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One hundred four years of editorial freedom
'He was 40 or 50 feet from the ground
and then he went for the ground like a brick.'
Larry Boles, a construction worker from Warren
Helicopter crash kills 3
Historic trade
agreement sails
through Senate
*MedFlight
falls near
N. Campus
By DAVID SHEPARDSON
Daily News Editor
An Ann Arbor medical helicopter
crashed four minutes after takeoff yes-
terday morning near a North Campus
family-housing complex, killing the
pilot, a doctor and nurse - after issu-
ing a desperate distress call.
"The pilot signaled mayday just
before he went down, and that's the
st they heard from him," said Joan
iefert Rose, a spokeswoman at the
University Medical Center.
By the time the University had
received the call for help, emergency
vehicles were already arriving and a
University medical helicopter, Sur-
vival Flight, was in the air, Rose said.
The twin-prop helicopter, owned
by Midwest MedFlight, took off from
. Joseph Mercy Hospital near Ann
Nrbor at 10:01 a.m. and was on its
way to pick up a cardiac patient at
McPherson Hospital in Howell and
return to St. Joseph Mercy when it
crashed at 10:05 a.m. in clear, cold
weather with occasional winds.
The helicopter crashed approxi-
mately two miles from St. Joseph
Mercy Hospital.
Witnesses reported that the heli-
4ypter barely cleared a tall stand of
pine trees, making an emergency turn
above Huron Parkway toward a grassy
field adjoining the Transportation
Research Institute on North Campus
before plunging to the ground.
The helicopter had lowered its
landing gear and was attempting to
land when it suddenly dropped to the
ground, catching a tree that appar-
tly shattered the rear propeller shaft,
itnesses and Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration experts said.
"He was 40 or 50 feet from the
ground and then he went for the ground
like a brick," said Larry Boles, a con-
struction worker from Warren, who
was on his 10 a.m. coffee break stand-
ing a couple hundred feet from the
crash near the Parke Davis building.
Killed in the crash were Dr. Terry
*. Racicot, 37, a doctor of osteopathy
and emergency medical specialist
from Troy; nurse Janice D. Nowacki-
.. , T
New sday~
WASHINGTON - The Senate
last night ushered in a new era of
world trade by overwhelmingly ap-
proving a 124-nation pact that will
tear down trade barriers and open
new markets to American products.
The 76-24 vote to ratify the Gen-
eral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
was a significant victory for the
Clinton administration.
President Clinton had assured for-
eign trading partners that he could
win passage of the trade deal, and, a
defeat would have had international
repercussions for an already weak-
ened presidency.
Nevertheless, the vote in the Sen-
ate had been in doubt when 20 hours
of debate on the trade accord began
Wednesday morning.
Since the reduction in tariffs could
increase the federal budget deficit, a
three-fifths majority, or 60 votes, was
needed to overcome a parliamentary
objection lodged by Sen. Robert Byrd
(D-W.Va.) that prevented the legisla-
tion from coming to the floor. But
senators voted 68-32 to waive Senate.
budget rules and allow a vote.
"This agreement is a very good deal
for America and a very great improve-
ment on the current system," said Sen-
ate Majority Leader George Mitchell
(D-Maine) moments before the vote,
the last act of the 103rd Congress.
A jubilant Clinton said the vote
was "a big, bipartisan victory that re-
ally, really gives our country the boost
we need to keep moving forward."
The trade deal, negotiated over
seven years by three administrations,
is the most sweeping trade pact ever
enacted and will change the shape of
world trade for decades. It cuts tariffs
an average of 40 percent; eliminates
most quotas; brings agriculture and
services under trade rules for the first
time; protects software, films and re-
cordings from copyright piracy; and
establishes a new World Trade Orga-
nization (WTO) to mediate disputes.
The signatories have agreed infor-
mally to begin implementing GATT
by Jan. 1. Tuesday, the House of Rep-
resentatives approved the trade accord
by an equally wide margin of 288-146.
But the expansion of GATT, which
has governed world trade since 1947,
also has achieved a symbolic impor-
tance and notoriety that few would
have predicted when negotiations
were completed last December.
After a series of delaying tactics
Ann Arbor firefighters spray the wrecked helicopter with foam to prevent any remaining fuel from igniting.
Tobin, 43, of Canton Township; and
pilot Richard Elliot, 43, of Ypsilanti.
police reported.
"All three on board died instantly."
said Ann Arbor police spokesman
Phil Scheel.
Officials sprayed fire-retardantfoam
on the helicopter and surrounding grass
for hours after the crash as fuel contin-
ued to leak from the helicopter.
