The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 19, 1993 - 7

Religious
roups will be
free to bypass
discrimination
policy at CMU
® President of Central
Michigan University
claims campus
policy prohibiting
groups from
discriminating based
on sexual orientation
infringes upon First
Amendment rights
MOUNT PLEASANT (AP) -
Religious groups at Central Michi-
gan University will not be held to a
policy prohibiting campus groups
from discriminating based on sexual
orientation, the university said yes-
terday.
Forcing religious groups to ad-
Ore to the university policy would
violate the groups' first amendment
rights to freedom of religion, said
Leonard Plachta, university president.
"While we may not sponsor reli-
gion, we also cannot interfere with its
practice," Plachta said in a written
statement. "We also may not ask
groups to waive their first amend-
ment rights in order to receive the
same benefits provided to other
*oups."
CMU allows students to register
their organizations with the univer-
sity and receive benefits including
free use of campus facilities for meet-
ings. The groups must agree to com-
ply with the university's ban on dis-
crimination based on rate, sex, dis-
ability, sexual orientation or other
criteria.
0 Plachta was forced to clarify the
stance after nine Christian groups
asked to be exempt from the policy,
saying gay and lesbian lifestyles were
contrary to their religious teachings.

TAKES A LICKIN'

Taxes are rlanned
for school finance
LANSING (AP) - The income with Bullard. Sen. Dan DeGrow (R-
tax would go up and part of last Port Huron), the Senate Republican
summer's big property tax cut would leader on education, said he was sur-
be rolled back under the school fi- prised to see a proposal calling for a
nance plan put forward yesterday by higher sales tax yet boosting the in-
a bipartisan House panel. come tax and restoring part of the
The plan would raise state income property tax.
tax to 6 percent, up from its current "It's fairly important that if the
4.6 percent. But it would be capped at sales tax passes, there not be a millage
5.3 percent if voters approved a pro- on homesteads," he said. "I have con-
posal to raise the sales tax from 4 cerns."
percent to 6 percent. Under the plan, a statewide sales
The group's plan would also levy tax vote would come in February or
16 mills on homes and 20 mills on March.
other property. The property tax on On the funding side, the bipartisan
homes would be cut to 9 mills if the plan would guarantee each school
sales tax increase was approved. district at least $5,000 per pupil. Dis-
A mill is $1 for each $1,000 of tricts now below that level would be
assessed valuation. In Michigan, prop- gradually pushed to that mark in three
erty is assessed at 50 percent of its to five years.
cash value. Districts that spend between
To offset the impact on low- and $5,000 and $6,500 per pupil would be
middle-income families, the plan also guaranteed their current funding ard
would raise the state's personal ex- a 3 percent increase in the next school
emption on income taxes from $2,100 year.
to $3,000. Districts that spend more than
The House proposal would restore $6,500 would be able to levy local
most of the $6.9 billion that schools property taxes to keep spending at the
lost when the Legislature voted last current level, plus a $195 per-pupil
July to end the use of property taxes to increase next year.
run schools. All told, the plan would A spokesperson for Gov. John
raise $6.7 bill ion and provide an over- Engler would not comment on details
all tax cut of about $215 million. of the bipartisan plan, but praised the
"I think we have a permanent so- House for making progress on school
lution to the school financing prob- finance.
lem," said Rep. Willis Bullard, (R- "We are glad to have something
Milford), co-chairof the House Taxa- moving," Engler spokesperson John
tion Committee. Truscott said. "There's a long diffi-
Yet a fellow Republican disagreed cult road ahead."
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ANASTASIA BANICKI/Daily
Irene Kostakis, an employee at Joe Joe's Cafe off of Fourth Street, pours an energizing fruit drink for a customer.

Strike looms over major U.S. airi ne
® American Airlines flight attendants get set to "They are holding out false hopes
walk off jobs; strikers threaten to interrupt for their flight attendants because there
service in travelers' Thanksgiving holidays will not be a lot ofjobs for them on the
g ?29th

s

DALLAS (AP) - American Air-
lines and its flight attendants union
failed to reach a new contract agree-
ment, and a threatened 11-day strike
loomed early yesterday.
The Association of Professional
Flight Attendants said its members
will walk off the job at 7 a.m. EST.
"We're going on strike. We just
never solved any of the big prob-
lems," union spokesperson Ray
Abernathy said.
Abernathy said the strike would
last for only 11 days, with flight atten-
dants returning to work on Monday,
Nov. 29 - after the end of the peak
Thanksgiving travel period.

