The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 23, 1992 - Page 3 MSA approves $457,710 budget by Purvi Shah Daily Staff Reporter The Michigan Student Assembly passed its budget last night, which includes the external budget of $457,710, an internal budget of $143,053, and a surplus of $57,000. In the external budget the follow- ing allocations were made - $27,835 for the Ann Arbor Tenants Union, $286,822 for Student Legal Services, and $143,053 for the assembly. The internal budget is the pool of money MSA uses to fund student groups, committees and commis- sions, and other activities and pro- grams such as Advice magazine and elections. Disagreement arose over how and when the assembly should dis- Perot calls drop from '92 race a * mistake DALLAS (AP) - Ross Perot said yesterday he "made a mistake" in dropping his independent presi- dential challenge, delivering yet an- other broad hint that he may engage in active campaigning in the final weeks of the race. The Texas business executive complained that neither President Bush nor Democratic nominee Bill Clinton had offered serious propos- als to deal with the nation's budget deficit. Former media adviser Jim Squires said Perot had no illusions of winning such a race, but that he might begin running ads and making speeches in states like Texas and Florida, where he could affect the outcome. Mainly, "This is an invitation to Bill Clinton to put a serious eco- nomic proposal on the table," Squires said. SqHe suggested that Perot might begin engaging in campaign-related activity around Oct. 1 if neither Clinton nor Bush takes him up on his request that they pay more atten- tion to economic issues. "In retrospect, I think I made a mistake because they really didn't face the issues," Perot said. Perot has proposed austere bud- get cuts and some tax increases, in- cluding higher taxes on gasoline. Orson Swindle, national volun- teer coordinator for Perot's petition drive, said he expected a report from state coordinators by tomorrow on local sentiments. They will decide later in the week whether to meet with Perot. "If he responds to what I expect the volunteers will tell him and says 'I will do what I said,' then I think you'll see full-blown campaign that will not be a conventional cam- paign," Swindle said. Perot still has about 50 people working on a paid campaign staff at his Dallas headquarters. "He said he made a mistake," said Al Barnaud, a phone bank vol- unteer. "That's strong. It leaves us to feel he is about to declare again." Sharon Holman, a Perot spokes- person in Dallas, said he would make his decision only on volunteer sentiment. perse its $57,000 in surplus - $24,916 of which must be placed in a reserve fund. Because MSA's tax-exempt sta- tus is currently undergoing review, the organization is unsure whether it can use more than 5 percent of its budget to fund a lobbying group. For this reason, some members of the assembly were wary of granting money to the Michigan Collegiate Coalition (MCC) - a Washington lobbying group - until a final deci- sion on the assembly's tax-exempt status was reached. Tax-exempt sta- tus is not granted to groups which allocate more than 5 percent of their budget to lobbying organizations under certain IRS regulations. The assembly finally decided to allocate the money in the surplus but not disperse it until final approval for tax-exempt status is determined. "It's all earmarked but it's not going to be given out," said LSA Rep. Sejal Mistry. Of the surplus money, $14,884 was given to MCC, $5,000 to the ac- counting firm working on MSA's tax-exempt status, and $13,000 for a new copier. MCC was originally allotted $22,000 but an amendment spon- sored by Engineering Rep. Brian Kight lowered the figure in order to allot money for a new copier. Some representatives argued that the group had to allocate the money this year under the current surplus because the budgets of following years would not allow for extra spending. "We have to cut a lot of services to students if we don't spend the money where we need to now," said LSA Rep. Rob Van Houweling. But MCC Chair Stephanie Arellano spoke against the amend- ment, saying, "If MCC is going to continue to progress and grow ... we need to have some kind of consistent mechanism for funding." In other news, the assembly unanimously approved a resolution requesting assistance from "all stu- dent and community organizations" to oppose the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities. The as- sembly also voted to provide the Student Rights Commission with $100 from the Operations budget to fund fliers and other committee activities. I ERIK ANGERMEIER/Daily First day of fall Clouds rolling in over the Law Quad yesterday brought with them cooler temperatures and gave a cruel reminder that winter is around the corner. Mich. termlimit proposal among srictet nU.S. FILE PHOTO/Daily Could we talk about the weather... A sweet old lady dressed in Autumn garb spies a cunning Daily photographer at Briarwood mall. U-M to co-sponsor conference on environmental issues in N.C. by Will McCahill The U-M is co-sponsoring one of the largest environmental issues col- loquiums of its kind at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., this Thursday through Saturday. Representatives from more than 80 universities, private corporations and government agencies will meet to talk about the role of universities in environmental research and education. The U-M is sending eight repre- sentatives, including two graduate students. Leading the group is Biology Prof. Thomas Moore, cura- tor of insects at the U-M Museum of Zoology and director of the Exhibit Museum. Moore said he hopes the collo- quium will result in more network- ing among institutions involved in environmental studies. "The intention is to promote co- operation within and among univer- sities," Moore said. Building new prospects for coop- eration on environmental research between universities, corporations, and government is another goal of the colloquium, Moore said. Because the organizations in- volved in research are usually work- 'I can't emphasize focus too much. These are the most complex problems humans ever