LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 11; 2002 - 3
Senators charge airport with mismanagement
Delivery driver
jailed after arrest
for drunk driving
Campus police arrested a delivery
driver for operating a vehicle under the
influence of alcohol Wednesday at
1:30 a.m, according to Department of
Public Safety reports. The man, who
was stopped while driving on Cather-
ine Street, had a blood alcohol content
of .20 percent. In Michigan, a driver is
considered legally drunk with a BAC
level of .10 percent.
The man was taken to the Washte-
naw County jail.
Purse stolen from
residence hall
RA female student living in Couzens
Residence Hall said her purse was
stolen last April from the residence
hall, DPS reports state. She did not file
a report at the time of the larceny.
Since the theft, she discovered that
several fraudulent accounts had been
opened in her name and about $1,700
in transactions made in those accounts.
Juvenile escapee
caught by police
Arbor Heights Center staff members
notified DPS of a juvenile escapee
Sunday evening, according to DPS
reports. The boy, who had left the cen-
ter located in 1400 block of Washing-
ton Heights, was found on Fuller Road
near Gallup Park.
Officers arrested the juvenile and
returned him to the center without
incident.
University street
signs torn down
Ann Arbor police alerted DPS
Wednesday morning of University
signs that had been torn down, stolen
and left on a sidewalk at the corner of
Washtenaw and Forest Avenues,
according to DPS reports. A stop sign,
parking sign and a lot sign had been
stolen from a campus parking lot.
DPS had no suspects.
Wallet found with
$140 missing in
residence hall
A woman's stolen wallet was
found in East Quad Residence Hall
first-floor men's restroom Monday
evening, according to DPS reports.
When the wallet was returned to
her,nthe owner found that several
gift cards and $140 had been taken
from the wallet.
She had reported the theft that
occurred earlier in the day while
guests were present in her room.
DPS was conducting an investiga-
tion.
Money taken from
unattended purse
An unknown person removed
$225 from purse left unattended in
a School of Dentistry office
Wednesday morning, according to
DPS reports. The person left $100
in the wallet.
DPS had no suspects.
Computer stolen
from cabinet on
North Campus
An Art and Architecture employee
said his computer was stolen during
winter break, DPS reports state. He
said the computer was taken from a
locked cabinet.
Police found no signs of forced
entry into the cabinet, but one padlock
was missing. The computer was last
seen on Dec. 13 and is valued at
$3,000.
CDs stolen from
Architecture
building desk
A female employee at the Art
and Architecture Building told
police her third floor desk cubicle
was broken into and 40 CDs taken
during winter break, DPS reports
state.
DPS had no suspects.
- Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter
Jacquelyn Nixon.
They request airport officials
be barred from giving contracts
to relatives of employees
By Louie Meizlish
Daily Staff Reporter
Reforming operations at Detroit Metropoli-
tan Airport is a top priority in the Michigan
Senate, according to a spokesman for Senate
Majority Leader Dan DeGrow (R-Port
Huron). DeGrow is among a sizeable group
of Republican legislators accusing the air-
port's operators of gross mismanagement.
The airport, operated by Wayne County
and managed by the county executive, had
been a target for a state takeover. Now, how-
ever, the proposed reform will only extend as
far as requiring the airport to obey new rules
in an amended state Aeronautics Code.
DeGrow's spokesman, Aaron Keesler, said
yesterday a vote on legislation can be expected
within the next two months.
The proposed added provisions in the Aero-
nautics Code would:
Prohibit airport officials from awarding con-
tracts to contractors or subcontractors who
employ or are owned by relatives of airport offi-
cials.
Require airports to perform background
checks of employees and appoint an ombudsman
to handle complaints by travelers.
® Require the airport to publish on its website
requests for bids for proposed contracts.
Michael Conway, director of external relations
for Detroit Metro, said the new rules are unnec-
essary and said the investigation and proposed
bill are an attempt by "outstate Republicans .to
embarrass downstate Democrats."
Attorney General Jennifer Granholm, Wayne
County's former corporation counsel, is a Demo-
cratic candidate for governor.
Sen. Loren Bennett (R-Canton), vice chair of
the Senate's Detroit Metro Airport Review Com-
mittee, said it is time to deem activities previous-
ly considered inappropriate illegal.
Senate Bill 690, he said, "is really going to
address ethics as well as what should and
shouldn't be done at airports and whether or not
contracts can be awarded to relatives."
Democrats have accused Republicans, who
hold majorities in both houses of the Legisla-
ture, of performing a partisan investigation.
Republicans, especially the majority leader,
Senate Metro Airport Review Committee
Chair Glenn Steil of Grand Rapids, have
charged the county with mismanaging the air-
port.
Conway acknowledged that the airport has had
problems in the past but said it will be dramati-
cally improved after the Feb. 24 opening of its
new midfield terminal for Northwest Airlines.
State Rep. Ray Basham is a Democrat who
represents Taylor and the airport's hometown,
Romulus. He said the state does not have the
authority to conduct the present investigation,
since the Wayne County Commission is invested
with oversight of the airport.
Besides, he said, "Wayne County's airport is a
jewel to not only my district but to the people of
the state of Michigan."
