LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 25, 2003 - 3A


MSA rebudgets $14K, focuses on off-campus housing


Dorm solicitors
flee upon arrival
of campus police
The Department of Public Services
said Tuesday that a caller reported peo-
ple from Cottage Inn soliciting inside
of Oxford Housing selling coupons.
Upon the arrival of DPS, the solicitors
had fled from the scene, and could not
be identified.
Police wrongfully
suspect student,
charges dropped
A housing officer reported Tuesday
that a subject was found in lot W-18 on
512 Thompson St. with a case of beer.
The housing officer assumed that the
subject was underage and called DPS.
But upon the arrival of DPS to the
scene it was discovered that the subject
was 22 years old and there were no
charges filed against him.
Threatening
phone calls under
investigation
According to DPS, a caller reported
Tuesday that she would like to speak to
an officer about threatening phone
calls from an ex-boyfriend. The case is
still under investigation by DPS.
Person found
passed out, turned
over to AAPD
DPS reported yesterday that it found
a subject passed out on a bus. The sub-
ject was intoxicated and in need of
medical attention. Upon further inves-
tigation it was discovered that the Ann
Arbor Police Department had a war-
rant out for him for alcohol posses-
sion. DPS gave him a ticket for minor
in possession of alcohol.
He was transferred to the University
Hospital and turned over to the AAPD
upon discharge.
Pedestrian hit by
car, uninjured
under investigation
DPS reported Monday that a subject
was struck by a car while crossing the
street on North University Avenue. The
subject was not injured in the accident
and the vehicle drove away from the
scene. The case remains under investi-
gation by DPS.
Money stolen
from candy fund
collection
DPS reported Monday that $18 was
stolen by an unknown person from a
candy fund in the Information Technol-
ogy Building.
DPS arrests subject
for illegally
trespassing on Diag
DPS reports state that a subject was
arrested for violating a trespassing
warrant Monday that barred them from
being on the Diag.
Stolen vehicle
* turns out to be
misplaced
A caller reported that his vehicle

was stolen Tuesday out of lot M-19
at 1400 East Medical Center Dr.
But DPS reported that later the
caller discovered that the car had
been parked in another lot. The theft
was unfounded.
Wallet stolen in
* Shapiro library, no
current suspects
A wallet was stolen Tuesday at the
Shapiro undergraduate library between
the hours of 7 and 8:30 p.m. The wallet
had been left unattended and as of now
there are no suspects, according to
DPS. A report was filed.
* Valet breaks car
ignition, report
filed on damage
A caller stated Tuesday that a valet
broke the vehicle ignition key off in
the ignition of his vehicle, while it
was parked in the emergency room
at 1500 East Medical Center. DPS
filed a report on this property dam-
age claim.

By Kristin Ostby
Daily Staff Reporter

Efficiency changes in its budget has
left the Michigan Student Assembly
with $14,000 more to give student
groups this year. MSA approved its
annual budget at its meeting Tuesday
night.
MSA attributes the extra $14,000 to
its new policy of a central account to be
used by all committees. Previously,
MSA allocated money into separate
funds for each committee.
"In the past, committees have had a
lot of money that has just sat in their
accounts. Now it's all centralized. We've
streamlined our process and we're sav-

ing a lot of money," MSA Treasurer
Elliot Wells-Reid said.
"It allowed us to give the Budget Pri-
orities Committee and the Community
Service Commission more money to
fund groups directly than we've ever
done before," he added. The BPC funds
all University student organizations
while the CSC funds community service
projects by University students.
Also discussed at the meeting was
MSA's effort to make spring break a
week later than usual to accommodate
the wishes of students. Most other uni-
versities currently have their spring
breaks the week following ours, said
MSA President Angela Galardi
MSA came close to making the

spring break change last year, but was
unsuccessful. "We're going to go about
it a different way this year," Galardi
added. MSA plans on going directly to
the deans of the different colleges on
campus to initiate the change. Before
this can be approved, members of MSA
need to meet with deans from each of
the different colleges within the Univer-
sity, as well write up a proposal.
MSA is also hoping to improve off-
campus housing situations for students.
"We are working to act as spokespeople
for tenants who have had potentially ille-
gal or unfavorable off-campus living sit-
uations," said Jason Mironov, MSA
student general counsel.
"We're working with Student Legal

