Eighty-Five Years of Editorial Freedom
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Thursday, April 10, 1975

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New bill, wrong approach

FRAUGHT WITH NEEDLESS and
harmful restrictions, a document
monitoring directed reading/indepen-
dent study (DR/IS) and experiential
courses has been recently approved
by the LSA Curriculum Committee.
Now on the agenda for approval at
today's Executive Comittee meeting,.
the document is accompanied by a
minority report submitted by the stu-
dents on the committee.
Student commitee members are jus-
ified in their outrage over a provision
in the document limiting course credit
in DR/IS and experiential courses to
32 per student. Further hostility has
been directed at the arbitrary re-
striction of eight students for any
faculty member sponsoring DR/IS.
The attempt to stop abuses and
"cheap education" where some pro-
fessors have reportedly taken on 200
independent study students is indeed
a noble one. However, these quantita-
tive restrictions do not necessarily
yield qualitative results.
The 8:1 ratio (eight students in
DR/IS to one faculty member) can-
not possibly be the ideal number for
all departments in the University.
Absolutism from the administration is
neither sensible nor realistic in an
academic society. In certain depart-
ments where some professors are not
willing to sponsor DR/IS, abiding by
the 8:1 restriction would turn stu-
dents away.
COMMITTEE FACULTY members
think they acknowledge these
problems, saying departments could
lower the number at their discretion.
But they say nothing about raising
the number, completely missing the
point.

Furthermore, nowhere in the docu-
ment are faculty members encouraged
to sponsor DR/IS. With the 8:1 limit
how many students of the alleged 200
for a single professor will be able to
take DR/IS? The prospects look grim.
The 32-hour limit, the other con-
troversial provision in the document
makes no sense at all. First of all,
the 32-hour limit carries the obvious
implication that students must take
a minimum of 88 other credits to
graduate. Limiting options for such
valuable programs as independent
study and field work is not a charac-
teristic of a progressive and enlight-
ened institution.
Secondly, committee faculty mem-
bers claim that the number of stu-
dents electing more than 32 hours of
DR/IS and experiential courses is a
very small minority. They also say
that in unique cases, students may pe-
tition the Board of Study to take more
than 32 hours. Exceptions are un-
questionably acknowledged and ac-
cepted.
IT IS APPARENT that no restrictions
should be set on DR/IS and ex-
periential courses. If a restriction on
the number students a faculty mem-
ber should sponsor must be made, the
figures should definitely be deter-
mined departmentally.
LSA Dean of the Curriculum Jean
Carduner predicts the conservative
Executive Committee would lower the
32-hour limit and the 8:1 ratio if it
makes any modifications at all. Un-
deniably, approval of this document
would be a grave error. Modification
with greater restrictions would be
unforgiveable.

By STEVE STOJIC
WTHO SAYS students are pow-
erless when it comes to
effecting University policy? Re-
cent action by the Rate Study
Committee (RSC) resulted in a
unanimous regent vote to freeze
dorm rates for next year. It
was only through concerted
pressure by students, staff, and
faculty that success was achiev-
ed.
Dan Bejesky, LSA sophomore
and member of the RSC, ex-
plains the motivation behind the
student decision to take action:
"One of the reasons we got in-
volved was the fact that people
at Michigan paid the highest
dorm rates in the Big Ten and
received the least services. We
thought there was something
wrong with that."
Bejesky, a Pilot Program
member, recalls the initial step
was taken in October, 1974
when a group of about fifteen
Alice Lloyd residents got togeth-
er to form the Alice Lloyd Stu-
dent Union (ALSU). Their goal
was to concentrate on student
problems such as election par-
ticipation and dorm rate in-
creases. When the student elect-
ed University Housing Council
put out fliers requesting stu-
dene participation in the RSC,
the ALSU decided to put some
members on.
Bejesky and fellow ALSU
member Linda Lieberman join-
ed students Candice Massey and
Nicholas Orlyk, Richard Mun-
son, Director of Alice Lloyd, and
Helen Tanner, Director of Coun-
seling and Programs, as full
voting members of the RSC. The
late Claude Orr, Associate Di-
rector of Housing, was the non-
voting chairman. Bejesky says
it was easy to become a mem-
ber, "It was very easy to get
on this year. We just went there
and they (UHC) asked us a few
qustions and we were on."
ACCORDING TO Housing Di-
rector John Feldkamp, the RSC
was encouraged to "probe deep-
ly into the operations of the
Housing Division and the fin-
ancial bases for those opera-
tions" in order to achieve its
ultimate goal of recommending
Rheto
By KEVIN STIERS
UNLIKE MANY in the "out-
side world," most Univer-
sity students have not yet begun
to feel the full weight of the
current economic crunch. And
like many - including the work-
ers, prime victims of the pre-
sent depression, most students
have not seen the possibility or
desirability of active, political
struggle to arrest the economy's
apparent suicidal course.
About 100 persons convened on
Tuesday at New American
Movement Forum on Radical
Economies and Unemployment.
Mitch Stengel, professor of
Marxian Economics at M.S.U.,
set forth with ample documenta-
tion what many in attendance
already knew: Capitalism is a
system which handsomely re-
wards a very few, and periodi-
cally puts the vast majority
through the wringer of unem-
ployment, breadlines and all the
accompanying hardships and
woe.
Invariably, some students
smirk at such seemingly bloat-
ed, alarmist "rhetoric." Mark
Levitan, of the Unemployed
Committee of the UAW's Unit-
ed National Caucus, had some
sobering facts which transform-
er this "rhetoric" into under-
statement.

