Copyright 1986, The Michigan Daily
Ninety-six years of editorial/freedom
Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, January 29, 1986
itIailQ
Vol. XCVI-- No. 84
Eight Pages
I
oaes;
NASAs
earches
for
explanation
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -
A catastrophic explosion blew apart
the space shuttle Challenger 75 secon-
ds after liftoff, yesterday, sending
schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe and
six NASA astronauts to a fiery death
in the sky eight miles out from Ken-
nedy Space Center.
The accident defied quick ex-
planation, though a slow-motion
replay seemed to show an initial ex-
plosion in one of two peel-away rocket
boosters igniting the shuttle's huge
external fuel tank. The tank burst into
a fireball that destroyed Challenger
high above the Atlantic while crew
families and NASA officials watched
in despair from the Cape.
OTHER observers noted that the
boosters continued to fly crazily
through the sky after the explosion,
apparently under full power, in-
dicating that the fatal explosion might
have originated in the giant tank it-
self.
"We will not speculate as to the
specific cause of the explosion based
on that footage," said Jesse Moore,
NASA's top shuttle administrator.
National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration officials are organizing
an investigating board and Moore
said it will take a "careful review" of
all data "before we can reach any
conclusions."
NASA delayed its announcement
that there appeared to be no survivors
until it had conducted search-and-
rescue efforts. Even before Moore's
statement, it seemed impossible
anyone could survive such a
cataclysmic explosion.
THE CREW included McAuliffe and
six NASA astronauts: commander
Francis Scobee, pilot Michael Smith,
Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair,
Ellison Onizuka. and Gregory Jar-
vis.
"I regret that I have to report that
based on very preliminary searches
of the ocean where the Challenger im-
For more shuttle coverage,
see page 5.
pacted this morning these searches
have not revealed any evidence that
the crew of Challenger survived,"
Moore, NASA associate ad-
ministrator, told a midafternoon news
conference. Col. John Shults, director
of Defense Department contingency
operations here, said a search ar-
mada of helicopters, ships and planes
had spotted several pieces of debris
floating in the Atlantic.
"We have seen several pieces, what
looked to be about five or 10 feet long
and a couple feet wide," he said. The
debris will be recovered and brought
to a hangar at nearby Patrick Air
Force Base.
NEVER BEFORE in 56 manned
space missions had Americans died in
See EXTERNAL, Page 5
U.S. shocked
by Challenger
catastrophe
From Staff and Wire Reports
President Reagan, stunned by
America's first in-flight space
disaster, abruptly postponed his State
of the Union address yesterday to
praise the lost Challenger astronauts
as heroes and vow the nation's man-
ned space flight program will con-
tinue.
"The future doesn't belong to the
fainthearted," the president said. "It
belongs to the brave."
IN A nationally broadcast address
less than an hour after NASA of-
ficially gave up hope that teacher
Christa McAuliffe and the
Challenger's six other crew members
survived the explosion that destroyed
their spacecraft, Reagan pledged
never to forget them and promised
their mission would not be America's
lasf.
At NASA headquarters, workers
tried to go about their business, but
clearly were having a difficult time.
Only two secretaries could be seen
in acting administrator William
Graham's office suite, one talking
quietly on the telephone with eyes red
from tears,
THE NATIONAL Air and Space
Museum said it would have a special
tribute to the seven crew members in
place by Wednesday.
At the Capitol, the House was just
ready to convene as the news spread.
"Terrible thing, terrible thing,"
said Speaker Thomas O'Neill Jr., who
left the floor, shaking his head, and
See CHALLENGER, Page 5
The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff from
crew members died in the explosion._
Associated Press
Kennedy Space Center yesterday. All seven
Frye warns of tuition hike
without more state aid
By KERY MURAKAMI
University students can expect a "hefty"
tuition increase next fall unless the state
legislature adds to Gov. James Blanchard's
state budget recommendations for the
University, a key University administrator
said yesterday.
Billy Frye, the University's vice president
for academic affairs, said that given the
governor's proposals, he would ask the
regents this summer for at least a five per-
cent tuition increase.
THE LEGISLATURE is not expected to
greatly add to the governor's proposals.
Blanchard last week recommended a 5.5
percent or $12 million increase in state fun-
ding for the University next year, far short
of the $26 million increase University of-
ficials asked for.
Without more state funds, Frye said
yesterday, officials will have to strike a
balance between cutting the University's
financial needs and raising tuition.
"BUT AS hard as raising tuition would
be," Frye said, "our main concern is to
maintain the quality of the University."
