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Thursday, September 9, 1982
Ax
ready;which schools will
all?
Futures of 3 under study
By LOU FINTOR
One program has failed, a second has passed, and four
more are still being tested. The programs-all either schools
or institutes of the University-aren't being graded with
simple A's, B's, and C's, however. They're being graded with
X's-more specifically AX's-the administration's tool for
dealing with a tight budget.
For some of these programs, this test is the equivalent of a
final examination-final in the sense that failure means
elimination.
FOUR SCHOOLS and three institutes were put under
examination last spring when the administration announced
its five-year plan to shift $20 million from certain parts of the
University into other, "high priority" budgets..
The programs are being "tested" by review committees,
which were set up to evaluate the quality of these programs
and judge whether they should absorb large budget cuts or
even be eliminated.
Thus far, the Institute for the Study of Mental Retardation
and Related Disabilities has failed. Its review committee
recommended in July that the institute be dismantled.
THE CENTER for the Continuing Education of Women, on
the other hand, passed. A panel set up to study the quality of
the center said in July that a budget review was not
necessary.
Four other University divisions-the Schools of Art,
Education, and Natural Resources and the Institute for
Labor and Industrial Relations-are still being assessed.
(The results of the labor institute s review was expected af-
Page 18 features a report on each of the Uni-
versity departments currently undergoing five
year plan reviews.
ter this publication's press date).
In addition, the administration plans to review the
Rackham School of Graduate Studies for possible budget
savings through a reorganization of some of the school's of-
fices. Administrators made clear, however, that the school's
programs are not in danger.
ALTHOUGH there are many decisions still to be made, the
review process has already taken a rocky path, in which the
diverse concerns of students and faculty members
associated with the schools and units under examination con-
tinue to surface.
Low morale continues to be one problem plaguing faculty
and staff members in the targeted divisions. Strong fears of
program closure at the mere mention of "review" are shared
by many University-employees who remember the fate of the
Geography Department, which was eliminated after a re-
view in 1981.
"Coming on the heels of the Geography decision, I feel the
ax is going to fall," said a staff member from the Institute of
Labor and Industrial Relations.
ADMINISTRATORS have tried several methods designed
to allay fears of students, faculty and staff members. These
See AX, Iliae' 19
Doily Photo by DOUG McMAHON
THE SCHOOL OF ART, located on North Campus, is one of three schools currently under review for large budget
cuts or possible elimination.
GEO, signs
* tentative pact
with Univ'ersity
By CHARLES THOMSON
The Graduate Employees Organiza-
tion has come a long way in 12 months.
Just more than a year ago, the
graduate studentassistants' union was
down to 75 voting members, had no con-
tract, and was embroiled in a five-year-
old legal battle with the University.
NOW, WITH victory in a crucial
lawsuit under its belt, the union has
more than 700 members and a new con-
tract set for ratification.
"It will demonstrate what can be ac-
complished," said GEO steering com-
mittee member Paul Harris of the
newly-negotiated tentative agreement
with the University. "It's very impor-
tant to the future growth and strength
of the union."
"We've made some genuine
economic gains which I think is an ac-
complishment," he continued. He said
the union was able to exact significant
concessions from the University, given
Michigan's economy and the University
budget.
THE CRUCIAL break for the union
came in November 1981, when the full
Michigan Employment Relations
Commission upheld an earlier decision
that said most graduate student
assistants are employees of the Univer-
sity and have the right to bargain
collectively. The ruling forced the
University to abide by the terms of a
contract it negotiated with the union in
1976.
The ruling also meant that the union
could start asking for union dues from
paychecks and could start negotiating
with the University for a new contract.
The University and the GEO reached
a tentative agreement on the new con-
tract in mid-July, and the proposed
pact will be submitted to the GEO
membership for ratification in Septem-
ber.
THE NEW contract, if ratified, will
tie pay raises for teaching assistants to
the average salary increase -received
by faculty members.
David Fastenfest, a member of the
GEO steering committee, said he hoped
the salary increase would average six
percent during the first year of the con-
tract but that he did not know what in-
creases in subsequent years might be.
The contract also has provisions
which establish a teaching assistant
training program and a plan which will
"potentially" lead to some level of con-
trol over class size, according to
Fastenfest.
