MSA
candidates
The Michigan Daily-Saturday, April 2, 1983-Page 7
square off
ACT stresses 'U' fiscal crisis
"Right now there is nothing the
Michigan Student Assembly should
worry about except dealing with the
current fiscal crisis and rebuilding its
legitimacy," says ACT presidential
candidate Marc Dann.
And in order to do that, Dann and his
vice presidential running mate Kim
Fridkin are stressing the need for net-
working among students and between
students and the administration to
make MSA better known.
MSA should learn to cooperate with
the administration in areas such as-
financial aid instead of antagonizing
administrators, Dann says, because the
assembly "can't make or demand
policy, but it can influence policy."
Dann and Fridkin also say that MSA
should help student organizations
communicate with each other, in ad-
dition to providing them with funds for
projects.
A useful tool in this effort would be
the assembly's newspaper, the MSA
News. Dann says that the publication
should be directed away from its
editorial leaning to a more infor-
mational content with advertisements
for student positions on University
committees placed on the front page.
In addition, ACT says that it will push
for an informal newsletter specifically
for campus groups to share information
and resources; and will hold poster-
making workshops for student
organizations.
In the fight against redirection, the
party is stressing the importance of
having all of the facts and figures on the
University readily available to students
or faculty who need them. They call for
the implementation of a new computer
system at MSA to store knowledge from
this University and other campuses
across the country about review
decisions, budget information, and
historical background on teachers and
teaching quality.
Dann says that MSA could offer
students independent study credit or
even paying jobs to operate such a
system.
Dann also says that ACT advocates
some changes in the redirection
process. While some students and
faculty have said that the University
should begin reviewing all existing
facets of the University simultaneously
for possible budget cuts, Dann calls this
method impractical.
Instead, he says the University
should set a schedule to review all
schools, colleges, and programs on a
regular basis to avoid damaging
reputations by targeting them for
review.
While hiring independent researchers
to study campus problems is "a waste
of money unless they deal strictly with
redirection," Dann says ballot proposal
calling for an MSA-funded student
research center "is worth looking in-
to."
But Dann questions the part of the
proposal that would raise the $4.25
mandatory MSA fee by $1.50 toisupport
the project-many of the programs that
the proposed center would handle could
be taken care of with MSA's current
resources, he says.
"Before we take the proposal to the
Regents, we'll make sure the Univer-
sity can't do it for free," Dann says.
Dann and Fridkin also approve of
another ballot proposal calling for a 25
cent hike in fees allocated to student
governments of the schools and
colleges. "Student government are our
eyes and ears, and whatever we can do
to strengthen them will help us," Dann
says.
Fridkin, an LSA junior who says she
has not had much contact with MSA but
has been active in national political
issues, says she would like to see MSA
focus on rape prevention and safety
awareness on campus. She also calls
for an extensive survey on sexual
harrassment at the University in order
to educate students and faculty about
the problem.
When asked about the ranking of such
issues as military research and
divestment on MSA's agenda, the can-
Students to vote on
five ballot proposals
Dann
... says MSA needs legitimacy
didates agreed that MSA is powerless to
influence any University actions
without first garnering more student
support.
Of the 28 candidates running on their
slate, none are black. According to
Dann, the lack of participation reflects
the feeling held by many minority
students that MSA capnot do anything
for them. The sentiment is one ACT
plans to work toward improving by in-
creasing "financial and moral support"
to minorities on campus.
Dann has been active in LSA student
government, and helped to found a
student and faculty coalition in 1981 to
fight the elimination of the geography
department. He has served on the LSA
Curriculum Committee, The Michigan
Union Board of Representatives, and
other MSA committees.
-Laurie DeLater
(Continued from Page 1)
governments. The current fee would
rise to 75 cents per student per term.
According to LSA Student Gover-
nment President Rajeev Samantrai,
the fee has not been increased since,
1972.
The 25 cent hike was proposed by the
Engineering Council as a reasonable
increase to meet growing demands on
their budget for guest speakers, leader-
ship training programs, and conferen-
ces, said Bob Zahm, engineering
college representative to MSA.
SAMANTRAI SAID LSA-SG could
use the extra revenue to expand its
programs, but "we don't really need it
like Engineering Council."
