Ninety-five Years ofr Editorial Freedom cl b t. L IE Wan 43Iai1 Irksome Partly sunny with a high in the mid-30s. I:XCV, No. 121 Copyright 1985, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, March 6, 1985 Fifteen Cents Ten Pages VSA berates U failure to .a Military holds create minority student policies By MARLA GOLD The Michigan Student Assembly unanimously passed a resolution last night condemning the University ad- ministration's apparent failure to promote policies enabling minority enrollment to reach goals established 5 years ago. The resolution is a "culmination" of many issues per- taining to recruitment and retention of minority students at the University, said Roderick Linzie, MSA black student researcher. RECENTLY, MSA has tried to attain a copy of a'report which analyzes minority recruitment, retention, and financial aid levels for campus undergraduate minority students. NMSA is pushing also for the establishment of a University- wide commission to deal with minority concerns. The commission was originally proposed by University Vice resident for Academic Affairs and Provost Billy Frye in ctober, 1983, the resolution said. The responsibilities of the commission would be to "re- examine institutional goals ... propose new ones ... (and) seek to gain full implementation of the findings of that commission" to the University community, the resolution stated. ALSO WITH the proposal for the commission, the University established a position for Niara Sudarkasa as an associate vice president for academic affairs to over- see minority concerns. Sudarkasa prepared the approximatley 300-page inority report, which was completed in November, but has denied the public access to the document. MSA and the Daily each have filed twice under the Freedom of Information Act to acquire the document, but have been refused. UNIVERSITY officials contend that the denial is legal because "the information requested is preliminary in form and substance and presents a high probability of being misunderstood" if released, the denial said. Under theFreedom of Information Act, a document that will serve the public interest best if kept from the public is allowed to remain secret. A "watered down version" of the report is expected to !o to the Regents next week, but MSA still wants the original report, said MSA President Scott Page. "IT'S VERY unfortunate that the Regents may pass something that the administration is spoon-feeding them," Page said. MSA has also condemned the administration for refusing to give students and other interested parties in- put into the minority report. "The concern is increasing that some activity has been going on all year long with no student discussion," Linzie said. IN OTHER ACTION Beth Meany, a business school junior, was appointed treasurer of MSA. Ex-treasurer Bill Mellin said that Meany was the best qualified of all the applicants who applied for the job. MSA also unanimously voted to accept process guidelines for the Michigan Union Board of Represen- tatives selections. Earlier this year MUBR requested and received a change in the guidelines which in effect removed MSA from the selection process. MUBR said that MSA did not publicize the board openings well enough. MUBR sent its proposal to Henry Johnson, vice president for student services, without'consulting MSA. The new proposal calls for shared responsibilities, with. MSA and MUBR each appointing two members to the MUBR/MSA selection committee. Daily staffwriter Amy Mindell filed a report for this 4tory. back cash Defense investigates chief contractor for overbilling WASHINGTON (AP) - The Defense Department suspended part of its huge annual payment to General Dynamics Corp. yesterday, citing evidence that the largest U.S. Defense contractor billed the government for unauthorized expenses - such as caring for the company's pet dog. Pentagon spokesman Michael Burch said "we found that General Dynamics' testimony was nauseating' when the contractor tried to explain the problem to Congress THE PENTAGON said $40 million in monthly payments for administrative expenses would be halted for 30 days while the department investigates whether General Dynamics wrongly billed the government for advertising, entertainment and other unauthorized expenses. Burch said that if the inquiry is not completed in 30 days, the suspension will continue. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who an- nounced the decision in a speech to an American Legion convention, said "it came out in our audits that they were billing u's, as part of their overhead costs, a lot of expenses that did not benefit the government." He said some billings "may have involved criminal matters, and they are being investigated by the Department of Justice." General Dynamics spokesman Peter Connolly said that if the Pentagon investigation shows any wrong billings, the company will return the money immediately. "The company believes it will be able to satisfy the Defense Department's concerns regarding the validity of its billing procedures," Connolly said in a statement issued at General Dynamics' headquar- ters in St. Louis. HE SAID the sums being withheld amounted to 8 percent of General Dynamics' total monthly charges. See PENTAGON, Page 3 ' begins study of measles policy Daily Photo by BRAD MILLS Fresh popcorn rolls out of the machine at Otto's and ready for sale to hungry customers. SELLERS SAY: Campus craze for popcorn is here to stay By NG KHEE JIN The cardboard sign plastered on the front of the Campus Corner popcorn machine says it all. "You too cannbe a part of today's movin' popcorn generation. Take a popcorn break today. The snack that picks you up and calms you down. " The store, located on the corner of State and Packard, is only one of many campus area stores which sells pop- corn. Popcorn has been a movie house staple for years. Now, it's become an essential - well, almost - portion of University students' diets. WHETHER it's made at a con- venience store or popped in a dorm room popcorn maker, it seems, the crunchy snack is here to stay. . "Popcorn is good especially when you're studying because it keeps you going," said Steve Nelson, a first year economics graduate student. It seems Nelson is not alone in his liking for popcorn. LOCAL STORESrarereporting brisk sales in popcorn makers. And for some, the high demand for pop- corn accessories is nothing new. "We have had outstanding sales for the last three to four years," said Dan Clemons, area supervisor at K-Mart in Maple Village.Shopping Center. He added that his store sold 150 See POPCORN, Page 5 By ERIC MATTSON University Hospitals officials yesterday said they are reevaluating their policy that allows employees not to be inoculated against measles. The study, to be conducted