I Native American health improves By JIM PONIEWOZIK Health care for N a t i v e Americans has markedly improved over the past several years, but there is still room for progress, said U.S. Assistant Surgeon General Richard Church at a speech in the C.C. Little Building yesterday afternoon. "In a lot of areas, the health status (of Native Americans living on or near reservations) has been pretty bad," said Church in an interview before his speech. "But over the years, there's been a lot of major improvement." Church, also chief pharmacy officer for the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and himself a Native American, told the audience of about 50 people that the Indian Health Service (IHS) branch of the PHS has successfully reduced health problems like infant mortality. Infant mortality among Native Americans is now lower than that among the general population, Church said. But Church added that Native Americans still suffer from a high rate of alcoholism - and corresponding ailments such as cirrhosis of the liver - and sudden infant death syndrome. He blamed Native Americans' low standard of living for contributing to these problems. Another problem the IHS must cope with is a lack of physicians, said Church. The IHS has a staff of only about 800 physicians, but serves over 1,000,000 people. "You always hear about the glut of physicians, but there's a distribution problem" because most prefer to work in urban areas, Church said. Because of the shortages of staff, Church said, pharmacists working on reservations have greater responsibility than those working in urban areas, and often assist ,MyIans n pTescribing medicine- The y IHS also works more closely with members of the community than other PHS agencies, Church said. The staff members usually know their patients personally and make efforts to improve sanitation conditions and nutrition on the reservations. "We're not replacing the native diets," Church said, "but we're trying to modify behavior as to what .is eaten, at what age and how Smuch." Church, who received a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University in 1971, said in an interview that he was motivated to work with Native Americans in part because of the inadequate state of Native American health care when he grew up near a reservation in northern Michigan. "Since I am a Native American,- } I wanted to work in that area. It was a chance to channel my skills in to trying to improve the medical situation," Church said. Church will speak on Native American health care again today at noon in room 3554 of the C.C. Little building. The lecture, sponsored by the College of Pharmacy, marked the last day of the University's "Commemoration of a Dream" series of events honoring Martin Luther King. The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, January 26, 1988- Page 3 Landlords call rent control petitions faulty. By PETER MOONEY In an effort the keep rent control off the April city election ballot, Ann Arbor landlords are challenging signatures on petitions submitted for the ballot proposal, . Citizens for Fair Rent submitted approximately 5,400 signatures to the city clerk in late December to place the issue before the voters. If passed, the proposal would limit the ability of owners of existing hous- ing to increase rents. But Fred Gruber, a local landlord and member of the Ann Arbor Apartment Association, said several of the petition signatures he looked at appeared faulty. "We found a lot of those w h o signed were not registered voters," said Gruber. He added that in addition to unregistered voters signing the petition - which he considered an honest mistake - there were some who signed twice. "That's trying to cheat," Gruber said. Gruber refers to rent control as an "ill-begotten piece of legislation" and says he would like to see it kept off the ballot. Tenant activists respond that they submitted many more signatures than the required number. The city requires 3,882 signatures to put a proposal on the ballot, meaning Citizens for Fair Rent only has 'to have 71 percent of their signatures validated. Vicki Wilson, a member of Citi- zens for Fair Rent's coordinating committee, said the challenge is an attempt to divert the tenant grouo's attention from the upcoming catm' paign. "The landlords were hoping it would stretch us so that we wouldn't have time to concentrate on the local campaign," Wilson said. "This chal- lenge is just a time stalling tactic by the landlords." City Clerk Winifred Northcross said she will meet with both Citi- zens for Fair Rents and Citizens fQr Ann Arbor's Future, a group organ nized in opposition to rent control: tomorrow morning to discuss how the signatures will be validated. "We'll look at ten percent of the signatures," Northcross said. If the ten percent sample contains more than 71 percent valid signatures, that will probably be enough