Ninety-One Years of Editorial Freedom i cl be LIE 4 IaiI COMFORTABLE Partly cloudy today with highs' in the 60s to mid-?Us and lows in the 40s to low 50s. S/l. XCI. No. 15 Copyright 1980, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan-Saturday, September 20, 1980 Ten Cents Eight Pages Im U.S. claims nmissile blast site safe Dropped tool triggers explosion From AP and UPI DAMASCUS, Ark.-An underground Titan II missile silo housing a nuclear warhead exploded in rural Arkansas yesterday after a workman dropped a wrench socket that punctured the missile's fuel tank. One worker died and at least 21 others were injured, but Pentagon sources said no damage occurred to the warhead and Air Force officials said no radiation escaped. "There is absolutely no evidence of any radioactive material in the area," said Hans Mark, secretary of the Air Force. "I can tell you that with absolute assurance." But NBC and ABC news later said they had learned the warhead was blown out of the silo by the explosion, but both the Pentagon and the Strategic Air Command in Omaha, Neb., refused to confirm or deny the report. At a Pentagon briefing, Mark con- firmed heavy damage was done to the first and second stages of the missile, but he refused to discuss the warhead. Mark said some of the "harder" com- ponents of the missile had survived relatively intact-the rocket enginer and certain support struts-but the shell of the rocket had been charred by explosions in both stages. Mark confirmed heavy damage was done to the first and second stages of the missile, but he refused to discuss the warhead. Mark said some of the "harder" components of the missile had survived relatively intact-the rocket engine and certain support struts-but the shell of the rocket had been charred by explosions in both stages. MARK SAID the force of the blast shattered a heavy concrete door atop the silo, leaving a crater approximately 250 feet wide. The mouth of the silo normally is about 10 feet wide. A spokesman for the Strategic Air Command in Omaha, Neb., said of the 22 Air Force personnel who were in- jured, 18 remained hospitalized. The other injured airmen were apparently at the Little Rock Air Force base hospital which would not release any in- formation. MOST OF the injured airmen had been called to repair a leak in a fuel tank of the Titan II missile.' President Carter ordered the Defense Department to investigate the cause of the explosiontand to inspect the 53 other Titan installations in the nation. "We deeply regret the casualties from the explosion," Carter said. "The situation is under control and there is no indication of any radioactivity at all." TOXIC FUMES from the explosion forced officials to clear an area around this small central Arkansas town of 225 people stretching as far north as 10 miles. The explosion pushed a fiery orange cloud into the early morning and forced about 1,400 people from their homes. AN AERIAL VIEW of the area surrounding a Titan II missile silo in Damascus, Ark, shows a huge crater and scattered debris (including the roof of the silo at right). Air Force officials said ten people were injured, all of them maintenance workers performing routine work on the site. .For oreign students it s not ome, sweet ome AP Photo THE TITAN II missile .and its silo rocked by an explosion yesterday in Arkansas were similar to the missile and its underground launching pad shown aboveina1965 file photo. Aging miss1es pose special sa-fety theat By DAVID MEYER Of the 354 foreign students who came to the University for the first time this term, only 70 were provided wit the low-cost temporary University housing they thought they were assured. Those 70 were housed for varying lengths of time in a large converted study lounge lined with 20 bunk beds in South Quadrangle dormitory, for which they paid $5 a night. The rest had to provide for their own accommodations, which, for the vast majority, meant renting hotel rooms. ALL THE STUDENTS are now settled into permanent housing. But questions about the housing problem remain. Most of the international students, who range from fresh- persons to post-doctoral academicans, have said they believed their accommodations had been arranged for them because of an information flyer mailed to students before they arrived at the University. The flyer stated that "Tem- porary low-cost, on-campus housing will be available during arrival period." University housing officials, however, allocated only the spaces in the South Quad room. A Housing adviser in the International Student Center-the University's liasion organization between foreign students and the University administration, and the agency that wrote the flyer-said that the annual temporary housing crunch is rooted in the University's refusal to provide adequate housing for its students. OFFICIALS AT THE International Student Center em- phasized thatthe critical shortage of temporary housing is a problem that surfaces every August when the new foreign students first start to arrive in Ann Arbor. But John Finn, associate director of the University Housing Office, said the University has no obligation to provide for the foreign students' temporary accommodations and had attempted to do so in the past only at the request of the International Student Center. "We have nothing else we can offer," Finn said. The University's inability to provide sufficient temporary housing for the foreign students, many of whom arrive in the U.S. for the first time when they come to the University, spawned a mounting student drive to change the University's housing policy. AMY HARTMANN, chairwoman of the Michigan Student Assembly's International Student Affairs Committee, said she is helping to organize a mass meeting of students com- mitted to increasing the University's temporary housing See DORM, Page 2 - WASHINGTON (AP)-The explosion at a missile site near Damascus, Ark., underscores the hazards of liquid- fueled missiles armed with nuclear warheads, particularly the 54 aging Titan II missiles. Administration spokesmen are likely to stress the explosion underscores the need to phase in a new-and safer-long-range missile