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www.michgandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXV, No. 77 ©2006 The Michigan Daily
Second student this
month jumps to death
Sophomore's death
is second apparent
suicide at parking
garage on S. Forest
By Ashlea Surles
Daily Staff Reporter
An LSA sophomore died after
jumping from a parking structure on
South Forest Street yesterday morn-
ing.
Police said the death appeared to
be a suicide.
"We are deeply saddened by the
news of this tragic event," Dean of
Students Susan Eklund wrote in an e-
mail yesterday. "We offer our deepest
sympathy to the young man's family
and friends."
The suicide is the second in a little
more than two weeks at the Univer-
sity.
A Law School and Public Policy
student died after jumping from the
same parking structure on Feb. 1.
John Greden, chair of the psychiatry
department, said signs that someone
may be suicidal include persistent sad-
ness, sleeplessness, changes in appetite,
feelings of hopelessness and increased
use of alcohol or other drugs.
"Most people who commit suicide
don't just wake up and decide today
is the day - there are some warning
signs," said Det. Richard Kinsey of
the Ann Arbor Police Department.
Vicki Hays, associate director of
University Counseling and Psycho-
logical Services, said those concerned
about someone should "look for dra-
matic changes in someone's way of
being ... a withdrawal from social
contact or other interests."
However, Hays stressed that every
individual is different.
"There is no quick and easy list
of things to look for," she said. "The
important thing to get across is that we
really need to reach out to one another
and be connected and be noticing the
people around us."
The University offers a variety of
services to students who are experi-
encing depression or suicidal thoughts
and those who need help to support
someone close to them.
CAPS offers confidential counsel-
ing and support to students. It also
accommodates emergency appoint-
ments from 8 a.m. to 4 pm. Monday
through Friday in its offices on the
third floor of the Michigan Union.
For emergencies outside of business
hours, students can call the Psychiat-
ric Emergency Room at 936-5900 or
dial 911.
Students can also contact the
University's Depression Center for
an appointment at 936-4400 during
business hours.
After experiencing a spike in stu-
dent suicides with seven to eight in
the 2003-2004 school year, New York
University implemented and heav-
ily marketed a private hotline for stu-
dents.
NYU's Wellness Exchange oper-
ates 24 hours a day and connects stu-
dents to professionals who can help
them address day-to-day challenges
as well as other crises. The hotline
is also available to students who just
need to talk with someone.
NYU spokesman Josh Taylor
deemed the program a success and
said several thousand students dialed
the line in 2005.
In Ann Arbor, Ozone House oper-
ates a hotline from 9 am. to 8 pm.
Monday through Thursday and 9
am. to 5 pm. Friday. The line can be
reached at 662-2222.
Volunteers are trained in suicide
counseling, but the line is primarily a
crisis hotline for runaway youth and
the homeless.
After hours, the line is run by the
state Department of Human Services.
Volunteers are trained in crisis inter-
vention techniques, including suicide
counseling.
Michelle Riba, associate chair of
the psychiatry department, said the
most important thing for students
contemplating suicide to know is that
they should speak to someone who
could help.
She suggested counselors, family
members, friends, professors, resident
advisors, clergy members or hotline
volunteers.
"Suicides are rarely impulsive,"
Riba said. "Often people try to reach
out to others in the days or weeks
before ... it's important that we pick
up on this."
Statistics published by the Jed
Foundation, whose mission is to
curb suicide among college students,
reveal that suicide is the second-lead-
ing cause of death among college stu-
dents.
The foundation projects nearly
1,100 students will take their own
lives on college campuses this year.
People need to "expand their circle
of concern to others so that people
don't slip through the cracks," Hays
said.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY EMMA NOLAN-ABRAHAMIAN
Students forego traditional gambling to log onto online poker sites. Some routinely wager thousands of dollars.
Students win, lose big
wit
* Experts warn that
online poker sites can
lead young people to
gambling addiction
By Anne VanderMey
Daily News Editor
)n1i ne gambling
Instead of working in the cafeteria or
waiting tables for extra income, some
students are turning to online poker for
cash.
Business School senior Brad
Rosenwasser started playing
poker online his sophomore "Hon
year.
Over the last two years, he enot
estimates that he's won roughly
$20,000 playing poker online. mak
Rosenwasser started his online
gambling career by buying a
few how-to books and making
a relatively small investment
online. He said after that initial
investment, he's never had to
buy back in.
"Honestly, anyone who's smart enough
to go to U of M could make money play-
ing poker," Rosenwasser said.
If Rosenwasser is making money,
though, someone else must be losing.
