The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, April 1, 1980-Page7
Carter submits balanced budget to Congress
-From AP and UPI
WASHINGTON - President, 'Car-
yesterday sent Congress his plan for
balancing the fiscal 1981 budget and
said it would reduce spending for
federal programs by $15 billion.
The proposed revisions in the budget
Carter sent up in January would save
an additional $2.2 billion by forcing the
government to borrow less, the ad-
ministration said, thus cutting total
spending by $17.2 billion.
Vowing "we will succeed in having a
glanced budget," Carter signed a
revised plan which for the first time in
12 years would not spend more money
than the government takes in.
"WE HAVE a real fight ahead," Car-
ter said in signing the revised budget
proposals. "It is not going to be an
automatics thing that we succeed, but
I'm absoldtely determined that we
shall." He promised to veto any budget-
busting bills he has to in order to meet
his goal.
As the centerpiece of his anti-in-
flation program, Carter slashed into the
1981 spending plans of almost every
department, including defense, to cut
$15 billion out of the budget he submit-
ted in January.
He also proposed $2.6 billion in reduc-
tions in the current fiscal year.
The deepest cuts would be made in
outlays for jobs programs, revenue
sharing for the states and in gover-
nment pay and retirement benefits.
Even the Pentagon faced belt
tightening. The defense budget still
would be bigger than 1980's at $147
billion, but would include $1.4 billion in
cuts from the January proposal.
Saturday mail service was
threatened by a reduction in the federal
subsidy to the Postal Service. Carter
also proposed elimination of state
revenue sharing to save $1.7 billion and
dropping $1 billion in anti-recession aid
to cities.
Carter, however, provided a half
billion dollars for cities badly hurt by
the cutoff in state revenue sharing.
HE URGED Congress to approve the
budget cuts, threatened to use his veto
if legislators overspend, and said if that
fails, he will ask Congress for "a tem-
porary grant of extraordinary budget
restraint powers."
In a related development, the U.S.
economy appears to be headed into its
seventh recession since World War II,
according to a government forecasting
index released yesterday.
The Commerce Department's Com-
posite Index of Leading Indicators fell
0.2 per cent in February to its lowest
level in more than 21/2 years.
The February decline was the fifth in
as many months. Three consecutive
monthly declines are said to precede a
recession. A recession traditionally is
defined as two consecutive quarters of
declining output.,
"IT INDICATES that the economy is
beginning to slip," said Robert Gough,
chief forecaster for Data Resources
Inc., the nation's largest private
forecasting company in Lexington,
Mass. "Business is in a holding pattern.
They are ready to go down."
Further supporting this theory is the
fact that a second Commerce Depar-
tment index, this one reflecting current
economic activity, fell 0.3 per cent in
February after four months of weak
growth. This so-called Composite Index
of Coincident Indicators had risen 0.4
per cent in January and 0.1 per cent in
December.
The Carter administration said
yesterday it expects a milder recession
but worse inflation- as high as 12.8 per
cent - than it forecast two months ago.
A NEW estimate by the president's
economic advisers, included in the
revised budget, predicts consumer
prices will rise 12.8 per cent during 1980
- measured fourth quarter to fourth
quarter - the same as 1979. It projec-
ted nine per cent inflation for 1981.
In January, the administration had
estimated 10.7 per cent inflation this
year and 8.7 per cent for 1981.
Charles Schultze, chairman of the
government's Council of Economic Ad-
visers, told reporters "We now are
forecasting a somewhat milder and
somewhat later recession than predic-
ted in January and somewhat slower
recovery in 1981."
Budget Director James T. McIntyre
said that, as part of this slower and
later recession, unemployment is ex-
pected to rise to 7.2 per cent by the end
of this year instead of the 7.5 per cent
forecast earlier.
t
MSA issues .-Co
(Continued fromPage 1)
tatives from various student gover-
ents as well as leaders from dorm
use councils, fraternity, sorority and
co-op councils, and other student
government bodies.
SCOPE
A perennial problem confronting the
Assembly is determining the proper
scope of a student government. Many
candidates differ on whether MSA
should limit its funding to campus-
related groups or allocate funds for
bying efforts and conference atten-
nce in Lansing and Washington.
MSA-'U' RELATIONS
One of the most commonly addressed
campaign issues to arise this year is
MSA's relationship with the University
administration. Although the Univer-
sity and the Assembly are often at odds,
MSA is hardly an autonomous body.
. The Regents maintain a- strong in-
fluence over MSA policy inasmuch as
they control the Assembly's purse-
ings. By authorizing the collection of
$2.92 mandatory student
assessment, some candidates have
said, the Regents have the ability to
alter VISA activities by threatening to
freeze or freezing the Assembly's
finances. The Regents chose this course
of action last April and forced the
current MSA to alter its allocations
procedures.
One solution to this problem would be
r the Assembly to break its financial
s to the administration and collect its
own revenues. Few candidates,
however, advocate such a radical
move. Some say that without the
requirement that all students fund
MSA, the Assembly could not collect
nearly the amount of money it needs to
function. Others add that such a break
from the University officialdom would
also lead to an unacceptable loss of
credibility for the "official student
overnment." f
ome candidates feel that MSA
s ould move in the opposite direction -
rather than strive for autonomy, the
Assembly should strive for more in-
fluence by electing a student to the
Board of Regents. Others suggest that
the Assembly should attempt to put
students on the executive committees
of various colleges and schools in the
University.
TENURE
any candidates agree that decisions
W give certain faculty members
tenured positions are among the most
important decisions made at the
University, and most would like to see
more student input into the process.
