2- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 4, 1996 Senate leader vows fund-raising probe Los Angeles Tnes WASHINGTON - Newly elected Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R- Miss.) pledged yesterday to cooperate with Democrats in the upcoming 105th Congress but immediately declared that the Republican-con- trolled body must first investigate allegations of illegal fund-raising by the White House. Appearing at a news conference to trumpet his re-election yesterday as -the Senate's top Republican and to showcase his new GOP leadership team, Lott suggested investigations of campaign finance irregularities could dominate both Congress and the White House for the next six months or more. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) who was re-elected as minority leader, said the chamber's Democrats intend to place sweeping campaign reform legislation at the top of their agenda. "Campaign finance reform is first and foremost our strongest desire as we begin to deal with the agenda of the 105th Congress," Daschle said, promising to introduce a bill to reduce the influence of money on campaigns. "We don't need another commission. What we need are more limits on spending and the influence of special interests." Lott and Senate Republicans, howev- er, made it clear that is not their imme- diate focus. GOP senators appear more intent on gleaning new details from the White House about ongoing reports alleging improper campaign contribu- tions by Indonesian business executive Mochtar Riady. Lott said the administration's refusal to seek appointment of an independent counsel to conduct an outside review of illegal campaign contributions, as well as news accounts of a 1993 letter from Riady containing policy proposals on a variety of Asian issues, make it impera- tive for the Senate to conduct its own examination. "I don't think we can ignore that at all," Lott said, adding that Attorney General Janet Reno's decision to decline GOP requests for an indepen- dent counsel "actually increases signif- icantly the need for us to have a good look at that." Lott predicted the administration will eventually appoint an indepen- dent counsel, but said the Senate will not wait for that to happen. "We have our responsibilities, our requirements to look into these matters," he said. "There are letters that are coming out. It's looking, you know, more and more like we have got to get into it and find out what happened." Lott is expected to assign the Senate Government Affairs Committee to conduct hearings into White House fund-raising activities. The Senate Rules Committee may consider possible legislation to pre- vent future problems. + ATONAL: $6, EP oRT T Lunar rock may contain water ice WASHINGTON - A robot craft scheduled for launch next October may pro- vide more evidence about a vast region of the moon's south pole that may contain water ice in a frozen slurry of soil and rock. Scientists at the Pentagon said yesterday that radio signals from an unmanned military spacecraft detected the electronic signature of what may be a "dirty lake" in deep areas of a giant polar crater that are never warmed by sun. The researchers said the radar signal is not proof that water exists on the moon. But they said the reading is "strongly suggestive" of water ice and that a permafrost like soil is the "most probable" explanation for the finding. Paul Spudis of the Lunar and Planetary Institute and Rice University said the water signal is "an amazing discovery" because all of the data gathered in the Apollo Man-on-the-Moon program indicated that the moon was totally parched. Spudis said a NASA mission, called Lunar Prospector, will help settle the dry or soggy moon question. "It will orbit the moon for a year and will have instruments that could confirm or negate our finding," Spudis said. He said the satellite will carry on board a neu- tron spectrometer that can detect from lunar orbit the presence of hydrogen major ingredient of water. AP POTO Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R- Miss.) posed yesterday after an orien- tation session for the new senators. O MUtdooM. eCx'eatioix . 0e3ter North Campus Recreation Building 764-3967 Skis Snowshoes Backpacks Sleds Tents Sleeping Bags Dogsledding Cross Country Skiing Backpacking @0University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports@ 9 r9$$$e&NArN$9$$ Gun debate touches on states' powers The Washington Post WASHINGTON - The oral argu- ments yesterday were over the Brady handgun law, but the Supreme Court quickly moved to broader questions of how Congress treats the states. Justice Antonin Scalia dismissed the Clinton administration's defense of the Brady Act, which forces local sheriffs to check the backgrounds of would-be gun buyers, saying the rationale would make states "dance like marionettes on the fingers of the federal government.' But Justice Stephen Breyer ques- tioned why it was not "more respectful" of states' tights for Congress to have imposed "minor reporting duties" on the states rather than a big bureaucratic gun-control system. And Justice Anthony