1997_04 The Daily Collegian April 1997

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THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Wednesday, April 2,1997
News
News Editor: Matthew Hart
Telephone: (209)^78-2556
NEWS OF THE WCTTO
Hmm...
• Former Gotti crime family hitman.
Sammy "The Bull" Gravano cooperated on
author Peter Maas' Gravano hiography.
"Underhoss." to he puhlished in April. De¬
spite the fact that Gravano's testimony helped
send Gotti to prison for life without parole,
and 36 others to the slammer, and despite the
fact that he admits to making 19 hits for the
Gotti family. Gravano reportedly quit the
Witness Protection Program and said he'll
take his chances on the street. Though he had
plastic surgery after he went underground,
he agreed to show off his new face lo the
hook, perhaps, said Maas hecause the re¬
cently divorced Gravano would like to hear
from any interested ladies.
• Unclear on the Concept: The Multnomah
County. Ore. school system was scheduled
to hegin in March test-marketing the idea of
paying parents of chronic truants to help their
kids get to sch(x>l ($3 if they stay the whole
day. SI for a half day). And in February, the
University of Maryland's Student Honor
Council, crusading against academic dishon¬
esty, offered local merchant discount cards
to students who pledged in writing not to
cheat. (Said a critic. "By the time you get to
hnhing. you're already pretty far gone.")
• Despite a lengthy development period
and a year on the market, the. Reehok shoe
company realized only in Fehruary that its
new line of Incuhus athletic shoes for women
was named for a mythological demon who
raped slumhering females. And Walgrcen's
drugstore distrihutcd discount coupon hooks
nationwide in Fehruary to honor Black His¬
tory Week; among the product specials was
skin hleaching cream directed to the African
American market.
Family values
• In Woodbridgc. Va.. in January, a 35-
year-old woman was charged with sexual
abuse of her son, age 9, and according to
police, she also arranged at least one sex in¬
struction session between herself, the son. her
daughter (15). and her boyfriend (34). Ac¬
cording to the boyfriend, she was motivated
by wanting to spare her kids from having to
learn about sex on the streets. (A year ago
she became a grandmother as a result of the
boyfriend/daughter liaison).
• Raymond Taylor was sentenced to 40
years in prison in El Paso, Texas, in March
after his conviction for attempted murder of
his ex-wife. According lo trial testimony,
Taylor ordered his two kids ( ages 10 and
I 2) lo set his ex-wife's house on Tire and in¬
structed them how to do it and how to dis¬
able the home's smoke detectors.
• Parenting License Revocations: Accord¬
ing to police in Cairo. Egypt. Ibrahim Mohei
Eddiri. 40, pushed his 7-year-old son under a
moving train and left him for dead at the be¬
hest of his brand new 23-year-old second wile
(the boy survived but lost both legs). And in
January, in Williamsport, Pa.. David W. Crist,
38, was convicted of pushing his deaf 9-year-
old daughter into an oncoming truck in or¬
der, said prosecutors, to collect on an insur¬
ance policy. (He is also charged with trying
to electrocute another daughter in 1990 and
hiring a hit man to kill his brother in 1982,
all allegedly for insurance money. Both kids
survived, the brother didn't.)
Ironies
• In October, Richard E. Clcwr Jr., 32, was
arrested in Tampa, Fla.. for shooting his gun
toward a neighbor who had complained about
Clear's barking dog. Clear runs a martial arts
Studio and advertises his experience in "stress
management."
• In October. The Dcs Moines Register
reported that Daniel Long. 35, jiad been fired
from his job as a greeter at a local Wal Mart.
According to records in the state unemploy¬
ment appeals agency. -Long had called one
customer a "snob." tord another she had to
be "smarter than the cart" to get two carts
unstuck, and called another a "fat elephant."
• In November, retired Manhattan. Kan.
police department custodian Jay Pfaff. 73.
was fired from his job as a school crossing
guard because, said a police spokesman, "a
number of parents." complained that they
were uncomfortable because he was too nice
lo their children.
• Sascha Rothchild. 20. known on cam¬
pus at Boston College for her trademark 5-
inch platform shoes, clomped hurriedly down
the platform al Providence (R.I.) Station in
December and leaped unsteadily for her just-
departing train. She slipped and suffered from
a broken pelvis.
Wrong place at the wrong time
• In October, sewage truck driver Ricky
Walter, 19. collided with another vehicle in
Waukesha, Wise, pinning Walter inside and
sending his load directly into the cab ol his
iruck. Walter was forced to marinate lor half
an hour before rescue workers got to him
• In Lincoln, Neb., in February two men
attempted to shoplift shoes from an Athlete's
Foot store, but a clerk and the manager ran
them down outside. Clerk Dave Olson is cap¬
tain of the University of Nebraska men's track
team, and manager Robb Finegan is an Olym¬
pics class marathoner. And two weeks ear¬
lier, near Warsaw, Poland, highway robbers
forced off the road a car in which the coaches
of the Belarussian and Russian biathlon (ski
ing and shooting) teams were riding. Follow -
ing right behind, however, was the team' bus.
and as all the athletes grabbed rifles, the rub
bers quickly scurried away.