The $26 million is the bare minimum the
University needs to meet rising costs,
University officials said.
"In-state students should keep in mind
that they've been exempt from tuition in-
creases for two years. Even if we raise
tuition by five percent this year, it would
still represent a modest increase over the
last three years," Frye said.
BLANCHARD pressured the state's
colleges and universities the past two years
to freeze in-state tuition. But this year, the
governor is only asking the state's schools to
keep tuition increases for Michigan residen-
ts below the 5 percent inflation level, said
Lynn Schaffer, the state's associate budget
director.
Over the last two years, out-of-state
tuition at the University has risen by 7 and 8
percent respectively. "I think we all
recognize that out-of-state-tuition is too
high," Frye said, "but there hasn't been any
discussion yet about balancing the increases
this.year."
The University is generally recognized as
having an obligation towards Michigan
residents who support the University
through taxes.
UNIVERSITY faculty will also suffer
from this year's "tight budget," Frye said.
During the state's budget crisis of the late-
'70s and early-'80s, University faculty were
left behind by 8 percent pay increases that
faculty at "peer institutions" like the
University of California at Berkeley
received, he said.
As part of the $29 million bare minimum
request, University officials said faculty
salaries would be raised by seven percent.
In addition, the University asked for
another $9 million to make up for needs -
such as pay increases and building
renovations - it couldn't afford to pay
during the budget crisis.
PART OF the additional $9 million,
University officials said, would be used to
give pay increases for faculty in areas like
business and engineering in which the
See FRYE, Page 3
Marcher
returns
from
C. America
MSh
By NANCY DRISCOLL
Mark Weinstein, an LSA junior,
returned last week from a six-and-one
half week long peace march through
Central America, an experience that
he said has made his reexamine his
own culture.
"It was a humbling experience in
the sense that I've been brought up to
see the U.S. as a superior culture, just
to learn how inferior we are in so
many ways, and to experience the
culture of people who are always
struggling," Weinstein said.
ALONG WITH 250 other activists
from more than 30 countries, Wein-
stein traveled from Panama City to
Mexico City to bring a politically
neutral message of peace to the
region. They stayed in churches,
schools, and camped out.
The group marched with four of-
ficial slogans in mind: determination,
human rights, solidarity, and "Con-
toradora Si," support for the con-
. tadora Central American peace
process.
The marchers met with mixed reac-
tions. "Our march inspired incredible
amounts of debate," Weinstein said.
"These are what I thought would be
See STUDENT, Page 5
Josephson won 't seek reelection
By MARY CHRIS JAKLEVIC
Michigan Student Assembly
President Paul Josephson confirmed
last night that he will not seek re-
election in the assembly elections this
March.
Josephson made his announcement
at the weekly assembly meeting. He
refused to comment on the reasons for
his decision, saying only that he will
help in the transition process to a new
president.
ALSO at last night's meeting, two
top University officials doubted
whether centralization of minority
services on campus can help recruit-
ment and retention problems here.
"The closer you can get (support
services) to the grass roots, the better
it's going to work," said Billy Frye,
vice president of academic affairs.
"In general I am very wary of more
centralization of support services."
Frye said that individual depar-
(minority affairs) onto the agenda of
the (individual) departments."
ASSOCIATE Vice President for
Academic Affairs Niara Sudarkasa
cited two types of minority aid, in-
formation and services. She agreed
that most services are better handled
at lower levels, while information
could be more efficiently distributed
from a central source.
Minority student leaders have
See OFFICIALS, Page 3
tments have the
on students, and
most direct impact
so "we need to get
TODAY-
Wolverettes
OME HAVE claimed that 90 percent of the
women in the Big Ten are beautiful and the rest go
M M i-hwian TO V A nhm PNe1iPcRcc~m av
there are good-looking Michigan women," Roseman
said. "The calendar can only help their image. It can't
get much worse." A 13-member committee, including
a professional photographer, a cosmetologist, and a
fashion coordinator, will choose 15 women for the
calendar. The calendar will not contain "nude or
sleazy pictures," Roseman said, and personality coun-
the north Wales station and its 58-letter platform sign
was yesterday. It was turned into a tourist center in
1973 and no longer serves scheduled trains. It attracts
200,000 visitors a year who get photographed under the
station nameplate and receive instructions on how to
pronounce the name with the six correct pauses. Its
owner, state-owned British Rail, declined to say how
-INSIDE-
TAKING INITIATIVE: Opinion applauds the
Peace in Central America Ballot Initiative.
See Page 4.
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