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One-hundredfourteen years ofeditorialfreedom
www.micAiandady.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 72 x2005 The Michigan Daily
Students
robbed
at
gunpoint
By Michael Kan
Daily News Editor
Two University students were robbed at gun-
point early yesterday morning by three masked
men who invaded their house on Hill Street and
stole several personal belongings.
The Ann Arbor Police Department is currently
investigating the crime, but as of yet, the AAPD
has not named any suspects, Srgt. Richard Kinsey
said. He added that the crime may be connected
to a recent string of burglaries in the area.
"We are looking into that possibility, but any-
thing is possible. The most important thing is that
this is very unusual. Home robberies like these
are very uncommon," Kinsey said.
Art and Design sophomores Tom and Willa,
who did not want to release their last names, said
they were sitting at their kitchen table when three
armed men entered through the unlocked back
door of their home at around 2 a.m. Both said
they did not sustain any injuries.
Tom said they first heard the handle of the
backdoor rattle, adding that the robbers were
most likely testing if the door was locked.
One of the robbers then entered through
the door, followed by two others who were all
dressed in black with bandanas tied across their
faces, he said.
Assuming the noise at the door was a house-
mate, Willa was approaching the door while Tom
was talking on his cell phone when they both
noticed the three men were armed with hand-
guns, he said.
One of the armed men ordered Tom to shut
off his phone as the robbers surrounded Tom and
Willa.
The men then took off with the valuables on
the kitchen table, stealing two laptops, two cell
phones, a digital camera and a wallet, Tom said.
Immediately after the armed men left, Tom
said he used the cell phone of a housemate living
upstairs to call the police, who arrived just one
minute later.
"All of our work, our valuables are just gone
now," Willa said.
Both Tom and Willa said they believe that the
robbers targeted their house because the blinds
were open, allowing the interior of their home to
be viewed from the outside.
As a result, the robbers then could have easily
planned a strategy to rob the house, Tom said.
Law School student Matthew George, who
lives a few houses away and has visited the house
before, said the robbers probably scouted out the
premise beforehand.
Most student houses are structured like apart-
ment buildings, with narrow hallways and small
spaces, making them difficult to rob, he said.
But in the case of the house that was robbed
yesterday morning, the interior is like a normal
house, with open rooms and wide spaces that
make it an ideal target for robbers, George said.
See ROBBERY, Page 5
A house in the 500 block of Hill
Street was robbed at about 2:05
a.m. yesterday.
Three subjects entered the house
with handguns and stole personal
belongings from the occupants.
Call AAPD at 994-2880 or DPS
at 763-131 with information about
the burglary.
A $1,000 reward is being offered
'U' completes search for
students in tsunami areas
Twelve students will not
return to U' this semester
By Amber Colvin
Daily Staff Reporter
The University has completed its search for the 850 stu-
dents from tsunami-hit areas, having contacted all of them
and assured their safety.
Last week, about 25 students had yet to be located, but
Dean of Students Sue Eklund said that over the course of
the week, the University heard from all of them.
"We made a few more phone calls and heard from a few
more academic units, and that was basically enough to get
us over the top," Eklund said.
. She added that 12 students were either unable or chose
not to return to Ann Arbor due to the tsunami.
"They wanted to stay home and help out," Eklund
said. She added that the University will now focus on
helping these students return in the fall by keeping
them aware of registration dates, financial aid issues
and their visa needs.
The University used phone calls and e-mails while
trying to locate the students and also enlisted help from
all the different colleges. Most of the 850 students are
enrolled in the College of Literature, Science, and the
Arts, Rackham Graduate School and the College of
Engineering, Eklund said.
Lisa Payton, director of Student Leadership and Aca-
demic Services for the College of Engineering, said she
received a list of Engineering students from the affected
countries from Eklund.
"In most cases, I contacted both the advisors and the
professors, hoping that I could find out one way or the
other, and I got quick responses from people," Payton
said. She added that most of the students on the list were
contacted that way.
Jayne Brownell, director of the LSA Academic Advis-
ing Center, used a similar process to locate students.
"Each advisor in our office received a list of their own
advisees, and they sent each person a personalized note
asking if they had been impacted by the disaster. And if
we didn't know that the student had returned to campus,
we requested that they let us know if they were back,"
Brownell said.
