The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 30, 1994 - 7
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.GM plants REACHING INWARD
lose as
Nite Owl rolls on
through the dusk
negotiatons
Continue
U Overtime caused by
increased demand Is
key factor in dispute
FLINT (AP)-Bargainers worked
'esterday to find a compromise that
could end apotentially crippling Gen-
eral Motors Corp. strike by workers
who say the company is trying to
build too many cars with too few
people.
GM had managed by midday to
avoid closing additional plants that
depend on parts that aren't being made
because of the strike by 11,500 work-
rs at its 123-acre Buick City com-
plex in Flint.
But some of the 5,500 workers at
a GM transmission plant in Willow
Run were sent home early Wednes-
day. The company said it was pos-
sible the entire plant would be down
by the end of the day, along with a
transmission plant in Warren that has
about 4,400 workers.
Workers at those plants have been
told not to report to work today. About
2,700 workers at its Linden, N.J.,
truck plant also were told not to report
to work today.
Workers in plants at Wilmington,
Del., and Oklahoma City, Okla., have
been told not to report for scheduled
overtime tomorrow, although normal
operations are scheduled to resume
Monday.
Two plants in Lansing closed
Tuesday, the day the strike began,
affecting about 6,550 workers.
People on both sides of the dispute
expected the pace of plant closings to
accelerate before the end of the day.
Dave Yettaw, president of strik-
ing United Auto Workers Local 599,
stood by his earlier estimate that
100,000 GM workers would be idled
around the country.
"There are going to be some more
plants fall after midnight," Yettaw
said as he headed for the bargaining
table.
The sides agree that GM should
hire additional people to ease the pres-
sure from production increases and
overtime schedules that are creating
health and safety problems for work-
ers. They don't agree on how many.
DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily
Ann Arbor residents and University students practice Tai-Chi yesterday near the Cube.
GATT vote delayed until Dec.1
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - Abandoning
an effort to win speedy approval of a
new world trade agreement, the White
House and its Senate allies agreed
yesterday to delay a vote on the pact
until Dec. 1, forcing the Senate into
an extraordinary post-election session,
White House and Senate sources said.
As aresult, Sen. Ernest F. Hollings
(D-S.C.), chairman of the Senate
Commerce, Science and Transporta-
tion Committee, and others seeking
to defeat the trade plan will gain an
additional two months to rally oppo-
sition but will not, as the White House
feared, succeed in delaying the vote
until next year.
The agreement also means the fate
of the trade accord will be decided by
a lame-duck Senate, and major na-
tions awaiting the result of the vote
here could end up delaying their rati-
fication decisions.
The measure, which the House is
expected to vote on next week, was
endorsed yesterday by the Senate Fi-
nance Committee in a vote of 19-0.
White House officials remained con-
fident it will win Senate approval,
with one senior aide saying as many
as 80 senators were expected to vote
for it.
Senate Finance
Committee endorses
measure; opponents
have two more months
to rally against
agreement.
"It's not going to be a problem,"
the aide said.
The pact would implement a mas-
sive revision of the rules that have
governed global commerce since
World War II. The agreement, nego-
tiated over more than seven years,
would cut tariffs -the taxes imposed
on imports - by an average of 40
percent and bring down quotas and
other barriers to trade around the
world. It would expand the scope of
the rules to such growing economic
endeavors as services, insurance,
pharmaceuticals and some entertain-
ment activities.
By the Clinton administration's
estimate, the liberalization of the Gen-
eral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,
which has set the rules of interna-
tional commerce for 47 years, would
amount to a$744Obillion tax cut around
the world, providing a stunning boost
to economic growth and employment
as a result of lowered prices.
"Every serious economic study of
the GATT has estimated that it will
create hundreds of thousands of high-
paying American jobs over the next
decade and ultimately add between
$100 (billion) and $200 billion to our
(gross domestic product) every single
year," President Clinton said at a
ceremony at the Treasury Department.
The administration's plan to win
congressional approval next week was
thrown into disarray Wednesday when
Hollings said he would bottle up the
accord by exercising his prerogative
as a committee chairman to hold it in
the Commerce Committee for the full
45 days allowed under Senate rules.
His plan would have put off a vote
until after the Senate's anticipated
adjournment for the year Oct. 7, a
move that ordinarily would have
pushed the vote over to next year and
into the new Congress. But no sooner
had he unveiled his tactic than Clinton
said he would ask the Senate to return
after Election Day.
The administration preferred the
special session to seeing the issue
carry into the new year because the
delays could unravel support and raise
doubts among trading partners.
By SARAH SINGLETON
For the Daily
You slowly leave the UGLi, back-
pack in tow, exhausted from a long
night studying. You can barely keep
your eyes open as you climb on board
and say, "Can you drop me off at
MoJo?" A voice answers back:
"Sure," and you are on your way
home - courtesy of the Nite Owl.
The Nite Owl bus service runs,
seven nights a week from 7 p.m. until
2 a.m. and transports University stu-
dents, faculty and staff free of charge.
