.r.
Eighty-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Mayn'ard St., Ann Arbor, Mt 48109
GSA
minority
recruitment
just
a
Wednesday, October 27, 1976
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
f
Carter on Seafarer:
Ahoy A oy?
IN WHAT IS possibly a political ploy
at a strategic time, Jimmy Car-
ter has promised to block the contro-
versial Seafarer Project from Michi-
gan's Upper Peninsula if he is elect-
ed.
Seafarer, of course, is the U. S.
Navy's technological plan to lay miles
of cable in the U.P. ground to act as
a big transceiver in order to main-
tain contact with our missile-carry-
ing submarines the world 'round in
the event that holocaust destroys all
other communications.
Carter possibly decided that since
Michigan has been given as leaning
ever so slightly Fordward, his best bet
would be to do something affirmative
to get voters to cross over to his
side. Seafarer was an excellent op-
portunity. That coupled with the De-
troit Free Press' endorsement of him
(which he didn't know of when he
made this move) could well turn the
state over to the ex-Governor from
Georgia.
Whether or not Carter's action will
really help him, though, is irrele-
vant. He'll probably win the election
anyway if a current Time magazine,
compilation of electoral votes is any
reliable indicator. Ford is given a
total of 88, Carter 308, with 142 unde-
cided; 270 are needed to win.
But Carter aides have urged their
man to "play it safe," which might
explain his Michigan tactic.
Regardless, we do feel that stop-
ping Seafarer in Michigan is of high
priority no matter who does it. We
advise the voter to examine all the
possible motives behind Carter's
move; if he is elected we must make
sure he does as he has promised.
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Laurie Downie, Jay Levin, Patty
Montemurri, Karen Schulkins, Liz
Slowik, Bill Torque, Bill Yaroch
Editorial Page: Michael Beckman, Rob
Meachum, Tom Stevens
Arts Page: Lois Josimovich
Photo Technician: Chris Schneider
By DAN TSANG
NAVE YOU EVER wondered why so few of the
Teaching Assistants (TAs) you see in front of the
blackboard are minorities or women? The U's re-
cord of recruiting Third World and female Gradu-
ate Student Assistants (GSAs) is a dismal failure.
The refusal of the University Administration to
agree to the Graduate Employes Organization (GE
0) demand for a vigorous recruitment program for
GSAs is merely the most public indication that they
do not really believe in affirmative action.
Data the University itself collected indicates that
out of 1,950 GSAs in Winter Term 1976, there were
only 141 minority GSAs (seven per cent) and 502
white female citizen GSAs (26 per cent) - far be-
low their representation in the population.
These data, when broken down, show that of all
GSAs, there were only 69 Black men (four per
cent); 36 Black women (two per cent); 18 Chicano/
Boricua men (one per cent); and less than one half
per cent in each of the following groups: 6 Asian
American men; 2 Asian American women; 3 Na-
tive American men; 1 native American woman; and
6 Chicana'Boricua women.
In addition, about 20 departments do not have
any minorities or any women enrolled as graduate
students eligible to be hired as GSAs. The Univer-
sity's records list the following departments or units
as being without "available" women or minorities.
UNDER CONSTANT pressure from GEO, the
Administration has finally set goals and timetables
in 12 units for the hiring of 18 more Third World
GSAs and 19 more white, female GSAs.
But adding 37 more women and Third World GSAs
over a one-year period is not, of course, going to ap-
preciably change working conditions at the Univer-
sity. Without a vigorous recruitment program, as
demanded by GEO, you will continue to see mostly
white, male faces standing in front of the black-
board.
GEO thus wants to commit -the University con-
tractually to increasing the number of minority and
women GSAs to at least the percentages of these
groups in the state or national population, whichever
is higher.
The U's response is that recruitment and affirma-
tive action do not belong in a labor agreement. The
facts indicate otherwise. The University has already
signed a contract providing for an affirmative ac-
tion training program for AFSCME local employes.
Further, recruitment is part and parcel of every
affirmative action program, according to HEW
guidelines. GEO is currently considering filing a
lawsuit against the University on this matter, to sup-
plement its complaint filed with HEW last fall, as
a means of forcing the University not to renege on
its commitment to affirmative action.
