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OPINION
Tuesday, October 25, 1983
The Michigan Daily
Canham on rule changes and mini-gyms
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The NCAA is gearing up for what could
be an important showdown at its annual
,meeting between member schools'.
presidents looking to get more control of the'
egroup's rule-making process and those who
want to see little or no change. The two
-nost controversial proposals involve set-
fing up a new committee of presidents to
propose rule changes and a move to review
Rule 48, which sets minimum academic
guidelines for freshperson athletic scholar-'
ship eligibility.
Daily associate sports editor Ron Pollack
recently spoke with the king of Michigan
athletics, Athletic Director Don Canham,
-about the NCAA debates, and about the
tate of Michigan athletics. And guess
what? There's also tentative plans to do
some more building and rebuilding around
Hoover and State.
I think some other presidents are disappoin-
ted or not satisfied with the administration with
the Kansas City office. And the A.C.E. isn't
satisfied with the make-up or role of the NCAA
council. Those are just things you hear they
are considering or talking about. The NCAA
council is the final authority in the NCAA.
Some of the presidents are a little concerned
with how the council is selected and the make-
up of the council itself. So there might be
legislation in those areas.
Daily - Why don't you think there are
enough votes to change Rule 48?
Canham-The vote on Rule 48 was very
pronounced. There was a very, very heavy
number in favor of Rule 48 and I don't think
that many people have changed their minds.
We all agreed that we wanted to do something
more stringent than a "C" average to get an
NCAA scholarship. That philosophy still
prevails. That's why I don't think it'll get
changed. I think the elimination of freshmen
eligibility has a very tough road to go. I don't
think they will eliminate freshmen. I say that
because you're going to have to increase
scholarships and spend more money rather
than less if you eliminate freshmen, because if
you pull 30 freshmen off of our football squad of
five off of our basketball team we don't have
enough players. So you have to increase
scholarships to work that thing out.
Daily-At the Board in Control of Inter-
collegiate Athletics Meeting in late September
you seemed much more optimistic about a
change in the freshmen eligibility rule. What
caused this change?
Canham-To tell you the honest truth, after
talking to people and reading things, I don't
think that there's any clear cut answer on that.
I think it will be a tough road, a very close vote.
At the Board meeting we'd only talked to the
Pac Ten people and some of the Big Ten people.
Now some of the Big Ten schools aren't in
favor of eliminating freshmen eligibility. It's
not unanimous. We've been opposed to fresh-
men eligibility since the very beginning. I
can't justify a kid playing in three football
games before classes start. I just don't think
that's justifiable academically. They don't
know where the library is but are playing in
front of 100,000 people. If we're supposed to be
playing with student athletes, the boy is not
even a student yet. School hasn't started yet.
He may not even have registered yet. You just
can't justify that. Michigan uses very few
freshmen, because that's our philosophy. We'd
rather have him get a good foundation
academically so we can have him around for
Canham: It's not likely we'll ever add seats to Michigan Stadium so we'll eventually have to keep
increasing ticket prices as you need more revenue. We won't increase them next year. No way
we'll do that. We'd like to go at least two years, three or four if we can.
prices as you need more revenue. We won't in-
crease them next year. No way we'll do that.
We'd like to go at least two years, three or four.
if we can.
Daily - At a board meeting during tht
previous school year, you mentioned that you
were looking into a radio or TV show for
Michigan basketball coach Bill Frieder. Has
anything come of that?
Canham - Yea, he's got television. He's got
a television show this year. I don't know th'
details of it yet, but I just talked to him and he"
said it's coming along pretty well, and he's all,
set. We don't know what channel in Detroit, butt
it looks like one of the major channels will pick"
it up. There's been enough out state and maybe
Detroit that he's definitely got a show. And1t
will be in this market but I can't say which 4
station.
Daily - Will this help the basketball team Id
recruiting?
Canham - I think it does. I think it hel~pW
Bill. One of the reasons (football coach Bo)
Schembechler recruits so well is he's an inter-'
nationally known figure. You walk down the
street in Los Angeles and ask who Bo Schem
bechler is and a great percentage of the people,
can probably tell you. In fairness, Bill is not-
that well known. So a show, or publicity, like,,
that helps.
Daily - Do you have any other ideas in the
works?
Canham - We're toying with the idea of
building another press box to the .(football)
stadium. But the* swimming pool is a higher'
priority. But before too many years I hope We
can get the press box done. It would be one just
like the one on the other side of the field. We
need more press area, but we also would have
sky boxes, VIP boxes that we could market.'
