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January 22, 1984 - Image 4

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The Michigan Daily, 1984-01-22

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4

OPINION

Page 4

Sunday, January 22, 1984

The Michigan Daily

. . ........ .

1

t1

Conduct code, tuition: It sure is cold

U.S.-SOVIET relations may not be the only
thing returning to the Cold War days of
the 1950s - at least if University ad-
ministrators have their way. The ad-
ministrators, possibly tired of almost two
decades of student protests, are preparing a
code of non-academic conduct to present to the
regents in April!
According to a revised edition of the
proposed code obtained by the Daily Wed:

Blanchard...
doesn't warm 'U' administrators

nesday,19 violations of University policy would
be dealt with by a University judicial system.
Students violating the code would be brought
before a hearing officer or hearing board that
would decide upon a proper punishment - in-
cluding possible expulsion or suspension. The
no-nos include intentionally or recklessly har-
ming any person; harassing or threatening any
person; making an unwelcome sexual advan-
ce; and significantly interfering with any nor-
mal University activity.{
Tom Easthope, an associate vice president
for student services, said the code would be a
way for the University to avoid doing nothing
or using criminal courts to punish students who
break the law. "There (are) some types of
things you don't want to bring to criminal
court, that you want to handle internally," he
said.
Opponents of the plan, including Jonathon
Rose, an attorney for Student Legal Services,
argue that the code would be a way of icing
dissent such as sit-ins, rallies, and class
strikes. Rose said, "They (administrators)
want it to control civil disobedience. It will,
used orunused, stiffe needed dissent."
If Rose is correct - and several sections of

for academic affairs and Provost, said that
Blanchard's carrot is really a red herring.
Frye said even a 10 percent tuition increase
would not be sufficient to satiate the Univer-
sity's financial needs. What seems like
generosity from Blanchard is something quite
different in reality, Frye estimated.
The University would be placed on a star-
vation diet even if they froze tuition because of
the rising costs of utilities, faculty and staff
salaries, equipment, and plant maintenance.
ce.
However, University President Harold
Shapiro, always the cool diplomat, said h9
thought it was too early to tell if a 10 percent in-
crease in state funding would freeze the
University to death. He said the University
depends on funds given to it by the state.
Without enough money, the University can't
-keep tuition steady without sacrificing
educational quality.
University General Counsel Roderick Daane,
found another reason to question Blanchard's
supposed generosity. Daane said a measure
simliar to the proposed tuition freeze was in-
troduced in 1971 but was declared uncon-
stitutional by the state Supreme Court in 1973.
Just as Michigan residents don't seem to be
enjoying their frozen winter wonderland,
University administrators aren't warming up
to the governor's latest brainstorm.
The cockroach campaign
The scene in the war room was tense. The
cigar smoke which permeated the air hung
close to the light fixtures dangling close to the
maps of the battle fields sprawled across the
huge, oak tables. Captains and majors ner-
vously listened to the colnels and generals as
they plotted strategy.
"The enemy has been especially agile. They
seem to avoid or break down all of our offen-
sives," the five-star general said. "I think it's
time to go nuclear."
"General, with all due respect, I think that is
a particularly foolish approach to the
situation," his chief aide responded. "You

- the code indicate he might be - the University
might return to the dark days of the 1950s when
Joseph McCarthy was a hero and the only thing
University students would gripe about was the
wind chill factor.
Frozen (tuition) state
In his annual "State of the State" address,
Gov. James Blanchard pledged to give his
friends at public universities increased finan-
cial support if they promise to do to tuition
rates what the cold weather does to Michigan
residents - freeze them.
If the universities know what's good for them
.and freeze tuition rates then the state will give
them a 10 percent increase in appropriations. If
they don't know what's good for them and don't
like the state making university decisions, then
they will get only a 6 percent increase in state
funds.
Billy Frye, the University's vice president

INVASION BEFO*
z's T00 LATE!!

