The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 27, 1994 - 3



*Hopefuls
court vote
at Jewish
center
By JONATHAN BERNDT
Daily Staff Reporter
The organizers asked for an is-
sues-oriented discussion, and the can-
didates delivered at last night's fo-
rum, mostly refraining from attack-
ing their opponents.
A group of about 50 gathered at the
Jewish Community Center to hear lo-
aland state candidates' positions, with
emphasis on issues concerning Israel
and the Middle East, easily discussed
after yesterday's signing of a peace
treaty between Israel and Jordan.
While the candidates from the ma-
jor races were not able to attend, they
sent their representatives. The only
candidate not accounted for at the fo-
rumwas Republican Joe Mikulec, who
running for state Senate.
Dan Senor, Jewish outreach coor-
dinator for Republican Spence
Abraham's U.S. Senate campaign,
started the evening by noting Jewish
issues and concerns about Israel's po-
sition in the global community, as did
several other candidates.
"Spence is a Lebanese Christian
who is very pro-Israel," Senor said,
adding that Abraham promised to vote
r the foreign-aid budget each year
and opposes the Arab boycotts.
Ira Unger, a researcher and writer
for Democrat Bob Carr's U.S. Senate
campaign, stressed the pro-Israel record
of the U.S. representative from East
Lansing, citing his support for Syrian
Jews, opposition to cuts that would
have affected Israel's military strength,
and close ties to the American Israeli
dublic Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel
obbying group.
State Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann
Arbor), who is running for Congress,
recalled her days on the Ann Arbor
school board when she presided over
the sale ofthe Jewish Community Cen-
ter to the group and looked ahead to
being able to serve constituents, noting
she has experienced many of the fears
and problems prevalent in the district.
4 Republican John Schall, Rivers'
opponent, reiterated his position that
government is too large.
"I saw that Washington beast in-

Wolpe accuses
Engler of siding
with convicts

JOE WESTRATE/Daily
Martin Straub, Republican candidate for state Senate, speaks during a forum at the Jewish Community Center in
Ann Arbor last night. Local and state candidates spoke before a group of about 50 community members.

trude into too many lives - our homes,
our businesses - where it doesn't be-
long," he said of his service in the Bush
administration, where he was deputy
chief of staff of the Labor Department
for the last two-and-a-half years.
Schall, who has been criticized as
out of touch with the district after being
in Washington, mentioned the role he
played after General Motors announced
the closure of the Willow Run Assem-
bly Plant near Ypsilanti in 1992.
"We sat down with GM, the UAW,
the governor's office and directed $5
million to (the area)," he said, also
noting this move did not raise the fed-
eral deficit. "That's making govern-
ment respond."
Mark Ouimet, an Ann Arbor banker
and former City Council member,.rep-
resented Gov. John Engler's campaign,
and stressed economic issues, where he
and the governor agree.
"Our state has struggled with how
to create employment," he said. "Right
now, we are at the lowest unemploy-
ment rate in 20 years."
Ouimet predicted this expansion
would continue to promote economic
growth, which would improve the
state's tax base and help build the state's
current budget surplus.

Ann Arbor's state Sen. Lana Pol-
lack, who lost in the U.S. Senate pri-
mary, came to speak on the behalf of
Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Howard Wolpe. quoting some of
Wolpe's statements.
"We do not need more government
or less government, we need better gov-
ernment." she read. "Government must
be responsive to Michigan citizens as a
whole, not to the special interests."
She also emphasized the impor-
tance of public school funding, which
has been the pre-eminent issue in Michi-
gan politics since property taxes were
eliminated as the primary source of
school funding in July 1993.
"If there is one thing this campaign
is about, it is the continued life of
public education in Michigan," she said.
Democrats have attacked Engler
as having 4 hidden agenda to divert
public funds to private schools through
the state's new charter school law.
Engler has said he cannot give private
and religious schools state money
because the state Constitution pro-
hibits it.
Steven Rhodes, moderator for the
event and the chair of the center's com-
munity relations committee, said the
turnout, which was less than at a similar

forum two years ago, was probably due
to the election being a mid-term affair.
But questions coming from the au-
dience showed voters were concerned,
Liz Brater, a former Ann Arbor
mayor who is running for the state
House, was asked about her reputa-
tion as being unable to compromise.
"I've worked in government, I know
government," she said. "I'll be voting
with the Democrats to work for pro-
gressive change for this state."
Brater's opponent, Renee
Birnbaum, a non-practicing attorney
originally from Ohio with no elective
experience, was asked how she could
work in government for Ann Arbor.
She cited her experience as a trial
attorney, balancing the concerns of
elected officials, judges and clients.
Marty Straub, who is challenging
state Rep. Mary Schroer for her seat,
spent most of his statement attacking
his opponent's voting record opposing
facets of public education funding,
crime prevention and child
pornogrophy. Schroer was asked to
defend her decisions in Lansing.
"I have to vote the vote I can live
with," Schroer said, explaining that
she didn't agree with all parts of the
bills being proposed.

