Ninety- nine years of editorial freedom Vol. IC, No. 36 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Thursday, October 27, 1988 Copyright 1988, The Michigan Doily USSR may release prisoners MOSCOW (AP) - The Soviet Union will release all people regarded in the \West as political prisoners by the end of the year, Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany said yesterday after talks with President Mikhail Gorbachev. Such a dramatic move would be one of the boldest signs yet from Gorbachev that he seeks a clear break with past Kremlin human rights practices that have included imprisonment of dissenters from Communist Party policy. However, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gennady Gerasimov refused to confirm or deny that a re- lease of political prisoners is immi- nent. He told reporters there are about two dozen such prisoners. Estimates from human rights groups abroad vary from 150 to more than 500. Gerasimov said the fate of the. prisoners was not on the agenda of the Soviet-West German negotiations that brought Kohl to Moscow. Kohl's announcement was welcomed by Soviet human rights activist Andrei Sakharov, the Reagan administration and Amnesty International. But a leader of a group seeking emigration of Soviet Jews said he remained skeptical. At a news conference called to sum up his visit, Kohl said: "The Soviets confirmed that they will re- lease before the end of the year all political prisoners as we understand it in the West." Kohl would not say whether the promise came from Gorbachev, only that it was made during the talks. Asked how many people may be freed, Kohl's foreign minister, Hans- Dietrich Genscher, said: "We are not in a position to give final figures." Neither Kohl nor Genscher iden- tified prisoners who might be re- leased. It was not clear how many Soviets classified in the West as po- litical prisoners might be freed, since some have been sentenced on crimi- nal charges, including espionage. _______________ ...,7~ S -. KAREN HANDELMAN/Daily Chris Rose, an Ann Arbor resident, joins in the Halloween spirit by trying on a mask at the Halloween Outlet Shop at Arborland. Only four more days until munchkin-sized goblins come knocking at your door. Candidates stress access to higher ed. BY NOAH FINKEL "I want to be the Education President," boasts Re- publican Presidential nominee George Bush. "No issue, no concern, no institution, means more to me than education," says Democrat Michael Dukakis. Rhetoric of this sort on education is a staple of all American political campaigns, and the 1988 presiden- tial race is obviously no exception. But in this campaign, there actually may be some substance behind the candidates' promises for higher education. "The platforms of both parties do stress access to higher education," said Harvey Grotrian, the director of the University's Office of Financial Aid. DUKAKIS AND Bush premise their higher education proposals on a simple assumption: no one should be denied a college education due to a lack of money. Both parties offer creative and substantive programs to fulfill the goal. The foundation of Dukakis' effort is his support for existing federal grant and loan programs such as Pell Grants, Perkins Loans, and the Graduated Student Loan (GSL) program. But, as Dukakis is fond of saying, "We can do bet- ter." To that end, he offers his STARS (Student Tu- ition and Repayment System) plan, which would allow any student to receive a federally guaranteed student loan, regardless of family income. Students would pay back the loans through mandatory payroll deductions. STARS rests on two principles, the first of which is income-contingency. Under the plan, graduates would pay back their loan as a certain percentage of, yearly income until the loan, plus interest, is repaid. PROPONENTS of this principle say this is beneficial to two groups of graduates. Wealthy graduates will be able to erase their debt quickly and those with lower incomes can spread their payments out over a long period of time. Bush's plans also include an expansion of current income-contingency efforts. The Reagan administration asked Congress to drop all other loan programs in favor of income-contingent plans. Instead, Congress agreed to establish a pilot program at ten schools to test the feasibility of the concept. Thus far, the jury is still out. Jim Dorian, director of financial aid at Brown University, one of the ten pi- lot schools in its second year of testing, said it is "too early to tell" how sound the idea is. The second - and far more controversial - princi- ple in the STARS program is called "collective responsibility." Under this concept, borrowers who earn higher in- comes upon graduation would be forced to cover for those in lower-income brackets. In this case, some graduates will have to pay back more than they borrow. They would be responsible for the principle of their loan, the interest, and possibly part of someone else's loan. ADVOCATES of this approach point out that this plan will lure students from poor backgrounds who are currently scared by the prospect of a large debt and See Access, Page 3 L I U-Wis. students face expulsion 1 Group: 'U' can do more than divest BY STACEY GRAY Members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) fraternity house are facing possible expulsion after a racial incident at the house last week. As part of an