The Michigan Daily-Saturday, July 28, 1979-Page 17
The president

(Continued from Page 1)
deal with many crucial issues that will
face the University in the next decade.
LIKELY TO BE one of the most im-
portant issues facing the University,
community within the next year is
University divestment of its holdings in
corporations which do business in South
Africa.
He doesn't feel blanket divestment is
the right move to make right now, but
admits he is open to change.
"First of all, I have a developing
position. As I look at the divestment
situation, one's position can change
legitimately as events in the world
change," Shapiro said. "I think that
divestment is a sufficiently com-
plicated issue so that equally well-
meaning people can disagree.

Shapiro to give future,
duties 'careful thought'

"I THINK that's the first thing one
has to understand. Unfortunately,
neither side in the debate really wants
to say that. And I really do believe there
are important and viable arguments on
both sides, and the final wisdom of ac-
tion is not yet clear.
"My own position I hold, well, I hold it
with some firmness, but still with a
background of uneasiness, since I feel

the situation can change. My own
position is against divestment. I'm in
favor of shareholders taking action to
induce corporations to act in the most
socially responsible way they can.
"It's a very complicated issue. I'm
against blanket divestment, but it's a
policy in transition and in development.
There's a lot to be said on all sides of the
issue."

HE IS NOT ready to say, as some
University officials have, that the
University should stay away from
moral or political issues.
"One has to be cautious about it and
make sure the benefits outweighed the
risks - the risks being the establish-
ment of an institutional or moral or-
thodox. Because once the University
feels that this is the correct moral
position, a faculty member or student
not in that position immediately feels
not a part of that community, and that's
unfortunate.
"Now that is not to say there aren't
cases where a stance is so important
that it outweighs the University's ac-
tion. You have to be cautious about this,
and make sure you understand what the
risks are as well as the gains.
"I THINK the University should
teach people about what is moral about
what it does as opposed to what it says. "
Another issue which has stirred some
in the campus in the last year is that of
faculty promotion and tenure. The
cases of Political Science Prof. Joel
Samoff and Engineering Humanities
Prof. Jonathon Marwil have disturbed
some students and faculty members.
Shapiro says that while the system is
not without its faults, it is a good
system.
"IT WORKS well, although it's not
completely without error. It's basically
very sound and it serves the University
well."
The growing problem of financing the
University and its programs inevitably
will confront the University com-
munity. Shapiro is particularly adept at
budget matters.
"Funding for higher education in the
next decade is going to be difficult. I
think there will be some serious con-
straint in the development of higher
education because of very small in-
crements to its resource base.
"THAT WILL be a problem at the
University of Michigan, but despite that
overall situation, we'll do what we can.
"I think that if we're creative enough
and aggressive enough and work hard
enough ... we can run counter to the
trend.
"We can maintain the viability of the
University - its size and diversity.
That's what I'm aiming to do. Or I
shouldn't say I'm aiming to do. That's
what I'm aiming the University towar-
ds, I hope. I can't do it alone.
secretly
country would receive gas and the
quantities they could get.
By moving gas without the agency's
knowledge, the company could deter-
mine which customers it would supply.
THE DEPARTMENT official said
Tenneco concealed the transfer of at
least 20 billion cubic feet of natural gas,
a small share of the 20 trillion cubic feet
consumed in the United States an-
nually.
The company statement said the firm
"voluntarily and on its own initiative"
alerted federal officials to the
violations.
The department official said Tenneco
officials did come forward with some
matters because "the present
management wanted to make a clean
breast of it." But he added "They only
distioed owe'ntae itewa'ive
question how voluntary it was."

AFTER THE COMMOTION following the public announcement died down, President-elect Harold Shapiro discussed
his positions on some issues affecting the University.
Firm admits moving natural gas

WASHINGTON (AP)-Tenneco
Inc. pleaded guilty yesterday to
criminal charges of concealing the
transportation of natural gas from
federal regulators. The charges were
the first ever filed under a 41-year-old
law regulating the distribution and
pricing of natural gas in the interstate
market.
A Justice Department official said
related investigations are continuing.
"THE CONVICTIONS today served
notice on the natural gas industry that
the government intends to enforce the
act strictly," said the official, who
requested anonymity.
Tenneco called the charges
"technical violations of a complex area
of the law."
The firm agreed t1''dsehdlgdilty'dfld
pay a fine of $1,020,000 to avoid the time

and expense of fighting the case in
court, a company statement said.
U.S. DISTRICT Judge George Hart
accepted the plea and imposed the fine
agreed upon by prosecutors and the
firm.
The fine was the maximum permitted
by the law and virtually all of it-$1
million-was amassed through a $500-a-
day penalty for failing to disclose
natural gas rate schedules for about six
years. The firm pleaded no contest to
that misdemeanor charge.
Tenneco entered guilty pleas to
felony counts of transporting natural
gas through pipelines from Texas to a
Chalmette, La., refinery operated by
the subsidiary Tenneco Oil Co. without
obtaining approval from the Federal
Power Commission (FPC).
THE VIOLATIONS began as early as
1965 and continued for more than 10

years, the government said.
The FPC, now a part of the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, was
responsible for regulating the pricing
and distribution of natural gas moving
across state lines.
By transporting natural gas without
informing the regulatory agency and
obtaining necessary certificates of ap-
proval, Tenneco stood to gain in two
ways, the department officials said.
FIRST, NATURAL gas in the inte-
state market is subject to federal,
pricing rules. Gas moved without the
agency's knowledge could be sold at
whatever price the company chose to
charge.
In addition, the federal agency enfor-
ces distribution policies. In the eventp
a shortage, agency rules determined
which customers in which parts of the