1£ f..t.n Bai.. I. Law dean will not examine fliers by Christine Kloostra Daily MSA Reporter The law school administration will not investigate the distribution of racist fliers at the Law School two weeks ago. The fliers, which depict Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress advocating enslavement of whites, were placed in the Pendaflex folders of several students and posted on walls in the Law School. Law School Dean Lee Bollinger said that although the fliers were ra- cially insensitive, they were pro- tected under the First Amendment. "This is very offensive material, but my own view is that this is within the realm of political debate and the free speech issue is signifi- cant," Bollinger said. "We in the University are committed to the standard free speech principle that even the most deeply offensive polit- ical viewpoints are tolerated." Some students said the adminis- tration's response to the incident was insufficient. "I don't think they did enough to condemn it," said second-year law student Bob Dorsey. "Their response was pretty lukewarm." The Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) condemned the incident and called for an investigation into the matter at their Sept. 25 meeting. The assembly demanded Tuesday that Bollinger "reconsider his decision not to pursue any investigation." MSA Vice-President Angela Burks, who met with Bollinger to discuss the incident, said, "whether it's the First Amendment or not, its simply unacceptable." She said the Law School should try to locate those responsible, an See FLIERS, page I Freedom flight arrives in Baghdad 400 Americans aboard expected to arrive in US today Naval prayer time AP"h Sailors of the Saudi Arabian Navy bow towards Mecca as they pray on the deck of the Corvette Class patrol ship HMS Tabuk during maneuvers yesterday in the Persian Gulf. The Islamic religion is present in virtually all aspects of Saudi life, including the military. Air Force jet crashes, Gulf death toll up to 24 by The Associated Press A plane carrying about 400 Americans and other foreign captives in Kuwait and Iraq arrived today in Baghdad on a planned flight to freedom in America. Most of those aboard the Iraqi Airways Boeing 747 had been h Id in occupied Kuwait and signed up for the first U.S. chartered evacuation flight from there since Sept. 22. They were taken by bus to Basra, Iraq. The State Department in Washington said they then flew on a 50-minute flight to the Iraqi capital. It was not known when the for- eigners would be allowed to leave for Britain and onward to North Carolina. Officials in Washington said it was believed the arrival at the Raleigh-Durham airport would occur today. As in previous evacuation flights, arrangements called for Westerners on board to be limited to women and children and to Americans of Arab ancestry. The jet crash yesterday was the fourth U.S. military air accident since the United States began de- ploying forces in the Persian Gulf region following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2. Two helicopters also disappeared during a training flight. In all, 24 military personnel* have died and eight are missing. Meanwhile, the ten-week-old cri- sis brought more bad news for the U.S. economy. Oil prices rose to a record $41.15 a barrel on the New York Exchange before closing at $38.69, tumbling on an erroneous rumor Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had been killed. Traders said prices were pushed higher in part by the slayings of 19 Palestinians in a clash with police in Jerusalem on Monday, and by Saddam's threat to retaliate against Israel. On the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 37.62 points to 2,407.92, its lowest since May 1989. Saddam said Tuesday that Iraq had added another missile to its arsenal that could be launched "against the targets of evil when.the day of reckoning comes." In Washington, families of seven U.S. service personnel in the crisis area; two congressmen - Reps. Jim Moody and Gerald Kleczka, both Wisconsin Democrats - and religious leaders expressed their concern at a news conference about the military deployment in Saudi Arabia. The families wrote in an open letter to Bush, "The Persian Gulf crisis is not just a constitutional, a military or an economic crisis. It is a family crisis. All across the coun- try families are facing the possible death of loved ones in a military of- fensive they do not support." by The Associated Press An Air Force jet crashed yester- day in Saudi Arabia, killing both crew members, while relatives of U.S. military personnel in the Persian Gulf urged President Bush to pledge he will not order offensive military action. The jet fighter was the fourth U.S. military aircraft involved in an accident in the gulf region. In all, 24 service personnel have died since the United States began deploying forces in the gulf region. Eight are missing and presumed dead. Meanwhile, 400 Americans and other foreign captives in Kuwait and Iraq signed up for the first U.S.