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SVol. XCIII - No. 1

Ann Arbor, Michigan - Thursday, September 8, 1983

Page 15-A

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'U' investments s

By BILL SPINDLE
The University used its corporate voting
power this year to reject a proposal for a
nuclear freeze, to support the production of
nuclear weapons, and to support the sale of oil
to the South African Government.
These investment decisions, however, were
made by University administrators without
any consideration of their potential ethical con-
sequences.
AS AN INVESTOR in many corporations, the
University votes on a variety of. shareholder
resolutions each year that encompass a broad
range of social issues. And almost without ex-
ception, administrators vote with management
- against the resolution - because the Univer-
sity Regents have never told them not to.
This year the University voted every share of
its $1.7 million in General Electric Company
against a resolution asking the company to stop

its production of nuclear weapons and support
a bilateral nuclear freeze.
By voting against the resolution, the Univer-
sity rejected the proponents position that the
production of nuclear weapons is promoting an
arms race and making nuclear war more
likely.
THE UNIVERSITY also voted its $1.6 million
of shares in Motorola Company against a
proposal that would have banned oil sales to the
military and police of the apartheid gover-
nment in South Africa.
Proponents of the resolution argued that the
police and military are "the instruments by
which the South African Government enforces
apartheid," and that oil was a key to that en-
forcement.
The proposal asked Motorola to enforce a
stricter embargo on oil sales to South Africa
than the U.S. government requires.
THE UNIVERSITY sided with Motorola's

u portI
management, who said that the policy would
amount to a criticism of U.S. foreign policy. It
is not the place of private corporations to
criticize foreign policy, the management said.
With neither of these two decisions, however,
did anyone at the University research or
debate the issues involved. Administrators, in
compliance with a 1978 Regents resolution,
simply voted in favor of management because
the Regents never told them to do otherwise.
Investment officer Norman Herbert, who
casts the University's votes on the resolutions,
said that his office is instructed to consider only
the financial implications of proposals. It is up
to the Regents to decide on resolutions in-
volving social or ethical issues, he said.
NONE OF THE REGENTS interviewed,
however, knew of the specific resolutions the
University voted on, although several said they
were aware of what types of issues are brought
up in shareholders' resolutions.

iuclear
In fact, the Regents have specifically asked
that the investment office not inform them of
what resolutions the University votes on each
year, said James Brinkerhoff, University vice
president and chief financial officer.
Herbert also said he does not inform the
Regents of each year's resolutions. To get that,
information, the Regents would have to ask for
it specifically or have citizens bring it to them
at the public comments section of each Regents
meeting, Herbert said.
AS PART OF a 1978 resolution on investment
issues, the Regents instructed administrators
to vote with management on social issues
unless the resolutions involve "serious moral
or ethical questions which are of concern to
many members of the University community."
In cases where "serious moral or ethical
questions" are involved, the Regents decide
personally which way the University should
vote.

weapons
The only cases the Regents have ever con-
sidered, however, are resolutions involving
South Africa. And even here the policy lacks
the breadth to allow administrators to consider
many resolutions, including sales to the South
African government.
THE SOUTH AFRICAN issues are only the
exceptions to the Regents' policy of voting with
management because they are the only issues
on which there is broad agreement among the
community, said Regent Thomas Roach (D-
Saline).
"I have not felt any issue out there that en-
joys the consensus that the South African issue
did and I don't see any on the horizon at the
moment," he said.
The strict policy on voting with management
is based on two assumptions, several Regents
said.
THE FIRST IS that the primary purpose of
See 'U', Page 7

E0
Engineering

I

may

cut

Humanities
Department

By JIM SPARKS
Tucked away in the College of
Engineering is a department where
students study Chaucer, Shakespeare,
and the films of Ingmar Bergman.
That department is on the way to
elimination, because the college feels
teaching engineering students .liberal
arts should not be part of its business.
BUT AS THE recommendation for
closure nears, faculty in the humanities
department face an uncertain future.
"My understanding is, come Septem-
ber the department will simply cease to
exist...obviously the question we have
is where do we go and what do we do
then," said Gorman Beauchamp, an
associate professor of humanities.
If the department is closed, LSA
would gradually take over the task of
teaching humanities to the 4,000
engineering students.
THE FATE of the department is not
completely sealed, but administrators
and faculty do not expect a reprieve in
the next month or two. The University
will recommend closing the depar-
tment to the Regents in September, and
"unless some unanticipated infor-
mation emerges...the recommendation
will go forward," said Robert Holbrook,
associate vice president for academic
affairs.
Although some of the humanities
professors will probably stay in the
college if the department is closed,
teaching courses on Technology and
Society and technical writing, the
future of the 11 literature professors is
upin the air.
A panel which reviewed the depar-
tment suggested instituting freshman
composition courses in the college.
which some of the literature professors
could teach, but that idea has received
little discussion lately. "The primary
difficulty with that is they clearly
believe themselves to be, and definitely
are, capable of teaching things beyond

