The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 13, 1994 - 3
'U' researchers outline future trends in auto industry
*By SCOT WOODS
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
One day, solar-powered cars may
fly along aerial highways, but that's
still science fiction.
However, in the year 2003, auto-
mobiles will be more efficient, more
recyclable, and will move from the
drawing board to the showroom in
less time, according to a report re-
.leased Monday by University re-
searchers.
The several-hundred-page report
=co-authored by David Cole, direc-
Fair offers
.answers to
housing
queries
By MICHELLE FRICKE
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
Do I have to pay for utilities?
How many parking spots are avail-
able?
These are just a few of the ques-
tions students who are seeking homes
for the 1994-95 academic year can
ask property owners and housing-re-
lated agencies at the annual Off-Cam-
pus Housing Day today in the Michi-
gan Union Ballroom from noon-3 p.m.
Sponsored by the University's
Housing Information Office, the event
allows students to meet prospective
'landlords and gather pertinent infor-
mation in one quick jaunt to the Union
between classes. More than 50 cam-
pus-area property owners will be there
to showcase their available units. Sev-
eral non-profit housing-related
groups, like the Ann Arbor Tenants
Union, as well as staff members from
the Housing Information Office will
also be available to aid students in
their quest for housing.
The event is usually held at the
beginning of each Winter Term, de-
spite the fact that many students have
already begun their housing search.
"We've gotten mixed reviews
about when we hold the fair," said
Mary Perrydore, senior adviser at the
*Housing Information Office. "It's a
constant struggle of when to start look-
ing for housing. Some students are
anxious to start, yet others would like
to wait until after finals."
Perrydore, who expects more than
800 students to attend today's fair,
added that conflicts between land-
lords and tenants often arise when
students want to sign leases before
*winter break.
"One problem with starting early
is that landlords put pressure on cur-
rent tenants to make decisions,"
Perrydore said. "Personally, I think
there's plenty of time to look during
winter term. Larger houses may go
faster, but students looking in smaller
groups still have opportunities now."
Although she and her friend started
looking for apartments before Thanks-
Ogiving, LSA junior Michelle Lewis
didn't sign a lease until last week. She
agreed with Perrydore that while it
helps to start a housing search early,
most landlords are not prepared to
sign leases until after winter break
anyway.
"We were a little worried, but we
signed our lease last week, and our
landlord said we were one of the first
*ones to sign for next year," Lewis
said. "Most places we called said they
weren't starting signing until the
middle of January."
At the housing fair, students can
also inquire about alternative housing
arrangements from organizations like
the Housing Bureau for Seniors, a
group that joins students with older
'people who exchange free or low-
cost housing for companionship.
tor of the University's Office for the
Study of Automotive Transportation
(OSAT) and Gerald Londal, a retired
General Motors executive - polls
hundreds of auto industry experts to
make its predictions.
"Top people throughout the in-
dustry contribute their knowledge,"
Cole said.
"We summarize and pull it all
together."
The report is intended to be used
by people in the automobile industry
to see how their forecasts compare to
their competitors'.
"It provides an ability to match
your vision of the future with the
consensus of the industry. It's a bench-
marking study," Cole said.
Brett Smith, a research associate
at OSAT, said he believes the report
reaches the desks of decision makers
at the highest levels of the Big Three.
"They're so busy running thecom-
pany they lose touch with the busi-
ness," he added. "This (report) helps
them get back in touch."
The report's predictions include:
0 The cost of gasoline will be
$1.75 a gallon in 2003, mainly be-
cause gas taxes are increasingly at-
tractive to politicians.
* Corporate average fuel economy
standards are expected to increase
about 20 percent - from 27.5 miles
per gallon to 32 mpg - compared to
about a 5 percent increase during the
past decade.
* The average time necessary to
develop and manufacture a car is ex-
pected to drop from four or five years
to about three years by 2003.
