Ninety-four Years
of
EJiditorial Freedom
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be
LIE an
Iai
Perfect
Another sunny day with a high in
the upper 80s.
Vol. XCIV - No. 2 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Friday, September 9, 1983 Free Issue Twenty-four Pages
Defaults on
-. W cost state
feder
By JACKIE YOUNG
The State of Michigan will lose
federal funds this year as the number of
students defaulting on their loans is ex-
pected to increase significantly.
However, the state's default rate still
remains below that of the national
average.
Last year the state was able to keep
its student loan default rate below 5
percent at 4.8 percent and collected 100
percent of federal funds reimbursing
them for the lost money. But because
the state is expected to exceed a 5 per-
cent rate by the end of this month,
federal regulations stipulate they must
lose 10 percent of their reimbursement
dollars, said Ronald Jarsa, director of
the Michigan Higher Education Assist-
ance Authority, which keeps track of
loan defaults.
THIS IS the first time since the start
of the program in 1962 that the state has
gone above the 5 percent level. The
state must cover the loss of federal fun-
ds through money out of its own pocket.
If defaults reach 9 percent, federal
reimbursement drops to 80 percent,
Jursa said.
Jursa said the state's financial
situation over the past 18 months is
making jobs scarce for students and is
the primary reason for the recent in-
crease in the default rate statewide.
NATIONWIDE the default rate stood
at 11 percent last year. Because the
University no longer keeps track of the
number of students defaulting on their
loans (it is now done by a nationwide
organization) it doesn't have a record
of their default rate under the state
Guaranteed Student Loan Program.
However, Jursa said the larger
schools have "fairly good track records
around the 4 to 5 percent level. As a
group the higher default rates come
frm the community colleges and
vocational schools with non-degree
aid
programs." This is usually because
these institutions serve a lower income
clientele who are not as talented
academically and have higher drop out
rates, said Jursa.
A loan must be paid off beginning six
months after a student completes his
education. Four months after the
student receives notification of an
overdue payment the loan is considered
in default. If the lender (savings and
loan associations, private banks, or
credit unions) cannot collect the loan
from the student, the state becomes
responsible for the lost dollars.
"WHEN STUDENTS are strapped
financially and have difficulty just fin-
ding a job," Jursa said, "loans aren't
See STATE, Page 19
Smith out
college eaucuauun, ana ev'en Lne Ulag S vI lvam, was t. --a---a 111 j -oAr, Daily Photo by DEBORAH LEWIS
religion regular, Mike Caulk. him to join in the dance. This Diag die-in victim was one of thrity who "died" in a protest against
A transient who says he spends See DIAG, Page 19 University investment in defense industries.
See story, Page 20
Union clears way for final tally in secretaries'vote
By NEIL CHASE
After a year of collecting signatures and.
spending thousands of dollars in a major cam-
paign effort, a national labor union hopes to
earn Wednesday whether the University's 3100
lerical workers will be joining its ranks.
The employees voted in late May on whether a
new local of the American Federation of State,
County, and Municipal Employees should be
formed to represent them. The preliminary
results show the union losing by just one vote,
1,217 to 1,216, but challenged ballots remain to
be counted.
THOSE BALLOTS are still sealed in special
envelopes because the voters' eligibility has
been questioned. Most were challenged by the
Union because they said the employees' duties
made them ineligible.
"We just think some of the folks are
misclassified," said Jim Jarmer, AFSCME's
state director. He said some employees listed
as clericals by the University actually perform
duties which are supervisory or have
professional responsibilities. Such employees
are not allowed to be in rank-and-file unions.
The union also filed an 18-part complaint
about the way the Michigan Employment
Relations Commission handled the three-day
election. They wanted a judge to declare the
election invalid and order a new one, Jarmer
said, but the complaint was withdrawn in late
August when the judge announced it could take
a year or more to complete the hearing process
and render a decision.
JARMER SAID the union dropped the com-
plaint because it would be in the "best interest"
of University employees to resolve the election
quickly.
A quick resolution also would mean the union
could file for a new election sooner. The union
must wait one year after this election is
resolved before it can file for another. If the
union had maintained its appeal and lost, a new
election possibly wouldn't be allowed until 1985.
