THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday, March 17, 1974
LOOKING BACK
9
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
THE THUMB IS THREATENED.
Student-Railpass..
Just about the cheapest way to see
Europe outside of hitching.
Unlimited second-class rail travel
in 13 countries. Two months only $165.
You buy your StUdent-Railpass here--
you can't buy it in Europe. And the $165.
price is tax free and a beautiful way to beat
currency fluctuations. What's more, train
schedules are as
frequent as ever,
while getting about by
car or motor coach
isn't always as easy as before.
Who's eligible?-
Any full-time student under 26
years of age registered in a North
American school, collegeoruniversity.
You spend two whole months seeing
practically the whole of Europe. And you travel
in comfort. On trains so clean and so fast (up to
100 mph) you wouldn't believe it. Of course, you
can also take our cozy little trains that meander
through our remote countryside-that's part of
the privilege, too.
It can mean the Summer trip of your life, so don't
wait. See your friendly Travel Agent or clip the coupon
and we'll send you all the facts.
See if you don't agree. The day of the thumb
City Hall-
in the red
There was something about
it that was terribly -tangible and
starkly final. More than a warn
ing or even a projection, it was
a simple statement of fact: 168
city employes temporarily laid
Ioff.
The announcement of this dras-
tic cutback at the City Council
meeting Monday was a frank and
businesslike affair. There wasn't
much to hem-and haw about. As
City Administrator Sy Murray put
it, "We've been faced with very
few choices."
Plainly put, Ann Arbor cannot
meet its payroll.
This grim state of affairs is
the inevitablescloud-burst of a
storm which has been gathering
for some time. For the past sev-
eral years, the city's revenue
sources - mostly property tax-
es, fines and fees - have not
generated enough cash to keep
pace with spiraling expenditures.
Thetcrunch came finally when
the state's Municipal Finance
Commission moved to take mat-
;ters in hand, imposing a dracoa-
ian three-year program to elim-
inate the city's staggering $1.2
million debt.
Under their plan, the counc ;
must immediately balance t h
budget as well as putting asde
$300,000 for debt retirement this
Syear and double that the next.
In the absence of additionat
sources of revenue, this will im-
pose real hardships.
Among the effects to be felt
soon are:
O The closing of the Nor th
Campus Fire Station,
" A sharp reduction in "nn-
emergency" police services, ane
* A further stagnation f the
judicial process caused by reduc-
tions in District Court clerical per-
sonnel.
And, widely believed to be on
the chopping block for the next
fiscal year, are:
* Back-yard garbage pick-up,
* Maintenance and repair of
city streets,
* The Human Rights Depart-
ment, and
* Medical and other commun-
ity services in the central city
In all likelihood, city badget
priorities will now loom as a
major issue in the upcoming
council campaign.
Democrats will find themselves
on shaky ground in raising the
issue as the crisis was largely
generated whle they were in
power. However, they can be ex-
pected to charge the GOP with
gutting social services in order
to maintain pet department (po-
lice and garbage).
The Republicans are expected
to take the position that "essenI-
tial services" must be maintain-
ed and blame the whole mess on
the "spendthrift" social programs
of their predecessors.
move has the effect of making
the dorms an increasingly un-
attractive housing option.
Under the new rates, a >stu-
dent pays $175/mo. for the privi-
lege of sharing a small dorm
room. On the open market, the
same student could share a
one bedroom apartment with a
kitchen, living room and private
bath for about half that amoun:.
Even when food and utility costs
are added in, the private apart-
ment comes out ahead in most
cases.
campaign notes
The city's landlords threw their anti-rent control cam-
paign into high gear this week with a series of large,
slick, expensive ads in the Ann Arbor News. The land-
lords, who have recently moved to spruce up their image
by changing their name from "Citizens Opposed to Rent
Control" to the more altruistic-sounding "Citizens for Good
Housing", are seeking to raise a staggering $85,000 in an
all-out blitz to defeat HRP's charter amendment establish-
ing controls over city housing rates.
Meanwhile, city Democrats don't seem to know what to
do with this explosive issue.
Last fall, the strategy was to ignore it and hope it
would go away. Dems steered clear on the open meeting
at which the proposal was drafted, and assumed HRP
would fail to gather enough signatures to get it on the
ballot.
As a result, they were highly compromised w en rent
control made it. The party was forced to approve an em-
barrasing non-position which merely states that candidates
should take a position one way or the other.
HRP election day strategists are currently attempting
to get this year's Hash Bash moved back from Monday,
April 1 to Sunday, March 31.
It's not that they're against the Bash. Far from it.
Indeed, the presence of thousands of pot-lovers congregated
on the Diag is a great opportunity to push the party's $z
dope fine city charter amendment and, in:idently, the
party's candidates.
However, April 1 is election day, and the vision of
hundreds (perhaps thousands) of potential HRP voters
whiling away the afternoon stoned on the Diag rather
than going to the polls makes party workers somewhat
nervous.
GRADUATE STUDENTS WELCOME!
Each year, the Regents are
'ded a cursory glance at
the Ho 'sing office account books.
Based on this information, the
continuing hikes seem unavoid-
able.
However, there is a growing
feeling that a deeper and more
sweening assessment of the
dormitory system is in order.
As Regent Gerald Dunn (D-
Lansing) put it, "I don't think
we were given enough time to
consider alternatives."
Dorm
rates
up again
For quaddies planning to sign
another dorm contract for next
year, it was sobering news.
Their landlord - the Big 'U' -
is raising the rates again.
The hike is around 8 per cent
- roughly $100. Although this
year it is not accompanied by
any further cuts in service, the
EuraiIpasssis valid in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, 49-A
France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
Eurallpass, Box 90, Bohemia, New York 11716'
IPlease send me your free Student-Rail pass folder. p
- Or your free Eurailpass folder with railroad map. Q
I I
Name
Street
Icity
state -zipJ
- ----
STUDENT-RAILPASS
&tshowsyou Europe as the Europeans see I.
Have a few extra moments
during the day? Need
something to occupy your mind?
THEN, tuck a copy of
Crossword Puzzle
under your arm.
Intellectual challenge
even for the best
k
QRA1
NoY
GRAD
COFFEE
HOUR
WEDNESDAY
8-10 p.m.
West Conference
Room, 4th Floor
RACKHAM
_______________________________z
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'Hire him. He's got great legs."
or want of an eu
a discovery was
ii
!
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velope,
You can thank Nic Goeres for making
your life easier. Nic has a reputation at the
University of Iowa for never being able to
find anything.
Well, one day, he couldn't find anenve-
lope and he wanted to send this picture to
his girl friend. In desperation, he just flipped
the picture over, addressed it, put a 1n
stamp in the co'rner, and dropped it into a
mailbox.
The picture got to its appointed destina-
tion in fine shape. It was a picture from a
Kodak pocket Instamatic camera which
helped because Pocket pictures are nearly
postcard size.hv
Nic wmild still be sending nictures todav
If women thought this way about men they
would be awfully silly.
When men think this way about women
L ..sixr r i...: f . %
Lists, political candidates, professors and com-
pany presidents, any other viewpoint is ridic-
ulous.
I ;
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Think o~f it this \AICI\ When we nee~d all
I
Hill