Page 2-Thursday, May 17, 979-The Michigan Daily
Soviets may exploit weak,
U.S., Saudi relations

'U' offcials 'handicapped'
for awareness experiment

(Continued from Page) -
Fahd, half brother of the ailing King
Khaled, has maintained a significant
power base in the monarchy and has
run the kingdom's day-to-day affairs.
But he is one of about 40 princes with
varying degrees of power who must
consult with one another on decisions
affecting the nation of 7 million.
Fahd canceled a meeting with
President Carter earlier this year and
has not rescheduled it. That was widely
viewed as an indication of Saudi
displeasure withthe U.S. peace
initiative in the Mideast.
MOSCOW DIPLOMATS see little
chance of full-scale Saudi-Soviet ties at
least until 1981. But lesser links could be
initiated.
There have been rumors here that the
Soviet Union plans to open a bank bran-
ch in Saudi Arabia. And the small num-
ber of Soviet Moslems allowed on the
pilgrimage to Meccas every year will
be bolstered.
The Saudis' traditional close
relationship with the United States is
threefold: as America's chief oil sup-
plier in the Middle East, as a major
arms buyer from Washington, and as a
moderating force at price-setting
meetings of the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries, which
wins it U.S. gratitude.
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
(UISPS 344-900)
Volume LXXXIX, No. 12-S
Thursday, May 17, 1979
is edited and mana ed by students at
the University of Michigan. Published
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THIS HAS always prevented any
Soviet influence from taking hold,
especially since the conservative
kingdom is vigorously anti-communist
and resentful of the repression of Soviet
Islamics.
But while U.S. Secretary of State
Cyrus Vance told the House Foreign Af-
fairs Committee on May 8 that Saudi
Arabia remains "a good friend and
ally," he acknowledged that the Egyp-
tian-Israeli peace accord had damaged
U.S. relations with the oil-rich monar-
chy.
"Certainly the Sovietsi will do
whatever they can to encourage the
widening of those cracks," a Western
diplomat said.
WHEN THE Saudi monarchy was
established in 1926, Moscow quickly
recognized it and moved to establish
diplomatic links. During World War II,
an exchange of envoys was suspended
and Saudi Arabia has not wanted to
renew relations since then.
In January of this year, the Soviets
kicked off an apparent campaign to woo
back the Saudis in a major political
piece in the prestigious weekly
newspaper Literaturnaya Gazeta.
It said that Saudi Arabia is not as
"anti-Soviet" as the Western press
depicts and may be ready for a resum-
ption of diplomatic ties with Moscow.
CEW W omnen 'S groups
The University Center for Continuing
Education of Women (CEW) will spon-
sor two new groups for women who are
seeking a job or a job change.
A "job search" group will meet for
four consecutive weeks from 1 to 3 p.m.
Tuesdays. The discussions will focus on
job finding techniques such as resume
writing, interviewing, and information
gathering.
A "career decision-making" series
will meet from 1 to 3 p.m. Fridays for
four weeks and is aimed at women who
are returning to school or work or are
making a career change.
Bothgroupewill meet at the Center,
328 Thompson. Registration is
required. Telephone CEW at 763-1353.

(Continued from Page 1) i
volunteer readerstoutlined directions to
the experiment. Clamps, tubes,
syringes and manometers (pressure-
measuring devices) were identified,
and mice were caught and weighed
with the help of the readers.
"TRY TO visualize how things are set
up," directed Mitchell. "Try to avoid
thinking of blindness as a severe
limitation and try to deal with dif-
ficulties through the reader."
The readers timed the experiment,
and called off readings on the gauges of
the manometer which measured the
pressure inside the mice's chamber.
Mitchell told the volunteers that cer-
tain failures were expected in the lab
and said, "It gets to the point where you
have to work with someone else," to
make visual observations and
measurements.
"MITCHELL ALSO said that during
his lab work as an undergraduate, he
"did as well on the written and test
material as anyone else."
Lisa Choy, a Career Planning and
Placement Office staff member who
participated in yesterday's event, said
she wanted to be more active in the ac-
tual experiment and added she felt
dependent on her reader in dealing with
the unfamiliar apparatus.
Mitchell said he works with great
confidence in the lab. "I've been able to
figure out ways of doing things," said
the bearded researcher. He stressed
that his methods were "alternatives"
rather than "substitutes."
MITCHELL SAID he got the idea for
yesterday's activity when he was a
student at the University of California-
Irvine. He said the university "needed
to understand that we (he and other
blind students) were learning and fun-
ctioning just like everyone else."
The experiment shows, he said, that
"by working through another
student ... you can do the same things
other students do." Mitchell also said
lab experiments were still important
and useful to blind students because
"you can learn how it's done and under-
stand how it's done."
Miktchell said that although he faced
many difficulties in the lab at first, he
"wanted to be as independent as
possible in (his) work." In the future he
said he foresees having to prove his in-
dependence to an employer.
AS AN UNDERGRADUATE, Mit-
chell won a case protesting
discrimination in the physical therapy
program at Stanford University. He

