CEREMONY
Elizabeth Sayraf, a mother from Ann
Aibr who lost her daughter two years
W as a result of genetic complica-
tions, said she attended the event
because she also experienced loneli-
puss after her daughter's death.
"It' really hard for people to under-
stnd the depth of pain," Sayraf said.
"They don't realize losing anyone,
ess of the time you were able to
with them, is hard." .
Such feelings of loss prompted the
Wr.anization of the memorial.
*Parents feel like this couldn't have
hajpened to anybody ese," Gibney
sawi. "It's painful to feel isolated.
thers must understand that the aches
gSon for many years. The pain doesn't
n4 with the funeral."
The event began in a parking lot near
nemergency roorn of the Medical
and included a memorial pro-
f with three speakers.
Qne of the speakers, Robin Franks,
cepei-enced the death of her child eight
ytrs ago. As Frank spoke, tears
1ti&a ed down her face while she
otfered encouragement to the families.
Comforted by the speakers' intense
display of emotions, Orians said her
,wtfeelings were validated.
t1 realized this is a pain that doesn't
away," Orians said. "Here was a
woian whose child had died eight
yests earlier, and her emotions were no
different than my.own."
After the speeches, the program con-
ttiued with a walk to NicholsArboretum
atfdhe planting of a star magnolia tree.
dians said the tree-planting cere-
mbony helped her own healing.
"A tree goes through all the seasons
'i still remains. It allows us to focus
celebrating life," she said.
,isirdwto sprinkle dirt on the tree's
t'gts;, .the families also inscribed the
tikns of lost love ones on cards shaped
f4)CIeaves. The leaves wil eventually be
igembled into a memorial book.
'"ibney said she was pleased with the
mehorial's ability to help the families'
Wing process.
t was so amazing to have so many
le, say the walk validated and nor-
Wized theirown pain,"Gibney said.
Organizers hope that the memorial
program;, which is scheduled for next
year, will become an annual event. The
boretum has established a grove for
Oh Wprogram's future.tree planting.
ANDHI
~~Imdfo Page 1A
ing that by helping others, students
are rewarding themselves.
latiock told students that they have
tfe responsibility of continuing to open
doors that have already been opened
fkrthem by past activists.
only have to step through -
itcopen," he said. "Go out there, work
fI~td, be committed."
lManali Shah, IASA volunteer coor-
nator, said that although a service day
not take place every day, she hopes
t~ event .inspires everyone to get
inve vd. "We have the potential to
rke huge differences in our commu-
ni$" Shah said.
Project Serve planning team member
Pmeho Gara, who worked as a site
Iede, said he foresees an even more
eil service dy next year. large-
i1 because the two organizations draw
c :each other's strengths.
ngineering first-year student Sejal
. said the tree gives the Indian
American community on campus a
prsical symbol of unity, just as other
M.ority students have dedicated
Itmges or monuments in honor ,of
jpMividuals or to commemorate histori-
oaly significant events.
"It commemorates a hero that every-
a ie as Indian Americans can look up
to it's great bMcause eveyminority has
#vething," Patel said. "Finally, we've
f something for us. It's special."
Tushar Sheth, 'ASA co-president,
'said the tree bears significance in the
snse that it is a focal point.
"I think it's a good point to concentrate
nSheth said. "That is what we're here
or This is what it's all about."
,As a surprise guest, John Briley, who
in 1983 won an Academy Award for
best original screeplay for his work on
qbefilm "Gandhi," spoke to the group,
ic"ng them not to lose the spirit
monstrated and spread by Gandhi.
Briley, a University alumnus, is cur-
retly teaching aclass at the University.
Matlock said students should use the
event as an impetus for continued
activism and communtiy involvement.
"My message would be just don't
iake this a one-day event," he said.
"Activism should continue everday."
-
NATION/W ORLD The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 6, 1997-
New Supreme Court term to begin today
-~ A
Los AngelesTimms
WASHINGTON -The Supreme
Court, repeatedly having signaled its
disdain for race-based affirmative
action, may sound the death knell for
the practice during the term that begins
today.
In one case, Piscataway (N.J.)
Township Board of Education vs.
Taxman, a New Jersey school board's
decision to lay off a white teacher
instead of an equally qualified black
colleague will test whether employers
may ever prefer racial minorities to fos-
ter diversity in the workplace. If the
court answers with a flat "no," employ-
ers nationwide will be forced to recon-
sider their hiring and promotion poli-
cies.
In a second test of affirmative action,
the court will consider whether states
may totally outlaw "preferential treat-
ment" based on race or gender in public
programs. That case, a challenge to
California's Proposition 209, is pending
on appeal.
The court also will explore the new
legal frontier of workplace harassment.
A decade ago, the justices first ruled
that a man's sexual harassment of a
female co-worker was illegal even if the
woman did not suffer a direct job injury
such as a lost promotion. In this term,
the justices will decide whether the
same rules apply in the case of a male
worker who allegedly was subjected to
gross advances by two other men.
Taken together, the court's decisions
in the affirmative action and sexual
harassment cases could spell out rules
for a new era of anti-discrimination law.
Over the past decade, the Supreme
Court repeatedly has rejected "affir-
mative" discrimination, and some
legal experts think the Piscataway
case gives the conservative majority a
chance to ban it throughout the work-
place.
The facts of the case are simple. In
1989, the Piscataway High School
decided to lay off one of its business
education teachers. Tied for the least
seniority were Sharon Taxman and
Debra Williams, who had started work
the same day.
Rather than flip a coin, school offi-
cials invoked their affirmative action
plan and laid off Taxman, who is white.
The school district had no document-
ed history of racial discrimination, and
its percentage of black teachers actually
exceeded that of the local labor force.
Instead, the school board president
explained the decision as based on the
positive value of a "culturally diverse"
staff.
Taxman filed suit under the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, which makes it ille-
gal for employers "to fail or refuse to
hire or to discharge any individual, or
otherwise to discriminate against any
individual ... because of such individ-
ual's race, color, religion, sex or nation-
ality."
Conservatives say the landmark
statute means just what it says:
Employers may not use race as a basis
for job decisions. But for the past 20
years, liberals have insisted that the
law should be interpreted according to
its spirit and purpose, which was to
benefit previously disadvantaged
minorities.
In 1979 the high court, led by Justice
William Brennan, upheld "voluntary
affirmative action" by employers as a
means to "break down old patterns of
racial segregation." In Weber vs. United
Steelworkers, the court rejected the
claim of a white worker from Louisiana
who complained when half of the new
apprenticeship slots were reserved for
blacks.
Eight years later, the court ruled
against a white worker who had been
passed over for a promotion in favor of
a slightly less qualified woman in a
county road maintenance unit, which
until then had no women in skilled jobs.
In Johnson vs. Santa Clara County
(Calif.), Brennan said employers could
use affirmative action to remedy "a
manifest imbalance" in the gender or
racial makeup of its work force.
Most lawyers have cited those two
precedents as giving employers broad
leeway to use affirmative action.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in Philadelphia read them dif-
ferently. Upholding a $144,000 damage
verdict in favor of Taxman, the appeals
court said employers were prohibited
from using affirmative action except to
remedy past discrimination or an
extreme work-force imbalance.
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ITUDY
Reid also commented on the pos-
si!le bias of the samples since they
,,y included blacks and whites.
AlThough the researchers did sample
Mhilns. Hispanics. and Native
1mo
i