The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 12, 1999 - 7
Former stripper speaks out on UF fraternity rape
By Corinne Simon
Independent Florida Alligator
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (U-WIRE) - As the
speaker slowly stepped up to the podium in front
of the Downtown Community Plaza, about 75
men and women froze in their places, anticipat-
ir>hat the 27-year-old expectant mother would
say after more than seven months of silence.
Brushing back a strand of her black, shoulder-
length hair that fell out of place from the light
breeze blowing Saturday afternoon, Lisa Gier
King recounted what she called a "massive
cover-up by the Alachua County law enforce-
ment and judicial system."
"On the night of Feb. 26, 1 was raped in the
Delta Chi fraternity house on the University of
Florida campus," she said, her voice faltering.
"What happened to me that night was bad
eri&h, but the events that followed almost
ruined m lifec
King, who said she became a stripper so she
could have time to take rasses at Santa Fe
Community Collnge aiid care for hcr two ehil-
dren, reealledj the treatinent The received after
COnlIActing Universityv police about the night.
"1 was informed tmat the rapist had been ques-
tioned and released," she said, her voice becon-
ing more powerful. "No photos were taken of the
rapist or his obvious iries "
Delt Chi members hired King to be an exot-
ic dancer for a Big Brothe rttle Brother initia-
tion ritual, where she was videotaped dancing
nude and simulating sex acts with fraternity
brother. and ledes.
King said she was frced later that night to
have sex with 22-ycar-od Delta C'hi member
Mike Yahraus whie cOiher brothers, specifically
22-year-old Anthony M arzu o, watched and
videotaped. King continued her story as people
gathered around, seemingly horrified by her
memories.
Yahraus "said I took drugs, and I was forced to
take a dru- test, but he didn't" she said angrily.
The detective "made it obvious that she believed
the rapist. They said I wasted their time."
King and her attorney Craig DeThomasis
have maintained that the videotape, which even-
tually was used as evidence against King, was
directed and edited by the Delta Chi members.
She said she was arrested too quickly for fil-
ing a false police report after making her rape
accusation. The charge was later dropped after
she pleaded guilty to operating an escort service
without a license.
"The UPD's lack of training of how to handle
a serious crime is evident," she said. "Law
enforcement and the judicial system failed me
and failed to do what was right and just"
Candi Churchill, president of the UF and
SFCC Campus NOW, said the rally was a culmi-
nation of the seven-month process to bring the
alleged rapists to justice.
"Lisa was arrested because she came for-
ward," said Churchill, who, with the support of
other NOW members, has been protesting State
Attorney Rod Smith's actions on crimes against
women. They "know this kind of injustice hap-
pens all of the time"
Recently, Churchill said, NOW members sent
a letter to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush stating Smith violated
several ethical standards set by the American
Bar Association and the Florida Bar Association,
including prosecution misconduct, intimidation
of a witness or victim, and selective prosecution
and enforcement.
Spencer Mlann, spokesperson for the State
Attorney's Office. sai NOW'S allegations that
Smith did not handle the case appropriately are
not backed by facts.
"This stuff about Rod Smith being a sexist is
absolutely ludicrous," Mann said Sunday.
"Before he got there, there was no sex crimes
unit. There was no victim advocacy program in
place."
"The head of our sex crimes unit, Jeanne
Singer, was awarded prosecutor of the year by
the governor for her work," he said, and added
that another employee received an award for
excellence in victim advocacy. "You don't get
that by being soft on sex crimes. The facts have
to speak for themselves. Our main concern is
that this misrepresentation of facts by NOW will
give victims more hesitation in reporting their
crimes to us."
Internet
plan
(MUSCS
concerns
WASHINGTON (AP) - Engineers
designing a new way to send informa-
tion across the Internet want to include
a unique serial number from each per-
sonal computer within every parcel of
da
d tics warn that, if adopted, the
move could potentially strip away
nonymity and security enjoyed by tens
f millions of home computer users
ho dial into America Online Inc. and
ther Internet providers via traditional
elephone lines.
