Ninety-Two Years of Editorial Freedom I- I E Sir igan ~Iat jr GROOVY Mostly clear, breezy, and mild today, with a high near 40. Vol. XCII, No. 124 Copyright 1982, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan-Wednesday, March 10, 1982 Ten Cents Ten Pages Reagan assures interest rates wil all WASHINGTON (AP) - President Reagan, pleading for support of his record-deficit, defense-oriented budget disavowed yesterday any blame for "the displeasures" of recession but privately assured Republican senators that interest rates will drop markedly within months. The president said he was informed by Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker that "the prime rate will drop by three or four points by summer," ac- cording to a congressional source who asked not to be named. LATER, A White House source, who also declined-identification, confirmed the account of the president's remarks, but said that when Reagan talked with Volcker the prime rate stood at 17 per- cent. It already has dropped to 16 per- cent. Thus, this source said, the predic- tion actually is for a further reduction of two or three points. soon Volcker, who as chief of the central bank wields great power over policies affecting interest rates, declined to comment on the remarks attributed to him. "We do not comment on private meetings between the president and the chairman," Fed spokesman Joseph R. Coyne said. However, Coyne noted, Volcker has said on several occasions recently "that as you get credible ac- tion on the budget, you can anticipate that interest rates will decline." ACCORDING to both the White House and the congressional source, Reagan did not elaborate on the basis of the prediction, except to say the infor- imation came from a face-to-face en- counter with the Fed chairman. The president's assurances, in a private session with committee chair- See REAGAN, Page 10 Decision on Abscam senator due today From AP and UPi WASHINGTON- A top Democrat sought to persuade the Senate yester- day to censure rather than expel. Harrison Williams, but Republican Leader Howard Baker said there was. "almost no support" among the majority GOP to soften the punish- ment. Members of the Ethics Committee, meanwhile, set out to refute Williams' principal line of defense-that the FBI framed him in the Abscam bribery and conspiracy case for which he was con- victed last year. BAKER, OF Tennessee, told repor- ters before the Senate resumed debate for the fourth day that a vote likely would occur today on Assistant Democratic Leader Alan Cranston's ef- fort to amend' the panel's expulsion resolution with a call for censure in- stead. Censure would require only a majority vote, while a two-third vote is necessary forexpulsion. Members, favoring expulsion will oppose the milder censure vote, which will come first. Baker said his count of the 53 Republicans who control the Senate reflected "almost no support" for cen- sure. . A substantial number ,of Democrats, led by, Ethics Committee Vice Chairman Howell Heflin of Alabama and other members of the panel, also continued to push for banishm'ent of their colleague from New Jersey. WITH NO publicly expressed sen- timent to exonerate him, it appeared that only resignation might keep Williams from becoming the first See DECISION, Page 10 AP Photo: Paying tribute A ht Actor Bill Murray places a flower on the coffin of fellow actor John Belushi at Abel's cemetery in Chilmark, Mass., yesterday. Belushi, 33, died in Los Angeles Friday. See story, Page 5. Photos depict Nicara WASHINGTON (AP) - The Reaga ministration took the unusual step yestei releasing photographs taken by U.S. naissance aircraft depicting what it said massive Soviet and Cuban-backed m buildup in Nicaragua. The buildup outlined by two top intel officials was portrayed as far more Nicaragua requires for its legitimate d needs and as posing a threat to neigh countries. ONE OF THE officials, Deputy CIA D Adm. Bobby Inman, said the disclosure the first in a series aimed at providi evidence on which the administration is its policies in Central America. Racial. tensions at forumn By PAM FICKINGER The University's "smaller but bet- ter" retrenchment plan is promoting racial tension on campus, Social Work Prof. Madison Foster told abut 30 students gathered last night at the Michigan Union. As the University administration cuts back programs, it becomes more elitist, Foster argued, and elitism aggravates racial tension. He said the University's programs geared toward assisting minority students also con- tribute to what he said was a growing _ rift between white and black students