Page 4-Wednesday, March 1, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Wbe 3ithgan BailQ
Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Vol. LXXXV111, No. 125 '
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Council bickering must end
IT'S TIME City Council members Allen refused and began shouting at
1 stopped their verbal sparring and the mayor. Wheeler then broke the'
got down to the issues. meeting up, stomping into the Council
To be sure, the annual election workroom to request that City Attor-
season is upon us and half of Council's ney Bruce Laidlaw eject Allen from
members as well as the mayor are the session.
concerned about retaining their Monday night was not the first time
positions. This is no excuse, however, this year that members of Council
for allowing Council sessions to have thrown more energy into
aegenerate into shouting matches bickering than into making decisions.
which consume -valuable time needed Only last week, during the
for discussing local issues. deliberations over a new pornography
At Monday night's working ordinance for the city, Council mem-
session, Council members were slated bers wasted their time making lewd
to discuss the proposed human rights remarks about each others reading
ordinances - an issue which has been habits.
postponed several times in the last two The citizens of Ann Arbor deserve
months. With support for the ordinance much better from their elected
split along party lines, and numerous representatives. The members of
changes proposed for the law, the time Council - supposedly our com-
scheduled for discussion is essential to munity's leaders - owe this city more
the establishment of a compromise, if than spending valuable meeting time
one is indeed necessary. exchanging insults and resorting to
shouting matches. If they want to vent
Instead, Monday evening turned into their personal feelings toward each
a shouting match between Mayor other, let them do it on their own time.
Albert Wheeler and First Ward Council The city election is a little more than
member Wendell Allen (who himself is a month away, and if Council members
not up for re-election), with other mem- were truly concerned about its out-
bers adding their comments from time come, they would be considering how
to time. Wheeler ordered Allen to "get such low behavior appears to their
to the point in his discussion," shouting constituents.
"I'm running this meeting and I'm Or perhaps we are just seeing the
asking you to be quiet." real Council at work.
I ,.i
The President replies
On Thursday, February 16, The Michigan
Daily published a column by Thomas Det-
wyler on the question of University ties to
South Africa. Because I left the country the
following day to fulfill a longstanding com-
mitment abroad on University business, I
have until now been unable to reply.
Mr. Detwyler's basic question, to which I
am glad to respond since I think it is a
legitimate inquiry, is what my relationship is
with the two corporations on whose boards I
sit and how this relationship might affect my
views on University investments in firms
doing business in South Africa. Unfor-
tunately, he was unable to simply pose this
question and then await an answer. The
balance of his article consists of a series of
statements which seek in advance to
prejudice the whole exchange.
TO CITE a few examples, he seeks early in
the article to insinuate the thouglit that there
is something secret about my membership on
the Deere Board. Yet the University's Infor-
mation Services office has long listed this
membership in my vita, which has always
been made public. Later he so clearly reveals
some of his own prejudices about cor-
porations and their directors as to destroy
any pretense of impartial analysis. Consider,
for instance, this quotation about corporate
directors: "Most of them gained their chairs
through privilege or private manipulation,
not through earned public trust". Since the
footnote identifying Mr. Detwyler states he
sits on no corporate boards, one cannot help
but wonder about his qualifications for such a
sweeping statement.
Having expressed my doubts about the tone
and purpose of his article, let me turn to the
question of my corporate board memberships
and the influence which these exert on my
views.
I was asked to join the Chrysler Cor-
poration Board of Directors in 1972. At the
time I was, and had been since coming to
Michigan, a member of the UAW'S Internal
Disputes Board. This is a board of public
members created by the late Walter Reuther
for the purpose of hearing complaints by
union members against their own union. I was
appointed to this board by Mr. Reuther and
his executive board, many of whom I had
known and had been friends with for years. If
I could serve on the Board of the dominant
labor organization in Michigan, it was a little
hard to explain why I could not also serve on
the board of a corporation. I discussed the
matter with the Regents. They reacted
favorably, but urged that the University
Counsel be asked for an opinion as to whether
any possible conflict of interest would arise if
I did. In due course, the Counsel rendered an
opinion finding no conflict, but suggested that
if I did join I should own no stock. Since it is
very unusual for a director to own no stock,
and because stockholders would obviously
question why one of their directors owned no
stock, I discussed with the Chrysler Board
Chairman and the President whether my ap-
pointment would be acceptable on that basis.
They thought it would and at annual
stockholders' meetings thereafter, they have
disclosed to stockholders why I do not own
stock.
Before joining the Chrysler Board I made
one further suggestion to the Regents. It was
that any fees that I received from Chrysler
would be given to The University of Michigan.
This has been done. Our Development Office
tells me that during the past ten years my
wife and I have given to The University of
Michigan $99,551.68. This is considerably
more than my Chrysler fees, but perhaps we
will be forgiven for adding a substantial
amount of our own funds. Of the above total, I
am told that we designated $21,400 for the
University's Martin Luther King Jr. fund to
be used in support of Black students.
IN 1975, I was invited to join the Board of
Directors of Deere & Company. It meets four
times a year. I am able to fly to the meeting in
the morning and return the same evening.
