er 4, 1977--The Michigan Doily "idtagan a Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 23 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan NwH e w, UL L.E 4 ALL -MO-r ,CAwIMAL.L O VES O 4WO'6 60 ca' V~h~*P A~Wr 17tA1 6W MAHa) 6Ie We're nu N ji _ L.. KO -. t , \ .Y -, 0^ N By GARTH KRIEWALL Gloomy, Dismal. Dreary. Those three words en- capsulate the feelings run- ning across campus in re- cent days after the release of the football polls show- ing the Michigan team slipping from first to third in the national rankings. Students and faculty alike were noticibly sub- dued Tuesday when the poll results were publish- ed, a far cry from only days ago when the campus was alive with pride for its team. "I'M EMBARRAS- SED," said Freshperson Maureen J. Pellviss. "I mean, I told all my friends back home that I was go- ing to the number one uni- versity in the country and the team does this to me. It's just not fair," she said, turning away. Maureen echoed the feelings, perhaps more ar- ticulately than can reason- ably be expected of a freshperson, of many. "God I feel awful," re- marked Tim Broder, an engineering senior. "When I picked up the paper this morning and read that, T seriously considered transferring out of this dump." In fact, campus ad- missions reported a wave of requests for tuition re- funds by the middle of Thursday afternoon. "THEY ALL feel, 'What's the use of continu- ing,' " said admissions of- ficial Susan W. Trailor.- "The feelings of shame have been pretty power- ful," she added. Coach Glenn (Bo) Schembechler had said re- cently that he didn't feel the Wolverines didn't de- serve to be ranked number one. He got his wish last Tuesday. "Sure, I said that," said an obviously shaken Schembechler, reached at his home just prior to Wed- nesday's practice, "but I didn't expect anyone to be- lieve me. "FERCHRISSAKE, can't anybody take a little joke?" the coach wonder- ed rhetorically. University President Robben Fleming, in the wake of the outpouring of emotion released a state- ment early Thursday say- imber ing in part, "Of course we're all terribly disap- pointed by the lack of faith in us by those polled, but we must carry on. I can say, that with the help of students and faculty alike, we can bear this unseemly albatross which has been placed so inopportunely around our necks. "I'm sure those polled acted without malice, but I only wish they had con- sidered the cost of their rash actions," the tenured president concluded. MOST UNIVERSITY of- ficials privately admit this loss of face could seriously hinder other activities at the formerly prestigious institution, but note that there may be ways of sal- vaging the long histories of quote on occasion. I 3! such departments as law, medicine and geography. "It'll be tough, but we've been in tough spots be- fore," said an unnamed administrator. Big Ten Commissioner Wayne Duke has been ask' ed to intercede on the uni- versity's behalf, but to date, there has been no re- sponse from his office. "Well, we were number one for a couple of weeks, and can Slippery Rock say the same thing?" sai4t Tom Zeickerman, a jour-i nalism sophomore. Apparently, most feel that's small consolation. S Garth Kriewall is a graduate. journalism student who has: been known to make up ay Rights of Americans - A - 'I O M The following material is ex- cerpted from an American Civil Liberties Union handbook, The Rights of Women by Susan Ross. The paperback is available from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 234 State Street, Suite 808, Detroit, MI 48226. QUESTION. May a company deny jobs, promotions, or over- time work to women because of state "protective" labor laws? ANSWER: No. The so-called "protective" labor laws are a series of state laws passed since the beginning of the 20th century to regulate women's -but not men's - work. It has become in- creasingly evident that these laws now restrict women more than they protect them. Some forbid women to hold certain jobs, such as bartender or mine worker. Others assume that a woman never wants to work long hours or at night, and conse- quently forbid her to do so. Still others, based on the assumption that all women are physically weak, declare that no woman may lift moderate or heavy weight or work before and after childbirth." Of course, none of these laws prohibits the unpaid housewife from working under such condi- tions; only the paid worker is "protected." And many of the "protections" are inapplicable to the least desirable "female" jobs - night work is seldom closed to charwomen. These facts provide a clue to the real effect of such "protective" laws. Companies use them to deny women jobs, and women workers have used Title VII to attack this practice. The most famous case involved Lorena Weeks, a worker at Southern Bell Telephone who bid for the more lucrative switch- man's job. The company denied her bid, claiming she would have to lift a 31-pound fire extinguish- er, which the Georgia law on weight lifting for women forbade. (The company conveniently for- got that she already had to lift a 35-pound typewriter.) After sev eral years of litigation, Lorena eventually won the job and $30,000 as well to compensate her for lost wages. Other women have challenged laws forbidding overtime work (and overtime pay rate) and clos- ing certain jobs to women, and they have all won their lawsuits, even though the companies ar- gued