The Michigan Daily
Vol. LXXXVII, No. 18-S
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Friday, May 27, 1977
Ten Cents
Sixteen Pages
Carter may nix budget bills
WASHINGTON P)-The sim-
mering budgetary conflict be-
tween President Carter and the
Dernocratic-controlled Congress
escalated yesterday when the
President threatened to veto
bills he considers tot> costly.
At a nationally broadcast news
conference, Carter stressed his
concern with inflation and his
belief that it is tied directly to
how well the government con-
trols spending.
EVEN AS CARTER was ap-
pealing for restraint from Con-
gress, the House Appropriations
Committee approved a $61.3 bil-
lion appropriations bill for the
Departments of L a bo r and
Health, Education and Welfare
(HEW). The measure provides
$1.4 billion more than Carter
had requested for HEW.
Rep. George Mahon (D-Tex.),
chairman of the Appropriations
Committee, read the panel a let-
ter from Carter who appealed
to the panel to hold the lid on
spending. But the committee
then voted 25 to 24 to reject a
move to cut $50 million from
the bill.
Later, Mahon praised Carter
for his effort to make the public
and the C o n g r e s s conscious
"that we must control over-
spending that will increase in-
flation and make balancing the
budget impossible."
At his news conference, Car-
ter cited a farm bill and funding
for the water projects he had
tried to eliminate as prime can-
didates for the first vetoes of his
presidency.
"I CERTAINLY reserve the
right to veto bills if I think they
are excessive," he told a ques-
tioner.
Sen. Alan Cranston of Cali-
fornia, assistant majority leader
of the Senate, said later that he
thought Carter "did what was
natural and was trying to avoid
a confrontation by specifically
saying he would wait to see the
bills before making a final de-
cision."
As for the prospects for over-
riding a veto, Cranston said, "I
don't think that's clear at this
point."
JOHN KENNEDY and Lyndon
Johnson were the last two pres-
idents who served when Con-
gress also was controlled by
their party. They vetoed a total
of 51 bills and none was over-
ridden.
On other matters, Carter said:
Maj. Gen. John Singlaub
committed "a very s e r i o u s
breach of the propriety that
ought to exist among military
officers after a policy has been
made."
Singlaub, who was chief of
staff of U.S. forces in South
Korea, told a reporter that the
Carter administration's plan to
withdraw American troops from
the Asian nation would lead to
war. Carter ordered Singlaub
transferred to another post.
BULLETIMN
A S S E N, The Nether-
lands lll'-Asian terrorists
freed all 105 children late
last night from a village
elementary school t h e y
had o c c u p i e d for four
days, J u s t i c e Ministry
spokesman Wim van Le-
euwen announced.
le s a i d the terrorists
still held six teachers, in-
cluding school principal
Eeef van de Vliet.
to sue
Don't fence me in
Kindergarteners at Central Elementary School in Neosho eye the photographer through the school
fence.
DOCTOR TESTIFIES MUSCLE RELAXANT USED:
Witness affirms VA druggings
By KEITH B. RICHBURG
special To The Da.ly
DETROIT - August 15, 1975 was a very
busy day at the Veterans Administration
(VA) Hospital in Ann Arbor. In less than
two hours, five VA patients stopped breath-
ing, one of whom never recovered. Yester-
day, at the VA murder trial, Dr. Anne Hill
recalled the events of that night.
"They (the events) stand out very clear-
ly," Hill said. "I never forget them."
Dr. Hill, a native of Ireland, was the VA
chief of anesthesiology during the summer
of 1975. Speaking to the jury in her thick
Irish brogue, she told how she examined
three paralyzed patients with a nerve stimu-
lator, an instrument that sends a slight
shock through the patient's body. "The re-
sults," Hill said, "indicated that (they) had
received a non-depolarizing muscle relax-
ant." She added, "there's nothing else that
could produce this picture."
Hill was then asked by prosecuting attor-
ney Richard Delonis "what kind of-drug is
Pavulon?"
"A non-depolarizing muscle-relaxant," Hill
replied.
Hill told the jury she was "shocked and
upset" when she learned that the patients
had been poisoned. "I believe it was ad-
ministered by a syringe . . . through injec-
tion into the IV (intravenous tube)," she
said.
Prosecution is contending that two Fili-
pino nurses assigned to the intensive care
unit, Filipina Narciso and Leonora Perez,
were at the plungers of those syringes when
nine patients were poisoned during 1975.
The two nurses are charged with two counts
of murder, seven counts of poisoning and
one count of conspiracy.
See DOCTOR, Page 6
Judge grants Beicher right
By RON DeKETT
The Ann Arbor mayoral election controversy
received another nudge up the judicial ladder
yesterday when Monroe County Circuit Court
Judge James Kelly granted defeated candidate
Louis Belcher permission to challenge Mayer
Albert Wheeler's one-vote victory in court.
The judge's decision follows the Michigan at-
tornev general's office's refusal to rule on Bel-
cher's claim against Wheeler.
Judg't Kelly originally heard Belcher's request
to file a complaint on May 4, but directed Attor-
ney Robert Henry, Belcher's lawyer, to present
the case before the attorney general's office for
consideration. Only if the attorney general re-
fused to review the case would the court hear
Belchor's plea, the Judge ruled.
The attorney general refused the same day.
Henry originally filed the complaint April 28
with the Washtenaw County Circuit Court, but
the justices refused to hear the plea because o
their involvement with Belcher and Wheeler. The
State Supreme Court assigned Judge Kelly to
hear Belcher's plea.
The -omplaint claims Wheeler acquired the
position of Mayor illegally because the Board
of Canvassers allegedly erred in certifying the
election results.
The first count alleges five machines were
malfunctioning on election day and that the
Board of Canvassers failed to determine the ex-
tent of "inaccurate vote recordation."
The second count says at least one ballot -
a vote for Belcher -- was discounted and at
least two absentee ballots - votes for Wheeler--
were wrongfully counted.
The third count alleges four voters who had
cast their ballots for 'Wheeler were either im-
properly registered or not registered at all.
Belcher is asking the judge to declare him
legal wirner.
No pre trial hearing date has been set yet.