The debate illustrates the unintended
otential consequences of design deci-
ions aimed at ensuring the Internet's
'tasty into the 21st Century.
re proposal by the Internet
ngineering Task Force, an internation-
1 standards body, would include the
nique serial number for each comput-
r's network connection hardware as
art of its expanded new Internet pro-
ocol address.
These "IP" addresses, planted within
-mails and all other information flow-
ng across the Internet, must be as
ni as telephone numbers to distin-
uieach computer on the global net-
ork and to guide the billions of bits
nd bytes flowing among them.
The IETF's top engineers acknow-
dge some implications for online pri-
acy, but "I think the privacy concerns
re overrated," said Fred Baker, task
orce's chair.
But some privacy experts said they
ere appalled that IETF engineers
oi consider the idea. The new
dd s scheme, called "IPv6," would
ot become widely used for years but
timately would affect every Internet
er.
Critics warned that commercial
nternet sites, which already routinely
ecord IP addresses, could begin to cor-
elate these embedded serial numbers
gainst a consumer's name, address and
ther personal details, from clothing
ize to political affiliation.
A task force itself will ultimately
:ci e whether to include the identi-
ing numbers in the new IP address-
s. The timing on that decision is
nclear,
Baker said the task force is also envi-
ioning ways to configure Internet
evices manually so addresses won't
ontain the sensitive numbers.
"Those folks concerned about the
rivacy issue could use this (alternate)
eclue" said Thomas Narten, an
BM software engineer working with
he IETF.
Most home computer users current-
ly are assigned a different IP address
ach time they connect to the Internet
hrough a telephone line, which
ffords some extra security and
nonymity. It's akin to a person using
a different phone number every day to
shield their identity and avoid prank
phj calls.
Tootinacontr assoon
U. South Florida to
challenge jury ruling
By Joe Humphrey
The Oracle
TAMPA, Fla. (U-WIRE) - University of South
Florida officials have challenged a federal jury's
ruling to award a former university employee $1.5
million for racial discrimination and retaliation.
The university asked U.S. Magistrate Thomas
Wilson to overturn the ruling Friday, a day after a
jury ruled former student recruiter and counselor
Sharon Starkes was denied a pay raise because of
her race.
The jury also ruled USF was retaliating for her
complaints when it fired her in 1997.
Both parties agreed that Starkes is not eligible
to receive $1.5 million, due to federal regulations
that limit liability to $300,000 per count. That
means USF could still be accountable for
S600,000 in damages, according to Starkes'
attorney Howard Shifke.
But USF spokesperson Todd Simmons said no
money should be due.
"There was no discrimination in this case and
no retaliation," he said.
"This was a case of a raise being requested and
not being granted, and subsequent to that, an
employee abandoning her job."
Not so, Shifke said. According to him,
Starkes, an African-American, took on extra
duties at work and unsuccessfully lobbied for a
raise.
"She was told there's no money in the budget"
Shifke said. "But three other people in student
affairs, none of them black, all got special pay rais-
es."
Starkes began work at USF in June 1990 as an
academic counselor.
By mid-1995. according to Shifke, Starkes bi
taken on extra duties and asked for the raise, which
was denied. In October 1995, Starkes filed a com-
plaint with the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, 'claiming racial dis-
crimination. She filed another EEOC compliant in
April 1998.
Wilson is expected to render a ruling in the next
several weeks, and both parties said they are con-
fident of a win.
GUATEMALA
Continued from Page 1
The accomplishment was bittersweet, Bartow
said, because people continue to suffer from
"institutionalized violence" and a non-exis-
tence justice system.
The speech was sponsored jointly by the
Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, the cam-
pus chapter of Amnesty International -the
Latino Task Force, and the Native American
Students Association.
Maryanne Perrone, a member of the' Interfaith
Council, said the speech was a fitting event for
Indigenous People's Day.
"Most of the people who suffered from the
civil war in Guatemala were indigenous people
- Mayan people," Perrone said, adding that
after seeing Bartow speak at the National
Action Day in Washington D.C. last May, she
knew students should hear Bartow's story.
