NEWS

The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 31, 2006 - 3

ON CAMPUS
Conference to
focus on corporate
responsibility
The topic of corporate social respon-
sibility will be discussed today at an all-
day conference. Topics will include the
University's suspension of its contracts
with the Coca-Cola Company as well as
discussions about the roles and respon-
sibilities of corporations in society. In
addition to nonprofit organizations,
companies presenting at the conference
include DaimlerChrysler, Whirlpool,
Ford and Borders. The event will begin at
9:30 am. in Hale Auditorium of the Ste-
phen M. Ross School of Business.
* Professor to
present research
on primates
As part of the Science, Technology
and Society Program's speaker series,
Janet Browne, from the Wellcome
Trust Center for the History of Medi-
cine at University College in London,
will speak today about her research on
primatology. The lecture will begin at
noon in room 2609 of the School of
Social Work Building.
Event to focus
on agriculture in
Portugal
Evolutionary Biology Prof. George
Eastabrook will deliver a talk today titled
"Neither Wild Nor Planted: The Role of
the Giesta in Traditional Agriculture of
Beira Alta Portugal." The event is spon-
sored by the School of Natural Resources
and will begin at 4 p.m. in room 1024 of
the Dana Natural Resources Building.
CRIME
NOTES
Bust stolen from
Martha Cook
Residence Hall
Someone stole a bust of Martha Cook's
son from the Martha Cook Residence
Hall sometime early Sunday morning,
the Department of Public Safety reported.
Martha Cook residents, sometimes referred
to as "cookies," are offering cookies as a
reward for the return of the statue.
Man watching
dancers escorted
out of Haven Hall
A man who was not affiliated with
the University was loitering in Haven
Hall watching a group practice their
dance performance Wednesday at about
4 a.m., DPS reported. Police issued the
subject a verbal warning and escorted
him out of the building.
Laptop stolen

from School of
Dentistry
A laptop was stolen from the School of
Dentistry Wednesday at about 9 a.m. The
laptop was valued at $2,500. DPS cur-
rently has no suspects.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Testimony begins
in case against
murderous nurses
March 31, 1977 - Four governmental
witnesses testified yesterday in the case
against two nurses accused of poison-
ing patients - two fatally - at the Ann
Arbor Veteran's Administration Hospital
two years ago.
The government began by trying to
relay to the jurors the vast amounts of
circumstantial evidence they have against
the defendants, but the defense attorneys
did their best to discredit this information,
claiming there were other people with
access to the patients that could have com-
mitted the crimes.
One person who had access to the
nntatntc wn~c Rg~tt, Tskim n iirmi nf

Court refuses to
hear affirmative
action appeal

BAMN plans to
present Graholm with
petitions asking her to
intervene on its behalf
LANSING (AP) - A last-ditch effort
to prevent voters from considering a pro-
posal that would ban some affirmative
action programs in Michigan has failed.
The Michigan Supreme Court,
in an order issued Wednesday, has
decided not to hear an appeal of the
case, meaning an appeals court deci-
sion that the issue should be on the
November ballot will stand.
"We are not persuaded that the
questions presented should be
reviewed by this Court," the justices
said in their order.
The decision is a victory for the
Michigan Civil Rights Initiative,
which has been leading the drive
to let voters decide in November if
government and university admis-
sions programs should be banned
from giving preferential treatment
to groups or individuals based on
their race, gender, color, ethnicity or
national origin.
A group that opposes the ballot
drive slammed the court order for
ignoring voters' rights.
MCRI executive director Jenni-
fer Gratz said she hopes the court's
decision will allow a discussion
now on the merits of the ballot pro-
posal, rather than opponents' base-
less charges.
"We expected that this would hap-
pen because we knew our opposi-
tion's arguments did not hold water,"
she said. "We're happy the people of
Michigan will have the chance to vote

on this in November."
An opposition group called By
Any Means Necessary had urged the
Supreme Court to take up the issue.
The pro-affirmative action group
disagrees with allowing the phrase
"preferential treatment" to appear
on the ballot.
The group also claims that some of
the voter signatures gathered to place
the issue on the ballot were gained
through misrepresentation, a charge
MCRI denies.
BAMN attorney Shanta Driver criti-
cized the court's decision not to hear the
group's appeal yesterday.
"The Michigan Civil Rights Com-
mission, in its two hearings it has
held on the racially targeted petition
drive by MCRI, has found perva-
sive ... voter fraud in the collection
of ... (signatures) affecting not
only minority but also white voters
throughout the state," Driver said.
"This decision just says that the
Supreme Court will not protect the
voting rights of the people of Michi-
gan," she added. "The Supreme
Court decision shows complete dis-
dain and contempt for the voting
rights of Michigan's black, Latino
and progressive white people."
BAMN plans to hold a rally at the
state Capitol today to present petitions
to Gov. Jennifer Granholm asking her
to "step in and prevent this fraud from
going forward."
"Somebody has got to step up and
say the voting rights of Michigan mean
something," Driver said.
Although the state Civil Rights
Commission is part of her administra-
tion, Granholm has little power over
court decisions.

