The Michigan Daily - Monday, February 5, 1990 - Page 3
High School students recreate UN
More than 300 debate resolutions at University conference
by Ian Hoffman
Daily Staff Writer
More than 300 students from four
states traveled to Ann Arbor this
weekend to try their collective hand
at international politics.
Seventeen high schools were
represented in the second annual
University of Michigan Model
United Nations (UMMUN) confer-
ence. The event, sponsored by the
Michigan International Relations
Society (MIRS), was staged in the
Law School's Hutchins Hall.
"It was absolutely excellent," said
Amy Herrup a Residential College
junior and the Secretary General of
UMMUN. "It was a totally different
conference than last year's. The staff
was prepared and the background ma-
terials were sent out on time."
Model United Nations is more
accurately a role-playing activity
than a debate, Herrup said. Students
attempt to pass resolutions consis-
tent with their countries' goals.
Most delegates agreed the conven-
tion was a success.
Tim Lane, a sophomore at Troy
who represented Iraq, said, "I enjoyed
the debate and gained experience for
future debates."
"There were more key players
this year," said Vin Narayanan, a ju-
nior at Troy High School, who rep-
resented Libya. "Last year we almost
eliminated Kampuchea and they
weren't even there to defend them-
selves."
"Essentially, we managed to set
up a parliamentary government with
no foreign influence," said
Narayanan. "It took a lot of convinc-
ing of Syria and Israel but we got
their support."
Not all delegates were as lucky as
Narayanan.
"We were trying to accomplish
peace in outer space and nuclear free
zones on earth," said Scott Floyd, a
first-year student at Milford High
School, who represented Libya. "We
didn't accomplish everything."
In order to fully recreate the set-
ting of the United Nations, many
students dressed in suits during the
four day conference.
In addition to debating political
issues, the students got a chance to
scout the campus, sample college
classes and attend a dance Saturday
night in the Michigan Union Ball-
room.
Herrup said she thought the
chance to explore Ann Arbor is one
of UMMUN's main attractions.
"Pinball Pete's rules!" said Chris
Heuy, a sophomore at Milford.
David Pugh, an advisor for the
Bowsher High School delegation
from Toledo, Ohio, said he also en-
joyed the trip. "I got a chance to
visit Kerrytown and had a pleasant
time in the League coffee shop."
He explained, however, that not
all of his students took advantage of
every opportunity UMMUN had to
offer. Some participants were too
tired after days of heavy debating to
attend the dance and opted to go to
bed early instead, he said.
Rival Christians battle
in E. Beirut
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Rival
Christian forces battled with tanks in
burning east Beirut and fought with
daggers and bayonets for control of a
key coastal town yesterday. Police
said 210 people have died in the
savage six-day showdown.
Gen. Michel Aoun's forces
claimed they captured the town of
Dbaye, five miles north of Beirut,
from Christian warlord Samir
Geagea, and Aoun's Channel 5 TV
station showed paratroopers occupy-
ing what it said was Geagea's Le-
banese Forces base there.
But Geagea's militia said the de-
fenders repulsed 10 tank-supported
assaults by the paratroopers and
forced them to retreat after hand-to-
hand battles with bayonets and dag-
gers.
Aoun sent artillery, tanks and
troops to seize the militia's head-
quarters in east Beirut, but the mili-
tiamen held off the fierce bid to so-
lidify Aoun's control of the devas-
tated Christian enclave in this ruined
city.
Two oil tanks and scores of
buildings set ablaze in the fighting
burned out of control. Pillars of
flame shot skyward and thick clouds
of black smoke shrouded the area.
Police said 210 people have been
killed and 935 wounded, mostly
civilians, in the deadly fighting that
began Tuesday in the Christian en-
clave, where an estimated one mil-
lion people live. Both sides ignored
appeals by clergymen to end "the
senseless, horrific massacre of the
innocents."
An estimated 500,000 people
cowered in basements and bomb
shelters as shells - as many as one
round each second - rained all
night long from Aoun's mountaintop
positions east of the city.
At dawn, Aoun's tanks advanced
through the northern Dora industrial
district and the northeastern Rum-
maneh quarter, police said.
