420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Edited and managed by students at the
University of Michigan
Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual
opinions of the author. This must be noted in all reprints.
Tuesday, June 8, 1971 News Phone: 764-0552
NIGHT EDITOR: ROSE SUE BERSTEIN
Evil weed KO's snake in test,
claims youthful herpetologist
'U' sex bias test
IN THE FIRST CASE of its kind to come through the
University's grievance procedures - the first of its
kind, in fact, in the nation - the University has denied
a female employe's request for a salary adjustment to
compensate for what she charged was sex discrimina-
tion.
Research Associate Cheryl Clark filed a grievance in
January charging that she was being paid less than a
male employe with the same job title and responsibilities.
In denying Clark's request, the University review
committee said that "professional staff salaries are not
determined on the basis of doing circumscribed, defined
tasks" and are "based primarily on professional qualifi-
cations, experience and anticipated performance." The
committee concluded that the difference in salaries was
not the result of sex discrimination.
There were three members of the review committee
- a representative of the Institute of Science and Tech-
nology (IST), under which the Highway Safety Research
Institute by which Clark is employed operates, J a m e s
Thiry, manager of employe relations for the University,
and a representative of the Commission on Women.
The vote was two to one - with Thiry and the IST
representative in the majority and with Jean Campbell
of the Women's Commission dissenting from the opinion
that Clark deserved neither a retroactive pay compensa-
tion nor a salary increase.
Back pay adjustment for salary inequities result-
ing from sex discrimination is one of the provisions of
agreement with the. Department of Health, Education
and Welfare (HEW) as part of the University's plan to
end alleged sex discrimination.
Although HEW has aproved the University plan in
broad outlines, the specific goals and timetables have
not yet been approved.
CLARK'S CASE gains significance as the first oppor-
A tunity the University has had to show its sincerity
about enforcing its guidelines against sex discrimination.
Judging from the Clark case, one must wonder how
serious the University is about this aspect of the agree-
ment, and how fair the review board procedure is in
resolving cases such as these.
Here is a case where a woman employe has clearly
demonstrated that she performs the same job duties and
holds the same title as a male employe who receives
a salary $3,400 higher than hers. The treatment of Clark's
case through the current channels of complaint bodes
ill for the manner in which similar appeals for back
pay adjustments will be treated in the future.
Although a Women's Commission proposal for an
alternate method for hearing such- cases has been ac-
cepted, it is unclear whether this will make much dif-
ference.
Yet a women's representative has been named to
supervise hearings for pay adjustments, among other
duties, and if the commission and the representative are
forceful and effective, it will certainly ease the diffi-
culty of "proving" that a woman does deserve a salary
adjustment.
In any case. HEW should consider carefully the pos-
sibility of not accepting the University's "goals and time-
tables for affirmative action" until the University can
guarantee an efficacious method for insuring fair and
complete hearings of sex discrimination cases.
OTHERWISE, any agreement may be but a farce, an
official document that will enable the University to
continue receiving federal research contracts while dis-
criminating against women in clear violation of federal
law.
-ROSE SUE BERSTEIN
Sumttter Eclitorial Staff
STEVE KOPPMAN LARRY LEMPERT
Co-Editor Co-Editor
ROBERT CONROw ...................................... ..Books Editor
JIM JUDKIS........... . ..... .... .... .... Photography Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Rose Sue Berstein. Mark Dillen, Jonathan Miller, Robert
Schreiner, Geri Sprung
ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITORS: Patricia E. Bauer, Anita Crone, Jim Irwin,
Alan Lenhoff, Chris Parks
Summer Sports Staff
RICK CORNFELD .................................... ..Sports Editor
SANDI GENIS ........... ....................... Associate sports Editor
Summer Business Staff
JIM STOREY..,..... . . .. .....Business Manager
JANET ENGL ...........Displiy Advertising
FRAN MYMAN ....... ... Classified Advertising
BECKY VAN DYKE... .. ....... nCiruaition Department
BILL ABBOTT.,-.......-:Ot ,,:...Gneri Offle Assistani.
By JONATHAN MILLER
A SIXTEEN YEAR-OLD herpetologist I know has
made an interesting discovery. In what must be
considered a major advancement in the knowledge of
the complex inter-relationship between men, snakes
and lizards, the young experimenter resolved a ques-
tion which many of today's modern travellers may
encounter on their trips to the marijuana-lush areas
of Mexico and the southwest United States.
"If chased by a viper," the remarkable young man
recommends, "remember t h a t blowing marijuana
smoke into its face has been demonstrated to cause
VIPERS EAT LIZARDS - that is a well-known
herpetological phenomenon. But, with the farsight-
edneM -that can make a man great, our young hero
looked at the situation from a different perspective.
