The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 11, 1993- Page 3 McFee to serve as a state AAA director by Nate Hurley Daily Administration Reporter University Regent Shirley McFee (R-Battle Creek) recently added one more item to her repertoire of responsi- bilities. McFee, who is both a regent and a business executive with GHS Corpora- tion, was elected toserveas adirectorof the American Au- tomotive Associa- tion (A AA) of Michigan at the auto insurer's an-' nual membership meeting last week. "This, for me to be on the board, is new," McFee said. She said she has she has not worked MC Fe closely with the company previous to the election. "I've been a policyholder of AAA for about six years," she said. McFee said she did not seek out the position, rather AAA members ap- proached her asking to serve the three- year position: She said her responsibilities will in- dludepolicy setting, long-term strategic planning and oversight of the activities oftheAAAadministration. AAAMichi- gan serves 1.5 million members. McFee - who has been a regent since 1990 and was previously mayor of Battle Creek, Battle Creek city com- missioner and Calhoun County com- missioner - said the new post will entail responsibilities sinilarto those of her past positions. She said she will be closely follow- ing auto insurance legislation working its way through Lansing. Tuesday, the state House approved 65-43 a bill that would cut auto insurance rates an aver- age of 16 percent. The bill is similar to AAA Michigan's Ballot Proposal D, which was not approved by Michigan voters in last fall's election. "I have been sort of following the proposal that was on the ballot last fall," she said, but noted that at the time of the elections she did not know she would be a director of the insurance company. The billmay be one of the first issues McFee encounters in her new position on the board, as it is expected to quickly pass the Republican-controlled state Senate and move to Gov. John Engler's desk. Palestinians refuse to join peace talks JERUSALEM (AP) - Palestinian negotiators rejected an invitation yes- terday to Middle East peace talks but offered to reconsider if Washington con- vinces Israel to reverse the expulsion orders of more than 400 Palestinians. The Palestinians have been warning for weeks that they would not return to the negotiating table unless Israel speeds up the repatriation of the deportees. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin ear- lier accepted a U.S. compromise on the issue, agreeing to bring back 101 of the Palestinians immediately and the rest by year's end. Israel accepted its invitation but the Palestinian decision was a setback to the Clinton administration's hopes of restarting the peace negotiations on April 20. The talks have been stalled since Israel expelled 403 suspected Muslim fundamentalists to Lebanon on Dec. 17. Itwasnotknown whether other Arab parties to the talks, including Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, would stay away from the talks in support of the Palestin- ians. But Hanan Ashrawi, spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the talks, said: "The United States has to reach out in order to help all parties say yes." Ashrawi said she told theAmericans that the Palestinians "are willing to ne- gotiate, we are willing to continue dis- cussing with the co-sponsors - and with the Americans in particular - the requirements and the means of resolv- ing these outstanding issues." "My conviction continues to be that the Palestinians will want to return to the negotiations because they see in those negotiations ... an opportunity to make real progress," said Secretary of State Warren Christopher. Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin pledged that Israel would be flex- ible at the bargaining table. "Israel, for its part, will undertake serious and substantive negotiations with any Arab party that arrives in Wash- ington on April 20," said Beilin. Ashrawi said that in addition to de- portations, other issues hanging up the talks included Israeli violations of Pal- estinians' human rights and assurance$ from the United States that it would intervene to keep the peace talks on track. Dr.lHaidarAbdul-Shafi, aGazaphy- sician who heads the Palestinian nego- tiation said, "I'm still thinking the Ar, abs, including the Syrians, willnot go to a negotiating table without the Palestin- ians. Rabin holds his first meeting with President Clinton next week. He leaves today for the United States and will meet Clinton on Monday. ELIZABETH LIPPMAN/Daily Policy protesters use new ammunition Christa Williams (left) and Dante Stella, both LSA sophomores, speak at the weekly rally protesting the University's Diag policy. Other protesters revel in the freshly fallen snow, pelting the pair with iceballs. Congressional panel pushes for budget cuts WASHINGTON (AP) - Demo- cratic-led congressional panels pushed ahead yesterday on budgets bearing the heavy imprint of President Clinton, but1 cutting spending far more than he hasi asked. A separate House committee easily rejected a Republican deficit-+ cutting plan.