The MAC versions of Maya are renound for freezes and crashes, especially the 8 and 8.5 versions (PLE is base off of 8.5).
I think you will have to live with it I am afraid or post in the autodesk support forums. Maybe one of the mac guys can help you out <cough>windows roolz</cough>
Chris (formerly R@nSiD)
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Winner SM VFX Challenge 1
3rd Place SM SteamPunk Challenge (May 2007)