Wednesday, May 12, _ 976
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
U dean praises affirmative action
By MICHAEL BLUMFIELD
"Despite ten years of federal civil
rights protection, minorities are still
twice as likely as whites not to have
jobs," said University Law School Dean
Theodore St. Antoine.
St. Antoine painted this bleak picture
of affirmative action recently at a public
symposium on discrimination at Rutgers
University and also during an address at
Tulane University Law School.
AFFIRMATIVE action programs - re-
quiring "preferential treatment" of mi-
norities - "is the only alternative to the
vicious circle of racial discrimination,"
according to the Law School dean.
"The median black family income was
54 per cent of that of the average white
family in 1964 and had only risen to 58
per cent of whites' in the early seven-
ties," he said. "Minorities continue to
occupy a disproportionately low per-
centage of the more attractive positions.
The unemployment situation of women in
relation to white males is similarly
bleak."
This discouraging situation was instru-
mental in the government's support of
affirmative action guidelines for federal-
ly-funded education programs and in-
dustry, according to St. Antoine.
"THE RATIONALE for our (the Uni-
versity's) special admissions program
is pretty clearly a manifold one," he
said. "A part of it is to move minorities
into the mainstream of American profes-
sional life, which will automatically im-
prove their economic status."
Fie added that "another important func-
tion is to provide legal services for
minorities" and the endeavor can be
better achieved "when provided by
people who they (minorities) can iden-
tify with. By no means all, but several,
have gone back to their old neighbor-
hoods and are helping out. Others have
gone into the labor movement and have
helped keep unions sensitive to the
needs of minority employes."
"Moving minorities into higher status
positions with its added visibility results
in their serving as a role model which
can be encouraging to others who aspire
to similar success," contended St. An-
toine.
A SEPARATE reason for affirmative
action and the quotas that it requires is
the fact that it "helps society as a
whole," he maintains. "When I started
teaching here in 1965, there were no mi-
norities here at a time when racial prob-
lems constituted a core issue of the
country. I believe that to some extent
lawyers do help channel conflicts into
orderly networks. So the more minorities
we have in law, the more disputes can
be settled peacefully and legally instead
of in the streets with Molotov cocktails."
Law is not the only field that needs
minority representation in this regard,
St. Antoine explained. The field of com-
munications is in grave need of minority
representation, he added.
When questioned about the constitu-
tionality of affirmative action, and the
legality of "reverse discrimination," St.
Antoine said he fel' Streme Court .Jus-
tice William Douglas "had his head
stuck in the sand" when he "denounced
in absolutionist terms any use of race
as a criterion for governnental deter-
minations."
"DOUGLAS' position is It the four-
teenth amendment was passed to elit-
inate racial distinction ant thus one
can't draw any lines between (whites and
blacks)," he suggested. "There is no
question that it was intended to elim-
inate discritninntion sgainst blacks. The
original creators of the amsiendment Isrob-
ably didn't intend on eliminating all
racial distinction.
"My feeling is that it simply doesn't
accord with the realities of today," the
dean stated. ")ottgtas' argument was
that tests for admission were culturally-
biased, but to change the tests' ac-
curacy, you'd have to change the entire
society. He wanted to have his cake and
eat it too. Unless we have Seme sort of
discrimination in favor of minorities,
we'll have the problem forever."
State legislature averts
'U' appropriation cut
By GEORGE LOBSENZ
A potential $2.7 million cut in the
University's 1975-1976 state appropriation
was averted yesterday when the State
Senate moved to implement a proposal
extending the state's fiscal year, thereby
easing the state's present budget crisis'
The threat of a cutback arose when
the Senate refused to give "immediate
effect" to a Gov. William Milliken-spon-
sored measure designed to circumvent
the anticipated budget deficit - illegal
under the state constitution.
Dope note
A professor at the Medical College
of Georgia announced yesterday that
marijuana eye drops may be useful in
treating glaucoma, the nation's third
leading cause of blindness. Dr. Keith
Green said liquid marijuana "is as good
or better than any anti-glaucoma medi-
cation currently available." Glaucoma
is caused by a buildup of pressure in
the eye which damages the optic nerve.
Green' said that tests on rabbits re-
sulted in a 30 per cent drop in pres-
sure in the eyes. However, he reports
the rabbits experienced a marijuana
"high." Green is placing emphasis on
finding a substance related to or de-
rived from marijuana which "won't have
the euphoric side effects."
Happenings .
