OPINION
Friday, May 9, 1986
Page 6
The Michigan Doily 4
W3iE fIhIE Uf BUIU
Vol. XCVI, No. 00-S
96 Years of Editorial Freedom
Unsigned editorials represent the majority views of the Daily's Editorial Board
Cartoons and signed editorials do not necessarily reflect the Daily's opinion.
Continue the spirit
LETTERS:
Tenure decision attacked
On May 3, Nelson Mandela,
leader of the African National
Congress (ANC), was honored at
an alternative ceremony on the
Diag in rebuff to the Board of
Regents' refusal to present Man-
dela with an honorary degree at
the graduation exercises the same
day. This well-attended, organized
ceremony represented the deter-
mination of the anti-apartheid
movement here at the University
to continue to bring attention to the
plight of Mandela as well as that of
all blacks in South Africa.
But this ceremony should not be
viewed as a culmination of the anti-
apartheid battle on campus; sn-
stead, it should serve as an in-
spiration for renewed efforts to
maintain awareness and to con-
tinue to fight for justice in South
Africa.
Recent gestures by the South
African government, such as the
elimination of the law requiring
blacks to carry identification or
"pass books," and references to
possible negotiations for Man-
dela's release are encouraging.
But these overtures towards
progress are undermined by the at-
titude of Gerrit Viljoen, a senior
South African Cabinet minister,
who claims that charges in racial
policies in South Africa will not be
possible without continued
segregation of schools and housing
to maintain ". . . a sense of
security for minority (white)
groups." Dr. Viljoen holds that
whites must first have confidence
as to their future in South Africa, in
order to further the cause of
blacks.
The ambigious and contradic-
tory positions of South Africa's
apartheid government indicate the
need to sustain the momentum of
the anti-apartheid movement on
campus. Hopefully, the spirit of the
Mandela ceremony will endure
throughout the summer:months.
Tn the law school, faculty, and University
Regents :
We were shocked to learn this week that
for the first time in memory a member of
the law school who has enjoyed a successful
career here for the normal term of years
preceding a tenure appointment has been
denied tenure. This is unique in both
Michigan's history and in that of its peer
law schools.
The decision would have been shocking
enough to raise many eyebrows simply as a
break intprecedent. If he wasn't successful,
why didn't this professor, as a few others
have over the years, get tactfully en-
couraged to move years ago? The fact that
Michael Rosenzweig, one of the most
popular professors in the law school, was
singled out for thissdistinction is impossible
for us to understand.
We feel shocked and chagrined for
several reasons. First, Professor Rosen-
zweig has demonstrated to his classes both
the highest standards of intellectual quality
and a personable, attractive style: we have
enjoyed and been enriched by Professor
Rosenzweig and hate to think of him
leaving. Indeed, his classes are regularly
oversubscribed, and it is difficult to imagine
who on the faculty would teach (or resear-
ch) Enterprise Organization and Corporate
Finance in his stead.
More disturbing, however, is the absence
of any basis on which to make sense of the
decision. Professor Rosenzweig has carried
on original research and is one of the only
professors at the law school who understan-
ds the current corporate finance issues that
will figure prominently in many of our
careers. He has published and been accep-
ted for publication recently in scholarly
journals of the highest caliber. Thus, we can
ascertain no proper basis for this shocking
decision. Perhaps because of the complete
lack of communication between faculty, the
administration, and students on such mat-
ters, rumors of Byzantine administration
conspiracies have begun to rumble.
We understand that setting criteria for
faculty hiring and promotion is one of the
most cherished rights of the current faculty.
We certainly. don't expect a student
referendum on such matters. But extraor-
dinary treatment should have extraor-
dinary antecedents. Denial of tenure to
someone who wasn't edged out after a year
or two is most extraordinary for this law
school, and none of us can believe that
Professor Rozenweig is extraor-
dinarily deserving of such treatment.
Perhaps some dialogue with the students
who are expected to one day support this
law school with their contributions would be
in order over such drastic decisions,
especially if they- represent a change in
policy. We know of many who decided
today, on the basis of this tenure decision,
never to contrihute
We wish Professor Rosenzweig the very
best.
-This letter was signed by
one hundred and twenty-five
law school students
April 30
Regents acted responsibly
A sleepy owl
On Saturday, April 26, over 1,000 the situation. The. Nite Owl
women participated in the seventh system, designed to provide
annualTake Back the Night march. The women with free transportation to
march was a symbolic one, their homes at night, is inadequate.
designed to provide women with There are few signs to designate
one night of guaranteed security on Nite Owl stops along the street and
Ann Arbor streets. the existence of the service as well
While the large turnout for the as its route is underpublicized. It is
march was encouraging, the ironic that the Nite Owl service
necessity for such a march initially does not operate during the spring
demonstrates that the issue of and summer terms, when more
women's safety should be a people take advantage of the warm
priority. Women in Ann Arbor are evenings to walk outside and
justified in feeling unsafe when threats to women increase.
walking this city's streets at Failure to provide a transpor-
night. This university has one of tation service to protect women is
the worst crime records in the inexcusable, despite cries of insuf-
nation; a recent study reported ficient funding. Women's safety
that the University is second only must be a primary concern of the
to the University of Maryland in Office of Student Services. The
the number of violent crimes Nite Owl system, in order to be a
committed. true service to the women of this
Yet the University has not taken university, must be given the
sufficient steps ° to improve proper attention it deserves.
To the Daily:
The Daily's editorials for awarding
Nelson Mandela an honorary degree and
reacting to the release of the University
Council's discussion draft of the Emergency
Procedures are flawed (Daily 4/17/86). The
Daily does not fully appreciate the impor-
tance of respecting established procedure
for amendment of bylaws of the univer-
sity. Nelson Mandela was not granted an
honorary degrees ostensibly because bylaw
9.03 said that no honorary degrees may be
granted in absentia. The Daily called the
adherence to this bylaw "bureaucratic ar-
hitrariness". On the contrary, the Univer-
sity administration and regents acted
responsibly in not waiving the bylaw at the!
April 18,1986 regents' meeting.
The university community is in fact
protected from arbitrariness through
procedural requirements for bylaw amen-
dments. Bylaw 14.03 requires that notice for a
proposed bylaw change be given to all the
regents one week in advance of the meeting
at which an amendment is to be discussed.
Fortunately, the regents' practice goes
beyond the provisions of 14.03.
In order to ensure that affected parties
have notice of proposed bylaw changes,
proposed changes must be published in the
University Record twohweeks before the
Executive Officers of the University for-
ward the proposal to the regents. In order to
ensure that affected parties have the oppor-
tunity to comment on proposed changes, the
university administration must solicit their
comments.
No amendment, including a waiver of a
regents' bylaws should be made without
proper notice and without a university-wide
discussion by the affected parties. Even if
the university administration was negligent
or even devious in not informing the univer-
sity community of the procedural obstacle
to awarding Mandela an honorary degree,
students, faculty members, and the Daily
should not advocate amending a bylaw out-0
side of normal procedures.
Moreover, those advocating a degree for
Mandela, should have independently
researched the requirements for awarding
honorary degrees and lobbied for a bylaw
change months ago. It is unfortunate that
the price of learning that the university ad-
ministration cannot be trusted to assist
those who challenge the administration was
a degree for Mandela.
-Eric Schnaufer
April 21