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A century of editorial freedom
LS&A
vs.
Engineering.
See WEEKEND.
'Vol. Cl, No. 152 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Friday, September 20, 1991 Cpig
The Michigan Daily
GEO rallies;
no accord as
strike looms
by Lynne Cohn
ndAndrew Levy
Daily Staff Reporters-
About 35 Graduate Employees Organization (GEO)
members chanted "We can't work this way no more!"
and wore gags over their mouths during a solidarity
rally in front of the Fleming Building yesterday.
The rally could be the union's last before a strike
that seems increasingly likely.
GEO leaders organized the rally, which pre-empted
yesterday's first Fall meeting of the University's
Board of Regents, to "publicly demand that the regents
and University administration bargain in good faith"
for a fair contract for teaching assistants (TA), accord-
ing to a union press statement.
University TAs have been working without a con-
tract since April. Bargainers for both the University
and the GEO have been seeking a "fair" common
ground in their contract negotiations under the super-
vision of state-appointed mediator Charles Jamerson.
The University has tendered its final offer to GEO,
but neither GEO members nor University bargainers
were able to comment on the details of the offer due to
* a gag order imposed by Jamerson.
"We've got the best offer we can get through nego-
tiations," said GEO President Tom Oko, who added
that if the contract was unsatisfactory, it would be up
to the membership to decide what to do next.
"We have one card left in the deck, and that is to
strike if we don't like the contract," Oko said.
The University's final offer, the content of which is
subject to the gag order, will be voted on at the GEO's
membership meeting on Monday. A rejection of the
contract by the full membership could set the stage for
a strike.
Students interviewed on the Diag were generally
supportive of the GEO in their negotiations.
"TAs deserve the money that they want," said Jully
'We have one card left in the
deck, and that is to strike if we
don't like the contract'
-GEO President Tom Oko
Park, an Engineering junior. "I mean TAs are students
too, so I can sympathize with their situation."
Park said GEO was justified in choosing to rally
because, "I guess they feel that they have to do
something, and a rally might be the was to do it."
Robert Wright, a landscape and design junior, said,
See GEO, Page 2
Blaze destroys
student house;
tenants escape
by Andrew Levy
and JoAnne Viviano
Daily Staff Reporters
A fire turned a house behind
South Quad into a blazing inferno
last night, drawing a flurry of po-
lice and fire engines, as well as more
than 350 curious onlookers.
None of the residents were in-
jured in the fire, though Firefighter
Bruce Schmidt was taken to the
University Medical Center where
he was treated for smoke inhalation
and released.
The fire at the three-story house
at 522 Monroe Street was reported
at 7:12 p.m. by LSA senior Chris
Holmes, a resident of a neighboring
house.
Police and fire units appeared on
the scene at about 7:18 p.m.
"Initial response to the fire was
14 firemen and three or four
trucks," said Ann Arbor Fire De-
partment Fire Inspector Dennis
Hasley.
That total soon increased to
more than six trucks and 30-40 fire-
fighters, including off-duty person-
nel. At least six Ann Arbor police
officers were on the scene.
University Department of Hous-
ing Security officers from neighbor-
ing South Quad also appeared on the
scene to help control the crowd.
The fire, which Hasley said may
have started in the basement,
quickly spread through the walls
and by 8 p.m. had engulfed the roof.
The roof collapsed at 8:45 p.m.
Firefighters launched water
canons at the blaze from the front
and back of the house.
As a precautionary measure, a
neighboring house and the Univer-
sity Plaza apartment complex were
evacuated. These buildings were di-
rectly in the line of the smoke,
which was blowing due east.
See FIRE, Page 2
The house at 522 Monroe caught fire shortly after 7 p.m. last night. One firefighter was
hospitalized for smoke inhalation after battling the blaze. The cause of fire is unknown.
Police, students. at odds over parties
by Melissa Peerless
Daily Crime Reporter
University students have been
greeted this fall by two very different
faces of the Ann Arbor Police Depart-
ment (AAPD).
On one side is a department eager to
improve police-student relations with
community patrols and meetings with
Greek system leaders.
DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS
The other side has been an often un-
welcome increase in police presence dur-
ing the first weeks of school - a tradi-
tionally party-filled month.
This year police have been more visi-
ble at parties and on campus than most
students can remember. More parties
have been broken up, more tickets issued.
And a great deal of confusion still re-
mains regarding the police tear-gassing
of a crowd of football fans early last
Saturday morning.
Many students feel that the increased
police regulation of student activities is
in direct conflict with the AAPD's goal
of improving relations.
However, the police assert that their
actions are consistent with their pursuit
of a more positive rapport - and they
are prepared to defend themselves
against a groundswell of student criti-
cism.
"We have been putting out a noisy-
party detail for the past three years,"
said AAPD Lt. Allen Hartwig. "It's
not a new thing. This year, it's just more
noticeable because the parties seem to be
larger and more numerous."
