1977-03-23; Central Michigan Life

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Volume 58 No. 68
Mt. Pleasant, Mich. 48859
Wednesday,    March    23, 1977
YSA surveillance questioned
■
Group demands explanations
byJOHNGROGAN
CM LIFE Reporter
A letter to President Harold
Abel demanding an explanation
of the University's involvement
in FBI surveillance on campus
was made public Tuesday by
five former members of CMU's
Young Socialist Alliance (YSA)
chapter.
In the letter, the former YSA
members demanded the administration explain its
"position on academic freedom,"
as well as clarifying the
Department of Public Safety's
(DPS) role in the FBI's five years
of YSA surveillance on campus.
The five had been listed in an
18-page FBI file which was kept
on Central's YSA from 1971
through 1975. They are Thomas
Dickey, Mt. Pleasant junior;
Larry Dale Jamieson, Owendale
senior; Kathryn Sundermann,
Mt. Pleasant senior; Alexander
Malley, 324 N. Main; and
Patricia De Boeit, Mt. Pleasant.
-; The letter was released in a
press conference at noon
Tuesday in front of the
University Center.
However, by 3 p.m. that same
afternoon, Abel still had not
received the letter. According to
Malley, the letter was sent by
certified mail to Abel's office.
Abel said a certified letter did
arrive at his office early
Tuesday, but was returned
because he was not present to
sign for it. He said he believed
that letter was the one from the
five former YSA members. Abel
declined further comment until
he receives the letter.
Abel is expected to receive
the letter this morning,    i
Also included in the letter
were demands the University
make public whether or not
"agencies other than the FBI
have received information on
student groups from the administration or DPS.
"Our special concern here is
whether these other agencies
include the State Police, other
governmental agencies, and
past, present or potential employers of those under surveillance," the letter stated.
The five former members also
requested the resignations of all
"department ' personnel who
cooperated in this information
gathering. Such personnel could
then* be replaced by people of
integrity and intelligence," the
letter added.
However, the five said they
are    not    optimistic    Abel's
response will be favorable,
Malley said.
Consequently, they are
prepared to carry the issue into
the courts if Abel does not meet
their' demands, Sundermann
said. She added, however, legal
action only will be taken as a last
resort.
"We prefer not to get into the
legal aspect very heavily right
now," she said.
A further suggestion made in
the letter was for the University
to draft a proposal "to guarantee
the future rights of CMU
students, faculty and staff." The
letter added such a proposal
should be approved by a
referendum of students and
University personnel.
The FBI file documenting
surveillance of the YSA at
Central was made public March
2 when thousands of pages of
FBI files on the national YSA
were released by court order in
a suit against the FBI by the
YSA and the Socialist Workers
Party (SWP).
was supplied by DPS as routine
information.
He added all information
supplied to the FBI through his
office was public information,
available to anyone upon
request.
, Upon first learning of the file,
Abel expressed concern,
labeling it "abhorrent," and
"disturbing," At the time he
stated, "I'm ,, amazed that information of that kind was
'gathered on any legitimate
organization, and I sympathize
with them."
Talking with a passerby after a press conference Tuesday ,are
former Young Socialist Alliance (YSA) members Kathryn
Sundermann, ML Pleasant senior, and Thomas Dickey, ML
Pleasant junior. Sundermann and Dickey, along with three other
former YSA members, released a letter sent to President Harold
Abel requesting an explanation of the University's part in five
years of FBI surveillance of CMU's YSA chapter.
First step begins
MERC sets hearing
Cen-
Although the files on
tral's YSA were heavily censored, John McAuliffe, director
of DPS earlier said much of the
information in the memorandum
The first in a series of steps
which may lead to the Faculty
Association's (FA) decertification begins Thursday with
a hearing conducted by the
Michigan Employment Relations
Commission (MERC).
Scheduled for 2 p.m. in the
Chippewa Room of the
University   Center,   the   non
public hearing will determine
whether 30 per cent of the
faculty have signed the
authorization cards requesting a
decertification by the Free
Faculty, an anti-FA group,
beginning Feb. 1.
To determine whether the
necessary signatures have been
gathered, MERC Hearings
Officer Ernest Frey will check
ih«> signatures against ■& list of
alt*"facility* members Hn the
bargaining unit.
