WTathYr
TODA

Friday
@2002 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 19

One-hundred-eleven years of editoril freedom

Cloudy weather
in the morning
with more sun-
shine in the
afternoon.
Some clouds
will return in the
evening.

Tomorrow-
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www.michigandaily.com

slas I:!:!:! M WORRAVEMM i i

West Quad
fire may
have been
intentional
By Jeremy Berkowitz
and Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporters
A small blaze in a West Quad
Residence Hall restroom forced res-
idents to evacuate their rooms for
approximately two hours late
Wednesday night and into the early
hours of yesterday morning and is
now being investigated as an arson.
The fire alarm was pulled by a
student at 11:51 p.m. after he
smelled smoke coming from a men's
restroom in the hall's basement.
* Department of Public Safety Lt.
Robert Neumann said the fire origi-
nated from a soap dispenser in the
restroom.
The dispenser was consumed and
some damage to the surrounding
area was reported but no cost esti-
mate was available yesterday, Neu-
man added.
"There was smoke in the hallway
and the responding housing officer
obtained a fire extinguisher and
extinguished the fire," Neumann
said. "Nobody was seen in the
immediate area at the time the fire
was discovered."
But fire inspectors from both the
University and the Ann Arbor Police
Department ruled the fire to be
intentional because there was noth-
ing present at the scene that could
have sparked an accidental fire.
There are no known suspects and
the incident is still under investiga-
tion. DPS is asking for students
with any information to call the
department.
"We are looking for anybody who
may have seen any specific activity
in that area," Neumann said.
If or when a suspect is found, he
or she would face charges for arson
of an occupied dwelling. The crime
is punishable with up to 20 years in
a state prison. There is no specified
minimum punishment or sentence,
he added.
Engineering freshman David Arft
said that he first noticed the fire before
midnight when he and his friends were
watching a movie. They overheard
somebody walking down the hall say
he smelled smoke.
"As soon as I stepped out of the
hall, there was a burning plastic
smell," said Arft, who lives in the
basement of Wenley House in West
Quad, near the fire's origin.
The fire alarm sounded shortly
after, and Arft and his friends evac-
uated the room, telling their friends
and fellow residents that unlike
many fire alarms that go off, this
one didn't appear to be an accident
or joke.
"We stepped outside of my room
and a couple people ran by, saying
that it was real" said LSA sopho-
more Dan Feldman, who also lives
in the basement of Wenley House.
Rumors of what happened spread
throughout the crowd during the
next several hours, Feldman said.
"We got some word to be patient
for just a little bit longer," he said.
"What can you do? There is a fire
going on. ... If the bathroom is
burning, they got to do what they
got to do."

RISING TENSIONS

Iraqi students
react to Bush
plans, concern
forfami i/es
By Andrew McCormack
Daily Staff Reporter
In the midst of immense national talk of
direct military action against Iraq, many Iraqi
students at the University are finding them-
selves torn between a desire for change in
their homeland and fear for the lives of their
families and loved ones.
"We all felt helpless during Sept. 11, and I
am sure that people in Iraq feel the same
way," LSA freshman Sayf Al-Katib said. "I
do think that (Saddam Hussein) needs to be
replaced, but I must ask, 'At what cost?"'
Al-Katib's parents came to the United
States as students from Iraq in the mid-'70s,
and though they originally planned to return,
were not able due to the outbreak of war
between Iraq and Iran.
Al-Katib visited Iraq once in 1995.
"I didn't know what to expect because I
was so young, but I got the impression that
there was this sadness about the people. ...
The economic sanctions are one of the most
oppressive forces keeping Iraq from recov-
ery," Al-Katib said. "The spirit of the people
is still strong."
Though LSA sophomore Duna Raoof has
never traveled to Iraq, her entire extended
family lives there and she lived in Saudi Ara-
bia for 13 years. "My parents visited last
April for the first time in 23 years. They
said it was awful. We hear the same things
from our relatives," Raoof said.
Al-Katib also said that he saw people in
Iraq working for pitiful wages, but continu-
ing to struggle under economic and social
hardship. "Saddam Hussein abuses his peo-
ple," Al-Katib said. "He is a corrupt ruler that
values power and wealth more-than the wel-
fare of his people"
"With all the economic sanctions, (he) is
still living an extravagant life. ... I've heard a
See REACTION, Page 7

JASON COOPER/Daily
"I do feel a regime change is needed, but not at the expense of innocent lives," LSA freshman Sayf AI-Katib said about the rising tensions between the U.S.
and Iraq. Al-Katib's father visits Iraq every few years and returns with gifts for his son, including the beads pictured above.
Flcis'cker:. Iraq and al- Qaida too close

WASHINGTON - Turning up the political
heat on Iraq, the Bush administration said yester-
day that Baghdad is so completely in cahoots
with al-Qaida that it has harbored top aides to
Osama bin Laden and may have trained the ter-
rorists in germ and gas warfare.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the
United States has evidence that senior mem-

bers of al-Qaida have been in Baghdad "in
recent periods," but they did not include bin
Laden.
I t ' s Michigan's defense was domi-
unclear nant but their stumbling
uceroffense and two missed field
goals kept things close in a 10-
win over Utah.

