SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- A university professor has been on hunger
                  strike in federal prison to protest his detention for trespassing on a U.S. Navy
                  firing range in Vieques Island to prevent maneuvers, activists say.

                  Carlos Ala Santiago, a Puerto Rican independence sympathizer, has refused food
                  and has only drank water since Tuesday when he was put in prison after
                  refusing to recognize the authority of a federal court in San Juan at his bail
                  hearings, said Nilda Medina, a leader of the Committee for the Rescue and
                  Development of Vieques.

                  The anti-Navy group has kept in touch with Ala and other activists in the prison
                  by telephone, she said. Also at the Guaynabo Federal Prison are Ruben Berrios,
                  leader of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, and five other party members.

                  These six also refused to recognize the authority of the court during bail
                  hearings. Also in prison is Vieques anti-Navy activist Ismael Guadalupe, who
                  was denied bail because he has been arrested multiple times for trespassing on
                  the U.S. Navy range.

                  No trial date has yet been set for the men, who face charges for trespassing on
                  federal property.

                  An official at the prison said he could not confirm whether Ala was on a hunger
                  strike, but said the eight men were among the inmates.

                  Luis Gutierrez, a Democratic U.S. senator from Chicago, was also among 180
                  protesters arrested in or near the firing range during the exercises, which were
                  paused several times to allow Navy sailors to clear the range. There were bitter
                  demonstrations during all four days of the exercises.

                  The Navy owns two-thirds of Vieques and carries out exercises on a range on
                  the far eastern tip of the island. About 9,400 people live on Vieques.

                  Puerto Rican Gov. Sila Calderon wants an immediate end to the bombing,
                  alleging it causes health problems among residents. The Navy denies the
                  exercises have any impact on islanders' health.

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.