NATION/WORLD The Michigan Daily -Tuesday, September 26, 2000 - 7 Clinton, Con ess butt heads over budget WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton and Congress are at loggerheads over I11 of the 13 spending bills needed to keep federal agencies en, just six days from the start of the new fiscal ar. But in contrast to the fiery budget clash that precipitated two government shutdowns five years ago, the ideological divide between the two parties is murkier today. With Republicans moving rapidly toward Clin- ton's positions on many issues, and with just six weeks until voters decide who will control the White House and Congress next year, a cata- clysmic budget showdown does not seem in the cards. Instead, with. little tumult, Clinton and law- akers plan to enact legislation by week's end keeping civil servants at work through Oct. 6. That measure - the first of several stopgap bills that may be needed ---will give the two sides an extra week to sort through Clinton's call for about S20 billion more than Republicans want for domestic programs and foreign aid, and fights over mining, hiring teachers, workplace injuries and other issues. "Shutting down the government doesn't enhance the standing of Congress or the presi- dent," said Robert Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute, a private social policy research group. "The Republican leadership in Congress appears kinder and gentler than it was in 1995 .and 1996, and if the president is too belligerent, he could find that it backfires on him" With negotiations on remaining bills under way, most of the retreating is being done by Republicans, who want to send lawmakers home for elections that they hope will retain GOP majorities in the Hiouse and Senate. Having already added billions of dollars to initial ver- sions of spending measures, GOP leaders are prepared to add billions more -- and drop some controversial provisions called riders --- as the price for leaving town. "The money in most cases is resolvable," Sen- ate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), said yesterday in a brief interview. "Our instructions to the appiopsiators are to take all riders out ...so we can complete our work." Congress' appropriations committees write the spending bills. 'The I11 remaining bills control about S300 bil- lion, roughly one-sixth of the overall 51.8 trillion federal budget. While Lott acknowledged that some riders won't be dropped because their authors won't allow it, Lott said the leaders' approach is, "Don't ask for conflict, resolve as many issues as you can." - Even so, Lott said the GOP believes it has the political winner on some of the tights over leg- islative provisions. These include the Republican plan to provide more flexibility for local deci- sions than Clinton wants for federal aid for hiring teachers and rebuilding schools. The White House has most of the leverage in the talks because of Congress' eagerness to leave town and because many of the disputes - such as over schools and the environment - are on issues where polls show the voters generally favor Democrats. Even so, leery of triggering a showdown for which they might be blamed by the public, administration bargainers are showing some flex- ibility, too. "We've never said we need 100 percent of the dollars we've asked for," White House budget director Jack Lew told reporters last week. Back in 1995, the GOP's first in control of Congress in four decades, Republicans set cut- ting taxes, balancing the budget by 2002 and trimming federal spending as their chief goals. Amid battles with Clinton and beset by internal divisions, Republicans only sent two of the 13 annual measures to Clinton by Oct. 1. Most of the rest became enmeshed in the bitter budget fight that produced federal shutdowns from Nov. 14 to 19 and again from Dec. 16 to Jan. 6, 1996. Republicans said beforehand that they would use shutdowns as a weapon in the budget fight,and the public mostly blamed them when the Grand Canyon National Park and other popular government services were shuttered. ourt may ecie f 'on are real people U U.S. Supreme Court now it has reached the U.S. -Supreitie mind. But Wendt and Ratzenberger attire as part ofa fashion display. Court. The justices are expected to say "Certainly it is not irrational for the refused permission to have their like- Six years ago, TV game-show host-, may decide rights to within the next week or two whether people to think of the actors who nesses used. Undeterred, the studio ess Vanna White won S403,000 from Cheers' characters. they will hear the "Cheers" case or played Norm or Cliff when they see and Host went ahead with the plan, Samsung Electronics because of an ad send it back to Los Angcles for trial. one of these characters, but it's our although they changed the characters that touted the long life of its products. s sAngeles liites Either way, the outcome could have view that federal copyright law pro- slightly and renamed them "Bob" and The ad depicted a robot in a blond wig a broad effect on the rights of perform- tects Paraimoutim's right to license the "lank." turning letters on a futuristic game WASHINGTON -- So, who owns the rights to a famous TV character: The actor who made the character mous or the studio that eeated the character in the first place? That is a good question for a bar- room debate but a hard queston of law. For nearly seven years, two actors in the 1980s TV series "Cheers" have been fighting Paramount Pictures over control of their barroom characters, with both sides maintaining that they ave the right to speak for "Norm" antd iff." W The lawsuit has bounced back and forth in the courts of California and ers and creators, -avers say. "This is a huge issue for Iholly- wood," said Dale Kinsella, a Los Angeles attorney who represents actors Ccorge Wendt, a.k.a. Norm and John Ratzenberger, swho played Clif f "If a studio acquires the risht to license an actor's iiage cloaked in the outfit of character, then Warner Bros. could use Harrison Ford's face to sell cigarettes or beer as long is lie was dressed as Indiana Jones" But the 'studio sass actors'who are hired to perform a role do not sin legal rights to a character just because they are the character in the public's use of these characters," said New Yoi