LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 27, 2001- 3
CRIME
East Quad resident
assaulted with fire
extinguisher
An East Quadrangle resident said
three men ran through the hallway of
3rd Prescott House Friday evening
spraying fire extinguishers, Depart-
ment of Public Safety reports state.
There was no evidence of smoke or
fire. The male resident said he
attempted to apprehend one of the
men and was assaulted with one of the
fire extinguishers.
When interviewed by police, the
resident said he was sprayed with an
extinguisher and one of the men had
made verbal threats to hit him. No one
was injured in the assault.
DPS spotted the men running near
Monroe and Tappan streets.
34 ticketed for
violations during
Ohio State game
Police ticketed 34 people Saturday
during the football game against Ohio
State, according to DPS reports. Seven-
teen tickets were given for violations of
alcohol in the stadium. Police arrested
four minors for possessing alcohol.
The majority of the 16 tickets given
for urinating in public occurred near
the University Golf Course. One per-
son was ticketed for sales and solicita-
tion in the stadium. Seven people
were ejected from the stadium for dis-
orderly conduct and one person was
ejected for violating the University
Board of Regent's weapons ordinance.
Tablecloth and
napkins stolen
A person said a tablecloth and nap-
kins had been stolen from the Business
Administration Building last Monday,
DPS reports state. The items had been
taken on three separate dates.
Police search for
fake Salvation
Army volunteers
Ann Arbor Police asked for DPS
assistance last Monday in finding two
suspects involved in a fraud, DPS reports
state. Two people, who had been in a,
group of four, had been posing as Salva-
tion Army donation collectors.
Homeless person
harasses students
A homeless person was found tres-
passing twice last Tuesday evening
after the Chemistry Building's Science
Library staff said they had received five
reports of a homeless person harassing
students, DPS reports state. The person
had been stopped for trespassing earlier
in the day after being spotted in the
lower level of the atrium.
Kayak missing
from NCRB
A North Campus Recreation Build-
ing staff member said a kayak was
stolen last Tuesday morning, accord-
ing to DPS reports. The kayak had
been signed out under a fraudulent
name and was not returned.
Vehicle reported
stolen but found
back at home
, A Cancer and Geriatrics Center
patient said her vehicle was stolen by
her husband's friend last Tuesday after-
noon, DPS reports state. The woman
said her husband and his male co-work-
er picked her up at the Center. Her hus-
band left the keys in the car and
instructed his co-worker to wait in the
vehicle. Once the husband was inside,
the man then drove off with the car.
The vehicle was found when the
woman returned home.
Wallet, ring stolen
from West Quad
After returning to her room after a
shower Wednesday morning, a West
Quadrangle resident noticed her wal-
let and Big Ten ring were missing,
according to DPS reports. The student
had left her door unlocked.
DPS had no suspects.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Jacquelyn Nixon.
Peters drops out
of crowded race
A LEX HOWBERT/Daily
University Vice President for Medical Affairs Gil Omenn speaks yesterday during a panel discussion about bioterrorism at the
School of Public Health.
EXperts stress need to have
quick response to bioteror
By Usa Hoffman
Daily StaffReporter "WeI_ dnn't havP widesnread
O Announcement by
state senator leaves 4
Democratic candidates
By Loule Melzlish
Daily Staff Reporter
The race for the Democratic nomina-
tion for Michigan governor thinned yes-
terday, with one of the five candidates to
head the party's 2002 ticket dropping
out of the race.
State Sen. Gary Peters of Bloomfield
Township said his main reason for drop-
ping out was the need to avoid a divisive
Democratic primary with former Gov.
James Blanchard, U.S. Rep. David
Bonior, Attorney General Jennifer
Granholm and state Sen. Alma Wheeler
Smith.
Peters had been running either last or
next to last in recent polling, drawing
numbers close to those of Smith. Peters,
chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus,
acknowledged that his standing in the
polls did not help his candidacy. "Obvi-
ously, that makes it very difficult ...
when the media constantly focuses on
the horserace aspect of it," he said.
