion and common sense before filing a report of anthrax with authorities. "It's a fear of the unknown-and people have a lot of questions," Clenney said. "It is a waste of good time, and you're diverting law cials have received several reports from air- lines of substances looking similar to anthrax, but all investigations have tested negative for the bacteria. Airport spokeswoman Barbara Hogan said an apprehensive atmosphere is fostering the multitude of reports. "I think it's the sign of our times. What we would have seen as a month ago as spilled sweet and low is making folks nervous," Hogan said. David Halteman, assistant director of Washtenaw County Emergency Management, said his office has handled over 30 anthrax reports in the last two weeks, all which have been identified as other substances. Emergency Management responded to a call earlier this week at Eastern Michigan that someone had been beating erasers on a chalkboard. Similar reports have been filed within the University of Michigan community. The Department of Public Safety responded to a call this week at Wolverine Tower, where white powder had been spotted on the floor of the elevator, DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said. The powder was determined to be dis- turbed dust from white drywall. A Theta Chi fraternity member reported a suspicious package with a powder residue last Friday to the Ann Arbor Fire Depart- ment, which was also determined to be a false alarm. Halteman said the public has become extremely wary of all packages. An undeci- delivery from its supplier. "If it's all-around suspicious, just send it back to the sender," Halteman said. "Try and identify the source and call them ... verify if someone sent it." A suspicious bag was left on someone's porch earlier this week which was found to be Halloween candy, Halteman said. He also said some individuals have taken advantage of the anthrax scare for their amusement. They have received several reports of "pranksters" who have thrown powder on mailboxes. Despite the number of false anthrax reports, it is caution that is keeping people safe, Halteman said. "The one person who doesn't overreact may be the one person who gets exposed," he I i