By Robben W. Fleming
Because I grew up in a farming area where
I found summer employment on farms, I
know of the respect in which Deere & Com-
pany is held. Again, I raised the question of
membership with the Regents. They quite
properly asked that the University Counsel
render an opinion on the conflict of interest
question. After studying the matter, he found
no conflict but once again suggested that I
own no stock. Before any decision was made,
I discussed the compensation question with
the Regents. I raised the question of whether
deferred compensation to be paid in ten an-
nual installments plus interest after my
retirement from the Board would be ap-
propriate. I made this suggestion for two
reasons. First, since my total service at The
University of Michigan will be relatively
short, my pension will be far smaller than my
salary would suggest. Secondly, v hen I leave
my life insurance will almost disappear. Un-
der the circumstances, the Regents approved
deferred compensation, which is in the
$10,000 range, and this is duly recorded
in the files.
There are no other financial arrangements
with either corporation. Of the two cor-
porations, Chrysler has long been a generous
donor to the University, mostly to the-College
of Engineering. The corporation's most
generous gift, given before I came to The
body. I note, moreover, that Timothy Smith,
who Mr. Detwyler seems fond of quoting,
specifically stated that there were many dif-
ferent ways of responding to the investment
problem in South Africa, and many, perhaps
most, of the churches have not divested.
FINALLY, Mr. I)etwyler fears that my
fellow corporate directors will bring pressure
on me to conform to their views. If he is
worried about conflicting pressures on a
university president, he could have found far
better examples much closer to home. It is
my experience that most of a president's life
is spent responding to the conflicting con-
stituencies within the university. To start
with, the president of almost any major
university is also a professor of something.
Thus, in the allocation of university resour-
ces, he will always be suspected of favoring
his own discipline against the day that he will
return to it. The Regents, who are more ex-
posed to external than internal views of the
university, will not see problems in the same
way as either the faculty or the students. The
faculty will see research in a different way
than will students. The students are almost
certain to annoy the alumni. And so it goes. A
president is always caught between conten-
ding groups, any one of which can cause him
to be deposed. Beside that kind of daily
pressure at home, contacts with fellow cor-
porate directors are nonexistent. Perhaps
,,.
Is there nothing for a
president of a university to
learn from a corporation ? I
suggest that this can be true
only if one starts with a pre-
conviction that all cor-
porations are evil, a theory to
which I do not subscribe.
Fleming
HEY, CONGRE66MAN! 9OW AREo
LOUP FRIGNDS OVER IN
SOUTH KO PEA ? *
THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL
LETTERS TO THE DAIL)
I ALEO CANNOT 7
TOLERATE A
SMART ALECK.
University of Michigan, has been the Chrysler
Center for Continuing Engineering Education
on the North Campus.
DEERE & COMPANY has made two gifts
totaling $20,000 to The University of
Michigan. Some of its executives, however,
are Michign graduates'and have made gifts
to The University of Michigan, which have
been matched by the John Deere Foundation.
So much for my financial involvement.
In Mr. Detwyler's view.. . "the only
possible justification for a university
president also being a corporation director (is
to make the corporation more socially aware
and responsive"). He is entitled to his point of
view. I would simply point out that it is not the
standard we apply to other University em-
ployees. We say to the faculty, for instance,
that we believe it is a valuable addition to
their training to have some outside experien-
ce. Is there nothing for a president of a un-
iversity to learn from a corporation? I suggest
that this can be true only if one starts with a pre-
conviction that all corporations are evil, a
theory to which I do not subscribe.
Mr. Detwyler concludes that my views on
South Africa should be absolutely consistent
whether I sit as a corporate board member or
a university president. This may be so, but a
respectable argument can be made that there
is a difference between a public and private
that is why a fellow director has never put
pressure of any kind on me. Such pressure is a
figment of the imagination of those who
believe that there are no honorable people iti
industry.
I do not propose to debate my own integrity:
Nothing I could say would convince those who
deny it; nothing need-be said to those who
believe in it.
When the Regents meet in March, my
position on the investment matter will be
made clear. As a matter of judgement, I
believe any differences we may have will not
be over the evils of apartheid or the tragedy
which it is bringing to South Africa, but over
what to do about it. When Ambassador An-
drew Young, most of the churches, and many
of our respected university colleagues have,
after thoughtful consideration, declined to
recommend divestiture, it is a little hard to
argue that there is one, and only one,
honorable course of action for the University
to take.
Robben W. Fleming is president of the
University of Michigan and a professor of
Law.
r-Health Service Handbook
I .
A challenge on the sun
To The Daily:
Mr. Marsh makes several
"muddle-headed" mistakes in his
article ("The sun is not a
solution," February 26) by con-
fusing economic growth with
social profit. More money and
scientific development are not ip-
so facto equivalent to goodness,
and do not justify anything. Of
course the "utilities prefer
nuclear plants on the grounds of
economy"-because they would
profit from exploiting our energy
needs,, needs which should (and
can) be harnessed by everyone.
Solar energy won't cost our earth
more in resources, and that's
what's important.
