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