NATIONAL
The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 6, 2002 - 3
CAMPUS
Angell hostshstar
gazers' open house
The Student Astronomical Society
will host an open house at the Angell
Hall Observatory, located on the fifth
floor roof, tonight from 10 p.m. to
midnight. Club members will be avail-
able to answer questions and students
will have the opportunity to use the tel-
escope. To get to the observatory, take
one of the elevators to the left of the
large entrance on State Street.
Marijuana, cocaine
use rises, study says
Still searching
Swing, swing,
swing and dance
The first Saturday Swing will take
place at the Michigan League Under-
ground Saturday from 9 p.m.-12:30
a.m., offering participants recorded
music for dancing and listening
enjoyment.
Powwow debuts
on the big screen
The Exhibit Museum, located at the
corner of North University Avenue and
Geddes Street, will present a video,
titled "Into the Circle: An Introduction
to Native American Powwows," Satur-
day at 3 p.m. The video complements
the current museum exhibit, titled
Jiingtamok: Exploring the Powwow
Highway.
Hillel will host
Rosh Hashanah
observances
Tickets can be purchased in advance
at Hillel and are required for all
evening and morning Rosh Hashanah
services this weekend. Orthodox,
reform and conservative services will
be held. Students can receive free tick-
ets to all services by bringing their
valid student ID.
Student book
exchange finishes
in the Pond Room
The Pond Room of the Michigan
Union will host a student book
exchange today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Students can buy and sell textbooks
from each other.
Tashlich trip to
the Arb scheduled
The Hillel version of this Rosh
Hashanah custom will include a walk
through the Arb, where participants
can toss bread and cake crumbs into
the Huron River, symbolically throw-
ing away the year's regretted acts. Stu-
dents are invited to meet at Hillel at
4:30 p.m. Sunday to walk to the Arb.
Marching band to
practice and
entertain today
Students and community members
can watch the marching band during
their practice today from 4:45-6:15
p.m. The George R. Cavender Tower,
used by bandleaders for observing the
band, or the bleachers at Elbel Field
provide onlookers with a preview of
Saturday's halftime show.
Back to back
soccer games
At 4 p.m. today at the University
soccer field at State Street and
Hoover, the women's soccer team
will take on Western Michigan Uni-
versity. Also at Elbel Field, the men's
varsity soccer team will host Indi-
ana/Purdue-Indianapolis at 7 p.m.
Entry to both games is free.
Ultimate Frisbee
welcomes new
members
At 6 p.m. today and tomorrow, all
members of the University community
are invited to a pickup game of ulti-
mate Frisbee at Palmer Field. This
event is ongoing, and times and loca-
tions may change periodically. For
more information, email info@a2ulti-
mate.org.
Women volleyball
players host
Cincinatti tonight
The women's varsity volleyball team
will be playing the University of
Cincinnati at 7 p.m. today at Cliff Keen
Arena. Students with valid ID will be
admitted to the game for free. General
admission is $3.
Biohazard Exhibit
meshes society,
WASHINGTON (AP) - America has
almost 16 million illegal drug users, includ-
ing one in five young adults, according to a
government survey that suggests use of mari-
juana and cocaine may be on the rise after
leveling off in recent years.
Among ages 12 to 17, the youngest people
surveyed, 10.8 percent were described as cur-
rent drug'users in 2001, up from about 9.7
percent the year before, according to the
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.
Young adults ages 18 to 25 were more like-
ly to be users, increasing to 18.8 percent from
15.9 percent in 2000. The rate of drug use
among adults 26 and older stayed about the
same, at 4.5 percent. Current users are those
who reported using a drug within the past
month.
Although a few drugs, including LSD, are
diminishing in popularity, others are seeing
big gains.
The number of people who have tried
Ecstasy increased from 6.5 million in 2000 to
8.1 million last year, the survey shows.
Non-medical use of the pain reliever Oxy-
contin more than doubled, from 399,000 users
in 2000 to 957,000 in 2001.
