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One hundred four years of editorial freedom

Monday
January 30, 1995

* *.. *
" r &
ML"-

Outsiders
*may lead
'U' comm-.
department
By Jodi Cohen
*)aily Staff Reporter
As the University's troubled com-
munication department redefines its
mission, faculty await information
about the future of governance within
the department.
Under the changes outlined in their
recent report, the faculty advisory
committee for the department of com-
munication called for a rebuilding of
*he executive committee in the de-
partment.
The report states, "We do not be-
lieve that the faculty as it is currently
constituted will be able to accomplish
the rebuilding of the department on
its own."
Interim communication chair John
Chamberlin said, "The logic behind
including faculty from elsewhere in
the college is that the mission articu-
*ates a department with theoretical
and methodological breadth. The full
range of that cannot be generated from
the current faculty."
The committee said that the cur-
rent faculty is insufficient for the re-
building process. Some faculty mem-
bers agree with the recommendations.
"Even putting together five fac-
ulty would be the whole faculty be-
*ause it is so small," said Prof.
Jonathan Friendly, director of the
Master's Program in Journalism.
Because of this problem, the advi-
sory group recommended that the dean
appoint an executive committee that
"includes regular faculty from the
department as well as several mem-
bers of the LSA faculty from outside
the department."
See FACULTY, Page 2

'U,

opens

1st

code

hearing

Public hears testimony, views
procedures in 9-hour session

By Ronnie Glassb rg
and Nate Hurley
Daily Staff Reporters
The University on Friday held its first open
student code hearing since the code of non-
academic conduct was implemented Jan. 1,
1993, opening the process up to the public.
American culture doctoral student Melanie
Welch was found to have violated the State-
ment of Student Rights and Responsibilities
for harassment, but the six-student panel did
not find Welch guilty of assault.
The nine-hour public hearing in the
Kalamazoo Room of the Michigan League
provided the first opportunity for students,
attorneys and interested parties to witness a

nally and filed suit Friday morning in Washtenaw
County Circuit Court to open the case.
The local American Civil Liberties Union
voted Thursday night to support Welch's law-
suit.
In response to Lavie's request for a "digni-
fled" open hearing, the University barred tape-
recorders, cameras and video cameras from the
hearing. Antieau added that the same restrictions
likely will apply to future open hearings, but -
"we'll have to do some clarification on some of
the items," such as the location of the hearing.
Though the restrictions only applied to the
hearing room, Antieau voiced dismay over pho-
tographs taken in the hallway of the League. Her
secretary, Barbara Olender, attempted to block a
Michigan Daily photogra-
pher from taking photos of
think the jurors.
Antieau said opening the: -
g b hearing did not affect the:
proceedings. "I don't think
it made a difference," she
said. Antieau added that
Welch's nine-hour hearing
ry Lou Antieau was the longest inthe code's
r for the code history, and she would con-
sider three hours to be a

code case.
"I thought (the hearing)
was appalling. It was bla-
tantly unconstitutional in
many aspects," asserted
LSA sophomore Pamela
Short, a member of the Stu-
dent Civil Liberties Watch,
who observed the hearing.
"The concrete reasons
I got from attending the
hearing were that the ac-
cused was not allowed vo-

Idon'-t,
(the hearii
opena) mad
difference
--Mar
Judicial advisee

S ,,R ' LLIMA /Da il
Barbara Olender, a Division of Student Affairs employee, escorts three student jurors through
the Michigan League during a break in Friday's student code hearing.
Studen found guiltyon
chag of harass mI01 ent

By Ronnie Glassberg
Daily Staff Reporter
A six-member student panel on Friday found
a 49-year-old student responsible for harass-
ment under the Statement of Student Rights and
Responsibilities in the first case open to the
public.
In a hearing that began at 3:37 p.m. - with
a verdict delivered at 12:29 a.m. - the panel
found American culture doctoral student
Melanie Welch not guilty on a charge of assault,
and guilty on the harassment charges.
Yaakov Lavie, Welch's former neighbor in
University Family Housing, charged Welch un-
der the code of non-academic conduct June 17.
Welch also attempted to file charges under
the code against Lavie, but could not since he is
not a student.
The decision was handed down by a six-
member panel, split evenly between males and

females. According to documents obtained by
The Michigan Daily, the panel was composed of
one Law student, two Rackham students, two
LSA students and an Engineering student -
dividing the panel evenly between undergraduates
and graduates. Two of the jurors were foreign
students, three were from out of state, and one was
from Michigan. All of the jurors were white.
Welch plans an internal appeal of the verdict
to the vice president for student affairs, and she
may proceed with a lawsuit in Washtenaw County
Circuit Court.
Lontacted Saturday, Mary Lou Antieau, ju-
dicial adviser foi the code, would not disclose
Welch's sanction. "That's protected by FERPA
(Family Education Rights and Privacy Act). Edu-
cational records are protected," Antieau asserted.
Welch's sanction could include various ac-
tions, extending from a letter of reprimand to
See HEARING, Page 2

cal legal representation. Second, the modera-
tor clearly was not familiar with the code,
standards of proof or procedure."
Turnout was minimal as the decision to
open the case was made only hours before the
hearing began.
Mary Lou Antieau, judicial adviser for the
code, said the decision to open the hearing was
made around I l a.m. Friday when the com-
plainant, Yaakov Lavie, telephoned her. "Mr.
Lavie said he would be willing to have an open
hearing as long as it would be dignified,"
Antieau said.
Lavie, who is not a student, said he finally
agreed to an open hearing because Welch said
she would not attend if it had been closed.
"I think that the fact that she would not
come to the hearing because it was closed, I
thought that was another way for her to avoid
the hearing. I wanted her to be at the hearing,"
Lavie said. "At least she was there and heard
what the panel was saying."
According to the University's interpreta-
tion of the code, Lavie's consent was needed to
open the hearing because it included "sexual
assault or harassment." Welch's attorneys said
the hearing should have been opened origi-

