OPINION 4 IMovie director Spike Lee is coming to speak at the University, but at what cost? Well, $15,000 to the groups bringing him here, which means $6.50 to anyone who wants to hear him. The weather may not feel like spring yet, but when it does, what are you going to wear? Turn to the inside section and allow the cast of Ann Arbor 48019 to show you. Michigan football coach Gary Moeller is entering the upcoming season with cautious optimism. His Wolverines have a chance to be the first team ever to win five consecutive Big. Ten titles. Mostly cloudy; High: 47, Low: 33 Tomorrow Cloudy, colder; High 38, Low 25 WE 4ir tz One hundred and one years of editorial freedom v II, o.10 AnAbrMihian-Turda, Mach 92e1992The ichga Dily Clinton bashes Brown's flat tax Associated Press As a Jerry Brown anti-establish- ment campaign gains horsepower, the former California governor's proposed 13 percent "flat tax" is coming under increased scrutiny. While Democratic front-runner Bill Clinton derides what he calls "Jerry's tax" as an assault on the poor, Brown defends the scheme as simple and fair and says "people like it." Clinton all but abandoned his at- tacks on President Bush as he moved to blunt Brown's momentum follow- ing the former California governor's 1-point upset in Connecticut's presi- dential primary Tuesday. At the White House, Bush calmly shrugged off the latest Republican protest votes against him, saying he was "very glad at the size of the win" in Connecticut. Clinton launched an aggressive attack designed to keep Brown from riding a surge of support out of Connecticut and into the April 7 New York primary. Clinton clearly showed how Brown's win changed the texture of the race overnight. For a week after his Midwest wins, Clinton's target of choice was Bush and Brown no more than an afterthought. Yesterday morning Clinton was See TAX, Page 2 NORML, 'U' go to court for Diag permit by Melissa Peerless Daily Administration Reporter DOUG KANTER/Daily In preparation for next week's Michigan Student Assembly elections, Progressive Party presidential candidate Ede Fox (left) and Conservative Coalition presidential candidate Scott Gast (right) debate last night in the Union. Pres. candidatesde Tuesda y'MSscfl The University is going to court today. The campus chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is suing the University to obtain a permit for the Diag during Hash Bash April 4. Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Mary Ann Swain ordered the Student Organization Development Center to deny NORML use of the Diag when the group applied for a permit last month. Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge Donald Shelton will hear to- day's case. In a court case brought in 1990 after the University refused to let NORML use the Diag, Shelton ruled for NOR ML. NORML members said they are confident they will win this case as well. "I wouldn't be surprised if the judge looked at the case and decided in 15 minutes," said NORML Secretary Adam Brook. "This is ridiculous. The University caused a frivolous lawsuit." Brook added, "I believe that this case is the same that we had before." However, University General Counsel Elsa Cole said the' University will attempt to prove that today's case is not like the 1990 suit. Cole said, "(Judge Shelton) will be familiar with the issues after the other case, but it is our intention to show him that the facts are different this time." The University has scheduled an indoor forum to discuss the issue of marijuana legalization April 1. Because NORML has been invited to participate, the University claims that denying the Diag permit does not limit the group's free speech. However, Robert Carbeck, NORML's attorney, said that an in- door forum which charges admission for entrance is not like a Diag rally. "That's about as blatant a prior restraint of political speech as I've ever seen," he said. Cole said the University will probably appeal the case if Shelton finds for NORML. The Michigan Student Assembly's Student Rights Commission (SRC) reserved the Diag for April 4 to protest the University's denial of NORML's permit. However, SRC Chair Michael Warren said if Shelton rules to let NORML use the Diag, he will let them fill the entire time slot. "I would still like to get my five minute speech in, but the whole point of me getting the permit was to make a statement against the University and to make sure that NORML gets to speak," he said.. Brook said he expects this year's Hash Bash will be the largest one in recent history. "It is getting much more national publicity this year," he said. "I know of people who are planning to come from New York, California and Arizona." by Jennifer Silverberg Daily MSA Reporter The fight that erupted at Tuesday night's Michigan Student Assembly meeting was one of the topics discussed at a debate last night between MSA presidential. candidats Progressive Party candidate Ede Fox and Conservative Coalition (CC) candidate Scott Gast debated in the Union Kunzel Room last night. About 40 people attended. The candidates were asked to comment on the events that took place at Tuesday night's MSA meeting that resulted in one repre- sentative allegedly