E I Former Cal roan named men's assistant coach One of world's best baritones coming to Hill Thomas Hampson a ! A --&k'&-'7 -1 it *id r at One hundred three years of editorial freedom Court employee ealleges sexual bias By JONATHAN BERNDT DAILy STAFF REPORTER In a suit filed Tuesday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, a district court employee alleges she was racially and sexually discrimi- lated against during a reorganization in the city court system last summer. Deputy District Court Clerk Pearlene Sullivan claims the 15th District Court and Judge Timothy Conners discriminated against her in what she says was a job demotion June 30. But the city says Sullivan was not in fact demoted "We are mystified," said Jonathan owe, a private attorney hired to rep- resent the city in the case. "The court was amazed at the allegation Ms. Sullivan made that she was summarily demoted and stripped of all her super- visory duties, because she is still a supervisor and is still paid like a su- pervisor." Sullivan's attorney, Kurt Berggren, said pay is not the only Jriteria for discrimination. "You don't define a demotion strictly on the basis of pay," Berggren said "She was replaced by a 27-year- old woman. She is the only Black supervisor in the history of the court and they zapped her." Both parties in the suit are nor- mally entitled to use the city attorney. This case created a conflict of interest or that office and required the hiring of an outside attorney. Robert Randolph, the 15th district court administrator, said the employee reorganization was designed to help the court deal with its case load more efficiently. See SUIT, Page 2 Malibu wildfire . plagus MALIBU, Calif. (AP) - Heli- he v copters swooped up Topanga Canyon publ ferrying giant buckets of ocean water imm as an army of firefighters stepped up Y their assault yesterday on a wildfire the # that claimed 200 homes in this celeb- atel rity seaside town.7 The hot, dry desert winds that fed ranc Tuesday's firestorm died down over- char night. Erratic gusts yesterday from thro the sea and the mountains swirled coas embers of flame from the brush, pos- I ing a threat to homes. bur "The winds, thank God, have died 215, down, which have allowed the crews in th to gain the upper hand," Gov. Pete Wilson said. near A huge cloud of black smoke hung their over the seaside enclave that is home blaz to such celebrities as Bruce Willis, Sant Demi Moore, Burgess Meredith, Mark end Hamill and Mel Gibson. Evacuees wea returned on bicycles and rollerskates fort because police closed off a 45-mile 7 stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. dum Among the victims was actor Sean swo Penn, whose $4 million Spanish-style flam AP PHOTO mansion was destroyed. a " I don't know if he evacuated or if firefighters was there at the time," said his licist Carol Stone. Penn wasn't nediately available for comment. Arson investigators located where fire broke out, but didn't immedi- .y know whether it was set. The fire destroyed 200 canyon ches and seaside mansions and rred 35,000 acres as it roared ugh this mile-wide, 27-mile-long stal strip. It was the latest in a series that has ned more than 1,000 homes and ,000 acres in Southern California he past 1 1/2 weeks. As the winds subsided yesterday, ly 5,000 firefighters stepped up r attack on volatile hot spots. The :e remained out of control. The ta Ana winds were expected to yesterday night, and cooler ther near the coast was predicted today. Twin-rotor Chinook helicopters aped buckets into the ocean and oped up Topanga Canyon to bomb nes with salt water. C-130 air tankers carrying orange See FIRES, Page 2 Fires force Pepperdine evacuation By DEMETRIOS EFSTRATIOU FOR THE DAILY Pepperdine University junior Brandon Miller did not sleep Tuesday night. He said the spectacle of the hills behind campus engulfed in flames was too horrifying a sight. Miller, a dormitory resident advi- sor, assisted in evacuating students from his dorm Tuesday as firefighters defended school property from the blaze that swept through campus. "Surprisingly, while some of the students were a little rattled, most were calm and orderly," he said. Adding their names to the long list of those affected by the California wildfires, students and faculty at Pepperdine living on campus were See PEPPERDINE, Page 2 Pepperdine student Erica lessen hugs her teddy bear yesterday U of Maryland newspaper swiped m Ak ByLS WNDA CROWE DAILY STAFF REPORTER "Due to its racist nature, the Diamondback will not be available today. ... Read a book!" Monday, University of Maryland students were greeted with this message when they tried to get a copy of the school newspaper, the Diamondback. About 10,000 copies of the paper were