MID-=EAST: WAR OR PEACE? See Editorial page Chr4tiir~a i Iai FLUFFY. High- T 24ys Low -180° See Today for details 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 ,,