2A - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com 2A - Wednesday, January14, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom WINTERFEST IS STRONG IN THIS ONE The transition period Election Day for federal offices is always the Tues- day after the first Monday of November. But, since 1937, Inauguration Day has always occurred on Jan. 20th. So why the long wait? During the transition period between the presi- dential election and the inauguration, presidents- elect get a chance to put together their team for the next four years. Following the traditions of presidents-elect before him, President-electBarack Obama used the time to choose and later announce his administration's Cabi- net members and White House staff to the public. CRIME NOTES "The transition period determines who the lead- ers will be for the next four years," Political Science Prof. Hanes Walton said. Walton said the sitting president's lame-duck period is normally a time for turnover in Washing- ton, D.C. "The transition period is a time in which politics are restructured," he said. Though Obama's deci- sions represent a major shift of power, Walton said the president-elect can't accomplish much until he officially takes over the White House. "There's not too much else (the president-elect) can do because there's the president," Walton said. He said a unique aspect of the transition period for Obama is that he's meeting' with key Congressional leaders to discuss econom- ic concerns - a decision Obama's staff would argue= is necessary for a president set to take office with the economy in a tailspin. Past presidents during: this period generally use the time to strengthen their own political par- ty's power in the House and the Senate, Walton said. He added this often includes campaigning for fellow party members in elections following the MAX COLLINS/ Daily presidential race. Members of the Ring and Steel Stunt Troupe, Michigan alum Dave Melcher and LSA junior JASMINE ZHU Athena Eyster, battle out a staged fight with light sabers at Winterfest. CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com GARYGRACA ELAINA BUGLI Editor in Chief Business Manager 734-647-3336 734-764-0558 graca@michigandaily.com bagli@michigandaily.com CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom office hours:Sun.-Thurs.tta.m. -2 a.m. 734-763-2459 News Tips news@michigandaily.com orrtionsh correctionsihigandaily.com Letters to theEditor tothedaily@michigandaily.com Photography Department photo@michigandaily.com 734-764-0563 Arts Section artspage@michigandaily.com 734-763-0379 Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com 734-763-0379 Sports Section sports@michigandaily.com Display Sales display@michigandaity.com 734-764-0554 Classified Sales classified@michigandaily.com 734-764-0557 Online Sales onlineads@michigandaily.com Finance fnance@michigandaily.com 734-763-3246 EDITORIAL STAFF Courtney Ratkowiak ManagingEditor ratkowiak@michigandaily.com JacobSmilovitZManagingNewsEditor smilovitz@michigandaily.com SENIORNEWSEDITORS:Jillan Berman,TrevorCaero,JulieRowe,LindyStevens ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS: Matt Aaronson, Benjamin S. 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Additionaco p pickedupat the Dalysofficeforu2.tSubsriptionsforallterm,startingin SeptemberviaU.S.mailare$110.intertermanuary throughApritis$11,yearlong(September through Aprit is $195.university affiliates are subjectto a reduced subscription rate.On-campus suhb onsfor alItermare$t.tSubscriptionsmustbeprepaid.TheMichiganDailyisamemberot The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. Laptop lifted Salads swiped Study abroad from Eye Center from South information fair WHERE: Kellogg Eye Center Quad dining hall WHAT: A study abroad WHERE: Eelogg. y-Cn ter , vfair for students interested WHEN: Monday at about 12:30 p.m. WHAT: An Apple Mac Book laptop computer, valued at $1,800, was stolen, University Police reported. Asubject in the area was reported to be acting suspiciously. The case is WHERE: South Quad WHEN: Monday at about 3p.m. WHAT: Two female students were ohserved leaving the cafeteria with two chef salads, University Police reported. The in going abroad duringthe spring and summer terms WHO: Office of International Programs WHEN: Today from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. WHERE: Pendleton Room, Multi-Ethnic student forum WHAT: A meeting to address issues and concerns related to student of color. WHO: Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs WHEN: Tonight at 6 p.m. WHERE: Trotter Multicul- tural Center underinves o.M n salads were valued under investigation. Talk on youth Talk on Cold health survey Moretha $10 Brkenglas i WHAT: Results