Posts by Anne Vandermey
Student stung by LSAT prep course cancellations
By Anne Vandermey, written on May. 12, 2006
Recent LSA graduate Kameron Brackins is stuck. With the Law School Admission Test just around the corner, the preparatory course she registered for, Test Masters, was cancelled just four days before it was slated to begin.
The company’s website advertises LSAT classes in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and Guam, but cancels many of them at the eleventh hour. Often the only remaining options for students are the online courses offered by Test Masters, costly private tutoring or independent study. All three Michigan locations were cancelled.
Haku Israni, Test Masters founder, said the cancellations are legitimate business practice, adding that the company offers classes whenever there is sufficient enrollment.
Test Masters, based in Texas, is locked in an ugly legal battle with the test-prep powerhouse TestMasters (no space between the words) based in California. Litigation has centered on the rights to the domain name testmasters.com, currently controlled by Test Masters in Texas.
Representatives from TestMasters in California, also called Robin Singh Educational Services, say thousands of students register on testmasters.com thinking they’re signing up for the Robin Singh course. (Brackins had not confused the two courses.)
Israni refused to specify in which cities his company actually does offer classes, saying the other TestMasters is likely to send someone to sabotage the class, as they have on past occasions. He also expressed concern that Brackins could have been planted by the California company to give him bad press.
“Just because one person calls you, it’s very likely that person is a spy,” he said.
Brackins will study on her own for the LSAT in June.
AAPD arrests three suspects in armed robbery
By Anne Vandermey, written on Mar. 14, 2006
The Ann Arbor Police Department arrested three men this weekend whom they think may be connected with the recent string of armed robberies on and around campus, Detective Sgt. Richard Kinsey of the AAPD said yesterday.
The suspects were arrested early Saturday morning after one of them pulled a gun on a taxicab driver near the 3800 block of Plymouth Road and refused to pay the fare.
Two of the three suspects are in custody, Abdiaziz Osman, 22, and Derrick Johnson, 20. The third suspect, a 22 year old Ann Arbor resident, was released, although the investigation is ongoing, Kinsey said. Osman told police he was enrolled in classes at Eastern Michigan University and Washtenaw Community College.
Kinsey said the physical characteristics of the suspects are somewhat similar to descriptions of the perpetrators of other recent armed robberies in the area, several of which involved students. Â He also said that the Department of Public Safety is collaborating in the investigation.
More than five University students have reported being robbed at gun point in the last month.
Kinsey said Det. Chris Fitzpatrick was mainly responsible for the arrests. Fitzpatrick, a University alum, had watched the three suspects get into the taxicab and noticed suspicious behavior, Kinsey said. Because Fitzpatrick was already aware of a possible situation he was able to respond to the emergency call almost immediately.
Kinsey said that police did recover a weapon. The Ann Arbor news has reported that it was a realistic looking airsoft handgun that shoots plastic pellets.
Department of Public Safety gets new website
By Anne Vandermey, written on Feb. 22, 2006
The Department of Public Safety redid their website last week. The updated site includes crime prevention tips, missing person AMBER alerts and new information on fire safety, lost/found property and parking citations.
National alert status threat advisory, campus weather and national weather by radar are all featured prominently on the right side of the page.
Additionally, visitors are now able to link directly to the ordinances of the University Board of Regents, the Housing Security website and the hospital security website.
Here’s the link to the new site: http://www.umich.edu/~safety/
Crime is back up
By Anne Vandermey, written on Jan. 16, 2006
The Ann Arbor Police Department recently published its annual crime statistics, revealing a substantial increase in serious crime in 2005.
Part I crimes, which include robbery, burglary and assault, increased last year by 8 percent. Part II crimes, which are generally less serious offenses such as driving under the influence and vandalism, decreased by 2 percent.
Notably, there were 23 more robberies that involved direct intimidation, 91 more burglaries and three more rapes in 2005 then there were in 2004.
Police Chief Greg Odell said that although he is not thrilled about the data, they do not necessarily indicate a disturbing trend. He said crime in 2004 was unusually low, adding that the crime rate in 2005 was still below those of 2001, 2002 and 2003.
The good news for the University is that a disproportionate amount of crime occurred over the summer, when most students were out of town.
The University’s Department of Public Safety has reported a general decline in crime from 2002 to 2004, but has not yet released data for 2005.
The Daily will publish a more in depth analysis of these statistics in print later this week. They can also be found on the AAPD website: http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/SafetyServices/Police/crimestatistics.html