LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 4, 2001- 3 CRIM4E r People call for help Iafter car break-in A person became suspicious Saturday evening in a parking lot on Stone Road when four people asked if the person knew how to break into a vehicle. The four said they had locked their keys in the vehicle and wanted to know how to get in, Department of Public Safety reports state. A check on the vehicle by Ann Arbor Police revealed that the vehicle was stolen. tuA 20-year-old man was arrested and Wturned over to the AAPD. Peeping tom seen again at East Quad A female student said she saw a black man watching a woman showering in a third-floor bathroom in East Quad Resi- dence Hall's Hayden House Sunday evening, DPS reports state. The man ran out of the bathroom after he was spotted. The man appeared to be in his 20s, of a thin build and was wearing a gold chain, a gray sweatshirt and jeans. He might have been wearing a black cap and a black leather jacket. Police were unable to find the suspect. Driver runs over an officer's foot during dispute at Baits Ann Arbor Police said a parking officer was assaulted while he was discussing a parking ticket with a person near Vera Baits Residence Hall I Thursday after- noon, DPS reports state. The person drove over the officer's foot with his vehi- cle. Police checked the area but were unable to find the person. I Woman harassed while parking A female staff member from Universi- ty Hospitals said she was harassed by another female staff member trying to park while she was attempting to park in a parking garage in the 1500 block of Hospital Avenue Thursday morning, DPS reports state. The woman made threaten- ing comments, saying that she would slash her tires because she stole her park- ing space. Clothes and money stolen from CCRB A man said $50 cash along with "Rocwear" pants, coat and hat were taken from his bag left unattended in the Cen- tral Campus Recreation Building main gym Friday evening, according to DPS reports. One of the items was found in the men's locker room along with items from an unrelated theft. Woman nearly hit at parking garage A woman said while exiting a park- ing garage in the 1500 block of Hos- pital Avenue Thursday night another vehicle almost hit her vehicle and honked until she drove out of the way, DPS reports state. The person in the vehicle also made a gesture at her. She was able to get the vehicle's license plate. Dispute erupts at Northwood housing A female resident of Northwood Apartments heard screaming and whim- pering coming from her neighbors' apart- ment Saturday at 3 a.m., DPS reports state. She said she occasionally heard a male voice shouting in spurts, a female voice whimpering and a baby crying. She also believed she heard furniture breaking or being thrown around. At the scene, police found the lights turned off inside the residence. A woman answered the door and let police in. Police foun(Wan unresponsive man hiding in the closet. The residents told police the dispute was verbal and drinking had been involved. Man's passport stolen from Union A man said his passport was stolen when he left his bag unattended in the main hallway of the first floor for 15 min- utes Friday afternoon, according to DPS reports. DPS had no suspects. - Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Jacquelyn Nixon. Pfizer plans to move ahead with N. Campus expansion Border patrol By Maria Sprow Daily Staff Reporter The price of housing in Ann Arbor might skyrocket within the next six years, when an estimated 600 to 800 future Pfizer Global Inc. employees flock to Ann Arbor as part of the com- pany's planned $600 million expansion in the city - just one of several con- tentious issues the pharmaceutical company's expansion presents. The expansion is one that was first brought to light after Pfizer agreed to pay the University $27 million for 53 acres of unused land near North Cam- pus, contingent on an agreement by the City Council to give the company a 50 percent tax break. Councilwoman Jean Carlberg (D- 3rd Ward) said the housing and traffic increases associated with the possible expansion concerned many of the council members. Council members were also concerned with Pfizer's commitment to Ann Arbor because the company refused to sign an agreement that would force them to pay back the money saved by the abatement if the company left the area. Councilman Robert Johnson (D- 1st Ward) said that the company's refusal to sign such an agreement, called a clawback, was one of the issues addressed during negotiations. "It was clear that Pfizer would not do that, would not sign that agreement. ... They absolutely, adamantly refused," Johnson said, adding that the council needed some signs of commit- ment before rewarding an abatement. "The whole point of giving these abatements is to persuade (a company) to make a major expansion." During an October City Council meeting, Pfizer Senior Vice President David Cantor, director of the Ann Arbor Laboratories, said if the tax abatement was not approved the com- pany - which employs 3,000 people and is the city's largest private employ- er - might leave Ann Arbor because the land Pfizer currently owns is not large enough for an expansion. However, negotiations between City Council and Pfizer about the tax abate- ment have eased some of the concerns from both sides. To prove its commitment to the area, Pfizer agreed to four major compromis- es. The company's taxes, given the abatement, would never drop below the tax amount Pfizer already has to pay. The company also agreed that it would spend at least $100 million on real property investments in the next five years or else the abatement would be canceled. If Pfizer has not spent $200 million in real property investments}: within the next six years, the abatement .h. would be capped at $300 million. The company also agreed to be.responsible for any infrastructural changes and to work with the council to alleviate traffic and housing concerns. As a result of the negotiations, the council approved, by a vote of nine toQ' twoa 12-year, 50percent tax abate- Cment on all real property taxes and a six-year, 50 percent abatement on all personal property. Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje said the tax abatement agreement would benefit both the city and Pfizer because it will hopefully contribute to "a very long and profitable relationship." "It's not as if we gave anything up, it's money that we wouldn't have had in the way of taxes had they not done their expansion here, Hieftje said. Pfizer agreed to make at least a $600 million investment within the next six years, though council mem- bers are uncertain as to whether the company will actually execute its plans. "It's hard to know," Johnson said. . "We're talking over six years and they AP PHOTO might. But it depends on the economy Attorney General John Ashcroft walks with Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and it depends on whether or not they Herbert Grey on the U.S. side of the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. Inside: get another blockbuster drug. I think Ashcroft says security will increase at border. Page 7 they are planning to do it." Student iaes stock prIces; may ace sanctons frmlT By Jacquelyn Nixon Daily Staff Reporter DEBBIE MIZEL/Daily Green Party co-chair Arita Rios participates in a discussion held yesterday, where she discussed the hardships of gaining authordty in a third poittical party. ios featured at discussion on the Green Party An LSA sophomore could face civil charges for a pos- sible "pump-and-dump" scheme involving falsely raising the stock price of six companies in which he and two oth- ers had invested to obtain a substantial profit. The suspect, 20-year-old Scott Nielsen, could also face sanctions under the University's ITD policy for using University-owned computers. "Our computing use policies do specify that you need to use computing in a legal matter," University spokes- woman Julie Peterson said. No University computers have been confiscated by authorities for the investigation, she added. A "pump and dump" involves buying a stock before recommending it to thousands of investors, and a, quick increase in price is followed by an equally speedy crash after the perpetrators sell off the stock early once its price peaks. John Nester, spokesman for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that investigates stock crime, said he could neither confirm nor deny Nielsen's suspected involvement in such a crime until an investigation is com- plete. "While the SEC investigates evidence of wrongdoing, it can bring a case," Nester said. "'Pump-and-dump' cases may look open and shut, but it must be determined whether the information was knowingly false" before a person is charged with a civil infraction, Nester said. Investigations can be completed in lightning speed, but some can last years, he added. The Internet has become a very efficient way for to commit "pump-and-dump" schemes because of its expe- diency when compared to the boiler-room scams of the past, Nester said.- A share beginning at five cents could inflate to $2.15 if false information is posted on the Internet, he said. "There are people who have reaped tens of thousands of dollars in a short amount of time before we have caught up with them," Nester said. The Internet can also give users a false sense of anonymity. "Someone can believe they are covering themselves ... but they leave electronic fingerprints and footprints," Nester said. Unlike most federal agencies, the SEC cannot bring criminal charges against violators. "Usually (a-case) is brought before an administrative law judge instead of going to court," Nester said. "Fre- quently one or both parties may be willing to settle." Judgments can include civil or punitive fines, he added. Individual companies can seek criminal charges depend- ing on the severity of the crime. "If a company felt that it was violated, it could go to a court and seek redress," Nester said. America's Senior Financial Service, Citizen's Capital Corp., Monogram Pictures Inc., Cambridge Energy Corp., Kings Road Entertainment Inc. and International Cavitation Technologies Inc. are possible companies that could sue Nielsen and his father, who jointly owns Nielsen's brokerage account. By Louie Meizlish Daily Staff Reporter Discussing her efforts to build the Green Party nationally and her disillu- sionment with the two major political parties, Anita Rios, one of four nation- al co-chairs of the party and the high- est ranking Latina in any national political party, relayed yesterday the difficulties a third party faces in becoming a legitimate power. During her sit-down discussion at the Michigan Union, Rios contrasted building the Green Party with party- building done by national Democrats and Republicans. The national Greens are, she said, basically a federation of state Green parties, of which there are 44 registered. "Each state pretty much does it's own thing within the party platform," she said. The federation was just recognized last month by the Federal Election Commission as the party's national committee. Rios said,the party should work to change its image of a group of "white guys in sandals" It should also try to attract minorities, she said. In explaining how she became a Green Party member, Rios, a retired social worker, recalled feeling past Democratic and Republican adminis- trations had done little to improve the difficult circumstances in which many Latinos live. She was born to migrant workers in a three-room farmhouse without plumbing and electricity. At age 16, an adviser told her to drop out of high school. "You know what kind of jobs 16- year-old Latina drop-outs can get? You can't get very good jobs," she said. For more than 30 years in her hometown of Toledo, Ohio, she said, high school dropout rates for Latinos had remained around 40 to 60 percent. "I saw that the realities I grew up in still existed," Rios said. The reason she joined the Greens, she said, was the inability of the major parties to address her concerns. "If the solutions presented by the Democrats and the Republicans aren't solving the problem, a reasonable per- son, at some point, must seek other solutions." The Democratic and Republican parties, she said, have "put out stars with empty messages and empty rhetoric." Rios also discussed the Green Party's platform, which stresses the party's support for universal health care and free education for all stu- dents. However, Rios later added that the party might also be able to use it's bully pulpit to push Democrats into supporting more progressive and pro- labor policies. In most elections nowa- days, she lamented that voters have to choose between "conservative Democrats and a bogeyman." Third-year Rackham student Rob Haug, co-chair of Student Greens, said he is glad a grass-roots cam- paigner made it to Ann Arbor. "It's important they leave those (meeting) rooms and the public hears what we're talking about," Haug said. First-year Social Work student Jose Melendez, who came to the discussion to hear more about the Green Party, said he was impressed with what Rios had to say, but, "for now, I remain a progressive Democrat." I IL THE CALENDAR What's happening in Ann Arbor today _____________________________________________TM IF1 CONTACTSI We deliver. You save.TM '4 EVENTS "Choose to Lead: Power- ful Choices"; Sponsored y , ha('Pntpr +fr the ture, 4:00 p.m., Program in American Culture Con- ference Room, 2433 Mason Hall "Returning to One: Spir- "Between Utopia and Messianism: Agnon's 'Only Yesterday' Revisit- ed"; Sponsored by the University Center for SERVICES Campus Information Centers, 764NFO, info@umich.edu, or . ._ ..