LANSING (AP) - Democrat
Howard Wolpe yesterday accused Gov.
John Engler of siding with felons by
appealing a court ruling on a tough
sentencing law.
Meanwhile, Engler traveled to
Monroe County to brag about
Michigan's economy.
Wolpe blasted Engler at a news
conference for pushing Attorney Gen-
eral Frank Kelley to appeal a Michigan
Court of Appeals ruling.
The ruling requires felons who com-
mit acrime while on patrol to serve their
entire maximum sentence for their first
crime before the clock starts ticking on
their sentence for the second crime.
"How many people in this state are
aware that this governor is having his
Department of Corrections intervene
in court on the side of the criminals,
trying to make certain they have less
time in prison?" Wolpe said.
Wolpe said the governor's position
puts the idea of parole at the same time
he is projecting an image of being
tough on criminals.
"The governor really does give a
bad name to hypocrisy," Wolpe said.
Engler spokesman John Truscott
claimed the department was unaware
an appeal had been filed.
"If an appeal was filed, it was done
without the consultation of the Depart-
ment of Corrections. ... I kind of doubt
that one (an appeal) has been filed."
Truscott said.
He said Kelley's office initially said
the ruling should not be appealed for
political reasons during an election year.
The Engler administration supports
the ruling and only wants the Michigan
Supreme Court to clarify which pris-
oners it applies to, Truscott said. The
ruling says it applied prospectively.
but Truscott said the state could be
sued by inmates if the ruling is not
applied uniformly.
Kelley spokesman Chris DeWitt
said that office never rejected an appeal
for political reasons. He released acopy
of the appeal, dated Oct. 11, seeking
reversal of the ruling, as well as two
letters from Corrections Director Ken
McGinnis urging the appeal.

Engler
In a Sept. 28 letter, McGinnis said
the sentences for more than 700 prison-
ers would have to be refigured because
of the ruling.
"Most of these prisoners will have,
several years added to their sentence,:
which will have a significant'
unanticpated impact on their prison
overcrowding," McGinnis said in the
appeal.
The appeal asks the high court to'
rule that felons who commit another
crime while on parole have to serve the
minimum sentence for each crime be--
fore becoming eligible for parole again.:
Meanwhile, Engler told the Mon-'
roe County Chamber of Commerce-
Koffee Klub that the county's 4.3-per-
cent unemployment rate was proof his,
policies were working.
"As a result of our 1 I tax cuts, the'
last couple of years have seen a dra-
matic turnaround in our economy. In
sports terminology, we are like a team
that has gone from worst to first," he
said.
Engler also took credit for Form-
Tech Steel Co.'s decision to stay in
Temperance rather than move to Ohio.
Form-Tech President Charles
Arredia said Michigan's improved
busines climate was the major reason
the economy stayed put.

Carr pokes hole in ss
,Abraha TV ad..

Mayoral candidates debate 'U' issues

DETROIT (AP) - Democrat Bob
Carrpokeda hole in Spencer Abraham's
centerpiece TV ad in the homestretch of
the tight U.S. Senate race, but the Re-
publican quickly patched it yesterday.
Carr attacked Abraham for saying
in the ad that he would be able to collect
a pension of some $2 million. "That's
*flat out lie," the 18-year U.S. House
member said.
"The truth is irrelevant to the Spence
Abraham campaign handlers and spin
doctors and Spencer Abraham him-
self," he said.
The 51-year-old Carr said he didn't
join the House pension plan until 1986
and would be able to collect $18,204 a

year at age 62 for a total of $382,284
over20 years. The Abraham figure was
based on a 21-year payout, starting at
age 60.
"The honorable thing to do" would
be to pull the ad off the air, Carr said.
Abraham's campaign countered by
saying it was changing the ad to use
Carr's figures, even though it believed
the actual figure was higher.
"We don't buy their figure. They've
produced no documentation that this is
the real figure. We believe the real
numberis somewhere between his num-
ber and our number and we want to find
out what it is," said Abraham campaign
spokesman Joe McMonigle.

