LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 3, 2002 - 3A
GRTE Protesters take aim at primate research
Female becomes
unconscious after
overdose
A female passed out on a bench in
front of Mary Markley Residence Hall
yesterday morning, according to
Department of Public Safety reports.
Huron Valley Ambulance determined
that the victim was suffering from
fatigue brought on by an overdose of
medication and did not transfer her.
No statements
made after man
hits woman
DPS officers saw a male hit a
female at the Taubman Health Care
Center bus stop Saturday morning,
reports state. Both people refused to
give statements.
-: {
Hospital releases
belligerent man.
An angry patient started throwing
things Saturday night at University
Hospital, according to DPS reports. He
was signed out and a cab was called
for him.
Missing purse
tossed in trash
A woman reported Friday morning
that her unattended purse was stolen
on the Diag, DPS reports state. Upon
returning home, the woman.realized
she had thrown her purse out with her
garbage that morning.
Dorm residents
get warning in
South Quad .
DPS officers reported to the eighth
floor of South Quad Residence Hall
Friday afternoon where water balloons
were being thrown out of the window,
according to DPS reports. Two resi-
dents were advised not to repeat the
behavior.
Suspicious
package turns
out to be hangers
There was a suspicious package at
City Hall Friday night, DPS reports
state. The owner requested K9 assis-
tance. DPS officers opened the pack-
age and found five plastichangers.
The owner remembered that he had
mailed himself the haners.
i
By Rob Goodspeed
Daily Staff Reporter
Three years following the last notable animal
rights protest on campus, a group of 15 gathered
Thursday on the Medical Campus to protest the use
of thousands of animals across campus in research
labs, including primates.
Though primates make up less than 1 percent of
research subjects in labs on campus, the University
receives over $4 million in grants each year for
research using primates.,
The protesters stood at the corner of Glen and
Catherine streets, across from Angelo's Restaurant,
holding signs with graphic photos of primates in
laboratories.
"These photos do not show U-M primates and
none of them were taken in U-M research laborato-
ries," University Health System said in a written
statement.
Stop Animal Exploitation Now Director Michael
Budkie said the photos were taken in laboratories at
the University of Wisconsin.
"They accurately represent what happens here,"
Budkie said.
The group has obtained documents from the
University showing that animals have died from
abuse in University laboratories, Budkie said,
adding he has assisted in research using animals
and that their condition might negate the studies'
scientific value. "Because of what happens to pri-
mates they develop bacterial ... infections," he
said, adding that the results might be affected.
The protest also drew attention from the Depart-
ment of Public Safety. At least three DPS patrol
cars were seen in the area, as well as two police
officers on bicycles.
"We have no reason to expect anything but
peaceful demonstrations, but DPS is planning extra
security, just in case," the statement said.
Students and conununity members waiting at
Angelo's Restaurant were surprised by the protest
and the response from DPS.
"It is kind of in your face," said LSA junior Katie
Moore, who likened the graphic photos of animal
test subjects to the photographs of aborted fetuses
brought to campus in 2000 by the Genocide Aware-
ness Project.
"Their protest was successful," Moore added, as
the University administration's attention helped
draw attention to the protest.
LSA Junior Kristina Burg was surprised at the
police presence. "I wonder if it's kind of admitting
guilt," Burg said. "This isn't the L.A. riots."
But protesters said they were not surprised by the
University's response.
"I think that since we are challenging a deeply
embedded institution whose members are held in
high esteem they feel threatened," said Laura Rowl-
son, a Metro Detroit animal-rights activist who
organized the protest. She added the animal
research position papers issued by the University
are "outright propaganda."
"There's a misconception that animal rights
activists ... are a fringe element. We're not. We
have been informed about the issues," Rowlson
said, adding that protest organizers had been in
contact with members of the Michigan Animal
Rights Society, an animal rights student group on
campus.
University researchers conduct studies on a large
number of animals - mostly rats and mice, but
also a smaller number of primates.
