TODAY Cold, flurries possible; High: 28, Low: 15. TOMORROW Cloudy, some sun; High: 30, Low: 21. 1£tgu:4 4k whyfi IP-] 'M' hockey hopes to poke out Buckeyes. See SPORTS Page 11. One hundred and one years of editorial freedom Vol. CII, No. 63 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Friday, January 24, 1992 Th Mcigan Daily U.S. to aid Commonwealth WASHINGTON (AP) - Forty-seven nations large and small agreed yesterday on a massive "global effort" to rescue millions of hungry people in the former So- viet Union with humanitarian shipments of food and medicine. The United States will airlift supplies to the 12 former republics with 54 sorties beginning Feb. 10. The food aboard will include 38.4 million pounds left over from the Persian Gulf war, enough for 16 million meals. A million doses of Desert Storm antibiotics will be carried by the C-5 and C-141 cargo planes, as well. The airlift will "vividly show the peoples of the former Soviet Union that those who once prepared for war with them now have the courage and conviction to use their militaries to wage a new peace," Secretary of State James Baker said. The NATO alliance will under- take complementary deliveries. "Nothing could better symbolize the end of the Cold War," NATO Secretary-General Manfred Wo- erner said. Baker said several countries had offered contributions in the closed sessions after President Bush pledged an additional $645 million at the opening Wednesday. He said Saudi Arabia would re- lease $1.5 billion it had held up. Japan pledged $50 million in grants to purchase medicine and U.S. offi- cials said South Korea had offered $800 million and Thailand $450 million in low-interest loans. Ar- gentina offered to take in 100,000 refugees. "Countries are responding in large measure in proportion to their ability," Baker said. The United States has pledged more than $5 bil- lion, mostly in farm credits while the 12-nation European Community, led by Germany, has contributed billions of dollars more in credit, loans and grants. The conference came up with outlines on how to assist the re- publics in the areas of food, shelter, See AID, Page 2 11 g g1 the foo* Iooti :;s SUR Ann Arbor City lark Anre ivyDffi RAHI deadline dr by Andrew Levy Daily Campaign Issues Reporter Michigan's March 17 presiden- tial primary may seem a long way off, but the deadline is drawing Primary registration aws near (MBOE) for Feb. 18, leaving prospective voters just under a month to register. Michigan state law requires all unregistered vot- ers to do so at least 30 days before an election. However, despite the impending deadline, the Ann Arbor city clerk's office reports no unusual influx of voter registrations. "What we're doing now is just routine registration," said Herb Katz, a worker in the city clerk's office. "It doesn't look like there's all that much interest, or people have already registered." See VOTERS, Page 2 near for people who have not yet registered. The registration deadline has been set by the Michigan Depart- ment of State Bureau of Elections Seminar :.y ' p..:" 4 "' .4:v u.:. discusses}T. o ution racism by Karen Pier and Nicole Malenfant Daily Staff Reporters:^ Court: 'U' illegally hired Duderstadt When Hazal Johnson's pregnant daughter took an ultrasound test to see her infant child, she was shocked when the doctors discovered that the 5-month-old fetus was missing its head. Johnson, a Black resident of Chicago's south east side, attributes the birth defect to chemical waste - including asbestos, contaminated water and toxic fumes - prevalent in her predominantly minority community. Johnson was one of nine people who spoke at the law school's "Race, Poverty & The Environ- ment" symposium yesterday, which addressed the subject of "environmental racism." Much of today's chemical waste adversely affects minority commu- See SEMINAR, Page 2 by Melissa Peerless Daily Administration Reporter The state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the University Board of Regents violated the Michigan Open Meetings Act while conducting their search to find a new president in 1988. Nevertheless, University Presi- dent James Duderstadt will not be forced to resign from the presidency because of the ruling. The suit was brought against the regents by The Ann Arbor News and the Detroit Free Press. The regents trimmed the number of presidential candidates from 250 to just Duderstadt before they took any action in the public arena. University Director of Presiden- tial Communications Shirley Clarkson said the regents met pri- vately in order to protect the pri- vacy of the applicants. "The fact is that a candidate for a job at a major University should not be exposed to the public. If they are, they leave themselves vulnerable at their old jobs without knowing if they will be finalists," she said. Walter Harrison, executive di- rector of University relations, agreed with Clarkson. "I'm not even trying to be a pres- ident, and if I was applying to a job where my name was publicized, I never would have applied," he said. But Ann Arbor News Editor Ed Petykiewicz said the concern for privacy does not justify violating the Open Meetings Act. "The balance act in this is that the public has a right to know. It's more important for the public to know, even if it means that some people may not apply to a job," he said. The two newspapers alleged that the regents met in small groups, communicated by phone and trav- eled to the homes of applicants in order to avoid making their proceed- ings public. Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Ar- bor) said he feels that since the re- gents are popularly elected, the pub- lic grants them the authority to conduct a job search in whatever manner the regents deem appropriate. "The regents are elected by the people of Michigan. Constitution- ally, they are given the power to do all of the things possible to pre- serve quality education in Michi- gan," he said. He added that the current Open Meetings Act is ineffective because it induces administrators to make their own decisions instead of wait- ing for public discussion of an issue. But Petykiewicz said the regents are still obliged follow the act. "When you start making public decisions, they have to be in public. The candidates who are making the threshold and are being considered and are going to be interviewed should be made public," he said. Wednesday's ruling overturned a 1988 Washtenaw County Circuit Court decision, which found that the regents had acted appropriately See SUIT, Page 2 Magdelena Avila speaks atthe Race, Poverty, and the Environment symposium yesterd ay. all I ague guidelines, fairness spur audits of universities aily gher Edu aion R orter billed as indirect research costs. General, said that the agency is is planning to examine the indirect and the Division of Cost Alloca Schools are assigned t y ep tions asked the Office of the the Defense Contract o either HHS, Audit Agencv Vague guidelines, a lack of com- munication, and the issue of fairness are underlying themes in recent au- dits of several universities nation- wide, say government officials and university administrators. In a report released last week, the Department of Health and Hu- man Services (HHS) found that 14 schools - including the University - spent $20.4 million in expenses *which it deemed inappropriately Indirect research costs normally include such expenditures as heating and maintenance for research buildings. Travel expenses constituted a large share of this money, as well as football tickets, opera tickets, and legal fees, said Judy Holtz, spokesperson for the Office of the Inspector General. Tony Sims, public affairs special- ist for the Office of the Inspector trying to clear up current vague regulations. "The overall problem lies in what schools think is allowable and what we think is allowable. Some is blatant, like tickets to a football game." Sims pointed to a reception held for an important research fellow as an example of a cost which could be disputed. Although Holtz said that HHS research accounting of approxi- mately 150 universities, HHS was on campus looking through files and records at 14 schools, including Duke University, Emory Univer- sity, Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California, Washington University, and Yale University. Holtz said these schools were singled out because they had the highest amount of research funding Inspector General to examine them. The HHS audits are among many conducted by governmental agencies which have uncovered cases of inap- propriate billing of both direct and indirect research-related costs in au- dits of universities over the past year. HHS is one of three government agencies to conduct audits of univer- sity indirect research expenditures. (DCAA), which is part of Depart- ment of Defense, or the General Accounting Office (GAO). Each of the three offices will present its report to the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the umbrella organization, at a hearing Jan. 29. ONR must then decide whether to accept the auditor's findings from the universities. See AUDITS, Page 2 Disability act improves main busing service for disabled But local handicapped users fear losing quality of AATA services by Erin Einhorn Daily City Reporter People don't realize how trans- portation affects the disabled, said Donna Rose, a blind Social Work student. "If you can't get to the grocery store," she said, "it's a matter of life and death." That's why Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), in 1990. ADA not only guarantees access for physically challenged people to all public transportation, it requires that all cities provide a door-to- door para-transit system that can pick physically disabled people up from their homes and take them where they need to go. The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA), along with similar organizations in, every U.S. city, will submit plans to the U.S. Denatment of Transnnrtation buses in Ann Arbor, said White, but many disabled people complain that they are unreliable and are not avail- able at all times. White said that AATA will have made positive changes in its maintenance practices by September. It also hopes to install grab rails on the lifts so that people, not in wheelchairs, who have difficulty entering busses and need support while riding the lifts, will have something to hold on to. "People generally feel that it's a positive move," White said. "But they're concerned that we're going to require people to use it." Because AATA offers services so far* beyond those required by the ADA, it could legally cut its programs. "Under ADA we have to make some determination and reduc- ;, ".ni ; Whitp"hil twe're not sit system serves a broad range of people at a relatively lower level of quality," said Robert Ashby, deputy assistant gen ral council for regula- tion and enforcement for DOT, who developed she ADA regulations. "ADA aims at serving the smaller number of people at a higher level." As a result, people who are able to use the main line system, like the elderly, may soon be ineligible for A-Ride. But many of the disabled people in Ann Arbor have adjusted to their disabilities based on the quality of services provided by A-Ride, and fear what could happen if they lose these services. "I have no problem with main line accessibility," said Rose, who often uses the main-line buses, "but that' s not the best way for every- one.' There are many problems associ- Residential College junior Craig Regester and Residential College senior Anthony Bedwell look at an Ann Arbor map for the location of an apartment. Students plead 'Oh, give me a home' at off-campus housing day program by Purvi Shah Daily Staff Reporter nizations that attended the event. Perrvdore said some students LSA first-year student Toyura Caver eidsh cnme to the nrngram I