• Last year, in rural northeast Vermont, the
car in which Michael O'Keefe, 44, was riding
was hit by a 700-pound moose. O'Keefe was
taken for treatment of cuts and returned to
the road a few hours later in his own truck,
which was then hit by another moose.
Update of the weird
• In 1995, News of the Weird reported th.it-
the European Court of Human Rights had
agreed to examine whether Britain's assault
convictions against three men for engaging
in consensual sado-masochism orgies (in
which severe pain was apparently inflicted
on the genitals of apparently grateful recipi¬
ents) were oppressive. In February 1997. the
court decided not to intervene, saying Brii
am had a right to protect its citizens Irom
themselves, analogizing to the requirement
ol motorcyclists to wear helmets
Thinning the herd
• Sylvester Briddcll. Jr.. 26. was killed in
February in Selbyville. IXM., as he won a bet
with friends who said he would not put a re¬
volver loaded with four bullets into his mouth
and pull the trigger, and in February, accord¬
ing to police in Wmdson. Ont.. Daniel Kolta,
27, and Randy Taylor, 33. died in a head on
collision, thus earning a.tie in the game ol
chicken they were playing with their snow¬
mobiles.
Armenian
Continued from page 1.
* some Armenians a prosperous liv¬
ing, she said.
The symposium will explore
topics such as "Armenian Agrarians
as seen by non-Armenians." by Vic¬
tor Davis Hanson. He is also the
author of a book on the topic en¬
titled "Fields Without Dreams."
Other topics include family his¬
tories, the role of women in the in¬
dustry, and Armenian cultural cus¬
toms.
Two of the university's profes¬
sors also have a role to play in the
event.
Dickran Kouymjian. professor
of Armenian studies, will open the
symposium. Warren Gade. chair¬
man of the history department will
crosc the proceedings.
Kaprielian said cultural history
should be explored by events such
as these. She said various ethnic
groups can identify with the con¬
tributions made by their ancestors.
giving them pride in their achieve¬
ments.
Kaprielian said if this event goes
well, she hopes other syn^posiums
can be held exploring different ar- N
eas of cultural history.
"Hopefully this type of endeavor
. will be repeated to examine contri¬
butions of other ethnic groups." she
said.
The ethnic diversity of the Val¬
ley is something Kaprielian said she
enjoys.
'Kaprielian said her move to
Fresno from Toronto opened her
eyes to how the raisin industry
works.
"I just thought raisins were
something that came in a box." she
said.
Kaprielian has lived in Fresno
for about a year. She made the move
to fill the Henry S. Kazan profes¬
sor of modern Armenian history,
and immigration slot.
Dispute
Continued from page 1.
Michigan Documents Services Inc.,
refused to pay., Michigan Docu¬
ments Services Inc. makes a por¬
tion of its revenues from its busi¬
ness with the local university. The
business "is pretty much a mainstay
on campus." said Rose. "Many of
the professors utilize their services
and, in turn, thousands of students
gp there to gel their copies."
However, unhappy about the
loss of revenue from copyright fees,
three publishers sued.Michigan
Documents Services in 1992 for
copyright infringement. The pub¬
lishers were Princeton University
Press, MacMillan Inc. and St.
Martin's Press. Together, they have
http'MmxsufrmoMulColkpa:
collected nearly $500.(MX) a year in
permission fees, according lo the
Associated Press.
Lawyers for James M. Smith,
owner of Michigan Documents Ser¬
vices, said his copy shop sold three
coursepacks for $10.35. but would
have had to charge $703.95 if the
costs of permission fees were
added.
Smith lost his case in Novem¬
ber 1996. when the 6th U.S. Cir¬
cuit Court of Appeals said the
"commercial exploitation of the
copyrighted materials did not con¬
stitute fair use." Smith then took his
appeal to the Supreme Court.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals stated that coursepacks
have "become almost as ubiquitous
at American colleges and universi¬
ties as the conventional textbook
On Monday, the Supreme Court.
without comment, let the appeals
court ruling stand.
Students are the big losers, said
Rose. "They can't really do any
selective shopping," when il comes
to coursepacks, she said. "The
prices are skyrocketing for these
nonrreusablc, non-refundable
coursepacks."
And many professors use
coursepacks in place of textbooks,
she said. Monday's Supreme Court
decision "reads horribly for stu¬
dents who are concerned about
costs." said Rose.
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