Page 14-The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition - Thursday, September 6, 1990 Deputized security: another traditional summer move a K. Slings 8 Arrows PhilCohn Welcome to another year (or, if it's your first, Welcome aboard!). As usual, the Board of Regents spent the students' off season plowing through the business they'd just as soon not have people pay much at- tention to. So there was a quaint proposal from renowned homophobe Regent Deane Baker to provide an "alternative" counseling center for students seeking answers about gay and lesbian life. Baker is not satisfied with the Lesbian and Gay Men's Programing Office, because he's afraid they're "biased," possibly "in favor" of homosexuality. He wants an office funded that will provide the service of talking confused students out of being who they are. Isn't education great? They also picked another Old Boy from within the University to pro- mote. This time it was Business School Dean Gilbert Whitaker, who got the in-house nod for the position of University Provost and Vice Pres- ident for Academic Affairs. But the biggest coup of the summer was the proposal to create an autonomous University police force. Under a law just approved by the State, public schools in Michi- gan are now free to send their own gun-toting cops out amongst the students, free from the constraints of any of those quasi-democratic insti- tutions like local governments. Whereas before this year Univer- sity cops were generally deputized under a local police agency-if they were deputized at all-now they only have to answer to the Regents, in- cluding Deane Baker. See above. Deputized University cops per- formed their first public mission at President James J. (for Jimmy) Dud- erstadt's Inaugural Ball at Hill Audi- torium, in October of '88. Some students were unhappy with the ille- gal, air-tight, in-house selection pro- cess which culminated in promoting yet another Old-Boy-networker to a position of power. They held a peaceful protest. So, with the help of the Ann Ar- bor Police (remember, the 'U' didn't have it's own force yet), the Univer- sity police assaulted the protestors, dropping one to the ground with enough force to give her a concus- sion, and arresting another. The next month, angry students demanded to meet with the President after the administration released a re- port on Latino students which was chock full of lies. The response from University police was swift and sure (student safety can't be compromised by inefficiency). Several students had their hands slammed in a door as they were barricaded into a stairwell and trapped for half an hour. The political reality that the Uni- versity adminiSIration faces is this: there are times when they need ugly- cop services, things people don't much like to see, and things people might just try to make trouble about. This includes busting heads (see Vietnam). And that's just easier when the political fallout has to fil- ter in through a state-wide vote (how the Regents are elected), and when the cops in question don't have to worry about the elected careers of their bosses. It gets worse, though. The law passed by the State empowers Uni- versity police forces to enforce local and state laws, as well as university regulations. That wouldn't be such a big deal if anybody at all outside of the ad- ministration had a guaranteed say in the creation of these regulations. In fact, with Regental Bylaw 2.01 con- veniently in his back pocket, Presi- dent Jim himself can just impose laws, without asking anyone at all. And he's done it. And who would question him if he had a pack of armed private security guards to back it up? Fortunately, you and I don't have to stand for this sitting down. Stu- a w. l To Protect 'X..X ............... ;: ::.1s. , J"i., r: :;:;:;:; .mot fir. ..4 and :1":":"Serve'4 4 . ... . .... wwwmmwmmwm", done by various other groups. "What I foresee is starting out with tons of information," she told me, "just so people start seeing what it's all about from the beginning. MSA has the capacity of being the organizing body, of networking." That's a beginning. Van Valey also knows that "the only way the Re- gents will respond is if we actually do something." Stay tuned. Van Valey throws MSA into the debate knowing full well the politi- cal flak she's in for. In last year's elections her opponents made any progress they did off arguments that MSA should be "non-political," and basically stay out of campus or other politics outside of fighting for lower tuition (a worthy cause) or promot- ing meal plan reform (wow). "That's such a stupid argument," she said. "MSA is never going to be non-political, and they don't want it to be non-political. They're just pissed off because it's not their poli- tics. There will always be people opposed," she adds. "But that's the worst reason to cower away from it." In a country which sends more Black men to prison than to college, where seizing property without even making the pretense of filing crimi- nal charges is openly sanctioned by the courts, and where police power are continuously being expanded (thP FBI finally buckled down and changed the policy prohibiting its officers from shooting people in the back), resisting the militarization of our campus takes on -an importance, which extends beyond the confines of Ann Arbor. Cohen is an LSA junior and regu larly has a column in the Daily' Weekend Magazine dents have already begun developing a plan to resist the creation of the v isit private police force. Michigan Student Assembly President Jennifer Van Valey is planning to get the Assembly in- U.S. 23 AT WASHTENAW AVENUE volved, in addition to the work being ...................... .......... ............. ..................................... . . ............... . ... .... ... % % ................................... ... ................... . ............................. .............. .... .......................... ... . .......... . .. .... . .. . ...... . .......... ......... X. X . . ......... % ................ ..................... . ............ ............... ... ................. %%% Same Day Contacts MACS continued from page 10 computer hardware and software to students, faculty and staff at reduced rates. Masten said the University sold approximately 3,000 computers last year, and approximately eighty- five percent of those were Macs. "Perceived ease of use," was the reason Masten offered for the Uni- versity's affection for the Mac. "It is the user interface that people make their decisions on." The Mac sports an icon-based interface, whereas the IBM clones are command based. But, Masten said the IBM and its clones now have programming, called "Windows" which adds the icon in- terface. For those students who will be returning this fall to the computing centers to do papers, Masten said the upgrades on the Macintosh software this fall .won't be radically change the programming in place last spring. The University will be consider- ing a massive upgrade of the public facility computers in the beginning of 1991, when Apple releases Sys- tem 7. But System 7 will require more memory than the current com- puters have, and thus will be an ex- pensive transition. TUITION Continued from page 1 as promised last fall by University President James Duderstadt. Out-of- state undergraduates were hit with a nine percent increase - also keeping in line with his vows to keep those increases below ten percent. The tuition increases were a part of the University's 1990-91 operat- ing budget approved by the regents. A 0.4 percent budget reduction for every school and college and the elimination of $3 million for build- ing renovation were among several cuts in the budget. The regents blamed the state leg islature for the tight budget and tu ition increases. The University re ceived a five percent increase - 3.5 percent below their request. "I think the combination of the, state appropriations... and the bud' getary response... is a very sad one,* said Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor), adding that there is a direct connection between low state fund- ing and tuition increases. The budget, he said, "makes me feel kind of as though somebody punched me in the pit of my stom- ach." CORRECTION In the Greek story on page 3 of the NSE University section, there were several errors. Sharon Oster was a member of the Sigma Delta Tau sorority house before she deactivated. Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association are the bodies which oversee the entire Greek system. Julie Hale is the president of Pi Beta Phi. In additon, information regarding the Greek system's contribution to local charities, for which they raise thousands of dollars each year, was omitted. The Daily apologizes for these mistakes. Includes examination, our standard daily-wear lenses, instructions and follow up care. We Specialize In All Types Of Contact Lenses! R) OPTOMETRY eye care centers ARBORLAND e 973-7035 .