The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 30, 1989 - Page 3 Senate panel opens hearings to consolidate schools Bill would cut school districts from 562 to 250 LANSING (AP) - A Senate committee opened hearings yesterday on potentially touchy legislation aimed at consolidating Michigan school districts to improve efficiency and cut costs. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jack Faxon, (D-Farmington Hills), would create a state commission to draft a plan aimed at cutting the number of school districts in Michigan from the current562 to no more than 250. Now that Michigan voters have rejected two ballot proposals to boost the sales tax to provide more money for schools, consolidation is one way to improve educational quality without more money, Faxon said. "We can do better with what we have by restructuring the districts," Faxon said, citing duplication of services, inefficiencies and buildings serving a small number of students under the current system. The bill would set up a nine- member commission to prepare a consolidation plan to reduce the number of districts. The plan would become law unless rejected by a two- thirds vote of the State Legislature. reorganization plan. he proposed that in rural areas, elementary schools be kept separate, but high schools be combined in a larger administrative district to provide the specialized "We can do better with what we have by restructuring the districts." - State Sen. Jack Faxon (D-Farmington Hills) State School Superintendent Donald Bemis noted the proposal is a "very sensitive issue in many areas of the state," but acknowledged that schools have consolidated several times since the turn of the century. He urged strong public involvement in the process and a public vote on the final courses needed. Other officials, however, warned that consolidation might not work as well in large, sparsely populated areas. Combining districts in such areas may produce huge districts and scattered residents unwilling to vote higher taxes to finance the new district, they said. Rose lines Students wait in the cold outside the Ticket Office to Tickets went on sale yesterday morning at 8:30. buy tickets for the Michigan-USC Rose Bowl Jan. 1. THE LIST What's happening in Ann Arbor today LSA-SG elections offer little choice Meetings The Student Book Exchange - mass meeting SALSA - Socially Active Latino Student Assoc. meets at 7:30 in Angell Rm. 221 Michigan Student Assembly Student Rights Commission - 5:30 p.m. in Union Rm. 3909 Rainforest Action Movement - 7 p.m. in Dana Rm. 1040 Earth Day Organizing Commit- tee - 7 p.m. in the Union 4th floor MSA International Students Affairs Commission - 6:15 p.m. in the International Center Tagar - 7 p.m. in Hillel Rm. 3 Palestine Solidarity Commit- tee - 7:30 p.m. in the lounge of the International Center Campus Crusade for Christ - College Life meeting at 7 -8:30 p.m. in Kellogg Aud. Rm. 6005; enter in the dental school Michigan Student Assembly Communications Committee - 7:30 pm. in Union Rm. 3909 Recycling in the Residence Hall -7 in 1040 Dana Native American Student As- sociation - 5 p.m. at the Union InterVarsity Christian Fellow- ship - 7 p.m. in East Quad Rm. 126 Speakers "Abnormal Sex Ratios Among Historic Inuit: Tests of the Competing Hypothesis" - 4 in the Rackham East Lecture Rm. "Japanese R&D and the Globalization of Technology" - Elanor Westney of M.I.T. speaks at noon in the Lane Hall Commons Rm. "Transformations of Theory and Society: Western Marxism and Actual Socialism" - Michael Kennedy speaks at 8 p.m. in the 4560 LSA "Photographers Role in Culture" - A.D. Coleman, author and critic, speaks t 7 p.m. in the Chrysler Auditorium (2121 Bonisteel Blvd.) Tong Enzheng - the professor of history at Sichuan U. speaks at 4 in Rm. 4518 of the Ruthven Natural Science Rm. Lisa Malinowski Steinman - the poet reads from her works at 5 p.m. in the Rackham Am- phitheatre "Malcolm X: The Islamic Movement in the United States" - H. Rop Broixim speaks at 6:30 p.m. in Hutchins Hall 100 "Pico and Femotosecond Chemistry: Spectroscopically Ovsering Transition States" - L. Grace speaks at 4 p.m. in Chem. Dept. 1640 "Their Live in the Middle of Their Fields!: An Archaeolog- ical Landscape in the Cy- clades, Greece" - Prof. Jack Davis of the U of Illinois noon in Rm. 2009 of the Ruthven "Photography and Culture" - A.D. Coleman speaks at 7 p.m. in the Chrysler Auditorium (2121 Bonisteel Blvd.) "Transformations of Theory and Society: Western Marx- ism and Actual Socialism" - Michael Kennedy speaks at 8 p.m. in 4560 LSA Furthermore Safewalk - 8 -1:30 a.m. in UGLi Rm. 102; 936-1000 Northwalk -8 p.m. to 1:30 in 2333 Bursley; 763-WALK German Tutoring - for 100-300 levels; 7-9 p.m. in MLB 2006 "Grant Seeking and Proposal Writing" - a Center for the Ed- ucation of Women workshop; 3-5 p.m.; call 998-7080 Free tutoring - all lower-level math, science and engineering courses; 7-11 p.m. in UGLi Rm. 307; 7-11 p.m. in the Dow Bldg. Mezzanine ECB peer writing tutors - available at Angell-Haven and 611 Computing Centers from 7 to 11 p.m.; Sunday through Thursday Color National Artists' Book Project - features artists' books of more than 200 American Women of Color; in the Slusser Gallery; 10a.m.