IA I 1 1 1 y 14 iciJn i Eighty-one years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Getting an education--if you're male 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich. News Phone: 764-0552 Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers or the editors. This must be noted in all reprints. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 1972 NIGHT EDITOR: ROSE SUE BERSTEIN Policing the police plan A TIE UNIVERSITY moves closer - . through private meetings -- to final- i4atiori of plans for a "University Unit" of the Ann Arbor Police Department, many questions are being raised that have not been adequately discussed. Is this plan the most inexpensive route the University could have taken? Will there be etiough men to provide the Uni- versity with adequate protection? And most important, how much, if any, input will students and faculty have over the operation of the security force? The University, reacting to criticism from the University Council and the Stu- dent Government Council, has agreed to a very weak compromise proposal. A stu- dent-faculty advisory board will be set up to consider any. complaints and to make recommendations to Frederick Da- vids, head of the University department of safety. Davids in turn will convey these com- ments to Police Chief Walter Krasny. Krasny will be under no obligation to fol- low any of the suggestions. THE UNIVERSITY community must de- cide if this is the type of arrangement they wish to have. Do we wish to have a special security force on campus that may not respond to the special needs of the University? Perhaps we should have a binding student-faculty policy board to oversee the operation of the unit., As long as the University and the city continue to make the decisions in private meetings and inform concerned commun- ity members after the decisions have been made, we will not have a security .force acceptable to all. The University may be surprised at the response the plan may invoke when they finally present a completed version. BUT IT SHOULD come as no surprise -- people who are not consulted along the way can do nothing but react after- ward. --PAUL TRAVIS By ELEANOR LEWIS ]FRESHMEN WOMEN entering coed col- leges these days have higher grades and entrance examination scores than do entering freshmen men. This is because a predominately male student body is desired at most coed col- leges, which admit men with academic records ' and qualifications poorer than those of many rejected females. In the fall of 1971, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed, 194 to 189, the Erlenborn Amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1971. The orig- inal bill had prohibited any quotas on sex when admitting students to college if the school already had at least 10 per cent of the minority sex in its current enrollment. The Erlenborn Amendment to the bill de- leted that prohibition, allowing sex to con- tinue to be a legitimate criterion for ad- mission to coed colleges. The Erlenborn Amendment had the of- ficial support of the American Association of Universities as well as the backing of Yale, Princeton, Harvard, and Dartmouth. Another supporter was Father Hesburgh, President of Notre Dame University and Chairman of the U.S. Civil Rights Com- mission. Early this month however, the Senate voted to deny federal funds to public col- legestand universities that discriminate against women in their admissions pro- cedures. Thus, discrimination without fed- eral sanctions may only continue at pri- vate undergraduate schools, maritime and military schools and academics, and church affiliated institutions where coedu- cation would be "inconsistent with relig- ious tenets." SEVERAL JUSTIFICATIONS are offer- ed for an admissions policy that includes sex as a criterion: Differences in the ratio of men to women students contri- butes to the diversity among institutions; male alumni contribute more money to their alma maters than do females; hav- ing more women would change the curri- culum because women take more social science and humanities courses. All of these reasons were cited by the official statement outlining Harvard's views on the Amendment; and Har- vard's president Derek Dok, cited the last two in the Oct. 6, 1971 Harvard Crimson to explain why Harvard and Radcliffe can- not have an equal number of students. BECAUSE THESE reasons are part of the conventional 'wisdom', it may be worth examining the validity of each. Differences in the ratio of male to fe- male students contributes to the diversity among institutions. In theory this may be a valid argu- ment, but the fact that its operation al- most always favors males makes it a discriminatory policy. It is the rare school that decreases the number of male stu- dents to increase the number of female students. Officials at both Harvard and Yale have been quoted in recent years to the effect StatistiC Time Magazine this week re- ports that in 1970 about 50.5 per cent of American high school graduates were girls, but only 41 per cent of ,the people enrolling in college that year were women. Time goes on to cite Stan- ford's quota of 60 per cent males, and