that the male sex was a~ "bona fide occupational qualifi- cation" for the work or jobs which the women were trying to get. The Federal Courts have flatly rejected this claim and have ordered the companies to stop using these laws to discriminate against women workers. The Courts have been joined by the federal agency that administers Title VII - the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) This is the first installment of a weekly column by the Michigan chapter of the ACLU. Each week, one or more questions about civil rights will beanswered. p 711ltIi, aliL NLTwtj r l'Qys Burger Court's assault on ersonal freedom must stop N AY RIGHTS, which have been vio- lated this year from Dade Coun- , Florida to Washington- state, took other kick in the teeth yesterday when the Supreme Court upheld a rul- ig that homosexuality is "immoral" #d is just case for job dismissal. The case concerns the dismissal of high school teacher James Gaylord of Tacoma, Washington. Gaylord was ismissed from Wilson High School in, 972, after nearly 13 years of service When school officials learned he is a pmosexual. The Washington State Su- preme Court upheld the school's right to fire Gaylord based solely on the fact that he is a homosexual, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the teacher's appeal, thus letting stand the ruling of the State court. Although he was charged with no improprieties, Gaylord was fired be- cause officials said his homosexuality would be a detrimental influence on tudents and the "learning at- mosphere" in the school. They argued that they had "sufficient cause" to fire Gaylord on the assumption of his homosexual acts. t Gaylord's attorney argued that his constitutional-rights to privacy, liber- ty, freedom of expression and equal protection under the law were violated by his firing. The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case is a brazen disregard for ,the rights of one of the nation's most ;oppressed minorities. Homosexuals all over the country have had their lively- hoods placed in jeopardy by this ac- tion. The Court may well have opened the floodgates to mass firings of gays by bigoted employers. But the scope of this ruling isn't lim- ited to homesexuals alone. Gaylord was fired because of a Washington law which permits a public employe to be dismissed if he or she is found to be immoral. By refusing to hear the ap- peal, the Supreme Court has implicitly upheld an employer's right to fire any "immoral" employe, not just homo- sexuals. Since the Court has not de- fined "immoral," it is impossible to say just what a court would consider sufficient grounds for dismissal, but the possibilities are ominous. Many people consider it immoral for a man and woman to live together out of wed- lock. Would some state courts consider this sufficient grounds for dismissal? However unlikely this might be, the fact is the Court has left open such a possibility. W~HAT PEOPLE do in the privacy of their own homes is, and must remain their own business, so long as it doesn't deny anyone else his or her rights. Once we begin to limit sexual freedom who knows where it will end? And once we permit employers to fire employes they find "immoral," we are only a frighteningly small step away from allowing employers to dismiss employes on the basis of their social or political views. Under the leadership of Chief Justice Warren Burger the Supreme Court whittled away large chunks of our personal freedom, of which this is only one example. The time to end this attack on the rights of the individual is now, and the only way to do so is by a constitutional amendment. Everyone's right to sexual freedom, not just homo- sexual's, must be protected at all cost. And if a constitutional amendment is the only solution, then steps should be taken to initiate one immediately. Letters to fleming An Open Letter to President Robben Fleming: September 16, 1977 Dear President Fleming, Thank you for your letter of July 25. It's always nice hearing from you, though it seems to me that the only time I get a letter from you is when you announce a tuitionahike. I amtsorry that you feel that you don't know me well enough to write at other times. If I heard from you on a regular basis, perhaps I might not dread those white envelopes from the Office of the President that seem to appear about this same time every year. T Surely you must'realize how this association of your office with tuition hikes affects your im- fige among the students. Perhaps you are ashamed of your role as financial "hit man" for the Uni- versity and feel that students don't like you and therefore don't want to hear more from you. If you would write us more often, you might overcome this unfair image of yourself. I am sure that you feel, as I do, that the rela- tionship between a university's president and its students ought, to be more than that of seller and buyer. Might I encourage you to write us a bit more frequently and about happier matters? I HAVE a few other comments about your letter that I would like to make: Your letter noted that the aver- age tuition increase is 8.75%, and elsewhere in the table you in- clude helpful tables representing the percentage of increase in the various schools of the Univer- sity. However, I notice that you tactfully omitted the rate of in- crease for Rackham graduate students in Ph.D. programs. My tuition for 12 hours last