Brownell added that 65 to 75 percent of the students on
LSA's list responded within a week to their advisors' notes.
"Most told us that they had not been personally affect-
ed, but that they appreciated our checking in with them,"
Brownell said.
Rackham student Cephas Sekhar, who is from Mum-
bai, India, was among the 25 students the University heard
from this week, completing its search.
"One person e-mailed me actually a couple weeks
ago, and another person called me and I responded,"
See TSUNAMI, Page 5
CIR responds to brief in
affirmative action case
By Justin Miller
Daily Staff Reporter
More than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court
struck down the admissions policy for the College of
Literature, Science, and the Arts, aspects of the case
brought to the court are still being settled between the
University and the firm that represented Jennifer Gratz
and other plaintiffs fighting to end affirmative action.
In a series of briefs filed between the two parties,
the legal battle over damages to be paid to the plain-
tiffs continues, as the Center for Individual Rights has
responded to the University's most recent statement
the CIR asserts that it will continue to seek payment
for damages.
CIR wants the University to refund the $40 appli-
cation fee and pay a $1 punitive damage to everyone
who applied between 1995 and 2003 and was not of
Native American, black or Hispanic origin, because
the University was using an unconstitutional admis-
sions policy.
The University is arguing that the plaintiffs must
prove they would have been accepted under the current
application process - not the one they had originally
applied under. The new system does not use points but
still considers race as a factor for admission.
"We do not believe these damages are warranted by
either the facts of the case, or the law," said Marvin Kris-
lov, University vice president and general counsel.
"Unsuccessful applicants would have to show they
would have been admitted to the University under an
alternate race-conscious system, and that is nearly
impossible to show. Courts have been extremely reluc-
tant to go back in time and engage in this kind of spec-
ulation in previous cases."
The disagreement over which system should be used
to evaluate damages has resulted in a dispute over who
shoulders the burden of proof in the case.
"The burden is on the University to prove that these
individuals would have not gotten in, that it would
only satisfy that burden under the old system," CIR
President Terry Pell said.
"We don't believe the law allows the University to
force plaintiffs to construct a hypothetical new system
to show that they would have got(ten) into the Univer-
sity of Michigan."
The University's argument would not allow the
plaintiffs to sue on a class-action basis because indi-
viduals would have to show that they would have been
admitted under the current admissions policy.
When the affirmative action case was originally
presented, both parties agreed to split the lawsuit in
two - first dealing with the constitutionality of the
admissions policies and later deciding on what dam-
ages individuals were entitled to.
See CIR, Page 5
LSA senior Carrie Calcutt studied abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa last semester.
African countries unpopular
with study abroad students
By Christina Hildreth
Daily Staff Reporter
LSA senior Myra Marie Tetteh has been to Ghana many
times. She travels to the African continent every other sum-
mer, visiting family and doing humanitarian work.
"I think everyone should take the time to go to another
country," she said, "Its an opportunity to debunk any miscon-
ceptions you have."
Every year, University students pack up their books and
board planes to do just that. Students from all over the United
States attend study-abroad programs in locations all across the
globe. While thousands of students take part in these programs
every year, only a small percentage of them visit Africa.
The Office of International Programs offers more than 80
study abroad programs in 36 different countries worldwide.
But African countries are visited least frequently; this semes-
ter, only seven University students are studying in one of Afri-
ca's 54 nations, compared with almost 40 students studying in
Britain alone.
These seven students are all studying at the University of
Cape Town, located in Cape Town, South Africa. While the
University also offers a yearlong program in Senegal, there are
no students participating this year.
Carol Dickerman, director of the Office of International
See AFRICA, Page 5
Newdow protests Pledge of Allegiance
By Chloe Foster
and Michael Lacher
Daily Staff Reporters
With an acoustic guitar and harmonica, constitu-
tional activist Michael Newdow stood before a crowd
of students in Hutchins Hall yesterday afternoon and
- crooned his song "Pledge of Allegiance Blues."
Newdow, however, was there not only to enter-
nation of his 10-year- he
old daughter. " have the Con
Newdow's case was
rejected in an 8-0 deci- it was written,.
sion, on the grounds Fathers wante
that he lacked stand-
ing, or the right to file and state."
suit, because he was
not the legal guardian
Zstitution on my side. When
it was clear the Founding
d the separation of church
- W
I A
- Michaepl Newdow
r