The offensive was an apparent
make-or-break attempt to crush
Geagea's Lebanese Forces and be-
come the undisputed leader of the
Christian enclave north of Beirut.
In the cold, dank underground
shelters, food, water and powdered
milk supplies ran out, radio stations
said. Electricity has been cut off for
nearly a week.
A friend indeed
Lyda Ness, a Residential College sophomore, shovels the walkway of hers
friend's house on South Division.-
Blanchard to ask lawmakers
for raise in 1991 state budget
LANSING (AP) - Gov. James Blan-
chard plans to ask lawmakers to increase
state spending in 1991, but one of his top
critics says new spending should wait until
after the November election.
Shelby Solomon, director of the Office
of Management and Budget, said the budget
Blanchard will submit on Thursday reflects
'a slightly improved economy for the year
beginning Oct. 1. The governor seeks a
three to four percent state spending in-
crease.
"We're looking at 1991 as a slightly
}stronger year overall in terms of the state of
the economy. We don't see the current
slowdown as something that will extend
into 1991," he said.
The budget will lay out how Blanchard
proposes to pay for the programs he sug-
gested in his annual address to lawmakers
in January, including a program of health
care coverage for the children of working
poor families who lack private health care
coverage and are ineligible for Medicaid.
But Blanchard's likely opponent in the
November gubernatorial race, Senate Ma-
jority Leader John Engler, said he'll push
to delay starting the new programs until
after Jan. 1, 1991.
"That allows the public to have a refer-
endum on them," Engler (R-Mount Pleas-
ant) said.
"I think it's a very fair way of approach-
ing the budget. New programs shouldn't be
used for political gain in October. Let them
defend them in the campaign."
Projections of a 3 or 4 percent increase
in spending over this year's $7.3 billion
budget may be misleading, he said.
"They've not given us honest budgets in
the past," he said, noting spending was pro-
jected to increase just 3 percent in 1989 but
actually went up 5.9 percent once supple-
mental requests were submitted.
While Solomon said Blanchard's spend-
ing priorities will be in the areas of educa-
tion, anti-crime measures and environmen-
tal protection, Engler said Senate Republi-
cans will focus on adding more spending
for schools.
In a budget proposal Senate Republicans
released in January, they proposed a 5 per-
cent increase in the education budget and
forecast a total budget of about $7.5 bil-
lion, up about 4.6 percent from the current
year.
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CORRECTIONS
The city of Ann Arbor allocates funds to cover only administrative
expenses of shelters for the homeless. They do not allocate funds towards
such necessities as soap and toothpaste. This information was incorrectly
reported in last Wednesday's Daily.
T'HE LIST
What's happening in Ann Arbor today
Meetings
UM Taekwondo ' Club ---
beginners welcome 7-8:30 p.m.
2275 CCRB
Student Initiative --- mass
meeting to organize group to
impact local issues 7 p.m. in the
Anderson Room of the Union
Accuracy in Academia--
meeting at 7:30 p.m. Pond Room
of the Union
Anthropology Club --- meeting 5
p.m. at Dominick's
UM Shorin-Ryu Karate-do
Club ---.beginners welcome 7:30-
8:30 p.m. in the CCRB small
gym
Ottoman History Workshop --
Sukru Hanioglu speaks on an
"Introduction to the Archives of
the Ottoman Empire" at 7 p.m.
Room 4050 LS&A Bldg.
Leukemia Support Group ---
adult support group meeting for
patients 7-8:30 p.m. 19022 W.