Kennedy, a potential swing vote in this dispute, observed that each level of government makes policy choices based on costs. "If Congress makes a choice;'he said, "it pays for it.' The session brought to the fore the enduring but delicate balance between federal and state powers -a true consti- tutional debate in the justices' white mar- ble and burgundy-draped courtroom. The law, named for James Brady, the former press secretary who was dis- abled in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, requires gun dealers to give the names of poten- tial buyers to the local sheriff or other chief law enforcement officer. The sheriff has five days to check crime records and inform the dealer if the buyer is a convicted felon or otherwise barred from buying a handgun. The federal government says the 1993 law has stopped tens of thousands of felons from buying handguns each year. But Arizona and Montana sheriffs challenged the background check as a time-consuming infringement on state authority that effectively compels them to carry out a federal program. A feder- al appeals court sided with the govern- ment, comparing the background check with other "minor obligations,"such as reporting traffic fatalities. The Constitution limits the powers of the states but also dictates that state sovereignty not be infringed by Congress. In recent years, under Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the court has been increasingly sensitive to the state side of the equation. Stephen Halbrook, who represented the sheriffs yesterday, said the Constitution prohibits "requiring states to administer a federal regulatory poli- cy." He argued that the Brady law differs from other mandates that are tied to fed- eral funds and permitted under Congress's spending power. He relied on the Tenth Amendment, which says con- stitutional powers not given to the feder- al government are reserved for the states. Solicitor General Walter Dellinger, defending the gun law before the jus- tices, said Congress has the authority to order the background checks under its power to regulate interstate commerce. He stressed that the law does not require states to adopt any particular policy and leaves the political responsi- bility for gun control with Congress. Scalia retorted that such an argument relegates states to "marionettes" with no options. Noting the mobility of guns, Dellinger said that more than 13,000 handgun murders are committed annu- ally in the United States and called the act "a rough-and-ready way" to gather information on people who should not have access to guns. He said the local responsibility was minor and tempo- rary; the law mandates an instant-check system by 1999. OMA Continued from Page 1 $1.5 billion into higher education should have no voice?" asked Rep. Lingg Brewer (D-Holt). Ed Petykiewicz, editor of The Ann Arbor News, said newspapers do not want a seat at the table when university presidents are picked, but want to watch public officials make decisions. That might be uncomfortable for some, he said, but decisions made in secret also can lead to problems. The newspapers' lawsuit over Michigan's hiring of former University President James Duderstadt resulted in the opening of records on that search that showed University officials com- menting on the religion, ethnicity and age of candidates, he said. Records indicate a regent called a candidate who was the majority of the board's top choice and threatened to make life difficult for him, which led to the candidate's withdrawal, Petykiewicz said. Dawn Phillips, general counsel for the Michigan Press Association, warned the committee that permitting more secrecy in government will feed paranoia about government actions. She said the law already allows mate- rial in applications to be kept confiden- tial if disclosure would create an unwar- ranted invasion of privacy. "The more information available to everyone, the better the decision will be," she said. On a 3-3 vote, the measure failed to advance out of the House Higher Education Committee after four hours of testimony. Rep. Jessie Dalman (R- Holland), who chairs the committee, said the issue is not dead. "We might want to revisit this," Dalman said. Kathy Kirby, a spokesperson for the nn~~ta ar 4a ma x~~la v judge: Hawaii can't eny gay mariages HONOLULU - A judge yesterday barred Hawaii from denying marriage licenses to gay couples in a case that has already led Congress to allow other states to refuse to recognize such unions. The ruling is certain to be appealed. Kirk Cashmere, an attorney for three homosexual couples who sued the state, said Circuit Judge Kevin Chang "in a nutshell ruled that the sex-based classi- fication in the state's marriage law is unconstitutional." Chang said the state failed to show any compelling state interest to deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry, Cashmere said. Copies of Chang' ruling were to be distributed yesterday. A spokesperson for the conservative Family Research Council said the rul- ing defies the wishes of the majority: Polls say 70 percent of Hawaii's resi- dents oppose same-sex