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One hundred six years of editonazlfreedomr
Thursday
January 30, 1997
- - .E mig
Court panel
dismisses
Baker
case
Justices uphold earlier
ruling favoring Baker
Jeffrey Kosseff
Jenni Yachnin
Daily Staff Reporters
A panel of judges from the 6th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday dis-
missed the case of a former University
student charged with transmitting inter-
state threats over the Internet.
In a 2-1 vote, the appellate court
panel upheld a 1995 U.S. District Court
decision in favor of Jake Baker, a for-
r University student suspended by
n-University President James
Duderstadt for posting "degrading,
humiliating and frightening" stories on
Internet newsgroups.
The chief judge and two circuit judges
Nimoy
*peaks on
Spock,
reigion
By Carrie Luria
Daily Staff Reporter
*'rekkies and members of the Jewish
community packed the floor of Hill
Auditorium last night to hear about
"Spock in the Diaspora."
Actor Leonard Nimoy spoke about
his life, his career and how his Jewish
identity is represented in the charac-
ters he plays.
"I carry
Jewishness with
me, and it does
enter the charac-
ter" Nimoy said.
"Spock is the clas-
sic Diaspora char-
acter. He is not
entirely at home
with the Vulcans
Nimoy nor with the
humans"
Nimoy also talked about his child-
hood influences and how they have
qected his life.
"My parents were very responsible
people. They encouraged me to live an
ethical life," Nimoy said.
Nimoy said his first performance
outside of children's theater was an
enlightening experience.
"This play illuminated humanity bet-
ter than I ever thought possible,"
Nimoy said about the role he played in
the play "Awake and Sing" when he
was 17 years old.
*He said it was easy to portray the
See NIMOY, Page 5A
comprised the panel. Their decision rep-
resents the court's view, but it may also be
appealed before the entire court.
The case initially gained national
attention two years
ago and helped
break open the
new field of
Internet law.
"This is the
leading Internet Y
case that sends a
message to the
government," said
David Cahill,
Baker's civil attor- Baker
ney. "They have to
tread carefully in the new media."
The charges brought against Baker in
February 1995 were the result of an FBI
agent's affidavit, citing language in a
story posted on an Internet usegroup
involving the name of one of Baker's
female University classmates.
Baker was suspended Feb. 1, 1995,
when Duderstadt invoked Regent's
Bylaw 2.01. The provision allows for
emergency suspension of students who
may be a threat to the University com-
munity or themselves.
"At the time we took the action we
did, we felt that was the appropriate
thing to do,' Associate Vice President
for University Relations Lisa Baker
said last night. "I don't think it has any
effect on the University's reputation."
Baker was then arrested Feb. 9, 1995,
after a University alum read Baker's
sexually explicit story on the Internet,
involving the rape and torture of one of
Baker's classmates.
"(Baker) was thrown out of the
University badly and illegally," Cahill
said, adding that the rule used to suspend
Baker had not been used in seven years.
Following his arrest by federal
agents, Baker was twice denied bail by
U.S. District justices. After more than a
month in prison, Baker was freed when
U.S. District Court Judge Avem Cohn
dismissed the federal threat charges.
"I don't think (the decision) comes as
any great surprise," said Anne Marie
Ellison, chair of the Student Rights
Commission for the Michigan Student
Assembly. "It really does leave the door
open as to how the First Amendment
applies to the Internet."
Baker, now a student at the
See BAKER, Page 2A
David Cahill, one of Jake Baker's attorneys, sits in his home office last night.
'U'
study ranks
city segregation
By Chris Metinko
Daily Staff Reporter
Three Michigan cities are ranked
among the most segregated in the coun-
try, according to a University profes-
sor's findings.
Using the 1990 census, sociology
Prof. Reynolds Farley found that.
Detroit, Flint and Saginaw are three of
the most segregated cities in the nation.
Detroit ranks second behind Gary, Ind.
Farley said he's not optimistic about
the short-term chance of desegregating
Detroit.
"Desegregation will occur very slow-
ly in Detroit because of the past racial
animosity,' Farley said. "I do not see
rapid change in Detroit."
Farley began the survey in 1991,
using the 1990 census for population
figures. He rated cities on a scale from
one to 100, according to their patterns
of racial composition. Detroit received
an 89, while Gary received a 91 rating.
"We looked at 232 metropolitan
areas with substantial black populations
in 1990," Farley said.
Ann Arbor received a 55 rating in the
survey, placing it near the middle group
of segregated cities.
Anthony Neely, spokesperson for
Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, said
there is no reason to be overly con-
cerned with the ranking.
"Mayor Archer does not see the
racial composition of Detroit as a prob-
lem," he said.
Neely said Detroit is doing many
things to desegregate the community.
He pointed to economic and residential
development intended to diversify the
city as an example. Detroit has com-
pleted or is in the process of completing
25 residential projects worth approxi-
mately $210 million, Neely said. Since
1994, Detroit has announced more than
$4 billion in projects to help the city's
economy.