k attorney Floyd Abrams, a renowned First Amendment expert who appealed Paramount's case to the Supreme Court. The dispute began a decade ago when Paramount sought to profit On the popularity of "Cheers,"iwhere everyone knows your name (or your character's name). They proposed to license Host International inc. to oper- ate "Cheers" type bars in airports. Featured are a pair of talkative robots who resemble the pudgy accountant Norm and the know-it-all mailman Cliff. in 1993, the two actors sued for damages under California law, which offers the strongest legal protections for celebrities. Under the state's so- called "right to publicity~ law, no one may sell a product by using "anothers name. signature, photograph or like- tess in any manner Singers Bette Midler and gravel- voiced fiom Wait used this law to stop commercials that used distinctive voic- es that resembled theirs. Actor Dustin HofmTian used it last year to win a S3 million judgment from Los Angeles Magazine for imposing a computer- created photo of hi in his "Tootsie" sho. Citing these California precedents, lawyers for the "Cheers" stars say no one has a right to use their likenesses to sell beer. But under federal copyright law, cre- ators of "original works" have strong legal protection as well. Those who own copyrighted works have the "exclusive rights" to use them, includ- ino licensing "derivative works" that are based on the original. Lawyers for Paramount say that the studio alone has the right to license the "Cheers" characters, regardless of the actors' wishes. Calif may accept top 12.5 percent of students ADMISSIONS Continued from Page 1 The UC president submitted the proposal to faculty members and is-, awaiting their response, Lightfoot saied.- Faculty may vote to integrate the program if they feel it is appropriate,: Lightfoot said. - Florida state universities began implementing a plan where they.- accept the top 20 percent of stu dents. In a program the state calls "Tal- ented 20," all students graduating int he op 20 pert iioh their publmhic- hitch school classes swhocshlsts-cful- filled the 19 units of state require- ments are eligible to attend at least one of the Florida state universi- ' ties. "The reason is to eliminate race in admissions. The thjnking is thit - if you guarantee admission, the potential number of minority stu- dents would be greater," said John Barnhill, admissions director for the Florida state university system. Lightfoot said, by allowing mor students the opportunity to participatp' in a UC education, "it is quite possible more minority students will be eligi- ble. The class of 2004 is the first freshman class enrolled under these terms. "It is hard to attribute the numbers of minority students since the courts just passed this in June," Barnhill said. "Tle strategy is to eliminate race as an admissions factor and the hope is it would mean we would not suffer any drop in diversity," Barn- hill said. "The notion to due imors proactive recruitmig has gone hant in hand with the Talented 20 pro- graim,"lie said Thme Californsitatsystcmtis comit pletely race blind to all students-, not just in-state students, BarnhifC said. Minority enrollment increased by 197 students this fall, while class sied increased by 61 I students, Barnhi- reported. University of Michigan Provosf Nancy Cantor said that is difficult to compare ourselves with such a large system of schools. "The demographics of every statu are different, California is a very different place," Cantor said Cantor also said she believes stu- dents should not be based solely on class rank. "You don't reduce it to a partic lar criterion like class rank, it is very hard to equate students across schools. It is really important that we have a multi-facetedadmissions process that looks at the full per son," Cantor said. Lester Monts, assoceiate provost for academic affairs, also said the University should not be compared to other state school systems. "We need to look at what to do here at the University of Michigan, just because they have banned affir- mative action does not mean that we will," Monts said. Many students find abortion exhibit grotesque, offensive - ' GENOCIDE Continued from Page 1 Gibbs told the project coordinators. Gibbs, who is black, said she believes the CBR members should have sat down with students and discussed the issue of abortion with them instead of trying to educate people in the manner they chose. LSA senior Umar Ibn-Khattab said he believes the posters are a effective way to explain the horrors of abortion. He said his position as a minority and hav- ing ancestors have been the victims of genocides in the past don't interfere with that belief. "I definitely think, especially for men, who feel a lit- tle distant from the issue, it brings-a little reality to its" he said. "I think the way it's being presented is irrelevant. They're presenting an issue. They're just trying to make people realize what really happens in abor- tions," Ibn-Khattab said. LSA sophomore David Lempert said he finds the exhibit to be offensive toward victims of the Holo- caust. '.Tm Jewish and I've spent a lot of time talking to myt parents and grandparents about the Holocaust" he said."Genocide takes people's control away from their lives as human beings, and taking away abor- tion tights from women is doing the same thing. It's a fatal contradiction." CBR member Marti Hann said despite sidespread criticism for its disturbing nature, CBR constinues to exhibit the project across the country because of the power of visual messages. "We're a visual culture," she said, "And a picture speaks a thousand words. Butmany students said they found the pictures offensive and ineffective. " m seeing pictures of a Jew being hung in a con- centration camp, and dead Yugoslavians next to a fetus being ripped open the size of a quarter. Not everyone's an activist. Not everyone wants to see this LSA sophomore Matt Engelberg said. Amid much criticism, some students showed sup- port for CBR's message. Some lecturers at the University felt that the exhib- it was a valuable learning tool for their classes. Amit Ray, a Rackham graduate student instructor, had his English 225 class carefully examine the exhibit to determine whether CBR's method of persuasion in the exhibit was effective. When Rebecca Lieberman, daughter of vice presi- dential candidate Joe Lieberman, heard of the Geno- eide Awareness Project she said it is an example of the freedom of speech. "That kind of protest - and all kinds of protests is what the First Amendment is all about," Lieberman said. The project was invited to the University by the Chi Alpha Christian Eellowcship and Students for Life student groups. MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily LSA junior Theda Gibbs voices her displeasure over the graphic display of abortion presented by the Coalition on Bio-Ethical Reform on the Diag yesterday. Interim VP sets sight on permanent position announcements roommates Ln HAVE FUN RAISING FUNDS for your clubs, teams, and groups. 