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Eighty-Six Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Renovating student government
Friday, March 26, 1976
News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
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By AMY BLUMENTHAL
THE ZOO YEARS are over. The days
when those Student Government
Council (SGC) meetings were nothing
but a three-ring circus, where Mickey
Mouse bureaucrats yelled and scream-
ed in preadoloescent temper tantrums,
over nonsensical disputes, are dead and
gone. They have been replaced by a
new student body, a congregation of
more mature, more dedicated individ-
uals, representing all bodies of the Uni-
versity, gathered under the aegis of
the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA).
Now, it seems, things are going to
change.
'Student government wasn't
always a joke. A bit of his-
tory will remind those who
weren't around that at one
time the student govern.
ment at the University held
a respected position on the
campus, recognized as an
innovative and responsive
body trying to uphold th e
interests of the student pop-
ulation against the overbear.
ing indifference of an un-
responsive administration.'
Student government wasn't always a
joke. A bit of history will remind those
who weren't around that at one time
the student government at the Univer-
sity of Michigan held a respected posi-
tion on campus, recognized as an in-
novative and responsive body trying to
uphold the interests of the student popu-
lation against the overbearing indiffer-
snce of unresponsive administration.
The University Cellar, now an institu-
tion most people take for granted, was
founded only as a result of hard work
and organizing on the part of SGC to
establish an alternative store for stu-
dents being ripped off by local mer-
chants. The Cellar was finally founded
after a massive sit-in organized by stu-
lent government.
SGC, AT THE TIME (1969-70) run
by the likes of Marty Scott and Jerry
DeGrieck, held an important slot in the
local anti-war movement. The BAM
strike, which led to the University's
affirmative action policy, and the
AFSCME strike, a crippling blow to
University big-wigs, were -both, to a
large part, sponsored by SGC funds
and energy..
BUT THE TIMES CHANGED. For
whatever the reasons, the period be-
tween 1972 and 1975 was lost in the
general malaise that characterized the
rest of the country. Richard Nixon was
president. Quaaludes were the rage. Col-
lege antics had replaced college action.
And student government, just a reflec-
tion of the times, was run by and to-
tally iticapacited by clowns, crooks, and
cretins, wasting whatever potential the
body had for constructive and innova-
tive change.
Today, with the proper leadership
(the addition of graduate school and
professional school representation) and
with a new funding source (automatic
funding which will return the funding
back to the same method used in "the
good old days"), things will finally get
done. Student government, the only in-
stitution that survives the normal four-
year cycle, will once again move in
progressive directions.
AS AN EXAMPLE of this new at-
titude, the MSA has already begun a
special housing reform project, utilizing
the wasted Student Legal Advocate Pro-
ject funds, to combat an ever-growing
local problem. Aimed at combating the
poor maintenance and high rents that
characterizes Ann Arbor rental housing,
the group of three full-time employees
has already made progress in the best
interests of the student tenant popula-
tion. If this is any indication, brighter
days are ahead.
This is not to ignore the services
MSA provides that have survived the
story and turbulent past four years,
helping -thousands of students yearly.
THE GROUP SPONSORS three health
insurance programs for students and
their families. Ranging in price from
$39 to $71, these programs, which are
written exclusively for the students at
Ann Arbor campus, suit the health needs
of the average student better than most
Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. Right
now 7,000 students take advantage of
these health insurance plans.
In addition, MSA instituted a per-
sonal property insurance program in
September of 1975, covering the prop-
erty of students that isn't covered by
their parent's homeowner's policies. In
just a short period of operation, the
plan has been met by an overwhelming-
ly positive response by students who are
plagued daily by an ever-increasing lo-
cal crime rate.
In an attempt to quash what the
national media calls "student apathy,"
student government operates the only
permanent voter registration site on the
U of M campus. In the 1974 Congres-
sional elections only 25 per cent of those
eligible in the 21-24 year old bracket
actually registered to vote. Both the
administrative assistant and secretary of
the MSA offices are deputy registrars
and will register applicants to vote.
IN ADDITION, the MSA acts as a
coordinating body for student organiza-
tions around town, many of which have
utilized office space, meeting rooms and
financial donations, offered by the stu-
lent government. This financial support
has ranged from paying legal fees for
the striking tenants of the Ann Arbor
Tenant's Union (AATU), to sponsoring
lectures for this year's Teach-In and
Future World's Series.
