The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 11,1993- 5
NAFTA supporters still short on
votes after Gore-Perot debate
REBECCA MARGOU S/Dafly
TA Nadia Malinovich, who holds office hours at Rendez Vous cafe, meets with LSA first-year student Todd Marvel.
TAs who hold office hours at
eloCal cafes energize students
WASHINGTON (AP)-The bal-
lyhooed Gore-Perot debate had little
impact on undecided House members
who will vote on the free-trade agree-
ment, the lawmakers said yesterday.
With a week to go, supporters said
they were 25-30 votes short; oppo-
nents said the gap was much larger.
Backers of the North American
Free Trade Agreement crowed that
the televised face-off between Vice
President Al Gore and Ross Perot had
given them momentum.
"It's nothing new," Rep. Jay Kim
(R-Calif.) said of the debate as he
emerged fromamorning White House
meeting with the pact's chief cham-
pion, President Clinton. "I have read
NAFTA. I studied it thoroughly."
Kim said he told Clinton his main
concern was negotiating a prisoner
exchange treaty to send criminal ille-
gal aliens back to Mexico. He said he
might consider backing NAFTA if
Clinton voiced support for such an
kills 10,
FAVERSHAM, England (AP) -
A bus carrying American tourists to
Canterbury Cathedral careened off a
rain-slicked highway yesterday, killing
10 people and injuring more than 30
whenit plungeddownan embankment.
The coach carrying 46 people
clipped the back of a van on the M2
highway in KentCounty in southeast-
ern England, police said. It spun
around, plunged through a crash bar-
rier and landed on its side 20 feet
down the embankment.
"Clearly we don't know what was
in the driver's mind," said Kent
County Police Assistant Chief Con-
stable Peter Hermitage.
Trapped and injured passengers
screamed as firefighters battled to cut
them from the wreckage. Nearly all
the passengers were taken by road or
helicopter to nearby hospitals.
The accident happened at about
9:40 a.m., two hours after the coach,
operated by the British company Trav-
ellers International, left London with
42 Americans and others aboard.
agreement.
Another undecided lawmaker,
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said she
would rely little on the debate. She
said she was far more interested in
how the pact would affect companies
and jobs in her district.
"I have a half-dozen meetings to-
day on NAFTA, and more tomor-
row," she said. "By the end of the
week, I think I'll sort this out."
With both sides keeping their vote
lists secret, it was impossible to know
with certainty how many undecided
House members there really were.
Estimates ranged from 30 to 70, and
they came from all corners of the
country although many from the 23-
member Florida delegation were said
to be uncommitted.
"I just don't think you can answer
the question totally how many are
actually undecided and how many are
justreporting undecided," said House
Speaker Thomas Foley (D-Wash.)
Supporters of the agreement were
buoyed by Gore's debate performance
defending the pact that would elimi-
nate 'tariffs and other trade barriers
among the United States, Mexico and
Canada over the next 15 years.
They said lawmakers' votes could
be influenced by early, positive pub-
lic opinion polls of reaction to the
debate. A survey of 357 adults taken
overnight by USA Today and CNN
showed 57 percent of respondents
favoring NAFTA after the debate,
compared Rep. David Dreier (R-Ca-
lif.) a pact supporter.
Pro-NAFTA forces had Rep. Jim
Bacchus (D-Fla.) declare his support
for the pact on television right after
the broadcast. Bacchus had decided
to support the agreementearlier Tues-
day.
NAFTA opponents, who have said
they tentatively have the 217 House
votes they will need to kill the pact,
said they have detected no defections
caused by the debate.
"Most people, even the ones say-
ing they are undecided, have either
made up their minds already or will
vote theirconstituents,"said Rep.Dale
Kildee (D-Mich.) a leading NAFTA
foe.
By MAGGIE WEYHING
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
The smell is of coffee beans and
smoke lingering in the air as the subtle
moan ofthe saxophone flows through-
out the room. In the corner of a small
cafe, two people share an intellectual
conversation overa cup of cappuccino.
