HIGHER EDUCATION
The Michigan
Daily Tuesday, April 11, 2000 - 5
*George Washington U.
cancels classes for protest
Bailamos
By Steven Postal
The GW Hatchet (GeorgeWashington University)
AmIlL
WASHINGTON (U-WIRE) -
George Washington University
announced Friday it will close this
weekend and Monday, April 17,
because of anticipated protests of
World Bank and International Mone-
tary Fund meetings.
GW administrators met with Met-
ropolitan Police Chief Charles Ram-
sey last week to prepare for the
protests. Late Friday, a memo
Oreleased to the GW community
announced the closing.
"As a direct result of discussions
with (MPD) who have assessed ... the
impact of the World Bank/IMF meet-
ings on traffic in the area, the univer-
sity has made the decision to close
from Friday at 10 p.m. until Tuesday,
April 18, at 8 a.m," according to the
memo.
Access to residence halls and the
Marvin Center will be restricted to
GW students and staff. Beginning
yesterday, "the overnight guest policy
for non-GW students will be suspend-
ed." Students must have a GWorld
card to be signed into a residence
hall.
One of the objectives of the closure
is to minimize traffic around Foggy
Bottom, where the meetings will take
place, university officials said. The
*IMF and World Bank offices are locat-
ed on 18th and 19th streets near sever-
al university buildings.
MPD spokesman Sgt. Joe Gentile
said MPD is still in the planning
stages for the expected protests. All
officers will be on duty and officers
will be assigned to the expected
demonstrations, he said, although he
would not disclose the number of
officers that will be assigned to the
demonstrations. Civil Disturbance
Units were activated Sunday and
will continue to patrol through the
end of the meetings.
"Students should expect large
inconveniences because of large
crowds on the streets," Gentile said.
He said a permit to protest had not
been approved as of Thursday and
MPD continues to meet with the
demonstrators.
The protesters "have advised us they
intend to have a peaceful demonstra-
tion," he said.
Gentile said streets will be closed
around the IMF and the World Bank,
though Thursday. He could not say
which streets are expected to close. A
preliminary list of street closures and
blockades were released yesterday, he
said. The preliminary list is expected
to expand, he said.
"Our actions will be very much
dependent on the group" Gentile said.
At a Tuesday press conference,
IMF Acting Managing Director
Stanley Fischer said the meeting
planners are taking planned protests
seriously. He said authorities arc
ensuring that the meetings can go on
without disruption, but he said
activities will not be "absolutely
normal."
"The material that is being dis-
cussed at these meetings is very
important for the operation of the
world economy, for the people who
live in the world economy," Fischer
said. "And you don't really expect that
whatever contingency plans we might
or might not have would be made pub-
lic at this stage"
Protesters already have begun to
arrive and protest in certain areas of
Washington, D.C. The World Bank
and IMF meetings will begin tomor-
row morning.
According to MPD's Website,
businesses in the vicinity of the
meetings should prepare for street
closures and other potential disrup-
tions. "Construction sites should be
secured, including all equipment and
supplies," according to the Website.
MPD also advises businesses to
develop a plan in case buildings and
windows need to be secured.
At GW, all events scheduled for
after Friday at 10 p.m. are canceled
except for events in Lisner Auditorium
and the Marvin Center. There will only
be one entrance and exit for the Mar-
vin Center, and GWorld cardholders
will be allowed into the Marvin Cen-
ter.
Ash/ey M. Hlehercontributd to this
report.
WRC
Continued from Page 1
Advisory Committee on Labor Stan-
dards and Human Rights, was in New
York as a conference participant.
"I think it was a good first meeting --
a lot of ideas were exchanged,' Root
said.
But perhaps most importantly, the
conference also signified a change in the
previously adversarial relationship
between student activists and the admin-
istrators of their schools.
"Administrators and students were
more than willing to cooperate and dis-
cuss how to combine efforts to make the
WRC work," Romer-Friedman said.
But whatever strides were made in
New York, the battles continue on other
campuses across the nation.
Three more anti-sweatshop organiz-
ers were arrested at the University of
Oregon, bringing the total number of
arrests to 14 at Oregon.
