Ninety-eight years of editorial freedom
Vol. XCVIII, No. 111
Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, March 16, 1988
Copyright 1988, The Michigan Doily
Greeks
question
rent
control
By PETER MOONEY
Some fraternity and sorority
members are worried that a proposed
rent control ordinance will prevent
them from making needed repairs on
their houses and that it will
discourage others from establishing
chapters in Ann Arbor.
But rent control advocates said
Greeks might be exempt from the
proposal.
The concerns come less than three
weeks before Ann Arbor voters
decide whether to accept a referendum
establishing rent control in the city.
If passed, the ordinance would limit
rent increases to 75 percent of the
annual inflation rate.
Michael Appel of the pro-rent
control group, Ann Arbor Citizens
for Fair Rent, said the ordinance
would not affect Greeks because it
considers fraternity and sorority
members as part owners of their
houses, not as tenants.
BUT LEGALLY, the national
fraternity or sorority is considered
the house's owner, and members are
viewed as tenants, said Mel Laracey,
supervisor of the Ann Arbor
Housing Bureau.
While co-ops are specifically
exempted from the rent control
proposal, fraternity and sorority
houses are not, said Kit Steinaway, a
member of the Kappa Alpha Theta
rsoroity's board of directors.
Under the ordinance, property tax
hikes and new services to tenants -
such as building an addition to the
house - could be charged to
tenants, but costs for repairs could
not be passed on.
THISsRESTRICTION would
prevent needed repairs because "we
could not charge the rent to pay for
them," Steinaway said. Rather than
improving houses, fraternities and
sororities would end up "just
patching" damaged property, she
said.
Steinaway added that fraternities
and sororities that have recently
come on campus often carry large
mortgages, and would have to
struggle to stay on campus. She said
chapters without houses would be
unable to afford homes because they
wouldn't be able charge enough rent
to cover their costs..
'There isn't anybody who's going
to start up a fraternity or sorority if
they have no chance to make ends
meet," Steinaway said.
APPEL SAID he hoped the
See GREEKS, Page 3
MSA meets
on sanctions
Assembly leaders discuss
student groups' plan privately
Stretching into spring Daily Photo by ELLEN LEVY
Sophomore wide receiver Greg McMurtry stretches in the opening football practice of the year. The annual
spring football session will culminate with the annual Maize and Blue intrasquad game on April 16.
Gephardt visits state
By RYAN TUTAK
The Michigan Student Assem-
bly's steering committee last night
met in a closed session to discuss its
position on a policy against racial
and sexual harassment reportedly be-
ing drafted by representatives from
several student organizations.
The policy, which is being writ-
ten as an alternative to Interim Pres-
ident Robben Fleming's proposed
anti-discrimination policy, would set
up a judicial system in which stu-
dents and employees would judge and
apply sanctions to any member of
the University community accused
of racist or sexist acts.'
MSA President Ken Weine and
Student Rights committee chair
Mike Phillips have reportedly taken
part in the drafting.
The University's Board of Re-
gents are expected to vote Thursday
on Fleming's proposal.
Neither Weine nor Phillips would
comment on the steering commit-
tee's discussion.
Weine said only that "I support
the unity process (of the student
groups). Under certain situations,
sanctions are necessary, if the pro-
cess is controlled by students," he
said.
Though Phillips told The Daily
Sunday that MSA opposed a stu-
dents' draft and that he was against
any policy that included sanctions
for non-academic behavior, he clari-
fied his position yesterday. "I recog-
nize the need for a policy dealing
with racial and sexual harassment
and gay and lesbian bigotry,"
Phillips said.
Law school student Eric
Schnaufer objected to the closed
meeting, saying that such meetings
send a negative message to students
who oppose a code. "There's a dan-
ger that, in secret, students would
support a code. MSA would never
support a code in public."
Schnaufer, who has been a
staunch opponent of policies
governing students' non-academic
behavior through the code debate's
history, said he helped write MSA's
critique of Fleming's proposal.
Schnaufer said he opposed Flem-
ing's proposal. "If students made a
code, it would not be any better."
"Students would be more severe
on other students than faculty would
be," said Schnaufer. "I wouldn't
support a code if God wrote it. He
wrote one - the ten command-
ments. And I don't support that. And
every student can probably find one
commandment that they don't sup-
port."
In other business, MSA passed a
resolution to offer a $1,000 reward
for information leading to the con-
viction of the person who made
death threa.ts to two members of the
Lesbian and Gay Rights Organizing
Committee.
In case the assembly needs funds
for similar incidents, the assembly
reduced their $2,500 reward for in-
formation leading to the conviction
of a person who made a death threat
to a United Coalition Against
Racism steering committee member
to $1,000.
By ANNA BORGMAN
Special to The Daily
Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri kicked off the
Michigan leg of his presidential campaign yesterday
with a bus tour across the state.
