The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 14, 1998-- 3 LOCAL/S TATE HIGHER -EDUCATIONS Graduate Student Union threatens strike at UCLA The Student Association of Graduate Employees, with the support of the United Auto Workers, may go on strike this . semester at the University of California at Los Angeles, The Daily Bruin reported. On Oct 1, UCLA Chancellor Albert Camesale received a letter threatening a quarter strike if the chancellor refused to honor the union's request for open discussion about the university recog- pnzirlg them as a formal union. Eight of the UC campuses voted last spring to approve a fall quarter strike of teaching assistants and other student employees with jobs in academics and are part of the organization if the uni- vertity does not recognize the union. The last time these academic student .employees went on strike was during the 1996-97 school year. Past strikes failed to convince the "administration to change their position n the matter. The chancellor has not yet announced whether he plans to meet with the union leaders. Magazine drops UT-Austin ratings BusinessWeek magazine lowered the university of Texas-Austin Graduate School of Business' rankings because of a student memo that may have *kewed student response to the a l uinessWeek survey, The Daily Texan reported. The magazine issued surveys to stu- dents at 61 business schools and 350 .,companies that recruit MBAs! :Last year, a number of UT business students released a memo informing .the student body of the ranking proce- dure. BusinessWeek officials claim the nemo may have influenced students' respgnses. The magazine, in response, lowered the university's score on the student section of the survey. .The BusinessWeek rankings gave the UTGraduate School of Business a cor- porate ranking of 12 and a student 4ranking of 28, for an overall rank of 18. The rating puts them up two spots from 1996 ranking, the last year the maga- zine conducted the survey. IJT officials claimed their rank *Would have been higher if not for the penalty. Market has little effect on Yale endowments This year's rankings will be pub- shed in the magazine's Oct. 19 issue. Yale University administrators said recent changes in domestic and international financial markets have struck a blow to the university's $6 million endowment, which makes up nearly 20 percent of the annual oper- ating budget, The Yale Daily News reported. But Even though this year's oper- ating budget will be $10 million smaller than expected because of the ' ndowment losses this summer, the iversity will experience a minimal loss. Oklahoma schools aumong the nation s cheapest According to a study released by the Digest of Education Statistics, students wth 'attend Oklahoma universities paid Sgss for college degrees than students in any other state in the nation in 1996-97, the Oklahoma Daily reported. The study also showed that $170.8 million in scholarships and grants was available to college students in the state - a 4.7 percent increase from the previous year and a 56.6 percent increase from 1990. Regents from Oklahoma state hgher education institutions said they developed a long-term plan that ill have student playing about one- ird of their college costs. The regents also said tuition at state schools and universities in )klahoma is at a lower.rate than the rate of inflation. -Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Susan T Port MSA resolves to support Proposition 1 Members mixed on approval of the bill, which would raise county's property taxes By Kelly O'Connor Daily Staff Reporter MSA passed a resolution last night to sup- port Prop. 1, which will be on the Washtenaw County election ballot Nov. 3. If approved, the proposition would raise Washtenaw County's property taxes by approximately $26 per household yearly for the next 10 years. The money would be used to prevent what is called "urban sprawl" - the development of additional strip malls, sub-divisions and the resulting traffic congestion. Fifty percent of the money would be used by Washtenaw County to purchase property development rights from farmers, so that farmers would no longer have the option to sell their land to developers. Additional money would be used to protect open land and parks and to redevelop urban areas. Supporters of the proposal are hoping to preserve a way of life that has existed in Washtenaw County for a long time. "Many of these farms are centennial farms which means they have been in the farmer's family for over 100 years," said SNRE senior Kris Genovese, chair of MSA's Environmental Issues Committee. "I'd rather see them here than a strip mall or another Meijer." Yet opponents say an economic issue is being overlooked. Property taxes will increase the cost of liv- ing, which includes students' rent, said Jeff Muir, campaign manager for Washtenaw Citizens for Responsible Growth. "The property tax increase will make it more difficult for people to afford to move from renting to owning a house." Muir said. Also