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Once upon a time, student government repre-
sentatives were important. They did all sorts of _Im-
portant things and were well thought of and people
recognized them on campus. They tried to solve prob-
lems and they worked with students and faculty mem-
bers and administrators.
Then a great Dark Age came over student gov-
ernment. It was filled with people who weren't im-
portant at all. Students laughed at them. Professors
looked the other way when they came along. Admin-
istrators forgot their names. And then everybody for-
got them entirely. So they fell to feuding and bicker-
ing and doing things .that had a great deal to do
with each 'other and nothing whatsoever to do with
anybody else. It was all very silly.
But now the great Dark Age seems to be ending.
Student government is starting to do important things
again. And some people are running for student gov-
ernment who might be important themselves, if they
get the change.
-* * *
Twenty-eight candidates, most bearing the acro-
nyms of several vague campus political parties, are
running for nine spots on the Michigan Student As-
sembly (MSA) in this week's election. Some are abom-
inably ill-informed, some are naively enthusiastic about
the prospects of serving in student government, sev-
eral are a combination of those two, and several are
bright, aware, active people who see student govern-
ment's limitations and mean to get the most out of
what it offers. Those are the nine The Daily endorses.
A little of the residue of the inept years of Stu-
dent Government Council is left to befoul the air.
Some of those running were marginally involved in
those years, and they seem to have inheriated a taste
for quibbling rhetoric and a mealy-mouthed accusa-
tion or two. But they were a minority.
The best candidates have taken a look at what
MSA can do and what it should leave alone. They have
seen that MSA can disperse the contents of its rather
thick wallet to services for students. They understand
that MSA can serve as a lobbyist to the Regents and
the administration. They know the channels of influ-
ence in the University and how to follow them. And
best of all, they understand the need to get along. A
couple of groups, in particular, show marked contrasts
in social and political attitudes, but find themselves
in agreement on several important issues and have
cooperated admirably.
A host of issues:
- Student space. After the fight to turn Water-
man/Barbour into a student service center, and a de-
feat, MSA is turning its attention elsewhere in search
of office space for student groups. The fourth floor
of the Union has overflowed.
- Funding for the Tenants' Union. The group
takes home a healthy hunk of MSA's cash, and there
is some question as to whether it should continue.
Most candidates agree that the funding. should go
on, giving' TU a shot in the arm and city landlords
a pain in the neck. Both purposes seem worthwhile.
- Course evaluation. The only place we CRISPees
can find out about courses is in the University's own
catalogue, a document which varies little from year
to year and provides only the tersest of course descrip-
tions - and no evaluation. Some of us know better,
and a number of candidates plan to put all the class-
wise knowledge into a campus-wide course evaluation
service.
- Tuition increases. Nobody wants them. MSA
can't do much about them, except protest. And that
may not be a waste of time.
With these issues in mind, but with greater atten-
tion to the awareness and energy demonstrated, The
Daily has endorsed nine candidates: We endorsed some
candidates because they have already shown dedication
and brains on MSA. We endorsed others because they
might bring freshness to the body. By no means do
they agree on every issue we think important, but each
shows an ability to help scatter the cloud that has hung
over the second floor of the Michigan Union for too
long.
The Daily recommends:
i Scott Kellman, president of MSA and titular
head of the MOVE party. Kellman has shown that
t
he knows his stuff. MSA's improved image is due in
large part to his hard work and expertise in dealing
with the University's movers and shakers. He was
instrumental in starting the Nite Owl bus service.
He dug out more office space for students. He has
pushed for lower tuition and is the chief sponsor
of the campus-wide course evaluation.
As head of MOVE, Kellman runs the slickest
political organization on campus. The party's strength
lies in the fraternities and sororities; the lines of
communication there are wide open, and Kellman has
used them well. The party's name stands for "Make
Our Votes Effective," meaning Greek votes, but now
they reject the fraternity tie..Don't buy it. Though the
concerns of Greeks on MSA may coincide with the
concerns of other students, MOVE is decidedly char-
acterized by Greek members.
There is little doubt that a vote for a MOVE
candidate is a vote for Kellman's politics, but it may
not be a vote for Kellman's dedication and expertise,
and those two qualities are what MSA needs most.
Other MOVE hopefuls are poorly informed and their
election attempts seer half-hearted. Our confidence
in Kellman doesn't extend to all of his associates.
