LOCAL/STATE

The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 8, 1996 - 3A.


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The results of last week's special U.S.
Senate election in Oregon may have an
effect on more than just the people of
Oregon.
The election may someday impact na-
tionwide voting patterns and especially
student voters, according to University
r spchers.
'he special election was the nation's
first congressional election to be con-
ducted entirely by mail.
Democrat Ron Wyden defeated Re-
publican Gordon Smith in the race to fill
the seat of Bob Packwood, who resigned
under pressure last September.
'A team of researchers led by Univer-
sity communicationstudies Prof. Michael
Traugott will spend several months ana-
sg the impact of Oregon's vote-by-
dl procedure on the voting attitudes,
composition and turnout ofpthe elctorate,
and outcome of both the general election
and primary race.
Vote-by-mail might have a substantial
effect on students, Traugott said. Many
political scientists believe students gen-
erally don't vote away from home and are
sometimes not aware of registration pro-
cedures, he said.
Traugett said vote-by-mail would pre-
ecoablydincrease student participation.
Automakers look to
future of industry
North American automakers are gear-
ing up to face challenges presented by
changing technology, improving fuel
economy and increasing regulation in the
next 10 years, according to a University
f cast.
Whe report is part of the eighth annual
University Delphi Forecast and Analysis
of the American Automotive Industry,
which polls more than 300 automotive
experts on trends in technology, materials
and marketing through 2005.
sAccording to the forecast, standards
for Corporate Average Fuel conomyare
projected to increase to 32 mph for pas-
senger cars and 25 mph for light trucks
and vans during the next decade.
*esearchers say they expect gasoline
to remain the dominant fuel in the next
decade, in spite of a projected increase in
gasoline prices. Also, limited use ofalter-
nate energy sources is forecast for cars
and light trucks by that time.
Study tracks transition
to retirement
A study designed to track the behavior,
l*th and economic well-being ofpeople
makingthe transition from work toretire-
mientinthe 1990spublisheditsresults last
tnonth in a special issue of the Journal of
Human Resources.
"The Health and Retirement Study is
one of the largest and most ambitious
academic social science projects ever
undertaken," said economics Prof. F.
Thomas Juster, the chief investigator of
the study.
e National Institute on Aging spon-
the study.
Among the findings in journal articles:
Approximately 13 percent of the
pwoplesurveyedhad aheart condition, 10

percenthad diabetes and 11 percent had a
pychiatric problem..
U Sixty-two percent found it some-
What or very difficult to run or jog a mile,
25 percent toclimb a flightofstairs and 14
percent to get up from a chair after sitting
long time.
The mean net worth of all Ameri-
cans between the ages of 51 and 61 was
$238,544. The mean net worth of blacks
Was only $71,587, and Hispanics only
$79,658. Whites averaged a mean net
worth of $263,739.
- Compiled by Daily StaffReporter
Soumya Mohan.

Astronaut shares Hubble telescope knowledge at 'U'

By Alice Robinson;
Daily Staff Reporter
"Is there an astronaut in the crowd?"
Fred Becchetti posed this peculiar question
to the 200 people waiting in a Dennison Build-
ing lecture room yesterday.
But the expected lec-
turer, NASA astronaut j m -
Kathryn Thornton, did not icei
reply on cue. Her flight
from Houston was late, so the Eart
she arrived at the Univer-
sity an hour late. vow p
Thornton has been on A3
four NASA missions. The uiving in
most recent was the 11-dayK
Hubble Space Telescope -
service mission in Decem- _
ber 1993. The Endeavour
space shuttle was used in the mission.
To start off the collogium, assistant as-
tronomy Prof. Patrick Seitzer spoke on the
Hubble Space Telescope and the reputation it
has earned since being deployed six years ago.
Despite the negative media attention the

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if

Hubble telescope has received, it is far from a
failure, Seitzer said.
"The Hubble Space Telescope is the most
successful astronomical instrument in exist-
ence right now," he said. "The Golden Era of
Hubble Discovery will occur in the next five
to six years."
There are two more
I Iwk 4W service missions sched-
uled this decade for the
II soo a Hubble telescope: one
in 1997 and one in
Wful $1999.
Seitzer said that
, "while working for
NASA on the Hubble
3thryn Thornton project, there was a
UASA astronaut time when it seemed
the costly satellite
would never launch. "We used to have annual
one-year-to-launch parties," he joked.
Seitzer pinpointed the telescope's problem.
"The Hubble Space Telescope's mirror is too
flat at the end ... this was the biggest blunder
in the history of optics," he said. The error was

