NEWS
ON CAMPUS
Changes to State
0 St. commuter lot
effective tomorrow
Beginning tomorrow, two changes
to facilitate traffic flow near the
State Street Commuter Lot, which is
near the University's tennis center,
will be enacted.
The north driveway will now be
the entrance and the south driveway
will be the exit. Also, buses will
board passengers at the lot's north-
east corner. Buses will unload in a
space adjacent to the handicapped
parking area, which is between the
two driveways.
Dance company
to perform at
Power Center
The Power Center for the Perform-
ing Arts will host the Jose Limon
Dance Company tonight at 8 p.m.
Adult tickets run from $18 to
$40 and are available for purchase
through the University Musical
Society.
Panel to discuss
public school
achievement gap
An interdisciplinary faculty
panel will discuss the achievement
gap between the poor and the rich
in public education in the Koessler
Room of the Michigan League at 6
p.m. today. The event is part of the
Martin Luther King Jr. symposium.
CRIME
NOTES
Thief ransacks
vending machine
At about 12:59 p.m. Wednesday, a
caller in South Quad reported that a
thief had broken into one of the vending
machines on the west side of the ground
floor and taken all its contents, the
Department of Public Safety reported.
A possible suspect was seen in the area.
Money stolen from
wallet at hospital
A wallet was stolen at the University
* Hospital at about 5:35 p.m. Wednesday
according to DPS. The wallet was recov-
ered near the main entrance, but $35 was
missing. There are currently no suspects.
* Hospital workers
get in fight
DPS responded to a report that two
University hospital staff members
had an altercation at about 11:30 p.m
Wednesday, according to DPS records.
Trespasser refuses
to leave hospital
A subject known for trespassing at the
University Hospital was arrested 11:36
p.m. Wednesday night for refusing to
leave the premises, DPS said. The subject
was later released from custody.
THIS DAY
In Daily History
Police question
* subject about
flashing at UGLi
Jan. 13, 1981 - Several days after
a female student told police a man had
exposed himself to her at the Undegradu-
ate Library, police have taken a man into
custody for questioning.
The man allegedly approached the
female student claiming to be a security
officer investigating reports of a prowler
at the West Engineering Building. He
then asked her to look out the third-story
window while he tried to capture the fic-
titious prowler.
The student claims the suspect then
went outside and undressed in front of
the window.
The Michigan Daily - Friday, January 13, 2006 - 3
Borders stock up
despte dictions
Ann Arbor-based company
expected flat sales, but posted
higher earnings in fourth quarter
CHICAGO (AP) - Borders Group Inc. stock
rose yesterday after the Michigan-based book
retailer announced better-than-expected sales fig-
ures for its superstores in the United States, and a
report indicated that buyout firms could be set to
put in a bid for the company.
Shares of Borders rose $2.29, or 10 percent,
to close at $24.70 Thursday on the New York
Stock Exchange.
After the close of trading Wednesday, the Ann
Arbor company said sales at superstores open
more than one year rose 2.2 percent in the fiscal
fourth quarter, which ended Jan. 28.
The retailer had forecast sales would be flat to
slightly lower at the stores. It attributed the increase
to strong book sales. It also sells CDs and DVDs.
A report by the Financial Times said a num-
ber of large private-equity firms are considering a
bid for Borders. The article said the decision to go
ahead by the buyout firms would hinge on perfor-
mance during the just-completed holiday period.
The buyout firms are reportedly poised to pay
more than $25 a share, putting the value of the
deal at about $2 billion, the FT reported. Officials
at Borders weren't immediately available to com-
ment on the report.
* In announcing the sales data, Borders also
raised the lower end of its earnings outlook for its
fourth quarter. The company now expects to earn
between $1.70 and $1.80 a share for the period, up
from previous view of $1.60 to $1.80 a share.
Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.70 a
share, according to Thomson Financial.
Dereck Leckow, analyst at Barrington Research,
said Borders' stock was getting a boost Thursday
because of the buyout speculation and the surprising-
ly strong same-store sales so far in its fourth quarter.
The strong book sales were a good sign because that
is one area on which Borders has focused, he said.
The book retailer's stock has been under pres-
sure because the company is in an investment
period, spending money on renovating its stores,
Leckow said. That work has disrupted sales. Bor-
ders ended its renovation work for the current year
during the third quarter so that work wouldn't
affect sales during the important fourth quarter,
which includes the holiday selling season.
Man poisons three
with handshakes
Suspect rubbed unknown
substance on hands during court
hearing, FBI investigating
LANSING (AP) - A man has been jailed
on assault charges after a prosecutor, police
officer and courtroom bailiff became seri-
ously ill after shaking hands with him.
During a Dec. 21 court appearance on a
traffic charge, John Ridgeway pulled out a
vial of an unknown liquid, rubbed his hands
with the contents and insisted on shaking
hands with the three people, authorities said.
