Wcc Millage Proposal, Four Candidates To Face Voters

Washtenaw Community College's porI tion of the Nov. 5 ballot is potentially I confusing. Section E of the ballot will list four nonpartisan candidates for WCC's Board of Trustees. Only two of them are actually running against each other, while two others are uncontested. Proposal F will ask voters to approve tax millage for WCC, but this is not a proposal to increase taxes. It is a request for a five-year renewal of a levy of one mili per $1,000 of state equalized valuation voters initially approved in 1970 to supplement WCC's charter levy of 1.25 milis. The voted millage provides about 23 per cent of WCC's operating budget, and renewal is urged by all four candidates for the college's board. The competing candidates for the WCC board are Associate Prof. Richard W. Bailey of the University of Michigan English department faculty, and Eugene H. Mengel, executive vice president of National Bank & Trust Co. of Ann Arbor. Bailey comments: "Since WCC was I first established in 1965, a majority of its trustees have come from the business world. I believe that the perspective of one in daily contact with students of college age is a needed addition to the decision-making process." Mengel states: "I believe that my perspective as a member of the business community and my ability to solve financial problems unique to business will enable me to make a significant contribu, tion to Washtenaw Community College as a member of its Board of Trustees." Both men are seeking election to the remaining four years in a six-year term . The position was initially vacated more than a year ago when Edward C. Adams Jr. resigned for health reasons, and I filled since then by Robert C. Ressler, I who was appointed by the board to serve Ithrough this year, but is not seeking I election. Two six-year terms also are to be filled lat the Nov. 5 election. Only one candidate filed nominating petitions for each of these, so both are, in effect, already elected. They are WCC Board Chairman Anthony J. Procassini, corporate director of personnel operations for Bendix Corp. in Southfield; and William Mays Jr., director of elementary instruction for the Ann Arbor public schools. Bailey, 34, submitted this statement of candidacy: "The continued growth of Washtenaw Community College is evidence that the institution can fill a real need. "All citizens deserve opportunities to begin or continue academie studies, to prepare for careers, or to return to the classroom to pursue new interests. Local students should find a rich set of ings in general studies and in career education at the college. . . "The voters in November will be asked to renew part of the present operating millage for the college. I support ,the renewal and believe that some of these funds must be earmarked to increáse student aid, particularly now that federal loan and scholarship programs are diminishing. "The first duty of a community college is to serve the community. Wherever possible, we should take instruction to the community, moving one teacher to 30 students rather than 30 students to one teacher. In place of further construction on the central campus, extensión , centers should be developed or expended in both the urban area and outlying population centers. (Asked to elabórate on the latter point, Bailey said the $10-million libraryclassroom-office building now under construction at WCC is "certainly needed" to supplement the existing Exact Science and TechnicalIndustrial buildings and "temporary" structures at WCC. But he also said serious consideration should be given to the question of whether population trends and community needs will warrant construction of other buildings called for in the master plan for WCC's j East Huron River Drive campus, as opposed to possibilities for expansión of the "outreach" program which now provides WCC courses at such locations as Chelsea High School and the federal correctional institution in Milan.) Bailey's prepared statement concludes: "Nearly half of student electives are in the general studies program. We must avoid duplication with the offerings at U-M and EMU and allow for increased student exchanges, especially where facilities are costly and demand is unevenlydistributed. The college should phasize its offerings in both career catión and in non-degree programs and I capitalize on opportunities for I group instruction in the humanities." 1 Bailey, 34, is a native of Michigan who I has lived in Ann Arbor since 1965. He I states that before joining the U-M faculty I he taught at Willimantic State, a ■ ticut community college, and at the U-M I designed and directed, for a I half the new doctoral program for 1 munity college English teachers, also ■ serving as a consultant Michigan and I Pennsylvania community colleges. He has held visiting professorships at I the University of California at Berkeley I and the State University of New York at I Buffalo, is a co-editor of "Vaneties of Present-Day English" and other works in linguistics and Communications, and] also a past president of the American Dialect Society's Midwest Región. Hel and his wife and their two youngstersl live at 1609 Cambridge Rd. and attendl St. Clare's Episcopal Church. He is al member of the board of Canterburyl House, a student chaplaincy. Mengel, 50, submitted this statement I in announcing his candidacy: "Since its inception, Washtenaw 1 munity College has been particularly 1 tentive to the needs of the business 1 munity and of students in the Washtenaw I County area by its emphasis on 1 al and technical training. "That this need on the part of students I still exists is evidenced by the fact that, I for the fall 1974 semester, over 54 per cent of students registered were enrolled I in over 60 different programs of occupational studies. Further, I have been able to confirm the continuing demand by local"business for the technically trained (CONT'D. ON NSXT PAGE)