DRAG DEBATES See Editorial Page E LIE I~3UI aug YAWN High: 66 Low: 48 See Today for details Vol. 1XXXVIII, No.'18 Ann Arbor, Michigan-Wednesday, September 28, 977 Ten Cents Ten Pages Getting high in the Goodyear blimp By JAY LEVIN It was a Goodday to ride in the Goodyear blimp. Bobbing and bending with the breeze, Capt. John Moran guided our bullet-shaped airship, America, like an errant feather over vast farm- land, lush woods and the busy heart of campus. People waved at us as we floated noisily over the Diag. It was like getting high on helium. ACTUALLY, . THE famous diri- gible isn't here to dole out joyrides to lucky reporters. N e x t Saturday, when Texas A & M meets the Wolverines on the gridiron, the blimp's gondola will be ghock full of video equipment set to broadcast the game to a national television audi- ence. But for the time being, the blimp's been a frequent fixture in the day- time heavens above Ann Arbor - an atmospheric point of reference for professors, kiddies, shopkeepers and students alike. It's nice to drop everything, crane your neck and follow the lazy path of what looks like a giant, silver cigar. It's also nice to sit in the tiny gondola as the dirigible makes its rounds. The gondola is a cozy, six-passenger compartment which is connected to the base of the airship. It has cushiony, upholstered seats, panoramic windows and ashtrays. Capt. Moran sits up front, guiding the blimp right and left with pedals, and up and down with a wheel. He also operates a mass of levers, switches and buttons. THE PERSON on the ground, how- ever, seldom catches a good glimpse of the gondola or the people inside. Rather, landlubbers follow the giant dirigible with its black Goodyear emblem - 207,000 cubic feet of weightless helium contained in a dacron shell. "It's no heavier than your jacket," Moran told me 1,000 feet above the Arb. Moran, who piloted the airship effortlessly throughout our half-hour ride, has piloted airships for almost nine years. He had to obtain a special "lighter than air" license before Goodyear would let him get off the ground. NOW 33, HE has logged 4,000 hours of blimp time in this country and in Europe. Goodyear maintains three blimps in the U.S. - the only blimps in the country - and one in Europe. , Flying a blimp is fun, said the crisply attired, blond-haired Moran. Safe, too. "This is really a safe mdchine," he said as we glided easily over the city, occasionally dipping at uncomfort- able angles. There are no seatbelts in the gondola, so passengers have to clutch onto their armrests if they wish to avoid crashing through the windshield. UNFORTUNATELY FOR blimp See HIGH, Page 2 Daily Photo by ALAN BILINSKY ABOVE, THE GOODYEAR blimp hovers over the Law Quad. At right, workers hold the tethers as the blimp prepares for takeoff from Ann Arbor's Airport. The famous dirigible is in town for Saturday's nation- ally televised football game against Texas A&M. GROMYKO BLASTS CARTER'S FOREIGN POLICY Soviets UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (AP) - The Soviet Union, in a surprise move, offered yesterday to join with the United States and Britain in a suspen- sion of all underground nuclear weap- ons tests for an unspecified period. "The prohibition of all nuclear weapon tests would be a major step conducive to lessening the threat of nu- clear war and deepening detente," So- viet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko told the U.N. General Assembly. SECRETARY of State Cyrus Vance, who is also in New York, withheld com- ment on Gromyko's test ban proposals. His spokesperson said Vancew pied with a series of meeti other foreign ministers and read a text of Gromyko's speec The spokesperson emphasi the two superpowers have not3 to an agreement. NEGOTIATIONS on a con sive test ban agreement, incl plosions for such peaceful pur river diversions, are sched Geneva next week. Meanwhile, Gromyko was m; unexpected return visit to th House yesterday night to res initiate was occu- vate arms limitation talks with Presi- ngs with dent Carter. had not The White House announced that h. Gromko and Secretary of State Cyrus zed that Vance were flying to Washington sepa- yet come rately for the renewed talks, scheduled for8 p.m. EDT,. mprehen- GROMYKO HELD two days of talks uding ex- with top administration officials last rposes as week, including a White House session uled for with Carter. Carter's press secretary, Jody Powell, said yesterday the Presi- iaking an dent told Gromyko at their meeting last he White Friday that "he would be willing to con- ume pri- tinue tie discussions if the Soviets thought that would be worthwhile." U.S. officials were not notified in ad- vance of the Soviet gesture on under- ground nuclear tests. To them it ap- peared to represent serious intent to complete a weapons test ban. Beyond that, the Russians did not condition their offer to reach an agree- ment on compliance by China and France, the two other major nuclear powers. In the past Moscow has said a testing agreement must have global application in order to be meaningful. EVEN WHILE taking this concilia- tory approach Gromyko sharply criti- cized the Carter administration on sev- eral fronts. He suggested with evident sarcasm that "those who clamor for 'human rights' could best apply their efforts" in southern Africa. "But for some reason or other," Gromyko said, "they shut their eyes to the intolerable plight of millions of people." AND, IN ANOTHER gibe at Presi- dent Carter, who has charged the Soviet Union with violating elemental human rights, Gromyko declared: sting "Any attempts at sermonizing us still worse, at interfering in our inter affairs under contrived pretexts, ha encountered and will encourage a re. lute rebuff." Gromyko also took issue with t Carter administration in the arms fie ban or, such as the neutron bomb?" nal Gromyko derided the suggestions ye that the bomb, which Carter has auth- so- orized, is somehow more humane than other nuclear weapons because it would .he not, over a large area, level buildings ld. and cause other physical havoc. 