Although the West Quad resident with a "Pussie
Rd." sign in his window has the right to do so, it
really is an offensive and insensitive thing to do.
Does a group of ten-year-olds coming of age and
singing about it sound strange? Jon Altshul
previews this original musical, "King of the
Playground."
The Michigan men's basketball team plays its last
game before Sunday's clash with No. 1 Indiana
tonight, hosting a Wisconsin team eager to make
amends for January's Wolverine rout.
Today
Cloudy, warmer
High 44, Low 34
Tomorrow
Maybe snow; High 36, Low 26
w
One hundred two years of editorial freedom
Yz
Vol Ci 1 o.7 An ror ichigan -Wdesa, Ferury.0,199 '©193 he.iciaDily
GM must keep
plant operating
at Willow Run
Associated Press
General Motors Corp. must keep
open its Willow Run Assembly
plant, a judge ruled yesterday, saying
it would be unfair for the automaker
to abandon the plant after promising
jobs.
The decision was the second
major loss in court for GM in five
days. But an attorney for the world's
largest automaker was certain the
decision would be overturned on
appeal.
"There would be a gross inequity
and patent unfairness if General
Motors ... is allowed to simply de-
cide that it will desert 4,500 workers
and their families because it thinks it
can make these same cars a little
cheaper somewhere else," Washte-
naw County Circuit Judge Donald
Shelton said in his ruling.
GM has an obligation to keep
open the plant because it "lulled the
people of the Ypsilanti area into giv-
ing up millions of tax dollars which
they so desperately need to educate
their children and provide basic gov-
ernmental services," Shelton said.
The courtroom erupted in cheers
when Shelton announced his deci-
sion, which followed a nine-day trial
that ended Jan. 22.
"It brings tears to your eyes,"
said Jerry Clifton, bargaining com-
mittee chair of United Auto Workers
Local 1776. "It looks like America
again."
But some workers at the plant,
who heard the news on the radio,
were skeptical the ruling would
withstand an appeal.
"I don't think it will hold any wa-
ter. If General Motors wants to shut
that plant down, it's going down. I
think the judge just did what he
wanted to do, so he could get re-
See GM, Page 2
Hundreds of automobiles await shipment in December 1991 outside General Motors Corp.'s Willow Run Assembly Plant in Ypsilanti. A circuit judge
ordered GM to keep the plant open yesterday, stopping the automaker's plans to move operations to Texas.
. ....... ----- --
Bill may amend Open Meetings Act
by David Shepardson
Daily Government Reporter
k Michigan State University may
be exempt from disclosing the can-
didates in its search for a new presi-
dent if state Sen. John Schwarz
(R-Battle Creek) has his way.
Schwarz has re-introduced legis-
lation that would allow state public
colleges and universities to be ex-
empt from the Michigan Open
Meetings Act in the selection of uni-
versity presidents.
The Open Meetings Act man
dates public bodies to execute all
business openly.
Schwarz introduced the legisla-
tion after witnessing Michigan State
University's struggle to conduct
their presidential search in the public
eye, he said.
"By making it into a media cir-
cus, you allow the media to decide
who the new president is going to be
and I don't think that is the best way
to go," Schwarz said.
His proposal would require uni-
versities to disclose only the three or
four finalists for the position.
Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Arbor)
said she does not support the pro-
posed amendment and continues to
support the state's Open Meetings
Act and its application to colleges
and universities, including the
University of Michigan.
"An attempt to cut off the pub-
lic's right to know would be detri-
mental to both the community and
the tax-paying citizens of this state
who support this institution," Rivers
said.
But Schwarz said state funding
comprises only a third of the
University's annual operating budget
and this amount does not warrant
full disclosure by the University
Board of Regents to the state.
Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann
Arbor) urged legislative action to
allow college governing boards the
See BILL, Page 2
the state Senate Government
Relations Committee would
amend the Open Meetings
Act. Possible changes would
only apply to searches for
S..,-y presidents.
Universities would be
allowed to conduct initial
interviews for the position of
president without making the
process public.
Universities would be
required to announce the list
of finalists for the position of
President.