{ "This budget ... is primarily about getting our economic house in order and moving our nation forward," said1 House Budget Committee Chair Mar-1 tin Olav Sabo (D-Minn.). The House and Senate budget com- mittees were working on similar plans to retain the essence of Clinton's month- old economic initiative: tax increases+ on therich, defense cuts and more money for road-building and other projects. Each package promises to leave the budget shortfall at $254 billion next+ year - more than $40 billion lower than would occur without action. However, at both meetings, Repub- licans complained that the Democratic measures were tax-heavy and vague. "The only real spending cuts are in defense," added Sen. Don Nickles (R- Okla.). "This is a comprehensive as- sault on the taxpayer." Like Clinton, the HouseDemocratic package would raise taxes by $246 bil- lion over the nextidve years. In addition, the package contains about $264 billion in spending cuts to reach its total of $510 billion in deficit reduction -including Clinton's plan to cut Medicare spending by $48 billion and veterans' services by $8 billion. It would also add $62 billion in further reductions from defense and ,I~or" nmo - mc Police Beat6 Grade school kids manufacture bomb State and local emergency depar-t- ments were summoned to an Ann Arbor middle school yesterday when small bombs made of metal piping were found in the possession of several grade school students. Teachers discovered four to five sev- enth traders with bombs at Slawson Middle School on West Washington Street yesterday afternoon. Following the arrival of officers from the Michigan State Police, the Ann Ar- bor Police Department(AAPD) and the Ann Arbor Fire Department (AAFD), than a prank, adding, "The students probably weren't aware of the dangers involved." Marital dispute results in knife threat Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD) officers responded to a report of felonious assault between a wife and a husband at an Ann Arbor residence Monday morning. At 11 a.m. on the 2100 block of 1lemlock, a wife and a husband alleg- edly became embroiled in a heated ar- gument that ended when the wife charged her spouse with a large kitchen knife. The husband grabbed his wife's hand until she released the weapon. AAPD reports said the woman claims the incident was the culmination of a history of verbal abuse and resulted from an argument about her daughter from a previous marriage. The woman suffered minor non- knife-related injuries. No medical at- tention was required for either of the parties involved. Police officers said the family has a history of domestic discordance. The husband is seeking prosecu- tion, and Ann Arbor detectives are in- vestigating the case. Former patient threatens clinic with bazooka gun A former patient at a chemical de- pendency clinic allegedly threatened employees Tuesday when they termi- nated his treatment for violations of patient agreements. Employees of the Child Family Ser- vices (CFS) clinic on the 700 block of Spring reported the information to the AAPD at noon Tuesday, just after the former patient allegedly threatened to use a powerful bazooka gun unless his treatment program was restored. AAPD Lt. Alan Hartwig said many patients in clinics such as CFS are there on acourt-ordered basis, and individual restrictions are imposed based on past criminal conduct. AAPD officers are investigating the incident, and prosecution may ensue. Alleged dope smokers found in LSA Building A campus guard reported three sub- jects believed to be smoking marijuana on the third floor of the Literature Sci- ence and Arts building to the University Department of Public Safety (DPS) early Monday morning. Unit officers arrived on the scene shortly after the 1:45 a.m. call was re- ceived and located the three subjects -T believed to be students - allegedly using the illegal drug in a room on th third floor. Police officers searched the area for evidence of the drug without success. Warrant checks were run on all three of the individuals, but they all came up negative. DPS officers escorted the three from the building. The nature of the charges against the subjects have not yet been determined. t1iTI11Ctit1C: )1i1L'1iU11J. Correction Engineering TA Robert Lepler's name was misspelled in yesterday's Daily. . ".:.:. r}:i: X"Xr%:s Jl: i S.Y.Q." " 1i' iti }:': "' j "' " "t'.! '"' ",1 """ J1 f"" Student groups Q AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, meeting, East Engineer- ing Building, Baker-Mandela Center, 7:30 p.m. Q The American Movement for Is- rael, Hillel, upstairs, 7 p.m. Q Amnesty International, meeting, East