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December 06, 1995 - Image 1

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1995-12-06

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

onight: Partly cloud with
lurries, low in mid-teens.
omorrow: Partly sunny,
igh in mid 20s.

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One hundredflve years of editoNrzalfreedom

Wednesday
December 6, 1995

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I

Cop
on2
harges
y Josh White
aily Staff Reporter
YPSILANTI - Black students at
astern Michigan University contin-
ed to rail against the campus police
esterday in a controversy that has been
owing since the Nov. 7 arrest ofEMU
tudent Aaron Johnson.
In a courtroom filled with Johnson's
upporters, ajudge ordered the student to
ace misdemeanor charges of aggravated
ssault and obstructingjustice, stemming
'om a fight in a residence hail.
And last night, protesters and activ-
sts packed EMU's Student Govern-
nt meeting and urged representa-
ves to stand behind them.
EMU junior Lavelle Lewis criticized
he school administration's reaction to
ohnson's arrest and a related protest
uring Monday night's EMU-San Fran-
isco State basketball game.
"The administration is more inter-
sted in threatening to expel students
nvolved in peaceful protest than in
orking with the students to deal with
he problem at hand," Lewis said. "I
ave been to the administration and
obody there cares."
EMU President William Shelton said
he school may take disciplinary action
gainst those students who interrupted
e basketball game. Assistant Vice Presi-
ent for Marketing and Student Affairs
im Vick said sanctions could range
rom verbal warnings to expulsion.
"This kind of disruptive activity goes
gainst our code of conduct, but there is
o automatic discipline and I cannot
ay if there will be any discipline at all,"
lick said.
At last night's student government
eeting, students urged representatives
take action and to speak out against
he administration.
"I hope you understand you're com-
itted to representing us," EMU junior
alonji Ato - who said he is being
hreatened with expulsion for his part in
he protest - told the student govern-
ent panel. "You can be my enemy or
ou can be my friend. This school is
rying to kick me out. I was doing your
ob when I protested."
Shante Driver, an organizer for the
leftist National Women's Rights Orga-
nizing Coalition, spoke at the meeting
in support of Johnson.
"You need to call for the university to
rop the charges against Johnson," said
Driver, who was involved in the protest
fthe firing ofthree University of Michi-
an Dental School workers last year.
"You need to call for the firing of the
racist, crazy, brutalizing cop who dared

NTROVERSY GROWS AT EMU

Pres. may
have misled

4U'

regents

Above: Eastern Michigan
University student Aaron Johnson
and his lawyer (at left) face the
media following a hearing at the
14th District Court yesterday,
where he was charged with
aggravated assault and obstructing
justice. The charges stem from a
Nov. 7 incident in an EMU
residence hall.
Left: Lavelle Lewis, a junior at
EMU, expresses his thoughts
during the student government
meeting held last night at the
McKenny Union on EMU's campus.
Some students on campus feel the
university's Department of Public
Safety has problems with police
brutality.
Photos by
JOE WESTRATE/Daily
is a growing trend of racism."
Masley pledged University of Michi-
gan support for Johnson, and said she
would rally students at the University.
"We needto encourage student walk-
outs, student strikes and protests to put
the fear of God into the administra-
tion," Masley said.
Masley was the only white protester
present at the basketball game demon-
stration and one of a few University of
Michigan students at last night's meet-
ing. She said there is strong support at
the University and that she plans to gather
students for a "militant" movement in
coming weeks, but offered no specifics.
EMU Controller Edward Jolley said
the administration is dealing with the
See EMU, Page 2

