The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 7, 1994 - 3 Engler declines challenge to debate merits of Proposal A LANSING (AP) - Gov. John Engler has declined to debate the merits of Proposal A before the March 15 special election. The Democratic co-chair of the House Committee on Higher Educa- tion challenged the governor to de- bate the controversial ballot proposal to reform the way public schools are financed. Softwar helps in housing search By MICHELLE LEE THOMPSON DAILY STAFF REPORTER There are still students who don't know where they're living next year. Now there is a computer program to assist these students in finding the perfect home, and it is called Star- board. Designed by alum Jim Schueler, the program asks users for their pref- erences concerning parking, build- ing type, number of bedrooms and even laundry facilities - and then processes it and lists possible hous- ing match-ups. These specifications are entered as rental worksheets, and the listings are called notebooks. Both the worksheets and notebooks are saved under users' passwords for future reference. "I think it sounds like (the pro- gram) would help," said LSA first- year student Karen Krage after hear- ing about Starboard. Krage was still unsure yesterday of her fall housing because she was in the lottery at West Quad. The software, which is available at many computing sites, was origi- "nally sold, but now it is being distrib- uted free of charge. Schueler began the venture as a financial one, but is currently trying to perfect the bulle- tin board before marketing the pro- gram. Schueler's idea to write the soft- ware developed from the difficulties he encountered upon moving back to Ann Arbor a few years after gradua- tion, and after recognizing the poten- tial for students to find housing through modem computing technol- ogy. Schueler takes great pride in the user-friendliness of the program. Patrick Rogers, a student advisor at Alice Lloyd, said, "I thought it was pretty friendly." Rogers logged onto Starboard in preparation for a work- shop he gave for his residents about finding housing. Only about 180 students have logged on since the beginning of the year, and Schueler does not know of anyone who has found housing through the program. However, the program is still expanding. Schueler said, "I rely on the evalu- ation part at the end to let me know about any so-called kinks," and tries to correct them within two or three days. He added that he hopes to add a map of Ann Arbor to the graphical interface. Engler spokesperson John Truscott said the governor won't ac- cept the challenge from Rep. Lynn Jondahl, who's also running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomina- tion. "I don't see it serving any con- structive purpose," Truscott said. "The governor is already booked to talk to real people around the state." Engler has town hall meetings and other forums scheduled through Sat- urday in Detroit, Saginaw, Flint, Bay City, Grand Rapids, Clare, and Lan- sing, Truscott said. Jondahl said he issued his chal- lenge because the ads for and against Proposal A have been misleading and confusing. "The issue is being lost in all the con fusion," the Okemos Democrat said. "It's clear to me that voters are not clear. They don't know what's in the plan." Truscott said no one had ques- tioned the information from pro-Pro- posal A ads. Jondahl also said Engler's town hall meetings have been one-sided and don't offer enough information about the ballot plan's drawbacks. If voters approve Proposal A next Tuesday, it would raise the sales tax to 6 percent from 4 percent. The proposal also would cut the state income tax from 4.6 percent to 4.4 percent, and place a 6-mill property tax on homes and also place a 24- mill tax on businesses and second homes. It also would raise the state ciga- rette tax from 25 cents a pack to 75 cents and put a new 16 percent tax on other tobacco products. A backup plan kicks in if the pro- posal fails. It would raise the state income tax from 4.6 percent to 6 per- cent and put a 12-mill property tax on homes and 24 mills on businesses and second homes. Health reform gets underway in Congress ANASTASIA BANICKI/Daily Camel Lights pictured above are the best selling cigarettes at Diag Party store, said one employee Tobaccohutsttecnm U' study reveals potential economic benefits of restricting tobacco sales By ANDREA MACADAM DAILY STAFF REPORTER A drop in tobacco consumption would improve more than just the public's health. Contrary to the tobacco industry's claims, the economies of non-tobacco states would also benefit, according to a new University study. The report, which is based on a case study of the Michigan economy, found that a decrease in tobacco sales in the state would mean more jobs and higher earnings for workers. "In fact, in most or possibly all non-tobacco states, the reallocated spending might be expected to produce more employment than does tobacco," wrote Kenneth Warner, a professor of public health policy and administration, and George Fulton, a research scientist in the University's Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations and the Depart- ment of Economics, who co-authored the report. A spokesperson for the Tobacco Institute, a non- profit organization that represents cigarette manufac- turers, declined to comment saying the Institute does not issue statements to campus publications. The study first examined how the Michigan economy would be affected if all tobacco sales ended in the state and expenditures on tobacco were redirected into sales of other goods and services. According to Warner and Fulton's findings, employ- ment would increase in a tobacco-free, Michigan economy because it wouldn't need to "export" the money spent on tobacco products back to tobacco states. "In a tobacco-free economy, more Michigan dollars would stay in the state to generate more jobs," the report stated. Job earnings would also be higher, according to the study, as the demand for labor increased in the stronger economy and a change in the mix