NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 10, 2004 - 3
ON CAMPUS
Sept. 11 event to
* feature former U.N.
weapons inspector
The Michigan Student Assembly is
sponsoring a conference tomorrow to
commemorate the anniversary of the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks which will
feature former U.N. weapons inspector
Scott Ritter and CNN legal analyst Jef-
frey Toobin.
The conference's theme is "Moving
Forward While Looking Back: How
America Has Changed Since 9/11," and
it will take place at the University's Ste-
phen M. Ross School of Business from
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The conference is free and lunch is
provided, but students need to register
with MSA at its website, www.msa.
umich.edu/911.html. Failure to attend
the event after registering will result in
a $30 fine being charged to the student's
account.
Student Affairs
advisory board
website created
The University has created a new
student advisory board for the Division
of Student Affairs - which makes key
decisions regarding the funding of stu-
dent groups.
Students can access more informa-
tion about the board, composed of
both undergraduate and graduate stu-
dents, on the website www.umich.edu/
~ovpsa/advisory. The site will include
information about the division and its
priorities, as well as allow students to
post feedback.
CRIME
N O T E S
Football tickets
snatched from
unattended room
A student reported to the Depart-
ment of Public Safety Tuesday night
that his or her Michigan football
tickets were stolen. The tickets were
taken while the student left a room in
Mary Markley Residence Hall unat-
tended.
'U' truck damaged
in collision with
dumpster
Damage to a University-owned
truck was reported to DPS Wednes-
day morning after the driver collided
with a dumpster near the Transporta-
tion Services building on 1213 Kipke
Dr. No injuries were reported.
Car damaged with
boot marks, dents
A caller reported malicious destruc-
tion to DPS after finding boot marks
and dents on the hood of their car
yesterday morning in a parking lot on
1600 E. Medical Center Dr.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Sept. 10,1982
While emphasizing that college
campuses are a "magic kingdom" for
sex, the October edition of Playboy
magazine ranked the University of
Michigan ninth out of 20 schools in
terms of sexiness.
The University's sexual temperature
barely topped 94 degrees, while Indi-
ana University reached a scorching 199
degrees, according to the article. How-
ever, Ohio State and Michigan State
universities did not make the list.
The article also went on to say that
"college is both a more conservative
and sexier place today than when anar-
chy reigned (in the '60s)." The article
based its conclusions on a survey of
2,000 college students across the coun-
try, and the results indicated that most
schools were becoming more liberal,
but that "virginity is not quite dead."
It also reported that women "claim
Companies may be
selling overpriced
insurance to recruits
WASHINGTON (AP) - House
members voiced outrage yesterday at
pressure put on military recruits to buy
what they said were overpriced, unsuit-
able mutual funds and life insurance,
lining up behind bipartisan legislation
aimed at curbing such abusive market-
ing to soldiers, many of whom are being
sent to war zones.
At a time when U.S. soldiers are
fighting and dying in Iraq, lawmakers
denounced widespread instances of
financial companies targeting military
personnel with high-pressure sales tac-
tics and charging them exorbitant com-
missions.
There are reports of some companies
using retired military officers to make
sales pitches to recruits for mutual
funds with commissions that take 50
percent of the investor's contributions
in the first year.
"Just sign here, son," the retired offi-
cers are urging young soldiers in the
"desperate hours" before they ship off
to combat duty, Rep. Richard Baker (R-
La.), chairman of a House Financial Ser-
vices subcommittee, said at a hearing.
Fund plans with 50 percent com-
missions disappeared from the civilian
market in the 1970s and now are nearly
exclusively sold to military personnel,
industry experts say.
Legislation proposed this week by
Rep. Max Burns (R-Ga.) would prohib-
it all sales of the so-called contractual
mutual fund plans. The bill also would
expand the authority of state regulators
over sales of insurance policies on mili-
tary bases.
With a number of supporters from
both parties, its prospects for passage
appear strong in the waning days of
Congress's session this year.
Baker said it was impossible for law-
makers to "stand by and not take cor-
rective action."
Rep. Michael Oxley (R-Ohio), chair-
man of the full committee, called it
"a systemic problem that needs to be
fixed."
He cited reports of groups of recruits
being "marched into compulsory brief-
ings on veterans' benefits by salesmen
pretending to be financial planners
(who) quickstep them into signing up
for what turns out to be long-term life
insurance."
The briefings are organized under
the Pentagon's policy of having finan-
cial management classes for personnel
on bases.
