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One hundred and one years of editorial freedom
N E.
Wolverines edge
Iowa in Big Ten
opener, 80-77.
See SPORTS
Page 9.
Copyright ©1992
Vol. CII, No. 54 Ann Arbor, Michigan - Friday, January 1T,1992 the Michigan Daily
0f
Jesse Jackson
will speak at
'U next week
by Mona Qureshi
Daily Staff Reporter
In an attempt to shore up sup-
port for the state's homeless, Rev.
Jesse Jackson will visit several
Michigan cities next week.
Jackson will give a speech at
Hill Auditorium Tuesday and then
travel to Lansing Wednesday to lead
a rally and meet with Gov. John
Engler.
John Huls, a representative of
New Detroit, Inc. - an organiza-
tion which attempts to build
bridges between inner cities and
suburbs and one of the sponsors of
Jackson's visit - said Jackson will
meet with Engler to map out a way
to help Michigan homeless in light
of the Oct. 1 welfare cuts.
"Jackson's plan is different in
the sense that the governor and his
administration solved the budget
problem with the meat-axe ap-
proach and Jackson's approach is
long-term," Huls said.
Huls did not give specifics about
Jackson's plan to help the homeless,
but indicated in a press release that
it involved "reindustrialization in
the state, creating jobs and provid-
ing housing for the poor and
unemployed."
Jackson's interest in increasing
voter registration lies in his desire
to make people realize that they
have a crucial say in state and federal
matters Huls said.
"In Michigan, we have a gover-
nor who does things we don't agree
with. How else are the people going
to let him and others know if they
don't vote?" Huls asked.
But another crucial factor driv-
ing Jackson is the entry of David
Duke as a Republican presidential
candidate. With Duke running for
the Republican nomination, people
are more likely to register to vote in
See JACKSON, Page 2
Bush mission
to Japan ends
with promises
TOKYO (AP) - President tomakers who accompanied hi
Bush's trade mission to Japan ended voiced their unhappiness. Chrysi
yesterday in a final round of finger- Chairman Lee Iacocca said tl
pointing: American automakers were agreement "doesn't sound like a l
unhappy with vague trade pledges, of cars."
while the Japanese said the White Bush has linked the U.S. rece
House was making their nation a sion to Japan's trade practices, whii
scapegoat for America's inability to he says restrict imports and therefo
cure its own economic ills. cost Americans their jobs.
Bush, who was flying back to the In a joint declaration, Bush an
United States this morning, joined Miyazawa said they agreed th
Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa in "economic issues have assumed ne
an upbeat concluding declaration. prominence ... in the post-Cold W
But smiles were scarce away from era."
the formalities. And though Bush said mo
After the talks ended, U.S. au- needed to be done to balance trade, I
tomakers complained that Japan's said, "I think we have created jobs.
promises - to buy 20,000 more This visit has been a success."
U.S. cars per year, to double pur- Miyazawa said, "Some friction
chases of U.S. auto parts, to relax inevitable... But as the preside
car inspection standards and boost said, it was a fruitful summit." H
sales of other goods - weren't added, "I believe that the meetin
nearly enough. that I had with the president mark
Within minutes of Bush's an- a concrete first step toward buildir
nouncement of the details, the au- See JAPAN, Page
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Don't bite the hand that feeds you
ECB employee Teri Ford feeds a squirrel yesterday near Angell Hall.
'U' profs. predict hard
times for former USSR
by Lauren Dormer
and Ren6e Huckle
Daily Staff Reporters
As the fate of the Soviet Union
unfolds daily, professors at the
University concurred that the
Russian Republic will dominate the
new Commonwealth but expressed
varied predictions for economic re-
covery and political stability.
For instance, the question of
whether the . newly formed
Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) will eventually match
the power of the former Soviet
Union prompted varied reactions.
"Until the break-up, the Soviet
Union was considered a superpower
in a bipolar world ... almost
overnight, it went from being a su-
perpower to an international bas-
ketcase," political science Professor
Kenneth Lieberthal said. "There is
no comparison between the former
Soviet Union and the
Commonwealth of Independent
States."
However, political science
Professor Theodore Hopf said, "I
think Russia will end up resuming
the role of a great power not too far
down the road and it will turn out
to be a formidable competitor."
Yet economics Professor Anna
Meyendorff said the economic
strength of the Commonwealth
will depend substantially on
whether the republics have a com-
mon currency.
One area of agreement for most
professors was the notion that
Russia, as the largest republic, is and
will remain the first among equals.
"The Russian Republic will be
the dominant force in any common-
wealth, but must remain sensitive
to the nationalist fervor of other
republics," Lieberthal said. "If
Russia moves too assertively, the
reaction will not at all be in its
interests."
Some professors expressed con-
cern about the republics' desire to
demonstrate independence -from
both Russia and from each other.
"Economic rationality is not the
drive, it is rampant ethnic assertive-
ness," Lieberthal said. "This does
not bode well for a nationwide
market that leaders want.
Economically, Meyendorff said
that independence from Russia
could be harmful for the other re-
publics. Although the republics
will be "nominally separate coun-
tries," she said, they would be mak-
ing a mistake to cut themselves off
from Russia.
Yet professors disagreed about
the extent U.S. aid can act to smooth
the transition to a market economy
and democratic society.
Lieberthal said there is no way
the United States can control events
in the former Soviet Union which he
said is in the relatively early stages
of revolution, because the United
States does not have the necessary
resources.