fall as an instate resident was $636. Tuition for the same 12 hours this fall with be $1,080. That's an increase of over 76 per cent. While I ap- nhmiA the ffnrt n the TTnhuvr- awaits these students upon com- pletion of their degrees. I must say that I resent this kind of "help" in making career deci- sions and I further resent the fact that those students who must study the longest to get their de- grees must go deepest into debt - especially when many Ph.D. students have families to support on their restructed incomes. I am unable to understand the reason- ing behind this. I appreciate your reading this letter and welcome any com- ments or explanations - public or private - you might care to of- fer. Financially yours, Edward L. Smith, Jr. cliches To The Daily: As a former editor of The Daily, I have often defended the newspaper's reputation against attacks of editorial incompe- tence. It used to be a task to which I could address myself based on a firm conviction that the newspaper is among the best put out by college students. But both my case for the Daily's edi- torial excellence and my own willingness to defend it are seri- ously diminished when the paper prints embarrassingly bad copy. Such a problem, I argue, exists in former Daily city editor Stephen Selbst's letter to the edi- tor appearing in the issue of Sep- tember 24. The letter is dully written and filled, with cliches. While ideally, all copy should re- ceive close attention, letters should uniformly be poured (sic) over, especially when written by former staff members, just to avoid needless embarrassment. Citing examples, I assert that the use of the "insultingly" with reference to the word "obvious is insultingly obvious. And why is "news reporting" characterized as "best"? Isn't there a set of fresher expressions? I could go on and on, but you get the point. The letter contains superfluous Te Daily Selbst is spoiled by the fact that manding educational standards. Michigan's style of play over the Why should we make that assum- past several years has been exac- tion? Could it mean that stu- tly as these phrases suggest, and dents are brighter than they were so he has probably heard them ten years ago? Is it a reflection of before. Adjectivessare not cliches superior teaching in recent if they describe a situation ac- years? Not likely, you might say. curately; I feel I know exactly But as likely as any assumption what the author means in his use that Billy Frye or The Daily has of "relentless" and "swarming." made. Because you are attempt- Choice of modifiers is within ing to use five arbitrary letters to the realm of the author. I suggest measure learning and draw some that if Mr. Selbst wishes to once significant concludion. again be the author, he rejoin the We do need a challenging and Daily staff in that capacity. But demanding college program. But not before he cleans up his gram- "grade toughening" does note mar. His version of the second achieve educational superiority; sentence above read "a task .I Our focus must be on education could address myself to...," a bad itself. We are in the business of case of a dangling preposition. teaching and learning, and ifP Yours for better journalism, students, aren't meeting high' Frank J. Longo standards we should examine the * academic curriculum and. Frank J. Longo, managing teaching methods before we. sports editor of The Daily in "crack down" on the student' 1973, is now an actuary in body. New ork ity.Our present "grade inflation". New York City. may be a reflection of a positive grades trend away from stressing. grades and competition instead, To The Daily: of actual learning. We want to In Sunday's editorial, The move away from the bell-shaped Daily wholeheartedly endorsed curve that forces human learning the notion that our professors and into neat statistical formulas. We instructors have been far too want to move away from the re- lenint aoutgradng andthe volving door policy that admits time has come to crack down. students uncaringly only to flunk Billy Frye, dean of LSA, is a long-_ them out the following term. time opponent of progressive I am presently learning to be a change or affirmative action in teacher. As a teacher I will not education, and I am not surprised decide before I meet my class that he has made such a state- what grades the children will re- ment. But I am shocked that The ceive. Instead I will strive towar- Michigan Daily would back such ds helping every student to be a educational elitism, successful learner. The Daily assumes that the rise Debra Goodman in gradepoint means less de- lick, Keith Richburg, Julie Rovner, Dennis Sabo, Anpnarie EDITORIAL STAFF Schiavi, Paul Shapiro, Elizabeth Slowik, Mike Taylor, Pauline ANN MARIE LIPINSKI JIM TOBIN Toole, Sue warner, Linda Willcox, Shelley Wolson, Mike Yellin, Editors-in-Chief and Barb Zahs 'LOIS JOSIMOVICH...................:.... Managing Editor GEORGE LOBSENZ.................... Managing Editor BUSINESS STAFF STU McCONNELL ........................... Managing Editor DEBORAH DREYFUSS.......................Business Manager JENIFER MILLER........................ Managing Editor COLLEEN HOGAN........................Operations Manager Contact your reps Sen. Donald Riegle (Dem.), 1205 Dirksen Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510 Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep.), 353 Russell Bldg., Capitol Hill,