U.S. effort to produce smaller cars seen as threat to Japan DEARBORN (UPI) - The $80 billion effort by U.S. automakers to produce smaller cars poses a dangerous threat to the Japanese auto industry - and not vice versa - a Nissan Motor Co. executive said yesterday. That remark by Masataka Okuma, a Nissan executive vice president, turned the tables on U.S. auto executives who have complained unanimously in recent months about Japanese inroads in the American car market. "IN AMERICA it seems that Japanese Group calls for students rights bill1 LANSING (UPI) - Saying school children are the last group in America to be protected by due process of law, an ad hec group yesterday called for the swift pasage of a so-called "studen- ts rights" bill. The group includes members of Gov. William Milliken's Task Force on School Violence and Vandalism as well as representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union and several religious organizations. ACLU MEMBERS said they deal with more school discipline cases than any other kind. The organization cited several cases of youngsters suspended or expelled for dress or behavior code violations without a hearing. Under the bill, schools will have to explain and distribute copies of a discipline code. A student who violates the code must be given a chance to ex= plain his or her side of the case as well as to appeal a suspension or expulsion from school. The measure - now in the House Civil Rights Committee - contains many of the recommendations made last year by the task force. University researcher Junius Williams said students need the bill's protection in light of cutbacks on programs which may keep them out of trouble. "You're going to expect. more disciplinary problems when there's no art, no band and no music program," Williams said. The researcher said cutbacks resulting in larger class sizes may also lead to more stress on teachers. "We need to make sure these stressful situations don't lead to mistreatment of youngsters," Williams said. imports are perceived as a threat, but to us Japanese automakers, what is frightening is the trememdous scale resources U.S. car manufacturers have at their disposal," Okuma said in a speech to the Automotive News World Congress. He described the U.S. auto industry's 180 billion capital investment, plan through 1985 as "an incredible sum." Much of that money will go to finance internationally built and marketed "world cars" by Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. "In the short run this investment will be a heavy financial burden for the U.S. makers, but just a little farther down the road, it will arm them with suf- ficient competitive strength to threaten our existence," Okuma said. The world congress, a major annual gathering of auto executives and exper- ts, has been marked repeatedly by ap-' peals to the Japanese to limit imports voluntarily. But Okuma said he foresees a world- wide glut of small cars in the future and called upon all automotive manufac- turers to plan their future production prudently. A market that has increased dras- tically in the last 10 years is wastepaper.AP.Phot sold for export. In,1970, about 400,000 tons was shipped to foreign manufac- President Carter joins hands to emphasize a point while meeting with farm turers. In 1979, about 2.2 million tons state representatives in the Cabinet Room of the White House yesterday. was exported-primarily to Japan, According to sources at the session, the president has decided on new govern- Korea, Canada and Mexico. ment price support loan rates for wheat and corn. Dems better than GOP on consumer issue votes LANSING (UPI) - Legislative Democrats fared considerably better than their Republican counterparts ina rating of votes on consumer issues released yesterday by the Michigan Citizens Lobby. House members, facing re-election this year, also emerged as slightly more responsive than their Senate counterparts who are not up until 1982, although the organization said the dif- ference likely was not. statistically significant. THE REVIEW of the 1979-80 session - the first such survey published by the consumer lobbying group - was im- mediately challenged by Republicans who insisted GOP lawmakers are as sensitive as Democrats to the true in- terests of consumers. The organization is distributing 50,000 copies of the legislative scorecard so members and "other consumers can evaluate their representatives on. specific issues and on their overall per: formance before the Aug. 5 primary," said Joseph Tuchinsky, director of the organization's Lansing office. The average House member scored 54 per cent on the 17 votes surveyed by the citizens lobby which included Michigan Blue Cross-Blue Shield reform, utility rate reform, item pricing, interest rates and other issues. DEMOCRATS averaged 68 per cent and Republicans 29 per cent. Top scoring House members were both Democrats - freshperson Rep. Kenneth DeBeaussaert of Washington and second-termer Larry Burkhalter of Lapeer. Ranking at the bottom among House members were Republicans Donald Gilmer of Augusta, Carl Gnodtke of Sawyer, Charles Mueller of Linden, and Robert Welborn of Kalamazoo who had 12 per cent scores. The upper chamber's average score was 49 per cent, with Democrats at 69 per cent and Republicans 15 per cent on 19 issues. Oak Park Democrat Douglas Ross - former head of the citizens lobby - was tops in the Senate with a 95 per cent score and Republicans Donald Bishop of Rochester, Alvin DeGrow of Pigeon, Harry Gast of St. Joseph, and John Mowat of Adrian were at the bottom with zeroes.