Page Six THE-MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, September 6, 1973 Pd~ Sb~ THEMICHiGAN DAILY Regents have the fi nal say By REBECCA WARNER. Raw power politics is pretty hard to find at the University these days, other than infighting between student government fig- ures. Administrative action here. has slowed to a sedate pace as student activism hibernates, and bills s tributi donate suppo' WHE men ( arrive slew o ed in rooms food a of shi seemt est thi theirv Of c the o Unive ball g fifty-ya Only Deanf though are Un An Regen Buildin ing R in th theatr: impre leather gents, ben Fl uch as the five dollar con- on all incoming students temporarily toward the rt of the University Cellar. EN THE REGENTS, seven one black) and one woman, in town for their monthly f meetings, they are whisk- and out of plush conference and plied with expensive nd liquor. Occasional tours ny new research facilities to offer the group the clos- ing to a look at student life visits here encompass. ourse, the Regents do have pportunity to observe the rsity as it really is at foot-. games-they receive free, ard-line tickets. one Regent, Republican Baker, lives in the city, al- a number of the Regents niversity alumni. afternoon spent with the ts in the Administration ing's special Regents' Meet- oom is a textbook lesson e art of administrative icals. Seated around an ssive wooden table in black r swivel chairs, the Re- chaired by President Rob- leming and attended by the. ive Officers and their puff an occasional cigar, ip water from his or her itcher and glass. DY LANGUAGE around the tal conference table is gen- confident, aggressive and male. The suits worn by nale Regents recall more ly the sharp, expensive Wing of Capitol Hill than rofessional or administra- ,rb of the University. ps aside, the Regents occa- y reveal disturbing ties to tside world of government inance. At one meeting last two Regents -had to ex- hemselves from a vote ap- g the hiring of an archi- Regents Huebner (left) and Dunn Robert Brown city political intrigue appears execut dampened by a firmly Republican aides, City Council. and si But students who want to re- own p. experience the thrill of the elec- toral system in action still have BOD one recourse-the Board of Re- Regen gents. erally Elected' in state-wide races super- nearly as highly publicized as the n local competitions for drain com- strong missioner, the eight Regents hold costun final power over every aspect of the pi student life, from the academic tive gE to the financial to the political. Prop For example, the Board of Re- sionall gents, must approve tuition in- the ou creases, faculty appointments and and fit firings, housing policies, building winter contracts, research policies-even cuse t fee assessments added to tuition provin Execs By EUGENE ROBINSON those Although the R e g e n t s have part t trot. final, official say on all Univer- The sity policy, the executive officers, A who play a filtering role, are very for A powerfVl men. consid The R e g e n t s, busy running man i their own businesses, law firms, only o and households, and living so far He ru from campus, cannot- possibly keep, close tabs on the Univer- sity's day-to-day operations. So, for what they consider a "true" picture of a given situation, the Regents turn to the executive officers. The execs write the reports that the Regents receive, draw up the proposals they vote on, and generally along with the president act as a filter through which only a fraction of the Uni- versity's news passes to the Re- gents. In addition to being the Re- gents' link with the campus, the executive officers run the Uni- versity on a daily basis. Except on matters of a sweeping, gen- eral nature, the execs are as high in the hierarchy as one can go. EACH OF THE officers is in charge of a segment of the Uni- versity's operations. Though they may give some autonomy to tectural consultant. Regent Ger- ald Dunn (R-Lansing) said he was closely associated with mem- bers of the firm, and Regent Lawrence Lindemer (R-Stock- bridge) said the firm retained him as its attorney. Regents meetings were opened to the public only a few years ago. Formerly their discussion and voting went on behind closed doors. At present much of the meaningful debate still takes place in private meetings. Uni- versity students and faculty have gained access to the Regents' attention for a monthly hour of public comment, but the decision- making .still occurs between the Executive Officers and the Re- gents. A SUIT FILED by Student Government Council (SG.C) 'at- torney Tom Bentley which at- tempts to open all Regental ses- sions to the public is still pend- ing action. Meanwhile, the Re- gents have rejected an SGC pro- posal to give non-voting mem- bership on the Board of Regents