Princeton's figure of three men to one woman. Women get an average of only s report $518 annually in scholarship and financial aid as compared to a $760 average for men, Time reports. "And although more women than ever received bachelor's de- grees in 1970 (344,465)," Time says, "the percentage of recipi- ents who were female (43 per cent) was actually lower than in 1899 (53 per cent)." Sgthe people? that not one qualified man would be denied admission to either school because of the increased admission of women. Thus the enrollment of women only increases when the total enrollment of the school is in- creased. Furthermore, while the r a t i o of men to women varies from school to school, there is no indication that this variety per se is of any particular educational value. Without doubt it affects the social life of the student body, for the way it operates it assures a scarcity of women, but any other effects are unknown and unresearch- ed. Diversity and freedom to differ are words with an intrinsic appeal to Americans. They reaffirm our feelings that we have op- tions and that we have control over them. But in this case these words are being used to support an action that denies control and freedom to women by denying them equal access with men to a college education. This is particularly serious at a time when an increasing number of women's schools are becoming coed and subsequently ad- mitting fewer women. It is an interesting commentary on the degree of institu-4 tional misogony that when women's schools become coed they decrease the number of women they admit, whereas when men's schools become coed they usually increase their overall enrollment to avoid any re- duction in the number of males admitted. MALE ALUMNI contribute more to their alma mater than females. The appropriateness of using future earn- ing potential as a. criterion for admission is highly questionable. If this reason were strictly applied, blacks and 'other minor- ities would not fare well in admissions pro- cedures, yet most institutions are spend- ing a great deal of money to recruit minor- ity students. Furthermore, a study of alumni contribu- tions might reveal that more important than a student's sex in predicting future contributions is the student's family back- ground and social class, and students from rich families give more than students from poor families. How much alumni can contribute is pro- bably also determined in large part by how much they earn. Countless studies have reported that regardless of their edu- cation, occupation, age, or race, women earn less than men. Given that, how could they be expected to contribute as much as their male coun- terparts? Using recent civil rights legislation, many women have started filing for back pay and pay raises to make their salaries equal to their male coworkers. Complain- ing individuals and groups have done ex- tensive research and can now verify that women are hired at lower starting salaries, receive fewer promotions, smaller raises, and seldom make as much as a male do-' ing the same work. A major battle for equal pay for equal work is now being waged at most large universities, for hundreds of sex discrim- ination complaints have been filed with the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare's Office For Civil Rights. The Harvard Crimson (Oct. 6, 1971), published a December; 1970 letter sent to Harvard's president by the Region Civil Rights Direc- tor, Office For Civil Rights, HEW. This letter detailed the results of HEW's investigation of Harvard's treatment of women employes and reported such find- ings as: "Of particular note is the group of women working under the job classifi- cation 'Research Assistant' and 'Re- search Associate' . . . Harvard isabene- fiting from the academic talents of these highly trained women while deny- ing them status and pay commensurate with their work . . . women by and large had more advanced education and related work experience than men." "In most instances, the males were paid salaries equal to or more than their higher educated and more exper- ienced female counterparts." Thus on the one hand colleges' and universities use sex as a criterion for ad- mission because women will not contri- bute as much to the' alumni fund, while on the other hand paying their women em- ployes less. The logic behind such a two-faced pohcy is surprisingly fuzzy,, especially -oming from such will educated males. Obviously one's ability to contribute to any fund is strongly determined by what he or she is paid. If universities want larger contributions from their women graduates, they should pay their educated female staff members as much as they pay males. If all in- stitutions do this, and HEW's investiga- tions may well force them to, women would be in a position to consider contributing as much as men. One could, 'of course, ask why women should contribute money to their coed alma maters until these institutions stop favoring male applicants. After all, if a woman is held in such low esteem by these. institutions, withholding contributions may be the' one way she can retaliate against those who tolerated her only as some sort