It Itl One hundred eleven years of'editorialfreedom IUi NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 7640557 wwwmichigandailycom Thursday December 6, 2001 I Vo.4tt o 47 An Abo, Mihian 201 Te .. ga t3;l I Hearing in national spotlight By Rachel Green and Elizabeth Kassab Daily Staff Reporters CINCINNATI - Carting 19-inch televisions and piles of clothing out of their residence halls, University of Cincinnati students leaving for winter break bustle past gold-colored flyers and magic-markered posters spreading the word about a rally on campus and march to the Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse, where the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear two cases challenging the University of Michigan's admissions policies today. "I can't honestly say that we have a lot of sup- port, but the people we do have are very adamant, said Jeena Jarrett-Gray, a member of the local chapter of the National Associa- tion for the Advance- O N T U \ ment of Colored People. After nearly five years of legal wran- gling, the lawsuits challenging Michigan's use of race in under- graduate and law school admissions move to one step away from the U.S. Supreme Court today. Thousands of high school and college students are expected to follow attorneys for the Universi- ty, the Center for Individual Rights and the inter- vening defendants to this city on Ohio's southern border, where each side will have a matter of minutes in both cases to convince the nine judges on the appeals court whether affirmative action has a place in college admissions. The pair of lawsuits, which were filed by Washington-based CIR in 1997 on behalf of white applicants who were denied admission to Michigan, come into today's hearing as the only cases challenging race-conscious admissions that are still on track for the Supreme Court, where they could set a new national standard. Today's rally and march will be the second in Cincinnati in support of Michigan's admissions policies. The cases were originally scheduled to be heard by a panel of three appeals court judges, and while the hearing was delayed so it could go before the full court, protesters went ahead with a rally and march on Oct. 23 as planned. Jarrett-Gray said the time since the delay has been used to garner more signatures on a peti- tion that is to be submitted to the judges during the trial. The petition now has about 40,000 signatures from across the country, Jarrett-Gray said. "We encourage a peaceful demonstration We respect the law, but we also want to get our point across," Jarrett-Gray said, adding that she feels the slogan used by many affirmative action supporters - "By Any Means Neces- sary" - may be too extreme. Jarrett-Gray said the NAACP has been work- ing closely with the University of Michigan's chapter of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary, despite initial concerns See HEARING, Page 7A Taubman convicted, could get jail time By Maria Sprow Daily Staff Reporter One of the University's wealthiest alumni and most generous contributors was convicted yesterday of price fixing by a U.S. District Court jury in New York and could face up to three years in prison. Billionaire A. Alfred Taubman, a Bloomfield Hills shopping mall mogul and former chairman of Sotheby's auc- tion house in New York City, was found guilty of Taubman conspiring with rival auction house Christie's Interna- tional to inflate prices and commis- sions between the auction houses, which control 90 percent of the world's art auctions. Prosecutors believe the scheme made Taubman and Christie's Chair- man Anthony Tennant $400 million in commissions over six years. Throughout the years, Taubman has made pledges to the University total- ing $35.6 million. The Taubman School of Architecture and Urban Planning, the Taubman Medical Library and the Taubman Center of University Hospitals all bear the bene- factor's name. After Taubman's indictment in May, the University released a statement saying Taubman's name would contin- ue to be recognized on University buildings, regardless of the outcome of the trial. University President Lee Bollinger said there is no policy for removing a benefactor's name from buildings or programs. "He has given us much and we'll continue to honor those contributions," Bollinger said in the statement. "In our recollection, the University has never before removed an individual's name in this way ... We are committed to retaining his name." University officials said yesterday that despite the conviction, they are still standing by this policy. Taubman has proclaimed his. inno- See TAUBMAN, Page 7A' At arms soldiers killed by U.S. bomb WASHINGTON (AP) - Three U.S. Special Forces sol- diers were killed and 19 wounded in Afghanistan yesterday when a U.S. bomb missed its Taliban target. The bomb, carry- ing 2,000 pounds of explosives, landed about 100 yards from the soldiers' position north of Kandahar, where the Taliban is making its last stand against Afghan opposition forces. Pentagon officials said they could not immediately explain what went wrong in the deadliest "friendly fire" accident of the war. Whatever the cause, it illustrated the danger inherent in the kind of suppgrt U.S. forces are providing to Afghan fighters: calling in airstrikes on nearby enemy positions. "This is one of the potentially most hazardous type of mis- sions that we use as a military tactic," said Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Five Afghan fighters also were killed in yesterday's incident and an undetermined number were wounded. The Pentagon identified those killed as Master Sgt. Jeffer- son Donald Davis, 39, of Watauga, Tenn.; Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory, 32, of Cheshire, Mass.; and Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser, 28, of California. All were members of the Army's 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky. All casualties were evacuated from the scene, first to a U.S. Marine base south of Kandahar and then out of Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai, the southern Pashtun leader and newly des- ignated head