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One hundred eight years of editorrzlfreedom
Friday
March 12, 1999
lia i
y 94
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Negotiations stuck
GEO talks end in early morning with no
agreement; strike deadline approaches
By Nick Faizone honking their horns in support of GEO yes- After GEO members waited about 45 min-
Daily Staff Reporter terday afternoon, hundreds of members of the utes, the University team entered the building
in
deadlock
Following a day-and-a-half walkout by
some of the University's graduate student
instructors, negotiations between the
Graduate Employees Organization and the
University ended at 1:45 this morning with
no resolution, said University Chief
Negotiator. Dan Gamble.
"here are no further negotiations scheduled,
ble said. GEO spokesperson Chip Smith
said he was unable to comment on what was
specifically discussed at the session last night,
but as of 11:30 p.m., he said he did not believe
an agreement would be reached on any of
GEO's issues.
GEO members plan to hold a member-
ship meeting Sunday, where they could
vote on whether to strike.
As buses and cars drove down State Street
University community rallied in front of the
LSA Building, culminating GEO's walkout.
GEO officials said between 500 and 600 of
the organization's members - many whom
are GSIs -joined the picket lines Wednesday
and yesterday to protest GEO's contract with
the University.
After the rally ended at 2:20 p.m., the major-
ity of the crowd swarmed into the LSA build-
ing, climbing the stairs to the second floor,
where negotiations between the University and
the union were scheduled to begin. The GEO
supporters, stamping their feet and clapping
their hands, shouted chants such as "What do
we want ? Contract! When do we want it?
Now!" while waiting for the University bar-
gaining team to appear and commence the
negotiation session.
and with expressionless faces filed through a
hallway lined on both sides with GEO support-
ers. They passed through the chanting throng
into a conference room where the GEO bar-
gaining team was already waiting and began
the bargaining session.
GEO presented the University with a new
package of proposals concerning wages, frac-
tion recalculations and compensated training
for international graduate student instructors
Wednesday. GEO Chief Negotiator Eric Odier-
Fink said GEO hoped the University would
respond with a set of counterproposals enticing
enough to sign a temporary contract yesterday.
But Smith said he did not believe a contract
would be signed yesterday.
GEO steward Alice Ritscherle, who is
See GEO, Page 2
NATHAN RUFFER/Daily
Lisa Kelimeyer, a Graduate Employees Organization bargaining team member, discusses negotiations in
the LSA Building's Haber Conference Room as GEO Chief Negotiator Eric Odier-Fink listens yesterday.
POLITICS OF SEXUALITY
A2 turns out
for Stemem
By Sarah Lewis
Daily Staff Reporter
Crowding the sidewalk while waiting in a line outside the3
Michigan Theater last night, University students and Ann
Arbor residents flowed in to fill its 1,700 seats to capacity
to hear Gloria Steinem's speech, titled "The Politics of
After an introduction by State Rep. Liz Brater (D-Ann
Arbor), Steinem - a renowned author, feminist, activist
and founder of Ms. Magazine -spoke on subjects includ-
ing sexuality, violence, patriarchy and reproductive rights.
Feminists are now sometimes considered "anti-sex,"
which is not true, she said.
"We have to realize how deeply the question of sex is
intertwined with politics, with the power structure,"
Steinem said. She defined patriarchy as a way of "control-
ling women's bodies .., as a means of production, as repro-
duction ... making sure that all sexual expression is inside
the patriarchal marriage and directed at having children."
At a press conference yesterday afternoon, Steinem
said her goal for her speech was to "explain the linkage
between and among the social justice movement, which
also involves the roots ... of how women got into this
subordinate position in the first place"
Those roots of patriarchy, Steinem told her audience,.
still are not yet fully known. Some theorize that patri-
archy began with the discovery of conception in cultures.
whose men needed the concept of marriage to "de-mys-
tify"' the question of paternity. NATHAN RUFFER/ Daily
But whether patriarchy results from birth, Gloria Steinem, a leader in the modern feminist movement, signs a book for Public Health student
See SPEECH, Page 7 Tasanee Ross-Sherriff at Borders Books Music & Cafe yesterday.
Activist helps pave road for women's rights
Universities
examine state
funding formula
By Nick Bunkley
Daily Staff Reporter
LANSING - University President
Lee Bollinger on Wednesday argued
against Gov. John Engler's proposed
funding formula for higher education,
but many of his colleagues have said
they believe the proposal
would benefit the state's
higher educational system.
Engler's budget recom-
mendation groups
Michigan's 15 public uni-
versities into four tiers1
with varying per-student
funding floors - oversim-
plifying the process and Budget1
thus overlooking universi-
ties' needs, Bollinger said.
"it's critical that we think about a uni-
versity and its needs broadly, and not to
be seduced by formulas," Bollinger
said. "It's very easy to make short-
sighted decisions when it comes to uni-
versities."