said he switched his career plans from
physical therapy to biology because of
the discrimination he saw in the field at
the California university. Despite the
success of his case he said the non-
discrimination provision of Section 504
of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act was "a
toothless act."
Director of Disabled Student Services
James Kubaiko, who helped organize
the experiment, said his office helps
handicapped students to function at the
University in various ways. Visually
handicapped students are provided
with tape recorders and reader ser-
vices, while students with hearing im-
pairments are assisted by interpreters
in class or given special paper that
makes two copies, he said,
"In general, there is not a lot of ad-
ditional work for the instructor" of a
disabled person, said Kubaiko. He said
his office "helps students discover
ways to work it out on their own."
"ONCE A person understands the
problem he can deal with it," said Mit-
chell. "Allow them a chance to fail - to
try the things they want to."
The office of Disabled Student Ser-
vices and the Ann Arbor Mayor's
Committee on the Handicapped are
sponsoring a series of activities for
Handicapped Awareness Day at the
University tomorrow. The Witless
Wheelies, a street-theater group, will
perform at 12:15 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. on
the Diag, and the Academy Award
nominated film, "A Different Ap-
proach" will be shown every hour in 439
Mason Hall.
CEW coordinator
elected to board
Myra Fabian, coordinator of coun-
seling services at the University Center
for Continuing Education of Women
(CEW), has been elected to the
executive board of the National
Association of Women Deans, Ad-
ministrators, and Counselors
(NAWDAC).
She assumed the new post at the
Association's recent national conferen-
ce in Washington, D.C., where she
chaired a workshop on retirement
issues. Fabian just completed a term as
program coordinator of the NAWDAC
Continuing Education Section and
assisted with the coordination of con-
tinuing education programs during the
national conference.

H1ANDICAPPED
AWARENESS
Y!
FRIDAY, MAY 18th
12 to 5 p.m.
Join us on the Diag and the Fishbowl
ACTIVITIES:
Street Theatre. "Witless Wheelies"
12:15 & 1:15
Academy Award nominated .
"A Different Approach"
(Every Hour at 439 Mason Hall)
Information Booths and Displays
Accessible Vehicle Display
AND MORE!!
Sponsored by Ann Arbor Mayor's Committee on the Handicapped and
U of M offices of Disabled Student Services and Affirmative Action
Programs

Carter offers proposals
to ease Calif. gas crunch

(Continued from Page i)
nia governor that a May 1 decision to
base gasoline allocations on late 1978
and early 1979 consumption figures
rather than 1972 figures would also in-
crease supplies for the state.
THE MORE recent base reflects the
growth that has taken place in Califor-
nia, White House press secretary Jody
Powell said.
Schlesinger estimated that Carter's
action would mean that 50,000 ad-
ditional gallons of gasoline will be
available in California each day. The
shortage has been estimated at 70,000
gallons a day.
The Er8e9gy Ilphattri eIt's reort at

tributed the California supply problems
and the long lines at gasoline filling
stations to "the higher rate of growth in
gasoline demand in that state."
BROWN SAID Carter told him that
"May will be the lowest allocation of
gasoline. In June, things will improve."
The governor conferred privately
with Carter and Sen. Alan Cranston,
(D-Calif.), for about 10 minutes before
the one-hour meeting with the entire
delegation.
Asked whether he noticed any
political antagonisms, Brown said:
"None, on the surface. I always get a
fairly friendly reception. We get along
- extraordinarily-well.".- -'--