Ninety-Three Years of Editorial Freedom I E I IIE 43UU Etai1Q Chipper The sun stays out today, but the temperature will remain in the cool 40s. WoI. XCIII, No. 129 Copyright 1983, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, March 16, 1983 Ten Cents Ten Pages Government loan changes perplex 'U' New Soviet oil prices undercut OPEC rates LONDON (UPI) - the Soviet Union undercut OPRC's $29-a-barrel price for crude oil yesterday, casting doubt on the cartel's attempt to stave off a worldwide oil pricing war. Britain, whose reaction will determine the market's shape, gave no hint that it also would lower its price. Industry sources said the Soviet Union, which is the world's largest producer, selling about 1 million barrels a day to Western Europe, was offering its Urals crude at $27 a barrel from northern ports and $28 from Mediterranean terminals retroactive to March 1. THE NEW prices showed a $1.25 cut on the Mediterranean shipments and a $2.15 cut on the nor- thern cargoes, the sources said. On Monday, OPEC ended a marathon 12-day meeting with agreement on a 15 percent cut inits $34 base price for Arabian light - the 13-member cartel's first price cut in its 23-year history. See SOVIET, Page 2 By BARBARA MISLE About the only thing students can count on when applying for a guaran- teed student loan lately is inconsisten- cy. Since 1981, the federal government has changed the guidelines and eligibility requirements for the loan program every eight months, which has caused delays and confusion in processing students' applications, said Elaine Nowak, director of the program at the University. UNLIKE OTHER federal financial aid programs, GSL requirements can be changed at any time by fCongressional vote. This gives the federal government free reign to tinker with the program, Nowak said, leaving universities without much control. Guaranteed Student Loans are the primary source of financial aid for students at the University, and nation- wide. 0 In 1982, the program received $46.6 million, compared to $12.5 million devoted to other federal grants at the University. BUT FEWER students are applying for the loans now, something Nowak blames on confusion over all the changes. In October 1981, Congress approved tougher eligibility requirements for ap- plicants. Now all students from families with incomes over $30,000 have to pass a "needs test." The needs test is designed to allow loan officers to check many different criteria such as the number of children a family is suppor- ting in college, family income, and the cost of the school the student will at- tend. Thentestwissupposed to ensure that students who received loans really needed them, Nowak said. Instead, she said, the test has discouraged students from applying because they assume they would not qualify for the loan. Nationally, the number of students applying for the loans decreased from 3.5 million to 2.8 million from 1981 to 1982. At the University, applications decreased from 16,419 to 12,450 during the same period. The needs test is also "a big headache" for financial aid officers, Nowak said. "When a caller asks why we don't just sign the application, they don't un- derstand the complexity of the process," Nowak said. There is no complete set ofyguidelines to tell financial aid offices how to im- plement the loan program. Despite the massive number of modifications and updates added to the program in recent years, the Department of Education has not released a complete set of regulations since 1979. In addition to stiffer eligibility requirements, interest rates were raised in January 1981 to 7 to 9 percent. Also in 1981, the government raised the total amount a student can borrow from $7,500 to $12,500 for undergraduates and from $15,000 to $25,000 for graduate students. This is not as good as it sounds, though, because money borrowed as an undergraduate accumulates and is sub- tracted from the total amount a student can borrow in graduate school. Congress also has imposed a five per- See CHANGES, Page 3 Daily Photo by JON SNOW Tell mom I'm at the libraryy Law students sporting war paint and grass skirts perform in the Law Library as part of their induction into the Barristers' club, a social organization. Legal Services By LAURIE DELATER Detroit attorney Margaret Nichols assumed directorship of Student Legal Services Monday, ending a year-long search for a new adminstrator to lead a controversial reorganization of the program. The Legal Services Board of Directors last April decided the program was not running efficiently and that a new director was needed to handle the ad- ministrative work burdening the ex- panding program, according to board member David Chambers. SPEAKING FOR the board, Cham- bers said the former director, Jonathan Rose, could better serve students' in- terests as director of Housing Law Reform, a separate unit within the program. Chambers said Rose has not received a pay cut. Nichols, previously a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Office of Detroit; said she does not intend to change the objec- tives of the service. Instead she said she hopes to establish procedures such as sick pay, work distribution, grievance resolution, job descriptions, and bookkeeping, to improve the day-to-day operations. "THE BOARD of directors was prin- cipally looking for someone to handle administrative detail that hadn't been there" when the service was small, Nichols said. Student Legal Services provides free legal counseling and representation for all University students. The program is also involved in housing law reform. In April 1978, the working budget of legal services grew from $28,000 to $120,000 after the University stopped funding it and the student body voted to allot the program $1.72 of their man- datory $2.92 Michigan Student Assem- gets ne bly free. This year Legal Services has a budget of $215,000. When the board of directors began reviewing the service in the fall of 1981, they recognized that the growing program was not running as efficiently as it should have been, Chambers said. AFTER FIVE months of review, the board decided that Rose lacked ap- propriate administrative skills and that tension between him and the staff warranted a reorganization of the of- fice, Chambers said. While he agrees that he doesn't have adequate administrative skills, Rose said the board used administrative details as an excuse to resolve ongoing salary disputes between himself and staff attorneys. As director Rose was responsible for setting salaries and determining pay raises. According to