rates in single student hous-
ing for 1975-76.
Their "probe" of the Housing
Office depended entirely on in-
formation provided by the gous-
ing Office. Bejesky says, "We
could get almost anything we
wanted, but sometimes we had
to ask several times to get it.
They gave us any cost except
for specific salaries. Instead of
those they gave us administra-
tion position total wage cost. '
In early November the com-
mittee started meeting once a
week for two hours. By De-
cember, they had doubled th:iri
work time. Bejesky explained
the work: "We were all equal
voting members. None of us
were accountants or profession-
als. We were just trying to in-
vestigate the facts. Dick Mun-
son was more important be-
cause he knew a lot about the
inside operations, being an em-
ployee of ahe Housing Office -
a building director.
"WE DID A LOT of arguing
and question-asking at the meet-
ings, but did a lot of homework
of our own going over the fig-
ures. We spent about five hours
a week on outside research. By
the end it got to be even more
than that."
The RSC turned up some in-
teresting facts during its in-
vestigations . Bejesky states,
"The fact that they had such
large reserve accounts excited
us the most. They seemed, to
think it was necessary, but we
found a lot of the money they
spent out of the reserve ac-
counts was wasted."
The Housing Office has two
reserve accounts. One is called
the General Student Residents
Reserve (GSRR) and the other
type is the individual dorm t e-
serve. The GSRR account holds
the accumulated surplus from
general expense costs. It was
created to provide fon emer-
gency type expenditures 1 i k e
major repairs. Bejesky gave the
examples of broken elevaters
and the new plumbing installed
in West Quad.
THE RSG did not question
legitimate repairs, but only what
9e
ric go
"INSIDE THE city of Detroit
you've got another Great De-
pression," said Levitan. "There
is 25 per cent unemployment
city-wide, and 50 per cent
among blacks. Two out of three
young blacks do not have a job."
"The Supplemental Unemploy-
ment Benefits (S.U.B.) f u n d
cis collapsing," Levitan con-
tinued. "For laid-off Chrysler
workers, this is the last week."
He said GM's S.U.B. f u n d
would be dried up soon and that
Ford's would not last beyond
midsummer.
Levitan said that the monu-
mental layoffs "have set back
any small gains made by the
black and women's liberaion
struggles." He said that with-
out seniority, women have been
the first ones cut, and t h a t
blacks have been barred from
any further inroads into the
skilled trade unions.
Levitan pointed out that much
of the present unemployment1
may not be temporary, but that
many of the corporations have+
in fact indicated intentions to+
cut back production permanent-
ly.
COLD, HARD economic reali-
ties have a way of rendering
academic debates over the elus-
ive Phillips Curve less com-

pelling.