effort to raise money for its pledge trip, the two- year-old ZBT house held a "slave auction" last Thursday to sell off its pledges. The pledges painted their' faces black, donned Afro wigs and impersonated Black celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and The Jackson Five in skits. LSA junior Paul Mark, second vice president at the University of Michigan's chapter of ZBT, said he was familiar with the incident at Wisconsin, but refused further com- ment. The "auction" was held in the basement of The Towers, a private Wisconsin housing unit. Two videotapes were made of the event, one by the fraternity and the other by an unidentified student. The second videotape made its way to the Wis- consin Student Association, which demanded action from the Inter Fra- ternity Council (IFCI. WISCONSIN'S IFC held an emergency meeting Sunday and re- leased a statement on the incident. "The IFC calls for the immediate expulsion of the members involved in the alleged incident. The ZBT fra- ternity is suspended, indefinitely, from all IFC activities. The length of the suspension is contingent on the investigations." the statement be taken. Eight students chained themselves to the ZBT house Mon- day to protest the incident. Eventu- ally the police were called and the protesters were arrested for trespass- ing. They were released on their own recognizance. "The purpose of our action was to raise consciousness of the racism problem at the university," Kris Hoeksema, a first-year student who participated in the sit-in told The Badger Herald, a University of Wis- consin student newspaper. "The incident should be acted upon by the university board, not by another student group. The adminis- tration must take action on their claim of being anti-racist," she said. WISCONSIN'S Black Student Union held a press conference Wednesday morning on the incident. The group wouldn't comment for lack of information. "We don't blame them, but we do blame the university for their actions concern- ing past racial incidents haven't been severe enough," said Stefanie Royal, a BSU spokesperson. Gary Sullivan, a senior at Wis- consin and a BSU member, said he thought the university administra- tion should take a stand in expelling any group which commits racist acts. "There are rules that you can be expelled for throwing waste or food over the football stadium wall. If there is an administrative rule that says that then I don't see any reason why there can't bo nne reganring BY STEVE KNOPPER A long, heated campus debate came to an end last week when the University decided to divest from South Africa-involved companies. But local activists say the battle against apartheid is far from over, and the University can do much more to combat the racist government in South Africa. "This is by no means the end," said Ann Arbor resident Brett Stock- dill, a member of the Free South Africa Coordinating Committee. "(Divestment) was a relatively easy thing to do, and it will make (the University's Board of Regents) look good, but we still need to hold them accountable." On Friday, the University divested its last $500,000 from companies which have holdings in South Africa. That decision was a "symbolic victory," said FSACC member Bar- bara Ransby, a Rackham graduate student. But she added, "The decision to divest was made some time ago. This was not any great revelation." Ransby said the University must take further steps toward abolishing the apartheid regime. For example, she said, University officials must continue to speak out, focus more education, and respect an academic boycott against apartheid. FSACC and its predecessors have put pressure on the regents to divest for.more than 10 years. As late as 1983, the University held about $50 million worth of stocks in busi- nesses operating in South Africa. Johnson and Johnson and Coca-Cola are two U.S.-based corporations which still have holdings in South Africa. In the late 1970s, however, na- tionwide anti-apartheid groups began protesting colleges' involvement in South Africa thorough their invest- ments. University students lobbied school officials, packed regents' See Divest, Page 2 'Hartford' trial defendant JOSE Elias Castro, one of 15 defendants on trial in the "Hartford 15" case, speaks to an audience of 60 last night at Rack- ham. More than 400 FBI agents entered Puerto Rico and arrested the 15 in August, 1986. Anti-gay flirsstir outrage BY FRAN OBEID . More than 200 anti-gay and lesbian flyers were distributed yesterday at the Law School in students' pendaflex folders. A group of law students said they will distribute a netition today INSIDE Marcos's indictment by a federal grand jury is lung overdue. See O)pinion Page 4 Betty Carter should put on some great shows at the Bird this week- end - provided her band doesn't have to show I.D. See Arts, Page 7 Wolverines Greg McMurtry and Off-campus housing vacancies increase BY DAVID SCHWARTZ The percentage of vacant housing near campus rose for the third year in a row, but reaction is mixed as to how much the rise is improving the availibility of affordable housing. According to figures released by the Universitv's Housing Divisionn apartments and houses located "roughly within walking distance of campus. "The vacancy rate being higher reflects all the high-priced housing that's currently being built," said Lisa Russ, an Ann Arbor Tenants' Union consultant.