uedo r, 3une 10, 1 975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
City okays controversial
sign ordinance revisions 1j
By ANN MARIE LIPINSKI
and DAVID WHITING
City Council last night'revised
a controversial sign ordinance
which has sparked years of
heated court battles.
The new sign ordinance, how-
ever, is not expected to squelch
the infighting between local mer-
chants, environmentalists, and
the city. "No matter what we
pass here tonight," predicted
Councilman Jamie Kenworthy
(D-Fourth Ward) "it's bound to
be taken to court by someone."
THE NEW ordinance is hoped
to be more flexible and work-
able than the last which was
thrown out by the courts for be-
ing "too restrictive." The ordi-
nance is also an attempt by
Council to improve the appear-
ance of the city by having store
signs conform with existing
storefront style, and to prevent
a massive influex of "non-aes-
thetic" sign advertising.
The m o s t hotly - contested
amendment to the ordinance is
a section regarding "message
units" - word syllables, sur-
names, abbreviations, and num-
bers. The number of message
units on a sign are limited by
city law.
Jim Hume, of the Ann Arbor
Bank and Trust, attacked the
message unit amendment dur-
ing a public hearing two weeks
earlier, for being "discrimina-
tory" towards longer corporate
or private names.
Former City Attorney Edwin
Pear, before leaving his post
several weeks ago, expressed
hope that the revisions would
save the city some of the thou-
sands of dollars spent fighting
various law suits the city has
faced since the ordinance passed
in the late sixties.
Morning taxi fare
cut set by AATA
Dr. Kangaroo
Robert Keeshan, better known as television's Captain Kangaroo, is awarded an honorary doctor-
ate of humane letters at Dartmouth College Sunday in Hanover, N.H. Dartmouth's president,
John Kemeny, is at the left with Professor Robert Huke,
Ya ssoo fest draws enthusiastic
crowds for wine, dance, song
By SUSAN ADES
The Ann Arbor Transportation
Authority (AATA) is completing
plans to cut private taxi fares
in half in an effort to reduce
the incidence of crime between
midnight and 5 a.m.
"What the Authority has de-
cided to do," said Jim Robin-
son, AATA operations manager,
"is find out how many people
will respond to a late night sers-
ice by providing a 50 per cent
across the board subsidy for
rides within the Ann Arbor city
tsuts."
THE AATA has calculated the
average cab fare to be $1.70.
Whvthe subsidy, the 1-cent
fe will make safe transporta-
tion available to "people like
nurses and waitresses who have
to work the late shifts."
The service would be avail-
able for any city cab ride origi-
nating and terminating in Ann
Arbor, providing the call for the
taxi is placed before 5 a.m.
The AATA has formally offer-
ed Yellow Cab and Veteran Cab
Services the subsidy plan. In-
dicating a cut in fare should in-
crease the ride demand signifi-
cantly, Robinson said, "I think
it wold be to their (the cab
eompanies') advantage to ac-
cept the offer."
BOTH TAX services have yet
to reply to the proposal. But,
the AATA intends to implement
the plan even if only one of the
companies signs the contract.
Several AATA board members
expressed concern at a meeting
last week over possibly depriv-
ing their own Transportation
E iplo' Union drivers of addi-
tio~ath ors with she subsidy
pLt-n, saidt Roubinson.
However, realizing the sum-
ter months are reportedly high-
crirne periods (with rape fig-
tires reaching a peak), the
A TA was interested primarily
in effecting a system at the ear-
liest possible date. Rearranging
driver schedules would have
See MORNING, Page 6
By BETH NISSEN
Thousands of city residents and visitors enjoyed
the sights, sounds and spirit of the fourth annual
Yassoo Greek Festival in Ann Arbor this past
weekend.
The Ya'ssoo (Greek for "here's to you!") was
held under a block-long canopy adjacent to the
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, on Main St.
The Festival is organized and staffed by mem-
bers of the congregation, the proceeds from their
efforts going to the church's building fund.
VISITORS TO the weekend "Little Athens"
sampled authentic Greek food, clapped their
hands to the sounds of a live bouzouki band,
toasted their health to the point of infirmity with
potent, clear ouzo, and were even pulled into the
serpentine lines of Greek folk dancers.