According to the contract
between the University and the
FA, faculty in the bargaining
unit include "all regular, full-
time, full-salaried faculty who
hold faculty rank and carry at
least one-half load in teaching or
research; regular part-time
faculty who carry at least one-
half teaching load; and
professional librarians, coaches,
counselors and department
chairpersons."
Should Frey find the Free
Faculty has accumulated the
necessary signatures, he will
schedule the actual decertification vote, according to an
aide in his Detroit office. That
vote is expected to come 15 to 30
days after Thursday's hearing,
according to Free Faculty leader
Robert Anthony.
University Attorney J. David
Kerr and John Weatherford,
temporary assistant provost for
faculty contractual relations,
will represent the administration at the hearing. FA
President Ronald Johnstone and
FA Executive Director J.
Norbert Musto will represent
the union, while George
Stengren, philosophy professor,
and Anthony and Robert Croll,
associate professors of business
and administration, will
represent the Free Faculty.
Drop deadline
set for Friday
4 i*
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Yawn!  Students greet dawn to purchase tickets
Wrapped up, like a catepillar in a cacoon Monday night, Judy
DeHaan, Novi junior, camped in front of the University Center to
be first in line to purchase tickets Tuesday morning for next
week's Harry Chapin concert (Left) DeHaan peeks out at the
early morning cold from her sleeping bag, (center) decides to
venture a bit further, and (right) finally breaks out on her way
into the warmth of the UC and front row seats (LIFE photos by
Rollie Mikan).
Students have until Friday to
drop classes or withdraw from
the University and
automatically receive "Ws" for
their grades.
Students still may drop
classes or withdraw from the
University until April 29,
although after Friday they will
receive "Es" for failing work and
"Ws" for passing work of "D" or
better.
Classes may not be dropped
during the final week of classes
or during the exam week.
Students may drop classes by
securing a Drop or Withdrawal
Request Card from the
Registrar's Office, Warriner
260, presenting it to their instructor for signature and grade
arid returning it to the
Registrar's Office.
Inside;
—Doctor awaits HEW
report retraction—page
3A
— County loses some
VAN-TRAN insurance—page 6A
Sample reveals
some students
lack basic skills
by CAROLYN CATALANO
CM LIFE Reporter
Based on results of a standardized test given to 220 English
101 students last semester, nearly half of Central's students
have significant reading and writing problems, according to
Regina Hoover, associate professor of English.
Test results showed 46 per cent of the students have writing
problems, while 31 per cent have trouble with their reading
ability. The results truly are not representative, however, due
to the small number of students sampled, Hoover said.
Although the Counseling Center does not have percentages,
according to Joan Yehl, coordinator of the Center's
Educational Skills Unit, there is a large number of students at
Central With reading and writing problems.
"About 300 students a year come into sign up for a reading
course or for help in reading. I'm sure there are many more
that would benefit," she said.*. '
According to Yehl, reading and writing problems are
widespread, and Central students have no more than students
at other universities. Almost every college and university in
Michigan has some kind of reading program, she said.
"The biggest problem most students have is comprehending
college-level material. They don't know how to look for main
ideas and cannot distinguish between the important and the
, unimportant," Yehl said. ,        *
"My experience is tha,t, in writing, the most serious
problems are in the student's ability to focus and to organize
ideas," Hoover said. ,
Courses are offered by Che Educational Skills Unit to. help
students with reading and writing problems, Yehl said.
A course for freshmen is aimed at improving basic reading,
writing and study skills. Speed reading and developmental
reading also are offered. The will be listed in the Fall Course
Offering Guide as Humanities (HUM) 197F, HUM 197G and
HUM 197H.
"There are individualized reading programs and tutorial
programs, in which students wanting to improve their reading
skills cart come in and work on a one-to-one basis with a tutor,"
Yehl said.    .
The Educational Skills Unit also has spelling, vocabulary,
writing and study skill tapes available for students' use in the
Self Instructional Systems Center in Park Library.
Hoover said a writing clinic is offered daily by the English
Department in Anspach 213, where English teachers donate
their time to help students with, writing problems (see related
story, pageSA).
' Accdrding to Yehl, poor reading and writing are more a
societal problem than just a public school problem.
1 "Where students used to read for entertainment; they now
do other things, like for instance', watch TV. Many students are
non-readers, that is, they read only what they are required to
read. If you don't practice reading you won't develop the
skills," she said.
Hoover said the beginning of reading and writing problems
began about 10 years ago.
(See ••Reading-" page 8A)
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