Page 4-Saturday, May 15, 1982-The Michigan Daily Fuel cost drop steadies April inflation level WASHINGTON (UPI)- Inflation at the wholesale level stayed nearly in- visible in April-a scant 0.1 percent- as sharply rising food prices offset a # record drop in energy costs, the gover- nment reported yesterday. The increase reported by the Labor Department hardly registered on economists' charts, especially after two previous months in which the Producer Price Index actually 'went down, making goods less expensive for retailers. WHITE HOUSE spokesman Larry Speakes said this showed a continuing "moderation of inflation pressures" on the economy. Hut another key economic indicator showed the recession still going strong. America's factory production skid- ded 0.6 percent, the Federal Reserve Board reported-the latest of the dips that started when the recession began last July and are held responsible for much of the nationwide increase in unemployment. One analyst said industrial produc- tion now is no higher than it was in 1978.. THE ANTI-inflation progress reflec- ted in the price index was the latest monthly bonus from the fading world oil glut, and perhaps the largest for many more months to come. The recession's squeeze 'on prices also helped, analysts said. The record 5.2 percent drop in energy prices-including 7.2 percent cheaper gasoline prices and 8.8 percent less ex- pensive home heating oil-accounted for 13. percent of the entire change in April's index. Analysts say May's fuel figures will not show such a draMatic decline, because there is no longer such a large oversupply of petroleum products. Food prices were rocketed upward by an explosive 13.5 percent change in pork prices-a delayed effect of the decision by hog farmers to sell off animals heavily late last year rather than risk a harsh winter. Prices also went up for beef and veal, fresh fruits and eggs. A LEADING private analyst of the index, Georgia State University economist Donald Ratajczak said "we're talking about three to four mon- ths of reasonably stiff food prices" ahead. Consumers cai look forward to an increase in the "6 percent range" this year, he said. So far this year, the overall annual rate of inflation for retailers is only 0.4 percent, administration analysts said- far below even the moderate 7 percent climb for all of last year. "Without the jump in food prices, the index would have been down again," said Robert Ortner, chief economist at the Commerce Department. "It sort of broke our winning streak here," he ad- ded, referring to the two previous mon- ths in which wholesale prices actually declined by 0.1 percent. In Brief Compiled from Associated Press and United Press International reports Pope's assailant arraigned LISBON, Portugal- The rebel priest who tried to bayonet Pope John Pau II claimed he "managed to touch" the pontiff's leg, the Portuguese news agency said yesterday as the attacker was arraigned and jailed pending trial. The news agency, ANOP, also said 32-year-old Juan Fernandez Krohn told investigators he planned the attack on John Paul for six months and that he used a bayonet "because I did not want to pierce the heart of the church with a firearm." Church officials have said Fernandez Krohn was no closer than four or five yards from the pope, and that the pontiff blessed both the attacker and the bayonet immediately after the attempt at the Shrine of Fatima Wednesday night, a year after the pope survived an assassin's bullets in St. Peter's Square May 13,1981. Hostages released in Mexieo MERIDA, Mexico- Thirteen Guatemala Indians and leftists flew to Mexico yesterday and released four diplomats taken hostage at the Brazilian Embassy in return for political asylum. A spokesman at the airport in Merida on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula, said the 13 kidnappers and their hostages arrived on an air force DC-6 sup- plied by the Guatemalan government as partof a deal to end the embassy seizure. The Guatemala peasants, nine men and four women, seized the Brazilian embassy in Guatemala City on Wednesday to protest alleged Indian massacres by the military government 9f Junta President Jose Efrain Rios Montt. They ended their 34-hour seige of the embassy Thursday night, turned in six .38-caliber pistols and homemade gasoline bombs and left for the airport. The kidnappers waited for nearly 12 hours ina Guatemalan air force plane until Mexico agreed to grant them asylum. Hinckley's psychiatrist testifies WASHINGTON- John Hinckley wanted only to "terminate his own existence" and have a post-life union with actress Jody Foster when he em- ptied his pistol at President Reagan, a psychiatrist said yesterday. Hinckley was so mentally ill at the time that "the effect on the president and other victims was trivial," Dr. William Carpenter testified. "In his men- tal state, they were bit players." In the three weeks that Hinckley has been on trial for trying to assassinate the president, it was the first time the jury was told that Hinckley was men- tally ill, although six days of defense testimony have strongly pointed to it. Carpenter testified for the defense, which hopes to show that Hinckley was insane and thus not legally responsible for the shootings, which he has ad- mitted. "inckley's mental state at the time was "despair, depression and a sense of the end of things," Carpenter testified. "Most important to him is to ter- minate his own existence." Senate begins budget debate WASHINGTON - Republicans and Democrats yesterday opened the Senate debate on the 1983 budget by urging bipartisaai cooperation, and then quickly set the battle lines on Social Security and President Reagan's economic policies. As Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, (R-N.M.), took the floor, he said he hopes the budget resolution the Senate passes will have bipartisan support. He then, however, declared it 'imperative' that the resolution passed by his GOP-dominated committee and backed by Reagan, retain its controver- sial provision calling for $40 billion in unspecified savings in Social Security over three years. The action must be taken, he argued, to keep the fund solvent. In response, Sen. James Exon, D-Neb., said he also hopes partisanship can be put aside, but added that he "noticed a partisan jab or two" in the opening remarks by the Republicans Sales tax collections decrease LANSING - Sales tax collections last month were disappointing, reflecting continuing softness in the economy, but the falloff is not expected to cause serious budget problems, officials said yesterday. April sales tax collections, reflecting March sales, totaled $129.6 million, down 3.5 percent from last year's $134.7 million, according to Robert Kleine of the Budget Department. Kleine said the department had anticipated sales tax revenues about 1 percent higher than last year's. He blamed the slump on "weak business activity in general. "March wasn't a very good month, either in Michigan or nationally," he said. The slumping auto industry played a major part in the overall gloomy pic- ture. Tax revenues on car sales were off 16 percent. Revenues from other taxes were considerably stronger. The income tax brought in $204.5 million, down only slightly from last year's $204.9 million, and use tax revenues actually spurted by nearly $3million. Dance Theatre Studio 711 N. University (near State St.), Ann Arbor e 995-4242 co-directors: Christopher Watson & Kathleen Smith day, evening & weekend classes new classes beginning May 17 Dance Theatre Studio offers a complete schedule of Modern, Ballet & Jazz classes for adults and Ballet and Creative Movement classes for children. Our studio, across from the UM campus, is staffed by experienced, well-qualified instructors.