So Paul very kindly got me going with SCORE + XAL + Eclipse!
 
In the interest of documenting the process, here's what we did:
 
1. cp -r /afs/slac.stanford.edu/package/eclipse/i386_linux24/3.3 to local workstation (I created a /scratch/eclipse directory on the local linux hard drive for this) (Note  NOT ~/scratch directory!)
 
2. Create a workspace directory (for me it's /scratch/eclipse_WS)
 
3. cd to the eclipse software directory and start the eclipse exe; specify your workspace directory.
 
4. Open up the CVS view and configure the CVS server as in Chris' document (definitely store the password though!); find and check out xal4lcls.
 
5. Build the external jar file:
   go to Navigator - Window | Show View | Navigator
   in the Navigator, right click build.xml; select Run As
   select "Ant build..." (the second ant in the list, which is xal-specific)
   in the Names list, unselect the build-xal [Default] checkbox
   select the jar-ext checkbox
   Apply and Run
   ext.jar will build.
 
6. Add ext.jar to the build path:
from the menu choose Project/Properties/Java build path
choose "Libraries" tab
"Add External" jars button ; jar selection dialog appears.
   In <your workspace dir>/build/jar directory,  find ext.jar and select it, press ok
 
7. Once this is done, your project should begin to build automatically.
 
8. Once the build is done (it takes a few minutes) you can run score:
   navigate to gov/sns/apps/score
   right click Main.java
   select Run As
   select Java Application
 
voila!!
 
cheers,
Judy