POLICY See editorial page P ~Nnles.v Years off Editorial Freedomf Iai1 GROUNDHOG i See Today for details Vol. XC, No. 101 Ann Arbor, Michigan-Saturday, February 2, 1980 Ten Cents Eight Pages FCC to rule on WCBN's future By GEOFF OLANS Staff members for the University's student-run FM radio station-WC- SBN-are eagerly awaiting a decision by the Federal Communications Com- mission (FCC) that will decide whether it may continue to broadcast on its present frequency. The uncertainty in WCBN's license renewal is attributable to an FCC ruling a year ago that all commercial-free FM transmissions be carried with a minimum of .100 watts. Since then the station, which*currently operates at ten watts, has secured permission from the Regents and the financial backing to boost its power to 200 watts. WCBN PROGRAM Director Judy Schwartz said she feels confident that the FCC will approve the station's request to continue broadcasting at 88.3 on the FM dial. The one thing tht may stand in the way, she said, "is the possibility that a local high school may have put in a bid for more than a 200- watt station. " If the FCC approves renewal for *WCBN, the station will undergo several physical changes, which may be com- plete by mid-1981, according to Schwar- tz. Te boost would require the in- stallation of a new transmitter and the replacement of WCBN's antenna, wich is located on the roof of the Physics and Astronomy Building. The wattage transformation would cost approximately $18,000, accordirg to Ann Rebentich, general manager of the station. Rebentich said the Univer- sity General Fund will supply $10,000, while the Michigan Student Assembly See FCC, Page 3 Nation's unemployment hits 6.2%; state jobless level jumps to 10.3% From AP and UPI The nation's unemployment rate climbed to an 18-month high of 6.2 per cent in January, an indication that the recession predicted by the government has arrived. Unemployment in Michigan, fueled by layoffs in the automotove industry, climbed to 10.3 per cent, compared to 8.5per cent in December. It was the first time the state's jobless figure broke the double digit mark since April, 1976, when unem- ployment stood at 10 per cent and the highest rate for any January since 1976 / whenit also was 10.3 per cent. THE LABOR Department reported yesterday that the number of unem- ployed Americans rose by 340,000, or .3 per cent, since December, most of them laid-off auto and construction workers and other males. As a result, the jobless rate for adult men increased, from 4.2 ' per cent to 4.7 per cent, the highest level since November, 1977. In Michigan, total employment dropped by 143,000 to 3,827,000. The unemployment rate for women, by contrast, rose only slightly, from 5.7 per cent to 5.8. per cent. Total em- ployment among women increased from December, while employment among men declined. The rising jobles~s rate was in line with a new forecast by President Carter this week. The president said he expec- ts the economy to enter a mild recession in the first half of this year, pushing up unemployment to 7.5 per cent by the fall. "BUT IT WOULD be premature, on the basis of findings for a single month, to conclude at this time that a major downturn is under way," Janet Nor- wood, head of the Labor Department, told Congress' Joint Economic Com- mittee. The anticipated recession would be the result of the government's fiscal and monetary policies, which are designed to dampen inflation. Thus far, however, inflation is stubbornly refusing to come down from a 13 per cent annual rate. A Labor Department economist said the large rise in unemployment among adult men was an "important'sign" that the recession the government has been awaiting since mid-1979 may be arriving at last. THE JUMP IN unemployment marked the first significant rise in 1% years. The rate had held steady bet- ween 5.7 per cent and 5.9 per cent since falling from a 6.2 per cent rate in July, 1978. Overall, unemployment in January stood at 6.4 million, up from 6.1 million in December, while employment dip- ped to 97.8 million from the December record of 97.9 million, according to a monthly survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. William Cox; deputy chief economist for the Commerce Department; siad See NATION's, Page 8 Counter-Olympics will be held if Moscow games go, on - Carter AP Photo Home at last The six Americans who escaped from Irah arrive at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington yesterday. The Americans escaped with the aid of the Canadian- government, which sheltered them for over two months in that country's embassy in Tehran. See story, Page 2. $1.6 BILLION ENVIR ONMENTAL 'SUPE R FUND': cleau budgeted for From AP and UPI WASHINGTON - President Carter assured the nation's athletes yesterday they will have an opportunity to com- pete in counter-Olympics if the official Summer Games in Moscow go on as scheduled. In a speech to a, physical fitness con- ference in which he defended his threat to boycott the Moscow Olympics if Soviet troops are not withdrawn from Afghanistan, Carter said he remains determined that Olympians who do not go to Moscow "will have an opportunity this year to participate in athletic games of the highest caliber." THE PRESIDENT did not elaborate. But White House sources said after the speech the administration was prepared to help organize some form of international competition or even a counter-Olympics "to make sure the athletes who are trained and ready this summer have an opportunity to com- pete." "We are pushing for a cancellation or postponement," said one official who asked not to be identified. "If either of those-happen, it won't be a question of a counter Olympics but of arranging some other competition for the world's athletes this summer." However, the source added, if the Olympics were held in Moscow as currently scheduled, the United States would find a rival site for competition among those who did not go to the Soviet Union. The sources said the ad- ministration believes the International Olympic Committee.is unlikely to order the games moved. "IT WOULD be easier to cancel them -there's precedent for'. that --r-post- pone them until 1981," one official said. In his speech to the National Con- ference on Physical Fitness and Sports for All, Carter offered a special' tribute to the United States Olympic Committee for its support of his and Congress' call for moving, postponing or canceling the games. The committee put off a decision on a possible boycott to protest the Soviet Union's drive