appeared to be wasteful ex-
penditures. The members fous-
ed their criticism on three inaj-
or things: the Food Stores
Building, the North Campus
Commons, and Dearborn Cam-
pus Apartments.
The problem with the Food
Stores Building was the unequal
amount the Housing Office pro-
vided for its construction. Be-
jesky said, "It's a building used
to store food by the Hospital and
dorms. It's about a 50-50 split
in services. It cost $2 million
to build: $900,000 came out of
: the Housing Office Reserves,
$900,000 came from tuition fee.,
and the remaining $200,000 from
the Food Stores people. The
Hospital paid nothing at all. '
The North Campus Commons
was found to be a costly, under-
used facility. Labeling it a
"white elephant", Bejesky as-
serts that the Commons "w a s
just losing money - after ten
years it amounted to $1 million
in losses."
On the third point, Bejesky
states that "They gave $400,000
to the U.M. Dearborn Campus
while they don't get any re-
venue back from them."
THE HOUSING Office offered
little in the way of explana-
tions for these expenditures. Be-
jesky says "their excuse for ;he
things we questioned was 'the
money's already been spent.
There's nothing we can do about
it now. Let's look at something
else.' " This was not satisfac-
tory to the RSC: "what we were
worried about was preventing
this type of expenditure in the
future. They refused to admit
that they were charging t o o
much money and that these re-
serve accounts were unneces-
sarv."
In addition to questionable e-
penditures, the RSC found tat
although the minimum balance
of the GSRR was supposed to be
$500,000, the actual balance was
$1 million over that. The PSC.
recommended that "no more
money be put into the GSRR u-
til it gets down to where it is
sunnosed to be."
The individual dorm reserves
are to be used to provide for
s legiti
Levitan amplified this senti-
ment when he said: "What's
needed in the face of an un-
precedented economic crisis is
an unprecedented labor snug-
gle."
He said that, because of their
organizational and economic re-
sources, the trade unions are
the only organizations capable
of carrying out the struggle.
But Levitan blasted the cur-
rent UAW leadership as being
similary to South Vietnam's
army - "in utter disarray, and
heading toward total defeat."
He accused the current UAW
leadership of "weak reform-
ism," citing its demands For tax
cuts that do not even outstrip
inflation, and for public works
programs that would provide
jobs for at most 2 million out of
the 8 million currently unem-
ployed.
CHANGE DOES not frequent-
ly come from working through
mouthpieces of the institutions
one is trying to change. Massive
disillusionment and apathy are
the current heritage of a popu-
lace that was told it could con-
trol its destiny by voting for
Humphrey, or Nixon or Leon-
ard Woodcock.

capital improvemnets such as
buying new furniture. Bejesky
claims that "we came up with
a figure that 50 per cent of
what they spent out of the dorm
reserves went for frivolous
things, such as peep holes. at
Alice Lloyd. We recommended
a limit to this type of ;,penc.ng
for each year."
THE RSC also took some re-
commendations of the Effective
Utilization of Resources Com-
mittee, a group composed most-
ly of staff and faculty working
on ways to cut costs. In addi-
tion to cutting reserves, the RSC
recommended that the Hous-
ing Office cut adminiitratve
costs by 10 per cent and s t ('p
underbudgeting their net oper-
ating revenue by 20 per cent
each year.
The RSC recommeindaions
went to the Housing Unit Com-
mittee which is a group of stu-
dents, staff, and faculty ap-
pointed by the Universi-y Hous-
ing Council and the Housing Of-
fice. Bejesky explains that "they
reviewed it for three weeks and
voted unanimously to support
the recommendations of t h e
RSC - which was to decrease
rates by $17." The repor: then

