Since so many of you are apparently sick of
hearing from us, we'll let you take over with not
one, but two, pages of letters from our readers.
Here's your collectors' edition of Weekend etc.
- the Best of Ann Arbor. Find out what's hot,
what's not, and everything else you ever wanted
to know about our city and university.
Western Michigan 19, Michigan 3. No, that's not a
college football upset, but rather the score of
yesterday's baseball game. For all the gory details,
check out today's sports page.
Today
Somerain is likely;
High 57, Low 42'",
Tomorrow
Partly cloudy; High 55, Low 42
Jr
t Un t
JF Yz
One hundred and one years of editorial freedom
Vl I, No.11 AnnAbr Mcian- husa, April16,992a 192 he ichga 3Dil
Regents to
* consider
Engler s
budget
by Melissa Peerless
Daily Administration Reporter
Budget discussions will be looking up for once at
today's University Board of Regents meeting.
Governor John Engler announced an Executive
Order yesterday which proposes no budget cuts for
higher education in financially-plagued Michigan. The
regents will hear a presentation on the order and discuss
its possible consequences.
University administrators had anticipated a budget
cut of up to 5 percent this year. The money taken from
the University would have been used to help eliminate
Michigan's $770 million deficit.
University President James Duderstadt praised
Engler's effort to retain higher education funding.
However, Duderstadt said the state legislature will
have to approve the order before it can be effected.
"The governor is trying to protect us from a very
heavy budget reduction," he said. "Now it's up to the
legislature to approve this proposal.
"The legislature will vote on this order within the
month or so," Duderstadt added.
Although he said he was pleased about the possibil-
ity of avoiding a cut this year, Duderstadt said next
year's budget prospects look grim.
"We are not getting an increase for the year ahead,"
he said. "Our budget is flat. There will be no new
money.
Next year's budget will be prepared in time for the
regents' July meeting, he added.
The regents will also consider faculty and adminis-
tratio'i appointments and financial matters at today's
meeting, at 1:00 p.m. in the Regents' Room.
City task force
cites alcohol in
South U. clash
by Erin Einhorn
Daily City Reporters
South University merchants and
representatives from the Ann Arbor
Police Department (AAPD) said at
yesterday's "Safe Celebration Task
Force" meeting that alcohol was a
main cause of recent student clashes
with police following sporting
events.
Mayor Liz Brater organized the
task force in response to the conflict
between students and police on
South University following last
week's NCAA Championship bas-
ketball game and said she hopes the
viewpoints shared will help the city
and University prepare better for
conflict in the future.
"It was very useful for me to get
information from all the different
views that were expresed," Brater
said.
University students and adminis-
trators explained their ideas to Brater
and AAPD Chief Douglas Smith in
an open discussion which lasted an
hour and a half.
Executive Director of University
Relations Walter Harrison said the
discussion was effective because all
were able to express their views and
different perspectives were heard.
"It just shows that two people can
have eyewitness accounts of the
same event and see very different
things," he said.
Smith orally presented the police
report which said that students -
influenced by alcohol - acted inap-
propriately. The police used tear gas,
he said, to curtail the possibility of
property damage and personal
injury.
One South University merchant
openly criticized alcohol use among
students and said she feared for the
security of items in her store with so
many drunk students on the streets.
"Most people who attended
agreed the problem was alcohol-
related," Brater said.
But Vice Chair of the Michigan
Student Assembly Student Rights
Commission Rob Van Houweling
said placing the blame on student al-
cohol abuse "as a scapegoat" was
avoiding the heart of the issue.
"(Alcohol) is an issue," he said.
"It does make the situation worse.
But it is not something that is going
to change."
Harrison agreed many factors
contributed to the incident.
"There were many problems on
South U. that night," he said. "The
fact that students were drinking was
a problem, but it was also a problem
that there was no place for them to
go. It's also a problem that it has be-
come a tradition for students-to go to
See CITY, Page 2
Through the looking glass
Lauren Furlong, a first-grader from West Bloomfield, looks at herself yesterday in a concave
mirror at the Hands-on Museum. Lauren's family was on vacation.
Faculty forges alliance to address toils of same-sex couples
by Purvi Shah
Daily Administration Reporter
A newly formalized faculty orga-
nization composed of at least 16
faculty members - ranging from
assistant professors to professors -
will attempt to increase visibility of
lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons on
campus, in addition to advocating
other University changes.
