Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 13

DETROIT FREE PRESSTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1988 13A Data bank still blank; state's out $3 million that Price Waterhouse would not be able to complete the project by a target date of June of that year, and the company asked for an extension. On May 19, Ken Recker, a DMB supervisor, told Price Waterhouse it could take more time without being penalized. Over the next year the relationship soured further, and state officials contend Price Waterhouse reduced its staff assigned to the project. Dejonge responded Jan. 27, 1987, with a strongly worded letter to the company saying that it was "absolutely essential" that adequate personnel continue work on ARS.

"I am sure neither Price Water- house nor the department wants the adverse publicity that will occur with further delays in the implementation of this system," Dejonge wrote. State officials terminated the contract April 1. In the lawsuit, Price Waterhouse alleges it was misled about the scope of the project and hampered by a lack of direction and commitment from DMB overseers. Janet Neary, an attorney for the firm, said the company would not elaborate beyond the court documents. In their response to the lawsuit, state officials contend the delays and failure to complete a working system have cost the retirement bureau time, money and operating efficiency.

He said state officials are reluctant, however, to buy into another cure before thoroughly evaluating what went wrong with the first one. When Price Waterhouse was awarded the contract in December 1985, it estimated that the work could be completed within 18 months at a cost of $1.5 million, according to court documents. Problems arose early, with state officials complaining that Price Water-house, which was handling the job through its Detroit office, was not providing enough documents on its progress, according to internal state records obtained by the Free Press. By early in 1986 it became clear by now." A committee of state officials from DMB and the Treasury Department late last month decided to transfer the retirement records from an aging computer system to newer Treasury facilities. But the underlying problem that the new system was supposed to rectify remains, Dejonge said.

The condition of retirement records remains much as it was in the spring of 1984, when a state study suggested the system was hampered by excessive delays, inefficient organization and antiquated equipment. Dejonge said delays in processing claims for the 600,000 people covered by the system are still a problem. ') tt 'iititltoeltft'VlSim THE 1 1 I Vril I la tail I II 1 xssr 1 1 Since Price Waterhouse the state has paid $370,000 to another firm, Peat Marwick Main Co. of -Detroit, to analyze the work that had been done and attempt to complete the system. Late last year, Peat Marwick told state officials the task was impossible.

The only current work being done on the system is the transfer of records' from the old computer to a new one in Treasury. State employes also are developing an interim system to handle pension contributions from public' school teachers that were authorized by legislation that took effect Jan. 1987. The new system was supposed to be handling such contributions. Judge upheld who cut award Gilbert, from Page 3 A million malpractice award to $106,696.

Joseph Regnier, executive director of the commission, said the opinion released Monday by former state Supreme Court Justice John Fitzgerald, who presided over a hearing on the matter last year, will stand unless the, commission rejects it. "This throws the case out. Unless the commission rules otherwise, that is the conclusion," said Regnier, who serves as the tenure commission's prosecutor in misconduct cases. When a formal complaint is issued, there is an investigation, a presentation of evidence, and a decision by a hearing master, in this case Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald wrote that there was insufficient evidence to prove Gilbert was guilty of any misconduct.

Fitzgerald said Gilbert used discretion she was entitled to when making her decisions', and that it was inappropriate to challenge Gilbert's decisions through the tenure commission. An appropriate forum for challenging Gilbert's decision! would be an appeals court, Fitzgerald wrote. Neither Gilbert nor her attorney, Robert Webster, could be reached for comment Monday. The complaint stemmed from Gil-, bert's handling of a lawsuit filed in 1981 by Jadwiga and Stanley Kolo- -sowski, who sought damages from William Beaumont Hospital and Marlowe because their" son, Robert, fell to the floor and fractured his skull when he was born during an unattended delivery in 1979. A jury awarded the family $7 mil-, lion, but Gilbert struck it down a year later as "preposterously exorbitant." Webster had charged that the misconduct claim was really a disguised appeal of Gilbert's decision to cut the jury award.

Marjorie Romine, manager of building where Jerry Strickland and Fugitive couple had Melissa Munday lived, said the couple didn't go out often. planned to move on till, lllllM.lllf I .1 MM. PAT FRIDLUNDSpeclal to the Free Press west of Spokane. They arrived in early June and became friends with neighbors Juan and Penny Ibarra, who are now caring for their child. Strickland and Munday were arrested at the Ibarras' house.

The couple, who had seen the "Unsolved Mysteries" program, told police they were making child-care arrangements with the Ibarra's before turning themselves in. Auto Sales in Pontiac, police said. Strickland says he and Munday left the Pontiac area to make a better life for themselves not because they were running from police. He said they bought the truck with money they had saved and decided to move to Washington because he is a Seattle Seahawks fan. The couple settled in Moses Lake, a town of about 12,000, about 100 miles south SYSTEM, from Page 3A tant attorney general assigned to the case said it is months away from resolution.

Whatever the outcome and cost of the suits, virtually all of the work on the project may have been for naught, DMB Deputy Director Herbert Dejonge said late last month. A consultant hired by the state to review the project has recommended that the Automated Retirement System (ARS), be redesigned from scratch, Dejonge said. "We don't know which way we're going," he said. "The need for it is greater today than it was in 1984. I'm frustrated.

I wanted it up and running Papers and guild bargain on JOA JOA, from Page 3A has said it will close the newspaper if the JOA is denied. Negotiations between the companies and Guild Local 22, which represents about 950 employes at both papers, recessed Monday afternoon after 2Vi hours. Neither side would comment on what transpired during the meeting. Donald Kummer, administrative officer of the guild, who brushed past reporters, would say only that the union "made some suggestions" to the company. Asked how they were received, Kummer replied: "No comment." Bob Hall, Free Press executive vice-president and general manager, also refused to disclose the topics of discussion.

