Everyone knows the grass is always greener in
Ann Arbor, and recent city legislation should
ensure that this Tree City, USA, won't become a
concrete jungle.
WEEKEND etc.
What is a college student's favorite way to both
relax and stay in shape? Sex, of course. Explore
the topic fully in a special Valentine's edition of
the annual Health & Fitness issue.
Home hasn't always been sweet for the
Michigan men's basketball team, but last night
the Wolverines put on quite a show for their fans,
defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes, 79-74.
Today
Mostly cloudy;.
High: 35, Low: 28
Tomorrow
Cloudy, showers; High 38, Low 30
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One hundred and one years of editorial freedom
Vol. C1, No.76 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Thursday, February 13, 1992 The Mgan Daily
Group wants
November A
city elections
by Erin Einhorn
Daily City Reporter
2
Controversy
builds over
Diag shanty
More students would vote in City elections if
they were held in November instead of April, said
members of a new group dedicated to including City
Council and mayoral elections on the state and na-
tional ballot.
The group, Voter Initiative for November Elec-
tions (VINE), formed in September, hopes to collect
enough signatures to make this a ballot issue for the
November 1992 vote.
"Student turnout is pathetically low in April,"
VINE spokesperson Dana Miller said. "This will def-
initely benefit students."
Engineering junior Chris Nikolauk agreed.
Nikolauk is registered to vote in Ann Arbor, and
although he cast his vote for governor from a local
precinct, he has never voted in an April election.
"I didn't know about the elections, and I didn't re-
ally know what was going on in Ann Arbor govern-
ment," he said.
Several campus groups, including the Michigan
Student Assembly, the College Republicans and the
College Democrats, have already endorsed the cam-
paign, and members of these groups will help petition
for signatures.
Rackham MSA representative Amy Polk voted
against the resolution at MSA.
'Of all the issues that students should spend their
energy on ... I just think this is not a productive use,"
she said.
Polk said having city elections in April didn't
bother her.
"I don't know," Polk said. "I kind of like them in
April. It allowed me to vote for Governor Douglas
Wilder in Virginia in November and then for Larry
Hunter (D-1st Ward) in April."
Miller pointed out that while only about 20,000
voters turn out for a typical April election, as many
as 55,000 come to the polls in November.
"Another reason to move the elections to Novem-
ber," Miller said, "is to save the taxpayer's money."
City Clerk Winifred Northcross said the city ex-
pects to spend between $20,000 and $25,000 per elec-
tion if there is a contest in all five wards.
But since money already needs to be spent on the
November election, Miller said the city could save
the entire cost previously spent for an extra election.
VINE proposes that primaries be held in August
along with the state primaries.
But Miller wanted to stress that although the
campaign has been endorsed only by campus groups so
far, it is an issue for the community.
"This will benefit the entire citizenry of Ann Ar-
bor," Miller said.
VINE must submit signatures from five percent
of the 76,250 voters in Ann Arbor to the city clerk by
August.
by Karen Talaski
Student protests against police
redeputization became a shanty
with barbed wire fences, gun tow-
ers, and bloody chalkboards in the
Diag yesterday morning.
"It is a view of the future if the
police go out of hand. The front of
the University is pristine and
white. But then we see the interior -
the Department of Public Safety
(DPS)," Ann Arbor resident Brian
Logie said.
"It shows a lot of radical im-
ages which people may take offense
to. But the point is to heighten
public awareness of the redeputiza-
tion of campus police and the meet-
ings about it."
The shanty front consists of
replicas of Angell Hall and the
Burton clock tower. The other side
of the buildings reveals a hidden
gun tower, and a DPS office filled
with regents' rule books, a
"Terminator" movie poster and a
bloody chalkboard surrounded by
barbed wire fencing.
The shanty's three main
builders began the project at 7:30
a.m. and finished at 2 p.m. Builders
said the shanty will not be pro-
tected and will remain standing
until the University decides to take
it down.
"We can't do without the po-
lice. That's a set fact," said one of
the builders, a University em-
ployee who wanted to remain
anonymous. "The University po-
lice force should be in response of
the wants of both the students and
the faculty of the University."
The shanty was not sponsored
or funded by any University group.
The builders, University employ-
ees and students, thought of the
idea four days ago at an informal
meeting.
Student Rights Commission
Vice Chair Rob VanHouweling
felt the construction of the shanty
was a positive step for student,
awareness of the redeputization
controversy. "Hopefully more
students will become more in-
volved and open their eyes about,
the redeputization process."
Student reaction to the shanty
display has been mixed. "I agree
with it," LSA sophomore Christo-
pher Lee said. "I've always consid-
ered the University police to be
equal to the University Militia.
They are totally unnecessary."
"Overall, I am in favor of
guns, LSA junior Matthew Tep-
per said. "The University police
should answer to the local police
department and the University
too."
Pictured above are both the front and back of the anti-deputization shanty on the Diag
yesterday. The top photo shows a mock Angell Hall and Burton Tower, while the bottom
photo depicts the inside of a DPS office, with guns, and a Terminator 2 poster.
