Uncontrolled arms See EDITORIA L, Page 4 .: '1 Ninety-three Years of Editorial Freedom IEIUIIQ Too cold Partly cloudy with highs in the mid 20s. Vol. XCIII, No. 90 Copyright 1983, The Michigan Daily Ann Arbor, Michigan-Thursday, January 20, 1983 Ten Cents Eight Pages 82 economy worst since World WASHINGTON (AP) - In a stark new measure of the recession's severity, the government said yester- day the economy sank further in 1982 than in any year since the aftermath of World War II. But Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldridge said the steepest drop, at year's end, was the last gasp of the long downturn. "We're in a recession, there's no doubt about that," said Baldrige, "but the recovery is beginning this quarter." Administration officials also predicted recovery a full year ago, but their hopes were dashed when interest rates remained high through, the summer, slowing sales and stifling business in- vestment. "THERE'S A big, big difference now because interest rates are down," Baldrige said. He spoke with reporters after his department released figures showing the U.S. economy - as measured by War, LI real, or inflation-adjusted, gross national product - fell 1.8 percent in 1982. That represented the biggest one- year decline since the 14.7 percent of 1946, when U.S. industry was gearing down from its war effort. REAL GNP, which measures all the goods and services the nation produces, was falling at an even faster 2.5 percent annual rate in the final quarter of 1982 after rising slightly in the previous six months, the report said. But Baldrige said that was simply due to businesses temporarily holding back production and selling off inven- tories, thereby making room for new production. The auto industry, which sharply reduced its inventories in the fourth quarter, already has stepped up production, he noted. "That made it bad for the fourth See ECONOMY, Page 8 NCAA rule change was needed - Canham By BOB WOJNOWSKI Calling the new NCAA rule that tightens academic standards for athletes "something that had to be done," Michigan Athletic Director Don Canham yesterday voiced his approval of the idea behind the ruling but questioned some of its specifics. The new rule, passed at the annual NCAA conven- tion in San Diego last week, calls for stricter guideliness in determining a prospective athlete's eligility to attend a Division I college. BEGINNING AUG. 1, 1986, entering freshmen must have compiled a high school grade point average of at least 2.0 in a core curriculum of 11 cour- ses and must have scored a minimum of 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or a minimum of 15 on the American College Testing (ACT) test in order to compete athletically their freshman year. "I don't think there's any alternative," said Canham, "but I'm not sure that test scores are the best criteria I know for predicting success in college.'-' Black educators have branded the rule racist because blacks score an average of 694 on the SAT, which means a large percentage of black athletes would be adversely affected by the ruling.h. THlE RULE, 'however, states that an athlete who See NCAA, Page 3 M ar~quism1enders Daily Photo by ELIZABETH SCOTT , David Deveen and John Moore aren't trying to get into the State Theater without paying admission. The two were on hand yesterday to make repairs on the building's veneer. Nine students earn Poet Merrill speaks at awards ceremony Hopwoo ds By JACKIE YOUNG Nine University students walked away from Rackham Hall yesterday with prize money totaling $1,950 after winning the 1983 Hopwood Under- classmen Awards in Creative Writing. The presentation was highlighted by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Merrill, who read selections from his work to an audience of more than 250 people. THE HOPWOOD Underclassmen awards were begun in 1931 by University graduate and Broadway playwright Avery Hopwood to recognize the talents of University students. Each year, the Hopwood committee awards cash prizes to winners in three categories: essay, fiction, and poetry. Prize money was also awarded yesterday to winners in several other writing contests sponsored by the English department. Professor John Aldridge, chairman of the Hopwood committee, conducted the ceremony. HOPWOOD officials said 74 con- testants submitted 96 manuscripts for the awards. Jennifer Kwon, LSA sophomore, received top honors in both the essay and fiction categories. Her essay "Fortas, Hart, and Griffin: The Senate's Role in the Confirmation of a Justice," and her short story "A Foreign Girl" netted her $450 in prize money. Douglas Warshow, whose essay "Cubism Extended: Frank Stella's Swan Engraving V," won him an award, said he was inspired to write his essay by Frank Stella's exhibit at the University Museum of Art last fall. Warshow said he wrote the essay for a class, and was "in a state of shock" after winning $250 for it. ANOTHER winner, Jody Becker, LSA freshman, said she too wrote her poem "Kaleidescoped: My World" for a class also. Becker attributed her winning poem to the "excellent instruction" she received in her English 340 class. "I'm really honored. I'm excited," she said. Becker also said the Writers in Residence Program, which brought Carolyn Forche and other writers to campus, gave her inspiration. AFTER THE awards were given, Merrill congratulated the aspiring writers and read from his own poetry. Merrill won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Award in See 9, Page 8 Daily Photo by ELIZABETH SCOTT Gene show Dale Oxender, head of the University's Center for Molecular Research, ex- plains genetic research to an audience at Rackham Auditorium last night. See story, Page 3. By SHARON SILBAR Daily Photo by ELIZABETH SCOTT James Merrill, a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book' Award for Poetry, reads one of his poems yesterday at the presentation of the 1983 Hopwood Awards. 