Although the guild and newspapers recessed without setting another meeting, Hall said the two sides would "continue to talk as needed." Last month, the Free Press, News and unions agreed to intensified negotiations that Free Press officials hope would persuade the seven official JOA opponents six newspaper unions and Mayor Young to drop their fight before the JOA case goes to U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III in mid-February. The newspapers have asked the six unions to not only drop their opposition, but to tell the attorney general they support the JOA. Mailers Local 2040 members voted Sunday to reverse their position on the JOA, pending the resolution of outstanding issues between their bargaining committee and the companies. rIf the JOA is not approved and Knight-Ridder closes the Free Press, more than 2,000 jobs would be lost.

According to union leaders, the companies have said during bargaining sessions that between 500 and 600 jobs would be lost under a JOA, which would permit the newspapers to consolidate their business and production operations. Company officials have said they believe their chances of approval increase if all opponents change their positions and support the JOA. Before the Monday negotiation session, Kummer said the guild hoped to decide whether to change its position against the JOA during a membership meeting Thursday night. Kummer said the bargaining committee will make a report to the membership, followed by a recommendation for action. "A lot will depend on what happens in the next couple of days," Kummer said.

On Monday, the Free Press management sent a hand-delivered letter to Dan Vorkapich, executive vice-president of the Service Employes International Union Local 79. The letter offered his union members a special severance package if they "actively" support the JOA but then lose their jobs if the application fails and the paper closes. The letter also stated that all 85 SEIU members who work at the Free Press will be offered jobs with the Detroit Newspaper Agency, the entity that will run the combined newspaper business operations. Vorkapich could not be reached for comment. His union has supported the six unions challenging the JOA, but did not file as an opponent at last year's hearing.

A representative of the Operating Engineers union, which represents about 35 employes, received a similar severance offer. That union sent a letter to Meese supporting the JOA, said Phil Schloop, business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 547. Looking for a new set of Lemon Oil was scheduled to pick up cash from the Union 76 station where she worked, Waterford Township police said. DeBoer's car was found at the station, which had been left unattended. His body was found the next day in Rose Township.

He had been shot twice in the head. Strickland was last seen in the Waterford area May 11 when he put a down payment on a truck at Lucky UThe poster is a I sex-positive message about using condoms and making it sexyJ? Holly Smith AIDS Foundation spokeswoman educational material developed by the foundation. "In this particular case, we had a glitch in the process," Smith said. "Someone got over-anxious and started the printing process before final review by public health." Dr. Pat Evans, the associate medical director for the Health Department's AIDS office, said the poster is being reviewed by two advisory committees.

Smith said the poster was developed after a survey of 390 gay and bisexual men in San Francisco, taken last summer, found that 20 percent still practiced intercourse without using a condom one of the most common ways to spread the AIDS virus. "So we asked gay and bisexual men what the message is they thought would work," Smith said. "They gave us lots of feedback, and we refined the concept into the poster." Smith said this explicit education phase follows nearly three years of circulating intense information among the large gay and bisexual population here. In the past, most of the information has been in printed word form. The debate about explicit materials is expected to reach other cities within the next year or so as AIDS education plans shift from being mostly elementary about how the fatal disease is spread, to more direct encouragement for using condoms.

More explicit advertisements and posters aimed at intravenous drug users another high-risk group also are planned. Detroit 4frcc Prcso for home delivery, call 222-6500 wheel. 9 COUPLE, from Page 3A Virginia to help Strickland's brother run a family flower shop. Munday ran away with Strickland from her home in the Cumberland Gap area of the Appalachian mountains when she was 15, Strickland said Sunday. The couple moved to Centerville, and then to the Pontiac area, he said.

Munday was on duty May 11 when DeBoer, 38, an employe of Condom ad focuses on stark truth BY STEPHEN E. WRIGHT Knight-Ridder Newspapers SAN FRANCISCO For gay and bisexual men, the poster is supposed to be explicit and enticing. But for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, this next level of its AIDS education campaign also has become embroiled in controversy. And even before it begins distribution, it is expected to be the most sought-after AIDS education product ever. The focal point for all the discussion is a black and white poster of a muscled and somewhat hairy man sitting in a chair.

The only thing he is wearing is a condom over his erect penis. The message beneath his genitals states: Dress for the occasion. "This one is targeting two sets of people," said foundation spokeswoman Holly Smith. "That group of men who, for whatever reasons, have ignored our safe-sex message, and second, the group of men who need some degree of maintenance to stay committed to safe sex. "The poster is a sex-positive message about using condoms and making it sexy." According to the foundation's distribution plan, the poster would only be available in bars or stores with a predominantly gay or bisexual clientele.

People would have to ask for the poster to receive it. Advertisements in gay newspapers would tell where the poster was available. Only a limited number of posters have been printed, and those have not been distributed. However, photocopies of it have begun appearing throughout the Bay Area. Printing of the poster was halted late last month when it was determined that it had not received the blessing of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

In its contract with the foundation the department is supposed to oe allowed to review all AIDS Turn to our local Friends section each Thursday for auto dealer display advertising and you may find the car you've been looking for at a dealership in your neighborhood. Whether you are seeking a new or used car, let your Friends help. Every Thursday, in the Detroit Free Press. 0 Mr. The new Free Press Thursday section.