LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 17, 1997 - 5
Money approved for Michigan roads
WASHINGTON (AP) - Both the
U.S. Senate and U.S. House versions of
the transportation bill would mean
much more federal money available for
Michigan roads, but key legislative hur-
dles remain before Michigan sees any
extra funds.
The state would get an average of
$181 million a year more in federal
money for basic transportation
spending such as road maintenance
under a new formula in a six-year
Senate bill.
The bill's funding formula would
give Michigan an average of $696 mil-
lion per year, according to Senate com-
mittee records and the Northeast-
Midwest Institute. The state received an
average of $515 million for roads and
highways over the last five years, state
officials say.
Under the House bill's funding for-
mula, Michigan would get even more
federal transportation money - an
average of about $246 million more a
year.
But the Republican leadership has
criticized that bill as busting the bal-
anced budget agreement by spending
the transportation funds allowed
under the agreement in only three
years instead of six.
Michigan Reps. Peter Hoekstra (R-
Holland) and Joe Knollenberg (R-
Bloomfield) Hills also have said they
are concerned about breaking the con-
gressional deal with the president to
balance the federal budget.
Both the House and Senate bills
are working their way through con-
gressional committees today but it
may be weeks or even months before
the final outline of any compromise
bill is clear.
Neither bill yet includes how much
states will get separately for special
construction projects - a category
due to be unveiled later this week. But
one provision in the House bill would
allow for federal funding of better road
connections between the Ambassador
Bridge and interstate highways,
Michigan lawmakers and officials
said.
Michigan lawmakers have been
fighting to get what they say is a more
equitable return in federal transporta-
tion spending for every tax dollar the
state pays in federal gas tax.
"The Senate has not attempted to
achieve as much equity (for Michigan)
as in the House - and that's been a
problem in the Senate because of the
dominance of the Northeast" states in
past funding formulas, said Rep.
Vernon Ehlers (R-Grand Rapids), a
member of the House transportation
committee.
KEVIN KRUPITZER/Daity
Werner Fornos, president of the Population institute, spoke yesterday as a guest
lecturer in the Chemistry Building,
jpopuation expert
warns of growth
By WaJahat Syed
Fod the Daily
The world is blowing up, and Mother
Nature is too tired to help.
this was the message of Werner
Fornos, head of the Population
titute, the world's largest, non-profit
,Uucation organization dedicated to
creating an equilibrium of the world's
population, environment and resources.
when he addressed about 60 people at
the Chemistry Building yesterday.
.Fornos' address, "Gaining people, los-
ing ground: Causes, effects, and solu-
tions to Overpopulation," dealt with the
urgent facets of what is sometimes
referred to as the "People Bomb." Fornos
o discussed how the planet's accelerat-
population growth is at the heart of
glgbal issues like economic develop-
ment, maternal and infant mortality rates
and environmental degradation.
"While we are meeting here today,
things are not very reassuring in the
world around us," he said. "Our forests
aredeclining, our topsoil is eroding, our
deserts are expanding, the global climate
is changing, and the ozone is depleted."
A distinguished administrator, Fornos
served as a Maryland state legislator.
Hehas addressed all major international
conferences on population dating back to
1,974, and is the only male in the world to
have attended all four United Nations
Conferences on Women. Fornos has been
nominated four times for the UN
Population Award, and has been a
Humanist of the Year.
The world is committing "the ultimate
global blunder," Fornos said, by ignoring
the harsh truth of rapid overpopulation.
"Statistics show that the world grew
last year by an estimated 90 million peo-
ple," he said. "Ninety-eight percent of this
increase was experienced in the poorest
parts of the world - parts already torn
terribly by civil strife and social unrest."
Fornos said that while rich nations con-
tinue to ride economic booms and expand
construction efforts, the environment and
world's population are the losers.
"Industrialized nations are going on
building K-marts and Walmarts and
cutting ribbons every day making new
communities on prime farmland, while
83 nations of the world are unable to
feed their populations," Fornos said.
He went on to say that the severe glob-
al climate change is driven by our "fero-
cious appetite for fossil fuels" and other
forms of "human activity."
Fornos said current and future genera-
tions have a greater responsibility to
their environment than their parents did.
"The basic issue behind the confronta-
tion of man and natural resources is the
human numbers,' Fornos said. "It is not
that we are sexier than the people before
us. It is just the simple fact that we have
conquered death through science"
What a difference 8 makes.
Mac OS 8, Apple's newest Macintosh operating system, is
available to U-M students, faculty, and staff.
Only $16 for a CD
See ITweb to learn about Mac OS 8 features and to determine
if you should upgrade: http://www.itd.umich.edu/hotncool/
Mac OS 8 is also available free to the U-M community
through electronic distribution (no media included). This
means you can install the software over Ethernet directly to
your Mac hard disk by opening the Mac OS 8 file on the ITD
Software Distribution Directory (-swdist). For information on
this method, take a look at the Web reference above.
If you have an upgradeable Mac, but have neither an Ethernet
connection nor a CD-ROM drive (such as some PowerBooks),
you can purchase the Mac OS 8 CD at the Showcase and then
use an external drive to load the software with the help of a
sales consultant. This service is available at the Showcase
Septermber 10, 17, and 24 from 3 to 6pm.
With cash, check, Visa/MasterCard:
U-M Computer Showcase
Computer KickOff'97 Headquarters
Michigan Union, Ground Level, Monday thru Friday 10 to 5,
(Wednesdays in September till 6), 64-SALES
The Internet.
No Busy Signals.
No Waiting.
No Kidding.
I*I
Gone are the days of those annoying
little icons. They've been replaced by
files, artwork, web pages, homework
assignments, and videos that now can
The new high-speed service is called
MediaOne Express. With it, your
computer will be linked to the Internet
through a modem connected to
(a $49 value )
For a limited time, installation is
50% off. So call 1-888-339-1688,
because you've got a lot of exploring
to do.
«_".