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. Study in a world class city at a world class academic center with world class student Earn a second bachelors degree and an MS specialty in 30 months WE OFFER 12 MS SPECIALITIS: " Advanced Clinical Management . 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