of grudging token to equality. MORE WOMEN students would a Ite r the curriculum because they take more science and humanities and social sciences courses. Courses are subject to swings in popular- ity and facilities routinely adjust to stu- dents' demands. For example, currently ecology courses have surged in popularity while interest in language courses nas de- clined. Some requirements are eliminated and others added as a matter of routine. New programs are started and old' ones discarded. This is a normal part of as institution's history and a measure of its flexibility and desire to be relevant and responsive to students' needs and interests. Curriculum changes made because more women are on campus would surely be no more serious or dramatic than any of the other changes made to reflect students' preferences, be they because current en- rollment has a higher percentage of black athletic, poor, or pragmatic students. Furthermore the favoring of humanities and social science courses by women is but another example, of the effect of sex typing on one's personal development. Women are not inherently better than men in these subjects, but their upbring- ing and experiences ordinarily m a k e them less interested in the sciences and mathematics. Hopefully, as the influence of traditional sex role norms on a child's early develop- ment decreases, we will see men and women enrolled with equal frequency in all areas of study. THE REASONS -CITED for permitting discrimination in college' admissions are neither rational nor defensible. Rather, they represent prejudice and bigotry in people who, ought to know better. If there is any value in a college educa- tion, the administrators of all our col- leges and universities should reverse their position and work for the passage of a bill ,prohibiting discrimination on the- basis of sex in any university procedure. Eleanor Lwis is a graduate studeti ini psychology, specializing in the psy- chology. of women. I TOMORROW NIGHT Student Govern- ment Council will probably hold a very brief meeting, adjourning early so that its campaigning members can re- turn to their leaflets and legends. During election campaigns, ' people sometimes stop and wonder what the campaigners have done for them pre- viously to merit loyalty. And, while we are in the midst of an SGC campaign, it's as good a time as any to wonder what Council has been doing for us. In the past two months SGC has done many things. Just ask a Council mem- ber. Or read a campaign poster. Either one will tell you what that side thinks it's done of value and what the opposi- tion has done to harm you. BUT WHAT has really happened at those interminable Thursday night sessions? A meat co-op has been started. And finished. Presidential candidate Bill Ja- cobs, now Vice President for Grocery Services, tried to get wholesale meat prices on campus, but lack of student in- terest in this limited food co-op idea, along with lack of prudent planning, led to this project's early demise. There are food co-ops in town, inde- pendent of SC, with which Council could have collaborated to offer a truly comprehensive and flexible program. There's the People's Food Co-op, for grains, oils, honey, nuts, and the like, the Rainbow People's fruit and vegetable co- op, and the floating itemized fruit and vegetable co-op. These other co-ops survive because they are actual co-ops; their members work to provide their services, rather than allowing the operation of a veritable order-taking store with sales persons and customers. A genuine co-op has no sales persons or customers, but rather members. Students voted last fall for better gro- cery services. But did SGC really provide them? ANOTHER ISSUE last fall was student representation on faculty and admin- istrative advisory committees. Faculty members had complained that their com- mittees wanted student input, and moderate students wanted to provide that input, yet Council voted not to appoint students to serve as administrative tok- ens who would grant legitimacy to the "input" theory. But not too long ago, last Feb. 17, SGC, voted to approve a slate of eight appli- cants for-various advisory units. The ap- plicants had replied to an ad in The Daily; only one was- turned away - told to come back with more experience - but when SGC members questioned some of them, the applicants seemed to have scanty information on the purpose and function of the committees to which they applied. In fact, one of the new student repre- sentatives on the Research Policies Com- mittee felt it all right to permit Defense Department Secret contracting because, he said, the DOD is a handy agency - it can provide funding for projects hav- ing no relation to defense that might otherwise go unfunded. So Council went ahead and appointed a group of hardly screened students, and appointed more at the last three meet- ings. Now it tells us we have student rep- resentation throughout the University. WHAT ELSE has SGC done for us lately? Do we want SGC to do any more for us? -ROSE SUE BERSTEIN 4, Letters: Backing the black housing unit Gridiron Club: Eating it SOME OF Washington's more interest- ing political battles are not fought on conventional battlefields. For example, one of the lighter skir- mishes in the war-between-the-sexes is now being pressed at, of all places, the Gridiron Club, prestigious Washington bastion of male journalism. Each year the Gridiron Club holds 'a dinner - it's considered a status sym- bol to be invited. But this year, the in- vitations have been turned down by nine of the 18 women to whom the once-in- A-lifetime offer was extended, and by several male invitees as well. "Gentlemen, guess who's not coming to dinner," Presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm wrote.