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Friends, family grieve for murdered student
LSA senior Tamara Sonya Williams pleaded for her life yesterday, but nothing would stop her boyfriend. Not even the threat of a campus police officer's bullet.
The 20-year-old ran bleeding upstairs from her basement and desperately knocked on a neighbor's window before she was stabbed to death about 200 feet from the front door of her North Campus apartment complex - where a Department of Public Safety officer fatally shot Kevin Nelson after he refused to drop the knife.
Mourners gather at night vigil
Less than 24 hours after a brutal murder cut her life short, mourners gathered near the scene of the crime to hold a candlelight vigil for Tamara Sonya Williams.
At dusk, family, friends and members of the University community gathered to honor and remember Williams with poetry, condolences and memories.
Kasdin takes over as chief finance officer
Robert Kasdin, treasurer and chief investment officer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will leave the world of New York art exhibits for academia when he takes over as the University's new chief financial officer.
"He is a person of very high intelligence, who knows a tremendous about managing investments, running the business side of a large institution and, most importantly, he is deeply knowledgeable about the cultural character of an institution," University President Lee Bollinger said.
Babbitt warns of CO2 effects
Although he graduated from "the small Irish institution across the state line," Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt said he was excited to speak about global warming at the University last night.
"It's urgent that I clear out of Ann Arbor before Saturday's game," Babbitt said.
Debate ensues over MIR
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA came under mounting political and public pressure yesterday not to put another American aboard the broken-down Mir, a debate that's become one of the most agonizing in the history of the space program.
MSA earmarks $800 for student regent poll
Along with balancing budget numbers last night, Michigan Student Assembly members discussed the possibility of placing a student member on the University Board of Regents.
The assembly voted to allocate $800 to fund a student task force fighting for a student seat on the board.
MSA budget increases funding to student groups
After almost two hours of debate last night, Michigan Student Assembly members ended up right where they started. The assembly passed its 1997-98 budget without any changes or additions to the document on the table last week.
The approved budget, written by MSA executive officers, increases funding for student groups from $90,000 to $140,000 for the 1997-98 academic year.
Deli blamed for Hepatitis A outbreak
DETROIT (AP) - Oakland County health officials said they have traced the deadly statewide Hepatitis A outbreak to a side dish served at a county deli.
So far, 43 cases of Hepatitis A have been confirmed, including a 67-year-old man who died. All the victims were exposed in August at the deli.
State sees sharp drop in teen birthrates
DETROIT (AP) - Births by Michigan teen-agers are dropping faster than in any other urban, industrial state, and the drop in Detroit is even more pronounced, new federal statistics show.
Health officials and experts have no single reason for the decline, but 13-year-old Tercia Hill and other students said they know.
LSA focuses on gender
At a university of more than 30,000 students, it's hard to imagine any common theme within the hundreds of courses available to a diverse student body.
Nonetheless, LSA is hosting a theme semester this fall tying together issues of "Genders, Bodies, Borders" in 45 classes in 24 departments.
The Calendar: What's happening in Ann Arbor today
'U' gains more voice in library, information studies policy
As people become familiar with the possibilities of finding information on the Internet, going to the library may not be the first step in doing any research.
The National Committee on Libraries and Information Studies researches how the two methods of finding information can balance each other out, among other issues.
Clot-busting drug saves stroke victims
Death was the last thing on Harold Finch's mind last Thursday as he lay in his hospital bed recovering from hand surgery. But the line between life and death grew thin when Finch's health took a sudden turn for the worse.
Instead of being crippled by a sudden stroke, however, Finch was treated with a life-saving procedure that prompted an immediate recovery.
New online service targets gay men
Seeking to challenge larger companies like America Online and Compuserve, Gay Net, a new Internet service for gay men, is breaking onto the campus scene.
Organizers are offering free service to all college students.
Reaction to Engler's education plan mixed
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Educators listened carefully yesterday as Gov. John Engler urged them to support his plan to sell up to $768 million in bonds to pay school districts for state underfunding of special education programs.
But after the speech at the third annual Governor's Education Summit, many were still shaking their heads.
Murder alarms students, sparks parental fears
For those who called Tamara Williams a friend, an employee or a student, and even for those who didn't know her, the LSA senior's death early yesterday morning can only be described as shocking.
"To have overcome so much and struggled so hard, it's a shame," said Dwight Fontenot, assistant director of advising for the Comprehensive Studies Program, a program in which Williams participated since her first year at the University.
Nelson incident marks first time DPS officer fired weapon while on duty
Yesterday's double homicide marks the first time a Department of Public Safety official has fired a gun while on duty.
DPS officers began carrying weapons in 1990 after the University Board of Regents voted to deputize the department, giving DPS officers the authority to make arrests and carry weapons.
Campus experts decry abuse, offer assistance
LSA senior Tamara Williams' tragic death at the hands of her boyfriend is not an uncommon end to domestic abuse cases.
Deaths resulting from domestic violence occur nationwide, said a University sexual assault expert.
Letter lamented Nelson's abuse
Events unsettle quiet neighborhood
The laughter of small children that usually is so abundant in the Northwood apartment complex on North Campus was replaced yesterday with tears, shock and grief.
Friends and neighbors of Tamara Sonya Williams, a 20-year-old LSA senior, wondered how the life of such an "excellent friend" and a "caring and giving" person could end in such horrific tragedy.
Family members cope with loss of Williams: Family said they had no knowledge of abusive relationship between Williams and Nelson
DETROIT - Her mother, grandmother and sisters remember a woman on the brink of success.
Tamara's mother, Yvonne Williams, sat teary-eyed and motionless last night as she described losing her middle daughter.
Best friend shocked, hurt by violent death
The eyes of Tamika Pennamon filled with tears yesterday as the knowledge that her best friend had been killed slowly began to sink in. "I'm in denial, but I know that I have to accept it and just think of all the good times that we had," Pennamon said. "I'm very disturbed. I just can't believe that I saw her just yesterday."
09-24-97
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