DISTRICT BRIEFING

Thursday, May 4, 2006

GALLAUDET DEMONSTRATION

Students, Faculty Widen Protest of President

About 1,000 people rallied at Gallaudet University yesterday afternoon, with faculty and staff members joining students in a widening protest against the presidential search process, a reaction that started Monday when Jane K. Fernandes was named president.

They urged people to bring tents and sleeping bags to join a candlelight vigil and overnight protest. They handed over a letter with demands to Fernandes and to the current president, I. King Jordan, who said he will forward it to the board of trustees. An online petition had been signed by more than 1,200 alumni by early last night.

Afterward, several students said not everyone shared the complaints. "What you saw today, it's only how part of this university feels," said graduate student Geoff Whitebread. "We feel the process was fair. There's no reason to rescind the board's decision."

At 10 p.m., the hill in front of the Northeast Washington campus was packed with students in tents and on blankets, banners plastered on the gates.

-- Susan Kinzie

TRANSPORTATION FORUM

Douglass Bridge, South Capitol Street Designs

Designs for a new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge will be the focus of a community meeting at 6 p.m. today at Van Ness Elementary School, 1150 Fifth St. SE. City transportation officials will present four possible versions of a new bridge and discuss a planned redesign of South Capitol Street.

More information is on the Web at http://www.southcapitoleis.com , and the four bridge designs can be viewed at http://www.ddot.dc.gov .

-- Lyndsey Layton

DRUG VIOLATIONS

Marion Barry's Son Warned of Jail Possibility

A D.C. Superior Court judge warned the son of D.C. Council member and former mayor Marion Barry yesterday to stay away from drugs or risk going to jail.

Christopher Barry, 25, who pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor assault charge in connection with an altercation with a police officer, has tested positive for marijuana in recent months, his supervision officer said, jeopardizing his plea agreement with prosecutors.

The agreement permits Barry to withdraw his guilty plea and have the case dismissed if he stays out of trouble.

Other than the positive drug tests, Barry has complied with the terms, maintaining a job and enrolling in school, the supervision officer said. But Judge Harold L. Cushenberry Jr. told Barry that he will have to take action if the drug problem persists.

-- Henri E. Cauvin

HOSPITAL PROPOSAL

Howard U. Declines Task Force Invitation

Howard University has declined an invitation from Mayor Anthony A. Williams to join his recently formed health-care task force. The panel is to consider alternatives to a proposed $400 million hospital the city has planned to build in partnership with Howard. Legislation to authorize the project is pending before the D.C. Council.

Victor F. Scott, senior vice president for health sciences at Howard, wrote a letter to the city saying the "overwhelming majority" of members on the mayor's panel "have been active participants in the orchestrated effort to derail" the proposed hospital.

He also wrote that the outcome was "predetermined" and that "adding one Howard representative to the panel seems unlikely to produce meaningful consultation."

"I'm disappointed," Williams (D) said yesterday. "I think it would have been helpful for them to have been involved."

-- Elissa Silverman