The Michigan Daily- Tuesday, November 3, 1992 - Page 3 Two candidates vie for county drain post N by Jonathan Berndt Daily City Reporter Experience and environmental concerns distinguish the two candidates running for Washtenaw County drain commissioner today. Steve Olmstead, an urban planning consul- tant for a Taylor, Mich., engineering firm, is challenging incumbent Janis Bobrin for the county's most powerful environment-related position. The drain commissioner is responsible for the maintenance and construction of the coun- ty's drainage system, as well as levying as- sessments to pay for the work. "I am the only county official involved full- time in environmental protection," Bobrin said. But Olmstead said he thinks Bobrin has not been involved enough. "I would try to make the office more re- sponsive to public," Olmstead said. "I would ensure the proper maintenance of storm drains in Washtenaw County, and be more accessible - more accountable." He also proposed regular monthly meetings throughout the county. Bobrin defended her record and offered some ways to improve the office. "I have been very active in applying for federal grants," she said. "And I started a stu- dent environmental internship program." She added the county has recently secured $210,000 in federal grants. One will prepare a watershed plan for long-term protection of the Huron River. The other will fund modifica- tions to Paint Creek, the only trout stream in Washtenaw County. Bobrin said one problem is that the county cannot presently respond to toxic spills. "We need to work on HazMet - a haz- ardous materials recovery team to respond to spills and recoveries," she said. Both candidates oppose the proposed Envotech incinerator. "It's not a sound facility," Bobrin said. "All county drains in that area go into Stony Creek and Lake Erie. It's not a suitable design and it's not a good area." Olmstead agreed, saying that the incinera- tor's location is problematic. "It's the wrong location. I would use my power to make sure that environmental catastrophe never happens." Each candidate also has job-related experi- ence and a master's degree in urban planning from the U-M. Bobrin has previously worked with local governments on environmental planning and water quality programs. She is currently chair The drain commissioner is responsible for the maintenance and construction of the county's drainage system, as well as levying assessments to pay for the work. of the state water quality board and was ap- pointed by former Gov. James Blanchard to the state environmental services board. Olmstead said he was contacted by a group of people concerned about the lack of drain maintenance. "After looking at all the job required, i concluded I could do a very good job foF Washtenaw County." He cited his work in the private sector af his main job qualifications. "After working for the private sector, which requires you to satisfy clients, which requires; excellent service, I have the management; experience needed in the drain commissioner's office." LSA junior Shalid Murtuza, a WJJX disc jockey spins a compact disc during his afternoon show. The disc jockeys can now choose what type of music they want to play. A program schedule is being arranged. Student station WJJX returns to airwave by Nate Hurley Daily Staff Reporter Students who live in the Hill area and Bursley residence halls will be able to re- ceive one more Ann Arbor radio station, in addition to the traditional standbys - WIQB and WCBN. WJJX (AM 640), part of the Campus Broadcasting Network which controls sis- ter station WCBN-FM, began broadcast- ing about three weeks ago. The student- run station aired on a limited basis during the fall of 1991, but went off the air due to poor organization and management. The U-M's Office of Student Services shut down WJJX in February 1987 as a result of students protesting racist jokes that were aired on one of the station's stu- dent call-in programs. Ted Oberg, general manager of the Campus Broadcasting Network, classifies the incident as something that happened "a long time ago." "The incident at WJJX got a lot of negative publicity for the station," Oberg said. The station still uses student DJs, but does not have telephone call-in programs. ,s after 5-year David Hoard, former program director Oberg sa for WJJX, said the absence of telephone residence ha call-in programs was one of the require- signal. "We ments the station needed to fulfill before ting accessI returning to the air. ters are," he "All student DJs had to sign a certain "The tec agreement which held the DJs accountable be," Hoard personally," Hoard said. looking into