Wausau Daily Herald from Wausau, Wisconsin • 3

Wednesday, May 28, 2003 Wausau Daily Herald www.wausaudailyherald.com oca! nLocslnswseSters Joel Christopher, 845-0655 A Amber Paluch, 845-0660 OriL Response to tax-freeze plan swift, strong By Keith Uhliq Wausau Daily Herald kuhligwdhprirrt.com Hundreds of people have called and sent e-mails to state lawmakers in response to a proposed property tax freeze that is scheduled to be considered by the Legislature's budget-writing committee this week. Sen. Russ Decker, D-Weston, said he's received 300 e-mails against the Assembly Republicans' proposal and a handful supporting it. That's a significant number in the few days since the proposal was made public, he said, especially considering the reaction came over Memorial Day weekend. Some of the reaction might have been prompted by school district leaders and others.

Superintendents Dave Wessel of Athens, Mark Lacke of Edgar, Roger Dodd of D.C. Everest, Gary Adams of Marathon, Frank Harrington of Merrill and Charles Skurka of Wausau called a press conference Friday to urge people to call and e-mail legislators on the Joint Finance Committee to oppose the measure. They said it would further erode crumbling school budgets. The Wausau School District also sent letters to parents and others asking them to lobby against the property tax freeze. Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, and other Assembly Republicans said a two-year freeze on all local taxing units, including school districts, is the only way to prevent property tax bills from increasing.

Steve Baas, press secretary for Gard, said the calls and e-mails to Gard's office have been more evenly divided. He didn't know how many people have responded, but "this is clearly a hot-button issue on both sides," Baas said. The responses have been "quicker and more passionate" than usual. k. r- t'- rT li 0 "'-'''f i i ll 1 1 1 1 If Astronomy buff's math calculations prove theory By Keith Uhlig Wausau Daily Herald kuhligwdhprint.com A poster on the office door of University of Wisconsin Marathon County mathematics professor Murugesapillai Maheswaran reads: "Look into astronomy and look out toinfinity' In a way, itfs Maheswaran's creed, and his scientific peering into the infinite has made him part of a scientific breakthrough that helps explain why stars in a specific class are circled by disks of glowing gases, similar to the rings of Saturn.

The groundbreaking work has been done by Maheswaran, 63, and scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Their work is now featured on the Web site of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, a British scientific agency. In October, the group had its work published in The Astrophysical Journal of The American Astronomical Society. In a drastically simplified nutshell, Maheswaran contributed mathematical equations that help explain how physical forces such as solar winds and magnetic fields help form the stars' disks. Magnetic fields in stars are a specialty of Maheswaran's.

They have been since he was a doctoral student in the late 1960s studying mathematical astrophysics alongside Stephen Hawking, the world-famous author and scientist, at the University of Cambridge in England. Maheswaran has continued the work on his own, as well. His latest article, "Magnetic Rotator Winds and Keplarian Disks of Hot Stars," has been accepted by The Astrophysical Journal and is featured on its Web site. For Maheswaran, the effort is part of a lifelong dedication to learning. And he said the work can help scientists here on terra firma understand what's happening in our own In Brief Driver killed at WW and 25th St.

TOWN OF TEXAS A driver of a sport utility vehicle was killed Tuesday night in a single-vehicle crash near the intersection of Highway WW East and 25th Street The driver of the SUV, whose name was not being released Tuesday night, possibly lost control of the vehicle, said Wausau fire- fighter Tom Gipp. About 350 area residents lost power for about one and a half hours just before 8 p.m. after the driver crashed into an unknown number of power-line poles, said Kelly Zagrzebski, Wisconsin Public Service spokeswoman. The Wausau Fire Department, the town of Texas Fire Department and the Marathon County Sheriffs Department responded to the crash. Further information about the crash was not available.

Boy's shooting death probed CRANDON Forest County sheriff's deputies were investigating Tuesday the shooting death of a 7-year-old boy over the weekend. Cody J. Miller of Seymour was pronounced dead Sunday at St. Mary's Hospital in Rhinelander, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. The department didn't say whether the shooting, which happened in the town of Crandon, was accidental or intentional.

The news release said there was no danger to the public. The Milwaukee County medical examiner was expected to conduct an autopsy, the results of which were not available Tuesday. Sheriffs officials were not taking calls Tuesday on the matter. Wal-Mart holds grand opening RIB MOUNTAIN The Wal-Mart Supercenter will hold its grand opening today. The store, at 4300 Rib Mountain Drive, now houses a number of specialty shops, including a hair salon, pharmacy and vision center, and a full grocery store.