-5 p.m. Photo exhibit of racial violence in the U.S. - in Rm. 3 of East Engineering; 10-3 daily Women of Courage: An Exhibi- tion of Photographs by Judith Sedwick - portraits of 55 Black American women; Grad. Library North Lobby; 8am-Spm Art and Holy Powers in the Early Christian House - an ex- hibition of Early Christian Arti- facts; 9am-4pm in the Kelsey Museum' "Present Laughter" - the University Players present the Noel Coward Play at 8 p.m. at the Power Center; 764-0450 Michigan Leadership Confer- ence Registration - at the Stu- dent Organization Development in the 2202 Union; fee is $12 Ann Arbor Dance Works Fall Season - 8 p.m. at the McIn- tosh Theatre; call 763-5460 "Caminos del Silencio" - a video documenting the communi- ties of Highland Mayan Indians who fled the Guatemalan Army massacres; 7:30 p.m. in Union Rm. 2209 A&B "Trotskyism AgainstWStalin- ism" - part of the Workers' League-Young Socialist Class Series; 7 p.m. in Mason 2439 Carillion Auditions - must have good piano background; 2:15-4 at the Burton Bell Tower "Rope" - the Hitchcock classic; 7, 8:30 and 10 p.m. at Hillel "Beyond the Walls" - a film about the relations between Jews and Arabs in an Israeli prison; 7:30 p.m. at Hillel Northcoast--UM Jazz Ensem- ble - 8 p.m. in the Rackham Lecture Hall Arpilleras from Peru and Chile - distinctive fabric wall-hangings by Christine Kloostra Daily Staff Writer LSA students have a tough choice today. From a field of 16 candidates, students will be electing 15 LSA Student Government representatives, a president and vice president - a total of 17 positions. Twelve of the candidates represent the Students for Academic Institu- tional Development (SAID) Party, including the unopposed presidential and vice-presidential candidates. SAID has maintained a majority on the government for 11 consecutive years. The remaining four candidates are running as independents. LSA-SG's main function is to al- locate funds to campus organizations to sponsor events that benefit LSA students. They also appoint students to various University committees, such as the Curriculum Committee. The government has avoided be- coming a political body, focusing instead on improving the academic atmosphere at the University. "We're trying to get concrete things done for the students," said incumbent presidential candidate Jennifer Clough. Some current LSA-SG projects include a CRISP advice table for first- and second-year students, fac- ulty-student dinners in the residence halls, and posting photographs of academic counselors outside the An- gell Hall Academic Counseling Of- fice. "We need to make it easier for students to get access to not only professors but also officials within LSA," said independent candidate Al- lison Buck, a sophomore. To increase faculty-student inter- action, LSA-SG hopes to sponsor a faculty raffle next term. Popular pro- fessors would supply prizes, such as dinner at their homes or a round of golf, which would be raffled off to students, said Clough. Other goals include a mentorship program pairing first-year students with juniors and seniors for advipe and support, Clough said. The coun- cil has worked with the housing de- partment and the orientation program and plans to launch a pilot mentor- ship program in the fall for 250 stu- dents. Events to focus on photography's by Ruth Littmann One hundred and fifty years ago, the invention of photography was formally announced. For two days, the University's School of Art and Rackham Graduate School will commemorate the event with a symposium on photography and the cultural climate. The School of Art has invited three professional photographer- artists and critics from across the United States to display their work and address photography's future and history. "Photography is so important we couldn't do without it now," said Art School Prof. Ken Baird. The camera allows society to ex- plore itself by creating images which deal with social and individual is- sues, Baird said. "The camera has multiple uses: ethical, personal, fac- tual, informational, aesthetic." Baird said photography's future will lie primarily in the field of communication. Rackham graduate student in photography Roxanne Frith said future photography will "create some kind of dialogue. It will not give answers as much as pose questions." While Baird believes the camera's association with silver processing might give way to electronic imag- ing, he doesn't think that photogra- phy itself will diminish, "because man is collectively an expressive, creative animal." The announcement of photogra- phy's birth a century and a half ago, Baird said, involved "a drama story between two countries." The conflict arose between France and England. In 1839, France patented the daguerreotype, a type of photography like instant Polaroid printing. Simultaneously, in England, W.H.F. Talbot created the calotype, a photographic process which pro- jected images onto film similar to today's negatives. A patent battle ensued, restricting Talbot's process from gaining immediate popularity. Today, however, the calotype has had more influence on conventional photography than the daguerreotype. A.D. Coleman, a writer, critic, and photographer, will deliver the symposium's keynote address, "Photography and Culture." Tomorrow, New York-based photog- rapher Jules Allen will discuss his work and photographer-artist Dorit 50th year Cypis will address the representati6n of women. The entrance "fee" to tonight's symposium consists of one picture to hang on the wall for general view- ing and a contest. Baird said participants' pho- tographs will also be used to "creme a wall of photographs, reflecting a diverse range of interests. Registration for the symposiumn begins today at 4:30 p.m. in tle Slusser Gallery on the first floor of the Art and Architecture Building. o a e o a a a* * ; 45 * * o e 11 *10 It's Time for... fMvidhiqh t Miadnress! The University of Michigan FACULTY AND STAFF SALARY RECORD Available beginning Friday, Dec. 1 for $3.00 at Student Publications 420 Maynard 8a.m. - 5p.m., Monday - Friday Look for your guide to bargain holiday shopping in Ann Arbor. Friday, December 1st I . I AT $6.00 AN HOUR, WHO YA GONNA CALL? II t~I 4lllt, BIG CHIEF with special guests WIG and your host.. 'Donovan Qrez Thursday - r~uW A.. 6A - Trw-