The Reporter

Wednesday, September 17, 1997 > FORUM! The Commons: A, fools paradise, 5a Volume 110, Issue 4 '■"-.-g^\toltg& \%\ £ Forum r# H<:';StCeteralV- Vic Henley gave an 'engaging' performance last Wednesday, Life, page 1b Stetson University, DeLand, Florida Crime u An 'off-campus man' tried to gain access to the residence hall last Sunday. By ANDY DEHNART Editor-in-Chief Two female residents of Emily Hall were chased into their dorm by a local man. The incident occurred last Sunday, Sept. 15 and is under investigation. According to a Public Safety incident report, two female students were sitting on the west side of Emily Hall, when, around 2:45 a.m., a red Volkswagen Jetta drove by slowly. The driver stopped and stared at the residents, and then drove to the parking lot at the tennis courts. There, he parked and exited the vehicle and ran towards the two students. Chief of Public Safety Frank Mussoline said the man then "tried to get into the hall." The man shouted and banged on the door, then walked around the building looking for another entrance. According to the report, he then returned to his car, circled the building once, and left campus. "Because no doors were propped, we didn't have any injuries or assaults," Mussoline said. A public safety officer located the vehicle at a nearby apartment complex. A De- Land police officer contacted the car's owner, who said he had not been on campus. The officer advised the owner not to return to campus or he would be charged with trespassing, according to the reporter. "Because no doors were propped, we didn't have any injuries or assaults." The females "were unable to identify him positively," Mussoline said. Mussoline said he tried to contact the man last Thursday and Friday, but was unsuccessful. "I want to advise him that he is not welcome on campus," Mussoline said. The next day, someone painted graffiti on the third floor of Emily Hall around 4:30. Officials are unsure if the two incidents are related. A memo to Residential Life student staff fromLynne M. Gentile, director of student judicial affairs, said the man "is described as a "while male,'5' 10"-6'0" with long brown hair, and thin build. The vehicle was described as a red VW Jetta." In the memo, Gentile said that safety precautions, such as "not propping doors open, secure doors and windows, walk at night in well-lighted areas, walk in groups of two or more and don't let strangers tailgate into the halls behind you." Mussoline said residents should contact Public Safety or the DeLand Police Department if they spot the vehicle. :f©yimd © By BETH KASSAB Independent Florida! Alligator, U. Florida GAINESVILLE, Ha. — A graduate student described as an "excellent" student by a ^ professor and who recently completed the , qualifying exams for his doctorate was found dead Saturday night in a lab room on the UF campus. David Michael Bush, 33,3100 SW 35th , Place Apt. 15-A, was studying endocrinology and had been working in a lab at the J. Hillis ■' Miller Health Science Center when he was .. found, said UF police spokesman Brad Barber. ' -*' Barber said Bush's girlfriend had not s heard from Bush since Friday night and tried ■§ looking for him Saturday at the lab where he I spent a lot of time. v When she arrived at the lab room, she « found it locked and went to a UF police ser- } vice technician for assistance. .■'• The service technician unlocked the door, and the two found Bush dead in lab room M230-E at about 8:45 p.m. and called UF Police for assistance, Barber said. Barber said the death is being investigated as a possible suicide, and an autopsy is taking place today to determine the cause of death. He added there was no indication of foul play. Dr. Maria Grant, an associate professor in the College of Medicine, did not comment on the possible suicide, but she said Bush was a "very well-known and well-liked student" who recently did "very well" on the Ph.D. qualifying exams. Heather Kelley, secretary of the Graduate Student Council, said she did not know Bush, but was shocked at the news. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family," she said. Bush's parents live in. Micanopy and his brother, Scot, lives in Gainesville. now 1 I By EMILY RAYNOR !• * kStaff Writer .'" Stetson is preparing to change their fi- *) nancial aid plan for Florida Academic Schol- \ ars, Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars and 'the Florida Merit Scholarships. *, The Florida Bright Futures Award is cur- ; rently based on 15 credit hours. This state-funded scholarship will not be ^calculated so that the more credit hours a student attempts, the more money the student * will receive. $, The Florida Bright Futures Scholarships .Program establishes a lottery-funded scholarship to reward any Florida high school ...graduate with high academic standing who enrolls in an eligible Florida post-secondary '': educational institute within fhree years of high i school graduation. According to state officials, the new pro- ?-gram will affect 1997 graduates. Additionally, . the new policy will be retroactive and affect all other current award recipients. The BrightFutures Scholarship Program is an umbrella program for state-funded scholarships based on high school academic achievement. Part of the change includes reconstructing the scholarship program. The Florida Academic Scholarship will now be called the Florida Undergraduate Scholars Award. The Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholarship will now be referred to as the Gold Seal Endorsement Scholarship. A new scholarship, called the 'Florida Merit Scholarship' will be created to assist those students not meeting the criteria for the Florida Academic Scholarship. Students who are receiving an Undergraduate Scholars' award or a Gold Seal Endorsement Scholarship will still receive these awards under the new award levels and renewal criteria The initial awards apply only to 1997 graduates. Students already enrolled in college who were never recipients of either of A. weekend fracas at Michigan State was total anarchy' By JONATHAN BRUNT State News, Michigan State U. (U-Wire) EAST LANSING, Mich. — A bonfire burned in the middle of Gunson Street