g~r tc t an tiN
Eighty-four years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, March 11, 1975

News Phone: 764-0552

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104

Cambodian aid blood money

Apr4
By STEVE STOJIC
WTHEN A PROFESSOR sur-
mounts the multitude of
difficult hurdles set up along
the route to departmental ten-
ure, he or she is officially
stamped, sealed and approved
as eminently qualified in his or
her field. The tenure goal which
assures a professor security and
freedom is attained only after
a long, rigorous scrutiny in
which success is far from guar-
anteed. Associate Dean Eva
Mueller underscores the p e r-
manence of tenure, "Giving ten-
ure is a committment for life,
such a committment should be
made with great care and know-
ledge."
In the literary college (LS,\),
the first step in the tenure pro-
cess is being hired as an as-
sistant professor without !enure.
The position is a full-time ap-
pointment which requires a doc-
torate or its equivalent. An
asssitant professor rece;ves a
one, two, or three year contract
depending on how certain the
department is that the person
will work out.
The department can refuse to
renew the contract if it finds
the person unsatisfactory. Us-
ually, the person is notified ear-

FIVE YEARS AGO, Cambodia was
still a nation of relative peace
and prosperity nestled between war-
torn Laos and Vietnam. Prince Noro-
dom Sihanouk, perhaps the' wiliest
chief of state in the world, played a
harrowing game of diplomatic tight-
rope walking between American and
Communist interests to keep his land
from war.
But in March 1970, Sihanouk was
deposed by Prime Minister Lon Nol,
fighting began between government
forces and Cambodia insurgents, and
Cambodia began the long descent
into the agonies of war in Southeast
Asia.
From the beginning of the Lon
Nol regime, the United States did its
best to exacerbate Cambodia's plight.
First came the April 1970 invasion,
and, when that wild goose chase
ended, massive bombing raids were
undertaken to help beleaguered gov-
ernment troops.
A nation once at peace became a
nation in agony. Rice and rubber, the
mainstavs of Cambodia's pre-war ex-
port economy, were no longer sold
abroad.
Cambodians fortunate enough to
dodge bombs and bullets were forced
to flee their land, and relocate in
teeming refugee camps devoid of ade-

quate housing, food, or medical care.
While hundred died in the camps,
thousands more have been killed in
five years of war. One observer esti-
mates that one out of every ten
Cambodians have been either killed
or wounded during that period.
Phnom Penh is now under seige in
what appears to be the final act of
the Cambodian tragedy. President
Ford would like us to believe that by
injecting $222 million of military aid
into the tottering and corrupt Lon
Nol regime. the deluge can be averted
in time for negotiations to end the
conflict.
But there are no negotiations cur-
rently underway nor are there talks
scheduled for the future. To prolong
the bloodshed another few months in
the elusive hone of eliciting a nego-
tiated peace is a display of political
niavete and callous cruelty.
As this is being written, rockets
are falling into the center of Phnom
Penh. Men, women, and children are
dvinz, torn anart by exnlosions or
slowly starving from malnutrition.
To an immense degree, American
policy is responsible for this living
hell. We call upon Congress to reject
the latest attemnt to deepen the
maelstrom of human misery that
Cambodia has become.

Iy enough to locate other em-
ployment.
SIX YEARS is the maximum
term of appointment for an as-
sistant professor. In the sixth
year a decision has to be made
on whether to promote the per-
son to associate professor with
tenure, or to give him or her a
one year non-renewable (ter-
minal) contract Although offic-
ial LSA policy is that "excep-
tionally strong cases" can be
raised before the sixtn year, the
usual procedure is to make a
decision in the sixtn year.
In the "Tenure Policies and
Practices" outline for the col-
lege, the criteria for tenure are
listed: "Tenure is earned by e'-
cellent teaching, outstanding re-
search and writing, and sub-
stantial additional service, each
of which must be relevant to the
goals and. needs to the Univer-
sity, College, and the Depart-
ment. Upon the achievemenit of
distinction in an area of learn-
ing, and the prediction of con-
tinued eminence throughout the
individual's professional career.
Less than outstanding perform-
ance in the three areas should
not be construed as an adequate
basis for promo:ion."

