European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 13, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday october 13, 1967 the stars and stripes Page 5 Safe department facing massive cuts Washington not the vocabulary of disaster employed by inc foreign service these Days words like tragic and catastrophic is being applied not to crises in the Middle East or Central America but to the slate department itself. Such is the reaction of what used to be culled the striped pants so to a sequence or budget reductions thai is perhaps the most dramatic in the depart ment s history threatening to Cut More than 1,200 jobs and to close some embassies and consulates among of her things. It s a tragedy said Ronald i. Spiers inc under Secretary of stale for management. We will be los ing some of our most skill Dand experienced people our institutional memory which will reduce our level of effectiveness. I be been in inc slate depart ment for 32 years and i be never seen things this Spiers helped draw up a plan of Cut that is now making the rounds among department Heads before it goes to Secretary of state George p. Shultz for approval. The plan is in response to word from Congress that the department must pare $84 million from its budget for fiscal 1988. The Money it is remarked sardonically around the department represents less than half the Cost of a by bomber. The plan spam helped compile would eliminate about 1,270 jobs or about 8 percent of inc depart ment s 15.800 foreign service and civil service posts in Washington and around the world. If the plan goes through it will also mean the closing of embassies in equatorial Guinea and the Comoro islands and the closing of 13 consulates from Zurich and Edinburgh to Quebec and Brisbane. The plan cuts Only $59 million from the department budget so additional cuts will have to be found later. The budget cuts Stem from congressional efforts to reduce the Federal deficit. In 1986 the state depart ment was forced to Cut 160 million of its budget and last year j125 million More. The state department is essentially dependent on people rather than equip men so most of its cuts must involve personnel. Because much of what the department docs is obscured from the Public it lacks a Broad popular constituency and lawmakers Sel Dom have cause to promote the lofty but vague cause of diplomacy around he world. The stale department plan asks Congress to pass legislation to allow Early incentives for senior officers with 20 years sex per Ienco. H also seeks to consolidate and eliminate other jobs and to re Duce operations in Many areas. Another More critical proposal under consideration would Force employees to take involuntary Cave without pay a step thai some senior officials fear could wreak havoc on the operation of inc department s bureaucracy and embassies. The cuts could also make i More difficult fur americans travelling abroad to receive consular Protection and passport services promptly. The plan also Calls for inc elimination of 27 Dep Uty assistant secretaries usually the last Slep before ambassadorial rank. In the last several years these posts have been filled to a larger extent than in pre Vious administrations with political appointees who have no history of service in government. But i Csc Reagan administration appointees arc no expected to lose their jobs. The reductions would sharply affect the policy planning staff the Bureau responsible for projecting foreign policy into the future and sketching ways of dealing with problems still beyond inc horizon. In addition 25 percent of the jobs in bureaus concerned with press and Public information economic and political military affairs and congressional relations would also be abolished under this Plait. Other proposals include inc elimination of various pay differentials bonuses and incentives. The american foreign service association the official Union of foreign service officers called the plan a meat Ait approach and said thai it will not work. Because the plan affects some areas More than others it has provoked considerable resentment within inc department even though the recommendations arc not final. But some of the projected cuts have been welcomed by career foreign service officers. For exam ple they applaud the proposed elimination of the latin american Bureau s Public diplomacy office which is filled with political appointees and has been involved in highly disputed actions on behalf of inc nicaraguan contras. Specialists also say the elimination of certain eco nomic experts within each regional Bureau and their consolidation into the department s economic and business affairs Bureau May actually strengthen the importance of economic analysis. Because Congress has designated special funds in the stale department for making embassies More secure against terrorism and espionage inc steering committee was prohibited from making any cuts in inc department s Security budget. The expansion of Security operations has been widely criticized As Empire building by the for eign service association. Bui some department officials strongly disagree it s Only those with Short memories who could have forgotten the lessons of the embassy bombings in Beirut or Kuwait or of the espionage cases in Moscow said Robert a Lamb assistant Secretary for diplomatic Security vowing not to relinquish any of his department s budget. Indian immigrants protest attacks Indian immigrants March in Jersey City n a id protest racial violence they claim has been directed Al them. App Vjio Jersey City no. A hundreds of Indian immigrants marched sunday to protest violence that left one Man dead and another in critical condition. The Indian Community claims the violence is racially motivated. Our people love peace said or. Lalitha Masson chairman of a committee of Indian leaders that coordinated the rally. But we have been pushed too about 650 Indian men and women and their Chil Dren marched Down John f. Kennedy Boulevard in a chilling rain to commemorate the 118th anniversary of the Binh of Mahatma Gandhi the Indian Leader who preached passive resistance to oppression. Speaking in hindi Hardyal Singh president of the International Mahatma Gandhi association inc., Lold the crowd that the 15,000 Indian residents of this Community of 230,000 have been Model citizens. For this accomplishment we Are All proud said Singh. Some racists have not been Able to tolerate this Success. They Are jealous of our affluence and Success in business. The events which have taken place in Jer sey City Are the result of their police patrols in the Jersey City Heights Section the Center of the Indian Community have been stepped up since or. Kasu Ahal Saran 26, was found unconscious in a Street oct. 1. He had been in a coma until recently. He was in critical condition sunday. On sept. 30, Nav Roze Mody 30, of Jersey City was found unconscious after being beaten by a group of youths on a Hoboken Street Comer. He Laler died. Four boys Ages 15 to 17, were charged in Mody s death. Hoboken police chief George Crimmins said the assault definitely was not racially motivated because the attackers did not know the Man was an Indian. Burning soviet rocket startles . Viewers Oakland Calif. A Bright fiery lights that startled viewers Early sunday in three Western slates turned out to be a soviet rocket body burning up on re entry to the Earth s atmosphere an air Force spokes Man said. The North american aerospace defense come near Colorado Springs colo., received numerous reports of sightings in inc skies Over Northern California West pm Nevada and Southern Oregon said maj. Bob Perry. The Center which tracks objects in space from launch time was aware of inc rocket and its Trail of debris and burning particles As the Racket fell Aboul 2 40 . Put Perry said. He said officials Baclic Wilhe object was the Shell forthe Booster rocket which lifts payloads into its mis Sion was unknown he said. Our expectations Are. At this Point that in burned on re entry Perry said. "1 Don t expect that any Impact occurred. Sands of time in the stars and stripes 40 years ago . 13. 1947 the . Flag was hauled Down Al Corregidor As the War Bat Rcd Island fortress passed to the philippine Republic s jurisdiction. 30 years ago today. Oct. 13, 195"? Italy maintained its blockade around the Republic of san Marina reminding the peo ple of the previous 11 Days of bloodless civil strife. Federico Bigi unofficial Premier of the victorious Anli communist provisional government said inc blockade would be lifted when his administration formally took 20 years ago today. ,. Oct. 13, 1967 the House passed a Bill thai would raise the Cost of first class postage Stamps by 1 cent to 6 cents for letters and five a cols Lor Post cards. 70 years ago today. Oct. 13, 1977 Allan Bakke s lawyer told the supreme court that inc University of California Vio lated the Constitution in denying him admission to its medical school because he is while