'Can one really propose with one hand various drastic reductions in nuclear arms while with the other authorize the development of new and, bluntly speaking, merciless types of weapons such as the neutron bomb?' -Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko Block back after suspension; fears scrutiny by ' officials By SUE WARNER Joel Block went to work yesterday morning just like 2,300 other campus service workers. But unlike the rest, the former presi- dent of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employes (AFSCME, Local 1583) had been off the job for over five months. BLOCK WAS suspended by the Uni- versity last spring when Ann Arbor po- lice named him as a suspect in an al- leged bomb threat on the Administra- tion Building. The threat was reported- ly phoned in to police headquarters. After completing his first day on the job as a West Quad custodian, Block Block e commented, "Everything was fine - a lot of union people were happy to see me back." r Early this summer, police handed Block a special search warrant order- ing him to produce a recording of his voice to be matched against the record- ed bomb threat. BLOCK REFUSED, and went before 15th District Court Judge S.J. Elden who upheld the police order. Elden's ruling is now being appealed by Block's attorney, Donald Koster, in the State Circuit Court. Block said he thinks the University's decision to end his suspension was the result of a Michigan Supreme Court ruling last Tuesday which stated voice- prints cannot be used as evidence in criminal trials unless their scientific validity is clearly established. "I THINK THEIR (the University's)' whole case disappeared when the court made its ruling," Block said. "Their whole key point of contention was whether I should be compelled to make a voiceprint." However, University Chief Negotia- tor William Neff yesterday denied that the University's decision to reinstate Block was a result of the Supreme Court decision. "We were ready to make our decision without that case," Neff said. "It was made after an analysis of the case itself and on the advice of the General Coun- 'U'to discuss S. Africaj By PATTY MONTEMURRI Brinkerhoff told about 50 lunchers at A committee to organize campus the International Center yesterday. discussion on the University's $40 million corporate investments in racially-torn South Africa will be set up within theweek, announced James Brinkerhoff, University vice-president and chief financial officer. "I DON'T KNOW what the University is going to do," said Brinkerhoff about the two-thirds of its total common stock invested in multinationals that have anywhere from "one man tohmassive operations in South Africa." Calling for "dialogue on the issues," Brinkerhoff told listeners, who downed sandwiches and jello salad, that infor- mation amassed through a campus forum would be used by his office and the Senate Advisory Committee for Financial Affairs to make recommen- dations to the Regents for handling the " n interests University's stock protfolio. In a brief presentation before an- swering questions,nBrinkerhoffrnoted how Ford Motor Co. stockholders ap- proved guidelines governing Ford af- filiate operations in South Africa. FIRST DEVELOPED by a General Motors Corp. board member, the guidelines have received approvalfrom South Africa's white government, though they are n "direct violation of South Africa's" apartheid law," Brinkerhoff said. South Africa's apartheid laws, devised by the country's white minority See BRINKERHOFF, Page7 A A - Noting the President's proposal earlier in the year to the Russians to make deep cuts in existing U.S. and Soviet weapons stockpiles, he asked: "CAN ONE REALLY propose with one hand various 'drastic reductions' while with the other authorize the development of new and, bluntly speaking, merciless types of weapons "After all," Gromyko said, "it is in- tended to be used directly against hu- man beings and is in the same category with such cruel and barbaric means of warfare as bacteriological or chemical weapons." Carter will speak to the assembly next week. Low-income residents swarm to new clinic~ By ELIZABETH SLOWIK Long-awaited by low-income resi- dents since the closing of the Ann Arbor Free Clinic last December, Bryant Neighborhood Clinic finally opened its doors yesterday as dozens streamed in. The Bryant facilities, located at 2201 Hemlock Court, about two and a half miles southeast of campus, offer more nvnneivoeorv n - thna rPlni, ily treatment like giving shots or pro- viding general check-ups. "Can you hear it?" asked Bryant Neighborhood Clinic's Health Educator Marcy Bohm-Waldinger. "It's a madhouse!" Though things got off to a slow start yesterday, the small staff was swamped with clients by the end of the afternoon. "We're booked solid through Thurs- day," said Director Betsy Lieberman. Killer ofI ' doctor gets life imprisonment By DENISE FOX Gordon Wingard, the prison con- vict who pleaded guilty to the July. accordihg to Brooks Patterson, Oak- land County prosecutor. ns,;" L-AO I"h f