yvednesday, .dune 2, 1976 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three Breaking up: Not so hard to do By BARBARA ZAHS Here's the ultimate project for the real do-it-yourselfer: a do-it-yourself divorce The University's Student Legal Aid Office has put together a kit contain- ing explicit, step-by-step instructions on how to sever matrimonial bonds. THE PROCESS REQUIRES a mini- mum amount of assistance from the staff at Legal Aid. Clients can actually handle most of the paperwork them- selves. "For the most part, it's good," ad- ministrator Becky Ward said of the do- it-yourself system. If the instructions are followed care- fully, "there shouldn't be any problems," she added. IN ORDER TO QUALIFY for the do- iourself divorces, prospective clients most first meet certain criteria. They mst be University students whose in- comes do not fall above a specified level. In addition, their spouses must not be cotesting the divorce action, and child stusy and property settlements must hive already been reached. Since Michigan has adopted a no-fault divorce law, it is only necessary for the plaintiff to show that the marriage has Fight fire with fire group of rookie firemen celebrat- their graduation from the Orange tunty Fire Academy in Costal Mesa, i!f decided to retaliate when offisials a: the South Coast Plaza Hotel asked them to leave because they were get- t1g too boistrous. One or more of the firemen set off the fire alarm and sprink- Il system, causing $1,000 worth of dam- ae to three floors of the hotel. "Some .ers may end before they even be- said a spokesman of the rookies, Sof whom had fled by the time six 1:.s trucks had arrived at the scene. 0 Rub it in .1 1. Fingers' Foreman is 'rubbed out' bu happy as the world record holder for continuous massage. Perhaps in cele- bation of the Bicentennial, Foreman, completed 76 hours of massage on more than 40 volunteers. He said he isonid apply for entry into the Guiness lII vk of World Records. Foreman has apparently had a lot of experience in the art of massage. He said he began at age 7 when his grandmother, a Chero- kee Indian, made him rub her ankles. "She'd give me a smack with her cane I t stopped," Foreman said. Happenings Tonight at 7 and 9:00, the Peo- ple's Bicentennial Commission is pre- serg Monty Python and the Holy Grail, at MLB And. 3 ... at 7:30, the Reformed Druids of North America in- vite all interested to attend a service on the lawn just east of Rackham. Weather or not Our skies will finally start to clear u1 today as it will be mostly sunny with a high of 70. Things will continue to clear up and lows tonight will be md, in the lower 50's. The rest of the eek should be hot and muggy, as emperatures wil get into the 80's.,.. broken down to the point where it is not likely that it can be preserved. After meeting with a Legal Aid work- er to determine if they qualify, clients are given the packet of divorce mate- rials. The kit includes all of the legal forms and information that the clients will need. THE CLIENTS FILL OUT the forms themselves, then meet with Legal Aid's staff attorney, who makes sure the forms have been completed properly. The attorney also explains the court procedure to the clients. When the divorce proceeding are fin- ished, the clients meet with the -Legal Aid worker for a final time to close out the case. If all goes well, the entire divorce process for a childless couple may take only three months. This includes the 60-day waiting period imposed by law between the time a person files for di- vorce and the time of the final court hearing. For a couple with children the process is somewhat longer. ALTHOUGH CLIENTS are only re- quired to meet with the Legal Aid staff three times, many seek additional help. "People generally are in contact with us a lot more, just to get reassurance and such," Ward said. "We try to assure people that it (divorce) is not going to be so bad," Ward remarked." Sometimes people just need somebody to talk to. We supply that as much as we supply legal aid. We make sure that people feel secure in doing it themselves," she explained. SINCE THE Legal Aid Office insti- tuted the do-it-yourself program last Au- gust, over 120 people have taken advan- tage of the service. Ward said that mstot have been happy with the results. However, Ward admitted, "Attorneys in town have not been very pleased with the fact that we've been having people do their own divorces. They fret we're taking away their clientele." But she added that local judges have come to accept the do-it-yourself method. THE WORKERS at Legal Aid like the do-it-yourself system because It helps ease the case load of the staff. "We'd rather not burden the already- overburdened law students and staff," Ward asserted. With the time saved by clients who do their own paperwork, staffers are now able to channel their efforts into other areas. But, more important, Ward said, the do-it-yourself method helps clients "gain confidence in the legal system and see how it works." Dailv Photo by SCOTT ECCKER An Odd Couple It was a chummy night at the Second Chance as British rock 'n rollers Herman's hermits- minus Ilerman-invited men- hers of the audience up onto the stage to help sing the hermits' golden oldie "Mrs. Brown, you've got a lovely daughter." The young concert-goer on tie right, as a newly-minted rock star, appears to be already searching out his groupies. TEN CENT CALLS END- Ma Bell adapts pay phones DETROIT (UPI)-The 10-cent pay call is about to become a thing of the past in Michigan. Michigan Bell Telephone Co. said yes- terday it has begun the task of convert- ing its 51,800 pay telephones from a 10- cent to a 20-cent charge. MORE than 100 company workers have been assigned to the task, Michigan Bell said. The conversion is expected to be completed by Aug. 16 in the Detroit area and by Oct. 11 throughout the rest of Michigan. Michigan Bell won approval to double the charge for pay calls May 4 when the state Public Service Commisison ap- proved a $52.2 million general rate in- crease for Michgan's largest telephone company. The last time coin phone rates were changed was in 1952 when the charge went from a nickel to a dime. "WE'VE HELD the line for almost a quarter of a century," said David Wen- ger, Michigan Bell vice president. "There are very few services today with that kind of track record." With the new 20-cent charge, Wenger said, coin phone rates will be brought to "almost a break-even point." In its ap- plication with the PSC, Michigan Bell said it costs the company 20.6 cents to handle each local coin call. TO MAKE the conversion from a 10- cent to a 20-cent charge, a Michigan Bell employe will make adjustments on each of the 51,800 pay stations. Where a new-type single-slot coin tele- phone is already installed, the employ will simply modify the phone so that it requires 20 cents to make a local call instead of 10 cents. But where older three-slot telhpones are in use, the em- ploye will install a new single-slot coin phone modified for the 20-cent charge. As each coin telephone is converted, it will be marked with a 20-cent coin sticker near the coin slot on the dal instruction card so that telephone users will he aware of the higher charge.