OPINION 4.ARTS 5 SPORTS * City should house homeless, no..harass them * Lingering ol Blue Eyes * Notre Dame bumps off men's tennis Ninety-nine years of editorial freedom Vol. C, No. 133 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, April 18, 1990 Tehtg ' 0 Undefined procedures hamper 'U' departments by Noelle Vance Daily Administration Reporter The lack of standardized proce- dures for handling harassment com- plaints prevents the University from handling those complaints effec- tively, say administrators and coun- selors. There are no written guidelines outlining the procedures the Affirma- tive Action Office follows when it receives a complaint about a Univer- sity employee. Though the University does have a policy listing steps students can take when they have been sexually harassed by a professor or TA, coun- selors say the policy is not widely publicized and most students are unaware of its contents. "Students don't know how many times they're going to have to tell their story, or how long the process will take, and there are no guarantees that anything will happen," said Jim Toy of the Lesbian and Gay Men's Programming Office (LGMPO). Said Billy Edwards, also of the LGMPO: "We've been trying to get the Office of. Affirmative Action to put something in writing for years, but they haven't done it yet." The University Standard Practice and Operating Procedures Guide pro- vides steps for handling sexual ha- Ha rassrnn' at the'U PART THREE: Handling complaints TOMORROW: The policies rassment cases and cases of discrimi- nation filed against a University su- pervisor, said Jimmy Myers, associ- ate director of the Affirmative Action Office. But there are so many offices which take complaints about other employees that it is impossible to describe exactly what the process is, Myers said. Affirmative Action Representa- tive Brian Clapham could not out- line the procedures which would be followed in the case of a harassment or discrimination case filed against any employee of the University who was not a supervisor. When asked how the office oper- ates without guidelines, Clapham replied: "It happens. We just do it." In cases involving a University employee, Myers said the general procedures followed by Affirmative Action begin with a written com- plaint by the victim. Once a formal complaint is made, the office begins an investigation. The employee's personnel repre- sentative is contacted if the accused is a staff member. If the subject of the complaint is a professor, the Af- firmative Action coordinator for that school or college is notified. None of these procedures are writ- ten. There are also no guidelines for the representatives and coordinators. Usually, they collect written state- ments from the accused and ask all witnesses to provide statements on the incident, Myers said. The victim provides a list of reprimands he or she feels would be appropriate. Typically, the situation is re- solved by the accused sending a letter of apology to the victim and giving reasonable assurance it won't happen again, Myers said. The decentralization of the Uni- versity's offices which deal with ha- rassment is also confusing to stu- dents, administrators said. "We are trying to consolidate of- fices better," said Darlene Ray-John- son, discriminatory policy advisor in the Office of Student Services. The offices were originally decentralized so students would be able to choose where they felt most comfortable, she said. "We're reviewing to see if students are using their options." The University designates seven main offices to receive harassment complaints: the Office of the Vice President for Student Services, Counseling Services, the Office of Affirmative Action, the Ombudsman Office, the Department of Public Safety and Security, the Lesbian and Gay Men's Programming Office, and See HARASSMENT, page 3 'U' employee struggles to receive compensation in harassment case by Noelle Vance Daily Administration Reporter Blanc McLane thought he knew the system. As a member of the University's Task Force for Sexual Orientation, McLane had seen the problems other students and employees had encoun- tered while working their way through the administration's bu- reaucracy. But he felt with persistence and patience he would be able to make the system work. However, after October 22, 1988, McLane changed his mind. On that day, an incident occurred which would send him on a two-and- a-half year struggle with the Univer- sity administration and would con- vince him that the University is not handling harassment cases effec- tively. "I was in the basement of the Grad library reading a book while using the bathroom when there was a knock on the stall door. The man identified himself as a campus safety officer and said 'Can I have a word See MCLANE, page 2 MSA clashes over CCF recognition Lithuanians await Soviet reprimand USSR to reduce gas supply by Daniel Poux Daily MSA Reporter The Michigan Student Assembly continued the debate over whether to re-recognize Christian Cornerstone Fellowship (CCF) last night, setting the stage for an assembly battle over the new Student Group Bill of Rights. The assembly derecognized CCF in the fall of 1988 after a series of controversial CCF-sponsored cam- pus events. Members of the Lesbian and Gay Men's Rights Organizing Committee (LaGROC) charged that the group discriminated against ho- mosexuals, and pressured the assem- bly to revoke their recognition of the group. Since then the assembly has re- voked and restored the group's recognition several times, as La- GROC and CCF have continued the battle in the assembly's courts. Last month MSA's Court of Common Pleas ruled that the assembly improperly recognized CCF last October, and nullified the religious group's recognition. CCF appealed the case. The issue cur- rently stands before the Central Stu- dent Judiciary (CSJ), MSA's highest court. Members of both CCF and La- GROC spoke at last night's meet- ing. LSA senior Stu Duncan spoke for the religious group, and said CCF has no membership policy, so it cannot be accused of discrimina- tion. More importantly, Duncan added, no homosexual has ever tried to join CCF, so there is no basis for any discrimination charge. "It's obvious that those who don't want to recognize CCF are try- ing to hurt people who believe strongly in their