Duderstadt: Research promotes economic growth
by Nate Hurley
Daily Administration Reporter
Education reform is the key to
future economic growth in
Michigan, said University
President James Duderstadt at a
Society Bank luncheon yesterday.
The bank hosted a 200-person
luncheon at the Sheraton
Boardwalk Hotel, with Duderstadt
as the featured speaker, to discuss
the role of knowledge in future
economic growth.
"Education is the only enter-
prise over the long run that will
save us from becoming a backwa-
ter economy," said Duderstadt,
who bank officials said was in-
vited to speak because of his per-
spective on how the state and the
University could work together.
He said technology will create
new fields and new jobs. He cited
the University's National Center
for the Ultra-Fast Optical Sciences
as an example of research creating
new industries. This company has
three spin-off companies in
Washtenaw County, five National
Science Foundation grants and six
eration with the private sector;
business shifting to a long-
term vision; and,
organized labor demanding
less straining contracts from their
employers to aid business growth.
Duderstadt said the state needs
to increase funding at all levels of
education.
"For almost two decades, the
state of Michigan has disinvested
in education," he said, pointing
out that education spending in
Michigan is 20 percent less today
than it was in the 1970s in real
money.
The state's public universities'
campuses are "crumbling" as they
move from being state-funded to
state-supported, he added.
"U-M has only received token
support for academic facilities for
the last three decades," and
Michigan State University is in a
similar situation, he said.
But Duderstadt said
Michigan's recent economic plans
are leading toward future eco-
nomic growth.
See DUDERSTADT, Page 2
Alleged
"
misuse of
funds to be
examined
DPS investigating a
Un iversity office for
possible involvement
by Shelley Morrison
Daily Crime Reporter
A unit within the Office of
Student Affairs is being investigated
for possible involvement in an al-
leged misappropriation of more than
$8,000.
The University Department of
Public Safety (DPS) received a re-
port last Monday that money was
missing from the Psychology Annex.
An open police investigation ensued.
The Psychology Annex - a
complex attached to West Quad -
houses several university offices in-
cluding the Department of
Psychology offices, the
Undergraduate Research
Opportunities Program (UROP) and
the Sexual Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center (SAPAC)
Police would not comment on
which office in the annex misused
the funds.
DPS Lt. Vern Baisden confirmed
that police have taken the necessary
investigative measures.
"There is an open investigation
concerning a misappropriation of
funds from a unit within the Office
of Student Affairs," Baisden said.
"The necessary reports have been
presented to the prosecutor and for-
mal charges are pending," he said.
Representatives from the
Washtenaw County Prosecutor's
Office declined to comment on the
investigation.
Vice President for Student
Affairs Maureen Hartford said that
no conclusions implicating the
Office of Student Affairs - or any
of its units - have been drawn.
"The matter is under investiga-
tion, but nothing has been solidi-
fied," Hartford said.
Psvchnlolrv Annex emnlovees.
University President James Duderstadt fields questions from audience members yesterday at the Society Bank
Luncheon at the Sheraton Boardwalk Hotel. Duderstadt spoke about education and the economy.
optical products.
"To create new jobs, you must
create new knowledge,"
Duderstadt said.
Duderstadt said new fields
must be created to absorb the
workers who may lose their jobs
because of greater productivity.
He said new industries can be
developed by:
the federal government pro-
viding more research and devel-
opment funding;
the state government protect-
ing research facilities from
regulation;
local governments focusing
on long-term planning and coop-
City task force to encourage AIDS education, awareness
by Angela Dansby
AIDS experts, patients and ac-
tivists are targeting the Ann Arbor
City Council and the Board of
Education to increase AIDS aware-
ness and education in the
edge - but is not using them."
Task force member David
Ostrow, who is the program director
of the University Medical Center's
AIDS psychobiology program, said
the epicenter for the epidemic,"
Ostrow said. "There is not enough
pressure to develop innovative ap-
proaches to education and research."
The task force's objective is to
apply pressure to various civic
plans to focus on the needs of the
HIV-infected homeless people,.
people of color and low-income
citizens.
Members of the task force said
education at all levels is the
lege age people have the highest in-
fection rate. "Young people can not
afford to maintain a sense of
invulnerability, magic and
protection."
The task force has set as an im-
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