Ninety-eight years of editoriafreedom Copyright 1987, The Michigan Daily Vol. XCVIII, No. 40 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, November 4, 1987 Cprgt18,TeMcia ol Shapiro to take action on wJJx incident soon By MARTHA SEVETSON University President Harold Shapiro is expected to unilaterally "take action" within the next two weeks against the students responsible for airing racist jokes last March over WJJX campus radio. Vice President for Government Relations Richard Kennedy - one of two members of a commission appointed to assess the incident - said he and Law Prof. Sallyanne Payton will recommend a course of action to Shapiro by the end of next week. "There will obviously be some action taken," Kennedy said. "We are not abandoning the case." Kennedy said Shapiro will make a final decision without input from the faculty's Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs or the Michigan Student Assembly. MSA President Ken Weine said that such a unilateral action is "not acceptable. Any process that deals with non-academic issues that takes place outside of University Council, MSA considers illegitimate." SACUA Chair Harris McClamroch was not available for comment. Kennedy said LSA senior Ted Sevransky and LSA sophomore Peter Gonzalez, the two students involved, will be notified once Shapiro has decided on the course of action. Sevransky is on an exchange program in Europe this term, but Kennedy said his absence will not postpone the decision. Jonathon Rose, a private attorney representing both students, said he has not spoken with the commission since last summer and is unaware of the proposals under consideration. "It's our position that the University has no right as an official body to assert a hearing or punishment of any kind," he said. "I'll be interested in seeing what (Payton) requests." Shapiro appointed Payton to represent the faculty on the ad hoc commission last March, and Kennedy was selected to represent the administration. Weine was offered a position on the panel but declined, calling any student participation in the commission "illegitimate a n d unrepresentative of the student body." Weine maintains that the University Council - a panel of nine students, faculty members, and administrators appointed three years ago to write a code of non-academic conduct - is the rightful body to address the incident. See 'U', Page 2 Daily Photo by SCOTT IITUCHY Dumbo? Bill Smart rehearses commands with Flora the elephant for last night's "Circus Royale" show at the Michigan Theater. Flora is a 3,500 lb. native of Kenya, Africa. Van Houweling brings love of computers to'U' By RYAN TUTAK Douglas van Houweling is obsessed with computers. He has three in his home, three in his office, and has authorized the installation of more than 1,500 on campus. But his love of computers doesn't. Profile. stop there. He collects computer art - his office is adorned with an abstract computer drawing, a photograph of a computer monitor design, and a copy of a self-portrait of a friend drawn on a computer. Someday, he hopes to compose music on computers. While at the University, van Houweling, vice-provost for Information Technology Division, has ushered in - rather abruptly - the computer age. He arrived here in 1984 with the sole intention of "providing an i n f o r m a t i o n environment so people can stay in touch with each other and share information." AS THE main thrust of this goal, ,he persuaded the University to invest in a $10 million project to install more computers on campus. More than 1,100 computers have been installed throughout campus since the project began in the fall of 1985. The remaining will be in operation by fall of 1989, when construction of a 350 terminal cluster in the Angell Hall courtyard is completed. "We're working as aggressively as we can toward the goal," van Houweling said. Associates describe van Houwel- ing as a workaholic whose attitude is infectious. "Working with Doug is very intense," said Deputy Vice- Provost of ITD Greg Marks. "I thrive on that kind of environment." But "if your goals don't agree with his, you feel like you're being run over," he added. "He puts in very long days," said van Houweling's wife Andrea, adding that he usually leaves for work around 6 a.m. and comes home around 7 p.m. "And he spends a lot of time working at home." Business School Dean Gilbert Whitaker, who was on the advisory committee to select someone to create the Office of Information Technology Division, said the University wanted a thoughtful person with creative energy. "(Van Houweling) has been the best thing that's happened to the University in a long time," he said. WITH A zest for challenge and 13 years of experience - as the vice-provost of computing and planning