More recyclable materials are
expected to be incorporated into the
manufacture of automobiles, though
Cole said 75 percent of cars currently
are recycled. "Most people don't re-
alize that the car is the most recycled
part of our system," Cole said.
"They're ahead of aluminum cans
and even paper on the list."
Driver-side air bags, currently
in about half of all new passenger
cars, should become a virtual stan-
dard by 2003.
Smith, who co-authored the sec-
tion of the report on the future of
materials, said auto makers are envi-
ronmentally minded when it comes to
choosing materials, but must always
keep an eye on the bottom line: cost.
"Cost is the most important issue;
cost will be the most important issue.
Light weight will be important (for
better fuel efficiency), but that order
is clear," Smith said.
Cole summarized the report by
saying, "(The experts) believe that
the industry is going to continue to
change very rapidly."
TELL ME A STORY
Assembly to work toward
student rights, recognition
By RONNIE GLASSBERG
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
The lights dim and the show begins.
The members of Michigan Student Assem-
bly took their places on stage and announced
their plans for the semester.
Executive officers and representatives said
they will be striving to attain a wide array of
goals during the next four months.
MSA President Craig Greenberg said work-
ing on amendments to the Statement of Stu-
dents Rights and Responsibilities, the
University's code of non-academic conduct,
will be an important issue for the assembly.
SNRE Rep. Katie Buckingham criticized
the assembly for not involving itself in stu-
dents' rights.
"Student rights are obviously being taken
away. Why don't we get our shit together and
take care of that?" Buckingham asked. "Stu-
dent rights should be No. 1 on MSA's agenda
and it isn't."
In the area of students' physical well-ieing,
MSA Health Issues Commission Chair Meg
Whittaker said her commission is going to work
on the health insurance provided to students.
"We are going to renegotiate the health
insurance that we provide to 3,000 students,"
Whittaker said. "We want to switch carriers to
cut expenses for the students."
Whittaker said the apathy she sees in the
majority of the representatives is a major prob-
lem for the assembly.
"We are going to use the rules to compel
MSA (representatives) to participate or we're
going to kick them off," Whittaker said.
One new MSA representatives has already
become active in MSA and will serve as vice
chair of the communications commission.
LSA Rep. Bea Gonzalez, whose friends
encouraged her to run for a seat on the assem-
bly, said she had a positive view of MSA before
joining. But as a representative, she said, she
has been disappointed in the political nature of
MSA.
"The first couple of meetings that I went to
there was a lot of yelling and bickering among
the people in the parties. I didn't think it was
going to be as political as it was," she said.
This political bickering won't be eliminated,
Greenberg said.
"Student governments are always going to
be political. There's rarely going to be consen-
sus on an issue," he said. "I think MSA this year
is much less politically partisan than it has been
in the past."
Despite the politics, Gonzalez said she be-
lieves increasing publicity to students about
MSA can improve the assembly's image. For
this reason, Gonzalez said the communications
committee will begin a newsletter to inform
students about the assembly and will go to
campus organizations to inform them of MSA
money available for student groups.
"A lot of organizations don't know that they
can ask MSA for money," she said.
The Budget Priorities Commission of MSA
recommends funding for student groups. LSA
Rep. Jacob Stern, who chairs that commission,
said his commission will also work to fulfill
Gonzalez's goal.
"We are going to be actively involved in
trying to get more groups to get money from
us," Stern said.
MARY KOUKHAB/Daily
Thirteen-year-old Kea Williams participates in the Peace Neighborhood Association's Youth
Alternative Program. The Peace Neighborhood Center, located on Maple Road in Ann Arbor,
offers - among a range of activities - substance abuse prevention programs, individual
tutoring, job counseling and recreational activities. It is affiliated with the United Way.
Russian parliament fractious on eve of
Cinton visit; nationalists press demands
MOSCOW (AP) - With Presi-
dent Clinton arriving yesterday to
bolster Russian democracy, Russia's
new parliament was already degener-
ating into a free-for-all of bickering,
name-calling and threats.