According to former president of the
Public Health Student Association Julie
Holowitz, "the lack of money generally
hasn't been a problem" because her
student government solicits dues from
the students in the school. Student
government officers at the business and
dental Schools voiced similar opinions.
But smaller schools, such as ar-
chitecture, pharmacy, and education,
see any increase as a welcomed
reprieve with shrinking fees due to
declining enrollments and tightening
restrictions on allocations they get
from MSA.
YET ANOTHER proposal calls for
the revision of the all-campus con-
stitution to give the MSA's vice-
president of minority affairs one vote in
the steering committee. This internal
committee acts as an agenda-setting
body for the assembly by considering
and recommending a course of action
on issues before bringing them to the
general assembly. According to Rick
Jones, the current vice president of
minority affairs, the vote would
strengthen minority influence on the
issues chosen for discussion by MSA.
The final proposal is only an advisory
question, and allows students to voice
their opinion on the administration's
five year plan to trim and redistribute
funds within the University. The
question asks: "Do you feel the process
outlined in the five-year redirection
plan had been an adequate response to
the current financial crisis at the
University?"
IMPACT to address
non-political issues
British Humour Party
The only presidential candidate to
have held a seat on MSA, LSA junior
Steve Schaumberger says he will
downplay the political issues that some
say distract the assembly from real
campus problems, and will emphasize
student concerns closer to home.
Representing Improve Michigan's
Policies, Academics, and Com-
munications Today (IMPACT),
Schaumberger says MSA has devoted
too much time to political issues not
directly connected with the University.
IMPACT wants to follow the lead of
current assembly programs like
Student Organized Scholarships, an
arm of the financial aid committee,
that address important student needs.
Schaumberger and his vice-
presidential candidate Lynn Desen-
berg, also an LSA junior, advocated in-
creased student financial aid. To reach
that goal, they favor installing a com-
puter system to match unclaimed
scholarships and grants with needy
students; adding an aid surcharge to
athletic department tickets; and
allocating a small percentage of
research funds to financial aid.
MSA should not only protect student in-
terested in financial aid, but should also
be concerned with the budget cutting
process within the University, the
current MSA vice president for com-
munications says.
"The current assembly has been able
only to protest administrative decisions
after they are made through petitions
and rallies," he says. By increasing the
number of students on each school's
review committee for redirection MSA
can help students influence recommen-
dations for budget cuts before they are
actually made.
Schaumberger criticizes the current
faculty tenure review process, saying
that "teaching is being terribly
overlooked during the process."
Student course and instructor
evaluations should be weighed more
heavily than they now are in these
decisions, he says, and students should
be better represented on tenure review
committees.
Schaumberger also says that im-
proving campus security is another fop
priority. Party members plan to push
for new telephone systems at campus
bus stops; more stops and longer hours
for the Night Owl bus service; and
more self-defense workshops.
MSA needs to push the University to
fulfill some of the promises it made
during the Black Action Movement
Strike in 1970, Schaumberger says. In
addition to fighting for better minority
recruitment, organizations, counseling
services, and affirmative actions
policies, IMPACT advocates creating
an executive office of vice-president of
minority affairs.
Schaumberger said he is in favor of
MSA's mandatory $4.25 fee and the
proposed cost-of-living increase, but
added that he is skeptical of allocating
$2.90 per student for Student Legal Ser-
vices.
"I think a re-evaluation of the funding
of Student Legal Services is needed to
determine if the program is meeting
students needs," he says. "Most
students aren't even aware of (its
existence) ."
The Student Center for Educational
Research, also a ballot proposal, has
IMPACT's support "at least for a trial
run."
Schaumberger
... calls for help to financial aid
"It would tell us in an in-depth man-
ner how students feel toward issues and
how the quality of student life would be
improved," Schaumberger says.
IMPACT also approves of ballot
proposals calling for a 25-cent increase
in all school and college government
fees, and a vote for the vice president of
minority affairs on MSA's steering
committee.
Schaumberger believes minimal at-
tention should be given to political
issues, such as military research.
"Political issues shouldn't be ignored,
but they shouldn't be put in the
limelight either," Schaumberger says.
IMPACT urges the administration to
return to its 1972 guidelines for non-
classified research, and to divest from
companies with holdings in South
Africa. The party also gives support to
the nuclear disarmament movement.
