4l1r It tran ait Eight y-Seven Years of Editorid Freedom 420 Maynard, St.', Ann Arbor, Mul 48109 MSA NOTES: 'U decisions need student Input Saturday, February 19, 1977 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed bystudents at the University of Michigan Program cuts: More study ND WHAT IS GOOD, Phaedrus,/ And what is not good-/Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?" John Pirsig sought a definition of Quality in Zen and the Art of Motor- cycle, Maintenance. He found that quality and worth are misused, elu- sive terms. The University, unlike Pirsig, has rushed through considerations of worth in its recommendations to drop the Departmeiit of Population Plan- ning (DPP) and the Speech and Hearing Sciences program.' These recommendations are based on shoddy, secretive procedures and the complex questions of academic quality as well as monetary priority deserve far more careful considera- tion and public participation.. Members of DPP protest that the Review Committee, appointed in the fall of '75 as a "strengthening pro- cess," neither envisioned nor recom- mended termination of the 11-year- old department in the School of Pub- lic Health. RECOGNIZING PROBLEMS within the graduate department, facul- ty and students welcomed this cleans- ing process. The 'cleansing process turned into a wipe-out procedure this fall when Dean Richard Remington's Executive Committee claimed fiscal responsibility and closed its doors to outside in-put. The process cul- minated in January when the com- mittee unanimously voted to discon- tinue DPP in 1978. The Committee's credibility was further impugned by claims that the measuring stick for quality was Rack- ham departments rather than Public Health departments. In this way the unique nature of DPP may have been unfairly compared. Students further claim that Rem- ington has deliberately stalled on the appointment of a new chairman and has completely stopped reviewing ap- plications to the program; action they consider to be premature. flEMINGTONS counterpart in the Medical School, John Gronvall, made his December recommendation to terminate the Speech Pathology program without significant input from the students and faculty. Lack of participation was particularly glar- ing in light of the charge that a dated 1973 Review Committee Report was used in the recommendation. The program's "unstable admini- strative structure" seems to be the result of the failure of the Medical School to name a permanent chair- person or clinical director for the threatened department. In view of these problems and con- troversies, we concur with the stu- dents of the School of Public Health as a whole who have voted to de- mand that the Regents reopen the issues. More specifically, a few pub- lic meetings before the Regents will not by sufficient to clear the record and match solutions to these prob- lems. IlECISIONS TO ELIMINATE entire programs have an incalculable effect of students and faculty asso- ciated with them. They should not be made without thorough knowledge of the most up-to-date and relevant facts. And furthermore, those stu- dents and faculty members, who will have to bear the burden of restruc- turinz their futures if the programs are eliminated, should be accorded a voice in any decisions regarding them. By JON LAUER, "TUDENT PARTICIPATION in Uni- versity decision-making is important to the quality of student life at the Uni- versity, and shall be encouraged." (Re- gents' By-Laws No. 7.05). Student participation in decision-mak- ing processes is important, not just to affirm a regental by-law, but to satisfy real and specific needs and rights of students. A fundamental law of democracy is that to the extent that people are affect- ed by decision, they have the right to influence those decisions; it follows that students have the right to participate in University decisions that substgntially af- fect them. Students learn how to make responsible decisions by, having respon- sibility in decision making, a lesson that is not usually taught in the classroom environment. The reasons for student participation were summed up best by the Commission in the Role of Students in Decision-Making (1968), which found that "on grounds both of democratic principle and of educational policy, stu- dents should be accorded a substantial role in the making of decisions within the University community. (Student par- ticipation in decision-making processes can contribute both to the excellence of the Unversity and to the development of its students.) The quality and matur- ity of present-day Michigan students make it desirable to extend such par- ticipation." THE MODEL OF student government that Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) is based on calls for increased student participation in the academic decision- making processes of the University. This higher ipflux of students necessitated the establishment of the Permanent Inter- viewing Committee (PIC), consisting of the Personnel Director, the Personnel Coordinator, the two Assistant Person- nel Directors, plus two other students appointed by the Assembly. A central function of the PIC is to interview applicants for Assembly ap- pointments to University committees, and for most other Assembly appoint- ments. The PIC then nominates those qualified for aipointment. "University committee" is an abstract term to ma- ny, if not most students. Therefore, a sampling of the University Committees is listed below. Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics: Acts as the business and fi- nancial agency of the athletic depart- ment, and it has control of the program in intercollegiate athletics concerning physical properties, eligibility of players and intercollegiate relations. Program Evaluation: It's functions are to design review prototypes which it will recommend to operating units for application in conducting reviews, and to recommend to the respective vice- presidents the need for review of spe- cific programs within their jurisdiction. Budget Priorities: Analyzes, evalu- ates, and submits recommendations on strategic budgeting priorities issues, tak; ing into account information and plans developed by such agencies as the Long- Range Planning and Program Evalua- tion Committees. Office of Student Services Pplicy Board: Provides programs relating to housing, counseling, student organiza- tions, health, occupational information, religious affairs, student-community re- lations, and the International Center. University Council: Formulates and proposes uniform regulations governing the conduct (individually or in the ag- gregate) of students, teaching staff, and administrators where such regulations: (1) promote the educational goals of the University, and (2) are of common con- cern and apply generally to all the above-mentioned segments of the Univer- sity Community. The following committees are a samp- ling of MSA Senate Advisory Committees for University Affairs, which serve to advise and communicate student views to the respective vice-presidents. Academic Affairs Committee: Advises the Vice-president for Academic Affairs on matters of importance to the academ- ic quality and standards of the Univer- sity. Civil Liberties, Board: Consults with and advises members of the University administration regarding civil liberty problems that arise on campus, and may assist students or staff who suffer threats to their civil liberties in connection with their activities as members of the Uni- versity community. Student Relations Committee: Acts in an advisory role towards Vice President Johnson concerning student relations with the University.. The committees mentioned above con- stitute less than half of the University committees upon which students can di- rectly participate. In addition, there are several committees within MSA that re- quire student input. Two examples of MSA committees are the Student Or- ganizations Board, which recognized and deals with student organizations, and the PIC, whose functions are discussed here. Thus, there is a broad spectrum of committees for students with differ- ent interests and concerns. These com- mittees provide an extensive forum for Once a student is appointed to a com- mittee, she or he is held responsible to report the committee's activities to the PIC. In the past, this aspect has been sorely neglected, resulting in a disservice to the students. However, this problem has been rectified with the ad- vent of an aggressive Assistant Direc- tor for Committee Coordination. Inf or- mation gathered' by out office on the conduct of the various University com- mittees is used to keep MSA abreast of current issues and problems througho4it the University. MSA welcomes any stude t who is willing to share in the responsibility of University decision-making. Interviews will be held soon to fill the vacancies on the Central Student Judiciary (CSJ). These positions are unique in that they offer, the student an excellent opportunity to directly influence certain patterns of behavior that come under question. Va- cancies on the CSJ and in University Committees are announced in The Daily and other publications. However, inter- ested students need not wait for an 'ad- vertised vacancy. Volunteers are always needed for various projects within MSA. For additional information and answers to questions concerning Personnel Proce- dures or University Committees, call the PIC office. The key to strengthening stu- dent government is greater student par- ticipation in the decision-making mechan- ism. We offer the avenues to such par- ticipation. Jon Lauer is the MSA Director of students to mains only vantage of volvement. air their grievances. It re- for students to take ad- these opportpnities for in- Personnel. .. Local Motion 'keeps oIn truckin r Carter should note all dissidents, not just Sakharov THURSDAY, President Carter sent a personal letter of sympathy and encouragement to Soviet dissi- dent Andrei Sakharov that has brought a flurry .#f protests from the Soviet government. There are, needless to say, a num- ber of ways in which Carter's ges- ture might be interpreted. The President says he sent the letter to Sakharov as an affirmation of his own commitment to supporting human rights around the world. But such a gesture can also be seen as the sort of Cold War ploy a new pres- ident might bring off to convince friends and foes that he, too, can be tough with the Russians. It was such a gesture which resulted in John Ken- nedy's misadventure at the Bay of Pigs, after all. The Soviet government, it is true, is a harsh and repressive regime. In- tellectual life under its watchful eye is rigid and stifling to all but the bravest minds. The same can be said of most nations in the socialist sphere. Carter can only be applauded if his motive is truly to \provide moral en- couragement to those who choose to resist the straitjacket of-ideological purity. But these are dissidents in South Korea, too. And in Chile - if they