Ninety-nine years of editorialfreedom Vol. I C, No. 95 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Monday, February 13, 1989 Copyright 1989, The Michigan Daily Senator proposes tax to help tuition BY PATRICK STAIGER State funding for higher education will continue to be low this year, but universities need to find other ways than raising tuition to make up the deficit, State Senator William Sederburg told a student lobby group yesterday. Sederburg, chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Higher Education, speaking to students in the Michigan Student Assembly chambers, outlined a plan to increase state funds for universities and especially University students - by a tax levied on beer and wine. "Give the state's fiscal situation, I'm trying to find something we can do on our own," Sederburg said. Because of state budget restraints, the legislature will probably not ask for more than the three percent increase for higher education proposed by Governor James Blanchard, Sederburg said. In recent years, the legislature has increased the governor's proposal before finalizing the budget in July. As state funds have dwindled over the past decade, Michigan universities, rather than cutting their own budgets, have increased tuition - more than 25 per- cent in the last three years at the University. Tuition will increase another 11 percent next year at the University if administrators follow plans outlined in their state budget proposal this fall. The proposal had asked for an optimistic eight per- cent increase in state funds, and included a nine percent increase in tuition. It said student tuition would cover any state allocation less than that amount. Vice President for Government Relations Richard Kennedy last week said he was not surprised by the state allocation which was lower than they had asked. "The state budget is as tight as we thought it would be," Vice President for Government Relations Richard Kennedy said last week. Sederburg's tax would increase the tax on beer six- and-one-half cents, and increase the tax on wine one dollar and six cents per liter - creating $168 million in revenue that could be used for student financial aid, he said. But Sederburg also called on universities to lessen the tuition burden by trimming their own budgets, es- pecially in the area of middle management. "There is a built in inertia (by university adminis- trators) that universities have to grow by five percent or else we're 'in a crisis,' and the built in avenue for this is student tuition," Sederburg said. See Tuition, Page 5 WINTERFEST Ann Arbor celebrates winter by turning snow into art In the early stages of sculpting the "The Snow Flake," two team members remove chunks of snow using part of a chain. For best viewing hurry to Main Street before the next snow fall. Deal made to speed North hearings WASHINGTON (AP) - Chief Justice William Rehnquist yesterday postponed the start of Oliver North's Iran-Contra trial, but the independent prosecutor and Justice Department later agreed on a plan aimed at let- ting the trial go ahead. The chief justice granted a Justice Department request to delay North's trial from Monday's scheduled start until Friday, when the full Supreme Court is scheduled to consider the department's objections to the planned release of classified material by North's defense. Hours later, Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and independent counsel Lawrence Walsh agreed to a proposal that would impose more stringent safeguards on North's use of classified material. If the proposal is approved by the judge handling the case, U.S. Dis- trict Judge Gerhard Gesell, the Jus- tice Department will ask the Supreme Court to lift the stay so the North trial may proceed, according to statements issued by the department and Walsh. Walsh and the department filed a sealed motion with Gesell "which requests that the district court enter an additional protective order pre- venting the release of classified in- formation vital to U.S. national se- curity interests," the Justice Depart- ment said in a statement. Rehnquist ordered yesterday "that the trial proceedings in United States vs. Oliver North... be stayed" pend- ing consideration by the full Supreme Court on Friday. Walsh, whose office is prosecut- ing North, had opposed the Justice Department's efforts to delay the trial and wanted to proceed immedi- ately with opening arguments, say- ing that national security concerns had been amply addressed. "The Justice Department con- cluded, and the Independent Counsel concurred, that the trial could not go forward without an additional protective order, and that it is essen- tial for the court to enter such an or- der," said a Justice Department statement. Walsh issued a separate motion saying that the independent counsel filed the motion with Gesell and that the Justice Department "agreed to the motion." JOHN WEISE/Daty - JESSICA GREENE /Dally This sculpture, by Saginaw residents Bill Doehring, Bernie Hogah Ken Peterson puts finishing touches on the piece Love and Money, which finished second in the And Peter Rumsey, won it all at the Michigan Snow Sculpting