Page 2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, December 9, 1986
Senators approve tuition plan
LANSING (AP) - A Senate
committee yesterday approved Gov.
James Blanchard's guaranteed
tuition plan, but only after
stripping it of its aadministration-
given nickname.
The Senate Finance Committee
made several changes to the pre-paid
tuition proposal before forwarding
it to the full Senate.
Most of the changes were
negotiated and agreed to by the
Blanchard administration. The name
change was a surprise.
Blanchard had christened his pay-
now, educate-later plan Baccalaurate
Education System Trust, or BEST.
The committee, on a 3-0 vote with
Republican members present and
the two Democrats absent, changed
the name to Michigan Education
Trust.
The revamped legislation is
scheduled for action by the full
Senate today.
The program would let parents
or grandparents pay in advance for
the college education of a child still
in diapers.
Families could give the state a
set amount of money in exchange
for a ptomise of four years' tuition
at a Michigan college or university.
Theoretically, the state can invest
the money and by the time a child
reaches college age, enough interest
would have accumulated to cover
tuition and fees.
Under the plan, the state could
not begin the program unless the
Internal Revenue Service agreed to
make the investment tax-deductible.
The trust could only stay in bus -
Critics: City housing codes no
(Continued from Page 1)
up.
Housing inspector Ayer is suing
the city because of its alleged lack
of code enforcement. Ayer, who
was hired in 1980, says he
consistently pointed out violations
of the housing inspection code to
Building Department
administration. He sent memos to
the department urging it to stop
granting administrative variances
and requesting better training of
staff.
Ayer said the city is six months
behind on inspections and does not
send letters with copies of violation
notices. He confirmed the
violations which the Tenants Union
mentioned in its report. "The code
is not a bad code," said Ayer, "but
we should either enforce the code or
change it."
"If we enforce the housing code
one-tenth as much as we enforce the
parking code we would have a much
better housing stock in town," Ayer
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said.
CHIEF Housing Inspector
Arvil Patton refused to comment on
any of the inspection procedures or
on how they were enforced.
William Yadlosky, supervisor of
the Housing Bureau, said the
department has not directly
responded to any of the claims
brought against it.
"I'm not meaning to be
evasive," Yadlosky said. "There's a
point in time when this stuff will
be responded to, but it's not going
to be right now."
Yadlosky said the department is
now "enforcing the code pretty
much to the letter of it." He also
said computers are being
programmed to establish a system
for inpections which would "avoid
properties slipping through the
cracks (in procedure)."
DI T Z, however, said the
department selectively keeps cases
on record, and many times files
cannot be found. There is no current
copy of the rules of the Building
Department on file with the city
clerk.
Councilmembers agreed at the
work session that the code would
have to be reviewed, but the
problem will be for the council to
follow up on its own complaints
cited at the meeting.
Edgren said council will examine
the department through the ad hoc
housing code revision committe,
the Housing Board of Appeals, and
through tenant advocates.
"One of the goals has been to
have all of the decisions and
policies of the department to be out
in the open. They haven't been that
way. They've been made back in
the back room," said Edgren.
EDGREN feels the department
is lax in inspections because past
Republican city councils have not
emphasized city housing procedure
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enforcement.
Assistant City Administrator
Leigh Chizek agreed that the
council plays an important role in
pressuring city departments. He said
the housing code is being enforced
within the city, but "there have
been some irregularities that have
to be cleaned up. There is no
question about it."
Chizek said problems with
departmental organization have hurt
housing code enforcement, making
it inefficient. Computerizing the
inspection process is helping to
organize the department, he said.
"The Housing Bureau is literally
a paper factory," he said. The new
system will help shift the burden to
the property owner to comply with
notices or to face a punishment.
CITY Attorney Bruce Laidlaw
said there has been a "never-ending"
ad hoc committee which has been
discussing revision of the housing
code. The committee has completed
a first draft of a revised code.
Edgren, who formed the
committee, said the first, "very
preliminary" draft of the housing
code includes changes such as
improving escrow accounts so
tenants have the right to withhold
rent in an account held by the city.
Laidlaw said the city saw some
of Ayer's complaints as
illegitimate, such as his suggestion
to apply new building standards to
buildings more than 50 years old.
Individual inspectors are given
leeway in interpreting the housing
code, which may have led to the
extreme case which Ayer faces,
Laidlaw said. For example, the
housing code says stairwells should
be an "adequate height" but does not
specify what this height should be.
"(Ayer's) problem points to the
need for stricter department
regulations, so there is not that
latitude to be strict or loose (with
the code)," he said.
CHIZEK agreed with the need
for more uniform rules. "Not
everybody sees the job the same
way everyone else does. We need to
be absolutely neutral as to what's
right and what's wrong."
Ayer says he was forced to file
suit against the city in a "whistle-
blowers suit" to defend his job,
because officials began to place
pressure on him in September for
his actions.
