r Mosty cloudy; High: 50, Low: 35. TOMORROW Mostly cloudy; High: 51, Low: 37. 446V 4v 4v 74YI tit WNSIDE... The world is Pearl Jam's oyster. See ARTS Page 5. One hundred and one years of editorial freedom Vol. CIl, No. 39 Ann Arbor, Michigan- Thursday, November 21, 1991 I CC party .corners LSA-SG elections by Purvi Shah Daily MSA Reporter The brouhaha over the dearth of non-Conservative Coalition (CC) candidates vying for LSA student government seats may be eclipsed by the fact that a CC candidate was omitted from Tuesday ballots and added yesterday. BALLOT BOX Two same-sex couples sign up as partners by David Rheingold Daily City Reporter to domestic partners that they nor- - Although polls officially closed last night, CC candidate for LSA- SG president Brett White said Elec- tion Director Carrie Pittman indi- cated elections would be repeated if CC candidate Andy Russell loses. Russell's omission from the bal- 0* lots does nothing, however, to change the fact that the election slate of 16 candidates is dominated by 15 CC members. Poll workers said many students questioned the purpose of voting af- ter discovering on LSA-SG ballots that only one of the two major par- ties was running. After voting for LSA-SG candidates, LSA sophomore Roopa Oasbaz said, "What the point was I don't know." Mark Bernstein, a former LSA- SG representative and Students for Academic and Institutional Devel- opment (SAID) party member, said LSA-SG has been a valuable tool to the Michigan Student Assembly in the past because it appoints three or four candidates to the assembly ev- ery year. , See ELECTION, Page 3 What sharp teeth you have KIS This very ferocious allosaurus dinosaur head is on display at the University's Natural Science Museum. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Late turkey-day brings stress to students; 'no thanks,' they say Two couples registered under Ann Arbor's Domestic Partnership Ordinance yesterday, the first day it was in effect. The ordinance allows any two unmarried people - whether they're heterosexual or homosexual - to register their relationship with City Hall. Sally Johnson and Nona McKenna, of Dexter, became the first registrants in Ann Arbor, the only city in the state of Michigan with such an ordinance. The couple refused to comment. The City Council passed the or- dinance at its Nov. 4 meeting, after listening to 103 people speak about it during a public hearing that lasted more than four hours. The city clerk's office has since received about 40 inquiries concern- ing the ordinance, but so far only two couples have actually regis- tered, said City Clerk Winifred Northcross. "We've been told that a lot of people who'd like to come in and register their relationships are wary of this," Northcross said. "They're worried about their careers. They're professional people, people who have clients that might be concerned if they do that. And it is public in- formation." Chris McCown, who registered with Jayne Miller yesterday, said one reason for the low turnout might be that recognition by the city comes with no clear and imme- diate benefits. For instance, the or- dinance does not require that em- ployers extend the same job benefits mally extend to married couples. "The difficulty with people tak- ing advantage of this ordinance is that it's a big step to take when there isn't a clear ... benefit to cou- ples," McCown said. McCown and Miller are both 'employees of the city Department of Parks and Recreation. Yet Miller said the ordinance has other intrinsic values. "It's important in that it's a symbolic recognition that these re 'It's important in that it's a symbolic recognition thatthese relationships are valid and these relationships are important in society' - Jayne Miller lationships are valid and these rela- tionships are important in society," Miller said. Last spring, the city decided to grant some benefits to McCown and Miller, including sick and funeral leave, much like those it extends to married couples. Miller said she sees the next step as extending health insurance benefits to city employees who register themselves as domestic partners. The city administration is cur- rently studying such a proposal. City Finance Director Dean Moore said that based on preliminary fig- ures, he estimates the city would See ORDINANCE, Page 2 by Joshua Meckler Daily Staff Reporter Last year at this time, most University students were home with their families, getting ready to enjoy a huge Thanksgiving day feast. The Macy's parade was on televi- sion, and a warm fire was crackling in the fireplace. Yet this year, because Thanksgiving falls a week later than usual, the food and flames have been replaced by a feast of books and the fire of stress. Since the beginning of the semester, students have endured 11 straight weeks of class without a break, and some say they are starting to feel the effects. "These past two weeks, it seems as though professors try to get as much done as they can before Thanksgiving. and the workload piles up, creating mega-stress," said Oren Harary, an LSA senior. Sandy Spiroff, a senior in actuar- ial science, said she too is feeling pressured. "I have a lot of every- thing - meetings, things due, and group projects." James Hansell, a lecturer in psy- chology and a clinical psychologist at the University psychological clinic, said this year's late Thanksgiving vacation could impart extra stress on students. "I'm sure it could add some stress because one way to handle stress is to get away. "Particularly for the freshmen - people away from home for the first time. It's a long stretch to go See