1997-04-11; Central Michigan Life

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Central Mjchigan 1__.__.___. Hi
Volume 79, Number 79
Mt. Pleasant,   MI 48859
©1997 CM LIFE
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Electron discussion broadcast
across nation from Warriner
By Julia Jones
1 IF E  Staff Writer
To celebrate the discovery of
the electron, CMU hosted the
"Electron Birthday Project"
Wednesday for thousands of people across North America.
Three hundred high school and
CMU students attended the program in Warriner Auditorium,
which was broadcast ]iv.> to thousands of students across North
America via satellite
Beverly Harthne, assistant
director of physical sciences and
engineering for the White House
Office of Science and Technology
Policy, said her goal for the program was "to be able to get students excited about science,
math and learning."
Harthne said she is "impressed
SSA
removes
web site
____   Public concerns,   some
complaints   from   senators
influence removal
By Jeremy H. Dickman
LiF F   Staff Writer	
The       Social        Security
Administration has
temporarily relieved
students' worries about financial privacy with the removal of
its World "Wide Web site that
allowed people to receive a copy
of their financial history
through the Internet.
As a result of public concerns
and pressure from some senators concerning the issue of protecting individuals privacy, the
SSA decided to put a stop to the
interactive feature
The web site, which was located at www.ssa.gov, was put
online just last month.
Jim Corbett. Mount Pleasant
Social Security office manager,
said the SSA will take 60 days
to gather the thoughts of the
general public on the privacy
issue and then make a further
decision later.
"Until they can look at the situation more closely, they just
opted to pull that service off."
Corbett said.
The SSA will organize focus
group meetings across the country, inviting the public and
experts in the fields of privacy
and computer security to discuss the issue of invasion of privacy and protection of individual rights, Corbett said.
"Armed with that information, they'll decide what to do."
Corbett said
John J. Callahan, acting com
missioner of social security, said
in   a   document   about   the   dis-
See CONCERN Page 10	
that  the  university  is undertaking the outreach t .Tort."
Harthne brought a message to
the audience from President Bill
Clinton congratulating the program and speaking of the contri
butions the discovery of the electron has made to the economy
and health of the US
James (iates. professor at the
University of Maryland. : ..*v» .1
as the Master of Ceremonies. In
his introductory speech, (Iates
said. "Science is not dene by individual. — it's by collective
effort.'
Koald Hoffmann, the Frank
H.T. Rhodes Professor ot
Chemistry at Cornell University
and winner of the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry in 19 HI. spoke on
"Chemistry and the Electron."
Max Lagally. K.W. Mueller
Professor of Materials Science at
tlie University of Wisconsin,
spoke about the "Scanning
Tunneling Microscope
Judy Voot, professor of chemistry at Swart hmore College
said. "The electron is life. All life
forms do is spend then" time
passing electrons around
Marvin Cohen, professor of
physics at tin- University of
California-Berkeley. discussed
Quantum Alchemy. Nanophysics
and Super conduct i\ it y.
During a question  and answer
period, audience   members  ques
tioned the scientists on technical
and ethical subjects.
A   question   to   Yoet    was   con
corning  the   knowledge  of creating lite.
L IT Photo/Brandon Sullivan
Koblar Alan Jackson, associate professor of physics,   concluded
the electron   discussion which celebrated the birth of the discovery of the electron, Wednesday afternoon at Warriner Auditorium.
Cohen responded to a question
about   ethics  and   the  benefits  of
"I don't know if I'd want to be
creating living things." Voot said,
because she doesn't believe cur
rent knowledge was ■ .fnsive
enough to create living tilings
from scratch.
[scovery.
"You     can't     tell     beforehand
.hats going to be beneficial." he
.id
LIFE: Photo/Ryan Wood
Mount Pleasant Firefighters extinguished a bedroom fire at Yorkshire Commons Thursday morning. Sgt. Andy Theisen,   from the
Mount Pleasant Fire Department, said the fire burned the entire room, yet remained contained within that room, lea\
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majority of the apartment severely smoke damaged. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Fire destroys local apartment
ivmg a
By Jeremy Russ
Mount. Pleasant Firefighters quickly extinguished
an apartment fire Thursday morning at Yorkshire
Commons on Broomfield
Margaret VaiiKaussien.
Temporary Apart merit
manager', said the resident, I_ea Williams, called
the apartment office
around 11 a.m. to report
her closet was on lire
Williams and her   . and
•t  year old  children  were
able to escape unhurt
Firefighters  had the hla/.e  under control  within
the hour.
Sgt   Andy Theisen, from the Mount Pleasant Fire
Deptment, said approximately $;.0.000 m property
damage   and   $8.0.)0   in   content   damage   resulted
from the tire. The resident of the apart merit is unm
suraneed.
