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www.michiganday.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVII, No. 3 2006 The Michigan Daily
Stadium
staff to
fix ticket
problem
Mob of people in a long line due
to new ticket-taking technology, late
students obstructed ambulance
By Anne VanderMey
Daily News Editor
Shortly after kickoff at Saturday's football game, Mike
Stevenson, a University executive associate athletic direc-
tor, stood on the sidelines of Michigan Stadium looking
up at the stands. They were unusually empty for the first
game of the season.
Twenty minutes into the game, more than two-thirds
of student seats were empty as 15,000 students tried to
crowd into the stadium, waiting in lines that extended
into the streets, impeding traffic and briefly holding up an
ambulance on its way to an accident that police described
as "bicyclist versus bus."
The bicyclist, 58, was riding without a helmet and was
taken to the hospital with several broken bones.
The jam - caused by a new digital ticket-scanning sys-
tem - was exacerbated by the large number of students
who came late, Stevenson said.
"It's physically impossible to get that many people
through the stadium and not have it be a problem," he said.
To alleviate the problem in time for Saturday's game
against Central Michigan, Stevenson said ticket-takers,
accustomed to tearing ticket stubs, will receive more train-
ing with the new technology. Stadium staff will also use
bullhorns to evenly disperse the crowd among all the exits.
Many major venues, including Comerica Park and
the football stadium at Michigan State University,
have switched to some form of an electronic ticket-
taking system.
"We really believe, after we get the mechanical bugs
worked out, that the process will go faster than tearing
tickets will," Stevenson said.
The new system is also designed to cut down on
forged tickets.
But crowding and lines at the entrances will likely
remain a problem.
"The majority of students have historically come late
and probably always will," Stevenson said.
When asked if the University could be held responsible
for a problem such as delaying an ambulance, Stevenson
said, "I guess I'd blame the 15,000 students. There's noth-
ing to do about it."
Geese roaming freely in Argo Park yesterday. Geese could be the carriers of avian flu if it were to come to the University.
Avian flu would hit college students hard
It could happen soon.
And if it strikes, chances are col-
lege students would be among the
most affected.
The next 10 years could yield a
U.S. flu pandemic, many researchers
believe.
But should students be worried
about falling ill to the H5Nl virus
- widely known as the avian flu -
while walking to class this fall?
"Everybody in the public health
world is worried," said Robert Win-
field, director of the University Health
Service.
Winfield is responsible for planning
and preparation for all pandemic-
related emergencies at the University.
Unlike with the common flu -
which mostly affects the very old, the
very young and those with weakened
immune systems - Winfield said
college students would be part of the
group most vulnerable to bird flu.
That means you.
WHAT COULD HAPPEN
Examining clues from the past to
By Arikia Millikan ( For the Daily
find keys to the future, public health
experts say the H5N1 virus is compa-
rable to the Spanish flu of 1918.
During the 20th century, there were
three major influenza pandemics in
the United States. Most recently, mild
pandemics struck in 1968 and in 1957.
But the Spanish flu of 1918 was by far
the most lethal.
Between 50 and 100 million people
were killed, with half of them between
the ages of 20 and 40, Medical School
Prof. Sandro Cinti said.
When the Spanish flu entered the
human body with a healthy immune
system, it caused an extreme immune
reaction called a "cytokine storm,"
in which the body's defensive pro-
teins (cytokines) overproduced. The
immune response was so intense that
it caused damage to bodily organs
- and death soon after. Younger
people are more likely to experience
this violent fate. This response is also
characteristic of the H5N1 virus.
Researchers believe the current
strain of avian flu virus activates the
same kind of immune response as the
Spanish flu virus, which would put
college-aged people at great risk in
the case of a pandemic. According to
the World Health Organization, half
of all avian flu cases thus far have
occurred in people under 20, and 90
percent in people under 40.
HOW REAL IS THE THREAT?
Winfield and Cinti agree that there
is a consensus in the medical world
that there will be some U.S. pandemic
flu in the next 10 years, but they are
not sure the avian flu virus would
cause it.
Only in the event that the avian
influenza virus - which has killed
more than 100 people and millions
of chickens - were to mutate into a
form that could spread easily from
person to person would the threat of
a pandemic emerge.
Winfield said this is unlikely,
because the virus has been around
since 1997 and has yet to mutate.
"But the stakes are so high," he
said, "that we cannot afford to be
unprepared."
PREPARATION
University public health experts
recognize the dangerous possibili-
ties of an outbreak on campus, and
they have been mobilizing a pan-
demic response unit since the SARS
outbreak in 2003 in order to prevent
large-scale infections.
The effort involves an intricate net-
work of subcommittees prepared to
work with the administration, county
and state departments in the case of an
emergency. These committees would
facilitate communication to the pub-
lic; surveillance; isolation and quar-
antine for those infected; and medical
care, including vaccinations.
The preparations are being made
in anticipation of a worst-case sce-
nario with massive numbers of the
See FLU, page 7A
Proposal could cost you more Skip this article
Think tank's
suggestions could hike
tuition almost 10 grand,
one estimate says
By Andrew Grossman
Daily Staff Reporter
If Jack McHugh gets his way, in-
state tuition at the University could
increase by as much as $9,070, accord-
ing to estimates compiled by Inside
Michigan Politics, a biweekly political
newsletter that covers state politics.