The author's concluding
statement that "the path of the
environmental movement (will
lead) to depression, social, chaos,
and ultimately war" certainly
exposes an immature, extremist,
mentality. Whoever agreed that
"industry is representative of
American progress," anyway?
Yes, the Sun is the solution!
-Janet Smarr
hAnilth cvrpir-o
salary disparity
happy to have the publicity about
our desire to have complaints
processed through our regular
input complaint service. The
seven-member student planning
group to organize a student
health organization is well under
way and will afford an exception-
ally fine opportunity for students
to become involved in activities
associated with health care on
the campus.
There were a number of errors
in the article. Careful review of
the record of the first described
patient revealed that no form was
completed five times and that the
waiting time was not one hour
and a half filling out the form.
The article fails to recognize that
he did have his X-ray taken on the
same day. The third reported
student complaint was indeed
partially described stating that
the X-ray could not be taken at
the time that she came in to the
Health Service; however, the X-
ray was taken later in the same
day and there was no breach of
good quality medical care in that
instance. The article completely
fails to state that the reason that
v-ravc.c.rviPC woren. aaile~ -
ray department was not avail-
able. Students particularly in the
health care fields would recog-
nize that at a time when X-ray
equipment was being installed,
there would be no way to continue
electricity into that area while
new - elaborate and highly
technical electrical equipment
was being installed. I feel
therefore that the article did a
great injustice in emphasizing
the lack of X-ray facility without
emphasizing that this was a tem-
porary necessity based on the in-
stallation of much better and
more efficient X-ray equipment.
I hope that the article does in-
deed inform students that we do
have a complaint service as well
as a mechanism for receiving
student suggestions and that the
mechanism for student participa-
tion in health care, in health ser-
vice operations, is well under-
way.
- Robert E. Anderson, M.D.
Director,
University Health Service
To The Daily:
In the article entitled, "Dispar-
ities found in faculty salaries,"
Ms. Egri apparently confused
total compensation over twelve
months including fringe benefits
with academic salary figures.
Unfortunately, no faculty mem-
ber in the Department of Physics
received a twelve-month salary
anywhere near the figure men-
tioned, let alone an academic
year salary of that amount. Of
the imagined $30,270 difference
between the Physics and Ger-
manic Language professors,
nearly $20,000 was due to the 15
per cent fringe benefits and 2
months summer salary, neither
of which are included in the aca-
demic-year salary quoted of the
Germanic Languages and Litera-
tures professor.
The professors in the Depart-
ment of Physics would be
delighted to have a $20,000 per
year raise, but unfortunately the
Dean is not likely to oblige.
- R.H. Sands,
Chairman
Dept. of Physics
By Sylvia Hacker
and Nancy Palchik
QUESTION: I read your column on sleep. Would
you please answer some questions I have on
dreaming. When in sleep do dreams occur? Do all
people dream and some just not remember their
dreams, or do some people only dream some of the
time?
ANSWER: It should intereht you to know hat
all people dream whether or not they recall their
dreams. At one time it was thought that dreams'
only occurred during rapid-eye-movement (REM)
sleep. REM sleep intervals, as you may recall
from our earlier column, occur 4 to 6 times during
the night, and are characterized by high levels of
arousal. Although we now know that dreams may
also occur during nonrapid-eye-movement
(NREM) sleep, NREM dreams are more similar
to normal thought processes. REM dreams are the
ones that most people characteristically think of
as dreams. Also, REM dreams are more likely
during the REM, sleep intervals that occur later in
the night, as these intervals are often twice as long
as earlier REM phases (i.e., approximately 20,
minutes as opposed to 10 minutes long).
Why are we able to recall some dreams and not
others? One theory, held by many in the mental
health field, is that our conscious mind tends to
repress those dreams which have unacceptable or
unpleasant content. A second theory, which is not
incompatible with the first, is suggested by
laboratory dream research. In the September 1977
issue of The Health Letter, Dr. Lawrence Lamb
suggests the sooner one awakens after a dream
the more details of the dream he or she will be able
'group do?
ANSWER: While the distribution of condoms
was a great methodl for attracting students' atten-
tion at Michigras, that group of students you met
is primarily concerned with increasing student in-
put to Health Service: A planning committee has
been meeting since the Fall to organize concerned
students into a Student Health Organization.
We've turned this question over to a represen-
tative of that group who elaborates below on their
progress to date:
Students on this campus complain about two
things-dorm food and Health Service. We
decided to get involved with Health Service. We
feel that students should have more knowledge
about and more opportunity for input into the
quality of health care they receive on campus. If
we could harness all the energy that goes into
complaining and redirect it into constructive ac-
tivity, we can have much more impact on the
health service we receive.
Having examined similar organizations at other
Universities, we intend to develop a Student
Health Organization to act as a liaison between the
students and the University Heilth Service.
Possible activities for members would include
assisting in the development of additional health-
related programs, helping to assess student health
needs and priorities, and serving as a nucleus for
information dissemination. The Health Service
staff is in full support of our involvement.
It is intended that student input will provide
relevant learning experiences for the students in-
terested in health concerns, as well as benefit
Health Service. It might be possible that academic
credit may be arranged through appropriate