N.. ,.....'.. - ~ ~ OPINION Tenants: Know your rights! 4 ARTS Ted Lange: The driving force behind Miss Daisy 7 SPORTS 9 Women's Crew team finishes 5th in "Bean" town. .WK. ...1:. Nm m"Im.x. raiula4i Ninety-nine years of editorial freedom Vol. C, No. 35 Ann Arbor, Michigan -Tuesday, October 24, 1989 State may redefine obscenity by Noelle Vance Daily Government Reporter Students employed by stores that distribute porno- graphic materials could be charged with a felony if the state legislature passes a bill redefining obscenity. Senate Bill No. 330, introduced by Michigan State Senator Harmon Cropsey (R-Decatur) is one of 12 pornography bills being considered by House and Sen- ate committees in Lansing. Students and state residents, including several video store owners, debated the bill at a public hearing in the Ann Arbor City Chambers yesterday. The Bill, an amended version of the 1984 state obscenity law, would specifically redefine obscenity to include "hard- core materials." Hard-core, as described by the bill, would include any material that "lacks serious literary, artistic, polit- ical, or scientific value," and includes visible sexual penetration or ejaculation, visible bestiality, or use of a sexual device when penetration is visible. Unlike the current law, which uses "contemporary community standards" to define obscenity, the new bill would make obscenity into a "sex-laundry list," said David Cahill, assistant to Perry Bullard (D-Ann Ar- bor). "It gets around the fact that contemporary commu- nity standards around the country accept the adult video," he said. But the co-sponsor of the bill, Frederick Dilling- * ham (R-Fowlerville), disagreed, saying Michigan communitees want more control over "the porn shops popping up on their streets." The people against the bill "have a v.sted interest in marketing pornography. They're afraid they'll lose sales (if the bill is passed)," he added. Student members of the University's College Democrats opposed See OBSCENITY, page 2 Williams fails to kill commission Drive to challenge Peace and Justice's activities falls short by Josh Mitnick the commission only focused on issues involv- Daily MSA Reporter ing third world nations - issues which he An attempt sponsored by Michigan Student claimed were irrelevant to most students. Assembly President Aaron Williams to let stu- "At least 50 percent of students here don't dents vote on the future of the Assembly's care about what's going on around the world," Peace and Justice Commission failed yesterday. he said. "If you start addressing some issues Williams began circulating a petition last that affect a small portion of the campus, then Wednesday which would have placed a proposal there's a large portion of students you won't be on the election ballot this November to delete reaching." the Peace and Justice Commission from the MSA constitution. However, the effort died when the petitionl fell short of the necessary 1,000 signatures re- quired to place a proposal on the ballot by yes- terday's deadline of 5:00 p.m.l Williams said that by sponsoring the peti- tion drive, he was following through on a; campaign promise he made last March to have the assembly concentrate on campus issues.; During last year's election, Williams and, his party, the Conservative Coalition, claimed that the Peace and Justice Commission's activ- ities did not benefit the majority of the student body. Commission sponsorship of observer missions to El Salvador and the West Bank were cited as a misuse of student funds. Peace and Justice chair Ingrid Fey claimed no distinction could be made between campus and non-campus issues. "In a university of this size, people can't limit their scope. There are certain issues that extend beyond the bound- aries of the university," she said. Yesterday, Williams repeated charges that By not communicating his intentions to Fey and other assembly leaders, Williams has provoked sharp criticism of his political tact. Fey said she was more angered. by Williams' political tactics than his actual op- position to her committee. She said the peti- tion was done behind her back and she was in- formed of it through the MSA grapevine last Friday. Calling the move a "stab in the back", Fey added, "There's all this talk about creating unity within MSA. But that would be impos- sible with all this politicking going on behind people's backs." While acknowledging that his tactics were political, Williams explained that he sponsored the petition as "Aaron Williams, student" and not "Aaron Williams, MSA President." He added that if the proposal had made it onto the ballot he wouldn't have campaigned for or against it. However, in an appeal to students over the Michigan Terminal System (MTS), Williams' comments on the Peace and Justice Committee were far from apolitical. See MSA, page 5 Pumpkins for philanthropy Chi Omega and Fiji hold their annual pumpkin sale to raise money for the National Institute for Burn Medicine in Ann Arbor. Engineering sophomore, Rich Naha and LSA sophomore, Amy Plafchan encourage others to buy pumpkins and support their cause. Financial aid is key to minority recruitment, report says By Marion Davis Daily Minority Issues Reporter "Financial aid is critical for mi- nority students. Although aid is a major factor affecting the enrollment decisions of all students, it is partic- ularly important for underrepresented minorities..." This comes from a 1984 discus- sion paper on undergraduate minority enrollment, recruitment and financial aid, which suggests the University will have to increase financial aid for minority students in order to main- tain and reach projected levels of mi- nority enrollment. The report was written by Niara Sudarkasa, the former associate vice president for Academic Affairs. Su- darkasa is now president of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. When sufficient support is not