Secret
society
Jiolds
initiation
ritual
By JANET RAE
Dressed in black robes and hoods, 10
to 20 members of the Vulcans, a secret
*Engineering honor society, par-
ticipated yesterday in early-morning
initiation rites for new members.
According to witnesses of the
ceremony at the West Engineering Ar-
ch, new initiates were doused with
shaving cream, after-shave, and
mfouthwash while they kneeled with
their heads resting on an anvil near the
Engineering Arch.
IT WAS REPORTED that as many as
five initiates were brought out in-
dividually from inside the West
ngineering Building. The dousing
ceremony was accompanied by chan-
ting "something about being
neophytes," witnesses said.
"Brother Pluto," a leading figure in
the initiation, said the initiation "em-
bpdies humility . .. hence the untidy
ceremony." He said all initiates were
participating voluntarily in the rites,
which he claimed were only a small
mart of an initiation ceremony that
"egan at 8 p.m. Thursday.
One witness reported overhearing a
member telling an initiate that sham-
poo and towels were available inside
the building.
"IN THE REST (of the initiation)
there's nothing that would amuse you at
all," Brother Pluto told a Daily repor-
ter present at the ceremony. "We just
tell them what our organization is
about, which is none of your business."
Other participants said faculty mem-
$ers are involved in the society and that
no one is ever physically harmed
during initiation. "The dean is ayare of
our existence," said one unidentified
member.
Vulcan members said that "about 75
percent of the people (involved in the
initiation) have keys to this building"
by virtue of leadership positions they
hold within the College of Engineering.
Annette Tilden, spokeswoman for
,engineering college Assistant Dean of
Student Services Leland Quackenbush,
said Quackenbush "was aware there
was an initiation" and reported thatthe
assistant dean is faculty adviser to the
Vulcans. Quackenbush was out of town
and could not be reached for comment.
According to a student who asked to
remain unidentified, this year's "tap-
ping," or initiate selection, took place
in part during an Engineering Council
meeting. Robed figures alledgedly en-
tered the meeting and intoned, "there
*are those among you that are deemed
better than the rest," placed black
hoods over three council members'
heads, and led them from the room
withoutexplanation.
Selection to the secret society, foun-
ded in 1904, is reportedly based on the
initiates' level of activity within the
- College of Engineering.
The Michigan Daily-Saturday, March 14, 1981-Page 3
Reagan budget
could cripple
Midwest, North,
coalition warns
AP Photo
AN AMBULANCE AND medical aides wait outside Damascus International Airport yesterday for hijackers to release
more than 100 hostages, who have been held captive for 13 days aboard a Pakistani International Airlines Boeing 720-B,
shown in the background.
Hosuiages 10 be* released
fro-m hijacked jetoday
WASHINGTON (UPI) - President
Reagan's proposed budget will widen
the gap between the Sun Belt and Frost
Belt by further crippling the
economically distressed Northeast and
Midwest, a congressional coalition
warned yesterday.
After an hour-long meeting with
budget director David Stockman,
congressional members of the Nor-
theast-Midwest Coalition said Reagan's
chief cost-cutter is "somewhat flexible
while not deviating from the bottom
line."
"WE BELIEVE that this budget will
widen the gap between regions," Reps.
Thomas Downey (D-N.Y.) and ,Carl
Pursell (R-Mich.) said in a statement.
"The result would frustrate the
president's goal of national economic
recovery."
According to the coalition, during
1975-1979 the Frost Belt states sent $165
billion more in taxes to Washington
than they received in federal spending.
During the same period, the coalition
said, the government spent $112 billion
more in the Sun Belt than it collected in
taxes from the region.
REAGAN'S PROPOSAL to slash
government funds for economic
development and increase defense
spending will further widen regional
disparities, the congressmen said.
"Even if the administration found
savings worth one percent of the
proposed defense expenditures for
fiscal 1982, the result would produce
enough money to save the Economic
Development Administration and
restore full funding for Urban
Development Action Grants," their
statement said.
