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Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 91 Ann Arbor, Michigan-Friday, January 20, 1978 Ten Cents 10 Pages
SLOW ENERGY LEGISLA TION BLAST ED
Carter urges
$25
billion
tax
cut
"Militarily, politically,
economically, and in spir.
it, the state of our union
is sound."
-President Carter
WASHINGTON (AP) - President
Carter held out the promise of
income tax cuts for 96 per cent of the
nation's taxpayers last night in a
State of the Union message that
chided Congress for an energy dead-
lock he said is becoming intolerable.
"On energy legislation we have
failed the American people," Carter
said. "Not much longer can we
tolerate this stalemate."
HIS FIRST address on the State of
the Union produced no major sur-
prises, nor did the 50-page written
catalog of administration programs
he presented to the reconvened 95th
Congress.
Still, he presented a hefty agenda
to an election year Congress he had
said he would not overload with pro-
posals.
"Militarily, politically, econom-
ically, and in spirit, the state of our
union is sound," Carter said in his
text for a nationally broadcast
appearance at a joint session of
Congress.
WHILE SAYING the United States
faces "no single overwhelming cri-
sis," the President told the curtain-
raising session of the 1978 Congress
that, nevertheless, "profound nation-
al interests are at stake," notably in
the realm of the economy.
After first again appealing for
enactment of his - stalled energy
program, Carter sketched in broad
outline a forthcoming proposal to
revise and simplify the tax laws and
at the same time "reduce the tax
burden on American citizens by $25
billion.
"Almost $17 billion in income tax
cuts will go to individuals," he said.
"Ninety-six per cent of American
taxpayers will see their taxes go
down. For a typical family of four
this will mean an annual saving 'of
more than $250 - a tax reduction of
about 20 per cent."
CARTER ALSO said that Saturday
he will submit a plan to cut federal
excise taxes by $2 billion, which he
said would "directly reduce the rate
of inflation." In addition, he called
for "strong additional incentives for
business investment thro'ugh sub-
stantial cuts in corporate tax rates
and improvements in the investment
tax credit."
Taking the wraps off the gist of a}
new anti-inflation program, the Pres-
ident restated his opposition to wage
and price controls and said:
"I am therefore asking govern-
ment, business, labor and other
groups to join in a voluntary program
to moderate inflation by holding
wage and price increases in each
sector of the economy during 1978,
below the average increases of the
last two years."
CARTER ALSO made a strong
pitch for civil service reform and
said he will call for the creation of a
separate Department of Education."
Touching briefly on foreign affairs,
Carter said his administration "has
restored a moral basis for our foreign
policy" and declared, "the world
must know that in support of human
rights the United States will stand
firm."
"We expect no quick or- easy
results, but there has been signifi-
cant movement toward greater free-
dom and humanity in several parts of
the world," he continued.
REPORTING THAT thousands of
political prisoners have been freed,
he said, "the leaders of the world -
even our ideological adversaries -
now see that their attitude towards
fundamental human rights affects
their standing in the international
community and their relations with
the United States."
Carter expressed hope that 1978
will see the successful completion of
"difficult and prolonged" negotia-
tions with the Soviet Union on a new
strategic arms limitation treaty. He
called again for Senate ratification of
the Panama Canal treaty and prom-
ised to press ahead with efforts to
promote a Middle East peace.
See CARTER, Page 2
Begin shuns Sadat ?S offer
to reopen
JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Min-
ister Menahem Begin lashed out at
Egypt yesterday for "chutzpah" -
brazenness - in its peace demands,
and he rejected for the moment
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's
proposal to resume military negotia-
tions in Cairo this weekend.
Israel stands ready to reopen
peace talks, Begin said, but the next
move is "up to Egypt."
military talks
MERC to
eonsider GSA
working status
SECRETARY OF State Cyrus
Vance met with Begin and is to fly to
Cairo today 'to talk with Sadat in an
effort to revive the Jerusalem nego-
tiations, which were suspended
abruptly by the Egyptian leader
Wednesday.
After meeting with Vance, Begin
told reporters Israel was declining
Egypt's invitation for Defense Minis-
ter Ezer Weizman to return to Cairo
Saturday for renewed talks on mili-
tary aspects of a peace.
He said the Israeli cabinet would
await Vance's report on his Cairo
visit and Sadat's scheduled speech
Saturday to the Egyptian parliament
before deciding Sunday on the mili-
tary talks. He also said official
Israeli delegations do not travel on
Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.
THE CAIRO talks, considered less
important than the Jerusalem con-
ference, had focused on an Israeli
withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula.
Begin told a joint news conference
after the meeting with Vance that the
American would "try to convince
President Sadat that the negotiations
...should be renewed. We wish him
Godspeed and good success."
U.S. officials said Vance was
urging both Begin and Sadat to end
their war of words and get down to
hard negotiating. The secretary him-
self declined to comment on this, but
Begin said that if Vance's mission is
successful "we shall then be pre-
pared to refrain from public state-
ments, of course on the basis of
reciprocity."
THE PRIME minister, speaking to
a group of French Jews earlier yes-
terday, said it was "inconceivable"
that the United States would pressure
By SUJE WAR'(NERI-
Daily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG
REGENT PAUL Brown, spectator Richard Robinison and Regent Deane Baker sit back during yesterday's lengthy Re-
gents meeting in which decreasing minority enrollment was a key issue.