A dozen anti-American demon-
strators who stood in a light snow
outside the U.S. Embassy said Clinton
shouldn't even bother coming to
Moscow. "Clinton - we don't need
your advice" said one demonstrator's
sign.
Clinton and President Boris
Yeltsin are scheduled to hold three
days of talks on nuclear weapons, the
possible expansion of NATO and the
sorry state of the Russian economy.
Clinton also planned meetings
with leading politicians to get a first-
hand look at Russia's emerging de-
mocracy.
His guest list did not include ultra-
nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
Zhirinovsky aimed his barbs at
fellow Russians yesterday, calling a
leader of the prominent Women of
Russia party "a snake" and saying the
party should be called "the Old Maids
of Russia."
Three leading parliamentary
groups stormed out of a meeting on
how to divvy up leadership positions
after Zhirinovsky demanded to chair
the session. Zhirinovsky also an-
nounced he wants to be speaker of
parliament.
The three parties threatened to bar
Zhirinovsky's deputies from ruling
bodies in the powerful lower house of
parliament, the State Duma, if he per-
sists in breaking parliamentary rules
by speaking out of turn.
Zhirinovsky also was targeted by
a top politician who claimed in a
newspaper interview yesterday to
have proof that Zhirinovsky is a former
KGB officer whose party is backed
by the secret police.
Zhirinovsky has denied any KGB
links.
Zhirinovsky, the Communists and
their allies form an anti-Yeltsin ma-
jority in parliament, which met for the
first time Tuesday.
The deputies, elected Dec. 12, have
been busy selecting committee chairs,
and speakers and attending to other
housekeeping matters. They have
fought over everything from the rules
for forming blocs to when to take a
break.
Finance Minister Boris Fyodorov,
a member of the pro-Yeltsin Russia's
Choice bloc, was even harsher, say-
ing the Duma was "just like a joke."
U.S. troops
help hunt
Columbian
narcotics
traffickers
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -
American soldiers are helping the Co-
lombian government hunt drug traf-
fickers and guerrillas by building a
military base, operating radars and
training Colombian troops, officials
said yesterday.
The announcement is likely to
heighten protests from Colombians
already objecting to U.S. soldiers on
the Pacific Coast on what the Defense
Ministry billed as a "humanitarian
mission."
In a new policy of openness, Co-
lombian military officials gave de-
tails about the presence of more than
250 American soldiers in various parts
of the country.
Some politicians had objected
even to the humanitarian mission,
which began last week in Juanchaco
village, 45 miles west of Cali, home
of the world's largest cocaine cartel.
AP PHOTO
Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky gestures forcefully in an
attempt to block debates in the Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian
parliament. The nationalist leader wanted to initiate voting.
U
Correction:
The name of Patrick La Pine, the legislative director of the Michigan Collegiate Coalition, was misspelled in Tuesday's
Daily.
IILT
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For more information and application
materials, call us at 764-7521 or visit us at the
Pilot Program Office
Alice Lloyd Hall
100 South Observatory
TODAY!!!
Preliminary Deadline is January 20, 1994
I
Group Meetings
Q Circle K, Michigan Union,
Room 2209, 7:30 p.m.
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ship, Michigan Union, Ander-
son Room, 7 p.m.
Michigan Union, Pendelton
Room, 6:30 p.m.
Events
U Distinctions Between Taiwan-
ese and Korean Approaches
Evolution and Human Behav-
ior Program, Rackham East
Lecture Room, 4 p.m.
0 Reinventing Politics in Central
Europe, speaker: Martin
Palous, sponsored by the Cen-
" GSTA salary
(.40 or .25 fraction)
* Tuition waiver
" Residence hail single
The Pilot Program in Alice Lloyd Residence
Hall is seeking Resident Fellows for 1994-95.
Resident Fellows are Resident Advisors and
teach first-year courses. They have both aca-
demic and residence hall responsibilities in-
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