Thursday, August 30, 1984/The Battalion/Page 7 Warped jj on toy, THESE BACK-TO-SCHOOL PARTIES ALWAYS DEPRESS ME... EVERYBODY TRY IMS TO rtAKE IMPRESSIONS... ..AND THEY RE ALL PRETENPIA/6 SO HARD THAT THEY ARE oR AREN'T SOME THI A/6 OR SOMEBODY. THEYVE ALL GOT THEIR FACES OAL HOW CAN I TELL IF I LIKE SOMEONE OR IF THEY LIKE ME? IT'S LIRE THEY'RE ALL HIDING BEHIND SOME KIND OF MASKS... by Scott McCullar Health CO TO costs to rise to $1.9 trillion Preteen-Junior-MissY Post-Oak-Matt THE o^° GOOD EVENIA/G,^ MY NAME'S- Indicators show decline for two straight months United Press International WASHINGTON — In the most serious signal of economic slowdown since the recession’s end, the govern ment reported Wednesday that its index of leading indicators dropped percent in July following a large decline in June. It was the first time in two and a If years that there has been two straight months of decline of any size in the sensitive economic barom eter. The overall 2.1 percent setback injune and July was the largest in an even longer time, since September and October of 1981. The report reinforced the impres sion among most economists that the Dm half of the year was the final en core for impressive economic jowth and that business is now set- ingdown to something closer to av- trage. A few economists, however, see ihe threat of a new recession. A separate report Wednesday showed that the burden of import competition weighed more heavily than ever on American business. The trade deficit in July soared to a record $14.1 billion as Americans, encouraged by a summer strength ening of the dollar’s spending power, unleashed an unprecedented appetite for imports. Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige said slower growth forecast by the leading indicators might help shrink the trade deficit a little in fu ture months but not enough to keep 1984 from nearly doubling last year’s red ink in trade. “The $73.8 billion deficit for the first seven months of this year al ready exceeds the $69.4 billion shortfall for all of 1983,” the pre vious annual record, he noted. Baldrige’s department estimates each billion in sales lost to foreigners could support 25,000 American jobs. White House spokesman Larry Speakes said the decline in the lead ing indicators signaled some moder ation ahead in economic activity that should help ease upward pressure on interest rates. Speakes emphasized the figures had been on the rise for two years since the recession ended and said other statistics show “the economy remains strong and growing for the foreseeable future.” Private economist Jerry Jasinowski, speaking for the Na tional Association of Manufacturers, said, “The second decline in the leading indicators in as many months confirms that the economy will slow in the second half. “Although we may see some bounce back in economic activity in the fall the economy is on a glide- path toward 4 percent growth by the end of the year. The gross national product ex panded at more than twice that pace in the first half. In another report, the depart ment said July sales of new houses were unchanged from June’s strong pace, the second consecutive month without the kind of decline the hous ing industry has been worrying about. While sales remained at a 630,000 unit annual rate, above last year’s to tal production of 623,000, the aver age price of a new house fell by $2,200 to $95,600. But new housing construction has been tapering off. Auto workers union selects GM, Ford for strike targets United Press International > DETROIT (UPI) — The United Auto Workers Wednesday selected both General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. as strike targets in 1984 negotiations — only the second time in 14 years the union has picked dual targets. UAW President Owen Bieber said both firms were chosen because the union was dissatisfied with contract proposals delivered Tuesday that did not address the UAW’s twin goals of job security and substantial wage increases. Bieber said he would lead both bargaining teams today when talks resume, and would participate in “shuttle bargaining” until the con tracts at GM and Ford expire Sept. 14. “We are telling them to start all over with haste because there are only 16 days left,” Bieber told a news conference. The last time the union picked two strike targets was in 1970, when both GM and Chrysler Corp. were selected. The union narrowqd its se lection to GM on the night before the contract expired. The result was a 67-day strike that was not only the costliest in automotive history but also regarded as a major contribu tion to a national economic