Staci Smith, vice president for W.S. Smith
Kquities the cooperation thai owns the complex,
said there was some damage to the surrounding
apartments
The apartment to the right of the burned-out
apartment, hail a st'\i'rv amount of water damage,
she said, while the apartment to the left had just a
smoky smell.
Smith said Williams and her children have been
offered by the complex a room in the Hampton Inn.
"One of the volunteer firemen at the scene, is the
manager of the Hampton Inn, so we were able to get
her a room for two nights." she said
Williams was unavailable for comment.
1 Iff   Photo/ Ryan Wood
Historian
discusses
trends of
technology
By Jeremy H. Dickman
.1f .   Staff Writer	
A "noisy rather than tranquil"
past, and future of information
technology was discussed before a
near-capacity crowd Wednesday
night in Warriner Auditorium by
author and scientist, James
Burke.
Burke, who deals with technology and its impact on society, discussed how technology began and
where technology appears to Ih*
headed in the future.
"I want to rectify upcoming
information technology and put it
L If L  Photo/Gabriel Guerrero
Renowned historian James Burke spoke at Warriner Auditorium
Wednesday night on the subject of society, technology, and the
future.
into  a   social   and   historical   con
text," Burke said
One hundred years ago, Burke
said, many people believed the
telephone was only for one-way
communication to listen to the
news
Only _() years ago a leading
member of the IBM (Corporation
believed the world would need
only five computers, he continued.
These  are examples of   how  far
See BURKE Pat
__.
y
Four new witnesses may
testify in Ziemba's case
By Emily Gerkin
l. If i    St.ift .Vntr.r
Prosecutors are calling new witnesses to determine whether
Ronald Ziemba was drinking while he was at Shaboom. Pub <Iub
the night of Oct. .U)
In a brief filed April 9 by senior- assistant county prosecutor Robert
Holmes, four new witnesses were added to the plaintiffs list. The
prosecutor- has claimed Ziemba, a 20 year-old Troy sophomore, was a
member of the Pub's VIP list and had access to purchasing and consuming alcohol
Daniel DiBardino, Detective Howard Sageman, Shirley Stevens
and Lisa Swindlehurst may be called to testify if the case against
Ziemba goes to trial May ...
Ziemba is facing a If. year felony charge of operating under the
influence of liquor causing death. He was the driver of the truck that
collided with a car at the corner of Maple and Mam Streets in the
early morning hours of Oct. .1. The passenger of the car, Michael
Kirkpati"ick, Rochester senior, was killed.
According to the brief, DiBardino is a private investigator for
Recon Management Systems in Bingham Farms   Based on evidence
FRIDAY
April 11, 1997
10 pages
Morton
leaving
CMU
Accepts position at
Kent State University
By Jennifer Ackerman
i ! FE:   Ed.tor
i . . no! Morton, assistant vice
president for Institutional
Diversity, is leaving CMU June
27 to become the Associate Vice
President   of  ___
L .?_v_s._r«ifei. 5®. :■ '■
* .__
"It will be
hard, because
I've mace a
lot of friends
riere "
Cornel
Morton
Student
Support
Services at
Kent State
University.
M o r t o n
was hired as
CMU's first-
ever assistant vice
president for
Institutional
Diversity
Feb. 27,
1995 Prior
to accepting
his cuT.nt
position, he
s* rved as
dean of
Students    at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University.
At first Morton was reluctant
to discuss his move to Kent
State, regretting that he couldn't personally announce his
plans.
"It certainly is my preference
to share this information personally, especially with students
I've worked with and my closest
supporters." Morton said. "And
at the same time I understand it
would be impossible to reach
everyone at the same time, and
so I apologize for having some
people learning about this
departure through the media."
Morton, who will assume his
new position at Kent State July
7, will oversee a number of university functions including: the
Student Health Center,
Intramural Sports and Campus
Recreation, the Office of
Cultural Diversity and Adult
Student Services, the Student
Life Office, Residence Services,
Judicial Affairs and Student
Disability Services.
Morton's reason for leaving
CMU is two-fold.
"I made the decision, in part,
because Kent State has offered a
position that is consistent with
my career aspirations. . . And
this opportunity that Kent State
has offered provides for me a
broader portfolio for affecting
student development in ways
that I care most about," Morton
said.
While Morton spoke proudly
about improvements made during the course of his stay at
CMU, he admitted disappointment  that the  university  is  not
See MOVE Page 2	
hot
WITNESSES Page 7
Classified
Crossword
Et cetera
Sports
Voices
"_.. .. U
9
9
8
6-7
4-5
The CMU men's baseball team
split a double header with
Western on Wednesday
See page 6