The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 12, 1994- 3
*Lobbyist discusses proposed legislation with MSA
By RONNIE GLASSBERG lation MCC is supporting. Feb. 1. tion to provide survivors of sexual increase financial aid for students and from the state, an increase of
DAILY STAFF REPORTER MCA 2nave *. 44f) 11.----, t "r- , . *.,.t
$6.3
In politics today there is constant
criticism of state and Washington lob-
byists.
But at last night's Michigan Stu-
dent Assembly meeting, representa-
tives met one lobbyist working for
them.
Patrick La Pline from the Michi-
gan Collegiate Coalition (MCC) spoke
to the representatives about sexual
assault survivors and education legis-
Clinton
to name
DEA
*authorit
WASHINGTON (AP) - Presi-
dent Clinton is expected to tap New
York State Police Superintendent
Thomas Constantine in the next few
days to become the new head of the
Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA), administration officials said
yesterday.
If confirmed by the Senate,
*Constantine would take over a 3,500-
agent organization that has a presence
in 53 countries worldwide, including
agents in all 50 states. He would suc-
ceed former U.S. District Judge Rob-
ert Bonner, who left the
administrator'sjob last Oct.29 tojoin
a private law firm. Bonner was ap-
pointed by President Bush.
The 54-year-old Buffalo, N.Y.,
native is a 31-year veteran of the state
police force.
Constantine did not immediately
return a call to police headquarters in
Albany, N.Y., last night.
Two administration officials, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, said
they expected the nomination to be
announced by the end of the week.
One said he believed that Attor-
ney General Janet Reno, who would
Wbe Constantine's boss, had met with
him about the job.
Constantine had confirmed in
November that federal officials had
approached him about taking the job.
He said then that the Clinton ad-
ministration was probably interested
in him because of his department's
drug-fighting activities.
"This is a big police department
*and a good one with a heavy commit-
ment to narcotics investigation," he
said.
Constantine said that before he
would take the DEA job, he'd have
some important considerations.
"The most difficult and the most
important would be my family," he
said. "We're a very close family...
The second is here at the state police.
Governor (Mario) Cuomo has been
very good to me."
Constantine is the father of five
adult children and a 12-year-old
daughter.
Reno has changed the job a bit in
an effort to reduce duplication. Vice
President Al Gore's "reinventing gov-
ernment" report had proposed merg-
ing the DEA into the FBI. Instead,
seno set up a separate office, headed
*by FBI Director Louis Freeh, that is to
ensure that the two agencies work in
coordination on operations and to
obtain compatible computer and com-
munications equipment, among other
things.
iV1Of1 pays $ 5,55u annually to
belong to MCC, which lobbies for
students' interests in higher educa-
tion at both the Michigan Legislature
and the U.S. Congress.
La Pline informed the representa-
tives of the Michigan Campus Sexual
Assault Victims Bill of Rights Act,
which died last year in the state legis-
lature but is expected to be taken up
again for consideration before the
House Higher Education Committee
it basicaiiy allows a student that
is not treated fairly by the university
to bring litigation," La Pline said.
This is one of the "sticking points"
with the universities, he said.
The bill has the support of 100 of
the 110 members of the house and has
received the support of the Michigan
Women's Commission - a commis-
sion appointed by Gov. John Engler.
The bill would require public and
private institutions of higher educa-
assault with waivers for classes and
require them to treat survivors with
seriousness.
"The idea is excellent. We need to
ensure that survivors' rights are
spelled out in a logical fashion," said
Business Rep. Devon Bodoh.
MCC is also working to support
increased state funding for higher
education.
La Pline told the representatives
that Engler's proposed budget would
appropriations tor the universities by
3 percent, ending a three-year freeze
on spending for higher education.
In Engler's proposed budget, the
University, along with Central Michi-
gan University, Eastern Michigan
University and Grand Valley State
University, will receive a one-time
adjustment to raise the funding to.
$3,500 per student.
If the budget is approved, the Uni-
versity will receive $280.3 million
million.
But MCC is concerned that in-
creased funding won't go to the stu-
dents.
"I think what MSA needs to do is
to not see the increase eaten up by
administrator pay raises," La Pline
said.
"You want to see it going to keep-
ing tuition down at the University of
Michigan - Ann Arbor," La Pline
added.
Auto Show exhibits
not fully accessible
ANASTASIA 8ANICKII I
Jason Magee (left), LSA junior and transfer student from Iceland, speaks with A.J. Guikema, a transfer student in
the School of Engineering, about the Transfer Student Network at Winterfest yesterday in the Union.
