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