The Michigan Daily
Vol. LXXXVII, No. 40-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Saturday, July 9, 1977 Ten Cents Twelve Pages
Jobess rate
increases to
A. 7.1 in June
By AP and UPI
A rise in the nation's jobless
rate to 7.1 per cent in June,
along with some other recent
unfavorable economic develop-
ments, "may be the beginning
of some serious trouble," a
leading economist said yester-
day.
"We will have to be diligent
and, watch it very closely,"
Julius Shiskin told the Joint
Economic Committee of Con-
gress after the government re-
ported the rise in unemploy-
ment from May's 6.9 per cent.
BUT SHISHKIN, THE com-
missioner of the Labor Depart-
ment's Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics said he doesn't think the
nation's economy is running out
of steam, adding that he ex-
pects unemployment to decline
.,gain later in the year.
Carter administrations econo-
mists were pleased by a sec-
ond report yesterday that show-
ed wholesale prices declined
six-tenths of 1 per cent in June,
the first drop in this key infla-
tion index in 10 months and
he largest decline in nearly
Making a splash
Twelve-year-ol Sandy McGee of Union Lake gets sone welco'e relief from the high tempera-
tures and hemidity which have been plaguing southern Michigan residents all week.
four years.
The decline was particularly
welcome since inflation had
shown signs of getting out of
nand again in recent months.
Wholesale prices had increased
four-tenths of 1 per cent in
May following big jumps of 1.1
per cent in each of March and
April.
A WHOPPING 6.3 per cent
drop in farm prices accounted
;or most of the decline, as
prices fell for just about every-
'ihing produced on the farm ex-
cept milk. There were lower
prices for vegetables, grains,
coffee, eggs, poultry and cat-
tie.
That was good news for con-
sumers, who can expect to find
their grocery bills are rising
less sharply in weeks ahead,
but bad news for farmers, who
are faced with declining in-
'ome.
In his appearance before
Sen. William Proxmire's eco-
nomic committee, Shishkin said
':he unemployment and price re-
ports should not be considered
as setting trends that will con-
tinue in the months ahead.
Both employment and unem-
oloyment increased in June as
more persons entered the job
market. The number of people
with jobs rose 270,000 to 90.7
million, while unemployment
rose 210,000 to seven million.
IN MICHIGAN, unemploy-
ment increased slightly during
the month of June, but the
MichigantEmployment Security
Commission (MESC) reported
C esterday that the number of
people working reached a re-
cord high last month.
Michigan's jobless rate last
uionth was 6.8 per cent, up
from 6.6 per cent in May. The
number of persons out of work
in the state rose by 14,300 to
a total of 281,700. A year ago,
there were 377,300 unemployed
- 9.3 per cent of the state's
labor force.
Though the jobless rate in-
creased, MESC director S. Mar-
tin Taylor said total employ-
ment reached a record level in
Michigan due to an influx of
moung people looking for sum-
mer jobs.
Explosion rips Alaska
pipeline; oil flow halts
By AP and UPI
A major explosion and fire
ripped through an Alaska pipe-
line station yesterday,- shutting
down the $9 billion, 800-mile sys-
tem, Alyeska Pipeline Co. said.
Officials were unable to give
an exact number of injured in
the explosion. Within two hours
of the incident, five persons had
been hospitalized in area hos-
pitals and a sixth person was
treated and released.
One of the injured had serious
burns, but was not considered in
critical condition.
An attendant at Fairbanks
Memorial Bospital said, "We
are having a mass casualty and
I don't have time to talk."
A physician said the hospital
was expecting about 40 injured
workers.
Fire and rescue personnel
from Pump Station No. 9, Fort
Wainwright and Eilsen Air Force
Base rushed to the scene. The
lured workers were flown by
helicopter to the hospital. De-
tails of the nature of the injuries
were not immediately deter-
mi , ed,
The fire, which began at 3:45
p.m. ADT, was under control
by 5:45 p.m. (10:45 p.m. EDT
and -"was burning out," Alyes-
ka said. Oil leaked out to a
distance of 200 yards from the
pump station but did not reach
several large storage tanks and
the storage tanks were not
damaged.
"The building was a mass of
wisted steel and rubble. The
damage was contained to the
station and not the entire com-
plex," according to KJNP re-
porter Neil Cook, who saw the
building from a distance. Re-
:orters were not allowed into
he complex, which contains
several buildings.
Cook also said, "The walls
were buckled and bent in. Walls
and girders have collapsed, in
on the structure . . . a large
amount of equipment was de-
stroyed as exploding oil spread
over them. Many workers at
the site were pretty well herd-
Fd into one area for safety pur-
, odes."
There was no immediate
word on the cause of the ex-
plosion. Witnesses reported a
large fire in the area..
A small oil spill was report-"
ed inside the station, but there
vere no reports of a spill from
the pipe itself.
Alyeska Pipeline headquarter
officials at Anchorage said the
explosion and fire occurred in
the main building of Pump
Station No. 8, about 25 miles
southeast of Fairbanks, as the
second pump at the station was
being put into operation.
A law enforcement source
said he understood that the ex-
plosion did not damage the
pipeline.
Pump Station No. 8 was the
site of a nitrogen leak earlier
this week that resulted in a 2% -
'ay shutdown of oil movement
through the pipeline.
Oil had begun passing
through the station earlier in
the day and was as far as 30
miles south of there at the
time of the explosion. Pump
Station No. 8 is at milepost 488
along the 800-mile pipeline and
is about 25 miles south of here.
V ur keep nurses waiting -
By KEITH B. RICHBURG
special to the natly
DETROIT-The jury has everyone waiting while
they deliberate the fate of Filipina Narciso and
Leonora Perez, two Veteran's Administration
(VA) nurses accused of poisoning their former
patients.
The nine women and three men already passed
the record four-day deliberation time for a federal
court jury here in the Eastern District of Mich-
igan. That record was set by the jurors deliberat-
ing i nthe trial of refuted mafia chieftain Anthony
Giacolone.
YESTERDAY MARKED the tenth day of the
jury's deliberation. They will continue working
the weekend in their narrow, windowed room.
Speculation has arisen from parties on both
sides of the case, and from observers, that the
jury could still be undecided until well into next
week.
These speculations are based on the jury's re-
quest for certain pieces of evidence which pertain
to specific counts in the nine-count indictment.
Their requests give some credence to the belief
that the jury is considering each of the nine
charges in sequential order and therefore are
only about half-way done with their task.
See VA, Page 4