... begin at noon with a meeting of
the Commission for Women in the In-
stitute for Social Research large conf.
rm. on the 6th floor, the topic of dis-
cussion is "Affirmative Action at ISR"
... Contract negotiations between the Uni-
versity and GEO resume at 1:30 in the
third floor meeting room of the union,
the sessions are open to the public .''
and registration for the Reading and
Learning Center will be going on from
8 am. to 4 pm. at 1610 Washtenaw.
Weather or not
It will be mostly sunny today with
highs in the mid 60's. Winds will be light
and variable.
WITHOUT "immediate effect,' the
legislation could not have become law
until next April, leaving the current
budget problem unresolved.
The bill calls for the state fiscal year
to be extended from the present June 30
to Oct. 1, allowing the state to bring in
an estimated $100 million in added
revenue.
After the proposition gained approval
in both the House and the Senate, it twice
failed to garner the needed two-thirds
majority in the Senate to attain "im-
mediate effect" status.
THIS SITUATION prompted Milliken
to announce that he would propose a $100
million cutback in the state budget, in-
chiding a 2.5 per cent reduction in higher
education.
tlowever, under the pressure of poten-
tial drastic cuts in welfare programs and,
education mronies, and extensive lobbying
by Milliken aides and Senate leaders,
the measure yesterday received "im-
mediate effect" by a vote of 27-9, exactly
a two-thirds margin.
Senate Democratic leader William Fitz-
gerald (D-Detroit) described Milliken's
proposal as a "gimmick" but noted that
there were no viable alternatives to the
governor's plan.
"WE WERE between a rock and a
hard place in our original budget situa-
tion," he said, "so we adopted this
gimmick."
As for the University's financial posi-
tion, Fitzgerald said that the University
was "out of the woods for the present
time but that it would have a "damn
tough fight" in the future.
According to Fitzgerald, universities
should not have any financial scares for
at least "another 30-60 days."
REGARDING the University's 1976-77
state appropriation, Fitzgerald remark-
ed: "I think it will be a tight but realistic
budget. Still, it won't be a Christmas
tree."
SEN. GARY CORBIN, chairman of the
Senate Colleges and Univeristies Com-
mittee, echoed Fitzgerald's belief that
the University would receive a bare-
bones budget next year. "Next year's
budget won't reflect the usual inflation-
ary effect of running a university, and
that will make things tough."
Meanwhile, University President Rob-
ben Fleming expressed little -surprise
over the course of events in Lansing.
He termed Milliken's announced inten-
tion to carry out massive cutbacks as
See 'U', Page 2
Comic concentration
CHE'S DEATH 'AVENGED':
Bolivian ambassador killed
PARIS (/f) - Gunmen claiming to be
avengers of the late Che Guevara yes-
terday shot and killed Bolivia's ambas-
sador to France, who nine years ago
commanded the successful manhunt for
the Cuban revolutionary.
Gen. Joaquim Zenteno Anaya, 53, was
fatally wounded as he walked to his car
at lunchtime in the shadow of the Eiffel
Tower near the River Seine. Three
hours later, a group calling itself the
International Che Guevara Brigades
claimed credit for the killing.
IT WAS THE third killing of an am-
bassador in Europe since last October.
In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, the head of
Bolivia's joint military staff blamed a
former army commander for the death,
saying exiled Gen. Reque Teran gave
out information in 1967 linking Zenteno
Anaya to Guevara's capture.
Gen. Raul Penaranda publicly accus-
ed Teran, former commanding general
of the Bolivian army, of being the "pri-
mary guilty party ' in Zenteno Anaya's
death.
IN A STATEMENT issued to news me-
dia after the attack, the brigades called
Zenteno Anaya "the man behind the
murder of Che Guevara" and warned
that "those who oppress their people or
harbor former Nazis will be treated in
a manner they merit."
The group said it was also acting to
commemorate the May 8, 1945 Nazi sur-
render. Zenteno Anaya was described in
its communique as having defended Bo-
livia's refusal to extradite Klaus Barbie
a Nazi war criminal, to France.
French police had no comment on
the communique.
Teran, now in exile in Argentina ac-
cording to Bolivian sources, was a colo-
nel under Zenteno Anaya's command in
1967. Ie gave out information at the
time on Zenteno Anaya's role in Che's
defeat, Alvarez claimed.
"This means treason to the country
and it should be sanctioned drastically,
I have asked for a dishonorable dismis-
sal of this general," Alvarez said after
a conference with Bolivian President
Ilaga Banzer.