Community continues to
search for canine killer

Nine dogs have been
found dead, authorities
searching for leads
SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP (AP)
- First there were piles of skinned ani-
mals, mostly foxes and coyotes, which
turned up on the edges of dirt roads in
this semi-rural community outside Ann
Arbor. Though gruesome, they looked
like little more than the work of a slop-
py trapper too lazy to properly dispose
of the carcasses.
Things took a shocking turn on
March 16, when what appeared to be
someone's pet was found along with
some skinned coyotes. The female rott-
weiler had been decapitated and its feet
were bound with duct tape.
Since then, eight more dead dogs,
including three without heads, have
been discovered by residents and
investigators with the Humane
Society of Huron Valley. Despite a
reward that has swelled to $18,000
with donations from community
members, officials have so far been
unable to determine even who the
dogs belonged to.
The mysterious dog deaths -now
being investigated separately from the
wild animal carcasses - have rattled
this picturesque Washtenaw County
township, dominated by empty fields
and wooded preserves and dotted by
old, red barns. Residents are keeping a
close eye on their pets, and some have
voiced fears that whoever is capable of
killing and mutilating dogs is a danger
to humans as well.
The community's outrage was on
display Wednesday on Vreeland Road,
near the site where a medium-sized yel-

low dog, thought to be some kind of ter-
rier, was found March 22.
"You will be caught! U will be pun-
ished U will Burn in Hell by God," read
the pink bubble letters on a sign nailed
to a dead tree.
Township resident Kim Hart said she
fears Duke, her 2-year-old Rhodesian
Ridgeback mix, may have fallen vic-
tim to the serial dog killer. He has been
missing since Feb. 16.
"There's one really, really dis-
turbed person out there, or a couple of
disturbed people," said Hart, 33. "I'm
hoping, obviously, that he doesn't
have my dog."
Hart said Duke is not the type to run
away, but this is not the first time he's
gone missing. About two weeks before
his disappearance, both he and Hart's
other dog, 10-year-old Daisy, vanished
for several hours. Both returned, Daisy
with a snare around her neck.
When the dead dogs started turning
up, Hart gave the snare to the Humane
Society for its investigation. Officials
initially believed that the dead dogs may
have gotten caught in traps, but as more
dogs have been discovered, that seems
less likely, said Tanya Hilgendorf, the
society's executive director.
Besides the rottweiler found March
16, none of the dogs found has been
with wild animal carcasses, she said.
The cases of illegal dumping of
wild animal carcasses, which began
in January, were initially thought to be
related to the dog deaths, but now are
being investigated separately by the
state Department of Natural Resources,
which has two suspects, the Humane
Society said yesterday.
Two male pit bulls that turned up
Monday are the latest dogs to be found.

Investigators don't know when or how
they died, but they do not appear to
have been hit by cars, Hilgendorf said.
The nine dogs include three rott-
weilers and three pit bulls. Hilgendorf
noted that while both kinds of dogs can
make good pets, they also are consid-
ered "bully breeds" and can be common
"among young men who probably have
aggressive tendencies." She declined to
say whether that fact was considered
significant to the investigation.
The remaining dogs are a terrier, a
Labrador mix and a cocker spaniel.
Hilgendorf said none of the dogs
bears signs that they were used in
dogfighting.
It's not clear whether or not they
are from the area. Investigators
have not matched any of the dogs
with those on the Humane Society's
missing list, which takes reports
from all of Washtenaw County. But,
Hilgendorf said it's hard to draw
any conclusions from that, since the
decapitations, as well as decompo-
sition, makes identifying the dogs
difficult.
If they are being brought in from
somewhere else, Superior Township
would make a good place to drop off evi-
dence of illicit activity. The 36-square-
mile township of about 11,000 people is
a rural oasis surrounded by rapid devel-
opment. However, whoever dumped
the dogs made little effort to hide them,
dumping them on the roadside.
.

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A modern version of
Sophoes'Antigone
by "rih poet
Seamus Heaney
UM School Of Music
D pt. of'Theatre & Drama
Diirected by Makolm Tlip
Music by Stephen Rush
l ur 30-.April 9
Trueblood Theatre
Tickets $16
Students $9 with ID
League Ticket Office
734-764-2538

3


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