An article about a former Ford employee suing the automaker over wrongful discharge, quoted a Wayne State professor. The dispute involved a rule in which 10 percent of jobs openings would be set aside to convicted felons, UAW officials relatives and people of marginal skills. As director of labor studies at Wayne State University in Detroit, Hal Stack has delved into the auto industry's relationship with the UAW in great depth. But when told of the set-aside program, he was stunned. "Ten percent seems like an ungodly number," Stack said. "It's something totally new. I'd heard of that behavior claimed at a plant level, but not at a national level."