M m z h x, . OPINION 4 ARTS Allez en avant 7 SPORTS Wrestler Sam Amine shoots for a national title 9 Make voter registration easier l . .4ivvvlL. .... '1 . .. .. l ' 'i.\-1 ih\' ti.'v . .')^l 'j ' ' ,.'11'QY '?. iv4:h ..u'h.. 1 i v Vyti 1 k.Vi.,\ 4 .: . +\.h v?. . ' ?.i4 1 .i? ? Ninety-nine years of editorial freedom iAk 1 Vo. C, No. 88 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, February 7, 1990 Copyrighto 1990 The Michigan Daily I Parties criticize plan for cha MOSCOW (AP) - Mikhail Gorbachev's daring plan for ending the party's monopoly on power came under fire yesterday by reformers who said it was not radical enough and hard-liners who denounced its repudiation of the past. Gorbachev on Monday opened a political session of the Central Committee by proposing the party be forced to compete with other parties for the right to lead the country. At yesterday's session, a majority of members appeared opposed to ending the party's constitutionally guaranteed dominance, a participant said. "The majority of members believe that no laws and no changes in the constitution should shut off the authority of the party," said Ivan Shinkevich, one of the participants. But other participants and observers said it appeared that a majority of delegates to the 249- nges in member committee would indeed approve Gorbachev's proposal to change the constitution to eliminate the party's leading role in society. U.S. Analysts say this proposal was made by Gorbachev in an effort to keep ahead of a political avalanche that was threatening to bury him. Changing the Soviet constitution as proposed by Gorbachev would ratify but not unite opposition groups scattered among the 15 Soviet republics, the analysts predicted. In the West, where Gorbachev's popularity is high, "his proposal will be interpreted as a show of great skill, to enable him to prevail," said Adam Ulam of Harvard University. "But he is really trying to keep up with a bolting horse." "Of course he has to survive, in the lack of any alternative. The right does not want to take a chance at cataclysm, by removing him," Ulam said. "If they announced tomorrow that Gorbachev was out, you would USSR. have demonstrations in every Russian city" and that would force an unwanted test for the Red Army and KBG security forces. A crowd estimated at 200,000 marched through Red Square last weekend demanding more democracy, an indication of the growing pressure on Kremlin leaders to hand over more power to the people. Some speakers at yesterday's meeting criticized the platform as too tame, saying it was "based on old dogmas," said Alexander Fomin, a coal miner who was at the meeting. Coal miners have staged strikes and have been among the most vocal critics of the government. "There were not enough radical proposals to solve the party's problems," Fomin said, summarizing yesterday's debate among the most vocal critics of the government. JOSE JUAWZ/Daily Guzzlin' Nursing sophomore Lisa Badalamenti pounds down a "Guzzler" soft drink while chilling out at Regents' Plaza. MSA forms committee to by Daniel Poux Daily MSA Reporter The Michigan Student Assembly voted last night to establish a special committee to mobilize student sup- port against the administration's proposed code of non-academic con- duct. The committee will be a subset of MSA's Student Rights-Commis- sion. Many MSA representatives con- sider University President James Duderstadt's commitment to estab- lishing a code, with or without stu- dent input, a threat to student rights on campus. University officials have been at- tempting to establish a code to con- trol students' non-academic conduct since 1973, but continued opposi- tion from campus groups has stalled their efforts. Members of MSA and the dis- solved University Council, a stu- dent-advisory board to the adminis- tration, met with Duderstadt last Thursday to discuss the code. Duder- stadt told the students if they did not provide him with input on the code, he would develop and implement a conduct policy on his own. "Basically, Duderstadt said we're going to have a code, a comprehen- sive code, and students can either have some input or no input," said Corey Dolgon, MSA Rackham rep- resentative and former co-chair of tl1 U-Council. LSA Junior Charles Dudley, new chair of the Student Rights Com- mission, said he has already begun work on the newly formed commit- tee and will be contacting various student group leaders for their sup- ight adn port in the coming weeks. "We're going to talk to other stu- dent groups, and get a strong com- mittee set up, and then take our fight to the students," Dudley said. Dudley plans to conduct forums with student groups and canvas cam- pus locations to solicit student sup- port for the fight against the code. Many MSA members praised Dudley's efforts and pledged their support for the new committee. LSA Junior Susan Langnas, chair t-f the Campus Governance Committee, said she would volunteer for the new inistration's code body and stressed the importance of student involvement in the formula- tion of the code. "The only way that the adminis- tration isn't going to implement the code is if the students speak out with a very loud voice," she said. Langnas said MSA needs to get all students involved because of the wide-ranging effects of the code. "There are so many organizations on campus that would be affected by this code," she said. "Even the fra- ternities and sororities. They drink alcohol at their parties, and that is only one student activity that could be prohibited by the code." But not all MSA representatives were behind the new committee. Engineering Senior Jeff Johnson said he did not think it was wise to fight the administration at this stage of the