Thursday, June 3, 1976 THE MICHIGAN DAILY rage i nree British pound dips to gloomy level LONDON (i - In one of the sharpest plunges ever, the sickly British pound sank to new record lows yesterday, threatening to wreck the Labor govern- ment's economic strategy and perhaps to bring down the government itself. The pound - which was worth $2.40 in spring of last year - dropped nearly 4 cents to an all-time low of $1.7160. Lat- er it recovered slightly to close at $1.7213, still well below the previous re- cord low of $1.7543 at Tuesday's closing. The opposition spokesman on finance, Sir Geoffrey Howe, demanded Wednes- da, night that the government take measures to save the pound or resign. "Action is now imperatively needed to restore national and international con- fidesce in Britain's economy," he said. ii a statement, Howe called for more cits in national and local government spending, less government borrowing and an end to all plans for further na- tionalization of large industry. Chancellor of the Exechequer Denis Healey indicated the government was not contemplating any drastic mea- sures. The important thing is "to keep our nerve and not panic," he said in a television interview. Healey expressed satisfaction with progress in restraining pay raises and correcting Britain's balance of payments deficit Ile said the government already has made "massive cuts" in state spending programs at the cost of popu- larity among its own supporters. Dealers said the pound's dive was one of the steepest ever in a single day's trading. Normally the pound's rate changes by only a fraction of a cent in one day. At its low, the pound had lost some 1S per cent of its value since Jan. 1, when it stood at $2.02 and nearly 30 per cent of its value since April 1975 when it traded at $2.40. Financial sources have blamed the year-long decline largely on Britain's in- flation, the highest in the industrialized world. The British have brought their inflation down over the past year from 26 per cent to 18.9 per cent, but the ma- jor industrial nations competing against Britain for world markets all have in- flation rates of less than 10 per cent. Dealers said yesterday's drop was triggered by orders from Switzerland to sell pounds and convert to Swiss francs. Sellers were not named but Arab oil producers are among the clients who deal through Swiss banks. They said a second selling wave in the afternoon came from big British companies made nervous by the morn- ing drop. Firms dependent on buying material abroad are tempted to buy foreign currency as a hedge against a further drop in the pound. The drop of the pound was a major blow to the government and its econom- ic strategy. The key to the government's inflation control program has been its plan for voluntary wage restraint. Trade unions are supposed to limit raises to 4.5 per cent for the next 12 months. The drop in the pound, however, threatens that plan. The cheaper pound buys less abroad, and Britain must im- port half its food and most of its indus- trial raw materials. This means higher prices, making the unions less willing to restrain wages. Syrian troops bring quiet to north and east Lebanon i-tUIT, Lebanon s'--Syrian troops , tanks brought peace to northern anti er trn Lebanon for the first time in seeks yesterday. But clashes continued im Iteirut and the chief of Moslem mi- las said he would not sit down to talks i his rightist Christian rivals until the Syrians pull out of the country. The Syrian forces were reported mark- iay time after their initial thrust into I-son in Tuesday, evidently anxious . F That's progress Officials in ('ache County, Utah theight tax collection would be faster i the help of a computer. But as a restt the county missed the legal dead- iv fur mailing out property tax notices. Stile law requires that the notices be lsi't to property owners by May 20, but acc irding to officials it could be another 10 days before they are in the mail. County Treasurer Curtis Miner said the isformation had been fed into the com- puter, "but the computer hasn't given it sack in the form of the notices." 