TODAY Afternoon sun; High: 68, Low: 53. TOMORROW Mostly sunny; High: 71, Low: 46. 4w 44406V it I t!gau 7471 tIll wNShD.F.. MSA should organize students against cops. See OPINION Page 4. One hundred and one years of editorial freedom Vol. CII, No. 2 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Tuesday, October 1, 1991 the Mtnhgan Activists rally against Belleville Cracker Barrel by David Wartowski BELLEVILLE, Mich. - About 100 people rallied yesterday after- noon outside the newly-opened Cracker Barrel restaurant in Belleville, protesting a company policy that prohibits gay men and lesbians from working for the Southern-based chain. The protest, which was met by a smaller counter-demonstration, was broken up by Van Buren Township police dressed in riot gear. Protests began nine and a half months ago in opposition to Cracker Barrel firing its gay employees. Protesters estimate 12 to 15 people have been fired under the policy. George Frisbie, a former Cracker Barrel employee of more than three years, said he was fired after a com- pany vice president circulated "internal memos" that claimed gay and lesbian employees did not up- hold "traditional heterosexual val- ues," and called for their dismissal. Tom Zerafa, a member of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power- Detroit, an AIDS activist organiza- tion, claimed the franchise fired its gay and lesbian employees because it feared they would infect food with the AIDS virus. Zerafa said too many people assume that all homo- sexuals have AIDS. The demonstration soon devel- oped into a verbal confrontation be- tween the protesters and a group of 20 to 30 local residents who op- posed the rally. While protesters chanted, "Anti-union, anti-gay, Cracker Bar- rel bigots go away!" counter- demonstrators retorted, "Adam and Eve! Adam and Eve!" Kevin Snowdon, who stood with friends watching the protest, felt the demonstration was "wrong." He laughed at the protesters, saying that "they should write their con- gressman ... not get in my way." A man who identified himself only as Victor the Baptist stood silently, with a bible in his hand, watching the demonstrators. He said Cracker Barrel has the "right to hire and fire anyone they want." Frisbie said his initial shock of being fired turned to anger when he realized there was no organization to help him get his job back.. "Well, he does now," said Ron Woods, a Huntington Woods ac- tivist who led the protest. Woods said he hopes to get the former em- ployees' jobs back, along with back pay and former status. In anticipation of the counter- demonstration, several activists in drag distributed mock flyers, pre- tending to call for, "No homoerotic art on the walls of the restaurant; only pictures of flowers, Norman Rockwell prints, and smiling nor- mal heterosexuals." Protests have been organized over the last nine months in several Southern states and now Michigan, Woods said, "and soon to be Ohio." Cracker Barrel officials have re- fused to comment on the protests. The protesters plan to return to the Cracker Barrel this Sunday at 11 a.m. for another protest. County lacks $2,135 in late filing fines by David Rheingold Daily City Reporter Many local political candidates and committees that have turned in their election files late still owe the county hundreds of dollars in overdue fines, Washtenaw County records show. Moreover, the county treasurer says his office lacks the legal means to collect such fines. Prosecuting the offenders, he says, would only further overburden the prosecuting attorney. The state requires local candidates for public office and major political parties to file campaign statements with the county. They must turn in these statements by certain dates, or else pay daily late fees. But a recent examination of such files showed that many of these fines have not been enforced. Last year, the county estimated there were $2,135 in outstanding fees. County Senior Elections Specialist Dan Byrne said he has tried to contact several of the violators. But many people with overdue fees said last night that they do not recall being contacted about them. Some of those who the county claims owe late fees include: the Ann Arbor Democratic Women's Club, $970. Former treasurer Mary Jo Gord said she assumed the position without much knowledge of the situation. "I was never really treasurer in anything other than name, but by the time we needed anyone's name on the form, (Councilmember) Thais Peterson asked if I could do it," she said. County Treasurer candidate Kenneth Latta, $610. Latta could not be reached for comment. Ann Arbor Democratic Party, $410. Party chair Sabra Briere said she had no information about these dues, and added that the party disputes some of the fines because it has not always funded candidates. "As a rule of thumb, the party has not been so flush that we can provide large sums of money to candi- dates," she said. Ann Arbor Councilmember Larry Hunter (D-1st Ward), $300. Hunter refused to comment. City Council candidate Ed Surovell, $300. Surovell said he had not been contacted about the over- See FEES, Page 2 U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Ne b.) speaks to supporters at a rally in Lincoln, Ne b., yesterday. Kerrey announced he will seek his party's 1992 nomination for president. Nebraska Sen. Kerrey " " joins race for LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, portraying himself as a bold new leader for a country gone astray, entered the Democratic presidential race yesterday with a call to change course after a decade of greed and cynicism. "My generation is uniquely positioned to understand what must be done," the 48-year- old senator told thousands of cheering sup- porters who gathered in the shadow of the state Capitol where he served one term as governor. "It is time for leadership in America committed to posterity rather than popular- presiden cy ity and focused on the next generation in- stead of the next election." The charismatic Vietnam War hero por- trayed himself as the best man to shake the Democratic Party from its lethargy and make it once again "the party that reached out to those bent low and raised our sights to the moon." Kerrey said the hopes of his generation had been dashed