on campus. RACISM IS "part of the University's elitist atitude," Foster said, "as the University becomes smaller it's very likely it will become more elitist - the working-class person won't comse here." Foster was one of several persons who spoke at a two-day conference on race relations at the University held Monday and yesterday at the Union. Several students who attended the con- ference, which was sponsored by the LSA-Student Government, said racism is prevalent at the University. Some of the students said they have been discriminated against by professors in grading because of their race. Cylenthia Miller, a sophomore in the Residential College, said she knew an ad- Details about Cuban-Nicaraguan cooperation rday of in funneling arms to rebels in El Salvador will be recon- released later in the week, Inman suggested. was a Inman and John Hughes, deputy director of the ilitary Defense Intelligence Agency, alleged that: " Since the leftist government took power in ligence 1979, 36 new military garrisons have been e than established in Nicaragua, all modeled along defense Soviet and Cuban lines; hboring " The Soviets have provided to Nicaragua 25 T- 55 tanks, 12 152mm howitzers, two Hip helicop- )irector ters and 12 armored personnel carriers s were Deliveries of additional T-55's are expected in ng the the coming months; basing * Construction is well under way to lengthen several airstrips at military bases, apparently guan am for the purpose of accommodating MIG-17 or MIG-21 aircraft. Some 50 Nicaraguan pilots are being trained in Bulgaria; " Nicaraguan regular military forces are being increased to at least 25,000 or 30,000 men and the militia to a minimum of 150,000. In recent testimony, Secretary of State Alexander Haig estimated the projected buildup at 50,000 for the regular forces and 250,000 for the militia. No ex- planation was given for the new, lower estimate. " Some 2,000 Cuban military advisers have been sent to Nicaragua along with 50 to 70 Soviet military personnel; INMAN NOTED THAT a top Sandinista com- mander, Jaime Wheelock, said in an interview last week in New York that the size of the 11 s buildup Nicaraguan armed forces is only about 14,000, about the same as it was during the overthrown government of President Anastasio Somoza. After the hour-long presentation, Inman said he hoped that none of you here has any doubt" that Nicaragua's buildup goes "vastly beyond its defense needs." In contrast to the military might being developed by Nicaragua, Inman said Guatemala and Honduras have only five tanks each, both of World War II vintage. The slide presentation also depcted alleged abuses of Nicaragua's Miskita Indian population, including the destruction of a number of Indian villages along the Coco River, which separates Nicaragua from Honduras. Earthquakes shake up 'Jupiter Effect' fears From AP and UPI A respected, if erratic, Indian astrologer predicts Les Angeles will be destroyed today and the Pacific Ocean will swallow up some islands. Peruvian "cosmobiologists" say hungry animals will stalk the earth, a tidal wave will sweep the Caribbean and Peru will be hit with torrential rains. BUNK, SAID astronomers in the United States who fielded a flurry of calls from worried earthlings. The Doomsday forecasts stem from a rare event in the solar system - the cluster of all nine planets within a 96- degree area on the same side of the sun. It last happened in 1803 and will not occur again until 2357. THE PLANETARY arrangement was described in the book, "The Jupiter Effect," by John Gribbin and Steve Plagemann, who predicted the gravitational pull of such a lineup would suck cosmic winds from the sun and activate earth quake zones around Earth, particularly along California's San Andreas fault. "There are always soothsayers," sighed seismologist Leroy Irby. "If the planets want to line up, fine, but I surely don't see the end of the world coming Wednesday." Two moderate earthquakes rumbled across the Mohave Desert near China Lake in Southern California on Sunday, prompting "a few" worried calls to the National Earthquake Information Cen- ter in Golden, Colo., Irby said. CALLERS WERE told the tremors have nothing to do with today's bun- ching up of all nine known planets on one side of the sun. "I'd say forget it," said Irby, who has been tracking temblors for 15 years at Golden. "There's something about ear- thquakes that excites people, but there's no scientific way to predict these things." "The Jupiter Effect" has triggered higher attendance and many calls to switchboards at the nation's planetariums. BOSTON'S Charles