Nite Owl drivers are students at
the University who typically apply
for the position at the end of the pre-
vious year's winter term.
Jennifer Cornwell, Nite Owl stu-
dent coordinator and driver, said this
is probably the best job she has had
while in school.
"I get to meet a lot of cool people
and the pay is really good," she said.
"I guess the real challenge is staying
awake."
Understandably so, since drivers
work eight-hour shifts with hardly
any breaks. Cornwell, an LSA senior,
has been driving the Nite Owl for
three years. She said the shifts take a
little getting used to at first.
As student coordinator, Cornwell
not only drives the Nite Owl, but also
acts as a liaison between the other
drivers and the Nite Owl coordinator,
Pam Means.
"We have a meeting every two
weeks where we can schedule the
shifts. Anyone who has a test or an-
other conflict can tell us ahead of time
so we can work around it," she said.
Cornwell said during midterm and
exam times they break up the shifts
into four-hour blocks so people can
work and study in the same night.
The training process for the Nite
Owl is not strenuous, Cornwell said.
Driving the Nite Owl requires a com-
mercial driver's license and a
chauffeur's license.
"I have never had a student spend
more than a week in training," Means
said. "They all train well and make a
real commitment to the job which
keeps it running smoothly."
Cornwell said that the chauffeur's
license was not difficult to obtain, but
the commercial driver's license was a
little more challenging.
"For the chauffeur's license, all
you have to do is read a book and
answer questions," she said. "But for
the commercial driver's license I had
to do an open engine inspection with
an official standing behind me, ask-
ing me to point out the different parts
of the engine and where trouble spots
could occur."
Cornwell liked the job so much
that she got her roommate, Trisha
Witty, also an LSA senior, to join the
team last year.
"It's basically an easy job to
handle, although there are certain situ-
ations where I get a little annoyed,"
Witty said. "Pedestrians can be kind
of dumb sometimes, like stepping off
the curb in front of the bus, which puts
everyone in danger. They just don't
use their heads."
Both Cornwell and Witty also said
students who use the service on week-
ends after hitting the party or bar
circuit can be a little disorderly and
rude.
"People who are drunk get on and
yell orders to me like 'Stop here' after
I have already passed the spot," Witty
said. "It is especially bad when they
throw up on the bus."
Witty said that when this happens,
she usually does not have to ask them
to leave because they are so embar-
rassed they get up and leave on their
own.
"It's really gross to smell because
sometimes I don't have time to clean
it up, and when it's near the end of the
nightI usually justleaveit," she added.
Driving in the bad weather can
also be a nerve-wracking experience,
but for the most part both Cornwell
and Witty said they learned from ex-
perience.
"When it is icy we move back to
the half-hour schedule to give us more
time to get around safely," Cornwell
said.
"Once I was driving south on State
Street right near Hill and the bus
started fishtailing every time I used
the brake. Just as I came two inches
away from a parked car, I got control
and it was a great feeling."
Cornwell said the riders were hold-
ing their breath and gasping, but when
she maneuvered the bus to safety,
they all cheered.
"Those are the nights that I like
what I am doing and am happy to help
people get home safely," she said.
Disney abandons Northern Va. site
The Washington Post
The Walt Disney Co. killed its
Prince William County, Va. theme
park last night, apparently after de-
ciding that an unexpected national
debate over the location and concept
of the $650 million Disney's America
was hurting the company's image.
The two top officials of the theme
park flew to Richmond Wednesday
night to brief a grim Gov. George
Allen about the decision. County of-
ficials were notified over the next few
hours.
The entertainment giant had won
$163 million in incentives from Vir-
ginia lawmakers earlier this year and
seemed on the way to gaining final
zoning approval from county offi-
cials next month. But company ex-
ecutives decided over the weekend
that the prolonged and increasingly
ugly fight could permanently damage
Disney's valuable corporate image, a
source said last night.
Peter S. Rummell, president of
Disney Design and Development Co.,
issued a statement saying in part:
"We remain convinced that apark'
that celebrates America and an ex-
ploration of our heritage is a great
idea, and we will continue to work to
make it a reality. However, we rec-
ognize that there are those who have
AP PHOTO
The Walt Disney Co. yesterday scrapped plans for a theme park in Virginia.
been concerned about the possible
impact of our park on historic sites in
this unique area, and we have always
tried to be sensitive to the issue.
While we do not agree with all their
concerns, we are seeking a new loca-
tion so that we can move the process
forward...
"Despite our confidence that we
would eventually win the necessary
approvals, it has become clear that we
could not say when the park would be
able to open - or even when we
could break ground.
"The controversy over building in
Prince William County has diverted
attention and resources from the cre-
ative development of the park. Im-
plicit in our vision for the park is the
hope that it will be a source of pride
and unity for all Americans. We cer-
tainly cannot let a particular site un-
dermine that goal by becoming a
source of divisiveness."
Rummell said the company would
try to build an American history theme
park elsewhere in Virginia, but has
not selected a site.
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