The grand opening ceremony will begin at 8 a.m. Wal-Mart officials will present more than $9,000 to area community organizations. Road project begins in Weston WESTON Crews began sealing three village roads Tuesday. The coating of Birch Street, Jelinek Avenue and Alderson Street is expected to be completed this week. Village officials are advising drivers to find alternate routes.

CORRECTIONS Wausau Daily Herald photographer Rob Orcutt took a photo of bald eagles that was printed on Page 3A of Tuesday's newspaper. The picture was attributed to the wrong photographer. MA brief item on Page 3A of Tuesday's edition should have ended, "Include your name, your father's name, your ages, the towns in which you each live, and your daytime phone number." Part of the sentence was missing. The item invited readers to write to the Daily Herald by June 4 about ways in which they are similar to or different from their fathers. For more information, call Amy Kimmes at 845-0658.

The Daily Herald regrets the errors. CLEARING THE RECORD The Wausau Daily Herald would like to correct any errors as quickly as possible. If you see an error in the newspaper, please call Mark Treinen at 845-0705. Wausau Daily Herald Many of those who opposed the measure are part of the government agencies that would be affected by the freeze, he said including school districts, cities and counties. "Taxpayers who are being protected are very enthusiastic about it," Baas said "It's clear on the government side of the equation, the response has been orchestrated.

i Teacher faces 3 sex charges Rhinelander band director suspended The Associated Press RHINELANDER the Rhinelander High School band director has been charged with three counts of sexual assault involving two students. Joshua L. Jameson, 28, was charged Friday with one count of second-degree sexual assault of a child and two counts of sexual assault of a child by a school instructional staff person. The charges name incidents in August 2001, September 2002 and this month. The acts include oral sex and sodomy with students who were born in 1985 and 1986, the complaint said.

It did not give their birth dates or their genders. Jameson admitted that he started having sexual relations in August 2001 with the student born in 1986 in his car, at his residence, the student's residence, and one or two times under the school's stage, the complaint said. He said at times months would pass without sexual relations, but sometimes it would happen once a week, the complaint said Jameson admitted that he had sexual relations with the other student between 10 and 25 times, starring in the 2001-02 year, the complaint said. A message left by The Associated Press at Jameson's residence was not returned Tuesday. Acting Police Chief Glenn Parmeter said Tuesday that authorities received information in early May regarding possible illegal activity between Jameson and a number of high school students.

The department has identified a couple of purported victims and, as the matter remains under investigation, others may come forward, Parmeter said After reading from a prepared statement at a brief news conference, he declined to say whether the purported victims were male or female. Rhinelander School Superintendent Roger ErdahL also reading from a prepared statement, said end-of-the-year events scheduled school's music department will go on as scheduled But Jameson has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, Erdahl said. At an initial court appearance Tuesday, a judge scheduled Jameson's preliminary hearing for 11 a.m. Friday. A charge of sexual assault of a child carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison and the other counts carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prisoa Each of the three counts carry penalties of up to $10,000 each.

people try to avoid Division and other main drags." Nancy Varney, who lives on Water Street near the crash site, said she heard a loud noise and saw the boy lying on the ground. This road is so dangerous, and people go 40 miles per hour through," she said. "At least 50 trailer-trucks a day." I 1 11 I i I i I University of Wisconsin Marathon County math professor contributed to a scientific breakthrough on the explanation of hot Bob OrcuttWausau Dally Herald Murugesapillai Maheswaran star disks. Murugesapillai Maheswaran Native of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon. Graduated from the University of Ceylon in 1962 as a math major, went to graduate school at the University of Cambridge in England, and received a doctorate in 1968; while there, studied with Stephen Hawking.

Taught at the university level on four continents: Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. Came to the United States in 1985 as a visiting lecturer at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale; decided to stay in this country because of an intensified civil war in Sri Lanka; took a mathematics position at the University of Wisconsin Marathon County in 1986 and has stayed here because he and his family like the area. "Sometimes you can look at yourself in isolation. We understand ourselves better if we know what's happening somewhere else." Murugesapillai Maheswaran teeny, tiny corner of the universe. "Sometimes you can look at yourself in isolation," he said "We understand ourselves better if we know whafs happening somewhere else." Scientists have been struggling to understand why the disks form around certain hot stars, said Joseph Cassinelli, a professor of astronomy at UW-Madison and one of the scientists Maheswaran has worked with.