'U' asks high court to overturn decision
by Purvi Shah
Daily Administration Reporter
The University filed a legal brief
Tuesday asking the Michigan Supreme
Court to overturn last month's Court of
Appeals decision stating the Univer-
sity's 1988 search resulting in the hiring
of President James Duderstadt was ille-
gal.
In a lawsuit against the University
Board of Regents, the Ann Arbor News
and Detroit Free Press challenged Uni-
versity search methods used during the
presidential selection process for violat-
ing the state Open Meetings Act.
During a Jan. 27 meeting, the regents
decided to challenge Appeals Court
Judge Kathleen Jansen's ruling stating
the University must pay the newspapers'.
$66,000 legal fees and adhere to the
statute in future searches.
University General Counsel Elsa
Cole said the University met the de-
mands of the Open Meetings Act during
the presidential search and -that the
Court of Appeals created a new category
of "constructed quorum" that is not
part of the statute.
She added that this type of activity
falls within the jurisdiction of the leg-
islature - not the judicial branch.
"The Court of Appeals has basically
said that you cannot have a subquorum of
a public body meet and discuss what
they've done with another subset of a
public body," Cole said. "That isn't in
the law. That's something new that the
Court of Appeals has read into the
statute."
Cole said that she believes the
Michigan Supreme Court will grant the
appeal, arguing that the case has the nec-
essary components the court requires in-
cluding: a situation previously undeter-
mined by the court; a state agency; pos-
sible constitutional questions; and con-
sequences that will affect more than one
body of people.
The newspapers originally filing the
suit can ask the Michigan Supreme Court
to refuse the University appeal until
March 10.
Ann Arbor News Editor Ed
Petrykiewicz said that while he is disap-
pointed by the University's decision to
appeal the ruling, he is confident that if
the Supreme Court heard the case, it
would affirm the original ruling.
Petrykiewicz said the regents delib-
erately attempted to circumvent the
Open Meetings Act.
"It's sad that you have a premier in-
stitution that's nationally recognized
that doesn't have the ethical values to
See APPEAL, Page 3
I
Gast chosen to lead CC in MSA election
by Jennifer Silverberg
Daily MSA Reporter
The Conservative Coalition
(CC) has selected LSA sophomore
Scott Gast as its presidential nomi-
nee to the Michigan Student As-
sembly (MSA) for the March 30
and 31 election.
Gast, the current chair of MSA's
Health Issues Commission, said he
has many issues on his agenda.
He said he would like a student
fee cap established at the current
MSA fee level of $6.27 as a tool for
accountability in the students'
hands. This resolution will be pre-
sented by the Rules and Elections
Committee at an upcoming meeting.
"I'd like to see MSA decrease its
bureaucracy as well by divesting
ourselves of Student Legal Services
(SLS) and the Ann Arbor Tenants
Union (AATU)," Gast said..
"They are necessary and really
useful for students, but having them
under MSA is a disservice to stu-
dents because it adds to the ineffi-
ciency and bureaucracy of MSA and
both of those organizations," Gast
added.
Rackham Rep. Jeff Hinte, from
the Progressive Party, said CC's
choice of Gast was appropriate.
"Any person who could claim
that the Alcohol Awareness Week
of 1991 was a 'huge' success is a du-
plicitous liar, incompetent and thus
a perfect candidate for CC Presi-
dent," Hinte said.
Gast said the AATU could prob-
ably survive as a student group, and
that he would like to see a special
line item on the tuition bill for SLS,
like the one currently in place for
University Health Services.
Gast said he supports a resolu-
tion, soon to be before the assembly,
which would put all commissions
on the upcoming election ballot for
a student vote to determine their ex-
istence. He added that he also wants
to eliminate the distinction between
committees and commissions.
"I'd like to see students decide
which issues they'd like to see the
student government working on,"
Gast said. "I'd like to see the Aca-
demic Affairs Commission and the
Student Rights Commission (SRC)
See GAST, Page 2
Gay and lesbian courses a nationwide issue
by Karen Sabgir
Daily Higher Education Reporter
Students and faculty members at
universities across the country are
facing a variety of obstacles as they
try to increase the number and
breadth of courses on gay male and
lesbian issues.
Although many schools offer
courses about gay and lesbian issues,
nn c,- . cr-J n ithe rnnntrv the.
San Francisco. However, budget
cutbacks and discouragement from
the administration and alumni are
keeping schools from realizing this
goal.
The University is among the
schools that offer these courses, but
do not have a formal program.
Associate English Professor
Marlon Ross said "The Queer The-
nr Reain (yGnrn" - cmnonse of
these courses, and we will continue
to make a list to find students who
are interested ... But building a pro-
gram is more complicated because of
the homophobia among the regents.
They .become totally irrational
when the subject comes up ... They
made it clear to President Duder-
stadt that it is unacceptable." Ross
said.
Wmavn eenhanm an ac;i_-
of 12 to 15 percent," said Paul Fry,
director of graduate studies in En-
glish at Yale.
"In the next age of expansion ..
I would imagine that that would be
one of the first programs to
emerge," Fry continued.
Satya Rhodes-Conway, a sopho-
more at Smith College .and acting
chair of the Lesbian and Bisexual
Alliance, said she is not as opti-