Weather Tuesday November 26, 2002 .2002 The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 57 One-hundred-twelve years of editoriallfreedom TODAY: Skies expected to remain cloudy during the day, with a chance of rain showers. LO:25 Tomorrow: wwwmichigandaily~com ---------- - - --- "Jill ------------ Thousands laundered by 'U' employee Barbara O'Donnell arraigned yesterday for charges of embezzlement and enterprising By Jeremy Berkowitz Daily Staff Reporter Former Health Services Research Initia- tive employee Barbara O'Donnell was arraigned yesterday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court following a five-month inves- tigation that alleges showed she embezzled more than $425,000 from HSRI. University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said O'Donnell was arrested on four counts of embez- zlement over $20,000, one count of conducting a criminal enterprise and one count of money laun- dering. O'Donnell, a University employee since December 1990, was an administrative worker in the HSRI from 1998 to 2002. In-her last two years, she was responsible for overseeing many financial matters in HSRI, like budget prepara- tion and approval of expenditures. But when HSRI shut down because of unrelat- ed financial problems, other administrative work- ers found irregularities committed by O'Donnell in the financial records. When the investigation was turned over to the Department of Public Safety, it was discovered that O'Donnell had paid herself for hours she never worked. She had also charged items to her University charge card, known as a P-Card, with- out ever reimbursing the University. In addition, she made her husband, Francis O'Donnell, a phantom employee on the payroll. "He was actually never working in that depart- ment," Peterson said, adding that O'Donnell forged the signature of her supervisor, Prof. John Wheeler, in order to process some financial doc- uments. Peterson said University employees who wish to charge work items to the University do so on their P-cards, adding that if personal items were to get mixed up with business items, employees must reimburse the University. "She bought some items that were clearly not related to her job and she did not reimburse the University," Peterson said, adding that all Univer- sity employees must reconcile their P-Card accounts every 30 days. Joseph Burke, chief assistant prosecutor for Washtenaw County, said O'Donnell was arraigned on one count of embezzlement, although he said she had been charged with more felonies. Burke also said O'Donnell's preliminary examination is scheduled for Dec. 18, in front of a judge yet to be named. He added that her bond was set yesterday in the amount of $25,000. He was unsure if See FRAUD, Page 3 Romance Language Dept. cuts waitlists By Andrew Kaplan Daily Staff Reporter , To meet the high demand for lower-level language courses, the Department of Romance Languages has overhauled its registration process for the next term by elimi- nating waitlists and opening up more sections. By opening new sections of lower-level classes during the regis- tration period, the initiative will make popular courses like Spanish 101 more accessible to students with late registration dates. If students do not receive admis- sion to the upper level sections they want to attend, they will be able to sit in on the first day of class and request that the professor give them a seat. LSA freshman Ali Acosta, who is currently taking three language courses, applauded the department's changes. "Because I am a freshman and obviously other people have priority over me, I think it's important that I can get in, especially because I have such an interest in language." Acosta said she believes the department's new policy will prompt eager students to go after the courses they want. "Now that people have to be watching, they are going to be more involved in the class and really want to be there, so that will create a better atmosphere for the class." The changes to the registration See LANGUAGE, Page 2 JONATHON TRIEST/Daily Pedestrians pass Urban Outfitters on South State Street yesterday afternoon, only days before one of the largest shopping days of the year on Friday, a day deemed "Buy Nothing Day' by Adbusters Media Foundation to discourage consumers from shopping. Adbusters: Pocket wallets after holiday Cox beats Peters for ta atty. gen Richner emerges as winnerin race for seat on University Board of Regents By Jordan Schrader Daily Staff Reporter When the Nov. 5 election results received their final stamp of approval yesterday, state Sen. Gary Peters picked up the telephone. for the last time in his cam- paign for attorney general. Republican Mike Cox officially * became attorney general-elect yesterday after the Board of State Canvassers certi- fied the election results. His Democratic opponent called him to concede and said he would not contest the election. In one of the closest statewide races MICHIGAN Michigan has seen in 50 years, 5,200 votes ELECTIONS separated the candidates in the end. While waiting for counties to check 200 their tallies throughout this month, Peters left the door open for a recount. But