being hit for calling a constituent a derogatory name. "The events were unfortunate but no Conservative Coalition members were involved," Gast said. "CC is often accused of discrimina- tion, but anyone who knows our party knows that's not true. It was obviously a political stunt because the platform of our oppostion is not strong enough to carry the party into MSA on its own merit." Fox disagreed that the event was a staged act designed to attract pub- licity. "It was not a stunt," Fox said. "Obviously this woman was treated with no respect and this is an ex- ample of how students in general are treated on campus. I won't put all the blame on CC, but they learn what they do from the institution who keeps institutional racism alive and going. What happened last See DEBATE, Page 2 -1 Applications to 'U' increase despite slump in economy by Purvi Shah ous years. rollment deposits and I haven't had a great creased financial aid packages for in-state threat of a double-digit tuition increas Daily Administration Reporter Swain said that in comparison to past increase in requests for waivers." students. the University is still Renaissance s ____ ____ _C 46A+ 1nnnf Cro f{.L in ntAe2 Mnr~nntn um (tP t m.IA ,i rChrf se, tu- In a time when the number of graduat- ing high school students is down, the num- ber of applications submitted to the University is up. Yet the slight increase in applications belies high school and campus officials' claim that prospective students are biding their time before committing to a college in light of current economic con- cerns. The University has accumulated 17,706 first-year undergraduate fall applications DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS this year - up 1 percent from the 17,469 applications received last year said Don Swain, associate director of Admissions. Although the number of people ac- cepted to the University has increased by a corresponding 1 percent, acceptances - es- pecially from out-of-state students - are trickling in at a slower rate than in previ- years, fewer prospective students are sub- mitting enrollment deposits at this point in time. "Those are lagging behind a little bit, partly because the fee has been increased $100 to $200," he said. "People are hold- ing off making commitments until finding out about other offers and financial aid packages." While the fee increase may be deterring some future University students, Swain added that it is helping to give a more accu- rate picture of the number of people who truly intend to enroll. But Admissions Counselor Kristi Laakko said she thinks the fee increase is having a minimal effect on the number of students who are planning to matriculate. "We usually don't get a lot of enroll- ment deposits until we get closer to the deadline," she said. "I work with the en- Tuition increases may also cause out-of- state students to wait longer before com- mitting. While the thought of a 10 to 15 percent University tuition hike may lead out-of-state seniors to hesitate before en- rolling, the hike will be offset by in- At least for the in-state students, we try to give a corrected financial aid package increase," Swain said. Audrey Lester, the Guidance Department head at Renaissance High School in Detroit, said that despite the "(Students applying to out-of-state schools) are kind of waiting for financial aid packages," she said. "The ones that are applying to Michigan schools are just See ADMISSIONS, Page 7 Application levels vary among universities nationwide by Karen Sabgir Daily Higher Education Reporter Admissions officers nationwide are pointing to a stagnant economy and their schools' reputations as factors influencing changes in the application pools. While the number of high school gradu- ates is shrinking, universities have ac- knowledged both increases and decreases in the number of applicants for next year's entering class. Associate Director for Admissions for Recruitment at Michigan State University (MSU) Richard Hensen said, "The number of high school graduates has gone down in Michigan, in the region and in the nation." The size of graduating classes are expected to go down until 1994 and then level off, he said. While applications to MSU are down 1 to 2 percent this year, Hensen said "there are far fewer multiple applications than in past years." He said students are not apply- ing to as many schools - or sending out as many fees - because of the staggering economy._ Applications to Ohio State University (OSU) are also down less than 2 percent, but Gail Stefanoff from the OSU admis- sions office said, "We're feeling pretty good about it - especially because the number of high school graduates for 1992 is down 2.5 percent." Economic difficulties may be prevent- ing students from applying to some schools. Margaret Folger, associate director of admissions at the University of North Carolina (UNC), said money is one reason See NATIONWIDE, Page 7 Assembly clarifies oversight elections by Jennifer Silverberg Daily MSA Reporter Michigan Student Assembly representatives passed a compiled code change at Tuesday's meeting even though proceedings were tem- porarily interrupted when a fight broke out between a constituent and Ali ;