Codeis not
needed for
accreditation
By Amy Klein
Daily Staff Reporter
President James J. Duderstadt may
have given misleading information to
regents before they voted to adopt the
new Code of Student Conduct, accord-
ing to documents obtained by The
Michigan Daily yesterday.
During discussion on the Code at the
last meeting of the Board of Regents,
Duderstadt said a 1990 report from the
North Central Accreditation Agency criti-
cized the University for lacking a student
code of non-academic conduct and for
being "derelict in our responsibility."
"(They said) we were at great risk
because we didn't have a code."
Duderstadt said at the meeting.
But a copy of the accreditation report,
written Feb. 19-21, 1990, does not men-
tion a code in the "Concerns" portion.
The only reference to a conduct code
appears under the "Advice for Institu-
tional Improvement" heading- a"pure-
ly advisory" section of the report.
"We support t
the Un iversity
administration's
current consider-r
ation of plans to
develop an ex-
plicit set of ex-
pectations of
ethical practice
in and out of the
classroom by
students, faculty, Duderstadt
and staff. At
present there is no institution-wide con-
duct code that applies to all members of
the University of Michigan commu-
nity," the 1990 report stated.
Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor),
who voted against the Code last month,
said yesterday that Duderstadt's remarks
implied the University would not be
accredited again without a code. The
agency is scheduled to re-accredit the
University in 1998.
"The inference was definitely there,"
Baker said. "I don't know why he raised
it, but he obviously intended to influ-
ence a vote."
Vice President for Student Affairs
Maureen A. Hartford, who supervised
the writing of the Code, said the Novem-

What the Report Says:
Concerning a conduct code, the
North Central Accreditation Agency
wrote in its report to the University:
"We support the University
administration's current
consideration of plans to develop
an explicit set of expectations of
ethical practice in and out of the
classroom by students, facult, and
staff. At present there is no
institutionwide conduct code that
applies to all members of the
University of Michigan community."
ber meeting was the first time she heard
Duderstadt mention the accreditation
report since the vote to adopt the last
non-academic policy in October 1992.
"I had heard about it early on in 1992,
but I haven't heard about it recently,"
Hartford said. "I remember(Duderstadt)
saying it was an issue a while ago."
Martin Gold, chair ofthe University's
Civil Liberties Board, stressed the sig-
nificance of Duderstadt's comments to
the regents.
"The impression the president gave
to the regents on the threshold of a very
important vote may be the wrong im-
pression," Gold said. "Maybe the presi-
dent mis-remembered or misinterpreted
the report."
In an e-mail message to Gold dated
Dec. 1, Duderstadt wrote that his re-
marks on the accreditation were taken
from "a discussion at the exit inter-
view" with the agency. North Central
Accreditation Agency could not be
reached for comment yesterday.
Associate Vice President for Univer-
sity Relations Lisa Baker said she did
not have any information on the exit
interview and that Duderstadt was un-
available for comment.
Following November's 7-1 vote to
adopt the Code, Regent Andrea Fischer
Newman (R-Ann Arbor) said
Duderstadt' s reference to the accredita-
tion report may have influenced some
regents. Newman criticized Duderstadt
in an interview yesterday.
*The president stated it in public at a
regents meeting," Newman said. "You
would like to believe that when the
president says something that you can
count on that statement to be true."
Lisa Baker said she did not think
Duderstadt' s comments swayed the vote.
"My sense would be that this was not
a decision made by the board in a day,"
she said. "A single comment at a board
See CODE, Page 2

to draw. his gun and you need to call for
amnesty for every student in this cam-
pus who stood up for their rights."
Johnson, who is black, allegedly
stepped into a Nov. 7 fight in an EMU
residence hall and injured a white EMU
police officer. He faced three charges-
disarming a police officer, aggravated
assault and obstruction of justice.
Fourteenth District Court Judge John
Collins yesterday removed the first charge
and set Johnson's trial date for Feb. 12.
"I don't think this should even go to
trial," EMU junior Willie Green said
outside the courthouse. "Seeing the
judge drop one of the charges was good,
but I don't understand why Aaron is
even facing any charges."
Green said Johnson stepped into a
fight in order to break it up and was

doused with pepper spray by officer
Kenneth Hardesty. Green said Johnson
then knocked the spray can out of the
officer's hand and inadvertantly hit
Hardesty.
Johnson, who attended the student
government meeting last night, said he
did not want to comment without his
lawyerpresent. School officials say their
investigation has been hindered because
Johnson has never made an official,
statement about the Nov. 7 incident.
Driver and LSA senior Jodi Masley,
who have championed many activist
causes at the University, said the entire
situation rises out of racism.
"I think this event has deep and far-
reaching significance forcampuses in the
area andacross the entire country as well,"
Masley said after last night's meeting. "It

