NEWS
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 13, 2005 - 3A
ON CAMPUS
Arts & Programs
sponsors sock hop
on North Campus
The Michigan Union Arts & Pro-
grams will host a '50s Sock Hop
tonight from 9 to 11 p.m. at Pierpont
Commons. Admission is free and
prizes will be awarded for the best
costume and dance moves.
Opera singer
makes 'U' debut
at Mendelssohn
In her debut appearance for the Uni-
versity Musical Society, award-win-
ning mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe
performs tonight at 8 p.m. at the Lydia
Mendelssohn Theater.
Blythe, an alum of the Metropolitan
Opera Lindemann Young Artists Pro-
gram, has performed at some of the best
opera houses in the world, including
the Paris Opera and the Metropolitan
Opera. Tickets are available from UMS
for $30-40.
MLK event features
acclaimed poet
and sitcom writer
As part of the 2005 Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. Symposium, author
and award-winning poet Michele
Serros will speak today from 7 to 9
p.m. in the Vandenberg Room of the
Michigan League.
Serros is a former writer for "The
. George Lopez Show" and author of "Chi-
cana Falsa" and "How to be a Chicano
Role Model."
Appetizers and refreshments will
be served.
CRIME
NOTES
Flasher's hearing
adjourned until
early February
The preliminary hearing for Michi-
gan football player Larry Harrison, who
is facing charges of indecent exposure,
has been adjourned until Feb. 9 at 1 p.m.
The hearing was originally scheduled
for yesterday but was postponed because
Harrison's attorney had not yet read over
the proceedings, the Ann Arbor police
. department said.
Harrison is suspected of involvement
in 16 cases of indecent exposure, but
prosecutors only have enough evidence
to charge him with four. After starting
in seven games for the football team, the
defensive end was dismissed from the
team in early December.
Residence hall
vending machine
found marred
A vending machine was damaged in
East Quad Residence Hall Tuesday, the
Department of Public Safety reported.
DPS: Fire system
malfunctions in
Dana Building
The fire alarm was set off in the Dana
Building Tuesday afternoon, DPS
reported. The alarm was set off by a
malfunction in the system.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Profs upset with
company selling
lecture notes
Jan. 13, 1983 - The new graduate stu-
dent run company, Bartleby's Notes, was
a pain in the neck for some University
professors as it provided lectures notes
to students of 23 courses for a price of at
least $11.55 a term.
"I think it's a dreadful idea," said
history Prof. James Vann.
While some professors disapprove
of the company, Economics Prof. Paul
Courant said the notes will give students
a chance to listen in class, without worry-
ing about writing everything down.
Building auction may alter Liberty Street
Stores housed in
property
can keep
hope they
location
By Leslie Rott
Daily Staff Reporter
A court-ordered public auction that will take
place on the steps of the courthouse today at
11 a.m. could potentially change the face and
composition of Liberty Street.
The auction is in response to a family rift
over how two siblings should manage the
property, previously owned by their deceased
parents.
Siblings Beverly Bell and Tom Clark have
been at odds for the past few years over prop-
erty on the street, but they no longer have con-
trol of the outcome of the situation.
On Oct. 6, a judge ruled that the public should
decide the outcome by allowing the property to
go to the highest bidder.
If the highest bidder is someone other than
Bell or Clark, storeowners on the street may be
in danger of having to relocate.
The property, which is composed of two
buildings located on Liberty Street between
Division and Thompson Streets, is home to
several local businesses - Kim's Sports and
Martial Arts Supplies, Le Dog, Liberty Street
Apparel, Serendipity and Versailles Salon.
The property is estimated at a value of
between $1.25 and $1.3 million, said local
developer Ed Shaffran, who was asked by the
Bell family to be an expert witness during
the trial.
Shaffran said the site is attractive because of
its proximity to campus.
However, Shaffran added that because of
restrictions from zoning laws, the property is
not suitable for development.
He also said that construction costs to
replace the current businesses with a high-rise
building would be very expensive.
Bell and Clark seemed optimistic that the
tenants of the businesses would not be in dan-
ger of immediate displacement even if the
property goes to a developer.
But some business owners are skeptical and
concerned that the future of their businesses
will be in jeopardy if a developer purchases
the property.
Renay Mishler, owner of Serendipity, said
"We want to see our children and grandchildren
involved in the evolution of the family property."
- Dale Bell
Bidding for Liberty Street property
she is worried about the future of her salon
if someone other than Clark or Bell is able to
purchase it.
"(It is) such a beautiful building," she said.
"I'll be sad to leave and see the building go."
She said the building in which her business
is located is 150 years old.
"I like the funkiness of Ann Arbor," Mishler
said. "I hate to see Ann Arbor be so corporate."
Shaffran said the auction was a sad situation.
"I really, really hoped that (the siblings)
could work it out."
"It wasn't supposed to be a corporate take-
over at all," said Dale Bell, Beverly's husband.
"My wife and I plan to be aggressive in our
bidding," he added.
Both Bell and Clark hope that whatever the
outcome, the property remains in the family,
as it has sentimental value.
"That's where grandma and grandpa lived,"
said Bell of his children's connection to the
property.
"We want to see our children and grandchil-
dren involved in the evolution of the family
property," he added.
Clark, who is an Ann Arbor native, lived with
his parents in one of the buildings located on the
property going up for auction.
"This is a very common thing that two peo-
ple can't agree (on)," Clark said.
"In a perfect world, we wouldn't be doing
this," he added.
LGBT
Continued from page IA
Joining them, Rep. Chris Kolb (D-Ann
Arbor) said he would introduce new civil
rights legislation to outlaw discrimination
based on gender and sexuality.
"We're truly affected by Proposal 2,"
McCormack said, adding that straight
couples don't know how lucky they are to
have the ability to legally marry.
