4
Page 2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, May 4, 1984
WHILE WE WERE AWAY
Regents debate affirmative action
By GEORGEA KOVANIS
A report showing that the University
has the largest percentage of black
faculty members in the Big Ten
sparked a debate on quality at the
University regents' meeting April 19,
and 20.
According to the report presented by
Virginia Nordby, the University's af-
firmative action director, 3 percent of
the University's faculty are black,
compared to 2.9 percent at Michigan
State University, 1.9 percent at Indiana
University, and .8 percent of Purdue's
faculty. -
During the presentation, Regent
Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor)
questioned Nordby on the effect of af-
firmative action on the quality of the
University.
Bakersaid he is concerned that the
University may hire a less qualified
candidate for a faculty position, just to
meet an affirmative action quota.
Baker said he was questioning the
"ethical correctness, moral correc-
tness," of limiting the freedom to select
any candidate for any staff position.
Nordby said affirmative action
procedures are only followed when two
candidates for the same position have
equal qualifications. Baker said he was
not satisfied with this procedure, com-
paring it to ahammer.
"It's like having a huge hammer and
you're saying (affirmative action) does
not affect (hiring) . .. yet this huge
hammer can swing over with a bang,"
he said. "This institution did not
achieve its status and stature today
without not seeking out the best in-
dividuals for the job," he continued.
"My issue is the quality of this in-
stitution and I'll raise it for as long as I
sit on this board," he said.
Baker's statements drew comment
from another board member. "As a
woman and a minority, I'm offended by
(Baker's) question," said Nellie Varner
(D-Detroit), adding that Baker was im-
plying that minorities are inferior to
non-minorities.
"I can't think of a single instance
where we gave a job to someone
because they were a woman or a
minority," she said.
The report also included the
following:
* The number of Asian faculty mem-
bers has increased from 3.6 percent
overall in 1979 to 4.9 percent in 1983.
" The number of female faculty
members in tenure and tenure-track
positions increased between 1982 and
1983 from 15.5 percent to 16.6 percent.
" Minorities and women are being
promoted at a slightly slower rate than
other groups of tenured faculty.
" During 1982-83, 29 percent of the new
faculty appointments in tenured
positions were women and 12.4 percent
were minorities.
The proposed code of non-academic
conduct dominated the public commen-
ts session of the meeting.
"The code had a history of secrecy,
censorship, manipulation, and a basic
disregard for democratic process,"
said Andrew Boyd, a member of the No
Code ! group.
Boyd urged the regents to delay any
action on the code until fall and to
freeze regents by-law 7.02 which states
that MSA and the faculty senate must
approve the code before it can become
University policy.
Boyd also cited two ballot questions
on last month's Michigan Student As -
sembly election ballots which showed
overwhelming student opposition to the
code.
Areport was also released at last
month's meeting showing that salaries
for University faculty members have
dropped 17.3 percent when adjusted for
inflation over the past decade. The
report presented by the Committee on
the Economic Status of Faculty
recommended a 10 percent pay in-
crease for the faculty.
The regents also approved the tran-
sfer of the Department of Theater and
Drama from LSA to the School of Music
and approved a $2.25 hike in the student
health service fee, raising it to $55 per
term.
Clinton Jones was approved by the
regents as the chancellor of the Univer-
sity's Flint campus.
Fleetwood Diner
returns
The Fleetwood Diner, Ann Arbor's
favorite all-night greasy spoon, has
finally reopened its doors.
But it's not open all night anymore.
After it went bankrupt and was or-
dered closed in December, two former
employees bought the diner and
reopened it last month.
The new hours-6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Monday thru Friday and 9 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. Sunday - are designed to keep out
"the clientele from that time of night"
and keep the restaurant clean, accor-
ding to part-owner Bill Close.
The major repairs are almost-com-
plete, Close said, and the installation of
a new Coke machine Tuesday made the
Fleetwood ready for a new lease on life.
Close said he and co-owner Chris An-
drews do the cooking, and one of them The customers are primarily the
can always be found around the diner same ones who patronized the old diner,
cleaning, cooking, and on rare oc- Close said, and the 25-seat restaurant is
casions, taking a short break. busy all the time.