addressed at the meeting was the appointment of speakers for the Two Days of Action, a rally being held Oct. 21 and 22 by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action by Any Means Necessary. Reps. Aaron Flagg, a Rackham graduate stu- dent, and Bram Elias, an LSA junior, will speak at the rally on behalf of MSA. Tooting his own horn Amway sues Procter & Gamble over Websi'te GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Amway Corp. yesterday sued Procter & Gamble Co., accusing the Cincinnati company of using the Internet to scare away its customers and distributors in the latest twist of an ongoing legal battle. The federal lawsuit contends Procter & Gamble paid consulting fees and provided information to Sidney Schwartz, the man it names as the author of an Internet Web site called "Amway: The Untold Story." "P&G has encouraged, paid for and otherwise assisted Schwartz' dissemination of malicious attacks against Amway with the intent of interfering with Amway's prospec- tive and actual business relation- ships," the lawsuit states. "As a direct and proximate result of P&G's conduct, Amway has lost sales and has been otherwise dam- aged in an amount to be proven at trial." Ada-based Amway seeks compen- satory damages, attorney fees and punitive damages. Amway lawyer Mike Mohr declined to name a specific dollar figure but said damages could run into the millions. Procter & Gamble spokesperson Wendy Jacques said the company has not fully reviewed the lawsuit but considers the claim "ridiculous" and an attempt to deflect attention from two lawsuits it filed against Amway. "Based upon what we have seen ... this appears to be a desperation suit as we advance both of our cases against Arnway and its distributors in Salt Lake City and Texas," Jacques said. "We will seek to have it dis- missed." She said the company hired Schwartz as a consultant in one of its lawsuits against Amway, and he is no longer on the company's pay- roll. Yesterday's lawsuit does not name Schwartz as a defendant. The "Amway: The Untold Story" Website features testimonials from unnamed people who accuse Amway of "causing bankruptcy and divorces," as well as tips on how to rescue anyone who has "joined Amway and is now a tape-spouting zombie." The lawsuit is the latest develop- ment in a three-year legal battle between the two companies. In 1995, Procter & Gamble sued an Amway distributor in Utah for a voice-mail message it alleged linked the company to satanism. Procter & Gamble added Amway Corp. as a defendant to the lawsuit in 1996, contending the voice mail was intended to hurt Procter & Gamble's business. Procter & Gamble filed a similar lawsuit in Houston in 1997. Both lawsuits still are pending. Mohr, Amway's lawyer, said yes- terdav's lawsuit is not about free speech but about what he contends were Procter & Gamble's deliberate actions to damage Amway's business by encouraging the dissemination of information it knew would be used misleadingly. lie alleges the Internet Website was part of larger efforts, including deceptive news releases, that Procter & Gamble has undertaken to blame Amway for the satanism rumors that have plagued it for years. The lawsuit filed yesterday con- tends Procter & Gamble provided Schwartz with "boxes of docu- ments". for his Website and "hired attorneys in three different states to try and thwart Amway's efforts to get the truth about P&G and Schwartz." KELLY MCKINNELL/Dady John Griffiths plays during a North American solo tuba tour sponsored by Yamaha Canada. He was featured yesterday at the School of Music on North Campus. Workersa at GM plant pt est uSe of Mexican labor Fieger proposes insurance ooi to cut medical costs DETROIT (AP) - About 300 union members protested the use of Mexican workers undergoing train- ing at a General Motors Corp. test assembly plant yesterday by picket- ing in front of the factory. That and other issues between GM and United Auto Workers Local 594 have been simmering for several months. The dispute comes as GM and the UAW have said they want to improve their weak relationship. The workers protested before their shifts and during lunch breaks at the GM Validation Center. No work was interrupted, local Vice President Larry Trandell said. The center is used to test assembly plant equipment and train workers in procedures for assembling new mod- els before they go into production. The Mexican workers are from GM's Silao, Mexico, plant where a new generation of GM's full-size sport utility vehicles will be built. Trandell said the Mexican workers, who are not UAW members, are sup- posed to be observing procedures, but are performing hands-on work in violation of the GM-UAW contract. "We think it's a big safety hazard," he said. "They can't speak English, and we have no documentation that they have any of the safety training." The workers help build prototype vehicles and take what they learn home to help set up new assembly equipment and train workers at their own plant. The intent is to discover problems