Page 4-Thursday, July 29, 1982-The Michigan Daily
India's Gandhi
arrives in U.S.
to mee Reagan
WASHINGTON (AP) - Primea
Minister Indira Gandhi of India arrived;
yesterday in Washington saying she
was determined to improve frayed
relations with the United States.
"One of the reasons I'm here is that I
want them to be better," Gandhi said
moments after stepping off a U.S. Air
Force jet which brought her from New
York City.
SECRETARY of State George Shultz
beamed at the remark and told the
prime minister, "That's a wonderful
answer" to a reporter's question.A
Gandhi was met by Shultz and a party $
of ranking U.S. and Indian officials at
Andrews Air Force Base nears
Washington.
The 64-year-old Indian leader meets a
with President Reagan and Shultz
today, and then will be Reagan's guest
at a White House state dinner. She also
has scheduled meetings with members
of Congress, international bankers and
scientists.a
U.S. OFFICIALS say they expect the
64-year-old Indian leader to "accen-
tuate the positive" during the visit, her
first to the United States since 1971.
T~he current and past tone of the Gandhi
relationship between the United States
and India has often been one of discord, ... wants better relations
irritation, mistrust and occasional dia also was angered by the $3 billion
outright anger.d
The two nations have disagreed on how U.S. arms deal with Pakistan.
to deal with the Soviet occupation of AMERICAN officials have been
Afghanistan, with India refusing to suspicious of India's close military
publicly condemn the Soviet move. In- See GANDHI, Page 1o
House committee
to speed up tax bill
In Brief
Compiled from Associated Press and
United Press International reports
Volcker sees higher 1983 deficit
WASHINGTON - The head of the nation's central bank sided yesterday
with a new congressional forecast that sees next year's budget deficit run-
ning as much as $40 billion higher than the Reagan administration predicts.
Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker also warned that the prospect
of record federal deficits for coming years threatens to drive interest rates
higher.
After Volcker relayed that outlook in testimony before the Senate Budget
Committee, the Treasury Department underscored the point in reporting that
the government will have to borrow a record $56.5 billion this summer and at
least $44 billion in the fall to finance the national debt.
Such heavy government borrowing - approximating an unprecedented
$100 billion through the end of the year - will slow the rate of decline in in-
terest rates that the administration is predicting, Treasury Undersecretary
Beryl Sprinkel conceded.
Democrats propose taxpayer
financing of political parties
WASHINGTON - A task force of the Democratic Party, whose meager
treasury pales against the bulging coffers of Republicans, proposed to
Congress yesterday that the national parties receive taxpayer financing.
Such direct federal assistance, perhaps through a second checkoff on
federal income tax returns, would help bolster the parties in the face of the
burgeoning strength of independent political groups like the National Con-
servative Political Action Committee, said the Democratic group.
"We think it essential that the major parties maintain sufficient resources
to resist the potential polarization that could accompany future fundraising
efforts that compete with those of independent committees," said the report,
presented to the House Administration subcommittee on elections.
Three Mile Island owner fined
WASHINGTON - A government board fined the owner of the damaged
Three Mile Island nuclear plant $100,000 yesterday for allowing five
operators to cheat on Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing
examinations.
The fine was imposed by the commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board, which concluded that Metropolitan Edison Co. "negligently failed to
safeguard the integrity of its examination process and failed to instill an at-
titude of respect for the company and NRC examinations."
The panel said in a 183-page report that it found positive evidehce that two
shift supervisors and two other licensed reactor operators on the plant's Unit
1 reactor cheated on requalification examinations in April 1981.
It said it also found that a former shift supervisor on the plant's Unit 2
reactor cheated on a 1979 requalification exam by turning in another super-
visor's work as his own and that the plant's manager certified him for licen-
se renewal anyway
Cough syrup used to treat
infertility in women
PHILADELPHIA- A doctor said yesterday he has successfully used
cough syrup to treat a kind of infertility that affects up to 20 percent of all
women who have problems becoming pregnant.
Experts in the field said the idea was promising, although they stressed
that more study was needed.
Dr. Jerome Check, an assistant professor of obstetrics at the Jefferson
Medical College, said the treatment worked because of an ingredient con-
tained in many cough medicines called guaifenesin.
The substance decreases the viscosity of mucus in the nasal passages and
makes it easier for a person to cough. But it also thins the mucus in the cer-
vix, thus allowing sperm to penetrate more easily.
Check said in an interview that of 40 women who took part in a study he
conducted, 15 became pregnant after being treated with Robitussin cough
syrup or simply guaifenesin in capsule form.
"A fair number of women are going to get pregnant just on Robitussin
alone," the obstetrician said. He said he chose that brand simply for con-
venience.
Dr. Robert Keenan, a spokesman for Robitussin's manufacturer, the A.H.
Robins Co., based in Richmond, Va., said the procedure was being tried in
fertility clinics throughout the country.
Insulin pump to aid diabetics
BOSTON- A pump the size of a hockey puck implanted under the skin like
a pacemaker may soon make daily injections unnecessary for 300,000 adult
diabetics who need extra insulin every day, researchers said yesterday.
The stainless steel device, which is refilled by injection every two weeks,
delivers a continuous flow of insulin that is more effective than insulin shots,
the doctors reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Five patients, victims of adult onset diabetes, told the University of Min-
nesota researchers they were satisfied with the device and had no desire to
resume taking daily injections.
"A frequent comment was that this pump was 'forgettable' and allowed
them a more normal lifestyle," the team wrote.
The group will seek FDA approval for the insulin pump sometime this
year, and the device-which the manufacturer estimated would cost $2,000
to $3,000-could be on the market within a year or two.
4
4
WASHINGTON (AP)- The House
Ways and Means Committee agreed
yesterday to bypass normal procedures
and set up a fast-track approach that
would allow Congress to complete ac-
tion within two weeks on the largest tax
increase in history.
Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.)
told reporters that Democrats still will
try to change some provisions in the
bill, which was written by Republicans,
passed by the Senate and endorsed by
President Reagan.
Among sections Democrats find ob-
jectionable is one reducing deductions
for medical expenses. That provision,
which would allow deductions only
when expenses exceed 7 percent of in-
come-rather than 3 percent under
current law-almost certainly will be
changed, Rostenkowski said.
ROSTENKOWSKI'S Senate counter
part, Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), chair-
man of the Finance Committee, has
said he would like to settle on a 5 per-
cent threshold for medical deductions.
Any changes would be made
sometime next week when, if all goes
according to Rostenowski's plan, a
Senate-House conference committee
will work out a compromise tax bill.
Because the House has passed no bill of
its own, the compromise is likely to be
very close to the measure passed by the
Senate last week. It would raise taxes
by $98.5 billion over the next three
years.
Twenty-two Democrats and four
Republicans on the 35-member Ways
and Means Committee agreed to an
unorthodox procedure under which the
House would pass no bill of its own and
would be able to vote on the tax in-
crease only when it comes from the
conference in final, compromise form.
THE HOUSE was expected to endorse
the committee's plans for handling the
bill.
"Two conflicting forces are at play n
the House," Rostenkowski told repor-
ters after the committee's closed-door
session. First, he said, is the general
agreement that Congress must raise
taxes this year to hold down the federal
deficit.
"The second is a broad anxiety that
any attempt to write our own version of
a $98 billion tax,-will lead to political
mayhem - and severely reduce the odds
of passage," he added.
"Unless we get this bill passed,"
Rostenkowski said, "I am worried
about the economic future of the coun-
try."
Under the Ways and Means
agreement, Democrats, who control the
House, will be able to claim that
Republicans are to blame for any tax
increase passed in this election year.
4
4
4