The University of Michigan
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Faculty
Alliance (UMLGBFA) intends to
tackle such issues as harassment in
residence halls, access to married
health and housing benefits for do-
mestic partners, and inclusion of
sexual orientation under Regental
bylaw 14.06, which mandates the
University cannot discriminate on
the basis of such categories as sex,
race, and Vietnam-era veteran
status.
Farrakhan
to speak at
MSU; stirs
conflict
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -
A Black student group at Michigan
State University is accusing campus
officials of racism in a debate over
security costs for the Rev. Louis
Farrakhan's visit this weekend.
University officials deny claims
by the group AS ONE that a $7,156
charge for beefed-up security is un-
fair and racially motivated.
"It has nothing to do with the fact
that they're minority because we
have, in the past, provided security
without charging them," Lt. Kenneth
Hall of the school's Department of
Group to attempt increasing visibility, advocate adjustments in curriculum
UMLGBFA
member
Assistant Professor of Political
Science Jeffrey Winters said the
group formed in order to counteract
negative reactions after the release
of The Report on the Status of
Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals at the
University of Michigan last
September.
"There was not much of a voice
Afrom faculty, staff, or administrators
saying that these comments had no
place at the University of Michigan,"
he said.
The faculty group met with a
subcommittee of deans from various
schools Monday in order to discuss
the report and other concerns.
Subcommittee chair and Law
School Dean Lee Bollinger said the
subcommittee plans to continue
meeting with the faculty group, as
well as talking to students and other
parties before making recommenda-
tions to all the deans.
Bollinger said he thought making
recommendations to deans would be
Associate Professor of
Anthropology and Women's Studies
and UMLGBFA member Jennifer
Robertson said denying the existence
of different cross-cultural construc-
tions of sex and gender amounted to
'I have not seen signs that the regents are
prepared to change their stance on the bylaw
that they have articulated.'
- James Duderstadt
University president
an effective way to improve the at- bad scholarship.
mosphere for same-sex couples She referred specifically to the
throughout the campus. smur fwrrid lsp i na pan, in
In the long run, UMLGBFA samurai warrior class i Japan, in
plans to develop curriculum, includ- which same-sex relationships
ing the possibility of a program of between men were preferred.
lesbian and gay male studies. "It's not only bad scholarship,
it's also an erroneous imposition of
Judeo-Christian values on a culture
with completely different values,"
she said.
Robertson added that academic
disciplines need to be brought out of
the closet in order to encourage stu-
dents to open areas of discourse.
"Otherwise people feel very re-
pressed or afraid of asking
questions," she said.
The amendment of Regent Bylaw
14.06 to include sexual orientation is
a heated area of discussion.
"I would certainly hope for a
change. It would certainly be con-
structive," Robertson said. "I don't
think any institution with the luster
and quality of Michigan should
promote any type of discrimination."
But University President James
Duderstadt was skeptical of regental
approval of a change in the bylaw.
He added, however, that steps to
improve climate concerning sexual
orientation can still be taken at other
University levels.
"I have not seen signs that the re-
gents are prepared to change their
stance on the bylaw that they have
articulated," he said. "We affirm it at
the local level and at the institutional
level that there are rules that prohibit
discrimination based on sexual
orientation."
Vice President for Student
Affairs Maureen Hartford said the
new group could have a positive
effect on students.
She said, "Any time when you
have faculty members in one group
getting together and identifying
themselves, it helps students that are
in that group."
Wall of sexism
rq crashes down
during rally
by Gwen Shaffer
Daily Staff Reporter
k"'It may not be obvious why blue jeans, perfume, au-
tomobiles and jewelry are offensive to some people -
until you see the advertisements for these and other
common products.
a '' " In an attempt to demolish the barriers preventing
women from achieving sexual equality, students sym-
bolically tore down a "wall of sexism" at a rally
T yesterday on the Diag.
R The wall was constructed several hours before the
rally and students were encouraged to stop by and dis-
play any sexist advertisements, comments or articles
4 %on it.
Andrea White, a member of the Ojibwa tribe and a
service provider at Latino Family Services, opened the
rally by describing sexism within the Native American