to put the issue on the ballot, Northcross said. Tenant activists also face Stiae Senate bill 583, an attempt at the state level to prevent city's froi passing rent control ordinances, bit say they are still forging ahead with their campaign and have recruited 150 volunteers. Doily Photo by DAVID LUBLINER Actor and Director Andre DeShields, left, and Playwright Oyamo speak about Black theater in the United States last night at Rackham Amphitheatre. The symposium was sponsored by the Institute of the Humanities. Three artists discuss Black theatre's By SHEALA DUI The history, purposes, and future in America was the subject of a sym in the Rackham Ampitheatre. Actress Director Andre De Shields, and Pla composed a panel that adressed the que of about 120 people. All of the panelists adressed the n Blacks are commonly offered in today expressed anger that roles offered toF often those of maids and prostitutes. OyamO added that the image of distorted since the days of the Rom and despicable. "The image of Blac negative in the Western mind. Ra Western culture." De Shields added that Blacks sho with the "image we have of oursely that Blacks have accepted the image (of Blacks) and that this negative self cause of many problems in the Black De Sheilds described Black theat young, very fragile and very prec history and future RANT discussed the history of Black theatre from Minstrelsy, of Black Theatre when members of the white "mainstream" society posium last night impersonated Blacks, through Vaudville, the Harlem Lonette McKee, Renaissance to the present. ywright OyamO The panel agreed that Black theatre has to go a lot estions of a crowd further and search for "new images of ourselves" The panel also called for Black theatre and Black people to negative roles that support each other at the University and across the 's theatre. McKee country. Black women are Finally, De Sheilds said that Black theatre should be used as a tool for social change, entertainment and Blacks has been enlightenment. ans as being evil The symposium's main sponsor was the Institute ks has been very cism is a part of for the Humanities, along with the Office of Minority Affairs and The Center for Afro-American and African uld be concerned Studies. The Institute was started last August and is ves". He also felt designed to support work in the Humanities. s that whites have This year's theme is 'Theatre and Society'. Susan -image may be the Kaufmann, Administrator of the Institute for The community. Humanities, said the Institute felt that it was important re as being "very to have a presentation on black theater. "We're trying ious." The panel for a multi-cultural program," Kaufmann said. Shultz campaigns for ratification of tret University professor researches sound waves amid controversy WASHINGTON (AP) - Sec- retary of State George Shultz assured conservative critics yesterday that the United States will respond vigorous- ly if the Soviet Union violates the new arms reduction treaty in Europe, but Sen. Jesse Helms (R- N.C.) de- clared the Soviet Union already is exploiting an "engraved invitation to cheat." As Shultz led off the adminis- tration's campaign for Senate rat- ification of the treaty, Helms, waving a document marked in bright red, contended he had obtained class- ified information proving the So- viets have already violated the pact which calls for the elimination of medium- and shorter-range nuclear missiles. Helms, an outspoken conserva- tive, told the Senate Foreign Rel4- tions Committee that he had received confirmation.-of the document's au- thenticity - its contents still undis- closed - from CIA director Williami Webster. Shultz declined to discuss or evon look at the document on grounds that he was surrounded by photog- raphers. But Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), complaining that Helms had not read aloud from a key section of a letter from Webster, quoted the CIA chief as saying that while the document represented exerpts from a draft of a CIA national intelligence estimate, it did not tell the whole story. By DAVID SCHWARTZ Exploring the unknown is what Theodore Birdsall likes to do best, even if it does create controversy sometimes. A University professor of electrical engineering and computer science, Birdsall is currently researching characteristics of sound waves in the depths of the ocean - a project that has aroused the protests of those who say it could eventually be used in warfare. Through research over the last few years, he has discovered that sound waves do not travel at a constant speed through the ocean. The speed of sound depends on water temperature and salinity. Variations in these factors can change the rate at which sound travels. Using this newfound knowledge, Birdsall is now trying to learn more about the ocean by sending sound waves from one fixed point to another. By recording the variations