Many students maintain that the major
problem blocking such input is that
tenure decisions are often made in a
manner that is intimidating to many .
students; the decisions are generally
4nde by upper-level departmental.
eftans.
ome candidates object to the ac-
cusation that administrators take the
political views of professors requesting
tenure into consideration when making
their final decisions.
TENANTS UNION
One of the basic concerns for all
University students is housing. The
MSA-sponsored Tenants Union helps
students deal with housing problems,
but some candidates charge that the
agency is ineffective. Housing does not
seem to be a high priority item for most
of the candidates, but the issue may
come to the forefront of the campaign if
some of the. following questions are
raised: Should MSA continue to support
the Tenants Union? Should MSA
revamp the Tenants Union or restruc-
ture it and start anew? Should MSA
urge the University to build or purchase
more housing units for students?
Should MSA co-sponsor such a progrm
with the University? Should MSA urge
City Council to advocate student in-
terests to. a greater extent in the
housing situation?
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
The question of whether or not to
allocate student funds for capital im-
provements to University property
recently became an issue when MSA
was asked to allocate funds for the
proposed renovation of the Fishbowl.
Those who support the investment of
student money in University-owned
buildings or property say that students
will derive most of the benefit from im-
provements, and thus should be willing
to pay for a portion of them. Opponents,
on the other hand, say the University
will be the party which benefits the
most, since the investment is on
University-owned property. Opponents
also say that the amount of money that
may be a large, unwise investment for
MSA is merely a "drop in the bucket"
for the University.
MINORITIES
Current University minority
recruitment and retention rates are the
subject of widespread criticism
although. minority programs are the
recipients of millions of University
dollars. But a viable and effective
program that will bring minority
students to the University - and en-
courage them to stay - has not yet
been developed.
Most candidates agree that en-
couraging the development of an effec-
tive program is an important goal for
both MSA and the University, but
earlier plans have been tried and have
failed. One fairly new proposal is to
have black and minority upper-
classmen go to inner-city schools and
essentially "sell" the University to nin-
th and tenth graders. Some candidates
feel the only practical program is to
recruit more minority students from
other states.
STUDY SPACE
Some candidates agree that the
'er specti
current amount of study space for
students is inadequate and could be
greatly improved. Many say there are
far fewer study spaces available in the
libraries than there are students.
Candidates cite the lack of space,
high noise level, and inadequate library
hours as faults with the current system.
Candidate proposals include carpeting
the Undergraduate Library study areas
obtaining noiseless rolling chairs, in-
creasing library hours, and opening up-
other buildings around the campus
during the evening for studying. Some
candidates say they must convince the
administration to make these changes,
but others add that they would consider
an MSA capital investment for some of
the improvements.
SECURITY
While most of the candidates say they
are apalled by the number of rapes and
other crimes committed on campus,
they disagree on MSA's role, if any, in
dealing with security problems. The
main issues discussed are the in-
stallation of emergency phones., im-
proved lighting, and crime prevention
clinics. Disagreement enters the pic-
ture when candidates argue whether
MSA should fund any or all of these ac-
tivities, or merely suggest them to the
University.
Some candidates, for example,
would have MSA sponsor crime preven-
tion clinics and urge the University to
install more phones and lights through
resolutions passed by the Assembly or
by direct communication with Univer-
sity administrators.
PARTY SYSTEM
Some candidates fault the current
party system, in which members of
campus political parties make up a
large proportion of the Assembly, forr
MSA's inability to deal with some
questions. Some candidates say that all
too often, members of the Student
Alliance for Better Representation
(SABRE) and People's Action Coalition
(PAC) vote with other members of
their party simply for the party's sake.
Political organizations like these have
been called nothing more than large
cliques, whose members fail to analyze
important decisions. Even some mem-
bers of the major parties admit that the
bickering that goes on at MSA meetings
is unconstructive.
COUNSELING
Academic counseling at the Univer-
sity is not acceptable to some can-
didates. Specific proposals to improve
counseling include distribution of
booklets which would explain
requirements for specific degree
programs in depth. Such booklets might
also include commentary on relative
difficulty of the programs, job markets,
and enrollment statistics. Uniform
course evaluations, other candidates
urn
claim, should be
students to ass
academic decisio
e made available to all
sist them in making
ons.
ATTITUDE
The attitude of MSA members and of-
ficers is a topic that all candidates
must address, whether directly or in-
directly. Some candidates claim the
Assembly takes itself too seriously; one
presidential hopeful has called MSA a
"parliamentary pre-school." In any
case, the attitude of individual mem-
bers and officers and MSA as a whole
will ultimately affect nearly every
decision the Assembly makes.
ALLOCATIONS
MSA currently receives 97 cents of
the $2.92 mandatory student
assessment to use at its, discretion. A
large portion of that amount is used to
fund a number of student groups. Many
candidates have questioned the amount
of time spent and MSA revenues spent
on these allocations. Some argue that
funds saved from cutting back on these
allocations could be used for other
MSA-initiated projects.
'U, COMMITTEES
One of the powerssthat MSA has
guarded over the past years is the
ability to appoint students to influential
University decision making boards,
such as the University Budget
Priorities Committee and the Board for
Intercollegiate Athletics.
Some candidates, however, believe
that these student representatives are
merely tokens who have virtually no
input into the decision making process.
Most candidates admit there is no easy
solution to "persuade" the University
to take student views more seriously,
but several suggested that MSA under-
take petition drives on important issues
to increase leverage with the Univer-
sity.
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