by Dr. Thomas Shope and administrator Don Brown, follows a small out- break of the disease at the hospital. THE HOSPITAL currently requires its employees who come in contact with patients to have received vaccinations against German measles, according to Shope, associate professor of pediatrics and com- municable diseases. But the hospital has no such policy regarding the other virus, Shope said. Shope said having the requirement "certainly" bears looking into. "Fortunately, it seems like (the outbreak) is on a small scale, and it gives us incen- tive to look into what our hospital policy should be," he said. SHOPE SAID hospital policy discriminates bet- ween German measles and regular measles because German measles often have adverse effec- ts on unborn children. Health officials offered different explanations for why a requirement has not been instituted. Dr. Caesar Briefer, director of Health Service, suggested that the administrative cost of running the program might be prohibitive. Briefer addedthat there is debate about the effec- tiveness of the inoculations. "There is about a 10 percent failure rate even with the good vaccine," he said. Until the mid-1960s, measles inoculations were fairly unreliable. NETTIE TOMASELLO, a nurse at University Hospitals, said there is a small but growing number of doctors who believe that measles vaccinations can cause asthma and allergies in children. Deputy Executive Hospital Director John For- syth, however, said that this is the first time the debate has really surfaced. "It hasn't been an issue in the past, and we are looking into it right now," he said. THE STUDY comes on the heels of an outbreak of measles that affected five area residents, including. a University Hospitals physician, a University un- dergraduate, two medical school students, and a hospital technician. Shope said the origin of the outbreak is still unknown, and that officials are investigating the matter. He suggested that the victims may have contrac- ted the disease from patients in Mott Children's Hospital, but that the virus originated in another area of the state. See 'U', Page 5 MSU prof criticizes higher ed. report Analysts: Let innovation drive U.S. auto, indus try By KERY MURAKAMI LANSING - Michigan State Univesity Prof. T. Harry McKinney'at- tacked some of the proposals made by Gov. Blanchard's Commission on the Future of Higher Education yesterday, saying they threaten the autonomy of public colleges and universities. McKinney told the state Senate Select Committee on Higher Education that the commission has taken the stance Ithat "educational quality can only be maintained if more decisions about educational matters are made at the state level." McKINNEY WAS referring in par- ticular to the commission's recommen- dation that the state define missions of each public institution and award ap- propriations for special programs only if they coincide with those mhissions. In the past, McKinney said, "representatives have been relatively free to approach the governor and the legislature for funds needed to in- troduce and support programs viewed as essential to or consistent with in- stitutional goals." Michigan has one of the most decen- tralized systems of higher education in the nation, he said, pointing to the universities' autonomous governing boards with decided how their schools' money will be spent. "THE COMMISSION makes no reference to the constitutional respon- sibilities of these governing boards," he added. "Instead, it leaves the im- pression that these responsibilities can be ignored if decisions at the state level See UNIVERSITIES, Page 5 By KYSA CONNETT Though the U.S. auto industry has "grown up,'t it is regaining the in- novative vigor of its past youth. That's the message James Mc- Donald, president of General Motors, brought yesterday to the fifth annual U.S.-Japanese auto conference. Jokingly, he asked, "Could 'mature' be a code-word for 'conservative'? For 'rigid,' 'stodgy,' 'encrusted with bureacracy?' " "THAT IS MOST certainly NOT the way we at General Motors view our- selves," he said, boasting of the com- pany's Saturn project, which will com- bine innovative business, design, and manufacturing techniques to produce a new line of compact cars. "We've been practicing it (en- trepreneurialism) for some time now, and it's going to be even more of a way of life for us in the years ahead." "Entrepreneurship in a Mature In- dustry" was the theme of the conferen- ce, held in Rackham Auditorium, which featured five guest speakers from the auto industry, labor unions, and the academic community. Rosabeth Kanter, a professor of sociology and organization and management at Yale, endorsed en- trepreneurship within big firms and, sarcastically, gave the small crowd some basic "rules for stifling in- novation:" " Be suspicious of new ideas from below - because they're new and because they're from below; " Insist that people who need ap- proval to act go through many other levels of the organization first. That makes it easy to avoid saying no; " Express criticism freely, withhold praise, and instill job security. While McDonald and Kanter praised internalentrepreneurship as something new - even touting it as 'intra- preneurship' - Shoichiro Irimajire, president of the Honda of America Manufacturing; said the philosophy has always been central to policies of Japanese corporations. He said Honda's company policy stresses respect for the individual See AUTO, Page 5 McDonald ... stresses entrepreneurialism I, TODAY- Movie mania DDIE MURPHY, Mel Gibson,. and the howling face on a Pink Floyd poster seem to be what E University students want hanging on their walls. Millions against MS FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, students and merchan- ts in Ann Arbor and 11 other midwestern college towns will be selling, drinking, and massaging their way to what may become a concert on Music Television. MTV will arrange for a concert with a well-known rock star to be held on the campus which raises the most money per student for Airband Party-March 7, 8 p.m., East Quad S. Dining Room. Movie'Night-March 7, 9 p.m., West Quad... Brown lag Lecture-March 8, noon, Hutchins Hall. RHA Movie Night-Harold & Maude, March 8, Markley March 9, Union. Dance Marathon-March 8-9, Pendleton Room, Union. Clanv. 1.ffivP nii 0 4AlnhIrhi Amcicm Eat, sleep, and earn money W ANTED: MALES between the ages of 30 and 70 who would like to pick up $100 for drinking and sleeping. The Sleep Disorder Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences wants to study the effects of alcohol con- sumption on breathing during sleep. Depending on body size, participants will be given between a trace of booze and about eight ounces. Speaking for himself-and presum -by I I I