TO AID STATE ECONOMY, EXPAND
'U' FURTHER BEYOND A2
OPINION, PAGE 4
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP BREAKING DOWN BE'S
ROSE BOWL MATCHUP
DAILY ARTS GIVES CLIPSE'S LATEST 5 STARS ARTS, PAGE 5 SPORTS, PAGE 8
IIE l id~gan OaiIlj
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.michigandaily.com
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
WINTER BREAK-INS
Over break, A2
thieves' winter
wonderland
Police offer tips on
how to avoid losing
your laptop, iPod
By BRIAN TENGEL
Daily StaffReporter
Students across campus are get-
ting ready for the winter holidays.
They're hanging lights, dusting
off menorahs and writing wish
lists. There's one winter tradition,
though, that students probably
aren't looking forward to - the
annual winter break crime wave.
Year after year, students return
from break to find a slashed win-
dow screen or a broken dorm room
lock. Electronics like computers
and iPods are often stolen, forcing
some students to trek to the Fish-
bowl in silence for the rest of the
year.
Many break-ins result from stu-
dents failing to lock down their
rooms, houses or apartmentsbefore
they head home, givingthieves easy
access to valuable personal prop-
erty.
But sometimes, even locking the
doors isn't enough to keep bandits
out. Intruders occasionally get in
by breaking doors open or climbing
through accessible windows that
can't be locked.
Duringapast winterwbreaks,
thieves have made off with bun-
dles of holiday joy of their own.
Last year, 15 burglaries occurred
in 11 locations around Ann Arbor
between Dec. 16 and Jan. 3. DVD
players, computer equipment and
other electronics were among the
goods pilfered. The value of the sto-
len property totaled an estimated
$10,500.
Thieves were also on top of their
game during winter break in 2004.
While most students were home
celebrating, 24 homes were invaded
and $55,000 in cash and property
was reported stolen. Minutes after
some students returned to campus,
they were already adding a new
Xbox to next year's wish list.
Although winter recess is a par-
ticularly bad time for break-ins,
this year's Thanksgiving Break
also saw an onslaught of dorm
invasions.
Over the four-day-long break, 16
rooms in Couzens Residence Hall
and one in Alice Lloyd Hall were
broken into. Luckily for students,
the thieves only stole two iPods and
several rolls of quarters.
In hopes of preventing break-ins,
the Department of Public Safety
issued a list of precautionary mea-
sures that students and staff should
take before they head home for the
holidays.
In an e-mail, police said stu-
dents should lock windows, doors,
desks and closets to deter thieves.
To prevent fire and save electricity,
students should turn off appliances
that might drain power.
Ann Arbor Police Detective Sgt.
Richard Kinsey also offered some
tips to University students. He
said students should have some-
body check up regularly on their
house, and heremphasized the
importance of locking all doors
and windows.
He also said that AAPD adds
extra patrols during the holiday
season, but that's often not enough
to keep burglars out.
"There's only so much we can
do," he said.
AARUON HA NDELS'MA N/DUal
LSA senior Franco Muzzio, former coordinator of the University's Assisting Latinos to Maximize Achievement program, says Nelson Acosta, director of the Office of
Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs, is failing to support the Latino community at a time when it needs support most.
MESA: Open Latino orientation
program to other ethnic groups
Director says
demands are
unrelated to Prop 2
By AMANDA MARKOWITZ
DailyStaffReporter
It's been a tough year for the
Latino community on campus, said
Susan Lopez, coordinator of the
University's Assisting Latinos to
Maximize Achievement program.
First, Proposal 2's passage cast
a shadow of doubt over the future
of the University's multicultural
programs. Now, tension has built
between the group and Nelson
Acosta, director of the Office of
Multi-ethnic Student Affairs, fol-
lowing a disagreement over the
relationship between MESA and
ALMA's Latino Welcome Initia-
tive.
Since 2002, MESA has support-
ed the LWI, a four-day orienta-
tion program for incoming Latino
students. But Acosta has said he
wants to expand the orientation
to include members of other eth-
nic communities, including black,
Native American and Arab stu-
dents, rather than continue a pro-
gram specifically tailored to Latino
students.
"I do not feel it is practical for
MESA.to operate a series of pro-
grams that address the same sup-
port services for different ethnic
communities," Acosta said in an
e-mail interview.
The LWI program, started in
1999, introduces students to the
Latino community and the activi-
ties and resources available to
them on campus. Latino students
move into their dorms early and
participate in activities with other
freshmen, faculty and older stu-
dents.
ALMA, a student organiza-
tion, was formed in 2001 in
response to problems with the
retention of Latino students.
Since then, the LWI has been its
primary focus.
Lopez, an LSA senior, said she
supports Acosta's idea of a larger
orientation program but disagrees
with his approach.
