NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 7, 2005 - 3A
ON CAMPUS
Alloy Orchestra
to perform at
Michigan Theatre
The popular three-man musical
ensemble, the Alloy Orchestra, will per-
form tonight at 5 p.m. at the Michigan
Theatre. The Alloy Orchestra writes and
performs live accompaniment to silent
films using various unusual objects,
including its famous "rack of junk." The
'featured silent film of the night is the
recently restored classic "Metropolis."
Presentation to
highlight ethics in
advertising
A presentation examining the life of
Edgar "Painless" Parker and Ameri-
can ethics in advertising will be held
today from 4 to 5 p.m. in room G550 of
the School of Dentistry. Parker - an
American dentist viewed negatively
by many of his peers due to his use of
advertising, including pulling 357 teeth
in one day - is often credited with
helping the public embrace dental care
in the 19th century. This free event will
include door prizes and refreshments
"beginning at 3:30 p.m.
Wom Glee Club to
present a cappella
,and comedy show
The University's Women's Glee Club
will be hosting a night of musical and
comedic performance at 8 p.m. at the
.,Ipiprov Inferno on Main Street. The
night will include a cappella selections
and improv comedy. This event is open
to individuals who are 18 and older, and
the cost is $10. All ticket sales will ben-
efit the Women's Glee Club.
CRIME
NOTES
Tools stolen from
University Hospital
Hospital Security reported to the
Department of Public Safety Tuesday
.that an unspecified number of tools
were stolen from the University Hospi-
tal. A report has been filed.
:Graffiti discovered
In carport stairwell
A caller reported to DPS Tuesday
that there was discriminatory grafitti
about sexual orientation in the stairwell
between level one and level one-A of the
Thayer Carport. A report has been filed.
THIS DAY
'4n Daily History
IViSA debate
addresses activism,
toilet paper
April 7, 1981 - Four Michigan Stu-
dent Assembly presidential candidates
fielded questions about everything from
increasing student activism to soft toilet
paper in a debate last night.
One of the major topics at the debate
,Was MSA's involvement with outside
political issues.
"We shouldn't exclude a group (from
funding) because it is a political group,"
said Jon Feiger, People's Action Coali-
tion candidate.
One audience member also asked
Joyride Party candidate Steve Roach
about his party's "soft toilet paper"
proposal, saying that lobbying for such
things was unfair to those who preferred
"hard toilet paper."
Himmelstein fielded the question,
suggesting that both types of toilet paper
be made available to students.
CORRECTIONS
An article on Page 5 of yesterday's
f'%ition of the Daily should have said
that the play "Raised in Captivity" will
be performed at the Arena Theatre.
An article on Page IA of Monday's
Concern mounts over anti-terrorism law
School-violence experts say
extending the law to include
teens as terrorists is going too far
LANSING (AP) - Michigan's use of an anti-ter-
rorism law to curb school violence has sparked debate
over the law's intent and raised an important ques-
tion among prosecutors, school officials and others:
When is a troubled teen a terrorist?
Law enforcement officials say the law against
threatening terrorism, enacted in the wake of the
Sept. 11 attacks, gives them a vital tool to avert
shootings like the one last month in Minnesota,
where a student shot and killed nine people before
turning the gun on himself.
With no specific state law against threatening to
kill someone, law enforcement official say, the ter-
rorism law is the only one that works.
But many school-violence experts say labeling
a disturbed or angry teen a terrorist is going over-
board. In some cases, they say, what the student
needs is psychological help, not jail time.
"(We have to) discern between students who
pose a threat and students who are making
threats," said Glenn Stutzky, a clinical instructor
at the Michigan State University School of Social
Work. "It appears the terrorism law doesn't make
that distinction."
Two Michigan cases, one in Macomb County
northeast of Detroit and one in adjoining Oak-
land County, appear to be among the first in the
country where terrorism laws are being applied
to school violence.
One involves a 17-year old accused of threat-
ening to bring a gun to school to kill a school
liaison officer and whose home, when checked
by police, revealed a cache of firearms, ammuni-
tion, bomb-making materials and instructions,
Nazi flags and books about white supremacy
and Adolf Hitler.
Andrew Osantowski of
Macomb County's Clinton "We know
Township was arrested last
September after authorities of terroris
received a tip from an Idaho
girl who had been exchang- the Legisl
ing messages with Osantowski
over the Internet. He has been trying toI
charged as an adult and faces us from, (
up to 20 years in prison. U ~ ,
The other case involves a not childr
14-year-old whose backpack
contained a notebook with
a "kill list" that included a
dozen people, including his
mother, several students and
school officials.
A police search of Mark David O'Berry's home
in Oakland County's White Lake Township in
mid-March found no weapons, and he has denied
making the list. He is being dealt with as a juvenile
and could be held until age 19 if found guilty.
Prosecutors in both cases say they used the state's
terrorism law because no other charge applied.
Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Steve
Kaplan said he could have charged Osantowski
with attempted murder but did not think he could
prove it.