The University is also balking over another GEO(
demand - a proposal to establish a child care task
force to determine the need for child care among
employes and to explore funding sources for estab-
lishing child care facilities. The University sticks to
its opposition to child care even though HEW guide-
lines suggest that child care be provided as an in-
tegral part of every affirmative action program.
DURING MEDIATION the University offered GEO
a non-grievable memorandum of understanding (at-
tached to, but not part of, the contract), in which
it promises to maintain its affirmative action pro-
gram for another year. Such an offer is hollow,
because its own program is more of a data gathering
sham than a real commitment to redress the effects
of discrimination.
Dan Tsang's job as a research assistant with the
GSA affirmative action program abruptly ended the
day his article appeared in The Daily last February
criticizing the lack of affirmative action in LSA.
grandstani
To illustrate, after the University collected the
data on minority and female GSA representation
during Winter Term 1976, the University decided to
change the definition of who is "available" for GSA
appointments. Previously, it had adhered to its
agreement with GEO (signed March 1975) that the
availability pool was defined as those graduate stu-
dents eligible for employment in each department.
However (and is it a coincidence?) after the data
were gathered, the University proceeded to rede-
fine, in six departments, "availability" as limited to
those graduate students who apply for GSA posi-
tions.
The redefinition not only violates its binding un-
derstanding with GEO but also HEW guidelines,
which prohibit the building in of apparently discrim-
inatory criteria. By saying that one is not available
for a job unless one applies - the University i re-
vealing its blindness to the realities of discrimina-
tion. In a discriminatory environment, why would
women and minorities feel any incentive to apply
for a job? ,
It is thus essential that GEO be able to bind the
University contractually to a viable and meaningful
affirmative action program.
Is there a need? Yes! A big fight was put up by
the University bargaining team this summer over
the definition of sexual preference in the non-dis-
crimination section of the contract. The administra-
tion wanted to add a clause stipulating "appro-
priate private and/or public behavior" for any GSA.
Departmental policies often force a lesbian or gay
GSA or job applicant to attempt to "pass" as hetero-
sexual in order to secure her or his employment.
For them, discrimination continues. While the con-
tract would provide for grievances for discrimina-
tion based on sexual preferepce, GSAs may be un-
willing to file-grievances out of fear of further dis-
crimination. Besides, unless the administration takes
positive steps to eradicate the effects of a long his-
tory of institutionalized anti-gay policies, GSAs
will see no point in complaining, and supervisors
will feel free to continue their anti-gay remarks an
policies.
ESTABLISHING a task force would signify the
University's willingness to take a progressive stance
on this issue. Otherwise, it is conceivable that the
national AAUP will censure the University for dis-
crimination based on sexual preference. Does the
administration want to take such a risk?
A study by the University of Chicago's National
Opinion Research Center shows that in 1973 48 per
cent of the American public felt that gays should
not be allowed to teach in college. The University
as a. leading producer of Ph.Ds, can contribute its
The proposed task force would not cost much.
The operating expenses of other University task
forces have always been absorbed in existing bud-
gets. CEO is not asking for a plush office in the
Ad building. It merely wants a working committee,
supplemented by existing staff.
ALL MEMBERS of the University community will
benefit from the elimination of discrimination based
on sexual preference, race or sex because it would
free people from restrictive stereotypes, thereby
creating a better environment in which to interact
with each other.
The Administration's insincerity on issues of af-
firmative action and non-discrimination is best re-
vealed in its refusal to extend the non-discrimina-
tion provisions to cover job applicants. The Univer-
sity's position again is: "it does not belong in a
labor agreement". Of course it does. Why should
anyone believe the University is sincere when it
says it will not discriminate against employees, but
refuses to make the same commitment in the con-
tract for applicants? The graduate student who is
d play
denied a job (because of gayness, race, sex etc.)
right now has no recourse through the grievance
procedure. Other labor agreements, such as the one
between the Wisconsin TAs and the University of
Wisconsin, include such protections for applicants.
The Administration clearly wants to retain its "man-
agerial perogative" to discriminate at will!
The above analysis should suggest that the Uni-
versity and GEO have divergent perceptions of
what a labor anion should protect and fight for.
The Administration's view is best summed up
in a statement by Bill Lemmer, a University attor-
ney, who declared at one bargaining session (June
24), "We are not going to agree in our labor agree-
ment to a substitute for good social legislation".
