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One hundred four years of editorial freedom
tU' refuses to open code hearing at request of accused
By RONNIE GLASSBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
The University has denied the request of a
49-year-old doctoral student accused under
the Statement of Student Rights to hold her
hearing, scheduled for Friday, in public.
Melanie Welch, a doctoral student in
merican Culture, has been charged with
sault and harassment under the University's
code of non-academic conduct - by her then-
neighbor in University Family Housing,
Yaakov Lavie. Lavie, who is not a student, is
involved in post-doctoral studies at the Uni-
versity.
Under provisions of the code, a hearing
may be opened if the complainant consents or
if the complainant is not a student and does
not allege "sexual assault or harassment."
In a Dec. 16 letter to Welch, Judicial
Advisor Mary Lou Antieau denied Welch's
request for an open hearing.
"Mr. Lavie does not consent to an open
hearing. Further, Mr. Lavie is not a student at
the University of Michigan. As a Post-Doc-
toral student, he technically is classified as a
Graduate Fellow, not a student. The State-
ment precludes an open hearing when the
(complainant) is not a student and when the
complaint contains an allegation of harass-
ment, which Mr. Lavie's complaint contains,"
Antieau wrote in the letter.
In her letter, Antieau interprets "sexual" to
modify only assault in the phrase "sexual
assault or harassment" - allowing the Uni-
versity to close the hearing for a non-sexual
harassment charge.
But David Schwartz, who helped draft the
code as a Law student and president of the
campus American Civil Liberties Union, said
Antieau's denial goes against the intent of the
policy..
"The concern we were trying to get in is
the situation of sexual assault and sexual
harassment," said Schwartz, who is now an
attorney in Chicago. "It is not surprising that
Mary Lou is trying to change the meaning of
the language of the code. The University
administration and Mary Lou in particular
have done everything to side with the accuser
in these cases."
Lavie said he does not want the hearing to
be held in public.
"I think this thing is regarding my private
life. I don't think at this point I want to involve
the public in this thing," Lavie said.
Welch claims University officials have
already violated her rights.
"I think the only choice I have for a fair
hearing is if it's open," Welch said "It says
that a student has a right to an open hearing,
and yet no student's been able to exercise that
right.
"I think Mary Lou will know she will be
held accountable if it's open. ... I want the
other students at the University to be able to
see what goes on at these hearings."
Lavie said he trusts the University to con-
duct a fair hearing.
"I'm sure her rights are protected. I'm sure
the chairman and the committee are objec-
tive," Lavie said. "I don't know them. She
doesn't know them."
Ann Arbor attorney David Cahill, who is
representing Welch on a pro bono basis, also
said he disagrees with Antieau's interpreta-
tion.
"Melanie believes that sexual modifies
both assault and harassment, which -makes
more sense from a public policy point of
See CODE, Page 7
d of the o
Clinton focuses on
future, middle class
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - At the midpoint of his
term and the low point of his presidency, Bill
inton last night sought to reassert his politi-
1 leadership with a vaulting State of the
Union address that asked the new Republican
majority to help him "get rid of yesterday's
government" so the American people can
prosper in tomorrow's world.
Clinton advocated a higher minimum
wage, announced a national campaign against
teen-age pregnancy, endorsed a computer-
ized registry to crack down on the hiring of
illegal immigrants and proposed that con-
*essional candidates who agree to spending
limits receive free television time.
But the larger message of his speech was
a return to the themes from his 1992 campaign
that had been eclipsed during his first two
years in office - forging a "New Covenant"
with citizens so the country could better re-
spond to the "new economy" and the "new
world" that have left many middle-class
Americans insecure and uncertain about their
*ture.
"If we agree on nothing else, we must
agree that the American people certainly voted
for change in 1992 and 1994," he ruefully told
a joint session filled with dozens of new
Republican faces. "In both years, we didn't
hear America singing, we heard America
shouting. Now, we must say: 'We hear you.
We will work together to earn the jobs you
have given us."'
Standing for the first time before a Repub-
lican-controlled Congress, the president
stressed the possibilities of conciliation. But
he repeatedly laid out sharp differences with
Republicans over how best to cut taxes, over-
haul welfare, reduce regulation and fight crime
- all likely battlegrounds this year.
In the official Republican response, deliv-
ered from Trenton, N.J., New Jersey Gov.
Christine Todd Whitman argued that the coun-
try was in the midst of a Republican-led
"revolution of ideas" to reduce government
and disperse power to states and cities. The
Republicans' decision to have a governor as
their messenger for the first time was de-
signed to underline that message.
"While at times tonight some of the
president's ideas sounded pretty Republican,
the fact remains that he has been opposed to
the balanced budget amendment, he proposed
even more government spending and he im-
posed the biggest tax increase in American
history," Whitman said.
"It's clear that your votes in November
sounded a warning to the president," she went
See CLINTON, Page 2
President
Clinton prepares
to give his
second State of
the Union
address on the
floor of the
104th Congress
last night, as
Vice President Al
Gore and House
Speaker Newt
Gingrich look on.
The president
promised to
forge a "New
Covenant" with
U.S. citizens.
AP PHOTO
Assembly
rejects
anonymous
donation
By AMY KLEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
Michigan Student Assembly rep-
resentatives voted last night to
decline an anonymous donation of
$796 in cash, and established a com-
mittee to investigate the source of the
money.