of industries in the economy from lower- to higher-paying industries oc- curred. THE WASHINGTON POST WASHINGTON - Before hun- dreds of lobbyists and government officials in the regal House Ways and Means Committee chamber, Congress officially began work yes- terday on changing the way Ameri- cans buy and receive medical care. After months of waiting for the White House to design and refine a health plan, and watching the public's comfort level with it complicated details slip away, the opening of the Subcommittee on Health mark-up yesterday refocused attention on the obvious: this is Congress' ball now and it is carrying it forward. "This is where it's at after all the months of hoping and trial balloons. We're finally at ground zero," said David Hebert, lobbyist for the Na- tional Association of Life Under- writers. "Anyone interested in health care should be in this room." Ground zero was the gilded Com- mittee chamber under the deliberate management yesterday of subcom- mittee chair Fortney "Pete" Stark (D-Calif.) whose attacks on the Clinton plan have been colorful and damaging. Now it is Stark, his 11 subcom- mittee members and his self-designed Medicare-style reform that are in the crosshairs of the professional repre- sentatives of corporations, industry coalitions and consumer groups ea- ger to shape or defeat reform. As Stark's subcommittee crept through a reading of his bill, Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee-one of two other House panels with major health care juris- diction - signaled that he is consid- ering modifying one or two of the most controversial elements of the Clinton plan: health insurance pur- chasing "alliances" and a requirement that employers purchase insurance for their employees. Dingell has previously been un- qualified in his public support for Clinton's plan. But speaking before the American Medical Association yesterday, he said he doesn't "care a lick" how the goal of universal cov- erage is achieved. He called much of the criticism of alliances justified and said the proposed payment by employers will "probably be al- tered." While the lobbying buzz around health care reform has been palpable for months, yesterday it was discern- ibly louder as spouses and members of various national associations walked the Congressional halls, and separate coalitions of labor unions and business groups announced their multimillion-dollar public relations campaigns. Three labor unions said they would spend $6 million on television ads, funded mainly by a New York-based health care workers' union, to counter the successful "Harry and Louise" cOm- mercials of the Health Insurance Asso- ciation of America. The National Res- taurant Association released a televi- sion spot, part of a $1 million campaign against Clinton's proposal. This propa- ganda was an effort to require employ- ers to pay part of their workers' insur- ance. President Clinton, meanwhile,Ihas had private meetings in the last several weekswith two Ways and Meansmom- bers, Peter Hoagland (D-Neb.) andBill K. Brewster (D-Okla.) plus at least five members of Dingell's committee, each considered swing or undecided votes. Most of them also met separately with Hillary Rodham Clinton. A tobacco-free Michigan could improve its economy. Warner and Fulton projected 1992 earnings would have been about $226 million more if Michigan's economy were tobacco-free. Under more realistic scenarios, such as a doubling of the recent decline in tobacco sales, the study still found a slightly improved Michigan economy, which would have resulted in 312 more jobs in 1992. "In every case, elimination or reduction of tobacco expenditures increases employment, without exception," Warner and Fulton concluded. State revenues, however, could decrease due to the loss of cigarette excise tax revenues. Clinton schedules visit to Detroit job training institute WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi- dent Clinton plans to visit a unique job training center when he travels to Detroit next week for a jobs confer- ence with economic leaders of six other nations, Sen. Carl Levin said yesterday. The field trip to Focus:HOPE's Center for Advanced Technologies is set for late Sunday afternoon, said Levin, a Michigan Democrat andlong- time advocate of the program. The meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies, known as the G7, is set for Monday and Tnes- day, March 14-15. Focus:HOPE began as a food dis- tribution center and now includes a machinist training institute, a day care center and manufacturing plants. Correction Michelle Brooks was not found guilty on one count of larceny by conversion. This was incorrectly reported in yesterday's Daily. The Daily sincerely apologizes for any embarrasment caused by this error. Group Meetings Q ACLU, 116 Hutchins Hall, 7:30 p.m. Q AIESEC,1276 Business Admin- istration Building, 6 p.m. Q East Quad support group for lesbians, gay men, & bisexual people, call 764-3678 for info. Q Lutheran Campus Ministry, soup supper 5:30 p.m.; human sexuality study, 6p.m.; compline for Lent, 7 p.m.; 801 S. Forest. Q Juggling Club, Michigan Union, Anderson Room D, 7 p.m. Q Ninjutsu Club, IM Building, Room G21, 7:30-9 p.m. Q Saint Mary StudentParish, faith nnr thmiaht 1lethre- centerins Kuenzel Room, 7:30-9 p.m. Events Q "Nostaligia for Apocalypse in Contemporary Polish Litera- ture," Madeline G. Levine, spon- sored by the Center for Russian & East European Studies, Lane Hall Commons Room, noon. Q "Nostos and the Modern Greek Sensibility in Cavafy, Seferis, and Ritsos," Edmound Keeley, sponsored by the Department of Classical Studies, Rackham Amphitheatre, 3 p.m. U "Political Liberalism," Susan Okin, sponsored by the Depart- ment of Philosophy, Michigan I eanmip KnC lfer Ronm '730 Student services Q Alternative Career Center, ca- reers in the nonprofit sector, 2213 Michigan Union, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Q 76-GUIDE, peer counseling phone line, ,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. Fl Psvchnnov Academic Peer Ad- i r I ....v- . r: