1975-03-07; Central Michigan Life

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Volume 55 No. 65
Friday, March 7, 1975
False campaign promises?
U nion refutes charges
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CM LIFE PHOTO BY JOHN THOMPSON
SNOWWOMAN-Jerry McCrary, Carlton junior, puts the finishing
touches on a snowwoman near Emmons Hall.
;        by MITCH HEAD
'    LIFE Ass't News Editor
Charges used in an unsuccessful
attempt to force Faculty, Association
(FA) to begin negotiations for "a
certification election recently were
released by the Free Faculty.
The charges, published in a
letter by the Free Faculty to all
faculty members this week, allege
the- "union was elected on false
campaign promises. The letter cites
three separate statements made by
union organizers in 1969 that sine*?
have turned out to be false.
THE FREE Faculty earlier was
hoping to use ^he documents in an
effort to force the FA to agree to a
certification election.
George Stengren and John
Hepler, two of the organizers of the
Free Faculty, met secretly with FA
President Robert Clason and FA
executive board member James E.
Hayes Feb. 9 to discuss possible
negotiations between the opposing
factions.
meeting,    Strengren
"unleash a bombshell"
if   it   rejected
At the
treatened to
against   the
union
rustees to receive list
f president candidates
No less than six candidates, for
jie successor to President William
Boyd will be presented  to the
|oard of Trustees by the end of this
lonth by the Presidential Screening
|ommittee,    Donald    Kilbourn,
isirperson of the committee, said.
"We began Monday to interview
candidates for the position,"
lilbourn said. When the interviews
jfe completed  the   Presidential
Search Committee „will present its
recommendations to the Board of
Trustees, which will choose the new
president.
Boyd's resignation becomes
effective June 31. However, if the
screening committee or the Board of
Trustees cannot reach a decision, an
acting president would be appointed.
Kilbourn does not anticipate any
problems with providing
presidential recommendation's "from,
the screening committee to the
Trustees but with at least six
qualified candidates for the position,
he said the Board of Trustees may
have a difficult decision.
negotiations.
However; the FA still rejected
the negotiations because, according
to Clason, "The die is cast. There
now is not any potential for mutual
accommodations."   ,
Clason said the action of
negotiating might be perceived as a
"backing off of the union, which it
had no intention of doing.
ALTHOUGH STENGREN
never indicated what the "bombshell" was, Clason said he was aware
of the rumors which alleged the FA
was elected on false promises.
Refuting the charges made by
the Free Faculty that the FA was
elected on false promises, Clason
called the charges "just a step in a
propaganda war."
"I don't think it is really a gut
issue," he said. "The organizers (of
the union) couldn't have been looking
six years down the^road. What they
said could only apply to those first
few years."
The FA, then called the CMU
chapter of the Michigan Association
of Higher Education (MAHE), was
selected as the agent by a slim
margin of 18 votes: 239 yes; 221 no;
three challenged. Nearly 85 per cent
of the 547 eligible faculty members
voted.
The Free Faculty cites three
documents, all verified by CM LIFE,
which were distributed on campus
before the union's election as the
bargaining agent for CMU faculty
members Sept. 24, 1969.
The first "documentary
evidence" cited by the Free Faculty
is a handbill issued by the MAHE
Steering Committee for Professional
Negotiations. The handbill states
"Membership in MAHE is voluntary."
9
HOWEVER, MEMBERSHIP in
the FA technically still is considered
voluntary, but faculty members
must pay an equivalent of $150 dues,
called an agency shop fee..
The second document cited in
the two-page letter is a guest
editorial in CM LIFE the day of the
election by Gordon Gilchrist,
president of the CMU chapter of
MAHE. He writes "Any proposed
master agreement must be ratified
by the faculty."
The controversy surrounds the
union's decision this year to limit
(See "Union refutes "Page 7)
Should election
of union be void?
The election in 1969 in which the
Faculty Association (FA) was
elected as the bargaining agent for
CMU faculty members was conducted illegally and therefore isvoid,
according to one faculty members.
Austin C. Knapp, professor of
political science, cites a state law
which.        says, in part,
"... Representatives designated or
selected    for   the    purposes    of
collective bargaining by the majority
of empolyes in a unit..."
UNDER ELECTION guidelines
established by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission
(MERC), which conducted the
election, it is a majority of employes
voting that determine the collective
bargaining agent.
In the Sept. 24, 1969 election,
the FA, then called the CMU chapter
of the Michigan Association for
Higher Education, was selected as
the bargaining agent by a slim
margin of 18 votes: 239 yes; 221 no;
three challenged. Nearly 85 per cent
of the 547 eligible faculty members
voted.
ALTHOUGH   THE   FA   was
elected as the bargaining agent by a
majority of those employes voting, it
was not elected by a majority of
employes in a unit, which means the
FA actually lost the election, Knapp
claims.