faced.' - Thomas Moore biology professor ing on different and unrelated pro- jects there is often a lack of a com- mon focus, he added. "I can't emphasize focus too much," said Moore. "These are the most complex problems humans ever faced." Although many environmental problems are too complex to solve in the near future, Moore said he hopes the colloquium will result in more comprehensive research and more funding for environmental projects. "There's no money behind this yet," said Moore. U-M Vice President for Research William Kelly will be attending the colloquium with the university dele- gation, and Moore said he hopes Kelly will help convey the issues raised at the colloquium to U-M administrators. Moore added that he hopes Kelly's presence at the meeting will demonstrate that funding needs to come from both the government and the universities themselves. Other sponsors of the colloquium include the host NC State University, Duke University, the University of North Carolina, and Sigma Xi, a scientific research society. Among the corporations sending representatives are General Motors, Dow Chemical, and the Environmental Defense Fund. Top officials from the Environmental Protection Agency are also expected to attend. Garry Brewer, dean and professor of resource policy at the School of Natural Resources and Environment; James Teeri, director of the Biological Station and a professor of biology; Stuart Hart, an assistant professor from the School of Business Administration; Richard Rockwell, a research scientist at the Center for Political Studies; and graduate students Kim Lindblade and James Albert will accompany Moore and Kelly to the conference. LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The proposal to limit the terms of Michigan's congressional delegation is among the strictest of the plans on 15 state ballots this November, fig- ures from a national term limit group show. Americans to Limit Congres- sional Terms said of the 15 states scheduled to vote on term limits, six would allow their House members to serve at least eight years. The plan on Michigan's Nov. 3 ballot would limit U.S. House mem- bers to six years, as would those of eight other states. But the president of the Wash- ington-based group, James Coyne, said yesterday that won't put Michigan at a disadvantage com- pared to those with longer limits or no limits at all. "I want to dispel this false argu- ment because this is clearly not a single state issue here in Michigan. Michigan is doing this as part of a national movement to enact a consti- tutional amendment to limit terms," he said. Coyne said the 15 states represent about a third of the nation and if they add term limits to their state consti- tutions, Congress will have to pass an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. "Eventually, the states where it has passed are going to.put pressure on the Congress to pass a constitu- tional amendment to create a uni- form amendment nationwide," he said. Kathy Pelleran, executive direc- tor of the Michigan Citizens Com- mittee Against Term Limitations, said in the meantime, Michigan would be shortchanged. "We cannot in Michigan allow ourselves to be put on a less-than= even playing field with other states across the country," she said. "We cannot count on people from Texas or California to carry through on our priorities." Coyne portrayed the term limit movement as a grass-roots effort that gathered more than 3.5 million sig- natures to place it on November ballots. But Pelleran said campaign fi- nance reports show the Michigan ef- fort used out-of-state money to hire paid circulators to gather most of its 398,643 signatures. The proposal would limit mem- bers of the U.S. House from Michigan to no more than three two- year terms in any 12-year period and U.S. senators from Michigan to two six-year terms during a 24-year pe- riod. State representatives would be limited to three two-year terms, state senators to two four-year terms, and the governor and other executive officers to two four-year terms. Steve Mitchell, executive director of the Vote Yes on Proposal B Committee, said six years strength- ens the state's bargaining position in case Congress decides to propose its own amendment with much more generous limits. "We felt three terms was long enough. They can do their civic duty and then either move on to the Senate or can move on. We believe it is a very fair number of years for someone to serve," he said. U i Student groups Q AIESEC, mass meeting, 1276 School of Business Administra- tion, 6 p.m. Q Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fra- ternity,rush/informational meet- ing, K1320 B-School, 6 p.m. Q~ Handbell Ringers, 900 Burton Tower, 4 p.m. xQMichigan Women's Rugby Club, practice, East Mitchell Field, 8- 10 p.m. Q Newman Catholic Student As- sociation, U-M Catholic Student Fellowship, 7 p.m., Centering Prayer,7 p.m., 331 Thompson St. Q Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do Club, CCRB,Martial Arts Room,9:15- 10:15p.m. in Ann Arbor, meeting, 2439 Mason Hall, 8 p.m. IJ U-M Ninjitsu Club, practice, I.M. Building, G21 Wrestling Room, 7:30-9 p.m. 0 WJJX,mass meeting, MLB, room B 134, 7:30 p.m. Events U American Culture Theme Se- mester, speech by James Axtell, Michigan Union, Kuenzel Room, 8 p.m. 0 Career Planning and Placement, interviewing, CP&P Program Room, 4:10-5 p.m. U "Das Boot," movie, Oxford Hous- ing, Max Kade Haus, 8 p.m. [J "L'viv and Post-Soviet Organization," 2202 Michigan Union. J Student Organization Develop- ment Center, lastday forFestifall registration, 2202 Michigan Union. L "Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse," workshop, Soundings, 117 N. First St., 4-6 p.m. L) "The Idea of Difference in Con- temporary Martinican Thought," speech by Richard Burton, Rackham West Confer- ence Room, 8 p.m. 01 "The Utility of the Death Pen- alty as an Instrument of the Criminal Law," debate between Prof. Ernst Van den Haag and Prof. Samuel Gross sponsored by A Career in the Foreign Service r* Learn about the Foreign Service Examination and the challenge of representing the U.S. abroad. Also, information on Civil Service careers. Date: Thursday, September 24 '7. n O.1t .. 'r....