long hearing.
Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor), who
voted in 1992 against implementing the code,
said the issue should have been resolved without
a code hearing.
"This strikes me as something that could
have been resolved early on without going
through this whole process," Baker said. "My
general feeling is that the code should be abol-
ished."
The code remains an interim policy and will
come before the University Board of Regents for
review at its April meeting.
David Cahill, the attorney who advised Welch
during the hearing, said the code is flawed be-
cause people without training in advocacy must
defend themselves.
"Their own personalities become dominant
rather than the facts of the case," Cahill said.
At the end of the hearing, Welch voiced this
concern to the jurors.
"1 can tell by the expressions on your face,
you don't like me," Welch said. "He has brought
all the power of the University of Michigan-
against me because they consider me a trouble-
maker."
Anne Marie Ellison, an LSA first-year stu-
See CODE, Page 3

Rash of South Quad fire alarms spurs new policy

r AP PHOTOU
San Francisco 49ers receiver Jerry
Rice scores a touchdown in the
first quarter of Super Bowl XXIX.
49es Imne
*5th Super
Bowlwin
MIAMI (AP) - San Francisco
beat San Diego every which way, and
down the middle most of all.
Twice in the first five minutes of
yesterday's Super Bowl, quarterback
Steve Young chose the most direct
*oute to the end zone, splitting the
Chargers' defense with a pair of touch-
down passes for a quick 14-0 lead.
After that, everything seemed to
work for the unstoppable 49ers, who
won 49-26 for their fifth Super Bowl
title since 1982.
Young threw a Super Bowl record
six touchdown passes, and the first
two were the longest, covering 44
ards to Jerry Rice and 51 yards to
icky Watters. On both plays, San
Francisco beat safeties Darren
Carrington and Stanley Richard,
whose futility symbolized what the
Chargers were up against.

By Tim O'Connell
For the Daily
South Quad residents are accus-
tomed to false fire alarms, but over
the past two months, they have been
bombarded by nine alarms. Twice
this semester, residents awoke to two
alarms in one night.
"I lived here last year, and you
start to get used to them. They have
been out of control lately, though,"
said South Quad resident Cynthia
Gordon, an LSA sophomore.
Department of Public Safety Sgt.
Robert Neumann said false fire alarms
are annoyances for students, but he
stressed that the alarms present very
real dangers.
"Evacuation of a building as large
as South Quad can be dangerous. With
that many students in the stairwells,
they are liable to be injured,"
Neumann said.
Besides the physical dangers in an
evacuation, the alarms can have a

psychological effect.
"We're also concerned about de-
sensitization to alarms," Neumann
said.
Alex Ricku, a first-year LSA stu-
dent, agreed with Neumann's con-
cerns.
"They don't stick out in your mind.
I live in a quad, and when I'm sleep-
ing in the far room, I've been known
to sleep through them. It's pretty un-
realistic to get everyone out of the
dorm," Ricku said.
Students who remain in the dorm
during a fire alarm face a $50 fine.
But South Quad resident advisers less-
ened the incentive to leave a warm
bed when they stopped checking ev-
ery room last semester.
Ellen Shannon, South Quad's co-
ordinator of residence education, re-
instated the old policy last Friday.
South Quad residents received a
letter from Shannon on. Friday in-
forming them of the policy change.

"CyYou sort of got
used to (false fire
alarms). They have
been out of
control lately,
though. i
d - Cynthia Gordon
South Quad resident
The letter states, "All residents must
evacuate for any fire alarms. Staff
will be entering student rooms with
master keys when the fire alarm is
activated."
Student leases permit this type of
entry.
"Students can't take fire alarms
lightly," Neumann said. DPS takes
the alarms seriously as well - an 18-

year-old male was arrested this month
for pulling an alarm.
Neither Neumann or Shannon
could confirm whether the arrested
man was a resident.
Shannon's letter stated, "Two
residents have had their leases termi-
nated for pulling false fire alarms in
South Quad. ... Both students are
being criminally prosecuted by the
police."
When he was asked if he knew the
arrested student, Ricku grinned. "No
comment," he said.
Perennial rumors that area frater-
nities are largely responsible for the
false alarms have resurfaced recently.
At least three of January's alarms
originated in Frederick House, a sec-
tion of South Quad with easy access
to State Street.
The student evictions counter these
rumors.
"I think the fire alarms are exclu-
sively due to students in South Quad,"

Ricku said.
Shannon's letter stated another
new policy: "The Housing Division-
gives a $100 reward to residents who
provide information that leads to ap-
prehension and prosecution of any-
one pulling a false fire alarm."
"The award had been $50 in the
past," she said.
.Five students have won $100 re-
wards for the apprehension of the two
students mentioned in the letter. In-
formants are kept anonymous.
"We're really happy about resi-
dents taking an interest in the safety
of South Quad. I think of them as
heroes in a way," Shannon said.
"It takes a lot of courage to come
forth with information."
Neumann said, "Every time some-
one pulls a fire alarm, they are endan-
gering the lives of students. In addition,
pulling a false fire alarm is a misde-
meanor with a maximum punishment
of one year and/or a $500 fine."


*F
Welonie to the. new.Daily.
As .we start our year-lotig
:term as editors of this newspa-,
per; w'e:will attempt to serve the
University community with the
most comprehensive and en-
lii ta i nn ~ r 6n cti Ac

Environmental
activists protest

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