Page 6--Thursday, October 9, 1980-The Michigan Daily SA YS S TA TEMENTS WERE 'ILL-ADVISED' Carter defends campaign attacks WASHINGTON (AP) -President Carter, backing away from his sharp rhetorical attacks against Ronald Reagan, said yesterday that some of his statements were "ill-advised" and that he would be more reticent in the future. Trailing in pre-election surveys, Car- ter has been increasingly aggressive in his criticism of Reagan, a style in stark contrast to the Rose Garden strategy he pursued during the Democratic primary contests. In a television interview on ABC News, the president placed part of the blame on his GOP opponent and on human nature. Asked whether his sharp attacks on Reagan were a mistake, Carter responded: "YES, I WILL say that, but there is enough blame to go around. I think the press sometimes has failed to cover mljor issues.mReagan has made com- ments about me that were ill-advised and I have made some'about him that were ill-advised. I would like to get back on the track." The president was reminded that he has been accused of being mean, vin- dictive and hysterical. He replied: "Those charges are not accurate. I think it's true that when Reagan says I am' desperate or vindictive or hysterical, he shares some of the blame ... that the tone of the campaign has departed from what it should be for this highest office in the land." ASKED WHETHER he was apologizing, Carter said, "Explaining. Sometimes human nature comes through and when I feel extremely deeply about a subject ... it's incum- bent on me to express it but I will try to do it with more reticence in the future." Asked whether it may be too late to change strategies and still win the elec- tion, Carter replied that he believed he has a "good chance" to win. He was asked how bad a president Reagan really would make. "I THINK IT would be much better if I were re-elected," Carter replied. Carter reiterated that he did not believe Reagan was a "warmonger," but also stated again his concern that in the last years when crises erupted in the world, Reagan called for the use of U.S. military troops. Carter aides were growing fearful that in attempting to make Reagan the issue in the 1980 election, Carter may have forfeited some of the aura of the presidency that generally worksdo the advantage of the incumbent. Asked whether Carter's current strategy has backfired, press secretary Jody Powell told reporters: "There's some truth in that." He said the Carter campaigns has been making decisions the last 13 days "on what we could do that would help focus this campaign more clearly," ad- ding, "We will be prepared to announce them within the next day or so." *. Idaho'.businessman presumed dead in plane crash.reappears MOSCOW, Idaho (AP)-John Provine rented a plane on August 31 and disappeared over the wilderness of northern Idaho. After five weeks, authorities could assume only that he had died in a crash. Provine's Moscow business was liquidated, a new home was found for his dog, and his telephone was discon- nected. But on Tuesday, Provine walked out of the woods and led authorities to the wreckage of his light plane. What hap- pened to him during the past five weeks remained a mystery yesterday. -PROVINE, 31, owner of a janitorial service here for several years, told deputies he rented, a plane in Boise on August 31, and planned to fly to McCall. But, he said, he hit his head and crashed in a meadow 22 miles southeast of Elk City. He became ill for about 10 days, all the while trying to figure out how to get out of the meadow, he told deputies. Then, when he discovered his Piper Warrior II would still fly, he took off again, according to Idaho County sheriff's deputy Rod Sherfick. But Provine said the plane was low on fuel and when he encountered engine trouble, he crashed again near Bargamin Creek in a rugged wilderness area 75 miles off the flight plan he had filed. He said it took him five days to walk three miles to Poet Creek Cam-. pground, where he arrived Tuesday. Hunters took him to the Red River tRanger Station. DOCTORS at Syringa General Hospital in Grangeville, Idaho, examined Provine and released him, saying he was in "excellent condition." Adding to the mystery, deputies in- vestigating the wreckage of the plane found a parking ticket from Salinas, Calif., dated Sept. 5, according to Idaho County Sheriff Bud Walkup. "When we asked him, he said he was in Salinas," Walkup said. "But he of- fered no explanation. We can't prove or disprove his story." WALKUP will not press the matter, "because there's been no crime com- mitted," he said. Provine is single and had for several years owned John's Cleaning, a janitorial service, according to Pete Harriman, a reporter for the Moscow Idahonian. Harriman saw him frequen- tly at night while Provine was cleaning the Idahonian office., Provine was gone five and one half weeks, Harriman said. "They had given away his dog," Harriman said. "His parents came up and liquidated his business-it reverted back to the original owner. He was in the process of losing his identity."' HARRIMAN is one of the few people who has talked to Provine since he walked out of the woods. Provine told him by telephone that he was in good shape physically, but too mentally distressed to talk about what had hap- pened.I "I can't talk about that right now," Provine told Harriman. "I don't want to be rude, but I can't talk about that." Provine did tell Harriman he lost about 28 pounds during his absence. "He was in real good shape and had no beard at all," Walkup said. "So who really knows what he has been doing since Aug. 31." The sheriff said Forest Service planes - routinely fly over the area during