NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 5, 2004 - 3
ON CAMPUS
Lecture part of
Islam Awareness
Week
As part of Islam Awareness Week,
the Muslim Students' Association
is sponsoring a "Roots of Islam in
America" presentation by Umar
Farooq Abdullah tomorrow. The
presentation, which begins at 7:30
p.m., will be held in 120 Hutchins
Hall. For a complete list of other
MSA-sponsored events this week,
visit www.umich.edu/-muslims.
University's Detroit
Observatory open
for tour
The University's Detroit Obser-
vatory will be open for a tour of its
facility today from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Built in 1854, the building is the old-
est observatory in the United States
to retain its original telescopes in
their mounts. Visitors will be able to
pull a rope to rotate the observato-
ry's dome. The observatory is locat-
ed at 1398 E. Ann St. The event is
free to University students, though a
$5 donation is suggested.
Three-part debate
viewing series
begins today
Arts of Citizenship is hosting
a series of three showings of the
presidential debates, titled "Debate
Watch: Doing Politics, Making
Culture." The event series aims to
promote cultural response to the
elections from young voters. The
session will begin at 9 p.m. at Can-
terbury House, on the corner of State
and Huron streets.
CRIME
NOTES
Trash can fire
causes Couzens
evacuation
Couzens Residence Hall was evacuat-
ed last night after a small trash container
caught fire, according to Department of
Public Safety reports. Smoke entered the
ventilation system, and the building had
to air out before residents could return
to their rooms. The building received no
damage, and there were no injuries.
Guitars and amp
stolen from car
DPS reports indicate two guitars and
a guitar amplifier were stolen from a
car parked in a loading dock Sunday
afternoon. The equipment was valued at
$3,000 and about $700 in damage was
done to the door frame of the car. DPS
has no suspects in the incident.
DPS officers look
for shaking man
DPS responded to an ambulance
request for a man who was reportedly
having a "spasm" and shaking on a
bench Sunday evening. Officers were
unable to locate the man.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Power of athletic
board under fire
Oct. 5, 1981 - Literary College
faculty members registered a unani-
mous protest over University eligi-
bility requirements for participation
in varsity sports, it was revealed last
night.
In a closed session, faculty mem-
bers went on record against a "double
standard" that permits eligibility for
athletes with a below "C" average
and places athletic eligibility under
the sole control of a committee of the
Board in Control of Intercollegiate
Athletics.
CORRECTIONS_
SHALL WE DANCE?
Kmart plans to
introduce new
stores, products
TROY (AP) - Kmart Holding
Corp. plans to renovate a number
of its stores, marking the first major
investment in stores since the retailer
emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection last year.
Work began last week on Kmart
stores in White Plains, N.Y. and in Boca
Raton, Fla. Kmart officials declined to
say how many other stores would be
renovated, where they would be located
or what they will look like.
"We are committed to improving the
customer experience and these stores
are an example of how we're working
to do that," Kmart spokesman Stephen
Pagnani told the Detroit Free Press for
a story today.
The Troy-based retailer also has
embarked on a multi-pronged effort
to reinvent its clothing lines to appeal
to the young and fashion-conscious,
The Detroit News
reported.
After opening a Kmart is Y
Manhattan styling
studio and hiring a running a,
former Gap execu-
tive to refocus and RollingS
expand its fashion
merchandise, the
company is now magazine
running ads in
Rolling Stone and brands sui
Vanity Fair maga-
zine alongside Ralph Lai
brands such as
Ralph Lauren and and Carti4
Cartier.
At the same
time, Kmart has
partnered with youth-oriented WB
television, placing their clothes on the
young stars of "One Tree Hill," "7th
Heaven," "Reba" and two new pro-
grams, "Summerland" and "Blue Col-
lar TV."
The fate of Kmart has been the focus
of considerable local and national spec-
ulation for the past year as it sold stores
MSU restricts tailgating
after rise in alcohol use
n
L)
IC
and watched its stock price increase
four fold.
Kmart Chairman Edward Lampert
- a Greenwich. Conn.. financier - has
not said publicly how he planned to
invest roughly $3 billion in Kmart's
bulging bank account. And the com-
pany has not disclosed plans to do any-
thing more than basic maintenance on
its stores.