Smith, in a similar position as Peters,
has pledged to stay in the race although
her polling numbers are very close to
those of Peters. A resident of Salem
Township whose district includes Ann
Arbor, Smith, like Peters, is also term-
limited but is steadfast in her conviction
that she will win.
"That leaves one of us in the field
who is well versed in the field on the
issues," Smith said.
Peters, who is prevented from seeking
re-election to the Senate next year due
to term limits, has been leading his
party's fight to prevent oil companies
from drilling in the Great Lakes.
A financial adviser and vice presi-
dent of UBS PaineWebber Corp., he
also has a law degree from Wayne State
University. He is the ranking Democrat
on more committees than any other sen-
ator, serving as vice chair of the
Finance, Judiciary, Education and Nat-
ural Resources committees.
While Peters' announcement did not
come as a surprise, state Democratic
Party spokesman Dennis Denno said he
still thinks "any candidate can beat Dick
Posthumus," the lieutenant governor and
likely Republican nominee for governor.
Peters said he has been approached
by supporters to seek his party's nomi-
nation for attorney general, which,
along with the posts of secretary of state
and lieutenant governor are selected by
delegates to the August 2002 Democrat-
ic State Convention.
Peters said he is considering a run for
that post but has made no decision yet.
The party's candidates for attorney gen-
eral, lieutenant governor and secretary
of state are nominated at the convention
following the gubernatorial primary.
As to the remaining hopefuls for gov-
ernor, "I'm not going to endorse any
candidate for a couple of months, he
said.
Peters may be angling to become the
state's next attorney general, but he
would face a tough climb at that as well,
said Bill Ballenger, a former state sena-
tor and editor of Inside Michigan Poli-
tics.
Ballenger noted that Peters' attorney
general candidacy would hinge on
whether Granholm leaves that option
open to him by winning the Democratic
gubernatorial nomination and until then,
there is not much he can do.
"Frankly, he doesn't know who the
delegates to the state convention will
be," Ballenger said. "He may know who
a few of them are and run around and
do a little spade work."
m
The nation's anthrax scare hit close to home for LSA senior
Sandra Bruening, leading her to look for more information on
treatment and prevention.
"My boyfi-iend lives in New York, and I arrived in Rocke-
feller Center the day anthrax did," Bruening said. "(I) just
hoped that it wasn't in the ventilation system. I don't really
know what the plan is in response to these issues. I know there
are ideas that are circulating, but I want to know more about
specific initiatives and prevention."
Bruening found answers to some of her questions yesterday
during a presentation on bioterrorism at the School of Public
Health.
"We don't have widespread disease, we have widespread
fear and anxiety," said Matthew Boulton, a state epidemiolo-
gist at the Michigan Department of Community Health. "It's
made it more challenging to develop a response.
"Timeliness is critical;" said Boulton, who discussed the so-
called burst response system created in the state that sends a
message to 1,000 state officials via phone, e-mail and fax
immediately following the report of an attack.
Boulton said a large problem with response to biological
elements was that many physicians haven't seen the diseases,
including small pox and anthrax, and have said they would
have trouble diagnosing them.
Suzanne White, Medical Director at Children's Ilospital of
Michigan Regional Poison Control Center, also noted the lack
of experienced professionals. "There's been a huge amount of
relearning. Before, we thought you couldn't get inhalation
anthrax simply through a letter," White said.
With 20 cases of anthrax diagnosed and 19 postal service
facilities decontaminated, medical professionals know their
beliefs may not be true and are attempting to learn more about
diagnosis and prevention.
"A weekend ago, I was on call for the state and took 46
phone calls from physicians to rule out possible anthrax
disease, we have widespread
fear and anxiety."
- Matthew Boulton.
State epidemiologist
cases," said Boulton, who said the state has received 1,000
reported claims of anthrax this fall.