Rose and the See LEGAL, Page 2 w boss Nichols . . plans to improve operations Committee may ask for state study of higher ed. By GLEN YOUNG A key Michigan House committee may ask Gov. James Blanchard to commission a study of the state's higher education system to determine what hurdles schools will have to over- come in the 1980s and beyond. The House Colleges and Universities Committee, chaired by Rep. Wilfred Webb (D-Hazel Park), had originally scheduled discussin of the idea for last week, but tabled the talks until today. GARY HAWKS, director of Michigan's Department of Education, said a number of changing situations would probably be included in such a study. He said schools throughout the state are contending with declining enrollment, increasing education costs, and shrinking budgets. Hawks said it has been suggested that the state close some schools or colleges to help cut education costs but he said the idea cannot be considered until more data is available. "How can you suggest schools be closed before a study of the school is done?" he asked. THE COMMITTEE has yet to deter- mine what specific directions and goals would be included in the study. Hawks said the general intent would be to clarify what is presently available as part of the state's education system. "We have to make sure they (colleges and universities) don't all drop the same programs and leave Michigan without certain programs altogether," he said. Hawks said the study would probably also look at the current situation in the state's primary and secondary educational systems to determine what role they play in preparing students for higher education. DEDE MILLER-OWEN, an ad- ministrative aide to Rep. Webb, said See STATE, Page 5 Daily Photo by JON SNOW Union organizer Joanna Williams (far right) and Heather Seixas, an office assistant in the Institute for Social Research hand out carnations in the Union lobby yesterday to celebrate AFSCME's drive for a union election. Union vote nears for 'U'staff Shapiro testifies on tax increase By JIM SPARKS The University's 3,300 clerical worker's should soon get a chance to decide if they want to unionize. Representatives from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) say they have signatures from well over 30 percent of the clerical workers, the percentage needed to authorize a union election. Reggie McGhee, AFSCME's public affairs associate, said the union plans to file with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission today or tomorrow and he expects an election will be held by the end of April. The commission must validate the cards and then conduct the election. While clerical workers have not yet formed a bargaining team, Heather Seixas, office assistant in the Institute for Social Research, said informal polls of various departments reveal the top three concerns of the workers are job security, increased benefits and firm knowledge about whether or not there will be a pay increase. In January, clerical workers received an average 5.5 percent pay increase after the University ad- ministration had originally said it could not afford one. the size of the increase and the fact that it was not made retroactive has angered many clerical workers, but James Brinkerhoff, University's chief financial officer and vice-president said even with a union, "I think it's going to be slim pickings." LANSING (UPI)-Without a fast and permanent financial shot in the arm, the state's colleges and universities will be in no shape to contribute to an economic revival, University President Harold Shapiro said yesterday. Shapiro, also a nationally reknowned economist, told the Senate Finance Committee, "Michigan can expect to fully participate" in what appears to be an economic recovery beginning on the national level. SHAPIRO was one of nearly a dozen education officials urging the committee to quickly approve the House-passed income tax increase now before it. Sen. Gary Corbin (D-Clio ) said a vote by his committee on the tax proposal pushed by Gov. James Blan- chard might come anytime between today and early next week. Corbin said he wants some type of consensus in the Senate Democratic caucus before calling for a vote. He noted little more than two weeks remains until Blanchard's April 1 deadline for passing the tax plan, which now calls for boosting the 4.6 percent state income tax to a 6.35 percent tax-with a graauai aecine a tat- unemployment drops. LOSS OF state money for tuition grants are keeping low-income students out of costly public schools like U and private institutions like the Univer- sity of Detroit, Shapiro said. Shapiro said he believes Michigan's current budget deficit is about $800 million, about halfway between the $900 million Blanchard estimates and the $650 million some legislative financial experts calculate. _, TODAY Comic relief ATTORNEYS FOR the comic strip "Peanuts" and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents have reached an out of court settlement in a dis- pute over an advertisement in a student action." One of the ads in The Pointer urged students to contact the health service for contraceptive information and counseling. "From its inception, the 'Peanuts' strip has been geared to wholesome, family entertainment and in- nocent humor, and it has never contained any lewd, lascivious, or obscene matter or dialogue," the syndicate contended in its suit. Jerry, he needs your help TrRUSTEES OF THE University of LaVerne have voted naie ac:-- chnr:a:- nhaA M N m-n W r1A :fn. by Nixon's "farsighted foreign policies." It was to be finan- ced by $12 million in private contributions and public grants not yet raised. School officials had also hoped the institute might help the university out of financial troubles that have prompted trustees to consider selling campus dormitories to raise "desperately needed" cash from investors seeking tax shelters. A poll of 276 students by the school's Campus Times newspaper last week showed 62 percent in favor of the institute and only 16 percent opposed. Also endorsing the proposal were the private liberal arts school's faculty hv a 53-45 vote and the Alumni Relations Board by a 5-4 * 1933 - Residents of Betsy Barbour dorm voted 51-47 to allow smoking in the rooms. Betsy Barbour was the last of the four dorms to allow smoking. -1961- The Inter-Quad Council decided to study criticisms of complaints of dorm residents about dorm conditions. * 1967 - The Fraternity Buyers Association admitted un- fairness and inefficiency in purchasing supplies for frater- nity residents. i 1 i i