cl , be Myit iau Ninety-six years of editorial freedom iEatlQ ..-.------ .-..-.-----.-..-.--.-------- a - Fourteen Pages Vol. XCVI - No. 68 Copyright 1985, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan - vveanesaay, December I1, 1985 ' scientists defend animal research By ROB EARLE Most don't even know it exists. Tucked away in the hospital, through a back entrance, it's there for only a few to see. In the University Hospitals' Animal Operating Room, two German Shepards are slowly coming out of an anesthetic. A photographer stands nearby, waiting for permission from the operating room supervisor to photograph the dogs. The answer, however, is no. "It's real easy to misuse that kind of photograph," said Dr. Donald Dafoe Dafoe is a University transplant surgeon who relies on laboratory animals to further his surgical research. And, like most University resear- chers, Dafoe is concerned about the negative image which surrounds animal research. That image has been accentuated by what researchers call. animal rights activists' latest threat - a bill pending in the state Senate which would prohibit using dogs and cats from animal shelters in research. Animal rights activists are pushing for the passage of the bill, hailing it as a giant step for humane treatment of animals. Yet researchers defend the pound- release system, saying animals are necessary for medical advancement. Action on the bill - stalled by the legislature's holiday breaks - is not anticipated until sometime in January. Nevertheless, it has caused University researchers to become in- creasingly cautious, if not paranoid, about their actions. 'If (University researchers) don't have anything to hide, they don't have anything to worry about.' -Doris Dickson Michigan representative of the Fun dfor Animals buildings where animals are kept. And although the Animal Liberation Front has not been active here, Dr. Daniel Ringler, director of the Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, said the precautions are necessary. But animal rights activists, like Doris Dickson, Michigan Represen- tative of the Fund for Animals, a national animal rights group, says the locks are just a way of keeping the animals from public view. "If (University researchers) don't have anything to hide, they don't have anything to worry about," she said. And Ringler says his lab has nothing to conceal. "The public is welcome to come in for tours and we are always happy to talk to the press." Still, the researchers are wary of bad publicity, especially on the sub- ject of pound-released animals. Ringler and Dafoe both said that, if the bill now before the Senate Com- mittee on Higher Education and Technology passes, the cost of doing research will soar. "Our costs will increase dramatically," Ringler said. "The actual cost will go from about $140,000 a year to about $1,200,000 a year." Dogs and cats are currently pur- chased from federally-licensed dealers, who buy the animals from shelters for $4 to $8 each, and sell them to the University for $25 to $35. If the bill becomes law, the University will only be able to use dogs and cats specially bred for laboratory use. "The bill," Dafoe said, "is going to See SCIENTISTS, Page 7 At first, it would seem University animal researchers have nothing to fear. Allan Price, assistant vice president for research, says the University's animal research program is exemplary. Nonetheless, the University has taken steps to avoid vandalism directed against its facilities by animal rights activists. Being on the defensive means protecting labs from attacks similar to those which have taken place at other schools. At the University of Western Ontario, for example, the Animal Liberation Front broke into a lab and freed several monkeys infec- ted with the herpes virus. The University has installed elec- tronic combination locks on the doors to all of the 230 rooms in the 24 campus 1 'U,' forms task force on AIDS By REBECCA BLUMENSTEIN President Shapiro has created a task force of four administrators to investigate the need for AIDS policies at the University. "We need a small working group to review the issues and be a recourse to turn to in case of an outbreak of AIDS," Shapiro said last night. On a campus of this size, he added, it is "inevitable" that a case eventually will be discovered. "WE WANT TO make sure the University will play an active rather than a passive role," said John Heidke, associate director of housing and a member of the task force. "The bottom line of the group is to educate and protect the rights of individuals who may contract AIDS." Virginia Nordby, director of the Of- fice of Affirmative Action disclosed the existence of the week-old commit- tee yesterday at a meeting of the University's task force against homosexual discrimination. In the last month she and other top ad- ministrators had been reluctant to discuss their plans for addressing AIDS. Last night Nordby said "it is impor- tant to keep (the task force) low key to avoid a lot of the tension that is associated with AIDS presently." Nordby chairs the task force. In addition to Heidke, other members of the task force are Colleen Dolan- Greene, assistant director of person- nel, and Dr. Caesar Briefer, director of University Health Service. According to Heidke, the force needs to "seek advice and support from a broad range." "The president will make the decisions from there. We have a strong interest in-keeping things in a sound perspective when dealing with such an energetic issue." The administrators, who met for the first time last week, are beginning their work by reading a large packet of information about AIDS provided by Nordby's office. They eventually will assess their own departments about general