[F CEO were to wait for "good social legislation"
to come out of Washington or Lansing, it would
probably have to wait a generation or longer. Fur-
ther, the benevolence of lawmakers is not going to
give workers additional rights. It is up to rank and
file union members to insist on their rights. Given
the vagaries of both national, state, and University
departmental politics, it is essential that the admin-
istration.be constrained by a labor agreement from
violating workers' rights, rather than by some ob-
scure law that might be negatively interpreted by
some bureaucrat. While the University conceives of
the "law" as the maximum - CEO thinks of it as a
minimum.
GEO's positions have proved exasperating to not
only University bargainers but also to media ob-
servers. For instance, the Ann Arbor News com-
plained editorially (August 30) that "there has been
vevy little discussion at the bargaining table con-
cerning one of the basic- functions of labor unions,
the goal of increasing pay." It went on to advise the
University extending the University-GEO contract
(it actually expired the next day, and the University
refused to renew it) "unless there is an eleventh
hour show of serious bargaining by the union on
economic issues". Significantly, the two items iden-
tified by The News as arousing GEO's "indignation"
were "U-M unwillingness to recruit" and "U-M un-
willingness to make a formal commitment to inves
tigate allegations of campus job discrimination
against homosexuals".
FURTHER, Jim Tobin in The Daily (Sept. 9) ac-
cused GEO gays and Blacks of making "disparate
demands" which are "difficult to accommodate"
and "divisive" because "they come from people'
uneducated in the pragiatic give-and-take process
of labor negotiations".
If CEO were merely concerned with pay raises,
I doubt if I would have remained active or if the
union would have been able to muster much student
and faculty support Far from being "uneducated"
lesbians, gays and racial minorities have in fact
served on the uimn's bargaining teams, and the
chief bargainer during the strike was a gay man.
As a TA in 1974 who joined GEO because of its
progressive stance, I hope you will agree with me
that this time around, GEO is worth supporting be-
cause it is advocating for more than the narrow
bread and butter issues.
Some CEO demands may more directly affect
those of you who are undergrads (such as class
size): but in the long run all of society can only
benefit if the vestiges of discrimination (on what-
ever arbitrary grounds) are removed. GEO cannot
move the University by itself. It needs the help of
all of you. Talk to your TA and your friends about
CEO's demands. GEO has made mistakes in the
past. If you disagree with its stand today, make
your views known to GEO. Struggle with GEO, not
against it. Ask the administration to agree to a just
settlement, now. But if a strike does occur, it will
not be due to GEO's "disparate" demands, but rath-
er to the Administration's stonewalling.
LETTERS:
fairness
To The Daily:
THE MICHIGAN DAILY is widely read,
not only by University of Michigan stu-
dents, but by many other Michigan resi-
dents as well. People who read this paper
believe that its contents are truthful, fac-
tual, and that it retains an objective view-
point. The front page article (October 12,
1976) on "Bursley Election," sadly, vio-
lated each of these criteria. The article
was filled with false allegations, miscon-
strued facts, and was anything BUT ob-
jective.
The Daily should inform its readers
when an article is presented which focuses
only on one side of an issue and is writ-
ten in a subjective manner. Otherwise,
readers will assume that the story is fac-
tual and will form their opinions accord-
ingly.
Recently, a white student, Mark Patros-
so, decided to run for a minority interests
position on Bursley council. He assumed
an easy victory because his opponent was
black and because Bursley is a predomi-
nantly white residence hall. It was Mark's
contention that the white students would
vote along color lines, when, actually the
students based their votes on each of the
candidates' relative qualifications and char-
acter. The article in The Daily strongly
inferred that the reason for Mark's failure
to win the election was based solely on
racial overtones, when Mark's failure to
win was based on his own inadequate
qualifications to perform adequately for the
position.
THE FEELINGS associated with losing
any kind of election are bound to be filled
with bitter disappointment. In Mark's case,
his failure to win resulted in his making
several negative allegations regarding his
opponent. Among other things, Mark con-
tended that he was threatened by some
of the black students and that "ballot stuf-
fing took place at the time of the election.
These responses resulted in his getting an
article published in The Daily which at-
tempted to suggest that the election was
nothing more than a racial one.