discovered in 1990.
In the December 1993 Endeavour mission,
Thornton performed a space walk with other astro-
nauts. "When I look at the Earth, I see a very
powerful living thing," she said.
Included in the footage ofthe mission shown
to the audience were spectacular views of
geographical boundaries from the shuttle. She
said astronauts could view clearly a portion of
the Middle East. "You can see the part that is
Israel and you can see the part that is Egypt.
We do see political boundaries from time to
time," she said.
Thornton spoke of her unique experiences and
unusual sightings. "Every time you look out at
night, you see lightning somewhere," she said.
The audience ranged from young Girl Scouts
to University scholars. When Thornton was
asked by an elementary school visitor what her
favorite thing about space was, she replied,
"Floating."
Being millions of miles from earth does have
its disadvantages. "Every day in space is a bad
hair day," Thornton said, as shuttle footage
showed her dealing with the effects of gravity.

NASA astronaut Kathryn Thornton describes her experiences
with NASA and the Hubble Space Telescope last night in the
Dennison Building.



Athletes reach out
to local schools to ..fft/
promote readingIr

By Lisa Gray
For the Daily
Football quarterback Brian Griese
was tackled by about 20 fourth graders
on Friday when he visited Pittsfield
Elementary School to read children's
stories and sign autographs.
As the class listened with fascina-
tion, Griese read "Three Cool Kids" by
Rebecca Emberley, answered questions
about football and gave each child a
Michigan 'M' sticker with his auto-
graph. Down the hall, fullback Mike
Vanderbeek visited Vernell Williams'
third grade class, where he also read
and signed autographs.
These classrooms are among the
many that University athletes will visit
as a part of the Student-athletes Help-
ing to Achieve Reading Excellence
program. Founded last fall by student
athletes in the M-PACT Community
Relations Committee, SHARE mem-
bers visit a different school every
Thursday and Friday where they an-
swer questions and try to inspire chil-
dren to read.
"The program gives you a chance to
do something outside of the University
and for the community," said senior

golfer Shannon McDonald, who read at
Bryant Elementary School.
She gave the children autographed
copies of the women's golf media
guide. McDonald said she enjoyed
visiting the children because she is
not often asked for autographs.
McDonald was also given the oppor-
tunity to help the children with their
spelling.
Varsity athletes say they enjoy this
chance to work with the children, who
are always thrilled to meet collegiate
athletes. Although the athletes are there
to promote reading, the children usu-
ally ask them about their sport and
things related to college life.
Pittsfield Elementary School Princi-
pal Glenna Tringali said she is enthusi-
astic about the program's influence on
herstudents. "This isan opportunity for
students to see positive models," she
said.
Tringali also said she would like the
athletes to visit her school more fre-
quently. Some of the children said they
were disappointed they were not able to
have an athlete read to them.
SHARE sends members of a differ-
ent varsity team to elementary schools

Michigan quarterback Brian Griese reads to a group of elementary school students
as part of the SHARE program. Michigan varsity athletes visit schools weekly.

YaleTAs 7
g1V ieo-go-
aead for.
Yale Daily News
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Amidst
lights, cameras and the national press,
frustrated union and university leaders:
left their final bargaining session -in.
Horchow Hall on Monday as union,
leaders gave the go-ahead for the Locae
34 strike.
Despite efforts to conduct prod,
tive discussions over the last seve'at
days, final attempts to avoid a strike
failed when the university rejected the
unions' proposed binding arbitration,
and the unions refused the university's
request for a fourth contract extensionw
Union leaders said they sought bind J
ing arbitration as a last resort because
the university has made no wage pro
posals on the eve of a strike.
In a binding arbitration, the partie
ask for an outside arbitrator to finalize
unresolved issues, and agree to abide
by the subsequent decisions.
"It's a reasonable alternative. We've
tried about every rational alternative
we could during the week," Chief Union
Negotiator Michael Boyle said.
University officials said they would
not turn the final decision over to ad
outside authority.
"When you have a third party coma
in and set the terms of agreements, th~
parties walk away without any feeling
of ownership," said Associate Vice
President for Administration Peter
Vallone.
"We are not talking about a few cents.
We are talking about our future. We're
not going to sell the birthright of every
new worker for the sake of our present
condition," said union spokesperson
Deborah Chernoff.
University officials said stagnant
progress has prevented them from mak-
ing a wage proposal.
-Distributed by University Wire

each week, but have not been able to
meet the demand for readers, said
Nayla Azzam, who coordinates
SHARE with Athletic Community
Relations.
The teams rotate weeks, with a dif-
ferent varsity team reading each Thurs-
day and Friday. The athletes sign up
and are assigned a classroom in the
elementary school chosen for that week,

but because the program is new, Azzam
said, there are still athletes unfamiliar
with the benefits ofthe program. Griese
said he sees it as a way for the football
players, as well as other athletes, to give
back to the community.
"How could you not have fun with a
bunch of kids?" Griese said.
The program started last year with a
test rum from Nov. 16 to Dec. 8.