Quad, Room 122, 7 p.m. U Ann Arbor Coalition Against Rape, Take Back the Night Plan- ning meeting, Michigan League, check room at front desk, 7 p.m. U Baha'i Student Association of U- M, Michigan Union, Michigan Room, 2-5 p.m. Q Graduate Employees Orgamza-. tion, meeting for TAs, Rackharn Amphitheatre, 8-10 p.m. Q Haiti Solidarity Group, meeting, First United Methodist Church, 120 S. State St., Pine Room, 7:30 p.m. Q Hillel, Brown Bag with David Olesker on Anti-Israel Propa- ganda, Hillel, 12 p.m.; "Cup Fi- nal," Lorch Hall, 7:30 p.m. U Institute of Electrical and Elec- tronics Engineers, technical lun- cheon, EECS Building, Room 1311, 12:30-1:30 p.m. Q Intervarsity Christian Fellow- ship, meeting, South Quad, West Lounge, 7 p.m. Q Islamic Circle, meeting and Iftar dinner, Stockwell, Blue Room, 5 p.m. Q Korean Student Association, meeting, Michigan Union, Welker Room, 7 p.m. Q Newman Catholic Student Fel- lowship Association,God'sOne Earth, 7 p.m.; Leaven Group, 7 p.m.; Peer Ministry Info Night, 7 p.m.; Saint Mary Student Parish, 31 Thnmnsn St. Q U-M Investment Club, meeting, MLB, Room 2002,7 p.m. Q U-M Sailing Club, meeting, West EngineeringBuilding,Room 311, 7:45 p.m. Q U-M Shotokan Karate, practice, CCRB, small gym, 8-10 p.m. Q U-M Snowboard Club,The Cube, 5 p.m. Q Women's Issues Commission, meeting, Michigan Union, Room 3909,8 p.m. Q Work in Britain or Ireland, pre- sentation, International Center, Room 9, 4-5:30 p.m.; informa- tion table, MichiganUnion, lobby, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Events Q 1, 3-Dihalotetra-n-butyl Distannoxanes: Halogen Redis- tribution as Studied by NMR, physical seminar, Chemistry Building, Room 1640,4 p.m. Q ArtTalk, Guercino's "Esther be- fore Ahasuerus," Art Museum, AV Room, 12:10-1 p.m. Q Breaking Barriers for Women in Politics, Michigan League, Hussey Room, 4 p.m. Q Internationalism and National Identity in Pre-War Japanese Modernist Architechture, Cen- ter for Japanese Studies Brown Bag Lecture Series, Lane Hall, Commons, 12 p.m. Q Lynn Yeakel Speaks on Women in Politics,Rackham Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. Q Medical Ethics Panel Discus- sion-Health Care, Michigan League, Henderson Room, 7:30 p.m. Q Music at Espresso Royale Cafe, "Classic Thursday," Lee and Nance.clasical violin andniano. Q The Role Mechanical Phenom- ena and Defects Formation in Composites During Cure, semi- nar,G.G. Brown Building,Room 1504,4 p.m. Q Ron Ayers--Sound Techniques, sponsored by In Focus, Frieze Building, Room 1008,6 p.m. Q Russian Tea & Conversation Practice, MLB, 3rd Floor Con- ference Room, 4-5 p.m. Q Stop the Nazis, planning meeting, MLB, Room 122,8 p.m. Q Textual Spaces and Discursive Territories: The Emergence of Armenain Nationalism,CREES Ethnopolitics Colloquium, Angell Hall, Room 2231,4 p.m. Q Thomas Lynch and Matthew Sweeney, reading, Rackham Amphitheatre, 5 p.m. Q Too Much Tuna and Other Plea- sures of Fieldwork in Oman, Museum of Natural History, Room 2009,12-1 p.m. Q Women in Politics and Policy, Rackham, 4th Floor, 9:15 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Student services Q ECB Student Writing Center, Angell Hall, Computing Center, 7-11 p.m. Q Northwalk Safety Walking Ser- vice, Bursley Hall, 763-9255, 8 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Q Peer Counseling, Counseling Ser- vices, 764-8433, 7 p.m.-8 a.m. Q Professional Development for International Spouses, Interna- tional Center, Room 7, 1-3 p.m. Q Psychology Undergraduate Peer Advising, Department of Psy- chology, West Quad, Room K210, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Q Safewalk S4'-v Walking Service, at least one of the bombs was detonated outside the school by a bomb squad robot equipped with a modified shot- gun. No injuries were reported, but am- bulances were on the scene in case fragmentation from the detonation of the bombs caused injury to bomb squad members or other bystanders. AAFD Battalion Chief John Schnur described the bombs as four-inch pieces of piping made to be explosive by a gun powder filling, possibly derived from common firecrackers. The piping, Schnur said, is believed to have come from a three-foot section of piping found missing from the school's industrial workshop. AAID and AAPD officers discov- ered more of the bombs in the homes of students, and plan to continue searching until all bombs are retrieved and de- stroyed. Students involved will be disciplined under juvenile criminal laws, but au- thorities said they do not believe the manufacturing of the bombs was mali- cious. Schnur commented that the bomb manufacture was probably nothing more - by Shelley Morrison Daily Crime Reporter TRAVEL SMART THIS SPRING! FROM CHICAGO Roundtrip One Way London $450 $225 Guatemala City $530 $265 Costa Rica $550 $275 Oslo/Stockholm Copenhagen $590 $299 Athens/Istanbul $658 $329 Tokyo $729 $584 Bangkok $869 $680