- chartered evacuation flight from Iraq and Kuwait since Sept. 22. The flight was to leave from Baghdad yesterday. Most were being evacuated from Kuwait and were taken by bus to the Iraqi port city of Basra. From there, they left on an Iraqi Airways Boeing 747 for the Iraqi capital. The more than 2-month-old gulf crisis continued to bring bad news for the U.S. economy. Oil prices rose briefly to a record $41.15 a barrel yesterday on the New York Exchange, before falling back to $40.88 in early trading. On Tuesday, oil closed at $40.40, the previous record high. Traders said prices were pushed higher in part by the slayings See ACCIDENTS, page 2 Pro-choicers target student support for Blanchard byyMelissa Peerless Daily Staff Reporter Abortion rights advocates are try- ing to mobilize college students and young women to support Governor James Blanchard's reelection bid. Carol King, Executive Director of the Michigan Abortion Rights Action League (MARAL), held a telephone press conference last night to urge college students to reelect the governor Nov. 6. King said Blanchard's history has been consistently pro-choice while Republican candidate John Engler has a "cruel record" of opposing abortion actively for the past twenty years. Because last July's Webster v. Reproductive Health Services deci- sion turned some power to legislate abortion regulations over to the in- dividual states, King said, voters must now elect a pro-choice gover- nor for Michigan. Since the ruling - and the move of the abortion issue from the legal to the political arena - candidates have been more forthcoming about their views on abortion rights, King said. And many politicians who have been anti-abortion in the past have modified their attitudes to gain the support of abortion rights advocates. King said Engler has done changed his position because he had formerly opposed abortion in all cases but recently modified his atti- tude to support it in some cases. Engler campaign press secretary John Truscott said "that's not true. cause he would: allow abortions only in the case of rape, incest, or if the mother's life is endangered; The legislature has consistently favored restricting abortion rights but has never had the required two-thirds majority to overturn a gubernatorial veto by James Blanchard or former Gov. William Miliken. He's been consistent for twenty require parental consent for years." minors victimized by rape or incest; King said that if elected, Engler and, would outlaw ninety percent of all end public funding of abor- abortions now legal in Michigan be- tions except when the mother's life is in danger. King said that Michigan's women have "maintained the right to choose by a very slim margin" in past years. The legislature has con- sistently favored restricting abortion rights but has never had the required two-thirds majority to overturn a gubernatorial veto by Blanchard or former Governor William Milliken. Justice David Souter's appoint- ment to the Supreme Court will have eroding effects on abortion rights as he will allow "restriction after restriction" said King. Many abortion rights advocates and Supreme Court scholars believe Souter is likely to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision and thus allow states to prohibit abor- tions. A pro-choice governor, such as Blanchard, would be able to veto any abortion restrictions passed by the state legislature. This makes this year's gubernatorial election all the more important to those on both sides of the abortion debate. MARAL is part of the Michigan Alliance for Choice, which has been established as an umbrella organiza- tion for many pro-abortion rights groups supporting Blanchard. The group also includes Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights. Shuttle Discovery ends * mission in California NASA announces losing streak in space is finished Students hold vigil for Palestinians EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - Shuttle Discovery sailed out of orbit and landed yesterday after a four-day flight that boosted NASA's confi- dence and sent a spacecraft on a five- year mission to explore the sun's poles. "If you criticize our mistakes, then you must also acknowledge our successes," space shuttle director and former astronaut Robert Crippen said after completion of the first shuttle flight in nearly six months. About 5,500 spectators cheered as Discovery touched down at 6:57 Shepherd, Bruce Melnick, and Tom Akers boarded two jets to take them home to Houston. Discovery's 1.7 million-mile flight was the first since April - the longest gap between shuttle mis- sions since they resumed after the 1986 explosion that destroyed Challenger and killed seven crew members. . The latest flight helped bolster morale at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which has been plagued by hydrogen fuel leaks in the shuttles Columbia and Atlantis and by a flawed mirror that by Gwen Shaffer As students wrote papers at the Angell Hall computing center last night, they were interrupted by a long line of about 50 people, which streamed through the center. The group was holding a vigil to mourn the deaths of the thirty Palestinians killed Monday in Jerusalem and wanted to make the campus aware of the event. The Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) and the General Union of Palestinian Students spon- sored the vigil, which started on the Diag at 7 p.m. The march through the center was intended "to let people know the accurate facts of what happened on October eighth in Jerusalem," said been a serious lack of coverage, be- cause the corporations who own the newspapers think the situation in the Gulf is more pressing: than the Intifada," said Zaltimo. First-year law student and PSC member Karima Bennoune said she felt it was particularly important for her to attend the vigil after she talked to a friend in Jerusalem just hours after the massacre. "I could still hear women scream- ing in the background and waiting to find out if their children were going to come home that day," said. Bennoune. "My friend said to me 'They're killing us and we're all alone.' I'm here to prove that some- one does hear their voices." The clash occurred after i I I