The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, June 2, 1982-Page 3 GROUPS CHARGE RACISMWr By CHARLES THOMSON The presence of a small, wide-eyed black doll in a fraternity photograph in the Michigan State Univer- sity student newspaper has touched off a storm of controversy-and claims that racism is becoming more widespread at the state's largest university. Yesterday, the controversy broadened when the Lansing NAACP joined other groups calling for the expulsion of the fraternity and for the ouster of both the university's adviser for Greek affairs and the newspaper's general manager. THE FUROR stems from a photograph which ap- peared in a "Greek Week" advertising supplement to The State News, the MSU student newspaper. The photograph, which was a paid advertisement for Theta Chi fraternity, showed members posing with a small black statue. The statue, which depicted a black male with wide eyes, was identified in the cap- tion as "Willie." Blacks and civil rights advocates attacked the photograph as racist, and said its publication showed insensitivity toward racial minorities. But spokespersons for The State News and the MSU administration have said the photograph was published only through an oversight, and that no racial slur was intended. The fraternity has issued an apology, anrd Theta Chi chapter president John Poyhonen said his membersc"had no idea at all" that the photograph would be found offensive. BUT A NUMBER of groups, including the Lansing chapter of the National Association for the Advan- cement of Colored People, are unconvinced and have asked the university to take action. "We're going for the explusion of the fraternity if we can," said Rudy Wilson, president of the Lansing NAACP. "We're going all the way. If we make con- cessions, it's going to happen again." "The statue depicts blacks in a very negative way," said Bob Williams, president of the Greater Lansing Black Greek Alumni Council. "It speaks to racism we dealt with 30 or 40 years ago. Now it's rearing its ugly head again." WILLIAMS SAID the explanations of the university and the newspaper were "just shifting the burden of blame to someone else." The council wants the university to take steps to ensure such an incident will not come up in the future, he said. "I'm expecting some action from the university," said Williams. "The statue in the photo represented a minstrel or sambo stereotype which is very offensive," said Herman Marable, an MSU student who is head of the Michigan youth and college branch of the NAACP. "People are upset that the fraternity would have the audacity to publish that and send it all over campus." "We had no idea at all (what would happen)," said Poyhonen yesterday. "It was a mistake on our part. It was not to be a racial comment at all. What we're trying to do now is educate ourselves to understand what happened." HE SAID members of his fratnity had met with See MSU, Page 11 backers blast insurance industry WASHINGTON (AP) - With 30 days left in the drive for ratification, proponents of the Equal Rights Amen- dment singled out the insurance in- dustry yesterday as a "silent lobby" that has blocked ERA's approval. If ERA dies on June 30, women's groups will go directly after businesses that benefit from sex discrimination, Eleanor Smeal, president of the National Organization for Women, told a news conference. She said the in- surance industry opposes ERA because it profits from discriminatory rate structures. "IF WE HAVE to take them on case by case, court by court, state by state, we'll do that," she said. But ERA's adoption would make such fights un- necessary, she added. In response, T. Lawrence Jones, president of the American Insurance Association, said he knows of no in- surance .industry lobbying against ERA. He also said automobile rate systems "generally tend to favor the female driver, resulting in lower rates for women." While it is true that teen-age girls are charged lower premiums than teen-age boys for auto insurance, Smeal said, women, who are safer drivers, are not charged less than men. She argues that rates should be based on factors other than "accident of birth." BASING insurance rates on sex"works against women in most cases, against men in some cases, but for the benefit of the industry in all cases," she said. The Equal Rights Amendment, which would prohibit sexual discrimination, has been approved by 35 state legislatures, most recently in 1977. To become part of the Constitution, three more states must approve ERA by the June 30 deadline fixed by Congress. Falklands frivoality * * Inventor Bill Fawcett displays his "War in the Falklands" game, which went on sale last week. The game, played on a strategic map of the South Atlantic, was created over a couple of glasses of wine, according to Fawcett. U of Ill. official gets prison term URBANA, Ill. (AP) - Former Univer- sity of Illinois vice president Robert Parker was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for stealing $600,000 from the school and spending muich of it on female companionship. Circuit Court Judge Harold Jensen accepted the recommendation of Champaign County State's Attorney Tom Difanis, who recommended the five-year term and a $10,000 fine. Difanis said Parker should go to jail because his crime was "absolutely outrageous" and because he violated a public trust.- Moments before sentencing, Parker wiped tears from his eyes and told Jen- sen he was sorry for his actions, but still did not understand them. DEF+ENSE lawyer Art Lerner had asked Jensen not to send Parker to prison, but to assign him to public ser- vice work and perhaps try to arrange for restitution. Parker, 60, admitted embezzling the money and spending much of it at a Chicago-area nightclub and on women he met there. However, during his two trials, the defense contended that Parker as in- sane, and therefore not responsible for his actions. THE FIRST trial, in Mount VErnon, ended in February with the jury unable to reach a verdict. Parker was tried again in Rockford in April, and was convicted on 157 counts of felony theft. Parker, a 29-year veteran of the university, was accused of taking the money during a 2-year period ending in May 1981. He resigned in June 1981. Parker wrote checks totaling more than $90,000 to the Club Taray in Franklin Park. Manager Ronald Mar- tin testified that he accepted 13 univer- sity checks from Parker during one year. Martin said customers like Parker would buy bubble bath at $60 a bottle, which side-stepped laws forbid- ding employees from selling their time to customers. A bottle of bubble bath entitled Parker to between 10 and 15 minutes of companionship with women employees, who doubled as strippers, Martin said. Parker also gave much of the UI money to Chicago-area women, in- cluding $208,000 to one woman with whom he reportedly engaged in sex.