liCopyright 1 The Ninety-eight years of editorial freedom Vol. XCVIII, No. 125 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Tuesday, April 5, 1988 Copyright 1988, The Michigan Daily Arizona senators- 0 impeach Mecham PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP) - The Arizona Senate convicted Gov. Evan Mecham yesterday of two counts of wrongdoing, making him the first U.S. governor to be impeached and removed from office in 59 years.h The vote on the first charge, that he attempted to thwart a death-threat investigation, was 21-9, with two- thirds of the 30-member Senate needed for conviction. The vote au- tomatically removed him from of- fice. Mecham, who took notes in the Senate chamber as lawmakers voted, showed no emotion. The GOP-controlled Senate then convicted the first-term Republican 26-4 on a charge he misused $80,000 from a protocol fund by loaning it to his auto dealership. A motion to bar the 63-year-old Mecham from ever holding state of- fice in Arizona received 17 votes in favor and 13 against, falling three votes short of the required two-thirds majority. "The vote is 21 ayes, nine nos. Evan Mecham is convicted of high crimes, misdemeanors, and malfea- sance in office," said the trial's pre- siding officer, Arizona Chief Justice Frank Gordon, after the vote on the first count. Acting Gov. Rose Mofford, a Democrat, became governor the moment the gavel fell to close the vote. Yesterday's closing arguments came as the impeachment trial en- tered its sixth week. Mecham's pleas to the lawmakers to "let the people decide" were evidently ignored. Mecham's lawyer had previously demanded acquittal, telling the sena- tors, "There are not sufficient facts or law to find that Evan Mecham is an evil man." Republicans capture city council race Rent control defeated despite student vote Daily Photo by DANIEL STIEBEL Randym Jones, an election inspector at East Quad, helps a student register during yesterday's City Council elections. The turnout to vote at East Quad and other residence halls was the largest in years. Rent stablization may have By PETER MOONEY City Republicans seemed likely to gain a 6-5 majority of seats on Ann Arbor City Council, toppling the Democrat-controlled council, ac- cording to unofficial tallies of yes- terday's city elections. Rent control appeared likely to head toward an overwhelming defeat by a margin of two to one. DESPITE higher than normal student turnout, rent control appeared destined for defeat in all but one of the city's five wards. Even the 1st Ward, home to the city's most lib- eral voters, unofficial results showed rent control winning by a margin of only 1520 to 1511. "We were defeated by a campaign of disinformation," said Ann Arbor Citizens for Fair Rent treasurer Ken Garber. Rent control backers also charged irregularities in the election results. In Ward 3, Precinct 2 - which votes at East Quad - unofficial re- sults showed rent control losing 86 to 92, while Democratic candidate Liz Brater, who backed rent control, defeated Republican Isaac-Jabcobein Campbell 184 to 45. RENT CONTROL backers said this number seemed small com- pared to surveys of East Quad voters taken during the campaign. In the 3rd Ward, the vote on the ordinance was much less than on other issues decided by the same voters, rent control supporters said. According to Citizens for Fair Rent member Ingrid Kock, city clerk Winifred Northcross has promised to look into the situation. "She's going to go through precinct by precinct," Kock said. But rent control lost, opponents said, because voters feared it would lead to higher property taxes for homeowners and conversions of rent properties to condominiums or owner-occupied units. JIM MORRIS, spokesperson for Citizens for Ann Arbor's Future, a group of landlords opposed to rent control, said the vote reaffitmed past opposition to rent control. "That's the third time they've re- jected it in the last ten years," Mor- ris said. "Rent control doesn't help the people it's purported to help. It hasn't in other communities, and it wouldn't in Ann Arbor." With half of the council seats up for election, the vote showed a shift to the Republicans which would overturn the council's present 7-4 Democratic majority. DEMOCRATS appeared likely to lose seats in the 2nd, 4th and 5th wards. In the 1st Ward, Democrat in- cumbent Larry Hunter was expected to coast to an easy victory over Lib- ertarian opponent Bill Krebaum by 2156 to 382. Second Ward incumbent Demo- See Elections, Page 2 cost Democrats their By PETER MOONEY Yesterday's election was a disaster for Ann Arbor Democrats, whose 7- 4 council majority crumbled in the face of a Republican onslaught. Lo- cal politicos have suggested that a strong and largely anti-rent control message sent out by city voters sealed the Democrats fate. Republicans now hold both the mayor's seat and a 6-5 council ma- jority. By capturing the council, Republicans can pass a budget and approve development projects with- out consulting the Democrats. City Democratic chair Mary Reilly said a well-financed campaign by rent control opponents hurt the Democrats. An