Ifessor s

exam:

Tenure

THE BURDEN of measuring
the assistant proessor against
there criteria lies first with the
department, which, if it choos-
es to do so, must apply for ten-
ure in the late fall of the sixth
year. The evaluation procedure
varies from departin :nt to de-
partment. In some departmen's
it is done by an elected execu-
tive committee. In others, the
role is assumed by all people
in that department with tenure
the full and associate profes-
sors.
In the Economics ,epart-
ment, for example, a commit-
tee of three people with tenure
closest to the assis'unt profes-
sor's special field rius cie oth-
er person do the evalua-ing.
They ask students for evalua-
tions and study th, candidate's
published material and the eval-
uations of prominent people in
that special field. The three-
some's recommendation on the
assistant profesor's fitness is
reviewed by all of the tenured
faculty members of the depart-
ment.
THE DEPARTMENT recom-
mendation is then forwarded to
the aopropriate LSA subcommit-
tee. There are three subcommit-
tees, on each for natural sci-
ences, social sciences, and hu-
manities. Each subcorrmittee
has five members, two of who.n
are on the LSA Ex-.tti"'e Com-
mittee.
The subcommittee's recommen-
dation is passed on to the col-
lege Executive Commiztee which
is composed of six elected fa-
c'ilty members, two from each
of the subcommittee areas. The
purpose of the Executive Com-
mittee is to enforce equal stan-
dards across departments. The
Committee decision is reached
late in March and given to the
Regents for final approval in
May. Usually sixty to eighty
people are presented for pro-
motion in LSA alone and since
the Regents can't investigate
all cases, they generally accept
the recommendation of the col-
lege Executive Committee. The
department Executive Commit-
tee may appeal the final decis-
ion.
THE ONLY two legal reasons
for terminating a tenured pro-

the one question the LSA Ex-
ecutive Committee asks before
granting tenure is "Is this the
very best person the University
can get for this slot?" She noted
the two major hazards of ten-
ure-granting: First, "the danger
is that once someone has tenure
he sort of retires on the job",
or secondly that we "let some-
one go and find out he won the
Nobel Prize - that happened
once."
Although securing tenure is no
soft touch, Mueller claims that
"assistant professors here have
a fair chance of making it, but
they certainly have to prove
themselves." She contrasted this
with conditions at other schoo's,
like Harvard, where she said
chances for being retained for
tenure are minimal.
The power of the department
often collides with that of LSA
in tenure decisions. The LSA
Executive Committee can flat-
ly reject the concerted efforts
of a department to obtain ten-
ure for one of its members. The
question of where the ultimate
power should rest - with LSA
or with the department alleg-
edly more familiar with its own
needs and standards is one that
provokes heated debate in aca-
demic circles. Developing the
issue further, should the power
rest with the department, the
Executive Committee, the de-
partment chairman, or the ten-
ured faculty?
ECONOMICS play a major
role in this power struggle. LSA
is under no obligation to fill the
positions of terminated faculty
members. In a time of declining
enrollments in some areas and
tight funding, the college can
reduce a denartment's staff and
streamline its budget by refus-
ing to grant tenure, thereby
leaving the vacated post open.
On the other hand, a depart-
ment may attempt to maintain
its size by nominating people
for tenure who are not really tip
to par.
One assistant professor seek-
ing tenure points out shortcom-
ings in the tenure process. (Be-
cause of his vulnerable position,
he wishes to remain anony-
mous.) He says that while the
basic criteria for tenure h a v e
remained the same. Oe stand-
ards on those criteria have been

-- sideswipes
Yes or no on issue:
Where is "M~arv?"
By BOB SEIDENSTEIN -

Files: Open to all or none

ALTHOUGH A NEW federal law
has opened up most student re-
cords at the University, the admin-
istration still is making every effort
to keep as much information secret
as possible. The Daily has stated re-
peatedly that we feel that all the in-
formation in a student's file that
pertains to the subject should be
made. open.,
In January, the Family Education
Rights and Privacy Act forced all
schools and colleges to make all such
data available to students, except
letters of recommendation written by
high school counselors before Janu-
ary 1, 1975. The measure let schools
decide whether the letters should be
kept secret, destroyed or made avail-
able to students.
As a result of-the law, the Literary
College (LSA) Administrative Board
said that all the files, including the
controversial letters, should be made
available to students.
Nevertheless, Vice President' for
Academic Affairs Frank Rhodes over-
ruled the board and said that the
letters must remain secret. He con-
tended the rights of the counselors
would be violated if those letters
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Glen Allerhand, Gordon Atche-
son, Stephen Hersh, Cheryl Pilate,
Cathy Reuther, Jeff Sorenson
Editorial Page: Alan Gitles, Pa u I
Haskins, Debra Hurwit, Sara Rimer,
Mark Snider
Arts Page: David Weinberg
Photo Technician: Pauline Lubens