"The issue is that Mr. Acosta is
under the impression that he has
A DIALOGUE ON
THE ISSUE
What: A meeting between the Uni-
versity's Assisting Latinosto Maximize
Achievement program and the Office of
Multi-ethnic Student Affairs
When: Tomorrow at 7 p.m.
Where: Kuenzel loom onfthe first floor
of tbe Mitbigat Utior
Who: Any member of the campus com-
munity is invited to attend.
control of exactly where our orga-
nization goes, but we are a sepa-
rate entity," Lopez said. "He does
See ORIENTATION, page 3
SECURITY CHECKLIST
Police recommend you take these steps to protect your campus home before leaving
for Winter Break:
Z Lock doors
Z Latch/lock windows
Turn off appliances
Don't turn heat completely off
Prof resigns from
board in protest
ADICTATOR'S LEGACY
B Have someone cheCk on hOme Suture naluables
Oldest historically
black frat turns 100
Sole black member of
student publications
board claims he was
marginalized
By ANDREW GROSSMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Anthropology Prof Melvin
Williams resigned from the Uni-
versity's Board for Student Publi-
cations last week, citing "a history
of discrimination" on the board.
In a letter to the board dated
Dec. 7, Williams, who is black,
claimed he had been marginalized
because of his race by the other
board members. He said the board
failed to send him a card when his
wife of 47 years died in 2005 -
something he said wouldn't have
happened to any other member.
' He also faulted the board for elect-
ing two members as chairs who he
said had less experience than him.
Williams wrote that these were
part of what he deemed indigni-
ties.
"They reflect a continuing pat-
tern of behavior that is not seri-
ously addressed by management
or the board," he wrote. "When
these patterns are addressed they
meet stern resistance."
The board, which oversees the
long-term budget of The Michi-
gan Daily, the Michiganensian
yearbook and the Gargoyle humor
magazine, has no control over the
editorial decisions of any of the
three.
Jim Reische, one of the board's
co-chairs, said Williams's resigna-
tion came asa complete surprise.
"None of us had any signs that
Mel was dissatisfied with his posi-
tion on the board," Reische said.
Reische said he has not encoun-
tered any complaints of discrimi-
nation during his three years on
the board but said he is concerned
about its lack diversity - some-
thing he said the board is working
to address.
In a second e-mail sent to board
members on Dec. 7, Williams said
the board should examine what he
called an attack on Daily Business
Manager Alexis Floyd. At the Dec.
4 meeting, board member Mark
See RESIGNATION, page 3
A
alun
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Sittir
room u
of cam
littered
of the C
Alpha]
Seriguc
for hisf
"We
as a frt
LSA ju
black m
Alph
oldest:
tered f
nial an
Nota
Martin
Marsha
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claims
doctors
with 65
tists an
lpha Phi Alpha lawyers. Additionally, 95 percent of
the leaders of historically black col-
mni include MLK, leges and universities have ties to
Alpha Phi Alpha, the website says.
urgood Marshall The members have all memorized
the fraternity's motto, "First of All,
By DREW PHILP Servants of All, We Shall Transcend
Daily StaffReporter All."
LSA senior Ronnie Johnson Jr.
ng in the immaculate living explained how it applied to every-
f his fraternity house north day life.
pus, far from the beer can- "To be a minority and have so
1 lawns and ragged porches few numbers, you have to tran-
Central Campus fraternities, scend any and all competition," he
Phi Alpha member Randal said. "It's important to be as flaw-
hi explained what it meant less as possible."
fraternity to turn 100. The University's chapter of the
're not having a celebration fraternity is devoted to keeping this
aternity," said Seriguchi, an tradition alive.
nior. "It's a celebration as To mark the centennial, the
nen." brothers here held a program
a Phi Alpha, the nation's called "The Extinction of the Black
historically black Greek-let- Man, 100 years in Review." John-
raternity marked its centen- son described it as a chance to edu-
niversary Dec. 4. cate the local community about
ble members have included the highs and lows of being a black
i Luther King Jr., Thurgood man.
all and W.E.B. Dubois. The fraternity also holds the
its website, the fraternity annual "Miss Black and Gold"
60 percent of all black male scholarship pageant. But that's just
as former members, along the beginning of the fraternity's
5 percent of black male den- community service projects.
id 75 percent of black male See ALPHA PHI ALPHA, page 3
EMMA NOLAN-ABRAHAMIAN/Dal
Romance Languages Prof. Christian Moreiras listens to a reading of names of
victims of the regime of deceased Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet during
a demonstration on the Diag yesterday.
TODAY'S HI: 44
WEATHER LO: 36
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LAST ISSUE BEFORE WINTER BREAK
We resume publishing on Jan. 4. Until then, check
michigandailycom for updates. -THE EDITORS
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