Cassinelli said that Maheswaran was able to prove with mathematical equations how magnetic forces help keep the gases in a Lappin, 63, and his wife, Anne Lappin, 61, of St. Charles, 111., and pilots Carl Price, 64, and Edward Vogler, 53, both of Naperville, El. Vogler was a chief pilot for American Airlines. Price was retired from the airline. "Both pilots were very, very experienced pilots," said John Jirschele, American Airlines' Chicago base manager.

"Just about every pilot at American Airlines knows Carl Price's name, and in Chicago, everyone knew Ed Vogler." Ted Lopatkiewicz, a Michael's Hospital because of massive head trauma, said Scott Rifleman, Portage County coroner. The boy was not wearing a helmet The Stevens Point Police Department and Portage County emergency medical technicians responded to the crash at about 5:30 p.m. in the 2100 block of Water On the Web The work of University of Wisconsin Marathon County math professor Murugesapillai Maheswaran and a team of scientists he collaborated with can be found on the Internet: The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council: www.pparc.ac.uknwpressglasgowstars.asp The Astrophysical Journal of The American Astronomical Society: www.joumals.uchicago.eduApJ (click on future articles and reprints) operating at the highest level possible," Veninga said. "That really enhances our campus." disk shape around the stars. "This is right at the cutting edge," Cassinelli said.

Thanks to Maheswaran's work, "there is this class of stars that we have a much better understanding of Even so, Maheswaran said the main portion of his job is teaching, and the research takes a secondary role. But the two drive each other, and that's a point he makes in his classes. A person should never quit questioning and learning, he said That's good for said Dean Jim Veninga. spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, D.C., said investigators expected to wrap up their probe of the crash site Tuesday. Evidence shows the right engine was powered up when the plane crashed but the left engine had no "indication of providing power at impact," he said.

The eight-seat aircraft could take off with one engine, but factors such as the weather and the weight on the plane would come into play, Lopatkiewicz said. Doctor, wife among four dead in plane crash Many professors at the university do research in their fields, but Maheswaran "seems to be He expected it would take about a year before the official cause of the crash was determined Family members said Price and Vogler enjoyed flying together. "We're taking consolation that he was with one of his best friends doing what he loved to do the most," said Price's daughter Heidi. Peter Lappin, a businessman who lives in Geneva, 111., said he, his father and several others owned the plane. Vogler and Price were The Associated Press ARBOR VITAE One of the two engines was not running when a plane carrying four people plowed into the ground and burst into flames, a spokesman for federal investigators said Tuesday.

A doctor, his wife and two veteran pilots died Sunday when their Piper PA-31P Navajo plane crashed into a wooded area shortly after taking off from Lakeland Airport in Arbor Vitae. They were headed for northern Illinois. Killed were Dr. Thomas allowed to use the twin-engine aircraft for free in exchange for flying the Lappin family to their vacation home in Boulder Junction and other destinations. Lappin said another pilot flew his parents to their Wisconsin home on Friday.

Vogler and Price were bringing the couple back and headed for DuPage Airport in West Chicago when the accident occurred. Arbor Vitae is in Vilas County, about 25 miles north of Rhinelander. Stevens Point boy, 6, killed when bike hit by semitrailer By Gena Kittner For the Wausau Daily Herald STEVENS POINT A 6-year-old Stevens Point boy was killed Tuesday when he was hit by a semitrailer while riding his bike on Water Street. The child, who police say lived in the area, was pronounced dead on arrival at St Street. Traffic was blocked off until about 8 p.m.

Police think the 6-year-old rode into the street from the sidewalk. The southbound truck, which had Copps Corp. markings and was not pulling a trailer, hit the boy, police said. More information, including the boy's name and details about the investigation, will be released today, said Sgt. Robert Barge.

He did not identify the driver. Investigators will study the truck's black box, a recording device that contains information about how fast the truck was traveling and other data. Neighbors gathered at the scene, where a crumpled bike frame lay in the middle of the street not far from the child's shoes. Residents said Water Street has turned into a dangerous thoroughfare. "This street has gotten busy," said Barb Reichelt, a nearby resident.

"I've been here 10 years. I think it's always been busy. I think I ti 1 ii a ft A mtii i.