0 Good clean fun "Girl watching is an American as blueberry pie," declared a Tulsa Okla. district court judge Tuesday, as he re- fused to order the permanent closing of a nightcltb featuring go-go dancers. However the judge kept in force a temp- orary restraining order requiring the club meet certain conditions in order to remain open. While "girl watching" is all right in his book, the judge added lewd conduct took go-go dancing out of the area of entertainment. The case was a result of reports of nude dancing at the lounge. The court order requires dan- cers to wear a minimum of panties and a g-string. Happenings... today is the deadline for reserving seats on East Quad's Cedar Point trip, call 764-0100, 764-0649 or 764-1616 for details. Weather or not Expect more nice weather today as sunty skies and 7 degree temperatures dinate, to avoid a showdown with leftist Leba- nese troops massed on the road to Beirut. THE MAIN Syrian armored column on the Damascus-Beirut highway was stop- ed in front of leftist positions at the key mointain pass of Lahr el Baidar, about 20 miles east of Beirut. A smaller force was in the northern Akkar region. Syrian-led guerrillas of the Saiqa or- ganiiation were reinforced around the port of Sidon and a nearby American- run oil refinery vital to Syria. Arab dinlonatic sources said the Sy- virta ir force was on alert to support the armored troops if they clashed with the Lebanese. THE PHAILANGE party said 10,000 regilar Syrian troops are in Lebanon in addition to some 6,000 Saiqa troops under Syrian orders. Leftist and Palestinian estimates rose to 14,000. But the Defense Department in Washington called these reports "exaggerated." Security officials reported the Syrian presence in eastern and northern Leban- on had brought almost total calm there. lut clashes persisted sporadically in Bel- rut and on other fronts and security offi- cials estimated about 30 persons were killed, most in predawn exchanges. One shell struck a high-tension line east of Beirut, plunging the capital into total darkness. KAMAL JUMBLATT, commander of the Moslem-leftist alliance, set his con- ditions in a meeting with President-elect Elias Sarkis. Despite lumblatt's tough stance, ob- servers said his meeting with Sarkis opened a crack in the wall of enmity that has prevented talks between the Christian and Moslem camps. Jumblatt had earlier met with Bashir Gemayel, son of rightist chief Pierre Gemayel. The pirate radio run by the right-wing Phalange party lauded the Syrian incur- sion as a move to "preserve legality." But Beirut radio, controlled by Moslems, broadcast Jumblatt's call for a general strike Thursday to portest what he called an invasion. IT WAS NOT clear what impact the move could have snce government offices and most businesses have been closed by the fighting. The Phalange radio said cars with loudspeakers drove through Jumblatt's home area in the central Chouf Moun- tains urging villagers to "get out their guns to fight off the Syrians." The Palestinian leadership sent a for- mal request to Secretary-General Mah- moud Riad of the Arab League for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign min- isters to discuss the Syrian move "AN URGENT Arab movement to cool down the escalating struggle in Lebanon has become a necessity,"' said the PLO not delivered in Cairo. See SYRIANS, Pages6 vildb l(ue yawncler STANDING INERT and alert through an hour-long speech by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller is too much to ask, even of the 920 graduating seniors of the Air Force Academy. Here one cadet allows his face to break ranks and lets go with a pronounced yawn. Walkout brings Bicyce Jim ski dding oto By MICHAEL YELLIN A dispute between Bicycle Jim's own- er Jim Thompson and four managers re- sulted in an employee walkout last Thursday that will leave the oft-visited student restaurant inoperative for at least two weeks. The mass walkout came after Thomp- son refused to comply with the mana- gers' and workers' request for 100 per cent control of the finances and work- ings of the store. In return for this, a large percentage of the monthly profits was to be paid to Thompson's office in Detroit. "Hoodwinked" into thinking that Thompson wanted to relinquish control and simply share in the profit-making, former manager Ann Beldon quit, say- ing, "Jim wasn't meeting our needs in terms of the store; the man was always in Detroit-couldn't run a restaurant himself - was mismanaging funds that would have been money in our pockets, and we took it on the chin." Thompson called the four managers "honest hard-working employees," and stated firmly, "My job is to set policy and for them to carry it out. Our sense of future direction was in complete dis- agreement. I wanted to put controls on the store they weren't comfortable with, and as a result they left." Feelings of strong employe solidarity run deep among Bicycle Jim's workers and as a result the entire staff of 45 backed the managers in their fight and walked out. "I've never had a better job," says employee Mark Mikulski, "We worked hard and were proud of the place while Thompson did not do anything to help the restaurant. It will never be the same again." Thompson has offered every employe his or her job back with the same rate of pay. To date, he claims that roughly half of the hourly workers have come to reapply for their jobs while none of the managers have come. Bicycle Jim's is set to open late next week after a new staff has been hired and trained.