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.