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 V 4v 41v tqw YI 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-