to two student representatives, the SGC president and vice presi- dent. Regental response in March to former SGC President Bill Ja- cobs' plea for student representa- tion on the board was particularly revealing. "We are too often evaluated by the amount of time we spend in Ann Arbor, and that's not fair," claimed Regent Gertrude Hueb- ner (D-Bloomfield Hills). Baker commented, "The con- stituency of the Board of Re- gents is nine nillion citizens of the state of Michigan. We take it as a trust. All of us have a correspondence on a broad level with a number of people, includ- ing students. There is a very strong communication and one of which you are not aware." JACOBS PLEADED, "Until I, hear what you're going to lose by this I won't be convinced." But such commentary went un- swered. Without Regental ap- proval, a change in the compo- sition of the board can only be made by amendment of the state constitution. Baker's point on the constitu- ency of the Regents was well taken. While the executive offi- cers need a minimal amount of student and faculty support to function, the Regents have no obligations at all to the Univer- sity community, except as a block of voters in state elections. As a result, the Regents tend to catch University petitioners up short against, a series of "real world" perspectives. The board is drawn from the high level business and. law firms of the state, and it believes in hard - nosed, business - like deal- ings. Whether it is equipped to understand student, faculty, or even administrative problems is unfortunately a separate ques- tion. FINANCIAL ISSUES seem to make the Regents feel most at home. When the student funding of the University Cellar by roll- ing fee assessment came up for renewal last March, the board sailed enthusiasticallytinto'the Cellar's management. Their fa- vorite phrase was, "improvement in business and management practices." If a' University is really a business, we are in the best of hands. Lindemer, well-known for his colorful formulations, w a r n e d the Regents.if they approved the funding extension, 'students will 'think when they leave this Uni- versity and go out into the world of business someone will always be there to pick up the nut when they drop it." Lindemer and other Regents often seem to perceive' them- selves as "in loco parentis" for the student body. Given the Regents' lack of con- tact with day-to-day University functions, do they act merely See REGENTS, Page 8, By KATHLEEN RICKE The Center for Afro-American and African Studies is more than a classroom-oriented institution on campus. The Center is an edu- cational potpourri in the field of A f r i c a n and Afro-American studies. They are successfully running a four-fold education package on this campus while struggling against an administra- tion that would like to absorb their program into other Univer- sity. departments, and a budget that leaves no elasticity for the much needed expansions. About 950 students participate as undergraduate study majors each term and a Masters pro- gram is now being capsulized to be approved in the 1974-75 school year. IN ADDITION TO the class- room development of black awareness, the Center has a re- search branch which employs the talents of many students on fel- lowships. A community education program works in conjunction with the Ann Arbor public schools to serve the needs and interests of the black community through curriculum development, guid- ance and teacher training. The information gathered by the re- search branch is often utilized by the public schools to fill the cultural and educational needs of black students. The fourth component of the Center is an audio-visual media service. The aims of the service are to increase black cultural awareness and to share the find- ings of the researchers with the community. The Center for Afro-American and African Studies has been in operation for almost four years. According to Patrick Bynoe, ad- ministrative assistant, the need for such a facility has been felt by the faculty and*students of many departments. However, it didn't become a reality until the 1970 Black Action Movement (BAM) strike, which shut down the University for several days. , THE CENTER offers approxi- mately 25 courses each term dealing with Afro-American his- tory, culture, politics, writing and education. Many of the courses are offered in conjunction with other departments in the Univer- sity. By crosslisting, for instance an Afro-American history course with the history department and the Center, it will be available to more 'students with varied aca- demic interests. Another outgrowth of the BAM strike was the Coalition for the Use of Learning Skills (CULS). It is. located at 1021 Haven Hall and serves about 500 students each term. The function of