That led analysts to doubt the com-
pany intended to invest into its aging
store base. Instead, under Lampert's
leadership, the chain has rethought
the merchandise it sells, reducing the
overall offerings and reinventing its
apparel lines.
Kmart recently sold 68 stores for
$847 million to Sears Roebuck & Co.
and Home Depot Inc. Kmart closed
599 stores during its bankruptcy and
has seen sales fall from $36 billion
to $23 billion.
Despite that, the
low company's stock
. price has sky-
IS in rocketed from
the low of $22.41
one to yesterday's.
Fair close of $90.20 as
investors specu-
alongside late on Lampert's
plans. Some have
as viewed the com-
pany as a real
.ren estate investment
rather than a
:r. retailer.
But news of the
prototype stores
could tell the invest-
ment community that Lampert is serious
about making Kmart a viable retailer
- and shows he is willing to put new
money into the stores.
"This proves that Kmart is a retail-
ing story, not just a real estate story,"
said Richard Hastings, chief retail
economist with New York-based Ber-
nard Sands, a research firm.
W NWSCIENCE~~
EAST LANSING (AP) - Michigan State University will
put new restrictions on tailgating for the rest of this football
season in an attempt to curb binge drinking, school officials
said yesterday.
Campus parking lots won't open until five hours before
game time. Lots will close two hours after each game.
Game boards and other paraphernalia related to drinking
games will be banned from tailgate parties.
The new regulations come in response to increased drink-
ing before and after Spartan football games, university officials
said. If these restrictions don't work, stricter measures, includ-
ing a ban on hard liquor, could be considered for next season.
"The people who should be the angriest are those who tail-
gate appropriately," Michigan State spokesman Terry Denbow
said. "We are trying to keep a healthy, family atmosphere."
The new restrictions go in effect for Saturday's home game
against Illinois. Kickoff is scheduled for noon, which means
campus lots will open at 7 a.m. Later kickoffs would mean
later parking lot openings.
Previously, there were no strict guidelines for when univer-
sity parking lots would open or close for football games. But
an increase in excessive drinking, public urination and other
inappropriate behavior forced the changes, Denbow said.
Police are also investigating a reported rape near a tailgate
spot before the Sept. 18 game with Notre Dame.
Michigan State campus police report 127 alcohol-related
incidents through two games this season. That compares to
432 incidents in seven games last season, and 291 incidents in
eight games in 2002.
"This is a ticking timebomb for many students," Denbow
said of the increase in binge drinking at tailgate parties. "It is
not just a (public relations) hazard. It is a health hazard."
The new restrictions were announced after a meeting
involving representatives from the university, city of East
Lansing, student groups and alumni groups.
Students were worried stricter measures could be put in
place. "It's not a horrible compromise," Michigan State fresh-
man Stacey Richardson said. "It still allows people to cel-
ebrate, but not let people get out of control."
Michigan State has tried to curb drinking at tailgate parties
in the past. A 1998 ban on alcohol at Munn Field, a popular
tailgating spot, sparked a student riot.
Gambling
expansion
gaining
support
New polisliows 56i
percent
support
Proposal 1
DETROIT (AP) - Michigan voters
appear willing to change the state's con-
stitution to require a local and statewide
vote to approve additional gambling,
according to a recent statewide poll.
The Detroit Free Press poll found 56
percent in support of Proposal 1, 28 per-
cent opposed and 16 percent undecided.
The poll of 830 registered voters, conduct-
ed Sept. 22 to 28, had a margin of error of
plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
If approved, the measure would
require most gambling operations -
except American Indian casinos - to
get voter approval at the state and local
level before they could expand. The
measure would be retroactive to Jan.
1 and was put on the ballot after horse
racing tracks pushed to add video gam-
bling machines to attract more people to
the tracks.
"The only poll that really counts is
the one on Election Day," said Roger
Martin, a spokesman for supporters of
Proposal 1. "We're very confident that
Michigan voters will vote to give them-
selves a vote and that they understand
that Proposal I gives them a vote on
future gambling expansions proposed
by the state."
Supporters of Proposal 1 say it
wouldn't prohibit racetracks or other
entities from installing slot machines.
But they say it would be more difficult
to get approval because such a move
would require both state and local
elections.
The leaders of the Vote No on Pro-
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