i i ~ t The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 24, 1995 -3 e-snatchers lage weekend Department of Public Safety reports how a patient reported her purse miss- ng Saturday at University Hospitals. A patient left her purse on the back of wheelchair and "a staff member wear- ng a blue smock" took the wheelchair way, police said. When a DPS officer found the nurse ho removed the wheelchair, she said he wheelchair was given to a discharged ;atient. Officers searched the parking lot and nside the main hospital for the wheel- hair, but then staff from the parking tructure called to say they found the urse on the back of a wheelchair. The officer returned the purse to the wner, but "some of the money had een stolen," reports said. DPS was contacted 11 p.m. Saturday ight about an incident of larceny at a wedding reception in the Michigan League. A woman attending the wedding ac- cused staffmembers ofstealingherpurse. When the officers talked to the woman, she said $180 was stolen from her purse and she believed it was a guest, not a staff member. She did not see anyone near her purse, police said. A woman also reported to DPS at 5:30 p.m. Saturday that her wallet was taken from inside her purse. The purse was on an "aisle cart" on the fourth floor of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library when it was stolen, the caller said." The woman said she saw a teen-ager it the area, but she could not provide a description. She called DPS again at 5:36 p.m. to say she found her wallet and nothing was missing. Trespasser escapes by elevator DPS reports indicate a male was seen Saturday wandering through the fourth floor of th6 Institute of Social Research building. When approached by the building staff, he ran to the elevator and went to the third floor, police said. Police released the following descrip- tion: 5 feet 5 inches tall, eyeglasses, dark hair and a mustache, wearing dark dress pants and a dark sweater. After a "complete search" of the build- ing, police were unable to locate the man. Woman injured while sleeping DPS reports indicate that a woman fell out of a chair while sleeping at University Hospitals. She was treated in the emergency room for pain in her shoulder and arm. Lipstick graffiti found in dorm Martha Cook residence hall staff called DPS Friday morning when they discovered graffiti in the dorm, police reports said. The staff told police there was "graf- fiti written in lipstick on several walls in the building." - Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Jodi Cohen years ago n the Daily "...Three students from Kent State University addressed nearly 1,000 at a noon rally on the Diag yesterday, beginning a half-day moratorium to express support for the 25 people indicted for protesting on the Ohio campus last May against U.S. in- volvement in Cambodia....Yippies, anarchists and radical lesbians were among the groups present...." What GROUP MEETINGS U AUANZA - Latino Organization, weekly meeting, 764-2837, Trot- ter House, 1443 Washtenaw Ave., 7 p.m. Q American Movement for Israel, edu- cational meeting, sponsored by Hillel, Hillel Building, Hill Street, 7 p.m. U Golden Key National Honor Soci- ety, membership drive, 913-5409, North Campus Commons and Some faculty upset over new grievance policy By Stephanie Jo Klein Daily Staff Reporter The presentation of a faculty griev- ance procedure that would give a new board binding decision-making author- ity drew fire from some members of the faculty's Senate Assembly yester- day. Thomas Moore, vice chair of the Sen- ate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, presented the recommenda- tions, which SACUA has approved. Under the proposal, a newly created Grievance Review Board would make final decisions that would be binding on all parties, though subject to limited appeal by another faculty body. The current policy is not binding. Access to confidential files would be given to board members, and all Uni- versity members would be asked to hold the issues and contents of all griev- ance procedures confidential until all appeal channels are exhausted. Moore read the recommendations to the assembly without comment, but offered clarification on the purpose of the board. "This is clearly not a central judi- ciary council," he said. Associate Kinesiology Prof. Bernard P. Maloy spoke out during the meeting with a concern about the finality of grievance procedures. "The final decisions handed out would represent a binding arbitration," Maloy said. He worried that "opportunities to go to the courts with grievances would be reduced." The recommendations, Moore re- sponded, were about trying to find the best possible plan from the faculty's standpoint. "These are internal solutions," he said. "They do not preclude people from going through the court." Maloy also disagreed with the policy's definition of grievable mat- ters, which included discrimination in addition to violations of academic free- dom. "The main things that have been grieved in the past are promotional and salary concerns - also issues of ten- ure," Moore said. The assembly agreed to table the motion and continue discussion at the next meeting, as time had not been allotted for complete discussion. George Brewer, chair of SACUA and the Senate Assembly, said, "Good ques- tions were raised to help Senate Assem- bly decide ifthey will acceptthe recom- mendations." Brewer added that he expected ac- tion to be taken at the Nov. 13 assembly meeting. - Daily Staff Reporter Tim O'Connell contributed to this report. Assembly debates tenure definiition KRISTEN A. SCHAEFER/Daily Flag twiring LSA junior Mandy Carpenter practices flagcorp yesterday on Elbel Field. Sig Eps ne By Stephanie Jo Klein Daily Staff Reporter Members of the Senate Assembly moved toward a new definition of ten- ure in yesterday's debate on the rights of tenure. Thomas Moore, biology professor and member of the Senate Advisory Committee ofUniversity Affairs, led the initial argument, asserting that the tenured professors have a right to pro- tected academic freedom. Moore referred to Regents' Bylaw 5.09, which guarantees all tenured professors the right to appeals and review hearings when they feel their tenure has been violated. It has only been used once since its inception, he said. "Academic freedom is in danger,just as sure as constructive demotion is a reality," he said, referring to a current case in which a professor had been denied a hearing by the provost. Jacqueline Lawson, an associate pro- fessor of English at the University's Dearborn