Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 1

Own employees may strike state teachers union i im By SHARON M. BERTSCH Staff Writer Th Mirhipan Education Association could CLEAR Low tonight near 30. Details page A-2. have another strike on its hands its own, this time. strike last fall; Luis Diaz, also of Lansing; Stanley Burnell of Muskegon and Norbert Musto of Mt.

Pleasant. FRED COMER, director of MEA field operations, is the MEA's chief negotiator. If the strike takes place, it will be the fourth time the teacher union's staff members have walked out. Their last contract was signed in 1977 after a three-week strike. There was a 30-day strike in 1974.

about everything: wages, work load, schedules, evaluations, seniority, affirmative action, holidays and vacations, and sabbatical leaves. There's been "no substantive discussion on wages" yet, Stafford said Monday. Each side has presented initial proposals only, he said. On the union team are Harrison Black-mond, who advised the Lansing Schools Education Association teachers during its month THE PROFESSIONAL Staff Association has heaps of experts. It covers 103 professional employees ranging from MEA labor negotiators, lobbyists, public relations workers, political organizors, staff attorneys and negotiations specialists, as well as 5560 field workers assigned to special teacher and school employee locals.

Their contract expires March 31. ISSUES STILL remaining include just The state's Merest teachers' union is nego tiating with its own employees this month, and union nresident Dave Stafford savs "there is a possibility of a strike if we're unable to achieve a satisfactory settlement." nasal PRICE-20 CENTS MARCH 18, 1980, LANSING, MICHIGAN A GANNETT NEWSPAPER arter ducking budget-cut heat National Roundup Careless smoker blamed in fire WICHITA, Kan. (AP) A careless smoker apparently was to blame for the hotel fire last week that forced the evacuation of first lady Rosalynn Carter and caused $30,000 damage investigators say. "We're leaning pretty well toward accidental at this point," Carl Jones, head of the fire department arson unit, said Monday. Mrs.

Carter and other hotel guests were evacuated from the Wichita Royale on Friday when fire was discovered early in the morning. Mississippi oil spill cleaned up KENNER, La. (AP) Crews have cleaned up the last of 378,000 gallons of crude oil dumped into one of the busiest sections of the Mississippi River, officials say. The major spill occurred Saturday during a barge collision on Kenner Bend. Coast Guard Petty Officer Kenneth Wink said large patches of oil formed at the site and smaller patches formed farther down stream before the crude was vacuumed by clean-up crews, pushed into the Gulf or dissipated by currents.

Bartenders check out tippers SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (AP) A bartender is a bartender's best friend, but a doctor is likely to be stingy, according to a survey of 200 persons who make drinks in New Jersey. The survey of tippers, published in Bartender magazine, shows that "people who depend on tips for their own living like beauticians or waiters are good tippers at bars," editor and bartender Ray Foley said Monday. The worst tippers are doctors, lawyers, bankers, persons under 22 years of age, women, educators and musicians, according to the survey. The magazine is circulated in the New Jersey-New York area.

Visa needed for Mariana trip AGANA, Guam (AP) Any U.S. citizens who want to visit the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands will need a visa to enter, says Gov. Carlos S. Camacho. The announcement Monday came after the U.S.

Immigration and Naturalization Service reversed a 1978 agreement under which the residents of the islands were considered U.S. citizens for immigration purposes. The residents are to become citizens next year. WASHINGTON (AP) President Carter has no definitive list of spending cuts in his much-ballyhooed $13 billion budget-balancing package, congres sional sources and administration oin- cials say. Whether intended or not, the delay Vv iJl 'tlx ini Jf ri in spelling out wnat ne wants to cut could benefit Carter politically by letting Congress take the heat while preserving his own chances in the Illinois and New York primaries.

IT ALSO MEANS the overall reduc tions could come closer to the $18 billion or so earlier identified by congressional leaders as being a likely target for the total amount of cuts. Sources who asked not to be identi fied indicated the House Budget Committee will consider about $18 billion in cuts when it starts writing tne new budget Wednesday. Rather than reducing current fed eral spending, the cuts proposed by Carter would be in the proposed 1981 budget submitted in January. Staff photo by MORRIS INGELLS THE COMMITTEE hopes to bal ance the budget without using any of Wearin the green A chilly March rain, which turned to snow, didn't keep folks from enjoying the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration in downtown Lansing Monday.