"The law is clear. And the law
takes precedence over (MERC's)
rules for conducting elections,"
Knapp said.
KNAPP SAID he will use that
law in his defense if he ever is taken
to court by the FA in an attempt to
collect the $150 agency shop fee.
However, a MERC trial
examiner claimed the law since has
been amended to read
"Representatives designated or
selected for the purposes of
collective bargaining by those
eligible and voting."
However, the law had not been
amended at the time of the election.
"All this (decertification of the
union) is foolishness,"" Knapp said.
"The whole election is null and void.
There's nobody to decertify."
uto break-ins
uzzle DPS
A rash of larcenies from cars
|tked in dormitory parking lots
prred early Tuesday morning,
flrding to Det. Sergeant lLes
le of the Department of
folic Safety (DPS).
All six of the larcenies occurred
I parking lots around the  Saxe-
ffrrig.Woldt-Emmons and Thorpe
nitories between 2 a.m. and 6
■ Tuesday, Bonstelle said.
Tape decks, speakers, tools and
nerous miscellaneous items were
ien from the vehicles, Bonstelle
An estimate of damage to the
vehicles and value of the stolen
property has not been made yet.
Entry ,was gained to five of the
six vehicles by breaking out windows of the parked cars, according to
Bonstelle.
"Breaking windows makes a
loud noise and somebody must have
seen or heard something," Bonstelle
said.
Bonstelle said students with
information on any of the incidents
should contact DPS.
antra! meets Bo
CM LIFE PHOTO BY RICK MCKAY
SEALS AND CROFTS-Ticket lines formed early Wednesday as       and $4.50 tickets have been sold out, according to a Program Board
tickets for the Seals and Crofts concert March 24 went on sale. All $5       spokesman, but there are plenty of $4 tickets available.
Student'lifter
i
ns methods, motives
1 JEditoT's note: This is the final article in a three-part
'&* exploring shoplifting in Mt. Pleasant. The first
Jffcfc dealt with hoto much shoplifting costs the average
Jfeen, the second article, tuith the prosecution of
WpUfars. This article is an intervveiy) with an
lentous student shoplifter.)
t
by DAVID SOBEL
, CM LIFE Reporter
What does a shoplifter think about shoplifting? In
,™r to answer this question, CM LIFE interviewed a
'MU student who has engaged in shoplifting. The
ler«on's identity will remain anonymous.
Question-- When Was the first time yoa shoplifted?
Answer-The first time I shoplifted Was when 1 was
^-years-old. I stple some candy out of the drug store
,n toy home town. * '
Q—When did you start shoplifting seriously?
A—Oh, when I found out how easy it was. I started
doing it more and more, but I never stole anything that I
didn't need and I never stole anything that I could afford
to pay for.
Q—What Would be the total value of the items
you've taken so far?
1 A—That would be very difficult to say. I don't know,
this year I'd say I've probably all together stolen $30
worth since I've come up here in the fall, and that's from
different stores. 1'ye never taken more than $5 or $6-or
maybe $7 out of each store,
Q—What is the most expensive thing you have ever
taken?
A—The most expensive thing I ever took was a ring
frhich t took for a girl in junior-high school, I took it from
a jewelry store in my home town. They were shewing me
t
rings-and I saw there were empty spaces on the velvet in
the case. So just as she was showing me one, I took it and
I was looking at it and I pretended to put it back. When
she Went to get me another one, I just put it back on my
finger and put my hand in my pocket and walked out.-
x  Q—Was the ring worth much?
A—No, it was about six or seven dollars.   .
Q—What stores in-the Mt. Pleasant area do you
shoplift from?
A—My favorite is Spencers, because they' don't
seem to really watch that much. I shoplift from Giant-'
way, but not very much. They have real tight security.
Also, R-^Mart, which is pretty easv'because> that's justone
great big store and it's not too difficult in there. When
Zody's was closing, I got some nice things from there
,because there were so many people in the store, it was
difficult to watch. That's about all.
Q—How much stuH have you stolen this month?
A—This month I've taken about $5 worth.
Q—Five dollars worth of what?
A—I took a bottle of contact lense solution, a couple,
of pens and pencils, a tube of toothpaste, a bottle of
shampoo and some Lifesavers.
Q-You've said you never steal anything you can't
afford. Then how do you figure you can't afford a pack of >
Lifesavers? (
A—Well Lifesavers aren't so much (money). I had.!
about $3 dollars 1 could spend and I had about $6 worth"
of stuff I had to^get, so I paid for $3 worth and stole $3
worth,
Q— Do you feel guilty about what you do audi do you-
consider it stealing?
(See it's a dumb thing'... page 10) ^.