campus, led the counter-ar- gument. The importance of tenure in under- graduate edcuation, Lawson said, is to "expose our students to the very mat- ters that will cause them the most dis- comfort." Lawson said that introducing stu- dents to the searing descriptions of racism in books such as "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglas, an Ameri- can Slave" is a way to get reluctant students to explore the book's impli- cations. "Tenure protects not just our right to teach disturbing ideas, but our obliga- tion to do so," she said. Bernardus Van der Pluijm, an asso- ciate professor of geology, agreed with Moore. "Support of teaching and re- search are the rights, not the teaching itself." Other members of the assembly dis- agreed with the premise oftenure. Louis D'Alecy, a physiology professor and SACUA member, said the system has failed when non-tenured professors feel pressuref toact with extra care while waiting for tenure. Bunyan Bryant, an SNRE associate professor, tried to dissuade other members from dismissing tenure so quickly. "Tenure may not be important to- day, but it could be in the future," he said. Bryant added that the changing po- litical winds could harm professors. "I'd hate to tinker with (the definition of tenure)." George Brewer, SACUA and Sen- ate Assembly chair, said, "I think there is uniformity in that tenure is critical in protecting academic freedom. There is some disagreement that it protects much else." By Zachary M. Raimi Daily Staff Reporter More than a month after the former Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house burst into flames, fire and police officials said yesterday they are continuing to investigate the cause and the people believed responsible. Fire investigator Ron Heemstra said the Ann Arbor Fire Department, in con- junction with the Ann Arbor Police Department, is almost certain that the fire was arson. They have narrowed down the search for the culprits to a handful of homeless people. Heemstra said the investigators are "looking for witnesses." While the investigation has taken longer than Heemstra expected, he said it will continue "until we've gotten a conviction." Once the investigators gather enough evidence, they will take it to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Of- fice to have them issue a warrant. In order to attain a warrant, the inves- tigators must show specific intent. "Our arson statutes require specific intent - a legal term meaning that to be pros- ecuted, there has to be evidence of will- fulness or maliciousness (on the part of the accused)," assistant prosecutor Eric Gutenberg said in a recent interview. Gutenberg said the penalty for arson is up to 20 years in prison. The house, located at 733 S. State St., caught fire Sept. 16, spreading smoke across Ann Arbor and drawing hun- dreds of witnesses. Ann Arbor City Council approves new city attorney I I MICHIGAN R ECO R By Maureen Sirhal Daily Staff Reporter After nearly a year of vacancy, the Ann Arbor City Council unanimously approved a resolution offering the posi- tion of city attorney to Abagail Elias - a lawyer with the firm Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone - during a special session last night. Elias was selected over three other candidates including interim City At- torney John Van Loon. Concern erupted after a two-day in- terview process with the four finalists regarding the extent ofreference checks on all the candidates. Some council members questioned whether Van Loon needed the background checks consid- ering his 26 years of experience in the city attorney's office. Mayor Ingrid Sheldon circulated a memo asking for city staff to comment publicly or anonymously about the qualifications of Van Loon. Those com- ments were taken into consideration, though theircontents were not disclosed publicly. "We had four very fine candidates1 with strengths and some weaknesses," said Councilmember Christopher Kolb (D-5th Ward). "Council received refer- ences from the human resources direc- tor and the ones the candidates pro- vided and from members of the attor- ney screening panel." Councilmember Jane Lumm (R-2nd Ward) said the delays in the hiring decision can be attributed to the lengthy background checks. Elias was a former Detroit deputy corporation counsel and also worked as an attorney in the Federal Enforce- ment Section under the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Depart- ment. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University in 1973 and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1976. "I was very impressed by her knowl- edge," said University communication lecturer Joan Lowenstein, who served on the initial screening panel. "She is well-qualified and I think she will be an excellent addition." Lowenstein, along with five council members and four other Ann Arbor citizens, interviewed applicants before selecting the finalists. She added that with regard to Van Loon many people told her they felt someone new was needed in the posi- tion to give it a different direction. Last night's decision brings an endto a search that has lasted since former City Attorney Elizabeth Schwartz left the office in November 1994. Her de- parture was attributed to a difficult work- ing relationship with former City Ad- ministrator Alfred Gatta and the prob- lems the city encountered during the YMCA legal battle. After Schwartz left with a severance pay of nearly $100,000, the council appointed Van Loon acting city attor- ney while the search to find a perma- nent replacement was begun. MINT phone: 663.5800 1140 south university (above goodtime chadeys), AA mon.-thurs.: 9:00a-10:00p sundays I fri. & sat.: 9:00a-11:00p 00-8:00 1 "a " ' real music,M I * * 9q S a*10"* t a~f I 9 e;al edei J a 4qq 7 e 's happening in Ann Arbor today *o0 ooff Michigan Union, Watts Room, all day U "Discussion Group: Sexual Assault Awareness Week," sponsored by SAPAC, Michigan Union Ballroom, 9:30-10:30 p.m. Q "Independent Filmmakers Who Are Just Like You," sponsored by Independent Filmmakers, Espresso Royale on Main Street, 7:30 p.m. U "Information Meeting About Study Abroad in Scandinavia," Q "Speakers From United Nations Con- ference on Women," sponsored by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and Amnesty International, Michigan Union, Wol- verine Room, 7-9 p.m. Q "Susan Holtzer Reading From Her Work," sponsored by Borders Books and Music, Boder's, 7:30 p.m. STUDENT SERVICES Q Camnus information Center. Michi- one ,g feat T4 OL-e.- vIiwvm C A cA644000 r S I I 1 I I I