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 ._...._.._... -- -- - __ -- iI 1I a iFF i ;1 1 ( r/ 'Hire him. He's got great legs." or want of an eu a discovery was ii ! I . { i, 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 ; Ilii 'I Think o~f it this \AICI\ When we nee~d all I Hill