Services, Campus Housing, the vice
president of Student Affairs and local
landlords," Mironov said.
Mironov added that MSA would like
to collect stories from individual stu-
dents in order to present them to the city
and the administration to show the cur-
rent poor quality of off-campus living
situations. Mironov invited students to
contact him with their stories at
jmironov@umich.edu.
The MSA external relations commit-
tee is trying to pass a resolution to help
sororities and fraternities on campus to
avoid the extra costs required to main-
tain historic standards of the Ann Arbor
community.
Currently, several sororities and fra-

"We've streamlined
our process and we're:
saving a lot of money..
-Elliot Wells-Reid
Treasurer, MSA:
ternities must adhere to building stan-
dards from the time period in which they,
were built, said external relations com-
mittee chair Bobby Counihan. These'
building standards are often very expen-#
sive, he added.
"They have the biggest houses with:
the need for biggest repairs. It's an unfair
burden on them to have to make these
improvements," Counihan said.

Teacher strike over
charter schools shuts
down Detroit schools

S

LANSING (AP) - Public
schools in Detroit will be closed
today as thousands of teachers plan
to attend a rally in front of the state
Capitol to protest charter school
expansion.
Mario Morrow, spokesman for
the Detroit Public Schools, said that
by yesterday afternoon, the district's
automated system received more
than 1,600 calls from teachers who
planned to miss school for the
protest.
School administrators also
reported to the district that 3,200
teachers told them they wouldn't be
in school today.
Substitute teachers haven't been
responsive to the district's calls for
help today, Morrow said.
Detroit Public Schools Chief Exec-
utive Officer Kenneth Burnley said
district officials wanted to let parents
know in advance so they could make
arrangements for their children today.
"We're also concerned about the
safety and welfare of our students,"
Burnley said.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers,
the union representing about 12,500
Detroit public school teachers, asked
its membership to skip classes today
to protest an agreement that would
allow 150 new charter schools to open
in Michigan over 10 years, including
15 in Detroit.
Democratic Gov. Jennifer
Granholm, Senate Majority Leader

Ken Sikkema of Wyoming and
House Speaker Rick Johnson of
LeRoy, both Republicans, reached an
agreement last week on charter
school expansion.
The deal would return Detroit's
appointed school reform board to
an elected board next summer,
although it would retain a chief
executive and give the Detroit
mayor the ability to reject the
board's choice for CEO.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
said he asked Granholm, Sikkema and
Johnson to hold off on approving the
agreement before city residents have a
chance to weigh in on the issue. An
education summit is set for Oct. 1 in
Detroit to discuss charter schools and
other issues.
Janna Garrison, leader of the
Detroit Federation of Teachers, said
the 15 new charter high schools that
would be opened in Detroit with
$200 million from philanthropist
Robert Thompson's foundation
would take needed funding from the
public school district.
"We want him to work with the
district so we're not taking money
from the critical mass to give it to a
select few," Garrison said about
Thompson.
Garrison said she expects more
than a few thousand people to
attend the protest scheduled for 10
a.m. EDT protest today outside the
state Capitol in Lansing.

LAUR~A SHLECTER/Duaily
University students takes a break from the rain yesterday afternoon to exercise at the CCRB,
which will start carrying new exercise equipment on Saturday.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Who was the better warrior?
According to U.S. military
studies conducted in WWII, only
15-20% of riflemen fired their
weapons in combat. In Vietnam,
the same studies showed that
95% of riflemen fired their
weapons. The difference was
in the training. An unforeseen
side effect was an increase in
PTSD.
Gary Lillie & Assoc., Realtors
www.garylillie.com


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Correction:
Then-LSA freshman Courtney Cantor's death in 1998 occurred after a
party at Phi Delta Theta. This was reported incorrectly on page 1 of yesterday's
Daily.
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WE WONT ASK FOR YOUR NAME.
4 BUT WE DO NEED YOuR THOUGHTS.
PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES NOW
(OR BY SEPTEMBER 30).

Going out tonight?
It's a big night on the town. You spent more hours than you care to
admit figuring out your outfit. Even more time getting the hair and
makeup just right. How quickly it can turn ugly when you drink too
much. Never mind what the guys are drinking, you'll be smashed
with just two to three drinks. More than that? You'll wonder who
took care of you. Or worse, who took advantage of you. So skip that
second and third round of drinks. And you'll be able to look yourself