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One hundred four years of editorial freedom
Vo, CV, No. .e .
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Jarty leaders vow
to work together
Rape suspect
bound over on
robbery charge
In first formal
meeting, Clinton
says he Is ready to
cooperate with GOP
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON -- In an earnest
display of good intentions, President
Clinton and the new Republican lead-
ers of Congress promised yesterday
to try to work together for the com-
mon good - and then reaffirmed
their deep disagreements over politi-
4al reform, tax cuts and other issues.
In his first formal meeting with
the newly installed congressional
leadership, Clinton said he is ready to
cooperate with House Speaker Newt
Gingrich and Senate Majority Leader
Bob Dole whenever he can.
"I think the people are sick, liter-
ally sick, of seeing all this partisan
infighting up here," Clinton said. "My
ob is not to stand in the way and be an
bstructionist force.... My job is to
work with them to try to help build
this country."
The normally combative Gingrich
responded amicably, saying he and
Clinton shared "a very real willing-
ness to try to find a Ivay to try to work
together."
When a reporter asked if he had
clashed with Clinton on any issues,
Gingrich upbraided the questioner for
"cynicism." "It was a very, very posi-
tive meeting," he said.
But within minutes of the opti-
mistic professions of bipartisanship,
other Democrats and Republicans
returned to their familiar debates
about balancing the federal budget
and designing tax cuts for the middle
class.
But Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Calif.) who
attended the White House meeting as
a member of the House Democratic
leadership, explained the sudden out-
break of conciliation in straightfor-
ward political terms - as a common
fear of being blamed for another year
of gridlock.
"There's a seething electorate out
there with a short tether on its politi-
cians that's driving everybody," he
said. "If we can get something done
by working together, there will be
plenty of credit to go around. And if
we fail, everybody's vulnerable to
criticism."
Gingrich and Dole may command
a majority in Congress, another
Democrat said, but "Clinton has a
veto" - meaning the Republicans
may need the president's cooperation
to pass much of the legislation they
want.
See CONGRESS, Page 2
By FRANK C. LEE
Daily Staff Reporter
A man police suspect of being
Ann Arbor's serial rapist was ordered
Wednesday evening to stand trial on
charges of unarmed robbery and as-
sault.
Ervin Dewain Mitchell Jr., 33, was
arrested Christmas Day - just one
day after a 34-year-old Ann Arbor
woman reported that he punched her
in the face and tried to snatch her
purse.
At the Jan. 4 preliminary hearing
held at the 6th Circuit Court, seven
witnesses testified during the five-
hour hearing - including the victim,
a DNA expert, police officers and
friends of the defendant.
At the end of the hearing, District
Judge Elizabeth Pollard-Hines
granted Washtenaw County Prosecu-
tor Brian Mackie's motion to bind
Mitchell over for trial.
Mitchell remained unemotional
before a packed courtroom including
many in the news media, occasion-
ally shaking his head from side to side
in response to the testimony presented.
Onlookers came to witness first-
hand the man suspected of commit-
ting the string of rapes that led to a
long and frustrating manhunt by a
multi-agendy law
enforcement task
force.
The hearing
Wednesday was to
determine if the
robbery was at-
tempted and if
Mitchell was the
perpetrator.
A tentative trial
Mitchell date was set for
Feb. 13 in
Washtenaw Circuit Court. Mitchell
remains in the Washtenaw County
Jail on a $50,000 bond. If convicted
on the felony charges, he could face a
maximum of 15 years in prison.
Lynne Helton, a technician from
the state police crime lab's DNA unit,
testified that preliminary tests con-
ducted on blood stains on a right-
hand white glove that Mitchell was
wearing at the time of his arrest indi-
See SUSPECT, Page 2
AP PHOTO
President Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia meet
yesterday to discuss the legislative agenda. For more background on the
plans ahead, see the Friday Focus on Page 3.
_____.
'U' Black faculty decli
By LISA DINES
and RONNIE GLASSBERG
Daily Staff Reporters
The number of Black faculty at the Univer-
sity declined 1.2 percent in the last year while
*verall minority groups saw slight gains, ac-
cording to figures released last month.
"I am not pleased," said University Presi-
dent James J. Duderstadt. "We have made
marvelous progress over the past six years in
almost all areas. But in lookingover the data,
we have slowed down in African American
appointments significantly."
While the total instructional staff grew by
0.7 percent, there was no gain among Native
American faculty and a 1.2-percent decline
among Black faculty in the past year.
"African American faculty increases have
slowed down and that I'm worried about,"
Duderstadt said.
Provost and Executive Vice President for
Academic Affairs Gilbert R. Whitaker Jr. said
the University will continue working to in-
crease the number of minority faculty mem-
bers'-"We've-had one discussion among the
deans about that and we're going to have an-
other one," he said.
