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O'Connor's vote
deemed critical to
admissions cases
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
AP PHOTO
A U.N. weapons inspector truck drives through a factory gate as an Iraqi worker uses a cutting torch to destroy part of a casting chamber at the al-
Rasheed factory south of Baghdad yesterday. U.N.-banned missiles and missile-related components were destroyed for a third day in Iraq.
Iadestroys missies to meet/N
demands, wiard off threats ofwa
On the road to becoming the first female
U.S. Supreme Court justice, one senator at a
1981 confirmation hearing asked Sandra Day
O'Connor how she wanted to be remembered.
O'Connor responded, "Ah, the tombstone
question. I hope it says, 'Here lies a good
judge.'"
Twenty-two years later,-
O'Connor's reputation as a
justice is one that does not
have a set position on every
issue. This is why many
observers of the University's
two upcoming lawsuits
regarding its race-conscious
admissions policies view
O'Connor's vote as a critical
one, in what is most likely to '9
be a 5-4 vote.0
University of Chicago law Prof. Matthew
Berman said O'Connor represents the minimalist
judge theory by which judges prefer to narrowly
tailor their decisions to specific cases and not
apply them to broad principles.
"She likes to go more step-by-step, case-by-
case," Berman said. "She likes to write separate
opinions that say, in effect, this opinion isn't as
extreme or its consequences might not be far-
reaching as it might appear."
O'Connor's methodology sharply contrasts
with that of Chief Justice William Rhenquist and
Justice Clarence Thomas, who tend to be very
consistent in their opposition to race-conscious
policies in all facets of life.
"The essential point is that there are four
justices who would essentially vote for the
principle of a colorblind constitution," Uni-
versity of Virginia law Prof. A.E. Howard
said. "O'Connor has not aligned herself with
that strict position. ... She's very skeptical of
government use of race, but she's willing to
be persuaded."
O'Connor's style reflects her decisions in vari-
ous affirmative action cases during her career. In
the 1986 case Wygant v. Jackson Board of Educa-
tion, O'Connor voted with four other justices
against a school board firing white teachers in
order to keep the jobs of black teachers. But,
O'Connor wrote in a separate opinion that her
vote might have been different if the board pre-
sented evidence that it was trying to make up for
past discrimination.
"Petitioners have met their burden of estab-
lishing that this layoff provision is not narrowly
tailored to achieve its asserted remedial purpose
by demonstrating that the provision is keyed to a
hiring goal that itself has no relation to the rem-
edying of employment discrimination," O'Con-
nor wrote.
But a year later, in Johnson v. Transporta-
tion Agency, O'Connor ruled with the majori-
ty to permit a county transportation
department policy that allowed a woman to be
promoted over a man with higher scores on
qualification tests due to a large gender gap in
higher departmental posts. Once again in a
separate opinion, O'Connor said the decision
was narrowly tailored.
"The underrepresentation of women in skilled
craft positions was only one element of a number
of considerations that led to the promotion,"
O'Connor wrote.
O'Connor's background might also play a fac-
tor in the decision. In spite of graduating third in
her Stanford University Law School class in
1952, the only job she could find was a secretari-
al position at first.
"She knows about discrimination firsthand,"
Howard said. "She's more understanding of the
realities of life."
Coincidentally, Berman compared O'Connor's
methodology to that used by Justice Lewis Powell
in some instances, including in the 1978 Bakke v.
University of California Regents, where he wrote
that while quotas were unconstitutional in college
admissions, race could be used as one of many
factors.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq crushed
missiles, sliced casting chambers, unearthed
bombs and sent scientists to talk with U.N.
weapons inspectors yesterday, all in a desper-
ate effort to prove it is disarming before a cru-
cial U.N. report at the end of the week.
France, Russia and China urged Iraq to
meet every U.N. demand in hopes of staving
off war, but the United States - which might
wage war even without U.N. authorization -
said the actions were too little, too late.
"Iraq is not cooperating," White House
spokesman Ari Fleischer said yesterday.
"Despite whatever limited head-fakes Iraq has
engaged in, they continue to fundamentally
not disarm."
U.S. officials said a vote on a new U.N. res-
olution authorizing force would likely come
next week, after chief weapons inspectors
Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei address
the Security Council on Friday.
The U.S.-led military mobilization entered
a critical stage yesterday, with B-52 bombers
landing in Britain and soldiers from the 101st
Airborne Division setting up camp in Kuwait.
But the Turkish government showed no
signs yesterday that it would quickly ask par-
liament to reverse its refusal to allow in more
than 60,000 U.S. troops ahead of an Iraq war.
Washington's hopes for a Turkish-based
northern front were dealt a blow when the
parliament narrowly rejected a motion to
grant the U.S. request.
Defense officials and analysts say Ameri-
can troops could seize Baghdad without a
northern front, but at higher risk and with
more difficulty.
As U.S. generals commanding about 225,000
troops in the region declare themselves ready to
attack Iraq, weapons inspectors are suddenly
receiving Iraqi cooperation on a swarm of
issues that have dogged them for months.
Iraq met a Saturday deadline to begin
destroying its Al Samoud 2 missile system,
banned because its range may be slightly
greater than allowed. It is slicing up banned
casting chambers used to make another mis-
sile, the Al Fatah.