down turn. The selection of dual targets came on a unanimous vote by the UAW’s 25-member International Executive Board at a meeting in a hotel across from Ford World Headquarters ill suburban Dearborn. Bieber said the board gave him the power to select a single target as talks progress. He would not specu late on the chances of a strike. “Thank God that is not the deci sion I have to make today,” he said. On Tuesday, GM and Ford pre sented the union with proposals that did not address job security for union members who have been plagued with layoffs in the last few years of the automotive recession. GM offered workers lump sum payments of $600 in the first year of a contract and $300 in the second* year, but no payment in the third year. Ford’s proposal said workers would have to be satisfied with cur rent profit-sharing plans in lieu of Wage raises. Workers two years ago agreed to $4 billion in concessions at the two firms that included wage and benefit freezes. iTHflHm SBISA Basement Th^- Unpbrof&punc? FbK A TA^re- T-rtat' soi G{ocx? |< e«g«ounp SnackSU Games O PfcN Mon — Fri GAMeS --i'9oam-|o*oopm •Snacks-ihooam -|OfOO»*M Sunday *+*oo - lo.oo Quality First "t nPl Attention Friends, Independents, and Conservative Democrats, Help Phil Gramm “Pull the Wagon" "N c SEN ATe b qUND FUND RAISING SUPPER Tuesday, September 4,1984 7:30 p.m. Brazos Center For Tickets and Information, Call: 779-2218 East 29th Street "The Grove” Phil Gramm/Reagan-Bush Headquarters United Press International BOSTON — United States health costs will double every six years until reaching $1.9 trillion by 1999 be cause people only want changes that don’t affect their own health care, a review of health surveys concluded Wednesday. Despite recent efforts to slow the skyrocketing cost of medicine, the federal government predicts the cost of health care will increase $50 bil lion a year, going from $322 billion in 1982 to $ 1.9 trillion by 1999. “The problem that appears to lie at the heart of the matter is that Amei icans have much more ambiva lent feelings about controlling health-care costs than is generally recognized,” the report said. The report — published in the New England Journal of Medicine — is a summary of 15 natiohal public opinion surveys that found a sur prising degree of agreement among the respondents. The study reached four conclu sions: • Both the public and elected of ficials see rising costs as the nation’s No. 1 problem in health care. How ever, neither rank the issue as very high on a list of the most important problems facing the nation. • Americans are deeply dis turbed by the sharply rising prices of their health care, particularly the in creasing cost of a stay in the hospital or a visit to a doctor. However, most are not troubled by the growing share of the nation’s economy that is devoted to health care. Most believe that society currently spends too little rather than too much for such services. • Although most Americans be lieve the country’s present health care system is inefficient, however they’re generally satisfied with their individual care. • Three out of four people be lieve doctors bear a major responsi bility for the nation’s rising health care costs, and two out of three say they are beginning to lose faith in doctors. But in general doctors maintain a unique credibility with the public. The report was compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, N.J., the nation’s larg est health philanthropy foundation, which provides $60 million a year to support health and medicine in the United States. “The challenge ahead is for gov ernment to put together a package of reforms that will significantly re duce the rate of increase of health spending without dramatically chan ging the way people receive their medical care,” said Drew E. Altman, the foundation’s vice president and a co-author. Correction The Battalion incorrectly re ported Monday the rehearsal sched ule for the Texas A&M Women’s Chorus. The chorus rehearses three mornings and one evening each week. The Battalion regrets the er- PETITE SHOPPE for the lady 5’4 & under c 0 y. Sizes 1-14 Lee Ze« a 20% off with Coupon expires Oct. 1,1984 Shala’s. cal dot paula saker p^ti '' ’ Itl Moonlight Sale Aug. 27 -10 am to 10 pm Culpepper plaza Are You Bryan-College Station’s Most Physically Fit Female? Find Out In The Miss Physical Fitness Contest At 1EA/ERS Grand Prize 4 Day Trip for Two to CANCUN + 1 mo. membership at The Waist Basket Preliminaries: Aug. 30 Sept. 6,13, 20 Finals: Sept. 27 Entry Blanks at: ™_ e Wai ® t c B Q a '^^ Q * 402 Tarrow C.S. 846-1013 Battalion Classified 845-2611