j[j r 01k tgtn Datl Vol. LXXX, No. I Ann Arbor, Michigan-Wednesday, August 27, 1969 Six Pages ADMINISTRATION . . . Won-support'eads By MARTIN HIRSCHMAN Summer Supplement Editor WITH SUBSTANTIAL annual tuition increases and an ever-tightening squeeze on expenditures, the Univer- sity is facing unprecedented financial problems. Over the last few years, there has been a slow decline in the nation-wide rating of faculty salaries at the Uni- versity. But with a national ranking of 24, the University , remains in strong competition with other leading schools for the nation's top academicians. To maintain the high level of faculty salaries, how- ever, the University has been forced to tighten up on al- most all non-salary expenditures. For example, there has been a steady increase in thek- average class size as growth of the faculty has failed to keep pace with enrollment. Virtually all innovative pro- grams have been postponed-and where they have been implemented it has often been at the cost of eliminating an existing program. Secretarial assistance for the aca- demic staff is minimal and there is even a shortage of office supplies like paper and rubber bands. The list of budgetary cutbacks seems endless. And if these financial problems continue for a few more years, the University may eventually run out of items to cut. Then faculty salaries might slacken, with a migration of professors to more affluent schools a distinct possibility. . Such a migration has yet to begin. IN ESSENCE, the University's fiscal problems are simply a.4 reflection of the financial dilemma faced by the State Legislature - the University's most important source of funds. With demands for more state support rising rapidly on all fronts, the Legislature has consistently declined to give the University more than minimal increases in appropria-~Vce Presi tions. In fact, these increases have not even kept pace with inflation. In real purchasing power state appropriations over the last 10 years have declined from $800 per student to $550 Last year, the University requested a state appropria- tion of $75.8 million. But by the time the higher education appropriations bill had weaved its way through the cata- combs of backroom politics which is the state capital, there was only $63.3 million for the University's general operat- ing budget. The result was a $240 tuition increase for out-of-state students, a significant increase for in-staters and further cutbacks of the genre which have followed from the Uni- versity's now three-year-old austerity budget. As this supplement goes to press this summer, the Legislature is again haggling over the size of the Univer- , sity's appropriation. Already Gov. William Milliken has slashed the University's request from $75.9 million to $67.2 million. AND, IN MICHIGAN politics at least, the governor never gets in the last word. Over the past few years the Legislature has consistently underbid the governor in what appears to be the state government's never-ending struggle to obtain, in the words of Vice President for State Relations and Planning Arthur Ross, "non-support" for the Univer- sity. ^" " it On the other side of the fence, the deans of the Uni- versity's 18 schools and colleges and the directors of its numerous divisions keep pleading for more funds. The social work school wants to hire more faculty members to offset increases in class size. The engineering school wants money to hire professors in a new, rapidly developing field. See 'NON-SUPPORT,' Page 2 Vice President to austerity dent Allan Smith: The man in the middle President Robben Fleming: Quieting the campus, collecting support The lemg machine By STEVE NISSEN City Editor BESPECTACLED and gray-haired father figure, Robben Fleming gives the impression he. really wants students to like him. Student leaders find it easier to get an appointment with him than with most faculty members-and once inside his modest office they are impressed by the way he relaxes cross-lu.ged on his couch while intently soaking up their questions and comments Eighteen months ago, when Fleming was ap- pointed president, it was hoped his softspoken manner and tolerant attitude would provide an effective buffer for the frictional forces which were seriously threatening the University. Fleming already had gained a nationwide rep- utation for adept and shrewd dealings with stu- dents. When he was chancellor of the Madison campus of the University of Wisconsin, for ex- ample, he had police arrest a group of demon- strating students and then wrote a personal check to bail them out. And the choice of Fleming to succeed Presi- dent Harlan Hatcher, who retired in 1967. ap- pears to be paying off. Despite the presence of all the factors which have caused other cam- puses to explode, Ann Arbor has been extremely calm. BUT DESPITE this calm, all is not well in Babylon. And Fleming, despite his apparent success and confidence, is embroiled in a dan- gerous battle of wits, power, and money with students, faculty members, the State Legislature. alumni and even the Regents. Fleming is the first to admit the precarious- ness of his position. Last May, he told Rep. Edith Green's committee, which was holding hearings on student unrest, that while the Uni- versity has been "spared" major disruption, "we are under no illusions whatever that we are im- imune from the tragic events that have taken place on other campuses." , troag number of students and faculty mem- bers are becoming dissatisfied with Fleming's habit of playing both ends against the middle- Take, for exaimple, a statement made last Jan- uary, on the eve of the arrests for indecent ex- posure of the entire cast of the play "Dionysus in 69," which was being produced on campus at the invitation of the University Activities Center. "The human body is hardly obscene," Fleming said, "Thus nudity in and of itself is difficult to describe as obscene." But he added "The University is not a sanctu- ary, the law applies on campus as well as in the community. It is unfair of us to criticize the local prosecutor and police because of a law enforcement problem they did not seek." IN ONE STATEMENT, Fleming has mollified the civil libertarians by defending nudity on stage, the State Legislature by denying that the University is a sanctuary where "anything goes," and local police officials by defending their right to uphold "law and order." Fleming's refusal to take a concrete stand on some issues has gathered criticism from faculty and many students. Explains one young profes- sor, "You get the feeling Fleming has no real ideology of his own. He simply listens to the various pressure groups in the University and then moves in such a way as to create the mini- mum of conflict." The result has been peace, and with it, the time to make slow but steady changes in the University. But a good deal of Fleming's liberal- ism is illusory KEY FACTOR in the creation of this illusion was the obstinacy and insensitivity of the administration during the Hatcher years. Hatch- er's aloofness and rigidity gave Fleming a unique opportunity to win credits with the students by conceding relatively minor points of contention .-sore points which could have been eliminated years ago without any loss to the administration. cv o ,v, nl a T.rlpmirw hnc. ni .a Rncn ina.4 ..Daily-Jay Cassidy Arthur Ross: Seeking less 'non-support' for 'U' Ume __ __ __ F '