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Thursday
January Ui, 2001.
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Cantor
By Jacquelyn Nixon
Daily Staff Reporter
The University has agreed to pay $100,000 to
*ttle a lawsuit filed in August 1999 by George
Cantor following the death of his daughter,
Courtney.
Courtney Cantor died October 16, 1998, after
falling through the window of her sixth-floor
room in Mary Markley Residence Hall.
By filing the suit, Cantor's father said he
hoped to initiate changes in the University's
treatment towards alcohol-related incidents and
increase safety in University residences.
Attorneys waived any future trial concerning
Cantor in the agreement. The University is not
responsible for plaintiff's costs including legal
counsel or expenses, which is also noted in the
settlement.
Dale Robinson, George Cantor's attorney fill-
suit
settled
for
$100,000
ing in for Darrel Peters, said although the Uni-
versity has been cooperative, negotiation has
been a lengthy process.
"The general counsel of the University met
with Mr. Peters and Mr. Goodman, senior part-
ners of the firm, and hammered out the agree-
ment," Robinson said.
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said in
a written statement that the University is hopeful
this will bring closure to the matter.
"We feel this is the best interest of all parties,
involved," she said. "This was a terrible tragedy
and Courtney's loss is still felt by the entire Uni-
versity community."
Cantor said his family decided to settle to
spare everyone the ordeal of a trial.
"There'll never be any closure. We miss her
every day," he said.
As a way of paying tribute to his daughter,
Cantor has composed a manuscript titled
"Courtney's Legacy: A Father's Journey."
"It will be published later this summer," he
said.
The money won from the settlement will go to
his other daughter, Jamie, a University alum who
is attending law school at Harvard. Cantor
stressed money was not an incentive for the law-
suit.
"You effect change by lawsuits, and that's
what I was trying to do," Cantor said.
One of the changes he has noticed is the Uni-
versity taking steps to heighten awareness about
alcohol. Cantor said he hopes the University will
delay fraternity and sorority rush until Winter
term, giving students more time to find out who
they are and acclimate themselves at an elite
university.
Judith Moskus, representing Peter Johnston,
who built the loft in Courtney Cantor's room,
See CANTOR, Page 2A
DAVID KATZ/Daily
George Cantor, who filed a lawsuit against the University over his daughter
Courtney's 1998 death, reacts in court yesterday as a settlement is reached.
'U' only
the latest
to defend
diversity
By Anna Clark
w ily Staff Reporter
If the current affirmative action law-
suits at public universities across the
_. )
t
country are
any indica-
tion, the
University
has a long
road ahead
in its quest
to use
racial pref-
erences as
a method to
maintain a
Part four of a five-part
series on the lawsuit
challenging the Law School
admissions process.
Bus driver's
statements
in question
By Nick Bunkley
Daily News Editor
A preliminary hearing for an Engineering student
charged with the death of a woman who was crushed under
the University commuter bus he was driving will continue
tomorrow after the judge decides whether to allow state-
ments made by the defendant during police questioning.
Washtenaw County District Judge Elizabeth Hines will
rule whether Ann Arbor Police Officer Sean Lee can tes-
tify about what bus driver Daryl Cain told him in the
hours after Medical School employee Janis Marchyok's
Sept. 11 death.
Defense attorney Thomas O'Brien argued that Cain was
in police custody during interrogations by officers from the
University Department of Public Safety and AAPD but had
not been read his Miranda rights.
Cain took the stand during a brief hearing to decide whether
to accept Lee's testimony, and the defendant said police kept
him and other passengers on the bus for several hours while
they examined the scene and conducted interviews.
"The officer told me to go back on the bus and just wait
there," Cain said. "They never said I was under arrest."
Prosecuting attorney Donald Ray countered that
motorists have a legal obligation to remain on the scene of a
traffic accident. He added that police had not actually
arrested Cain and that the statements should be admissible.
Both lawyers are to submit their opinions and citations
'from previous U.S. Supreme Court rulings regarding Miran-
da warnings to Hines today.
In Miranda v. Arizona, the high court decided that crimi-
nal suspects must be advised of their rights when being
taken into custody in order for their statements to be permit-
ted in court.
Marchyok died after she was struck by the side of the bus
as she was crossing Glen Avenue during a heavy rainstorm
in the late afternoon of Sept. 11. The bus was turning right
from, westbound Catherine Street when Marchyok was hit
and dragged under the bus.
At the time of the accident, the traffic light for the bus
was green and the pedestrian signal gave Marchyok the
right of way, and two signs on Catherine warned traffic turn-
ing right to yield to pedestrians.
See CAIN, Page 7A
diverse educational environment.