Desenberg interned for Congress last
summer and represented her sorority,
Delta Gamma, in the Panhellenic
Association. She is currently involved
in the women's task force.
-Laurie DeLater
says no to
Determined to "bring student gover-
nment government back home,"
British Humour Party (BHP) presiden-
tial and vice presidential candidates
Duane Kuizema and Laurie Clement
are calling for more attention on such
issues as financial aid and campus
security instead of outside political ac-
tivities.
MSA can address the financial aid
crisis by directing its energies back into
campus projects instead of lobbying,
says Kuizema, a business ad-
ministration junior. He suggested MSA
set up an organization to solicit grants
and scholarships, especially from the
business community.
Clement, an LSA sophomore, en-
courages more fund raisers similar to
the raffle sponsored by the assembly
this year to generate money for student
scholarships.
A computer system to make infor-
mation about unclaimed financial aid
available to students, currently under
consideration by MSA, is a worthy idea
but would only justify its costs if it could
be demonstrated that students would
use it, Kuzema says.
Kuizema is critical of the work that
has been done so far to improve campus
security and to make students more
aware of how to protect themselves. In
addition to posting maps and holding
rape prevention workshops, Kuizema is
proposing a special task force of work
study students who could assist
security guards in patrolling the cam-
pus.
While Kuizema says he thinks that
students are "not going to stop redirec-
tion," the current procedure needs to be
reviewed and students should have bet-
ter representation in the process. The
cuts should be distributed more evenly
through the schools and colleges, and
the schools themselves should
designate where the cuts will be made,
politics
Clement says.
MSA also. needs to organize and
publicize redirection forums and con-
ferences to make students aware of the
cuts, according to BHP members.
Increasing student awareness about
MSA is also a major concern of the can-
didates. "MSA has to actively show that
as a board of students, they care and
that they want students involved,"
Clement says.
To accomplish this, the candidates
say they intend to publicize the agenda
and meeting time of MSA meetings, as
well as encourage more MSA members
to visit dorms and campus
organizations to discuss projects.
Kuizema and Clement say that the
MSA News is "biased" and should
become more informational to tell
students about forums, conferences,
and MSA functions.
But MSA members need to become
more aware of their constituents'
needs, too, Kuizema says, adding that
he would like to see a portion of MSA's
meeting devoted to short reports from
each school.
The assembly also needs to keep a
closer watch on its process of funding
student groups, he says, and suggested
that MSA routinely follow up on each
group it funds to make sure the money
is spent correctly. Information about.
allocations should be publicized in the
MSA News, Kuizema says.
Kuizema is in favor of keeping the
mandatory $4.25 fee that is used par-
tially to fund allocations to student
groups.
Like ACT, BHP has no minority can-
didates on its slate. Kuizema and
Clement say that minority students
they approached to run were skeptical
that MSA could be beneficial to
minority groups and concerns.
But Clement said she hoped that MSA
could help bring campus minority
Kuizema
... has priorities close to home
groups in contact with other groups and
the administration.
BHP favors the proposal to give the
minority affairs coordinator a vote on
the steering committee. "It will show
minorities that MSA is legitimate,"
Clement said.
BHP candidates also support the
ballot proposal to establish a research
center on education, and the 25 cent
hike in student government fees.
Kuizema's party agrees with the non-
classified research guidelines recently
accepted by the University Senate
Assembly, but said that a central over-
sight committee of "unbiased
professionals" and students is need to
check on all University research
projects.
The new guidelines call not for a cen-
tral committee, but for each school or
college to oversee its own projects.
Kuizema ran unsuccessfully for MSA
president in last year's elections,
although three other BHP members
won seats on the assembly. He is a
member of Greenpeace and a par-
ticipant in IM sports.
Clement is an executive board mem-
ber of the Residence Hall Association
and an officer in Couzens. She worked
with Michigras this year, and also par-
ticipates in IM sports.
-Laurie DeLater
.IOU wants increase
in student awareness
Independents from eight
schools seek MSA seats
All students must be made aware of
issues such as redirection and financial
aid if they are to take an active part in
the University decision-making
process, say Mary Rowland and Jono
Soglin, presidential and vice presiden-
tial candidates for It's Our University
(IOU).
IOU opposes the administration's five
year plan to cut budgets and
redistribute funds to designated
priority areas within the University.
