The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, November 22, 1994 - 3
*House Republicans having second thoughts about term limits
WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republi-
cans, committed to a first-ever vote on con-
gressional term limits, are having second
thoughts about limiting their own stays in
.Washington.
The man who will be the new House
majority leader, Rep. Dick Armey of Texas,
suggested that public support for term limits
may wane now that the GOP will control
Congress. If Republicans "can straighten out
the House," he said in a recent interview,
Americans may not be so enthusiastic about a
constitutional amendment limiting the time a
person may serve in Congress.
"They don't want to go home, they love
this job," said Cleta Mitchell of the Term
Limits Legal Institute in explaining the diffi-
culty of getting the two-thirds majority in
both chambers needed to pass a constitutional
amendment to limit terms.
The House Republicans' "Contract With
America" that lays out their agenda for their
first 100 days in power promises a vote on
term limits, which many Republicans made a
key issue in their successful runs for congres-
sional seats.
House Speaker Thomas Foley's opposi-
tion to term limits was a major factor in his
loss to his Republican challenger, George
Nethercutt Jr.
But already there are signs that the Repub-
licans, back in power in the House for the first
time in 40 years, are not that eager to give up
their jobs.
Armey said in a recent National Public
Radio interview that he supported term limits
because the House has performed so poorly in
recent years, but that he did so "with a terrible
amount of reluctance."
"I think Americans will find their enthusi-
asm for term limits waning quite a bit," the
Texas lawmaker said, if the Republicans "can
straighten out the House."
Another Republican, Rep. Newt Gingrich
of Georgia, the next Speaker of the House and
the chief promoter of the "Contract," has also
dismayed some term limit advocates by say-
ing the legislation would not be retroactive,
thus relieving current members of immediate
concern about their future employment.
Mitchell said that even with a groundswell
of public support for term limits, getting the
two-thirds majority of both houses needed for
a constitutional amendment will be tough.
If the amendment passes both houses, three-
quarters of the states would have to ratify
it.
James Geoffrey, legislative aide to Rep.
Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) agreed that the pros-
pects of winning two-thirds of the members
were "on the edge." McCollum has 105 co-
sponsors for a bill he introduced earlier this
year that would limit House members to six
two-year terms and senators to two six-year
terms.
Many Democrats can be expected to sup-
port the Clinton administration position that
term limits threaten the election system, and
even some key Republicans oppose limits.
"I think America is always going to
need statesmen and you don't get them out
of the phone book," Rep. Henry Hyde (R-
Ill.) said earlier this year at hearings on
term limits.
It is likely that Hyde will become the next
chairman of the House Judiciary Committee,
which will be responsible for moving a term-
limit bill..to the House floor. His aides say he
would not block action on such a bill, but
would speak out against it.
This week Hyde filed a "friend of the
court" brief with the Supreme Court, present-
ing his views on why state attempts to set time
limits on national offices were unconstitu-
tional.
*President hails
'U' workers at
1st Staff Day
ON Duderstadt commends
University staff on their quality,
commitment to supporting
faculty and students
By MICHELLE LEE THOMPSON
Daily Staff Reporter
About 300 workers trodded down to Hill Auditorium
on coffee breaks and lunch hours from their workplaces
within the University community yesterday.
They went to hear University President James J.
Duderstadt and other speakers deliver words of praise on
the first annual Staff Recognition Day.
"This is your day, this is your Michigan," Duderstadt
told the crowd. "For every professor who published a new
book, for every student who eats at a dining hall table,
there are hundreds of staff who made that possible,"
Duderstadt said.
Staff Recognition Day included a slide presentation,
remarks from various staff and administrators, motiva-
tional speeches and a keynote address titled "How to Stay
Oon the Leading Edge Without Losing Your Balance."
Speakers stressed the value of verbal praise and com-
mendation in the workplace as valuable tools to keep
workers happy and productive.
Duderstadt noted that the University is one of two
institutions in the state that received the October Quality
Award. He said the University's top ranking as a research
institution was made possible in part by the efforts of the
staff who keep things working.
"What (Duderstadt) told us was encouraging for ev-
eryone," said Fatima Abdullah, an administrative assis-
tant for University Productions.
However, many staff members were unable to attend the
event because it was held during their work shifts. Of those
who attended, many said Duderstadt's speech was routine,
and that they did not learn anything from what he said.
