at rdcv, May 22, 1976
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
,
Officials mum on VA drug reports
By GEORGE LOBSENZ- THE CASE originated last August 15
when the FBI began its inquiry into a
Federal officials investigating last Au- series of respiratory arrests that event-
gust's respiratory arrest deaths at Ann ually totaled 51, at least six of which
Arbor's Veteran's Hospital have refused resulted in death.
to either confirm or deny reports that Last August pancuronium bromide
traces of the muscle-relaxant pancuro- was discovered in the blood and urine
aiun bromide (Pavulon) have been samples of two patients who survived
found in the exhumed bodies of possible respiratory attacks. It was also detect-
wurder victims. ed in one victim's intravenous tube.
"I'm not in a position to comment on However, if this report proves accur-
such a report," said Assistant U. S. At- ate, it would provide the first direct evi-
torney Richard Delonis, "for several dence linking the drug with the sus-
reasons I just can't say anything." De- picious deaths.
Wais did not elaborate on the specific ASKED IF this type of evidence would
-easons for his silence. strengthen his case against the two ant-
TU, Reliable Realty split
strike decisions in court
pects named in a grand jury investiga-
tion, Fitipina Narcisco, 31, of Ypsilanti
and Leonora Perez, 31, late of Evan-
ston, Il., Delonis replied "At this point,
I really can't comment in any way."
Delonis did admit that the testing
methods used in examining the five ex-
humed bodies were, medically, the first
of a kind.
"Prior to our undertaking of the in-
vestigation, there was no method for
testing body issues for chemicals or
drugs, only body fluids could be test-
ed," asserted Delonis.
"THIS IS A totally new problem-and
this is a totally new method," he said.
Delonis added he would reconvene the
23-member grand jury in order to brIef
them on "a number of developmenta".
Again, he refused to go into detail.
Jay Bailey, supervising the case for
the FBI, was even more close-mouthed
than Delonis. "All I can acknowledge is
that we are continuing our investiga-
tion" he said.
A spokesman for the Veteran's Hos-
pital professed complete ignorance
about the new report.
"We haven't received any reports
from the FBI," he said, "we only know
what we read in the papers."
By MICHAEL YELLIN
ae Realty Management Company
be release yesterday of all but $70
i 20 rent withheld by striking mem-
af the Ann Arbor Tenants Union
in the fifth of 19 court cases sched-
between the two groups.
Te ury of three men and three wa-
m alo ruled in favor of a TU counter-
m. awarding the tenants of 518 South
sib $300 in damages. The counter-
.a charged Reliable owner Edith Ep-
a h failure to maintain the house.
iA Al) lawyer Jonathon Rose
I the coort decision a TU victory
I /
RIP, Allosaurus
' ,auned $30,000 dinosaur safari or-
de rthrough the post Neiman-Marcus
department stare is now as extinct as
the critters it was planned to dig up.
The firm putting up the money for the
expedition, Pinehurst Mortgage and
Loan Co. of Southern Pines, N.C., has
game into bankruptcy, and its owner con-
victed of fraud. Paleontologists from
the University of Utah, who had ex-
pected to get some fine relics of a meat-
eating Allosaurus, are pretty disappoint-
ed and making few bones about it.
Happenings . . .
. . . MM Productions and 'U' Club are
presenting Peter Pan today and tomor-
row at 2:00 and 8:00 in the Anderson Rm.
of the Union. Call 763-2236 for details ...
People United for Justice are sponsor-
ing a barbeque today Donations are
$3.00. Call 769-3711 .. We Pippert, 'UPI
Political reporter, will give a lecture
Sunday entitled, "All the President's
Men and You". The speech starts at
8:00 at the First Methodist Church .. .
Also on Sunday, Dr. George Mendenhall
will speak on "The Conflict Between
Value Systems and Social Work." The
lecture will be at 8:00 at the Ecumen-
ical Campus Center . . .