that level," said Charles Vest,
associate dean of engineering.
IF PROFESSORS are not able to find
jobs within the college, a likely
"solution" is that some may either
retire early or leave for jobs elsewhere.
Seven of the current members of the
department will reach the age of 65 by
1991, and although the mandatory
retirement age is 69, the University
may offer incentives to get professors
to retire early.
"Obviously a person whose program
is being whittled away may find
retirement attractive," Holbrook said.
Holbrook said if professors are reluc-
tant to accept the reduced benefits
which come with early retirement, the
University may negotiate supplements
for them. If some professors receive job
offers for less than they make now, the
University may come up with paymen-
ts to lessen the difference, he said.
TRYING TO get professors to retire
early can be a tricky business,
however. ThebUniversity can present it
as an option to the whole group of
professors, but it cannot lean on in-
dividual faculty members to retire
against their wishes, according to
Wilfred Kaplan, president of the local
American Association of University
Professors chapter.
"It is improper for the administration
to approach someone and say, 'we
would like you to retire early'...it's
illegal and against University policy
because it's discrimination on the basis
of age," he said.
Under a review panel's plan,
engineering students would take their
humanities education in LSA in a
gradual process. As engineering
professors retired, LSA instructors
would be hired to replace them, and
students would be transferred over.
SOME PROFESSORS may find jobs
in LSA, but that will Abe decided on a
See HUMANITIES, Page 6

z_.
oily Photo by ELIZABETH SCOTT
When students left school last April, the inset photo shows about what the
new ice cream shop in the Union basement looked like. This summer,

Daily Photo by DOUG McMAHON
however, the shop along with six other fast-food restaurants opened for
business.

Union s new look nearly Complete

By KAREN TENSA
By the time students finish paying for remodeling
the Michigan Union, it might be time to renovate the
building again. Every year until theyear 2007, $15 of
each University student's tuition will subsidize Union .
renovations.
But students won't totally lose out. The renovations
include six fast-food restaurants in the Union
basement which are expected to open in September,
said John Christodoulou, food services manager for
the Union.
CONSTRUCTION HAS been behind schedule,
Christodoulou said, adding that the restaurants may
not be open until October.
Currently, the main student attraction to the Union
is the automatic bank machine in the basement and
the Space Invaders video game in the lobby. The
renovations, in part, are intended to change students'
attitudes toward the Union and make the building the
"center of campus activities," like it was in the early
'50s, said Union Director Frank Cianciola.

After its heyday in the '50s the quality of the Union,
as well as the number of students using it, began to
decline. By the late 70s "the Union began to look
like a bus or subway station, especially in the
basement," Cianciola said.
NOW, HOWEVER, Cianciola hopes that "in-
creased activities in the building will benefit students
and the Union."
When the renovations are complete, students will
be able to grab a snack at one of the six fast-food
counters in the Union basement. The restaurant
village will feature a separate counter for ham-
burgers, deli-sandwiches, pizza, ethnic food, salads,
and of course, ice cream.
ALTHOUGH STUDENT complaints about
deteriorating building conditions and lack of services
in the Union prompted the renovations, many studen-
ts were critical of the changes when higher rent rates
forced the University Cellar, a non-profit, student-
run bookstore, to move out of the Union basement last
summer.

The cellar moved to the corner of Division and
Liberty Streets when the Union raised rent as part of
the renovations. The fast-food restaurants now oc-
cupy the Cellar's space.
Another sacrifice of the renovations was losing the
more than 50-year-old bowling alley in the Union
basement.
THE ALLEY, used mostly by West Quad residents
living next door to the Union, was replaced by a
$230,000 computing center dubbed UNYN. (Some
students insisted the center be called BOWL in
remembrance of the alley.
UNYN will supplement the main computing cen-
ters on Central and North: Campuses as well as draw
more students to the Union, Cianciola said.
Another key part of the renovations was the Cam-
pus Information Center (CIC) desk in the lobby. CIC
keeps central records of Campus events and concert
information.
CIANCIOLA SAID the renovations were carefully
See UNION, Page 6

__j



Campus gc
By JACKIE YOUNG
"The day I was 'out' was the day I
looked in the mirror and said, 'let's face
it hun, you're queer,' " said a lesbian at
a workshop during Lesbian and Gay
Pride Week last June.
But for many attending the
workshop, dealing with their
homosexuality didn't come as easily.
"I thought it was a problem I'd over-
come," said one gay man. "I got
married at 17, to a high school
sweetheart because I thought that
would cure it."
ONLY AFTER a long and
aggravating divorce was he able to
admit to himself and some relatives
and friends that he was gay. Still, he
said, "it can be really tough if you are
feminine and ma1 - vnu inut don't

tys come out
professors, fearing they will lose their
job or be denied access to graduate s
school.I
Even during Gay Pride Week, when a
homosexuals were fighting the d
discrimination that has kept them
hiding, gays expressed fears of being v
discovered.I
"I HAVE FEARS of my co-workersC
and bosses finding out, fears of beinga
seen in public even though I'm out,"e
said one lesbian. "I'm afraid somebodys
that I know, who doesn't know I'm out,
will see it."s
One gay man added: "I have a
reasonable idea that if I told my em-a
ployers I was gay, I would run in toc
problems. I want to avoid the incon-I
venience (of being 'out')," he said. r
Another gay man talked about thes
sneoia1 nrnhlms nf ga vstudents.

politically
Using a rally last winter as a base for
support, organizers helped to form the
Lesbian and Gay Rights on Campus
organization (LaGROC) to fight gay
discrimination on campus.
This February, after a long debate on
where to go for insurance that
homosexuals on campus will not be
discriminated against, LaGROC
decided to approach the University
executive officers, said LaGROC
spokesman Bruce Aaron.
With financial support from the
student government, the Michigan
Student Assembly, LaGROC prepared
a paper outlining the goals of the
organization and the need for a "formal
policy" to protect the rights of
homosexuals on campus. The paper
said that the University's bylaws
chn iar in1,n a a il a inrntintin

I