"Essentially you have to show he was on his way
t
p
a
re
to school with the guns and was thwarted. It didn't
fit," said Kaplan, who also has charged Osantowski
with using a computer to make terrorist threats.
"We would not have gotten a conviction."
Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Bob Zivian
said he turned to the terrorism law in the O'Berry
case for the same reason.
what kind "Until we know what
makes this young man tick
attack and can get a psychological
evaluation on him, we're just
ature was doing what we can to protect
the public and even his own
rotect mother, who's No. 1 on the
ind it's) hit list," Zivian said.
O'Berry's court-appointed
~n' ". attorney, Ryan Deel of Troy,
said he does not like see-
ing youths inappropriately
- Ryan Deel labeled as terrorists.
Attorney "We know what kind of
terrorist attack the Legis-
lature was trying to protect
us from, (and it's) not from children," Deel
said. "When the public thinks of terrorists, they
don't think of a 14-year-old boy."
Some school-violence experts differ over wheth-
er prosecutors should be charging students with
terrorism and say they've heard of few instances of
similar laws used against students in other states.
William Lassiter, a school safety specialist with
the Center for the Prevention of School Violence
in Raleigh, N.C., said prosecutors are "using the
wrong type of terminology."
"You're talking about a student who needs
help and services more so than jail," he said,
noting that "hit lists" often are drawn up by stu-
dents who are bullied.
"These kids don't feel like school officials are
helping them, so they're taking measures into their
own hands," Lassiter said.
Judith Shell, a consultant for the Oakland Coun-
ty Intermediate School District, said young people
often act impulsively and don't consider the rami-
fications of their actions.
"If their (prosecutors') goal is to get a child
help, there certainly are a lot of other avenues,"
said Shell, who has helped develop guidelines for
assessing students' dangerous and threatening
behavior. "I don't think the terrorism act was ever
meant to play that role."
But Ronald Stephens, executive director of the
National School Safety Center in Westlake Vil-
lage, Calif., said the law would be a good choice
in some cases.
"This can be very intimidating to students
and teachers, knowing their name was on a hit
list," he said.
State Rep. William Van Regenmorter, who as
a state senator in 2002 helped push through an
anti-terrorism package, said he thinks the law is
serving its purpose.
He said what happened in Columbine and Min-
nesota shows that "very young people can commit
what clearly can be considered terrorist acts."
"I think this falls within the Legislature's
intent, with the understanding that there is a
process where the court can separate those who
are truly dangerous from those who are not," the
Hudsonville Republican said.
Loophole may LET'S GET DOWN TONiGHT
lead to more
mercury in air
TRAVERSE CITY (AP) - A Bush
administration proposal for reducing
mercury emissions would give more
than half of Michigan's coal-fired elec-
tricity generation units a free pass,
environmental activists said yesterday.
The Public Interest Research Group
in Michigan said the "clear skies" bill
pending in Congress has a loophole
that would exempt from regulation 39
percent of the nation's coal-fired power
units - including 30 of the 59 units
in Michigan. Together, the units pump
282 million pounds of mercury into the
atmosphere each year, the group said.
"Mercury is poisonous in very small
amounts," said Kate Madigan, spokes-
woman for PIRGIM. "This loophole
is serious business for the millions of
Michiganders who eat fish."
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency said in a statement that the pro-
vision criticized by PIRGIM wasn't part
of Bush's original bill, but was inserted
during congressional deliberations.
"We look forward to working with
Congress to pass clear skies legisla-
tion," the agency said.
The U.S. Senate Environment and
Public Works Committee last month
deadlocked 9-9 on the proposed
legislation. It is designed to reduce
nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and
mercury in the air by letting smoke-
stack industries trade pollution rights
among themselves within overall caps
set by the government.
Critics say the measure would do less
than existing law to reduce pollution
and fails to address global warming by
regulating carbon dioxide emissions.
With the bill lagging in Congress, the
Environmental Protection Agency last
month ordered power plants to cut mercu-
ry emissions from smokestacks by nearly
half within 15 years. Environmentalists
dismissed the move as inadequate.
Mercury is a toxic metal that poses
a variety of health risks, including ner-
vous system damage. It can accumulate
in the bodies of fish, including some
species in the Great Lakes. Forty per-
cent of mercury emissions come from
power plants.
The PIRGIM report said the "clear
skies" bill would grant exemptions to
power plant units that emit 30 pounds
of mercury or less per year - includ-
ing units contained within plants that
as a whole generate more than 30
pounds annually.
Madigan said her group's find-
ings should prod Michigan officials to
impose state-level mercury emission
standards. A task force established by
Gov. Jennifer Granholm was supposed
to make recommendations on the mat-
ter last fall but is running late.
AFRICA...EUROPE...ASIA...
NEED FUNDING TO GO?
FULBRIGHI
The U.S. Department of State U.S. Student Fulbright Program funds study,
research, teaching, arts and independent projects in over 100 countries worldwide.
Application deadline: September 16, 2005
fulbrightprogram@umich.edu
http://www.umich.edu/~iinet/fulbright