haven't all been murdered by now. There are dissidents in Spain, in Iran, in the Philippines, in dozens of other countries in what we are pleased to call the "free world." Soviet repres- sion, in many cases, is mild compared to the suffering inflicted upon these people. If Carter honestly wants to make a commitment to human rights, he should make it without reference to political or economic alliances. He should write hundreds of letters to hundreds of prisoners and dissidents throughout the world. The human rights of a Brazilian leftist are no less important than those of a Rus- sian nonconformist. LOCAL MOTION, Ann Arbor's infant alternative fund- ing organization, has borne the brunt of many initial mistakes, and now seems headed on the right track towards becoming an important positive fac- tor in the Ann Arbor community. Started in February, 1975, Local Motion was plagued almost from the outset by a series of griev- ous financial blunders. These errors can be attributed to an overzealousness on the part of the staff - they just didn't set realistic goals for an organiza- tion in its embryonic stage - and to poor judgment on matters of budgetary priority. Almost 25 per cent of Local Motion's initial work- ing budget was spent on advertising, while only 10 per cent, ($980) was disbursed to the various service organizations. Complaints concerning this disparity of funding levels were widespread and vociferous among contributing businesses as well as service organi- zations. Not only did it devow a disproportionate chunk of the budget, but all the money spent on advertising failed to find its target. Many organiza-. tions spoken to last year claimed ignorance of Local Motion's workings. "I'M- ECSTATIC about the improvement Local Motion has made in the last year," says Sue Bloch, co-coordinator of the program. And indeed, she has reason to be so. In the time period spanning Novem- ber, 1975 through October 1976, Local Motion made it's second and third disbursements. Out of an op- erating budget of $11,410 for that fiscal year, $4,670 was disbursed to human service organizations. Among the recipients of this badly needed money were the Women's Crisis Center, the Free People's Clinic, the Hunger Coalition and the Child Care Action Center. In the space of one year Lodal Motion has increased the disbursements from 10 per cent of their budget to 41 per cent. That is one very fine improvement. And the percentage should continue to rise in the next year. In September, Local Motion received federal non-profit status, and in November, they were (9)p lcli(g rowe t . MICHAEL BECKMAN declared tax-exempt. Last year, they paid over $800 in Federal taxes that they will no longer, be liable to pay. Advertising costs have plummeted from a whopping $2,125 the fir'st year to $65 during the past six months. THE MAJOR EXPENSE is coordinators' salaries. Ironically, and sadly, the problem is being managed by the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). It has decided to lay off Randy Abrahms, the program's other co-ordinator, at the end of this month, thus eliminating the second co-ordinator position.. Which brings up the question of the need for any coordinators at all. I spoke to several representatives of member organizations and businesses who ques- tioned the need for this expense, as the Board of Di- rectors handles all of Local Motion's financial leci- sions. This would be an accurate assessment except that Local Motion was not formed solely as a fund- raising group. It was also founded for the purpose of acting as an umbrella organization for the previously unaffiliated service organizations. Its function of co- ordinating the diversified activities of all of these groups, plus making the community aware of the existence and importance of human services, is equally as vital as raising money. LOCAL MOTION'S SUPPORT continues strong. Membership in Local Motion has increased in the past year, while those who have been giving support all -along are becoming more enthusiastic. Marcy Bohm, board member from the Ann -Arbor Community Health Center says, "Right now,, I'm feel- ing very positive about Local Motion. It's tuning in to the heartbeat of the ,community." Still, there are problems. Some people continue to believe that Local Motion has not fully made itself known in Ann Arbor. Liz Ahmann of Hunger Coalition says "there is not enough awareness about what Local Motion is doing." And Marcy Bohm added, "I hope that it will become more visible in the community." There is a great need in Ann Arbor for alter- native funding of 'human services. Local Motion is filling a void created by the municipal government's, as well as the voters of Ann Arbor's indifference and antipathy toward these services. FOR ALL OF ITS GOOD intention, Local Motion can succeed only to the degree that the community pitches in and helps. It can coordinate all of the fund- raising and bring the organizations together, but it can't supply its own money. A $4,600 disbursement is a tremendous improvement over their previous year's total,- but it is a lar-cry from ,the amount of money needed to maintain present services and to initiate badly needed new ones. This low total of available funds is due to the apathy of Ann Arborites. Pizza Bob's reports that only one third of their customers pay the 2 per cent Ac- tion Pledge, and local merchants who collect for Local Motion say that donationsrare miniscule. The position of the municipal government is clear. Human