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Page 12-B-Thursday, September 4, 1980-The Michigan Daily
t
Reg ets set policy
for the University
By SARA ANSPACH A half hour at the end of the Thursday would destroy the community's am-
The University is very much like a meeting is set aside for comments from bience-claimed Roach's move was un-
---------,V ,,., ..the public. Students, faculty, and com- fair.
large corporation whose products in-
clude education and research-
generated knowledge and whose con-
sumers are its approximate 40,000
students. And at the head of the cor-.
poration is its board of directors-the
Board of Regents-who are ultimately
responsible for everything the in-
stitution does.
Although most every decision the
Regents make at their, monthly
meetings will have some effect on the
students, the two groups have little con-.
tact with one another. Few issues are
volatile enough to spur student interest
and matters as vital as tuition hikes
often pass with little input from the
students.
+ Despite little student interest in the
Regent meetings, MSA President Marc
Breakstone vigorously promotes the
idea of a regent who is a student, but
University administrators are reluc-
tant.-
"Although it's not impossible, it's
unreasonable to expect students to have
the necessary experience to qualify
munity members must sign up before
the meeting if they wish to address the
Board for a maximum of five minutes
at the public comments session.
Occasionally a group of citizens will
make its concerns known to the Regen-
ts by staging a protest at the meeting.
Two years ago the Washtenaw County
Coalition Against Apartheid-a
primarily-student group opposed to the
University's investments in firms doing
business in South Africa-created such
a disturbance that the Regents moved
their meeting.
While the Regents have the final say
on everything that happens at the
University, most of their decisions are
rubber-stamps of the recommendations
of the six vice-presidents.
The Regents often complain they
wish they had more control over
designs of campus buildings. The Board
has been known to argue long and hard
with architects over the color of a
building's bricks or the shape of its'
pillars.
Much controversy arose when the
University community got wind of the
decision, and the Regents nicely pat-
ched up their differences at the next
meeting to publicly restore the Board's
good name.
Being a Regent can be time-
consuming and all eight. Regents have
at least one full-time job. Each month
they are handed an information-laden
agenda to digest before the meeting,
and quite often they do outside research
on their own.
The Regents have the final word on
everything from property sales to in-
vesting University funds to promoting
faculty. When an unanswerable
question arises at a meeting the Board
will often direct the administration to
look into the matter.
Regents are elected state-wide for
eight year terms. The Board has eight
members and if a member should
resign mid-term the Governor appoints
a replacement.
I
Daily Photo ;
REGENT THOMAS ROACH, usually quite vocal during the Regent's meetings, takes a reflective puff on his pipe-a frequent
companion.
A brief look at the Board
James Waters
Waters, 39, is the Board's only black,
member. The Democratic attorney
from Muskegon is vocal about minority
and labor issues.
Deane Baker
President of his own construction
and real estate firm, this Republican
from Ann Arbor is particularly concer-
ned about the architecture and design
of University buildings. The 55-year-old
Regent is a staunch conservative and is
often very vocal at meetings.
Sarah Power
President Carter appointed Power,
45, to the post of deputy assistant
secretary of state for human rights and
social affairs last May. The Ann Arbor
Democrat is married to publisher and
past senatorial candidate Phil Power
and is often quite vocal about issues
concerning women and minorities.
Thomas Roach
Roach, 51, is an attorney from Saline.
The Democrat often arrives at the
meetings particularly well-researched
and well-prepared to sway the un-
decided to his side.
Paul Brown
This 45-year-old Regent is often quiet
at meetings.- A Democrat; Brown is a
1961 graduate of the University law
school and practices law in Petoskey.
Daily Photo
Roach, Baker, Brown, Dunn, President Shapiro), during
MEMBERS OF THE University's Board of Regents (left to right:
one of their monthly meetings in the Administration Building.
REGENT DAVID LARO pays dlose attention: to a presentation during one of last
year's meetings.
them for a position on the Board of
Regents," explained University
President Harold Shapiro to a Daily
reporter last July. "I value student in-
put in many areas, but I feel itis inap-
propriate to have a student Regent"
As a publicly-elected body, the Board
is required to keep its monthly
meetings open to the public. The
Regents meet on the third Thursday
and Friday of each month usually on
the Ann Arbor campus in the Regents
Room.
Often Board decisions are The two Republicans on the
unanimous, but there are occasional Board-Deane Baker and David
squabbles. This year Regents Deane
Baker (R-Ann Arbor) and Thomas
Roach (D-Saline) fought a battle over
the sale of an option to buy a piece of
University property to a local
developer who needed the land to con-
struct a 32-story high-rise complex.
