Page 4-Wednesday May 43, 1981-The Michigan Daily Questions arise over Reagan s new appointment WASHINGTON (AP) - William Bradford Reynolds, an attorney with limited background in civil rights law, is expected to be nominated as the nation's chief civil rights enforcer, a Justice Department source' said yesterday. The source, who asked not to be iden- tified because he said he did not want to pre-empt President Reagan's announ- cement, said Reynolds is the leading candidate for the job of assistant attor- ney general in charge of the Justice Department's civil rights division. THE SOURCE SAID that a nomination is expected shortly. Reynolds, 38, is a partner in the Washington law firm of Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge. He was an attor- ney from 1970 to 1973 in the Solicitor General's office at the Justice Depar- tment. The solicitor general's office ap- proves all court appeals and handles legalwork in the Supreme Court.. ANOTHER JUSTICE Department source, who also asked not to be iden- tified, said that Reynolds, who is white, was selected primarily because he is said to be a superb lawyer who shares the administration's policy commit- ments and, secondarily, because he has previous experience in the department. This source said that Reynolds is quite experienced with constitutional issues and that constitutional questions are likely to be important in the work of the division. The source ndted that Congress is considering several pieces of civil rights legislation which involve con- stitutional issues. Among these is a move by some conservative senators to prevent the Justice Department from taking any legal action which could lead directly or indirectly to mandatory school busing to achieve desegregation. In general, the Reagan ad- ministration is opposed to mandatory school busing for desegregation. The administration also opposes requirements that employers use numerical quotas for minority hiring to meet affirmative action goals in civil rights cases. .REYNOLDS' BACKG'ROUND con- trasts sharply with that of Drew Days III, his predecessor in the Carter ad- ministration. Days came to the Justice Department after spending a number of years trying major civil rights cases for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Reached in New Haven, Conn., where he is now a Yale Law School professor, Days said he was reserving judgment about Reynolds "until I hear his views. But from people who know him, he does sound like an accomplished lawyer, and that's a positive step." Reynolds could not immediately be reached for comment because his secretary said he was out of the office. Justice Department spokesman Tom DeCair declined to comment on the nomination but noted that Reynolds had been around the department recently. A native of Bridgeport, Conn., Reynolds was graduated from Yale in 1964 and received his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was editor of the law review. In Brief Compiled frm Associated Press and United Presss International reports Polish court reeognizes independent farmers' union WARSAW, Poland-A Polish court registered Rural Solidarity yesterday, taking the final step in government recognition of the first independent union of private farmers in the Communist bloc. Outside the Warsaw court, some 4,000 supporters burst into cheers and hoisted Rural Solidarity's leader, 23-year-old Jan Kulaj, to their shoulders. Kulaj vowed the new union would not stage any strike that would jeopar- dize food supplies in Poland, which is already suffering severe shortages and rationing. The Soviets have been sharplycritical of the Polish independent uiion movement in general and Rural Solidarity in particular. Poland's 3.5 million private farmers own 70 percent of the nation's land and provide 80 percent of its food. They have been seeking a union of their own since Solidarity was formed after last summer's wave of strikes. Judge Zdizslaw Koscielniak, who once refused to register Rural Solidarity, warned that failure to abide by its charter could annul the union's legality. The charter carries a pledge to 'recognize the leading role of the Communist Party in Polish life. It is similar to one given by Solidarity, the independent federation of Polish trade unions. . Veterans' bill approved WASHINGTON-The House Veterans Affairs Committee approved a bill yesterday directing the Veterans Administration to give priority medical treatment to veterans who believe their ailments spring from exposure to Agent Orange. The Reagan administration opposes the legislation. The bill's health provisions would be in effect for three years, while the VA conducts a study comparing the health of .4 million men potentially exposed to the herbicide in Vietnam withthe condition of men their age who did not serve in Vietnam. The'measure also would keep in operation for three more years 91 storefront