NWROC pickets Student Publications Building

Members say editorial
on 'Dental School 3'
was racist outrage
By Jennifer Harvey
Daily Staff Reporter
About two dozen members of the
National Women's Rights Organizing
Coalition gathered outside of the Stu-
dent Publications Building yesterday to
protest whatthey called "a complete
racist outrage."
The protesters hoisted signs and
called chants in their demonstration
against an editorial about the Dental
School Three that ran in the Jan. 25
edition of The Michigan Daily.
The editorial, titled "Crying Wolf:
'Dental School 3' damage fight against
racism,"' focused on the events sur-
rounding the January 1995 firing of
three Dental School employees for al-
legedly falsifying their time cards. The
three said they were victims of admin-
istrative racism.
After going through an internal griev-
ance process, the case went to arbitra-
tion and culminated last month with the
reinstatement of the three to different
University positions. A neutral arbitra-
tor upheld brief University suspensions

of the three employees, citing impro-
prieties in time card records.
The Daily's editorial supported the
University's handling of the case.
"We are saying to the Daily that this
is not acceptable," said LSA junior Jes-
sica Curtain, an NWROC member.
David Blair, who co-organized the
protest and is a member of the Justice
for Malice Green Coalition, said the
editorial was "bullshit."
"This is how a lot of black students
on campus see it," Blair said. "(The
Daily) decided they were liars based on
nothing."
Daily Editor in Chief Ronnie
Glassberg said the paper has not changed
its position.
"We stand behind the editorial that
was passed by our editorial board and
printed in the Daily," Glassberg said.
Curtin said NWROC has four de-
mands of the Daily. She said NWROC
will continue to protest the Daily until,
"the Daily's policy of being a racist,
right-wing, administration mouth-
piece" changes.
She said the Daily must also make a
formal public apology rescinding the
editorial. Curtin said NWROC also de-
mands the immediate addition of an

"anti-racist" columnist to the Daily's
editorial page.
Curtin said she would prefer to see
a member of NWROC in the role
because they have been "the most
consistent fighters against racism on
this campus."
Glassberg said the columnists had
already been selected for the current
term and no members of NWROC ap-
plied. He said their applications would
be welcome in the future.
"We always attempt to make room
on our editorial page for diverse views

from University of Michigan students,"
he said.
Curtin said the fourth and final de-
mand was that NWROC's letters to the
editor be printed in the paper.
She accused the Daily of continually
stoking racial tension on campus, add-
ing that the disputed editorial is only
one in a "long string of racist deci-
sions."
"We don't read the Daily looking for
things to get mad at, but unfortunately
we find them," said LSA senior Russell
Abutyn.

9


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G
EN
02

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iW " a4',.happ ni / A K4 A/bo ay/.
What's happening In Ann Arbor today

oup MEETINGS

AIESEC Michigan, International
Student Happy Hour, 662.
1690, Arbor Brewing Company,
9 p.m.-
Campus Crusade for Christ, Real
Life, 930-9269, Dental Building,
Kellogg Auditorium, 7-8:15 p.m.
Third Wave Writers' Group, Third
Wave Magazine, Gratzi Caffe, cor-
ner of State and Liberty, 9 p.m., e-
mail:third.wave.editors@umich.edu
NEWTS

at Uquid-Uquid Interface," phy si-
cal/analytical seminar,
Geraldine Richmond, sponsored
by Department of Chemistry,
Chemistry Building, Room 1640,
4 p.m.
U "Older Married Couples in Japan
and the U.S.: A Cross Cultural
Comparison," Berit Ingersoll-
Dayton, noon lecture series,
sponsored, by Center for Japa-
nese Studies, Lane Hall Com-
mons Room, 12 noon
J "Tax Wrokshop," sponsored by
International Center, Institute
ofe Cranr ati -r nniansv

Women's Studies Program and MSA
Women's IssuesCommission, Michi-
gan League, Henderson Room, 4-6
p.m.
STUDENT SERVICES
L2 Campus Information Centers, Michi-
gan Union and North Campus Com-
mons, 763-INFO, info@umich.edu,
UMeEvents on GOpherBLUE, and
http://www.umich.edu/~info on
the World Wide Web
U English Composition Board Peer Tu-
toring. Mann Hall Room 444C. 7-

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"French Workers In Revolt."




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