Weather or not
It'll be sunny and warm today as the
mercury will be on its tip-toes, reaching
for the 70 degrees mark. Clouds will
start to move in by late afternoon, and
lows tonight will be in the upper 40's.
Sunday's high will be in the mid-60's and
there wil be a slight chance of rain.
saying, "The jury recognized that even
though the house passed inspection it
was not up to code and awarded dam-
ages to the tenants."
Epstein was unavailable for comment.
Through testimony it was learned that
the property was infested with bats and
rodents and had inadequate pipes and
heatin. 'lhe house also locked a kitchen
and lipiigi room.
TENANT a t t o r n e y Wendy Brewer
argued that, "The kitchen facilities were
installed for the purpose of passing in-
spection," and were "purposefully re-
moved" by Epstein the day after in-
spection.
IRose contended that, "This house can
be back on strike tomorrow," and that
the TU strike against Epstein is "pro-
ceeding in a manner favorable to the
tenants " Union organizers believe their
members "are organized and will not
settle until Epstein meets their de-
mands " The Reliable strike is now in
its fourth month.
Negotiations between the two groups
were broken off again this week by Wil-
iain Raymer Epstein'sattorney, who
stated that "both partics are firmly
fixed" in their proposals for a settle-
ment. Bargaining over the issue of rent CCme60C
control also ceased.
Last year, David Goldberg, 11, of San Diego was involved in a motorcycle
KIM KELlER, a TU organizer, stron accident in which his left arm was almost completely severed. Now, he's
y belmeves that, '"if the Tenants Union i recovered enough so he can still hurl with the best of 'em in a recent Little
See RELIABLE, Page S League game.
Nine vie for school board
By MIKE BLUMFIELD
With a lack of stand-out issues and
nine candidates vying for three positions,
local voters may have trouble casting
their ballots in the June 14 school board
election.
School board members serve three
years on the nine-seat Board of -Educa-
tion.
CANDIDATES do not declare a party
alliance but instead tend to be classified
by their approach to the function of edu-
cation. Liberals generally lean toward
alternative systems while conservatives
favor the old Three R's, Reading, Writing
and Arithmetic.
Nearly all of the candidates declare
themselves interested in improving the
"quality of education," something they
feel has declined lately.
As candidate Mary Rave says, "Every-
body's for God and motherhood. So am
1. Everybody thinks school ought to be'
more exciting and innovative and so
do t."
HARVEY JAHN is running on the po-
sition that "social skills, which are too
often neglected in favor of the Three R's,
should be emphasized." He adds that
"most young people like tome tort of
tightening up of discipline, rot in a back-
ward puritanical sense, but in a con-
structive way."
Insuring the teaching of basic skills
has been a central focus of the Board
for the past three years and constitutes
a basis for the campaigns of current
Trustees Terry Martin and Paul Wein-
hold. As Martin says, "If a child can't
read, there's nothing much else he can
do in life. This has been neglected na-
tionally too often."
Board member hopeful Stephen Liu
feels compelled to run because he is
alarmed by the way "(achievement)
scores are going down the hill-we need
to restore prestige to Ann Arbor's edu-
cational system." How that will be
achieved, he admits, "has no simple
answers. Teachers have to be brought
up to date and materials and testing
have to be improved.
ONE WAY to help find answers is to
solicit suggestions of parents and stu-
dents in how to improve the student's
education, according to candidate A.
Edward Spitz. "I would seek parent ad-
vice of major policy changes that are
contemplated by schools. This would
give a better cross-section of input. I
would seek student advice at the high
school level."
As expected in these financially strap-
ped times, the school budget is an area
of difficulty. Weinhold feels that the
budget "is a challenge for any board"
and that now it is essential not to "keep
layering things on top of each other."
Kathleen Dannemiller hopes to remedy
the situation by relying on her manage-
ment background to provide alternative
methods of school financing.
Also running for the election are Elle,
Blue and Robert Tulloch.