The Michigan Daily-Saturday, July 24, 1982-Page 5 13.3% JUNE JUMP CALLED 'PROBLEM NUMBER' Gas fuels inflation rise WASHINGTON (AP)- Consumer prices soared by a stunning annual rate of 13.3 percent in June as higher gasoline costs kept the inflation rate in double digits for the second month in a row, the government reported yester- day. Economists called the fresh surge in the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index "a problem number" but said it should be the last high flying one for the rest of the year. INFLATION was running at an an- nual rate of 5.1 percent in the first six months of the year, and Larry Speakes, deputy White House press secretary, noted it wA% 7.1 percent for the 12 mon- ths ending in June. "What we look at is not the month-to- month changes, but the sustained year- to-year numbers," Speakes said. Donald Ratajczak, economic forecaster at Georgia State University, said, "It's not, 'Hey, the game is over with and we're back to double digits for the year,' " but he added, "It's a problem number." DONALD Straszheim, vice president at Wharton Econometrics in Philadelphia, said he was "clearly Senate pas GOP tax in WASHINGTON (AP) - Less than a year after embracing the largest tax cut in history, the Senate passed yesterday a record $99 billion grab bag of in- creases that includes a surprise assault on the "three-martini-lunch," a deduc- tion long held dear by business. The Republican bill has dozens of tax increases - on families with high medical expenses, cigarettes, savers, drug pushers - that add up to the biggest tax boost in the nation's history. Tax cheating would be tougher and business would lose more than a third of the tax benefits voted by Congress last year. THE MOST-disputed provision would impose a 10 percent tax withholding on interest and dividends of more than Regents approve tuition hike, faculty raises (Continued from Page 1) received a pay raise. The University's tuition hike is similar to those at other Big Ten in- stitutions and schools around the coun- try, Frye said. Michigan State Univer- sity trustees raised students fees 14.9 percent yesterday. This year's tuition hike represents the third year in a row that the Univer- sity has seen double-digit fee increases. Last year, the Regents raised tuition by disappointed" that consumer prices had gone up sharply two months in a row but said the small advances earlier in the year "were too good to last." He cautioned, "This report is higher than you should expect to persist for the rest of the year (so) take it very. lightly.", Noting the weakness in the economy, James Annable, economist at the First National Bank of Chicago, said, "It's just not an environment for double-digit inflation." ALSO yesterday, the Labor Depart- ment released figures showing Americans' inflation-adjusted average weekly earnings were down 1.2 percent in June after falling 0.2 percent in May. A 0.1 percent increase in average hourly earnings was offset by a 0.3 per- cent decrease in average weekly hours and a 1 percent increase in consumer prices, the department said. Overall, the Consumer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1 percent in June, matching May's gain but sharply ahead of the 0.2 percent increase in April and the 0.3 percent decline of March, the department said. THE INDEX rose 8.9 percent last ses large erease $100 a year. Low-income and elderly savers would be exempt. The GOP-controlled Senate passed the bill, 50-47, in a 20-hour session that ended just before 5 a.m. Independent Harry Byrd of Virginia and 49 Republicans voted yes; Republicans Paula Hawkins of Florida, Robert Kasen of Wisconsin and Mack Mat- tingly of Georgia joined Democrats in opposition. the bill now goes to the House, where the majority Democrats are eager to ensure that whatever tax increase passes in this election year is clearly labeled as a GOP product. Democratic leaders have not decided how to handle the bill. year and 12.4 percent in 1980. If prices rose for 12 straight months at June's pace, the yearly increase would be 13.3 percent. The annual rate reported by the department is based on a more precise calculation of monthly changes than the figure the department makes public, June's advance reflected steeper prices for gasoline, houses and medical care. Food prices rose moderately. Gasoline prices were up 5.4 percent last month, well above the 0.9percent of May but under the 9.4 percent peak of March 1981, the report said. Weidenbaum sees end to nation' s reeession WASHINGTON (AP) - President Reagan's departing chief economist, although conceding that the ad- ministration's latest economic forecast is too optimistic, said Friday he remains convinced the end to the nation's deep recession "is in sight." Murray Weidenbaum, chairman of Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, acknowledged that Reagan did not always heed his economic advice, but he disputed reports by associates that mounting unhappiness and frustration with his lack of influence lay behind his decision to leave. "When I gave my resignation to the president last week, it was because of my desire to return to Washington University" in St. Louis, where he taught before joining the ad- ministration, he told a group of repor- ters. NOTING FEW of his predecessors stayed a full four years doing this "ar- duous" job, a cheerful, relaxed Weidenbaum said, "I'm leaving because I think I've had ample oppor- tunity to make my contribution to economic policy." "I'm enthusiastic today as I was in January 1981 about the policy of the Reagan economic program," he said. "It continues to be what the economy needs." Weidenbaum is the latest - and highest-ranking - in a string of economic officials who have left the administration since late last year, at Weidenbaum ... made his contribution least partly because of displeasure with presidential decisions. Recent exits have been made by two economic policy-makers in the State Department, two leading "supply-side" economists in the Treasury Department, the chief domestic policy adviser in the White House, and a second member of the three-man economic council Weiden- baum has headed. Reagan announced the 55-year-old Weidenbaum'sresignation Thursday night in St. Louis. White House aides said four or five people are under con- sideration for a replacement. Artist's stained glass show mixes modern, traditional (Continued from Page i) dows," he decided to make his own. PORTER CLAIMS he is a self-taught craftsman who learned the art from library books and experimentation. Last year he quit his job to become a full-time glass maker. It was a timely switch. "I got into the business at the right time," he said. "For the past five years or so, stained glass has enjoyed a surge of popularity. The residential aspect is being revived." The work is fun, too. "Creatively, it's the most rewarding thing I've ever done," Porter said. THIS YEAR'S art fair sales are bet- ter than last year's, according to Por- ter. He admits that he did not think business would be so successful. "I was apprehensive because of the economy the way it is. I thought if I was going to have a bad year that this would have been it. I don't know why the show is as good as it is but I don't want it to stop." Drug Salesman robbed A man trying to sell marijuana from a room in the Holiday Inn Hotel at 3750 ,Washtenaw was robbed at gunpoint by a male and a female Wednesday, police said. The robbers took the marijuana and several hundred dollars in cash. The victim reportedly was trying to sell marijuana to the couple when the male pulled a gun and took the money and the drugs. the victim called the police, who apprehended the couple driving south !on U.S. 23 near Stony Creek road. The man 29, and the woman 21, are from- Toledo. r rye ... tuition increase necessary 18 percent, which followed a 13 percent increase in 1980. Tuition increased bet- ween 8 percent and 9 percent in each of the four years previous to 1980.