Friday
October 4, 2002
@2002 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 24
One-hundred-twelve years of editorialfreedom
TODAY:
Cloudy in the
morning with
thunderstorms H; n 80
in the after- ;-;V,,5
noon, turning to '" W 5
light rain at Tomorrow,
night. 615t0
wwwmichigandaily.com
Prof, 'U'
targets on
watchdog
website
By Jennifer Misthal
Daily Staff Reporter
TIME TO LISTEN
History Prof. Juan Cole is one of
eight professors included on a list of
allegedly biased professors and univer-
sities on the website www.campus-
watch.org, a Philadelphia-based
pro-Israeli Middle East Forum to mon-
itor pro-Palestinian and pro-Arab senti-
ments on college campuses.
The upcoming Second National Stu-
dent Conference on the Palestine Soli-
darity Movement, sponsored by
Students Allied for Freedom and
Equality, also attracted the website's
attention with links to articles calling
the University anti-Semitic.
Problems in the perception of Mid-
dle East issues led to the creation of the
site, Middle East Forum Director
Daniel Pipes said
"Middle East studies is in very bad
shape. There are profound mistakes of
interpretation," Pipes said. By address-
ing the flaws of the discipline- which
he said included the incorporation of
politically radical ideas, instructors that
do not tell the whole truth and profes-
sors' abuse of authority - Campus
Watch can improve Middle East stud-
ies departments nationwide.
"We are the honest auditors of an
intellectual Enron," Pipes said.
The University is included on the list
because it is known for what Pipes
called "false diversities" - racial, gen-
der and class diversity.
"When it comes to the diversity that
really counts - intellectual diversity
- (the University doesn't) have it all,"
Pipes said.
Cole said the website does not repre-
sent his viewpoints accurately and is
another attempt for right-wing extrem-
ist groups to influence academic dis-
cussion about the Middle East in the
United States..;,
"The implication of the so-called
"Campus Watch" website, that either I
am disloyal or that I am anti-Israel, or,
worse, a bigot, is a monstrous lie. The
lie is being propagated as part of a
more general campaign to control
scholarly discourse on Middle East
studies," Cole said. "This odious
attempt to smear me and monitor me is
no more to me than a loud fart by a
boor in Philadelphia."
The criticism Campus Watch has
generated is expected from certain
groups, said Martin Kramer, editor of
the Middle East Quarterly, who said
his recent publications helped inspire
the establishment of Campus Watch.
"These are the- same people who
ruthlessly criticize the media and the
government" he said. "Professors have
more protections than generals or jour-
nalists - it's called tenure - so spar-
ing them external criticism seems
redundant.'
While Cole said he does have his
viewpoints on the conflict in the Mid-
dle East, he disagrees with how the
website is portraying them.
"A historian of the modern Middle
East can hardly hide his views of the
situation, and I have never tried. If
anything, I now feel called upon to
speak out more," Cole said. "I have
always been a civil libertarian and a
fierce defender both of the civil rights
of all minorities and of the right of
Israel to exist within secure and rec-
ognized borders."
Hamid Dabashi, Columbia Universi-
See WEBSITE, Page 7
JASON COOPER/Daily
Though multicultural richness abounds at the University, LSA junior Terrence Griffin and other minority students are speaking out on the actions that make them feel uncomfortable on campus.
Students speak out on power o words
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
Like many students on campus, LSA junior
Terrence Griffin knows what it is like to hear
a shocking comment come from another per-
son's mouth that whether said intentionally or
not has long-standing effects.
After a University employee allegedly com-
mented that Griffin "looks like a black Char-
lie Brown" and further went on to chastise
him by asking him whether "black people
watch 'Peanuts,"' Griffin said he felt uncom-
fortable and appalled.
"At this point, I really felt as though I was
being mocked as a person, something that is
very hard to deal with when it is coming from
an authority at the University," Griffin said,
adding that the employee's comments made
him feel dehumanized. "It's the fact that it
makes it seem like that's all I am, is a charac-
ter or cartoon. I'm actually a person."
The employee who allegedly made the com-
ments, Women In Science and Engineering and
UROP In-Residence Director Sally Sharp, was
placed on leave after the incident, which is
under investigation by the University.
"Everyone in the University community
deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
Tolerance and understanding are part of our
core values, and we should all be willing to
See WORDS , Page 7
i
RHA changes stance, will
support hail smoking b"an
By Erin Saylor
Daily Staff Reporter
The Resident Halls Association
announced a change in their position on
smoking in residence halls last night during
their first official meeting of the year in East
Quad Residence Hall. RHA members
resolved to present a non-smoking stance to
University Housing, which could affect stu-
dents as early as next fall.