whether they remain in the Iraqi capital, he
said, because they are "moving targets."
Rumsfeld said he had high confidence in
this information, but he acknowledged that the
intelligence reporting is based on different
types of sources of "varying degrees of relia-
bility." He said some of the information came
See IRAQ, Page 2


Study links females in
science to work climate

By Kara DeBoer
Daily StallReporter
More than 41 percent of female scientists at
the University reported cases of gender discrim-
ination and 20 percent reported cases of
"unwanted sexual attention" over the past five
years, according to results of the ADVANCE
survey on women in science and engineering.
The survey, which was conducted at the Uni-
versity and funded by the National Science
Foundation, also showed that female scientists
are more likely to experience gender discrimi-
nation and unwanted sexual attention, to rate
their department more negatively, receive fewer
items on their renegotiated contracts and to be
responsible for more household tasks than their
male counterparts.
Women also chair committees at a lower rate
despite their reported greater interest in leader-
ship roles, the survey stated.
NSF ADVANCE committee member Abigail
Stewart announced the results and emphasized
the study's relevance in conjunction with the

lack of female science faculty members.
"Climate matters because it is strongly asso-
ciated with job satisfaction in men and women,
and job satisfaction contributes highly to per-
formance, Stewart said.
The climate study is one of three areas target-
ed by the project, which investigates the propor-
tionally low number of women compared to
men in science and engineering faculty roles
across the country.
"This is a concern to us because of our man-
date," said Alice Hogan, chair of the
ADVANCE committee. "We (at the NSF) are
responsible for providing new generations of
scientists and engineers, and when we are miss-
ing half of the population, it becomes a prob-
lem."
According to NSF research data, not only
have women faculty in scientific fields "lagged
far behind gains made by women in non-sci-
ence fields," but they have also been "tenured
more slowly and earn less on'average from their
male counterparts."
The University was one of nine institutions to

Shaky week
on Wal1 Street
could continue
Experts predict that a war with Iraq
would only test the economy more
By Ted Borden
Daily Staff Reporter
Wall Street has not been kind to investors this week. Rat-
tled by anemic earnings forecasts, weak economic data and
the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates
unchanged, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a four-year
low on Tuesday, while the technology-heavy NASDAQ
index also showed losses.
But it is the impending war with Iraq that will truly test
the economy's mettle, experts say.
"In the short run, it is possible that the market will
actually react negatively because of the increased uncer-
tainty and tensions this will cause in that region and its
implications for oil prices," Business School Finance
Prof. Anjan Thakor said.
The international economy could feel an effect too, he
added, noting "everybody is affected by what happens in
U.S. equity markets, which account for almost 40 percent of
global equities."
Finance Prof. Nejat Seyhun said he also believed a war
could cause detrimental effects to the markets.
"In general, wars do not help economies," Seyhun said.
"In fact, wars do the opposite. They hurt the economy. In
addition to the human costs, they divert resources."
See ECONOMY, Page 7

LAUtENB HAUN/Uaily
Rackham student Robyn Hampton and University
of Michigan at Dearborn Engineering Prof. Yi Lu
Murphy listen to President Mary Sue Coleman
speak yesterday at the ADVANCE survey
presentation.
which the NSF awarded an ADVANCE grant in
2001. The grant allocated $3.7 million over a
five-year period to assist intense research and
See GENDER, Page 7



AT ILLINOIS

'U' investigates origin of
anti-Israel message, spoof

THE OPPONENT:
The Fighting Illini are coming off an
embarrassing 38-35 loss to San Jose
State. The defending Big Ten
champs boast a strong receiving
corps but little else.
THE OUTLOOK:
The Wolverines' inconsistent play
means no game is a gimme. However,
the defense should be able to contain
the Illini offense and get Michigan off
to a fast start in conference play.
LAST WEEK:
Michi an's defense was domi-
nant but their stumbling
offense and two missed-field ,

By Karen Schwartz
Daily Staff Reporter
An e-mail containing anti-Israel sentiments sent
to more than 1,000 faculty and staff members
Wednesday from an e-mail address moderated by
LSA senior Fadi Kiblawi is under investigation by
the University and local authorities.
Kiblawi said the e-mail address he owns and
moderates for Students Allied for Freedom and
Equality, an organization he co-founded about
one year ago, was "spoofed" - signed with his
name and included his e-mail address and phone
number - but not sent by him.
Another e-mail of similar content was sent
yesterday about 6:30 p.m. from SAFE to stu-

to our conference," the e-mail stated. "We
feel that since this conference will be held at
the Ann Arbor campus, it would be very
effective to have as many students speak out
against Israel at our conference.
"We also feel that this will help us add legiti-
macy to our pause on a nation-wide basis," the e-
mail stated. "With your help, we can bring down
the Zionist country, and thereby rid the world of
another racist country, just as we (the academic
community) rid the world of apartheid South
Africa only 20 years ago."
SAFE is "outraged at this crime" Kiblawi said.
"The content and tone of this e-mail contradicts
SAFE's principles as we attempt to educate and
open the circle of debate rather than intimidate

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