Page 4-Friday, November 17, 1978-The Michigan Daily 1 JAE Mihrltgan t aIQ 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Eighty-Nine Years of Editorial Freedom What's a Union for anyway? Vol. LXXXIX, No. 62 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan PIRGIM" .0 Excels.ior! T ODAY THE UNIVERSITY Board of Regents will consider a proposal that may ultimately decide the future of the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM). This vital organization is seeking a new five-year agreement with the University and lower the minimum percentage of student contributors required by the Regents for participation in the University billing system. Every year, under the current system, the public interest group must obtain pledges from at least 33.3 per cent of University studetns or it can no longer use the University billing procedure to collect the revenue it needs to survive. This year PIRGIM barely met the requirement; largely because of the diffuse CRISP system, only 30 per cent of the students registering for this fall's term bothered to contribute two dollars to this essential public interest organIzation. Luckily, 37 per cent of the students registering for last winter term volunteered to contribute. PIRGIM will ask the Regents, this afternoon, to lower the minimum requirement to 22.5 per cent. In the in- terests of students, tenants, and con- sumers across the state the Regents should approve the proposal. The University provides most of the revenue PIRGIM needs in order to survive. In return, the citizens of the state are provided with a number of services that would be sorely missed if the group did not exist. PIRGIM was instrumental in conducting research for the two tenant's protection proposals that appeared on last April's city election ballot: the Truth in Ren- ting proposal, that forces landlords to point out that some of the provisions of tenants' leases may not be legal, and the Fair Rental Information proposal that mandated the composition of an informational booklet, written by lan- dlords, tenants' representatives, and city officials, on the rights and respon- sibilities of tenants. PIRGIM has also conducted several vital surveys for consumers. One, published last year told consumers about prospective banking institutions in the city. PIRGIM is now completing a similar survey on local bookstores and plans to begin one soon on foodstores in Ann Arbor. In 1972 when the original minimum figure for participation in the Univer- sity billing system was set, registration at the University was a far k different process. Students filed through Waterman Gymnasium in concentrated groups for 10 days. Now, with the more convenient CRISP system, students trickle through bet- ween late August and October. Several schools including Law, Medical, and Social Work do not register in Old Arch. Meeting the 33.3 per cent minimum is clearly a more different task than it was in 1972. The Regents should take this into account, as well as PIRGIM's outstanding effor- ts in the public service field, and its dependence on the University for sup- port, when they vote today. By the time my friends and I discovered the Memorial Union in Madison, legends of fast drug traffic and intense SDS debates in its Rathskeller during an earlier, more self-consciously rebellious time, were part of the oral history of the building. We were as worldly as we thought it possible to be as ninth graders and drugs and attacks on traditional forms of authority were an heritage we envied. But though we showed up Saturdays as hopeful witnesses to illegitimate activity, the thrill we found was mostly in the attempt to immerse ourselVes in the student way of life for a few hours, to pretend we-were as in- dependent and self-assured as college students. The feeling in the Union was always there for us, right through high school. It became a truism that one took a chance with bars and parties, but a night at the Union couldn't fail completely. Students would arrive on the terrace overlooking Lake Men- dota or stroll into the Rathskeller confident they would find a wood chair and table and someone they knew to share a pitcher. It isn't entirely fair for me to draw comparisons between the Michigan Union here and the Memorial Union at Wisconsin, since I grew up next to the university in Madison. ThetUnion by Lake Mendota at home remin- ds me of freedom during high school weekends and recent holidays from Ann Arbor work. But yesterday afternoon at their monthly meeting, the Regents heard student leaders endorse the new Sturgis Report on the Union ordered by the Regents last February. The report is progressive. Next mon- th the Regents will have a chance to christen what, in a sense, would be a new student center. Eric Arnson, president of the Michigan StudenttAssembly, called the report "the most i- portant document that will affect the lives of students in this decade." It could be. But I'd rather count on the memories Robben Fleming must have of lunches in the Rathskeller. Before he came here ten years ago, our Univer- sity