LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 18, 2002 - 3

CRNIE
Masturbating man
seen in Arb, fits
suspect profile
A man pulled down his pants and
began masturbating near a runner in the
Nichols Arboretum at about 5:45 p.m.
on Monday, according to Department
of Public Safety reports. The caller
described the suspect as a white male in
his 40s or 50s and wearing a knit hat,
thigh-length tan colored jacket, and
gray sweat pants. DPS issued a crime
alert in November after a man with a
similar description intentionally tripped
a female jogger in the Arb.
DPS was investigating the incident.
Peeping tom seen
in Union bathroom
A woman reported that a man
looked over the stall while she was
using the restroom on the third floor
of the Michigan Union on Tuesday,
according to DPS reports. The
restroom is unisex. The incident
comes after two other peeping tom
incidents in University buildings. On
Jan. 11, the Department of Public
Safety issued a crime alert after a
female reported a subject reached into
the shower and touched her in South
Quad, and another on Dec. 2nd, after a
caller reported a man peeping in the
shower area in East Quad. DPS
spokeswoman Diane Brown said
Housing security officers checked the
locks on shower room doors last
semester, and continue to check that
they remain in working order.
Alcohol found at
snowball fight
During the annual snowball fight
between students living in South
Quad and West Quad residence halls
Wednesday a driver was cited for
minor in possession of alcohol on
East Madison. The driver drove onto
the sidewalk in front of a police
officer at 9:45 p.m., and was cited
for being a minor in possession of
alcohol after the officer found a
case of beer in the car.
DPS also reported that a caller
reported being tackled by several
subjects during the snowball fight.
DPS did not report having any
suspects.
Victim assaulted
by friend Monday
in Couzens Hall
A student living in Couzens Res-
idence Hall reported being verbally
and physically assaulted by a friend
on Monday. According to DPS
reports, the victim was punched,
kicked, and threatened with a sword
he had in his room. The victim
declined medical treatment, and the
sword was seized as evidence. The
suspect was arrested later that
evening and was lodged at Washte-
naw County Jail pending arraign-
ment for aggravated assault.
Man arrested for
drunken driving
A 21-year old man was arrested for
operating a vehicle under the influ-
ence of alchohol in a University park-
ing lot on Geddes Avenue Tuesday,
according to DPS reports.

Man taken to ER
e after drinking
On Tuesday, a subject was transport-
ed from East Quad residence hall to the
University Hospitals emergency room
for treatment of a high blood alcohol
level, according to DPS reports.
Coat stolen from
B-School; pocket
contained wallet
A $400 black Nordstrom overcoat
was stolen from the Business School
on Wednesday. The coat was taken
from a coat rack in Davidson Hall,
and one pocket contained a wallet.
DPS had no suspects.
- 'ompiled by Rob Goodspeed for
the Daily.

Straight-ticket voting may be on ballot

By C. Price Jones
Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Democratic Party yesterday
endorsed a petition drive to let voters decide
whether to eliminate the ability to choose com-
pletely Democratic or Republican candidates
with one vote.
Straight-ticket voting has been allowed in
Michigan elections since 1891. Public Act 269,
enacted on Jan. 11, would keep voters from
using straight-ticket ballots in November elec-
tions, unless enough signatures are collected to
put the issue on the ballot.
"There's no recorded complaints, and 40 per-

cent of voters use it," said MDP Chair Mark
Brewer.
The referendum "stays the implementation of
the act until the voters can vote on it statewide,"
said Bill Ballenger, editor of the newsletter
Inside Michigan Politics. "It buys more time
and gives the possibility that the act is over-
turned by the people."
If the MDP records 152,000 valid signatures
before March 21 and the referendum is accepted
by the four-member Board of Canvasses, Michi-
ganders will vote on Public Act 269. But the bi-
partisan board must approve the referendum by
a majority.
Supporters said that filling out long ballots

often deters voters from finishing, and that vot-
ers should have the right to easily vote straight-
ticket.
"When they changed the law in Illinois, there
was more voter drop-off and confusion," Brewer
said. He added that the MDP has endorsed the
petition drive in "defending the right of voters."
"The Democrats have aligned themselves in
the anti-election reform camp with this petition
drive," said Jason Brewer, spokesman for the
Michigan Republican Party.
Critics of straight-ticket voting say it encour-
ages voter drop-off. The majority of states allow
straight-ticket voting.
Non-partisan elections, such as judiciary or

University regents, receive significantly lower
votes than the partisan elections included in a
straight party vote.
"Eliminating straight-ticket voting will hope-
fully encourage people to vote in all elections"
Jason Brewer said. He added that there was a
one million-voter drop-off for judiciary elec-
tions in the presidential elections.
Ballenger said the fate of Public Act 269 lies
across party lines because it is widely held that
more Democrats benefit from straight-ticket
voting than Republicans.
"The bottom line is whether more Democ-
rats will be discouraged from voting than
Republicans," said Ballenger.


