ne hundred five years
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Wednesday
May 15, 1996
Committee postones DPS officers' hearing
Sam T. Dudek
Daily Staff Reporter
The University's Department of
Public Safety Oversight Committee was
scheduled to begin private hearings yes-
terday to question the two DPS officers
involved in- the Feb. 17 arrest of John
Matlock, the director of the Office of
Academic and Multicultural Initiatives.
However, the officers never showed
up.
DPS officers Pete Pressly and
tchael Kelley were scheduled to
appear before the committee, but at the
recommendation of their attorney, they
did not attend.
After a private meeting, the oversight
committee released a statement yester-
day saying they would postpone their
hearing. The committee cited many rea-
Uriese
pleads to
P* u
starge;
By Jennifer Harvey
Managing News Editor
Suspended Michigan quarterback
Brian Griese pled guilty to a reduced
misdemeanor charge of malicious
destruction of property last week, at
what was supposed to be a preliminary
hearing for a felony charge.
*Griese, who will be an LSA senior
in the fall, had previously been
charged with a.felony for breaking the
main front window of Scorekeepers
on April 7, after he had been thrown
out of the Ann Arbor bar. A bouncer
who worked at the bar on the night of
the incident said Griese was visibly
intoxicated.
"I damaged property that did not
belong to me," Griese told 15th District
Court Judge Ann Mattson. "I broke a
endow."
"It was not an accident," he said. "I
was just angry."
With the felony charge, Griese faced
a possible sentence of four years in
prison and a $2,000 fine.
Griese's attorney, Paul Gallagher,
said the prosecutor independently
reduced the charge and the decision
sons for the delay, including advice Building after he allegedly pushed
from the University's general counsel, Kelley, who prevented him from enter-
requests from the officers' attorney and ing the building. Matlock was sched-
the director of DPS, and growing public uled to officiate a basketball contest for
attention. the Black Volunteer Network.
The statement University general counsel Elsa Cole
said that the com- had advised the oversight committee in
mittee was asked a letter to postpone its hearings for the
by both Matlock two officers involved in the Feb. 17
and the Univer- arrest of Matlock.
sity to investigate Vice President for University
the incident and Relations Lisa Baker said Cole was ful-
to look into the filling her duties of providing legal
possibility of im- advice to the University community.
proper conduct "What she was trying to convey was
on the part of the that enough concern had been raised that
arresting officers. Matlock the committee might want to delay inter-
Pressly and viewing the two officers until the legal
Kelly arrested Matlock in February at process had concluded," Baker said.
the Central Campus Recreation Matlock's trial is scheduled to begin
July 12. He has pled not guilty to mis-
demeanor charges of resisting a police
officer and simple assault.
The DPS Oversight Committee was
formed in 1990 and consists of two stu-
dents, two faculty members and two
University staff members. The commit-
tee is not governed by the University
and cannot discipline the officers but
only recommend courses of action.
The officers' attorney, Michael
Vincent, said the grievance committee
hearing was an intimidation device.
"They are doing this to intimidate my
officers," Vincent said.
Vincent added that he believed the
hearing was part of a continued effort to
suspend Pressly and Kelley.
Washtenaw County Prosecutor Brian
Mackie, whose office is handling the
Matlock case, said he was concerned
about the timing of the hearing.
"Getting the officers' side of the
story possibly before the public, could
be unfortunate," Mackie said.
"I believe the constitutional rights of
the defendant and of the people should
be paramount," he said.
Matlock's attorney, Dick Soble, said
he believed the hearings would not pre-
sent a problem.
"We did not feel that the questioning
of the officers would have a negative
effect on the upcoming trial," Soble said.
Leo Heatley, director of DPS, said he
was concerned with the timing of the
hearing. He said the committee had
plenty of time to question the officers.
"They've got all summer, even all
fall," Heatley said.
Nurses surveyed about
giving up raises, benefits
Daily News Editor
Three weeks after the University's
Medical Center first announced its
plans to downsize and remove 1,121
hospital employees, the University's
Professional Nurses Council, a nurses
union, asked its members in a survey to
consider making concessions in
exchange for job security.
"We're asking
membership if
they're willing to ie're
make monetary
concessions; but members
we're not going
to give up some- they're H
thing for noth-
ing," said Union make mo
Chairperson
Cheryl Johnson. jon cesi$
The survey
asked nurses if -
they would be, Un
willing to make
concessions such
as salary slashes, salary freezes and
cuts in weekend bonuses. Union mem-
bership is estimated to be 2,300 nurses.
"Certainly we do not wish to make
concessions," said Barbara Hensick, a
registered nurse who has worked at the
hospital for 10 years. "Some conces-
sions are easier to make than others; it
may be a reality we may have to face."
Michael Harrison, a spokesperson
for the hospital, would not speculate if
1
I
11
the concessions would secure jobs.
"(Concessions) certainly will have an
impact on the bottom line, but it is too
hard to say whether it will impact posi-
tions" Harrison said.
Johnson said the union will not decide
to ask for monetary concessions unless
survey results indicate that its members
approve of such a measure. She said she
expects the results to arrive next week.
Medical
Center officials
plans
ihi p Ifmonth to m
$39 msllion
4illing to from a 1996-97
budget of $1
netary billion. Today,
each depart-
f$s ment is expect-
ed to submit its
Cheryl Johnson plans for inter-
ion Chairperson nal cuts to meet
the overall $39
million target
cut. The plans will be reviewed by a
redesign coordinating group headed by
Lloyd Jacobs, associate medical school
dean.
Nurses hold about two hundred of
the more than 1,100 hospital jobs
expected to be cut this year.
"It's distressing to us when cuts are
made like this because we normally are
See NURSES, Page 2
Michigan football quaterback Brian Griese leaves Judge Ann Mattson's courtrrom
last week. Griese pled guilty to a misdeamnor charge of destruction of property.
was not the result of a plea agree-
ment.
Mattson ordered Griese to pay resti-
tution for the window, valued at $889.
Griese said he had already paid the
amount to Scorekeepers.
Mattson also ordered Griese to sub-
mit to a substance-abuse evaluation at
University Health Services and to fol-
low the recommendations of the evalu-
ation.
Griese was suspended indefinitely
from the football team April 9, in
accordance with the athletic depart-
ment's policies.
In an official statement released the
same day, Michigan football coach
Lloyd Carr said, "You have to realize an
incident such as this one has an effect
on the entire program and not just an
individual."
As of Monday, Griese had not
returned to practice. "He has not been
reinstated," Carr said.
4N THIS WEEK'S
flai-g
2 INSIDE NEWS 10 ARTSu 13 PORTS
I Fraternity's insurance com- Van Cliburn performs at Hill The Michigan softball team
pany sues University. Auditorium. wins Big Ten tournament.