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Vol. LXXXIX, No. 137
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Friday, March 23, 1979
Ten Cents
Fourteen Pages
MSA suspends status of student
By ALISON HIRSCHEL
After failing to report the fate of.
almost $10,000 allocated to them by the
Michigan Student Assembly (MSA), 22
student groups yesterday had their
status as official student organizations
suspended.
MSA has allocated the money to the
groups for various projects and ac-
tivities last term, but without official
MSA recognition, the groups are not
eligible for funds or other special
privileges.
MSA HAD $50,000 to allocate to
student groups this year, ten times
more money than they handed out last
year. In addition, they have funded four
times as many organizations since Sep-
tember than they supported last year.
That's a lot of money going to a lot of
different people and some members of
MSA feel the money has not been suf-
ficiently accounted for:. i At the urging
of Richard Barr, the careful co-
coordinator of the Budget Priorities
Committee, MSA decided to take ac-
tion.
All together, MS# gave out ap-
proximately $20,000 to about 50 dif-
ferent groups last term. "When we give
out money, the groups are told that
they're supposed to tell us how they use
the money every two months and give
us a final report 30 days after the
project is completed," Barr said. All
organizations should have responded
by March 1, he added.
According to Barr, a letter was sent
through the mail to all the groups at the
end of February. He said MSA also
tried to contact them by phone and in
person, but did not warn the
organizations that their status might be
suspended. "We wanted cooperation.
We didn't want to threaten them," Barr
said. "In retrospect, that might have
been more effective."
Barr said the primary motivation for
the move is to get the groups' attention.
According to Barr, it will not be dif-
ficult to return the privileges to the
groups as, soon as they contact MSA.
"We set up the system so we could get it
back to them very quickly when they
turn in'receipts or indicate a sufficient
amount of cooperation," he said.
"As of this morning, 22 groups had
made no kind of report," Barr said
yesterday. "Since we had made
significant efforts to get a report or get
the left-over money back after the end
of the term, we suspended their student
organization status.",
BECAUSE OF the suspension, the,
groups techniclly cannot hold meetings
in most University buildings and they
cannot use the Student Organizations
Accounts Office. Fifteen of the 22
groups whose status has been suspen-
ded have accounts with the Accounts
Office. Their funds will be frozen until
they respond to MSA requests for in-
formation.
Barr stressed that the move was not
intended to be antagonistic to the
organiz
student groups. "We want to show the
students and the Regents that we areE
responsible for our money," he said. "Ic
really didn't think anyone should be up-.
set," he added.
Barr said he did not feel the groups
were intentionally unccoperative.l
"Either they didn't read the letter we
sent or they are not accustomed to
dealing with MSA," he said.r
IF ANY OF the groups made a profitr
on activities funded by MSA grants,
MSA is supposed to, receive half theI
profit. If any of the money allocated
was not needed, it must be returned so{
that MSA can give it to other groups.
"Formerly, a grant of over $200 wasj
rare. Now one of less than $200 is theJ
exception." Barr explained. He said the
ations
grants range from $50 to $2000, and he
estimated the average alloction to be
about $400. Any of the University's 500
recognized groups can apply to MSA for
grants.
The organizations whose status has
been suspended are:
UM Debate Team, People's Action Coalition,
Washtenaw County Coalition Against Apartheid,
Save University Dining Systems, InternationalIn,
tercultural Council, Friends of Arbor Alliance, For-
mosan Club, Ann Arbor Committee for Human
Rights in Latin America, Treble Glee Club, Council
for Exceptional Children, Young Socialist Alliance,
Independent Cinema Video, Rowing Club, Ann Arbor
Assassination Information Bureau, Joel Sainoff
Committee, Michigan Technie, Association for the
Advancement of Appropriate Technology for
Developing Countries, Student Research and-
EducationProject, Natural Resources Club, UM
Jazz Band, Actors Ensemble, and the Ann Arbor
Chess Club.
Coalition
to challenge
court order
today
By MARK PARRENT
In what could set a precedent for
the state's Open Meetings Act, the
Washtenaw County Coalition Against
Apartheid (WCCA) plans to challenge
in court this morning the temporary
restraining order which allowed the
University Regents to exclude most
spectators at their meeting last Friday.
Attorneys for both the University and
the WCCAA said the restraining order
could probably be used by the Regents'
in similar situations in the future unless
it is dissolved or qualified in court.
ACCORDING TO the state Attorney
General's office, the order obtained by
the University marked the first time
such court action has released a public
body from some of the provisions of the
1977 Open Meetings Act.
The order was granted last Friday as
protesters occupied the Regents Room
in the Administration Building. The
Regents had earlier recessed after the
demonstrators made continuation of
the meeting impossible.
The University named WCCAA the
defendant when it sought the order,
which was granted without testimony
from the coalition.