"If," he theorized, "the snake could, without any
permanent side effects beyond residual hunger, be
made temporarily incapable of exercising the. lethal
fangs in the back of its mouth, then man need never
again walk in fear of the viper."
A viper, a lizard and a quantity of marijuana pro-
vided the raw material which this particular herpe-
tologist used for this particular unprecedented experi-
ment, which should make fear of vipers obsolete
among young and old alike.
The viper used in the experiment, incidentally, had
not been defanged, as the young scientist sincerely
believed in making the experiment valid by ground-
ing it in harsh realism.
"STONING" THE VIPER was little problem be-
yond keeping a safe distance from its mouth. In-
deed, in many ways it was the most pleasant part of
the experiment. As the clouds of narcotic smoke bil-
lowed into the enclosure, the snakedbegan to exhibit
strange behavorial traits. It waved its first couple
of slender feet in wierd patterns in the sky. "Peeee-
ooow," went the viper, according to my herpetologist
buddy.
Then, the lizard was put in the enclosure. Try as it
might, the snake could not catch and kill the lizard-
it merely banged its head on the glass walls of the
experimental facility.
"If it will work for a lizard, it will work for men
too," says the scientist teen, a note of accomplishment
in his voice.
surprisingly, his achievement has been little recog-
nized by the respectable academic community, thus
proving that history repeats itself-the same fate hav-
ing befallen Newton.
THE PHILOSOPHICAL implications of the experi-
ment are clear. The viper has always been one of
man's enemies. Indeed, since the garden of Eden, men
have sought to avoid vipers. It may be that factor
alone which has caused me to hold so much admira-
tion for the herpotologist.
As Saint Patrick is best remembered for his role in
ridding Ireland of snakes-and since his day no one
has been harmed by a slippery reptile on the Emerald
Isle-even sainthood could lie in, store for our young
friend, the man who may extend the good work of
Saint Patrick world wide.
the snake to miss when making that final, fatal
thrust to sink his poisonous fangs deep into your
body."
Herpetology is, of course, "that branch of zoology
which treats of reptiles and amphibians," and as
competition is so keen among young herpetologists,
the constant striving to be in the forefront of ad-
vanced behavioral research causes some young in-
ventors to resort to extraordinary laboratory tech-
niques - even at the risk of their own health.
Letters to The Daily
_i Daily case I-j401 <j2 "I A. I ~
To The Daily:
AS INDIVIDUALS and as mem-
bers of the Radical Independent
Party we wishto express our com-
plete support for Bern Pedit in his
attempt to gain a fair wage rate
and decent working conditions
from the Board of Student Publi-
cations. As such, this means our
full endorsement of his specific
demands for unionization of print-
er's helpers with full union bene-
fits, a a f e working conditions, a
clear definition of duties, and ret-
roactive pay both for the time lost
when he was fired and the pay in-
crease included in the current
AFSCME contract. We think it is
high time the University realize
that just because some of its em-
ployes also happen .to be students
this does not justify their being
subjected to substandard wages
and working conditions.
Equally distressing to us is the
self-censorship imposed by The
Daily; censorship which did not
even partially end until Thursday.
We feel that the test of a news-
paper lies not only in whether it
deals with national and global is-
sues, but also if it is willing to
cover those concrete and local is-
sues which arise. Such coverage
should be given even if-it may of-
fend the "powers that be" in the
University.
-The Radical Independent
Party Steering Committee
Resignation
To The Daily:,
THE FOLLOWING L E T T E R
has been sent to the Alpha XI
Delta sorority:
"I wish to request t h a t my
name be removed from the Alpha
Xi Delta directory. Two letters
have been addressed to the na-
tional organization in an attempt
to have stated the sorority's posi-
tion on the pledging of Negro
girls. I received no answer to the
'4
" r
,r .. c
"Here's- another one. . .!
first letter. Mrs. Frank A. West
was kind enough to answer the
second, but she wrote only that
my letter had been forwarded to
Mrs. Brown, national president.
Mrs. Brown did not answer that
letter.
"As I stated before, I do not
wish to become active in or par-
ticipate even passively in an or-
ganization which, for all practi-
cal purposes, still practices racial
and perhaps other forms of mor-
ally indefensible segregation. I al-
so do not wish to be associated
with an organization which does
not answer Inqueries from its
members."
The letter may be an insigni-
ficant gesture in an age of such
turmoil and violence, but I wish
to make it anyway.
-Janet Trautwein Chaniot
'61 LS&A
May 26
Letters to The Daily should
be mailed to the Editorial Di-
rector or delivered to M a r y
Rafferty in the Student Pub-
lications business office in the
Michigan Daily building. Let-
ters should be typed, double-
spaced and normally should
not exceed 250 words. The
Editorial Directors reserve the
right to edit all letters sub-
mitted.