from the in cash stolen Wuliglby ar experience Albany Youth Health Surv incs tln building lobby n-u, r will he presented. W A sq Cau~ha~n a.'osofnntse,. ey Sammy the cat, a fixture at the Notasulga, Al. post office was banned yester- day, adcording to msnbc.com. One resident of the small town wrote in to complain about the eat's presence saying that Sammy shouldn't be allowed in the post office because he doesn't pay taxes. The University's Property Disposition department sells old office equipment. Prices can range from $5 to $15 for an office chair to $15 or $20 for a bookcase or filing cabinet. >>FOR MORE, SEE THE STATEMENT, PAGE 6B Two bicycles belonging to former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosa- lynn were stolen earlier this month, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The bikeswere taken from outside the Carter Center near downtown Atlanta. Cart- er and his wife enjoy riding bikes in nearby Freedom Park. 4 from wallet WHERE: Medical Inn WHEN: Monday at about 11 p.m. WHAT: An individual stole $190 from a wallet between 8:30 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. that was left unattended near a vending machine, University Police reported. WHERE: Earl V. Moore Build- ing WHEN: Monday at about 6:15 a.m. WHAT: A caller reported glass broken in the building's main lobby door, University Police reported. The dam- age occurred between 4 a.m. and 6:15 a.m. Police have no suspects. w A: tepnanie veroote, producer of Sky News in London and 2008-09 Knight- Wallace Fellow, will give a lecture about her time as a reporter during the Cold War WHO: Center for Russian and East European Studies WHEN: Today from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. WHERE: Room 1636, School of Social Work Building WHO: Department of Epide- miology WHEN: Today at 3 p.m. WHERE: Room 1690, Henry F. Vaughan Public Health Building I CORRECTIONS * Please report any error in the Daily to correc- tions@michigandaily.com. Investment advisor fakes death to avoid investigation, divorce Palestinian mourners carry the body of Hamas militant Ahmad El Shaer, who was killed in an Israeli missile strike, in the Rafah refugee camp, Gaza Strip, on Sunday. Gaza cemeteries begin to overf ow Families find new places to bury dead GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - One family buried a slain son over his grandfather. Another bundled up the tiny bodies of three young cous- ins and lowered them into the grave of a long-dead aunt. A man was laid to rest with his brother. More than two weeks into the Israeli offensive that has killed more than 940 Palestinians, Gazans are strugglingto find places to bury their dead. Cemeteries throughout Gaza City that were closed for new burials have nowreopened. "Gaza is all a graveyard," grave- digger Salman Omar said yesterday as he shoveled earth in Gaza City's crammed Sheik Radwan cemetery, a cigarette dangling from his lips. Just six miles wide and 25 miles long, Gaza has always suffered from a shortage of burial space. But Gazans say Israel's shelling and ground offensive have made it impossible for residents to reach Martyrs Cemetery - the only graveyard in the area with space to dig fresh graves. The offensive is aimed at crush- ing the militant group Hamas and ending its rocket attacks on south- ern Israel. But Palestinian medical officials say roughly half tIl dead are civilians. Among them are the Samouni cousins, 5-month-old Mohammed, 1-year-old Mutasim and 2-year-old Ahmed, whose family hurriedly dug up the grave of an aunt to lay them to rest last week. "We buried them quickly," said Iyad Samouni, 26, speaking from al- Awda hospital in Gaza City, where he was being treated for shrapnel wounds. "We were afraid we'd be shelled. My relatives were trying to open other graves to prepare for the other dead, but we didn't get time." He said the family fled the grave- yard after they came under fire from a warplane. The three boys were killed Jan. 5 in whatnthe family and the United Nations said was an Israeli shell- ing attack on a house in eastern Gaza where they had evacuated on soldiers' orders to avoid nearby fighting. Many members of the clan were wiped out. The exact number is unknown - figures vary from 14 to 30 people. Medics believe there are still bodies buried under the rubble that cannot be reached because of fighting in the area. Israel's military denies the account, but says the house may have come under attack in crossfire with Hamas militants. 