like the MX. THE 165-TON Titan, developed by the Martin Co. in the late 1950s and early 1960s, are powered by rocket engines using liquid fuel. The fuel consists of a propellant liquid and an oxidizer stored under. pressure within the missile body. The propellant, a mixture of hydrazine and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, is highly volatile. When mixed - with the oxidizer -nitrogen tetroxide-it ignites instanteously, sending the missle on its way at a top speed of about 15,000 miles an hour. THE FUEL is also corrosive, tending over time to cause leaks in seals. The Air Force has been periodically inspec- ting and replacing worn seals'. The MX missiles, like the 1,000 Minuteman II and Minuteman III missiles, would use solid rather than liquid fuels. A major advantage of solid fuels is that they are more stable and safer to store over long periods, yet they can be ignited with similar speed, making the Minuteman and MX as fast-reacting as ................ ........ n ............. t M E M O .. ..... ........... ....M i ll i ... ,..,.. r.h ..... .. ... .....; ..vv. t .....t. .. ...... {...v. ... ................n..v....................... ..:; }:..:.:".v ."r....t .}.... .. .... . ..... ...........................:::w:.:..,..,...::::::: :w:.v: n". vvn, nv:v::.v:::: :}v:{{"iA:}.v::.:".,:" vi }r + i?$:":+"i'ti.::: :>ii ::i{::"$:"iQ i:i:ti <:{} v .v. ..:...... .. ., ...... ..t...... ... n.... h....... ......... t..t.. ................ ...... ... ................................. :{"}:":"?}:?i; ?ir:::":: i'r'i::2r::"}: : i:<%>?i:{i "}:i{?:?ri{' : ."5 "a".". .¢.".".fi";::ar:,": n. r:.,"::.:" :.::::::::. ;{},.:: n"::~.:t:kh.: k:.:"::. :..,.. ~....... r , ..........................,..,:,..,...,........,,.:,..:,......,.:: "::,.:::::::::::Mi l l i ..0 1 0 0 0 0 1 ..... * Tiseb a no-show as Dems " blast his tax plan By JULIE ENGEBRECHT Perhaps the author of the Tisch tax cut proposal knew he would be atten- ding his own wake if he came to Ann Arbor Thursday night. For had he been there-as he promised city Democrats-he would have been told his tax plan amounts to "shooting our- selves ... in both feet;" The critics had more to say. ONE MAN in a group of almost 150 at the Ann Arbor Public Library stood up and said: "I know one thing. I'm voting 'no' on Tisch." Most other audience members nodded in agreement. State Rep. Perry Bullard (D-Ann Ar- bor) had barely started explaining his ideas on tax reform before he lashed out at Proposal D-the legal designation for the Tisch proposal. "Tisch is a tax- ripping proposal which will undoub- tedly destroy the University of Michigan..." BULLARD KNOWS Ann Arborites' sensitive spots. Any tax plan would be better than Tisch's, said local Democrat Neil Staebler. "Mr. Tisch's ... God knows what would happen," Staebler sighed. Bullard and Staebler, proponents of their own tax reform measures spent most of their alloted time during Thur- sday night's tax forum hurling barbs at the drastic tax-slashing plan of Shiawassee Drain Commissioner Robert Tisch. BUT NEITHER Tisch nor any of his representatives were at the city Democratic meeting to plead the case for his tax plan, much to the surprise of organizers who received a commitment to attend from Tisch two days earlier. Left with the task of explaining the plan to cut state property taxes almost in half was moderator and University Economics Prof. Daniel Fusfeld. His explanation was concise. "IF YOU REALLY want a reduction in taxes, if you want to get rid of gover- nment services, Tisch is for you," Fusfeld explained. Bullard spoke in favor of Proposal A, the Smith/Bullard tax shift plan. The measure attempts to spread funds evenly among school districts in the state through cutting property taxes and-probably-raising income taxes. There would be little, if any, decrease See TAX, Page 5 Study claims marijuana tops alcohol among youth By STEVE HOOK Marijuana has replaced alcohol as the preferred intoxicant of American youth, claims University researcher Dr. Lloyd Johnston. In an elaborate report submitted Thursday for the National Alcohol and Drug Coalition, Johnston described the shifting drug habits of more than 16,000 teen-aged survey respondents. The survey, sponsored by the Institute for Social Research, was part of the ongoing "Monitoring the Future" research program. APPROXIMATELY 10 per cent of the high school seniors reported using marijuana or hashish every day. Seven per cent reported daily use of alcohol. Johnston called the new balance "one of the most potentially impor- tant phenomena to come onto the American drug use scene in the last decade." 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N AMERICAN scientist recently asserted that the Shroud of Turin, the cloth claimed by many Christians-including some popes-to be the burial shroud of Jesus, "is a fake" painted by a fourteenth century artist. Some believe that a burst of radiant heat linked with the resurrection of Jesus caused the brownish marks on the shroud, which form a; A clean getaway No one knows if they brushed their teeth twice a day, but escapees at West Virginia's maximum security prison ap- parently knew enough about dental cleaning materials to put them to good use. The inmates made their recent. escape by cutting the bars on their cell doors with dental floss and tooth powder. "It was almost like they used a little torch," said Donald Bordenkircher, the warden of the West Virginia Penitentiary. "I don't know what makes it work, but. . . you can do it." Bordenkircher said the dental floss million addresses, and the post office will begin distributing new code assignments-adding four digits to the present code-to enable post offices to process the mail more easily, quickly, and accurately. "We hope," said a skep tical Rep. David Evans (D-Ind.), who chaired the Senate hearing on the Zip Code change. Ray Geiger, editor of the Farmer's Almanac, spearheaded the unsuccessful cam- paign against the zip code change. Geiger fears the plan will cause an epidemic of "digit dizziness." And the corm plicated computers needed to read the longer code may break down, causing mail to fly pell-mell across the coun-