YhU rsdayr SEp tember 4, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Paige Three
Th~irsday, September 4, 1975 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three
VVheeler
new
rnlOayo;
PV
undecided
By ROB MEACHUM
A Daily News Analysis
There's an old saying: "The more things
change, the more they stay the same," and
from all indications thus far, City Hall politics
haven't changed very much since Democratic
Mayor Albert Wheeler squeezed past Republi-
can incumbent James Stephenson in last Ap-
ril's city-wide election.
It was a hotly contested election, one in
which a quasi-liberal black was pitted against
a younger, relatively conservative Republican
veteran. But it took Ann Arbor's unique, but
confusing preferential voting (PV) system to
put Wheeler over the top.
UNDER THE SYSTEM, each voter was giv-
en three choices for Mayor. Since no candidate
received a majority of the first choice votes,
Carol Ernst of the Human Rights Party (HRP)
was eliminated and her second choice votes
redistributed among Wheeler and Stephenson.
Wheeler received approximately 85 per cent
of Ernst's second choice votes and it was this
redistribution that put him into the Mayor's
office.
But it also took the help of the courts, as
Republican members on the city and county
Board of Canvassers refused to issue Wheeler
a certificate of election. Suits and counter-
suits followed and as a result, the constitu-
tionality of preferential voting is now being
tested. As this story goes to press, Judge
James Fleming has yet to rule on the issue.
Republicans in the city are challenging the
concept of "one person, one vote," something
the United States Supreme Court has said is
essential to a democracy. Fleming is a con-
servative Republican judge appointed by Gov-
ernor William Milliken in an alleged political
pay-off - and this fact, in itself, will likely
weigh heavily in his decsion. But equally as
important is the fact that Stephenson and his
Republican cohorts failed to challenge the issue
until six months after it was approved by city
voters.
NEEDLESS TO SAY, it is anyone's guess
as to what the outcome will be. It is certain,
however, that Wheeler will not be ousted if
PV is found unconstitutional. Instead, Ann
Arbor will merety revert back to traditional
voting methods.
Now that Wheeler is squarely situated in
office - previous Council members gone and
the new ones replacing them - many political
observers reluctantly admit that the situation
looks surprisingly like an old movie or a re-
run on television. Political bickering and power
struggles have not ended and City Council is
often stalemated because of its 5-S-1 partisan
split.
Democrats and Republicans can almost
never agree on terms, and can almost never
agree on compromises. This is not to mention
the lone HRP member, Kathy Kozachenko,
who, more often than not, lapses into political
rhetoric and becomes somewhat ineffective.
Wheeler, unfortunately, cannot control her
silliness - often banging his gavel to no avail.
Stephenson, the arrogant political operator
that he was, at least managed to put some di-
rection into the highly political body.
COUNCIL DEMOCRATS have also been
known not to live up to some of their cam-
See WHEELER, Page 15
Stephenson
Wheeler
Open records law reveals
academic files to studnts
By JEFF SORENSON
Last year, students were allowed for the first time by federal
law to see previously confidential material from their counsel-
ing files, but they were still prohibited from viewing letters of
recommendation and parental financial statements.
The Educational Rights and Privacy Act, passed last October
by Congress, would originally have granted students access to
all information contained in their files. But strong opposition from
educational institutions forced Congress to amend the bill and
allow certain material to remain secret.
THE NEW LAW forced the Board of Regents to revise Uni- I
versity bylaws on access to files at their December, 1974 meeting.
These new bylaws allow student access to counseling records,
test scores, and letters of recommendation written after January
1, 1975. Only letters of recommendation written prior to that
date "with the knowledge that the contents would remain con-
filential" and parental financial statements will remain secret.
The previous Regents' policy on student access to files was
vague at critical points and left interpretation and the enforce-
ment up to the s'chools and colleges.
BEFORE LAST December, counselors in all colleges had
exclusive access to records, although faculty members could
request interpretations of the files, which included a large
amount of data inaccessible to the subjects. At best, a student
could only request a carefully-edited "summary" of the material.
As a result of this vague policy, every school and college
had its own approach to the issue of access to records. While PRESIDENT ROBBENI
the literary college (LSA) maintained policies which were gen- minority students took o
erally in agreement with the new laws, other schools - such as three day they camped
law and medicine - were much more restrictive, left with none of their d
Although many University officials had expected a "flood" -_ ---- - -
up in January, the student reaction, despite considerable at-S
tention in the media, was surprising mild.