A highlight was fleet-footed Kathy Swanson, an East Lansing eight-year-old who has won many awards for her spirited Irish dancing. the $11 billion in new revenues gener ated by the import fee on foreign oil Roundup imposed by Carter on Friday. It also hopes to finish its work by the III inois voter stakes high Seqrs to increase credit payments CHICAGO (AP) Sears, Roebuck and the nation's largest retailer, says it will raise monthly minimum payments on its charge accounts to help carry out President Carter's credit-tightening plan. weekend or a week before Carter's $13 billion worth of cuts are expected to be put before it somewhere around the end of the month. The Senate Budget Committee starts its markup of the budget March 26 and hopes to be finished by April 2.

THERE IS LITTLE chance either body would start the process anew if Carter came up with cuts not on their agenda, the sources said. State budget in bad shape. Pg. B-l While criticized publicly by some congressmen, the administration delay has made others happy since it means they will have a shot at keeping pet programs alive, although perhaps at a lower funding level. Sources say the administration never developed an overall list of budget cuts, although tentative decisions were made on some reductions.

They also say administration officials who participated in the budget-balancing discussions with congressional leaders never suggested cuts, but only told the congressmen whether they could go along with reductions in various areas. ALFRED KAHN, Carter's top anti-inflation adviser, told the Senate Banking Committee on Monday "there is only a list of possibilities" for cuts. "There's no question that we have some idea where the cuts will be," he added. Prime rate climbs as stocks waiver NEW YORK (AP) The prime lending rate was boosted to 19 percent by some major banks today in a move Chase Manhattan Bank said was "consistent with the philosophy" expressed by President Carter in his newest anti-inflation package. The increase in the rates businesses pay on loans came as stock prices were mixed after a big decline Monday.

The dollar continued to show strength and gold prices declined further on the second day of trading following announcement 'of Carter's latest actions. THE PRESIDENT on Friday outlined his program to beat down infla-s tion, now running at 18 percent annually, and Monday was the first chance investors had to react with their money. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones average of 30 industrials slid 23.04 points to 788.65 on Monday, the stock average's largest loss since a 26.45 point drop on Oct. 9, but it gained 2.73 of that back in early trading today although more stocks on the New York Stock Exchange declined than rose. The Monday close was the lowest since the widely watched average stood at 787.51 on Dec.

18, 1978. Bond prices continued to rally today, reflecting anticipation that the Carter program would eventually bring long-term interest rates much lower but would also sharply slow the economy. CHASE MANHATTAN, which was the first to raise its prime rate today, said higher rates on loans were in line with the president's desire to slow the expansion of credit. Chase had been charging 184 percent, while some other banks were at 18l2 percent. Edward Telling, Sears chairman and chief executive officer, said in a state ment Monday that Sears will begin in creasing the payments required of cus tomers as soon as possible to carry out the intent of the regulations.

CHICAGO (AP) Illinois, billed in advance as the showdown state, held its presidential primary election today, with Rep. John B. Anderson trying to detour Ronald Reagan's drive toward the Republican nomination and President Carter out to derail Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

The polls opened at 6 a.m. CST for 13 hours of balloting, with as many as 2.5 million voters expected to turn out on a brisk but sunny day. THE STAKES were high: 152 votes for the Democratic presidential nomination in a state Kennedy once said would prove Carter's vulnerability to his challenge for the Democratic presidential nomination. The senator from Massachusetts now says he'll beat the public opinion polls, which show him trailing Carter by a margin of more than 2-to-l, but doesn't claim he can beat the president. Republicans were choosing 92 convention delegates.

THERE ARE two primaries in each party, one for delegates, one for popular votes. Kennedy said he was "most interested in the delegate selection," and hoped for a strong showing there. Absorbing earlier defeats, Kennedy had said Illinois was the state where he'd turn it around. THE AMOUNT of the increase and Malta, Libya sign cooperation pact VALLETTA, Malta (AP) Malta has signed a temporary agreement with Libya on bilateral defense and economic cooperation, Prime Minister Dom Mintoff said. He told a questioner in the House of Representatives Monday night the agreement could be strengthened and made long-term when the need arose, and that through it Libya could strengthen the defense of Malta and its people against any Last March 31 the British ended a nearly two-century-long military presence on the Mediterranean island.