The survey shows moderate increases in
the use of marijuana and cocaine by teenagers
and young adults from 2000 to 2001.
-But researchers said it was too soon to say
whether that marks the reversal of a trend of
stable or declining drug use since the late-
1990s.
"It could continue up and be the start of a
long-term trend, or it could go down again,"
said Joe Gfroerer, director of the survey by
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Ser-
vices Administration. "We don't try to pre-
dict that."
Other national surveys saw no statistically
significant increase in drug use in 2001, and
some even reported declines among young
people.
The National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse is the largest study, interviewing
almost 69,000 people age 12 or older and
including every state.
Timing and different methodologies often
result in different results among surveys.
"Ours is in the spring, theirs is throughout
the 12 month period," said Lloyd Johnston of
the University of Michigan, who leads the
Monitoring the Future study.
AP PHOTO
A boatman looks for flood affected people in Khagaria district, India in the eastern
Indian state of Bihar. More than 900 people have died in India and neighboring
countries since June due to annual monsoon floods.
Federal officials push for
further license regulations
Since Sept. 11, 21
states have passed laws to
increase license security
WASHINGTON (AP) - Almost
half the states have tightened proce-
dures since Sept. 11 for issuing dri-
ver's licenses, but both state and
federal officials say more is needed
to keep terrorists from getting the
popular form of identification.
Following the terrorist attacks, 21
states have enacted new laws to
make it harder'to get licenses, and
legislation has been introduced in
an additional 22 states, according to
the National Conference of State
Legislatures.
The laws are designed to allow
states to better check the back-
grounds of applicants, and to make
it harder to counterfeit licenses.
"Since September 11, individual
states have acted aggressively to
close loopholes in state laws that
allowed terrorists to receive driver's
licenses," said Kentucky state Rep.
Mike Weaver.
Weaver testified yesterday before
the House Transportation highways
subcommittee, which is looking at
whether to enact federal require-
ments for state driver's licenses:
"What we now consider impor-
tant to determine about a person
before they are considered eligible
for a license has changed," said
subcommittee chairman Tom Petri
(R-Wis.).
"We, are now more concerned
about the immigration status of the
applicant, and whether they might
be on a terrorist watch list at the
FBI or CIA."
Legislation has been introduced
in both houses of Congress to set
standards for driver's licenses, but
state officials objected to a major
federal role in what has traditional-
ly been a state responsibility.
"We don't need to federalize dri-
ver's licenses, a move that many
view as the onramp to the national
ID highway," Weaver said.
At least four of the 19 hijackers
on Sept. 11 held Virginia driver's
licenses.
One man pleaded guilty last
December to charges that he falsely
certified that two of the hijackers
were Virginia residents.
The state Motor Vehicles Depart-
ment changed its procedures within
days of the Sept. 11 attacks, no
longer accepting sworn affidavits
from individuals as proof of resi-
dency.
In addition, a new state law
requires the department to develop
procedures to check non-citizen
applicants for driver's licenses with
federal law enforcement agencies.
In Kentucky, foreign nationals
with temporary visas now must first
visit one of 12 offices with special-
ly trained employees to check their
backgrounds before they can then
obtain driver's licenses.
Officials at.the hearing caled for
a summit of representatives of all
50 states to develop a uniform sys-
tem for issuing licenses and pre-
venting fraud.
FTC announces action against
fraudulent telemarketing scams
AP PHOTO
Michigan Secretary of State Candice Miller unveils a new online voter information
system, which includes voter registration status, address and a map of their
designated polling location; during a news conference yesterday in Lansing.
State laulnches new
site to ease voting,
election procedur es
WASHINGTON (AP) - Telemarketing scams that
prey on people with poor credit are an increasing prob-
lem targeting the "most vulnerable consumers," federal
regulators said yesterday, announcing actions against 41
such schemes.
The Federal Trade Commission said it had worked with
15 state and local law enforcement agencies to move against
frauds that have victimized thousands of people. The scams
included false promises of major credit cards for a fee and
fraudulent programs to reduce debt or restore damaged
credit.