president spent four years working out of Bascom Hall as Wisconsin's chancellor. It's saying quite a bit that students haveutraditionally gathered at the Memorial Union (there are actually unions now, which reflects the importance of this institution to Badgers) with the rest of the fairly well- developed downtown area lying to the south and east. Spread out alongside the lake, the university in Madison forms something of a huge, elongated Diag. If they had a metal 'W' to lay down, it would sit in the middle of their sloping Diag, Bascom Hill, at the end of the main downtown stretch, State Street. At the other end of State Street from Bascom Hill and the majority of the campus buildings is the capitol square, the seat of state government. The Dooley's and Second Chan- ces are on or close to State Street. When I return home next March for spring break, my friends and I will spend some time in these bars out of respect for some senior high traditions. But after hearing "Disco Infer- no" come around on the bar tapes for the third time, chances are we'll walk down State Street to the Union. Since it will be March, and the terrace might yet be snow- covered, we'll be interested in the Rathskeller, a high-ceilinged' room entered through tall, cur- Brian Blanchard -~7 - " t -y -~I - ---- by-law, ready to be approved, is conveniently included), a general reshaping of the building is outlined. The ground floor would become a service area with a "pleasant;' open 'Main Street' feeling" by' replacing the Union Station with meeting rooms, study space, ora' new business and bringing the newsstand and ticket sales down stairs among other things. On the first floor space would be found for a new moderate- priced student oriented food ser- vice and "informal space" -a f imaginative term - for lounging; It's unlikely students will mind paying the projected extra $6.50 a term for Union support if they an- ticipate more services for. th' money. Students proved their thinking on such issues again yesterday in solid opposition to the money-saving meal con- solidation plan. But regression is inevitable. It's not clear that the Michigan Union will ever replace Bursley parties as the place to go for Friday night activity, or that it .willsurpass the UGLI as a rent devous point for the sexes. University students aren't used to thinking of the four-story structure at the foot of South University as anything more than a sales outlet for tickets or a stop- off spot for candy bars and hair cuts. The other obstacle to progress may be OSS itself. The conver- sion of the Student Activities Building into an OSS office building was a hard lesson for student leaders. The Sturgis recommendation, places a,great deal of faith in the orientation of Student Services. If the Regents refuse to allow the Union to be run like the Daily, UAC, or the U. Cellar - that is, by students - then we can only hope the likely Union takeover by OSS will involve an active student majority advisory committee; Committees being what. they, are, and students being the way they are, it is not the ideal situation: management will tum- ble in large part into the hands of University administrators. Like the Regents themselves, an ou- side committee or board can only make tpe big, costly decisions, leaving the al-important daily operatient4 tq professional management. I don't have the vaguest notion how the Memorial Union is run. Since it houses a large theater and maintains an enormous water front operation, a large number of people around there must work full-time. But I don't think I want to know who there figures out how many gallons of beer to buy every day or what board decides which pin- ball machines to buy. The point is that one feels the purpose of the buildingas soon as one steps in. All activity is geared to give the members of the Wisconsin community a building in which it can relax, talk, and watch the sailboats in the sumi- mer and the calm layers of snow in winter. The Regents in Ann Arbor have a chance now to re-define the business-like atmosphere of the Michigan Union in favor of what one student leaders sees as a "Winter Diag." If no one else, some ninth grader from Pioneer would surely take advantage of it. * Brian Blanchard is a Daily Night Editor. L fig I Saving energy UNIVERSITY ENERGY manager George Sanfacon summed up the main challenge of his job as the 'U's point man on energy conservation. That is, residence halls currently have no program "where students and staff consistently contribute to energy conservation." Perhaps University students have been lured into believing that the energy crisis isn't -as bad as all that. But whether or not Presdent Carter or the natural gas deregulators in Congress will admit it, there is an energy crisis that will only be solved through strict conservation measures rand some sacrifices in the way Americans have grown accustomed to living. Some of those sacrifices must come right here at the University, and from students, staff and administration -alike. By establishing the energy manager's position and