These investments, Neely said,
should help desegregate Detroit.
"The mayor is trying to make
Detroit attractive to all races," Neely
said. "The outlook for Detroit is
very positive."
Others also said they've seen some
improvement in desegregating Detroit.
"I see it changing," said Nikia
Grimes, a Kinesiology first-year stu-
dent. "When I went to visit my high
school, I noticed there were a lot more
white students."
Farley, however, said Detroit won't
change quickly for a variety of rea-
sons. He said segregation remains
when there are slow rates of popula-
tion increase and residential develop-
ment, along with past racial strife and
animosity - all factors that he said
affect Detroit.
See DETROIT, Page 7A
AJ/A UDEKLEVA COENDalt/~y
Debbie Burr, a volunteer at the Jewel Heart retail store at 208 S. Ashley St., tries on a mask. The store, along with an adja-
cent reading room, recently opened in Ann Arbor.
Budst Leai room its
By Jeff Enderton
For the Daily
The smell of incense and an atmos-
phere of peace are moving into a store on
South Ashley Street.
The Jewel Heart, a nationwide group
that promotes Tibetan culture and
Buddhism, recently celebrated the open-
ing of the first Ann Arbor reading room
and retail store dedicated to these two
areas of study.
"We want to provide a place where
people who are interested in Buddhism
can get information," said Debbie Burr,
Jewel Heart store organizer. "We also
want to preserve the culture of Tibet"
The store carries a wide variety of
Tibetan merchandise including jewelry,
sweaters, rugs and crafts from Tibet and
India. The various items range in price
from a few dollars for a simple wooden
craft to thousands of dollars for the rugs
that hang along the store walls,
"A lot of students are interested in Tibet
and Buddhism," said Buddhist studies
Prof. Luis Gomez. "The Tibetan culture
has been in Ann Arbor for 20 years."
The 8-year-old Ann Arbor branch of
Jewel Heart, the organization's nation-
al headquarters, will hold activities in
the reading room, Burr said. On
Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m., Gelek
Rinpoche, founder and spiritual leader
of Jewel Heart, will teach about
Buddhism as a way of life. Rinpoche
also will teach meditation classes at
1:30 p.m. on the first Sunday of each
month, beginning Feb. 2..
The store features several books
on Tibetan culture as well as
Buddhist practices and methods of
See BUDDHIST, Page 7A
Plaintiff says firing
led to depression
cholarship
sends senior
to Oxford
By Susan T. Port
For the Daily
OBetween studying for classes, working 30 hours a week,
leading student organizations and playing the piano, LSA
senior Heather Stoll also found time to capture one of the
nation's most coveted scholarships.
Stoll is one of 40 students nationwide who will travel and
study in England next fall as a Marshall Scholar.
The scholarship, which is funded by the British govern-
ment, will send Stoll to Oxford University for two years.
Political science Prof. John Campbell nominated Stoll for
the scholarship and described her as "one of the best students
'have ever encountered."
Zach Levey, another political science professor, also nom-
inated Stoll for the scholarship. Stoll was in three of Levey's
classes, yet he said it took a while before he noticed her.
"She sat in the back of the class, and on occasion would
answer a question," Levey said. "She never tried to dominate
a class discussion."
Stoll caught Levey's attention when she wrote a paper on
By Ericka M. Smith
Daily Staff Reporter
The third day of testimony in the civil
suit of three former Dental School
workers continued yesterday as the last
two plaintiffs took the stand.
Before Washtenaw County District
Court Judge Donald Shelton, the three
black employees - Dawn Mitchell,
Theresa Atkins and Delano Isabelle -
contended that the University and Dental
School supervisor Linda Vachon, who
now goes by the married name of
DeMarco, discriminated against them in
a 1995 firing.
While the Dental School employees
continued to say they were wrongfully
fired from their jobs, University coun-
sel contended that the employees had
been neglectful and deserved to be tem-
porarily relieved from their positions.
Isabelle, who took the stand early
yesterday morning, said he attempted
suicide as a result of a racist environ-
ment at the Dental School.
"I had begun to start cutting myself,"
Isabelle said. "I wanted to kill myself."
Isabelle then said that when he
returned to custodial work after leaving,
he felt shunned by other employees and
supervisors.
"(The appointment) went kind of
rough," lsabelle said. "I felt that I had
"- -tl,1,;+A7
,
JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
Ruth Williman, a former University
employee, took the stand yesterday.
al help with Donna Chompine, a
University psychiatrist.
Because Chompine was unable to
attend yesterday's court proceedings,
plaintiff attorney George Washington's
assistant read Chompine's deposition.
"We look at depression as having
multiple causes," Chompine's statement
said. "Environment can contribute."
Chompine wrote that losing the job
at the Dental School was a blow to
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