"Too often we are represented by
shows like 'Will and
Grace,' but we're "I feel very
much broader," Kolb
said, adding that he that what
would introduce leg-
islation to amend the happened
Elliot-Larsen Act to
outlaw lesbian, gay, the electi
bisexual and trans- a result of
gender discrimina-
tion. The act is the not know
state's civil rights
protection law and of LGBT
makes no mention
of discrimination
based on sexuality.
"We're going to Co-chair,
support the amend-
ment to Elliot-Lars-
en," Andrea Knittle,
co-chair of the Stonewall Democrats
said. "I feel very strongly that what's
happened after the election was a result
of people not knowing a lot of LGBT
people," she added.
Knittle said the Stonewall Democrats
would continue to educate people about
LGBT affairs by using events like an art
show and a campaign, composed of both
straight and LGBT people, to continue
pushing their goals.
The legislative agenda of the LGBT
community to protect and help its fami-
lies is much larger than amending the
Elliot-Larsen Act. The LGBT community
wants to have crimes against them classi-
fied and prosecuted as hate crimes. They
also wish to repeal sodomy laws, allow
gay couples to jointly adopt children and
be able to extend their healthcare benefits
to their spouses and children.
"We expect our
y strongly
's
[after
on was
people
ring a lot
people."
- Andrea Knittle
of the Stonewall
Democrats
families to be pro-
tected - yes, even
in the face of the
crude and shameful
result of Proposal
2 - so that we
can build families,
adopt children and
raise them in safety
and with all the
expectations that
any family holds
for its future and
the future of their
kids," said Jeffrey
Montgomery, exec-
utive director of the
LGBT advocacy
group the Triangle
Foundation.
Some people in
the LGBT community were optimistic
about the future of their movement's agen-
da because they believe the state's citizens
are more tolerant than ever.
"I think the more tolerant and fair
minded people voted for Proposal 2
without understanding how extreme
it was," said Penny Gardner, program
director of Michigan Equality, a LGBT
advocacy group.
StateRep.ChrislKolb (D-Ann Arbor) speaks at an LGBT rally at the CapitolBuilding In Lansing yesterday.
Kolb introduced the Elliot-Larsen Act to the state Legislature. The bill could outlaw gender discrimination.
FTC tries to stop
college a id scams
The Associated Press
After a 90-minute sales pitch from a
company that promised to increase the
financial aid eligibility of her college-
bound kids, Corrine Nocerino signed a
$1,950 contract on the spot. She would
soon regret that decision.
Her son's guidance counselor found
out and immediately warned Noceri-
no, who lives in Spotsyvlania County,
Va., that the symposium she attended
in November 2003 at a nearby hotel
sounded like a scam. The counselor
explained that the kids' funding eligi-
bility would not suffer if Nocerino filled
out the form herself, as the symposium
led her to believe, and that free help was
available. Feeling. betrayed, Nocerino
demanded her money back.
"They were not completely honest,"
she said.
The Federal Trade Commission
agreed. Now the agency, which had
cracked down on the company once
before, is attempting to shut it down and
return nearly $2 million to thousands of
consumers. Nocerino's story has a famil-
iar ring, educators say, and an important
lesson in it for parents: As long as there
are college-bound students who need
financial aid, there are scammers look-
ing to take advantage of them.
"For the 10 years I've been a guid-
ance counselor, I've seen it every
year," said Amy Miller Spavlik of the
Franklin Learning Center, a Phila.
delphia high school.
The rising cost of education and igno-
rance about the plethora of financial aid
readily available and how to apply for it -
for free - have helped to create a climate
in which thousands of financially vulner-
able Americans are defrauded every year
out of millions of dollars exnerts said.
Red flags
Avoid these warn
signs of financial afd
e igibility scams
When a company asks for pay-
ment up front
When scholarships or financial
aid are promised
When a company calls promis-
ing to conduct a search of all
available sources of aid in order
to match students with potential
fits: that information is available
for free on the Web
consultants generally charge one-tenth
the amount of scammers, whose fees
often exceed $1,000 and whose money-
back guarantees may not be as rock
solid as they seem.
The FTC accuses NSFA of violat-
ing the terms of a previous settle-
ment, reached in August 2003, by
falsely representing, as it allegedly
did to Nocerino and others, its ability
to boost students' financial aid eligi-
bility, as well as the amount of money
likely available to them.
The FTC says that over the years NSFA,
which agreed in its August 2003 settle-
ment to pay $115,000 and cease making
false claims, has defrauded some 40,000
consumers out of $10 million. The FTC
also alleges that NSFA lied to consumers
who were promised refunds in the event
they did not receive aid.t
Keith Flicker, a New York lawyer
representing Integrated Capital, called
the FTC's actions "over the top, outra-
2eous and baseless" and said they grew
Looking for an Opportunity to
Make a Difference?
CIA's Directorate of Intelligence will be interviewing candidates
for Analyst Positions.
Representatives from CIA's analytical arm, the Directorate of Intelligence, will be interviewing for analyst
positions in Detroit during the week of February 21 st.Analysts work on the forefront of protecting national
security, quickly assessing how rapidly changing international developments will impact US interests at home
and abroad.They use information from classified and unclassified sources from around the world to develop
and provide the reliable intelligence that is essential for US policymakers to make informed decisions.The DI
is hiring for the following positions:
- Analytic Methodologist
" Collection Analyst
" Counterintelligence
Threat Analyst
" Counterterrorism Analyst
" Economic, Political, Leadership
and Military Analysts
" Science,Technology and
Weapons Analyst
* Medical Analyst
- Psychological/Psychiatric
Analyst
- Crime and Counternarcotics
Analyst
Candidates must have at least a bachelor's degree with a minimum GPA of 3.0. Language skills, previous