DISTRICT BRIEFING

MAYORAL TRANSITION

Clinton Cabinet Members to Assist Fenty

Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty has added key players to work with his transition team, including Clinton administration officials Rodney E. Slater and Togo D. West Jr.

Slater, a former transportation secretary, will oversee Fenty's transition working groups on the environment, and West, who served as secretary of veterans affairs and of the Army, will work on public safety, Fenty (D) said yesterday.

Fenty also tapped Peter Edelman, a Georgetown University law professor, to oversee human services; Maria S. Gomez, founder of Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, to oversee health issues; and Stacey D. Stewart, president and chief executive of the Fannie Mae Foundation, to oversee Fenty's 100-day planning group.

The advisers are volunteering their time and are not expected to join the Fenty administration full time.

-- David Nakamura

ANACOSTIA WATERFRONT

Ownership of 200 Acres Transferred to City

The District officially took ownership of about 200 acres of federal property yesterday when President Bush signed a bill authorizing the land transfer.

Much of the land is valuable waterfront property that is key to the District's plans to spur development and transform both sides of the Anacostia River.

The biggest parcel is Poplar Point, 100 acres on the eastern side of the Anacostia that have been proposed as the location of a stadium for the D.C. United soccer team. Also transferred to city control is Reservation 13, 66 acres on the western edge of the river that house the former D.C. General Hospital campus and are scheduled for mixed-use development and health-related facilities.

"This transfer will create opportunities and tax revenue for years to come," said Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) in a written statement. "I thank the president for signing the bill today."

-- Elissa Silverman

GALLAUDET UNIVERSITY

Protesters Likely to Face Campus Hearings

Protesters who were arrested at Gallaudet University will face consequences, according to the board of trustees -- and some student leaders reacted angrily to that yesterday.

For months, protesters demanded a new search for the president of the school for the deaf, with demonstrations that disrupted and, for several days, shut down, the university in Northeast Washington. More than 130 people were arrested after demonstrators blocked entrances to campus. In late October, the trustees voted to terminate the appointment of incoming president Jane K. Fernandes, and this week, deaf leader Robert Davila was named interim president.

But this week, the board also announced that the administration would enforce the student code of conduct for those who were arrested; they are expected to face campus judicial hearings.

It is unfair to punish only the students who were arrested, said student leader LaToya Plummer, when thousands of people contributed to peaceful demonstrations for positive change at the school. "In order to heal, we must have the reprisals removed. If they aren't, drastic actions will be taken."

Pamela Holmes, the board chairwoman, said, "I believe the dean of students will make every effort to allow students who came forward and have taken responsibility to quickly address their cases, allowing the students to put this behind them."

-- Susan Kinzie