The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, September 14, 2009.- 7A
RICH ROD
From Page 1A
go through practice to see 25-30 kids
or more on Saturdays in the offsea-
son in the summer, calling us up and
saying, 'Open the building up, we
want to go in there.' It's tremendous
the commitment they want. They're
all hungry. And that's the key."
On Saturday,the Wolverines won
in Rodriguez fashion. His gutsy
playcalling in the fourth quarter led
Michigan to a touchdown instead of
settling for a field goal.
When the defense stumbled and
allowed Notre Dame quarterback
Jimmy Clausen to throw for 336
yards, three touchdowns and no
interceptions, and the Irish (1-1)
gained the lead on back-to-back
fourth-quartertouchdowns,Rodri-
guez showed why he can win.
The quarterback he recruited
and signed looked like a hero in just
his second-ever collegiate game.
Forcier's 240 yards, 69.7 comple-
tion percentage and veteran-like
poise earned him praise from every
teammate, coach and maize-clad
fan. But immediately followingthe
game, you couldn't miss Forcier's
biggest admirer. As the field turned
into a sea of commotion, Rodriguez
embraced Forcier and ruffled his
light brown locks to congratulate
the 19-year-old on one of the big-
gest games of both of their careers.
And the veterans, the most obvi-
ous reminders of the Lloyd Carr
administration, looked like they had
been Rodriguez's players all along.
Mathews' fourth-quarter catch
erased his unfulfilling junior year
and rekindled the promise fans
saw in him with Chad Henne under
center.
Minor's 106 yards on 11 carries
reminded everyone that it's not
just Rodriguez's recruits that want
to run his offense.
"Yeah, you know, I told Coach
Rod, I told everybody we about to
make history," Minor said on the
field, seconds after Michigan's win.
"I told them this our time."
CRIME
From Page 1A
the incident who have experienced
similar break-ins last weekend.
"There was a big party going on
next door when it occurred," Ham-
burger said. "It must have definite-
ly made it easier for someone to
slip by unnoticed."
} Blackwell noted that house par-
ties could make a theft easier for
burglars to carry out. Despite the
fact that there may be hundreds of
witnesses, he said, there is usually
no way to pinpoint a suspect.
"There are 200 to 300 people at a
house party,"Blackwellsaid."People
go to house parties and mingle right
on in and scope out the place. They
might come back another time, or if
they see the opportunity they'll take
something right then and there."
Music, Theatre & Dance senior
Laura Lapidus arrived home with
twoofherroommatesshortlybefore
the football game on Saturday to
find that three of the bedrooms
had been broken into. Items miss-
ing included four laptop computers,
personal credit cards and cash, an
iPod, and a digital camera. Lapidus
estimated that everything in total
was worth more than $5,000.
The intruder or intruders broke
in between the hours of noon and 3
p.m. Saturday, Lapidus said, while
students and fans alike covered the
heavily populated area.
"Assillyas itsounds,wearescared
that whoever broke in was watch-
ing us," Lapidus said. "They broke in
the middle of the day at just the right
time that none ofus were home."
Kinesiology senior Dan Schach-
ne and Business senior Dave
Jablonski said their house was
broken into through one of the
side doors Thursday afternoon. A
laptop, a 42-inch LCD TV, a Play-
station 3, two controllers and two
video games were stolen from their
home near the intersection of Hill
and State Streets.
Blackwellsaid the bestway to pre-
vent a breaking-and-entering from
occurring is lock all of your doors
and windows when you are gone,
and be sure that there is never any-
one you don't know in your home.
"When people ask for someone
who does not live at your house,
call 911 - it is a ploy for thieves,"
Blackwell said. "Even if it seems
like they are actually a student
looking for their friend at the
wrong house, it's better to be safe
now than to find you are missing
personal items later."
Music, Theatre & Dance senior
Bridget Gabbe, one of Lapidus'
housemates, said they are now sec-
ond-guessing their houses safety
because of the break-in.
"It's notjust the fact that the com-
puters were taken," Gabbe said. "It's
the fact that there were strangers
in our house and it was so easy for
them to get in. None of us feel right
about staying in our house now."
Like Gabbe, Kaplan said he
finds the fact that strangers so eas-
ily entered his house a sobering
thought.
"You come home to find that
someone was in your room, touch-
ing your personal items," Kaplan
said. "It's not just the hardware. I
feel invaded - myprivacy is gone. I
have to keep worrying about this. I
can't think of my room as the safest
place for my things anymore."
LEGISLATION
From Page 1A
of.08, the level oflegal intoxication.
Initially, State Rep. Lee Gonza-
les (D-Flint) introduced a bill to the
House Transportation Committee
calling for text messaging while
driving to be classified as a second-
ary offense. Inother words, a driver
would need to be pulled over for an
offense like speeding or weaving in
lanes, both primary offenses, and
only then could be charged with
text messaging while driving.
But recently, the bill's sponsors
altered it to include more serious
penalties.
Tim Sneller, legislative direc-
tor for State Rep. Gino Polidori
(D-Dearborn), said the represen-
tative decided to change the bill
after receiving new information
about the dangers of text messag-
ing while driving.
"Statistics have shown text mes-
saging causes accidents. Many
groups have confirmed that,"
Sneller said. "What is so damn
important? If you want to text, pull
over to the side of the road."
The new bills have not yet been
introduced to the House Transpor-
tation Committee.
Engineering freshman Pam
Haupt said she felt frustrated with
text messaging drivers.
"Texting while driving is worse
than using your cell phone," Haupt
said. "You get on the freeway and
people are all over the road."
Though Haupt agreed with the
initiative,she admitted to sometimes
text messaging while at a stoplight.
Engineering freshman Andy
Scheffer said he would also be in
favor of the ban because he feels it
would help increase safety on the
roads.
"I saw a'guy driving the other
day with his knees and texting,"
Scheffer said. "It makes me wor-
ried about my own safety."