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March 27, 1981 - Image 1

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily, 1981-03-27

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Ninety-One Years
of
Editorial Freedom

E

Sirt

illaig

WARMING

Partly sunny,
mid 5s. Fair
in the mid 30s.

high in the
tonight, low

l.e..

Vol. XCI, No. 143 Copyright 1981, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan-Friday, March 27, 1981 Ten Cents Ten Pages

House
requests
.12.5% fund
increase
for 'U
From staff and wire reports.
LANSING - The House recommen-
ded yesterday a 12.5 percent increase in
state appropriations to the University,
sending House and Senate versions of
'the higher education bill to a com-
promise conference committee.
The Senate's measure, approved late
last month, suggested a 12 percent hike
in University funds for the 1981-82
school year - $500,000 less than the
House's recommendation.
ONCE A COMPROMISE between the
two bills is reached, the appropriations
measure will be sent to Gov. William
Milliken for his signature.
But University officials suspect the
appropriation won't be as favorable as
12 percent once the fiscal year begins.
The current 'recommendations are
based on optimistic projections for the
state's economic recovery, and Univer-
sity budget administrators say they
believe the governor may be forced to
reduce the state appropriation through
an executive order - as he has done the
past two years.
The entire higher education package,
which totals $718 million, is up from the
depressed level of $635 million ap-
propriated in the current fiscal year.
The legislation - providing increases
averaging 12.5 percent for individual
schools - is about the same as those
approved earlier by the Senate and
recommended by Milliken.
Also approved and returned to the
Senate yesterday were bills to fund
community colleges, the state Depar-
tment of Education, the prison system
and the state Department of Public
Health in the 1981-82 fiscal year which
begins Oct. 1.
Community colleges will receive an
increase of about $15 million in the
coming year under the measure adop-
ted by the House. The $137.5 million ap-
propriation is slightly larger than the
one which cleared the upper chamber.

Conmtte e
advises
eli'iation
of Exeson

o s k hr S l u r pA Ps uotor
It looks like the fast food craze has spread to the animal world. This seagull has picked up a few tricks from the locals'
who spend their lunch hour on the bayfront in Corpus Christi, Texas. Gulls there literally feed from your hands, but this
one seems a bit more advanced.
arsonist rraign ed

By MARK GINDIN
An Eastern Michigan student was arraigned in District
Court yesterday on charges of arson in connection with a
recent rash of trash fires at the University Towers apartment
complex.
The suspect, Mehrdad Mohyi, is a resident of the 14th floor
of the complex where most of the fires were set. According to
Ann Arbor Detective Robert Lavansler, the charge of "arson
of a 'dwelling home" carries a maximum sentence of 20
years.
JUDGE GEORGE ALEXANDER set bond at $50,000. The
bail was posted by the suspect's brother, who took Mohyi to
Mercywood Psychiatric Hospital, according to Lavansler.
Mohyi, a 19-year-old Iranian pre-med student, was ordered
to stand a psychiatric examination by Judge Alexander at
the request of the defendant's lawyer, Daniel Bamberry.
The case will be heard in 15th District Court next Wed-
nesday, after the suspect has had in examination and the
results are ready for the judge to consider, Bamberry said.
ACCORDING TO Lavansler, Mohyi gave police a
statement admitting responsibility for a fire that broke out
Wednesday afternoon in a trash closet on the 14th floor of the

South University Street complex. Lavansler did not rule out
the possibility that the other fires were set by someone else.
Lavansler said Mohyi has lived in Ann Arbor for four years
without a prior arrest record.
Apartment management reportedly notified police who
apprehended Mohyi about an hour after the fire was
discovered Wednesday.
One witness, who asked to remain anonymous, said the
suspect had been "caught in the act" of setting the fire.
The Ann Arbor Fire Department has responded to more
than a dozen alarms in the past three weeks at University
Towers, a fire department spokesperson said. The fires were
always in trash containers in closets on the 14th floor and
three other floors, the spokesperson said.
The only damage to the building was water damage from
the sprinkler system, according to Building General
Manager John Ladd. One resident reported seeing "water
streaming down into the hall" on one occasion.
Signs warning residents of arson, precautions governing
front door security, and use of trash recepticles have not
been altered since the arrest. A University Towers
spokesperson said no chances are being taken until there is
no doubt the arsonist is in custody.

By BARRY WITT
After two months of investigation, the
Budget Priorities Committee has
recommended elimination of the
University's Extension Service.
Finding the "Extension Service to be
seriously deficient," in terms of its
academic quality and centrality to the
mission of the University, the BPC ap-
proved a subcommittee recommen-
dation last Friday.
THE FACULTY AND student budget
committee forwarded the report to the
University's executive officers after
hearing Extension Service Director
Alfred Storey's defense of the program
the week before.
Before the program, which expends
close to $2 million f annually, can be
eliminated, the university's executive
officers and the Regents must approve
the move.
Storey said yesterday he had not
discussed the committee's findings
with his 65-member staff because he
believes it is too early to tell what will
happen to the program.
But it may be already too late. The
executive officers will meet this
weekend to examine the University's
overall budget-cutting picture, accor-
ding to Bob Sauve, assistant to the vice
president for academic affairs.
THE EXTENSION Service will have
a final chance to plead its case at an
open meeting of the Committee-on
Budget Administration, comprised of
executive officers, on April 9, Sauve
said.
The subcommittee report, which was
approved by the BPC without amen-
dment, states, "Extension Service ac-
tivities have frequently had a negative