All of them got sick within an hour, suffer-
ing from nausea, headaches, numbness and
tingling that lasted about a day. Two sought
treatment at a hospital.
The FBI was running tests on the substance
to identify it.
Ridgeway, 41, told the Associated Press
in a telephone interview from jail yesterday
that the substance was olive oil. He ques-
tioned whether the three officials were sick
at all, and charged that the allegations were
fabricated.
Land sale in peninsula may hurt wildlife
Environmentalists worry about
sensitive wildlife such as the gray
wolf, bald eagle, loon and osprey
TRAVERSE CITY (AP) - An electric util-
ity is selling 7,300 acres of land near hydro-
power dams on several Upper Peninsula rivers
for residential development, raising concerns
about the environment and public access for
fishing and other recreation.
Upper Peninsula Power Co. announced last week
it had closed the sale of 1,360 acres in Delta, Mar-
quette and Ontonagon counties to Naterra Land
Inc., a company that buys and sells waterfront and
wooded properties for housing construction.
Naterra plans to buy the remaining acre-
age eventually although formal deals haven't
been struck, said Roger Trudeau, director of
real estate for UPPCO's parent company, WPS
Resources Corp. of Green Bay, Wis.
UPPCO has been shopping the land since
2002, wanting to shed the tax burden and main-
tenance costs, Trudeau said.
"We wanted to focus on our core business of
generating electricity," he said in a telephone
interview yesterday.
UPPCO is among several corporate land-
owners who have put sprawling Upper Penin-
sula tracts on the market in recent years.
The trend worries outdoor sports enthusi-
asts, who complain about a proliferation of "No
Trespassing" signs as woodlands are carved
into smaller parcels and sold for vacation or
retirement dwellings. Environmentalists say
such fragmentation disrupts wildlife habitat
and migration corridors.
UPPCO says some local officials welcome
the planned sales because they would bolster
the tax base.
The 7,300 acres are scattered along six hydro-
power dams: Bond Falls, on the middle branch of the
Ontonagon River in Ontonagon County; Cataract,
on the Escanaba River in Marquette County; Boney
Falls, on the Escanaba River in Delta and Marquette
counties; Prickett, on the Sturgeon River in Houghton
and Baraga counties; AuTrain, on the AuTrain River
in Alger County; and Victoria, on the west branch of
the Ontonagon River in Ontonagon County.
The waters and surrounding land are home
to sensitive wildlife species such as the gray
wolf, bald eagle, loon and osprey.
Hydropower licenses issued by the Fed-
eral Energy Regulatory Commission require
UPPCO to retain a buffer strip of waterfront
land around each of the dam projects. The land
being sold is outside the buffer strips.
But in documents submitted to state and
federal agencies, UPPCO said it planned some
development within the buffer areas themselves,
including construction of.docks, piers and foot-
paths; installation of electrical lines; and land
clearing to give homeowners a water view.
FERC staffers urged company officials dur-
ing a Jan. 4 meeting to make sure the devel-
opment plans would not violate terms of their
dam licenses, said John Estep of FERC's com-
pliance division.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resourc-
es and the U.S. Forest Service sent memos to
FERC last week, saying the company seemed to
be planning "extensive shoreline development"
that would conflict with license requirements.
Among them: providing walk-in public access
for hunting, fishing and sightseeing; retaining the
shorelines' natural appearance; and protecting
wildlife habitat and old growth forests.
"Part of the problem is that UPPCO hasn't
completed their development plans, so it's hard
to assess the cumulative impact," said Jessica
Mistak, a DNR fisheries biologist who wrote
her agency's memo.
In a statement Wednesday, the company said
development plans were in the early stages and
promised to seek public comment and continue
talks with regulators before making final decisions.
Trudeau said UPPCO and Naterra would
"take great pains" to comply with the FERC
licenses and environmental regulations. Pub-
lic access to the buffer areas and waterfronts
will continue-and the footpaths will improve
it, he said.
"Right now those lands are pretty rugged,"
he said. "The only way to get there is by boat or
a pretty arduous walk through the woods."
A citizens' group called the Upper Peninsula Pub-
lic Access Coalition, which has accused UPPCO of
trying to rush the land sales through without adequate
oversight, said yesterday the company was becoming
more conciliatory but hadn't gone far enough.
University of Michigan
2006 MLK SYMPOSIUM
A Time to Break Silence
Emmett Till: The Untold Story
Presented by Keith A. Beauchamp
Documentary Filmmaker
January 16, 2006
2:00pm
Michigan Union Ballroom
Sponsored By:
University Library
Co-Sponsored By:
Bentley Historical Library, Information Technology Central Services, Law Library,
Kresge Business Administration Library, School of Information, University Housing
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