Monday, December 13, 2004 News 3A Bus use increases in A2 GET TO KNOW THE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM'S SEVEN FRESHMEN ... PAGE 8B ev it Weather Opinion 4A D.C. Lee talks about poker rn; 30 TOMORROW: 2719 Arts 8A The whole gang returns for a second caper in "Ocean's Twelve." One-/undredfourteen years ofeditorialfreedom www.michneandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 51 @2004 The Michigan Daily Chabad House menorah trashed Staff suspect crime motivated by religious bias By Karl Stampfl Daily Staff Reporter A 15-foot menorah was found destroyed on the front steps of Chabad House at 715 Hill St. Satur- day morning. The menorah, the tra- ditional symbol of Hanukkah, was built of gold-colored PVC pipes and had been torn down and left twisted on the sidewalk. The Chabad House serves Univer- sity Jewish students and residents by offering a place for worship, study and community. Leaders said they believe the property destruction may have been motivated by religious prejudices. "For someone to actually go and maliciously destroy a menorah, there has to be some kind of hate there," Chabad House Director Altoer Goldstein said. "It's something very dramatic." Goldstein said the house's leader- ship has not yet ruled out alcohol as a motivator. "Maybe someone was under the influence," Goldstein said. "But that does not justify in any way their action. It wasn't just a menorah but a Jewish symbol that was vandal- ized." Chabad members have placed the professionally designed menorah on the steps for 20 years in celebration of Hanukkah, the eight-day celebra- tion often referred to as the Jew- ish Festival of Lights. Goldstein estimated that it was worth about $1,000. Chabad members are upset and discouraged by the incident, Gold- stein said. They believed that Ann Arbor was a place where they could practice their religion removed from anti-Semitism, he said, especially because there are an estimated 6,000 Jewish students at the University. "They're very disturbed about the action," Goldstein said. "The great- est hope is that we can make people aware so that this will never happen again." In order to expose people to what happened, Chabad leaders decided to leave the damaged menorah where it was found. There are currently no suspects in the case. The Ann Arbor Police Department is investigating, but it is unsure how the menorah was dam- aged or whether it was intentional, Sgt. Pat Ouellette said. Immediately after discovering the destruction, Chabad members erected a temporary menorah where the old See CHABAD, Page 3A Seeking 1life support PhotoSDy PEIER SUHO I LENI-ELS/Daily Research technician Bob Kelly, above, works at the Life Sciences institute - the structure on the far left of the top photo - which is currently trying to draw faculty to Its facilities. The structure second from the left in the top photo is The Commons, which houses the University's bioinformatics center. Eight months later, AAFD coping with budget cuts Downsized staff shifts, closed station part of changes Graduation speaker will address race, higher education By Julia Homing Daily Staff Reporter A $1.1 million decrease in funding for the Ann Arbor Fire Department in this fiscal year has forced the city to make changes to its services, training programs and staff. Mark Redies, the fire department's admin- istrative assistant chief and budget manager, said, "We have had to cut back our training a bit, but most of our costs are from the man- power," he said, referring to the cuts made because of the city's budget deficit. The fire but we would need to call in help from other townships or from firefighters off duty to deal with the fire," he said. The department has also had to close a station due to cuts. "We have been forced to close down Station Two, located on the cor- ner of Stadium and Packard," Redies said. Captain Greg Hollingsworth said the station officially closed about six months ago. Ann Arbor Safety Services Administra- tor Daniel Oates also said there have been changes to the department. "We seem to be managing fairly well, mostly because we Fire Dept. cuts The AAFD has made changes after $1 million in budget cuts last spring, including: 0 Reductions in the minimum staff requirement to 15 firefighters. One fire station has shut down Changes to what types of By Emily Liu Daily Staff Reporter Robert Moses first became active in fight- ing racial and class divides in the classroom after witnessing discrepancies in his daughter's middle school in 1982. Moses's daughter was ready to begin taking algebra, but the school did not offer any alge- bra courses. As a result, Moses worked with her and three other students to teach them alge- bra. As he got more involved in the role, Moses American and Latino students - suc- cessfully achieve mathematical skill" necessary to excel, according to the orga- nization's website. Moses, now the president of the project, will speak at the University's winter commence- ment Sunday, in addition to receiving an hon- orary degree of doctor in laws. Moses, who is black, said he believes that the country still has remnants of what he calls inequalities in education that stem from the period following the Civil War. I, I I ' 11 1