P
an
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Ninety-seven years of editorial freedom
Vol. XCVII - No. 68 Copyright 1986, The Michigan Doily Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, December 10, 1986 Fourteen Pages
'U'
By KERY MURAKA
For the last two years, the
has abstained from using its
voting power to take stances o
of social issues, and critic
whether the University is
socially responsible investing
neutrality.
The University could hav
issues such as whether Easti
should produce space weapons
Exxon should continue oil
Chile, whose regime has been
numerous human rights violati
The issues were amon
shareholder resolutions b
corporations last year by
investors or groups of investo
abstains
AMI change corporate policies.
University THE UNIVERSITY's Board of
corporate Regents, however, decided in February
n a number 1984 to abstain from voting on all social
s question resolutions, except those involving South
sacrificing Africa. In these cases, said University
for political Investment Manager Norm Herbert, the
University votes in favor of the Sullivan
ve voted on Principles, a series of guidelines promoting
man Kodak racial equality in the workplace.
and whether According to Tim Smith, director of the
drilling in Interfaith Center for Corporate
accused of Responsibility, almost all shareholder
ons. resolutions involving South Africa call for
ig several corporations to pull out of the country.
rought to Because corporations must stay in South
individual Africa to practice the Sullivan Principles,
)rs trying to the University has voted against these
from corporate votes
proposals.
Such resolutions are mainly symbolic,
said a spokesperson for the Washington-
based non-partisan Investor Responsibility
Research Center, because they have no
binding power over corporate policy. For
proponents of a resolution, the goal is to
garner enough votes every year to keep an
issue on the management's agenda.
An abstention is not necessarily the
equivalent of supporting corporate policies
because votes are tallied according to the
number cast, not the total number of shares
in the corporation.
BUT CRITICS, such as Smith and
officials at universities which do vote, said
that failing to consider proposed
resolutions is irresponsible investing.
"It's an obligation," said Pat Small,
associate treasurer of the University of
California system. "Shareholders are
concerned about how well a corporation is
being managed financially, but we have an
obligation to make sure they're acting
responsibly in the context of society. We
feel that at the least we should take a look
at each issue."
Small said members of the University
of California's Board of Trustees, the
equivalent of the regents, are mailed
shareholder resolution proposals and vote
on them during their monthly meetings.
Several other universities, including
Harvard and Yale, have formed committees
made up of faculty members, students, and
administrators to examine each proposal
and recommend a stance to their
university's governing board.
A spokesperson for the Investor
Responsibility Research Center said most
colleges and universities do not vote on
shareholder resolutions concerning social
issues, although most larger universities
take a stance.
"THERE'S NO neutral ground where
morality is concerned. The University has a
responsibility to look from whence their
profits come," Smith said. Although
Smith helps coordinate the drafting of
many resolutions, he says his main
concern is for shareholders to consider the
See 'U', Page 5
profs.
develop
drug to
relieve
herpes
By ELLEN FIEDELHOLTZ
University researchers have
developed a drug which they hope
will help alleviate symptoms of
oral and genital herpes.
"There is no cure for herpes, but
we hope this drug will help to
control the problem," said Oral
Biology Prof. Charles Shipman.
Herpes is, an incurable viral
infection characterized by recurring
cold sores on the face or genitals.
Transmission can occur when the
sores are present.
The new drug could help control
lesions and lessen the possibility of
transmission, Shipman said.
University Health Services
diagnosed 300 cases of oral and
genital herpes last year, said Health
Services director Dr. Caesar Briefer.
"If anything, this number sounds
low - many people are probably
receiving care from family or
private physicians," Shipman said.
Shipman and his colleagues,
Sandra Smith and John Drach, have
successfully tested the drugs -
derivatives of 2-acetylpyridine
thiosemicarbazone - on laboratory
animals. The drugs are applied as a
lotion or ointment to the site of the
infection.
Existing herpes treatments are
most effective when taken orally,
but may produce unwanted side
effects because they treat the whole
body, Shipman said. "If you have a
cold sore and just want to treat one
See NEW, Page S
Tuition
guarantee
p roposal'
approved
LANSING (AP) - The Mich- to keep tuitions down."
igan Senate gave its long-awaited IN IT I AL L Y, the program
OK yesterday to Gov. James would be limited to between 1,000
Blanchard's tuition guarantee plan. and 2,000 college contracts between
By a vote of 32-0, senators parents and the state, Sederburg
endorsed a revamped version of the said. A special governing board
plan Blanchard first unveiled in would determine how those
January. contracts would be distributed.