"Bioterrorism is evil, and fighting bioterrorism is good,"
Richard Lempert, director of the Life Sciences, Values and
Society Program, said in his opening statements. "We should
invest substantially in the fight, but there is a clash of political
values. It is the desire of tax payers to have more money in
their pockets. (People) seem far more willing to invest in
machines than on people"
To counter these terrorist actions, University, state and
national figures are joining forces to create a technically and
demographically diverse group of skilled professionals, ready
to handle an attack.
"Toward the end of the 20th century, we developed a local
emergency response team," said Hank Baier, the University's
associate vice president of facilities and operations. "There are
people in this world who want to kill us. As the world
becomes smaller, all we know changes when civilians are tar-
gets, and (the enemies) are suicidal.
"We have a lot of assets readily available for response. Get-
ting them to communicate effectively is the challenge" Baier
said.
During these investigations, a number of diverse experts are
called to the scene, including medical professionals, haz-
ardous materials teams and police forces.
"When it comes to bioterrorism, it will include the FBI, the
National Guard, reporters and politicians," Lempert said.
"Disease scenes become crime scenes."
Gas pnices dip to
lowest i'n 2 years
DEARBORN (AP) - Gasoline
prices in Michigan reached a two-year
low this week, finds AAA Michigan's
weekly Fuel Gauge survey.
Self-serve regular gasoline was- 5.1
cents cheaper this week than last week,
the auto club said yesterday.
The statewide average was $1.148
- 44.7 cents lower than last year at
this time and the lowest price motorists
have paid since June 1999, AAA
Michigan said.
In the Detroit area, the same gallon
of gas was averaging $1.122. The
average price was 5 cents less than last
week and 44 cents per gallon cheaper
than a year ago.
The auto club's weekly survey of
gasoline prices includes 300 stations
across Michigan.
Defense: Taubman
lacked know-how
to pull off scheme
NEW YORK (AP) - A defense
witness testified yesterday that a for-
mer Sotheby's auction house chairman
accused in a price fixing scheme prob-
ably lacked the understanding of
finance to pull off such a complex con-
spiracy.
At board meetings, A. Alfred Taub-
man "actually would fall asleep occa-
sionally," said Michael Ainslie, a
former chief executive at Sotheby's.
Ainslie also testified that Taubman
was passionate about the competition
with which he is accused of conspiring.
"lie was obsessed with beating
Christie's." Ainslie said.
The defense called Ainslie to
counter charges Taubman conspired
with his counterpart at Christie's,
Anthony Tennant, to cheat sellers by
agreeing to charge them identical,
non-negotiable commissions.
Taubman, of Bloomfield Hills, is on
trial in federal court on charges he and
Tennant stole as much as $400 million
from 1993 to 1999 by violating
antitrust laws.
Taubman has donated millions of
dollars to the University of Michigan's
College of Architecture and Urban
Planning, which was later named after
him, and the Medical School.
Tennant of Andover, England, has
refused to come to the United States to
face charges in a case not covered by
extradition treaties.
Ainslie was chief executive of
Sotheby's until 1993, the year prosecu-
tors say the plot was hatched. He por-
trayed Taubman as being demanding
about maintaining Sotheby's lead in
market share and bored - if not con-
fused - by the bottom line.
Shown an internal document prose-
cutors say details the price-fixing con-
spiracy, Ainslie said, "I can't imagine
him being able to understand the com-
plexity (of the document). ... It's all
about numbers."
Ainslie also attacked the credibility
of the government's star witness,
Diana Brooks.
Brooks, Ainslie's successor, told
jurors last week that Taubman and
Tennant secretly agreed they "were
killing each other on the bottom line
and that it was time to do something
about it."
She testified she was under orders to
end costly competition between the
auction houses, which together control
more than 90 percent of the world's art
auctions.
Brooks pleaded guilty last October
to price-fixing charges. Hoping to
avoid a three-year prison sentence, she
also agreed to testify against Taubman.
Sotheby's has also pleaded guilty to
price-fixing charges and was sentenced
to pay $45 million. Christie's was
granted amnesty by the government
for its cooperation.
If convicted, Taubman would face
up to three years in prison.
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