impact on normal academic programs
by competing with such programs."
The Extension Service offers credit
courses at six centers around the state
as well as non-credit courses in the Ann
Arbor area. The service also directs
seminars and conferences at various
locations in the state using University
faculty members as lecturers.
VICE PRESIDENT for Academic Af-
fairs Bill Frye asked the subcommittee
in January to assess the impact of a 90
percent, or $1.75 million, reduction in
General Fund support for the program,
leaving funds only for non-credit and'
non-instructional programs.
But the group reported the credit-free:
offerings have "little relevance to the'
primary academic mission of the,
University," justifying its proposal to:
totally eliminate the service.
Elimination of the Extension Service
from the General Fundwould move the
University further toward a balanced
budget for 1981-82. The University is
trying to cover a budget shortfall of
$11.2 million for the fiscal year begin-;
ning July 1.
A 6 PERCENT across-the-board cut
of all academic and non-academic
programs will account for $9.2 million,
but administrators have determined:
that the remaining $2 million would
have to come from large cuts in certain
non-academic units.
An additional $1 million is being
sought for use in a contingency fund.
A major point of the report is that
many courses provided by the exten-
sion program could be handled more ef-
SeeCOMMITTEE, Page 2

Burnett wins libel suit
against National Enquirer

HOLLYWOOD (UPI)-A jury decided yesterday the
National Enquirer libeled Carol Burnett by implying she was
drunk in a Washington restaurant and awarded the comedian
$1.6 million damages-more than $24,000 a word for the brief
gossip item.
The red-haired entertainer burst into tears when the six-
woman, five-man Superior Court jury announced its
unanimous verdict after deliberating nearly 13 hours. The
entertainer later shook hands with all the jurors, embracing
one of the women.
"I FEEL LIKE I've been pregnant for five years and the
baby is beautiful," Burnett told reporters. "If they had
given me a dollar plus carfare I would have been happy."
The comedian told reporters she was giving the entire
award to charity. "I'm a human being and they hurt me,"
she said emotionally, "and they're paying for it."
Enquirer lawyer William Masterson said a request for a
new trial would be filed immediately and if unsuccessful an,
appeal would be filed. The judge has 60 days to rule on the
request for another hearing.
"THIS IS ALMOST the equivalent of capital punishment,"
Masterson said. "It's obviously the result of passion and
prejudice."
Masterson said Burnett's celebrity status "played a pretty

substantial part in the outcome." But one of the jurors
disagreed.
"We didn't even consider it," said juror Eloise Williams.
"It had no bearing at all."
THE TWO-WEEK trial featured testimony from the enter-
tainer that the article had rekindled memories of her
alcoholic parents and changed her public behavior.
The jury found the Enquirer acted with "reckless
disregard for the truth" when it reported Burnett was
loud and boisterous in the Rive Gauche restaurant, where it
said she argued with former Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger and spilled wine on a diner.
The jury awarded Burnett $300,000 in general
damages and $1.3 million in punitive damages for the 65-word
gossip item that appeared in March 1976 and was later
retracted.
The case, which was filed five years ago and cost the
comedian an estimated $250,000 in legal fees, was the first
libel suit against the Enquirer ever to reach the courts.
A number of other celebrities have sued or are considering
suing the magazine, including singer Helen Reddy and her
husband-manager Jeff Wald, Dolly Parton, Rory Calhoun,
Ed McMahon, Shirley Jones and former pitching great Bob
Feller.

ENTERTAINER CAROL BURNETT, right, and friend Becky Mann leave a Los Angeles court building yesterday mor-
ning after jury assembled for final deliberations in Burnett's lawsuit against the National inquirer. Later in the day,
the jury announced the unanimous decision to award Burnett for damages.

TODAY
Less stress
There are three things you can do when confronted with a
situation that makes you angry and two of them are bad for';
your blood pressure, University researchers say. You can
button up (the worst thing); you can blow up (the second
worst thing); or you can try to resolve your conflict
rationally. The last of these is the preferred approach-as
far as your heart is concerned. This vents anger in a con-
structive way that can help eliminate its cause. The resear-

from home. But he won't be the first member of Congress to
sleep in the office. Rep. Ken Holland (D-S.C.) moved into
his office temporarily a couple of years ago. Jeffords in-
dicates there are other members doing likewise right
now-although he wouldn't say who they were. The four-
term congressman admits he's far from poor, with his
$60,662 a year salary. But he says the costs of maintaining a
home in Vermont while living in Washington, rising fuel
bills and future expenses of two children in college, forced
him into the decision. "But it's just a practical fact of life,"
he said. "If you can't live within your budget, so to speak,

What ith thith thtupidity?
Five elderly residents of Spokane, Washington had all
their teeth removed under a state funded program. After-
wards, they were told that because of budget cuts, no more
state money is available to purchase dentures. The five had
their teeth removed in February and were supposed, to
receive false teeth this month. The Gonzaga University
Law School Student Legal Services organization has taken
up the case and hopes to force the state Department of
Social and Health Services to rectify the problem. D

R epublik an speling
Although many Republicans are wholeheartedly suppor-
ting economic and governmental cutbacks these days, one
Republican in Illinois made some embarrassing cut-
backs-in grammar. Tony Leone, the new Republican clerk
of the Illinois house, sent a memo to his staff stressing ac-
curacy in all written reports. The memo itself, however, in-
cluded nine grammatical, typographical, and spelling
errors. A somewhat embarrassed Leone termed his memo
"a classic snafu." Leone's memo included such memorable

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