Hoard was program director for WJJX more people until Sunday night, when former WJJX The stat Publicity Director Gwyn Hulswit took over the air over the position. FCC (Feder, In an interview Friday, Hoard said he sion) license was leaving his position based on a pretty hard t4 personalidecision." Hoard said his deci- hetat sion had nothing to do with the station. The stat Although the station has begun to working on broadcast, many students still may be un- low the cabh able to receive the station. Instead of as backgrou broadcasting over the airwaves like most bulletin boar radio stations, WJJX uses the residence The static hall telephone lines to carry its signal. work out a d However, not all of the residence halls added. are receiving the station. Transmitters in WJJX br( West and South Quads are off, there is no midnight and transmitter in East Quad, and due to tech- Last year the nical problems, only half of Bursley Hall but this yea receives the radio station's signal. ward alternat hiatus id he does not know when all alls will be able to receive the are held up by problems get- to places where the transmit- said. hnology is not what it used to said. The station is currently a plan which would enable to listen to the station. ion dismissed broadcasting rwaves as a possibility. "An ral Communications Commis- - is expensive, impractical and o get," Hoard said. on and Columbia Cable are an agreement that would al- e company to broadcast WJJX nd music for a community *d channel, Hoard said. on and Columbia Cable may eal as soon as January, Oberg oadcasts daily from noon until d is operated by U-M students. station's format was Top-40, r it will be leaning more to- tive music. { Court says grandparents can visit their grandkids ' { . ,rt *; WASHINGTON (AP) - Kentucky farmer Bill King said the 1 1/2 years when his es- tranged son refused to let him see his grand- daughter was "just like going to a funeral." Now, as result of Supreme Court action up- holding his right to see his grandchild, five- year-old Jessica "just bubbles when she comes out here" to King's Danville farm. "It's kind of made my life." The court yesterday left intact a Wisconsin law giving grandparents visitation rights to their grandchildren even when the parents ob- ject. Two weeks earlier, the court let stand a similar Kentucky law invoked by King in seeking access to his granddaughter. King said, "I thought my situation was the worst in the world" when a fight with his son in 1988 led to a cutoff of visits with Jessica. Since the court acted, he now says, "ever so many people" with similar problems have sought his help. David Liederman, executive director of the Child Welfare League of America, said his of- fice gets hundreds of calls from grandparents denied access to their grandchildren because of family troubles, divorces or custody battles. VOTE Continued from page 1 dent who will vote at home today, agreed. Stressing Bush's character and foreign policy background, McCoy said, "It's someone I can trust and who has integrity. I just don't trust Clinton or Perot. I'm a conservative person morally and socially." But Robinson disagreed with McCoy's claim that Bush is the most trustworthy man to lead the country, pointing to controversies such as the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings and this year's Los Angeles riots. "I consider Bush the same as Reagan and it's not doing anything radical. I personally don't trust him to protect rights and act for the mid- dle class of America and really rep- resent them," she said. "I'm not crazy about him always bringing up trust with Bill Clinton because he's dodged issues like Irangate." LSA senior Eric Halamka said he feels students typically back Clinton. "I don't think as a college student you can be paying all these bills and say Bush has helped the situation," he said. "As a person who claimed he was the education president four years ago and as someone who's go- ing through the educational system, we know there are problems." LSA junior Mark Nguygen voted Democratic in the last presidential election and will vote for Clinton to- day. The only difference between the elections, he said, is that he believes the Democrats will win this time. Generalizing across political par- ties, he said, "I think Americans tend to not like to stay with one party for too long so every few years you hear someone saying, 'I'm for change.'" LSA junior Josh Fielstra, a Muskegon resident who notes his unsuccessful attempts to find jobs in his recession-struck hometown for three summers, emphasized the economy. Fielstra's absentee ballot supports independent Ross Perot. "Having seen