Symposium sneek preview

mate

went to the Housing Office and
the Regents.
Meanwhile, the ALSU had
been active in generating stu-
dent and parent support for the
RSC .report and thereby p u t
pressure on the Regents to ap-
prove it. The ALSU compiled
information and came out with
leaflets in an effort to increase
student awareness. Members of
the ALSU met with individual
regents to explain the RSC re-
port and lobby .for its approv-
al.
THE ALSU petition drive in
support of the rate decrease
produced several thousand sig-
natures. These were given to
Regent Roach at a rally in front
of the Administration Building
before the' meeting who later
presented them to the rest of
the Regents. Also, an ALSU
letter writing campaign resulted
in several hundred letters from
parents to regents in support of
the RSC.
At the regents meeting, Be-
jesky claims that while :he
"HUC voted unanimously to sup-
port us, Feldkamp made his
own proposal (a $43 increase)
regardless of whattheHUC
regardless of what the HJC and
RSC did." Also, Bejesky states
Felokamp withdrew from Ga pre-
arranged, agreed upon debate
on rates that was to oe broad-
cast over WCBN two days prior
to the Regents meeting.
The regents listened to the
RSC case for a $17 decrease
in rates and then to Feldkamp's
reasons for a $43 increase. The
next day they voted unanimous-
ly to freeze rates - clearly a
victory for the RSC and stu-
dents.
Bejesky attributes the success
of the RSC, HUC, and ALSU to
organized effort: "in trying to
get action taken, it was very
important to have the facts for
the Regents to look at. Even
though there is a high inflation
rate, we presented the Regents
with a viable way of not raising
the rates. I feel that if we had
not put pressure on people to
keep the rates down, they would
have been increased by a sub-
stantial amount."
INDIVIDUAL student effort
does make a difference. Perhaps
you should check into a student
committee the next tima you
see an opening advertised. The
difference you make could
mean the difference between
zero and fourty-three, or even
more.

STARTING TODAY AND continuing
through this Sunday, Ann Ar-
borites will have an opportunity to
see and interact with several of the
more provocative personalities in the
national political mainstream. The
series of lectures and films is spon-
sored by over 25 University and com-
munity organizations and grouped
under the heading "Symposium on
Political Crisis in America - Ap-
proaching 1984."
Keynote speakers include Victor
Marchetti, former CIA official and
author of "CIA and the Cult of In-
telligence"; Florynce Kennedy, NYC
attorney and leading consumer, fem-
inist, and black advocate; and Mark
Lane, one of the prime proponents of
the conspiracy theory behind the
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Ellen Breslow, Dan Blugerman,
Josephine Marcatty, Jim Nicoll,
Tim Schick, Steve Selbst, Curtis
Lemay Smith, Jeff Sorenson, Kate
Spelman
Editorial Page: Jennifer Berman, Peter
Blaisdell, Barbara Cornell, P a u I
Haskins, Debra Hurwitz.
Arts Page: Chris Kochmanski
Photo Technician: Karen Kasmauski

JFK assassination.
The symposium represen-ts a long-
a w a i t e d forum for heightening
awareness of the government intel-
ligence community power grip on this
nation, a notion once considered
whimsical, but in light of Watergate
and the CIA investigations, now
looms as a cold and appalling reality
of the contemporary scene.
SERIES ORGANIZERS have done a
commendable job of attracting
individuals intimately involved to
breaking down the barriers of arro-
gance and autucracy surrounding the
government establishment.
Symposium events begin today at
3:00 p.m. in Hill Auditorium, with a
lecture by Mark Lane and an airing
of the Abraham Zapruder Kennedy,
assassination film. "Rush to Judge-
ment," a feature-length film and
rallying force of the conspiracy
theorists, will be shown at 7 and 9
p.m. in Auditorium C of Angell Hall.
Florynce Kennedy will appear Sat-
urday, 7:30 in the Rackham Aud. on
"Nelson Rockefeller: Multi-national
Delinquent" and ex-CIA official Mar-
chetti will talk on "The CIA and the
Intelligence Community" in Rackham
at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Levitan, like others, recog-
nizes how crucial leadership and
organization are as first s+eps
toward mobilizing large namb-
ers of people to act in their own
interests.
The difficulty for radicals, Le-
vitan admits, is how to work
alongside and with people who
have not yet been radiralized.
In times of material discom-
fort, people begin revising hi-
therto comfortable political no-
tions.
It is therefore extremely im-
portant that radicals be or-
ganized to provide a concrete,
alternative channel for people to
work through.
As a first step in that direc-
tion, a Student Organizing Com-
mittee (SOC) has been formed
on this campus. This commit-
tee has grown out of the Under-
graduate Support Committee of
the GEO strike, and is con-
mitted to continuing the strug-
gle for student's rights into
many other areas.
THERE WILL BE a meeting
for SOC tonight, at 8 p.m. in
East Quad's South lounge. This
will provide a good opportunity
for all campus radicals to unite
their words with action.