The University's Law School is
poised to defend it's race-based admis-
sions policy when the Center for Indi-
vidual Rights, a Washington,
D.C.-based law firm, challenges it in
A urt next week.
The state universities in Texas,
Washington, Georgia and California
have fought for the same cause and are
all at different stages in the wrangling
over admissions policies.
The University of Texas lawsuit,
Cheryl .. Hopwood v. the State of
Texas, made the most recent progress
with both a significant Dec. 21 deci-
sion on the case and last week's filing
of petition for a rehearing.
The university's law school admis-
Sons policies were ruled unconstitu-
tional by the 5th Circuit Court in 1996.
But the case isn't closed yet. The late
December decision, called Hopwood
III, ruled in favor of Texas on three
points: That the plaintiffs who were
denied admission to the Law School
would not be admissible by standard
merit criteria, that no additional money
will be awarded to the plaintiffs and that
*o additional attorney fees will be
awarded to the plaintiffs.
But the 5th Circuit decision, while
supporting race-sensitive admissions,
is bound by the original 1996 decision
and Texas is not permitted to reinstate
affirmative action. In it's quest to over-
turn the Hopwood decision, Texas is
proposing to hold an additional hear-
ing requiring all 13 judges, rather than
the three who decided the case in
1996, to hear the case.
University of Texas at Austin's Direc-
or of Admissions Bruce Walker said
these developments, while not offering
immediate results, are meaningful.
"The general first impression is that
this leads to keeping our case alive,
which is important to finally seeing it
overturned," Walker said.
While Faulkner said he agreed that
the development in the case is encour-
ng, he said he believes the case is
till a long way from being over.
UT-Austin President Larry Faulkner
said the Hopwood case won't be fin-
ished until there's a Supreme Court
decision to finalize the matter.
"All these activities are on the long
road to that end," he said.
Whitley headed to
trial on gun charge
By Nick Bunkley
Daily News Editor
A Washtenaw County judge yes-
terday ordered former Michigan
football captain James Whitley to
stand trial next month on a felony
concealed weapons charge.
Whitley was dismissed from the
team Dec. 14, hours after he was
found carrying a loaded handgun at a
Hill Street apartment complex.
District Judge Elizabeth Hines
ruled in a preliminary hearing yester-
day that enough evidence exists to
proceed with the case, which is
scheduled to begin Feb. 8. Whitley
could face up to five years in prison
if convicted.
Ann Arbor Police Officer Ed
Dreslinski testified in the hearing
that he responded to a call at 3 a.m.
Dec. 14 from a female student who
said her ex-boyfriend, Michigan
wide receiver David Terrell, was
trying to break into her apartment
at 125 Hill St. The 19-year-old stu-
dent told police that Terrell "had
been stalking her in the past,"
Dreslinski said.
When he arrived at the apartment
See WHITLEY, Page 7A
SAMHULLE NSHEAD/Dad
TOP: Former Michigan defensive back James Whitley
listens to testimony during his preliminary hearing in
Washtenaw County District Court.
ABOVE: Ann Arbor Police Officer Ed Dreslinski holds the
gun he found in Whitley's coat pocket last month.
Committee OKs labor code
Hitting under the heaters
By Susan Luth
Daily Staff Reporter
Monumental strides were made in a
meeting last night of the Committee of
Labor Standards and Human Rights.
In a 7-2 vote with one abstention the
committee chose to recommend that a
code of conduct be officially placed
into the University's contracts with
licensees who manufacture university
products.
"I am thrilled that the committee
decided to vote overwhelmingly to
include a strong code of labor stan-
dards," said LSA freshman Matt
Hannah, a member of Students
Organizing for Labor and Economic
Equality. "In all future Michigan
apparel contracts, this is a major
win for the thousands of workers
that assemble Michigan goods
throughout the world."
This new code would affect compa-
nies as big as Nike and Jansport should
University President Lee Bollinger
decide to enact it as part of the contracts
signed with the licensees. It ensures the
companies who manufacture university
products are working under humane
conditions and fairness.
"I think our code is an expression of
what we think the world should look
like," committee chair and social work
Prof. Lawrence Root said. He said the
See CODE, Page 2A
Anti-gay pastor plans to crash
Gay Pride Week celebrations
By David Enders
Daily Staff Reporter
Baptist pastor and anti-gay activist Fred Phelps has
planned a visit to the University for mid-February, to coin-
lish class on gay culture and referred to the "Monstrous gay
lies masquerading as a University. ... That filthy lifestyle
will damn the life, destroy the soul and doom the nation."
The office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered
Affairs is the primary organization setting up events for Gay
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