Te Mchigan Daily
Vol. XCI, No. 16-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Thursday, May 28, 1981 Sixteen Pages
City proposal protested
By NANCY BILYEAU
A handful of civil rights activists'
staged a formal protest in front of City
Hall yesterday, voicing their opposition
to proposed City Council ordinance
thtwould require halfway house
prisoners and parolees to register with
the city within 10 days of establishing
residency in Ann Arbor.
The proposed ordinance, drafted in
response to Council members' concern
over the dangers posed by halfway
house inmates, must first be approved
by Council after a public hearing and
second reading before going into effect.
ACCORDING TO Washtenaw County
American Civil Liberties Union Chair-
man Calvin Michael, such an ordinance
is "unnecessary" and violates several
: v
A lone downtown pedestrian, shielded b
Salaries
reflect
hi-mtech,
d em and
PrisonersO rights may be
violated by Council's action
constitutional protections and rights.
The proposed ordinance reads:
Every prisoner and parolee "shall,
upon establishing residency within the
city, contact the city administrator
within 10 days and provide the city ad-
ministrator with his or her name, date
of birth, driver's license, and social
security number, address and
telephone number of residence,
duration of expected stay in the city,
- ,.ari in o rr 1
According to Michael, the measure
would virtually brand a halfway house
prisoner or parolee, singling him out
from other groups or classes of people
in violation of the Due Process Clause.
THE PROPOSED registration or-
dinance also violates the rights to
privacy, equal protection, freedom of
association, and the Commerce Clause
of the Constitution, Michael said, ad-
ding that to his knowledge, this is the
first proposal of its kind in the country.
The "Prisoners and Parolees" or-
dinance passed the first reading last
Tuesday over the objections of Coun-
cilman Lowell Peterson (D-1st Ward)
and Democratic Councilwoman Susan
Greenberg, also of the First Ward, who
voted against it.
According to Greenberg, who said
she was "appalled" by Council's
proposal, the ACLU may file suit again-
st the city if the ordinance is passed into
law.
Council's actions are "a hysteria ap-
proach to the halfway houses," Green-
berg said. Peterson agreed, sdying,
"It's easy for people to get hysterical,
there's a great deal of misunderstan-
dings."
LAST FEBRUARY, the city's Zoning
Board of Appeals unanimously
defeated a petition for construction of a
"half-way" correctional facility state
officials hoped would house up to 70 pre-
parole prisoners.
The proposal was voted down in the
wake of a two-month controversy over
the likelihood that criminal activity
allegedly committed by city halfway
house residents last winter would in-
crease if another facility was built.
According to Greenberg, the Council
had approached the city administrator
for means by which to regulate the local
prisoner and parolee problem. But,
Greenberg said she didn't foresee "a
format that would violate constitutional
rights."
HOWEVER, Councilwoman Leslie
Morris (D-2nd Ward) said that although
See PRISONER, Page 6
Calm at Jackson
Michigan's prisons were
calm yesterday following
waves of riots at three state
institutions Tuesday and last
week. See story, Page 3.
Doily Photo
City Slicker
y his shiny black umbrella, hurries through yesterday's downpour.
by JACKIE BELL
By JOHN ADAM
Two starkly different images of a University
graduate exist in many peoples' minds. Either the
graduate is beseiged with offers from the many firms
attracted by his technical degree, or he is an LSA
liberal arts graduate scrambling for any job he can
get his hands on.
But according to Harold Fowler, acting director of
the Career Planning and Placement Office, the job
prospects for liberal arts students are getting better
each year.
"A LIBERAL arts degree could be as valuable as
an MBA (Masters of Business Administration) or an
engineering degree if the students dig in and look at
their careers," Fowler said, recommending that
students come to the University's placement center
as early as their freshman year in order to sharpen
their skills and get a feel for the job market.
"You should like what you're doing" and not avoid
LSA just because technical careers are offering more
money, Fowler said, since "all jobs require a certain
amount of creativeness" and this creativity is lost if
you don't like the job.
Virginia Stegath, a University Career Planning ad-
visor, said almost every company has opportunities
for liberal arts people, "but the demand isn't there
like it is for engineering and computer science."
ONE STUDENT IN CCS (Computer Com-
munications Science) had seven job offers from firms
like IBM, GTE, Hewlett Packard, and Ford at a
salary range from $21,600 to 23,700, Stegath said. "All
computer science graduates must have had four or
five offers," she said.
Liberal arts students' biggest opportunities are in
sales, Stegath said, which usually pay under $15,000
but sometimes have benefits such as unlimited use of
s car.
"After five years of experience there's not nearly
as much of a salary differential between an MBA and
a BA," she said. "It depends just how you perform on
the job."
FOWLER ESTIMATES that possibly 50 percent of
University liberal arts students go on to Graduate
See JOB, Page 6