Yet this is only the beginning. With
a new student government, properly
funded by automatic funding, there is
Amy Blumenthal is the
Vice-President of MSA.
no end to what can get done. Future
projects will include work on sex dis-
crimination, forming a student union,
student participation in University poli-
ty decisions, lowering tuition, and af-
firmative action. Vote in the MSA stu-
dent elections of April 6, 7 and 8 and
watch student government once again
gain the respect of the University and
Ann Arbor community.
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Let all of GEO
attend bargaining
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By BETSY DARKEN
and PAULA MINDES
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NEGOTIATIONS between the U of
M and GEO have reached an
impasse on the issue of open bargain-
ing. The administration has walked
out over an issue which they them-
selves have suggested is not of the
first importance - it is a theoretical
issue at this point. "Open bargaining"
simply means that GE-0 members and
any member of the University can
attend bargaining sessions (within the
space limitations of the room). The
GEO membership has endorsed a poli-
cy of open bargaining for several
reasons. The membership wants to
be in a position to educate itself about
the issues and the progress of nego-
tiations, and to follow individual items
of particular interest. GEO is also
committed to membership control of
the union, and direct access to bar-
gaining for interested rank and file
members is one way to ensure such
membership control.
In the interests of reaching a con-
tract settlement GEO is now willing
to leave the question unsettled. The
University however, insists at this
point that they be given the right
to unilaterally close bargaining ses-
sions. In fact they walked out of last
Friday's bargaining session without
even giving GEO bargainers a chance
to state GEO's new position. The
administration has pointed out that
GEO closed sessions last year, while
the administration team did not. This
is true, although the sessions were
closed under pressure from the ad-
ministration. The GEO membership
has since decided that this step was
a mistake. We are eager to learn
from our mistakes, and not anvious
to repeat them. There is no reason
why we must agree to a rule this
year because we agreed to it last
year.
Associate
It is also true that the admin-
istration didn't close bargaining last
year. What are we to make of their
insistence on an agreement which
they do not intend to implement?
GEO's discussions of last year's ne-
gotiations were frank and fairly pub-
lic. The administration must be aware
of our current feeling about closed and
open bargaining. They must be aware
that this year they will not be able
to get us to close the sessions for
them. It is not unreasonable to specu-
late that once an agreement allowing
unilateral closed sessions is reached.
it will be used. Why else insist on
an agreement "in principle" rather
than dealing with the need for a
closed session when it arises?
GEO has moved from its original
demand of totally open sessions. We
are anxious to bargain as quickly as
possible for the best possible con-
tract for our members. We are in-
terested in showdowns over abstract
issues. In an effort to get things mov-
ing, we have written to the admin-
istration's bargainers to inform them
of the position they didn't stay to
hear, and to state that we' will be
there on Friday as usual. The ad-
ministration's intransigent position
and aggressive behavior suggest that
they are not willing to be flexible.
While they were the ones who walked
out, they have told us to let them
know when we want to bargain. This
is not normal practice as we under-
stand it. Their power play over this
issue suggests that they are willing
to bring bargaining to a halt. GEO
is willing and ready to bargain in
good faith. We want the present mat-
ter resolved quickly - our position
seems indicative of this - so that
we can get back to the real busi-
ness of bargaining a new contract.
Betsy Darken and Paula Minder
are members of GEO.
Swine flu program overkill
"SWINE FLU" IS A PARTICULAR-
LY pernicious strain of influen-
za, with which concern has risen in
past weeks.
President Ford two days ago an-
nounced a $135 million plan to vacci-
nate all Americans against this dis-
ease by November.
Though only a. small outbreak of
swine flu occurred last month at
Fort Dix, N.Y., Ford was advised that
an epidemic could strike proportion-
ate to the 1918 swine flu disaster that
killed 548,000.
The president doesn't want to see
a repeat performance in 1976-77.
As some experts have gone along
with the vaccination plan, others
have discounted the possibilityhof
another catastrophic epidemic.
Dr. Armond Start of Oklahoma
City suggested that Ford's proposal
could be politically inspired. "What
better way to show that the admin-
istration is protecting the health of
the nation?" he said. And Paul Stoesz
TODAY'S STAFF:
NEWS: Glen Allerhand, Rob Meach-
um, Stuart McConnell, Jenny Mil-
ler, Mike Nolon, Jeff Ristine, Tim
Schick, David Whiting.
of the Nebraska disease control pro-
gram reasoned that mass immuniz-
ation would make more sense in un-
derdeveloped countries with lower
quality health care.
