Wednesday, June 12, 1974
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Kissinger threatens
Page Three
to quit
SALZBURG, Austria Or/i- Secretary
of State Henry Kissinger threatened yes-
terday to resign if a controversy over his
role in Washington wiretapping isn't
cleared up. But a White House spokes-
man said President Nixon would be re-
luctant to accept a resignation under
these circumstances.
In a special news conference that his
aides said was called to "get some things
off his chest," Kissinger repeated his
denials of ever lying about his involve-
ment in administration efforts to prevent
leaks of classified documents.
ALTERNATELY bristling with anger
and pleading for understanding, he told
newsmen who packed the large drawing
room of his guest house here:
"I do not believe that it is possible to
conduct the foreign policy of the United
States under these circumstan:es when
the character and creditability of the
secretary of state is at issue and if it
is not cleared up, I will resign."
Ile asked the Senate Foreign Rela-
tions Committee in Washington to take
another look at the testimon. he gave
last September when it was considering
his nomination by Nixon as secretary of
state. Ile said he would leave the Nixon
entorage to the Middle East t) return to
Washington to testify if necessary.
SIORTLY AFTER Kissinger' . news
conference, the Foreign Ret itions Com
mittee met in Washington anJ voted in-
animiously to review his ca
It was not immediately niwn it the
secreary wold return to Washington
or go on to the Middle Liast with Nixon
tomorrow.
Ronald Ziegler, Nixon's piess secre-
tary, later told newsmen the ['resident
understood Kissinger's desire to clear his
name, and added: "The President would
te very reluctant to accept Henry's re-
signation under this type of circaum-
stance."
IN A FORMAL statement, Ziegler sid
Nixon felt Kissinger's honor "needs no
defense."
In saying he would resign, Kissinger
maintained that his honor and reputation
were being defamed by reports in the
news media back home about his role in
wiretapping of newsmen and Washington
fficials who may have had access to
national security material.
Kissinger read at his news conference
a letter he said he had sent to Sen. J
W. Fulbright, chairman of the Foreign
Relations Committee in Washington, ask-
ing for re-examination of the entire mat-
ter.
HE SAID he would stay in office if the
panel supported him.
Kissinger's startling statement brought
conftisiion to the White House staff, and,
evidently, to President Nixon.
Kissinger indicated he had not warn-
ed the President in advance of his re-
signation threat, only that he was going
to go over the record of the controversy.
SECRETARY OF STATE Henry Kissinger (far left) and President Nixon (second from right) chat with the Austrian
heads of state early yesterday, during a two-day stopover in Salzburg. The presidential party will jet on to the Middle
East. Later yesterday Kissinger made a surprise announcement in which he threatened to resign.
Murray sees city millage
voter'mandate
By GORDON ATCHESON
Reflecting on the sound defeat of a
property tax increase Monday, City Ad-
ministrator Sylvester Murray yesterday
termed the vote a "mandate" from local
residents indicating they prefer reduced
municipal services to paying higher op-
erating costs.
In the election, voters turned down
a 1.7 mill hike by a 60-40 margin. The
one-time levy had been requested to bal-
ance the fiscal 1975 city budget.
WITHOUT the $1 million that the tax
School board to
revise budget
after tax loss
By REBECCA WARNER
Secretary to the city Board of Educa-
tion Leroy Cappaert said yesterday he
could not predict the precise budget cuts
which will result from the defeat Mon-
day of a proposed 1.3 mill property tax
increase to cover school "operating
costs."
The millage, which would have gen-
erated $1 million annually for the next
five years, was defeated by more than
1800 votes.
THE SCHOOLS, however, had not pre-
pared a list of items to be cut from the
operating budget in case the millage
failed. Yesterday the staff of Superin-
tendent Harry Howard began meeting to
draft a revised budget, which Cappaert
said will be presented to the school
board for approval in the next two to
four weeks.
The schools presently have a total
revenue level of more than $27 million,
See SCHOOL, Page 9
increase would have generated, major
reductions in city personnel and service
levels will be necessary when the bud-
get goes into effect on July 1.
"The cuts that are needed will be dev-
astating," Murray said, reaffirming a
position he publicly took before the elec-
tion. "Of course that assessment is my
own value judgment, however."
To balance the upcoming budget, in
the event the millage was defeated, Mur-
ray proposed that 30 full-time municipal
employes be laid off and that the re-
maining workers receive no salary in-
creases during fiscal 1975.
IN ADDITION, he recommended that
many non-service areas including Com-
munity Outreach projects, recreation
programs, anod safety activities in the
fire and police departments be curtailed
or eliminated.
Murray is now in the process of meet-
ing with city department heads to decide
specifically who should be laid off. These
decisions will be submitted to City Coun-
cil within two weeks for final approval.
Among those who may be pink-slipped
are three command personnel in the po-
lice department, the assistant fire chief,
a. fire inspector, an assistant city attor-
ney an investigator in the Human Rights
Department, and clerical staff in all de-
partments.
THESE CUTS and the no-salary in-
crease recommendation could lead to
strikes or lawsuits on the part of the
city's unionized employes, according to
Murray.
Although the administration has been
in contact with the unions, Murray said
yesterday he will begin to meet person-
ally with union leaders tomorrow to set-
tle as many disagreements as possible.
"These are not vindictive cuts," Mur-
ray said, "But they are necessary in
light of the present budget situation."
MURRAY ADDED that he interprets
Monday's millage defeat as "a mandate
from city residents who would rather
see a cut in city services instead of in-
creased taxes."
The funds that would have been raised
by the property tax increase would have
been used to maintain the present level
of city services rather than provide new
or expanded operations.
Consequently those services should be-
come noticeably less efficient and com-
prehensive when the new budget goes
into effect.
Murray plans to meet with council "by
the end of the month" to discuss the
problem of rising operating costs and
where to find enough money to meet
those increases,
Teenager gives pet albino
toad to 'U' for research
By BARBARA CORNELL Kinships (CROAK), plans to use the
By pure luck, a teenager from the rare toad for research.
Detroit area discovered a one-in-a- Program coordinator, Christina
million shot. No, he didn't win the Richards says that the toad is im-
state lottery. He found an albino portant for comparison with normal-
toad. ly pigmented frogs and also for
Robert Bannasch,, 13, of Warren, tracing radioactive miaterials used in
Michigan, stumbled across his albino the study of amphibian embryos. The
toad "about a week and a half ago" absence of color makes the study less
when his mother sent him out to do confusing since pigment grains can
some garden chores, be confused with radioactive tracers
Noticing that the toad was unusual, when they are photographed.
Bonnasch first contacted the Deiroit
Zoo. They expressed no interest.
BUT SOMEONE else was interested
in Robert's pet and yesterday he pre-
sented it to the U-M Amphibian Facil-
ity, an affiliate of the University's
zoology department and the University
Center for Human Growth and Devel-
opment.
The facility, known to insiders as
the Center for Reseach on Amphibian
ALTHOUGH RICIIXRDS estimates
the likelihood of an albino toad being
born is a million to one, three such
toads have been found in the Warren
area. Two were presented to the fa-
cility yesterday and one more will be
presented today.
Richards attributes the sudden ap-
pearance of several albtinos to a gene-
tic phenomenon which produced the
See RARE, Page 9