Wendy Goodman. A bright and energetic mem-
ber of the Student Organizing Committee (SOC), Good-
man is MSA's school and college coordinator, as well
as its academic coordinator. She has organized dorm
fasts and was active in the AFSCME Sstudent Sup-
port Committee.
Goodman says her party is "activist in nature."
Perhaps. But what we find most valuable is her knowl-
edge of the issues and her energy. SOC, based en-
tirely in the Residential College, has occasionally wast-
ed time on stands on issues that went beyond the
focus of MSA, beyond reasonable expectations of stu-
dent government. But Goodman has trained her ef-
forts on the realistic, and her strong support for the
Tenants' Union and other student services make her
a particularly attractive candidate.
* Jasper DiGiuseppe. An old hand from the SGC
days, DiGiuseppe has nevertheless emerged untarnish-
ed. A tireless worker and perhaps the best informed
of all the candidates, he may be able to
man a hand with the intricacies of MSA
is running as an independent.
give Kell-
policy. He
* Kevyn Orr. The only black candidate on the
ballot. Orr is a smooth-talking freshman who says
he wants to serve as a model, someone whose presence
of MSA might convince other blacks to run. But he
stresses that although he wants black-white polariza-
tion to end, he also wants to represent all students.
Articulate and enthusiastic, he would probably make
a contribution to MSA. His only drawback is his tie
to Campus Coalition, a rather ambiguous bunch under
the didection of one Brian Laskey, quibbler extra-
ordinaire.
* Dave Laverty. A freshman with some good ideas.
He is another independent, and though his enthusi-
asm is not tempered by a deep knowledge of the is-
sues, he seems bright enough to learn fast.
! Jenny Patchen. Another SOC candidate, Patchen
brings Goodman's brand of activist concern for stu-
dent services and student involvement in policy mat-
ters. She is well-spoken and lacks the sort of obstinate
radicalism that has alienated SOC from other groups
in the past.
- Tom Keating. Perhaps SOC's most articulate
activist, Keating might serve as an effective radical
gadfly on MSA, making sure MOVE types don't swal-
low administration lines whole.
*Cathy Pattinson. Next to Kellman, Pattinson is
MOVE's best informed candidate, and the least de-
pendent on Kellman for answers. She served in Alice
Lloyd's government and has a handle on the issues
confronting MSA.
* Rick David. An independent, David kncows the
student government scene almost too well. He sat on
SGC and has been active on a host of University policy
committees, but those associations have prompted in
him, perhaps, too great an attention to the trivialities
of policy. But he is extremely well-informed and his
quibbling of old seems to be on the retreat. His present
concerns seem neither too narrow nor too broad for
MSA, and he deserves another shot.
14/te the 9act
by Ke4 Pari
d~lr Etd xa Bati
Eighty-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Let's make the Dems accountable
Sunddy, April 3, 1977
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students'at the University of Michigan
Vote 'yes' Monday on all
three city ballot proposals
TWO IMPORTANT funding propos-
als appear on this week's Michi-
gan Student Assembly (MSA) ballot,
and we urge voters not to pass them
over.
The first deals with the MSA Hous-
ing Reform Project. If passed, it would
establish an assessment of 25 cents
per student per semester for continu-
ing the operations of this agency. As
with the regular MSA assessment, the
Housing Project fee would be refund-
able through a negative check-off
system.
Oiperating with a skeletal staff get-
ting subsistence salaries, the Housing
Reform Project has proven its worth
many times over through its research
and lobbying efforts on behalf of
student renters.
The Housing Project is responsible
for the invaluable tenants rights
booklet, How to Evict Your Landlord.
The project also did a very useful
analysis of the recent ISR housing
study to make the mass of facts and
figures into a digestible form.
This project will be eliminated if
the funding plan fails. Please give it
your 'yes' vote.
HE DAILY urges a 'no' vote on the
second spending issue for day care,
although not without reluctance. The
plan would allocate $7,500 from MSA
regular funds for operating the Child
Care Action Center (CCAC). It would
not increase the overall MSA appro-
priations budget. -
Day care is a critical need on this
campus, especially for low income or
single parent student families. The
University has generally evaded its
responsibility to make low cost day
care services available to those fami-
lies that need it. This callous atti-
tude denies many students the right
to continued educational access.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT has given
money to the Child Care Action
Center in the past, and this has been
money well spent. CCAC is one of the
more progressive, innovative and edu-
cationally-oriented day care centers
in the area.
