Dennis Miller
Former Saturday Night Live star
headlines Homecoming festivities
Dana Howard
anchors lilni
defense
WEEKEND etc.
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One hundred three years of editorial freedom
Vol. CIV No 17 Ann Arbor, Mchgan - Thursday, October 21,, * Ty
Rehabilitation program could mean $15 tuition increase
By KAREN TALASKI
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
In hopes of decreasing alcohol and
substance abuse on campus, a pro-
posal to create a University "school-
based" insurance policy could add
another $15 to students' tuition costs
as early as next fall.
The $540,000 raised by the tuition
increase would be used to enhance
informational outreach, enlarge coun-
seling services, and make intensive
* outpatient care available to students
in need of rehabilitation.
The plan would be in effect for
one year, after which a committee
would review its performance and
level of student satisfaction. If the
new policy proves unsuccessful, the
fee would be removed and the pro-
gram discontinued.
The new program would be the
first of its kind at the university level.
"It's a very novel idea that has
been tried in (public) school districts
across the country," said University
Health Services (UHS) Director Cy
Briefer in an address to the Michigan
Student Assembly Tuesday night.
Briefer has been discussing the
proposed insurance policy with many
organizations, such as MSA, in an
attempt to gain student support for the
plan.
"We didn't want to be seen as
padding our payrolls through some
. subterfuge," Briefer said. "It's for you,
not anybody in the administration."
All students, except those who are
covered by Gradcare or eligible for
University benefits, would be included
under the insurance policy. It would
consist of four levels of intervention
ranging from enhanced educational
efforts in the classroom to intensive
outpatient counseling or residential
treatment at Chelsea Arbor Outpa-
tient Services.
In addition, one counselor and
health educator would be hired under
the direction of UHS and Counseling
Services.
Although each student currently
pays $94 per semester for UHS ser-
vices, Briefer said it can only offer
health education to people who in-
quire about alcohol or substance abuse
problems, and cannot become directly
involved in helping students over-
come an addiction.
Briefer estimated that 12 percent
of University students have no health
care coverage whatsoever, with the
remaining group obtaining insurance
through their parents or MSA poli-
S,
s
G 0 0 aG D I iviOD4L G° G J
Students
doubling as
parents carry
heavier load
By MICHELE HATTY
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
Some University students embark
on their educational journey carrying
a backpack on one arm and a baby in
the other. These students worry about
feeding little mouths, educating little
minds and caring for little bodies.
These students are more than stu-
dents. They are parents who wake up
each morning with a little face smil-
ing back at them, a constant reminder
alternately bringing joy and anxiety
as both toys and term papers take their
places on the kitchen table.
Finding quality care for their chil-
dren can be a source of stress for
student-parents. The University,
through the Child Development Cen-
ter in the Northwood Apartment com-
plex, offers daycare for students liv-
ing in Family Housing on North Cam-
pus.
Su-Fen Lin, manager of Family
Housing Children's Services, said she
has seen the need for affordable child
care on campus. "We are working at
the front line, so we certainly feel the
need for it," she said.
Approximately 850 children re-
side in University-maintained apart-
ment complexes and many of them
require daycare when their parents
must be working or attending class.
"I certainly get the feeling from
parents that they would like to see
more quality child care that's afford-
able so they can concentrate on their
studies," she added. "I feel that there's
a real connection between the quality
of care, and releasing the stress on
students who are parents."
Lin said the Child Development
Center offers different types of pro-
grams in order to accommodate stu-
ces.
MSA Insurance Agent Kim Turner
said she feels the plan has both pros
and cons for the University. She said
all medical policies in Michigan are
required to cover substance abuse,
but only the bare minimum.
Students who have an alcohol or
substance abuse problem before they
join a health care policy are not cov-
ered at all, and under the current sys-
tem and may be subjected to increased
See INSURANCE, Page 2
Gatta: City
income tax
proposal in
jeopardy
By JAMES NASH
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
It isn't dead yet, but the latest
proposal to enact an income tax in
Ann Arbor may be suffocated by City
Council inaction.