Kevin Stiers is a member of the Young Socialist Alliance
presently running for SGC president.

Steve Stojic is
Steve Stojic is
Page staff writer.

an Editorial
an Editorial

I

Letters

to

The

fission
To The Daily:
I AM concerned about and
feel an obligation to the lives
and health of future generations.
It is necessary that today's peo-
ple examine the nuclear fission
process and what effects it
may have on this small and fra-
gile planet and its inhabitants.
The more we learn about nuc-
lear power, the more reasons we
have for abandoning it and
turning to alternative sources of
energy. Some of the risks we
face involve the safety of nu-
clear power plants, damage
that could result from accidents,
sabotage and malfunctions, and
the handling and storage of ra-
dioactive materials, in luding
plutonium, in which I have spec-
ial interest.
Nuclear breeder reactors pro-
duce plutonium 239, one of the
most powerful and lethal sub-
stances known to man. Plutr.n-
ium is a fuel that is toxic be-

to be implemented, then the an-
nual plutonium production by
the year 1980 would be 3#1 ions,
and more than 100 tons bj the
year 2000. In addition, it takes
only a few pounds of plutonium
to make an atomic bomb the
size of the one dropped on
Hiroshima. This fact crca~es a
huge security problem in the
guarding of the produced plu-
tonium.
THE ATOMIC Energy Com-
mission promised clean, cheap,
abundant and safe electrical
power. However, it does n o t
appear that these claims have
been or will be realized. Since
1945, there have been over 270
accidents involving nuclear re-
actors, some of them v e r y
serious. A millionth of a gram
of plutonium is sufficient for a
fatal dose. Therefore the con-
sequences of theft or a mistake
involving nuclear materials is
intolerable. It seems unrealistic
that sometime, somewhere, the
nuiler fue cycle will nor ex-

sponsibility as a citizen t> sup-
port a moratorium on nuclear
power plant donstruction and in-
tensive research and develop-
ment of alternate energy sourc-
es and electrical energy con-
servation. No one can provide
us with complete answers re-
garding the future of mankind
until the issues are aired fully
and completely before "h= pub-
lic - those who the decisions
will directly affect.
-Anne C. James
March 26
Buckley
To The Daily:
I DO NOT read the Michigan
Daily, it having lost any shred
of credibilityfor me years ago.
However, I realize that m a n y
in this community continue to
read it and having, by chance,
run across a particularly inac-
curate, not to say irresponsible
article, "Buckley Spars at lill
Aud." (Daily, April 5, 1971) I

Daily
striking to this observer, though,
was that, time and again, Zoltan
Ferency beat Buckley on bWs
(Buckley's) own "Civilized"
ground.
BUCKLEY rarely bothered to
respond to the specific poin's of
the arguments that faced him.
Neither Ferency nor Butlrd
had implied, in one of the argu-
ments quoted for example, that
"'no one should be allowed to
own a car". The argument was
that the auto industry shouldn't
be allowed to wantonly produce
wasteful, poorly-made car: to
the total exclusion of the de-
velopment of reasonably-priced,
alternative systems of mass
transportation.
Ferency contended throighout
the debate that this country was
run by the rich few for their
own benefit and with no con-
cern for the survival of its citi-
zenry. The thrust of Bucklev's
remarks were in defense of the
rich by way of championing the

I DISAGREE with Buckley's
characterization of the debate
as "just a little infield practice"
- in view of the fact that he
mostly seemed to be c.ning
from way out in left, or right,
field and I wonder why he was
in such a rude rush to leave
the ballpark entirely before Fer-
ency had his last, promised,
turn at bat.
It can be historically verified
that in times of economic and
social disintegration extremist
politics come to the fore. What
is especially disturbing about
this incident is not that a whor-
ish conservative clown is invit-
ed to speak here, but that the
written account of the event,
published in the daily newspap-
er of a university with a long-
established radical or at least
liberal tradition, would confuse
dazzling debate technique with
sound logic and, in effect, en-
dorse the fascist alternative.
-Bill Adler

I~~y~s'~E11 K,