and validate the proper pro- cedures early to provide for smoother, faster launches of new models. GM spokesperson Dan Flores said the work being done by the Mexican workers is no different from that done by visiting workers from other GM plants in the United States. "They are GM employees here legally on GM business," he said. "We maintain that those employees are operating under the terms of the local agreement, that there is no vio- lation." The UAW workers also are upset over an order that they wear safety glasses at all times in non-office areas of the complex, including dur- ing breaks. Trandell also charged that GM was trying to change the griev- ance procedure that has been in place for 25 years.. Flores said the expanded safety glass policy was an effort to protect workers. "We've had a number of serious eye injuries over the past three years." Workers at the Pontiac East truck assembly plant, who also are repre- sented by Local 594, went on strike for three months last year. The main issue was staffing levels. After UAW members at two GM parts plants in Flint went on strike last summer, virtually shutting down GM's North American production, company and union leaders said they would communicate regularly to set- tle future disputes before they esca- late to strikes. WESTLAND, Mich. (AP) - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Geoffrey Fieger says he would create a state health insurance pool to cut costs, and would toughen regu- lation of insurers who now "own" Republican Gov. John Engler. Fieger unveiled his health care platform yesterday at a news conference outside a Wayne County Health, Department branch in this Detroit suburb. "We all recognize there is a crisis in health care,' Fieger said. "The crisis is not so much one of quality as it is one of cost and access to quality treatment." Fieger's three-point program calls for: Passage of a "patient bill of rights." It would restrict the ability of health insurers to impose medical treatment decisions on doctors and patients, put mental health treat- ment on par with other care and let patients sue health insurers over treatment decisions. ® Creation of a state health insurance pool to buy health care coverage in bulk. Individuals and employers would pay a $10 membership fee. Fieger said the idea, similar to the former state Accident Fund for worker's compensation insurance, would cut premiums 25 percent to 35 percent. ® Stricter state oversight of health insurers and providers. Insurers would be required to pay out at least 80 percent of their premiums for health services. He would increase the number of state inspectors and inves- tigators for health care professionals. Fieger accused Engler of gutting the state's mental health system by closing state mental hospitals. He said Engler has neglected public health and welfare while serving private business interests. "There is a corrupt relationship between the present administration and the insurance industry," Fieger said. "The insurance industry owns Mr. Engler." Engler campaign spokesperson Maureen McNulty called the charge unfounded and its maker unreliable. "Geoff Fieger continues on a daily basis to make wild and scurrilous charges ... and he is not held accountable for his vitriol," McNulty said. A state health insurance pool would expand state gov- ernment and lead to the hiring of thousands of people, McNulty said. And she said a state insurance pool would unfairly compete with private insurers. "It's another figment of Geoff Fieger's fevered imagi- nation," she said. As governor, Fieger said he would seek repeal of the state certificate of need law for health care facilities. That law stands in the way of free-standing outpatient centers for surgery, child birth and other services, he said. "Free-standing outpatient surgery centers are up to 50 percent less costly than hospital-based services, yet certifi- cate of need rules prohibit their development," Fieger said. The Engler campaign said Fieger's attack on the gover- nor's health policies was hypocritical because of the harm Fieger has caused medical care providers as a malpractice lawyer. McNulty cited a Feb. 9 letter from Fieger to the Northeast Guidance Center in Detroit. Fieger demanded that the nonprofit mental health agency pay up on a $6 million jury judgment in the death of a 9-year-old boy hit by one of its vans. "I will close down Northeast Guidance Center," Fieger wrote. "I am not kidding. You had better have someone come up with the money." Fieger spokesperson June West said, "Geoff does have an obligation to his client to make sure that when a judg- ment is awarded, that they pay what the judge orders." I.......... (JkL"I AIL: What's happening in Ann Arbor today GRouP MEEiNGS v ENACT, Michigan Union, Room 3909. 647-9189.8 anm. Angell Hall, Fishbowl, 11 a.m.-2 i"L Concentration and Advising Fair, Sponsored by LS& Dean's www.umich.edu/-info on the World Wide Web U Northwalk, 763-WALK, Bursley Lobby, 8 p.m.- 1:30 a.m. F1 DPu..kMnocd emic Per Advling. I IN