Pioneer Girl Bucks Tradition In Schools' Building Program

The Committee To Elimínate Sexual Discrimination in the Ann Arbor Public Schools may have won a victory of sorts for the female sex. But whether that "victory" on paper becomes a reality and girls are in fact [ admitted next fall to the Ann Arbor Stud e n t Building-Industry Program remains to be seen. The committee of six active women, headed by Ann Arborite Marcia Federbush, has been prodding the student home building program to admit girls next fall. (That program, which began last September, features 26 Pioneer and liaron High School boys building a fourbedroom house and garage in the Maplewood subdivisión of Ann Arbor. The yellowshingled house is nearing completion and is expected to be sold by June.) The 11-man board of directors of the home building program passed a resolution recently saying the program "has not encouraged and does not encourage discrimination on the basis of sex regarding enrollment in the Building-Industry Program." But the resolution also stated that "all established prerequisites for enrollment shall be adhered to" and that the "first priority shall be given to those students judged by the selection committee as most likely to benefit from participation in the program." The catch - which might be as big as the "Catch 22" in Joseph Heller's famous World War II novel - is that girls may not be judged by the selection committee to "benefit" from the home'ouilding program, even if they meet the ether requirements (seniors are given first choice and they must have successfully completed at least one high school industrial education course). Why not? Because the schools view the program as a vocational one to help young people prepare for a profession as a building tradesman. And opportunities for women in the actual building trades have been severely limited in the past. "We'll give first choice next fall to I those applicants who plan to go into the I building trades as a profession, and at the present time, that usually means niales," commented Earl Shaffer, director of vocational education for the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Shaffer was one of the initiators of the home-building project. "Opportunities for women in the past have been limited in the tra des, and so we haven't encouraged girls in school to obtain those backgrounds," Shaffer explained. "The board of directors is saying that sex in itself is not a handicap in entering the program, but with the prerequisites the way they are, it is unlikely we will end up with any girls in the class next fall." Henry Landau, president of the Student Building Industry Corp., said his group's hesitation about having girls in I the program was based on "logic and experience in the building industry." He added: "We were worried about a girl on a 16-foot ladder trying to carry a heavy load of shingles." But Landau emphasized thta the program did not wish to discriminate against girls, and "if they're qualified and still want to join after being cautioned an3 knowing what's involved , then they'll get in," he promised. The president of the State Building Trade Union, Jack Wheatley, acknowledged that there has been an "unwritten law" in the past limiting women in the building trades, but he says he thinks that's changing today. "The only handicap to females in I tain areas of the building trades today is the strenuous work," Wheatley told The News. Wheatley added that because of new types of technology coming into the trades, such as pre-fabricated housing, he thinks women will have a better chance to break into the trades today. Wheatley also said he thinks qualified girls interested in the home building program should be given a chance to show whether they can do the work. None of the original 46 applicants for the new program last fall was female. "Nobody went out of their way looking for girls," Shaffer admitted, because "we really didn't think girls would be interested." (Girls were involved this year in much of the interior decorating - selecting carpeting, paint, decora1 tions, tiles). But, presently, at least two Ann Arbor girls are interested in enrolling in the home-building program next fall. One of them is Támara Tocher, 16, a slim, attractive blonde who has completed her junior credits at Pioneer High School. Whether or not she goes back to school in the fall, she says, depends to a large extent on whether she is accepted into the home-building program. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ross Tocher of 501 Huronview, Tam says she is genuinely interested in carpentry and home-building, though she also plans to go to college. She thinks "it's necessary for everyone to broaden himself as much as possible by learning a skill. That's just as important as intellectual skills." Tam helped a friend do the interior carpentry last summer at a home on a nearby lake, and she has been studying the carpentry book used this year in the Home Building Program. "I applied for next fall's home building class last fall because I didn't want to be told they were all filled up,". she says. She added that she's never really considered herself "a real women's liberation type, but I've really become aware of the problems women face since trying to get into this class." Tam was one of the few girls last year to take a graphic arts and printing course at Huron High School. "I'm not trying to be the first girl in all these classes. I'm just interested in industrial arts," Tam commented. She conceded that she was ■ able for a few days in the I ed graphic arts class.. "But after a I while, we dealt with each other as I human beings, not as girls and boys," ■ Tam said. Does she think she can do the heavy I work required in the home-building I course? From the description of what is I involved from a male friend presently I taking the class, Tam thinks she can. I "I'd use my good judgment," she I declared. "I wouldn't go beyond my I capabilities. But I think I should be I en a chance." I Robert Haddick, the teacher of the 26 I Pioneer and Huron High youths 1 ly taking the home-building class, I declined to comment on whether girls I should be admitted into the program. I But he suggested that some of the I dents themselves be interviewed. Pete Heine, a Huron senior, thinks I girls could get along in the class. I "There just isn't that much really hard manual labor involved," according to Heine, and he thinks girls could do the tasks in smaller doses, if need be. "It would really be a useful thing for girls to know," he added. "They're the ones who usually have to do the repairs around the house." Several of Heine's classmates disagreed with his conclusions, though one, Lee Scott, said he'd be willing to let girls try to do the work. "For me, it was heavy work. If the girls would like to try it, I say more power to 'em. You can't teil someone they can't do something if they really want to try." Ken Herman, a senior at Huron High who was on the football and track teams, was emphatic that girls could not do the heavy work. "I just don't think they could do the work we've done. Some of the work, especially in the first semester, was really difficult. I can't see them carrying heavy boards and sacks." Herman thinks girls could manage the second semester of the course, however, which features more painting and carpentry. Steve Smith, a Huron High junior, says he "doesn't care if girls come in or not, but I don't think they could do all ' ; the lifting and heavy work." Tam Tocher, and probably a few others, would like to try, however. As for the argument that the course would not prepare women for a job in the building trades, because currently that field is almost exclusively male, Tam comments that "jobs are not the most important thing in life. Home-building would be a great skill to learn to broaden yourself as an individual. I thought high school was supposed to broaden you." Haddick, teacher of the Home (over please) PIONEER GIRL BUCKS TRADITION IN SCHOOL' S BUILDING PROGRAM (continued) ing Program, says four of his 26 students plan to take further training in the building trades. Mrs. Marcia Federbush, head of the Committee to Elimínate Sexual Discrimination, says she plans to file a complaint with the Civil Rights Commission in Lansing this month against the building trades for "discriminating against women." And she and her committee are hard at work on a report which they plan to present to the Ann Arbor Board of Education containing examples of alleged sexual discrimination in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. The report will focus mainly on females, Mrs. Federbush says. "To say that males in the schools should have equal opportunity with females is like saying whites should have equal opportunity with blacks," she added. Mrs. Federbush says the report will include the areas of sports, courses, administrative p o s i t i o n s and the "stereotyping of women and girls in the elementary school readers." Mrs. Federbush hopes the report will be ready by the end of this month.