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 .