The department took disciplinary
action against Ayer by suspending
him for five days without pay.
They said a home he owned and
rented had a hazardous leak and new
electrical work which was conducted
without a permit.
Laidlaw said, "Our folks feel that
he pressured a fellow inspector to
change the inspection report, taking
iness as long as it paid for itself. If
interest did not accumulate fast
enough to cover the college
commitments, the cost of future
contracts would be boosted. If that
still was not enough, the trust
would be dissolved and all the
money refunded.
If the full Senate approves the
plan and the House adds a final OK,
the first pre-paid college contracts
could be signed in as little as two
months or in as much as a year,
depending on the IRS, State
Treasurer Robert Bowman said.
't upheld
out important words, such as that
the leak would be dangerous."
A Y E R alleges that this
discipline was unwarranted, but was
a result of his supervisors picking
on him because of his criticism of
the housing code enforcement.
Laidlaw said, "The city's
position is that had nothing to do
with whether he did or did not blow
the whislte."
Laidlaw predicts that Ayer's
lawsuit against the city will be
dismissed on the city's affidavit that
Ayer was only being punished for
his alleged misconduct. The suit
would then be dismissed unless
Ayer could prove that the city
purposely picked on him.
The Housing Bureau has said it
is having trouble keeping up with
enforcement because it is
understaffed, with only four
inspectors and needs computer
systems. The council, however, has
provided money in its budget for
the fiscal year starting in July for a
fifth housing inspector, additional
clerical staff, and a computer
system.
DONALDSON said the
department has not yet hired an
additional inspector, although it
recognized the need for one. The
department wanted to straighten out
departmental policies before adding
a new person to the staff,
Donaldson said.
"We accepted applications and
screened applicants, some more
highly qualified. We'll be
interviewing (this) week and they'll
start as soon as they are available,"
Donaldson said.
Ayer, however, contested that
the department asked for a different
inspector, but did not hire a new
inspector because it "wanted to
muck around with union contracts.
They wanted to change the pay rates
and hire a less-qualified person."
Ayer also said Chizek wants to
"pay the inspectors less because the
inspectors get more than some of
his engineers."
Donaldson acknowledged that the
city is thinking of restructuring the
department, which would include
the union contracts, but declined to
comment how this would change
the department.
The department used to be set up
with a department head and three
middle management positions,
people who were professional
architectural engineers, Chizek said.
Over the years these positions have
been eliminated.
Chizek said the additional middle
management postions would give
the department time to figure out
strategies for the Building
Department.
IN BRIEF
COMPILED FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
Honduran troops search for
remaining Nicaraguan force
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Honduran troops, flown by U. S.
helicopters, yesterday hunted for stragglers of a Nicaraguan force that.
Honduran officers say crossed the border during the weekend and burned
three deserted villages.
A military intelligence source said the troops also were acting as a
guard against further incursions.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said about 20.,
Honduran air force planes had bombed and strafed retreating Nicar -
aguans, who he said were pursued by three Honduran infantry bat-
talions.
Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government denied that an incursion,
took place and claimed warplanes from the Honduran side of the border{
bombed two villages inside Nicaragua, killing seven soldiers and'
wounding 11 people.
Honduras said that 18 of its soldiers were wounded in intense fight -
ing in the border area over the weekend and that its troops inflicted
undisclosed "heavy" casualties on a force of 700 Sandinista raiders.
Children jailed in S. Africa
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The government said yesterday
that 256 children under 16 were in jail without charge, including one
only 11 years old. Anti-apartheid groups reported a huge troop buildup
in black townships.
Police Commissioner J. P. Coetzee made the announcement about-
children detained under the nationwide state of emergency imposed June
12.
Monitoring groups estimate the number of black children under 18
being held at 1,300-4,000 and have demanded they be freed before
Christmas.
Coetzee gave no indication of how many people aged 16-18 were'
being held. One monitoring group, the Detainees' Parents Support:
Committee, called that omission "the most cynical sleight of hand."
"It is clear that the 16, 17 and 18-year-old group are the prime target
of state repression," it said. "Whatever the exact number may be, evens
one child in detention is too many."
Israeli troops shoot youth
BETHLEHEM, Occupied West Bank - Israeli troops shot and
wounded a Palestinian youth yesterday as protesters pelted soldiers with
rocks in a dozen towns and refugee camps, military and Palestinian'
sources said.
Israeli sodiers have killed three Palestinian youths since Thursday.
Violence spread yesterday to four Israeli university campuses, where
hundreds of Jewish and Arab students protested in solidarity with
Palestinians of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The largest
protest was at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, where soldiers used tear
gas to quell the demonstration.
Five Israeli buses were stoned in Jerusalem and the West Bank, with
four Israeli passengers injured, the army said.
Palestinian teen-agers blocked main roads with burning tires, threw
stones, and waved PLO flags in demonstrations in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip, home for 1.4 million Palestinians and more than 50,000
Jewish settlers.