In January, RHA asked its hall councils to
poll residents' views on smoking in resident
halls and report to the organization.
Housing officials had approached RHA
members to submit an opinion for or against a
smoking ban in residence halls.
They had cited health, safety and damage to
University property as their main reasons for
banning smoking. Nine out of 11 Big Ten
schools had banned smoking in their residence
halls at the time of the vote. In a vote on the
resolution, 11 out of 18 RHA representatives
voted in support of the proposal - a clear
majority. But RHA had previously decided that
a two-thirds majority would be needed to pass
the resolution, and so the proposal was vetoed.
After reviewing their bylaws this summer,
the RHA is changing that position to more
accurately represent what they feel is the sen-
timent of a majority of the student body.
"We went with a two-thirds majority
because at the time, it seemed like a change in
our constitution," said RHA President Tim
Winslow, an Engineering senior. "Now, we
feel that it was not the best decision."
Though RHA has a say in the decision, the
final policy will be determined by University
Housing and could be in place by next school
year.
"In the next month or so, University
See RHA, Page 7
Supporters file motion for Haddad
Emergency motion filed
after a judge closed off
Haddad's hearings Tuesday
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
After ordering the federal government to
release Ann Arbor Muslim leader Rabih Had-
dad or give him a new immigration hearing
last week, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy
Edmunds will hear a new motion in regard to
Haddad's case Monday.
This comes just days after Immigration
Judge Robert Newberry closed off part of
Haddad's immigration hearing Tuesday. In
their emergency motion, a consortium of
plaintiffs argued that, in doing so, Newberry
neglected to follow proper procedure at Had-
dad's open immigration hearing.
The consortium, consisting of the American
Civil Liberties Union, several Detroit newspa-
pers and U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit),
together sued the federal government in Janu-
ary to open Haddad's hearings.
Haddad, first arrested Dec. 14 for an
expired visa violation, had three closed depor-
tations hearings before the U.S. 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals upheld an August decision
by Edmunds opening hearings for Haddad.
"The public's interests are best served by
open proceedings. A true democracy is one
that operates on faith - faith that government
officials are forthcoming and honest, and
faith that informed citizens will arrive at logi-
cal conclusions," appellate Judge Damon
Keith wrote in a unanimous opinion following
the hearings.
Yet the appellate court also said portions of
hearings can be closed if there is evidence that
national security is at risk.
Kary Moss, executive director of the Michi-
gan ACLU, said she is not against closing
See HADDAD, Page 7
Delta Upsilon becomes
first campus dry house
ALYSSA WOOD/Daily
Republican state Senate candidate Gordon Darr of Scio Township
says technology and computers will open the doors to millions.
Darrdiscousses
technology in
1d for enate
By Loaie MeIz~sh
Daily Staff Reporter
Scio Township Trustee Gordon Darr is not your average
Republican.
After all, one usually does not hear Republicans saying,
"Things are different, we don't have to
keep lowering taxes.'
Darr, the GOP nominee for the 18th
District state Senate seat, comprising Ann
Arbor, has numerous views anathema to
most state Republicans. He is for holding
off on cuts in the State Income Tax, reduc-
ing the prisoner population and favors pub- MICHIGAN
lic financing of campaigns for state offices ELECTIONS
Currently only gubernatorial candidates
receive matching funds from the state. 20UU
Elected to the Scio Township Board of
Trustees in 2000, Darr is also a former Dexter village coun-
cilman and University alum.
By Dave Szostek
For the Daily
Delta Upsilon became the only current fra-
ternity on campus with a nationally mandated
alcohol-free policy to obtain full-member sta-
tus with the University's Interfraternity Coun-
cil Wednesday night. By an unanimous vote,
the 28-member DU was voted in as an active
member of the IFC - a move that allows DU
to lead the way toward a new trend in the
University's fraternities: alcohol-free.
"I can feel confident in saying that within the
President Joel Winston, an LSA senior.
"In our social events, we are starting to see
that the houses that are making the effort to
start planning social events outside of the fra-
ternity house are being more successful
because people are enjoying those more than
the typical fraternity party with the warm
beer, and the dance floor and the 'Baby Got
Back' playing in the background. People are
tired of that - they've done that," Winston
said.
"We represent the new era of fraternity life
on campus - not for better or worse, inferior
a,
JONATHO TR1IEST ~IL~/Dily
v