Oregon student Sarah Jacobsen, a
spokeswoman for the campus' anti-
sweatshop group, said the students are
"absolutely ready" to take more action,
but anticipates University of Oregon
President Dave Frohnmayer will "be
forced to act on the WRC sometime by
the end of this week."
As of last night, students were meet-
ing with Frohnmayer to discuss the
WRC and their other demands, includ-
ing a request for greater student repre-
sentation on university decisions.
About 30 students at the University of
Iowa were forcibly removed after a six
day occupation of the school's Jessup
Hall on Saturday. Five students were
arrested, but no one was hurt during the
confrontation. Ned Bertz, one of the stu-
dents arrested, said the students had no
warning of the police raid, although they
had met with administrators until 7 p.m.
the night of the raid.
Bertz said the students will continue
their action until the University of Iowa
drops its affiliation with the Fair Labor
Association. "We're going to put the
FLA on trial," he said.
The FLA is a White House-spon-
sored group that has come under fire by
critics who contend the group's corpo-
rate ties make the coalition weak.
Purdue Students Against Sweatshops
ended their hunger strike Friday after 11
days of fasting. Purdue University Presi-
dent Steven Beering agreed to join the
WRC by Sept. 30 if the organization has
met certain stipulations.
Students at Yale University continue
their sit-in outside Woodridge Hall, the
New Haven, Conn. school's main
administration building.
Ari Holtzblatt, spokesman for Yale
Students Against Sweatshops said Yale
President Richard Levin has been
"generally unresponsive to the WRC"
Holtzblatt said the students are pre-
pared to stay camped outside indefi-
nitely.
JESSICA JOHNSON/Daily
University alum Julia Jablonski takes Latin dance lessons in the Michigan
Union's University Club.
Student accused of killing newborn child
By Jen Bonds
The Breeze (James Madison University)
HARRISONBURG, Va. (U-WIRE) - A
James Madison University nursing student
was arrested Friday in Harrisonburg after she
allegedly left her now-deceased newborn in a
portable toilet at a rural Delaware construc-
tion site.
Freshman Abigail Caliboso is being
charged as a fugitive by the Harrisonburg
Police Department, and with manslaughter
and second-degree conspiracy by Delaware
State Police. Also charged was Chantilly resi-
'*dent Jose Ocampo, Caliboso's boyfriend and
alleged father of the baby, Delaware State
Police said.
According to Delaware Police spokesman
Cpl. Walter Newton, Caliboso and Ocampo
rented a motel room in Fairfax County on
Baby left in rural Delaware
March 26, where Caliboso allegedly gave birth
to a baby.
Later that day, the couple reportedly drove
north on Interstate 95 to Delaware. They exited
the interstate and found the remote construc-
tion site in Bear, where they allegedly left the
infant and drove back to Virginia.
According to Delaware police, staff mem-
bers from Rockingham Memorial Hospital
treated Caliboso for post-delivery complica-
tions. When medical staff couldn't account
for the child, they contacted Harrisonburg
Police.
Harrisonburg detectives interviewed Cali-
boso and determined that there were substan-
tial similarities between her newborn and the
infant found in Delaware. She was discharged
from the hospital after the arrest and is now
being held without bail in Rockingham County
Jai .
Ocampo was arrested at his family's home in
Chantilly and is being held without bail at the
Fairfax Adult Detention Center.
A full term, 8-pound baby girl was found at
6:45 a.m. in Delaware by a construction work-
er on March 27.
Authorities said she was between 24 and 48
hours old. Officials concluded that the baby
was delivered alive, but do not know if the
baby was still alive when she was abandoned,
Newton said.
Delaware officials said they aren't sure
why the couple chose to leave their baby
th ere.
"We don't know why they came to
Delaware," Newton said. "As of now, we
don't know of any relatives that live in this
area."
Delaware is one of 27 states considering leg-
islation to protect parents who leave newborns
in a safe place.
Four newborns have been abandoned in the
state since 1995, three of whom died.
Fairfax County Police received a complaint
from the cleaning staff of the motel after
"strange" remnants were found in the room,
Delaware Police said.
The room was searched but police did not
disclose what was found.
Caliboso kept her pregnancy a secret from
everyone, said her roommate, who asked to
remain anonymous.
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