THE HEARING was originally
scheduled for Wednesday morning, but
lawyers representing the University
requested more time to prepare their
case.
Washtenaw County Circuit Court
Judge George Kent is scheduled to hear
arguments beginning at 10 a.m. this
morning in the Washtenaw County
Building.
According to WCCAA spokesman Ted
Liu, the group will seek to have the
restraining order dissolved. Liu also
said the coalition, which is opposed to
University investments in firms which
do business in South Africa, will file a
"counter suit to enjoin the University
from ever violating the state Open
Meetings Act."
LIU COMMENTED on the litigation
during a WCCAA meeting held at the
Guild House Wednesday night. More
than 60 persons attended the session, at
which they evaluated the events of the
past week and formed committees to
plan future action.
Although specific plans were not
finalized, the group discussed possible
See COURT, Page 2
Hospital
replacement
plan OK' d
Daily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG
Legs belonging to a superstitious student side-step a gift to avoid-the 'M' in the Diag. The 'M' is one of many gifts that
have been given to the University by graduating classes, a tradition which may be revived.
Class giftgivi ng tradition
By AMY SALTZMAN
Despite strongly conflicting views on
a number of important components, the
Comprehensive Health Planning Coun-
cil of Southeastern Michigan (CHPC-
SEM) and University Hospital ad-
ministrators unanimously approved
yesterday plans for a $254 million
replacement University Hospital
project.
The meeting was the first of several
steps in the public approval process for
the hospital project.
AN AMENDMENT was passed
during the meeting to allow for a five-
day evaluation period before the next
such public approval gathering on
March 27 to give hospital ad-
ministrators and CHPC-SEM members
a chance to iron out some of the major
differences.
One CHPC-SEM staff member,
however,.who asked not to be identified,
described the task of evaluating the
plan in such a short time span as "im-
possible." "We can't review the whole
thing in five days. The University spent
five years evaluating it, there's no way
that we can possibly do it in five days,"
she said.
But spurred by Hospital Director
Jeptha Dalston - who said there's no
time for extensive evaluation -
hospital administrators and CHPC
SEM members agreed to the five-day
evaluation period. "We're on the fast
track now," Dalston said. "Delay will
cost us $2 million dollars a month."
THE CENTRAL conflicting issues in
the amendment were outlined in a CH-
PC-SEM staff report on replacement
and renovation of selected components
of University Hospital. The report
stated the project would be the most
expensive University-owned hospital in
the country and would cost state tax-
payers $5 million a year in excess sub-
sidies for a facility "which serves only
two per cent of hospital patients in
Michigap.
The report also said that the proposed
number of beds for the hospital would
add to the excess bed capacity in
southeastern Michigan. According to
the report, the current 969 licensed beds
in University Hospital would be
reduced to 923 in the proposed new
facility. It also stated,hhowever, that 116
of the currently licensed beds are not
See 'U' HOSPITAL, Page 5
By CHARLES THOMSON
They left them all over the
place - the fountain by the
Union, the tremendous hunk of
stone next to Mason Hall, a stone'
bench that no one sits on not far
from the hulk, and, of course, the
'M' on the Diag.
For decades, students leaving
the University liked to deposit
lasting mementos as gifts to their
alma mater. The disintegration
of class organization and lack of
interest contributed to the end of
gift-giving in the late sixties, but
there may be a revival of the
tradition in the offing.
THE LAST physical gift was
probably the bronze plaque in
Regents Plaza given by the class
of 1967, according to Jack
Wiedenbach, director of Physical
Properties.
The University Development
Office will present to the Alumni
Association next month a plan to
solicit money for class gifts from
those attending reunions
organized by the association, ac-
e?
e ,campu~s
cording to Wendell Lyons, direc-
tor of the office.
"You have to go back to the
good old days to find classes
giving gifts," said Lyons. "That
was a period when it was almost
customary for every class to give
a gift to the University. But how
would you propose to get a class
gift in 1979? It would -be pretty
tough. You just can't get a handle
on it" without class officers, he
said.
WHILE LYONS said he's
hopeful that alumni gathered for
reunions will be interested in
giving' without class officers the
Alumni Association has a hard
time organizing reunions.
Kay Vaupel, class activities
coordinator for the Alumni
Association, agreed that without
a list of class officers for a class
like the one which graduated in
1969, there's no core of persons to
contact. Instead, the association
must depend on class members to
take the initiative themselves to
organize efforts.
revival.
Among the most famous of
class gifts is the 'M' on the Diag,
given by the class of 1953. The
best person to talk to about the
marker would seem to be
Richard Robinson, or Dr. Diag,
the self-appointed king of the
area. He claims to have started
the superstition that stepping on
the gift will cause students to
flunk exams.