Whatever the motivation, and
whatever the truth about the swine
flu's possibilities for epidemic, we
should act cautiously and carefully
about a large immunization program.
We should do the minimum reason-
ably necessary to insure ourselves
from the swine flu.
Why use a yard of gauze where
a band-aid will do?
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Editorial Staff
T
ROB MEACHUM EI
Co-Editors-in-Chief
BILL TURQUN
JEFF RISTINE ... ........... Managing Editor
TIM SCHICK .. Executive Editor
STEPHEN HERSH . Editorial Director
JEFF SORENSEN Arts Editor
CHERYL PILATS . Magazine Editor
STAFF WRITERS: Susan Ades, Tom Allen, Glen
Allerhand, Marc Basson, Dana Bauman, David
Blomquist, James Burns, Kevin Counihan,
Jorli Dimick. Mitch Dunitz, Elaine Fletcher,
Phil Foley, Mark Friedlander, David Garfinkel,
Tom Godell, Kurt Harju, , Charlotte Heeg,
Richard James. Lois Josimovich, Tom Kettler,
Chris Kochmanski, Jay Levin, Andy Lilly, Ann
Marie Lipinski, George Lobsenz, Pauline Lu-
bens, Teri Maneau, Angelique Matney, Jim
Nicoll, Maureen Nolan, Mike Norton, Ken Par-
siglan, Kim Potter, Cathy Reutter, Anne
Marie SchiaviK aren Schulkina, Jeff Selbet,
Rick Sobel, Tom Stevens, Steve StoJic, Cathi
Suyak, Jim Tobin, Jim valk, Margaret Tao,
Andrew Zerman, David Whiting, Michael Beck-
man, Jon Pansius and Stephen Kuraman.
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EDITORIAL PAGE: Steve
Pansius, Tom Stevens.
ARTS PAGE: Jeff Selbst.
Hersh, Jon
PHOTO TECHNICIAN: Steve Kagon.
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peace tax
To The Daily:
I WANT TO thank the Daily
and Alan Kettler for the excel-
lent coverage given the World
Peace Tax Fund on March 23.
Two very recent events provide
updates to Kettler's article:
(1) On Friday, March 19, the
House Ways and Means Com-
mittee, in hearings on gift and
estate taxes, received almost
an hour of testimony supporting
the World Peace Tax Fund. Tes-
tifying were: Fr. Richard Mc-
Sorley, S.J., of Georgetown Uni-
versity: nDr navid Rasett nf
Letters
These hearings represent a
breakthrough in efforts to have
the bill enacted, they confer
added legitimacy to this type of
approach; and they indicate
that, when income tax reforms
(the major thrust of the anti-
war-tax effort) are considered,
WPTF will be granted hearings
then also.
(2) On Monday, March 22, in
Federal Tax Court in Detroit,
John and Ardyce Rozendaal
were tried for tax-refusal; sen-
tencing will be in about 3 weeks.
John is a Presbyterian minis-
ter from Okemos. Mich.. active
to Th
eration. A number of friends
and supporters attended the
court, and demonstrated (with
posters and leaflets) outside the
Federal Building.
MANY OF THOSE who sup-
port the World Peace Tax Fund
concept are convinced that its
eventual enactment into law
will depend largely on the con-
tinuing witness of a growing
group of war-tax-resisters and
war-tax-refusers. It has been
said that it costs IRS $30 to
collect every dollar of refused
Federal Excise Tax on tele-
nhnne hills IRS "law enforce-
e Daily
pense and embarrasment to the
government, and serve to re-
mind the public that the war is
not over. Military and defense
expenditures amount to about
47 per cent of current appropri-
ations. Pentagon requests for
funds are going up by 15 per
cent (about $15 billion). Wars
are fought with dollars as well
as bodies: conscientious objec-
tors to war should have tax-re-
fusal high on their personal ag-
endas.
To get further information, or
to make contributions, write the
National Council for a World
dancers
To The Daily:
MS. NANCY COONS review
of the University Dancers per-
formance in Power Center this
past week-end was nasty and
ugly and unhelpful to the Uni-
versity dance community. This
is irresponsible and uncalled
for critical journalism of a stu-
dent production. Ms. Coons ob-
viously has a limited under-
standing and perception of what
constitutes good contemporary
choreography. Nor does she
realize the havoc live music
inaccurately plaved can have
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