But, giving CCAC a whopping $7,500
from MSA's already limited alloca-
tions budget would deprive many
equally worthy projects of their op-
erating funds as well. More realistic
would be for MSA to return to its
annual $1,500 appropriation for the
center, an amount which wouldn't
bust the bank.
Ultimately, however, it isn't stu-
dent government but the University
as a whole that must take responsi-
bility for meeting the day care need.
"WE BELIEVE that Wheeler can and will move
the city more efficiently and effectively than
either of his opponents," The Daily's endorsement
of Al Wheeler in the 1975 mayor's race read.
I strongly supported that endorsement, and voted
for Mayor Wheeler in 1975, but he's had two years
to distinguish himself as mayor of Ann Arbor, and
has thoroughly failed. This time I'm voting for
Socialist Human Rights (SHRP) candidate Diana
Slaughter.
Wheeler assumed the office following the petty
tyrannical reign of Republican, James Stephenson,
and the liberal factions of this city (myself includ-
ed) breathed a sigh of relief. He promised to set
up a rent control study commission, the bare bones
of hope to the thousands of students suffering ex-
orbitant rents. He promised to be an active mayor:
"I take this job seriously;" he said. "You won't find
me sitting around." And he said he would work
with City Council to bring about some necessary
changes in this city. He has delivered on none of
those promises.
IN- FACT, HE HAS DELIVERED almost noth-
ing worth noting to the city in the past two years.
Wheeler argues that his hands have been tied by
the Republicans (the Republicans have a six to
five majority on Council), and that it has taken
all his efforts and vetoes just to keep them from
turning the city into a business operation. But while
this may be true, it does not pardon Wheeler for
being a do-nothing mayor.
During his two years in office Wheeler has
proposed a total of just six pieces of legislation,
and four of those, interestingly enough, came in
the last two months, just prior to election time.
What's more, four of those six proposals have little
or no significance to the city. He called for Coun-
cil to oppose the B-1 bomber, to take a stand
against capital punishment, to urge the state leg-
islature to implement a program to help the poor
pay for their utilities, and to call on the county
to institute a program to check for PBB con-
tamination. These are all noble gestures, to be
sure, but that is all they are. How can Wheeler
expect to "get anything constructive past those
Republicans" when he hasn't yet tried? A mayor's
job is to work with all the members of Council
for the good of the city. But Mayor Wheeler seems
content to merely maintain the status quo by veto-
ing nearly every Republican bill - he has invoked
his veto power 11 times in the last year. This Mexi-
can standoff between the Republican councilmem-
bers and the Democratic mayor is helping no one.
While they battle among themselves, we are left
to watch this city's downtown decay, to endure the
second worst rental housing in the nation, and to
rely on a transit system that is woefully inade-
quate.
BUT WHAT ARE OUR OPTIONS? Having de-
cided not to vote for two more years of stagnation,
we are left with Republican Louis Belcher, and
Socialist Human Rights Party candidate Diana
Slaughter.
Belcher is an enigma in this election. He is
bright, well-informed, and not afraid to act. His
visions for the city are promising, and include:
the elimination of the little-used Dial-a-ride sys-
tem, expansion of the present main line bus sys-
tem, the construction of at least two downtown
high-rises to ease Ann Arbor's housing crisis, and
the. construction of several parking structures to
ease traffic, and encourage shoppers to go down-
town. Unlike Wheeler, he has attacked the city's
problems with concrete proposals, and possesses
the determination to get the job done. Throughout
this campaign he has courted the student vote,.
painting himself as a moderate, if not liberal Re-
publican. In fact, the new Lou Belcher is a solid,
electable candidate. The only problem is that he
has a record to be judged on, and during these
past three years on Council he has not always been
so carefully moderate.
HE LED A FIGHT to abolish the $5 pot law,
even though he says he favors it now. He opposed
the preferential voting system, he voted against
day care centers in residential areas, and as re-
cently as last Monday he voted to discontinue the
city's funding support of the Tenants Union. In short,
he has never been accused of being anything less
than a staunch conservative before this election,
and I'm just not sure I can trust him. The mod-
erate image that he has maintained the last few
months could just be a ploy to woo student votes.
After the election he may well revert, and that is
a risk I refuse to take.