the performance of partisan groups in the past, (the economy) seems to be an insur- mountable issue," he said. "Perot has proven his financial ability. This is the time to fix the economy." Fielstra does not believe Perot will win, but he stressed that the country's non-partisan sector should make a symbolic statement. "It's a vote. My voice needs to be heard. I think that people need to know the non-partisan vote is out there," he said. Other voters are taking another option to voice discontent with the country's political climate. To show his dislike for each candidate, School of Music junior John Hobart said he did not register on purpose. "I didn't feel like voting for any- body. If I had voted, I would have voted for Big Boy," he said. Angolan civil war still sporadic LUANDA, Angola (AP) - Sporadic gunfire flared in the capital yesterday hours after a U.N.-bro- kered cease-fire took effect, but wit- nesses said the fighting was less in- tense than the weekend clashes that threatened to renew civil war. Angolan state radio said up to 1,000 people died in the weekend fighting, the worst since a 1991 peace accord that ended the 16-year war between the U.S.-backed rebels and the pro-Soviet government. Witnesses said yesterday that the battles between government forces and UNITA rebels had diminished, and police vehicles with loudspeak- ers cruised the streets calling for people to respect the cease-fire. Groups of armed civilians were reportedly hunting down UNITA supporters and looting buildings they had used. A government statement read on Angolan state radio appealed for "humanitarian treatment" toward UNITA supporters. A UNITA representative in Lisbon, Carlos Fortuna, said he could not confirm news reports that UNITA Vice President Jerimias Chitunda and other top officials were slain in the weekend battles. He said contact had been lost with several UNITA leaders in Luanda. A machine gun battle raged for about an hour after a police armored car shelled UNITA positions in Luanda's diplomatic quarter before dawn. Explosions and gunfire were also heard to the east of the capital, but witnesses said that firing died down at around 8 a.m. The fighting was the worst since tensions began escalating after UNITA lost national elections in late September to the government with which it fought a 16-year civil war. UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi contends the elections were rigged, although the United Nations said the balloting was generally free and fair. UNITA, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, ran second to the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in voting for the national legislature and Savimbi trailed in- cumbent Eduardo dos Santos in the presidential race, although dos Santos did not get the 50 percent needed for a first-round victory. The elections were held under a 1991 peace accord that ended the 16- year war between UNITA and the MPLA, in which some 350,000 peo- ple died. " " DoYou? RITE Student groups U Christian Science Organiza- tion, meeting, Michigan League, check room at front desk, 7-8 p.m. Q In Focus, meeting, Frieze Buil.d- ing, room 2420, 6 p.m. " Michigan Student Assembly, meeting, Michigan Union, room 3909,7:30 p.m. a SADD, meeting, East Quad, 66 Green, 7:30 p.m. U TaeKwonDo Club, regular workout, CCRB, room 1200, 7:45-9:15 p.m. Q U-M Asian American Student Coalition, meeting, East Quad, check room at front desk, 7 p.m. U U-M Bridge Club, free bridge lessons, Michigan Union, room ment, The Medical School Ap- plication Process, CP&P Pro- gram Room, 4:10-5 p.m. Q "Focus on Michigan," photog- raphy contest, City of Ann Ar- bor Parks and Recreation Department, accepting entries until December 1, call Irene Bushaw 994-2780. U "Limnology: Problems with Michigan Water," lecture, ChryslerCenter, room 165,7:30 p.m. Q "Mid-19th-century Neoclassi- cal Sculpture," short gallery talk, Museum of Art, Informa- tion Desk, 12-12:30 p.m., con- tact 764-0395. Q "Spectroscopic Studies of van der Waals Interactions," lec- U "Why Revolution: Clinton, Bush or Perot - Elections Don't Change Class Society," SPARK: Revolutionary discus- sion series, MLB, room B122, 7-8 p.m. Student services " Kaffeestunde, Department of Germanic Language and Litera- ture, MLB, 3rd floor Confer- ence Room, 4:30-6 p.m. U Northwalk Safety Walking Ser- vice, Bursley Hall, lobby, 763- WALK, 8 p.m. - 1:30 a.m. U Psychology Undergraduate Peer Advising, Department of Psychology, West Quad, room K210, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. H I P P I E S ~a/2/ * "Jecium RcordQ&4ease Party Wednesday,November 4th, 1992 r he Blind Pig tAD.S U fti'~I) ,- . f .