marriages. "This ruling is a slap in the face of the Hawaiian people who have made it clear that they don't want liberal judges tam- pering with society's foundational insti- tutions; Kristi Stone Hamrick said. Two gay men and two lesbian couples sued in 1991 for the right to marry, to the dismay of some national gay rights orga- nizations that felt the move was prema- ture and would provoke a backlash. Lotte win may save exas town ROBY, Texas - Don't expect to see exotic sports cars zipping into the gravel parking lot at the cotton gin even if 7 percent of this town's people are on their way to becoming million- aires. The 41 Roby residents and tw more from nearby Sweetwater will share a $46.7 million lottery jack- pot are happy just to be solvent. "Some of these people didn't know if they'd be able to farm again next year," said Peggy Dickson, bookkeep- er at the Terry Gin, who is an organiz- er of the spur-of-the-moment lottery pool. --OWNV'X' W"E'P- "0 MW7- R~OU~ND THE WORL ;; ;3: : :;} :; :': :; :;: Milosevic shuts down radio stations BELGRADE, Yugoslavia - Authorities muzzled two independent radio stations yesterday and lashed out fiercely at the growing opposition to Slobodan Milosevic, even as more than 100,000 protesters rallied against the Serbian president and sharpened their demands. Demonstrators hurled snowballs at the state-run media buildings in the 15th straight day of protests against Milosevic and his decision to annul Nov. 17 local elections that appeared to have been won by the opposition. Police still kept their distance, but one report said reserve police officers were being mobilized nationwide. Milosevic's propaganda machine, which at first ignored the protests, went on the offensive, dismissing the demon- strators as terrorists, vandals and a "handful" of desperate people. Minutes before the protesters were to begin their march through the capital yesterday, independent radio station B- 92 and the student-run Radio Index went off the air. A government ministry statement said B-92 had been shut down for operating without permission. The station had applied several-times - without success - for an official frequency. Russian coal miners walk out on strike MOSCOW - Tens of thousands of coal miners who haven't been paid in months went on strike yesterday, demanding that Russia's Cabinet pay their wages or resign. The walkout, which shut at least A of Russia's 287 coal mines, is the strongest protest in months against a cash shortage that is draining the econ- omy in this sixth winter of painful post- Soviet reform. It also marks an escalation of labor unrest into a political demand that could find broader support tomorrow when the country's largest federation of trade unions gathers in Moscow. - Compiledfrom Daily wire repoi. The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $85. Winter term (January through April) is $95, yearlong (September through April) is $165. On-campus sub- scriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is armember of the Associated Press and the Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 313): News 76-DAILY; Arts 763-0379; Sports 647-3336; Opinion 764-055 , Circulation 7640558; Classified advertising 764.0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 7640550. E-mail letters to the editor to daily.letters@umich.edu. World Wide Web: http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/. EDTRA STAFFRonni Glsb, EditoIn he NEWS Amy Klein, Managing Editor EDITORS: Tim O'Connell, Megan Schimnpf, Michelle Lee Thompson, Josh White. STAFF: Janet Admmy, Brian Cempbell, Prechiuh Chakravorty, Anita Chik, Jodi S. 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Berka, Evan Braunstein, Chris Farah, Jordan Field, John Friedberg, James Goldstein, Kim Hart, Kevin Kasiborski, Josh Kleinbaum, Andy Knudsen, Andy Ltack, Fred ULink, .J. Luria. Brooke McGahey. Afshin Mohamadi, Sharat Raju, Pranay Reddy, Jim Rose, Tracy Sandler, Richard Shin, Mark Snyder,.Nits Srivasteva, Dan Stillman, Jacob Wheeler, Ryan White. ARTS Brian A. Gnatt, Joshua Rich, Editors WEEKEND, ETC. EDITORS: Greg Parker, Elan A. Stavros. SUB-EDITORS: Dean Bakopoulos (Fine Arts), Use Harwin (Music). Tyler Patterson (Theater), Jen Petlinski (Film). STAFF: Colin Bartos, Eigene Bowen, Anitha Chalam, Karl Jones, Brian M. Kemp, Hae-Jin Kim, Stephanie Jo Klein, Emily Lambert, Bryan Lark, Kristin Lang, Elizabeth Luces, James Miller. Evelyn Misks, Aaron Rennie, Julia Shih, Philip Son, Prashant Tamaskar, Christopher Tkacryk, Angela Waiker, Keliy Xintaris, PHOTO Mark Friedman, Editor ASSISTANT EDITOR: Sara Stillman. STAFF: Josh Bis,Jennifer Bradley-Swift, Aja Dekleva Cohen, John Kraft, Margaret Myers, July Park, Damian Petrescu, Kristen Schaefer, Jeannie ServaasJonathan Summer, Joe Wetrat, Warren Zinn. COPY DESK Elizabeth Lucas, 4ditor STAFF: Lydia Alspech, Jawen Hoyer, Allyson Huber, Jill Itwin, Heather Miller, Matt Spewak, David Ward, Jan Woodward. ONUNE Scott Wilcox, Editor STAFF: Dana Golerg, Jeffrey Greenetein, Chdles Harion, Anuj Hasija, Adam Pollock, Vamshi Thandra, Anthony Zak. GRAPHICS Melanie Sherman, Editor I