CULS is to pro- vide resource people in various academic fields to minoritystu- dents (primarily blacks and Chicanos). The resource .people work with students on a regular basis, helping with courses from the literary college, the engi- neering college, and nursing. CULS also employs a research staff to develop learning skills techniques = and to put together learning manuals. Academic and personal counseling is also avail- able at the center. Afro studies center: educational potpourri Keeping tig i7 t under them, for the most hey remain firmly in con- executive officers are: Alan Smith, Vice President cademic Affairs. Smith is ered to be the number two n the administration, sec- only to President Fleming. uns the University in the president's absence. Smith is in charge of the actual teaching processes at the University, with all schools and colleges exentual- ly having to answer to him. The tall and lanky Smith is known for his firmness; his po- litics are most often called mod- erately conservative. Many stu- dents consider Smith ,an extreme villain, as he has been opposed to student participation in many phases of the University's admin- istration. * Wilbur Pierpont, Vice Pres- ident and chief financial officer. The silvery-haired Pierpont is an- other extremely powerfui admin- istration man and a financial wizard. It is Pierpont's job to know where every penny the Uni- versity receives is being spent. A reticent man, Pierpont is less than visible on the campus. His power is clipsed only by that of Fleming and Smith. * Fedele' Fauri, V i c e Presi- dent for State Relations and Plan- ning. Fauri is basically a lobby- ist. He makes frequent journeys to the state legislature in Lans- ing to try to obtain more state money for the University. Since so much of his time is spent out of town, most students do not know or recognize Fauri. Other administrators have a high opin- letters and magazines. His degre of power and influence in the ad- ministration seems a bit less than most of the other vice presidents. *Charles Overberger, Vice President for Research. Overber- ger only a year ago inherited the position - and the headaches- of overseeing the University's research projects. Overberger was involved in the drawn-out controversy over- whether or not the University would accept classified Department (DOD) re- >.search projects. Like most ad- ministrators (especially admin- istrators who are directly con- nected with research) Overber- ger opposed the axeing of DOD contracts, and therefore is dis- liked by many students. " Henry Johnson, Vice Presi- dent for Student Services. John- son supervises the vast net- on work of the Office of Student Services. The post of student ser- has done vices vice president is tradition- on state ally a liberal one; and, true to form, Johnson is the most lib- ce Presi- eral Executive Officer. He re- tions and portedly resents having to wade main job through the piles of bureaucratic i happy red tape which are indigenous to r exam- the job. hem for O Three others, whose, influ- rofessor, ence is not nearly so great as the ion news- vice presidents. They are: Rich- - ard Kennedy, Secretary of the University and assistant to the president; Leonard Goodall, chancellor of the Dearborn cam- pus; and William Moran, chan- cellor of the Flint campus.' Program established for women's. studies Henry Johns ion of him, and think he a good job of leaning representatives. * Michael Radock, Vi dent for University Relat development. Radock'sz is keeping the alumn through publications, fo ple, and then asking t money. A journalism p Radock runs administrati By LAURA BERMAN After a small volunteer corps of women faculty taught an ex- perimental course in women's studies last fall, the administra- tion cancelled the course-despite its apparent success. But neither faculty nor stu- dents were willing to let the course be. quietly buried; they refused to heed high-level grumblings and growls to the effect that women's studies is not an "academic subject." Petitions were circulated, a Committee- for Women's Studies was formed, the course was re- instated-and beginning this fall there will be an official, full- scale program in women's studies at the University. "WE WANT TO promote on- going, serious and intellectual studies on women," says Lynn Epstein, the University Advocate f o r Educational Innovation. "Many important things about women have been ignored and overlooked. We are seeking to reclaim our past." Designed much like the Ameri- can Studies Program, the newly- launched' Women's. Studies Pro- gram takes a broad, interdiscip- linary approach to its subject. In addition to the three courses specifically designated as "wom- en's studies" courses, the pro- gram encompasses classes in virtually every department in the