were to be disclosed.
HOWEVER, WE FEEL that although
it may cause some embarrass-
ment to ,counselors if this informa-
tion is disclosed to students, it's
much more important that Univer-
sity counselors not have access to re-
cords that students here cannot see.
Obviously, if he letters are there in
the file, the potential exists for those
records to figure in decisions made
about the student without his or her
knowledge.
Last month, Rhodes demonstrated
that he thinks this information
should be kent in the files, with stu-
dents forbidden to see the material.
Associate LSA Dean Charles Morris
announced in February that Liter-
arv Cololege Counseling offices plan-
ned to destroy the files. He argued
that "if the student can't see the
files. then (we feel) no one should."
Against the Administration diesareed
and Rhodes ordered LSA not to de-
strov any files. He was saying, in ef-
fect, that the records must remain
secret - since they couldn't be de-
stroved or made open.
CLEARLY THE ADMINISTRATION,
or at least Mr. Rhodes, is intent
on -keeping some of the records un-
der wraps. While students can justly
be quite pleased with the new law,
which has opened up the vast ma-
iority of the records to student peru-
sal. the University's recent actions
make is clear that they will rigidly
onpose any efforts to open up stu-
dent records.

By BOB SEIDENSTEIN
I WAS kind of upset about the
manslaughter conviction of
that doctor in Boston whose
only crime was performing a
legal abortion and so, in the
best American tradition, I de-
cided to tell my Congressman
how I felt.
All I did, though, was leave
a phone message with a local
secretary of Mr. Esch. I was
therefore a little surprised when
a letter from him marked "Of-
ficial Business" arrived over a
week later.
I read it and couldn't under-
stand it. Three friend's read it
and couldn't understand it. The
complete text of the letter fol-
lows, in the hope that you will
understand it and tell me what
it means. Get out your politi-
cianese secret decoder rings,
here we go.
"Dear Mr. Seidenstein:
"Many thanks for contacting
my Ann Arbor office.
"AS YOU MAY know, I do
not agree with the Supreme
Court decision on abortion be-
cause I do not believe that abr-
tion should be used indiscrimin-
ately as a means of birth con-
trol. I feel that abortion is a
private matter that should be
between the physician and his
patient and the physician should
be able to do legally what he
feels he needs to do profession-
ally with regard to the health
and safety of the .mother.
"I have written to ChaOrman
Peter Rodino of the House Judi-
ciary Committee urging him to
hold hearings on this matter
in order that the issue may re-
ceive a complete discussion by
this Congress.
"With best wishes, I em
Sincerely,
Marvin L. Esch
Member of Congress'
IT WAS signed "Marv."
The first person who cnn de-
cipher those paragraphs wins a
free ticket to a Ronald 2'iegler
lecture.
I'm troubled. Just what is
that man trying to tell me? He
starts off by saying he opposes

abortion used "indiscriminate-
ly." He then makes a left-hand
turn from the far right lane and
says abortions are "private"
matters which should be legal.
I think he's saying abortions
are okay as long as they don't
control births, but I'm riot sure.
He follows by saying that
Peter Rodino should hold hear-
ings on the matter to find out
what he just said.
In one sentence he not o n 1 y
passes the buck, but tries to
impress me by droping t h e
name of a big TV star.
HE CONCLUDES by saying
he is sincerely Marvin Esch. I
think he's sure about that.
To reiterate, he's against dead
babies unless they are kept pri-
vate, in which case he doesn't
have to be bothered by them.
This is the man mentioned by
some as a possible successor to
Sen. Hart.
If he wishes then washes to
a constituent in liberal A n n
Arbor, does he wash and trnen
wish with the voters in Livonia?
I believe the man is trying
hard not to be offensive. For
people without brains he may
succeed. For people w i t h
brains he may not. Personally,
I'm still confused.
Abortion is not a new issue.
Does Esch really think it needs
further study?'
Of course it is possihle that
he neither wrote nor approved
of the letter, in which case I'm
glad to see he's got as much
control over his staff as Nixon
claims he had over nis.
I MET MARVIN at his Wash-
ington office once. He was very
hospitable. He's not a really
bad guy. I'm sure he's not to-
tally incompetent although I
might write to Rodino and ask
him to investigate the matter
so that he can thank me for my
letter at the taxpayer's expense.
Bob Seiderstein is a notorious
staff writer for the Editorial
Page.