Roach, who claimed the sale was a good
business deal, won a positive vote from
the Board when several members were
absent. Baker-who said the high-rise
Laro-are both up for re-election this
fall. The post of University Regent is
not one most state voters pay much at-
tention and most people usually select
their candidate along party lines.
The-current membefs of the Board
share many common characteristics.
Several have law degrees, all are well-
off, and many are aspiring for bigger
and better public offices.
David Laro
This soft-spoken Regent is the only
member of the Board who was not elec-
ted. He was appointed by Governor
Milliken in 1975 after another member
resigned. The Flint Republican is an at-
torney who twice served as Milliken's
Gennesse County campaign chairman.
Gerald Dunn
Dunn is a former state senator who
now is an education superintendent.
The 45-year-old Democrat from Lan-
sing is especially interested in preven-
ting tuition increases from skyrocket-
ting.
Robert Nederlander
Nederlander, 47, is a frequent con-
tributor to the meetings and often asks'
probing questions. The Democrat from
Birmingham is part owner of both
Detroit's Fisher Theater --and
Clarkston's Pine'Knob.
--
V.P
.s and Shapiro keep 'U'
on track
By MITCH CANTOR
During a meeting of the University
Regents last year former Interim Uni-
versity President Allan Smith acciden-
tally referred to Vice-President James
Brinkerhoff as "Regent Brinkerhoff."
"I promoted him, I guess," Smith
quipped.
"That's a demotion," retorted one of
the Regents.
Indeed, many observers around the
University maintain that it's actually
the veeps-and not the Regents-who,
with the president; run the show at the
University.
WHILE THE Regents hold final
authority on all high-level University
decisions, hardly any item comes
before their attention unless it has been
deemed, important by the vice-
presidents.
The six men, who-unlike the Re-
gents-must deal with University
decisions on a day-to-day basis, deal
closely with the president, as well as
many lower-level officials.
There is also a great deal of interac-
tion between the six administrators
themselves. Despite the differences in
their official duties, one factor keeps
them in constant touch with each other:
All programs, in order to work, depend
on funding. So they try to keep
somewhat abreast of each others' plans
in order that the University budget is
most effectively used.
WHILE COMMUNICATION between
By JULIE ENGEBRECHT
Unless you run into Harold Shapiro leaving his large
white home on South University-the president's man-
sion-very early each morning, his presence will go largely
unnoticed.
Shapiro, 45,is the University's 10th president.
He must take ultimate responsibility for the University's
financial affairs, a job that includes obtaining contributions
from, private and public sources-University alumni,
foundations, and the State of Michigan. A president is also
called on to speak at hundreds of official functions, resulting
in many long days. He must be a diplomat, settling argumen-
ts between various components of the University and presen-
ting a favorable outside image.
SINCE JANUARY 1 when Shapiro took office, the Univer-
sity and the State of Michigan, from which the University
draws the majority of its funds, have been beset with finan-
cial problems. The auto industry's ailing, eroding Michigan's
tax base, which in turn leaves the state with less money for
the University-ultimately resulting in higher tuition, lower
salary increases, and layoffs and cutbacks everywhere.
But for Shapiro, it's all in a day's work. He's an economist
by trade, and has taught economics here since 1964, the year
he received his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton. He was
chairman of the economics department and chairman of a
University budget committee before being named vice-
president for academic affairs, a post he held until shortly
before he assumed the presidency.
So when the University Regents went about the business
of selecting a successor to former University President Rob-
ben Fleming, now chairman of the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting in Washington, D.C., they kept Shapiro high on
their list. The potential for future fiscal problems was a great
concern to the Regents, who needed an administrator who
would know how to wisely spend the University's in-
creasingly limited resources.
nRii. 4t tvt o iircewasn't the onlv nrnblem the new
Brinkerhoff Frye
... financial v.p. ... academic v.p.
The six University vice-presidents
are:
* James Brinkerhoff-vice-president
and chief financial officer for the
University. The 57-year-old ad-
ministrator, who has worked in some
Big Ten school for the past 17 years,
supervises the University finances,
business, and property. He is the
school's money- manager.
" Billy Frye-vice-president for
academic affairs. Frye is the most
recent appointment to a vice-
presidential post. He spends much of
for state relations and planning. The 47-
year-old Kennedy serves as the school's
chief liason to the state legislature. He
is responsible for keeping up with
budgetary matters, proposed
legislation, and other questions arising
in Lansing which could affect the
University. Based on his experience, he
is to inform and advise the president on
all such matter. Kennedy has been
with the University on and off for the
past 20 years.
" Charles Overbhr0ar-vice-
Ha rold Shapiro
small talk. His use of words is as efficient as his use of other
resources. And he admits to just becoming accustomed to
making sneeches and relaxing while the center of attention.