4JW 46P Ann Arbor, Michigan Monday, October 26, 2009 michigandaily.com Late night inferno guts building on South U. About 600 residents displaced for hours from nearby University Towers By MALLORY JONES and EMILY ORLEY Daily StaffReporters University students and Ann Arbor resi- dents lined South University Avenue Sat- urday night just like any other weekend, eager to get into the restaurants and bars * along the crowded street. But the scene drastically changed after a large fire broke out on the west side of the street. The former location of Pinball Pete's, at 1217 S. University Ave., caught fire a little before 11 p.m. Saturday night, drawing hundreds of displaced students, firefighters and police officers to what quickly became a hectic scene. Ann Arbor Assistant Fire Chief Ed Dziubinski told The Michigan Daily that firefighters first responded to a 911 call received at 10:51 p.m. Four fire crews immediately rushed to the scene. After initial reports were received from the firefighters on scene, the chief deputy called in a fifth crew for backup. Five minutes later, the Pittsfield Township and Ann Arbor Township fire departments were asked to send one crew each to the growing blaze. "At the height of the fire there were 55 firefighters actively fighting," Dziubinski said. The fire became so large that there was concern it would spread to neighboring University Towers, an adjacent apartment CHRIS DZOMBAK/Daily building that houses hundreds of Univer- A raging fire ravaged the former location of Pinball Pete's on South University Avenue late Saturday sity students. night. The fire caused the structure's roof to cave in. As firefighters worked to quell the flames, a See FIRE, Page 8A crowd assembled across the street to watch the blaze. MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Measuring-stick gameproves Blue's mediocrity R ich Rodriguez was unusually the year last week, though, when he calm - oddly calm, really - a- and his teammates said eagerly that the few minutes after his team's Penn State game was the start of their embarrassing25-point home loss to Penn "second season." Other Wolverines said State. No sarcastic, biting comments. No Saturday's game would be a step on the cutting reporters off or snapping back road to.reviving Rose Bowl and Big Ten at them when they said something he championship hopes. It's funny, then, didn't want to hear. that the moment this week's 'L' was He was introspec- . recorded, Graham feels this game all of tive and reflective, a sudden won't be memorable. talking about how But for now, let's go along with that the coaches need to logic. That means that we shouldn't be patient with his remember Michigan's thriller over Notre first-year quarter- Dame - where Tate Forcier proved he's backs and be more quite an impressive freshman quarter- accountable for the COURTNEY back - and Michigan's comeback vic- team's mistakes. tory over Indiana. After we forget about After spitting fire RATKOWIAK those, what's left to remember isn't when his team lost in pretty. the game's last min- Michigan had the perfect opportu- utes to both Michigan State and Iowa, nity to make a statement this weekend his change in demeanor was more than against a big-time conference opponent. a little unnerving. David Molk was finally back at center. But it made sense. After all, in the Wol- Forcier practiced all week for the first verines' first blowout loss of the season, time since he injured his shoulder exact- he had already had two quarters' worth ly one month ago. Denard Robinson was of time to resign himself to the fact his coming off a confidence-building pass team had been outplayed. With two performance last week. The whole team close losses to Big Ten teams already in should have felt alittle better about itself Michigan's past, Saturday's Penn State after last week's 57-point win, even if it game was truly the measuring stick for was only against a Division 1-AA team. these Wolverines - and they fell disap- But instead, the Wolverines fumbled pointingly short. and bumbled their way to a 2008-esque Senior defensive end Brandon Gra- embarrassment. Turnovers were a mas- ham didn't quite agree. sive problem in last year's debacle of a "It's all about how you finish," he laid. season, and they returned in shocking "People not gonna remember this right force Saturday. now, they're gonna remember how you Robinson's second-quarter intercep- finish." tion after the team got two first downs He wasn't talking about the end of See RATKOWIAK, Page 10A * CAMPUS SAFETY Campus gun ban could be reversed by House bill COMBATING SWINE FLU As HiNi vaccine production lags, officials worry of 'second wave' DPS chief says bill could make campus less safe before House committee By NICOLE ABER Daily StaffReporter Institutions of higher learning might soon be prohibited from making it illegal to carry concealed firearms on campus. Michigan House of Representatives Bill 5474 - introduced by state Rep. Wayne Schmidt (R-Traverse City) - would super- sede aUniversity ordinance that makes the entire campus weapons-free, according to Diane