"The stability of ten-
ured faculty narrows
the number of open-
ings. Positions become
available only after re-
tirement, death, resig-
nation to teach else-
where, expansion in
the department or a
shift in student enroll-
ment."
has a policy that research tops
everything. A lot of people who
are poor teachers make it any-
how if they are good research-
ers. Teaching counts for next to
nothing."
She also questions the way
in which published material is
evaluated. "They go by the
amount of publication as well as
the quality. Some people who
are prolific publishers may say
the same thing in ten arti:es."
Another fault she observes is
the tieht secrecy surrounding
the process. "The tenure pro-
cess is really secretive. You
don't know what was said. Your
files aren't onen to you. You
don't get any document you can
res,+ond to."
THE ASSISTANT professor
oioted earlier offered s o m e
snegestions for improving t h e
tenure nrocess. To change t h e
anonvrnous nature of the cur-
rent system, he nrooo.es that in-
terviews he viven in doubtful
casas. Althogh candidates are
well known by the evaluators,
inter-iews could clear no incer-
tainties and let the professors
know where thev stand.
In the case of oub!ications
the Profssor savs that only one
n"t of tw"tv-fiuP articles are
ae'cented for nbishing. Also,
lng ichblication laes - t h e
time from when a work is com-
r,l.tp to when it finally nets into
nri"t, - cause recognition to
came later than it used to. To
snlre this nrohlem, he suggests
that nnnbhlished book and ar-
tT-1P manus-rints be considered
mare seriosyIv.
Recanse more and more peo-
nle are not considered until
t01ir sixth ver, he feels t h n.t
they s'ho"VI have a chance to
r"nIl. He nronoses that the
nr'iintion period be lengthened
by one or two years. Professor
Crnffin,. hrwevr. thinks that "six
vors is e~ongh time," but she
sneests that "your own de-
nart*nent should carry the most
weight."
THE T1TFNT"r svtem resem-
bles a gnme of msical chairs.
with too mnny Javers and not
enouirh r-lhrs. The situation is
not likelv to imrr'w'. Higher
standards. better antality profes-
sors. and a tight economic
cr'unch seem to be leading to
a de facto establishment of lim-
its in granting tenure.
The tenure nrocess is clearly
unite comnlicated. It varies
from denartment to department
denending on size, newness, and
whether or not it is growing.
Ultimately, however, the whole
concept of tenure can be ser-
io'usly a estioned. The anony-
mons assistant professor pro-
tests that "Tenure grants aca-
demic freedom to some while
others have no academia to
have freedom in."
In a time of uproar over the
misuse of natural resources, it's
strange that the coun-ry seems
to waste the most important re-
sonrces of all - the talents of
highly educaed, qualified peto-
ple.

Steve Stojic is an Editorial
Page staff writer.

"There's always the danger that once some-
one has tenure he sort of retires on the job,
or that we'll let someone go and later find
out he's won the Nobel prize."
"r.J . iswflswm t mn..n..vv. y

fessor are: gross negligence of
duties, in which the case is
clear, or lack of funds -- but
only after all those without ten-
iire have been terminated. "In
fact," states Dean Mueller, "a
tenured person is hardly ever
let go."
The stability of the tenured
faculty narrows the uum er of
openings. P)siticons become
available only after retirement,
death, resignason to teach ehe-
where, expansion in the depart-
ment, or a shift in student en-
rollment. Desphe these restiic-
tions, Mueller maintains : h a t
no tenure quoras exist in LSA
and that the stance has always
been, "If there is a really gift-
ed professor, he shoold be pro-
moted."
There is no affirmative action
policy in the tenure system.
Mueller admits that "there may
be discrimination both ways
which is unintentional and un-
conscious," but that the college
policy is that "minorities and
women should be as qualified as
everyone else,"
SINCE TENURE is a com-
mitment for life", Mueller says