anti-rent control group, Citi- zens for Ann Arbor's Future, publi- cized their campaign with full-page newspaper ads, television commer- cials, and several mass mailings. Citizens for Fair Rent say they were fiscally unable to get their message across as well as the land- lords. Though official vote tallies were not available at press time, rent control was losing by a two-to-one margin in most of the city. 0 " majority All but one of the Democratic candidates supported the controver- sial ballot initiative. "I think that the Democrats were identified with rent control," said Reilly. Even a higher than normal student vote didn't sway the vote in favor of the rent control proposal. According to City Clerk Winifred Northcross, voter turnout was the highest in ten years. "This is comparable to the turnout two years for the marijuana issue," Mary Kay Kotter, precinct chair at East Quad, said. SMALLEST TURNOUT IN THREE YEARS: 100 students, workers march against apartheid, U.S. racism By JIM PONIEWOZIK Despite sunny skies, yesterday's Freedom March drew the smallest crowd-in its three-year history, as about 100 students and workers took to the streets to protest racism here and abroad. "Race is a social construct... we are one people and we need to act that way," said United Coalition Against Racism (UCAR) steering committee member and LSA senior Kim Smith, addressing the group at a noon rally on the Diag following the march. THE RALLY and march, sponsored by UCAR and the Free South Africa Coordinating Committee, were timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King. The turnout was smaller than those of the two pre- vious marches, which attracted hundreds. Smith said many students may not have been able to attend be- cause "they didn't know about it, they had a class, or some weak excuse like that." Several speakers at the rally and march invoked the memory of King. AL WHEELER, Ann Arbor's first Black mayor and a speaker at the rally, praised King as "a man of great courage, a man of great vision and a man who preached unity. "Although I never had the privilege of meeting Dr. King, (when he died) it was like a dear friend had been lost," Wheeler said, his voice cracking with emotion. The multi-racial group assembled on the Diag at 11 a.m., and marched chanting to Wheeler Park, at Fourth and Depot streets, where they held a short rally, return- ing to the Diag at noon. They were greeted with waves and calls of encouragement from bystanders, several of whom joined the group. MANY OF the speakers criticized the University for its treatment of racism, particularly in connection with reported incidents of racial harassment of Univer- sity workers and its handling of the furor last January over remarks, called racist by many students, made by LSA Dean Peter Steiner. "I don't support a '(University) president that pur- ports to have this clause (referring to Interim Univer- sity President Robben Fleming's Policy on Discrimi- natory Acts), but does not censure members of his own faculty when they make racist comments," said second- year law student Barron Wallace, a member of the Black Law Students' Alliance. Former University Building Services worker Mary Clark, who quit her job last fall after she said she was subjected to racial harassment by co-workers, called on students and workers to unite against racism. See Unity March, Page 3 Daily Photo by DAVID LUBLINER Several students participate in yesterday's Freedom March, held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination. The turnout was the lowest in the three-year history of the event. Shultz, Israeli officials discuss peace settlement INSIDE CDs turn the music market 'round, may threaten LPs JERUSALEM (AP) - Secretary of State George Shultz yesterday sidestepped differences with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir on a Middle East peace conference and kept a U.S. peace plan alive by fo- cusing on Palestinian self-rule. "We do have a sense of move- Hussein in Amman today, return to Jerusalem with a report for Israeli leaders, and shuttle back to the king tomorrow. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian dead and wounded eight yesterday, a day of strife and protest in the occupied lands against the Economics Prof. responds to criticism regarding the depart- ment's orientation. OPINION, Page 4 Miriam Makeba and H u g h Masekela proved that the magic of a culture can be heard in its mu- sic.R ARTS, Page 5 By MICAH SCHMIT Compact discs are sweeping al- bums onto back shelves in record stores nationwide, dispelling any doubts that CDs are another short- lived high-tech trend, headed in the direction of 8-track and Beta video- bums are requesting only CD and tape formats for some new releases, record companies are being forced to release only CDs and tapes. In such cases "the consumer is the loser," said Keith Dwyer, assis- tant manager of Liberty Music stocked," said Shroeger. But Randy Smith, manager of Schoolkids Records & Tapes, said they are selling about twice as many records as CDs. "One reason is that we tend to cater to people who are looking for a F :1 m