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Harper and Bollinger were both heavily criticized during the occupation of the towcr. The SCC accused the administration of moving too slowly towards a resolution and favoring Michigamua dur- ing the negotiations. Law School student Andy Coulouris served as MSA vice president during the height of the tower occupation. "There was a strong sentiment among students, not just students of color, that she really was deflecting pressure and pitting students against students," he said. 'And whether or not that was intentional, that was the feeling. And I think the last person who should be doing that is the vice president for student affairs." "I felt that the whole administration didn't take the students seriously," LSA senior Neftara Clark, a member of the SCC who participated in the tower occupation, said. Coulouris added, "If she doesn't get the job it's because of her handling of Michigamua, for two reasons," he said. "One, I don't think anybody in the administration wanted to see that controversy last as long as it did. And, I think they did put her in an awkward position. Overall it was poorly exe- cuted, and she's going to take the fall," he said. "I think (Ilarper's) actions during the Michigamua situation could have been handled more sensitively toward the SCC and people of color in general," said LSA senior Rodolfo Palma-Lulion, a member of Stu- dents Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality. In the midst of the tower occupation, members of SOLE seized the office of LSA Dean Shirley Neu- man on Feb. 16. They demanded the University sign on to the Workers Rights Consortium, a student- developed policy to enforce labor codes of conduct in the production of collegiate apparel. Bollinger and University General Counsel Marvin Krislov handled most of the negotiations between SOLE and the administration. The occupation lasted three days d ended with the University agreeing to SOLE's demand under certain conditions. together and change their belt The tower occupation and its eventual resolution And Harper is ilitg to W still resonates across the campus. Harper said that "She seems to be a perso while she believes that "we came to a resolution that about students, the state of s was fair to everyone involved," there were situations ing the quality of student life, where she wishes she had acted differently. Jason Taylor. president of th "The situation should have been handled earlier," ciation. she said. "I wish I had paid more attention consis- "No other person that thth e stey to ttis issue. 'oit" to mind us gossng to de Addressing students' complaints that the admtinis- Lubuon said. "If anyone is in tration prolonged the occupation by acting too slow- do the right thing - it's Harp ly, harper maintains that the administration acted "I cannot speak for MSA, correctly, rather stick with Harper beca "The administration made a conscious effort to and she's done well for MSA, ensure the safety and that contributed to the "If she doesn't get the job, longevity. The students's safety was non-nego- it's because of her handling tiable. (To forcibly remove them) would of Michigamua. have been a safety night- mare." - Andy Coulouris larper added, "There Former Michigan Student Assembly vice president was a perception of my- favoring that set of Stu- dents of that group over another - my goal was to the interim anything. To som be a vice president fer all the students." the ability to get in there and avior rok with students. un who genuinely cares itudent life and improv- said Rackham student e Residence Hall Asso - e search committee is o a better job," Palma the position who could er. but personally, I would use she's doing her job "Secreto said. Making the job v her own Student leaders questioned whether Harper's job perfor- mance has been affected by her inter- im status. "There's a stigma attached when you're e degree she hasn't had I rock the boat because A healthy dose of activism Student activism, while essential to a healthy cam- pus, Harper said, can leave a legacy of lasting scars on the community, making it especially difficult to mediate, "On one hand, I have the desire that students wouldn't have to sit in and protest. On the other, I think that's exactly what you have to do if you believe in something passionately .... "There is racism here, no question. There is sexism here, no question. There is homophobia here, no ques- tion. How could it not be here'? That the institution doesn't have the obligation to get it out of here is wrong, bu tihe institution is all of us. The notion that the administration can do this alone is impossible. "Students have every right to hold me account- able, but it's going to take everybody else ... to work it's not ber boat,i iyhor said. A search committee, formed in June 1999 after the resignation of then Vice President for Student Affairs Maureen Hartford, has narrowed its list of candidates to three other names. The other three can= didates are Javier Cevallos, vice chancellor for stuy dent affairs at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Charles Schroder, vice chancellor for stu- dent affairs at the University of Missouri at Colum- bia and John Ford, dean of students at Cornell University. Harper said she will be glad when she can put the process behind her, but believes that she is the best candidate. "I am the best person for this job. If performance isnt the criteria for doing a job hatt I eonknoe what is. Where other people can talk, I think 'Ce doie it.