HARRIS SAID the union asked for a
teaching assistant training program.
out of concern for educational quality at
the University. "Part of the union's
function is to improve the quality of
education at the University of
See TA, Page 14
U.S. officials
find sex bias
in 'U' athletics
By BILL SPINDLE
The University's athletic department
has been violating several federal anti-
sex discrimination guidelines, accor-
ding to the preliminary findings, of a
lengthy federal investigation.
Federal officials pointed to four areas
within the athletic department in which
they felt the University had not com-
plied with the federal government's
Title IX regulations.
Those areas were:
* disproportionate allocations of
money toward men's and women's
scholarships;
* smaller travel budgets for women's
teams than their male counterparts;
* less opportunity for women to
receive coaching in their sports and
less experience among women
coaches; and
* fewer dollars for recruiting female
athletes than for male athletes.
THE CHARGES, and the Univer-
sity's responses to them, were outlined
in a letter from University Affir--
mative Action Director Virginia Nor-
dby to the Office for Civil Rights in
Chicago.
The Office for Civil Rights began
inquiring into the athletic department
when seven University women charged
the University in 1973 with "gross
discrimination in athletics against
women," according to Nordby's letter,
which was obtained by the Daily.
Since then, a sporadic investigation
of the athletic department, including
two thorough on-site visits in November
1980 and May of this year, has resulted
in the government's findings of non-
compliance.
THE GOVERNMENT conducted its
survey under the assumption that the
athletic department falls under its
jurisdiction, according to Civil Rights
officials. But the University denies that
Title IX can be applied to the athletic
department because the department
ferently," said Mary Francis O'Shea, a
representative of the Office for Civil
Rights. "Our opinion is that the depar-
tment has jurisdiction to investigate
under Title IX."
Although the University said it will
comply with all areas cited by the
government, it also denied any
previous discrimination against
women.
In the area of financial assistance for
athletes, the investigators said that
there is a 10 percent difference between
the proportion of scholarship money
going to men compared to male
representation in athletic programs.
TITLE IX requires that the athletic
department allocate scholarships in
proportion to each sex's representation
in the athletic department.
The University, however, claims that
the difference is only 7.3 percent when
one considers differences in tuition
among in-state and out-of-state and up-
per and lower division students.
The University said its calculated 7.3
percent discrepancy would be rectified
at approximately 4 percent each year
for two years.
THE OFFICE for Civil Rights in-
dicated that the athletic department
was discriminating in its travel budgets
for men's and women's sports.
Investigators pointed out that men's
teams fly to more in-season contests
tham women's teams. They also said
that male athletes were receiving more
money for food and lodging than
women.
The University, however, said those
differences were not the result of
discrimination but rather were due to
differences in the rules of the men-s
conference, the NCAA, and - the
women's former conference, the AIAW.
The AIAW stressed regional com-
petition, giving women few contests far
enough away to necessitate flying.
Because women's sports present-
ly are shifting to NCAA jurisdiction,
Daily Photo by BRIAN MASCK
'Hey, you're in my seat'
Get ready to squeeze into another capacity crowd at Michigan Stadium when team better put some pointsc
the Wolverines open the Big Ten season against Wisconsin on Sept. 9. The of the stadium's northwest c
on the scoreboard, or these unenthused members
orner will never stand up and shout.
Debate on Pentagon research to continue
By BARRY WITT
A decade-old campus debate over the
propriety of doing research sponsored
by the military resurfaced last year,
and proponents of each side of the
question still are divided sharply.
Critics of defense research believe
that the work of some University
professors violates the spirit, if not the
letter, of a University policy which
states no researcher may work on a
research project complies with Univer-
sity policy.
But many students who last year
protested the influence of the Pentagon
at the University say that such a review
system is inadequate. The students,
along with some members of the
faculty, believe an independent review
committee should be set up to examine
research projects with potential
military applications to determine
twice as much research at the Univer-
sity as it had during the same period of
the previous year, according to resear-
ch administration statistics.
In addition, the Air Force agreed in
July to a three-year, $3.4 million con-
tract to support the College of
Engineering's new Center for Robotics
and Integrated Manufacturing.
UNIVERSITY administrators attri-
bute the rapid increase to a general in-
evident, and it was reported that the
projects sponsored by the Pentagon
were relatively innocuous.
BUT PRESS coverage and a persis-
tent investigation by the Michigan
Student Assembly kept attentions
focused on the issue as the year con-
tinued. An MSA researcher reported
that several University projects were
"clearly linked to the development of
advanced weapons systems."