- Other presidential candidates rejecting the offer are George McGovern and Ed Muskie, who say the club discriminates, and John Lindsay, and Wilbur Mills, who didn't comment on their reasons. Among the female stars wholve decid- ed to go without the Gridiron Club's meal of the noted figures who do deign to dine in the normally stag splendor of the club. Among them is that supposedly highly principled (but sometimes hypocritical) candidate Hubert Humphrey, who will not only eat, but will also serve as a guest speaker. Another who intends to attend is Mich- igan's own Rep. Martha Griffiths. She'll be joined by Reps. Edith Green from Oregon and Lenor Sullivan from Missouri, both Democrats, unless the Journalists for Professional Equality or their con- sciences get to them before the April 8 festivities. The Journalists for Professional Equal- ity, a group that has protested Gridiron Club's members' tax-deductible dues sta- tus, saying the club is professional and therefore can have tax-exemptions but no discrimination, or it is social and can have discrimination plus taxation. t-_ _ _~ _ V_ ._ _ _ .. . . To The Daily: THE ANN ARBOR Branch of the Young Workers Liberation League fully supports the d e- mands initiated by the South Quad Minority Council and the Black Women of Stockwell for the crea- tion of Afro-American and African cultural living units. These demands focus on the rac- ist neglect of the University in re- gard to the situation of black stu- dents on campus, and provide the basis for beginning to correct the injustice. The racism of the University has taken many forms. For in- stance, in spite of the number of crimes being equal or greater in a number of 'other dorms, South Quad has had the most in- tensive security this past year. This amounts to the University saying that because more black students live at South Quad, there is a greater threat of criminal ac- tivity there. The facts prove otherwise. East Quad, a dorm with a higher per- cent of white students, has a, higher rate of crime than South. These facts prove that toe Uni- versity's acts which attempt to link crime with black students are false; and have served to whip up racist sentiments, rather than provide security for students. Furthermore, we point out that the "security" at South Q u a d has resulted in harassment of black students, not their protec- tion. Also, there have been many in- stances in the dorms where black students have been called racist and defamatory names. Yet there has been inadequate effort by the housing office to correct these instances and prevent their re-oc- currence. The black students, in their de- mands and subsequent explana- tions, have listed many other veri- fied racist acts and omissions by the Housing Office and white stu- dents. Finally, some have said that these proposals are segregation- ist. The facts prove otherwise. The purpose of these units is to pro- vide a living experience in Afro- American culture to University students regardless of color. The units are open to sensitive white students, and already a sub- stantial number of white students have applied for admission to these units. Lee Gill, leader of the South Quad Minority Council, has called for individual and collective ex- pressions of suport for the pro- posals from the students of the University. We urge all students to call Housing director John Feldkamp and University President Fleming and express their support. -Young Workers Liberation League, Ann Arbor Branch March 13 Daily distortion? To The Daily: ONCE AGAIN The Daily h a s shown its predilection for distor- tion. Once again it is subtle. In the March 2 issue there ran an arti- cle titled "City Dems ask more spending in spite of increasing de- ficit." The article went on to explain -or if you prefertsuggest why the city Democrats had complet- ed a platform which is seriously impractical. Quote after quote is provided as evidence for the impracticality. Health care, growth policy and marijuana laws arehmentioned as areas in which the Democrats pledge change, then a quote is given which would damage t h e plank's credibility. Perhaps - perhaps - this is true. What is unfortunate is the fact that The Daily chose to run this article. unaccomnanied by E t ., "The President just set our release date... The day after the election !" No mention is made of this. The reader carries. the impression the Democrats are impractical - and of course.next time vrn rnd Old times To The Daily: mercy. Thata brother; he is years hence.) man is not your you." (Twenty-two years hence.)