While the issue of the election process has
been dropped, the question remains as to the
eligibility of the 139 voters whose ballots were
challenged. Union, University, and state of-
ficials will meet Wednesday in Detroit to
discuss these ballots, and Jarmer said the
union plans to work out the remaining differen-
ces and complete the ballot counting at that
meeting.
"OUR INTENT right now is to go in and open
up the ballots," Jarmer said. "Our intention is
not to continue the adjudication."
University attorney William Lemmer said he
was pleased with the prospect of completing
the election. "This is where we were to start
with," he said, adding that "people have a right
to charge or make objections or challenge
voters, and AFSCME did."
Among the union's charges were the presen-
ce of supervisory personnel in the polling area
and the fact that challenged voters were told
who objected to their being eligible to vote.
They also highlighted problems with mail-in
votes and biased conversations within earshot
of the voters.
MERC elections director Juilie Robinson
said the union complaint was a collection of
relatively minor items. "You try to find almost
anything so you can come up with your extra
votes," she said.
WEDNESDAY'S meeting should reveal
whether the union has the extra votes it needs,..
Most of the challenged ballots are believed to
belong to senior employees who already have
attained high salaries and good benefits and
would probably not support the formation of a
union local.
"I'm pretty sure they'll lose," said Marie
Schatz, a secretary in the geological sciences
office. "I don't think those people would have
any reason to have a union."
State and University officials agreed that the
unopened votes would probably go against the
union, but Jarmer said history is in the union's
favor. "Statistics will show that challenged
ballots reflect the rest of the balloting," he said.
ToDAY
Brookewatch
HAT WOULD YOU do if the most beautiful 18-
year-old in the world were in your orientation
,group? Probably plotz. That's how the first-
year students at Princeton University must
feel as actress-model, model-actress Brooke Shields starts
her first week. On Wednesday, Brookie took time out from
orientation to do some shopping, where local shopkeepers
say she's just like any other college student. "I found her
very natural and polite, just like any other human being,"
said a clerk at Hindson's stationery store, where the star
bought a memo board and some legal pads. The big
question is: Do the lions outside Princeton's museum roart
when she walks by?f
Women living in the Law Quad have found that during most
hours of the day, they can't get cold water. That means
scalding showers, rinsing out toothpaste with warm water,
and steaming toilets. The lawyers-to-be say the situation is
worst at dawn: "Once the showers are being used, we do
get some cold water, but if you're an early riser, you have
to wait for everyone to wake up," says one third-year
student. One woman says she forces out cold water by run-
ning the showers for five minutes "and flushing the toilets
20 times." For now, the women are learning to adapt to thef
sensation of "steamy seats" because nothing is being done
to remedy the situation "no matter how much we bitch,"
groans a third-year student.
Education notes
curb the large number of notes being written by seventh-
and eighth-grade students, including some containing
vulgar language, sexual overtones, and false accusations
about classmates. The hearing panel said the ban went too
far by applying to all notes, regardless of their content or
when they were passed. It ruled that Jori Ekis, a seventh-
grader last spring, should not have been suspended for
receiving a note in the school lunchroom last May. After
other students (read: finks) informed school officials that
Jori received a note from little Sandi Strunk, she and Sandi
received one-day suspensions and were to lose 2 percent of
their quarterly grade in each class missed. Jori's mom and
dad challenged the action, but school officials agreed only
to drop the grade penalty, prompting the parents to appeal
to the state. Q
Tr, 1r
that we are going to use this little dog to drive a final rusty
nail in the heart of the other person?" Orange County
Superior Court Judge John Wooley asked Rex and Judi
Wheatland before issuing his ruling Wednesday. Rex
Wheatland had offered his wife $20,000 to buy out her
"share" in Runaway, a 2-year-old cockapoo that is fond of
lobster and salad with Roquefort dressing. But Judi
Wheatland spurned the offer, even though she had only $15
in her bank account. "It's not negotiable," she said. Wooley
ruled that the dog will be shared on a monthly basis; neither
owner will be allowed to take the dog out of state without
written permission from the other. Other options to the set-
tlement included putting the dog to sleep, having it sold, or
cutting it in half and giving one part to each.
On the inside .. .
The Opinion Page looks at civil rights and the Univer-
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