REGENTS DISCUSS FALLING ENROLLMENT:
Minority attrit
By BRIAN BLANCHARD
University officials told' the Regents yesterday that
minority enrollment has dropped recently not because of
faculty recruitment policies, but because many minority
students are leaving the University before graduating.
Also during the afternoon meeting in the Administration
Building, the Regents were assured that the American Fed-
eration of State, County, and Municipal Employes (AFSC-
ME, Local 1583) would not strike despite what union officials
called "harassment and arbitrary rescheduling."
DISCUSSION CENTERED AROUND a report on mi-
nority enrollment, presented this week by Vice President for
Academic Affairs Harold Shapiro.
Opportunity Program Director George Goodman told the
eight Regents: "We have talked for the last 15 years about
recruitment and, as we sit here in 1978, we are still talking
about recruitment." Goodman said emphasis should be
placed on coordinating University minority programs and
keeping minority students enrolled.
"A student right now, for example, who has a problem,
has a number of areas where he can go to get help," Good-
man said. "But where they ought to go is to' their depart-
ment."
SHAPIRO AGREED that "the primary cause (of low
minority levels) is i transfers and also there is a con-
ion plagues 'U
siderable amount of attrition."
Shapiro said several factors have contributed to the de-
cline: recruitment competition from other schools; a lack of
both financial aid and out-of-state recruitment; and financial
cutbacks in "areas that have traditionally enrolled a number
of minority students," the Schools of Education and Social
Work. Possible solutions include improving academic ser-
vices and increasing financial aid, said Shapiro.
"We are now conducting a joint study with two similar
institutions,the University of Wisconsin and thetUniversity
of Illinois on the attrition of minority students," Shapiro said.
UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT Robben Fleming noted that
out-of-state recruitment would be expensive, since many
out-of-state students - who pay three times the tuition of
Michigan students - often need financial aid as an incentive
to attend the University.
"It's a question of paying ourselves," Fleming said.
Associate Vice-President for Academic Affairs Richard
English said one of the contributing factors to the high at-
trition rate among minority students is a lack of "person-
alized concern." English said, that smaller colleges have a
better record for hanging on to minority students.
See MINQRITY, Page 2
A Michigan Employment Relations
Commission (MERC) judge has been
ordered to hear evidence on whether
graduate student assistants (GSAs) at
the University are employees entitled
to bargaining rights.
The commission's appeals board yes-
terday ordered MERC judge Shlomo
Sperka to reconsider his August ruling
which found the University guilty of an
unfair labor practice in refusing to sign
a contract with the Graduate Em-
ployees Organization (GEO).
SPERKA MUST NOW hear Univer-
sity lawyers' arguments on why GSAs
should not be considered employees un-
der the conditions of the Michigan Pub-
lic Employees Relations Act. In
August, Sperka refused to allow
evidence on the student-employee ques-
tion, saying the issue already had been
decided in 1973.
At that time, the Michigan Supreme
Court decided interns and residents at
University Hospital were employees as
well as students. Therefore, the court
ruled, they were entitled to bargain
collectively.
If Sperka decides GSAs are employ-
ees under the Public Employees Rela-
tions Act, he will recommend the com-
mission find the University legally re-
sponsible to bargain with GEO. How-
ever, either side may appeal Sperka's
recommendation to the MERC appeals
board or to the Michigan Appeals Court
before MERC makes a final ruling on
the case.
UNIVERSITY ATTORNEY William
Lemmer said last night that the appeals
board order is "just what we asked for.
"He (Sperka) should have let the stu-
dent-employee evidence in in the first
place," Lemmer continued. "They
wouldn't let us put anything in. It was
really shut off completely."
GEO President Mike Clark said yes-
terday's decision came as a "surprise."
"WE'RE SOMEWHAT disappoin-
See MERC, Page 2
", , I
See BEGIN, Page 2
..
Ford Motor insists
on keeping
its South African operations
By AP and UPI The pro-government E n g I i s h- they would nee(
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - language newspaper the Citizen, certain jobs," h
Henry Ford II defended the Ford called Ford's announcement "a posi- now is to do mor
Motsr C's decision to stay in tive move at a critical moment." al side of this so
d to be promoted to
e said. "Our proposal
re with the education-
they will be promot-
racially divided South Africa yester-
day, saying only a strong economy
"can pay the bills of social prog-
ress."
The Detroit automotive chief ended
an eight-day visit to this white-ruled
nation - his first in 10 years - where
he met with both white and black po-
litical leaders and toured his firm's
operations.
AMERICAN businesses are under
pressure to withdraw from South
FORD EMPHASIZED that his
company's employment policies
have not been influenced by apar-
theid, and said "the doors to equal
opportunity" are open to the com-
pany's 4,855 South African employes,
2,765 of whom are black and mixed-
race.
"Equal pay for the same work is a
firm policy of ours," Ford said.
At present no blacks directly su-
pervise any of the Ford Motor Co.'s
able when the time comes."'
Asked about racial discrimination
and social development here, the 60-
year-old Ford replied, "South Af-
rica's problems must be solved by
the people of South Africa.
"IN THE FINAL analysis, only a
strong economy - built upon profit-
able businesses - can pay the bills of
social progress."
The United States has supplanted
Britain as South Africa's No. 1
'AR
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