LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 5, 2002 - 3A
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Students make plans for first fall break
Daughter crashes
into father's car
A man reported Tuesday night that
his daughter rear-ended his vehicle in
the Medicl Center Carport, according
to Department of Public Safety reports.
Banner snatched
from League door
A "Welcome to Michigan" sign was
taken from above a doorway of the
Michigan League early Monday,
according to DPS reports. Trash cans
near the Cooley Fountain were also
knocked over.
Fire alarm set off
by excessive dust
A cleaning staff was dusting in
East Quad Residence Hall Tuesday
morning when the dust made the
smoke detector sound, DPS reports
state. The smoke detector then set
the fire alarm off.
Men's room wall
defaced by graffiti
The Environmental Services staff
found graffiti written on the wall in the
men's room just outside the Facility
Communications Center of University
Hospitals Tuesday night, according to
DPS reports.
Van roof scraped
by pipe in carport
A caller reported Tuesday morning
that the top of her van was damaged
when it scraped a pipe in the Fletcher
Street Carport structure, DPS reports
state.
Wallet stolen from
unattended bag in
UGLi, later found
A female reported her wallet was
taken from her bag Monday at
approximately 3 p.m. when she left
her bag unattended on the third
floor of the Shapiro Undergraduate
Library, according to DPS reports.
The bag was left unattended
between 2:45 and 3:15 p.m. The
wallet was later recovered in the 4th
floor men 's room of the library.
Three credit cards and a checkbook
were missing.
Girl overdoses on
medication, loses
1 consciousness
A girl passed out on bench in front
of Mary Markley Residence Hall
early Monday, DPS reports state.
Huron Valley Ambulance workers
determined that the victim was suffer-
ing from fatigue brought on by an
overdose of her medicine and did not
need to transport her to a hospital.
Laptop, computer
mice reported
missing from 'U'
A caller reported a laptop and three
computer mice stolen Tuesday, accord-
ing to DPS reports. The items were
missing from the Towsley Center of
University Hospitals and were last seen
Friday.
Man reports pass
stolen from car
he left unlocked
A male reported Tuesday morning
the theft of his parking permit on Aug.
19th from his unlocked car on the 4th
level of the Glen Street Carport, DPS
reports state.
Woman injures
herself in shower,
taken to hospital
A woman fell in the shower of the
North Campus Recreation Building
Tuesday afternoon, according to DPS
reports. The Ann Arbor Fire Depart-
ment and Huron Valley Ambulance
reported to the scene and noticed a
possible injury to the woman's left
shoulder area. The victim was con-
scious and transferred to St. Josephs
Hospital.
Female reports
ex-boyfriend 's
threats to DPS
A man made threatening comments
to his ex-girlfriend at University Hos-
pitals Tuesday afternoon, DPS reports
state. He was gone upon the arrival of
DPS officers.
By Stephanie Schonholz
Daily Staff Reporter
Students heaved a collective sigh of relief during the winter
semester of 2002, when it was announced that former Michigan
Student Assembly President Matt Nolan and Vice President Jessica
Cash successfully negotiated a Fall Study Break for the coming
academic year.
The University became the first school in Michigan to have a Fall
Break and the 20th out of the top 25 schools in the country to include
a fall break in the academic calendar.
Scheduled for Oct. 14 and 15, the Fall Study Break was
approved as two days intended for extra studying and decom-
pressing prior to mid-term exams. The two days allow for stu-
dents to have a four to five-day weekend for intense studying and
paper writing.
But some students may use the break for more than studying.
"I'm going to Chicago to visit my sister and I'm pretty sure every-
one is using it as a break," LSA sophomore Julie Sprunk said. "But
I'm pretty neurotic, so if I have work I'll use it to study."
"I'm definitely happy to have a fall break," Law student Chris
Brown said. "It's going to add to my studying."
While Brown, a native Californian, will be staying in the Ann
Arbor region to continue his studies, he said "I think people will take
trips, just do things locally like go to Canada or Chicago."
"Whenever days are given off its always used for personal time,"
Brown said.
LSA sophomore Jennifer Slosser said she'll be staying on campus
to take advantage of the free time to study for exams but she specu-
lates what professors think of the two school free days.
"Professors expect students to take off. I think they know it's our
time, it's our time off," Slosser said.
The Fall Study Break became a major issue on the University cam-
pus in 1980, but MSA was unsuccessful in persuading the University
Board of Regents to implement it.
It became a part of the agenda in the '90s and was a major party
platform when Matt Nolan and Jessica Cash ran for MSA president
and vice president in 2001.
"Students are just churning out things when you get into early to
mid-October because of the stress from the schoolwork and stuff,"
Nolan said.
"The break benefits students by letting you catch up on sleep or
studying. We found uniform data that said one of two things - stu-
dents spend the extra time studying or they go home," he added.
But with any major changes to the academic calendar it is
inevitable that opposition would voice an opinion.
"There was a lot of worry from professors taking a day or two out
of the class schedule, but I think that having 14 more productive class
days as opposed to the 15 (with the day lost to fall break) is benefi-
cial," Nolan said.
Assistant English Prof. Joshua Miller said the addition of a fall
break to the schedule did not disrupt planning for his classes.
"We're just required to re-orient the class schedule," he said.
Although students may spend the break relaxing, most will find
some time to catch up on schoolwork, Miller said.
"I suspect that a lot of students will bring books or work on
the train or in cars or maybe nothing if they're that confident,"
Miller said.
Nolan added that the Regents have already approved the academic
calendar for the next several years and the break remains during the
month of October.