He added that another major differ-
ence this year is the consistent use of
two plainclothes agents to investigate
parties.
Marc Silbergeld, president of Chi Phi
fraternity, said he felt it was unfair to
send officers in the guise of students to a
party.
"Usually, a uniformed officer will
come to a party and issue a warning.
Then, if the problem persists, officers
will come back and give tickets. This
year, the undercover cops are coming in,
scouting around, and then uniformed po-
lice come in and give us tickets with no
warning," he said.
Silbergeld added, "I'm not even sure
if it's legal for undercover cops to come
in and give tickets. I think police can't
come in unless they're invited."
Although many other students also
question the legality of citations issued
from the observations of "undercover
cops," Hartwig said that proper proce-
dure has been followed at all parties this
year.
"The plainclothes officers have gone
up to the door of the party. They have
been asked for I.D. and asked a question
or two. They always ask, 'Can we come
into your party?' or something like that.
We have never used any force at all. We
have always been admitted," he said.
The undercover agents' use of student
I.D.s has led some people to suspect that
the University administration plays
some sort of role in the crackdown.
However, Hartwig said that the
AAPD has not asked the University for
help.
"The University I.D.s are ones that
have been turned in to us because they
have been lost by students. We have not
called on the University to make us fake
See POLICE, Page 2
.City Council parties to meet
in bipartisan caucus session
In wake of election, groups adjust to 8-3 Democratic nmjority
by David Rheingold
Daily City Reporter
Anybody who attended an Ann
Arbor City Council meeting before
last April's city elections may have
noticed an increase in tension and ar-
guing between Democrats and
Republicans.
But much of this partisan bicker-
ing has persisted even after the
elections.
DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS
Now, both sides may have an op-
6 portunity to straighten out some of
their differences when they meet for
the first time in a joint caucus ses-
sion Sunday evening.
Democrats say they see the ses-
sion as an opportunity to increase
communications between parties,
but Republicans are skeptical that it
may be a Democratic tactic to create
a veneer of bipartisanship on the
council.
Mayor Liz Brater, who in the
summer proposed two such meet-
ings every month, said she first con-
ceived the idea while she served as a
council member.
"I said when I was running for
office that this was an important
way to increase communication be-
tween council members," she said.
"It's important to meet in a work
setting wi!.iout a set agenda. It's an
opportunity to work together
informally."
The event will be the first time
both parties have gathered in such an
environment since Brater and the 8-3
Democratic majority - the largest
since 1969 - took control of the
council in April.
Since then, several issues have
split the council along party lines
- often resulting in bitter disputes
- including:
. The Kline's lot parking struc-
ture. The previous Republican-con-
trolled council opted to build this
carport, but Democrats killed it af-
ter taking office;
The 1991-92 city budget.
Democrats drafted a budget that
trimmed City Hall spending, but
Republicans criticized Democrats
for not accepting their input, and;
The removal of City Attorney
R. Bruce Laidlaw. Democrats al-
lowed Laidlaw to retire early with-
out facing any pension penalties,
aInne with near1v $000 in ether
Republicans complained of ex-
clusion during the budget and
Laidlaw processes, but Democrats
counter that Republicans simply did
not have enough members to affect
the outcomes.
"I guess their version is if
there's no agreement, the process is
closed," said Councilmember Larry
Hunter (D-1st Ward).
Part of the Republicans' prob-
lem stems from the fact that they
hold such a small minority on the
council.
"I think there isn't a great need
for Democrats to get along with
Republicans because it is so one-
sided and because Republican votes
are really meaningless," Ouimet
said. "It's more what we say and the
issues that we feel are important,
such as the waste of taxpayers' dol-
lars that have occurred since April
1."
Democrats, however, charge that
Republicans often try to stir up
controversy solely for the purpose
of tarnishing council Democrats'
images.
"The Republicans have such a
small minority that they feel the
only thing they can do is try to make
the Democrats look bad. Anything
the Democrats do, they actively
don't participate in and actively
complain about afterward," said
Councilmember Kurt Zimmer (D-
'Round and 'round and 'round he goes ..
where Ben Sayler will land, nobody knows. Diane Matsushima of Los Angeles had a swinging time yesterday
with her nephew while students looked on in fear and admiration.
For Antonina Sharova, distant
upheavals strike close to home
by Jacquelyn Glick want to know what people thought Union nor as an economic failt
ure
In a newly established student
exchange program between the
United States and the Soviet Union,
Antonina Sharova found a rare op-
portunity to come to North
Americ a
about us," said Sharova.+
In the house she lives in with
two other graduate students of an-
thropology, she discussed the many
changes now ocurring in Russia.
There are now more cultural
creating uncontrollable unemploy-
ment, racism, and suffering, Sharova
said.
"In the last two years the
Russian people have been trying to
understand the market economy in
,u~