The donation was sent with the
condition that the assembly use it to
send two additional delegates to a
student government conference next
month.
"After analyzing this situation I
was furious," said MSA President
Julie Neenan. "MSA is being offered
money with strings attached.
Someone's trying to buy us off."
For two weeks the assembly has
debated allocating $950 to send two
delegates to the Conference of Stu-
dent Government Association. Last
week MSA appropriated the money,
nominating Neenan and External Re-
lations chair Andrew Wright to attend
the conference.
Last night, however, the assem-
bly rescinded the delegation origi-
nally chosen to attend the confer-
ence.
MSA also appointed three mem-
bers to work with assembly staff to
determine the source of the money
and to report back to the representa-
tives in one week.
Many MSA members expressed
outrage at the suggestion of accepting
the donation.
"We're not for sale, it's that
simple," said LSA Rep. Dante Stella.
"The crucial problem is where did the
money come from?"
Rackham Rep. Remco von
Eeuwijk agreed that accepting the
money would endanger the ethics of
the assembly.
"Legally we're not bound by the
law here, but I think we should follow
higher ethical standards than those in
the law," von Eeuwijk said.
The source of the money also posed
a problem for the assembly.
"The students of U-M are our
constituents. Whoever 'anonymous'
is may not be in our constituency.
This is outside money to influence
the actions of the assembly," Neenan
said.
See MSA, Page 2
Speech draws receptive reaction from Michigan reps.
* By ZACHARY M. RAIMI
Daily Staff Reporter
While President Clinton promoted
his "New Covenant" for America in
the State of the Union address last
night, the Michigan congressional
delegation listened from the gallery,
taking notes and preparing their re-
sponses.
"I thought it was. a great speech,"
d Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Ar-
r). "(Clinton) put forward his is-
sues and tied them to real life."
Among the issues that the presi-
dent asked Congress to work on this
year: reforming the health care sys-
tem, passing a line-item veto, con-
tinuing the reduction of the federal
government, raising the minimum
wage and renewing his tax-cut pro-
posal for many American middle-class
families.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Holland)
said the speech embraced some Re-
publican values.
"It's very, very consistent with the
'Contract With America,"' he said.
"It sounded to me that he was really
supportive of major portions of our
contract."
Hoekstra said the line-item veto is
an example of a Republican measure
that Clinton supports.
Rivers said Clinton is not chang-
ing his politics, but appealed to both
parties. "He looked for common
ground. He looked for where his and
(the Republicans) initiatives over-
lapped," Rivers said. "If the Republi-
cans went too far or too extreme, he
would veto it."
Many political analysts had pre-
dicted the speech would be a chance
for Clinton to redefine himself, but
Rivers disagreed. "I don't think this is
a redefinition. I think its a reassertion
of who he is," she said.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Southfield)
said in a written statement that
Clinton's speech was a step in the
right direction. "Clinton is appealing
to Congress to change the way we
operate. ... That is what he started
with and I thought that was the right
place to start. We've got a lot of work
ahead of us. He appealed to our biparti-
sanship."
Michigan's other senator, Repub-
lican Spencer Abraham, said in a writ-
ten statement, that he supports
Clinton's call to shrink the federal
government.
"If he is committed to a smaller
government, lower taxes and congres-
sional reform, then I am ready to help.
However, I couldn't help but notice
that many of the ideas of which he
spoke tonight sounded like my plan to
'Shake up Washington.' Unfortu-
nately for the people of Michigan, the
president's actions don't often match
his words."
Rep. Dick Chrysler (R-Brighton)
agreed with Abraham and said Clinton
must follow through on his words. "I
think Bill Clinton has a history of
saying things and not following
through on them," he said.
Chrysler also said the president
must lead by example. For instance,
in his address, Clinton said Congress
does not need to enact campaign fi-
nance legislation if the members
would simply stop taking lobbyists'
money. "I think if he says, 'You
shouldn't take those kind of gifts,' he
should also say, 'I will stop taking
them,"' Chrysler said. He added that
the president continually uses friends'
vacation homes for free.
Rivers said Clinton's next move
should be to take his future plans to
the American people directly. "I think
that the things that he was emphasiz-
ing tonight are things (the American
i
Walk-in CRISP closes forever 2
By DEBORAH WEINSTEIN
For the Daily
Today is the last day to drop or add
classes - and the last chance to make
a pilgrimage to CRISP. The traditional
CRISP soon will be an image for scrap-
books as the University completes its
'nsition to phone registration.
Last term the University began
testing phone registration to replace
the in-person system. Despite its suc-
cess, not all are enthusiastic. The clos-
ing of in-person registration is the end
grounds.
"Ten years ago, when unemploy-
ment was about 12 percent, we had
professors, Ford executives and GM
executives willing to work for us and
register students," said Associate
Registrar Thomas McElvain.
"I'm going to miss it," said Sue, a
CRISP employee.
"I've been here seven years. My
best friend got me to work here. I
like working with the students, and
I think they appreciate what we do
fnr them- ,. ,nakIn the rm nA 'tht-r
Jannie has worked at CRISP for
12 years. "I came here for camarade-
rie and friendship. I like students. It
was fun to meet people from all over
the world. I like talking to them."
Both have decided not to continue
working for the University, but will
continue to keep their summers free
and pursue other interests during the
academic year.
"It'll be different, but change is
good. I might go back to painting,
volunteer, or travel. There'll definitely
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