at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and as director of academic computing at Cornell University - van Houweling quickly proved to be a logical choice for the job. And he felt compelled to accept the offer. "When the University of Michigan made it clear that it wanted to undertake a major initiative, it was too important a job to turn my back on," he said. Jim Morris, director of education technology at Carnegie-Mellon, said van Houweling's experience there prepared him for his new job. Morris said van Houweling organized a $50 million deal with IBM to revolutionize the way of computing at the school. Carnegie- Mellon employs a conferencing system much like the University's MTS network. "It was a fantastic success (at Carnegie-Mellon)," Morris said. See VAN, Page 2 Daily Photo by JOHN MUNSON Vice Provost for Information Technology Douglas van Houweling shapes the future of computers at the University. MSA appoints new minorities chair City council moves to ban By ANDREW MILLS The Michigan Student Assembly appointed LSA sophomore Delro Harris to the post of Minority Affairs chair at its weekly meeting last night. Harris, who is also publicity co- chair for the United Coalition Against Racism, is replacing LSA Senior Lannis Hall who resigned two weeks ago. He was approved by consent. In a brief address to the assembly, Harris said that he wanted MSA to become more aware of minority issues. Harris was praised for his involvement with other minority groups such as the Asian American Association as well as UCAR. In other business, Student Rights Committee Chair Michael Phillips announced that he will lead a group to Lansing today and tomorrow to lobby the House of Representatives on a bill before the Universities and Colleges Committee. The bill, SB 339, would allow the University's Board of Regents to deputize campus safety officers, enabling them to carry guns and make arrests. Phillips and the delegation will be meeting with Rep. Burton Leland (D-Detroit), who chairs the Univer- sities and Colleges Committee, as well as Rep. Perry Bullard (D-Ann Arbor). Phillips opposes the measure which passed the state Senate last week. "They're all glad to see us coming," Phillips said. LSA Representative Hillary Farber warned assembly members not to act hastily on this issue, and that some groups would support the deputization. "The (undeputized) officers can't do a whole hell of a lot," she said. "That scares some people." 'passing up' at By STEVE KNOPPER A proposal to ban "passing up" at Michigan football games took its first step toward becoming an Ann Arbor city ordinance Monday night, when the City Council unanimously accepted the proposal at its weekly meeting. The bill will then face a public hearing Nov. 16, before the council takes its final vote. Councilmember Dave DeVarti (D-Fourth Ward), co-author of the proposal, said the ordinance may pass the same night, in order to make it effective for the Nov. 21 Ohio State football game. Passing up - when crowd members lift other fans from their seats and hand them to spectators behind them - is legally defined as an assault, but the charge can now only be enforced if the victim complains to a police officer. football games The proposal will make passing up illegal, whether or not the victim complains. Thus, any crowd member who participates'can be arrested immediately. Republican Mayor Gerald Jernigan said the ordinance's main effect will be to educate crowd members of the dangers associated with passing up. "I don't think students will react one way or the other (to the ordinance) ... they will react out of consideration for their fellow students," he said. The proposal follows a resolution passed last week that made police officers "more visible" at the games and distributed a flier that tells why passing up is a dangerous activity. The resolution said passing up results in a range of injuries including broken elbows, concussions, and bruises, and victims "are frequently emotionally shaken and traumatized." Phillips ... to lobby in Lansing The system "doesn't provide much safety for students the way it is now," Farber said. The Rules and Elections Committee also presented to the assembly two referenda that will appear on an election ballot later this .month. Both questions deal with minor changes to the assembly's constitution which the student body must approve. Late rally prevents See RULE, Page 5 INSIDE Carlucci to replace Weinberger at defense department, senators predict frIihtenting NEW YORK (AP) - The fear that gripped the world's stock mar- kets last month cast its shadow again yesterday, but a late rally in New York spared the Dow Jones industrial average from another frightening loss of more than 100 points. The Dow average of 30 blue-chip .tnr.lre anAthS. avh A..7 M