available, the paper said, even the best students can be forced to leave the University for lower-priced community colleges. The report pointed out several shortcomings in the financial aid process which prevent more accurate evaluations of applicants' situations. Few of these shortcomings have been addressed since the report was compiled five years ago. For example, in cases where a family's income level has recently risen, the previous level is not taken into consideration. A family which has seen a given earning level for 20 years is treated the same as a family which has been at that level for two years. "I really don't think they take things into account that are put on the application," said LSA senior David Maurrasse, a financial aid re- cipient. "They just look at things on the surface." Maurrasse said that since he has been at the University, the makeup of his financial aid package has con- tinued to change. He said he found himself receiving "less money but more loans and work study instead of grants. I complained, and they gave me more loans, which puts me in debt." The analysis used by the gov- ernment to determine eligibility for federal aid is used at the University in determining eligibility for institu- tional aid. The formula used does not take individual circumstances into consideration. Robert Douglas, student advisor for the Comprehensive Studies Pro- gram (CSP), said CSP recently con- ducted a phone survey to determine how many of the minority students admitted into the University would actually attend. "A significant percentage who were not coming to the University decided to go to other places because they got better scholarships and fi- nancial aid packages," Douglas said. The Opportunity Program, which was combined with CSP, is a finan- cial aid program targeted toward mi- nority students. Changes made in 1980 to the Opportunity Program were cited as having contributing to the enrollment decline of Black stu- dents. In 1980-81, the program, which is a main source of funding for minority students, ceased to pro- vide a gift aid maximum equal to the cost of attending the University. Financial Aid's response to Su- darkasa's report said the intent of this change was to enable Opportu- nity Program students, particularly those who did not have time to work, to acquire job experience through work study. In fact, how- ever, the loan or parental contribu- tion to the Program's financial aid package often had to increase. The report also recommended is- suing additional information brochures to address the concerns of minority students and emphasize the aid that is available. For example, current financial aid brochures fail to mention a four-year scholarship of- fered to in-state students who qualify for it. Enrollment statistics for minority first-year students show a marked de- crease during the periods in which the Opportunity grant funding was reduced and a corresponding increase during the periods in which the Op- portunity grant funding increased. Earthquake rescue crews give SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Earthquake survivor Buck Helm improved yesterday but crews searching the collapsed highway where he was rescued gave up hope others would be found alive. The confirmed death toll from last week's earthquake climbed by two to 61. Bay area commuters, meanwhile, conquered heavy traffic and rough seas on the first full workday since the quake. "We're very certain nobody's up there alive. We've searched, searched, researched, triple- searched," said Oakland Police Lt. Kris Wraa, referring to the crumpled 14-mile stretch of in- terstate 880 where huge slabs of concrete teetered in the rain. Asked if officials had given up hope of find- ing another survivor, she said, "That's fair wording." With rescue efforts suspended, crews began dismantling a shaky 100-yard section, officials said. Kyle Nelson of the California Department of Transportation, whose job is to make sure the structure was safe for rescuers, called it ex- tremelv dangerous. "Given the right conditions up search twice the normal load and ferry passengers had to stomach rough seas and whipping winds, but there was little of the feared gridlock on the roads. "I've just been through hell, but heck, I have to admit I made it through it," said JohnN Trowbridge, a commuter who normally would have driven across the Bay Bridge but instead rode a ferry that lurched constantly, battling swells that washed across the tip of the boat. Calif. asks for more quake aid WASHINGTON (AP) - California law- makers pressed for $3.8 billion in earthquake aid yesterday, more than $1 billion above the White House figure, as federal relief legislation began a race through Congress. All sides said they expected compromise, with relatively little haggling about amounts or arguments about where the money would Hungary proclaims democracy BUDAPEST - Hungary declared itself a democracy yesterday, 33 years after Soviet troops crushed an anti- Stalinist uprising, and chants of "Russians go home!" and "Communism no more!" rose from a crowd of 100,000. Hungarian flags of red, white and green waved over the throng, which overflowed the Parliament square. People cheered wildly in the torch-lit plaza when partic- ipants in the uprising invoked memories of its leaders. "It took 33 years for those behind the thick walls to hear the cries" for democracy, Jenoe Fonay told the rally, referring to the recent official change of heart about the nature of the 12-day revolt that began October 23, 1956. The Soviet bloc's bloodiest uprising was called counterrevolution until early this year, when the official description was changed to a popular uprising in one of the dramatic moves in Hungary's progress toward democracy. As many as 32,000 people were killed in 1956 and about 200,000 fled the country. Civul 0h-orengv7" a mariu-r an iAitnrw m n m w n.n- mUA.7W~