early Sunday morning during a disturbance that took five police departments, riot gear and about two hours to bring under control. According to police estimates, a group of 400 to 500 students gathered at the site where several pieces of furniture were set on fire. Hundreds of beer bottles were smashed on the street and a group of women went topless. Crowds ch'anted' "f~ - the cops." "It was total anarchy," said biological science sophomore Heidi Hug. "It was raining glass." Police were called to the 100 block of Gunson between East Grand River Avenue and Short Street at about 1:45 a.m. East Lansing police Lt. Thomas Wibert said police couldn't break up the party when they arrived without risking serious injury. when about eight police cars drove up Gunson with sirens blaring and lights flashing. As the crowd dispersed en masse from the area, officers emerged from their cars in riot gear and asked people to leave and get inside their houses. Minutes later, a fire crew extinguished the flames that rose two stories high at times. Several people at the disturbance said the street party began when students from different houses in the area gathered on Gunson to watch a student who was break-dancing in the street. We didn't start the fire The bonfire was started when a partier brought out a couch "to watch .them dance," Carson said. Soon after, the partier decided to set it on fire, he said. In the following two hours, the fire was kept alive by other pieces of furniture, branches and garbage. Some witnesses said lighter fluid and gasoline also were poured onto the fire. Glass flying "We can't go in because every time we get the chance, we're pelted with glass," said Wibert, who was gathered with several officers in a nearby Jiffy Lube parking lot, 1054 E. Grand River Ave., before the gathering disbanded. Some partiers said the uprising was partly aimed at local police departments for enforcing tougher laws designed to cut down on alcohol use and house parties. Windshields of the first two police cars on scene were shattered by objects thrown by partiers. Officers who gathered on each side of the crowd on Gunson Street were continually pushed back by glass bottles thrown in their direction. At about 2:40 a.m. police that assembled on the north side of the disturbance near Short Street left. "There were bottles flying down the street," said accounting senior Ken Carson, who lives in the 100 block of Gunson. "They were going down the street mostly at cop cars." The gathering broke up abput 3:20 a.m. rising Partiers said the u was aimed at loc departments for enforcing ougher laws designed to ut down on aforteC use and house parties. At one point, a student climbed a street lamp and punched out the glass globe with his bare fist, said Kim Lenc, an accounting senior who was at the scene. "Every once in a while we will have these types of flare-ups," East Lansing police Capt. Stephen Chubb said. "But it has been a while since we've seen this." Wibert said there was a "continuing party" on the street and police issued several tickets about midnight for violations relating to the house parties. Elaine Woods, an agricultural science senior who lives in the 100 block of Gunson, said police waited too long to break up the party. "(People) could have fallen into the fire because they were so drunk," she said. But Chubb said police had to wait until they had "an opportunity to get organized." Ticketed Residents of the houses on the street were given tickets that could carry a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail under East Lansing's nuisance party code. Chubb said residents of the 100 block will also have to pay for all the damage. The code is designed to make residents who host a party responsible for what happens, East Lansing Mayor Dou- glas Jester said. Violations to the code occur about 20 times a year. "If you host a party, you're responsible for doing so in such a way that it doesn't become a nuisance to people in the neighborhood," Jester said. But many residents complained they weren't having parties at their houses and they had no way to control the mobs that appeared on their lawns. "(The police) can't do anything, but we're supposed to knock 400 people off our lawn," said Danielle Thompson, a psychology senior. Melissa Kelber, apack- aging senior, said she received a $500 ticket even though she called police twice to complain the party had gotten out of hand. Her housemates said they guarded a couch on their porch that partiers wanted to throw into the fire. In addition to the East Lansing Police Department, the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety, the Meridian Township Public Safety Department, Michigan State Police and the Ingham County Sheriffs Department Mounted Patrol were at the scene Sunday. State News staff writer Sharon Terlep contributed to this report. the original awards are not eligible for the Florida Merit Scholarship. , These students may not reapply for the newly-renamed Florida Undergraduate Scholars award of the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholarship award. Ruthanne Nalenzy, State Program Coor- ) dinator, said "it may not seem exactly fair, it's • just how you look at it." , AH students have 132 maximum credit hours that have to be used in seven years. A student that only takes 12 credit hours this semester will still have 120 credit hours to use in their sev^n year maximum. Students will, not generally be losing money, they will just use different amounts of money at various times depending on their credit hour load. The new Florida Bright Future Scholarship Program will affect Stetson students. According to state officials, it is likely that the addition of the Merit Scholarship will greatly increase available state funds. Number of Hours Per Semester Florida Academic Scholar Award Florida Merit Scholar Award $300 ■IH Mftlftjojijftj^sgf^ftSJ^S:::; :SS^^:::i^::::::S^B^:::fti:ft;:::;:K:;:i:i:i^:; !I!!~!I3iMZlII T^II^IS^ZZZ $650 I|P11I1I 1750"!^ :ti50:~^" Illlllllll inside FORUM: Reaction to Di's death proves society needs to be housebroken, 4a LIFE: Hollywood's 40 highest paid entertainers, 1b SPORTS: The: U-Wire Top 25 poll- Fiorida at #1, 7b