Duderstadt said that while retention of mi-
nes by 1.2 percent over past year
nority faculty has remained strong, hiring rates percent in 1991, 11.2 percent in 1990 and 10.7 som, a Black supplemental faculty member,
have slowed down. percent in 1989. said the University needs long-term efforts to
"No matter how hard the administration Over the past five years, the number of increase the number of minority faculty.
pushes, the hiring of minority faculty is ulti- minority faculty members has increased by He points to programs in the College of
mately determined by the faculty themselves," 37.2 percent, compared with a 5.2-percent rise Engineering that attractminority students. "They
Duderstadt said. He said faculty members chair in total faculty since 1989. But since last year, need to look at the graduate students they
the search committees to find new faculty mem- the number of minority faculty members in- have here and grow their own (students)."
bers. creased by 1.5 percent. Duderstadt said the faculty and students
Hispanic faculty showed the largest gain, Whitaker attributed the smaller increase to also must work to increase the number of mi-
with a 6.8-percent increase. Asian American turnover among the faculty. norities at the University.
faculty increased by 1.5 percent during the year. "If we had not had people leave, we would "Mostminority faculty don'tknow the deans
Minorities now comprise 14percent of total have been up a lot," Whitaker said. "It's a or the president, but they do know about their
faculty at the University, compared with 13.9 highly competitive market." faculty colleagues," Duderstadt said.
percent in 1993, 12.8 percent in 1992, 12.3 Senior Associate Librarian Charles Ran- See FACULTY, Page 7
*Research
funding at
'U' hits
.new hi
By RONNIE GLASSBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
The University ranks as the top
research institution among public uni-
versities, Vice President for Research
Homer Neal told the Board of Regents
at its December meeting.
For 1993-94, research funding hit
an all-time record high $385,957,402,
eal said in his annual presentation.
"That is over $1 million aday being
spent here on research and that in-
cludes Saturdays and Sundays," Neal
said.
Of the University's total research
expenditures, $267,261,567, or 69 per-
cent, came from federal agencies and
$118,695,835, or31 percent, came from
non-federal sources.
Among the major sources are the
*Department of Health and Human Ser-
vices, the National Science Founda-
tion, the Department of Defense, NASA
and the Department of Energy.
Neal said the end of the Cold War
has changed the mission of research at
universities.
"At the end of the Cold War, many
people are asking, 'Why should we
keep funding universities at the same
*evels?' Neal said. "We have to figure
out how we can adapt to those changes.
"The national agenda is extremely
important. We have to keep involved
with it."
The University is taking steps to
Study finds AIDS
more contagious in
1st stages of virus
By MICHELLE LEE THOMPSON
Daily Staff Reporter
For persons infected with HIV,
the threat of infecting others in the
first two months of the disease is
much greater than previously thought,
according to a study conducted by
University researchers.
"People thought the primary in-
fection was more infectious than the
remainder. What we're saying is that
it's a lot more than you thought," said
John A. Jacquez, professor emeritus
of physiology and biostatistics and
one of the study's four researchers.
In fact, the rate of becoming in-
fected during the 60-day primary in-
fection phase may be 100 to 1,000
times the risk of the long
asymptomatic phase; this is the two to
eight-year lull before patients infected
with HIV develop full-blown AIDS.
Among homosexual males, the
primary subjects of the study con-
ducted in Chicago and San Francisco,
infection rates during the initial phase
may be as high as three out of 10
sexual encounters, the researchers say.
The study shows the same conta-
giousness patterns for both genders,
even though female-to-male transmis-
sion is only about half as high as
male-to-male and male-to-female
transmission rates.
"The absolute values are probably
much lower for female transmission,"
said researcher Carl P. Simon.
The study, published by Univer-
sity researcher James S. Koopman
and Ira M. Longini of Emory Univer-
sity in the November issue of the
See AIDS, Page 2
INSIDE
Engineering senior Tim Soeder works at the Student Book Exchange yesterday in the Pendleton Room of the
Michigan Union. Yesterday was the last day to self books to the exchange, which will sell them today and tomorrow.
Task force to address safety walk concerns
By AMY KLEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
In response to a Michigan Student Assembly
>rt identifying 190 unsafe on- and off-campus
ures, Associate Vice President for Business
,rations William Krumm has appointed a task
e to assess the problems and to recommend
itions.
The report detailed the results of last October's
npus safety walk-through when MSA represen-
ves, city officials and University employees
'U' to spend an estimated
$20,000 to improve
unsafe campus areas
Director of Public Services Bill Wheeler is the
city representative on the task force, and will ad-
dress the concerns of off-campus safety. Wheeler
will be absent from the first meeting but will submit
Maintenance issues cover some previously com-
pleted work, including replacing burnt-out
lightbulbs on campus. Public safety, the last cat-
egory, is a miscellaneous grouping.
"One of the main goals is to actually prioritize
the items and then to hear what people think of
them. We've already started to make improve-
ments," Christenson said.
Over break the University erected 16 tempo-
rary lighting units on the North Campus diag until
the construction is completed and permanent light-
NEWS
5
Despite Boris Yeltsin's promise,
Russia continues bombing the
Chechen city of Grozny.
ARTS
8
The new Tim Robbins and Meg
Ryan film "l.Q." has a heart but
no brain:
I -