Recession predicted for 1988
WASHINGTON - The nation's economy will be weaker than the
Reagan administration predicts next year and a new recession may well
be looming in 1988, U.S. business economists said yesterday.
Total national output will actually grew a bit faster in 1987 than
this year, but not enough to make much of a dent in the nation's 7
percent jobless rate, the economists said.
Though they issued no specific economic storm warnings, the
forecasters seemed to think such sluggish performancecouldn't go on
forever. And a majority thought things would get worse rather than
better.
"Although only about 30 percent believe we will be in recession by
the end of 1987, about 60 percent expect a downturn by the end of
1988, and over 90 percent anticipate a decline before the close of 1989,"
said Jerry Jordan, president of the National Association of Business
Economists and a former member of President Reagan's Council of
Economic Advisers.
Perot opposes GM bonuses
DETROIT - Billionaire H. Ross Perot said yesterday that he had,
planned to vote against a 1986 bonus for General Motors Corp. ex -
ecutives and that the GM board, which voted unanimously to buy him
out for $750 million, knew it.
"You can't build a great organization that way. If you go to war, you
feed the troops before you feed the officers. You take care of the guys
that do the work and then you take care of the guys that run the place,"
Perot said at a news conference before addressing an Economic Club of
Detroit luncheon.
"I was going -to vote against bonuses," he said. "Everyone knew
that."
GM suffered a $338 million third-quarter operating loss and
announced plans to close nine assembly plants and parts of two others,
eliminating at least 29,000 jobs in the next few years.
01 he Michligan Udflg
Vol. XCVII--No.67
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967 X) is published Monday
through Friday during the fall and winter terms. Subscription rates:
September through April-$18 in Ann Arbor; $35 outside the city.
One term-$10 in town; $20 outside the city.
The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and
subscribes to Pacific News Service and the Los Angeles Times
Syndicate. Sports Editor............................BARB McQUADE
Editor in Chief..........................ERIC MATTSON Associate Sports Editors................DAVE ARETHA
Managing Editor...................RACHEL GOTTLIEB MARK BOROWSKY
City Editor.............................CHRISTY RIEDEL RICK KAPLAN
News Editor.............JERRY MARKON ADM MARTi
Features Editor............................AMY MINDELL PHILtUSSEL
NEWS STAFF: Francie Allen, Elizabeth Atkins, Eve SrTJ D e a hy Al
Becker, Melissa Birks, Laura A. Bischoff, Steve Gelderloos, Chris Gordillo, Shelly Haselhrihn, Al
Blonder, Rebecca Bluxnnstein, Brian Bonet, Marc Hedbiad, Julie Hollman, John Husband, DarrenJasey,
Carrel, Do Cohen, Tim Daly, John Dunning. Rob Rob Levine, Jill Marchiano, Christian Martin, Eric
Earle, Ellen Fiedeiholtz, Martin Frank, Katy Gold, Lisa Maxson, Greg McDonald, Scott Miller, Greg Moizon,
Green, Stephen Gregory, Jim Hershiser, Mary Chr s Jerry Muth, Adam Ochlis, Jeff Rush, Adam Schefter,
Jaklevic, Steve Knopper, Philip I. Levy, Michael Adam Schrager, Scott Shaffer, Pete Steinert, Douglas
Lustig, Kelly McNeil, Andy Mills, Kery Murakamni, volan, Bill Zolla.
Eugene Pak, Martha Sevetson, Wendy SharpSusanne hoto Editor... ..........ANDI SCHREIBER
Skubik, Louis Stancato, Naomi Wax. PHOTO STAFF: Leslie Boorstein, Jae Kim, Scott
Opinion Page Editor..... .....KAREN KLEIN Lituchy, John Munson, Dean Randazzo, Peter Ross.
Associate Opinion Page Editr. .HENRY PARK Business Manager........MASON RANKLIN
OPINION PAGE STAFF: Rosemary Chinnock, Tim Sales Manager.....................DIANE BLOOM f
Huet, Gayle Kirshenbaum, Peter Mooney. Caleb Finance Manager...............REBECCA LAWRENCE
Southworth Classified Manager...............GAYLA BROCKMAN
Arts Editor.......................... NOELLE BROWER Asst Sales Manager..................DEBRA LEDERER
Associate Arts Editor................REBECCA CHUNG Ass't Classified Manager.............GAYLE SHAPIRO
Music.................................BETH FERTIG DISPLAY SALES: Barb Calderoni, Irit Elrad, Lisa
Film............. ....KURT SERBUS Gnas, Melissa Hambrick, Alan Heyman, Julie
Books.......................SUZANNE MISENCIK Krombolz, Anne Kubek, Wendy Lewis, Jason Liss,
ARTS CT AFF-. In. Arrilnl VI R-nrh ..k .6. L :. aura Martin. Scott MetafRn ee. * ,,,,,rru. Caro. (...k,
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