"Something catastrophic would have to occur in order to change
the schedule,"Nolan said.
Study: Birth control pills,
breast cancer not linked
By Daniel Kim
Daily Staff Reporter
For years, those in the medical community
have been uncertain about the link between
birth control pills and breast cancer. But The
New England Journal of Medicine recently
published a study that offered an answer to
this long surviving question: There is no link
between oral contraceptives and breast cancer.
The study, which is supported by the
National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development, included over 9,200 women 35
to 64 years old from Atlanta, Detroit, Philadel-
phia, Los Angeles and Seattle.
"The relative risk (of breast cancer) did not
increase consistently with longer periods of
use or with higher doses of estrogen," the
study read. "Use of oral contraceptives by
women with a family history of breast cancer
was not associated with an increase of breast
cancer."
"It was a chance to look at women over a
lifetime to see what the risk has been," Robert
Spirtas of the National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development said in a
written statement.
Besides breast cancer, venus thromboem-
bolism, or blood clots, is another widely stud-
ied topic regarding birth control pills, said
Susan Ernst, a gynecologist at University
Health Service. Other possible side effects
include high blood pressure, stroke and heart
attack.
"Some patients are knowledgeable about
these issues but many aren't. We try to help
our patients so that they are aware," Ernst said.
"I don't worry too much about the side
effects in medicine because it doesn't neces-
sarily mean they could happen to you. Even
simple allergy medicines have side effect,"
said LSA junior Tanja Walker, 'who has been
using the pill for .eight months. "I've heard
some things about breast cancer but it's not a
huge scare of me."
Nursing junior Julie Thomas, who has been
taking oral contraceptives for the past five
years, said she was never informed by her doc-
tor about any link between birth control pills
and cancer when she began to take them.
"Breast cancer doesn't run in my family, so
I am not so concerned about the possible risk,"
Thomas said.
Oral contraceptive users like Thomas are
LAURIE BRESCOLL/Daily
University Health Services Gynecology Clinic Coordinator Pam Bledsoe counsels a
female patient on birth control options.
more concerned about the benefits of the pills.
"Some birth control pills will help clear up
acne and my periods are much more regular
and menstrual cramps are less painful,"
Thomas added.
Walker said although someone is using oral
contraceptives, she should not neglect to prac-
tice protected sex. "A birth control pill is still
not a 100 percent protection, especially when
women don't take them accurately. Also, they
don't protect you from sexually transmitted
diseases."
Waiting, waiting, waiting
Automobile sales rise in August
DETROIT (AP) - With summer
incentive programs including 0 per-
cent financing continuing to draw
buyers into showrooms, automakers
say that U.S. vehicle sales rose 18
percent last month compared with
August 2001.
Total sales were about 1.7 million
vehicles, the automakers reported
yesterday.
The Chrysler Group of Daimler-
Chrysler AG saw sales rise 28.1
percent, while General Motors
Corp. reported a 22.6 percent
increase and Ford Motor Co.'s sales
rose 12.2 percent.
"The incentives are still what's
driving it," said Walter McManus,
executive director for forecasting
with marketing firm J.D. Power and
Associates.
Strong sales were seen among the
major automakers, who have been
locked in a yearlong incentive bat-
tle. Ahead of its sales report, GM
- the first of the major automakers
to offer 0 percent financing after
Sept. 11 - announced its latest
round of incentives.
"They're going to have to keep
the incentives going," McManus
said. "They're all going to have to
launch the 2003 (models) now with
incentives. We don't see an end in
incentives because people are
expecting them."
Asian and European automakers
also saw improvements, showing
gains of 17 percent and 2 percent,
respectively, over August 2001.
GM's car sales rose 11.9 percent,
while light truck sales - including
pickups, sport utility vehicles, vans
and minivans - showed a 32.1 per-
cent gain.
LAURIE BREuSu/aily
A line of students stretches out the door of Shaman Drum
Bookshop yesterday as students wait their turn to buy books.
Less move-in time
students unsettled
By Carmen Johnson
For the Daily
Compensating for the newly imple-
mented fall break, move-in was more
hectic this year than in previous years.
Having one less day to move-in put
additional pressure on preparing for
classes and gave students little time to
readjust to campus life.
For students returning to the resi-
dence halls, the scheduled move-in day
was Friday. LSA sophomore Lynn Has-
sielbarth, who moved into West Quad
felt stressed even before classes.
"I wish there had been one more
day to get ready for classes. It has
just been too chaotic unpacking,"
Hasseilbarth said.
Students living off campus also
wanted to come back to Ann Arbor
earlier to have enough time to buy
books and relax with friends before
classes started.
LSA senior Tera Freeman said
since she has always had at least
two days to prepare for classes,
crunching in move-in during Labor
Day weekend was frustrating.
"I live off campus and moved in
on Friday. I didn't have enough time
to unpack and set up. Especially
because classes started just a day
after a holiday," Freeman said.
Having a few extra days to spend
"1 wish there had
been one more day
to get ready for
classes. It has just
been too chaotic
unpacking."
- Lynn Hassielbarth
LSA sophomore
For first-year students, move-in
day is always one or two days
before returning students arrive to
allow extra time to adjust to campus
life and to take part in Welcome
Week activities like New Student
Convocation and Pre-Class Bash.
Most first-year students said they
had plenty of time to buy books,
familiarize themselves with Ann
Arbor, meet other students and
attend Welcome Week events.
LSA freshman Paul Freeman
moved into Bursley Friday and felt
ready to start classes Tuesday.
"I only need two days to move in
and unpack, so then I still had the
whole three-day weekend to meet
people in the dorm," Freeman said.
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