Pre-trial set for Avery
Queen on MIP charges

By Rob Goodspeed
For the Daily
A Michigan basketball player is
expected to appear in Washtenaw Coun-
ty District Court Jan. 29 for a pre-trial
hearing.
Sophomore guard Avery Queen
pleaded not guilty to charges of minor
in possession and refusing to take an
alcohol breath test.
Department of Public Safety
spokeswoman Diane Brown said the
car Queen was riding in was stopped
at 3 a.m. on Dec. 15. When an offi-
cer asked if any of the passengers
had been drinking, Queen indicated

he had. Queen refused to take the
test, and was taken to DPS head-
quarters where he changed his mind
and registered .04 in a breath test.
"We usually never see (readings) that
low," Brown said. Michigan's MIP law
requires officers to ticket minors who
test above .02 on the Breathalyzer test.
Queen's lawyer, Nicholas Roumel,
said a score of .04 usually indicates the
person has consumed one or two drinks.
Roumel also said that he had not
received a police report from DPS about
the incident.
"If what he told me is true, it cer-
tainly raises questions in my mind,"
said Roumel, "I look forward to see-

ing what the police say."
Roumel said he had not contacted
Michigan men's basketball coach
Tommy Amaker about the case, but
that the two had a good relationship.
Queen did not play in Michigan's
game against Eastern Michigan Dec.
22 for breaking unspecified team
rules.
Testing above a .02 in a Breatha-
lyzer test became a criminal offense
in September 1995 when it was
added to the minor in possession
law. The change resulted in a surge
of MIP citations, especially at col-
leges like the University of Michi-
gan and Michigan State University.

Detroit Public schools on the
right track, according to study

LESLIE WARD/Daily
Young Lords Party founder Felipe Luciano addresses students at East Quad
Residence Hall last night.
Founder of Latino
activist group gilves
address to students

DETROIT (AP) - A new report says Detroit Public
Schools, under its new leadership, is headed in the right direc-
tion in education reform.
The report to be released yesterday by New Detroit Inc. said
schools CEO Kenneth Burnley deserved high marks for
revamping business operations but now needed to focus on
boosting student achievement.
"The overall tenor of the report is that the district has
moved in the right direction and, it seems, is on its way toward
where we want to be," New Detroit President Shirley Stancato
said in a letter to the community included in the report.
The report is based on interviews with school board
members, administrators and 245 principals, the
Detroit Free Press reported for a story yesterday: It was
commissioned by New Detroit, researched by a team
from Michigan State University and paid for largely by
the Skillman Foundation, with help from New Detroit
and Michigan State University.

It gave general recommendations on improving achieve-
ment, safety, community involvement, professional develop-
ment and data management.
Researchers and representatives from the district
were expected discuss the report yesterday at Stellwa-
gen Elementary School.
Stan Childress, spokesman for the Detroit schools, said the
report was an important tool for the district.
"We want people to know that reforms are going for-
ward," Childress said.
One of the city's most influential groups, New Detroit
works to build consensus among community, business, acade-
mic and political leaders to improve residents' economic well-
being, public education and race relations.
The report was the 17th issued by New Detroit Inc. since
1990. It was the fast to measure the effects of changes imple-
mented since the Legislature disbanded the elected school
board in 1999.

By Karen Schwrtz
Daily Staff Reporter

Thirty years ago, Felipe Luciano
co-founded and chaired the Young
Lords Party, a radical activist organi-
zation similar to the Black Panther
Party. The group fought to improve
the living conditions in inner city
communities.
Last night, Luciano spoke about his
experiences and about the need for
organization and leadership among
Latino students.
He addressed a group of more than
100 at East Hall, sharing insight about
empowerment, understanding and
vision for the future.
"What students are seeking is a
sense of purpose - of mission, of
vision - which they do not feel
exists anymore with regard to Latino
students;" he said. "The fastest grow-
ing ethnic group in the country is
Latinos ... We will have to define a
new way of looking at ourselves, our
nation, our countries of origin and our
relationships with them.-
"We had better be prepared acade-
mically, politically, culturally, finan-
cially and psychologically to
empower ourselves and provide a
united front against enemies of our
country who would try to deny our
sense of worthiness, justice, and the
right to mainstream or not if we want
to," he added.
Luciano stressed the importance of
education as a path to success and as
a means of activism.
"The most revolutionary thing out
there is to graduate," he said.
He also focused on the need for
cohesion and tight family bonds, say-
ing that it is part of the Latino cultural
identity to be connected and have a
strong sense of family.
LSA sophomore Chuan Teng said
that for her, Luciano's comments
about family really hit home.
"I'd heard a lot of the things he'd

said before, but the presentation was
really awesome," Teng said. "His
enphasis on family was really mean-
ingful to me, because I think it's the
only concrete real bond people can
have."
Public Policy graduate student Jose
Stevenon said that growing up in the
Bronx, he'd been exposed to the
Young Lords organization, which
funded school breakfasts and lunch
programs and took steps so that the
community could do for itself what
the city was refusing to do.
He added that he thought it was
significant that a leader like Luciano
was speaking because of the model of
success that he represents.
"It's a great example, that they saw
a need and chose to fulfill it - it's a
great image of young people in
impoverished neighborhoods ... and
how their drive led them all into very
productive lives," Stevenson said.
LSA junior Celso Cardenas, a Lati-
no task force member, said he felt
Luciano was an inspiration to Latinos
and to the entire community.
"There are a lot of college students
here today that couldn't have gotten
here without people like him," Carde-
nas said. He added Luciano's struggle
was something many people could
learn from, relate to and understand.
Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs coor-
dinator Donney Moroney said that
one of the goals of the Martin Luther
King Jr. symposium is to educate the
University community about the civil
rights movement from all perspec-
tives.
"The students really wanted to
make sure that we weren't just talking
about the same message over and over
again and that there's no color barrier
with the message;' she said. "MLK's
message of peace and justice is for all
people. It definitely impacted the
African-American community but it
also impacted our entire society ad we
need to recognize and celebrate that."


a

Correction:
Due to an editing error, the name of the Michigan Islamic Academy was incorrect in an article about detained Mus-
lim leader Rabih Haddad on page 1 of yeterday's Daily.
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