YC 2ir 4 Uain One hundred four years of editorial freedom I I ta ef ra I News Analysis Session to begm with lame ducks, so agenda Michigan Legislature to return next week with last chance to affect legislation By JONATHAN BERNDT Daily Staff Reporter. After all the Thanksgiving turkey *consumed, the Michigan Legisla- ture will return to.work next week for its "lame duck" session, the lastchance for defeated and retiring lawmakers to affect legislation. , While the session's agenda has not yet been set, this lag time be- tween the election and the swearing in of the new representatives could pose some decision-making diffi- ties. John Tropman, a University so- cial work professor, said a legisla- tor's dual role as partisan politician and statesperson concerned for the good of the community may clash even more during this session. "It may be that individuals (not returning) are less able to be a statesperson, but I'm not sure that K ld be true," he said. "A number ht hope to return to political ser- vice." Or they might be moving on. State Rep. Lynn Rivers (D-Ann Arbor) will not be going to Lansing right away. She will be in Washing- ton, preparing for her new job repre- senting Michigan's 13th Congres- sional District. She is replacing Wil- liam Ford (D-Ypsilanti Township), o is retiring. Rivers said she has observed that such sessions can be safe times to pass things, even controversial issues. "Prior to an election there's an unwillingness to let anyone score any points. People vote against things rather than letting an opponent get an advantage," she said. Tropman said legislators who no 1 ger face the voters - those who t or plan to retire - could face conflicts. "People who have no stake in the process have difficulties in most de- cision-making groups," he said. But he added that some of the reasons for entering public service will combat this problem. "They also become a public ser- vant because they want to help the nmon wheel," Tropman said. "For those individuals, that will continue whether they are lame duck or not." Political Science Prof. John Kingdon said knowing the makeup of the Legislature for the next two years gives the parties different goals for the session. See LEGISLATURE, Page 2 Jrppy Clinton, Dole move closer to GATT accord AP PHOTO Operation Get Down volunteer Ruth Henry (left) helps distribute boxes of food, including turkeys, to the needy. Students volunteer to help neyejoy Thnkgiin The Washington Post WASHINGTON - Clinton ad- ministration officials said they be- lieve they are close to meeting key conditions set by Senate Republican leader Robert J. Dole in return for his support for an international trade agreement scheduled for congres- sional votes next week. "We continue to make progress and we hope to wrap it by next Wednesday," said U.S. Trade Repre- sentative Mickey Kantor, after a se- ries of conversations with Dole's rep- resentatives. In a statement last night, Dole said: "It is my hope that the differences with the administration over the GAT ac- cord can be resolved soon.... We have not reached agreement yet." Dole's top priority with regard to the trade accord is the creation of a panel of retired U.S. federal judges to review decisions on trade disputes by a proposed World Trade Organiza- tion. The WTO would oversee the rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which were expanded in the agreement signed by 123 nations earlier this year. Senate sources said a deal on this issue has been virtually completed. President Clinton yesterday noted "the progress that we have made in working with Senator Dole on the substantive issues surrounding GATT. And I appreciate the very construc- tive attitude that has prevailed there." Clinton rejected another of Dole's requests - that the administration make concessions on lowering the capital gains tax. "I disagree that there should be some deal cut regarding capital gains. I don't think that's the right thing to do,"Clinton said during aWhite House news conference with Ukrainian Presi- dent Leonid Kuchma. See GATT, Page 2 Poll: Voters uncertain about trade LANSING (AP) - Michi- gan voters are taking a "show me" attitude toward a proposed multi-nation agreement designed to pave the way for freer trade around the world, a poll released yesterday says. The poll found a plurality of Michigan likely voters -45 per- cent - were undecided on the GAT agreement, while 28 per- cent approved of it and 27 per- cent disapproved. "They understand they've got to deal in the world market but they're really not too sure yet. They really have to grow into it," said pollster Ed Sarpolus. Asked whether the 123-na- tion agreement will help work- ers, 40 percent said yes, 34 per- cent said no and 26 percent were undecided. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade would lower tariffs on manufactured goods, limit subsidies to farmers and provide protections for patents, copyrights and trademarks. Sarpolus, a partner in the Lan- sing polling company EPIC/ MRA, said President Clinton has a big job in persuading the huge pool of undecided voters to back GATT. He warned that the president will have to do a better job of swaying undecided voters than he did on the health care issue or See POLL, Page 2 By SPENCER DICKINSON Daily Staff Reporter Today begins Thanksgiving Break at the Univer- sity - a time when some students will join their own families for turkey while others work to help those less fortunate. Josh Pietsch, a Nursing sophomore, flies today to Nashville, Tenn. There, he plans to see his girlfriend. and "eat too much" of his favorite Thanksgiving food - pumpkin pie. Jason Pickett, an LSA sophomore, also plans to eat Thanksgiving dinner with his family. He also plans to "play with (his) pooch." His favorite Thanksgiving food is "turkey. And stuffing. And gravy." First-year LSA student Meredith Nelson, howeve'r, will not be celebrating in the traditional way. "I'm a vegetarian," she said, "so I'll eat fruit or pasta or something like that." But she does not feel passing up turkey will take away from her enjoyment of the holiday, which she will spend in Greenwich, Conn. But Nelson will not be the only one going without turkey this Thanksgiving. Around the country, from Lansing to Boston to Buffalo, donations are down and demand is up in soup kitchens and shelters where the homeless and the needy have traditionally sat down to the best meal of their year. Church workers and social service agencies blame a steady decline in government funding and also say that many Americans, themselves struggling to make ends meet, are losing sympathy for the unemployed and the homeless.. "Homelessness has been around for a long time now, and people are beginning to say, 'Gee, if we can't solve the problem, maybe we ought to pretend it's not there,"' said RPick Roberts, chairman of the Chicago Christian Industrial League. In Lansing, donations are way down at the Cristo Rey Community Center, said senior citizens program coordinator Toni Diaz.- See THANKSGIVING, Page 2 Tag Days By MATTHEW SMART Daily Staff Reporter One look at Reggie Cameron, a 2- year-old chemotherapy patient at Mott Children's Hospital, and almost any- one would be willing to empty their pockets to help him. Reggie is just one of the many children who benefit from the money raised by the Galens Medical Society during its 67th annual Tag Days fund- raising drive, scheduled for Dec. 2 and 3. The Galens Medical Society hopes to raise $100,000 this year for ' benefits ill children children's health programs at Mott Children's Hospital and other Washtenaw County area children's services. About 200 University medical stu- dents will participate in the two-day event. The students will be positioned at most street corners and shopping areas in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area, wearing red ponchos and carry- ing buckets. In return for donations, volunteers will give out red and green tags for supporters to wear. People wearing these tags are exempt from requests for donations from volunteers. Many Galens members believe that helping children in the commu- nity is an important activity for medi- cal students. "I feel that as medical students we have a responsibility" to the welfare of the people in the community, said Rakesh Jha, a Galens member. "A hundred percent of what we raise goes directly to kids," said Francie Yousef, president of the Galens Medical Society. "I can't think of a better cause." See TAGS, Page 2 rEAF ME ALONE U.S. pushes allies to protect Bosnian towns From Daily Wire Services WASHINGTON - The United States renewed consultations with key allies yesteday over possible new air strikes to protect the Bosnian town of Bihac, as Serb nationalists closed in on the area after Monday's Western attack on a Serb-held airstrip. Clinton administration officials said the United States is again press- ing the United Nations to call in more NATO war planes to prevent the fall of Bihac in the face of the intensified Serb onslaught. Serb nationalists close in on Bihac; officials press U.N. for NATO air strikes At the same time, Washington was said to be renewing its push to get NATO to declare Bihac an "exclu- sion zone." The designation would prohibit the Serbs from using tanks and artillery in the area and would authorize air strikes against violators. The Serb attacks on Bihac under- scored the difficulty for the Clinton administration and its major Euro- pean partners in the face of a continu- ing split among the allies and between the United Nations and NATO, over how to handle the situation in Bosnia. Despite Monday's NATO air strike against a Serb-held airfield in Croatia, Serb forces continued to press in on Bihac, engaging in hand-to-hand com- bat with Bosnian government troops and setting villages on fire. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, angrily denouncing NATO as "a criminal organization," threat- ened to retaliate against U.N. and NATO forces in a way that "will hurt every member" of NATO. U.S. officials described the situa- tion in Bihac as "growing more des- perate by the minute," with Serb na- tionalists mounting a three pronged pincer movement that sent hundreds of refugees streaming out of the en- clave and into the surrounding area. See BOSNIA, Page 2 INSIDE GOP 'contract' to hit welfare programs ARTS WASHINGTON (AP) --A welfare reform plan pushed by House Republicans would strike hard at the nation's anti-poverty programs. For the first time in decades, low- income families would no longer be automatically eli- gible for food stamps or cash benefits. The proposal, one of 10 in the GOP's "Contract With Today, 14 million needy people, including 9 million children, receive AFDC, and 27 million Americans get food stamps. Other programs on the list that could lose their entitle- ment status, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research and advo- 5 A great David Mamet play does not necessarily a great film make. Read Melissa Rose Bemardo's review of the movie versinof 'Oleanna' h~ I I