LSA first-year student Jen Richardson attended
the event and said she became interested in human
rights after a trip to South America that exposed
some of the horrible conditions people lived in.
"I've heard a lot of personal stories and I want-
ed to hear hers," Richardson said. "It was really
incredible."
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
David Schall, a University aum sits oside the School of Music on North Campus
yesterday afternoon and pr #tices his ntrabassoon.
f 1 10en
Frenchcef
restaurn tax.
The Washington Post
PARIS - Riot police teargassed a mob of egg-throwing
French chefs yesterday in a singng reply o demands that the
government lift the onerous 20.6 pere tax on restaurant
meals.
More than a thousand protesters wearing white aprons and
the tall white toque hats o t he classc French kitchen
marched to the French National Assembly t o pr:s their case
with French legislators.
Well-provisioned chefs immediately began pClting helmet-
clad security forces with eggs and assorted vegetables.
After sustaining seven or eight minutes of messy abuse,
police calmly fired teargas ito te prously jolly crowd.
Coughing and crying as he stumbled from the melee, a
chef from Brittany named Victor spluttered:
"See what their answer is? See bow much they care about
the little guys?"
In a season of mounting European anger at the eco-
nomic power and genetic m nAme of th e Amrican food
industry, many of the protestig cos carried signs
denouncing the inequality ol the rearant tax code:
20.6 for classic French rsauran , ut5.5 percent for
fast-food and take-oout estalishments such as
McDonald's - today's vorldwide symbol o choice for
American commercial imperilsm.
r 't
AP PHOTO/Oa iy
French Chefs and restaurant owners demonstrate to demand
lower value taxes on prepared food yesterday in Paris
Restaurant owners and kitchen chefs argue that the tax pol-
icy subsidizes massive global food businesses and under-
mines the traditional French restaurateur.
A restaurant tab in France is swollen by more than a third
when the tax and obligatory service charge are included.
Some of the protesters yesterday claimed that a reduc-
tion in the tax, to 10 or 12 percent, could create thou-
sands of jobs in the hurting restaurant business. The
finance ministry has said such a move could cost the
government more than $3 billion in lost revenue.
After they were dispersed, the demonstrating chefs
regrouped a few blocks away to select representatives to
deliver petitions to the French parliament, which is due
to begin debating the 2000 budget next week. "Tell them
thanks for the welcome," shouted one man wearing a
toque.
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
WANTED
* WE'RE LOOKING FOR AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHERS
WHO WANT TO TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES!
. $25 FOR EVERY PHOTO THAT IS ACCEPTED AND
OTHER GREAT INCENTIVES
" DIGITAL CAMERA PROVIDED FOR NON-OWNERS
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT ANNA AT
(734) 395-9905 OR VIA EMAIL TO
ANNAQLIGHTSURF.COM.
EARN $1 O.OO$20.OO/hr
Do you have a car?
Jimmy John'S,
WVe wont t e st ana weeo te 9estr
Apply at 600 Packard St.
Call 741-9200 Ask for Todd or Brad!
Or 929 E. Ann St. Call 913-9200
Ask for Dan or Mike!
City, federal goverr ments to spend more
on AIDS stricken inority communities
I
a
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES - With an unprecedented gather-
ing of women infected by the AIDS virus under way
in Los Angeles, city and federal officials said yester-
day that millions of additional dollars will be spent in
minority communities fighting AIDS.
Los Angeles Times story reporting that the city was
sitting on S 17 milion while minority communities are
being hit hard by an AIDS epidemic that has created,
among other problems. a shortage of housing for HIV-
positive patiens.
Wanda Jones depmy assistant secretary for health
HIV data, that in many communities, particularly
among young people, the cases are almost evenly
distributed between men and women."
Cathy Elliott-Lopez said she got tested when she
became suspicious about symptoms she saw in her
boyfriend, including a chronic cough, sores, skin rash-
The University of Michigan Department of
Dermatology is currently offering a new