in how quickly sound reaches from one point to another, Birdsall can determine the temperature and salinity of the water in between. In time, Birdsall hopes that his discoveries can be applied to more practical purposes. But one such outcome of the project, which was approved in April by Vice President for Research Linda Wilson, angers some students. The knowledge that could result from the research could be used to help the Navy find enemy submarines in warfare. The University's old research policy, which has since been changed, included a clause that said no research could be conducted at the University that could "kill or maim human beings." Last March, the policy was changed and no such restrictions now exist. Jackie Victor, chair of the Michigan Student Assembly's Peace and Justice Committee, said of Birdsall, "He is working on a project that is funded by the Navy that can be, albeit longterm, used for submarine detection." Victor said that if the project was not linked to submarines, it would not have been funded by the Navy. The $15 million project, conducted in conjunction with the Scripps Institute of Technology in San Diego, is being funded by U.S. Navy and the National Science Foundation. Correction Due to an error in production, two persons's views were misstated in Monday's story on Th e Advenures of Huckleberry Finn. Helen Oliver, parent of a student at Pioneer High School, said she does not now feel the book is racist. As a younger person, however, she thought the book was racist because she thought it portrayed the Black slave Jim as dumb. Also, University English professor Lyall Powers said that "the book is about racism. But it's not a racist book." Portraying Huck Finn as encouraging racist attitudes is "like cnvin n honk nhont dipen Birdsall admits that his current research may in the future be applied to submarines. However, he said, at this time such applications are not being investigated. In defending his own research, Birdsall compared what he was doing to a newborn child. Just because a baby may grow up to be a soldier is no reason to kill the baby, he said. Similarly, research that may some time be used by the army should still be done to advance technology. For instance, Birdsall said that by using sound waves, he will be able to determine underwater currents, and thus locate the flow of nutrients. By doing this, Birdsall hopes to be able to pinpoint the prime areas for fishing, ending the uncertainty of people who fish. Birdsall said his research could also be used to help oceanographers by determining underwater weather. In the future, Birdsall said sound waves may be used to locate energy sources below the ocean floor. University Political Science Prof. Raymond Tanter, whose research See Birdsall, Page 5 Unexcused absences cause problems for' DETROIT (AP) - Unexcused absences among General Motors Corp. workers in 1987 totaled 8.8 percent of the scheduled hours, about three times the U.S. average for all workers, GM officials said. Absenteeism costs GM more than $1 billion annually, nearly one-third of the automaker's 1986 earnings, the Detroit Free Press said. "Everybody - our members and the employees in general - are tired of those folks who just stay out," said Donald Ephlin, United Auto Workers union vice president and di- rector of the union's GM department. "On the other hand, we have a re- sponsibility to protect those who are absent for good cause." car company The UAW contract signed with GM last fall contains a tougber stance on employees who are absent from work for an unreasonable amount of time. As in the past, the contract reduces benefits for workers absent more than 20 percent by an amount determined by the number of days they were ab- sent. But new language adds that work- ers who are absent more than 20 per- cent of the time for two consecutive six-month periods will be automati- cally discharged if they are absent four additional times for reasobs considered unacceptable by jont union-management committees. THE LIST What's happening in Ann Arbor today UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SUMMER CAMPS OF CHAMPIONS i Speakers Elwood "Woody" Holman - "Economic Develpment in Honduras." International Center, 12:00 p.m. Alan Schell - "Trends and Development of Array Antennas.". Room 1200 EECS Building, at 4:00 p.m. Al ff ft... Society of Christian En- gineers - Room 1014, Dow Building, at 11:30 a.m. Hill Street Players - Auditions for "The Lesson" by Eugene Ionesco, 7:00 p.m. Call Hillel for appointment (663-3336). Furthermore Revolutionary History Ser- r l _ _ a FIVE GOOD REASONS TO BE AN ASSISTANT COORDINATOR OR COUNSELOR: 1. Work with young talented athletes from across the country 2. Have your days free to work secondary jobs or attend classes. 3. Receive a double room to yourself, three meals daily, and a living allowance. f '':. / .' -.'4:. tom: _ ' % ,;i'