Workers have unearthed buried bombs they
say are loaded with anthrax, aflatoxin and bot-
See IRAQ, Page 7_
Grand view
I
Privacy bill
to prevent
FBI library
info probes
By Dan Trudeau
Daily Staff Reporter
Concern over violation of privacy
as a result of the war on terrorism
has prompted U.S. Rep. Bernie
Sanders (I-Vt.) and other representa-
tives to propose a bill that will limit
the FBI's power to seize information
on library withdrawals and bookstore
purchases.
Since the passage of the USA PATRI-
OT Act in October 2001, federal investi-
gators have received warrants to access
library and bookstore records through
secret courts outside of the realm of pub-
lic scrutiny. Sanders and other congress-
men have called the act a violation of
civil rights and are calling for changes to
the investigation process.
"While we need to focus on terrorism
as much as possible, I believe we can do
that without throwing the Bill of Rights
in the garbage can," Sanders said.
"Librarians are telling me that if people
who go to libraries feel that the govern-
ment is keeping a file with the names of
the books that they are reading, it will
have a chilling effect on intellectual
curiosity."
Sanders added that under the cur-
rent system, readers interested in
information on nuclear technology,
terrorism and other sensitive topics
might feel reluctant to pursue their
interests for fear of drawing the
FBI's attention.
Josie Parker, director of the Ann
Arbor District Library, supports
Sanders's position on the PATRIOT
Act and said the changes it has
made to legal procedure are a viola-
tion of privacy.
"I feel very strongly that this is
unconstitutional," Parker said. "Pub-
lic libraries have had to review their
positions on privacy, and if we were
served a court order, we feel that we
would be compromising the privacy
of our patrons."
Federal Justice officials responded by
firmly defending the effectiveness of the
Theater artists from the Lysistrata Project use their creative talents to voice opposition to a war against Iraq. Members of the
Royal Shakespeare Company also participated in the event yesterday.
'Lysistrata' sends anti-war message
The edge of the Grand Canyon shines in the sunlight taken en
route from Los Angeles to Detroit.
GEG argues undergrads'
taking teaching positions
By Elizabeth Anderson
Daily Staff Reporter
Wearing winter coats and hats, University students
and Royal Shakespeare Company members collaborat-
ed yesterday on staged readings of Aristophanes's play
"Lysistrata." The readings also served as an anti-war
protest, demonstrating support against a potential pre-
emptive U.S. strike against Iraq.
The campus reading was in conjunction with the
Lysistrata Project, a national organization that spon-
sored more than 1,000 staged readings in 59 countries
yesterday. The project's main goal is to stop the war
against Iraq.
"Lysistrata," written by Aristophanes in circa 411
B.C., tells the story of a woman who encourages the
other women of Greece to deny their husbands sex in
order to cease fighting in the Peloponnesian War.
Kathryn Blume, an actress and co-founder of the Lysis-
trata Project, said she appreciated the humor and
peaceful message of the play.
Inspired by the protest group Theaters Against War,
Blume and another actress, Sharron Bower, founded the
Lysistrata Project in January. Word spread and the proj-
ect grew into a global movement.
"I'd been watching global developments (towards the
war) with trepidation," Blume said.
. "Our other main goal has already been achieved -
showing that Bush doesn't speak for all Americans,"
she added. "We're incredibly excited. It's so humbling
and gratifying to see how people have embraced the
project and made it their own."
Mark Greene, spokesman for the Lysistrata Project
See RSC, Page 7
By Carmen Johnson
Daily Staff Reporter
More undergraduate students in
University teaching positions tradition-
ally filled by graduate students have
sparked concern among members of
the Graduate Employees Organization
on the University's appointing students
to assistant teaching jobs. Whether
positions are given to more experi-
enced applicants or cheaper applicants
is the main issue of debate.
While undergraduate instructors,
called Instructional Aides, are paid the
Instructors, they do not receive benefits
such as tuition wavers and health care.
GEO President Dan Shoup said
more graduate students are being
turned down for teaching positions in
an effort by departments to cut costs.
"Our main concerns are that any
instructor should be paid the same and
that the best qualified should be teach-
ing," Shoup said. "Picking the cheaper
teacher should not be a valid way to
choose instructors."
GEO is not against undergraduate
students doing GSI work, however they
push for the preference of graduate stu-
FDA issues warning label on ephedra
By Erin Saylor
Daily Staff Reporter
Labels indicating risks of heart
attacks, seizures or death will now be
required for all products containing the
herbal supplement ephedra, the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration
announced last Friday.
timore Orioles prospective pitcher Steve
Bechler on Feb. 17 that was linked to the
use of a supplement containing ephedra.
Major League Baseball decided this
week to ban ephedra use in its minor
league divisions in light of his death.
The National Football League, the
International Olympic Committee and
the National Collegiate Athletics
A ecrinrn alranA..v nrnhihi.thi*elm
of ephedra.
"We want to caution all Americans -
particularly athletes and those who
engage in strenuous activities - about
using dietary supplements that contain
ephedra,' said Health and Human Ser-
vices Secretary Tommy Thompson in a
written statement. "There continues to
be serious questions about the risks sur-
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