Some young soldiers without depen-
dents are paying more than $100 a
month for life insurance on top of rela-
tively inexpensive policies they already
have as members of the military.
Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) told of his
19-year-old Long Island constituent,
Raheen Tyson Heighter, who enlisted
in the Army and served in Iraq:
"He was told he needs life insurance
and he figured, 'I'm 19 years old; I don't
really need life insurance.' He was told
again, 'Well you need to have it.' He
replies, 'What's the cheapest policy I
can get?' and they tell him a $10,000
policy. He gets a $10,000 policy."
After he was killed in action in Iraq,
Israel related, Tyson Heighter's mother
got a phone call from an Army officer
saying, "All your son bought was a
$10,000 policy. We're sorry."
Tyson Heighter had been unable to
afford the $20 a month for the stan-
dard military policy, which provides for
$200,000.
An official of American Amicable
Life Insurance Co. told the hearing that
after improper sales practices by sever-
al of its agents at Fort Benning, Ga., and
Camp Pendleton, Calif., came to light,
the company fired the agents and gave
refunds to affected policyholders.
Sharon's newest settlement
order causes govt discord
JERUSALEM (AP) -A group of prominent Israeli hard-
liners urged soldiers yesterday to disobey orders to dismantle
Jewish settlements, widening the bitter divisions over Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza
Strip and parts of the West Bank.
In new fighting, eight Palestinians, including a 9-year-
old boy, were killed in a string of clashes in the West Bank
and Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered
a closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the upcom-
ing Jewish holidays, preventing thousands of Palestinian
workers from entering Israel.
A ministry spokeswoman said the order would go into
effect this morning and last until early October. Military
sources said humanitarian cases would still be permitted into
the country.
Since fighting erupted four years ago, Israel has restricted
the entry of Palestinians to varying degrees, imposing strict
closures during holidays and other times of high alert. In
April 2002, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a Passover
gathering,'killing 29 pe6ple.
The call to soldiers and other security forces to resist evac-
uating settlements appeared to signal a significant escalation
in the debate over withdrawal. '
Sharon says exiting Gaza, where 8,000 Jewish settlers live
among 1.3 million Palestinians, will boost Israeli security.
He hopes to complete the pullout next year.
But hard-liners, including members of his own Likud
Party, have grown increasingly vocal in their opposition to
the withdrawal.
The hard-liners accuse Sharon of caving in to Palestinian
violence, and fear that the initial pullout will lead to further
withdrawals from West Bank land.
The petition published yesterday in the Besheva weekly
contained some of the harshest language yet against Sharon's
plan. It called the pullout a "crime against humanity" and urged
security forces to disobey orders to evacuate settlements.
"We call public officials who are being asked to lay the
groundwork for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from their
homeland, and on all of the officers, troops and policemen,
to listen to the voice of their conscience and not take part in
acts that will sully them," it said.
The petition was signed by 185 people, including former
lawmakers, academics military officers and retired officials.
The newspaper is oriented toward a religious nationalist audi-
ence, including Israel's 240,000 settlers in the West Bank and
Gaza, a Besheva spokesman said.
The Yesha Council; an umbrella group representing Jew-
ish settlers, said it had no connection to the ad. Yesha spokes-
man Josh Hasten said the group continues to support only
nonviolent and legal means of resistance.
Among the names on the petition were Ben Zion Netanya-
hu, father of ex-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
and Yossi Ben Aharon, Netanyahu's bureau chief.
I
Ann Arbor Branch
AAUW
52nd Annual Used Book Sale
September 10 - 12, 2004
. . ........ . ....... ..
Friday: 10am - 8pm
Early admission $10, Sam - 10am
Saturday: 10am - 8pm
Sunday: 10am - 3pm
Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:
$1 - $4 price range,
some books
individually priced
all books half price
all books $5 per bag
Luxury
L iving
At A Great
P rice!
Morris Lawrence Building Washtenaw Community College
Supporting the education of women for over 100 years!
www.aauwaa.org
Ask About Our
FREE MOVE
" lniquEdiak
" O $e & ivbedooapartmet
and two bedroom towhomtes
" Heat and water iMoe
" Paio or akoii
" wi~mmngpo d
" Coy 1redparking
" On RATA bIs line near Uof M
" CQiporate Suites
PINEY
VALLEY
MOVE-INGUARANTEE
Ask About SPECIALS!
(734) 971-5210
1521 Pine Valley Bh d.
Ann Arbor, MI48104
: (800)989-1833
Emaik info@ i artments~com
1925.0W,
. , <O :,BI
C, IE "
--------------
m