religion and the Bible," Duncan said. Third-year Law student James Marsh, who has represented La- GROC in the ongoing MSA court battle, said the assembly cannot rec- ognize CCF, because it must adhere to its constitution and the Michigan Mandate., "CCF can believe anything they want, but the assembly can't recog- nize them because of their discrimi- na tory membership policies," Marsh said. "MSA recognition is a privilege, not a right," he said. "We cannot keep religious groups off campus, but we can limit the amount of ben- efits we give them, based on their discrimination, not their religious beliefs." But many assembly members wanted the group recognized. "I want CCF to be recognized because I think it's just not fair to throw groups off campus because of their Christian beliefs," said MSA Engi- neering representative and Engineer- See CCF, page 3 MOSCOW - The Soviet gov- ernment said it was tightening the tap on Lithuania's natural gas sup- ply yesterday and may cut oil and gasoline to the republic for its re- fusal to rescind pro-independence laws, Lithuanian leaders said. There was no immediate notice- able change in the amount of natural gas used to heat homes and fuel kitchens in Lithuania. But word that supplies were being cut caused concern among Lithuanians, who flooded the Lithuanian government with phone calls. Officials in Lithuania said they were told of the reduction in a tele- gram from the Soviet Union's gas network. There was no official an- nouncement from Moscow. President Mikhail Gorbachev on Friday gave Lithuania 48 hours to repeal several laws backing its March 11 declaration of indepen- dence. He said if Lithuania refused, the Kremlin would impose an em- bargo of goods that it exports for hard currency. Lithuania depends on Moscow for oil and gas, which are the Soviet Union's biggest earners of hard cur- rency. A telegram sent to Lithuania's gas authority yesterday said: "Implementing the orders of the government of the Soviet Union and those of the state gas concern.. . supplies of natural gas to the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic will be sharply reduced from the 17th of April." The telegram was signed by an official named Mochernyuk, identi- fied as the acting general director of the Soviet Union's western gas net- work. The text of the telegram was broadcast on official Lithuanian ra- dio, which was monitored by the British Broadcasting Corp. in Lon- don. Western reporters have been barred from staying in Lithuania to report on the political crisis. The telegram also was read to the Lithuanian Supreme Council legisla- ture yesterday by speaker Alexandras Abisalas. Lawmakers were meeting to discuss a response to Gorbachev's ultimatum. Opening the discussion, Lithua- nian President Vytautas Landsber- gis called the republic's decision "irreversible," the Tass news agency said. Teresa Juodenienie, a secretary for Premier Kazimiera Prunskiene, said in a telephone interview the Lithua- nian government had received no of- ficial notification about a cut in nat- ural gas, leaving officials wondering if the message was just another effort to put pressure on the Baltic republic. But it apparently was having an effect on Lithuanian consumers. After the announcement in the legislature, Ms Juodenienie said the premier's office received many telephone calls from upset citizens. She quoted them as saying, "Why aren't you doing something to nego- tiate with Gorbachev?" Lithuanian residents had been forming long lines at gasoline sta- tions in recent days to fill up for what they feared might be the last time. Ms. Juodenienie said the gov- ernment also had received a warning from the Druzhba, or Friendship en- terprise that supplies oil to Lithua- nia, saying deliveries of oil and ga- soline would be curtailed beginning today. Lithuanian journalists quoted of- ficials as saying Monday the repub- lic had enough natural gas to last about two weeks. But they said if an embargo were imposed, ethnic Rus- sian factory workers would be thrown out of work and the Kaln- ingrad area of the Russian republic to the southwest would suffer as well since the line serving Kalin- ingrad passes through Lithuania. Pigeon patrol JOSE Jeff Franklin, an employee of Capital Clean, began his "pigeon patrol" yesterday by cleaning the windows of the Law Quad, later moving on to sixteen other campus buildings. New MSA reps., officers take seats by Daniel Poux Daily MSA Reporter The students elected in the Michigan Student Assembly's spring elections took their seats last night, glad the election was over and ready to get to work. New MSA president Jennifer Van Valey called the meeting to order, and took the first step in fulfilling one of her main campaign promises by establishing an Environmental Affairs Commission. The new assembly voted to create the com- mission, and if students approve the commission in the fall, it will be added to MSA's constitution. New vice president and LSA first- year student Angela Burks shared Van Valey's said she one of her first concerns would be to increase minor- ity involvement on MSA's commit- tees and commissions. Many of the new representatives were new to the assembly, and sit- ting in on their first meeting as MSA members. LSA junior Paula Church, one of the new representatives, said she ran for MSA because she is concerned that many student groups are not getting the support they need on campus. Engineering sophomore Brian Johnson, another of the new MSA members, also got involved because of concerns over student groups. Johnson said he was involved in several Christian groups on campus, and wanted to work to make sure re- ligious groups were not discrimi- nated against. Still, while the new elected offi- cials were assuming many new re- sponsibilities, they were still regular students. "To be honest, right now, all I'm thinking about are my final exams, said Burks. Citizens protest missile railway to pass through Ann Arbor by Elisabeth Weinstein Dailv Staff Writer missiles around the country, in an attempt to make their lnctinn harder to ninnoint in the height of a seven story building and spills," Hannah-Davies said, and added two weioh three-and-a-half times a fnl freiicht of those derailments nccrred in Ann Arhnr. Dr. Arthur Vander, University physiol- nov nrnfpeqnr' cair th,'r twini -1A