"Our warning to these disreputable businesses is:-We will
track you down and stop you," said Howard Beales, director
of the FTC's consumer protection bureau.
Beales said that in uncertain economic times, these scams
are "especially outrageous because they prey on the most
vulnerable consumers - those out of work, those with poor
credit ratings or those who need money right away for emer-
gencies."
The law enforcement actions announced yesterday
include lawsuits, settlements and criminal indictments. The
FTC also said it is launching a campaign to help consumers
avoid credit fraud.
The agency highlighted the complaint it filed last month
against Jubilee Financial Services Inc., of Downey, Calif.
The government accused the company and its officers of
luring consumers with false promises of eliminating debt by
paying much less than what was owed to a "debt negotiation
program."
"Our warning to these
disreputable business is: We will
track you down and stop you."
- Howard Beales
FTC consumer protection bureau director
"The company does little other than charge exorbitant
fees while consumers stop making required payments to
their creditors and plunge deeper and deeper into financial
ruin," the FTC said. The agency wants a court to stop the
operation and freeze the company's assets.
An attorney for Jubilee Financial Services did not imme-
diately return calls seeking comment yesterday.
The FTC brought nine other cases. The rest were filed by
Postal Inspectors in different regions and law enforcement
agencies in Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Mary-
land, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah
and Washington state.
Seven cases targeted scams that failed to deliver on prom-
ises of credit cards or loans in exchange for an advance fee.
Michael Delia of Inwood, N.Y., said he became a victim
last year when he paid $50 to a company that promised a
guaranteed loan. What he got in the mail instead was a list
of lenders, he said.
LANSING (AP) -- Michigan is
leading the way nationally by offer-
ing voters an Internet site that will
tell them if they're registered to
vote, where to vote, how to get to
their polling places and who will be
on the ballot.
The new Voter Information Cen-
ter was unveiled yesterday by state
officials.
Secretary of State Candice Miller
said it's the first state website in the
country to provide such comprehen-
sive voter- and election-related
information.
"In any election, there are always
instances when voters go to the wrong
polling place or assume they were
registered to vote in one jurisdiction
or precinct when they were actually
registered in another," said Miller,
who previewed the new center.
"The Voter Information Center
cuts through the confusion by pro-
viding voters immediate access to
the information they need, includ-
ing their voter registration status
and location of their polling place."
Miller demonstrated the system
by entering her name and home-
town of Harrison Township.
A map immediately appeared
showing the address and location of
her Macomb County polling place.
She had two warnings: The sys-
tem depends on information sup-
"This makes it easier to fulfill your
right to vote."
She warned, however, that the
state must make sure local clerks
are doing their job properly regis-
tering voters and updating records
for the system to work as it should.
"There's a potential weak link,"
Byrum said.
"There needs to be stronger rela-
tions between the secretary of state
and the local clerks."
The site will provide the names of
statewide candidates on the ballot, but
not those running for local races.It
also will list ballot proposals and
campaign finance information.
Voters can get detailed instruc-
tions on using the voting equip-
ment at their particular polling
place from the site, as well as
updated election results once the
election is over.
The Voter Information Center is
produced in partnership with the
nonprofit organization Publius,
which concentrates on developing
Web tools to enhance citizen partic-
ipation in elections.
The basis for the Voter Informa-
tion Center is the state's Qualified
Voter File, which provides the voter
registration database Publius uses
to generate search results.
The Voter Information Center
also interacts with two department
,o you have a break in your C(asses from pm-3omi
Are you (ooking for a 10-12. hr/wkjol?
Personal Class Schedule for
" Print Receipt: 1234 °
Term: Fall/Winter 2002
Academic Career: UG
Tuion Status, In State
Calendar
Time Class Location M Status
Monday 1:OOPM-3:OOPM Break From Class
Tuesday 1:OOPM-3:0OPM Break From Class