MSA must mobilize the student body in
a search of alternatives to the entire
redirection process, Rowland says.
Students in schools under review
have banded together to fight the cuts,
but those in LSA and the engineering
school must realize that their schools
will eventually be reviewed, too, says
Soglin, who is currently MSA's vice
president for legislative relations.
. MSA can transform the current
'save our school" attitude into the
more important "save our University"
attitude if it reaches enough students
said Rowland, an LSA junior. She calls
for rotating MSA's meeting sites and
visiting dorms to educate students.
She also proposes monthly gatherings
salaries; and requiring upperclass
standing for admissibn to schools of art,
education, and natural resources to cut
their enrollment.
Minority enrollment and retention is
another big concern of IOU, which has
four black student running on its slate
of 30 candidates. MSA should help coor-
dinate minority organizations on cam-
pus, and encourage all students and
alumni to recruit minorities at high
schools, especially in the Detroit area,
Soglin said.
IOU is also calling for the appoin-
tment of a black student researcher by
MSA to look into problems that all
minorities face at the University. A
student was hired to fill the position last
fall, but later resigned because he
found he did not have time for the job.
In- addition, the University must
carry out its commitment to minorities
through hiring more minority faculty
and staff members, Rowland said.
Campus security is also an IOU
priority. Through the Women's Task
Force, a group sponsored jointly by
MSA and the Public Interest Research
Group in Michigan, Rowland said she
would push to clear up jurisdictional
R~owland
... says MSA must mobilize students
bying at state and national levels for in-
creased financial aid and against the
Solomon Amendment, which links
financial aid eligibility to draft
registration. They said further efforts
should be made to press the Regents for
divestment from South Africa.
IOU favors the proposed Student
Research Center of Education, which
Soglin said would be "a good place to
involve students and help (MSA) look at
the university."
It would lend continuity to other
research supported by student gover-
nments on campus, Rowland added.
IOU favors the ballot proposals to
"If MSA disappeared tonight, would
it be missed tomorrow?"
Michael Hoffman, a Rackham
student vying for an independent seat
on the Michigan Student Assembly, ex-
presses in his campaign slogan a sen-
timent shared by many of the 17 can-
didates running with no party af-
filiations.
According to several of the can-
didates, MSA needs to open up to
student concerns by becoming more
visible on campus and setting an agen-
da that reflects issues that directly af-
fect student life.
"MSA has to become more visible,
more involved with students and make
its actions and planning of its actions
more visible to the student body," says
LSA junior John Carl Brown.
LSA sophomore Garret Stokes, who is
running for a seat on the Student
Publications Board in addition to a spot
on MSA, says that MSA needs to be in
better contact with the University ad-
ministration.
be financial aid, campus security, and
redirection, many independent can-
didates say.
Other candidates are critical of how
MSA has handled some politically-
oriented issues in the past. Engineering
junior Ted Barnett is especially critical
of MSA's treatment of military resear-
ch and redirection.
He said assembly members have tur-
ned military research and redirection
into political issues for which they feel
they must take a stand for the students.
"The function of MSA is totally dif-
ferent from major congressional
bodies," he said. "Sometimes (assem-
bly members) have a hard time
recognizing the distinction."
"I'd like to be on hand to make sure
that kind of thing doesn't happen," he
added.
LSA junior Marc Bernstein points to a
1973 study conducted by the Regents
which concluded that among other
things, an effective student government
needs "a reason for existence, for its
r >rrnaa ad it hinn ,,n
fee drew a variety of responses from
independent candidates.
Yaroch said he thinks the mandatory
fee should be reduced or eliminated,
and that students groups should only
receive enough money to get them star-
ted-after that, it should be up to them
to fund their own projects.
Barnett said students should be able
to decide to which programs they
donate.
When asked why they are running in-
dependent . of the organized parties,
some candidates remarked that it was
a matter of filing at the last minute,
while others spoke out strongly against
the party system.
"I don't want to be part of a big,
bland, boring party," Barnett says. He
and Yaroch said that they felt only one
party would not reflect the specific in-
terests of their constituents.
Donna Laskowski, an LSA freshman,
who is running for the Student
Publications Boark in addition to the
MSA seat, also said she is opposed to
the party system. none of the nartie ,