As we all know, there are two sides
to every story. However, only one side has
been presented here. There are people in-
volved in this incident who are neutral in
their opinions regarding each of the can-
didates who would gladly step forward to
present their sides of the story. It is sug-
gested here that their comments be print-
ed as well. Being a popular newspaper, it
is your obligation to avoid unnecessary
negative feelings between black and white
students which only results in widening
the gap between us. It is hoped that a
more accurate and two-sided article is
written concerning the Bursley election and
any other incidents that arise in the fu-
ture.
Ambahama: Minority Students
South Quadrangle
October 24
federal Constitution limits the President
of the United States to two elected terms,
and many state constitutions place restric-
tions on the terms of their governors. As
long ago as the beginning of the nineteenth
century, Thomas Jefferson stated his belief
that a little rebellion, now and then, was
a good thing and necessary for the sound
health of government. In each case, the
value of new ideas as opposed to years of
experience is being stressed. Prolonged and
repeated terms of office lead to complacen-
cy rather than skill and foster habitual
responses to problems rather than effec-
tive ones.
The present prosecutor maintains a pri-
vate law practice in addition to being prose-
cutor. The Second Canon of Ethics for at-
torneys requires that an elected official
may remain associated with a private °law
firm only if he is actively and regularly
practicing law with that firm. With the
time and effort he must therefore spend
on his private practice, it's no wonder that
the present prosecutor is not able to keep
abreast of new developments in criminal
justice. In this case, it is more likely than
usual that "experience" really means com-
placency and habit.
I HOPE THAT the public will realize
that the years of office-holding are no
measure in themselves of an official's
worth. I hope they will vote for George
Steeh whose background in the most crea-
tive prosecutor's office in Michigan, though
comparatively brief, makes him better
equipped to deal with present-day challeng-
es to the criminal justice system.
Ruth Haldeman
804 Fifth Street
Ann Arbor, M 48103
proposal C
To The Daily:
ON NOVEMBER 2 voters in Michigan
will have several important issues on which
to vote. Among them is Proposal C, a pro-
posed constitutional amendment which sup-
posedly will limit taxation and spending
to 8.3 per cent of the total personal in-
come of the residents of Michigan.
Most people would like to see a reduc-
tion in taxes, but Proposal C is not the an-
swer to lower taxes or to more responsi-
ble government. Voters should carefully
consider the consequences of passage of
this proposal and vote NO. If Proposal C
should pass, it could mean a reduction
in state services in mental health, to sen-
ior citizens, and to our educational system,
both K-12 and higher education. It could
mean that school districts in order to pro-
vide needed services would find it neces-
sary to go to the voters for increased local
taxes.
Proposal C could hamstring our state
government for years to come, since a
constitutional amendment is very difficult
to remove once it has been passed by a
vote of the people. Responsible citizens
should study this issue, and study will show
that it is bad public policy.
Ford
playing catch-up
ball,
Cartc
A&
By WALTER R. MEARS
WASHINGTON - Jimmy Carter has
the lead and President Ford's last,
best hope for a quick turnaround is gone
as the White House rivals wage the hec-
tic, final campaign missions that will
propel one to power and, send the other
home in defeat.
With less than a week to go, the poll-
sters and politicians agree that Carter
is in front, if narrowly, and that Ford
will have to find a catch-up formula if
he is to gain with ballots the office he
now holds by appointment.
But as Carter has said from the -out-
set, the power and prestige of an incum-
bent President is an awesome thing, dif-
ficult to contest, and if Ford has not
used his office adroitly so far in the
campaign, it still is his to wield.
Ford himself acknowledges that it will
be a major upset - "the political sur-
prise of the century" - if he wins. And
he says he can do it.
It may be that if Ford is to win, he
will need Carter's unwitting help through
a major political blunder, something the
former Georgia governor has avoided
throughout his climb from virtual anony-
mity to the favorite's role that now is
his.
FORD CAN HARDLY devise a new
strategy at this point. He devised sever-
al during his campaign against Ronald
Reagan, yet he had his hands full to the
end in their contest for the Republican
nomination.
So, unless outside events intervene in
the kind of crisis that can galvanize sup-
port for a President, the course is set.
