Wednesday, November 2, 2005
WOMEN'S HOOPS PASSES FIRST TEST - BARELY .. PAGE 12
News 3 Two state
Republicans come
out against MCRI
Opinion 4 Mara Gay: Take
off your gags
Arts 8 Guster appears at the
Michigan Theatre
One-hundred-ifteen years ofed torialfreedom
www.mdhzigandaiy.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVI, No. 23 62005 The Michigan Daily
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
Lease-date
ordinance
announced
Legislation would buy
students more time when
signing for houses
By Jeremy Davidson
Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor residents came one
step closer to pushing back the
annual housing rush last night
when Mayor John Hieftje released
a draft of a housing ordinance
that would place new restrictions
on how early landlords can start
renting it.
Landlords in Madison could still
sign new tenants without showing
the apartment or property them-
selves.
Cities that have implemented sim-
ilar legislation have run into prob-
lems enforcing their ordinances.
In some cases, landlords attempt
to circumvent the ordinance by
offering virtual tours of properties
over the Internet or allowing ten-
ants to view the premises in person
without the landlord present.
"The clause we've added pre-
vents that," Hieftje said.
If a landlord
shows a house to
a potential renter
is before one-fourth
of the lease period
expires, he would
be punished by a
$1,000 fine, under
the proposed ordi-
Engineering senior Ashish Parameswaran participates in a Diwall celebration held in the Wedge Room inside West Quad Residence Hall.
Greek recruitment 1Creases
High number of pledges
attributed to publicity campaign,
two new campus chapters
By Ashlea Sun@S.
For the Daily
Despite a new social policy placing restrictions on
parties and alcohol in Greek houses, fall recruitment
numbers for the Greek system were the highest they
have been in the past several years.
The social policy - enacted at the beginning of this
year to improve safety at Greek parties and minimize
the legal liability of Greek houses - compounded with
the expulsion of a sorority and a fraternity from cam-
pus last semester led many to suspect that the numbers
showing premises
The draft was
released to the
Michigan Student
Assembly last
night.
The assembly
passed a resolu-
tion in support of
the ordinance.
The ordinance,
initially based on
legislation from
Madison, Wisc.,
would prevent
landlords from
premises for the p
ing the premises t
ants until one-four
lease period has pa
Currently, man
forced to sign le
September and O
they will live in a
The ordinance
dents a little more
until December -
for the next year.
Hieftje - who
ordinance at last n
ing - said his on
loophole left open
legislation by requ
show an apartmen
.
would be lower this season.
But according to the Interfraternity Council, the
number of students recruited by fraternities grew from
414 last year to 452 in this year's fall rush season. Sorori-
ties on campus reflected the same trend, as the Panhel-
lenic Council estimated the number of coeds recruited
by sororities that increased by-roughly 70 this fall
Members of the Greek community attributed these
high numbers to increased Greek system publicity, the
addition of two new chapters to campus and Panhel's
implementation of a higher quota for sorority pledge
class size.
Mary Beth Seiler, the University's director of the
Office of Greek Life, suggested that the publicity drive
may have been a chief cause of the high numbers.
Seiler credited "the students who were working on
public relations this year" with the rise in recruitment
"I wholehe-
support th
ordinance"
numbers.
Increased publicity efforts included summer mail-
ings, posters and T-shirts, as well as events such as the
Palmer Field tailgate and the screening of a film during
welcome week. IFC spokesman Jon Krasnov also gave
credit to members of the Greek system, saying, "When
(fraternity members) go out to recruit new members,
they have shown themselves to be highly successful."
Krasnov said the increased publicity was a result of
the concern voiced by some groups that rush numbers
would be low due to the new social policy - which
restricts the number of non-Greek students that can
attend certain Greek events.
Another chief reason for the higher rush numbers
is the raised quotas Panhel has instituted for sororities,
Greek officials said. This year, the quota for the number
See IFC, Page 7
-Jesse Levine nance.
MSA President This rule would
not apply to nine-
month leases.
"You can't stop
entering leased the use of the Web, but you can stop
purpose of show- the effectiveness of marketing over
D prospective ten- the Web," MSA City Liaison Laura
rth of the current Van Hyfte said.
assed. "This makes the ordinance more
ny students are pro-student and more effective,"
ases as early as she added.
ctober for houses MSA President Jesse Levine
year later. echoed Van Hyfte's sentiments, say-
would buy stu- ing the ordinance will ease pressure
time - at least applied on students by landlords.