Most bodies recovered from wreckage WARSAW, Poland (AP) The flight recorder and the bodies of all but 12 of the 87 persons killed in the Polish jetliner crash have been recovered. The victims included 22 members of the U.S. amateur boxing team. Sources said Polish frogmen recovered about half the bodies from a section of the fuselage that was trapped under two feet of ice in the moat where the plane fell Friday after slamming through an earthen wall. Italian government expected to fall ROME (AP) Premier Francesco Cossiga's government, Italy's 38th since World War II, will ask Parliament for a vote of confidence Wednesday but it is not expected to get it.

The seven-month-old minority government recently lost the crucial support of the Socialists, who want the Communists in the administration. The ruling Christian Democrats oppose Communist participation in Italy's government. the date it will take effect has not been determined, said Ernest Arms, a Sears spokesman. Sears minimum monthly payments currently range from $8 to $20, Arms said, and when the balance is more than $500, the minimum payment is 4 percent of the balance. The step taken by Sears is an attempt to help implement Carter's plan to hold down the use of credit one of a series or measures he announced last Now he is saying that he will press the challenge to Carter no matter what the outcome here, or in the New York primary one week from today.

He was campaigning for that one while Illinois Democrats cast their ballots today. ANDERSON INVITED the Democrats, and independent voters, to make those ballots Republican, and mark them for him against Reagan. He campaigned until late Monday night, saying "the tide is rising, I've never felt more optimistic about an election in my life." Former U.N. Ambassador George Bush all but wrote off the primary he once said would establish him as the only alternative to Reagan. Bush said he'd gain comebacks next week in Connecticut and a week later in Wisconsin, where he was campaigning today.

Actually, the Chicago Tribune poll shows Reagan and Anderson in a virtual dead heat in Illinois, with Bush trailing far behind. Reagan now has 167 of the 998 delegates he would need to win the Republican nomination; Bush is second in delegate strength with 45 and Anderson has 13. Carter now has 304 nominating votes, Kennedy 165. It will take 1,666 to win the Democratic presidential nomination. Moslems maintain lead in Iranian elections By The Associated Press President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr's candidates for Iran's new Parliament ran ahead in Tehran, but the Moslem hard-liners still led across the country.

Meanwhile, the official Iranian news agency said a Foreign Ministry official confessed to passing information to the U.S. Embassy. Returns from Friday's voting in Tehran showed Bani-Sadr's followers leading in seven of the capital's 30 parliamentary districts and the Islamic Republican Party leading in none. But of the 79 districts declared won outside Tehran, the IRP and its allies took 34 and Bani-Sadr's candidates only 16. INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES had won 21 seats so far and may hold the balance of power in the 270-Parliament, called the Majlis.

Splinter and ethnic parties took the other eight seats. The IRP claimed the lead in about half the 75 districts where vote counting was over but no one attained the majority necessary for election. Those seats will be decided by a runoff April 4 between the two top candidates. The votes were still being counted in the other 116 districts. Pars, the official news agency, reported the arrest on spy charges of Victoria Bassiri, a cultural and economic adviser in the Foreign Ministry and deputy head of the passport office.

It said she admitted passing government information to William Daugherty, an embassy information officer who was one of the hostages seized Nov. 4. week to combat inflation. CARTER'S PLAN also will be felt directly by credit-card companies in the form of increased costs. The key to Carter's plan is a 15 percent set-aside provision that will apply to nearly all credit-card purchases.

Credit-card companies with more than $2 million in credit outstanding will be required to set aside 15 percent of the cost of a cardholder's purchase in a non-interest bearing account with the Federal Reserve System. THAT MONEY will remain in the account until the purchase is paid for, or until the company's credit is reduced to a certain base. The result is that large credit-card companies will have substantial sums of money earning nothing while inflation is at 18 percent. One way the credit-card companies could pass on the increased costs to consumers is through an annual membership fee. Saskatchewan pair pushes joining U.S.

REGINA, Saskatchewan (AP) Two members of the Saskatchewan legislature have quit the Progressive Conservative Party to work for the union of Western Canada with the United States. One of the two, Dennis Ham, told the legislature Monday that Canada is a cow grazing on the wheat and oil fields of the West, with its behind in the Atlantic Provinces and Ontario and Quebec milking it. UNION WITH the United States is one way Western Canada can stop being a colony of the two more populous central provinces, Ham declared. He said oil-producing states in the United States do not have to fight with their federal government to get a fair return on their resources. And he added that his English-speaking constituents are also upset by the equal status given French to appease the French Canadians in Quebec.