Daily Photo by REBECCA KNIGHT
The Fleetwood Diner reopened last month under new ownership.
Homeless shelter
planned
Advocates of preserving the Down-
town Club as a rooming house ended
their campaign last month while plans
for a permanent homeless shelter in
Ann Arbor were finalized.
Members of the ad hoc committee to
save the Downtown Club, located at 110
N. Fourth Ave., had criticized a plan to
convert the 79-year-old building into of-
fice space, saying there is a shortage of
low-income housing in the city.
But the committee ended its struggle
when it determined that it could not
refurbish the dilapidated building for a
reasonable price. The committee also
realized that plans by present owners,
including Mayor Louis Belcher, to con-
vert the building into office space
could not be stopped.
Work will start next week on a former
church to convert it into a homeless
shelter. The controversial shelter,
located at 420 W. Huron, will open by
June 15 and will house 25-30 indigents.
Converting the church involves in-
stalling four bathrooms in the
basement, adding kitchen space, doing
some minor foundation .work, and par-
titioning a large open area for a dor-
mitory-style sleeping arrangement, ac-
cording to Paul Brown, president of the
Shelter Association.
Brown said the next important event
in the continuing saga of the homeless
will be a fund-raising kickoff to help
pay for the $50,000 to $75,000 cost of
operating the shelter for one year.
- Eric Mattson
City gets new school
chief
The Ann Arbor Board of Education
made its choice of a school superinten-
dent official yesterday, confirming
Richard Benjamin as the new head of
the city's public schools.
Benjamin, a University alumnus,
currently is associate superintendent of
the Fort Worth, Texas schools. Board
members said Benjamin and fellow
finalist William Moloney, assistant
superintendent in Rochester, New
York, were both well-qualified. Ben-
jamin's poise and preparation at a
public interview made the difference,
they said. He was chosen at an April 25
board meeting.
Benjamin, who did his undergraduate
work at Michigan State University and
received a Ph.D here in 1969, said he
was happy about returning to Ann Ar-
bor because "the University creates a
climate my family and I have found
nowhere else."
"This is the first superintendent's job
I have applied for," he said. "Ann Ar-
While we were away
continues on page 14
4
4
4
HAPPENINGS
Friday WCBN - International Spotlight, 6 p.m., 88.3 FM. ploration workshop, 11:30 a.m., 410 W. Washington.
Ark--Ann Doyle, singer, 8p.m., 1421 Hill. Muslim Student Association - Discussion, latest Men's Baseball - Michigan vs. Michigan State, 1
Cinema Guild-Psycho, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., Lorch. events in the Muslim world, 9 p.m., 407 N. Ingalls. p.m., Fisher Stadium.
Chinese Bible Class-7:30 p.m., University Refor- Center for TM-Intro to TM, noon, 4316 Union. Women's Softball - Michigan versus Minnesota, 1
med Church. p.m., Varsity Field.
Korean Christian Fellowship-Bible Study, 9 p.m., Saturday Muslim Student Association - Our'an inter-
Campus Chapel. Ark - Irish Music, Kevin " Burke & Michael pretation and Islamic theology, 7:30 p.m., 407 N.
Chinese Christian Fellowship-Meeting, 8 p.m., O'Domhnail, 8 & 10 p.m., 1421 Hill. Ingalls.
Trotter House. Cinema Guild - An Officer and A Gentleman, 7:30 HCN - Chi cook-off & hot air balloon race, all
Tae Kwon Do Club - Practice, 5 p.m., CCRB. & 9:45 p.m., Lorch. day, Saline Farm Council Grounds.
Duplicate Bridge Club - Open game, 7:15 p.m., Ann Arbor Go Club - Meeting, 2 p.m., 1433 Mason. GSteiner Institute - Singing Choir, 3:30 p.m., 1923
League. Tae Kwon Do Club - Practice, 9 a.m., CCRB. G es.
Friends of the Matthaei Botannical Gardens - Trip Museum of Art - Children's day festival, 2 p.m. Matthaei Botannical Gardens - Lobby Sale, 10
to Hidden Lakes Gardens, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Common Ground Theatre - Movement Ex- a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 1800 N. Dixboro Rd.
Send announcements to Happenings, The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.
4