In WeekendMagazine,
How gay students cope with bigotry * John Logie
Ballots for our Best of Ann Arbor poll - The List
Ninety-seven years of editorialfreedom
VOLUME XCVII - NO. 121 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1987 COPYRIGHT 1987, THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Ii / : T p -
Subletters
seek
spring-
summer
s tudents
By ELIZABETH ATKINS
The spring and summer sublet
season is once again in full swing
as students advertise sublets of
apartments and houses. And this
year, as always, it's a buyer's
market.
Colorful sublet ads spot campus
walls and kiosks, with catchy
messages like "Sublet of the Gods!"
Another sublet ad boasts, "A huge
spring/summer sublet for a tiny
price."
For spring and summer
subletting information,
See The Daily's Summer
Sublet Supplement,
Pages 12, 13, and 14.
The student who placed the latter
ad said she received about two or
three calls a day for two weeks, but
that students are looking to settle
,for something "dumpy," as long as
it's cheap.
LSA sophomore Milton Feld
said he received six or seven calls
during the two days in which he
advertised his apartment for
subletting, but he got no definite
bids.
"People are calling around
because it's a subletter's market,"
Feld said.
The whole sublet procedure can
be confusing and risky, so the
See TENANTS, Page 2
Ii,7
student
apologizes
for jokes
By EUGENE PAK
One of two University students
who called-in racist jokes during a
WJJX radio program, publicly
apologized to students at a forum
on racism held in West Quad
Sunday night.
LSA freshman Peter Michael
Gonzalez said in a phone interview
last night, "I deeply regret the
incident and am very sorry for what
I did. I realized how wrong it was
and am ashamed of it. What I did
was just plain stupid."
Gonzalez, who used the name
"Miami Mike" on the Feb. 4 radio
program, said "I was not trying to
be malicious... at the time I did not
realize the gravity of my actions."
He said the incident had been
bothering his conscience for some
time and the forum offered him the
opportunity to gain "peace of
mind."
Vice President for Student
Service Henry Johnson ordered the
closure of WJJX in February, then
appointed a special panel to
investigate the incident. Gonzalez
and the program's disk jockey, Ted
Sevransky, said they were not
obligated to appear before the panel.
Scvransky was fired from the
station, and issued an apology
earlier this month.
The panel forwarded its report
last week to a three member special
commission headed by Vice
President for Government Relations
Richard Kennedy. The commission
will recommend possible
disciplinary measures to University
President Harold Shapiro.
Law School Prof. Sallyanne
Payton, a commission member,
said they can not take further action
until Johnson details specific
charges against the perpetrators.
Two weeks ago, a student in
Couzens Hall was evicted from the
dorm after he admitted slipping a
racist flier into a room where ta
group of black women were
meeting.
Johnson would not comment on
whether Gonzalez was named in the
investigation committee's report.
But Gonzalez said they had only
"circumstantial proof' of his guilt.
"I could see someone saying 'he
is just trying to save his ass,' but I
wasn't in jeopardy," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez, who has already
signed a lease for next year, said he
hopes he is not evicted and is
interested in both personally
apologizing to the United Coaltion
Against Racism and doing service
work for UCAR or other anti-racist
groups.
Gonzalez, whose father is
Cuban, said he was the object of
racist attacks as a junior high
student in Miami, Fla. He said he
has not experienced racism here
partially because he does not look
Hispanic nor does he have an
accent.
Esca. pe to natureDaily Photo by JOHN MUNSON
Carol Makielski, the promotional coordinator of the University's Matthaei Botannical Gardens, poses by a
goldfish pond. The gardens, which provide a natural escape from worries, are located near North campus. See
Story, Page 7.
Pierce
By JERRY MARKON
Ann Arbor Mayor Ed Pierce wants to
,be a full-time mayor.
"I'm constantly behind in my work,"
says the 57 year-old Democrat, who
spends 25 hours each week in the mayor's
office, and another 25 at his local doctor's
practice.
But Pierce can't afford the economic
cost of working as a full time mayor.
"This job pays $13,750 a year. They're
not going to get me here full-time for
p that," he says.