game. "As much as the left-wing would like to fight the administration every step of the way, I think it is impor- tant that we are present there (at the code consultations)," he said. Baker supports the inclusion of unified Bill aims to curb universities' sales * Germany1 PRAGUE, Czechoslovakia (AP) - Secretary of State James Baker, trying to guide the drive to German reunification, registered his support yesterday for a plan that would keep the country in NATO but bar West- ern troops from moving into what is now East Germany. The proposal, advanced by West German Foreign Minister Hans-Diet- rich Genscher last week, also would allow Soviet troops to remain in the eastern region - at least at the out- set. A senior U.S. official said the drive to reunification has accelerated to the point that the two Germanies are likely to begin a process of eco- nomic, political and legal integration after East Germany holds national elections March 18. "The process of unification is taking place on the ground right in NATO now, and will continue to take place at a quick pace," said the senior offi- cial, traveling aboard Baker's plane and commenting only on condition he not be named. Baker has lent support to the general idea of unification without publicly committing himself to any specific approach. He has stressed only that the country be in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and that it evolve in a peaceful, step-by-step way. His support for the Genscher plan, therefore, could be significant.- Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, with whom Baker will open four days of talks in Moscow tonight, has called for an interna- tional referendum, while expressing concern over "the revival of sinister shadows of the past.." See GERMANY, page 2 by Noelle Vance Daily Administration Reporter Business people who feel univer- sities are selling commercial goods and services at unfairly low prices are lobbying for a bill that would set up a state commission to handle such issues. The bill, a revision of House Bill 4546 proposed by State Representa- tive Margaret O'Conner (R-Ann Ar- bor), aims to eliminate "unfair" competition from universities which sell goods such as computers, eye- glasses, hearing aids or make-up. The bill would create a governor- appointed commission -composed of state commerce department offi- cials, university leaders, and busi- ness people - to hear charges made against universities. Either nine or eleven people would sit on the commission. The original bill mandated uni- versities not sell goods at a "substantially lower price than the market price," but gave no indication of how much lower was "substantial." Under the revised bill the com- mission would provide a means for determining the definition of sub- stantial on a case by case basis. If passed, the revised bill could affect the University of Michigan's sales of Apple computers and acces- sories. The University holds a contract with Apple Computer Inc. which al- lows it to purchase computers wholesale and sell them to students, faculty and staff for the purchase price plus a handling charge. Such a contract allows the Uni- versity to bypass local retailers and has received criticism from retailers who feel their business is hurt by the deal. University officials say the com- puter sales give students a chance to buy an "educational tool" they may not be able to afford otherwise. But sponsors of the bill say the University isn't just selling com- puters to students. "Anyone can get one... you're aunt, uncle or anyone," O'Conner said. "If I wanted to get a computer, I could get one," she said. The revised bill defines specific areas in which universities can sell goods. Such areas include: housing food service, goods with university insignias, and "anything directly re- lated to a teaching or researching ac- tivity." The revision of the bill should be finalized this week, O'Conner said. The bill will be presented to the Subcommittee on Colleges and Uni. versities for a hearing. Senate to vote on abortion consent bill Lansing (AP) - The stage is set for another vote in the Senate on a bill requiring minors to obtain parental consent for an abortion after a panel yesterday dropped a provision to allow exceptions if suicide is feared. The Senate Human Resources and Senior Citizens Committee approved the measure on a 4-1 vote with little discussion. Sen. Fred Dillingham (R-Fowlerville) said the full Senate measure, but Dilingham said even though the Senate would vote to override, it likely will never get to that point because an override in the House is improbable. "I would say we're close," Dillingham said. The measure, which passes both the House and the Senate earlier in different forms, would require a girl 17 or under to have a parent's con- sent for abortion. Winterfest is comingS Ann Arbor Heights youth pack columns of snow that will be used to cre- ate ice sculptures. As a part of Ann Arbor's annual Winterfest, the ice sculptures will be erected all over town. Bush encourages troops to remain on the defensive FORT IRWIN, Calif. (AP) - President Bush told U.S. troops tak- ing part in war games yesterday that political proposals by Soviet Presi- dent Mikhail S. Gorbachev are en- Democrats, contend that Bush's mil- itary budget ignores the dismantling of the Communist empire. Bush told the soldiers the U.S. Army "the premier land force in the "We've never stopped a battle be- fore to listen to the president on the radio," joked Army Col. Michael Ryan, chief of plans and operation. Bush, in his first remarks on of smoke emerging from tank columns, saw bursts of artillery shells and saw planes sweeping low to provide air cover over the dessert valley floor.