Although this seems like a scene
taken right out of the Latin Quarter in
Paris, it is also one that is rather fre-
quent on campus.
Local coffee shops seem to have
replaced University offices as the
place for students to discuss a paper
or argue a grade with teaching assis-
tants (TAs). Butthelure ofcafe au lait
may not be the only reason office
hours are more likely to be in Cafe
Fino than Angell Hall.
For many TAs, particularly those
in the history department, poor office
conditions have scared them away.
"No one could find my office. I
couldn't even find it at first, and be-
sides, it was gross. It was small and
there were a bunch of old papers in
it," saidNadiaMalinovich, who holds
moffice hours for medieval history at
the Rendez-Vous Cafe.
"This semester, I haven't even
gotten the key formy office, I haven't
even looked at it. The offices are
inconvenient, and I find that more
students come to talk to me if my
officehoursarein thecafe,"sheadded.
Some instructors praised the cafe
ambiance, saying it provides for re-
laxed, open discussion. The atmo-
sphere drew Lana Schweizer, a TA
for English 125, to make Espresso
Royale her official office.
"In the composition department,
we have to share offices. I find that I
have more privacy with my students
if I'm in acafe. In the office, everyone
can hear whatwe're talking about. No,
one pays attention to what you're
saying in a cafe," she said.
The coffee shops on every corner
have also won the approval of many
students who agree that the setting is
less intimidating and more relaxed.
"I like the cafe setting better," said
first-year LSA student Rachel Mor-
gan. "It's a more relaxed and casual
atmosphere."
Yvonne Paprocki, an LSA sopho-
more, agreed. "TAs' offices are too
small and almost claustrophobic be-
cause most have to share their offices
with others. The cafes are more re-
laxed and you have more room. I love
cafes and sometimes I do my home-
work there anyway."
Malinovich said meeting her stu-
dents in cafes has been mutually ben-
eficial. "I have mostly gotten positive
response frommy students, they seem
to like meeting me in a cafe better."
Schweizer agreed, "I've only got-
tenone negativereaction. Noone else
has said anything so I think that ev-
eryone else seems to like it."
Students and TAs have also
pleased cafe owners because they typi-
cally do more than just take up table
space - they bring in new business.
Mark McGovern, manager of the
CavaJavaafrequenthang-outformany
TAs, explained, "I don't have a prob-
lem at all with TAs meeting their stu-
dentshere.Wehavealargespacedown-
stairs and that is where most groups
meet. The students usually buy drinks
and then go talk to their TA.
"Sometimesit draws in new business
because it brings in students who would
have normally not come in," McGovern
said."Ithinkit'sgreat!'That'swhatwe're
set up for."
Steve Bradley, supervisor at the
Gratzi Coffee House, said, "It defi-
nitely brings in business. Most TAs
are here during the busiest times of
the day and sometimes two or three
people are waiting to talk to their TA
and while they're hanging out wait-
ing to talk, they buy coffee or food."
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House approves gun-control legislation
WASHINGTON (AP) - Re-
sponding to public fearofstreetcrime,
the House approved the Brady bill
yesterday that would require a five-
day wait and a background check on
people who want to buy handguns.
The House voted 238-189 for the
bill and sent it to the Senate.
The House also approved Brady
last year only to see it fail after being
attached to a largercrime bill blocked
by Senate Republicans.
* This time, it is being kept separate
, in the hope the Senate will send it to
President Clinton, who has promised
to sign it.
During the debate, Rep. Lucien
Blackwell(D-Pa.)notedthathis West
Philadelphia neighborhood reports
hundreds of deaths each year from
pistols.
"We need to stop these thugs from
getting these guns rapidly, and if we
pass the Brady bill, we will do that,"
Blackwell said. "What is wrong with
waiting five days togetapistol? What
is wrong with that?"
The Brady bill would impose a
five-day waiting period beforeahand-
gun purchase could be completed and
would require a background check
during that time on would-be buyers
of guns.
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