in the 1980s by shortsighted leaders. "I believe Americans know deep in their bones that something is terribly wrong and See KERREY, Page 2 " MSA to write new chapter in group recognition epic by Purvi Shah Daily MSA Reporter The verbal volleys are ready to be served: a proposal for automatic student group recognition is on the table for tonight's meeting of the Michigan Student Assembly. Automatic student group recog- nition was one of the main issues in last year's MSA elections. The Conservative Coalition, which took 14 of 24 seats on the assembly, promised to push for recognition of all student groups. Recognition entitles a student group to petition MSA for funding, office space allocation, tables in the . State cuts may hurt library services by Joshua Meckler Daily Staff Reporter The University's library system, already strapped for funds and fac- ing a possible 2 percent budget cut later this year, may reduce book pur- chases, hire fewer personnel, and re- duce operating hours. Donald Riggs, dean of the Uni- versity Library, said, "I will do ev- erything I can not to reduce library hours. But, if we're faced with a $400,000 deduction, the money has to come from somewhere." Robert Holbrook, associate vice president for academic affairs, said the University was expecting a "negative supplemental" from the state government. A negative sup- plemental occurs when the state keeps some of the money it 0 promised to allocate, effectively re- Fishbowl and authorization for ral- lies on the Diag. Student groups as defined in the old and new proposed MSA code must have at least five members. In addition, a majority of members must be students and at least two-thirds of members must be University students, alumni or faculty. Members cannot profit financially. Student group recognition has a volatile history. In February 1989, the Cornerstone Christian Fellowship (CCF) was derecog- nized by the Central Student Judiciary (CSJ) - the judicial branch of MSA - on the basis that it discriminated against gay men and lesbians by refusing them leadership positions within the organization. At the time, CCF representative Rev. Mike Caulk commented that the organization allowed homosex- uals as "suspended members" until they repented. When MSA went through the recognition process again in October 1989, CCF was granted official stu- dent group status. But when the Lesbian and Gay Rights Organization Committee filed a complaint with CSJ, arguing that CCF's recognition violated the anti-discrimination clause of the as- sembly's constitution, CCF was derecognized again. The group was recognized again in the spring of 1990. The new proposal would elimi- nate anti-discrimination and anti- hazing clauses from the recognition rules. "I think the biggest potential for opposition is our definition of student groups doesn't have any anti-discriminatory or anti-hazing clause that the old one had," said Engineering Rep. Brian Kight, vice- chair of the rules and elections committee. However, Rules and Elections Committee Chair Greg Morrison said that MSA will still be in con- trol of which groups will receive funding and room allocations even after automatic recognition. Only basic privileges, including the ability to assemble on the Diag and obtain a table in the Fishbowl, would be granted to all recognized groups, Kight said. "What we're trying to do is de- politicize it and give all groups op- portunity for basic recognition," Kight said. "Any student group re- gardless of their political views would be able to get the very basic privileges of recognition." Despite assurances by Kight and Morrison, Rackham Rep. Max Ochoa said the anti-discrimination and anti-hazing clauses are necessary. "I'm going to propose an amendment reinstating the discrim- ination and hazing parts," Ochoa said. "I suppose the overall goal of this is to streamline the student recognition process, but keeping the discrimination and hazing clauses is crucial. We don't silently condone any type of discrimination." Ochoa argued that the new pro- posal would not affect the politi- See MSA, Page 2 Congress to debate new student loan program Banks, universities square off in financial feud by Stefanie Vines Daily Government Reporter A proposal to streamline government student loans, which is pitting universities and student lobbying groups against a vocal banking industry, will be introduced today in the House subcommittee on post-secondary education. After the subcommittee makes its recom- mendations, the bill will go to a Senate sub- committee for further debate. The bill includes a new loan program that would scrap the current $10.8 billion-a-year Stafford Loan - also referred to as Guaran- teed Student Loans - and replace it with a direct student-loan program. Under the current program, students ap- ply through a private lender, such as a bank, to obtain student loans. Under the new pro- gram, students would receive money directly through their universities and the federal government. The application process would be made easier and decreased costs and taxes could mean lower interest rates. The bill would also expand Pell Grants, guaranteeing more grants to students at a cost of an estimated $5 billion. cal restructuring of the loan delivery mecha- nism would pose a serious risk that loans would not be made at all." Hough said the direct loan program would not cost less than Guaranteed Student Loans or simplify loan administration for .schools, but would instead increase the ad- ministrative costs and risks for schools. Fritz Elmendorf, vice-president of com- munications for the Consumer Bankers Asso- ciation, said the program is not workable. "We don't think the savings will be real," he said. "There are a lot of operational problems in letting the government take over where banks have been doing it success- fully." The Consumer Bankers Association and Sallie May sent a letter to subcommittee chair Rep. William Ford (D-Mich.) and to ranking minority member Rep. Thomas Coleman (R-Mo.) opposing the direct stu- dent-loan program. Craig Orfield, press secretary for Cole- man, said the problem lies in the institutions, not with the banks. "If you have students performing poorly and not receiving enough aid then you have to 'M . ;