Thursday, February 16, 2006 Opinion 4 From the Daily: Michigan needs alternative energy Arts 4 Stars fail Slystone's legacy ift)4)K 'V viHF 7 ERdR)'2VT SiQuuisai, Sports 8 Cagers defend home court One-hundredfifteen years of edtorialfreedom 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 i