POLICE SEARCHES See editorial page E 43UU Eighty -Nine Years o f Editorial Freedom IOUIIQ INCOHERENT High-T2o Low-490 See Today for details 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.