Brown, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman. However, the legislation would not over- turn a state lawalready in effectwhich pro- hibits concealed firearms in certain places like classrooms, dormitories and arenas, according to Brown. State Rep. James Bolger (R-Marshall), who co-introduced the bill, said it aims to eliminate inconsistencies in concealed See GUN BAN, Page 9A Though number of cases at UHS has decreased, officials say the virus may spread once again By STEPHANIE STEINBERG Daily StaffReporter University Health Service has only received 500 of the 25,000 swine flu vaccine doses it ordered this summer for University students and faculty, according to UHS Medical Director Robert Ernst. That shortage mirrors similar situations facing municipality officials and college administrators across the country, frustrat- ed with a nationwide lag in the production and distribution of the H1N1 vaccine. And officials here say that that shortfall could strain medical resources on campus as they expect a "second wave" of swine flu cases to hit Ann Arbor in the coming weeks. Despite the fact that the White House declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency onSaturday and that health offi- cials had previously promised thatlarge vac- cine quantities would be available as early as the first week of October, they are now sayingthe vaccine may not be accessible on a large scale until as late as December. "The entire country is seeing a signifi- cantly lower availability of vaccine than we had anticipated, and it's a nationwide prob- lem - not a local problem," Ernst said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Oct. 21, more than 11 million doses of the vac- cine have been shipped - with 308,300 doses sent to clinics, hospitals and health departments in Michigan. In total, the federal governmenthas pur- chased 250 million doses for distribution, but only 16 million doses have been made available. The CDC said quantities of the vaccine are being shipped as soon as they are avail- able. UHS receives all vaccines from the Washtenaw County Health Department. Ernst said the health department has only received 30 percent of its expected sup- ply, which is why the University has so few available vaccines. Cindra James, emergency preparedness coordinator for the Washtenaw County Health Department, said the county has received about 1,000 doses of the nasal spray and 1,000 doses of the injection shot. While the department has vaccinated about 500 people so far, James said it is frus- trated that it doesn't have the resources to vaccinate more county residents. "We can't (vaccinate) enough of the pop- ulation like we wantto," James said. On campus, the number of swine flu cases has ebbed and flowed as the semester has progressed. Accordingto Ernst, UHS saw the great- est amount of H1N1 cases during the sec- ond week of classes - with as many as 50 cases a day. UHS has seen fewer H1N1 cases in the last two to three weeks - with an estimated five to 10 cases showing up each day. However, Ernst said he expectsthe num- ber of cases to increase in the coming weeks, citing 16 cases at UHS lastThursday. He added that H1N1 has exhibited a pre- dictable pattern of high and low infection periods andsaid otherschools and universi- ties have reported high volumes of cases at the beginning of classes and then a "cooling off period" before a second wave hits. "We're concerned that we may be at the BY THE NUMBERS The state of swine flu on campous Numberof swine flu caseslUHS saw last Thursday - a harbinger, oneofficial says, for what could be a second wave of the virus's spread on campus. beginning of a second wave right now," he said. "That's also consistent with what the (Washtenaw County) Health Department is reporting at elementary and secondary schools in the community." Ernst said it's important for people to not become complacent with flu preven- tion strategies like washing hands, covering coughs and keeping hands away from your mouth, nose and eyes. "The most important thing is that if you are sick please limit your contact with other people," Ernst said, adding that people with the H1N1 virus should isolate themselves for at least 24 hours after their fevers break. For those seeking the vaccine, the health See SWINE FLU, Page 10A TOREHAN SHA ARMAN/Daily or more photos of the 77th Members of the Sigma Alpha tpsilon (purple) and Phi. Kappa Psi PoraMBo lhoto seoft iithour (blue) fraternities met for the 77th annual Mud wow, game at the websiteatemicigandais.cm or SAE fraternity Saturday morning. SAE won the game 19-12. WEATHER HI:58 TOMORROW LO: 49 GOT A NEWS TIP? NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Call 734-763-2459 or e-mail DPS issues crime alert about unarmed robbery news@michigandaily.com and let us know. MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS/THE WIRE INDEX NEWS.................................2A ART.S................. A Vol. CXX, No.33 SUDOKU................3A CLASSIFIEDS...............6A m©309TheMichiganDaily OPINION.........................4A SPORTS MONDAY ........11