Ninety-nine years of editorial freedorn
Vol. IC, No. 35 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, October 26, 1988 Copyright 1988, The Michigan Daily
MSA votes
for U
Council
BY STEVE KNOPPER
The Michigan Student Assembly took the first step
yesterday toward reconvening the University Council
- the panel that writes student conduct rules.
In a three-page document written by MSA and fac-
ulty officials, MSA proposed that the council - a
nine-member committee of students, faculty, and ad-
iministrators - meet for the first time since last year.
Many say the University must reconvene the coun-
cil to give students and faculty input on conduct rules
so the administration does not impose more rules of its
own. For example, the University's Board of Regents
bypassed the council last spring when it accepted rules
against student discriminatory conduct.
Under MSA's proposal, the new council would em-
ploy a neutral mediator to handle disputes. Out of the
two-thirds majority necessary for council votes, at least
one member each from the student body, faculty, and
administration must be included.
In the past, MSA generally appointed council
members who voted against proposals with punish-
ments for student non-academic conduct.
This position led to much dissent on the council. In
recent years, faculty and staff members have left meet-
ings in frustration because neither side was willing to
compromise.
But by passing the proposal, MSA has moderated
its historical stance on the code of non-academic con-
duct. Instead of simply saying "no code," assembly
members have said they want to cooperate with the
administration and faculty in writing conduct rules.
Last night, MSA members debated over specifics in -
the proposal. Communications Committee chair Rob
Bell, an LSA sophomore, argued against the rule that
two students must approve all council proposals. Such mow
a rule, he said, "sounds like we're trying to stack the Step by
cards again. It's going to make the administration more Bob Curlis, f
reluctant." pany, Inc. w
But the rule passed, because other representatives They hope to
said one student vote on a proposal does not necessarily
represent the student body.
MSA's proposal to start the council must still go
before faculty and staff officials for revisions before the
council can reconvene. To reconvene the council, the
faculty's Senate Advisory Committee for University
Affairs and the University's executive officers must BY KRISTINE
approve the proposal and appoint members. The Michigar
SACUA chair Beth Reed said the faculty members place a proposa
may be chosen within two weeks, and Assistant to the November balk
University President Robin Jacoby said staff members November 15 an
may be selected this week. compensation.
LSA senior Julie Murray, chair of MSA's Student Communicati
Rights Committee, said she hopes MSA can appoint the officers may
members in mid-November so the council can meet by members. He c
late November. president last ye
Murray said the new council would discuss how to financial pressure
enforce the University's new student protest policy. Assembly Pi
Currently, if a student violates the policy, the Univer- other universities
sity must create temporary rules to enforce it. The Michigan
Forum says rape
may be socialized
Riots
mar
S.
African
elections
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
(AP) - Police used tear gas, rubber
bullets, and clubs yesterday to scatter
crowds protesting segregated local
elections. Anti-apartheid leaders
urged blacks to boycott the vote, but
without violence.
About 7,000 local offices
nationwide are at stake in the
elections Wednesday, the first time
people of this racially separated
nation will have cast ballots on the
same day. The 26 million blacks
vote only locally and have no voice
in national affairs.
President P.W. Botha's ruling
National Party is expected to lose
ground in white elections to the-
staunchly pro-apartheid Conservative
Party, which opposes the govern-
ment's tentative moves toward re-
form.
Fewer than 500,000 of the 2.4
million registered blacks are expected
to vote, despite an ambitious gov-
ernment promotional campaign.
Low turnouts also are anticipated
in townships populated by people of
mixed race, officially called,
"coloreds," and those known as
Asians, who are predominantly of
Indian descent. A chamber of the na-
tional parliahnent, with little power,
was created for each group in 1984.
About 21 percent of the registered
black voters cast ballots in the last
black municipal elections in 1983,
roughly the same as the number
expected this time.
Critics say figures for blacks will
be virtually meaningless because so
few are registered and no local candi-
dates represent major organizations
opposed to the official apartheid
policy of racial separation.
Most leading opposition groups
are banned and activists generally
view black town councils as sub-
servient to the government con-
trolled by South Africa's 5 million
votes.
"If we were asked to vote in
today's township conditions, we
would not do so," the nation's
largest daily newspaper, the
independent Star of Johannesburg,
said in an editorial. "Whatever
statistics are squirreled out to justify
the legitimacy of elected black
councils, they will have no effect on
reality."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and
other black anti-apartheid leaders
have defied rules of 2 1/2-year-old
state of emergency in advocating a
boycott. Botha's government seeks a
See Election, Page 2
V step ALEXANDRA BREZ/Daily
front, and Freddy Myers of the Ohio Building Restoration Com-
ork on waterproofing the steps in front of Angell Hall yesterday.
have the restoration completed by Christmas.