swiped by protesters who accuse the publica- tion of being racist. Maryland campus police have begun an in- vestigation, but no one has admitted responsi- ...No group of people has the right to arbitrate what we read.' - Gary Stephenson Maryland associate director of public information I inprotest President of the African Student Associa- tion Jeneba Jalloh said the lack of sensitivity and negative coverage on minority issues by the Diamondback was probably the motive behind the paper swipe. Jalloh pointed to several recent articles to support her claim - particularly an article covering a literature reading done by Wole Soyinka, the first Black African Nobel prize winner. In the article, the Diamondback misnamed Fredrick Douglas, a famous Black activist, and Douglas' book "The Souls of Black Folks." See SWIPE, Page 2 bility or been prosecuted. Paper swiping is a nationally growing trend that has affected colleges from the University of Pennsylvania to the University of Rochester. Gary Stephenson, Maryland associate direc- tor of public information, said about the Dia- mondback, "It's not a racist publication, but like most papers, it presents a wide variety of views and sometimes people may be offended. But as a news publication, it's (the Diamondback's) obligation to report as fairly and as objectively as possible." But Stephenson added, "I can definitely sym- pathize with (the protesters) and why they re- sorted to their actions. But no group of people has the right to arbitrate what we read," he said. Police investigating three unrelated sexual assaults STOCKING UP FOR WINTER By RONNIE GLASSBERG DAILY STAFF REPORTER A rape early Tuesday morning in the 800 block of Miller Avenue has rought the number of rapes and at- tempted sexual assaults in Ann Arbor to three this week. Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD) Sgt. Phil Scheel said evi- dence does not indicate the incidents to be related, but admitted that any- thing is possible. "Most of the time there's no way to explain it," he said. "These things kind of go in streaks. " 1 In Tuesday's incident, a man en- tered a woman's apartment in the 800 block of Miller Avenue and sexually assaulted her. Scheel said it is unclear whether the man entered through an unlocked window or pushed his way through a door. He said he does not believe the woman was seriously in- jured. AAPP officers have no suspects in the case and are continuing inves- tigations, Scheel said. Early Sunday morning a man al- legedly forced a woman into the trunk of his car at gunpoint in the secluded area of Scio Township, located west of Ann Arbor, while she was talking to her boyfriend in his car. The man allegedly took the woman and repeatedly raped her before throw- ing her off a bridge 20,feet above the River Raisin in Bridgewater Town- ship west of Ann Arbor. A woman living near the river heard the survivor's screams and the victim was taken to University Hos- pitals to be treated for cuts, bruises and other injuries from the assault. She has since been released. Washtenaw County Sheriff's De- partment officials are investigating the incident. Last Thursday evening, a Washtenaw County Community Col- lege student was attacked as she walked down Maple Avenue on her way home from a night class. A man came up behind her, punched her in the face and attempted to drag her into a gutter. A witness walked by, scared off the suspect and walked the woman home. As of yesterday, police were still waiting for the witness to come forward. Police say they believe the same assailant may be responsible for a nighttime rape that occurred Oct. 2. Scheel said the two recent attacks also recall the brutal rape of a jogger in Eberwhite Woods Sept. 28, 1992. Police never apprehended a suspect in that incident. Investigations are continuing in all three cases. A local organic farmer sorts potatoes for market after harvesting them. .Republican election victories may not be related to Clinton's influence By ANDREW TAYLOR DAILY STAFF REPORTER Voters got out their brooms Tues- day and began to clean their political hnnses dnmnng inuimhnts thrnh- "Most elections are local events, and I really doubt Clinton, his person- ality, his strategy or anything had a lot to do with any of them," he said. In the New Ynrk City maonra1 have big deficit problems," she said. Brater added that people look to the mayor's office to solve those prob- lems. Kinedon exnressed similar senti- for Democratic incumbent Jim Florio. But Republican Christie Whitman narrowly won, dealing the Clinton and the Democratic party a surprise loss. Kingdon added that Clinton will not be severely affected by the elec- tions, but the results may influence him slightly. "Clinton has his agenda kind of 4 .