of the provisional government in Afghanistan, was in the area where the bomb landed but was not seriously wounded, Pentagon officials said. "I, along with the rest of American, grieve for the loss of life in Afghanistan," President Bush said during an Oval See WAR, Page 7A DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily ISA junior Chris Johnson and other members of the Air Force ROTC perform a demonstration on the Diag yesterday afternoon. Winter courses offiered o Islam,- By Tomislav Ladika Daily Staff Reporter wo In response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan, several Universi- ty departments are modifying their course offerings for the winter semester to challenge students' perceptions of the war and enhance their knowledge of Islam. The University's International Institute has developed a mini-course - "Religion, Secu- rity and Violence in Global Contexts" - in conjunction with four departments within the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Prof. Michael Kennedy, who is teaching the one-credit mini-course, said students will learn how to discuss and understand a variety of intellectual issues related to the terrorist attacks. "To understand terrorism, and to under- stand security, we need to understand tech- nologies of violence and the social organization of terrorists," Kennedy said. He said he hopes the class will be a plat- tr in Mghani..stan form for students to encourage social change. tragic, the events since September 11 I "Students contribute to social change first also been profoundly historic and life-ch by taking up the tough questions and learning ing," he said. opportunities this university offers," he said. Several professors are also revising cl "The next step is to take that learning into the they are currently teaching or will teach broader public sphere where debates about semester. Nancy Florida, director of thet terrorism and security should take place." ter for Southeast Asian Studies, said shei Kennedy said the issues the class will cover ganized the curriculum of her semina include the reactions of women and children Indonesian literature after the attacks. to violence and Islamic political organiza- said she included more information on tions. He said the class structure includes two concept of jihad and violence in Indone discussions and requires students to attend culture because, in addition to studying three lectures or panel discussions on terror- rorism and various perceptions of the atta ism. students must gain a broader understandin have ang- asses next Cen- reor- ir on She the esian ter- acks, ng of I I In addition to the mini-course, the commu- nications department is offering a section of Communication Studies 458 called "Report- ing on War." Visiting Prof. Jeffrey Ghannam, who is teaching the class, said it will show students how U.S. media are reporting events from the war in Afghanistan and how the gov- ernment attempts to censor information dur- ing national emergencies. "I chose this, subject because while very various cultures and religions. "Few students are aware that Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population. Per- haps if Americans knew more about other places in the world, like Indonesia, they would be less likely to be perceived as arro- gant and self-absorbed," she said. Prof. Alexander Knysh teaches Islam 262 in the Arabic, Armenian, Persian, Turkish and See CLASSES, Page 7A AP/POOL PHOTO A U.S. Marine CH-53 helicopter kicks up dust as It comes In for a landing behind another CH-53 yesterday morning at the Marine operations base in southern Afghanistan. Warm weather shatters records Ann Arbor is state's most integrated city, Census data reveals By C. Price Jones Daily Staff Reporter Last year by Thanksgiving, mounds of snow had piled up across the state. But with this fall's unseasonably warm, record-breaking temperatures, a snowflake has yet to fall. The high temperature yesterday in Ann Arbor was 67 degrees, which ties the record high set in 1998 for any day in December. This temperature also beats the record high of 63 degrees for Dec. 5 also set in 1998, said meteorologist Dennis Kahlbaum, a weather observer for the University. "The November that we just had was the highest since 1889, when records began," said Kahlbaum. He added that the average tempera- ture in November was 8.1 degrees higher than the normal average. With temperatures lingering in the 60s yesterday, students spent the after- noon sitting, sleeping and studying on' the grass surrounding the Diag. "This has been a mild autumn - usually I have my snowblower operat- ing by now," said research associate Tom Goss. "There's a rose in my house that's blooming today," he added. ., . DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily LSA junior Julia Koenigsknecht and others take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather yesterday to catch some sun and study outside Cava Java on South By Shabina S. Khatri Daily Staff Reporter According to a study of the 2000 census by The Associated Press, Ann Arbor is the most integrated city in Michigan. But many University stu- dents say the numbers on paper may not reflect reality in this college town. For its review, the AP looked at all the metropolitan areas listed by the census as having more than 100,000 people. Eight Michigan cities were included: Ann Arbor, Detroit, Flint, t~rnnrl Annirk arwino, ivonUia_ ter-. in which zero indicates perfect integra- tion, and 100 indicates perfect segre- gation. Ann Arbor's segregation index was 45.9 for white-black, 45.6 for white- Asian and 35.8 for white-Hispanic. Each was lowest among the Michigan cities studied. LSA sophomore Elizabeth Kluczyn- ski cites Ann Arbor's warm atmos- phere as a major reason for the city's diverse makeup. "I work at Child Centers, and a lot of the faculty is very diverse. They do a goodn iob of inconrnoratirne allthe culd- University. for it," LSA senior Mike Shapiro quipped while strumming on a guitar. "I hope the squirrels are enjoying One drawback of the unseasonably warm temperatures, local retailers said, has been slow sales of winter