That's how you pay for it, by renting the boxes
out to corporations and things like that. If you
build that, we figure we can build between 60
and 80 boxes and rent them for $5,000 a season.
So you're talking $300,000 or $400,000 a year. So
it wouldn't take very long to pay for it and then
you start making money. But that's just
something we're talking about: None of this
may ever come to pass. You've got to keep
planning for the future. So far what we've
planned for we've been able to get done. Track
and Tennis; the ice rink, the football building,
the new track outdoor, renovation of baseball.
That's always on the planning board years
before it's done.
Dialogue is an occasional feature of the
Opinion Page.
Daily - Collegepresidents are trying to gain
control of rule-making policies in inter-
collegiate athletics. What is your view on this?
Canham-I think periodically that happens
and sometimes the presidents, a few of them,
go to the (NCAA) convention and talk on the
floor. I think the difference in this situation
T er what has happened in the past is you have
e A.C.E. and a couple other presidential
roups who are going to submit legislation.
hey'll probably send some of their own
i presentatives to discuss this legislation on
tle floor. Now what legislation they'll submit
i as yet to be determined. One of them is going'
tp be on the elimination of the freshman rule.
41so there's another group that thinks we ought
tp take another look at Rule 48. The specific
1 gislation -I can't give you much on because it
ljasn't been filed yet. Some Presidents think
t at the board scores might be too high
i itially, that it should be phased in. But I don't
t ink there will be enough votes, frankly, to
t ange Rule 48. I just don't think there are
ough votes there. I think the presidents
yave a lot of impact.
/,!K (tuf11t ><
four years.
Daily-In the fiscal year ending in June, the
athletic department showed a profit of
$61,595.73, down from $260,646.98 the previous
year. What caused this decline?
Canham - We put in artificial turf in
Michigan Stadium. That's what we do with our
surplus. We have to put in a new roof on Crisler
Arena one of these days. The University isn't
going to do it. The state isn't going to do it. So
if we do generate a profit, we update our
facilities. The disparity between the two years
is the artificial turf that we put in.
Daily - What the other additions or repairs
does the athletic department have in the
works?
Canham - The University's plant depar-
tment has a"-proposal that they're doing a study
on and seeing if it's financially feasible to build
a new swimming pool. That's what we really
need. Then we would take this swimming pool
(Matt Mann Pool) and make a gymnasium for
women out of it. We'd take out some of the
seats and have a nice mini-gym which we don't
have.
See everything we have to do at Crisler
Arena and it costs us $300 a day to turn the
lights on at that place. And we can't have a
wrestling match and a gymnastics meet going
on at the same time. Either for the men or women.
So we would make a mini-gym which would be
terrific. It would be closer to the campus for
the students. You could even visualize
women's basketball games in there. It would
be a basketball court size. Maybe volleyball.
Gymnastics for sure. Wrestling is a possibility.
It would seat 2,500 people. The only place we
have for the pool is the tennis courts that we
haven't used for years on the south side of the
intramural building. You have everything
there. Easy access, close to the campus and
plenty of parking. I think we have just about
run out of space here. We've built an awful lot
of buildings. The Track and Tennis Building,
the football fieldhouse. We don't have a heck of
a lot of land on the athletic campus.
Daily - At the last board meeting you spoke
of football ticket prices possibly being in-
creased. When will that happen?
Canham - What I said was it's not likely that
we'll ever add seats to Michigan Stadium so
we'll eventually have to keep increasing ticket
LETTERS TO THE DAILY
.r - -- n -_±9_-
Sst ansi an
Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan
Reagan gives in too much . .
64
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420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor; MI 48109
Vol. XCIV-No. 42,
Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board
Marines should depart
H OW EASY AND at the same time
difficult it is to say, "Bring the
Marines home." But it must be said.
It was a costly mistake - and a
mistake with which we agreed - to
send the Marines to Beirut with no
defined role, no specific respon-
sibilities, and worst of all, little or no
chance of gaining a peaceful set-
tlement. As one Marine said after the
bomb blast that killed at least 191 of his
comrades Sunday, "I only wish
President Reagan would pull us out."
The Marines have learned the hard
way that those in Lebanon who do not
want a peaceful settlement will con-
tinue these attacks. And as long as the
United States is represented there,
those factions will attack the United
States.
Though removing the U.S. presence
in Beirut risks destabilizing the
situation even more, the only outcome
of keeping a military force will be
more dead U.S bodies. The deadly
factions that perpetrate these acts will
find ways to continue them. If the
marines are able to prevent suicide
drivers from ramming car bombs into
a command post or an embassy (as
happened in April), the terrorists will
exploit another weakness.