Ten Mile Rd. in Southfield
Speakers
"The Scripturalization of the
Cult in the Second Temple
Period: the Case of the
Purification (hata't) Offering"
--- Gary Anderson speaks at 4
"Israel's Culture & Politics as
Reflected in its Popular
Music" --- Avi Hadari speaks at
7:30 p.m. at Hillel
Furthermore
Free tutoring - for all 100/200
level math, science and engineer-
ing courses; 8-10 p.m. in UGLi
Rm. 307
Safewalk - the night-time safety
walking service is available from
8pm-1:30am in UGLi Rm. 102 or
call 936-1000
Northwalk - the north-campus
night-time walking service is
available from 8pm-1:30am in
Bursley 2333 or call 763-WALK
Fresh Start Quit Smoking
Program - 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the
American Cancer Society (2500
Packard, Suite 108)
Campus Chamber Orchestra -
music of Haydn, Beethoven, and
Mendelssohn performed 8 p.m. at
Hill Auditorium
Composer Forum ---
composition students premiere
works at 8 p.m. in the School of
Music Recital Hall (1100 Baits)
Chicano Art Exhibit --- William
East German
Communists
change name
WEST BERLIN (AP) - East Germany's
Communist Party changed its name yesterday and
promised to hand over $600 million in assets to the
government in an apparent attempt to improve its
image ahead of coming elections.
Also yesterday, West Germany's foreign minister
promised to seek immediate financial aid to stabilize
East Germany's economy while it adopts democratic
reforms that could lead to reunification.
Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who was born near Halle in
what is now East Germany, also told a political rally in
East Berlin that European neighbors have nothing to
fear from a united Germany.
In pursuit of unification, Bonn appears willing to
swear off future claims to ethnic German regions that
are now part of Poland, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet
Union.
Leaders of East Germany's disgraced Communist
Party met and formally changed its name to the Party of
Democratic Socialism. It previously had been known as
the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.
The party also said it will hand over $600 million
from its private reserves to government coffers because
the "country's economic situation requires such
support," the government news agency ADN reported.
ADN said the money came from party dues and
party-owned businesses such as printing operations. It
did not say what the party's total reserves are.
The moves were the latest attempt by the
Communists to shore up their image of the March18
elections. The first free balloting in the nation's 40-year
history was made possible by a pro-democracy
revolution last year that ousted hard-line Communists
Party chief Erich Honecker on Oct.18.
The Communists, who dominate the current interim
Bargain hunting
Shoppers on a quest for bargains browse through Treasure Mart, an Ann Arbor antique
shop.
Slovenian party breaks from
Yugoslavian national party
LJUBLJANA, Yugoslavia (AP) - Slove-
nia's liberal Communists broke away yesterday
from the national Communist Party and de-
clared that they no longer recognize the institu-
tion that has ruled Yugoslavia since World War
II.
The move followed disputes over the pace
of democratic reform and a virtual trade war be-
tween the relatively affluent republic of Slove-
nia and archrival Serbia, the largest and most
populous of Yugoslavia's six republics.
The break from the national party by the
Slovenian party was the first formal party
schism since the Communists took power in
1945.
In Sunday's emergency meeting, the Slove-
nian party also changed its name and called for
the release of all political prisoners; an end to
all political trials and immediate talks between
Yugoslav Communists and leaders of newly
formed opposition parties.
Slovenia's Communist Party president,
Ciril Ribicic, said the new party was not seek-
ing secession from Yugoslavia, but the estab-
lishment of a Yugoslav confederation that re-
stricts central authority.
"This is the end of the League of Commu-
nists of Yugoslavia, in which Slovenian
Communists had the status of an unequal mi-
nority," said Ribicic, using the formal name
.r t~ Lti.. -nf~
The national party "doesn't exist any more
for us," said Petar Bekes, another Slovenian
party leader.
Slovenian Communists have moved
quickly in the past three years to create a plu-
ralistic political system in the republic. Their
reforms have been criticized harshly in Serbia,
where the ruling Communist hard-liners de-
mand continued national Communist Party
dominance.
Slovenian Communists stormed out of a
national party congress last month after Ser-
bian-led hard-liners rejected reforms.
The national party said the congress was in-
definitely adjourned, but Slovenian leaders said
yesterday they are not returning.
"We do not want to be a part of an old-
style dogmatic organization such as Yu-
goslavia's League of Communists," Bekes
told reporters. He said, however, that the
Slovenian Communists "will remain open for
cooperation with all democratic-orientated
forces" in other Yugoslav republics.
He said Slovenia from now on will have no
representatives in the national Communist
leadership, but is open to form a coalition with
the federal leadership on the national level.
Slovenian Communists have expressed in-
creasing frustration at resistance to reform by
the national party as Slovenia prepares for