axpayers
o get bonus
refund
LANSING (AP) - Taxpayers will
have an incentive to file their 1995 state
tax returns early: They can expect a
refund about $25 bigger than normal,
Gov. John Engler said yesterday.
The state's booming economy has
boosted state tax revenues more than
expected, and a constitutional amend-
ment requires that taxpayers get some
of the money back.
They'll get it by paying 2 percent less
of their state tax bill - or getting back
2 percent more - than they would
otherwise, Engler said. For a family of
fourmaking $40,000, the refund is about
$26. For a family with an income of
$60,000, the cut is $45.
Engler took credit for the refund yes-
terday, unwrapping a $113 million card-
board "check" for taxpayers and noting
that tax cuts enacted by the Republican-
controlled Legislature this year will total

Some facts on the
extra refund:
8 The Headlee Amendment Refund
will lower a person's tax bill or
increase the size of the refund.
5 The refund is a one-time-only,
$113 million refund to lower tax
revenues that have swelled above
state constitutional limits.
* Most households can expect to
get about $25 extra, with wealthier
households getting more.
* The refund is expected to be
approved by the Legislature in
coming weeks.
make a big difference.
"As far as helping the economy, I
don't think it's going to do much," said
Johnson, a self-employed baker. "The
biggest effect is good will ... probably
toward Engler."
Dr. Mike Brown, an emergency-room
physician at Butterworth Hospital in
Grand Rapids, had a similar reaction.
"That amount doesn't grab me at
all," he said.
Parking lot attendant Art Goodall,
76, would rather see the money spent on
other projects. "We could use another
bridge over the Grand River here," the

U.S. troops begin setting up command base

Los Angeles Tires
TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina-The
vanguard of the U.S. deployment to
Bosnia came to Tuzla yesterday and set
about preparing a command center for
the 20,000 American GIs who will soon
be launched on an ambitious peace-
making mission.
Ten members of an advance recon-
naissance team checked maps, mea-
sured bridges and inspected roads as
they slogged through the frosted coun-
tryside of northwestern Bosnia-
Herzegovina, the heart of what will
become the American sector in the larg-

est military operation NATO has ever
undertaken.
"A big adventure!" said one soldier
from Vienna, Va., summing up his work
thus far as he lugged his backpack into
the dark at the Tuzla air base.
Brig. Gen. Stanley F. Cherrie, an
assistant division commander from the
U.S. Army's Ist Armored Division who
led the reconnaissance team to Tuzla,
said the conditions in Bosnia had not
surprised them, but they were concerned
about the condition of the infrastruc-
ture, especially the roads.
"We had heard the roads were frag-

ile," Cherrie told reporters. "But they're
in a little bit worse shape than I thought."
The U.S. contingent, which traveled
to Tuzla on Dutch armored personnel
carriers of the U.N. peacekeeping force,
is part of a 2,600-member NATO team
sent to set up headquarters, communi-
cations and other facilities and to pre-
pare transportation hubs for the full
peacekeeping force. About 735 soldiers
in the advance team are Americans.
The full deployment of 60,000 mostly
Western troops begins in mid-Decem-
ber after the presidents of Bosnia, Serbia
and Croatia -formally sign the peace

agreement reached last month following
arduous negotiations in Dayton, Ohio.
Under the accord, NATO troops, in-
cluding the 20,000 Gls, will establish a
buffer about two miles wide between
Bosnian government and Serb forces.
For now, U.S. troops are arriving in
spurts rather than in large bursts, appar-
ently to keep the operation as discrete
as possible before the signing ceremony
Dec. 14 in Paris.
The G Is, however, are outnumbered by
the U.S. television crews pursuing them.
Inside: A roundup of yesterday's Bosnia
developments. Page 7

Gearing up for
the holidays
Phil, who works for a tree farmer in
northem Michigan, ties a Christmas
tree on the roof of a customer's car. He
has set up a lot on Washtenaw Avenue,
naming the lot "Flatsnoots - World
Headquarters." Phil said the name
stems from the fact that everybody

i .

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