Thursday, March 25, 2004 Opinion 4A Sports 9A Steve Cotner writes about growing up The hockey team heads to New Hampshire A guide to Ann Arbor's music scene ... Weekend Magazine 4£ i i4i Weather HI: 63 T :53 TOMORROW: One-hundred-thirteen years ofeditorialfreedom www.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXIII, No. 120 ©2004 The Michigan Daily A2crime rate falls, but thefts increase By Adhiraj Dutt Daily Staff Reporter While the city of Ann Arbor expe- rienced a decrease in crime in 2003, University students need to take pre- cautions to protect themselves, par- ticularly against property theft, according to Ann Arbor Police Department Chief Daniel Oates. The overall crime rate declined in Ann Arbor in 2003, but the eight major crimes - those that police departments are required to report to the state - remained virtually unchanged, Oates said. "We had a modest decrease in overall crime but not in major crimes," he said. "Overall crime, which includes lesser crimes, was down by 1.9 percent." The nine major crimes fell by 0.6 percent, including a 10.9 percent drop in burglaries and a 6.9 percent decrease in forcible rape. But some of the major crimes increased substantially - car theft rose by 25.4 percent and rob- beries rose by 17 percent. Several other crimes fell signifi- cantly. Narcotics offenses were down 17.8 percent, driving under the influ- ence by 18.5 percent and forgery by 29.7 percent. Some of the most rampant crimes committed against University students See CRIME; Page 5A AAPD 2002-03 crime stats * Assault reports down 7 per- cent in '03 from '02. * 1 murder reported last year, compared with 5 in '02. Burglaries decreased by about 10.9 percent. There was a 17 percent climb in robberies. I Mind the mice Music exec fuels debate on file sharing By Aynuw Jean Daily Staff Reporter As colleges and universities across the country decide whether to release the names of students accused of illegal file-sharing, the top record indus- try executive defended the decision to subpoena the students, saying the business is being "downloaded to death." Last night, during an online press conference, the president of the Recording Industry Association of America spoke to fl members of the colle- 'W e felt we G giate press about the bvand watch organization's cam- paign against the down- entire industr loading and uploading vibrant musi of copyrighted music. "We felt we could the world - m not stand by and watch do n 1d 1 while an entire industry wO oaueu 1 - the most vibrant music industry in the world - was being downloaded to death," RIAA President Cary Sherman said. RIAA announced Tuesday that it will subpoena 21 colleges and universities for the names of 89 stu- dents suspected of sharing music files illegally. The group has ordered Internet service providers to release the names of 532 Internet users nationwide. Administration officials estimate that RIAA will subpoena the names of a number of students from the University. The University has received nine notices of intent to subpoena the names of students. The University has notified the students who may face legal action. For months, RIAA has filed lawsuits against file- sharers, settling more than-400 cases, and has seen a decline in illegal file-sharing and an increase in other file-sharing options that charge for their serv- ices. Programs like iTunes charge 99 cents for each song, and Wal-Mart recently unveiled an online service charging 88 cents per song. But record sales have consistently declined despite RIAA's legal activity. Over the past three A) ry years, Sherman said, sales have declined by one- third. In 2000, the top 10 albums on Billboard's list sold 60 million units, but in 2001 that number decreased to 40 million. In 2002, it fell to 34 mil- lion. Record stores near college campuses have been hit especially hard, Sherman said. Economics Prof. Stan Liebowitz of the Universi- ty of Texas has researched file-sharing and the recording industry and drawn some causal links between music piracy and declining CD sales. Liebowitz said lawsuits should not be used to >uld not stand stop file-sharing, while an which he says will not stop people from m- themost downloading. He is in n u r ifavor of other solu- tions, like digital as being rights management - dea n the technology that d Reathprevents individuals from copying CDs. +Cary Sherman Students at the RIAA President University have had a variety of experiences with sharing files online. While some students have never shared, others share often. "I guess I don't understand how they could find out whether you do or not," Art and Design sopho- more Jeff Sanchez said. "But it hasn't stopped me." Students like Sanchez who have continued to download and upload files despite the lawsuits. LSA freshman Susan Gilliam downloads music "all the time" and still shares files, although she plans to stop. Most file-sharing programs allow users to disable to uploading of files. RIAA cites that most of the downloaded files derive from the Billboard 200 - the nation's most popular songs. But both Sanchez and Gilliam download songs from disparate genres, old and new, popular and underground. "When I hear of a name - and I've never heard of it before - then I'll just download their music," Gilliam said. Others students have curbed their downloading See RIAA, Page 5A MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily Mary Heng, a student in the neuroscience doctoral program, works with a colony of mice as part of a projected four-year study of Huntington's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder. ELECTIONS '04 Abortion may be key issue for female voters OVERT1* \ A[N BOW By Mona Rafeeq Daily Staff Reporter With the approach of the Democratic and Republican national conventions this summer, women's groups on campus say that candidates will have to address a woman's right to choose as a key issue during their campaigning. The women's issue groups on campus said this is an issue that mainly includes abortion, but also con- cerns reproductive rights and health. According to Ashwini Hardikar, the outgoing chair of the Women's Issues Commission of the Michigan Student Assembly, abortion will be an important issue because of the "attacks" on choice that occurred under President Bush's administration. "Generally, the Bush administration has been ignoring medical evidence and health reasons for the benefits of abortion, and instead justifies its actions based on religious reasons," said Hardikar, an RC sophomore. These actions include the appointment of right-wing federal judges to district courts and a preference for sexual abstinence pro- grams over those promoting safe sex, she said. But Louise Conlon, president of Students for Life, said Bush is the better candidate based on his commitment to the anti-abortion position. "The abortion industry has a lot of money behind it, but it is time for the politicians to start standing up for the women and children of America," Conlon said. "Women deserve better than abortion and their children deserve better than to be aborted," she said. See ABORTION, Page 5A 'Boxes museum captures the sting of stereotypes DORY GANNES/Daily Fans celebrate after Michigan's 88-73 win over Hawaii in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament. It was the Wolverines' final game of the season at Crisler Arena. They now head to Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday to face the winner between Notre Dame and Oregon. Start spreading the news: Mcools off Hawaii to reach NIT semifinals By Nura Sediqe Daily Staff Reporter The museum ... features various photographs, news stories and other objects displaying different social prejudices. Hoping to increase awareness of stereotyping and discrimina- tion of students in college, three University students organized the University's first "Boxes and Walls" museum, which features various photographs, news sto- ries and other objects displaying a .4flfarnt enni a nraindi1A- during January's Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sympo- sium. They sought help with the project by contacting stu- dnt ramnisati n on mpus. women, Jews, the gay commu- nity and various socio-economic classes. Each group helped cre- ate a room depicting common stereotvnes that the Grouns o By Chris Burke Daily Sports Editor The Michigan basketball team is about to wake up in the city that never sleeps. The Wolverines put together one of their and we beat a basketball team that's pretty darn good." Hawaii, which like Michigan had just one day of rest after playing a second-round game at home on Monday, stayed with the Wolverines through the initial moments of points, and the Wolverines dished out 18 assists while carving up Hawaii's defense. "The more we played over the course of the season, the better we got as a team,' Hor- ton said. "Early on, we had a lot of guys doing a lot of great individual things, but I