The Economic Development Ad-
ministration, condemned to death by
the administration, and the Urban
Development Action Grant program, to
be cut and merged with a more general
block grant program, are emerging as
key budget battlegrounds.
THE PROGRAMS are designed to
encourage economic development by
targeting federal funds to the nation's
most distressed areas and pushing for
substantial private-sector funds for
every federal dollar spent.
While Stockman and Commerce
Secretary Malcolm Baldrige have
vowed to kill the Economic Develop-
ment Administration, a bipartisan ef-
fort to save the program is being moun-
ted by congressmen from the Frost Belt
states.
"The administration should be
moving toward, not away from,
programs that encourage private in-
vestment in towns and cities where in-
vestment is most desperately needed,"
the Downey-Pursell statement said.
Another coalition member, Sen.
Donald Riegel (D-Mich.) told a news
conference following the meeting with
Stockman that the administration's
rush to enact its economic proposals
creates "a real danger we may back in-
to a plan without knowing its im-
plications."
"From the Reagan point of view, the
plan has to work in all sections of the
country," he said. "A flaw that leaves
one section of the country crippled
could bring the whole plan down."
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Political prisoners prepared
to leave Karachi, Pakistan, early today to be exchanged for
more than 100 hostages held in Damascus in aviation's
second-longest hijack, a government spokesman said.
A government spokesman said the departure had been
delayed but would not say why. Unofficial sources said
authorities were awaiting assurances from Libya - the
eventual destination - that they would be granted asylum
before dispatching the aircraft carrying the prisoners.
LIBYA'S OFFICIAL NEWS agency said the North
African country would "accept' the plane, but did not say
whether this included asylum.
The hijackers had demanded the release of 55 prisoners
in all, but Pakistani officials in Damascus said they could
not locate one of the prisoners.
A Pakistani military jet left Karachi for Damascus late
yesterday and airport officials reported the freed prisoners
were on their way. A government spokesman said later that
none of the prisoners was on board. There was no ex-
planation of the military aircraft's mission in Damascus.
THE HOSTAGES, WHO include three Americans and two
U.S. resident aliens, were described as "terribly worn out"
from the 12-day ordeal.
Officials here expressed hope that the drama, which
began March 2 when a trio of heavily armed Pakistanis
seized the plan on a domestic flight, would end this
weekend. Libya agreed to accept the political prisoners and
hijackers, and the Karachi plane took off for Tripoli, of-
ficials said.
Syria's state-run television said the hostages will be freed
once the Pakistani political prisoners are certified to be the
ones requested by the hijackers. According to this report,
the certification would be made by Syrian authorities
during a stop by the Libya-bound prisoners in Aleppo,
Syria, early Saturday.
Syria and Libya are close allies and last September
agreed to unify their two states.
Poletown will fall to GM plant
LANSING (AP) - The Michigan
Supreme Court gave General Motors
Corp. and the city of Detroit permission
Friday to raze "Poletown" and replace
the neighborhood with a new Cadillac
assembly plant.
The court ruling rejected the claim of
the Poletown Neighborhood Council
that the condemnation of private
property for the benefit of a business
enterprise violates constitutional
protections.
"TODAY'S DECISION has an impact
far broader than the city of Detroit and
its residents," said Attorney Ronald
Reosti, who represents the Poletown
Homeowners Association.}
"It jeopardizes the homes, churches
and neighborhoods of every city where
a large corporation wants the property
HAPPENINGS-
FILMS
AAFC - Dressed to Kill, 7, 8:45,10:30 p.m., MLB 3.
Alternative Action Films - The Front, 7, 9 p.m., MLB 4.
Cinema Guild - Ann Arbor Film Festival, 7,9, 11 p.m., Michigan Theater.
Cinema II - The Harder they Come, 7, 8:45, 10:30 p.m., Angell Aud. A.
Mediatrics - Safety Last, 7, 10:15 p.m., The Freshman, 8:40 p.m., Nat.
Sci. Aud.
Meekreh - Start the Revolution Without Me, 8 p.m., Markley Concourse
Lounge.