The proposal is aimed at helping The legislation would let a
Michigan families keep up with the parent, grandparent, employer or
high cost of college. anyone else pay years in advance for
IT WOULD let the parents of a child's tuition. But no payments
a newborn, for instance, give the could be made unless the federal
state between $2,000 and $3,000 in Internal Revenue Service agreed to
exchange for a promise of four make the investments tax-
years' paid college tuition and fees. deductible.
The state. would invest the Without such an IRS ruling, the
money, and by the time that infant program will not get off the
was ready for college, the ground.
investment would have grown to . That's one of two major safety
cover college costs. valves added to the first-of-its-kind
The measure sailed through the state program.
House earlier this year but needs ANOTHER would guarantee
final House agreement before that state taxpayers don't have to
advancing to Blanchard for his foot the bill if the program can't
signature. pay for itself. If college tuitions
"I'm convinced it's a very good increase faster than the tuition fund
idea," said Sen. William Sederberg grows, subsequent contracts would
(R - East Lansing) and one of the cost more. If the program still
architects of the compromise plan. couldn't pay for itself, it would be
"I think the long-term effect will be dissolved and all money refunded.
Doily Photo by PETER ROSS
Last breath
An unhappy umbrella rests on a trash can near Angell Hall yesterday.
West Quad residents decry
'U' maintenance system
MSA members petition to
condemn Israeli' atrocities'
By FAITH PENNICK
Many West Quad residents are upset
about what they called a virtual halt in
maintenance services in certain houses.
"It's a hell hole," said LSA freshman
Mark Perin, referring to his room in West
Quad's Allen-Rumsey House. Perin's door
has a broken safety chain and a black mark
where the peephole is supposed to be.
Perin is also having trouble because the
sink in his room has a leaky faucet that has
been broken since he first turned it on in the
beginning of the school year.
Perin calculated that the sink has wasted
approximately 24,000 gallons of water in
three months. He called FIX-IT to report the
problem on Aug. 31, the first of eight calls
he has made to date.
"We had no hot water originally, so we
called them and they came the next day," he
said. But after the repairman looked at the
sink, he gave Perin an ultimatum: either the
leak could continue, or the hot water supply
would be cut off indefinitely.
Perin opted for the former, and was told
by the repairman that the part necessary for
fixing the leak would be ordered and delivered
in a month. "I gave them two months, then
I called again. The lady who answered told
me, 'Okay, I'll put it on the list.' I even
called today (Monday)," he said.
See RUMSEY, Page 3
By WENDY SHARP
Sixteen members of the Michigan
Student Assembly last night signed a
petition condemning "recent Israeli atrocities
and attacks against Palestinians and
Palestinian institutions of higher education,"
but several assembly members deplored the
petition as an unwarranted "political" attack
on Israel.
"It's political posturing that has no place
in MSA," said assembly member Debbie
Schlussel, an LSA freshman. "I was very
insulted, offended, and appalled."
The petition was "of purely one-sided
context, a purely emotional reaction with a
lot of factual information left out," said
Hilary Farber, chairperson of MSA's
Women's Issues Committee. Farber said
many assembly members who signed the
petition were not well informed about the
Middle East.
"People are responding to an attack on
human rights but there is an obvious other
side to it," she said. "I don't want to accept
any one person's interpretation of Palestine
and Israel."
Assembly member Eric Schnaufer, who
co-authored the petition, said, "A petition is
a more appropriate expression than a
resolution because it will be fowarded to the
Israeli embassy in Washington."
See MSA, Page 3
Farber
... condemns petition
TODAY-
We're off
fter today's paper, we're going to be gone
Arbor streets. The task of pickup is left to the
Department of Street Maintenance. About one
week before a street is cleaned, "No parking/Tow
away zone" signs are posted, and cars must be
removed for the two days stated on the signs, from
7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The city has no hesitation
-INSIDE
RACISM: Opinion airs criticism of Siegal's
cartoon. See Page 4.
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