The Michigan Daily - Monday, May 15, 2000 - 3

IDancin' in the street


FBI: n Arbor crime down
By Moghann Kelley Ni lison showed m-op fron f I fs d its who tend to leav the'r door an

nd

i 1998 o lour in 1999 The bifc drp
 Ml t college towni nn from
Enn. r salMinn .,where mrdcc ocri
I f in 1998 to 47 11)
a Ohiad the rea ft

windows open, allowing for walk-ins to
easily occur.
"Students should lock al indows and
dcors at night or whir they car c o
tc e larceny It is inprant ort s-

Ann NI d maf .ter c ei s t ,ics l re mcniotcd t ht cI to be mindfil of thet di
w pit saplaitists cir f1, 1(w1 a decif trom 78 to 71. I - ' aid.
ifcric in seciiiireas ii irine. Fo i I -itf thcse eolegclimes, lhe Ohcr areas of enmc repircd by
rib rpe shwd e st sigf I ms f hurglrv and theif wr the F 1iluded robber and aggraat
rictreasc ir Arin Nrbitcr. Thee wermsit highly reforted, but thch how'd a 'Si ul. Al of the colege tow ns shoe
41 s in all cities. Ann Arbaar id dc-rease in aggravated a sault. In ro
1999- a drrtp itf ilmiost ft psrni. ftcimbcs wete the only two cities to benies, Columbus and Madison show
Other college towns iltding those report an Increase in burglaries. Ann increases of about 13.6 percent and le
surrounding Harvard, Ohli Sate, the Arbor increased from 845 to 859 and than one percent, respectively, while t
University of Wisconsin and the Columbus increased from 13,526 to rest of the cities showed a decrease.
Uniersity of Minnesota also reported 14,f190. All-in-all "violent crimes a
declines in this area. Sgt. Mike Logghe of the Ann Arbor extremely rare in Ann Arbor
In the classification ofhomicides, Ann Police Department explained that many Logghe said. "For the amount
Arhori and Camhridge. \Mas sstayed the thieves are attracted to college towns people and traffic, Ann Arbor
same at two deaths in 1998 and 1999 because of the large population of stu- extremely safe."
Bill aims to cheapen e-texts
By Rachel Green pavers, said Sam Goodin, Director of Services for Studen
For the Daily with Disabiities at the Universit

ed
I a
ub-
ed
he
ire
of
is

nts

NORMAN NG/Daly
Ypsilanti resident Brian Woolridge dances In an alleyway on E. Liberty Street.
Wooridge hopes to be an entertainer one day.I
ROT"C students to
receive LSA credi

State Senatot Alrta Wheeler Smith proposed legislation at
the State Capitol on Tuesday to help blind students in
Michigan access academic texts with greater ease.
"This is legislation designed to help students with visual
imparities or learning disabilities, that makes it mandatory
for publishers to put books in electronic format'said Barbara
Gray, volunteer coordinator for Services for Students with
Disabilities at the Universitv.
The bill would require publishers to offer an electronic
text version of course material for blind students for the same
price as standard textbooks. Known as e-texts, these can then
be translated for visually impaired students with Braille trans-
lation software.
"Students with disabilities are generally three to five
weeks behind in the acquisition of text materials," com-
pared with the average student, Smith said. "I believe that
access to e-textbooks and support materials will help stu-
dents with disabilities to stay on equal footing with their
classmates."
Smith said she believes that this legislation will allow stu-
dents to "focus on their education rather than their disability."
If passed by both the House of Representatives and the
State Senate, the legislation would aid not only students with
disabilities, but would also be a great relief to Michigan tax-

Currently, Ann Arbor taxpayers spend more than $50,000
a year for Services with Student Disabilities at the University
to manually convert all academic texts onto disks.
Gray said the biggest opposition to this legislation thus far
has come from publishers who believe that these new regula-
tions would infringe upon copyright laws. They fearthat disk
versions of their texts could too easily be copied by students
who choose not to buy the textbook.
But proponents of the bill argue that programs such as
books-on-tape as well as the University's personal efforts to
make textbooks accessible on computers is already infringing
on copyright laws.
Goodin said he believes that this new legislation would
save the publishers a lot of money.
"Publishers could send these new e-texts to students via e-
mail so they wouldn't have to pay for publishing,"Goodin said.
A team of student volunteers at the University has also
dedicated much of their time to making books-on-tape for
course material.
"The efforts of these volunteers is greatly appreciated,
but (as students) their work comes first," Gray said.
Currently the bill has been assigned to the educa-
tional committee for review, but Goodin said he believes
it will take several months for this law to be put into
effect.

Laura Deneau
For the Daily
qOTC students as well as those inter-
ested in taking ROTC courses will be
glad to know that Air Force 200 and
201 as well as Military Science 300
have been recently approved for credit
by a special LSA faculty committee.
"I think the reaction by evervone
faculty, administrators, students -and
Military has been very positive." said
Rgent Andrea Fischer Neuman (R-
A rbor).
This change will give ROTC stu-
dents, who have until this point been
doing work equivalent to 16 hours of
class credit, the ability to graduate
in four years rather than four and a
rair.
"As a student at Pinrceton, I 'is
involved in the R f C and liund i cif-
ficult to graduate on time There ias
always a split in my piriies. sid
Regent Kathy White (1-AN Aib if
currently serves i rIte Nainial
Guard and teaches at Vasnre Sate
University.
Before 1971 LSA policy grinted
course credit fur RITf cJasss. After
1971, RO'IC students were not allorrred
.o receive credit for graduaion unless
:he classes were cross-listed w ith an aca-
demic unit. The approval of the three
ROTC courses tobe cross-listed with the
* versity Courses Division (adrminis-
Oid by L SA) does not then signify a
dramatic change in LSA policy.
"Most of our peer institutions, espe-
cially public universities, allow their

students to receive some credit for
ROTC courses. This is also true for
other schools and colleges at U of M,
such as the College of Engineering."
LSA dean Robert Owen said.
Despite the push to get more
ROTC course credit, the interdisci-
plinary focus that characterizes
ROTC classes creates an impediment
to cross-listing. A single ROTC
course may contain subject matter
involving the study of ethics, politi-
cal science, and history while most
LSA classes are restricted to much
narrower themes.
"The classes are primarily focused on
management and leadership skills, which
have a universal applicatron," Officer of
Edrucational Programs Tony Daniels said.
"lre classes' military focus will make
st dcnts eroire aware of what the militarv
does as wel is better citizens"
ir '10c futUre, those classes curruil
tppriiecf as well as new classe. wil
bc subfec to periodic res iews foir acad-
enmic critei by the ISA Curricuilsm
r(rrmiree. Also, a subcommittee will
ciriruc to reiew the courses as the
mirstrut irs changes, which occurs every
two ti hice sears.
Imphasts is being placed upon the
positive nenefits of increased commU-
ricniation between ihe I-SA and ROTC
"Cornmunication between the LSA
and ROTC will benefit the overall
understanding of what is taught in
ROIC courses," White said. "This is a
wonderful signal of support for those
students volunteering to take on such
difficult tasks."

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