2 - Friday, January 26, 2007ThMihgnDly-mhgadlco The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com MONDAY: TUESDAY: The Extrem Iist Arbor Anecdotes WEDNESDAY: Before You Were Here THURSDAY: Campus Characters Why do people post 'you must be 21 to. drink' signs at house parties? Hint: There is no good reason Remember when you threw your first house party and your older friends told you to post "no drink- ing if you are uoder 21" sigos oext to the keg? Those signs, as much a staple of house parties as beer sod vom- iting, don't do anything - they won't shelter you from Michigan's host law. According to the host law, knowingly allowing a minor to consume alcohol in one's home is a misdemeanor. The first offense is punish- able by a 30-day jail term and/or a $1,000 fine. The signs passed down from student to student are an urban legend, said Douglas Lewis, direc- tot of Student Legal Services. They're also not enough to pro- tect students from the law, he said. "A sign by itself is totally ineffec- tive," Lewis said. "Those who have parties need to make a fairly seri- ous effort to make sure people who are underage are not drinking." In an interview last fall, Sgt. Ed Dreslioski of the Ann Arbor Police Department said the law is rarely enforced. He could only recall three instances where students were charged under the host law in his 1S years with the police. It does happen, though. In 1999, 10 members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity were charged with host law violations for serving alcohol to a minor. After drinking at a Phi Delta Theta party in October of 1999, LSA freshman Courtney Cantor fell to her death from the window in her room in Mary Markley Resi- dence Hall. Although the Washtenaw coun- ty prosecuting attorney ruled that no criminal actions were involved in Cantor's death, 10 Phi Delta Theta brothers were charged with furnishing alcohol to minors and allowing minors to drink. Although the signs might not serve any practical purpose, stu- dents seem to think they do, Lewis said. "It's like the myth where if you are drunk and put a penny on your- tongue when you take a Breatha- lyzer test, you will pass," he said. "Who knows where this stuff comes from?" DREWPHILP A sign advertising the drinking age at the University'! Alpha Epsilon Pi. 413 E. Huron St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaoily.com DONN M. FRESARD ALEXIS FLOYD Editor in Chief Business Hanager 734-647-3336 734-764-05s8 fr-esard@michigaodaily.com floyd@michigasdailyecom CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom office hours:S,,n.-Thurs. 11a nr.- 2 a News Tips nrwrrnichiganrdaiiyxom torrettions vaortion,@oirihiu'ortdaily.om Letters to the Editor r.:rhu.lilr~arrichigandaily.corn Phototraphy Department plioto@,,ivlrhigardailyom Arts Section arrtspage@'r,,higordaily.crn Editorial Pate upirinnimichigandaily.vnn SportslSection oporte@moihigandaily.com Display Sales display@nichigandaity.coo tlassitied Sales clasorfied@"ivhigdrdaily.com Online Sales onlirrrads@rmchigandaily.oo Pinance finarror~irrrhrigaridaily.corr EDITORIAL STAFF Jeftrey Bloomer ManagingtEditor blootnr@ohihigandaily.r30 Karl Stampfl Managing NsFdim, ,tatmpfl@michigandaily.o3n NEW EDTOR: Lahrabski, ChristinaHildre, Anne ,,J,.i,g, nne Vander Emiy learn Editorial PugeEditor bern@michigandaily.rn thristopher Zhrozek Editoriit PagrnEditr n ,rorrk@niclhigandaily.o Jack Herman manalging SporsEditor ,lorr-nn@nichigandaity.uoon Giatol, .:itobin, Nate54,Sandals ,7v AndrewSargus Klein Ma nogi ngArts Editor klei'@mihigoandaily.cooi Bernie Ntuyen Molgilngvrts Editor :rguyuen@nichigandaily.om Alex IziadosesManagingePhooEdior driadosz@michigandaiy.com Mike Itolsebos sranagin3g1'hotoEditor 3ho3,rhu,@nichigandaily.com BridgetlO'Donnell Managing DesignsEditorr 3donnelICmichiirandaityorm Phil Dokas Managng OnlineEditor dokaa@Oihigadiy.onr lamesV.low a ogzieEditor dondpoihigandaily.oo BUSINESS STAFF RoberttChin oispioay Sates Manragr Krishina Diamartont3Classified Sales Manager EmilytCiprianotOlinrSales Munagr- Davidlia Goh tFilr430053ager BritaryO'Keete tLayrotMrarager thelsea Hoard Pro~duction rManager The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday 5630u06 Friday during the lall and awitr terms by students at the Unversity of Michigan.tine cotpy io available frerof ohargetoall readers. Additional copesomaybe picked up atthe ailysofice lot $2. Subscrptions lor lull term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $170. Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. Uriversityal afflesuaresubjectto areduced suhscriptionrrate. On-canpus subscriptions orlotall term are 135. Subscriptions must hr prepaid. The MihianIDaily, is amenher ol The Asosocated Preso and The Associated Collegiate Press. S S CRIME NOTES Scrawled racial Gold r ing taken slur offends from hospital library staff employee CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES WHERE: Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library WHEN: Wednesday at about 7:30 a.m. WHAT: Aracial slur directed toward black people was found in astudy carrel in the library stacks, the Department of Pub- lic Safety reported. The slur was reported by a staff member. iPod reported stolen in MLB WHERE: Modern Language Building WHEN: Wednesday at about 2:30 am. WHIATAn iPod that had been leftiunattended was stolen, DPS reported. WHERE: University Hospital WHEN: Thursday at about 12:30 am. WHIAT: Amale hospital staff member reported losing agold and diamoond ring, DPS report- ed. He said the ring was stolen, police said. Flat-panel monitor stolen WHERE: Computer Science and Engineering Building WHEN: Wednesday at about 2:30 p.m. WHAT: A male member of the building's staff discovered that a fiat-panel computer monitor had been solen in the previous 24 hours, OPS reported. Reception to open art exhibit WHAT: Opening reception for an art exhibit on theatre design and production WHO: The Theater and Drama Department WHEN: 8 to 10:15 p.m. WHERE: u-club, Michigan Union Grad student plays Haydn, Rachmaninoff WHAT: A piano performance of parts of Haydn's Sonate in Es Hoboken, Bartok's improvisations on Hungar- ian Peasant Songs and Rach- maninoff's Sonata WHO: So Young Park,a grad- uate student in the School of Music, Theater and Dance WHEN: 8 p.m. WHERE: Britton Recital Hall, E.V, Moore Building WHAT: A lecture on the role of the Lebanese Armenian community WHO: Gerard Libaridian, professor of Armenian His- tory WHEN: 11 a.m. to noon WHERE: 2004 Modern Lan- guages Building CORRECTIONS * A phgoto captio~n gm the front page of yesterday's Daily misspelled the name of ROTC cadet Stephen Taylor. 9 According to a story in yesterday's Daily (Being all they cam be), Stephen Tayloer said the Army has increased ROTC benefits. The fact should have been attributed to David Young. Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@ michigandaily.com. Lecture ( Armeniai Lebanon ins in 1A Saudi man was sentenced to spend six months memo- rizing the Roran after he was convicted of drug use. He will be forced to serve an addi- tional six months in jail if he fails to recite all 77,000 words of the Koran before the court. 2The University has offered to pay employees' fares for the proposed commuter railway that would travel from Ann Arbor to Howell. >>POR MORE, SEE OPINION, PAGE 4. 3more than 300 passengers aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship suffered from symptoms of norovirus while docked in San Francisco, The Associated Press reported. Crew and vacations reported stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. All but six infected pas- sengers hove recovered. F-i I-i 0 Il!II' I ;li f, A