into Afghanistan. AT THE State Department, spokesman Hodding Carter said about three dozen countries had indicated they believed Moscow to be an inap- propriate site for the Summer Games. He said 17 countries that had publicly announced their positions were WASHINGTON (AP) - President Carter's 1981 budget proposes a $1.6 billion environmental "superfund" that seeks to atone for past government neglect - the failure to regulate hazar- dous waste dumps that dot the nation's 50 states. While emphasizing waste-site clean up, Carter is scaling down efforts to en- force air and water regulations at a time that the push for energy develop- ment would create major new pollution sources. THE CENTERPIECE of Carter's 1981 environmental plan - creation of a "superfund" to clean up 400 to 500 of the, nation's worst dump sites - faces stiff opposition from the oil and chemical industries, which would be tapped to pay $1.3 billion into the fund. In addition to the superfund, Carter proposes spending $147 million for the Environmental Protection Agency's hazardous waste program, a 47 per cent increase over current efforts. Staffing would ihcrgase by 126 per cent to 774 employees.' In the meantime, the EPA's clean-air programs would be cut by $2 million and lose 87 people, a four per cent drop in staffing. The water quality program would lose $2.3 million and 55 people. THIRTY OF the people being cut from the air quality program would be employees who work in the field. The reduction concerns Robert Rauch of the Environmental Defense Fund. He poin- ts out that regional EFA offices are responsible for certifying the new coal power plants that would help wean the nation from its dependence on. foreign oil. Despite his unease over cuts in air and water programs, Rauch was pleased with the increase in hazardous waste regulation. "We have a legacy of tragedy that could have been avoided with a modest AATA pushes to establish new .city-wide ride sharing program expenditure of money (for regulation) years ago," Rauch said. "Unless we' are willing to increase the risk of can- cer and let our children be born with birth defects, we must be willing to spend the millions that will now be needed to clean up these dumps." THERE ARE as many as 30,000 dangerous dumps across the nation, according to EPA estimates. A congressional report issued last Oc- tober branded government regulation efforts as "totally inadequate" and said -waste dumps were the most serious en- vironmental problem facing the coun- try. Rep. Bob Eckhardt (D-Texas), who headed the congressional investigation, said he was "greatly encouraged" by Carter's budget increases. He said the proposals should reverse a situation where the "EPA was doing very little and had little appreciation or under- standing" of the problem THE EPA is asking for $1, million this year to complete long-overdue regulations to implement a law Congress passed in 1976 to crack down on dump site abuses by requiring site licensing and accurate records on where wastes are stored. Carter wants fees imposed on about 1,000 oil and chemical companies to raise about $1.3 billion over the next four years with the federal government contributing $250 million. The $1.6 billion fund would be used to clean up dumps and oil spills. In cases where the polluter could be found, the government would go to court to gain reimbur- sement of the money spent from the fund. See CARTER, Page 2 By LEE KATTERMAN With city traffic congestion increasing and available parking space decreasing local transportation planners are pushing hard for the establishment of ride sharing programs, according to an Ann Arbor Transportation Authority of- ficial. Tom Hackley, manager of system development for AATA, said the authority hopes within the next month to hire a coordinator for its new tran- sportation "brokerage." The new operation will be designed to establish vanpools, park-and-ride lots, and, even- tually, subscription bus service. THE IDEA has apparently attracted enough interest to earn it $50,000 in grants from the state in order to start the brokerage. The State Department., of Highways and Federal Ail in Urban Systems has offered up $40,000 for the project, with the remaining $10,000 coming from the Michigan Energy Administration. Hackley said he sees ride sharing as a way of getting people involved in mass transit, especially white collar workers. "We want to present people with a variety of options other than driving their own car," Hackley said. He called rilde sharing "one step toward getting them to ride the bus." TRANSPORTATION planners say they were strongly encouraged to pur- sue the brokerage after a survey of area employers was completed last fall by the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Urban Area Transportation Study Committee (UATS). Of the 124 employers who had at least 100 employees contacted by UATS, 48 showed interest in establishing a ride sharing program, and another 18 already had a similar system underway-either informal carpools or formal vanpool programs like the one the University coordinates. The first step for the new AATA coor- dinator will be to contact the area em- ployers who expressed interest in the UATS survey, said Hackley. Various ride sharing programs would be described and advice would be given on how to generate interest within the company. "We can provide the technical See AATA, Page 8 AP Photo THE OLYMPIC flame continued on its 1,000 mile trek yesterday as runner Suzanne Mink passed the torch to Tony Diamond on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Mink and Diamond are just two of a total of 52 American runners who will relay the torch to Lake Placid for the 1980 Winter Olympics. I I I I I T: an English major from Ann Arbor,; Magazine Co-editor R.J. Smith, a de-evolution major from Farmington; University Editor Tomas Mirga, a journalism major from Roseville; Managing Editor Mitch Cantor, a political science and economics major from Birmingham; and City Editor Patricia Hagen, a psychology major from Bir- mingham.Q Road Hog believe he fell asleep. That's what the indications are." Thirty of the pigs were found dead after the accident, and the rest were eventually herded and loaded into another truck. At least nobody stole the bacon. [ On the inside . . . A new bi-weekly column by PIRGIM premiers today on the edit page ... arts features a review of the MUSE album No Nukes . . . and check the sports page for a recap of Michigan's victory over Wisconsin in Thursday night's I i mo p - --v-'.." M - - tM I i I