The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 3, 1994 -3 *Plane skids into New York dike; 18 hospitalized NEW YORK (AP) - A Continental Airlines plane came within a few feet of plunging into a bay yesterday when it aborted a takeoff from LaGuardia Airport during a snowstorm and skidded into a dike. At least 18 of the 115 passengers aboard Denver- bound Flight 795 were taken to hospitals for injuries ranging from minor bruises to fractures, said Charles DeGaetano, an Emergency Medical Services spokes- person. Passengers said they felt a large bump, then the plane went dark as people screamed and luggage fell out of the overhead bins. * "When he hit the brakes, the plane tilted over and we all grabbed each other," said passenger Hope Manville of New York City. "I was terrified. It was awful." Passenger Jim Bowman of Phoenix said he saw the pilot come back into the cabin before takeoff and check the wings for ice. Bowman and other passengers said when they exited through the emergency chute onto the wings, the wings felt very icy. It was too early to tell whether the snowstorm was a factor in the accident, said Hank Price, a Federal Avia- Otion Administration spokesperson. Several messages left at Continental's public affairs office in Houston were not immediately returned. The twin-engine MD-80 jet was taking off about 6 p.m. when it tried to abort the flight, FAA spokesperson Pat Cariseo said. A moderate snow was falling in New York City with a 26 mph wind at the time. The runway ends at Flushing Bay, but the plane stopped up against the dike with its nose hanging 25 feet. over the water. The dike is slightly taller than the edge of the runway and keeps it free of water during high tides. 0 The pilot "either saved all of our lives or he could have taken off and he chickened out," Bowman said. There were 115 passengers aboard plus an undeter- mined number of crew members, said Port Authority spokesperson Tom Middlemiss. LaGuardia was closed while authorities investigated the accident. Flights were diverted to two nearby air- ports. The MD-80 can carry up to 150 passengers, said Don Hanson, a spokesperson for McDonnell Douglas Corp., 4he plane's manufacturer. It requires a cockpit crew of two pilots. The model was introduced in 1980 and more than 1,000 are currently in service. GOTTA HAVE MY 90210 --- .. . .. . . School of Nursing dean promoted to provost's office By JAMES R. CHO DAILY STAFF REPORTER From advising the Secretary of Health and Human Services to orga- nizing a program to address violence against women on campus, Rhetaugh Graves Dumas has been a viable force on campus. This is why Dumas, dean of the University's School of Nursing, has been tapped to serve as the University's vice provost for health affairs. "I am very excited about this. I will be expanding my opportunities in health affairs. It's a good transi- tion," she said. Provost and Executive Vice Presi- dent for Academic Affairs Gilbert R. Whitaker has nominated Dumas to fill the vacancy created by the retiring Vice Provost for Medical Affairs George D. Zuidema. The title is being changed from vice provost for medical affairs to vice provost for health affairs to more accurately reflect the new responsi- bilities, Whitaker said in a press re- lease. "Dr. Dumas will bring to the vice provost position a rich background in academic administration. She is known and respected throughout the University for her leadership of the School of Nursing and her contribu- tions to the larger academic commu- nity," Whitaker said. "I am very much looking forward to working with the deans of the vari- ous health science schools," Dumas said. As vice provost for health affairs, her main responsibilities will entail working with the provost and the schools of Medicine, Public Health, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Nursing. "I will have a close relationship with the school and coordinate activi- ties between the various schools," she said. Dumas also advises Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala on matters pertaining to nurs- ing as a member of the National Ad visory Council for the Division of Nursing. Ada Sue Hinshaw, director of the National Institute for Nursing Re- search at the National Institutes of Health, will succeed Dumas as dean of the School of Nursing. Dumas' nomination is expected to be approved by the regents at their regular meeting next week. Her term will take effect July 1. Dorothy Henderson, a graduate student in the School of Nursing who will be graduating this