I
5A
officers request salary
LALONDE
n Student Assembly voted last night to
i to pay its executive officers on the
ot. Student voters, who will vote on
nd 16, will have the final say on officer
ons Chair Robert Bell said that paying
be crucial in retaining important MSA
ited the resignation of MSA's vice-
ear and the treasurer this year and said
e was a key reason for their departure.
resident Michael Phillips said many
s compensate their officers.
m State University student government
pays its officers $1000 a term. Assembly members did
not specify the amount of money its officers would re-
ceive.
Phillips said the pressure and commitment of being
an officer would be lessened if financial pressure was
alleviated. He said he had to ask himself, "Am I going
to stay on as MSA president when I can't pay my
rent?"
If the proposal is passed, payment would begin
November 29 - the start of the next term of office.
One member expressed concern that the proposal
would look like MSA representatives were using their
positions to further their own personal goals. The ex-
ecutive officers are in office until the spring, and there-
fore would benefit from any salary implementations.
In other business, a proposal to withdraw MSA
from the Campaign for a Democratic Campus (CDC)
drew heated debate and failed by wide margin.
The proposal, submitted by Phillips, accused CDC
of being "dominated by the traditional rich, white,
middle class, liberals... [they lack] sensitivity to people
of color, women's, and lesbian and gay concerns and
issues ."
Many representatives said that the reason for lack of
participation by minorities was caused by their heavy
involvement in other groups.
See MSA, Page 2
BY SCOTT CHAPLIN
Rape isn't just a women's issue,
it's a men's issue too, said Danny
Rosen, a peer educator who helped
facilitate a discussion following the
presentation of the film Men's Lives
before an audience of 40 in the
Michigan Union's Anderson Room
last night.
The film, presented as part of
Sexual Assault Awareness Week or-
ganized by the University's Sexual
Assault Prevention and Awareness
Center, focused on the development
of sexist attitudes at various stages of
a man's development.
According to the 1974 film, boys
learn to be competitive and aggres-
sive. In high school sports, such as
football, they learn that it is ad-
mirable to ignore pain and to prove
their masculinity through physical
feats. Often these boys try to appear
masculine and look to girls for ap-
proval.
The media reflects and perpetuates
society's image of what is mascu-
line. Often in the movies, it is the
strong silent male who succeeds in
"getting his woman" by the use of
physical force. These images have a
very strong effect on young children,
enforcing an attitude that when a
woman says "no," she really means
"yes".
Rape and sexual assault are not
necessarily perpetrated by physical
coercion; sometimes women are
emotionally coerced out of fear, said
SAPAC organizer John Ifcher, an
LSA senior.
"We have a rape culture which
See Rape, Page 2
Housing
division
suspends
official
BY MARTIN OTT
University Housing Information
Director Leroy Williams was sus-
pended with pay Friday after police
arrested him in a raid on an alleged
Detroit crack house last week.
Williams, an 18-year University
employee, faces felony charges of
possession of less than 25 grams of
cocaine. He was arraigned last Friday
in Detroit and released on a $5,000
personal bond pending a preliminary
examination this Friday.
University Associate Director of
Housing Archie Andrews said
Williams was suspended until an in-
dependent University investigation
could be conducted.
Williams could not be reached for
comment yesterday. But he told the
Ann Arbor News Monday that he
was at the wrong place at the wrong
time. "I had nothing on my person,
the police report says that,"
Williams said.
Williams' attorney, Thomas
Quarterman, refused comment on the
case, adding that it would be unfair
,o hi lett es;ea .a nvi;,,ra-
ALEXANDRA BREZ/Daiy
Jeff Michael, left, leads a discussion on the film "Men's Lives" as part of Men's Day during
Sexual Assault Awareness Week. To his left are John Ifcher and Danny Rosen. All three are
members of the Sexual Assault
Awareness and Prevention Center.
Typhoon sinks ship in Philippines, killing 485
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -
Rescuers said yesterday they had
found only 15 survivors from the
500 people on a ship sunk by
Typhoon Ruby, which hit shore with
140 mph winds that flattened thou-
sands of homes and took at least 97
lives.
Darkness and bad weather forced
an overnight suspension of the search
for survivors of the Dona Marilyn.
i l 1 _ 7.ZA.
Ruby sweeps through land
to take at least 97 lives
Ruby's center passed about 50
miles east of Manila early yesterday
and swept into the Tarlac, Bulacan,
and Nueva Ecija provinces, the
archipelago's main rice-growing re-
gion, the national weather service
reported.
President Corazon Aquino visited
flooded Marikina, the hardest-hit dis-
trict in the Manila area, yesterday and
Philipine helicopters rescued hun-
dreds of people stranded on rooftops
and in trees by the flooding Marikina
river.
Island and another small island, and
four people were found alive in the
water.