University. Thus, by taking cognate courses in other departments and in- dependent study, it will be pos- sible to garner enough credit hours to m a j o r in women's studies. .A sampling of courses on wom- en turns up such titles as "Women In Victorian Litera- ture," "Women and the Law," "Psychology of Women" and even the "Psychological Aspects of Fertility." ONE JUNIOR who took "Wom- en In Europe" last semester says she gained an entirely new perspective on women's place in history. "It's amazing," she says, "but it seems like. women's roles through history have been determined largely by men's needs. "Social, economic, and demo- graphic factors have periodically created needs for the classes of leisure women to absorb soci- ety's excess wealth." Although few men have en- rolled in the courses in the past, they are encouraged to do so. The women's studies program is expanding in various directions throughout the University. The English dept. has been consider- ing a special "women's track" that would concentrate on wom- en writers and study literature in general from a woman's per- spective. A special section in American Literature (English 269) will be the department's first experiment in the special track this fall. BILLY WAHLSTROM, an assis- tant .in the Women's Studies See FINALLY, Page 8 Allan Smith 0 , r:, - The computer challenge ? 0 1 ... one of the better places to dine in Ann Arbor. Located on the main floor of the Michigan Union, the University Club pro- vides a unique atmosphere for members of the University com- munity. Students, Faculty, Staff and Alumni enjoy the distinctive dining and relaxed atmosphere that has characterizdd the Uni- versity Club since its conception. HOURS LUNCH --Mon.-Fri.: 11:30-2:00 DINNER - Tues.-Thurs.: 5:00- 9:00; Fri.-Sat,: 5:00-10:00 HAPPY HOUR - 4:00-6:00 (Tues.-Fri.) BAR-4:00- 1:00 (Tues.-Thurs.) 4:00-12:00 (Fri.-Sat.) By ERIC SCHOCH Supplement Co-editor You may hate them or you may love them, or you may hardly know what they are, but the chances are good that before you graduate from this university you will have used the computer at least once. .Just asthe growth in computer technology in the last fifteen years has been phenomenal, so has the growth in computer use at the University. In 1959, there were only 400 active computer users; last May, 14 years and three new computers later, there were over 14,000 active- computer ID numbers (that important num- ber which tells the computer you are authorized to use it). Most of -these new users have been students doing regular course work, so that by June of 1972, 8,000 of the 11,000 ID num- bers had been used bye students doing course work. IF YOU WANT to avoid com- Those cards, punched into pro- grams, are fed into the Univer- sity's IBM 360 Model 67 com- puter, around which the massive Michigan Terminal System (MTS) is built. MTS is a world-famous, complex computer system which can not only execute programs from cards, but from teletype- writer machines located in over 15 University buildings around campus, as well as terminals at University extension campuses at Flint and Dearborn and to other computers at Wayne State Uni- of your .stories will be corrected by computer. You can punch the story out, on cards or you can type it on a teletype- writer at any of the numerous, locations around campus. But such terminals are only avail- able when University buildings are open, it is often difficult to find one not in use, and they usually cost more than the small program on cards. If you use cards, then you can either go the North University Building Station (NUBS), where by then, so if you don't have a car, you might as well be in Tokyo after all. Many studehts using MTS do not really have to write their own programs, but use those al- ready devised and stored on tape, especially students in the social sciences. But if you find yourself major- ing'in engineering, computer and communication sciences or math, you will have to deal with MTS on the gut level of writing pro- grams and correcting the in- "it can make you very humble. For you will discover that the computer is never wrong-it is always you, and of course that is not a very pleas- ant discovery to make." 1:::"::.'"."::.V:" :+ J: Js."Jsrt:":J.:J:iJ.::...,....r:.er: ........ f.:.......: ...:.::.".::. . versity and Michigan State. In fact, to quote a computing cen- ter booklet, "it is possible for a user with only an ordinary Touch- Tone telephone to call upon the power of the computer from any- the computer used to be, or out to the new modernistic comput- ing center building on North Campus. Both places also have teletypewriters. evitable and seemingly endless series of mistakes that crop up. IT CAN MAKE you very hum- ble. For youm will discover that the computer is never wrong-it is I