If no contract agreement has been
reached by Nov. 28, the union will
take other steps, Abernathy said.
The union said it intends its strike
to affect all American's domestic and
international flights, interrupting ser-
vice to more than 250 U.S. cities.
Abernathy said the union is confi-
dent it can shut down the system,
claiming 85 to 90 percent support in
every city.
But American spokesperson John
Hotard said the airline disagrees.
"We are approaching it tonight
and in the morning as though we are
going to operate a full schedule," he
said.

7.
"Any flight attendant who strikes,
the pay stops, the benefits stop, they
go home and we'll call them if and
when we need them, and we are just
not going to need them," Hotard said.
Flight attendants held candlelight
vigils at airports Wednesday night as
key negotiators bargained down to
the wire with federal mediator Harry
Bickford in New Orleans.
Negotiations ended around 3 a.m.
EST.
The strike could force American
to cancel flights, especially if other
unions honor picket lines.
American, which has 21,000 flight
attendants, operates the country's larg-
est network of domestic flights.

"The Daily's Most Dangerous Man"

Senate prepares for vote on NAFTA

* WASHINGTON (AP) - Orga-
nized labor responded frostily to an
olive branch from President Clinton
yesterday after a bruising House
struggle over the North American Free
Trade Agreement. The Senate labored
to complete passage by week's end.
Departing for an international trade
conference in Seattle, Clinton said
NAFTA's House passage Wednes-
y night would help him fight for
pen markets throughout the world.
He said Vice President Al Gore
and Chief of Staff Mack McLarty
would fly to Mexico City soon to
work out implementation of the pact
designed to blend the United States,
Mexico and Canada into the world's
largest free-trade zone.
Clinton also called for coopera-
jon by both labor and management to
ake sure the accord benefits "all the
working people of our country."
Woman sues
talk show host
jn local court
ANN ARBOR (AP) - Televi-
sion talk show host Sally Jessy
Raphael testified yesterday that she
had nothing to do with a decision to
air a secretly recorded conversation
on her show.
"I did not put that tape on the air,
I did not authorize that tape to be put
on the air, I had no knowledge of that
*pe," Raphael said in Washtenaw
County Circuit Court.
Dorothy Dickerson, a member of
the Church of Scientology, is suing
Raphael; G.T.N., an Oak Park video
company that filmed and taped the
conversation; the show's producers;
distributors Multimedia Inc., and the
Cult Awareness Network.
Dickerson is asking for $72 mil-
'n, claiming the program invaded
Ter privacy and caused emotional dis-
tress.
At issue is a 40-second segment
that aired on Raphael's program on
July 14, 1991 called "How
Scientology Ruined My Life."

The beginning of Senate debate
duplicated arguments that ricocheted
throughout the House on Wednesday,
where a 234-200 vote showed more
Republicans than Democrats support-
ing the legislation.
Sen. Donald Riegle (D-Mich.)
complained that NAFTA would place
"60 million Mexican workers in our
work force," costing Americans their
jobs in the process. Sen. Max Baucus
(D-Mont.) said the accord would open
the way to more markets for Ameri-
can goods. A vote was expected Sat-
urday at the earliest.
Clinton followed up on a mid-
night phone call to AFL-CIO Presi-
dent Lane Kirkland by expressing
respect for the "opinions and convic-
tions of those who did not" embrace
NAFTA.

On his way to Seattle, Clinton
called Kirkland again from Air Force
One, and the president said, "We need
to work quickly to begin to close any
rifts we may have," McLarty said of
Clinton's comments.
"We won't forget what happened
here," Teamsters President Ron Carey
said in an interview with The Associ-
ated Press. "We're the folks who went
out there and worked for a president
who talked repeatedly about jobs, and
here what we've done is export jobs."
Kirkland's remarks about Clinton
were less pointed, and he said orga-
nized labor would do "everything that
we can" to advance health care legis-
lation.
The AFL-CIO leader attacked the
vote, saying American plants would
be moved to Mexico and American

workers "sold down the river."
Asked how labor would react to
Democratic lawmakers who voted for
the accord, Kirkland said, "The vot-
ing list on this issue will be examined
very, very carefully."
Three senior Democratic commit-
tee chairs - Riegle, Daniel Patrick
Moynihan of New York and Ernest
Hollings of South Carolina are among
the opponents.
An AP survey showed 52 senators
in favor and one leaning that way, 32
senators against and three leaning.
Twelve were undecided.

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He may not be
Maverick,
but Mike will do
almost anything
to get the ads
done by deadline.

For all your efforts, the Display staff salutes you.

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