1977-03-04; Central Michigan Life

              ''J
Volume 58 No. 64
Mt,]Pleasant, Mich. 48859
Friday, March 4,1977
Committee for Free Speech
releases FBI file on YSA
by HOLLY HAYES
LIFE Managing Editor
DETROIT-Central's chapter of the Young Socialist Alliance
(YSA) was the target of continued FBI surveillance for at least five
years, according to agency documents released Wednesday.
The 18 pages of FBI reports were part of a court-ordered
disclosure of thousands of pages of documents in a New York
lawsuit against the FBI for political spying. The suit was filed by the
YSA and the Socialist Worker's Party (S WP).
Documents released Wednesday indicate the FBI was assisted in.
compiling the files by one and possibly two informants in the Mt.
Pleasant area.
It previously was disclosed that Department of Public Safety
(DPS) officials may have released some of the information contained
in the documents to the FBI informant. (See related story, this
page,)
While CMU administrators are "shocked" at the existance of the
FBI files on the YSA chapter, they say there is very little information in them which points to a direct link between CMU and
the FBI.
"Almost anything in there (the documents) is information anyone
could get," President Harold Abel said Thursday, "I'd say close to
90 per cent of the information could have been gathered by anyone.
Abel added it is "stretching things beyond imagination" for YSA
members to believe there is a link between the FBI surveillance and
documents and the Oct, 20 arrest of three YSA campaign workers
for unauthorized sale of literature on campus.
"You know, in a way I feel for them but on the other hand, to
capitalize on this, and to draw a conclusion from this to the arrest
seems crazy," he says.
Meg Hayes, secretary of the Committee for Free Speech, which
released the FBI documents Wednesday, said Thursday, "No
charges are being verbally made against the CMU administration in
regard to this. We're just raising questions of complicity."
She added, "It's true that the information in the documents is
relatively innocuous, but it also is heavily censored." The 18 pages
of FBI files contain many heavy black deletions of names, addresses
and other unknown information.
Uncensored parts of the documents include descriptions of YSA
activity on Central's campus (and the lack of it) from Feb. 22,1971 to
Nov. 26,1975, There isjittle clue to the identity of the informant or
informants in the text of the regular dispatches to the Detroit FBI
office.
The FBI dossier "raises more questions than it answers," Howard
Simqn, Executive director of the Michigan chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said at Wednesday's press conference.
"The documents may put CMU in a very bad light. The information on the YSA's membership and use of University facilities
makes it reasonable to believe that the informant went to the CMU
administration for the information. But, we are not .charging that
the CMU administration is on the payroll of the FBI - we're only
raising questions as to their involvement."
The ACLU is assisting the YSA with its lawsuit against Central's
regulations on the sale of literature in University buildings, which
the YJSA charges are unconstitutional. ,g    1(ygA_.. g)
Fielding questions from Detroit area media representatives at
a press conference Wednesday are (left to right) Howard Simon,
executive director of the Michigan chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union; Meg Hayes, secretary of the Committee for Free
Speech; and Valerie Drogt, chairperson of CMU's Young Socialist
Alliance (YSA) group. The three released FBI documents
detailing at least five years of agency surveillance of the YSA at
Central (LIFE photo by Mark Haney).
Information access explained
Officials discuss student privacy
byJOHNGROGAN
CM LIFE Reporter
Only public information wa's
supplied to the FBI by the
Department  of  Public  Safety
Adminstration favors
byJIMREINDL
LIFE Ass't. News Editor
While there is ho firm committment by CMU to
build an ice arena here, two top administrators
agree • there is a consensus opinion in that
direction while a third is taking a more cautious
approach.
Arthur Ellis, vice president for public affairs,
said Wednesday it is "true" there is a consensus
agreement to build the arena, and President
Harold Abel Thursday said he agreed.
However, Jerry Tubbs, vice president fdr
business and finance, Thursday said, "I, at this
time, can be completely sold on the project. But
each step is an independant decision-making
process.
"In my mind it could go to the very end and be
no go," he said.
Abel also added his view was contingent upon
unforseen circumstances not happening in the
arena planning process. (
' "It's evolved to the point that unless something
startling happens (the arena will be built)," Abel
said.
