Wednesday; July 13, 1977
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Pagje Five
Wednesday, July 13, 1977 ~HE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Five
Carter asks boost
in minimum wage
WASHINGTON (AP) President Carter indicated yester-
day he will support a compromise proposal to raise the mini-
mum wage to $2.65 an hour from $2.30 and to make all future
increases autonatic.
Although Carter mentioned no figures during a White House
news conference, congressional sources said $2.65 was the figure
agreed on during weeks of intense negotiations among the ad-
ministration officials, Democratic congressional leaders and or-
ganized labor.
"WE HAVE NO ADMINISTRATION legislation to propose
and I do not intend to send the Congress any message on mini-
mum wage," the President said when asked about reports of
a compromise.
However, Carter said he agrees with the proposal to be
introduced by Rep. Carl Perkins (D-Ky.), chairman of the House
Labor and Education Committee. 1
Carter's decision was the second victory in as many days
for organized labor, which earlier this. year suffered a string
of disappointments from the administration.
ADMINISTRATION SOURCES disclosed Monday that Carter
agreed to back labor's legislative campaign for broad changes
in the labor laws to make it easier for unions to organize new
members.
The AFL-CIO joined in a broad coalition of labor, civil rights,
women's and civic groups to push for a higher minimum wage
than the $2.50 initially suggested by Carter earlier in the year.
The AFL-CIO had no immediate comment, but a source
said no problems were expected with the compromise. "It's not
as much as we wanted, but it's a substantial improv'ement over
what the President originally proposed," said one official.
THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE and other business groups
are opposed to an increase in the federal pay floor, contending
it would be inflationary.
An estimated 3.1 million workers are currently at the mini-
mum wage.
In addition to raising the pay floor to $2.65 an hour, the
compromise proposal would, if approved by Congress, tie future
minimum wage to the average wage earned in manufacturing.
Sources said one point still not final in the negotiations was
the elimination of the so-called "tip credit."
Carter administration to
press for adoption funds
Golf score too high?
'U' prof, knows why
By DENISE FOX
If you play golf or like to bet on the out-
come of golf matches, there's something you
should probably know.
As a hobby, Stephen Pollock, University
Professor of industrial and operations engi-
neering, has developed a mathematical model
to predict the probable outcome of matches.
HE HAS FOUND that even considering
handicaps, only in rare circumstances do
the odds ever come up 50-50.
Pollock contends that generally, the high-
er a player's handicap, the lower his chance
of winning. This is due to something the handi-
cappers never took into account - consisten-
cy.
"The handicap system tends to favor the
consistent player," said Pollock.
Golf handicaps are based upon best ten
of a player's most recent 20 rounds. A con-
sistent player's handicap will reflect his or
her true ability. But if the player's scores
vary widely, his or her handicap will prob-
ably be an inaccurate reflection of ability.
POLLOCK MEASURES consistency through
"standard deviation," which defines the range
a golfer can be expected to score 68% of the
time.
A consistent player -- one with a standard
deviation of perhaps 2.5 - will, even if his
handicap is 15 strokes higher than his oppo-
nent's, "win a little over half the time in
both medal and match play' if the opponent
is erratic - a player with a standard devia-
tion of perhaps six - says Pollock.
"Furthermore, if his handicap is only six
strokes higher than his opponent's, he wil
win 60 per cent of the time in medal play
and S8 per cent in match play," Pollock
said.
HE CONTENDS his model did not con-
sider other factors such as familiarity with
the course, weather, and psychology.
The birth of Pollocks model took place
in his Mathematical Models class.
"One of the professors was convinced that
the handicap system was doing him in," said
Pollock. "I had the students develop a model
and I sort of finished it."
Pollock himself is far from being an avid
golfer. "I've only played 5 or 6 times."
HAD CANCER
AND ILIVED
WASHINGTON MA) - The
Carter administration proposed
yesterday to pay the maternity
medical expenses of pregnant
women who choose to have
their babies and give them up
for adoption rather than seek
abortions.
Health, Education and Wel-
fare (HEW) Secretary Joseph
Califano, in describing an ad-
ministration proposal to pro-
vide federal subsidies for adop-
tion of hard to place children,
called elements of the plan
"obviously an alternative to
abortion."
BOTH PRESIDENT CARTER
and the secretary of health,
education and welfare oppose
using federal funds to pay for
abortions.
The adoption plan, sinilar to
one already passed by the
House and awaiting Senate ac-
tion, eventually would cost
more than a half billion dollars
a year in federal subsidies to
families and matching fuunds
to state that improve their fos-
ter care programs.
Vice President Walter Mon-
dale, sponsor of one subsidy bill
in the Senate before he was
elected vice president, outlined
the administration plan at a
briefing with Califano. He said
the plan is designed to "streng-
then, rather than undercut, the
family.".
CALIFANO SAID the propos-
al would provide "a couple of
thousand dollars a year" to
needy families that adopt tradi-
tionally hard to place children
those over 2 years old, c'hil-
dren . with. mental or physical
handicaps, minority group chil-
.renand siblings who for one
eason..or another are deemed
s parable -
ported foster care program,
Califano said in testimony pre-
is viciously antifamily.
He noted that the govern-
ment now spends $171 million a
year to help pay the expenses
of children in foster homes but
discourages foster parents
from adopting the children by
cuttingoff the payments - and
in many states Medicaid eligi-
bility - at the moment of adop-
tion.
"THIS IS theater of the ab-
surd government policy," Cali-
fano said. Federal foster care
funds, which would be increas-
ed to more than $300 million by
the mid-1980s, would be avail-
able in the form of adoption
subsidies to families. Such fam-
ilies would have to meet a still
to be written test of need based
on their income.
More than $200 million event-
ually would be made available
to states on a matching grant
basis to encourage them to de-
velop better foster care facili-
ties and procedures andto give
state child welfare programs in-
pared for the Senate, "is a
classic example of the per-
verse incentive system" that
centives to try to keep families
together or reunite them.
Neither Califano nor Mon-
dale mentioned the alternative
to abortion aspects of the plan
until asked by a reporter whe-
ther those provisions had been
dropped after published reports
about them appeared last week,
Califano said those were still
in the proposal but that he was
only trying - to give the broad
outlines of the plan.
Mondale and Califano said
they don't know how many of
the nation's' 350,000 children
now in foster homes or 'institu-
tBsis wculdbe affected by the
'ub, dy piroposoal"
Gene Ltler
It's possible to go into an annual checkup feeling terrific.
And come out knowing something's wrong. It happened to
me. The doctor found what I couldn't even feel ... a little
lump under my arm. If I had put off the appointment for
one reason or another, I probably wouldn't be here today.
Because that little lump I couldn't feel was a melanoma, a
highly aggressive form of cancer that spreads very quickly.
It's curable-but only if found in time.
So when I tell you, "Get a checkup," you know it's from
my heart. It can save your life. I know. It saved mine.
Rearegular cv heckup.
can save yorife.
Amencan Cancer Socie
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