McHugh, a legislative analyst at the
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, has
written a proposal to revamp funding
for state universities that is beginning
to draw attention from state legislators
and some higher education leaders.
The plan would allocate the same
amount of funding per student to each
school. The Legislature would allo-
cate research funding separately from
instructional funding.
Under the current system, the Leg-
islature appropriates money to public
universities based on a complex for-
mula that changes from year to year
and varies among universities. The for-
mula lumps research and instructional
funding together, rather than separat-
ing the two types of appropriations.
"Right now all the money is just
thrown into a big appropriation, and
there's no transparency, and there
should be," McHugh said.
Central Michigan University Presi-
dent Michael Rao voiced his sup-
port for the plan in a June op-ed in
The Detroit News. Rep. John Stewart
(R-Plymouth), who chairs the Appro-
priations Subcommittee for Higher
Education in the state House of Rep-
resentatives, also favors the proposal,
McHugh said.
Stewart's office did not return calls
for comment.
See TUITION, page 7A
at your own risk
SAPAC
recruits
men to
cause
Diag root-beer pong
draws 400 to 500 men to
group's table on Diag
By Sandy Liberman
Daily Staff Reporter
Of all the student group representa-
tives trying to flag down students on the
Diag yesterday, the Sexual Assault Pre-
vention and Awareness Center may have
had the right tactic: root-beer pong.
It was part of the group's efforts to
attract more men to participate.
For 20 years, the group has counseled
female victims of rape, advised women
in abusive relationships and battled sexu-
al violence on campus.
Beware: Clogged
dryer vents leading
cause of house fires
By Marlem Qamruzzaman
Daily Staff Reporter
Clearly your lint trap isn't
near the top of your list of
priorities.
Maybe it should be.
Clogged dryer vents are
the leading cause of house
fires nationwide, said Kath-
leen Chamberlain, fire
inspector for the Ann Arbor
Fire Department.
Here's how it happens:
Every dryer has a lint trap
that collects particles rubbed
off from clothing during the
drying process. When the
trap is not cleaned, the lint
accumulates and can cause
the trap to become clogged.
A clogged lint trap will
cause less air to circulate in
the dryer, which causes the
motor to overheat, some-
times causing a fire.
Most students, who are
often taking care of a home
for the first time, have no idea.
"I didn't think that dryers
were very dangerous," LSA
senior Elisabeth Close said.
Lint traps should be emptied
before and after each load.
"I personally don't do it a
lot," said LSA junior Emily
Rollet, who estimates she
cleans her lint trap about once
every 10 loads. "I just forget."
Clogged dryer vents
caused about eight house
fires in Ann Arbor from
September 2005 to June
2006, according to the fire
officials.
CMB Property Manage-
ment, which rents student
houses and apartments in
Ann Arbor, inspects all
dryer vents on its property
once every three months,
but student house tenants
are strongly encouraged to
clean out their lint traps,
said Amy Khan, the compa-
ny's vice president. None of
the houses CMB owns has
burned down from a clogged
dryer vent.
In the event of a fire
caused by a dryer, CMB
said an insurance company
would investigate and ulti-
mately decide whether the
tenant or the landlord is
liable. According to Jones
Properties, another local
property company, fires
caused by faulty piping in
the dryer are the property
owner's responsibility, while
fires caused by a clogged lint
trap are decided on a case-
by-case basis.
Chamberlain also stressed
the importance of keeping
the area around the dryer
free of lint, clothes or any-
thing inflammable.
"By not keeping up with
keeping the lint trap clean,
you're just increasing the
buildup of the particulate
because you're re-sending
the particulate into the air,"
Chamberlain said.
She said that especially in
gas dryers, those free-float-
ing fibers can pose a fire
hazard because the open
flame can ignite them.
If students have never
cleaned out their lint trap and
find it completely clogged,
Chamberlain recommends
calling the landlord or a rep-
utable dryer repair company
to inspect the dryer for other
clogged areas.
Rollet said new dryers
include a sticker remind-
ing consumers to clean out
the vent, but most houses
on campus have older dry-
ers that don't include that
reminder.
"I don't think many peo-
ple know about (cleaning
their lint trap)," LSA junior
Brandon Moss said. "It's
just one of those things you
overlook. It's either habit or
not."
How to minimize the risk
Clean out the lint filter before or after every
load.
Keep the space around the dryer free of
clothes and clutter.
Make sure electrical cords on the dryer are in
good working order.
Clean around and under the dryer to make
sure lint isn't matted or built up.
BEN SIMON/Daily
LSA senior Jeff Tremblay plays an afternoon game of root-beer pong at a table the
Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center set up on the Diag yesterday.
Until 2004, the campaign was run The Men's Activism Program held
almost entirely by women. Only a hand- its first open recruitment on the Diag
ful of men volunteered at the center, and yesterday. Organizers hoped to attract
there were no programs devoted to edu- new volunteers to teach other men about
cating men on sexual assault. sexual assault and to participate in future
SAPAC wants more testosterone. See SAPAC, page 7A
17 1111 1111111 MORE NONNI=