'IJU, officials investigating gays plea for equal treatment Last month, one University employee didn't bring her lover to the office Christmas party: She was afraid that if her boss found out she was lesbian, she would lose her job. Students supporting Lebian and Gay Rights on Campus (LaGROC) want to put an end to this type of fear, and the potential for discrimination, by amending the University's by-laws to include "a non-discrimination clause based on sexual orientation," according to LaGROC leader Donovan Mack. LAST FALL, LaGROC members sent letters to the Regents and executive officers informing them of the group's intention to submit a for- mal proposal that the by-laws be amended. Richard Kennedy, University Vice-president for state relations, accepted the letter as a formal proposal and gave it to the Office of Af- firmative Action for investigation, Mack said yesterday. Duringthe next few months, the Office of Af- firmative Action will be looking into the legality of having the clause in the University's by-laws, as well as assessing the extent and nature of the problems gays encounter on cam- pus. THE UNIVERSITY amended its by-laws four years ago to include non-discrimination clauses based on age, handicaps, and veteran status. State law required the amendment. 'LaGROC's situtation is a little different," said Virginia Nordby, director of the Univer- sity's affirmative action program. "This is a proposal to add something that is not legally required." The University's non-discrimination policy is committed to working for the elimination of discrimination not only within the University, but See NON-DISCRIMINATION, Page 8 Students petition to get PIRGIM out of CRISP By LISA CRUMRINE Engineering junior Dan Baker says he doesn't mind CRISPing so much, but the use of the University's registration process by special interest groups for fundraising is what makes him mad. So he and 14 other students, calling them- selves the Student Committee for Reform and Progress, have launched a petition drive to prevent groups like the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM) from having a donation slip attached to Student Verification Forms. "BASICALLY, we believe the University is a public institution and that partisan groups shouldn't be using the University in this way," Baker said. "Also, because PIRGIM is so big, other student organizations stand no chance of getting on the SVF form." The committee's efforts coincide with the upcoming PIRGIM petition drive to have the present donation checkoff system switched to a refusable-refundable policy. Under the new policy, students would automatically be assessed the PIRGIM fee on their tuition bill. If a student did not want to See STUDENTS, Page 8 TODAY- Nuclear gift idea T RYING TO BUY a gift for the person who has everything? Why not gift wrap a 697-ton pressure vessel from an abandoned nuclear power plant. The Public Service Electric and Gas Co. of Lower Alloways Creek, N.J. put the reactor up for sale by adver- tising in the local paper, The Sampler. The reactor vessel-62 feet high, 21 feet wide, and 6 inches thick-was declared surplus when the utility decided not to complete Hope Creek II nuclear power plant in southern New Jersey. two months. And its like she never left. Actually, the 15- pound snake had been at the Irvine Science Center at St. Timothy's School in Stevenson, Maryland, all the time, ap- parently hiding out in a false ceiling and subsisting on mice, said staff naturalist Bill Hilgartner. The boa escaped Nov. 6 after someone failed to latch her cage, and a search by students and teachers turned up no trace of the 10-year-old snake. A few days later, the school received a card that said, in part, "Miss you all. Will be back soon. Love, Slinkette." Hilgartner found the snake when he checked out a creaking sound in an overhead tile. "There was quite a cheer among the students on the campus when they heard ch ac hank,,1, ha _ Q1na f efent;Irrnn A were dealing and we had to arrest them just like anyone else," said Lt. Richard Sproules, who added "we treated them with respect because of their age, and we wanted to make this as gentle as possible for them." Arthur Perry and two friends he lived with - Jean MacDonald, 63, and her 18-year-old son, Walter-were arrested after neighbors complained for a few months of teen-agers standing outside their house with the smell of marijuana in the air. The police seized photographs depicting Perry and Mrs. Mc- Donald measuring and rolling marijuana. "They were buying probably a pound or so at bargain prices, cleaning it up and selling it as joints for a dollar each," DiCarli said. D Also on this date in history: " 1913 - The University decided to add two new subjects, architecture and designing. The subjects would be taught on a trial basis during the summer term; * 1933 - Publisher Samuel French, Inc. brought suit .against Mimes, a student dramatic society for defaulting on play royalties. French also banned the use of all his plays on the Michigan campus; * 1973 - Richard Nixon is sworn into his second term. In his inaugural address he said he envisions "a new era of peace." At the same time 50,000 demonstrators protested his inaururation at the Lincoln Memorial. Q