Stude
draw1
By JESSICA HOFFMAN
FOR THE DAILY
Colorful balloons, co
popcorn and perforr
Amazin' Blue, the Wo
Club and the Wolverettes
students to the Michigan
terday to discover the late
groups and organization
In its first year, Wint
activity modelled after F
designed for groups tor
members at the beginnin
Term - demonstrated th
pus offers a vast array o
and diverse options for s
In the midst of the ba
example, a dish from th
Coleman silk lite mantel,a
detector - all allegedly
items -sat on the Ameri
Society Student Chapte
table.
crowds to Winterfest
4 Josh Rintamaki, Engineering se- Winterfest also gave transfer and
nior and ANS member, pointed a first-year students a chance to ac-
)tton candy, Geiger counter at the items, saying, quaint themselves with extracurricu-
nances by "We are here to try and dismiss the lar life around campus.
men's Glee myths that nuclear energy is bad. For "The big target is incoming new
lured many instance, asmoke detector isn'tharm- students," said Jason Gamel,
Union yes- ful unless you eat it." Winterfest co-coordinator. "We are
st in student "The main goal of ANS is to edu- trying to get new students involved
s. catethepublic,"chimed in ANSmem- and those who haven't been involved
erfest - an ber and Engineering senior Peter in the past."
Festifall and Peterson. Martin Felipe, whojust transferred
recruit new Most student groups, however, had from Eastern Michigan University this
g of Winter less politically-inclined motives - semester, stopped into Winterfest to
hat the cam- they merely wanted to convince stu- help himself to informational bro-
f interesting dents to join their organizations. chures and handouts.
tudents. Wolverette and RC senior Dina "It was sort of a spur of the mo-
allroom, for Vernon said, "We need a lot of expo- ment stop. And then I thought I'd
he 1950s, a sure. Right now we have 13 stick around," he said.
and a smoke (teammembers), and we need 16." LSA sophomore Colleen Kelley
radioactive Winterfest participants said nu- stayed for an hour after she found out
can Nuclear merous students who join a student Winterfest was going on. "I just de-
er's (ANS) group in autumn drop out of that ac- cided to walk around and looked
tivity by the time Winter Term starts. around."
People with
disabilities find that
the Detroit Auto
Show is not
altogether barrier-
free; one man takes
action, confronting
the problem head-on.
DETROIT (AP) - The shiny cars
and trucks rotating on turntables and
raised on pedestals at the North Ameri-
can International Auto Show are de-
signed to entice visitors to take a
closer look.
At some exhibits, it's not so easy
if you're in a wheelchair.
At others, where ramps have been
built into the displays, access is basi-
cally equal.
Rick Morgan, who gets around in
a motorized wheelchair called a tri-
cart, spends part of the auto show
each year reviewing exhibit accessi-
bility for Moving Forward, a national
newspaper for people with disabili-
ties.
Last week he crowded with other
reporters for the unveiling of the Lin-
coln Contempra, a show car believed
to be the basis of the next Continental.
While other reporters climbed three
steps to get a closer peek at the sleek
luxury sedan, Morgan had no choice
but to stay below.
On Tuesday, he cornered Ford
Chair Alex Trotman to tell him of his
finding.
A surprised Trotman promised
action. Friday - the day before the
show opened to the public - a ramp
with a plexiglass barrier to prevent a
wheelchair from tumbling off the side
was in place. The ramp's color
matched the black stone and burgundy
carpet, blending with the rest of the
circular display.
"A lot of people with disabilities
are not poor," Morgan said Monday
from the assist that his friends have
dedicated "Rick's Ramp." "They will
buy cars like this if they can get a
good look at them."
Morgan, who has used his tri-cart
since an auto accident in 1990, pointed
out more positives than negatives
during a tour of the exhibit floor. At
the Mercedes-Benz exhibit, for in-
stance, disabled access was provided
by a gradual slope, easily maneu-
vered in amanual ormotorized wheel-
chair.
A bonus, Morgan said, was a white
pillar marking the area as handicapped
access. "And they didn't hide it at the
back of the display," he said.
Across the aisle at the Jeep-Eagle
display, only stairs were provided to
get a closer look at Chrysler's hot-
selling Jeep Grand Cherokee. The new
Chrysler Cirrus and Dodge Stratus
had the same impediments. Chrysler's
new Neon subcompacts were at floor
level, making them easy to approach.
Morgan said he has talked to
Chrysler exhibit managers in each of
the past two years and gotten no-
where.