City Council considers
bond issue to fund YMCA
By MATTHEW SMART
Daily Staff Reporter
In a move to procure financing for
the Ann Arbor YMCA last night, the
City Council discussed a commitment
to Great Lakes Bancorp for the cre-
ation of $1.6 million in bonds for the
YMCA.
The Council has to vote on the
bond proposal by mid-December, or
they will lose a non-refundable
$60,000 deposit.
The bonds would generate
$155,000 per year for the YMCA, but
many council members have strong
reservations about spending such a
large amount of city money.
"The community has to assess the
cost versus the benefits derived from
making this long-term substantive
investment," said Eileen Ryan, com-
munity development director.
YMCA and City Council still dis-
agree over two major points, notably
tenant rights. Although occupants rent
rooms, the state defines this situation
as an inkeeper status. This means rent-
ers can be evicted without both prior
notice and any sort of appeals process.
Several people have been evicted
in the past year under this policy and
the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union has
been challenging it.
Another heated issue is the free-
dom the YMCA retains over internal
managment. The YMCA would like
to have the ability to raise rental rates
in the future to meet budgetary de-
mands. The current rent level is $325
per month for each of the 37 rooms
the YMCA supports.
Some council members worried
that the current rent level is too high
and that increases would lead to a
decrease in the number of people able
to afford the housing.
"If it is not affordable, I can see no
value in it," Councilmember Maureen
Dickson said.
The current YMCA rent level is
affordable to people at 34 percent of
median income. In comparison,
people relying on only monthly So-
cial Security checks can afford to pay
15 percent of median income.
The U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development sets a maxi-
mum rate of 75 percent fair market
value for an efficiency unit - a no
bedroom apartment - as the fair
market rent level for single room oc-
cupancy units.
The city hired an attorney to work
out an resolution with the City Coun-
cil, YMCA and Great Lakes Bancorp.
At last week's meeting, the City Coun-
cil authorized approval of a commit-
ment to Great Lakes Bancorp for the
purchase of bonds for the Ann Arbor
YMCA. The purchase will be for $1.6
million at a guaranteed interest rate of
6.5 percent.
In 1988, the city and the YMCA
agreed to obtain a guaranteed loan
from Great Lakes Bancorp. In the
agreement, there was a condition that
required the city to pay the loan in the
case that the YMCA defaulted on it.
The city agreed to the contract in
an attempt to increase the amount of
low income housing in the area. How-
ever, last year the YMCA ran out of
money and the city began making
payments on that loan.
MICHAEL FITZHUGH/Daily
Glenna Salsbury delivers the keynote speech at the first
Staff Recognition Day at Hill Auditorium yesterday.
"It's the same thing I've heard before - I've been
working here for 10 years," said Eddie Stephens, who
works at the family housing office.
"It's considerate what they're talking about - it's all
positive. The question is will the positive come out of it,"
Stephens said.
Michiaan F t <y 5" .. ,F: y~ ~'
resdents v.~~
GOP govs. seek less federal power
The Washington Post
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - It is a
debate as old as the country itself, but the
1994 midterm elections have breathed
new life into the movement to shrink the
federal goverment and restore power to
state and local governments.
Republican governors meeting
here this week say the election of a
Republican Congress offers a historic
opportunity to transform what has
largely been a philosophical debate
into a practical experiment that could
dramatically alter relationships be-
tween Washington and the states.
"I think the relationship between
the states and federal government is due
for a complete reappraisal, and I think
that's beginning right now," said Re-
publican Michigan Gov. John Engler.
But the fight now brewing grows
directly out of conflicting interpreta-
tions of what the Republican earth-
quake two weeks ago meant.
Did voters signal they wanted
leaner, more-productive government
in Washington - in essence the rein-
vented government President Clinton
has promised? Or were they saying
Washington isn't working and needs
to shed some of its responsibilities?
Most governors are clear about
where they come down. -
Governors such as Engler and
Wisconsin's Tommy Thompson, who
have attacked the education and welfare
issues in their states, have been aggres-
sive in arguing they can do more to solve
many domestic problems if they were
freed of restrictions or requirements
mandated from Washington.
"I can go right through the federal
budget and the domestic programs,
and most of them would benefit from
having stronger state and local par-
ticipation in the actual design and
administration," Engler said.
