Police to charge clinic protesters for overtime The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 19, 1989 - Page 3 City council addresses affordable housing olicies t ! , y f l 4 } 1" a t _ # ', S 4 f" f t ,. fi BY LAURA COUNTS Local police will ask the courts to charge the 190 anti-abortion protesters who were arrested at three recent protests of local abortion clinics with more than $16,500 in overtime costs, Washtenaw County Sheriff Ronald Schebil said yester- day. During a press conference Mon- day, officials from the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department, the Ann Arbor Police Department, and the Pittsfield Department of Public Safety announced their intent to force the arrested protesters - if convicted - to pay the costs. Seventy-five anti-abortionists were arrested at a protest of the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Ann Arbor last Saturday, costing city police $8,070 in overtime. The remaining costs resulted from similar protests last month in Ypsilanti and Pittsfield Township. BY NOAH FINKEL The Homeless Action Committee and other local groups have been protesting for months what they call Ann Arbor's lack of affordable housing. Monday night, the Ann Arbor City Council placed the matter high on its agenda, but with mixed results. The council cleared the way for one affordable housing project, delayed another, and tabled a resolu- tion to approve public funding of a parking structure after Democrats voiced concern that the money could be better put toward low-income housing. A site plan for Comerica Bank's proposed seven- story downtown office building was delayed after council Democrats objected to the public funding of an accompanying 317-space underground parking struc- ture. "It's totally inappropriate for the city to be subsi- dizing a bank," said Councilmember Liz Brater (D- Third Ward). "Everybody I've talked to thinks this is some kind of joke." Brater said the Democrats are questioning the Downtown Development Authority's use of funds principally for parking. Brater said the council should use more DDA funds for public housing, noting that the state specifically allows funds for this purpose. "Since I've been on council, there have been almost no funds for public housing," she said. "Over the weekend, members of the HAC staged a demonstration on the site of another proposed parking structure on the so-called Kline's lot... This shows that this oppo- sition is not just four Democrats on council." But Brater added that the Democratic caucus was still in favor of using DDA funds for the Kline's lot parking structure because there is a legitimate need" to lure shoppers to the downtown area. Councilmembers Terry Martin (R-Second Ward) and Mark Ouimet (R-Fourth Ward) said they wanted more information on the proposal before they could make a judgment. At the meeting, HAC members used audience par- ticipation time to assail council members on what they called a lack of action on providing affordable housing. But affordable housing appeared on the council agenda Monday night. A resolution to approve an Ann Arbor YMCA residence tower addition on South Fifth Street passed unanimously. The three-story tower will provide 64 low-priced rooms. The council also delayed rezoning for the Turnbrry project at Packard Road and US-23. The project would include 210 moderately-priced homes and 10 to 25 units of public housing funded by the U.S. Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Development. Council members voted to delay the zoning change because they want some kind of agreement to prevent people from buying up those homes and selling them-at a higher price. A resolution to approve the housing document of the Ann Arbor Housing Policy Task Force was tabled. The major principles of the document are that the city should work to provide a larger supply of low-and moderate-income housing and preserve the existing housing stock by taking steps such as opposing gen- trification measures. The 190 protesters, who were charged with misdemeanor trespass- ing, are part of a group called Washtenaw County Rescue. Group members say they use "civil disobe- dience" to shut down the clinics by physically prohibiting patients from entering. Schebil said the protests place a burden on local police departments, both financially and by taking offi- cers away from more serious crimes. Peter Thomason, a leader of Washtenaw County Rescue, said, "While we regret the fact that (the police) had to incur overtime, we do not have any intention of paying the costs." "This is a human rights issue - there is a crisis out there," Thoma- son said. "You don't pay overtime for saving lives." But Planned Parenthood Director Robin Menin said the clinic was able to accommodate almost all the women scheduled for abortions on Saturday, and the protesters' action only prevented patients from getting birth control. A different perspective JESSICA GREENE /Daily John Van Houten and Bryan Koehn, masters students in the architecture school, create a "Perspective Machine" for a design class. Alternate graduation ceremony to protest Duderstadt as speaker OPEN MEETING U of M Sailing Club BY LISA WINER Graduating students who disap- prove of President Duderstadt's Uni- versity policies and are disappointed with his selection as commencement speaker have gathered together to plan an alternative graduation cere- mony. The United Coalition Against Racism has sponsored alternative graduation ceremonies for the past two years. But this year an ad hoc committee of nearly 20 students - the Coalition on Alternative Graduation, Education, and Devel- opment - has formed to work with UCAR. Although the committee is con- cerned that the ceremony not be po- litical in a way that would be alien- ating, at a meeting last night the committee seemed widely in favor of making their ceremony a progressive political statement - in the tradi- tion of the past two ceremonies. "I think we're doing a very political thing," said LSA senior Rebecca Blumenstein, one of the event's organizers. "I was very of- fended by the choice of Duderstadt. But I don't want this to be a nega- tive day. I've heard for four years about how bad things are." "This ceremony will be more personal and more relevant to (graduates) college experience," said UCAR member Barbara Ransby. "It's a nice way to say thank you tc students (who have worked for pro- gressive causes)." The ceremony, which is still in the planning stage, is scheduled to take place on the Diag at 3:30 on April 29. THE DAILY CLASSIFIEDS ARE A GREAT WAY TO GET FAST RESULTS CALL 764-0557 Thursday May 1 1th 7:45 p.m. 170 Dennisor M r t/ /' ""' }#°t +w - w Lou Continued from Page 1 Petersen recalled a severe snow- storm in 1978, which shut down the Ann Arbor News for two days. Though Lou hails from Pinckney, a 30-mile drive from Ann Arbor, he managed to beat the snow and get the paper out. "The Ann Arbor News missed two issues because of the same snowstorm," said Petersen, who worked at the Daily for 22 years. Lou is often seen as an imposing figure by new staffers, who aren't aware of what the big man with the knife has to offer. Lou even perpetuates this by trying to intimi- date new staffers. "The first time I ever worked with him, he put the fear of God in me," said 1983 Opinion Page Editor Bill Hanson. Last year, Lou spent a full five minutes yelling at a new sports re- porter. Walking away, Lou said to a nearby editor, "Scared the little bug- ger, didn't IT' "New people that come in get the impression that he's a real hard-ass," said 1987 Photo Editor Scott Lituchy. "But once you get to know him, and once he gets to know you, he's like a grandparent who's always willing to listen and talk." More seasoned staffers know that Lou can be a good friend and a wise adviser. "Once he's stopped glaring at you with the knife in his hand, you know he likes you," said Re- becca Blumenstein, the 1988 editor in chief. Lou has worked at the Daily through six U.S. presidencies, the Vietnam War, and a national basket- ball championship. He has been at the University longer than Bo Schembechler, and he came long be- fore computers or Laserwriters. During that time, through good papers and bad papers, Lou was around to make sure the paper got out. "Mine is not to wonder why," he says often, "mine is but to do or die." "Lucius keeps everything to- gether," said 1987-88 University Editor Kery Murakami. Upon leaving the Daily, Lou in- tends to spend much of his free time playing golf (he has a five handicap) and drinking Irish whisky. 1985 Editor in Chief Neil Chase said: "I feel bad for all the golfers in Southeast Michigan because there aren't going to be any tee times left." - David Schwartz All of us at the Daily would like to wish Lou good luck and thank him for the selfless work he has done at the Daily. The ties Lou has made withformer staffers are evident - when word got out that we were planning to run this story, dozens of former staffers called to tell us their memories of Lou. We won't forget you, Lou, or all that you've taught us. F, t S :., ,, .t . .' 4' ,4 <, F, f;. .,., a",'. .3 ..-. ,', , 8 Because Someone's It's the same all over. got ?s5. to b THE What's happening i Speakers "Effects of Exercise on the Aging Process of Tendons" - Arthur Vailas, Ph.D., University of Wis- consin, 1033 Dental School, Sm. Aud, Kellogg Bldg., 12:10 sharp-i pm. "The Exploration of Phenomena in the Earth's High Atmosphere" - Dr. William Sharp, Space Physics Research Laboratory, Kuenzel LIST in Ann Arbor today CCRB, 8:15-9:15 pm. U of M Taekwondom- 2275 CCRB, 6:30-8:15 pm. U of M Fencing - Sports Coli- seum, 6-8 pm. U of M Archery - Coliseum, 8-10 pm. Furthermore English Peer Counseling - 4000A Michigan Union, 7-9 pm. Help withnore andnter tnrTrAkh rP- You can't have a top without a bottom. A height r without a depth. A peak without a valley. Or high scores without low ones. Thanks, Stanley. We congratulate you and your grad prep courses for holding down your part of the job. LSAT, GMAT THE i i T\__TT_1_f___1_r__1____'__/1_1_7