. Even the proposal's author con-
cedes he's "not hopeful" the income
tax will be adopted in the near future.
"I have to honestly say that there
hasn't been one councilperson who's
come into this office indicating that
they thought this was something they
could support," said City Adminis-
trator Alfred Gatta, who presented
the income tax proposal to the City
Council two months ago.
"Income tax has an advocacy, but
it needs elected officials who are will-
ing to carry the torch. I don't know
many officials who are willing to stand
up and indicate to their constituents
that it has to be done in order to
maintain the same level of (city) ser-
vices."
Designed to solve Ann Arbor's
$2.5 million budget shortfall, Gatta's
proposal would cut the city's prop-
erty tax rate by 40 percent and replace
the lost funds with an income tax of 1
percent for all city residents and 0.5
percent for people who work in Ann
Arbor but live elsewhere.
University students are among the
groups whose overall taxes would
increase under the proposal. Wage-
earning students would be taxed on
income, but would realize little to no
savings under the property tax cut.
Unemployed students would see no
change.
The average University student
would pay $102 more in annual taxes,
said Melanie Purcell, an assistant to
Gatta.
Renters, including students who
live in off-campus housing, would
see an average increase of $210 pro-
vided that lease fees remain steady.
See INCOME TAX, Page 2
LSA Junior Areli Cavazos-Kottke holds her daughter Alexis as she waits by Northwood Apartments for a bus to Central
Campus. In family housing alone, more than half of the 1,700 apartments house families with at least one child.
See WEEKEND etc., page 6 for
a look how some students
study with their young children.
dents' unusual schedules including
morning play groups for newborns to
two-and-a-half-year-old children,
full-time care for children ages two-
and-a-half to five and after-school
programs for school age kids. The
center does not offer drop-in care.
Childcare provided by the Uni-
versity can be expensive though.
Full-time care for one young child
at the Child Development Center can
cost $470-$530 per month.
Sensing that student-parents
needed another source from which to
find child care, the University estab-
lished the Family Care Resources
Program on campus three years ago.
The center serves as a referral service
for students searching for childcare in
the Ann Arbor area.
"We help them to figure out what
their needs are and what the needs of
the child are," said Leslie DePietro,
coordinator of the program. The stu-
dents are then referred to centers with
openings. Last year, 172 students so-
licited help from the program.
If students are willing to search
out all options, they will find some
jewels amid the usual high cost of
childcare. Perry Nursery School, for
instance, offers a week's worth of
childcare for as little as $55. A United
Way funded organization, the school
only accepts children from single-
parent families.'
"I would say the majority of stu-
dents don't have any money, so they're
usually charged $55," said Sonya
Tillman, office manager of the school.
"We really charge $100 per week, but
we say they can only pay $55, so we
give them a $45 scholarship." Tillman
said the school will only accept chil-
dren whose parents are either work-
ing or attending school. Currently 20
of the school's 66 parents, are stu-
dents.
Minority Engineering
students stick together
African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics
made up only 2 percent of engineers in the U.S twenty years ago.
While the numbers have always been larger at the University,
interaction has continued to be a problem. Here are enrollment figures
for 1973 and today on campus.
Prime minister threatens
Haitian democracy plans
By RACHEL SCHARFMAN
FOR THE DAILY
In 1972, African Americans, Asian
Americans, Native Americans and
Hispanics made up only 2 percent of
the country's engineers. Although
dents in your class," Pagan said. He
applauded MEPO's efforts saying,
"I'm aware of the statistics, and MEPO
has provided me with a lot of help and
support during my years here."
MEPO and SMES - the two pri-
8.5%
22.7%
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)
- Under U.S. pressure to make new
concessions, Haiti's prime minister
threatened yesterday to resign if
Haiti's military chiefs don't step down
as required by a U.N. plan to restore
democracv
government he heads so that it would
include more of Aristide's opponents.
The intent of the document was
angrily debated with the Clinton ad-
ministration by Aristide's support-
ers, who feel the proposal caves in to
the demands of the military leaders.
I IddMNEE.,