year, said, "She has been a powerful dean at the Uni- versity. The School of Nursing has moved forward as far as stature and reputation under her." In response to a rash of rapes last November, Dumas was instrumental in organizing a task force in the School of Nursing to address the issue of violence against women on campus. Dumas joined the School of Nurs= ing as dean and professor in 1981. She was a member of Yale University's School of Nursing fac- ulty from 1962-72. She served as director of nursing at the Connecticut Mental Health Center at Yale-New Haven Medical Center. MARY KOUKHAB/Daily LSA first-year students Claire Mercier (left) and Linda Kuet (right) take a break from studying to watch the 100th episode of "Beverly Hills 90210" at Betsey Barbour last night. MSA may withdraw from national student group; leaders meet By RONNIE GLASSBERG DAILY STAFF REPORTER U.S. Students Association Presi- *dent Tchiyuka Cornelius meets with some of the most influential people in the nation often to lobby for student concerns. Today he will be meeting to lobby for his organization against a major opponent - Michigan Student As- sembly President Craig Greenberg. Greenberg said yesterday he sup- ports the idea of MSA withdrawing its membership from USSA. Cornelius will be meeting with Greenberg today at 2 p.m. An hour later, Cornelius will be available to talk to students in the MSA office, located on the third floor of the Michi- gan Union. Founded in 1947, USSA is a stu- dent lobbying group in Washington that represents 300 universities and community colleges. MSA is automatically a member of USSA through its membership in the Michigan Collegiate Coalition (MCC). Greenberg, who attended a week- long USSA conference in July, said he has many of problems with the group. "The primary goal of a national student organization should be nar- row and specific to make it effective," Greenberg said. "I think USSA is way too broad of an organization." But currently USSA is the only student lobbying group in Washing- ton. Using the eight employees in its Washington office, the group lobbies for student concerns. All of the em- ployees in the office have been stu- dents in the past two to three years and have served in student govern- ment. "Our overall purpose is to increase higher education for everyone," Cornelius said. To do this, Cornelius said USSA lobbies to make financial aid more available. "We've also lobbied on the Na- tional Service bill to benefit as many students as possible," Cornelius said. On Feb. 23, Cornelius testified before the House Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice. He said during the testimony that he discussed the bill's'effects on students and sug- gested providing scholarships for stu- dents interested in a law enforcement career. Cornelius stressed the importance of having a student lobbying group in Washington. "Students can't expect non-stu- dents to stand up for students," he said. "Students know best student concerns." To fill the void if MSA terminates its membership with USSA, Greenberg has proposed membership in the National Coalition for Student Empowerment (NCSE), a student lob- bying group currently forming. "I think this organization was formed because all of the people at- tempted to make changes in USSA, but were unsuccessful because of the structure," Greenberg said. MCC Governor Conan Smith, an RC fourth-year student, said he dis- agrees with Greenberg on the advan- tages of NCSE. "The don't have an office in Wash- ington, D.C., and their name isn't known yet," Smith said. But Smith said the assembly should always look for other options. Cornelius said today's meeting with Greenberg was not prompted by the MSA president's view of USSA. USSA makes visitsa such as the one to the University today to gather the views of its members, Cornelius said. "We don't get a chance to visit every member school, but we travel regularly," Cornelius said. However, he said Greenberg's opposition to USSA will be a major part of the discussion they plan. At Tuesday's MSA meeting, LSA Rep. Andrew Wright proposed a bal- lot question on whether the assembly should pull out of MCC and USSA, which failed. Cornelius said he sees this as a positive sign. "This mean there's support for MCC and USSA at least in the student government," he said. Cornelius said it would cost about $1,000 for the assembly to become a member of USSA independent of MCC. MSA currently pays $25,550 for its membership in MCC, with about 5 percent of this fee going to USSA. GOP meets to form single *health care reform proposal WASHINGTON (AP) - The tim- ing couldn't be better for this week's Republican health care summit: Sup- port for President Clinton's reform plan is cracking if not crumbling, both in Congress and among the American public. But don't expect Republicans to step into the vacuum and seize the mo- uentum in the health care debate. Although they are convening today and tomorrow for a health care retreat, Republicans are no closer to resolving deep policy and political disputes that have kept the party from speaking with a clear voice on the dominant issue before Congress in this election year. The answer to their problems lies in whether the most vocal Republican voices on health care can settle some of their biggest policy disputes, and no two-day retreat is going to bridge those gaps. "The purpose of the meeting is not to try to come together," says Senate Republican leader Bob Dole, making clear in advance that he's nowhere near his goal of a shaping a single Republi- can plan. Another participant, Texas GOP Sen. Phil Gramm, added: "We Repub- licans have an opportunity because of the collapse of the Clinton plan. We have an opportunity to get back in the game." But Gramm wants others to make the compromises, Rhode Island Sen. John Chafee chief among them. Gramm's call for incremental reform is a far cry from a Chafee plan that shares WASHINGTON (AP) - The California earthquake contributed to the worst decline in Americans' in- comes in a year in January, while the brutal winter of 1994 helped send new home sales plummeting more than they have in nearly 14 years. But the Commerce Department also reported yesterday that consumer spending rose for the 10th straight month at a rate that matched December's increase. Economists said the signs point to slower economic growth, although Mother Nature is making matters look worse they are. "I think after you brush all the disasters aside, the economy is still generating a fair amount of income," said Sandra Shaber, an economist with the WEFA Group outside of Philadel- phia. She noted that the most important component of the income category - wages and salaries - actually rose a healthy 1 percent in January to $3.19 trillion. Commerce Department reports show Americans' income decreased in January after five straight increases, Mother Earth stalls economic growth. declining 0.3 percent in January to. $5.53 trillion at a seasonally adjusted: annual rate. The Los Angeles earthquake also: skewed this January's figures, caus- ing $42.5 billion in uninsured losses.: Without those unusual factors that are not likely to recur, personal in-' come in January would have risen 0.7 percent. In another report, sales of new. homes plunged 20.1 percent in Janu- ary, the steepest decline in nearly 14: years, because of the bad weather and rising interest rates. Group Meetings Q Campus Crusade for Christ, Dental School, Kellogg Audi- torium, 7 p.m. Q Circle K International, Michi- gan Union Room 2209, 7:30 p.m. Q Korean Students Association, Michigan Union Room 2203, 7-8:30 p.m. Q Islamic Circle, Shazia Ahmed, Lane Hall Room 200, 5 p.m. Q Pre-Med Club, primary care & health reform, Michigan Union Kuenzel Room, 6:30 p.m. Q Society of Women Engineers, 1200 EECS, 6:15 p.m. Q Taiwanese American Students for Awareness, Michigan League, Conference Room 6,7 n in Museum of Anthropology, Museum of Natural History, Room 2009, noon. Q "Does Stumbling Speech Bumble Comprehension?," Jean E. Fox, sponsored by the Psychology Department, Perry Building, noon. Q "Islam in Arabia," Alexander Knysh, sponsored by the De- partment of Near Eastern Stud- ies, 3050 Frieze Building, noon. Q "Overcome by Modernity: So- cial Discourses in the Inter- war Period," Harry Harootunian, sponsored by the Center for Japanese Studies, Lane Hall Commons, noon. Q The Last Stages: Interviewing On-Site & Negotiating Offers, ..nncnclb arer Pr lanni na Q What Can I Do With a Bachelor's Degree in His- tory?, sponsored by Career Planning and Placement, 3200 Student Activities Building, 5:10-6 p.m. Student services Q 76-GUIDE, peer counseling phone line, call 76-GUIDE, 7 p.m.-8 a.m. Q Campus Information Center, Michigan Union, 763-INFO; events info., 76-EVENT; film info., 763-FILM. Q North Campus Information Center, North Campus Com- mons, 763-NCIC, 7:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Q Professional Development for Itnnt~~. u~inna CnnI nni-i - Stop the madness! Be a graphic designer in The Michigan Daily Ad Production Department next fall! 0_ Do you know PageMaker? i I -