Tables were laden with Grecian cuisine as
teropita (cheesy triangles), paximathea (a sort
of Greek Zwieback), the popular diamonds of
baklava pastry, and tsourski, a Greek sweet-
bread.
Diners were given the choice of seasoned Greek
sausage, or souvlaki, a Greec-y lamb shishkabob
served over fragrant rice.
MISSING FROM this year's Greek table was
the strong goatsmilk feta cheese, cut because of
high cost.
"We eliminated it, even though it is traditional,
because it would have raised the prices," ex-
plained the Festival co-chairman, Martha Bowie.
"But we expanded last year's menu, and we sold
10,000 pieces of pastry in three days."
The women in the congregation bake the less
fancy pastries in the church kitchen.
"TIEY BEGIN baking about the second week
in May," said Festival coordinator James Doug-
lass. "It isn't unusual on some days to find them
there from 7 in the morning to 11 at night. It
becomes alnost a commercial operation." An
See YA'SSOO, Page 6
wo progress on affir ative action
Smuts travels from
Tanzania to London
By TIM SCHICK I
A recent report from the University's Af-
firmative Action Office concluded that, de-
spite goals to increase minority representa-
tion among employes, there has actually been
a slight decrease in the University's minor-
ity work force.
The report notes that between April 1973-
March 1974 - the period the study surveys-
there was a .1 per cent drop in University
minority employes. The report also contended
that:
*"Little if any progress" was made to-
ward the achievement of numerical affirma-
tive action objectives;
* Overall, the pattern of utilizing minori-
ties and women did not change dramatically
during the period of the study; and
. Minority employes continue to be pri-
marily employed as custodians, and secre-
taries, while males are predominantly em-
ployed as instructors.
The study noted that while the University's
total work force increased by 1.51 per cent,
the number of minority employes increased
by only 1.04 per cent - causing minority per-
centages to drop from 14.4 to 14.3.
Instructors, according to. the report, have
the lowest minority percentage of any Univer-
sity classification. Eighty per cent are white
males, 13.8 per cent white women, and only
6.18 per cent are minorities. During the per-
iod in which the study was compiled, one
minority instructor was added to the staff.
MINORITY employment is disproportionate
in the service/maintenance classification, the
report said. Over 35 per cent of these posi-
tions are held by minorities, 19.9 per cent held
by white women, and 44.7 per cent are occu-
pied by white males.
Secretarial positions are most commonly
held, the report states, by white women. They
comprise 84.7 per cent of the work force in
this area, while white men are only five
per cent of this group. Minorities occupy 10.63
per cent of the secretarial positions.
The report also notes "data does not show'
that there has been a relaxation of sex-role
See AFFIRMATIVE, Page 6
By ELAINE FLETCHER
Barbara Smuts, a local wo-
man kidnapped. last monoth by
African guerrillas and later re-
leased, flew with her mother
from Tanzania to London Sat-
urday for treatment of a liver
disease, family friends con-
firmed yesterday. .
Smuts' friends also reported
that Barbara's father, Robert
Smuts, left Ann Arbor Saturday
for a week-long visit with his
daughter whom he has not seen
for some months.
THE REMAINING three hos-
tages, captured in a raid on a
Tanzanian wildlife research
center, are being held by the
Zairian Marxist guerrilla in ex-
change for their comrades, who
are allegedly held by the Tan-
zanian government.
Although bedridden with her
liver illness which was con-
tracted before her capture, Bar-
bara Smuts remained in the
Tanzanian capitol of Dar es Sal-
lam uutil Saturday to work for
the release of her three cap-
tured companions.
However, Robert Smuts' trip
tO London "was not anything
connected with the hostages'
rescue" effort, contended close
family friend, Marjorie Lan-
sing.
"HE (Smuts) was just going
to join his wife and Barbara be-
cause he feels concerned about
her health," Lansing explained.
Medications for Barbara
Smuts' liver have apparently
done little. "It was something
she was not recovering from,"
stated Lansing.
LANSING added that she had
no idea how serious the liver
condition was, nor if University
professor Peter Steiner is still
in the African country of Bur-
undi.