after reviewing the results last weekend, he decided to accept defeat, he said yesterday in a writ- ten statement. "Although I believe a recount would uncover additional anomalies and errors and further narrow the gap in this extremely tight race, I am not convinced a recount would alter the ultimate result," he said. "Rather than subject the voters of Michigan to a protracted electoral and legal bat- tle, I believe it is time to move forward." See ELECTIONS, Page 3 By Adhiral Dutt Daily Staff Reporter Traditionally the day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shop- ping day of the year. But one group plans to mark the beginning of the holiday season in an untraditional way - with a protest to encourage customers to "buy nothing." Buy Nothing Day, a protest initi- ated by Adbusters Media Founda- tion, aims to target the frenzied Christmas shopping season, over- consumption, increased expenditure and materialism. Buy Nothing Day falls on Nov. 29 this year, and as its name implies, the day calls for people to buy nothing and to instead to think about what they need. Many participants have conducted teach-ins, staged concerts or have devoted time to friends and family rather than to shop. "I support the idea behind the day because I believe there is too much materialism in America and the day could make people aware of this," LSA sophomore Nik Frank-Lehrer said. "The concept is good and says something positive about what peo- ple are trying to do. The day is more of a symbolic observance that shows that people are concerned with mate- rial consumption, but they need to do more." Buy Nothing Day is in its 11th year and is expected to draw nearly 1 mil- lion participants this year. "I may not spend money that day but it depends on whether I really need something," LSA fresh- man Tiffani Commander said. "It would only affect businesses if a lot of people buy nothing but I think that is impossible. It's only one day so it can't have too much of an impact. Anyway, people spending money keeps the econo- my booming." But the campaign won't keep some students away from stores. "I don't feel strongly against peo- ple spending money and I think peo- ple will continue to spend money that day," LSA sophomore Mohit Gupta said. "I would spend money because, after all, there are sales, right? People could spend less but I don't see how See BUY NOTHING, Page 2 Former University research scientist Ernest Fontheim recounts his memories of Kristailnacht last night at the 4th Annual Kristallnacht Commemoration sponsored by Hillel. Kistallnacoht remembered by survivor By Kar DeBoer Daily Staff Reporter Employees unite to improve conditions By Andrew Kaplan Daily Staff Reporter Local parking employees say that they are not receiving fair wages or raises based on their performance and are unionizing in an effort to achieve honest labor practices. "Some who were getting written up for incorrigibility got high wages, while others who were doing a good job did not," said Erin Sower, an attendant for Republic Parking Systems, the firm that maintains all of Ann Arbor's parking garages. "Some gave very high scores to their employees, but some gave low scores because they were biased." Employees of Republic Parking recently< voted to unionize with the Teamsters Local I A IflI~ said that Republic employees are receiving less than the living wage of $10.20 an hour or $8.70 an hour with health benefits as set by city ordinance. "The only workers I've heard of who have got- ten the (living wage) are the meter collectors," St. Louis said. Employees attribute the unfair wages to unfair evaluation practices by managers. Sower also said one manager at Republic denied his employees due pay for overtime, claiming that if employees worked overtime, often times the manager "would physically cross out the time (on their cards) because he believed they should have punched out at an earlier time. Employees weren't getting paid for their hours." Republic management refused to comment on "I was practically hypnotized by the view of this (burn- ing) synagogue ... nothing had prepared me for this. There was no wind. The column of smoke was like a col- umn reaching to the heavens," former University research scientist Ernest Fontheim said while speaking yesterday at the 4th Annual Kristallnacht Commemoration. The commemoration was part of Hillel's annual Conference on the Holocaust. In his presentation, Fontheim revisited his memories of Kristallnacht, or "Night of the Broken Glass." That night, Fontheim witnessed the burning of a synagogue near his home in Berlin. The synagogue was one of hundreds burned. Remembering the Holocaust is important, Fontheim said, because the actions taken by the German government were hor- rible. The act of remembering could prevent future occurrences of a similar nature, but from recent events like Sept. 11, Fontheim said he has lost faith in that idea. "I no longer believe that. There have been massacres in Africa and Kosovo and other places. Every human life killed because of their belonging to a certain ethnic group JONATHON TRIEST/Daily A train from tChicano to Detroit rumbles *hrouath the darkness I. 1 ;