However, Hopf stressed that
Wolverine Video store owner
out of business; Amer's adopts
e Mike Wax sued last earby studentsforaleged credit cani violations
by Ben Deci
Daily Crime Reporter
Former Wolverine Video store
owner Michael Wax, accused by
customers last year of charging
false late fees to their credit card ac-
counts, lost his business last month
in what may have been a bankruptcy
buy-out.
Accusations of.impropriety were
first leveled at Wax last spring
when a group of students ap-
proached Student Legal Services
about a class-action suit.
This fall, amid allegations of
similar misconduct, Wax allegedly
filed for bankruptcy, according to
ex-employees who refused to give
their names. Wolverine Video was
replaced by Campus Video, owned
i by Amer's Incorporated, at the
beginning of this semester.
"When I asked him about last
year's suit, he told me that he had
placated them out of court - that
he had paid them back, and he said it
was no big deal," said one of Wax's
former employees. "Now the
district attorney has been here and
also someone trying to serve a
subpoena."
Neither Wax nor the district at-
torney could be reached for com-
ment.
A representative of Campus
Video said it is a common practice
'There is no need to
charge a credit card
when there is a late
fee.'
- Campus Video
Representative
among video stores to request a
credit card number or a deposit be-
fore renting to customers.
"You take a credit card number
and give a membership so that you
know who has your videos. Every
store in a town this size does it." he
explained.
However, members of the class
action suit alleged that Wax
charged exorbitant late fees, some-
times up to $200, to their credit
cards. "There is no need to charge a
credit card when there is a late fee.
Mr. Wax just took it to the limit,"
the representative said.
"Occasionally we would get
people who would come in asking
why their card had been charged, and
I would just tell them what Mike
told me too, which was normally
that he was out," said one former
Wolverine Video employee.
Other former employees of Wax
describe him as "a playboy who
would just stand and watch people
from behind his two-way mirror
whenever he came to work and who
preferred to spend money on him-
self and not the store."
The former employees, some of
whom now work for Campus
Video, also pointed to Wax's indif-
ference as a reason for Wolverine
Video's poor selection. "It's nice to
work with somebody who cares
about the store," one employee
added.
while a cooperative effort between
the United States, Japan, and Europe
could have a significant impact on
events because it would cause a great
deal of pressure, there is no effort
by the three powers to create a
common agenda.
"One big challenge to the United
States is to think what we want,
rather than simply react," Hopf
said. "There is very, very little
thought given to what ultimate
outcome we want and how we
should ensure it."
Political science Professor
See CIS, Page 2
Ukraine,
Russia vie
for Black,
Sea fleet.
MOSCOW (AP) - Boris
Yeltsin declared yesterday that Rus-
sia will never surrender its Black Sea
fleet, and Ukraine's president stepped
back from a confrontation by post-
poning his effort to take over the
powerful armada.
Control over the fleet of 45 sur-
face warships and 300 smaller ves-
sels is the thorniest issue dividing
the two most populous and powerful
former Soviet republics.
"The Black Sea fleet was, is and
will be Russia's," the Tass news
agency quoted Yeltsin as telling
workers at an aircraft factory during a
tour of provincial Russian cities.
Yeltsin's comments reflected
Russia's deep emotional and histori-
cal attachment to the fleet estab-
lished by Catherine the Great in
1783.
Thousands of Russians rallied
Wednesday in the fleet's home port
of Sevastopol against Ukrainian con-
trol over the ships.
Forty-four percent of the 1.3 mil-
lion soldiers based in Ukraine are
Russian.
Russia has smaller fleet base op-
erations in the eastern Black Sea,
along about 350 miles on its terri-
tory, including Novorossiysk and.
Sochi. Ukraine has about 450 miles
of Black Sea coastline.
Ukraine President Leonid
Kravchuk temporarily defused the
conflict yesterday by postponing for
six months his demand that the ar-
rnwin n~i~rlafnil rninnrP to Tlrrniia-.
Slippery slope
Joshua and Rebecca Bornstein slide at the park located on the corner of
South University and Walnut yesterday as a man watches.
Wilder's withdrawal
. Black students expres4
by Andrew Levy
Daily Campaign Issues Reporter
Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder's
withdrawal Wednesday from the
presidential race may have come as a
surprise, but many in the campus
fiscal crisis as his reason for drop-
ping out, but others have speculated
that weak polls in New Hampshire
and a lack of campaign donations
contributed to his decision.
Reactions to Wilder's an-
nouncement among Black students
on campus revealed that most did
not know who he was, and pointed
to a more general apathy.
Cedric Skillon, art LSA sopho-
more, did not know who Wilder
s apathy at
tions, that is people who are now
sophomores and first-year students,
are losing awareness. They have lost
a sense of awareness with regard to
social consciousness. They are
comfortable with their lives."
As the only nationally recog-
nized Black candidate this year,
Wilder's aborted presidential effort
stands in stark contrast to the cam-
paigns waged by Rev. Jesse Jackson
in the last two elections. In the
colm X, they had a passion - and
Wilder didn't express that. He may
have had it, but he didn't express
it."
Michael Dawson, an assistant'
professor of political science and
'I don't think the
country is ready for a
Black president.'
- Rudv Redmond
consciously distanced himself from
racial issues and has also positioned
himself as a conservative Democrat
... which is distinctly to the right of
the mainstream Black American."
Yet other Black students at the
University expressed concern over
Wilder's withdrawal.
"I'm really disappointed, be-
cause I thought he'd make a really
good candidate," said LSA senior
Shereen Williams.
- orM