The helicopter lay on its left side,
crumpled into a heap of wreckage
only about 50 feet from a Philips
Display Components Co. building at
1600 Huron Pkwy.
Two of its four rotor blades were
lodged in the ground while the rear
section was torn almost completely off.
Bits of blades and other debris were
scattered several feet from the wreck.
It was more than two hours before
the deceased could be removed from
the helicopter as police and fire offi-
See CRASH; Page 3
North Campus Helicopter Crash
At 10:05 a.m. yesterday, a helicopter crashed near North Campus, killing
all three passengers. It was making a routine flight from St. Joseph's
Hospital in Superior Twp. to McPherson Hospital in Howell. Apparently
due to engine failure, the pilot was forced to attempt an emergency
landing in a field behind Philips Compounds near Huron Parkway.
PLYMOUTH RD.
Phlips Compounds
Parke
- # _Dais
:; intended pat h to H owell
BURsLYHUBBAR
5-7
FULLE-
'U' experts say
treaty brings
economic gains
By KARIN WALIENSTEEN
For the Daily
With Senate approval of the
General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade yesterday, University
business experts say the treaty
will bring new challenges to U.S.
government and industries. And
they tend to agree that good things
will come with those challenges.
Of particular interest to many
is GATT's creation of the World
Trade Organization, which will
settle international commerce
disputes. Many members of Con-
gress said during heated debate
that the WTO would infringe on
American sovereignty.
However, Business School
Associate Prof. William Moller
disagrees. "I think these argu-
ments are designed to mask a
protectionist position," he said,
adding the loss of sovereignty is
overstated. "There is always
some ceding for the benefits that
are obtained, but it will work the
same for every country that par-
ticipates."
Mller also said he does not
believe claims that GATT or
WTO will cause a decreasein
environmental and health stan-
dards. "If the U.S. has standards
that applies to all commerce, and
if that standard has its basis in
scientifically proven facts, then
the GATT or WTO cannot touch
See GATT, Page 2
by opponents, GATT became the un-
expected curtain call of a Democratic-
controlled Congress. In January, Re-
publicans take control of both houses
for the first time in 40 years and so the
vote was regarded as a test of whether
Clinton and the new Republican lead-
ership can work together.
"Let's make the GATT vote the
first vote of a new era of coopera-
tion," Clinton said last night.
Moreover, the trade agreement in-
spired protests that the United States
was giving up control of its laws and
regulations to foreign bureaucrats at
the ominous-sounding WTO.
Students:
'U' shirks
mandate
prom",0ises
/
GAIL MONGKOLPRADITAND ANDREW TAYLOR/Dadiy
Molin to assist Roberson,
Jeaves 'U' relations post
By NATE HiURLEY was not something for
Daily News Editor which I was looking. It sort
The University's top lobbyist in Lansing of evolved out of the dis-
stepped down from his post yesterday to take up cussions."
a newly created position in the Athletic Depart- After working for 16
ment. 4 years in the University ad-
Keith E. Molin, who held the post of associ- ministration and 17 years
ate vice president for government relations, is in Lansing before that, in-
now the special assistant to Athletic Director cluding a position in former
Roberson. Gov. William Milliken's
"It has a very nebulous title, which trans- Molin cabinet, Molin decided it
lates into doing those things that need do be was time for a change from
done but no one but (Roberson) can do," Molin government relations.
said of his new post. "I was looking for something different. Joe
The position has no set responsibilities, but knew that. ... He allowed that a change of
Molin said those will evolve over time. scenery and position is refreshing," Molin said.
"It's full-time-and-a-half, but it does not fit See MOLIN, Page 2
any standard mold."
Molin said he and Roberson came up with ! A state representative will be
idea over breakfast about six weeks ago. "It University-city liaison. Page 5.
By LISA DINES
Daily Staff Reporter
The University has fallen short on
its promise to improve the environ-
ment for minorities on campus, stu-
dent groups say.
In 1987, President James J.
Duderstadt announced the Michigan
Mandate, a broad plan to increase the
amount and success rates of minority
students and faculty on campus. Last
week, the University released a six-
year progress report on the mandate.
"As I look through it, I am very
delighted with what I see with respect to
all minority groups ... with the excep-
tion of African Americans," Duderstadt
said in an interview last month.
The percentage of minority stu-
dents on campus has increased from
1 V S ne~rreznt in 199%7 to 4ICnrvent
AIDS vigil JUDITH PERKINS/Daly
Marchers prepared for the AIDS vigil by writing the names of loved ones who have died of AIDS
on white arm bands and writing notes to the deceased on a Michigan banner. See story, Page 5.
SRivers preps for first term in Capitol
By SCOT WOODS
Daily Staff Reporter
will be one of only 13 first-term Demo-
crats in the U.S. House.
climactic, because I was coming from
the Michigan House chamber, which
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