The Michigan Daily
Vol. LXXXVI, No. 3-S
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Friday, May 7, 1976 Ten Cents Twelve Pages
Hudreudsferd dea3d
n Itain earthquake
Tremor reads 6.5
on Richter scale
VENICE, Italy (, - A severe earthquake hit north-
eastern Italy last night, collapsing entire sections ofsia v
small towns along both sides of the Tagliamento river.
The government said 95 were known dead and at least w
1,000 were injured, but police feared hundreds more were
buried in the wreckage.
"The number of dead i rising fast. We have no idea
yet what the final toll will be," said a spokesperson for
the national police.
THE POLICE said mosti rf the damage was in a 30-mile
stretch along both sides of the Tagliamento, which is about 50
miles north and east of Venice although that city escaped major
damage. The quake meassured ver 6.5 on the Richter scale.
The town of Fogaria was lveled and from one-fourth to one-
half of the houses in Bria, t)scppo, San Pietro di Ramogna and
Collaredo had collapsed, police said.
Wide destruction eas also reported in other towns along
the river.
"WE FEAR THEE arc at least 200 killed under the debris"
of collapsed buildings isc the -rea, said an official in Udine, a k
town of 90,000 east of the Tagliamento.
The quake struck is the early evening, with the first fast
series of five jolts in less than half an hour causing the most
damage. Three more tremors followed over the next 40 minutes,
then a ninth about an hour later.
Communications writt a nit-uber of points in the area were still
out late last night.
"IT IS DARK, electric swer is down, rescue workers have
a hard time reaching all the many centers in the struck area,"
an officer said.
An officer in Forg,,iria, a town of 4,000 near the Yugoslavian
border, described the situation there as "catastrophic . . . Whole
neighborhoods have been flattened to the ground. Many are dead AP Pho 7
and many are missing. We lack equipment for rescue work. We
have no power. It i not possible to make an estimate of the num-
ber of dead, but it must be high." Jazz trombonist Nathan "Big Jim" Robinson, who played with the best for more than 50
Police in Maiano, a town of 6,000 in the Alpine foothills near years, died Tuesday at the age of 86. He was buried Thursday in New Orleans with a
See HUNDREDS, Page 7 traditional sendoff: a jazz funeral. Robinson is shown playing in New Orleans in 1955.
'U' STUDENTS TO RECEIVE $3 MILLION
State increases inancialaid
By PHILLIP BOKOVOY
Approximately 1,60 more
University students will be
able to borrow an additional $3
million in Michigan Higher Ed-
ucation loans this year under a
set of emergency rules approv-
ed Wednesday by the State
Board of Education.
The regulations, which are
only temporary, will enable stu-
dents to receive financial aid
for the fall term.
THE PROGRAM will provide
a total of $12 million dollars
for state colleges and universi-
ties and is tentatively set to be-
gin July 1. It may, however,
start later - because, "the state
must sell the bonds first and
there are a few technical
amendments that have to be
approved by the legislature,"
according to University Direc-
tor of Financial Aid Thomas
Butts.
Under the new provisions, the
state will give money directly
to students, bypassing banks,
which have been reluctant to
make loans available even
though they are guaranteed by
the state and federal govern-
ments.
State Superintendent of Pub-
lie Instruction John Porter said
the program was needed be-
cause, "the banks want their
money to turn around faster
- they don't want to wait
for 1( or 15 years to get their
money back."
THE UNIVERSITY itself has
made direct loans in the past
but with the new state program
relieving some of the burden,
the University will be able to
distribute its funds differently.
Because the University grants
assistance on the basis of need,
students of middle income fam-
ilies were traditionally exclud-
ed from the financial aid pic-
ture. Now "the kind of person
eligible (to receive a loan from
the University) will be more
middle income," explained
Butts.
"This program increases the
likelihood of a student getting a
loan and students will be made
aware of the program as soon
as we work out all the de-
tails," he added.
Out-of-state students may
also receive additional aid
from the University. And the
state too will consider granting
loans to out-of-state students
"if they are self-supporting and
have resided in the state for
twelve months," Butts said.
WHEN ASKED if he thought
the program was a response to
tuition and dorm rate hikes at
the state's universities, Vice-
President for state relationa
Richard Kennedy said, "osten-
sibly this is one of the pres-
sures on students that this pro-
gram will help alleviate.
Another important change in
the state's loan policy is the
increase in the amount of mon-
ey an undergraduate can bor-
row, The ceiling will be in-
creased from $1500 to $2500 a
year at an interest rate of sev-
en per cent.
The emergency regulations
are only temporary and accord-
ing to Butts, "the final regula-
tions won't be approved for
about S months and there may
be a couple of changes."