Factions still rule Lebanon. Until
they either kill each other or suddenly
decide to negotiate a political set-
tlement, Lebanon will continue to be
ruled by faction and terrorism. U.S.
Marines in Beirut aren't going to
change that, they only provide target
practice.
Taking the U.S. military presence
out of Lebanon does not prevent the
U.S. government from seeking a
negotiated solution. Talks scheduled
to begin in Geneva in a week can con-
tinue without Marines in Beirut Inter-
national Airport.
The longer the Marines stay, the
harder it will be to pull them out.
To the Daily:
Your editorial last week on ar-
ms control ("Missle talk," Daily,
October 13) was interesting. In it,
you state that recent events have
shown that the United States has
gained the "upper hand" in the
START talks with the Soviets.
About a year ago, it was being
urged that Reagan concede key
points because of his weak
bargaining position.
What mysterious circumstance
caused this turn of events?' Has
the nuclear freeze movement,
and its mouthpieces Gary Hart,
Alan Cranston, Ted Kennedy, and
Jane Fonda, convinced the world
of America's moral superiority?
Has the Soviet nuclear arsenal
become any less fearsome?
There are two reasons for this
remarkable switch, First, the
people of Great Britain and West
Germany have elected gover-
nments dedicated to deterrence,
and to the installation of the
Cruise and Pershing missiles
later this year. Second, Reagan's
determination to spend whatever
is necessary to match the Soviets
and his firm but reasonable stan-
ce at the bargaining table, have
made it clear that Andropov will
not come away with an
agreement tilted strongly in his
favor.
Now the Daily suggests that
Reagan concede more than he
already has to get an agreement.
It seems to me that he has con-
ceded quite a bit, and gotten
nowhere. Even though I'm in
favor of reasonable concessions
to secure the worthy goal of stop-
ping the arms race, it is unlikely
that the Soviets will settle for less
than the keys to the shop. Why?
The forces advocating unilateral
disarmament are working hard
in this country to elect a
president beholden to them in
1984. So the Soviet Union is gam-
bling that they won't experience
a further weakening in their
position that would come with a
Reagan victory.
They are playing a waiting
game, hoping that the
To the Daily: But won't all this cost money to
Gee, I'm really super glad that buy stamps and cards? Heck
the Michigan Student Assembly yeah, but what the hell, MSA cai
is calling for letters against the afford it! But what if students
MX ("MSA calls for letters 'don't like their mandatory MSA
against MX", October 18). I'd fees funding such endeavors?
really hate to have all those nasty Well tough luck! Julie Anbendep
bombs laying around. Maybe now and the folks at MSA hav4
we can send Yuri some nioe post- already decided for us!.WOW4
cards, too, so that the Russians ain't democracy great!
will stop with their equally nasty -Duane Kuizema
SS-20 missiles. October 1
::fv .. <.f
We encourage our readers to use this space ,
to discuss and respond to issues of their con-
cern. Whether these topics cover University,
Democratic candidate wins. The
American people would be wise
not to give this gift to an empire
which shoots down passenger
... Can MSA
planes in an effort to intimidate the
free people of the world.
-Thomas S. Arrison
October 20
get more?....
.. . Or is revolution needed?
Ann Arbor community, state,national, or in-
ternational issues in a straightforward of un-
conventional manner, we feel such a dialogue
is a crucial function of the Daily. Letters and
guest columns should be typed, triple-spaced,
I
Schembechler in '84
To the Daily:
It cannot be emphasized too of-
ten that it is the systems of class
rule and the profit-motivated
drives of ruling classes to
dominate the wealth and the
markets of the world-that
creates militarism, the arms
race, and the ever-present threat
of war.
The workers of the world have
common interests as a class in
uniting to get rid of their respec-
tive ruling classes and their class
systems in favor of socialist in-
dustrial democracy advocated by
the Socialist Labor Party. Under
such a society the worker-
producers would democratically
control and manage the economy
in the interests of all. People
should resist the efforts of the
prised of that fact-I wonder how
long the Soviet bureaucratic state
would last!
--Archie Sim
October 18
BLOOM COUNTY
URING THE NATIONALLY tele-
vised 'M' football game Saturday
some fan held up a sign saying "Bo
Schembechler for President."
Wouldn't that be great. Every time the
Soviets broke off strategic arms
negotiations or rejected a U.S.
proposal, President Schembechler and
Western European leaders could
arouse both continents into a massive
exchange of bullshit... bullshit... bull-
shit" across the Atlantic Ocean.
What a way to improve relations
among NATO nations.
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