STRESS, Page 2 As LSA junior Jenny Mandel studies in the UGLi, she thinks about eating turkey and sleeping in her own bed at home. ..... - v GA cuts ba by Erin Einhorn Daily Staff Reporter Before his General Assistance checks stopped coming last month, Joel was living in an apartment with his girlfriend. They struggled to make ends meet. Their Ann Arbor home was run down, but it had a roof. They both lance budg< 82,000 impoverished, able-bodied adults on Oct. 1. Now, more than a month later, Joel, like many of his friends, must dress for work at a homeless shel- ter and sleep on a cot. "I just started working again," said Joel, who refused to give his full name. "And the system is just shutting doors left and right." He said he works 40 hours a week at a restaurant in order to make $600 per month - which must cover all his expenses. Renting the cheapest apartment, he said, would cost $350. He said he must additionally pay for food, electricity, laundry, and personal needs and transportation to and from the restaurant where ' he works. GA, which amounted to $144 plus food stamps, used to cover the extra costs. It used to keep Joel off the streets. "I've seen my friends go from having places of their own and a sense of self-worth to seeing them living in the gutters," he said. put some on street "It's sickening to see what the government is doing to people ... It's sad the government is hurting the people it supposedly wants to help." But representatives from Gov. John Engler's administration said they think cuts were necessary in the face of a budget deficit problem dating back to the early 1970s. GA cuts D political in by Mona Qureshi Daily Staff Reporter A backstage rivalry between the Democrat-led Michigan House of Representatives and Republican- led Senate explains many of the problems behind the state General Assistance (GA) cuts. Mary Dettloff, a spokesperson for House Speaker Louis Dodak (D- Birch Run), said Democrats op- posed the cuts as well as compro- -mises offered by Republican Gov. "We had no choice," said John Truscott, Engler's press secretary. "We have a balanced budget re- quirement, and you can only spend as much money as you have." They said they decided to cut GA on the premise that able-bodied adults would be able to find jobs or support themselves better than See CUTS, Page 2 ropelled by iighting John Engler's administration from the beginning. Additionally, com- promises offered by Democrats have been rejected by Engler and Republicans in the Senate, she said. As the Oct. 1 budget deadline for the new fiscal year approached, said Dettloff, the rivalry intensi- fied. Two weeks before the budget was due, Budget Director Patti Woodworth told the legislature that revenues would be lower than See POLITICS, Page 2 Tomorrow: Michigan joins six other states that have no gen- eral assistance programs. worked hard and saved money for the day when they could live to- gether without depending on monthly checks. But recession winds chilled hands receiving government assis- tance when a $1.3 billion budget deficit caused the state to cut Gen- eral Assistance (GA) funding to AEL Namerow elected new IFC president Forget your umbrella? Kriesta Watson, an [SA sophomore, uses her coat to protect her head from yesterday's rain and wind as she waits for the bus. New MCC stance on tuition caps matches 'U' position by Barry Cohen Bruce Namerow of Alpha Ep- silon Pi won the presidency of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) at executive board elections last night, defeating Jarred Silverman of Theta Chi. In his speech before votes were cast, Namerow focused on the BYOB issue. "Fortunately, it has been left up to houses and representatives to decide among themselves what the policy should be," Namerow said. After winning the election with an undisclosed number of votes, Namerow clarified the di- rection he would like to see the move on and accomplish a lot of new goals, and we're all going to work together like never seen be- fore. Also, I hope the students at the University come to see the Greek system for what it really is. We are concerned and responsible people," he added. Namerow also. said he would like to address many important is- sues that have been swept under the rug by the BYOB issue such as: the need to implement sexual and al- cohol awareness programs throughout the Greek system and the importance of voting drive to increase the Greeks' voice in the Ann Arbor community. "I have every confidence in Bruce's ability to take the Greek system in some solid and new di- rections," said LSA senior Matt Commers, the outgoing IFC presi- dent. Jeff LeMaster captured the ex- ecutive vice-president position, de- feating three other candidates. He said that he would try to handle any infractions of the BYOB policy See IFC, Page 2 Alcohol policy committee member rips task force by Stefanie Vines Daily Government Reporter The Michigan Collegiate Coalition (MCC) and the University have disagreed on the is- versities to the inflation rate. The University, however, op- posed such a tuition cap - and has since been at loggerheads with MCC, which receives 35 cents from by Ben Deci Daily Staff Reporter A member of the committee that is nearing completion on a new alcohol policy for the Greek sys- a policy on Joe and Jane Greek." Lewis, president of Chi Psi fra- ternity, said, "(They) want the pressure coming from the national organization, not University of target campus is not necessarily a negative thing and is not influenc- ing the committee. "Target campus is not always concerned with alco- hol issues, that is not the primary II