- to sign a lease "I wholeheartedly support this
ordinance," he said.
announced the The mayor said he will open dis-
ight's MSA meet- cussion about the draft in January and
rdinance closes a aims to have the legislation in place
n in the Madison before the May leasing period.
iring landlords to The ordinance would take effect
t or house before 10 days after legal publication.
Bursley robbery adds to string of dorm thefts
Eight break-ins have occurred
at residence halls in October
alone, according to DPS
By Rachel Kruer
Daily Staff Reporter
After being awoken by two burglars in his Bursley
dorm room, a 19-year-old University student chased
down one of the intruders to retrieve his laptop com-
puter early Monday morning, the student said.
The incident was the latest in a recent string of
dormitory burglaries.
The student said the sound of one of the bur-
glars trying to unplug his laptop woke him up at
around 2:30 a.m.
He said he was able to catch a glimpse of the
suspects. He described the suspect attempting
to steal his laptop as 5'10," 170 pounds, black,
stubble on his face, wearing a brown jacket with
dark jeans.
He described the second suspect as 6'1," 180
lbs, black with possible goatee and wearing a long-
sleeve, button-down white shirt and blue jeans..
He said they were only a couple of feet from
his bed.
"They were halfway between my bed and the
door," he said. "They didn't bother me but were just
concerned with stealing my computer."
According to the student, after he got out of bed,
one suspect fled, while the other continued unplug-
ging cords from the laptop until it was completely
disconnected.
The student said he grabbed the second suspect,
who was carrying his laptop and heading out of the
door. The suspect freed himself by punching him
twice in the face, the student said.
"My adrenaline was going so I didn't really feel
anything. It also didn't really hurt," he said.
Undeterred, he said he followed the two suspects
down the stairs and through an outside doorway.
Once outside, the two suspects split up, he said.
Wearing no shoes, the student followed the suspect
holding his laptop to a wooded area.
The chase ended after about two minutes of run-
ning when the suspect tripped and fell, the student
said. The suspect fled, leaving the laptop behind.
The student said he pursued the suspect because
of the value of his laptop.
"I didn't want to get back at the guy, I simply just
wanted my laptop back,"he said. "I do all my home-
work on it, and it has many important files."
He said he believes the door was accidentally left
open, because there were no signs of forced entry,
and the door locks automatically.
DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said this bur-
glary was not an isolated incident. Prior to this inci-
dent, there had been eight burglaries in Baits, South
Quad, and the Northwood apartments in October.
Brown said that burglars stole laptops, iPods,
credit cards and other personal items from those
three residence halls.
See ROBBERY, Page 3
Crime alert
DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown
said eight robberies occurred in
residence halls in the month of
October.
The most recent one occurred in
Bursley Residence Hall, when two
men entered a dorm room in an
attempt to steal a laptop.
Brown said most of the thefts
have resulted from residents failing
to lock their doors at night.
Ecology Center
pressures Dow
REMEMBERING ROSA
Environmental group is
lobbying state government
about dioxin in Midland
By Neil Tambe
Daily Staff Reporter
Several thousand paper fish may
soon make a 66-mile journey from Ann
Arbor to Lansing in an attempt by Ann
Arbor's Ecology Center to alert state
lawmakers of the urgency of dioxin
contamination in Midland, Michigan.
Volunteers from the center encour-
aged students to sign a petition and
write their name on paper fishes as a
Gov. Jennifer Grankolm to focus on
ensuring the cleanup of the chemicals.
So far, the center has collected 2,000
signatures toward its goal of 5,000.
Dioxins are carcinogenic byproducts
of various industrial and nonindustrial
processes. They are known for their
negative effects on the development of
children and on the immune system.
Dow officials have said in the past
that the company released dioxins into
the air and the nearby Tittabawassee
River until the 1950s, although the
timeline of when Dow began halting
dioxin production in the area is still
disputed by state officials.
While Dow has agreed to remove
Groups clash
at student
gov't meeting
By Jeremy Davidson
Daily Staff Reporter
A Michigan Student Assembly meeting turned into a
shouting match last night when members of two pro-affir-
mative action campus groups took issue with each other on
the handling of a rally to support the use of affirmative action
in college admissions.
More than a dozen BAMN activists packed the chambers
of the Michigan Student Assembly last night to voice com-
plaints about the NAACP's denouncement of the group's
tactics during Thursday's rally on the Diag.
The campus chapter of the NAACP said BAMN misman-
aged Thursday's pro-affirmative action rally, projecting a
negaYtiveP image of the hlack communrity at the U niversitv.
n .