forgive myself. I think our most prudent option
is containment. Once we accomplish that we
can work on a Cuba-style blockade."
Meekly, the buck private said, "Urn, sirs,
I've got an idea."
"What is it, private?" the general snarled.
"Can't you see we are busy here?"
"Yes, sir, but I've got an idea."
"What is it?"
"Make Kafka's troops eat dorm food."

tv aLL AoO0CL
5 -/b - 5T. EA5TDMSK
IPMEDIATELY!,
If Paul Revere were alive he'd be riding
through University dorms announcing, "The
cockroaches are coming, the cockroaches are
coming. To arms!"
know as well as I do that Kafka's
troops stand a 657 times better chance of sur-
viving such an assault than do their hostages."
"I know, I know. But the South Quad sector
reports that even the most toxic chemical
weapons - the stuff worse than Agent Orange
or mustard gas - doesn't phase 'em," the bat-
tle-weary general said. "I've got a report here
from our top saboteur. He said the glue traps
only 'slowed (one of the enemy) down, but it
didn't stop him."'
"Sir," another general interrupted, "what if
we call in a conventional airstrike followed by a
Marine landing?"
"No way," the general snapped. .'Our
mission is to secure the safety of the students in
those dormitories. If just one of those young,
healthy Americans dies as a result, I'd never

Nuclear winter
The prospects for declaring Ann Arbor a
nuclear-free zone have warmed considerably.
City officials sent a chill through the hearts of
the sponsors of the proposal when they announ
ced that the 5,000 signatures collected that are
needed to place the proposal on the April ballot
were invalid. City Attorney R. Bruce Laidlaw,
explained that the signatures supporting the
motion were not properly notarized.
But members of the Michigan Alliance fore
Disarmament didn't get mad, they got glad
when they were told that the proposal could ap-
pear on the November ballot. Janis Michael of
MAD said, "Originally we were aiming for the
November ballot, but we were told by city hall
that we would not be able to be on that ballot, as
it was to be a special election and we would
need (signatures from) 20 percent of the
registered voter's." But that 20 percent figure
was inaccurate. The 5,000 signature
requirement MAD is working on represents
only 5 percent of the city's registered voters
and is all that is required by the city.
But while no longer shaking in their boots,
sponsors need to notarize all 5,000 signatures
before the petitions are resubmitted.
So it's better late than never, and indeed
some feel that it's even better than April.
However, even if the advocates of the proposal
successfully negotiate the icy patches between
now and November, the proposal most avoid a
potentially cold reception from city voters.
The Week in Review was compiled by
Daily staff writer Jackie Young, associate
editor Jim Boyd, and editor David Spak.

Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan

UTOPIA
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Ann Arbor, MI 48109

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Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board

I

s
V

j

Whimpering regents

J

I

SO MUCH FOR the old saying "I
may not agree with what you say,
but I'll defend to the death your right to
say it" - at least as far as the Univer-
sity regents are concerned.
After sitting through a barrage of
criticism by student activists Thur-
sday afternoon, the regents lashed
back Friday morning with an attack of
their own, calling the student speeches
inappropriate and overly confron-
tational. The students,. mostly mem-
bers of the Progressive Student Net--
work, attacked the regents on Thur-
sday on a long list of topics - including
minority enrollment, defense resear-
ch, budget priorities, discrimination
against gays, a code for non-academic
conduct, divestment from South
Africa, and the need for a dialogue
between students and University of-
ficials.
The pattern of discussion between
the students -and the regents ran as it
has for many years. The students read
their speeches - many of which were
indistinguishable from the ones
they've read before - and the regents
sat quietly in their chairs, smiling at
the jokes, but fuming inside.
By Friday, the regents said they'd had
enough. In a gutless move, they chose Fri-
day morning - with no students and only
newsnaner renorters remaining - to