Medical Prof. James Woods, who researches
drug addiction in rhesus monkeys, has received the
brunt of criticism from animal rights groups.
"He's our target here," Rowson said, adding she
feels the studies Woods conducts are unnecessary.
"There are duplicative studies ... several hun-
dred very similar studies in the last several years,
Rowson said. "The only people who will cite ani-
mal research are other animal researchers."
Budke said drug addiction experimentation on
primates brings more than $2.5 million annually to
the University.
"The overwhelming amount of (University
research) is mice and rats," said Howard Rush,
director of the University's Unit for Laboratory
Animal Medicine. He added that National Primate
Liberation Week had received press attention so the
University decided to prepare material for
reporters.
Getting the word out
Court of Appeals supports
open hearings for Haddad
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
upheld a decision last week calling for
open immigration hearings in the case
of Ann Arbor Muslim leader Rabih
Haddad, who has been detained on a
visa violation since last December.
"When the government begins clos-
ing doors, it selectively controls infor-
mation rightfully belonging to the
people. Selective information is misin-
formation," Judge Damon Keith wrote
in a unanimous opinion that supported
the April decision of U.S. District Court
Judge Nancy Edmunds to open Had-
dad's hearings.
Haddad had three closed immigra-
tion hearings before a lawsuit was filed
calling for open hearings in his case.
Several Detroit newspapers, the Michi-
gan chapter of the American Civil Liber-
ties Union and U.S. Rep. John Conyers
(D-Detroit) sued the federal government
at the end of January.
"We decided since we couldn't get in
we needed to seek a remedy for that,"
Free Press Managing Editor Carole
Leigh Hutton said in January. "The jus-
tice system in this country was created
to be open."
The government defended keeping the
hearings closed based on a 19th century
U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave the
government power to expel immigrants
if the government felt they were "danger-
ous to its peace and security."
Last September, Chief Immigration
Judge Michael Creppy sent a letter to all
immigration judges calling for closure
of immigration hearings that were of
special interest and could threaten
national security.
But ACLU Legal Director Michael
Steinberg said the government does not
have power over the actual hearings
themselves.
"If Congress decides to limit immi-
gration from a certain country, there is
very little judges can do," Steinberg
said. "In this case, we are not talking
about a substantive immigration law. We
are talking about whether hearings shall
be open."
The three judges who presided over
the case sided with the plaintiffs saying
the government does not have control
over court procedure, like closing hear-
ings to the media.
"... The Supreme Court has repeatedly
allowed for meaningful judicial review
of non-substantive immigration laws
where constitutional rights are involved,"
the decision stated. The government is
undecided about whether they would
appeal the decision, Justice Department
spokeswoman Barbara Comstock said
last week. "The Justice Department dis-
agrees with the Court's conclusion that
the department's guidelines for deter-
mining which proceedings should be
closed are too broad," Comstock said.
"The Justice Department has an obliga-
tion to exercise all available options to
disrupt and prevent terrorism within the
bounds of the Constitution and will
review today's opinion in light of our
duty to protect the American people."
Haddad, whose Global Relief Foun-
dation charity is under investigation, has
been in the custody of the Immigration
and Naturalization Service since his
arrest. In May, it was discovered that
Nabil Sayadi, European director of
Global Relief, was once acquainted with
a personal aide to Osama bin Laden.
Despite alleged ties between bin
Laden and Global Relief, Muslim Stu-
dent Association Vice President Omar
Khalil, an Engineering junior, said many
in the Muslim community still believe
Haddad is innocent.
Haddad was transferred back to the
Monroe County Jail in June so he could
be closer to his family.
JOHN PRATT/Daily
John Zvonek, Roland Gardner and T. J. Waldofsky of the Student
Organization Resource Center hang billboards throughout
campus yesterday.
Construction work still
WANT TO DO WHAT WE DO?
JOIN US AT 420 MAYNARD $T.
Child left in car classes b
on Monroe Street-underway as aegin
with mother away y Jefr "M"iSt a' f
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