One hundred eleven years of ediorial freedom
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NEWS: 76-DAILY
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www mlchlgandall y. com
Tuesday
April 16, 2002
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Johnson sexual harassment trial begins
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By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
The sexual harassment lawsuit between Maureen Johnson
and the University went to trial yesterday in Washtenaw
County Circuit Court. both Johnson, a former Music stu-
dent, and former Music School Dean Paul Boylan were
present.
Johnson said while seeing Boylan again brought back bad
memories, she was positive the trial would bring justice. "It's a
long time coming," Johnson said. "He was a representative
of the University and they were liable to him."
Johnson claimed she was sexually harassed by former visit-
ing Music Prof. Pier Calabria during the Fall 1997 semester.
She said Calabria made several sexual advances toward her
and then humiliated her in front of the orchestra when she
refused to accept his advances. According to a brief filed by
the plaintiffs, Johnson filed a complaint but received little
attention from the University's administration.
She dropped out of school in the middle of the 1997-1998
academic year.
Johnson's attorney, Miranda Massie, said she was pleased
with the progress made in court yesterday and said a decision
in this case could help to define women's rights on campus.
"We have a very blunt collision course, kind of a context
here between our view that the University cannot ignore sex
harassment of students, and the University's view that busi-
ness can proceed as usual and that students views can be
ignored," she said.
Massey added that she expects the trial to last about one
"It's a long time coming. He was a representative of the
University and they were liable to him."
- Maureen Johnson
Former Music student and lawsuit plaintiff
week.
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said the Universi-
ty feels it has already done enough for Johnson. "We were
made aware of Ms. Johnson's complaint. We responded to it
very quickly and very thoroughly," she said. "We feel that
we acted appropriately and we believe that will come out in
court."
Peterson also said the University takes charges of sexual
harassment "very seriously." The Sexual Harassment Policy
Office conducts all investigations of abuse allegations from
students and professors. SHPO director Kathleen Donohoe
said the investigation process is usually a direct process.
"It's a formal investigation process, I would hope no one
would think it's a bureaucratic run-around" she said.
Alum protests Israeli actions
By Jordan Schrader
Daily Staff Reporter
After graduating from the University in
1998, Huwaida Arraf planned to attend law
school. Instead, she went to the Middle East
and became involved with the Palestinian
intifada.
Arraf's activities have now brought her to the
West Bank town of Ramallahl, the city where
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is being
detained in his compound by Israeli soldiers.
As part of a coalition of foreign activists she
co-founded called the International Solidarity
Movement, Arraf traveled to the West Bank in
December 2001 to non-violently protest Israel's
military presence in the region. The group
marched through streets, confronted soldiers at
roadblocks and laid down in front of tanks to
stop their progress.
Arraf returned to the area in March for a sec-
ond campaign of protests. But her role changed
as Israel began its West Bank incursion aimed
at finding militants connected with a string of
suicide bombings.
Shesaid the group's most important duty
now is to remain on the scene to witness and
prevent injustices.
"Having witnesses there sometimes deters
soldiers from being as brutal as they can be,"
Arraf said. "If we leave ... there's no one to see
what they're doing."
Arraf said she and her fellow ISM members
marched on Arafat's compound to protest its
capture by the army and to bring supplies
inside. After gaining access, she and nine oth-
ers left, leaving 25 members to act as human
shields for the Palestinians inside.
Israeli soldiers are not providing sufficient
food or water for the 300-400 Palestinians in
the compound, she said.
Other ISM activists are scattered across the
West Bank in Palestinian towns and refugee
camps, Arraf said. Apart from its role in pro-
See ARRAF, Page 7A
JONATHON TRIEST/Daily
LSA senior Trevor King will bike with Jeff Suffolk, a senior at Western Michigan
University, to raise money for victims of Sept. 11.
Students plan
t rip across U.S.
~ tohelp victi]m.s
Thousands rally in
support of Israel
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,ttr
Los Angeles Times
By Lode Ward
Daily Staff Reporter
Although 615 miles separate Ann
Arbor from Ground Zero, several Uni-
versity groups are finding ways to help
the victims of Sept. 11.
This summer, two students will begin
an 1,800-mile bike trip through various
parts of the country in an attempt to
raise funds for campus memorials hon-
oring the victims of Sept. 11.
LSA senior Trevor King and Jeff Suf-
folk, a senior at Western Michigan Uni-
versity, hope to raise $1 million in an
18-day journey that will take them
through New York City, Shanksville,
Penn. and Washington - all locations
where the hijacked planes went down.
"This is a small something that we
can do to keep people aware of Septem-
ber 11," Suffolk said.
King and Suffolk hope to create
memorials on both university campuses
with the proceeds, as well as donating a
portion of any additional funds to their
local Red Cross chapters. "We're talking
with the Art and Architecture Depart-
ment to rally for their support in both the
design and construction of the memori-
al," King said. "Ideally, we want (addi-
tional money) to be used toward
educational programs."