His has been largely a stay-at-home
T inprevett
A final handshake, smiles of studied force tiends andc
cordiality, a moment's private ponversa- didates than to cl
tion, and the face-to-face phase of the Williamsburg of
Ford-Carter campaign was done Friday make of the last
night. Kennedy made of
Their last debate, in Williamsburg, when he gainedi
Va., was rated a virtual tie by viewers race against Rich
surveyed in a public opinion poll con-
ducted for The Associated Press. But IT DIDN'T hap
that poll also determined that a sub- Nixon's name fi
stantial bloc of youthful voters, who Iel, for in 1968,1
tended to side with Carter in the earlier gap of 15 percen
debates, didn't bother to watch the fi- Hubert H. Hump
nale. dent and the De
Pollster Burns Roper surveyed 353 was a margin tha
viewers for the Public Broadcasting on won the elec
System and reported they rated Carter percent.
the victor, 40 per cent to 29 per cent. This time it w
The AP sampling of 1,027 viewers in with the hefty lea
the hours after the debate showed 35.5 as 33 points in Ju
per cent thought Ford had won and 33.1 A Gallup Poll
per cent thought Carter had won, and gives Carter a s
31.4 per cent though it was a draw. Harris Survey pu
The margin of error for a sample that his margin fourx
size is about 2.9 per cent in either direc- Carter said th
tion, meaning the 2.4 percentage points meaningless, bee
separating Carter and Ford cannot be were still embro
reliably projected to stand for the na- gan contest and t
tion as a whole. for the fall camp
know how to exp
BUT CARTER didn't need to win. He later surveys, "I
needed to avoid a setback, and that he pends on current
appears to have done. So the :debates, But there is a
despite their central role in the structure tween the 1968 N
of both candidate's campaigns, passed and that of the c
without producing a major reversal. the Nixon ratingI
Ford was the first incumbent President phrey's to climb,
ever to participate in campaign debate, That has not L
issuing his challenge at the climatic mo- Carter and Ford.
ment of the Republican National Conven- up after the first
tion. He also was the first incumbent of second, losing mr
tL- a.,.7...... .. .4. «r i n.1-t__ se med to be ma
defe
opinions about the can-
hange them markedly.
fered Ford a chance to
debate what John F.
the first, 16 years ago,
major headway in his
ard M. Nixon.
pen this time.
gures in another paral-
he opened a pollster's
ntage points over Sen.
hrey, then vice presi-
emocratic nominee. It
at eroded steadily; Nix-
tion by less than one
as Carter who started
d in the polls, as much
uly.
published on Oct. 15
ix point lead. A Louis
ublished Oct. 18 makes
points.
e initial margin was
cause the Republicans
iled in the Ford-Rea-
he GOP had not united
aign. He said he didn't
lain fluctuations in the
think a lot of it de-
events."
crucial difference be-
ixon-Humphrey pattern
urrent campaign. Once
began to slip and Hum-
the trend was steady.
been the case between
. The President moved
debate, down after the
omentum just when he
aking his nush.
Ford is likely to carry Michigan and
gain the 21 electoral votes of his home
state, but he isn't the sure thing Car-
ter is in Georgia.
For Michigan is in the battleground
belt where Carter and Ford will be con-
centrating their final roadshows. States
like Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New
York, California and possibly Texas will
see one of both candidates before elec-
tion day.
In California, Illinois and Ohio, states
Ford must win to assemble the elector-
al arithmetic for victory, the race is
rated close. In Texas, a Republican poll
shows Carer ahead, but if there is en-
couragement in later surveys, Ford may
adjust his campaign schedule to make a
final bid for support there.
So it will go until election day.
CARTER ALREADY has covered near-
ly 42,000 miles since Labor Day, touch-
ing down in 35 states, appearing n 70
cities.
By comparison, Ford has been a home-
body, which was part of the strategy,
home being the White, House. He has
campaigned a few steps from his Oval
Office, taking the road infrequently.
Until this final phase of the campaign,
Ford has snent about as much time on
campaign travel in his own behalf as
he did in the congressional campaigns
two vears aeo.
But Satutrday, he began an intensive,
40-stop campaign burst, working the
Carolinas and Virginia., then heading to
California, to make his way east with
s:hedlle room for stops wherever it ap-
pears they'll do him some good.
Carter is covering much of the same
t ritnrv-in the nnnite dirrtion with