The candidate said throughout the day, "Michigan is
very important to my campaign. The odds are against
me, but just as they were against Harry Truman, we're
gonna win in Michigan." He also said he believes the
Democratic race will be decided before the national
convention this summer.
Gephardt's traveling companion was Michigan At-
torney General Frank Kelley, state chair of the candi-
date's campaign. About Gephardt's chances to win the
Democratic nomination, Kelley said in an interview
yesterday, "I think Michigan is pivotal. If he can win
or do exceptionally well here in Michigan, it'll be a
turnaround."
After winning in Iowa and South Dakota, and fin-
ishing a strong second in New Hampshire, Gephardt
finished a distant fourth in last week's Super Tuesday
primaries.
Gephardt addressed the Detroit Building Trades
Council late yesterday morning to start his tour, cater-
ing to the all-important Michigan labor vote. He said,
"America is in decline and I don't want America to be
in decline. That's why I'm running for President."
See Gephardt, Page 2
Bush, Simon take
Illinois primary
CHICAGO (AP) - George Bush
won in the Illinois primary, but Sen.
Bob Dole vowed, "we're staying in
the race" for the Republican presi-
dential nomination. Sen. Paul Simon
led Jesse Jackson in the battle
between Democratic favorite sons.
The Simon-Jackson battle made
third place attractive to their Demo-
cratic rivals as Massachusetts Gov.
Michael Dukakis bid to leave Sen.
Albert Gore and Rep. Richard
Gephardt far behind.
Bush, having won his first
primary in a Midwestern industrial
state, also hoped increase his seem-
ingly insurmountable lead in the
separate contest for convention
delegates.
Kansas Sen. Dole spent the day
campaigning in Wisconsin and Con-
necticut in a demonstration of his
determination to stay in the race -
even though he had speculated about
withdrawing if he suffered another
big defeat.
CBS News, relying on polling-
place interviews with the voters, said
Simon would be the Democratic
winner, as of press time.
Independent MSA candidates
want increased student input
By KRISTINE LALONDE
The 10 independent candidates
running for Michigan Student As-
sembly seats on May 22 and 23 say
the assembly needs reorganization
and a stronger focus on students.
Presidential and vice presidential
candidates David Hart and Brian
Pearlstein, both LSA seniors, are
taking the most extreme stance.
They said their slate seeks MSA's
dissolution because they don't be-
ELECTION8
lieve the assembly is a necessary
part of the campus.
Pearlstein said MSA wastes
money on personal use and in fund-
ing campaigns. He said t h e
organizations which MSA oversees
cnuld aily n nrt without MS A
said the slate advocates a one-credit
course on sexism and racism for all
incoming students. They also want
to require landlords to put all secu-
rity deposits in escrow and use the
interest to develop low-income
housing.
Gilbert was unavailable for com-
ment.
Five other independents are run-
ning for MSA representative seats.
Jeremy Efroymson, an LSA sopho-
more, said the assembly is too in-
volved in foreign issues and should
focus more on campus problems.
JASON LANDAU, an LSA
sophomore, said campus organiza-
tions - including MSA, the Inter-
Fraternity Counsel and the Residence
Hall Association - should work
together with the administration to
improve students' lives. He said
MSA is a separate agent working its
own path and it should have joint
goals with other members of the
University community.
LSA sophomore James McBain
MSA should have a campus focus
and should not waste time discussing
resolutions that have little to do
with students' every day lives. He
said he would focus on issues such
as parking, rent control, new dorm
facilities and the English Composi-
tion Board structure.
Michael Gunther, an LSA junior
running for MSA office as an inde-
pendent, was unavailable for com-
ment.
Daily Photo by KAREN HEMANLVW
Eithel Partlow-Sech, Chief Social Worker at the University's Counseling Office in the Michigan Union, helps
hundreds of students each year with a wide range of problems.
Scial worker goes out of her
wayto counsel'U students
By BETH FERTIG
Six years ago, University coun-
selor Eithel Partlow-Sech flew to
Paris. A University exchange student
needed help immediately.
"I found out about it on Wednes-
day, learned on Thursday that I was
Profile0
going, and left Friday without a
passport," said Partlow-Sech, the
m e , -*- *L o
The University assumed respon-
sibility for the student, and a driver
and nurse were sent to the airport to
meet Partlow-Sech and her compan-
ion upon their return.
"They drove us to University
Hospital, left her there, and I col-
lapsed for two days. That was my
weekend in Paris. It was the most
exciting thing I've done all the time
I've worked."
BACK HOME in Ann Arbor,
hundreds of students every year have
turned to her for help with a wide
rn ~e --anra ,n - rrrl -lv a C a
ing me address situations."
Hal Korn, Director of Counseling
Services, said Partlow-Sech has
made an enormous contribution to
the program, which is estimated to
have seen seven percent of all
University students last year.
"She's just an expert counselor
and psychotherapist," Korn said.
"She's good at meeting whatever
problems students bring... I think
she has made an outstanding contri-
bution to the lives of innumerable
students."
D., Y;-_ .A . - - -,