"It's a logical impossibility that most
people are winning," said Keith White,
executive director of the National Council
on Problem Gambling. "For most people,
the longer they gamble, the more likely
they are to end up with nothing. It's not
50-50 odds."
The popularity of online poker has
fueled concerns that an increasing num-
ber of young people are addicted to gam-
Griots
.share
tradition
of stories
Storytellers bring
traditional African art
to Ann Arbor libraries
By C.C. Song
Daily Staff Reporter
bling.
According to a study conducted by the
Annenberg Center last year, more than
600,000 people ages 18 to 24 have gam-
bled within the last week, up from five
years ago.
Last year, televised poker tournaments,
including reruns, were even more popular
than live NBA coverage, said Rich Luker,
president of Leisure Intelligence Group
and a kinesiology professor.
Luker said the glamorization of poker
on TV has contributed to the increase in
the number of young players.
Zestly, anyone who's smart
ugh to go to U of M could
e money playing poker."
- Brad Rosen
Business schoo
LSA junior Will Reese said after he
played in a tournament in Las Vegas, win-
ning about $5,000 in one sitting, he was
hooked.
"I was doing pretty badly in school
because I was playing so much," Reese
said.
Although his long-term financial pros-
pects may have been in danger, he was
doing well in the short term.
Once, Reese said, he won $19,000 in
two weeks.
Reese said although he often had excep-
tional winning streaks, most of the people
he knows who play poker regularly usu-
ally make money.
But this may be an illusion, says a recov-
ering compulsive gambler, who wished to
not be identified because he didn't want
potential employers to learn about his
gambling problem.
The recovering gambler said he and
other gamblers he knew only talked about
what they were winning and avoided men-
tioning any losses.
He said he knew several University stu-
dents who developed serious problems as
a result of online poker sites.
"They've blown their tuition, student
loans and emergency loans," he
- said. "If you think you're going
to retire as a millionaire at age
25 or younger, you're wrong."
Reese is also a member of
Gamblers Anonymous.
He enrolled in the group
when he started losing the
money he won playing craps
iwasser and blackjack.
d senior He said that despite winning
nearly $65,000 on poker over
the last few years, he decided
that gambling couldn't be a
lucrative career.
Reese is currently studying to be a
Spanish interpreter.
Rosenwasser said that although his
dream is to be a professional poker player,
he has resigned himself to playing poker
only when he needs a little extra cash.
The constant availability and speed
of online poker has greatly increased its
popularity, White said.
Luker said it's unlikely the poker craze
will continue to grow.
"It peaked," Luker said. "It's not that
people don't like it, it's that everyone who's
coming in is in."
Leasing
ordinance
language
approved
Next stop in process to
push lease dates back is
City Council go-ahead
By Dave Mekelburg
Daily StaffReporter
Students may not have to camp out for housing in Octo-
ber ever again.
Last night, the Ann Arbor City Council's Student Rela-
tions Committee unanimously approved the language used
in the proposed lease dates ordinance.
The ordinance will go to City Council for approv-
al next month.
If passed, it would push back both the lease-signing date
and the date when landlords can show off-campus housing.
The committee, made up of MSA members and two City
Council members, has been working since last November to
pass the ordinance.
A similar ordinance in Madison, Wisc., was the inspira-
tion for the proposal, but there is a major difference between
the two ordinances. Madison's law only prohibits landlords
from showing houses before a specific time. The proposed
ordinance in Ann Arbor will also put restraints on the date
the lease can be signed.
If City Council passes the ordinance, signing a lease
would be prohibited until one-third of the current lease
See ORDINANCE, page 7A
NOAH KORN/Daily
City Councilwoman Wendy Woods and MSA President
Jesse Levine discuss the proposed lease ordinance at a
Student Relations Committee meeting last night.
Approved language
Revised sections of the ordinance
to push back lease-signing dates
"(1) Notwithstanding any other provisions
of this Chapter, a landlord of residential
premises shall not:
(c) enter the leased premises for
the purpose of showing the premises
to prospective tenants until one-
fourth (1/4) of the current lease
deadline has passed; or
(d) enter into an agreement to rent
the leased premises to another ten-
ant for a subsequent lease period
until one-thi d (1/s) of the current
lease period has passed."
Some Asian groups.more
likely to date outside ethnicity
In some West African cultures, griots
are an important part of oral storytelling
Japanese Americans
date interracially more
P. .1, l .
date Indian men instead.
"At the beginning, my parents never
came out and told me 'We don't like
their community would say about their
daughter's relationship.
Although interracial dating in the
A - - .Y....;. nA 4
BEN SIMON/Daily
Griot Antoine Kabwasa. a professor at the University of Toledo, shares treasured stories
I
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