Bollinger was one of six university
presidents who testified before the
House App'ropriations Higher
Education Subcommittee at the last of
four hearings before the budget is
scheduled to go to a vote in the full
Appropriations Committee next week.
Bollinger expressed support for the
current method of allocating funds,
because it recognizes the differing
requirements of universities.
"We think the current system is
good," Bollinger said. "The solution is
to abandon the idea of formula funding
altogether."
The University falls into the tier with
the highest funding floor -- $8,500 per
student. Michigan State University,
Wayne State University and Michigan
Technological University belong to the
same tier.
The University already gets $14,573
per student, meaning it
would not receive any of
dgan the funds allocated under
the new proposal.
al But Michigan State
would get an extra $4 mil-
lion under the proposal,
allowing the school to
reach the tier's minimum
roposal funding level.
Rep. Jon Jellema (R-
Grand Haven) surveyed
each university's opinion of the tier sys-
tem during questioning of the six presi-
dents, finding an equal mix of feelings.
Oakland University President Gary
Russi, who testified immediately after
Bollinger, expressed his support for the
proposal.
Because Oakland has grown in size
more than in funding, Engler's proposal
would benefit the university signifi-
cantly. Oakland belongs to the tier with
a $4,700 funding floor, which includes
the University of Michigan at Dearborn
and Western Michigan University.
Wayne State President Irvin Reid
said he opposes the formula because
like the University of Michigan, his
university would not benefit. Wayne
State has historically received generous
funding due to the higher cost at its
See FUNDING, Page 3
By Yael Kohen
Daily Staff Reporter
Since the 1960s Civil Rights Movement,
renowned feminist Gloria Steinem has been work-
ing toward equality for women in both public and
private spheres.
While Steinem - who is recognized as one of
the most prominent female activists in the country
- was on campus yesterday, she shared her views
about a range of social issues, including feminism
and affirmative action.
During the past 30 years, Steinem said she has
seen progress of equal rights for all people, includ-
ing women and minorities. Still, she said, "we've
come a long distance, but there's a leap to go."
Steinem discussed perceptions surrounding what it
means to be a feminist, right down to the word itself
Despite negative connotations that sometimes are
associated with feminism today, such as anti-man,
lesbian and anti-sex, Steinem said the connotations
use to be worse.
"At least we've moved from ridicule to serious
opposition," Steinem said. "This is a step forward."
The word feminist still has two problems,
Steinem said. "One is that people don't know what
it means ... and the other problem is that they do
know what it means."
Those who understand the definition of feminism
know that it represents a "deep transformation of
society that is currently based on inequality," Steinem
said, attributing some of negativity surrounding fem-
inism to an association with right wing politics.
Steinem also discussed the effects affirmative
action has had on women.
"Affirmative action, in my view is good for the
country," Steinem said, adding that "the principle is
a good principle.
"I think that women, whatever our race, should
See STEINEM, Page 7
Judge rules NCAA
eligibility illegal
Black feminist talks
, about social issues
By Calie Scot#
For the Daily
By Jason Stoffer
Daily Staff Reporter
A cloud of uncertainty descended
upon the University Athletic
Department when a federal judge
ruled earlier this week that National
Collegiate Athletic Association fresh-
man eligibility requirements are
unconstitutional.
"There are two sides to this ruling,"
said associate Athletic Director
Derrick Gragg. "It'll give a lot more
kids opportunities, but there is a
chance some institutions might use it
to take advantage of kids."
Proposition 16, the overturned regu-
lation, required incoming athletes to
have a minimum grade point average
between 2.0 and 2.5 and a SAT score
from 820 to 1010. Under a sliding
scale, as prospective athletes' grade
"has an unjustified disparate impact
against African-Americans."
An NCAA study revealed that 21.4
percent of black athletes applying to
play Division I NCAA sports failed to
meet eligibility requirements in 1997,
compared to just 4.2 percent of white
athletes.
Gragg said the University is in a
"holding mode;" and will continue to
follow the status quo until it hears an
official position from the NCAA. The
NCAA said in a prepared statement
that it plans to appeal the ruling.
Many of the University's coaches
stress that regardless of NCAA stan-
dards, they recruit athletes who have
the potential to survive in the
University's rigorous classroom envi-
ronment.
"I can't afford to have kids not make it
after twon vears." said Michig~an
Prominent black feminist, author and
professor bell hooks, who does not capi-
talize her name,
shared her ideas on}v
race, gender, sexu- . ~ i
ality and class with
a full audience 0'
yesterday evening
in the Rackhama
While her lecture spanned a wide
range of topics, at the core was the theme
of class in capitalist America.
"As a nation, we are becoming passive,
.. refusing to act responsible towards the
more than 38 million people who live in
poverty here," said hooks, who teaches at
City College of New York.
She spoke about what she described as
the irony of America's public condemna-
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