CITY Councilmember Gerald Jernigan
(R-Fourth Ward), Pierce's opponent in
supports
next month's mayoral elections, thinks
Pierce is already working far too hard.
Jernigan, if elected, plans to work no
more than 15 hours a week.
"I would put more confidence in the
city administrator. I don't think the
mayor has to sit there and nit-pick and
read every inter-departmental memo,"
Jernigan says.
Throughout Ann Arbor history, mayors
have been limited to part-time,
supervisory roles. The city charter,
updated in 1956, designates the city
administrator as the head of local
government.
full-
time
mayoral position
The administrator runs the day-to-day
operations of City Hall, directs city
departments, and prepares the city budget.
Mayoral responsibilities include presiding
over the city council, appointing council
committees, and "acting as the ceremonial
head of the city."
BUT PIERCE and some other
Democratic leaders argue that today's
complex social issues - such as
affordable housing and economic
development - require a more
influential, higher-paid mayor. "The
leadership has to come from this office,"
says Judith Overstreet, Pierce's assistant.
Former Mayor Albert Wheeler, a
Democrat, says he worked up to 65 hours
a week during his 1975-1978 term while
teaching a full load as an associate
professor at the University.
Although he doesn't think every mayor
needs to work that much, Wheeler
strongly supports a full-time mayoral
position. Wheeler, who says he spent
hours poring over detailed city memos,
describes himself as "a Jimmy Carter at
the local level."
According to Overstreet, Pierce also
spends the majority of his time reading
and commenting on city memos. "It's a
voluminous amount of paper - he is
constantly behind," Overstreet says.
SHE ADDS that Pierce also answers
correspondence, meets with constituents
and interest groups, and attends
ceremonial functions.
But Jernigan and other Republicans
believe Pierce should let the city
administrator run the city. The mayor
should concentrate on setting long-term
city policy, Republicans say, and should
spend less time working with, for
See POLITICANS, Page 2
Beta
nabs Mr.
Greek
Week.
et .i Y
By PETER MOONEY
Mirror, mirror on the wall,T
who's the fairest Greek male of all?
This was the question answered by
judges at the Seventh Annual Mr.:
Greek pageant last night at the
Michigan Theatre. The answer was
Beta Theta Pi's Noel Dennis, an
LSA sophomore.,
The best of the Greek system'
were judged on a variety of criteria.
Poise, enthusiasm, creativity, and
wit were among the factors in-
fluencing the judges' decisons. ,,
"We don't judge purely on
looks," said Zeta Tau Alpha mem-
ber Shelley Krohn. Other factors
include "charm. charisma, and good
9,000 GM workers strike
in three Pontiac plants
DETROIT - Nine thousand
workers at three General Motors
Corp. truck plants in Pontiac walk -
ed off their jobs at noon yesterday
in a strike analysts called a show of
union muscle as summer's national
contract talks near.
"We're in pretty good shape and
we hope it will be a short strike,"
said Frank Cronin, spokesman for
the GM Truck & Bus Group.
Cronin said he had no other
information on potential strike ef -
fects on the company.
Talks between the United Auto
Workers union and GM had in -
tensified last week when union
leaders in Detroit gave the Pontiac
'U' racism reaches
Soviet televiDsion-
workers permission to strike and
gave GM a week to resolve the
dispute.
Negotiators failed to resolve
more than 1,000 grievances on
issues including subcontracting of
union jobs to non-union workers,
contract rules on job classifications,
See GM, Page 5
INSIDE
Democracy doesn't work for
ordering pizza.
OPINION, PAGE 4
Miles Davis sets to blast the
Power Center tomorrow night.
ARTS, PAGE 8
The baseball team heads to
Coimhus toiv for fnr games-
By DAVID WEBSTER
On Wednesday afternoon about
30 million Soviet citizens viewed a
segment on the daily newscast,
Novosti, about racism at the Univ-
ersity.
.The 90-second segment included
Duskin, a graduate student, said,
"They tend to show a lot of stories
of this nature when they cover the
United States... Racism is a pretty
common theme so that aspect
probably wasn't very shocking to
them."