The Miq PETITION DRIVES TO START SOON: Groups seek to re-lower d By BONNIE JURAN nuary 28 will mark the beginning of a petition ive sponsored by the Citizens for a Fair Drinking Age FDA) who are attempting to re-lower the drinking e in Michigan to 19. The group needs 286,000 gnatures by July 7 in order to have a resolution aced on the ballot for next November's elections. State Representative Richard Fitzpatrick, CFDA hairman, said he is confident that the resolution will ass. According to Fitzpatrick, the raising of the rinking age to 21 has not worked as it 'hasn't stopped nyone from drinking." He said the polls show that '9ple aren't drinking in bars, but in cars." WITZPATRICK SAID he is confident that once the 3FDA explains this to the public, they will understand vhy the drinking age should be lowered. Steven Wachsberg, executive director of the ssociated Students of Michigan State University ASMSU), said he is not as sure as Fitzpatrick that the esolution will pass. "I would say it's a toss-up because entiments of emotionalism still exist from the 1978 lection. For the resolution to pass, it must be looked at n a more rational manner," he said. Wachsberg explained that the groups in 1978 who Igo rted Proposition D, the resolution which raised drinking age to 21, conducted an "emotional cam- aign." The supporters emphasized the fact that the ilcohol-related accidents had increased for 18-20 year olds during 1972-1978. In 1971, the drinking age was lowered from 21 to 18. THE GROUPS convinced people to vote for Proposition D without supplying them with all the fac- ts, Wachsberg said. Much of this deleted information was brough out in a report issued by Publicom, a Lansing-based com- munications counseling firm which studied the effects of Proposal D in Michigan. The Publicom study com- mittee concluded there were various factors which might have been "possible contributors to this statistical increase in alcohol-related traffic accidents reported from 1972 through 1978." One of these factors was the change in the accident reporting practices of police. Prior to 1972, police of- ficers were required to state on the accident report whether the driver: " Had been drinking (HBD); " Had not been drinking (HN); " Not known if drinking (NK). AFTER 1972, the police officers were only held responsible for making a judgement as to whether or not the driver had been drinking. From this information, the Publicom study commit- tee believed that more drivers might have been repor- ted as HBD since the police officers could only indicate one of the two classifications on the accident report. Because officers could no longer indicate NK, the chigan Daily-Friday, January 18, 1980-Page 7 rinking age committee concluded, "It is possible that this variable 0 is, in part, responsible for some of the statistical in- crease in alcohol-related traffic accidents after the drinking age was lowered to 18 in 1972." iQe IN ITS REPORT, Publicom also compared the alcohol-related accidents that occurred in the first half of 1978 with those in the first six months of 1979. The a committee found that.although the alcohol-related ac- 'A cidents among drivers 18-20 years old had declined, the alcohol-related accidents that resulted in fatalities had increased six per cent. According to David Lalumia of Publicom, this six per cent increase "blows a hole in one major e argument" of those who supported Proposition D as they emphasized in their campaign how raising the drinking age would save the lives of many teenagers. In its report, the Publicom committee justified the higher number ofalcohol-related accidents in 1978 as F compared with 1979 with the argument that before the -drinking age was raised, a 18-year-old would be more likely to admit he or she was intoxicated. The Publicom committee surveyed the directors of :both municipal and state parks in Michigan. In their responses, the park directors indicated that in 1979, the majority of alcohol-related-disturbances in the parksnrt were caused by people between the ages of 8-20. F .r rw ff mw %w mw a w w Rv *OW% - "NJ witness describes.Pinto fire WINAMAC, Ind. (UPI) - A 1973 Pin- nvolvpd in what looked like a routine fender-iender exploded "like a large napalm bomb," killing three girls, an eyewitness testified yesterday at the reckless homicide trial of Ford Motor Co. The prosecution has charged faulty design of the Pinto made its gas tank susceptible to explosion and Ford criminally liable for the deaths. ALBERT CLARK Jr., of Osteen, Fla., Oid he saw a van strike the victims' to in the rear on a highway near Goshen, Ind., in 1978. He said the car was moving at about 30 mph at the time of the impact contrary to some reports which indicated the auto was stopped. Clark, who lived in Taylor, Mich., prior to retiring, said he was driving a mini-mobile