The University still faces a major preliminary
step in building the arena and that is filing a Use
and Finance Statement with the state
legislature's Joint Capital Outlay Committee. The
committee must approve capital outlay projects
and bond sales for state agencies so agencies can
finance building projects.
Factual information for the Use and Finance
Statement, which details how the University will
use and pay for the arena, probably will be
provided by the architectural firm of Daverman
Associates .of Grand Rapids. The firm was approved for the project by CMU's Board of
Trustees at its meeting Feb. 16.
However, work on the statement has been
snagged, Ellis said, because at the Feb. 16
meeting the Board requested he check with the
architectural firms competing for the Use and
Finance^ Statement contract about their
respective fees. *•
Daverman Associates, Ellis said, uses the
standard state fee, which operates on a curve.
Architectural firms' fees are based on a percentage of a project's cost. The more a project
costs, the lower the fee percentage is.
Ellis said Wednesday he had checked into the
fee question and was recommending Abel sign a
contract with Daverman Associates.   .
Abel said Thursday he concurred with Ellis'
recommendation, but that he would not, sign a
contract until he reported his decision to the
Board for its approval. He said he attempted to
contact Board members Wednesday and Thursday still was awaiting a return call.
Work on the Use and Finance Statement will
begin after the contract is signed, Ellis said.
"We have to work at it hard in the next couple
of weeks," he said. Ellis has said the statement
could be finished three weeks after work begins.
,In exercising caution, Tubbs said his major
concerns were awarding a construction contract,
which determines the facility's building cost and,
financing the arena's construction.
The University intends to sell bonds to pay for
the arena and will pay off the bonds with $231,000
in debt retirement money to be available in the
General Fund in fiscal year 1978, Ellis has said. \
However, Tubbs said if the interest rates on
the bonds are too high and the expected revenue
from the arena is too low,. there' would be a
definite drain on CMU's General Fund. ,
Tubbs predicted revenue fronr-the arena would
be approximately $50,000 annually and in combination with the $231,000, would give the
University approximately $280,000 annually to
pay off the bonds and operate the facility.
He said the University' could afford yearly
payments of about $300,000 a year without a
serious drain on the General Fund.
(DPS) during a four-year period
of bureau surveillance of
Central's Young Socialist
Alliance (YSA) chapter, according to John McAuliffe, DPS
director.
He stressed Public Safety's
information release policy
coordinates strictly with the
University's Policy on Release
of Student Information, adding
"whenever^confSict is apparent
the, •£> tudeiil. Information Policy
"shall prevail."
That policy classifies information on students into three
categories: directory, restricted
and privileged. *"
According to Registrar
Robert ConnelL v directory, or
public, information is available
to anyone upon request, This
type of information includes the
student's name, address, phone
number, current enrollment
status, degrees or certificates
earned and dates of attendence.
He added the University
complies with those students
who request that such information remain confidential.
Restricted information is
released. only to faculty members and some administrative
offices, Gonnell said. According
to University policy, the information is given to faculty
members and administrators
only when accompanied with a
legitimate  educational   reason.
Student information may be
released to external ^sources
only with written ' student
consent, he added.
Course selection, grade point
and academic disciplinary action
all   are   considered   restricted
information by CMU policy.
Privileged information includes counselor and physician
records and letters of recom-
(See "FBI Documents—" page 14)
MERC will hear
petition request
A hearing on a petition to decertify Central's Faculty Association
(FA) will be conducted March 15 at CMU by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC).
George Stengren, leader of the Free Faculty, which filed the
petition, said he received notification of the hearing Thursday afternoon. He said the notification indicated FA President Ronald
Johnstone also had been informed of the hearing.
However, Johnstone said Thursday he "hasn't seen anything on
the issue." He added the notification may have been mailed to the
FA office, 315 E. Bellows Ave., rather than his office in Anspach.
Stengren, philosophy professor, said the hearing would be con-
ducted'at 11 a.m. in Warriner Hall, according to the notification. He
said at that time the Free Faculty will present authorization cards
signed by faculty members requesting the decertification election.
It was n'ecessary for the group to gather signatures of 30 per cent
of the faculty in order to file the decertification petition with MERC.
Free Faculty leaders earlier had said they had signatures from
more than 40 per cent of the faculty requesting the vote.
Stengren said members of the CMU administration also would be
notified of the hearing. J
Free Faculty members began their drive to obtain enough
signatures requesting the decertification vote Feb. 1 and filed the
petition with MERC Feb. 24. MERC is expected to set a date for the
vote 15 to 30 days after the March 15 hearing.
A decertification election would remove the FA as the collective
bargaining agent representing Central's faculty members.
CMU plans intervention
in GTE rate cut appeal
CMU will continue to fight a
General Telephone Co. appeal of
a $2.4 million rate reduction
ordered Jan. 26 by the Michigan
Public - Service * Commission
(MPSC), according to University
Attorney J. David Kerr.
Kerr said the decision was
made during a meeting Thur-
Pain:
Athletes discuss physical/
emotional aspects of injuries
(Editor's note: This is the first of a four part series dealing with
painin relation to CMU athletics. CM LIFE today looks'at Central's
athletes and hotv they deal with pain,)
by PAM BADER
LIFE Sports Reporter
; Pain, Everyone experiences it at sOme point in his or her life but
it is handled differently by each individuah
Many times pain may be ignored and hidden from yiew because
few people.enjoy talking about it. This-especially is true in'the
athletic world where fans see the athlete in his prime about 90 per
cent of the time. Only when fans see an athlete carried off the field
of cburi ofl a stretcher do they think about the not-so-glorious
moments of athletics.
Pulled muscles, broken bones, torn tendons and sore ribs all are
common to many CMU athletes, Pain in every form can bfcseen
some enjoyment associated with pain. Certainly, the athletes at
Central are not confirmed masochists but perhaps the pleasure they
receive from playing sports Outweighs the risk of pain and injury.
Central quarterback Ron Rummel said, "You know the risk when
you're out there on the field. You just hope it doesn't happen to
you." _") .  V .
Rummel fractured a vertebrate in his neck during' his freshman
year and tore tendons in his foot this past football season. The
Saginaw junior said he never thinks about getting hurt during a
game..
"I give 100 per cent, If is hurts an^ I can still play then I do.
You Ve got to play with a Uttle pain," Rontmel added.
Pain is not limited to contact sports such as football, as tennis
player Liz Piersma found out the hard way.
Piersma, Holland sophomore, fractured her wrist while doing
sday afternoon between himself,
President Harold Abel and
Jerry Tubbs, vice president for
business and finance.
CMU's intervention in the
utility's request for a $10.2
million rate increase was one of
the major reasons the VMPSC
ordered the $2.4 million rate
reduction.
Kerr said there were two
reasons the decision was made
„tO continue to fight the appeal.
He said the first "reason concerned the rate of return the
company should expect on
common equity. ^
"It was the University's
position in the 'case before the
Public Service Commission that
the rate of return should by 12
per cent, and the Commission
accepted the University's
position," Kerr said.
I
"This is one of the issues the
company is appealing, we felt an
obligation to defend that
position," he added.
He also said if the company's
position was accepted by the
courts, the University is likely
to experience a "massive increase in our phone bill." Kerr
added the increase may be as
much as $50,000.
The University will file an
answer to the company's appeal
in Ingham County Circuit Court
within the next few weeks, Kerr
said. He added the court will
conduct a hearing but probably
will not take evidence since
7,500 pages of transcript were
taken at the hearing before the
MPSC.   '
CMU first intervened in the
utility's rate hike request Jan.
19, 1976. • >
jjimply" by observing a game of football, basketball, baseball of even    flexibility exercises before tennis practice. Ideally, the exercises
3-tennis match, n . helpprevent naih and injury* -.'. e ',«,.<.- „        ...
Such observation might convince ^ Spectator m •        * t&ee rain—, page 12)
—Apartment units filling rapidly—page 3
—SA candidates discuss views—page 7
heads for Bowling
-Chip title train
Green—page 11
— Wrestlers begin
fight-ppge 13
MA C. championship
oaaaaagiifatfBitilMigiWIMI^
._r..^,it...^*t  -^L.-«. .■. ~~k.**i «*,
^