PERFORMANCE
Canterbury Loft - "The Caretaker," 3,8 p.m., 332 S. State.
Asian-American Association / East Wind - Charlie Chin of NYC,
folksinger/songwriter, 7 p.m., William Monroe Trotter House.
AMC productions - multi-media rock concert, "Everything's Turning
Gray,"8 p.m., Mendelssohn Theatre.
PTP/Theatre and prama - "All the Way Home," 8 p.m., Trueblood
Theatre.
Office of Major Events - Romantics, 8 p.m., Hill Auditorium.
University Musical Society - Hakan Hagegard, 8:30 p.m., Rackham Aud.
The Ark - Rosalie Sorrels, 1421 Hill St.
MISCELLANEOUS
Engineering - "Tech Day," 8 a m.-4 p.m., Chrysler Ctr.
Rec. Sports - Children's Sports-O-Rama, 2 p.m., NCRB.
Michigan Orchestra Association - Workshop, 9 a.m., MacGregor Center,
Wayne State University.
S International Folk Dance Club - Workshop, advanced - intermediate, 9
a.m., Michigan League; beginning, 1 p.m., CCRB Activities room.
Society of Automotive Engineers - Tune-up clinic, 9 a.m., Walter E. Lay
Automotive lab.
School of Music - Froydis Ree Wekre, master class, 1:30, Music Recital
Hall.
Philosophy Department - Symposium, Hugo Bedau, "Utilitarianism and
Moral Codes," 10 a.m., panel discussion, 11:30 a.m., MLB 2.
Extension Service - Stress Workshop, 3 p.m., Michigan Union, conferen-
ce room 5.
Theosophical Society in Ann Arbor - Tape recording of a "Krishnamurti
of private citizens," he said.
"In essence, the public welfare has
been subordinated to the dictates of
major corporations."
BUT THE"DECISION was a victory
for state and local officials who have
hailed the proposed General Motors
Corp. plant as the salvation of a city
which has been raveged by the auto in-
dustry slump. The Cadillac plant will
replace two Detroit factories being
closed by GM.
GM Chairman Roger Smith praised
the court's ruling saying "Now we trust
the cities of Detroit and Hamtramck
will be able to proceed quickly
preparing the site so the first part of it
will be ready for construction by May
1."
The court majority said the Poletown
project will produce clear public
benefits justifying 'condemnation
because of the jobs created, but dissen-
ters warned the ruling takes the state
into "a new realm of takings of private
property."
IT WAS NOT immediately clear how
the high court outcome will affect the
efforts of the neighborhood council to
sell city and GM officials on
Students
learn to
behavior
(Continued from Page 1)
fear by talking to himself or herself
before the test, Papsdorf said.
For most students, the behavior
modification has short-term effects.
About 75 percent of the class views the
project solely as an academic exercise,
Papsdorf explained. When the term is
completed, old habits return.
"My program was a complete
failure," said LSA junior Joe Polgar,
who attempted to improve his study
habits. The program wasn't a bad idea,
he said, but he admitted he wasn't
serious enough about it.
Joe Donoghue, an LSA junior who
wanted to cut down his smoking said,
"It held for a while, but when my life
situation changed I started smoking
more."
But some people do succeed in
changing their behavior for a longer
period of time.
modifications they claim could save
large numbers of home and historic
buildings which currently face the
wrecker's ball.
The state Commerce Department,
acting at Gov. William G. Milliken's
request, has agreed to review the
residents' ideas and discuss them with
the city and the giant automaker. No
commitment has been made to press
for the changes, however, even if they
prove feasible.
The council claims the current GM
plant will uproot some 3,400 persons,
many of them elderly, and require
demolition of 140 businesses in the
neighborhood which straddles the
Detroit-Hamtramck border.
Charlie Garlow, a volunteer with the
Poletown Neighborhood Council, said
the group would file suit in federal court
and was considering appeal of the state
court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Our attorney is looking at the
opinion right now to see if an appeal to
the U.S. Supreme Court would be a good
thing," he said.
MANN THEATRES
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