THE FIRST week the files were available, only "several ' f.
dozen" students bothered to come in and take a look at themTiinf
After it became obvious that the University would not be
caused any great administrative inconvenience in the wake of By ELAINE FLETCHE
the bylaws, another controversy arose over that portion of the At the start of this t
files which still remains secret. numbers of University stui
In February, Associate LSA Dean Charles Morris said that will be cramped into three
the literary college planned to destroy the letters of recommen- dorm rooms or undesirab
dation written before January 1. Morris said that Vice President campus housing because
for Academic Affairs Frank Rhodes had told him that the let- series of majorbureauc
ters could not be made available to students. blunders within the Unive
Housing office, which last s]
forced 1200 "losers" in a
HOWEVER, since the LSA Administrative Board, which has dence hall lottery into a
decision-making authority over literary college counseling of- minute scramble for fall1
fices, had declared earlier that all material in students' files ings outside the dorm syste
should be made available to students, Morris said there was no While initially students r
option open to the Board except removal of the files in question. over the personal bad luck
Nevertheless, Rhodes sharply disagreed and the day after shut them out of the dorms
ing what the University cla
Morris had announced plans to purge files, Rhodes cancelled was a totally unexpected
them and sharply condemned any move to dstroy records. mand for fall space, their a
In effect, Rhodes was arguing that the letters of recom- soon turned toward the ad
mendation should remain in the files, accessible, to counselors istration when it was rev
but not to students. Although the University administration's that the Housing Office kne
position as argued by Rhodes was clearly within the law, it is the coming squeeze long b
equally clear hat this position represents exactly the sort of atti- before fall room reassin
tude that the bill was originally intended to rebuff. March 4th.
Still, it must be admitted that considerable progress to- After having insisted that
wards opening up secret files at the University has been made never knew the magnitud
in the past year. Incoming students may be pleased to know the demand for space," %
that they will be allowed to see more of their files than did be so large, John Feldkamp
students from any previous year - nevertheless, there is still rector of Housing, finally
s d e rts f do m a ny e vi os e r - e ve th e l ess, th e ei s d k n o w led g ed th a t th e in c re a
considerable distance left to go before all the counseling records students wanting to retur
will be truly open. the dorms in fall was not a
Minorities, angered
by broken promises
O"'occupy Ad.building
Daily Photo by STEVE KAGAN
FLEMING attempts to talk with minorities last February when 250
ver the Administration Building in protest of "broken promises." For
out in the plushly carpeted offices of the administration, and then
emands resolved.
crunched by Housing
ireaucratic brouhaha
By ROB MEACHUM
Just about the time when nearly everyone had
given up hopes of renewed campus activism last
spring, a series of short, but tumultuous events
jolted the University from its relative security-
among them, a sit-in at the Administration
Building by some 250 minority students.
The group, incensed in part over the fact that
the University repeatedly failed to live up to its
1970 commitments of increased enrollments of
black students, occupied the building for nearly
three days.
THE TIMING couldn't have been better -
the University was staggering as a result of the
Graduate Employes Organization (GEO) strike
and the administration was in disarray because
of the "Cobb affair." University President Rob-
ben Fleming was a top contender for the presi-
dency of the University of California and budget
cutbacks were in the headlines.
The students entered the building and vowed
not to vacate until an initial set of six demands
were met by the Univrsity's Administration.
They were:
-the recognition of the Third World Coalition
Council as the official bargaining team for all
minorities;
-the immediate reinstatement of Cleopatra
Lyons, a black nursing student expelled for al-
legedly administering insulin without the prior
consent of a doctor;
--the establishment of a Chicano cultural
center;
-the establishment of a full-time Native
American advocate;
-the establishment of an Asian American ad-
vocate; and
-total amnesty for all those who participated
in the demonstration.
The atmosphere during the sit-in was general-
ly calm but nevertheless firm. Many of the stu-
dents brought sleeping bags and read textbooks
to keep up with the work they were missing be-
cause of the occupation and the GEO strike. The
three-day demonstration was violence-free, save
for one brief incident.
ALTHOUGH FLEMING agreed to a "fair and
adequate" hearing for the nursing student, none
of the other demands were met outright by the
Administration.
Partially because of disorganization and par-
tially because of dissention within their ranks,
the students received no concrete assurances in
regard to these demands. They vacated the
building to "better organize" their efforts, and
in effect, played directly into the hands of
Fleming and other University officials who cor-
rectly figured the students would leave if given
enough time to get bored.
Upon leaving, however, the minorities sub-
mitted an additional set of eleven demands.
They were:
-that there be a four per cent Asian Ameri-
can, three per cent Native American, eight per
cent Mexican American and 16 per cent Black
American student population at the University;
-that the Graduate Student Assistants
(GSA's) have the same percentages;
-that the Administration have the same per-
centages;
-that the faculty have the same percentages;
-that there be a guaranteed financial aid
package to all minorities;
-that there be a cost-of-living increase in
financial aid;
-that there be supportive services for all
minorities;
-that there be an office for recruiters;
--that there be individual study units for the
various groups;
-that there be cultural and resource centers
established; and
-that there be more minorities on the Uni-
versity's Policy Committee.
THESE DEMANDS, like the others were not
met, and in all probability, will not be met soon.
Even Fleming conceded at the time that many
of the demands would "come down to a question
of money."
And with state appropriations dwindling each
year, the University will, no doubt, have their
excuse for not meeting the enrollment and other
demands.