Senate committee member Bennett said he
expected a form of the legislation to pass the
Senate soon, although it is constantly being
revised.
Budget cuts put future of
my~umich porta in doubt
By Margaret Engoren
Daily Staff Reporter
Budget concerns within the University's Information
Technology Department are threatening my.umich.edu
before it marks a year of service.
"As a unit we support the site and are enthusiastic
about maintaining and improving it, but there are real
budgetary issues within the University's technology.
department," said Linda Place, director of the Univer-
sity website coordination. "As a new service, the value
of my.umich.edu will be questioned and evaluated."
my.umich.edu offers a wide variety of services,
including email, news, a campus directory, a calendar,
announcements and favorite website storage. A unique
feature, "Making U-M History," focuses on campus
news and events. Coordinators are working to create a
symposium piece on Martin Luther King Jr.
"There have been substantial improvements made to
the site," said Judy Bean, a member of the group which
maintains the site. "It is out of pilot mode and into pro-
duction service."
"More than 15,000 people logged onto the site last
month," Place said. The site saw no decline in users
during last month's holiday season.
Users from the United States constitute the majority
of the site's visitors.
Ten percent of users log on from Canada. Israel and
"There are budgetary issues
within the ... technology
department."
- Linda Place
University website coordination director
Germany complete the top four countries for the most
my. umich. edu logins.
"I regularly use the site to check my email," said
Alexander Acemyan, a an engineering freshman stu-
dent. "I also use the site to check my phone bill and
post classifieds. I like that I can accomplish all of that
on one website. It is a little slow, but it is not too bad."
Lindsay Boynton, a second-year Medical student,
used my.umich.edu during the summer but stopped
when she returned to the University.
"I used the site over the summer to check my e-mail
at work, where I didn't have access to telnet," Boynton
said. "Now that I am back to school, though, I use tel-
net because I just like it better. my.umich.edu was real-
ly nice to have over the summer though."
The site's busiest hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
while its least busy hours are 3 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Friends and family of Engineering junior Rebecca Hilger watch a video last night
at a memorial service in the Michigan Union Ballroom.
Servic held for
studentkilled in
AriZona car crash
By Tomislav Ladika
Daily Staff Reporter
Jessica Knapp said the outpouring of
emotion and support at yesterday's
memorial service remembering the life
of her roommate, Engineering junior
Rebecca Hilger, provided her with a
sense of closure.
"She would have liked to be remem-
bered as a loving, caring person, which
she was," said Knapp, an LSA junior
who shared a room with Hilger in the
Gamma Phi Beta sorority.
Knapp said the service was especially
beneficial to everyone who missed the
funeral of Hilger, who was killed Dec.
30 in a car accident while on a skiing
trip with her boyfriend.
Many of her friends could not attend
the funeral because it was held during
the University's winter break.
Last night's memorial, held at the
Michigan Union ballroom, featured
reflections on Hilger's life by Nursing
junior Heidi Hudson, Hilger's roommate
during their freshman year, and Kinesi-
ology junior and close friend Traci
Buchalski, who shared a story of a
canoeing trip with Hilger. Buchalski
said the story typified Hilger's personal-
ity.
"The part we went on had no current.
We sat there, didn't move at all and
enjoyed nature," Buchalski said.
"Whether you were talking with her or
just sitting there, you were having a
good time."
Father Dennis Glasgow of St.
Mary's Student Parish read a card in
which Hilger wrote of her plans to par-
ticipate in Alternative Spring Break, a
program through which students sacri-
fice their spring break to perform com-
munity service.
Glasgow asked Hilger's family
and friends to serve the community
as she had and planned to continue
doing.
Knapp said Hilger would also have
been pleased with the memorial
"because her faith was brought up,
which was an important part of her life."
A slide show and an open-micro-
phone session followed the speeches.
Many of Hilger's friends, some who
remembered her from high school and
some who only met her in classes last
fall, spoke about how Hilger affected
their lives.
Susan Montgomery, an undergradu-
ate adviser for chemical engineers, said
Hilger's death helped her realize the
value of her friends and family.
"In her death, she has changed my
life," Montgomery said. "You should
live this life like it's your child's or your
friend's last day. Take the time to appre-
ciate all these special people you have in
your life."
The mood of the memorial was
somber during a slide show and the
open-microphone session when many
people openly cried as they shared
memories of Hilger.
But occasionally people laughed,
seeming to relate to some of the
personal memories brought up by
the speakers.
Boston I Evanston I Princeton San Mateo Frankfurt London Paris
THE CALENDAR
What's happening in Ann Arbor this weekend
FRIDAY
"Affirmative Action In
India and the United
States: A Comparative
Perspective"; Sponsored
ern Greek Studies, 6:00
p.m., Education School
Schorling Auditorium,
610 East University
"Panic Disorder: Diagno-
Sponsored by the Kiwanis
Club of Ann Arbor, 9:00
a.m. - Noon., 200 South
First Street
SUNDAY
SERVICES
Campus Information
Centers, 764-INFO,
info@umich.edu, or
www. umich.edu/-info
* S.A.FE. Walk. 763-WALK,
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