"I consider this issue so important to the future of my children and my grandchildren, and everyone else's grandchildren that I wish to devote my time and association to this cause," he said. Ham announced he was becoming an independent to join forces with Dick Collver, the former PC leader in the provincial legislature who quit the party last week to work for a merger of Western Canada with the United States. Business Boundup Rail purchase OK'd CHICAGO A $21 million proposal for sale of up to 475 miles of track from the ailing Milwaukee Road to the Burlington Northern Railroad has received tentative approval in federal court. Republic buying airline MINNEAPOLIS Republic Airline, which serves Lansing, has agreed to buy Hughes Airwest for about $45 million in cash and convertible debentures. Republic, created last year by the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airlines, said Monday the acquisition of the San Francisco-based regional carrier would extend Republic's route system to the West Coast and Mexico.

The merger is subject to approval by the Civil Aeronautics Board. T-bill rate slips WASHINGTON (AP) The interest rate on Auto license tab sales lag short-term Treasury bills has fallen to 14.950 percent after four weeks of record-setting yields. The rate on 26-week bills dropped to 14.950 percent from last week's record 14.956 percent. That makes 14.950 rjercent the maximum interest available on $10,000 money market certificates sold by banks and thrift Uistltuiions ue ginning mursaay. me raie on io-week bills fell to 15.053 percent from last week's German-born psychologist Erich Fromm dies record 15.381 percent.

they are actually ready to use the vehicles. SPOKESMEN IN the Secretary of State's branch offices around town agree that the current economic downturn is affecting license sales. "The economy has a lot to do with it," said Bill Martin, who manages the Cedar Street office. "Take the guy with two cars who's laid off. He'll probably wait until he's back to work before he buys tabs for his second car." Confusion over when the "birthday system" will take effect is another factor often cited for this year's lagging tab sales.

Actually, that method whereby each person's license plates will be renewable at the time of his birthday won't be in effect until 1981. This year's deadline is still March. 31 for everyone. "DESPITE extensive publicity," Boucher said, "some people think they don't have to buy tabs until their birthday. The message that March 31 is still the deadline for everybody this year doesn't seem to be getting through." By JOHN SCHNEIDER Staff Writer A combination of economic malaise and confusion over the new "birthday" system is causing a major lag in license tab sales, according to officials in the Michigan Secretary of State's office.

As of last week, sales were down about 500,000 from the same period last year. WITH THE March 31 deadline drawing near, officials aren't sure whether to expect a big last-minute rush or a lot fewer vehicles on the road this year. "It looks like people might be holding off until the last minute," said Ed Boucher, who works in the program analysis division of the Secretary of State's office. "There has been more bad economic news this year. People with second cars may be laying back (on buying license tabs) until they have the extra money." Boucher added that people who own travel trailers may not buy license tabs until the summer months, when InTfesJOUBFJAL 26 PAGES 3 SECTIONS Living Today B8 to B-9 Metro News.

B-l to B-6 Ann Landers Onlooker LOCARNO, Switzerland (AP) Erich Fromm, the eminent German-born American authority on psychology, died today of heart failure, family sources said. He would have been 80 on Sunday. Fromm felt Western man was a product of his culture and that he became estranged from himself in industrial society. His key concern was how man could come to terms with his isolation, insignificance and doubt about the meaning of life. FROMM DIED at his home in suburban Mu-ralto where he had settled in the late 1960s.

He is survived by his third wife, Annie Freeman Fromm. Fromm was rated as one of the world's leading figures in the psychoanalytic movement, and was an often-cited proponent of "alternative" lifestyles. Among his pioneering works were "Pschoana-lysis and Religion," "Healthy Society" and "The Art of Loving." A NATIVE of Frankfurt, Fromm emigrated to the United States when Adolf Hitler launched his anti-Jewish campaign following the 1933 Nazi takeover in Germany. He lectured at several American universities including Columbia, Yale and New York University and for several years was profesror at the National University of Mexico. He was a visiting professor in psychology at Michigan State University in 1957-61.

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