King and Suffolk hope to obtain cor-
porate sponsorships and university sup-
port for their trip, in the form of
monetary and equipment donations.
They have already received donations
toward the purchase of bikes from
See BIKERS, Page 7A
WASHINGTON - Likening the
U.S. war on terror to Israel's offen-
sive in the Middle East, tens of
thousands of demonstrators con-
verged on the Capitol yesterday in
what organizers proclaimed the
largest pro-Israel rally in U.S. his-
tory.
Speakers and demonstrators
alike praised President Bush for
standing with Israel in the Middle
East conflict, but also raised pres-
sure on his administration to avoid
making deals with Palestinian
leaders until terrorist attacks
against Israeli civilians cease.
Bush sent his deputy defense
secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, to the
rally as a sign of support.
But Wolfowitz, while reiterating
Bush's commitment to support
Israel and stamp out global terror-
ism, drew scattered boos when he
declared: "Innocent Palestinians
are suffering and dying in great
numbers as well," he said.
"It is critical that we recognize
and acknowledge that fact," Wol-
fowitz added.
Congressional leaders from both
parties also addressed the crowd
from a podium decked with U.S.
and Israeli flags.
One demonstrator even planted a
blue and white Israeli banner atop
a Civil War monument on the
National Mall.
"This is a message to the Ameri-
can government and to the world
that the support for Israel in the
American Jewish community and
among friends of Israel in the non-
Jewish community is wall-to-wall,
from left to right," said Rabbi
Marvin Hier, founder and dean of
the Simon Wiesenthal Center in
Los Angeles.
Organizers claimed that more
than 100,000 people came to the
event on less than a week's notice.
Federal and District of Columbia
authorities do not give crowd esti-.
mates, in an effort to avoid politi-
cal controversy. But yesterday's
gathering was clearly substantial.
The crowd spilled from the front
of the Capitol toward the reflecting
pool on the mall, packing the area
tbetween Constitution and Indepen-
See RALLY, Page 7A
AP PHOTO
Flag-draped members of the Ornstein family of Woodstock, NY, joined thousands
of supporters of Israel at the Capitol in Washington D.C. yesterday.
Next. phase of LSI
construction begins
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
The shovel hit the dirt on the construc-
tion site of the new Biomedical Science
Research Building for the first time in a
groundbreaking ceremony yesterday. The
BSRB is part of the Life Sciences Initia-
tive started under former University
President Lee Bollinger.
"It's a wonderful day. The sun was
shining and we take that as a wonderful
sign of a bright future for the Medical
School and for biomedical science on our
campus," Medical School Dean Allen
Lichter said yesterday.
Though the building is not scheduled
to be completed until Dec. 5, 2005, those
involved with the project are already
boasting its beauty and significance to
the University.
Gil Omenn, executive vice president
for medical affairs, said the building's
architecture alone - a futuristic glass
out among the rest of campus.
"There is a great visual. It's going to
be a spectacular view as you come up
Washtenaw (Avenue) up to the bend on
to Huron (Street). There will be an undu-
lating glass ribbon of offices with a very
attractive research laboratory building to
the north of the office ribbon," Omenn
said.
"It'll be a landmark for the University,
a signature building.
Design is not all the building will be
known for, Lichter said, adding that the
BSRB should also serve as a unifying
structure for the University.
"It forms the bridge between the Medical
School and the Life Sciences Institute and
the bridge between the Medical Campus and
the Central Campus," Lichter said. "It's a
very exciting project and we are proud to be
a part of this initiative."
At 470,000 gross square feet, the
building, which will cost more than $22
million and hold 240 labs and 130
Retired high
court justice
dies at age-8
WASHINGTON (AP) - Retired Supreme Court Justice
Byron R. White, a football hero whose reputation for clear-
headed legal thinking and a hardheaded personality that
was honed through three decades on the nation's highest
court, died yesterday. He was 84.
, White served on the court for 31 years before retiring in
1993. In the court's history, only eight men served longer.
His seat was filled by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
With White's death, there are no living former
Supreme Court justices. He had been ill much of the last
two years and looked frail during his rare appearances at
the Supreme Court. White had kept a court office since
his retirement, but closed it last year and moved back to
his native Colorado, a signal to many that his health was
perilous.
White died yesterday morning in Denver, of complica-
tions from pneumonia, a statement from the Supreme
Court said.
Appointed by President Kennedy in 1962, White soon
became a dissenter from many of the court's liberal rulings
of the~ 1960s.
KELLY LIN/Daily
Work on the Biomedical Science Research Building, located across from the life Sciences
Institute, began yesterday. Insert: A computer rendition of what the building will look like when
construction is completed.
Medical School faculty and students
working in fields including neuroscience,
stem cell, gerontology, aging and cardio-
launched.
Though many aspects of the Initiative
have been underway for years, construc-
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