"I DID IT as a consciousness-
raising experiment," expounded
Robinson. "One day, this guy was
walking along, staring at his feet,
and I said, "Don't step on that M?
He didn't," Robinson recalled.
Other, less discussed, gifts on
Central Campus include: the
fountain by the Union, given by
the class of 1956; the lights in
front of the Union, from the
Engineering classes of 1921, 1922,
1923, and 1924; the bench by
Mason Hall, given by alumni who
studied here during the last cen-
tury and graduated in 1901, and
the stone marker, that massive
gift, courtesy of the 1867 alumni.
Candidates start,
MSA campaigns,
MAYORAL, COUNCIL HOPEFULS CLASH:
Candidates blast each other
By ELISA ISAACSON
and KEVIN ROSEBOROUGH
With comments ranging from per-
sonal attacks to political philosophy,
city council and mayoral candidates
presented themselves to a sparse group
of 25 spectators at the League of
Women Voters debate at the Council
chambers last night.
William Allen, challenging incum-
bent Kenneth Latta in the student-
populated First Ward, made repeated
references to Latta's twelve absences
from Council meetings over the past
year. "The constituents of the First
Ward deserve better representation
than that," Allen said. He also reviewed
Latta's record during his first term in
office, hitting on what he felt were in-
consistencies in the incumbent's stan-
ds.
LATTA STATED publicly that'he was
in favor of more police, said Allen, and
services are not what they used to be,"
said Latta, "and City Council's accoun-
tability to the public (has been) doub-
tful."
Latta also said that the Republican
majority on Council was guilty of "a
knee-jerk reaction" to the question of
tax relief recently brought up. Latta
was referring to the recent trend
towards tax rollbacks in Fourth Ward
Councilman E. Edward Hoods pledge to
challenge Ann Arbor's present property
tax assessment policy.
THE MAYORAL candidates were at-
tacking each other's policies more fier-
cely than in previous debates during the
campaign, at times even drawing
chuckles from the generally unrespon-
sive audience.
Belcher said he has, in the past year,
"opened the ,doors and drapes" of the
mayor's office by making himself ac-
cessible to the citizens, who can "come
in and talk about concerns and
problems from four to six every day."
Kenworthy responded to his opponen-
ts remarks about opening the mayor's
office by stating, "Sitting before us is
one of the few people ever to be convic-
ted of violating the Open Meetings
Act." The local Republican Party was
charged and convicted of violating the
state Open Meetings Act last year when
they would not allow visitors to attend
their weekly party caucuses. -
THE DEBATE, which featured the
candidates from the Second Through
the Fifth Wards as well as the First
Ward and mayoral candidates,
highlighted several issues that saw
opinions divided along party lines one
of these issues was the controversy
stemming from various housing
developments in Ann Arbor.
By JULIE ENGEBRECHT
In what appears to be a more issue-
oriented race than student government
has seen in recent years, the Michigan
Student Assembly (MSA) campaigns
officially got underway yesterday.
Several parties announced their can-
didates before last night's candidates
meeting, and made strong appeals for
serious debate over the next week-and-
a-half before the election.
The Young Socialist Alliance (YSA)
announced candidates and platforms
last week, advocated in strong terms
divestment from South Africa among
other international, national, and
University issues.
THE STUDENT Alliance for Better
Representation (SABRE). announced
their presidential and vice presidential
candidates earlier this week and
stressed the importance of University
issues - such as tenure policy, student
MSA elections '79
influence in University management,
and University-run transportation - as
well as creating a more effective and
representative Assembly.
The Michigan Republicans Club
(MIRC), a group recently organized,
also announced, stressing they would
primarily deal with issues which direc-
tly affect students.
The basic difference in party
philosophies is the degree of interest
expressed in issues which do not direc-
and Our Pricks, also each have two
members running on each slate.
Twenty-one independents are also
running this year.
Elections Director Emily Koo predic-
ted the elections would run smoothly as
long as none of the candidates violate
election codes as in past years. MSA
elections have a history of such trouble
because individual candidates and ac-
complices have sabotaged ballot coun-
ting, tearing down campaign literature,
and campaigning too close to students
who're voting.
"I DON'T WANT to put Up with a lot
of. bullshit ," Koo said, "and I don't
want the candidates to be monkeying
around."
Several seats are in dispute. One
candidate filed under a party
name, although the student is the only
one running on the ticket. The election
code specifies that a party consists of a
minimum of two people per ticket.
Another dispute involves whether or
not candidates can run for both a
presidential or vice presidential seat,
along with a position from their
See CANDIDATES, Page 9
Friday
* Despite a few problems, the
Rackham Student Government
(RSG) announced plans yester-
day to have its spring election.
See story, Page 9.
" "The Deer Hunter," hailed
by many as the best movie of the
year, is reviewed on the Arts
page, see Page 7.