raised. Expectations have been
rephrased in stronger iang'iage
and he claims it's "getting
tougher to get tenure." Citing
two examples of the new and
higher LSA expectations as list-
ed in the official "Notes on Pro-
motion Procedures", he says
the college now exoects "let+ers
from nationally recognized ex-
perts" and "a detailed exnia-
nation of those teaching skIlls
and achievements in rela ion to
the best teacher in the de-
partment."
THE PROFESSOR claims
that "even a good evalimtion is
no longer good enough." Whi-e
the LSAeadministration m a i n-
tains that every capable person
can receive it, he says that the
raising of standards in f a c t
replaces the old system with a
competitive one.
Professor Edna Coffin, a fifth
year assistant professor of
modern Hebrew in the Near
Eastern Languages Department,
questions the minimal imrort-
ance given teaching as compar-
ed to the other criteria for
granting tenure? "The college

i

Letters

to

The

Daily

education
To The Daily:
BARRY KATZ eloquently ex-
presses what has become more
apparent as I am about to grad-
uate. In an often oppressive at-
mosphere, this university teach-
es you how to compete, achieve,
and conquer. It does not and
cannot teach you how to smell
the trees in the Arb or stare
at the water rippling in t h e
Huron river. The university is
not structured this way. We
have to do it on our own.
-David Fosler
March 10
BAM
To The Daily:
ON TUESDAY, February 18,
a friend and I walked over to
the Administration Building to
seek answers to our questions
concerning the "take-over" of
that building. We were disap-
pointed to find that ignorance
risnave hy somn nf the nennol

displaying the background. Why
should the students of this uni-
versity pay for it?
As for all black students
exempt from exams and their
grades under A's be "neutral-
ized" until enrollment and fa-
culty demands are met, this is
outrageous!
I do think it was wrong for
the Administration to promise
to answer the BAM demands,
when they had no intention of
keeping them. I woud apprec-
iate it if someone fron the
Third World Organization would
write a letter explaining his or
her views.
--Name witheld by
request
February 19
America
To The Daily:
SOON, MANY of you will be
receiving your diplomas a n d
graduating into the world to
seek employment. You will be
called unon to nut vour skills

workmen in the country. It is al-
so the largest used of steel, rub-
ber, glass, and many other raw
and finished producs When
the automobile industry is in
trouble, these related industries
suffer also. Department stores,
investment and insurance firms,
grocers, and many others are
forced to cut their work forces
because of the slumo in buying
by the public.
Under these ci:cumstanves,
industry and business across the
nation will not be hiring a n y
new help as they are reducing
their work forces.
WE RECOGNIZE the young
people as the future job hold-
ers and executives of this na-
tion, and we would like to see
you find the positio, you are
seeking. But at this time if the
economi continues to declIne.
we are all in trouble.
Becaise your stake is vfry
high in this, we feel yni shuld
be leaders - it maws sense

Clevelands, and Pittsbar
the future, and we cou
come a nation selling an
ing their products. Tbis
be fine for the fewc
who might get a job
Volkswagons, Toyotas, et
not for long, if there
customers.
-C. T. Blunk
February 12, 1975
To The Daily:
IN REGARD to the upt
engagement of "The
Porter" at the Michigan
ter, I feel compelled t
ment on the fallacious a
ing surrounding this con
sial film. Thus far all
show bills I've seen have
enthusiastic excerptsc
N.Y. Times review whic
something like "a kinky
on." With due fairness1
cent Canby, the film wa
ned by the Times and
himself wrote a subsequ

ghs of
Ad be-

housing

hassle

d serv- To The Daily:
would REGARDING your recent ar-
of you ticle on the horrendous student
selling housing situation, I'd like to re-
c. But late an experience I had last
are no year. My roommate and I were
living in an apartment rented
by one of the largest landlord
companies in town. After sever-
al months of suffering a host of
film indignities (from leading ceil-
ings to roaches), we contacted
coming Campus Legal Aid. With their
Night counsel, we moved out of the
Thea- apartment, sued for dam ages,
a com- and won a settlement out of
dvertis- court.
trover- Students should be aware
of the, that even the biggest rental
borne companies are far from a I I-
of the powerful. They are able to un-
h read fairly keep damage deposits,
y turn- withhold repairs, etc., because
to Vin- they are rarely challenged.
as pan- From my own experience and
Canby that of others, small claims
ent ar- court suits (no lawyer neces-