DEBATE
Continued from page 1
answer, couldn't pinpointasingle need.
Instead, he repeated a theme of his
campaign: balancing regional devel-
opment with environmental protection.
Before the final question, the may-
oral candidates answered a series of
questions in a mostly low-key exchange
of ideas. About 30 people attended the
debate, sponsored by the local chapter
of the Jaycees.
Sheldon and Stead found much in
common on fiscal issues, the environ-
ment and relations with the University.
Sheldon rebuked him for generally
voting with the Democratic majority. "I
wish I could feel a little more confident
that he'acted a little more indepen-
dently," she said. "That is unfortunate."
In answersto several questions,
Stead chided Sheldon for what he called
weak leadership. He said Sheldon is ill
equipped to spearhead the next round
of negotiations with employee unions

amid a budget shortfall. "There's go-
ing to be some very tough decisions
that are going to require some leader-
ship," Stead said.
But Sheldon said attempting to
strong-arm unions would backfire. "All
of you are much aware of what it's like
to negotiate in a union setting. We may
be able to pick up in some areas, but we
will lose in others," she said.
Both candidates portrayed them-
selves as fiscal conservatives. Sheldon
said she cannot support a city income
tax presently, but would not rule it out.
She suggested a local-option sales tax
as a method of siphoning tax revenue
from non-residents.
Stead said the city should prioritize
expenditures. Then, in the event of a
budget crisis, the City Council can dis-
card less important expenses while pre-
serving the most important, Stead said.
On city-University relations, both
refrained from criticizing the Univer-
sity. "One area in which I think the
University could talk to us a bit more is
when they buy property. They do have

a master plan, but they don't always tell
us of their plans." Stead said.
Stead also said the city should:
strengthen cooperative efforts with the
University to secure state funding. He.
said Sheldon has not campaigned vig-
orously enough for state funds to com-
pensate for city funding of fire protec-
tion on the University campus.
Sheldon suggested that the Univer-
sity draft an impact statement when-
ever it buys a city building. Because
University property is tax exempt, such
purchases deprive the city of revenue.
"Thirty to 40 thousand dollars does
mean a lot to us," Sheldon said. "We
need every dollar we can get."
Sheldon pointed out that under her'
administration, the city has worked with
the Michigan Student Assembly to ad-
dress student concerns. "We do some-
times give students the short shrift be-
cause they are 'passing through.' We
do forget that they are an integral part
of the community," she said.
Stead said the city should extend its
outreach programs to students.
topries

Carr

Group Meetings
Q Archery Club practice, 913-5896,
Sports Coliseum, 7-9 p.m.
U_ Circle K International weekly
meeting, 663-2461, Michigan
Union, Pond Room, 7:30 p.m.
O Indian American Students As-
sociation, 761-6853, Michigan
Union, Room 4001, 12 p.m.
O Intervarsity Christian Fellow-
ship meeting, 764-5702, Natu-
ral Resource Building, Room
1040,7 p.m.
Q Meditation for Universal Con-
sciousness meditation workshop,
747-0885, Michigan League,
Room D, 7 p.m.
O Muslim Students' Association
halaqa meeting, 913-6908,
Michigan League, Room D, 7
p.m.
Q Students Against Homophobia
meeting, Michigan Union, Kuen-
- D in I n n

of Anthropology, Ruthven Mu-
seum of Natural History, Room
2009, 12-1 p.m.
Q "Applying to Graduate School",
sponsored by CP&P, Student Ac-
tivities Building, 5:10-6 p.m.
Q "Daughter of Empire: Olive
Christian Malvery, Photojour-
nalism, and the Edwardian
Flower Girl", Judith R.
Walkowitz, Rackham
Amphitheatre, 8 p.m.
Q "Don't Be Psyched Out by the
GRE", sponsored by Undergradu-
ate Psychological Society, Mod-
em Language Building, Room
2002,7-8 p.m.
Q "Financing Your Graduate
School Education", sponsored by
CP&P, Student Activities Build-
ing, 4:10-5 p.m.
Q Informational Meeting about
Summer Study Abroad Pro-

sored by National Lawyers
Guild, Hutchins Hall, Room 120,
12 p.m.
Q "ShulchanIrvit Hebrew Table",
sponsored by Hillel, Cava Java,
Q "The Light Sensitivity of Silver
Halides and Their Use in Pho-
tography", physical seminar,
Dr. Charles Barlow, Chemistry
Building, Room 1200, 12 p.m. y
Q "The Medical School Experi-
ence", sponsored by Pre-Medi-
cal Club, Michigan Union,
Pendleton Room, 6:30 p.m.
Q "TV Night", sponsored by Hil-
lel, Hillel Building, 8-11 p.m.
Student services
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 of

Student
are here!

Dormitory residents may pick up a Directory in
their hall lobby this week (one per room, please).
If you don't live in a dorm, don't despair...
On-campus Directory distribution:
*Monday, Oct. 31 Fishbowl 10am-2pm
*Wednesday, Nov. 2 Diag 10am-1pm
- 1m..!.I.. ... . As BA!e -. . . .... we 4 . n-u.m


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