awareness of AIDS and whether there is a need for some type of policy to address an outbreak. No deadline has been set on when the task force must report back to Shapiro, and the only future meeting of the group is scheduled for next week, according to Heidke. See 'U,' Page 3 Mean and muddy The Michigan Rugby Team prefers muck and might. See photostory Page 11. . . . . . . . . . ............................. . Yale prof. By JILL OSEROWSKY Yale University political scientist Robert Dahl will deliver this winter's commencement address, and is one of three men who will receive honorary degrees from the University at the 2 p.m. ceremony in Crisler Arena on Dando and Kung have been visiting professors at the University. ACCORDING TO Prof. John Kingdon, chairman of the political science department, Dahl's books about theories of pluralist political systems have put him at the top of his field. State House votes to divest S. Africa funds 10 [lha K a t Sunday. "His work has been very influential. People who don't Dahl, who is one of the most distinguished political like it must grapple with it and criticize it, and people who science professors in the world, and Shigemitsu Dando, a do" are guided in their work by it, Kingdon said. "We're former member of the Supreme Court of Japan, will be delighted that he's getting the degree." Dahl currently gImf1' A -j3 I&presented with honorary doctor of law degrees. holds the Sterling Chair, a distinguished position in Yale Ecumenical theologian and Catholic priest Hans Kung University's political science department. will receive an honorary degree of humane letters. Both See THREE, Page 3 wants delay of student computer fee By MARY CHRIS JAKLEVIC The Michigan Student Assembly last night passed a resolution, 11 to 1, condemning a mandatory student computer fee which will appear on tuition bills next semester. Resolution backers say the com- puter charge is a tuition hike in disguise. The University approved in principle the fee before tuition was set last summer. THE COMPUTER fee will add $50 to next semester's tuition bill. A $100 charge will be added each semester thereafter. "We need more computers. We need more technology. The question is who pays and at what price, and who benefits," said Kurt Muenchow, the School of Natural Resources' MSA representative. He voted for the measure. Bruce Belcher, MSA's Rackham representative voted against the resolution. "I feel that computers really are important for the Univer- sity, and I think that students would be getting enough bene $100," he said. FIVE MSA members ab The resolution conten administration has not ficient efforts to find alte ding sources for con provement. It says that s not consulted prior to imi of the fee, and that no pla made to include students decision-making procesE same level as facult fits for the ministrators." The resolution also calls for the )stained. formation of a commission to study ds that the possible funding alternatives for the made suf- computer system before considering ernative fun- mandatory fees from students. mputer im- Assembly members said that the tudents were need for computers is not uniform plementation among the University's schools, and ns have been therefore some schools would get in the future more for their money than others. ses "at the The proposal was voted on by 17 and ad- assembly members - barely enough .y for a quorum. LANSING (UPI) - Bills requiring state pension funds to shed invest- ments totaling more than $2 billion in companies operating in white-ruled South Africa cleared the House yesterday with votes to spare. The measures, called by backers the largest divestment move so far in the United States, were sent to an un- certain fate in the Republican- controlled Senate on votes of 67-39 and 71-36. THE ACTION came after a very brief debate which belied the substan- tial controversy which has surroun- ded the measures. Agreements to protect state retirees against losses, however, ap- parently played a key role in smoothing the way for passage of the measures. Gov. James Blanchard endorsed in August a similar, phased divestment move as a means of influencing racial reforms in South Africa. But a com- mission established to work out details of the administration's divestment policy ha t yet com- pleted its work. IN HIS remarks to the House, Rep. Virgil Smith characterized the votes as the culmination of a long struggle. "This is an issue that has long been coming to the floor of the Michigan House of Representatives," said the Detroit Democrat, who noted he has pushed for divestment since 1978 but had not previously been able to get the issue out of committee. "It has gotten to the floor of the House because times are changing," he said. VIOLENCE in the streets of South Africa is precipitating that change, he said. TODAY Library? What's a library? VES, IT'S TRUE. Even the muckrakers of Maynard Street have to study once in a residence hall cafeterias in offering study days specials. South Quad Food Service Manager David Kluck said the special Fnacks and late hours in most dormitory cafeterias are a way of thanking the studen- ts. "If it wasn't for students in residence halls we wouldn't be here," he said. Refreshments and places for late studying will be available in most cafeterias from Dec. 12 through Dec. 19. The Undergraduate Chocolate-covered chips WISCONSIN couple wants to give their fellow yuppies something new and expensive to munch on - chocolate-covered potato chips at $18 a pound. Hollis Savin, 32, and her optometrist husband put up $30,000 to start Yuppie Gourmet Inc. to market their INSIDE COPYCATS: Opinion looks at Britain's bow to United States' pressure. See Page 4. ROOFLESS: Arts reviews the David bromberg i