38-year old Marcus Schrenker jumps from plane HARPERSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - With his personal and financial worlds crumbling around him, investment adviser Marcus Schren- ker opted for a bailout. In a feat reminiscent of a James Bond movie, the 38-year-old busi- nessman and amateur daredevil pilot apparently tried to fake his death in a plane crash, secretly parachuting to the ground and speeding away on a motorcycle he had stashed away in the pine bar- rens of central Alabama. Now the search is on for Schren- ker, who is'running not only from the law hut fronm divorce, a state investigation of his businesses and angry investors who accuse him of stealing potentially millions in savings they entrusted to him. "We've learned over time that he's a pathological liar - you don't believe a single word that comes out of his mouth," said Charles Kinney, a 49-year-old airline pilot from Atlanta who alleges Schren- ker pocketed at least $135,000 of his parents' retirement fund. The events of the past few days appear to be a last, desperate gain- bit by a man who had fallen from great heights and was about to hit bottom. On Sunday - two days after burying his beloved stepfather and suffering a half-million-dollar loss in federal court same day - Schrenker was flying his single- engine Piper Malibu to Florida from his Indiana home when he radioed from 2,000 feet that he was in trouble. He told the tower the windshield had imploded, and that his face was plastered with blood. Then his radio went silent. Military jetstried to intercept the plane and found the door open, the cockpit dark. The pilots followed until it crashed in a Florida Pant- handle bayou surrounded by homes. There was no sign of Schrenker's body. They now know they should never have expectedto find one. More than 220 miles to the north, at a convenience store in Childersburg, Ala., police picked up a man using Schrenker's Indi- A single-engine plane flown by Marcus Schrenker was abandoned mid-flight and crashed in East Milton, Fl. Santa Rosa County, Fl. law officials stated that Schrenker called in a false distress call and parachuted from the plane over Shelby County, Ala. ana driver's license and carrying a Services Inc. and Icon Wealth Man- pair of what appeared to be pilot's agement, he was responsible for goggles. The man, who was wet providing financial advice and man- from the knees down, told the offi- aging portfolios worth millions. cers he'd been in a canoe accident. And by outward appearances, After officers gave him a lift to he was doing quite well. a nearby motel, Schrenker made He collected luxury automo- his way to a storage unit he'd rent- biles, owned two airplanes and ed just the day before his flight. lived in a 10,000-square-foot He climbed aboard a red racing house in an upscale neighborhood motorcycle with full saddlebags, known as "Cocktail Cove," where and sped off into the countryside. affluent boaters often socialize Now, a search that began in the with cocktails in hand. In May air and continued across land and 2000, he wowed onlookers by fly- sea has been turned over to the ing a special airplane at 270 mph, U.S. Marshals. 10 feet above the water and under "I believe he's out of the U.S.," two bridges in Nassau, Bahamas. Harpersville Police Chief David "This stunt should not be Latimersaid Tuesday. "He's already attempted by any pilot that wishes shown a mentality that's interest- to stay alive," read the caption on a ing to police. He jumped out an air- self-made video of the flight posted plane and left itnto crash who knows on YouTube. where. He's shown a total disregard He'd come a long way from his for human life. I think he'd do any- humble beginnings in northwest thing to get away." Indiana, where he and his two At 38, Schrenker was at the head brothers were raised after their of an impressive slate of businesses. parents' divorce by their mother Through his Heritage Wealth Man- and stepfather, a Vietnam veteran agemen Inc., Heritage Insurancej who worked at U.S. Steeq Corp. But officialsnowsay Schrenker's enterprise was ready to topple. Authorities in Indiana have been investigating Schrenker's businesses on allegations that he sold clients annuities and charged them exorbitant fees they weren't aware they would face. State Insurance Commission- er Jim Atterholt said Schrenker would close the investors out of one annuity and move them to another. while charging them especially high "surrender charg- es" - in one case costing a retired couple $135,000 of their original $900,000 investment. The tangled web of Schrenker's financial affairs began to unravel more than two years ago. The aviation buff had convinced dozens of active and retired Delta Air Lines pilots to allow him to manage their retirement accounts. In 2006, with Delta in federal bankruptcy proceedings, he con- vinced a group of pilots opposed to Delta's move to terminate their pension plan t let him help.