R
spring phenomenon but part of I
Regent James Waters, (D-
term, a steady four year rise in dorm Muskegon), Gerald Dunn (D-
dents reapplication rates. And The Lansing) and Deane Baker (R-
d-man House had finally overflowedh. Ann Arbor) agreed with him.
e off-IN THE SAME statement, DUNN LASHED out in re-
of a i Feldkamp also claimed "there sponse to Feldkamp saying,
were going to be some disap- "Feldkamp is trying to blame
pring pointed students in the fall of the Regents or the administra-
'75," and he warned the Re- tion while it is due to ineptness
elast gents in June of '74 that, "there on his part that the whole thing
lodg- was going to be no more Uni- came about."
;md- versity housing space," the fol- Following Dunn's statement,
m. lowing fall. Feldkamp on April 14 wavered
aged H on his previous claim of inform-
S that a ing the Regents, stating that
dur- shortage, was one of the key although "Irealtalki he
imed things we talked about at that Regen s abou the gen raltorthe
de- June meeting." lem" he never did tell them of
anger'
dmin-
ealed
ew of
efore
just
3ents
ALTHOUGH REGENT Paul
Brown (D-Petoskey) remem-
bered that Feldkamp "talked
about the housing situation at
that June meeting," he, along
with other Regents contacted
denied any prior warning of the
"we crisis.
de of "I was not hit over the head
would with any sort of prediction that
p, Di- we were going to be short of
ac- housing next fall, and I wasn't
se in aware of the problem until the
rn to lottery occurred," commented
late Brown.
the steady four year rise in stu-
dents returning to the dormi-
tories.
With students repeatedly ask-
ing why Feldkamp, along with
other members of the housing
staff, muffled any warnings of
the crunch until long after most
satisfactory off-campus housing
was already snapped up, Feld-
kamp initially claimed that the
issue was not broached. "We
never knew the magnitude of it
- and if the Regents had au-
thorized a large rate increase
See DORM, Page 15
3200 'U' clericals form
union under UAW banner
By CATHERINE REUTTER
Clericals keep this University
from drowning in a sea of paper.
From he time you mail in
your application until you get
4 f:c 'Jaws' eats up big
WU{ocalim cro wds
By DAVID WHITING
In Ann Arbor, and apparently in every other city through-
out the country last summer, thousands of people waited
'w anxiously outside movie houses-not thinking about relief
from the heat and the theater's cool insides--abut wondered
about the gore they were about to see and the horror they
expected to experience.
If you don't know what movie these scare-hungry hordes
were waiting to see, you were, no doubt, spending the past
? ..xfew months in upper Siberia.
THE FILM, of course, is this year's smash-hit thriller,
Jaws.
Mark Worden, former manager of the State Theater where
the film is locally showing, stated in July, "This is a block-
buster picture-it is doing better than the Sting which ran for
13 weeks. . . . It has set a record. No movie has come even
close to it." "Jaws," he said, "is doing 50 per cent better
than any other moive we've ever run."
your final bill, secretaries and
clerks handle the paperwork.
Records, transcripts, and even
counseling appointments goes
through their hands. Clericals
even keep the administrative
machinery going in the dorms
and at University Hospital.
LAST YEAR, the clericals
formed union Local 2001 of the
United Auto Workers U(AW).
They needed the clout that a
bargaining agent for 3,200 work-
ers could exert.
In late September, 1974 they
voted on three options: either
accept the UAW, go with the
American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employes
(AFSCME), or refuse to union-
ize at all. The ASCME option
was rejected decisively. On No-
vember 2, the result of a second
vote was announced. The UAW
unionization option was chosen
1,144 to 920.
A bargaining team began to
hammer out details of a new
contract with the University
last winter. By mid-summer,,
the negotiating teams were still,
hammering.
ON JUNE 11, a rainy Wed-
nesday, the local's members
on the University's three cam-j
puses voted overwhelmingly to!
ship agreed at that meeting to
convene again on a Sunday
afternoon to discuss when a
walk-out should begin.
Jean Jones, chairwoman of
the local's bargaining unit, ex-
plained that only 1,300 out of
the more than 2,000 members
had voted because, "between
rain and supervisors, many
were kept away."
THE DATE for the Sunday
meeting was set for June 29.
As of press time, the clericals
were deciding how to vote at
that meeting. Deborah Moore-
head, a bargaining unit mem-
ber, predicted that at the Sun-
day meeting the membership
would decide whether to opt for
a September date or leave the
decision in the hands of the lo-
cal's leadership.
In mid-June, Paul Morris, of
the regional UAWsaiid, "Nego-
tiations are ina stat! of limbo."
Moorehead said, "We notified
the University officially of the
membership's rejection of their
offer, now we're waiting to
hear from them."
When notified of the Wednes-
day vote outcome, Neff said,
"I basically expected that. Most
unions don't accept the contract
at that point." He added, "I'm
assuming that the union will
contact us in the near future