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Ninety-six years of editorial freedom

Vol. XCVI - No. 113 Copyright 1986, The Michigan Daily

Ann Arbor, Michigan - Tuesday, March 18, 1986

Eight Pages

Faculty pension holds S.

By KERY MURAKAMI
Faculty and staff at the University con-
tributed about $15 million last year to a
nation-wide pension program that holds
over $6 billion in investments in companies
that do business with South Africa.
In addition, the University contributed $31
million to the Teachers Insurance and An-
nuity Association - College Retirement
Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), which han-
dles pension plans for 3,600 colleges, univer-
sities, and other non-profit educational in-
stitutions around the world.
SOUTH Africa-related investments make

up about 35 percent of the program's $18
billion stock portfolio.
The program, say opponents of the in-
vestments, holds more South Africa-related
stocks than any university or public pension
plan in the country. In comparison, the
University held $50 million in investments in
1983 before it decided to divest 99 percent of
these stocks last fall. The state of Michigan,
which has been considering divesting its
own pension plan, holds $2.7 billion in South
Africa-related investments.
Under the University's pension policy, al]
faculty and staff over 35 years old who havE

worked attthe University for two years, arE
required to contribute 5 percent of theit
salaries to the program. The University
then adds twice these investments in the
program with its own funds.
THE UNIVERSITY"S decision to divest
its investments did not include this pensior
fund, said Robert Green, chairman of the
faculty's Senate Advisory Committee on
University Affairs (SACUA), because it is
TIAA-CREF that makes the investments,
not the University.
University Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer James Brinkerhoff.

African
however, sits on the Board of Directors of
CREF.CREF deals with stock investments,
while TIAA deals more with safer real
estate investments.
The University would oppose withdrawal
of its faculty and staff's pension from the
program, Brinkerhoff said, because the
program gives the faculty and staff more
flexibility than other pension plans. It
allows faculty and staff members to change
universities without fear of losing their pen-
sion benefits.
GREEN SAID there hasn't been any
discussion about TIAA-CREF at SACUA
because "no one's brought it up." He said a

a stocks
lack of knowledge among the faculty about
the program's investment policies
"probably had a lot to do with it."
Members of the Washtenw Coalition
Against Apartheid and the Free South
Africa Coordinating Committee agreed that
there hasn't been much talk about these
funds because few people know about the
issue.
Opponents of TIAA-CREF's investments
are not calling on faculty and staff to with-
draw their monies, said Christine Root, a
member of the TIAA-CREF Divestment
Steering Committee and political action
See PENSION, Page 2


i


'U' I
pop.*
By REBECCA BLUMENSTEIN
The minority student population on
campus this fall was the largest ever
enrolled at the University, according
to a report released yesterday by the
Office of Affirmative Action.
Despite a national downward trend,
we have turned this around with in-
creases in minority enrollment for the
past two years," said Virginia Nor-
dby, director of the Office of Affir-
mative Action. "We have now
reached 12 percent - the highest per-
centage of enrolled minority students
ever," she added.
THE ANNUAL report titled
"Minority Students at the University
of Michigan" will be presented at
Thursday's Board of Regents
meeting, and covers many aspects of
minority enrollment, recruitment,
and retention.
But the progress in enrollment, is
not necessarily significant for all
minorities - including Blacks,
Hispanics, Asians, and Native
Americans.

inority

'lies
The report "shows good progress,
but it has to be remembered that the
number of students attending college
is nationally rising," said Billy Frye,
vice president of academic affairs. "I
am especially concerned with the
Black and Native American
populations.
ALTHOUGH black enrollment has
now risen to 5.2 percent, in 1976 it
stood at 7.2 percent before it dropped
to a low of 4.9 percent in 1983. Native
American enrollment remains below
1 percent of the total enrollment.
In a preface to the report, Niara
Sudarkasa, associate vice president
for academic affairs, attributed the
past decline in enrollment to
shrinking financial aid dollars, "con-
tinuing inequalities in education at the
pre-college level," and "overt and
covert attacks on affirmative action,
which challenged special recruit-
ment, admissions, and support
programs for minority students."
Nordby sees many improvements,
though. "There have been substantial

ever

increases for minority student finan-
cial support and retention enhan-
cement programs - Over $1 million
in the next three years."
"A LOT of new resources are being
put into the problem, along with a
high level of commitment and
willingness," she added. "Along with
the creation of Sudarkasa's position to
coordinate minority efforts,-we have
added staff to the financial aid and
admissions offices."
Nordby said that she shares
Universtiy President Harold
Shapiro's concern about racism, what
she calls a retention problem. Shapiro
has recently created a task force
against racism that will be chaired by
Vice President for Student Affairs
Henry Johnson, and asked Nordby to
form a small group to deal with the ef-
fects of racism and bigotry.
Shapiro and Johnson were not
available for comment.
"It's tough to buck a tide lake
racism when you are a minority
student," Nordby said.

Daily Photo by PETE ROSS

Catchin' some ZZs

Topster Tom Coleman camps outside the Michigan Union's Ticket World outlet in hopes of snagging good seats
for the upcoming ZZ Top concert. Tickets go on sale today at 8 a.m. But Coleman began his vigil Sunday to get
The Firm concert tickets which went on sale yesterday morning.