"As long as someone we would
call 'whole' cannot get any closer
than I can get, then that's fine," Mor-
gan said. "It boils down to equal ac-
cess."
Pontiac this year became the first
exhibitor at the show to have its prod-
uct presentations offered in sign lan-
guage. Lynn Lashbrook alternates
between Pontiac's two major displays,
narrating without uttering a word.
"We just figured it might be a
good idea," said Ben Tatoris, exhibit
manager for Pontiac. "People seem to
like it from the comments we get."
Auto show spokesperson John
Love said the goal of the Detroit show.
is to be free of barriers to any disabled
person. He concedes the show has a
way to go.
"We're asking manufacturers as
they update their properties or build
new ones to be certain they are barrier
free in their design," Love said. "We
need to continue to educate and prod
in some cases to make sure we will
end up barrier free."
Cihnton dazzles European politicians at NATO summit
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -
Joshing with fellow NATO leaders
one minute, announcing major agree-
ments the next, President Clinton is a
big hit in Europe.
Several other leaders at the NATO
summit that ended yesterday were
effusive in their praise. Outside, Bel-
gians in cowboy hats waited for hours
hoping for a glimpse of the president.
And Europe's press, only weeks after
partisan coverage of transatlantic trade
battles, treated Clinton like a show-
biz star.
"Clinton Steals Show in Brussels,"
headlined the largest Dutch newspa-
per, De Telegraaf. "Clinton Seduces
the Europeans," said Liberation, a
trendy French daily. Italy's La
Republica said, "Albeit with a few
slipups, the 'American kid,' by now
with a gray tuft of hair, has passed the
test."
The German media focused
heavily on Clinton's jovial greeting
of their portly chancellor, Helmut
Kohl, whom the president likened to
a sumo wrestler. But Kohl himself
saluted Clinton as the embodiment of
a fresh-thinking postwar generation
that welcomes increased European
unity.
"He acts and reacts in meetings
without being surrounded by a big
crowd of advisers," Kohl said. And
he said U.S. officials for the first time
sought to understand the Russians'
psychology and avoid hurting their
pride.
French President Frangois
Mitterrand, whose country perenni-
ally spars with Washington over ev-
erything from trade to TV shows,
found little ground for disagreement
during a chat with Clinton, aides said.
Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers
described the U.S. leader as "friendly,
courteous and very clear in his state-
ments."
One of the few negative notes was
sounded by Britain's Daily Mail, a
conservative tabloid that said Clinton
"had trampled on the ashes of the
once-vaunted 'special relationship'
between Washington and London.
"He pledged U.S. commitment to
a united Europe that sounded suspi-
ciously like the superstate of French
dreams."
However, for others one of
Clinton's most appealing aspects was
his repeated conviction that a strong,
unified Europe was in America's best
interest.
"We have renewed the transatlan-
tic partnership based on a new more
mature relationship between North
America and Europe," said NATO
Secretary-General Manfred Woerner.
"And let me add one thing as a per-
sonal impression but more than that:
I think everybody was impressed by
the strong leadership, resolve and the
personal conviction of the American
president."
I
Correction:
The following courses fulfill the new LSA Quantitative Reasoning Requirement: Communication 206, 406;
Economics 401,402; Honors 252; Mathematics 105, 115, 127, 128, 175, 185, 186, 215; Philosophy 296, 414;
Physics 125, 126, 140, 240, 160, 260, 401; Political Science 185; Residential college 222; Sociology 210, 310;
Statistics 100, 170, 402. The following courses fulfill half the requirement: Chemistry 130; Economics 210, 202;
Geological Sciences 222, 280; Mathematics 116; Sociology 231, 430. This was reported incorrectly in yesterday's
Daily.
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Group Meetings
U East Quad support group for
lesbians, gay men, & bisexual
people, call 764-3678 for info.
0 FIlipino American Student
Association, Michigan Union,
Kuenzel Room, 7 p.m.
U Gay Jewish Coffee Hour,
Sweetwater's Cafe, 123 W.
I! T 1 - - - - -
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gan League, third floor, Room
B, 7-9 p.m.
U Volunteers in Action, mass
meeting, at Hillel, 7:30 p.m.
Events
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CareerPlanning and Placement,
T «:-- ,- - rn
Q Multiple Inflation-Output
Equilibria: Lessons from the
Russian Transition, sponsored
by the Center for Russian &
East European Studies, Lane
Hall Commons Room, 4 p.m.
Q Rosh Hodesh Service, at Hillel,
7:30 p.m.
Q ZS Associates, sponsored by
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