services rank very low on their priority lists. It is up to organizations like Local Motion to pinch-hit for the recalcitrant humanitarians that we elected. And it is up to us to give Local Motion our utmost support. recruitment To the Daily: The Commission for Women and the Commission for Minor- ity Affairs welcome the' oppor- tunity to express our opinions on the recommended changes in the Student Recruitment policy currently being proposed by the Civil Liberties Board of the Sen- ate Assembly. We are not, con- trary to Dr. Friedman's sugges- tion in his letter to the UNIVER- SITY RECORD (January 17, 1977), "special interest groups." We are, rather, groups whose specific concern is equal oppor- tunity for all. We assume that is an interest of everyone in a uni- versity which traditionally has viewed as one of its most im- portant functions the explora- tion, criticism, and perpetuation of the best of the values and standards of our society. We view certain of the pro- posed changes in the job recruit- ment policy as a retreat from a commitment to the ideal of equal opportunity for all stu- dents. Moreover, we must view the opinion of the Civil Liberties Board that the current policy is "unworkable" as merely an ac- Le ters from a society in which one form of discrimination or an- other is legally mandated to do more than go through the mo- tions of good faith recruiting. Merely requesting a "pledge" of support for a non-discrimina- tion policy is, in our opinion, naive. As the recommended ppl- icy fails to address itself to the establishment of any means for monitoring the recruitment pro- cess, its implementation would only serve to foster an environ- ment of discrimingtion in that process. The true measure of the effectiveness - of any non- discrimination.policy, of course, lies in the results. Unless an ex- amination of the recruitment process involves an analysis of the individuals actually hired, that process is meaningless. The absence of such an analysis would reduce the University's policy to another form of lip- service. We find equally disturbing the opinion of the Board that an open, firm moral stand against discrimination represents an "ideological condition" for deny- ing the use of University facili- ties and services. We are not seekin t-n imnos an "idenIoai- to most certainly do not feel that we have the right to deny such individuals a free exercise of choice in matters personally af- fecting them-as long as they do so without the support of the in- stitution. Simply because re- cruitment and placement depart- ments are designed to be of service to students does not in any way imply that those serv- ices can be administered without regard for the expressed moral and legal standards of the insti- tution and the society which males them available. We are in no way attempting to deny "equal protection" to students seeking employment in organi= zations which practice discrimi- nation. We are denying, how- ever, that the University has the right to make its services and facilities available .to those or- ganizations which refuse to pledge support of non-discrimi- nation or which refuse to prac- tice non-discrimination in a manner that can be validated by impartial criteria. We view the recommendation that certain companies or or- ganizations be exempted from maintaining an affirmative ac- tion program "(unless) re- the Dazly companies or organizations may already have excellent non-dis- crimination policies. Our imme- diate concerns are that such or- ganizations be specifically iden- tifiable, and that they be requir- ed to make available some clear demonstration of precisely what kind of non-discrimination policy' they do have. The argument that the present requirement in the policy is "un- workable" for such companies and organizations is untenable. The fact that the University, in implementing the requirements in the current policy, did not an- ticipate its difficulties does not warrant those companies' ex- emption from any policy what- soever. The University can-and indeed has a responsibility to- insist that any organization, which uses its services and fa- cilities _ demonstrate a strong commitment to a policy of non- discrimination to ensure equal employment opportunity. In conclusion, we are compell- ed to add that the most dis- heartening aspect of the discus-, sions which have been generated by the Board's recommenda- tions has been the tendency of those sharing the Board's views The University of Michigan, as a leading institution of our so- ciety, not to backslide from its previous moral stance simply because it is easier toy do so. -Bazel Allen, for the Commission for Women f raternities To the Daily: There was a time when-fra- ternities and sororities t o o k pride in their service to cam- pus and community. Now that they are on the comeback road so far as image and student acceptability are concerned, it is incomprehensible how t h e y c'an permit their sidewalks to remain treacherous with rutted ice and slushy snow. Neither Hill nor Washtenaw can be walk- ed with safety because of this failure to obey the law which requires snow and ice to be re- moved by occupants of e a c h property. Surely there are a doz- en or more able-bodied persons in each house capable of main- taining the public walkway. The winter is far from over and the suiccessive thaw-and-freeze;cycle which can be anticipated makes this job well worth doing. How .' . _1..''x'9'' _°t C'lign' '' fr E 'Eir ,:. /MOOf..h _ a 1 "r .\.i