So the only choice left is Slaughter, but it is
a positive choice, not a lesser of three evils. Slaugi-
ter has focused her campaign on sotial services
and on government being more responsive to the
people. She believes that housing should not be
privately owned, but rather should work on a coop-
erative system. "Housing is a baic need," she
says, "and no one should be making a profit on
it." She would increase the bus system, with the
goal of turning Main St. into a mall open only to
pedestrians and bikers, and she supports new hous-
ing for lower and middle income groups. She is
intelligent and dedicated, even if she is not quite
as well versed on the issues and working of city
government as her opponents. She has the zeal to
learn on the job, if elected.
BUT I AM NOT SO unrealistic touppose Qat
Slaughter could actually win -- she can't. But she
can force the Democratic party in this town to
wake up to the fact that they aren't offering us
what we want. I am basically a practical person,
and I know there is little future in voting for third
party idealogues. But the Democrats in Ann Arbor
have started taking their student support for grant-
ed, and only those same students can make them
change. If Lou Belcher wins this election because
of a low student turnout, or because he wins a
significant portion of the student vote, the Demo-
crats will reason that they must move to the right
to win in two years, and that would be tragic. We
must let Al Wheeler and the rest know that we are
still progressive liberals, but that we won't con-
tinue- to support listless administrations like the
one we have just endured. And if we have to
suffer through two years of a Republican dom-
inated Council and a Republican mayor, then we
should do it. Because in the long run, it will make
the Democratic party in Ann Arbor one that we
can feel good about supporting. Not one that we
vote for just to keep the Republicans out. I'm go-
ing to make the Democrats accountable for the
past two years of limbo by voting for Diana Slaugh-
ter tomorrew. You, should do the same.
...and on the MSA
ballot proposals
Letters
to
the
Daily
I
POLITICAL PARTIES in Ann Arbor
have'- found ballot proposals a
handy vote-getting tool in local elec-
tions for many years now, ever since
the Human Rights Party (HRP) used,
the technique to good purpose in
1974. Since then, it has become al-
most obligatory to sponsor a pro-
posal or two' every year -just to
_,-- -. 44f.%. a - %,n,.ln '- t,
1HE DAILY suggests that voters ap-
prove all three proposals. Proposal
One would serve to open membership
on the city's Assessment Board of
Review to qualified citizens who are
presently excluded because they hap-
pen to be public employes. Propos-
als Two and Three would represent
a step in the direction of taking carej
nf the rdtv's ahvsnl street and road
election
To The Daily:
Having watched the editorial
pages of The Daily over the
years, I expected a more accur-
ate analysis of the Ann Arbor
mayor's race. Most distressing
was the fine description of the
Republican and the hesitant
terms you used to describe
Democrat Al Wheeler. the can-
didate you endorsed. Further, I
had hoped to find some in-depth
Ann Arbor, Al has good reason
to be careful and thorough in his
actions as mayor. The fact that
few good measures like a police
weapons control ordinance, a
human services department, and
others have not been approved
by Council is not Al's fault. The
facts are that the Republicans
controlled the majority of Coun-
cil votes, and the political left
has not been pushing for these
and more radical issues. 'I'll
comment on that latter item in
the near future.
of up to 20 per cent because
they are single, or because they
are married with both partners
working. The Committee of Sin-
gle Taxpayers (CO$T) has been
working for several years to
eliminate this inequity. To ac-
complish this goal, Rep. Ed
Koch 'has again introduced HR
850 in the House Ways and
Means Committee.
Also pending in Ways and
Means is HR 84, introduced by
Rep. Herb Harris, which would
make a beginning toward in-
MSA housing in no way cuts into ap-
propriations for child care.
To the Daily: Housing and child care are two
very great and important prob-
Recently, a leaflet entitled lems facing students at t h i s
"Student Rip-Off?" was distrib- time; the ballot referrals Cn
uted, uring students to vote each are distinct, and one dues
"no" on the child care referral. not directly affect the other.
The wording of the leaflet seems With regard to the Housing
to pit the continuation of the Law 'Reform Project, the refer-
MSA's Housing Law Reform ralwrequestsonl25 e ns p er
Project against the mainren- rareussol25crsper
ance carf the student (20 cents to the Project,
n of child care. We r f the cents to the TU) - not a bad
woulnglike Refoublicly carify price for some major progress
. . . min this ranidly iegeneating
I