Page 10-Friday, April 6, 1979-The Michigan Daily
PLAGUED BY STAFF CUTBACKS, UNCERTAIN LEADERSHIP
City human rights-personnel merger
inefficient
(Continued from Page 1)
four people in the two departments
resulting in a total staff of seven, and a
budget Cut of 35 per cent.
Despite these figures, Mayor Louis
Belc'er said, the department merger
has ereated an increase in staff. "I
don't Me any reason to enlarge the
department. Every department in City
Hallits more people," he said.
THE MAYOR added that there have
been cutbacks in staff across all depar-
tments Ond that more' departmental
constraitits can be expected in the
future. Figures on departmental staff
and budget cutbacks for fiscal 1978-79,
however, reveal that none of these
decreases came close to the reductions
in the Human Rights Department. No
other departments of comparable size
lost more than one person, and the next
largest budget reduction was a nine per
cent cut in the Planning Department.
As a result of the across-the-board
reductions in the Human Rights Depar-
tment, Rowe said it takes much longer
to resolve complaints and that he is for-
ced to turn over the majority of his
cases to the Michigan Department of
Civil Rights. "It takes three or four
months longer that way, but it is better
for the client. With the amount of work I
have now, I wouldn't be doing the per-
son justice by handling his case," Rowe
said.
Rowe added that he has been faced
with a tremendous backlog of work
because of his new Personnel Depar-
tment responsibilities. "I am the Per-
sonnel Department," Rowe said. -
RAYMOND Chauncey, the one other
field representative in the department,,
said he has had similar problems
meeting the demands of an in-
creasingly heavy workload. "I have to
put things off a lot," he said.
Both Chauncey and Rowe agreed that
one of the major problems caused by
staff cutbacks, has been an inability to
effectively "advertise" the department
and the human rights ordinance.
"There are people who don't even know
we're here," Chauncey said.
Rowe said this problem of adver-
tising has further added to com-
munication difficulties the department
has had with companies charged with
discrimination. "Companies don't un-
derstand that we're just there to assist
them, to offer them expertise in
recruitment. ve are not accusing them
of discrimination. Once we get past this
communication problem, we can have a
good working relationship," Rowe said.
ROWE ADDED, however, that this is
often difficult because of the large
delay in handling cases, and the
frequent lack of follow-up.
The effective functioning of the
Human Rights Department has been
hindered further by uncertain leader-
ship. For the entire year preceding the
merger, the Human Rights Department
had no director. When the Personnel
and Human Rights Departments
merged, a director was appointed to
preside over both departments. That.
director, however, left his position in
November and since that time, Byron
Marshall, assistant to City Ad-
ministrator Sy Murray, has been the
acting director.
Although plans are underway to ap-
point a new department head and a per-
sonnel assistant, Marshall said he is
unsure when such plans will be im-
plemented.
DEPARTMENTAL cutbacks aside,
current statewide trends in human
rights legislation have' also hampered
the department's ability to enforce the
city's human rights ordinance.
On August 15, 1978, Attorney General
Frank Kelley issued a statement that
local human rights departments are
"limited to performing education,
counseling, and advising rules in the
area of civil rights enforcement." The
Human Rights Departments in Ann Ar-
bor and Detroit are currently the only
such departments in the state with legal
powers.
Although City Attorney Bruce
Laidlaw, in response to this statement,
said the Human Rights Department
would continue to act under Ann Arbor
law, those connected with the depar-
tment said the Attorney General's
opinion, combined with the recent cut-
backs, would have a stifling effect.
"THE DEPARTMENT isn't going to
be as effective as we would like it to
be," said Marshall.
And faced with an increasingly
apathetic climate in the general area of
civil rights, most observers agree the
future for human rights enforcement in
this city looks gloomy.
The thinking around City Hall, said
city Councilman Ken Latta (D-First
Ward), is that "human rights has
become something of a nuisance."
0th Anniversary of the BAM STRIKE:
What was its implications?
EQUALITY vs LIBERTY;
The Search for a New International Economic Order. Lecture by
Prof. Archie Sin ham
Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College, CUNY; current U research scholar on the New
International Economic Order; and Nonalienment.
FREE
Friday, April 6, 1979 at 8 p.m. in Schorling Aud.
(School of Education)
Over 200 anti-nukes protest
(Continued from Page 1)
Europe.
lHE SAID contractors are now taking
soil samples near Gorieben, West Ger-
many, a proposed nuclear waste dum-
ping site for European reactors. Beiver
said 35,000 protesters have demon-
strated at the site and that the West
German border patrol was mobilized to
"prevent people from crashing" the
site.
Currently, there are two nuclear
power plants under construction in
Michigan, according to Ken Lans, a
University medical student and Arbor"
Alliance member.
Sponsored by: The Black Matters Committee, BSU, LSA-SG, MSA, PAC, and Office of Ethics
and Religion
In 1974, construction- began on two
nuclear plants in Midland, Michigan, at
an estimated cost of $300 million. The
plants are now 80 per cent complete and
their cost has swelled to approximately
$1 billion.
TIHE ALLIANCE is demanding a halt
in the construction of these two reac-
tors, as well as use of the Fermi 1 and 2
reactors in Monroe, Michigan.
Following the speeches at Regents'
Plaza, the protesters marched to the
Diag, then back to the plaza where the
demonstration disbanded 45 minutes
later.
The demonstrators stated in their
literature that the Harrisburg incident
demonstrates the U.S. does not have the
capability to ensure safe construction
and functioning of nuclear power plan-
ts, and that reactors pose a "threat to
the healh and well-being of the
population."
Members of the Alliance plan to at-
tend a massive anti-nuclear rally at
Detroit's Kennedy Square scheduled
for noon today.
'U' phone
bill tops
$5 million
in 1978-79
By BONNIE JURAN
Though most University ad-
ministrators and faculty may seem
easy to reach, one would think they
never get off the phone, considering the
amount of the University's phone bill.
According to Don Gagnon, University
Telephone Operations Manager, the
estimated phone bill for the 1978-79
fiscal year is a cool $5.2 billion.
Gagnon said the sum may sound like
anenormous amount, until one realizes
all it encompasses. The money goes
toward replenishing such equipment as
telephones, teletypes, alarms, and data
circuits, and also toll calls, and long
distance phoning (watts line, 'direct
distance dialing, and credit card calls).
GAGNON EXPLAINED that the
majority of the sum, around $3.5
million, will be directed toward equip-
ment upkeep, with approximately $1.4
million spent on long distance calls, and
the remaining $450,000 on local calls,
which cost 6.7 each.
The University's phone bill has in-
creased steadily each year, from $4.5
million in 1976-77, to $4.8 million in 1977-
78, and this year's anticipated $5.2
million. Gagnon cited several reasons
for the high bill, explaining that in the
past seven years, Michigan Bell has
steadily increased its rates. Also, the
Operations Manager said the Univer-
sity has continually needed new equip-
ment and said the University has also
increased its amount of long distance
calls, which constitute a 13 per cent in-
crease each year.
Gagnon attributed ,the annual in-
crease in long distance usage to the fact
that "as we become more and more
sophisticated, it is easier to use the
telephone rather than using any other
form of communication."
GAGNON SAID the University also
has access to a watts line which is
located downtown in the Michigan Bell
office. All the departments within the
University are entitled to utilize the
watts system, Gagnon said.
Gagnon added that all long distance
calls, which are made within Univer-
sity departments, are automatically
transferred to the watts line, but if all
the watts lines are busy, the call goes
through direct distance dialing. Gagnon
said about 95 per cent of all directly
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