competition. See related story, Page 7. contest. BY LAURA COUNTS "There isn't a cloud floating around that is racism. It shows itself in certain ways, and that's where we have to fight it," United Coalition Against Racism member Tracye Matthews told the audience at the Michigan Union on Saturday. Fighting racism, and the distor- Black H isory Month h 4 tion of Black issues in American society,were the focus of a teach-in on "Issues Confronting the Black Community" over the weekend. The teach-in, sponsored by UCAR and the Ella Baker-Nelson Mandela Cen- ter for Anti-Racist Education, was part of Black History Month. -in panelists discuss I Topics include Mississippi Burning, the SATs A panel and audience spent six hours discussing the war on drugs, attacks on the Black family struc- ture, the film Mississippi Burning, access to education, and the struggle in Southern Africa. About 50 people filed in at noon for a panel entitled "Is the Black Family in Crisis?: A Black Feminist Critique," which generated heated discussion about the negative myths of Black family structure. "To talk about the crisis of the Black family is a misnomer," said Rackham graduate student Barbara Ransby. Participants said statistics corre- lating Black, female headed house- holds with crime and drug use pro- mote racist and sexist stereotypes. Not only do such statistics ignore alternative family structures, speak- ers said, but they ignore economic problems in the Black community created by institutionalized racism. Criticism of the media's portrayal of Blacks centered around the film Mississippi Burning, advertised as a story about the murder of three young civil rights workers in 1964. UCAR members Rajal Patel and Nikita Buckhoy criticized the film's plot, which focused on the personal differences between two white Fed- eral Bureau of Investigation agents and took a "murder mystery" ap- proach. They also criticized its distortion of history. Patel pointed out that the film changed details of the actual case. For example, in a scene where the three civil rights workers were driving, the Black worker was in the back seat and the two whites were in the front. But in reality, the Black worker was driving, Patel said. Ransby said that unlike the agents played by Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe, the FBI was a strong force in trying to destroy the Civil Rights Movement. The film, aimed to attract a white audience, contains only "a slight infusion of Black culture," Ransby added. For example, there were no im- portant Black characters in the film, said first-year Residential College student Max Gordon, and the ones who did appear were shown as vic- tims, not fighters in the Civil Rights Movement. "People may feel uncomfortable criticizing (the film) because they think it's part of the (Civil Rights) Movement. This film is detrimental because it is not an accurate por- trayal, and we need to be able to look at it accurately and not be se- duced by its packaging," Gordon said. Later, UCAR members Kimberly aicism Smith and David Maurrasse led a talk on Black access to education. "The University is doing things halfway, saying 'aspire to this - but we aren't going to change the deck stacked against you,"' said LSA alum Brandy Graham. Smith read a statement from the creator of the original Scholastic Aptitude Test that said the test was intended to separate people by race, class and gender. She argued that the test's format and language favors white, middle class males. The forum concluded with an up- date on events in Southern Africa. UCAR member Pam Nadesen en- couraged the audience to keep sup- porting the struggle against apartheid. She called recent moves towards reform by the South African government - such as its elections - a complete farce, designed to "pacify the international commu- nity." Hon. Degree Committee includes no students Gophers beat Michigan 88- 80; Taylor out BY JONATHAN SCOTT Without student participation, the University's Honorary Degree Committee met as scheduled this past October, reviewing candidates and making recommendations that now await approval by the Univer- sity's Board of Regents. No students narticinated in the Student Services Henry Johnson. In an MTS communication to MSA, Duderstadt said his office re- ceived MSA's recommendations late because of a delay in communication between Johnson and the president. "It was a timing problem," said Vice President for Government Relations and Secretary Richard BY STEVE BLONDER SPECIAL TO THE DAILY MINNEAPOLIS - Michigan coach Bill Frieder hoped his Wol- verines would play two good games on the road trip to Iowa and Minnesota. One out of two isn't bad. said last night. "They getting offensive reb just out-quicked us." THE BIGGEI were unable to matcl esota guards Melvir Ray Gaffney, who c points. indefinitely y did a great jo Burton scored 42 points, and hauled ounds, and they down 29 rebounds including 14 on the offensive end. R Wolverines "We did a good job crashing the h up with Minn- boards," said Bond. "We are pretty n Newbern and good at rebounding." ombined for 38 The Gophers outrebounded Mich- igan 41-21 to win their 12th con- 3