,MSA
to vote,
on code
of ethics

By WENDY SHARP
The Michigan Student Assembly will vote tonight on
whether to adopt a code of ethics what would ensure that
assembly members do not have other interests that con-
flict with their duties on the assembly.
The recent resignations of assembly member Lawrence
Norris and assembly employee Cheryl Bullard prompted
MSA Rules Committee chairman Bruce Belcher to write
the ethics code. Norris, former chairman of MSA's
Minority Affairs Committee resigned earlier this term
because assembly members thought his work/study job
with Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Niara
Sudarkasa posed a conflict of interest with his position on

the assembly. Bullard, who was an administrative coor-
dinator for the assembly, resigned becasue of pressure
from the Student Programs Organizations office, which
supervised her position with the assembly.
BELCHER said the ethics code would clarify the
obligations of an assembly member, thus preventing such
resignations in the future. The latest draft of the ethics
code states that the code will "ensure that MSA resources
are used to fulfill student interests, to ensure that MSA
members do not have other interests which might conflict
with MSA interests, and to ensure that the students and
student groups are treated fairly by MSA members."
See ETHICS, Page 3

19 protesters
arrested at'
Pusiisoffice


ot 1

'U' profs methods
make him a maverick

By JILL OSEROWSKY
When psychology Prof. James
McConnell lectures his honors in-
troduetory osvcholoev class, he
still remembers what it is like to be
sitting on the other side of the
classroom with students.
As a tenured professor at the
University in 1963, McConnell, who

Pro file

B's in the science courses, that ex-
periece changed his outlook on
teachers, students, and education.
"I think all teachers should have
the experience of having to go back
and sit through a course and take
exams and do all the stuff that un-
dergraduates have to do," McCon-
nell says. "You don't know what
it's like to be an undergraduate
unless you experience it yourself."
As he speaks, the gray-haired 60-
year-old professor alternately sips
coffee and puffs on a menthol
cigarette.
McConnell credits those three
years with making him into the
teacher he is today. "It was;
horrible," he says as he remem-
bers his second time as an un-
dergraduate student. "What it did
was to show me how bad the
teaching is, and if I hadn't done
that, I probably would not have
been as good a teacher as I hope I
am now."
See 'U,' Page 3

By PHILIP LEVY
The Ann Arbor Police Departmen
arrested 19 students and city residen-
ts last night at Rep. Carl Pursell's of-
fice. The protesters, none of whom
were among the 39 protesters
arrested last Friday at Pursell's of-
fice, demonstrated against the
Congressman's support of $100 million
in aid proposed for the Contra rebels
in Nicaragua.
The protesters had spent the day
flashing posters to passing cars out-
side Pursell's office. By 6 p.m.
demonstrators were crowded into the
small corridor outside the empty of-
fice and at 9:30 p.m. John Seeley, the
landlord of the property, read them
the Trespass Act. Police then han-
dcuffed 19 of the demonstrators and
took them to the Ann Arbor police
station. They were released after 45
minutes without being booked. They
might not be charged.
AT 7 p.m. Seeley met with the
protesters to hear their complaints
and try to mediate an agreement with
Pursell. He stood in the small hallway
of the building, which was tightly
packed with about 25 protesters and
took notes as they described their
concerns and frustrations with Pur-
sell. The protesters told Seeley that it
was necessary to stay in the building
for their civil disobediance to be effec-

tive.
"I respect your tradition of keeping
the pressure on, but than leaves me no
flexibility to negotiate," Seeley told
the group of protesters. They replied
that they understood and thanked him
for his assistance. Seeley then called
the police.
After Seeley got off the phone with
the police, he arranged for some
members of the group to come back
and clean the building this morning.
The protesters modified their posit-
ion as a result of the meeting. They
had earlier demanded that Pursell
vote against the Contra aid package.
They agreed last night not to occupy
the building any more if Seeley could
get Pursell's office to issue a press
release announcing a public meeting
on the subject in Ann Arbor before the
vote in Congress, which is scheduled
for Thursday.
THE protesters are upset about
Pursell's support of the Contra aid
package and his inaccessibility to
constituents. They say the United
States, through its support of the Con-
tras, is spending tax dollars on
terrorism. They say the majority of
the Contra leadership consists of for-
mer members of the Somoza distator-
ship and that the Contra group has
See POLICE, Page 3

is famous for his memory transfer
research enrolled again as an un-
dergraduate to take courses
required for medical school. He
said he experienced firsthand a poor
quality of teaching and a grading
system designed to weed out
students and discourage them
from succeeding.
ALTHOUGH McConnell quit af-
ter three years of struggling to get

Daily Photo by CHRIS TWIGG
Prof. James McConnell sits in Olga's restaurant awaiting students from
his introductory psychology course. McConnell's students praise his
unique teaching methods.

I

TODA -
Jumbled Greeks
W hat is red, blue, yellow'
green and sprouting 24 ar- ..


Greeks' dedication, as particants hud-
dled together to devise strategies to
knock their opponents off the red,
blue, yellow, and green-dotted board.
Alpha Tau Omega member Jason
Young, an Engineering sophomore,
, ,,L._ 617 1 - _ ~ - +

sponsors are selling to raise money.
Sigma Nu and Chi Omega, who spon-
sored the successful event last year,
raised funds through Twister T-Shirt
sales. This year, " a little over one
thousand" sales of the $5 polka-dotted
hnyprc ,_,,.;n,,tih AM nnn t1( ;i

INSIDE
SANCTUARY: Opinion applauds the church's
participation in the movement. See page 4.

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