conducting their own study into the energy -problem, the Housing division has at least shown their committment to conservation. Unfortunately, the residence hall students and staff have not been as responsible. All the measures ultimately hope to hold down University costs and save the students money. One proposed plan is the food consolidation proposal which we have so far said should be considered only after the University checks over its budget for other places to save money that will not harm student dorm life. But students themselves have so far shown no willingness to help cut costs themselves, in the area of energy conservation. Let's hope this winter that students won't succumb to -the temptations to overheat dorm rooms and keep room lights on when not ,in use. r~~iim i ved doorwars. If it's a weekend evening, a blue-grass or jazz group might be playing there - the same sort of band which now entertains at the U. Club. After a few beers, we might waste a few quarters on the pin- ball machines in a room just off the Rathskeller or wander down- stairs to get hustled at pool. No one will probably have thought to check ahead of time.; so we'll miss the films upstairs and it will be just late enough to pretend we wanted to look at the art in the showrooms before they close on the next level up.4 Back in the Rathskeller, night will wear on as we watch students come and go between study sessions for six-week exams. The band - or if not a band then the juke-box=- won't quite cover the talk while I try to find out how friends have been since Christ- mas. Over the course of my visit home, I'll be back to the Union,' not to use the lounges or watch the TVs they have there, but to eat lunch at the cafeteria or meet friends for an ice cream cone. Complete with graphics and statistics, the report prepared for the University Regents over most of this year by four ad- ministrators offers recommen- dations for a few first steps toward a more lively activities- service center here, a place where you might want to spend" time. The advice is surprisingly specific. It would have been easy enough for the authors of the report to list the problems faced by the Union, suggest that the Of- fice of Student Services (OSS) take administrative control from the ten-member board, and leave the responsibility for change to Vice President Henry Johnson and his assistant, Thomas Easthope. But after summarizing the dif- ficulties - deficit budgets, physical deterioration, low oc- cupancy in the hotel service, and an atmosphere which doesn't ap- peal to students - and recom- mending the administrative shift (a change for which a possible ::: ... "':.......................................................................... Editorials which appear without a by-line represent a con- sensus opinion of the Daily's editorial board. All other editorials, .as well as cartoons, are the opinions of the individuals who sub- ; mit them. Letters to the Daily hie Mtrhtottn 443a i1L The 'real' SOC To the Daily: Before students vote in the LSA-SG election this Monday and Tuesday; everyone should be aware that some persons have stolen our name - Student Organizing Committee (SOC) - for malicious purposes. This unethical group of students is using our name and recognition tomislead voters into electing them to LSA student government. The SOC grew out of the Undergraduate Support Committee for the Graduate The Bullshit party, on this campus, is defined by its moniker. They promote the idea of circus student government by misleading students, slanderous attacks on their opponents, and their own circus-like antics. They represent everything SOC fought against. Now, this is what is happening: The People's Action Coalition (PAC) now holds the majority of seats in the LSA-SG. The Bullshit party has only a couple seats and takes every opportunity to attack PAC. The outlandish Bullshit Party could never seriously did, however, say that he had heard the name SOC mentioned in conversations with other Bullshit Party members. One of Spirnak's mates, Rick Shahin, now expresses misgivings about using our name. When it was suggested to Shahin that the choice of name may have been a deliberate attempt to confuse students, he said: "I was afraid of that." There are condidates running' for LSA-SG that represent everything SOC fought for between 1975 and 1977. We urge students to inform themselve about the candidates and vote. large turn-out of responsibh voters will turn the tide agains the destructive elements in oui midst and make our governmen responsible to us. -Debra Goodman-SGC presiden 1975-76; David Mitchell Yellin-SGC vice president 1975 76; Calvin Luker-MSA presideni 1976-77. Members at large: Jefi Lark 75-76; Lisa Mitchell-Yeir1 75-76; Michael Harwood 7546; Michael, Taylor 76-77; Weirgh Goodman 76-77. : EDITORIAL STAFF Editors-in-chief Arts Editors OWEN GLEIBERMAN MIKE TAYL OR DAVID GOODMAN GREGG KRUPA Managing Editors M.EILEEN DALEY KEN PARSIGIAN DlAN O(PFl(Ri'T.'R BUSINESS STAFF - NANCY GRAU... .....Business Manager DENISE GILARDONE .........Sales Manager