Thompson, whose state has been a
leader in reforming welfare, said,
"There's no doubt in my mind that I will
be able to develop a better welfare-re-
form package that will help more citi-
zens and accomplish greater indepen-
dence and opportunities for individuals
to get off of welfare than if Washington
sets all of the requirements."
That is the message Republicans
governors have been sending to their
congressional leaders in Washington
and they are anxiously awaiting an
answer from Senate Republican
Leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) and
House Speaker-to-be Newt Gingrich
(R-Ga.) who will speak here today.
Governors have a whole series of
steps they hope Dole and Gingrich will
begin to implement, beginning with
relief from unfunded federal mandates.
Ohio Gov. George Voinovich, a
Republican, has put together a set of
priorities, from block grants to welfare
to health care, where he said the elimi-
nation of federal restrictions could make
a major difference on efficiency.
Most governors here agree with
Gov. William Weld, a Massachusetts
Republican, who said on NBC-TV's
"Meet The Press" Sunday that the
new Congress there will be "more of
a mood to give us our head and let us
run."But privately they are wary about
just how much relief they will get,
particularly from the Senate.
But the debate has other facets
beyond relief through legislative ac-
tion in Congress. Former U.S. Attor-
ney General William Barr addressed
the governors at lunch yesterday and
outlined a series of avenues open to
them to press their drive to whittle
away at the power of government in
Washington.
Through litigation, he said, states
can try to gain back powers he said are
inherent in the 10th amendment but
that have been eroded over the years.
He said the judicial climate today is
far more favorable to the states than it
was a decade ago.
suffer gale-
force winds
From Staff and Wire Reports
LSA sophomore Claudia Parodi
did not even attempt to attend her
lecture yesterday as winds and rains
gusted through Ann Arbor and the
state of Michigan.
"I went out to my porch for a
second." But just as soon as she
stepped out, she reentered her house.
"I didn't go outside because it was so
gross," she said.
The sudden drop in temperature
after a weekend of afternoon highs in
the low 60s came as a surprise to other
students, despite it being the end of
November.
"I wasreally surprised at how windy
it was out," Engineering senior Jeff
Lee said. "It made it a lot colder than
it would be just looking outside."
Riding a bike proved a greater
challenge to Aimee Remigio. "I
wasn't moving, like I was stuck," the
Kinesiology first-year student said
about operating her two-wheeled ve-
hicle against the breeze.
However, University students
were struck lightly by the weather in
comparison to other areas in the state.
Yesterday's wind storms dumped a large oak tree on this Royal Oak home.
A Royal Oak woman awoke to a
tree crashing into her bedroom, a roof
was blown off an airport hanger in
Ionia and lights went dark in several
cities as stiff winds battered Michi-
gan yesterday.
The woman, in her 70s, was shaken
but unhurt after the tree crashed
through the roof, scattering plaster
and heavily damaging her single-story
house, said Sgt. Harvey Osborne of
the Royal Oak Fire Department.
"She's very, very fortunate not to
be injured," Osborne said. "She just
managed to pick herself up and get
out of the house safely." The woman's
name was not released.
Elsewhere, the winds downed
power lines, forced a truck off Inter-
state 96 and damaged the state police
post in Ionia. Thousands of people
were without power in the Lansing,
Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Holland and
St. Joseph areas and the Greektown
district of downtown Detroit. In Ann
Arbor, a storm knocked radio station
WAAM off the air for about five
hours yesterday morning.
$ALARY.
$UPPLE INT$
$ARE ERE!
Salaries for Faculty and Staff at
alli ft U A.1 lM nYRPC iIneaIhaIL
Group Meetings
U Michigan Students for Peace
Meeting, Modern Language
Building, Room B 118, 7 p.m.,
764-5943
U U-M Gospel Chorale Rehears-
als, School of Music, Room
2043, 7:30-9:30 p.m., 764-1705
J Thai Students Association
I- [ '1'" l lj III-I I I IIK W t~l
" U-M Ski Club Mass Meeting,
Michigan League, Koessler
Room, 8 p.m., 764-9886
O Society of Minority Engineer-
ing Students, EECS, Room
1500, 6 p.m., 764-7252
Student Services
" 76-GUIDE, peer counseling
phone line, 7 p.m.-8 a.m.
Q ECB Peer Tutorial, Angell Hall
Computing Site, 747-4526, 7-
11 p.m.
Q Campus Information Center,
Michigan Union, 763-INFO;
events info 76-EVENT or
Events
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