readjustment counseling centers for Vietnam veterans. The Reagan administration had proposed that the centers be clos'ed on Oct. 1, for a saving of $31 million a year, but that proposal ran into a wall of opposition. The measure also authorizes the counseling centers to set up on-the-job training programs for unemployed Vietnam veterans. Coal industry talks resume WASHINGTON-Union and coal industry representatives returned to the bargaining table yesterday in an effort to end the 47-day-old miners strike. After the morning session, however,,no quick settlement was in sight. UMW President Sam Church is seeking a contract acceptable to the 160,000 rank and file miners, who have been on strike since March 27, when the previous three-year pact expired. Miners rejected, by a margin of more than 2-to-1, an earlier tentative ac- cord that included a 36 percent across-the-board increase in wages and benefits over the next three years. Although neither side would indicate whether progress was being made at the' table, the prospect of some movement seemed heightened by the fact neither side was walking out. Burnett libel award cut; Enquirer denied new trial HOLLYWOOD-A judge yesterday cut in half Carol Burnett's $1.6 million libel award from the National Enquirer, but criticized the tabloid for ",pan- dering" to the public and denied a request for a new trial. Miss Burnett's lawyers said she would accept the reduced award, but the Enquirer was expected to appeal. The Enquirer insisted on its -earlier arguments that it was being singled out unfairly. "If the defendant in this case had been a publication other than the National Enquirer, the result would have been different," said Enquirer attorney William Masterson. The case was the fist libel suit against the Enquirer to reach the courts. Judge Peter Smith ruled that the tabloid ran a "half hearted" retraction to the libelous article that implied Miss Burnett -was drunk in a chic Washington restaurant. Sinkhole may be dynamited WINTER PARK, Fla.-Heavy equipment or even dynamite may be used to stabilize a giant sinkhole that has swallowed more than two acres of this posh Orlando bedroom community, an engineer said yesterday. "Right around the outside of it you have some essentially vertical walls," said Orange County engineer Hugh Lokey. "They will either have to stabilize themselves or some artificial means will have to be used to level them out." Since Friday night the crater has swallowed trees, a three-bedroom frame house, five expensive sports cars, a camper, part of a $150,000 city swim- ming pool, and parts of two businesses. The sinkhole has become the newest attraction in the Orlando area, home for Disney World and a half dozen other major tourist stops. 4 Senate OKs budget; Reagan scores again (Continued from Page i) that Reagan's budget "is badly out of balance." "And I'm convinced his economic plan will fail to provide a balanced budget even by 1984," Cran- ston said. SEN. LOWELL WEICKER (R- Conn.) also said he would oppose the plan, saying it was based on "snake-oil economics." He criticized Reagan for recommending deep cuts in social programs while calling for large in- creases in defense spending. Before turning to the final vote, Senate spent several hours defeating several last-minute amendments by Democrats trying to change the plan to their liking beforeits certain passage.. An attempt by Sen. William Prox- mire (D-Wis.) to force another $48.6 billion in cuts and balance the budget next year also failed, 81-13. So did several moves by other Democrats to restore funds for a variety of social programs such as education, mass transit and school lunches. . IT VOTED 81-17 against an amen- dment by Sen. Donald Riegle (D-Mich.) to cut $2.2 billion from defense and put it into several domestic programs, in- cluding education, mass transit and veterans programs. The blueprint for the 1982 fiscal year is similar to the spending guideline the - Democratic-controlled House voted last week in a remarkable victory for the president. The relatively, minor dif- ferences in the two. plans will be resolved by negotiators for the two houses, possibly as early as this week. Both the House and Senate plans are merely guidelines for Congress to follow later in the year, and the actual nature of the spending cuts and the size and shape of the tax bill that emerges from Congress won't be known for weeks or months. THE HOUSE-passed plan calls for spending of $688.8 billion, a deficit of $31 billion and spending cuts of $36.6 billion. But it, too, leaves room for the defense buildup and tax reductions the president wants. Earlier, the Senate voted, 62-32, against an amendment by Sen. Howard Matzenbaum (D-Ohio) aimed at closing a controversial tax shelter. Metzenbaum said it would have raised $1.3 billion in revenues by eliminating a shelter known as the "butterfly straddle"a.