Page 4 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, May 10, 1983
Flaring comet bolts
through Ann Arbor
By MIKE WILKINSON The comet was first sighted April 25,
but wasn't confirmed until last week by
A "dirty snowball" over one mile in the Smithsonian Astrophysical Obser-
diameter and traveling over 20,000 vatory in Cambridge, Mass.
miles per hour will be hurling through ALTHOUGH it is only three million
the skies of Ann Arbor tonight. miles away, there is no fear that the
Freeman Miller, University comet will hit the earth. This did hap-
professor emeritus of astronomy, said pehwvrintealyatofhs
the IRAS-Araki-Alcock comet - called pen, however, in the early part of this
a "dirty snowball" because it is a century, when a comet wiped out about
collection of ice and dust - will be 100 square miles of land in Siberia.
visible tonight in the northern skies University Astronomy Prof. Gordon
west of the Big Dipper and northwest of MacAlpine is photographing the comet
the Little Dipper. for research purposes at the Kitt Peak
IT IS THE first time in 26 years a National Observatory in Arizona.
comet has been visible in the skies over
Ann Arbor."
Miller, who has been studying comets
for 30 years, said a comet is a smalli
celestial body whose diameter varies
between one and two miles. Its speed
ranges between 20,000 and 30,000 miles n
per hour, he said.-
The comet, which is as bright as the
North Start, will pass only 3,000,000 Camera stolen
miles from the earth, Miller said.
THAT DISTANCE - a near miss More than $800 worth of camera
astronomically - is equivalent to equipment was taken from the Univer-
twelve times the distance between the sity's Department of Palentology last
earth and moon, he said. Sunday morning. Suspects entered
The comet should be visible without through an unlocked office door and
aid, but binoculars could be helpful, made off with a camera and equipment.
Miller added. For the best viewing, Ann Arbor Police said they have no
Miller said you should go outside and let suspects in the case.
your eyes adjust to the dark. If you
want a good view, you should also go Barbour room robbed
where there aren't mnay lights to ob-
scure the view, Miller said. Two women were robbed when they
left their wallets unattended in a Betsy
COMPUTERTE NA Barbour dormitory room yesterday.
FOR RENT Suspects entered through an unlocked
$.permdoor and took two wallets containing a
one:combined total of $52 and a woman's
suit worth $30. Ann Arbor Police have
no suspects.
-Halle Czechowski

IN BRIEF
Tylenol deaths spark new law
WASHINGTON -Prompted by last year's Tylenol-cyanide deaths, both
houses of Congress passed legislation yesterday making ita federal crime to
tamper with consumer products. -
The bill was approved in a 292-0 vote in the House. The Senate passed its
version later in the day on a unanimous voice vote.
The House and Senate now will try to resolve differences between the two
measurs, which set tough new penalties for persons convicted of tampering
with consumer products.
Both measures provide a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a
$100,000 fine if serious injury or death results from tampering with a con-
sumer product.
Under the Senate bill, tampering merely with the intent to damage a
business would bring a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a
$20,000 fine. The House bill mandates no penalties for those who tamper with
products solely to damage a business' reputation; the tampering must in-
clude a significant threat of bodily harm.
The legislation, which covers foods, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices
and other products designed to be ingested or consumed, also provides
penalties for making false claims that such products have been tampered
with, and for threats and conspiracies to tamper.
PCB levels in Americans
drop, officials report
WASHINGTON -The Environmental Protection Agency, emerging from
months of criticism of its failures, reported a success story eysterday - a
sharp drop in the levels of a toxic chemical in the bodies of all Americans.
The fraction of Americans with high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls,
also known as PCBs, declined from 9.7 percent in 1977 to I percent in 1981,
according to a new EPA study.
"This is a dramatic example of the improvements that environmental
regulations are bringing us," said Don Clay, EPA acting assistant ad-
ministrator for pesticides and toxic chemicals.
From 1972 to 1977, the percentage of Americans with high levels of pcbs -
more than three parts per million - rose from 4 percent to 9.7 percent.
But the level declined to 8.2 percent in 1978, 3.9 percent in 1979 and down to
1 percent in the latest study.
IRS phones homes to collect
ST. LOUIS - The Internal Revenue Service put computers to work dialing
for dollars yesterday, pursuing delinquent taxpayers by telephone in an ef-
fort to collect $27 billion owed to the government.
"We won't harass anybody," said Rob Wilkerson, who is in charge of the
pilot program in St. Louis. "But we do expect a promise to pay. If they com-
ply, we'll never see their case again."
One of the first taxpayers to get a call from the IRS computer was a self-
employed businessman who had not filed a return in 1981 or 1982.
"He asked for an extension, Wilkerson said. "We told him very politely
that he had already used his up for 1981, and that we expected to get his
return by May 16 and he said he would do it."
The phone calls will' start at 8 a.m. and continue until 8 p.m. workdays
and from 8a.m. until noon on Saturdays. If the computer gets a busy signal,
it will automatically call back 30 minutes later. If no one answers, it will try
again later in the day, Wilkerson said.
When someone answers an IRS agent comes on the line to discuss
payment.
Vatican may forgive Galileo
VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II, in an indication the Vatican may
overturn the 1633 condemnation of Galileo, said yesterday the astronomer
who held that the earth revolved around the sun was the victim of "regret-
table" errors and misunderstandings by the church.
"We certainly recognize that he suffered from departments of the chur-
ch," the pope told 200 scientists, referring to the Vatican's heresy condem-
nation and sentencing of Galileo for his theory that the earth was not the cen-
ter of the universe as had been believed.
The pope told the members of the "Science for Peace" group in Rome for a
convention on Galileo, that the work of a Vatican commission reviewing
the condemnation "was progressing very encouragingly and there are good
grounds for hoping that it will make an important contribution to the
examination of the whole matter."
Andropov named military chief
MOSCOW - Pravda disclosed yesterday that Communist Part chief Yuri
Andropov has been named commander-in-chief of theSoviet military, a sign
that he has consolidated his grip on power.
The revelation came toward the end of a lengthy article in the Communist
Party newspaper by Defense Minister Dmitri Ustinov to mark the 38th an-
niversary of V-E day, a major holiday in theSoviet Union.
"(Andropov) enjoys great respect and authority among the fighters of the
army and navy," Ustinov said, recalling Andropov's wartime career with
partisan forces.
The report came after months of speculation of a struggle in the Politburo
betweeen Andropov supporters, including the military and foreign policy
establishments, and party functionaries represented by Konstantin Cher-
nenko, a long-time aide to late leader Leonid Brezhnev.

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