Hayden Planetarium has been inundated with calls, assistant director Walter Webb said. "People are curious, wanting to find out more about it. Some of those people are staying on the phone asking about our shows and courses. It's having a definite spinoff effect," Webb said. "And some people are having doom- sday parties, like the end of the world parties they had for Comet Kohoutek." In Los Angeles, where people tend to pay close attention when talk turns to earthquakes, long lines are forming at Griffith Observatory for the featured slideshow, "The Jupiter Effect and the Great California Earthquake." The show "is about the claim that a rare alignment of the planets will trigger a chain of earthquakes that will destroy Southern California," said a cheerful tape-recorded voice. The show outlines planetary gravitation, solar ef- fects on Earth and the physiology of earthquakes. Doily Photo by JACKIE BELL STUDENT GOVERNMENT LEADERS Will Hathaway (left) and Margaret Talmers look on as Peter Ford, an Engineering student, speaks out on the racism many minorities face at the University. The three participated in a two- day workshop sponsored by LSA student government that addressed racism on campus and in the nation. of one teaching assistant who wrote on a student's paper, "It's a good paper, for a black woman." ESIQUIO UBALLE, a senior majoring in political science, said there are classes where the instructor "can't help but recognize that you're the only minority there," and that affects their ,expectations in grading and classwork. "We deal with racism every day," Miller said. "It's a part of our existen- ce." Another student, LSA senior Cur- tis Vance, added, "Wouldn't you be angry too?' Uballe said some University p- rograms aimed at minorities are designed by administrators with a "black vs. white" view, disregarding other minority groups on campus. Racism is "more subtle than blatant" at the University, especially in the area of counseling, he said. Some counselors advise minority students to register for classes they can pass easily rather than classes that would present a greater challenge, Uballe claimed. THE UNIVERSITY administration first must recognize them before it can act to solve these problems, he said. The workshops Monday night ad- dressed the problems of racism nationally. The group, led by Natural Resources Prof. Pat Bidol, outlined four stages of racial identity. These stages progress from passive acceptance of discrimination to transformation and retaliation against the racism. "I'd rather see someone who was blatantly prejudiced because you know where they're coming from, rather than someone who is a phony liberal," Bidol said. TODAY- Facing the chopping block NTERESTED IN helping to decide the University's future? Students from all schools and colleges at any academic level are needed to fill positions on future review committees which will be deciding where to cut the University budget. A pool of fifty student names will be needed as nominees for the positions. Interested studen- entourage that accompanied the pope on his trip to the Far entourage that accompanied the pope on his trip to the Far East. atl Lisa hada 'little' lamb Lisa Bernard, a 16-year-old California farm girl, is $62,150 richer after a small town livestock auction escalated into a high-stakes bidding war over her 4-H lamb. High bid- der Lefty Sheppard, one of the smaller produce growers in the agriculaturally rich Imperial Valley of Southern California, outbid several of the wealthiest growers in the __a fn __hae th 11- mn__Qna ma rha.min o f A rms control When the City Council in Port Arthur, Texas, recently ruled on rifle regulations, it reaffirmed a law banning the use of water pistols on city property. The council, upholding the 1951 legislation, decided that, squirt guns are per- missible as long as their use is confined to private property. The use of rifles was entirely banned from the municipality. The council amended a city ordinance to prohibit the firing of rifles after facing a rash of complaints about the firing of high-powered rifles within city limits. In the process, the mental scream-out" sponsored by the School of Public Health to protest corporate pollution. Also on this date: 1971- Possession of marijuana became a misdemeanor in Ann Arbor. 1971-Twenty-five faculty members showed their disap- proval of the military research at the University by starting a week-long fast. 1970- The Campus Student Judiciary "ordered" LSA Dean William Hays to lift the suspension of SDS member Robert Parsons. Parsons was suspended from the Univer- i I i