home along U.S. 33 when he saw the Pinto and the van ap- proaching from the opposite direction. "At the time I saw the collision, it (Pinto) was going from the curb lane into the inside lane," Clark said. J "THE VAN hit the Pinto in the left rear. I expected it to be a fender ben- der. About a second later the whole car was engulfed in flames. It was - I'm an ex-GI - like a large napalm bomb. "I couldn't see anyone in the vehicle," he said. "It was nothing but a big ball of flames." Clark said he got out and took a small fire extinguisher across the highway, although it was not much help in dousing the fire. HE SAID Judy Ulrich, 18, Osceola, Ind. one of the three victims, was lying outside the car with her leg trapped in a door and pleading for help. She died eight hours later. Clark said he and others who stopped at the scene tried three times before they could open the jammed door. The other two victims were trapped inside the car. Clark testified he thought the Pinto was traveling about 30 miles per hour and the van 40 to 45 mph at the time of impact. However, under cross- examination by Ford attorneys, he said he could not be positive of the speeds. FORD, THE first corporation brought to trial on criminal charges in Indiana, was expected to contend the car was stopped or moving slowly prior to the collision, which would make the impact greater. The prosecution has said it will prove Ford executives permitted Pintos to be sold while knowing the gasoline tank was susceptible-to rupture during rear- end collisions. FRIDAY T\' SATURDAY NO COVER! th4eGour 1140 South University GRANT GIVEN ,II- . LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)-A grant of $100,000 has been made by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the Actors Theatre of Louisville, according to producing-director Jon Jory. The grant is to help produce "earlier work that has survived to become an important part of the theatrical literature or that, though not well know, merits revival." Five plead 'no contest' in cat killing case THE REAL NEW WAVE CONT UES AT THE STAR BAR AFTER THE POLICE & XTC CONCERT JAN. 22, WITH: _RETRO STAR BAR MAIN at HURON $2.00 BE THERE! (Continued from P'ge 1) Johnson could not be 'reached for comment last night. Laidlaw said, "There was a lot of pressure from all sorts of sources: the public, their parents. . ." Laidlaw, referring to the overwhelming public condemnation of the fraternity house and repeated demands for prosecution, said "being excluded from the frater- nity house wasn't good enough for them (the public.)" The five students face sentencing Feb. 22. Labor experts, students to meet at 'U' conference (Continued from Page 1) discussions, taking place tonight,, tomorrow morning, and tomorrow af- ernoon. Speakers on the panel ,Wscussions will include Michael Harrington, of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee, U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit), and nine other speakers. The subjects of the panel discussion will cover differing aspects of inflation, unemployment, plant closings, and the general quality of work and life, *p eake rs decry Iran situation in forum (Continued from Page 1) in common. We both share many goals and aspirations." Fusfeld emphasized the need for both sides to consider how all partiescan help the situation. All three speakers had suggestions on how to help solve the problems of Iran and Iranian students. According to Sedler, there are two levels of harassment of Iranian students: vernment (legal) harassment and in- stices done by the public. "What needs to be done (about harassment by American citizens) is to remind people of the values we hold dear. . . Regar- ding the deportation of Iranian studen- ts, people should express their political dissatisfaction by writing letters to their congressman," he said. Leighton said. Some of the workshops will be on topics such as pension rights and job security, corporate policy and the public interest, inflation and unem- ployment, plant shutdowns, working women, alliances for change, and union busting. Talking about what prompted the conference, Leighton said, "By and large there is a real misconception about what that (the labor movement) means on this campus. It's not all the brass-knuckled, cigar-smoking that people think of when they hear 'union.' Union leaders have progressive goals at heart in improving the quality of life in promoting public policy and the public interest. What this conference is going to do is expose students to what the labor movement is all about." with Virgin Recording Artists Tues., Jan., 22 Michigan Theatre Ann Arbor Use Daily Classifieds A masterpiece of cunning and suspense... K', 0 ® - Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri 7:00 9: 00 Sat & Sun 3:15 7:00-9:00 Wed 1:00 3:00 5:00 i U - wes I