Page 12-Friday, January 19, 1979-The Michigan Daily 2 locals meet for Mack 's' removal By MARY FARANSKI A group of seven local environ- mentalists went to Lansing yesterday to speak with Senate Majority Leader William Faust (D-Westland) about his attempts to replace Senator Joseph Mack (D-Ironwood) with a new chair- man on the Senate Conservation Com- mittee. Representatives from PIRGIM's (Public Interest Research Group in Michigan) Environmental Task Force, the University's Natural Resource Club, the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, and Greenpeace of Ann Arbor offered support for Mack's replacement, stating that Mack has consistently blocked the passage of environmental legislation. FAUST, SPORTING a maize and blue "Michigan" sweatshirt, told the group gathered in his office: "Having an avowed anti-environmentalist heading an environmental committee makes our government look stupid." He said Wednesday that Senator John .Hertel (D-Harper Woods) of the Energy Committee should take over Mack's post. He also suggested that the Con- servation and Energy Committees merge and be renamed the Natural Resources and Energy Committee or the Environmental Affairs Committee. The final vote of Faust's recommen- dation will be taken on January 30. SEN. MACK HAS recently had an operation but is expected to be in "fighting form" to keep his post, accor- ding to Faust. Mack refuses to accept another assignment, but there has been discussion about awarding him the chairmanship of the newly-created Senate Mental Health Committee. Mack's key weapon is seen as his accusations that the United Auto Workers is the main force behind the push for his renewal. Ann Arbor Senator Ed Pierce, who arranged yesterday's meeting between Faust and the environmentalists, en- couraged the Ann Arborites to "write letters to the editors of the Detroit Free Press and the Ann Arbor News to show people that this is not a single interest group's doing. Most of the calls I've got- ten on the issue are environmental people, not the UAW." Sen. Faust said the Conservation and Energy Committees' top three issues are preserving Michigan wetlands, land use, and creation of a Department of Energy. Mack has not acted on these issues during his three years as chairman of the Conservation Committee. Obser- vers say this reflects his home district's views and not those of the majority of the state. Faust is confident that the Senate will vote to replace Mack. By KEVIN ROSEBOROUGH The ten judges of the U.S. District Court's eastern district have recom- mended a reorganization in their bench assignments that would create a one- judge federal court in Ann Arbor. In a proposal sent to Washington for Congressional approval, the judges favor the opening of a federal court in Ann Arbor and another in Port Huron to more effectively serve these areas. "WE CONDUCTED a study of cases over the last three years to determine whether a court in Ann Arbor would have a full docket if opened," said the court's Eastern District office manager Bill Harper. "We found that it would and sent along our proposal to Washington., Harper said that the location of the residences of the surveyed defendants and attorneys was a factor in the study, as well as speculation as to where a case might have been filed. if another court had been open. "Ann Arbor has been authorized for years to have a District Court," said Harper. "It's just a matter of justifying it to the public. We don't want to' have someone up there with nothing to do." CURRENTLY, lawyers and their clients from Ann Arbor with legal business involving the U.S. District Court must drive to the Federal Building in Detroit. In addition to being inconvenient, it also boosts legal costs for the lawyers' clients, Harper said. Should the plan be approved by Congress and by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the courtroom would be added to Ann Arbor's new federal building located downtown. The costs of the new courtroom would be covered by money budgeted by Congress. District Judge John Feikens is reportedly in line for the Ann Arbor judgeship. No date has been set for the Congressional ruling. Judges suggest new federal court forA 2 .:t . ............ ..........., ...... ...... ..................... NOT SUNDAY, NOT MONDAY, NOT TUESDAY NOT WEDNESDAY, NOT THURSDAY, NOT FRIDAY, GEO-'U' hearings near conclusion; final rebuttals given by 'U' attorney By RONALD GIFFORD The nine-month-long hearings on the case between the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) and the University came to near-conclusion yesterday as University counsel called all but one of their rebuttal witnesses to testify. 1Attorney Robert Vercruysse called to the stand Dr. Judith Reitman of the Psychology Department and Dr. Richard Sands, chairman of the Physics Department. Dr. Harold Jacobsen of the political science depar- tment testified on Wednesday, as did James Wessel of the Institute of Social Research ( ISR) . THE UNIVERSITY had one other rebuttal witness, Charles Allmand, assistant to the President for Academic Affairs, but there was not enough time in yesterday's session to call him to the stand. He will be questioned at the next day of hearings on February 15 in Detroit. The University's rebuttal to the GEO case was intended to show, through the testimony of faculty members who work with Graduate student assistants (GSA) that the role of GSAs is one of student and not employee. GEO and its lawyer Mark Couzens contend that the GSA's are employees of the University, therefore entitled to full bargaining rights under the Michigan Public Employment Relations Act. IN THE Wednesday morning session, Wessel, assistant director of ISR, testified that in order for a GSA to get a research assistantship, a senior researcher of ISR must appoint the GSA to the position and certify that the GSA's work will be academically relevant to his studies. Wessel, who began his testimony on Tuesday afternoon, stated that many of the research assistants do projects for ISR, and in turn use the data from those projects in their doctoral dissertations. It was not unusual for a senior researcher, many of whom hold joint faculty appointments in University departments, to support a GSA's Ph.D. research by appointing the GSA to work on one of the researcher's projects, Wessel said. He added that ISR policy allowed payment to those GSA's only if their appointments had academic relevance. He also said ISR benefitted from the GSA's working there, for many of them are brought up into the senior resear- cher ranks upon completion of the degree to keep ISR adequately staffed. JACOBSEN SPENT most of his time on the stand describing the role of the teaching assistant (TA) in relation to not only the University but also to the GSA himself. He pointed out that a teaching assistantship is a training ground for the Ph.D. students, where they could gain practical teaching ex- perience. Yesterday, the University lawyer again pursued his basic line of rebuttal. Reitman testified that the purpose of appointing Graduate Student Research Assistants (GSRA's) was "to teach the students good research skills and to provide support" for their graduate studies. She said that through this, the student could "get a green thumb in the laboratory." The psychology department also has a teaching requirement for successful completion of its graduate program, Reitman said. Since most of the graduates are placed as teachers, "they need to know how to teach," she said. REITMAN CALLED the process a learning experience for the student. "The graduate student in the program is doing what he must do to graduate. As the professor involved, I am teaching them how to do research and how to teach. I don't see it (the relation- ship between professor and student) as them doing services for me. Sands testified during yesterday af- ternoon's session on the, benefits graduate students get from teaching labs in the physics department. "If you ask anyone who teaches, he will tell you that he learns a subject better when he teaches it. You are forced to organize your thoughts on the subject," he said. "The TAhis first, learning physics as they teach, then learning valuable laboratory techniques," he continued. "He also learns the skills of organization and teaching." HE ACKNOWLEDGED, though, that the use of TA's is not always in the best interest of the University. "The use of a TAin a lab in the place of the professor represents a decrease in the level of education of the undergraduate," San- ds testified. Following the completion of the rebuttal hearings next month, the of- ficial court transcript of the proceedings will be typed and delivered. After this task is finished, which could take as long as two months, the attorneys for both sides will compile their briefs. 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