intransigent positions. And for the um-
pteenth time, the students failed to
propose any concrete, well-reasoned
alternatives.
Then again, even if the protestors did
make sense, there's little reason to
believe the regents would act on their
requests. After all, it took the regents
five years to divest from companies
working in South Africa, and even then
they did so with little enthusiasm.
If the activists are being a bit silly, it
is their right to be, and the regents are
out of line when formally chastizing
the students. The Daily may not agree
with many of the'letters it gets, but
we're more than happy to give people a
forum to express their views.
Likewise, it's the regents' respon-
sibility to allow members of the public
to be heard - whether or not they
make any sense.
Perhaps it's illogical to censure one
group - the regents - for censuring
another - the students - but there is a
substantial difference between
statements made by an isolated group
of students and those of the highest of-
ficials of the University. That the
regents felt like mouthing off a bit is
not so bad, but should they decide to
translate their gripes into new rules
and procedures- that might stifle
dissent, then the regents would do a
great disservice.,
One nnsitive suggestinn mde by a

second in a series

The relationship of sponsored
research to a university is rather
like the relationship of
professional athletics to a univer-
sity's intercollegiate athletic
program. If, for example, the
University were to begin to
recruit and pay its football and
basketball players as
professional athletes, there is no
question that the quality and
character of intercollegiate
athletics would profoundly
change - even though the quality
of play would undoubtedly im-
prove.
Similarly, sponsored research
introduces a professional
element into University research
that profoundly changes the
character and purpose of the in-
stitution. Scientific research is a
noble profession, and, in fact, en-
joys a higher level of prestige
than that of professor. But it is a
different profession, and its oc-
cupation of a university has
created a two-tier system of
professionalism within a univer-
sity - the research scientist at
the top and the teaching
professoriate beneath.
The research scientist has little
interest in the educational goals
and pedagogical values of a
university. He or she wants ap-
prentices and assistants, but as
servants not as ends in themselve
- hence their training is narrow
and often gained at the expense of
the wider educational needs and
goals of the student. This
profession is not a small business

Big league
researchers
at the 'U'

By Robert Honigman

research scientists from teaching
responsibilities.
The research university has
simply become like a big league
professional sports team, an en-
terprise that is out to win fame
and fortune (the Nobel Prize)
at whatever cost. It is filled with
success hungry people for whom
the educational function of a
university is subordinate to win-
ning. Research universities com-
pete with each other to be first in
scientific reputation and
prestige, to win the big research
grants and contracts - and the
competition is as serious and
fierce as that in any major league
sport. At stake are the
professional lives and careers of
thousands, not to mention hun-
dreds of millions of dollars. In
this competition every aspect of
the organization has to
streamline itself in order to con-

retrenchment programs in
research - universities are
designed to free up additional
funds that can be used to invest in
research support and moder-
nization under the guise of
making the university better.
The necessity of sacrificing
anything and everything to retain
its ranking as a major first class
research institution dominates
every aspect of university policy-
making, even to the point of mor-
tgaging itself.
AT THE UNIVERSITY, for
example, the regents have com-
mitted the University to build and
operate a $250 million hospital
complex despite warnings from
state experts that the state's
future population and health care
needs in the Ann Arbor area
would not support such a large
facility. Nevertheless, the
University has stuck out its neck,

way with the University's health
and medical service and
educational program - in con
trashrto the one out of ten on the
payroll who is a University
faculty member. The impression
is overwhelming and convincing
that the University is not a
university with a 'hospital at-
tached to one of its small
colleges, but rather it is a
medical health service facility
with a small university attached."
It's a huge tail on a small dog,
and the dog wags, not the tail.
This impression is reinforced if
you look at the .University's ex-
penditures on research. In 1981-
82, $49 million - or over 50 per-
cent - of the University's federal
research budget came from the
Department of Health and
Human Services. The medical
school's research budget, alone,
went from less than $13 million in
1972 to $39 million in 1982.
What must have happened is
that the research scientists in the
medical school went to the
University's administration and.
simply threatened to leave unless
they got a new first class resear-
ch hospital. The University could
not afford to say no - even
though at the same time the
enrollment in the University's
medical school was being cur-
tailed. From the point of view of
the medical researcher, the
medical school was becoming
smaller but better.
Thus you have a university of
35,000 students held captive by.
the research goals and values of a
few hundred research scientists.
Virtually 'every area of the

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