One hundred eleven years of ediorial freedom 0& TI 13 tili NEWS: 76-DAILY CLASSIFIED: 764-0557 www mlchlgandall y. com Tuesday April 16, 2002 i . CA A @2 Th hg Johnson sexual harassment trial begins I 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 'I ,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- I i